Are most obese people addicted to food or do they

JennsLosing

i was never addicted to food. i would eat out of boredom and eat because it tasted so damn good.

ak_in_ak

I was always over weight, I was 225 in 5th grade. My parents opened a restaurant around 3rd grade and we would eat what ever we wanted there. Even then I always drank diet coke. In the summers we just stayed at home by ourselves while my parents where at the restaurant. They closed the restaurant in 5th or 6th grade and were broke. Then I started eating due to depression, I was so worried about my family's finances. I do believe food is an addiction, but for me it was more physical than mental. Something finally clicked where I realized I have control.

melsinct

I was never technically obese, but I was 30 pounds overweight. I have no addiction issues or internal struggles that made me fat. I simply love to cook and love to eat.

Higglyjiggly64

I truly don't know why I struggle so much. Maybe just weak? Low self esteem? Poor self control? LOVE food? I don't know. It has just been my problem forever. Some people smoke, or drink, gamble, do drugs...I eat. Also, I do not exercise like I should. HATE to exercise. Ugh. Don't know why...this is just me. :huh:

This is me. I was thin until my late 30's. Then, I just didn't care. Stuffed my face, kids were older, so they didn't need me to play with them and keep them active. Worked third shift. Basically just went to pot. Love being on MFP, but still having some binging issues now and again. So, not an addiction issue, but definitely emotion/psychological?

drrif

I am a geneticist. There are some links to genetics, certain markers that make a person more prone to be obese, but I am afraid most of it is due to habits. I do feel a bit sorry for all the Americans on this site, the US food industry is awesome, if I lived in the US the huge temptation and accessibility to high cal food would be very hard to resist!

saadler

For me it's because I was raised in a family where food was a big part of our culture -- it was about eating A LOT at every gathering, which then turned into just eating a lot in general. Most of our events focus around food (brunch at my uncle's house, dinner at my grandmother's, etc.) and so I've always associated food with family and happiness and until I got so big and realized it was a problem I always thought it was awesome I could eat so much as a girl.

So I just love food. It's not that I'm addicted. It's that I just love that part of my life. I look forward to meals. I just need to think before I eat so I can be healthy.

lkmisztela

i was never addicted to food. i would eat out of boredom and eat because it tasted so damn good.

I think this comes the closest to where I was.

Also, when it got to a certain point, I just *didn't care anymore*. I was already so fat, what was the point? Eating was fun, I like food, I can cook well, I would just eat large portions of everything all of the time. It wasn't an addiction, per se, I just let it all happen. I would buy and eat whatever I wanted. I knew it wasn't the right way to eat, but it didn't matter to me anymore. I knew that it would make me gain weight to eat what I was eating, but I didn't care what happened to me. I think in hindsight, I was very depressed. I don't know if it was the weight making me eat more and not care, or just life making me depressed and thus not care about anything else. But this went on as long as I can remember - from my early 20's onward. I lost weight briefly after my first child was born - went as far down as 205, then went back up again.

I'm not sure what changed, exactly, but on New Year's Eve, the number on the scale really GOT to me. I cared, finally. I didn't want to live the rest of my life feeling awful and physically and mentally.

DropsOJupiter

Speaking for me only, i know that I was an emotional eater and a food addict. I can be perfectly full post dinner, then something happens or doesn't happen, and the next thing I know, I am in the pantry/refrigerator, ramming food in my mouth. In a good binge, I could consume 3000+ calories easily. I call it trying to fill a hole with food rather than feel the emotions, which never works. Although I've processed a lot of these issues, it still rears its ugly head now and again.

If you are interested in food addictions, there was a reality program about it called "Addicted to Food." All the episodes are available on line, focusing on 8 folks who check into a rehabilitation center with a range of eating disorders, from bulimia to over eating. There are also a lot of resources listed that may interest you.

I also agree that there is a genetic component, but feel that it mostly is that, over time, we in the US have moved from growing and eating healthy food, to driving and ramming huge portions of sodium and fat laden processed foods. It is good that restaurants are increasingly now looking at providing some healthier components. I haven't eaten fast food but 1 time on my weight loss journey and won't resume that habit ever again.

Interesting topic....thanks for bringing it up for discussion.

FairyMiss

i am not in any way addicted to food, nor do i really eat a whole lot. I have just been know to make poor choices

adrian_indy

1. My family owned a restaurant growing up and I was never educated on nutrition.

2. I am hyper active at times and can eat when I am bored.

3. I went from an extremely active lifestyle (Army) to a sedentary one no longer burned calories at the same rate.

4. Was on anti-depressant whih made me gain big time.

5. I quit smoking about 2 years ago.

6. I naturally have a slower metabolism. I can pack on muscle easily, but I also pack on the fat just as easy.

7. Injuries to my foot and back kept me from running.

8. Had a PE about 2 years ago and was sidelined for a while

9. Developed adult asthma.

10. I have never counted calories and never controlled my portion sizes.

11. Went on several starvation diets quickly losing weight but eventually gaining it back and then some.

12. I centered all social activity, friends and family, around where we were eating and when.

13. Worked in sales for a while and ate out instead of home cooked meals often.

14 Drank inhuman amounts of calories through alcohol, frozen drinks (Frozen Coke is my favorite, also Dairy Queen Mocha Moolattte), and pop. Even when I changed to diet, the amount of Diet Pepsi I drank made my sodium levels of the charts.

15. Refused to do cardio or medium or high reps when weight training, only did heavy low reps.

16. Went off my Anti-depressants cold turkey like an idiot and crashed my system ( laid on a couch for 6 months).

17. Lost all self respect and refused to look in the mirror or acknowledge I had gained 100 lbs of fat in a very short amount of time.

18. Never Never Never ate veggies or fruit.

19. Always ate flour products and never wheat or healthier breads, pastas, ect.

20. Always order and appetizer when I ate out, even if I was alone. I would go to Applebee's and order the Nacho appetizer, then get the Boneless Buffalo Wings with Honey Bbq and a side of fries. Holy crap.

That's all I could think of.

ACowboyKid

For me? Well I am very hyper and am usually bouncing around the place. I love sweets too but have always eaten a lower amount of calories. Except I will snack when I'm bored and I honestly can't tell much of a difference from when I am hungry and when I am not.

Being a boredom eater and having ADHD made things difficult for me in middle school and high school because I was always grounded or my mom wouldn't allow me to go out and play. In elementary school I wasn't allowed out of the house until after she got home. So if I got out at 3 then I'd be waiting in the house until 8p when it would be far too late to go out. Middle school I wasn't allowed out until my grades were raised except moving schools to one that was a year ahead of the other meant I missed some big lessons. Then eventually I gave up in school and by high school was always grounded for skipping or getting expelled for skipping because I took that time to see friends. For a period of time I'd sneak out and joined my schools rugby team where I dropped 40lbs just from the activity and started walking to and from school just so I could see my friends (was about a mile to two mile walk each way). Except when my mom caught on I then wasn't allowed out again and was being watched more.

Then in college I was in a very bad relationship which I'm now out of. Early was a social thing by this point. It was always "let's go meet ____ for lunch and then ____ for dinner." I began to pack on weight again with this type of environment and was quite stressed with my relationship. Once the relationship ended I dropped about 30lbs and then gained a bit back while in a new relationship with someone who eats all the time but is super thin no matter what, adapted to a vey busy schedule juggling work and school, and shifting to working overnight.

I feel like since realizing that I don't have to eat when my girlfriend does and making sure I sleep more than 6 hours I've lost weight. I've also tried to work out a lot more since I am high energy and need an outlet otherwise i'll have bad anxiety and pick fights with those around me subconsciously out of boredom. It's not really the food other than eating when I'm not hungry because I'm bored or its social. Mainly it's the activity. And dear god I feel so bad for those around me which have to deal with me when I miss a day of working out.

annacataldo

I wouldn't say I've ever been addicted to food...I've never binged eat on a bad day, or ate tell I puked or anything...its all about portions. When I first started here, I was hungry allll the time, and it was extremely hard to meet my 1800 calories a day cuz I was so hungry...but after a week or two, my body adjusted and I've been fine ever since... so before I was used to eating big portions and if I ever tried to not eat as much, it'd be starving and I couldn't make it a day without overeating...but when I got on here and had a visual of calories and not wanting red numbers, I stuck it about, and now I can't even imagine eating 1800 calories a day, or more like I was eating just a couple/few months ago...

Big thing for me too was convenience...not wanting to take time to cook and going to mcdonalds for two meals a day cuz I didn't wanna take the time for breakfast and get lunch together before I left for work...usually made dinner, but also went out with boyfriend quite a bit to various places, ordering big meals, not caring about calories/fat...just cuz I was too lazy to do a lil bit of cooking (mainly cuz I didn't wanna do the dishes& cleaning afterwards)...

If convenience places, like mcdonalds, didn't exist, and we had to cook everything, I wouldn't have put on 100lbs... I've always been overweight since I was little...I always remember being hungry...going to school and eating lunch but it not being enough to fill me and buying more items, etc... I had a good childhood, nothing tramatic or anything...

candistyx

I think food addiction is possible BUT a lot of the time I find women especially use "emotional eating" as a thing to hide behind because for some reason it seems to be socially unacceptable for women to enjoy eating or have an appetite. But if it's some kind of emotional problem then that's acceptably feminine or something.

For instance I never have any problems with eating for emotional reasons when I am not on a diet, because when I am not on a diet I don't think about food, it's in the background of life, always there but in the background, but on a diet because I feel deprived then the second I am unhappy or angry or anything else the desire to put energy into forcing myself not to have the things I want goes away and suddenly it looks like I am emotionally eating, but I am no more emotionally eating than if I was trying really hard to do some math problems and someone made me angry and I no longer had the motivation to do my work that I would be emotionally not doing math. Not doing math doesn't help with emotion, but having emotional upsets sure stops me focusing on math (including the upset of being distractingly happy).

I think a lot of people who just feel hungry think that they eat for emotional reasons when really the emotion just reduces their ability to focus on not eating when they are hungry. Hunger is a drive after all like sex and breathing and going to the toilet. It takes a lot of effort to fight it, and the energy or motivation to do so might go away when other things come up.

NeonNikki

I am a geneticist. There are some links to genetics, certain markers that make a person more prone to be obese, but I am afraid most of it is due to habits. I do feel a bit sorry for all the Americans on this site, the US food industry is awesome, if I lived in the US the huge temptation and accessibility to high cal food would be very hard to resist!

I am so glad to here it is not all genetics. my whole family,extended as well-they are all overweight or obese. The only ones who are not are my siblings and I. All my aunts, parents, uncles...not my grandparents...
anyways-when ever I here someone say "It's my genes" I just think-well crap-then I'm doomed.

I do think it has something to do with low seretonin. (however it is spelled) Or some chemical imbalance. Most of my family is or has been on anti-depressants and my mom always told me she used to have a food addiction that she hid from us. And it makes sense because I read somewhere that those who are prone to anorexia have higher seretonin levels--too much of it, and when the get stressed they don't eat-and some how that lowers the levels. So I guess If your seretonin levels are too low then you want to balance them out with food.

Obviously I am not a doctor and this is kind of just what I tried to make sense out of what I have read and observed. But I would love Love LOVE to hear others opinions. --Is it a seretonin/addiction thing? And-am I doomed to follow my families fat footsteps are am I in control of my genes?

Thanks-good post!

TrishJimenez

I am speaking from the perspective of the daughter of an obese person. My mother was obese all my life. I remember being 14 and giving her a hug and not being able to get my arms to touch around her. Her whole family is obese since they were children, all her sisters, my uncle and my grandmother died of diabetes with she was 53. But my Mom never ate very much. I personally think her body was in starvation mode her whole life. She would starve herself and was not very active and then when she did eat her body stored it as fat for the next fast. She eventually had gastric bypass and then got really sick and did loose all the weight.

There is one thing I tell my mom thank you for all the time. And this is that she didnt pass it on to me and my sisters. From a very young age. She taught us to eat only until we were full. We could stop as soon as we felt the urge that we were satisfied. We never had to clean our plates. She never bought soda, candy, or sugary cereal and we only ate whole grain bread and snacks were all we could eat fruit and carrots. We could always get seconds of anything we wanted but we did have to finish all the vegetables and protein before we could get another baked potato. One day a week we would have a huge salad bar in our kitchen for dinner with chilled pasta baby shrimp and nuts and we all got to build our own huge plate of salad we loved it. And her efforts paid off. My cousins are all really over weight. But me and my sisters we only struggle with the little extra 15-20 lbs that every woman battles to keep off after having children or not really watching what we eat all the time. And I followed her example with my children also. They can have an apple baby carrots or a banana or any other kind of fruit that we have on hand with out even asking at any time of the day or night. They say YAY! when I bring home mangos or watermelon and they are all at a healthy weight. My mom broke the cycle, it was to late for her.

Her health still suffers to this day but I have fond memories of the "Popsicle's" she would make of sliced peeled cantaloupe that she would put in the freezer and we would eat frozen by the pool instead of sugary treats

xMissAprilx

I was just wondering that myself? I don't know whether I'd say I'm addicted to food or not, but I can say it is my "go to". I eat when I'm bored. I eat til I'm full and if someone brings up food in any way I too get hungry. I eat when I'm upset. But I'm going to try my best to not do that any longer.

zeeeb

how can you not be addicted to food? you have to have it every day... so everyone is addicted to it, but some people can control it better.

i don't know why i'm obese, i don't think i have a whole pile of massive psychological skeletons in my closet, i just love food, and even though i love exercise, i love food more...

DorkothyParker

I've never been obese, but I have been overweight/chubby a good deal of my life.
My life constantly feels centered around food. I love it. I think about it constantly. When I'm not eating it, I spend a lot of time looking at food porn. I fantasize about it. I just think about it constantly. When I was at my lowest in my eating disorder, the idea was similar, but the execution was a bit different. I would think about how I would avoid food. I would fantasize about chewing and spitting and plot ways of getting snack cakes without anyone seeing me. It was a battle between me and food and I planned to win.


I am mostly "better" now, but food has a great power over me. I like loving food. I will never become an "eat to live" person, because I will never try to be. I just need to focus on the difference between fantasy (binge-worthy foods) and reality (normal portions, healthful macro balancing).

I do have a life goal of eating a whole pie to myself someday. I know, I am mental.

WMG1137

I can't speak for every other obese person out there, I can only speak for me. My childhood was happy, I'm fairly well adjusted, comfortable with most aspects of my life. I don't blame genetics/addiction or anything but me. I'm the person who put the food in my mouth and I will tell you that I love food.

In the past, I've eaten or overindulged for every emotional reason, bored, stressed, happy, mad etc. BUT In the past I've also eaten or overindulged because I really, really like food. Not every meal has had the same motivation, and not every obese person has the same cause.

Until your message, I didn't realize that being obese has had a good side effect; it has taught me not to judge anyone by their size. I don't wonder about what causes a person who is skinny or what causes someone to be large. "Be kind, for everyone is fight their own hard battle"

Lyadeia

When I was at the point where I was considered obese, I simply loved the taste of "bad" foods and I ate them a lot. I mean, I love pepperoni pizza rolls which are bad enough as it is considering you have 1 serving size of them, but I loved them so much that I wanted to keep on tasting those yummy delights so I kept stuffing my face until I needed Tums...

I don't know if I was "addicted to food," but I just loved the taste and therefore wanted to keep tasting...

Even today, when I have my slip-ups, it's usually a huge meal that I won't stop eating because it tastes so durn good. There's no underlying deep meaningful cause or effect going on...I just like food.

And even though I am not obese anymore, and I can hardly be called fat either, this is still what trips me up with reaching my goals. I just love food, lol. This is a lifestyle change, and I have become quite a good cook learning how to make healthy versions of all my favorites, lol, so I don't overeat the "good" stuff and kill my results.

JodieLBradbury

I don't think you can generalise. It's not the case that obses people are either addicted to food or they just eat a lot. There aren't only 2 reasons why people put weight on.

For myself it is to do with being on Prednisolone for years. I have never eaten loads and I'm not addicted to food.

littlemili

It depends so much on personal circumstance.

People who are fat from childhood probably have poor dietary education to blame in that their parents didn't control their diet so they didn't learn how to eat smart. That was my problem, that I never understood that portion size was even an issue because as a kid I was given adult size portions (albeit of very healthy nutritious food). I think this is relatively easy to counteract because there are no complex emotional issues, just the need to re-educate. I also think it's horribly common and becoming moreso.

Some people may use food as an emotional response, just like others use exercise, alcohol etc. This might manifest itself as obesity, or being underweight, depending on whether the response is to eat or not eat. I guess the answer to that is to try and transfer the emotion onto something else, or sort out whatever life issues are causing the extreme emotions that require a comforter.

Some people have obsession issues and it just happens to be that their obsession is food.

Some people just lack self-control and have too much of a good thing with the full knowledge of what they are doing, like a lack of ability to taste something once and appreciate it, they have to keep going even though there is no more pleasure to be gained.

And some people have physical medical issues that cause weight gain, or are on medication which causes it.


But there does come a point when I wonder what has driven someone to become so obese. In a non-judgemental but curious way. I suppose I wonder that because I found the point where I had to change, and yet there are people 2 or 3 times my weight who haven't. You've got to wonder what the psychological process is that makes someone want to lose weight at a certain point, and why the driving force of obesity takes over some people more strongly than others. I also wonder whether some of the causes of obesity make it more likely than others that the person will not successfully lose weight.

phinners

It was not an addiciton for me, nor was it emotional eating - for me it was the brain washing from my parents growing up that I must eat all on my plate. Even if I was full and didnt want it, I had to clear my plate. That was my problem. I'm not addicited to anything, not even nicotine anymore Allen Carr's Easy Way for me). Though I do love buying clothes and baby clothes for my new son.

We always had proper home cooked food, I never came home from school, to a sandwich or a crappy beans on toast - I came home to meat/2 veg. But the portions were adult sizes.

I feel this was because my mum grew up in a very poor large family - as was the case in 1940's North of England - big families, little food. And therefore she thought she was looking after her family and showing love by feeding us up. Both my mum and dad were hard working loving parents who brought us up very well, but mum would over feed us. Not crap food, but over feed us on home cooked proper dinners.

So no obession, additiction, emotional eating, or lack of self control for me - but being made to believe I had to clear my plate. It took me a long time to learn I didnt have to. And even now at 38 yrs old I sometimes get nervous that I havent cleared my plate! It's almost like you are doing something wrong, juvenile brain washing is very strong and can be long lasting.

beckyinma

For me, it was boredom, laziness and my love to cook delicious food. I would always cook enough for 8 or 9 people, even for a family of 2 adults and 2 small kids, so we'd overeat. I'd have a serving if I was bored. I'd have a snack (full serving) if I was 'hungry' before lunch, then eat lunch...

boredom for sure, now I keep myself busy, look forward to workouts, but if I get bored I read, or crochet, or exercise, but I certainly don't eat.

hbrittingham

My personal issue that made me obese was portion control. I like healthy foods and have eaten healthfully for years, but just ate too much of those foods.

rinabach

I just love food so much, that coupled with a lack of exercise and really low metabolism (due to another condition)...the weight just keeps piling on. I lack self-control when it comes to food, failing every diet I've tried by eating like mad after I finish to 'reward' myself, so I end up putting on more weight than I lost!!
But I think there comes a time in your life where you not only want to make a change, but your're ready to make it, so everything falls into place. I'm only 3 weeks into this lifestyle change after discovering Zumba, so I'm feeling really positive that I can say no to temptation and just make a few sacrifices to reach my goal.

jamie78

Bump

crazynay96

My obesity issue stemmed from a lot of things.

A) Medications I had to take in order to keep my lung function. Predinsone was putting 15 lbs on me a month.

Meciations for depression, they put about anther 20 lbs on me.

E) If something tasted really good, why waste it even if I was full, so I over ate!

F) I didn't over eat when I ate it was what I was eatng that was working against me.

G) I couldn't exercise properly because of the lung issue.

H) ALL OF THE ABOVE and then SOME!

ditto this plus being put on bed rest first for 8 months for pregnancy then for an additional 3 years as a result of an automobile accident. When people are bringing you food you eat what you are given - (usually fast food or junk - like a sandwich from firehouse - 6 inch italian with mayo and cheese and onions which i thought was better than mcdonalds but boy was i mistaking).
A lot of my issue was not being informed and making poor choices thinking i was making better choices. I was always in shape until my medical issues got way out of control. Now that they are in control I am wanting to take ME and get ME back under control

YamRector

For me, personally, it is an addiction with an emotional connection. I have only been able to begin making changes *this* time because I finally addressed the emotional issues in therapy a few months ago.. I still struggle with it. The hard part about it being an addiction is that you have to have food... unlike an alcoholic, who can actually be sober and make that choice every day, all day long, a food addict cannot choose NOT to eat. I realized that the things I was truly addicted to (meaning, I craved them constantly, and could never get enough, felt crabby and cranky unless I ate those things, and even then I wanted more) were sweets (chocolate, cake, candy, etc.), cheese (pizza, nachos, etc.), and caffeine (pop/soda and coffee drinks). I quit those cold turkey at the beginning of June, and have lost 26 pounds since then. I still struggle, when I get depressed, I find that I immediately want those same things I used to turn to for comfort. But I'm slowly learning (not without mistakes!) to replace them with other things that are better for me, like exercise. I know there will be lots of people who disagree and say that if I'm fat I must just eat too much. I HAVE eaten too much, but there is a LOT more to it, at least for me.

I couldn't agree more...the same things, the same feelings...it's just so hard! I smoked all my life until I felt it just hurts to think about one more cigarette and stopped all at once. It was 4 years ago...I wish I could do the same with food, but we can't, this is the tricky part!

maidentl

I don't think there is one answer for everyone. For me personally, I was always fairly thin (even if I didn't realize it at the time). After my second son was born I struggled with postpartum depression for a couple of years and I self-medicated with food. In the years since, I haven't really put on any more weight, I don't eat crazy amounts of food, but clearly I eat enough to maintain my weight.