Addicted to food

caitlindrew422

I am undeniably, hopelessly addicted to food. I thought it was normal but I am starting to feel it is not normal. I have a passion for cooking, for reading recipes, I love looking at food. I think about food a lot too, like what I should cook or try. I think that I am an emotional eater and cooking/eating makes me happy. When I feel down cooking makes me feel better, when I am happy I like to cook- I just love cooking. When I see something that is mouth-wateringly delicous it is so hard for me to turn it down. I don't even know what my question is here...is this normal? I don't want to give up my passion for cooking and recipes and food, but is this what is making me fat? Just as a side note, I research healthy recipes all the time too, I try to eat and feed my family as healthily as I can.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is (1) does anybody else share this obsession/passion for food and do you feel it is normal- is it a passion or dangerous obsession? (2) does anyone have a good advice for dealing with emotional eating? How do you learn to seperate eating from emotion?

sundropc14

one thing that helped me was to keep the phraze " eat to live, not live to eat"

Cupcakehippiemommy

I am right there with ya cucpake ^u^ I still love food,but am no longer in love with food, meaning I can enjoy a delish night out at a bistro and have a dish like Scallops with saffron orzo,veggies and a crab,lemon and orange gastrique BUT share it or eat half today and half tomorrow ya know? It is all about moderation doll ")

vypeters

It kind of depends on whether you love food or really are "addicted". While food isn't a physical addiction (thing drugs and alcohol) it can very much be a psychological addiction (think gambling addiction, shopping addiction, etc.).

I often recommend therapy for folks who have real issues with this. I did. Food was my go to "drug" whenever I was upset and needed comfort, happy and wanted to celebrate, board and just needed a boost...Therapy did me a world of good.

carlageek

There is no reason to beat up on yourself for loving food and loving to cook. You can love to cook and love to eat without constantly overeating. You just have to be mindful of what you are eating and how much of it.

But losing weight and maintaining weight loss does not require giving up your love of food. Thank goodness!

More power to people who can say with conviction "I just see food as fuel" - but I am not and will never be one of them. Eating is pleasurable and I will never give up that pleasure. I don't want to sacrifice delicious, tasty, voluminous food. And guess what? I lost ~120 pounds without having to sacrifice those things. I did have to learn how to cook flavorful food that I could enjoy in quantity and still stay within my calorie target. So that's what I did. I learned about spices. I learned about different cooking techniques that enhance flavor without adding a lot of fat (such as roasting vegetables). I learned to base my dinners on great big piles of vegetables prepared with lots of flavor, so that I could still enjoy large meals. I'd rather eat 2 cups of broccoli sauteed in garlic and a little bit of oil, than a 1/2 cup of brown rice for the same calories. So that is what I do.

I eat great big flavorful meals every day and still love food and cooking as much as ever. In fact I do a lot MORE cooking now than I did before I began my process. You can preserve your love of food and still lose weight. You just have to use your head and learn to work with your love of food. Not all delicious food is calorie-dense. Learn ways to prepare delicious, flavorful, food that is not terribly high in calories.

caitlindrew422

I guess I'm just like trying to distinguish- yes it's okay to love cooking and preparing food, and reading about different preparations. That is okay, and it is okay that this brings me joy, my passion for cooking. It is not okay though to eat emotionally like when sad, depressed, happy, bored, etc.

JesterMFP

I think there's definitely a difference between a passion for cooking and enjoying food, and emotional eating. Obviously, if you have both, it's easy to see how they could become entangled. There are many people who are passionate about food but don't have a problem (chefs for example) and also many people who are emotional/compulsive eaters, but don't actually get any enjoyment out of it.

The fact that you love to cook, and even love cooking healthy food - that puts you at a great advantage. I don't think you have to give up cooking as a hobby, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to put it on hold a little - at least cooking and researching the kinds of food that you're likely to use to emotionally eat. If you have the same problem with all kinds of foods, then whether you cook or not, that issue is going to be there. I love cooking and baking and after I joined MFP, although I still cooked meals, I gave up baking for a while. I knew freshly baked bread would be a huge temptation for me. I missed it though, I missed looking up delicious recipes and making treats that I and others like to eat. Now I'm more in the swing of logging and eating proper portion sizes, I've started baking again. I just make sure that I only make enough that can sensibly be eaten (or frozen, or given away).

Engaging in hobbies that you are passionate about is a really good thing when you're depressed or sad. Eating the feelings away is not. (I know you know this, just agreeing). Maybe it's worth cutting back on the hobby side of it for a bit while you learn to distinguish better between the two things. And, if the eating part is a big problem, there's no shame in getting some professional help to support you in sorting it out.

Sillyselena

Where did you learn about how to enhance flavors and such?

carlageek

I guess I'm just like trying to distinguish- yes it's okay to love cooking and preparing food, and reading about different preparations. That is okay, and it is okay that this brings me joy, my passion for cooking. It is not okay though to eat emotionally like when sad, depressed, happy, bored, etc.

I suppose you have a better sense of what goes on in your mind than I do. But I am wary of the "emotional eating" label. It seems a way to turn something that gives you pleasure into a pathology - a way to beat up on yourself, a way to convince yourself that whatever you are doing for your weight loss is somehow not good enough.

As I said earlier, eating is pleasurable. If eating gives me pleasure when I feel sad, then why shouldn't I eat - as long as I am eating within my plan, why should I decide it's somehow bad for me to soothe my sadness that way? If cooking gives me a sense of purpose when I am feeling antsy and out of sorts, why should I declare that somehow dangerous and against my goals? I decided that I didn't want to give up recreational eating - I just do it more mindfully and more judiciously than I did when I was fat. And I managed to lose 120 pounds without having to entirely give up eating for pleasure.

That's my perspective, anyhow. I am really tired of declaring everything I do not good enough. I'm not going to get a personality transplant so I may as well learn to work with my personality traits - such as the one where I derive pleasure from cooking and eating - instead of lamenting them and labeling them as pathological.

carlageek

Where did you learn about how to enhance flavors and such?

One way that I did it was to dive into Indian cooking and develop a very heavy hand with spices. Restaurant Indian food (like all restaurant food) is finished with lots of fat to make it rich and shiny, but as a home cook it is not necessary to do this. Restaurant Indian food is also served with enormous quantities of bread and rice, which are also easy to skip at home. The core of the cuisine fresh and flavorful and does not need to be fattening.

For example, I can make an outrageously flavorful fish curry with onions, garlic, ginger, chili peppers, turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, curry leaves, and tomatoes that only requires maybe a teaspoon or at most half a tablespoon of oil per serving of fish. Or, I can make a dal (lentil stew) with onions, garlic, ginger, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, and cayenne, tons of flavor and protein with no added fat AT ALL. I can add some greens to the dal for extra flavor and vitamins. Serve either of these with a pile of roasted vegetables and I have a marvelous, very healthful, satisfying and low-calorie dinner.

A great way to get started with Indian cooking if you are new to it is Madhur Jaffrey's book "At Home with Madhur Jaffrey." (She has dozens of books but this one is written specifically to simplify techniques and spices. Because of the simplification there is less flavor variation than in more "authentic" Indian cuisines but it's a great way to get your feet wet.) The recipes don't use all that much fat to begin with and I even sometimes find I can use 2/3 the amount of oil she recommends.

careyannal

I can relate. I can spend a lot of time looking at "foodporn", thinking about what I'm going to eat, when I will eat, how much more I can eat for the day, etc.

But now that I am limiting my calories I have noticed that I appreciate my food a lot more. I won't say that my palate has changed, because I still have a ridiculous sweet tooth that I have to satisfy (low-cal as possible) several times a day, but I have grown to actually appreciate the food I eat, as opposed to mindlessly eating and indulging whenever I wanted to like I used to.

My only advice would be to make your food choices count. If you're eating things you don't enjoy just because you're "on a diet", your love of food will end up prevailing and you'll go off track.

Incorporate healthier versions of things you like and watch your portions.

Good Luck!

bizorra

I can relate 100%! I LOVE food and everything ABOUT food. And Ditto everyting Carlageek said - you can embrace a whole new world of culinary delights by learning to cook light, and it's a LOT of fun! I personally think that eat to live and live to eat need to go hand in hand (everything you eat should be nourish your body and delight your soul!)

As for the emotional eating, this one is so tough. It takes a lot of soul searching and a lot of picking yourself up after stumbles. Therapy can be a good idea. I haven't quite beaten it, but I substitute things. Herbal tea's a good one. A hot mug of chai with cream and sugar can give me the same calming effect of a piece of chocolate. I also make time to cry - sounds lame but is causes this rush of hormones of something. My husband laughs at me, I will OD on cheesy commercials (the olympic ones about mom, Tim Horton's TimBits commercials) and spend 10 minutes crying, then I'm good to go *lol*

Everyone has their coping mechanisms! The important thing is to recognize emotional eating, step away from the food, and figure out what's really causing the binge desire... oh and to forgive yourself when this fails. No failures, only learning experiences

Erin_goBrahScience

Oh I LOVE to cook, and I love to bake.

But as of late, we (the hubby and I) have been working at cooking teqnique and food prep; sort of from farm to table. Minimal ingredients, whole food, little to no processing.

Leaning to propperly roast, braise, make pan sauces etc. Use of broths, and fresh herbs, has opened a world of healthy options. In addition I have ventured into curries. Greek food (yogurt, lemon, olive oil and fresh herbs) has been a staple in our house for the past year.

It's like we started from scratch and are teaching ourselves how to cook. Its so satisfying to eat whole food that is real and not full of proceesed chemicals and fillers.

If you want a few tips PM me...cause I have tons.

mfoy94

Over-eaters anonymous! They have a large support network including online meetings.

kingofcrunk

I think I'm quite similar to you. A lot of my life is spent thinking about what foods I'm having soon or how I'm going to fit something in my calories. I think as long as you control what actually goes in your mouth its fine to have a love of food. I love trying new foods and cooking new things.