Food Addiction--New for 2008

[duece49424]

harley and baby... I have not officially started any particular diet. Wondering about Atkins but, found out there are several - Atkins 72?? What diet are you starting and what diet are you on. I came back to the computer one more time tonight as I am looking for an e-mail from my foster child who just graduated and I brought him to chicago on Monday. He just got a job in Alaska at a national park for the summer. Anxious to hear how he is doing. Been involved with kids for so many years, mentoring and so on, need to fix myself now...

[Babymama]

Went to bed early last night woke up once with that same feeling of wanting to binge then I thought of you and told myself to be strong. Then Iasked myself why I wanted to eat was I really hungry, I ended up eating a peice of cheese and drinking some chicken broth to fill my stomach. I really believe that subconsciously(probably misspelled too early) we are eating like this because we are trying to feel a lonely void in our life, on top of that there are other crisis that we've had to deal with. I mean if you ask yourself would you be eating liike that at night if someone else was there? I've been trying to do Atkins 72 for the last week and hopefully by the third week I can start eating more than meat eggs and flaxmeal. But it seems to be working. Although I have discovered I can't eat sf jello or cream cheese or peanut butter, all slow weight loss down. Especially cream cheese, no control! But I plan on trying some of the products on carbsmart by the third week because I know this will get old, But I can hold out and be strong as long as I don't mess up and binge at night. When I would binge I would eat a whole pack of creamcheese By itself, or eat a half a chicken or a whole bag of porkrinds. By nightfall I usually have already reached by carb limit for the day so those binges would usually put me over. But I just tell myself that tommorrow will be a better day, that and prayer helps I pray to be a stronger woman in everything I do. Mind Power is the key to this, people should excersice there mind and then work on their body. Well thats enough rambling TTYL

[Pcola Girl]

BabyMama, I know you can stop those binges, just keep reminding yourself that you are losing the weight for you. Think of how beautiful you are going to look to when you lose it. Think of all the nice pretty clothes you will be buying when you lose the weight.
Don't let that food control you, you control it I know you can.

I keep cheeses cut up in cubes in my fridge and I make those little ham rollups with cream cheese and green onions always in the fridge. I just have one or two when I get the urge to eat. Try keeping something you like that is low carb, in the fridge ready for snacking. This will keep you from searching the kitchen for just anything you can find to eat.
I drink green ice tea in between my meals to so my stomach will not get entirely empty so that I get to hungry. Try this sometimes to see if it will help you.

I know we all love cream chees and can over eat it to at times but make something with it so its not sitting there in the package, I make the cream cheese and jello moouse alot. Keep some of that to snack on between meals. If you don't have the recipe I can find it for you but I think its on here in the recipe site.
You mention about filling a void in our life is why maybe we eat like we do, binging and all. I have often ate to fill a void so that is true for me.
I just get so lonely because I cannot get out like I once did with all my arthritis, I hurt so bad when I walk, my knees kill me in spite of the medication and pain medication I take for it, so I turned to eating but I am trying now my best to get over that and do something more constructive with my time in the house. My husband works all day until about 6:00 everyday so I am home alone, cannot do much driving anymore so I stay in the house. I have lately been going to sit on our patio out by the pool and soaking up the sun and trying to learn to relax better and I feel that is helping me alot to control my eating habit.

I do have friends but everyone of them work all day, may called me sometimes but thats all. I mostly see them at church though on Sunday.
But I am learning to do more in spite of my health problems and to control my eating to.

Will see you all later. Hope everyone else is doing good with their eating. I know we cannot be perfect with it, I knopw I sure am not, so I have just decided that if I do eat wrong sometimes I will make up for it the next day. I am not going to get stressed out if I goof up anymore.
Take care.

[duece49424]

Mary - good advice.....not much time time, but I'll write back later.

Babymama......we'll talk later..hope you have a good day and we can exchange number..
I had to work a double shift at the cafe I work at, so I was gone from 5 am until 11 pm last night....tired this morning...need to catch up and I'm waiting for my daughter to come over for breakfast. I know we have so much in common and I am sure, there are more people out there that have been in our shoes, and, maybe found what helped them. I think the "lonely" part you talked about is a big part of it for me, as I think I have avoided thinking about that. Just tried dealing with my kids, foster kids, kids I am mentoring and never thinking about myself, the loss of my husband and dad....I turn to food for just the comfort of what I am missing - maybe that's part of it..still trying to figure it out. Gotta run now, I'll be back later....

[Star123]

Morning,

Just wanted to say good morning to you all. I've been struggling with my addiction, but I'm determined to get to abstinence this week.Today is the start of a new week and I'm aiming for a clean week ahead.

You'll have a great day!!!

[Sugar Free Franny]

Well, today is indeed a new day. I have been off and on for the last few months now and I know it is because I seem to convince myself that I can have what I want on the weekend. So, starting Friday nights I decide to have a slice of pizza or a cookie or whatever it is that I am not supposed to be having. It just goes from there.

I believe my addiction also has to do with filling a void. Sometimes it's just because I am being greedy and I think that I am missing out on eating what everyone else is eating. Last week it was my daughter's graduation ice cream cake. I start feeling sorry for myself that I can't have any and then I make a DECISION to have a "little". That doesn't go over well at all. Yesterday it was all the junk food at the Father's Day picnic. I can always find something that I can eat, but I make the CHOICE to eat what I can't eat. This cycle of binging is definitely my ADDICTION. Some people binge drink or other vices.

I just need to remember that I have so many food choices. I don't need to hurt my body with bad carbs. When I stay away from the bad carbs I don't even crave them. It takes a couple of days, but it truly works. I just need to remember that.

God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can and Wisdom to know the difference...

Thank you all for being here.

[Pcola Girl]

Hello everyone, wanted to check in and see how everyone is doing.

Food addiction is hard to break so don't get up-set when you may eat something wrong. Just try next tie when you are eating to eat right, what ever diet you may be on. Do not deprive yourself of the foods you want, but just eat a little of it and don't over indulge or binge on it.

Have anyone of you ever watched skinny people eat? They talk more than they eat or they pick at their food and take tiny bites. I have noticed this so much when we eat out in public. Next time you go out to eat watch the skinny people eat. (Don't stare) but just take a glimpse every now and then at them.
You can learn to eat like that to but it will take time to break this bad habit we have of over-eating.
I think this is a learned habit that we develop over the years and we don't think about what it is doing to our bodies until we are so fat that then we notice it and want to get it off us.
By then its has developed into a habit (like maybe we would be on if we were on drugs.)
We find ourselves that we cannot resist the temptation of food when it is around us or not. Our mind seems to focus on on thing FOOD and we don't seem to care what kind of food it is. Its like we get a high from FOOD.
We have to break that habit, how I am not sure because I am addicted to it just like you all are. I have tried everything possible and I still cannot lose my weight. I try to tell myself that I can do it and I do good for a while and then I fall back into my old routine way of eating. Why I am not sure but I think mine is due to a void in my life and I cannot seem to find what that void is.

I wish there was a magic way to lose the weight but there isn't. So we all just have to accept the fact that we are addicted to food and find in our own way what it takes to break that addiction.
When we do then maybe we can lose the weight and keep it off.

You all take care and I will check back in with you all later.
Good luck with yoiur eating.

[Babymama]

Originally Posted by Pcola Girl

Hello everyone, wanted to check in and see how everyone is doing.

Food addiction is hard to break so don't get up-set when you may eat something wrong. Just try next tie when you are eating to eat right, what ever diet you may be on. Do not deprive yourself of the foods you want, but just eat a little of it and don't over indulge or binge on it.

Have anyone of you ever watched skinny people eat? They talk more than they eat or they pick at their food and take tiny bites. I have noticed this so much when we eat out in public. Next time you go out to eat watch the skinny people eat. (Don't stare) but just take a glimpse every now and then at them.
You can learn to eat like that to but it will take time to break this bad habit we have of over-eating.
I think this is a learned habit that we develop over the years and we don't think about what it is doing to our bodies until we are so fat that then we notice it and want to get it off us.
By then its has developed into a habit (like maybe we would be on if we were on drugs.)
We find ourselves that we cannot resist the temptation of food when it is around us or not. Our mind seems to focus on on thing FOOD and we don't seem to care what kind of food it is. Its like we get a high from FOOD.
We have to break that habit, how I am not sure because I am addicted to it just like you all are. I have tried everything possible and I still cannot lose my weight. I try to tell myself that I can do it and I do good for a while and then I fall back into my old routine way of eating. Why I am not sure but I think mine is due to a void in my life and I cannot seem to find what that void is.

I wish there was a magic way to lose the weight but there isn't. So we all just have to accept the fact that we are addicted to food and find in our own way what it takes to break that addiction.
When we do then maybe we can lose the weight and keep it off.

You all take care and I will check back in with you all later.
Good luck with yoiur eating.

Hello to all-Thanks for the encouragement. Well I have some good news, since I've started atkins 2 weeks ago I've lost 12 pounds! Even though I ate a whole 16oz bowl of cream cheese the night be before last. I am done with cream cheese and I'm no longer going to buy it for a very long time. But luckily I still lost and only 10 more pounds to go till I try maintnance. Well going to excercise TTYL

[duece49424]

congrats - babymama....sorry I haven't written...losing 10 pounds is so good! I can't even stop binging to get on a diet. Going to keep trying to start the induction, but I start out okay everyday, then something comes along and I can't control myself and away I go..back in the same rut.....I am a mess....I need something to follow, maybe an exact diet, I don't know...working on it all...

[Pcola Girl]

You all are doing good with the weight loss. Don't be so hard on yourself.
Jane , are you not following any specific diet plan or are you just eating less?
You have to find a way to get out of the rut you are in. It hard to do but in order to stop going back to that rut all the time you have to focus on your eating right more and find ways to do it. If it takes a specific diet plan to do it then go for it. I to have fallen many times back into my old rut but finds ways to stop that routine. When I feel myself falling back to it I get out and do things to keep my mind off food. Try that sometimes, it helps more than you think.

BabyMama. if the cream cheese is your downfall stop buying it ok. I had to do that with cream cheese because like you I went crazy eating it, couldn't stop. I only buy it now when I make my jello moouse for desert. Have you ever made it?
Buy you some pork rinds or nuts and put a few in those tiny smallest baggies and eat only that for a snack. I mean eat only one baggies at a time and hide the others out of sight. I do all sorts of crazy things like that to keep me from eating.

SugarFree Franny you are doing great. There are so many foods out now that we can eat and do not have to eat those bad carbs anymore. Are you eating your vegetables and grilling or baking all your meats? Cut back on the salt to if you eat that. I buy the Mortons Lite Salt, it has half the sodium as regular salt does. I have to watch my salt intake because I swell up to much.

Girls I am here anytime so post often and let me know how you are doing. i think all of you are doing great.

[duece49424]

Mary - I went on e-bay and have sent for several of Dr. A books...hoping to start the induction as it seems most people do well with that. Nighttime is the worse for me. I get so upset with myself the next day. Besides, I have some food allergies, which I understand now, are the ones that I crave. I found that out about a month ago. I keep reading and researching. Gotta get to my second job, be back later......

[Sugar Free Franny]

Thanks Mary for the tip on salt. I don't cook with much salt, but as we know, those processed foods have plenty.

I feel I am doing very well eventhough I did have some tortilla chips and brown rice yesterday. I did not eat late and I did not over eat.

I am also making sure that I get some exercise every single day regardless of what it is. I know this is also key to my success at being healthy.

Congrats on the loss Baby Mama. It feels so good to see the scale move or feel smaller in my clothes.

Thanks for all being here.

[Sugar Free Franny]

I am trying to stay accountable for my eating this weekend. This is perhaps the hardest time for me. So far so good. I will be with my sister this afternoon and she struggles in the same as me with food except she is more committed to exercise so when we get together she and I usually "blow it". So, this will be a challenge for me. I am willing to stay strong and do my best to make good choices when we go out to eat.

Hope everyone does well today. Have a great weekend.

[Pcola Girl]

Sorry to have been away but I have been sick with streph throat since last Wednesday. My doctor put me on antibotics and something for the nausea to. Took tylenol for the fever and now just today beginning to feel better. I mean I felt like heck to with this sore throat.
They did a throat culture and it came out positive for streph. I just know it hurt so bad I could barely swallow water.
I am doing better today though and eating some now. Was just drinking liquids because it hurt to bad to swallow food.

Hope all of you have been doing well while I was away. Missed you all.

[Pcola Girl]

Where is everyone? Miss you all.
I am still struggling with my eating and cannot seem to get out of this rut I am in. I need your help and support so come back and post ok.

I wish I could just eat normal and not have to fight with what I eat during the day but I can't, I try hard to but I cannot seem to do it right.

I do good for a few days maybe a few weeks and then I fall backwards again, why? Am I not doing something right or what?

I know in my mind I have to lose this weight but that does not even help me, am I just crazy or something? Will I ever be able to eat like a normal person does?

I am tired of looking like I do and living with all this fat on me, its embrassing as well as unhealthful.
I wish I could get a doctor to understand what I am going through. They all just tell me to not eat so much and put me on a 1200 calorie aday diet plan that no one can sticvk to.

Got to go for now, will check back in later with you.

[duece49424]

Mary - I know exactly how you feel. I have stopped telling my friends I'm on "another" diet, as their remarks are always - "again"?? I am actually selling my house to move away from everyone I know, to start over. I don't do anything and I don't know what's wrong with me either. I do know, if I could do the low carb without cheating, I would go into ketosis and then I understand your urges go away. But, I do feel that i am different than most people. I need to eat all the time. I have 2 or 3 jobs, keep busy, and start a new diet every day. I will say, for some reason, I did pretty good yesterday, and pretty good today so far. I would get up out of my sleep at night and go eat anything I could find. I would get up in the morning and find all these wrappers by my bed and wonder why I did what I did. It is totally crazy.. keep writing and we will all help each other.

[Pcola Girl]

Today is a bad day for me as far as my eating goes. I had a glass of milk this morning for breakfast. Lunch was a left over sweet potato and steak we had for supper last night. But I had the urge to eat some cookies this afternoon. Wish my hubby did not buy those things, he knows how hard they are for me to resist. I just feel bad about myself today thats all.
I feel fat and ugly to.Just having another down day thats all. I don't like feeling like this but I get this way so often. I hate being around people when I feel like this.
Everyone knows I am trying to lose weight but yet they are always wanting to take me out to eat at places that do not have low carb or they bring me lunch to the house. Its always something to get me to eat wrong, its like I am being tempted by the devil himself. Why does everything have to revolve around food......
Sometimes at night I go to bed really early just so I will not be tempted to snack before I go to bed. And it seems everytime I turn on the tv there is a food advertisement. I hate them..........I want to eat when I see them...

Maybe tomorrow I will feel better about myself. Sure hope so. Can't stand feeling like this and it all revolves around food and my weight making me feel so down all the time. I have to find a way to get out of this rut I have been in for so long with my weight. There has to be a way out. Everytime I try to diet it gets sabotaged by something even when I try my best to fight against it.

Got to go for now. see ya all later.

[Sugar Free Franny]

Hey Mary,

I am feeling what you are talking about. My last few weeks have been up and down. I most certainly haven't lost anything, in fact, I gained a couple of pounds

The most important thing that I do for myself though is realize that I have an addiction. Being down on me is the worst thing I can do. No one in the world could make me feel better or do better except me with the help of my Higher Power. No one will ever truly care about me as much as I care about me.

We have the tools on how to lose this extra weight. We know we need to stay away from sugar/white flour etc. If we just take it one day at a time, heck, one minute at a time we will do lots better for ourselves. If we are down on ourselves we are setting ourselves up to not take care of us. If we can make it through one meal eating well we have accomplished something miraculous. That one good meal will make us want one more good meal.

Going to bed hungry feels good too. I never feel good when I eat before I go to bed. Never. When I wake up in the morning the first thing on my mind is what I am going to eat. I make the choice to put that cookie in my mouth, or not.

Sometimes I feel that summertime is the hardest time to be overweight. Even when we are trying to be healthy we have others that were already healthy and look smaller then us. That's ok. We aren't perfect. We aren't meant to be perfect. There is, however, something very imperfectly special about all of us here. We are reaching out. Just because someone has the "willpower" to not eat that cookie or be a size 2 doesn't mean they have everything. Everyone has their addiction or issue.

I am very grateful for where I am today. I may not be the size I think I want to be, but I am making an effort to care for myself. WE all are. Everytime we make a good choice we need to pat ourselves on the back. When we don't make a good choice we need to be their for us even more. IF we aren't no one else will.

[Pcola Girl]

Found this article and thought it was interesting and wanted to share it with you all here.
I still am not doing well with my eating, cannot get over this down time I am experiencing right now for some reason. I really have no reason in being feeling like I do, its like it just came upon me and won't leave. I am just down and feeling like I am ugly and fat thats all. I know its just me because I know my hubby loves me just like I am, he has done everything in his power to perk me up, he brought me a pretty potted plant home yesterday to cheer me up because he knows I love flowers.
I hate feeling like this. I have talked once to my doctor not long ago about me getting down like this and if I could be put on some sort of depression medication but he says I don't need anything. Sometimes I feel like I am going out of my mind.
Trying to keep from feeling bad this morning I got up and washed clothes, and did some things around the house I needed to do. I feel better when I keep busy.
Hope you enjoy this article. I found it when I was web browsing onh what makes me want to eat like I do and on obesity to.

Enjoy......

________________________________________________
"Food Addiction – Are You a Food Addict?"

Food addiction is a contemporary term used to describe a pathological disorder; the compulsive, excessive craving for and consumption of food. This condition is not only manifested by the abnormal intake of food, but the intake and craving for foods that are, in themselves, harmful to the individual. While society and the medical profession have readily understood alcoholism and drug abuse, it is only in recent years that there is an equal acceptance of the fact that persons may be addicted to food in the same way. When any substance is taken into the body regardless of its potential for harm or in excess of need, that substance is said to be abused. Individuals who abuse substances in such a way are addicts; these persons become physiologically and mentally dependent upon certain substances, in this case food.

One need only ask themselves a few key questions to determine his or her addiction:

Do you eat when you are not hungry or when you feel low or depressed?
Do you eat in secret or eat differently in front of others than when you’re alone?
Do you consume inordinate amounts of food and then purge later with vomiting or laxatives to get rid of the excess?
Are there foods that are harmful to you, but you eat them anyway?
Do you feel guilty after eating?
If you can answer yes to any of these questions than you are likely addicted to food.

Food Addiction – Causes and Manifestations
Food addiction, as with any other addiction, is a loss of control. The individual understands that their way of eating is harmful, but continues the destructive behavior. The phenomenon of food addiction is both physiological and psychological.

Many individuals have what may be termed “food allergies.” These are trigger foods which when ingested cause negative symptoms and changes in the body but at the same time provoke cravings. The individual, for instance, the diabetic, may be made “sick” by the intake of sugar, but will still continue to crave it and eat it in excess, with adverse effects. Studies are also continuing regarding certain proteins in milk and wheat which when ingested produce narcotic-like effects. These chemicals mimic the body’s natural painkillers, endorphins, and have thus been termed “exorphins.” Individuals may be suffering from depression, low self-esteem or loneliness; they will find a high when ingesting large quantities of food or certain foods such as salt or chocolate. The immediate high gives way to a sick feeling or guilt, leading to more depression. Because the addict is out of control, he or she will turn once again to the same eating patterns in a conscious or unconscious effort to feel better.

Food addicts come equally from all age, race, and gender groups. They are overweight, underweight, and some of normal weight. They are linked by their obsession with food. The obese individual suffers humiliation due to excess weight; they may be lethargic and sedentary unable to move around freely. The underweight person may be bulimic; though they eat obsessively, they are so afraid of becoming overweight that they will induce vomiting, take laxatives, or exercise compulsively to prevent weight gain. They may also alternate with periods of anorexia, reframing from food to control their weight. The person of normal weight while appearing normal may be obsessed with food, constantly thinking about what to eat or how much they weigh. The entire subject of food is a misery to them; they count calories compulsively, eating without enjoyment.

Food Addiction – Is There Any Hope for Recovery?
Food addiction is a serious condition with many adverse health consequences. Obesity, psychological disorders, diabetes, and gastric anomalies are just a few.

The first step to recovery is, of course, the realization and acceptance of the problem. Medically, individuals must identify which foods -- the trigger foods -- cause allergic symptoms and cravings.

There is no easy way to combat food addiction; it will require intense discipline in modifying eating patterns and lifestyle. A manageable exercise program should be embraced along with dietary changes that may be maintained. Ambitious attempts to change eating patterns abruptly or to lose weight quickly rarely have long-term success.

[Pcola Girl]

Where is everyone? miss ya..

[Catri]

Hiya! I'm new to this forum and have been peeking around and this thread caught my attention because while I don't know if I'm actually addicted to food it definitely is a something that is a big part of my life. However just now looking at the entry about food addictions I identify with a lot of what was written. So that answers that question...

When looking back at certain periods of my life I often assoicate them with food, for example, looking back on the good parts of my last school year (freshmen year, joy) I think of starbucks after school.

I guess in general, I associate comfort with food. And comfort is very important to me, even though, in theory, I would like to be an adventure seeking person, that's just not who I am. So yeah. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing or neutral. All in all it's just confusing.

[Sugar Free Franny]

Hey everyone,

I am still here. I was on vacation last week and have finally got caught up on laundry, only to get behind again. That's ok. Vacation was nice. I ate as I normally do focusing on healthy foods including good carbs like vegetables, some fruits and whole grains.

I have not got on the scale for about 2 weeks now. I start to feel that fear of the scale. Eventhough I am doing "ok" with my eating, I know that I am not really "dieting". I don't want to diet. I just want to be healthy and it gets so frustrating for me that it seems the only way I can be slim is by being on a diet. Measuring food is so difficult for me to do. I want to eat intuitivly. Is that too much to ask? I know what foods are good, don't I? I feel that I need to build confidence in myself and trust that I will make the right choices in my eating and exercise regiman. This is the journey I am on.

Bless us all with wisdom, courage and self love. Hope everyone is doing well.

[Pcola Girl]

Glad to see you ba