Food Addiction

I have known this for quite some time but finally admitted it to myself.

I have a food addiction.

I eat when I'm sad, when I'm happy, when I'm bored, when I feel nothing, to punish myself, to treat myself or just whenever I have a spare minute.

Has anyone else realised they are addicted to food and if so, how did you overcome it? It's not like you can get a patch or take a pill for it.

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unknown

you need to address the emotional, mental, etc isses that are driving you to eat when happy, sad etc. This appears more to from some deep seeded phsycological issues, not from food addiction.

unknown

ndj1979 wrote: »

you need to address the emotional, mental, etc isses that are driving you to eat when happy, sad etc. This appears more to from some deep seeded phsycological issues, not from food addiction.

Yeah, this is usually what triggers it. For me it was excessive stress and I'd turn to food for comfort.

unknown

I am addicted to food. I feel like I will die without it...oh wait....

No seriously, I think of this as having unhealthy behavioral patterns central around food. But whatever you call it the issues are pretty common.

unknown

Yeah, I call it emotional or stress eating, but it's definitely common.

There's a group here for it: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1012-emotional-eating

It's a matter of finding other ways to cope with the unpleasant feelings or situations and also recognizing the triggers that interfere with your will power and how to be prepared for them. It's an ongoing issue for me, but I found that trying to be very mindful, journaling, and forcing myself to feel the darn feelings helped, although that sounds cringeworthily woo when I write it.

Having other things lined up for particular situations can help--like if bored planning a week's worth of menus, if stressed listen to music or take a walk, if you are used to eating while sitting in a particular chair and watching TV do something else or sit elsewhere (little things can matter a lot).

For me having a hard rule for a while that I ate only at mealtimes was really helpful, although now that I'm super close to goal I'm finding it more challenging again.

unknown

I find I have this problem as well, and more people have this problem than they care to admit. I know people not struggling with their weight that still eat when they are upset, or bored. I'm not saying it's right, but it's definitely something that many of us struggle with so you're not alone. Food is something we all need to be healthy, we all need to eat, but many of us have struggles with healthy eating behaviors.

Now onto my own story; I definitely had/have problems binge eating. I still want to binge eat some days or just eat when I'm upset or bored. Cognitive based therapies definitely help but not everyone has those resources; the key to them though is recognizing your behavior patterns, allow yourself to feel those emotions and replacing your go to responses to these emotions. Self awareness is key to this whole process and it's not easy; some days you may fail but there is always tomorrow. In the evenings are the worst for me so I tried to always drink a large glass of water (about 25oz glass) and to just wait to before I go to the fridge. Just eating a cookie or some cheese when I'm feeling binge-y can trigger an avalanche so I replace these things with other things that are not food related in any way. I won't come on here unless it's to read my own profile or my own progress so far because thinking about food doesn't help. I may just go online and play games or go for a little walk (nothing too physically intense).

unknown

Unless you've been diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder, it's unlikely that you have what's coming to possibly be thought of as possible true food addiction for those suffering from that behavior disorder -- and this thinking is still controversial. I'm trying to be generous here since some people diagnosed with BED do find an addiction model helpful in their recovery. Please note that clinical BED is not the same as eating your way through a box of cookies.

What you do suffer from is emotional/stress eating. Go to the group lemurcat posted. There should be some good help there.