Food Addicted??

[Deanne]

I could use some help and support from a few fellow food addicts.  I know there have to be some here.  Let's help each other.

[stardazzleabbi3]

Hi. I'm probably not what you'd call a 'food addict' but I thought I'd write a little bit about my problems with food so you realise that you're not alone.

I used to just binge on junk food like cakes, chocolate and crisps - I still do but I'm a lot better than I was. Some days I'm okay and I can handle it, but some days I just binge and can't stop eating. I think I keep losing then putting on weight again when I do this.

Perhaps a tip I could give you is distracting yourself from food, like going out for a walk, reading a book or doing something you enjoy. I hope this helps you. Good luck!

[hanso1]

I have food issues. I use it to self medicate.
I'm either trying to bump up my energy or calm myself down.
And I always eat waaaay more than I should of pretty much anything.
I do try and stay away from unhealthy foods, like sugar and such, but I still don't have a normal relationship with food.
My PDr says that I will stabilize my eating when or if I will go on meds and my psychologist says that by eating a heavy meal your body has no choice but to slow down and then you feel calm and sedated. That's why eating during a panic attack or anxiety makes you feel better.

My humble advice would be to try to switch to foods that are at least healthier, instead of sugar and say fast food.
Try to keep only healthy natural foods in the house, fruit, yogurt, nuts. And make sure you have a protein at every meal.
At the same time keep track of what you're feeling when you get a craving, are you tired and need a boost or anxious and need some soothing.
However, that's as far as I've gotten. I still haven't figured out how to remedy the problem.
Good luck.

[Snuz]

If anyone from this thread is still around I would love to talk more about this.

[hanso1]

Hi Snuz!
Just came across this post again.
What is your experience with food?
If I could have one thing in life, I would love to have the ability to eat food without all these issues attached. It would be heaven if I didn't have to think about it all the time, wondering what I could eat that would make me feel better in this moment...

[Snuz]

What is my experience with food? Boy is that complicated.  I started using food to regulate my emotions at the age of nine and haven't stopped since. It wasn't until the past few months that I realized anxiety was the underlying problem I've been trying to understand all these years. It's frustrating that it took so long to be diagnosed.

Honestly I don't even know where to start talking about food. But yes, it would be great not to have to think about food and just eat when I was hungry and only think about it when I got hungry again.

How about you?

[katiB]

I eat when I'm stressed or not feeling good.  Its my comfort.

[imalwaysanxious]

I'm a food addict but starting to make some progress in that area the last couple of weeks. I've been trying to cut out the junk food, but replace it healthier stuff. What seems to be working for me is not letting myself get too hungry. I used to let myself starve all day, then binge on fast food and junk food. I much less likely to binge if I'm not starving. So far I've lost 3 lbs.  Also going to the gym. That helps because then you don't wanna eat too much because you don't wanna be working out for nothing. I'm basically following my mom's example: she's lost 70 lbs in the last 6 months by eating smaller, healthier meals about 5 times a day and working out several times a week. It's tough no matter how you do it, but the nice thing about this method is that it's not a crash diet, so it won't produce yo-yo dieting, and you don't feel so hungry all the time like you do on other diets. It's more of a lifestyle change than a diet. Good luck with the addiction, I know it's tough.

[cmonpilgrim]

Hi Snuz 

I can relate! The best advice I can offer is this:

There's an incredibly helpful book called 'Breaking Free From Emotional Eating' (Also known as 'Breaking Free From Compulsive Eating') by Geneen Roth. I struggled with anorexia and bulimia through my teens, then binge eating triggered by anxiety and depression, using food as a tool to cope with any emotion, on and off for many years. It wasn'until I read this book (with an open mind) that I finally had some relief.

Regardless of whether you take it all on board or not, or how relevant the specifics are to you personally, if you've struggled with food I'm positive you'll get something out of this book. I'm beyond grateful that I stumbled across it in the library years ago. It's not only helped me with my relationship with food, but also rolled over into helping with my anxiety and other areas of life. I hope you get your hands on a copy and have a read! 

It's hard work for we who struggle with food. But it really can make us more compassionate and open minded if we can learn to manage it. It's definitely possible. All the best!

[Princein]

I too have had problems with food addiction. It started at an early age when I was conditioned to think of pizza night as the happiest day of the week. Everyone else has given some solid advice, about making a life style change rather than a crash diet. I actually did succeed in losing 40 pounds from a crash diet, but like the name yo-yo dieting implies when I crashed, I crashed hard and ended up becoming heavier than I ever was before the diet.

Interesting story, during the English Civil War there was starvation and low rationing amongst the new model armies and a lot of soldiers went on to become cooks or write cook books, that's right starvation and starvation like diets can make you obsessed with food for life!

So my best advice is take it slow and if you crash, make sure you focus on mitigation and forgiveness, because if you're too hard on yourself that mischievous part of your brain that induces cravings will think "well I better get away with as much as I can now, cause who knows when this hard 0104 will let me eat again!"

Best of luck!

[stevo1111]

I'm absolutely addicted to food. I love going out to a new restaurant or trying different things. When I go on vacations to other countries I honestly look most forward to trying their food and drink.

I've struggled with self image and weight issues, so it has been a battle between a strict bodybuilding diet and eating huge portions of whatever I want. I also love to cook, so while the meals aren't ice cream and hot dogs bad for you they are like 1lb of pasta and 1lb of chicken parm bad for you.

Interestingly enough, I have managed to keep my weight under control for the most part. I'm also addicted to exercise. I work out probably 10hrs per week. I power lift/ bodybuild and have recently gotten into marathon running, thanks to my girlfriend. I'm 5'10" and about 200lbs... completely honestly there have been times that I can put away 5-6000 calories in one day.  In the grand scheme of things it's probably wearing out my body quicker than otherwise, but I feel like I am healthy.

My best advice is to get into exercising and keep moving. Just like eating, after a run or a good workout you have that instant gratification. No matter your age or health, at the very least you can slowly increase your activity level. Looking at the big picture... I feel the underlying issue is that people with anxiety are more prone to becoming addicted to instant gratification things because we use them as a momentary escape from our anxiety and our issues. It would be so easy for me to fall into the trap of smoking (been there and exercising finally forced me to quit), drinking or drugs. In terms of health, I think we're all better off grabbing for that extra serving of food than reaching for the booze, cigs or drugs.