Does anyone think they are a food addict?

You are by no means alone. I believe a lot of us are on this site because of a love/hate relationship we have with food. Every day for me is a battle and starts off with resolves and at least half the time ends in disappointment. So use this site to plan out AHEAD OF TIME your day. Allow for little incidentals. But for the first few weeks, try and stick strictly to what you log. Set up a non-food reward system. And yes, allow for "cheats" and little pleasures in food. Try the 3 bite rule. First bite to see if you like it; second bite to enjoy it; third bite to say good-bye. And remember that once you are done those three bites, there is no rule that says you will NEVER get that food again. It will come back around.

Keep posting here and let us help each other.

Welcome!

I have definitely have had a problem with what I eat. I Love food and sometimes I don't realize i ate too much till my plate is clean. I have been on eating very small healthy meals and that last about 3 days and then i am back to craving the fatty stuff. It is very hard. I am still struggling with it. I wish the cravings would stop. But I am trying to control what I eat. Its a lifetime journey. and I am taking one step at a time.

How long does the pleasure of overeating REALLY last.As for stress,there is science behind that relief that food brings.When we eat carbs our body releases serotonin which has a calming effect.LUCKILY exercise also releases that same hormone.My food issues got me in therapy and if I can stop anyone else going through it I will!I cracked my food problems and then got a thyroid problem!Who Knows........that could of been because of the abuse I gave my body!Look at it this way...... FOI GRAS PATE is made from the fatty livers
of birds who have been stuffed with fatty foods until they are full to burst.What internal damage will binge eating do to us?

I have struggled with this for a long time. It seems sinful to love food so much, and to crave it and want it so badly. So badly that at times, I cannot stop. Last week I found myself in the garage puking because I ate so much. I couldn't go into the bathroom, because I was afraid my family would hear it. Once it was behind a market after I had devoured a box of cookies and quart of milk. When will it end? Seems I am an extremist. I am either binging or only eating fruits and vegetables. I need to find a balance. I have lived with this shame and disgust for too long. I need to lose this weight once and for all and do it the RIGHT way. BALANCED.

Please share if you have struggled like I have. Maybe it will help to know we're not alone.

You poor thing! Yes, I think most of us here have an idea of what you're going through.

Whenever I crave something, if I tell myself I can't have it, I feel something like rage. I didn't know that's what it was for years and years, but now I've identified it. If I was craving something, let's say taco chips with melted cheese (a favorite binge food), and if I tried to talk myself out of it, I would experience something like a blind rage. Something inside me said "I'll &*^ing show YOU!" and I would eat 2-3 large plates of the stuff.

I haven't found a total cure yet, but I've learned to at least not anger that monster in me. That seems to be the key. Don't make that craving monster angry. If I'm craving something, I'll have a bit of it, then go do something else (like take a walk, take a shower, etc), with the PROMISE to myself that if I still need more if it when I get back, I can have more. And it's important to keep this promise. If I still absolutely MUST have more, I give myself a little more, with the same promise. No sense betraying myself and making my monster even angrier, right?

It does seem sinful to love food that much - I know what you mean. It's like gluttony or greed or something. But when I think of it as sinful, all it does is make me ashamed. It's like being a teenager and being smitten by the "bad" boy in town - you can't resist him, even though you know you're going to get grounded for sneaking out to see him. And if you're locked in your room, you're just going to rebel and sneak out the window.

I started the South Beach plan about a month ago, and I've been very pleased with how it's cut down on my cravings. It's probably not for everyone, and like I say, I've only been on it a month, so time will tell. But the additional protein and the lack of refined white carbs seems to have reset my appetite button so that the things I used to binge on don't even sound all that good anymore.

Good luck to you!

Absolutely, I have been there. As recently as late 2009. I know that I have some major issues with food. I always have. I am an emotional eater and I have strugled with Bulimia. After a lifetime of stuffing my feelings with food , it can take a while to change. There also can be bumps in the road as we revert back to old behavior. I spent many a day in counseling over the past few years to get this issue under control. I had a brief relapse (1 binge 1 purge). In the latter part of 2009. I didn't use the tools I had learned. There was lots of guilt and shame after that. I have to have a support group, People I can talk to when times get tough. If I reach out the chances are pretty good that I wont do that. I also have had to learn other ways to deal with my feeling.
I often have to remind myself that, this is not the last piece of cake on earth or the last time pizza will be available. I keep a food journal and try to remind myself of the negative feeling I have when I have purged. If I overeat, I force myself to be miserable. Throwing it up is not option. It's not worth it.

It's pretty cool that you had the courage to bring this up, we often suffer in silence, or isolate. Please feel free to contact me if you ever want to talk or if times get tough. :flowerforyou: