Struggling with a food addiction...

LilMsEnergy1

💭 snacking at work might have more to do with work than the snack xx

rheddmobile

Congrats on losing the 50 lbs!

In one sense losing the weight is the easy part - learning how to eat for the rest of your life is the hard part. Which is why diets like Herbalife have poor rates of long term success. The good news is you are on top of this and ready to learn the hard part!

You don't need to eat "clean" to stay in a deficit, although for many people it helps since processed foods are often high calorie and unsatisfying. What matters is eating food that will keep you happy and healthy within your calorie goals. Food prep is a great tool, and so is portion control, particularly for someone like you who has to be around temptation all day. It can also be really helpful to get enough exercise to earn enough calories for special treats. Instead of trying to tough it out and never eat the tempting food, plan ahead and give yourself permission to fit it into your goals occasionally. You will have to do this forever, so it's best to find a way of eating which makes you happy!

Diatonic12

It's good to take full responsibility for food addiction. But I don't know if you really brought it all upon yourself. Because, genetics. Leptin, insulin resistance. Environment. Looking back into our pasts, childhoods for clues. School careers. Peer pressure. There are so many variables and some of them come down to medical histories in our families. T1 and T2. Thyroid imbalances.

We can plan and food prep until the cows come home but that doesn't cure a food addiction, binge eating or disordered eating. It can flip the switch and slow down the decision making process. Alcoholics share many of the same struggles. Just the mere clink of ice cubes in a clear glass can set them off. Food addiction. There's far more research to be explored.

try2again

KelseyABarbosa wrote: »

100_PROOF_ wrote: »

We are humans so I guess you could say we are all addicted to food being that we need it to live.

Going on fad diets and multi level marketing scams isn't the way to Long term success. It'll just lead you down the rabbit hole.

If you want lasting success, you'll have to actually work for it. Learning portion control and moderation helped set me up for long term success. Things like multi level marketing scams won't do any good for the long term.

I plan on getting off Herbalife to try and live a normal eating (clean eating) life.

It's been touched on, but a little repetition for emphasis can't hurt: as long as you continue to be guided by the notion that you have to eat a certain way to lose weight & be healthy, you will likely struggle.

No one needs to overhaul their diet to lose weight. Set up your MFP profile and pick a weight loss rate of 1 lb week (if you are obese, you may be able to support 1.5 or 2 lbs a week, but you don't have to- aim for a comfortable level of calories that you can stick with for a long time). Strive for a balanced diet that includes foods you enjoy, but make your focus staying within your calorie allowance. Here's what should ideally happen: as you go along, you'll discover certain foods don't satisfy you enough to be worth the calorie "cost". So you'll likely start looking for swaps that you enjoy that keep you satisfied longer & help you meet your calorie goal. You might discover new foods or products you enjoy and maybe start experimenting in the kitchen. You'll discover that with planning, most days you can slip a little (or big) treat in there and not feel the least bit guilty about it (once you've met your nutritional needs for the day, there's no extra credit for more broccoli). Your diet will be enjoyable and flexible and something you can do indefinitely. Which is good, because once you lose the weight, you want to be able to eat the exact same way, just with a little more calories to work with. This is a lifelong project, and people enjoy the most success when they view it that way and don't try to deprive themselves or change everything overnight.

You know, food tastes really good. Most of us are here because we really love food and like to eat more of it than we should. We've gotten out of the habit of telling ourselves "no", and maybe have lost the desire to do so. Slowly building new habits is helpful, because it's not overwhelming and eventually we won't have to make a difficult choice every time, it will just be a habit. You might want to consider reading The Beck Diet Solution book. It's not a diet, or way of eating, but discusses cognitive behavioral therapy as it pertains to weight loss- identifying and changing the thoughts that lead us to make bad choices about food.

Wish you the best