Food addiction--it REALLY DOES EXIST!!!

THAT is what you got from this post?

You know how some people are more susceptible to say, drug addiction? Or nicotine? It's all about the pleasure center of the brain and the opiod response that SOME people experience stronger than others. It's different than craving or loving a particular food and has ZERO to do with willpower. Let me say that again, IT HAS ZERO TO DO WITH WILLPOWER. There is no implication in this post whatsoever that changing bad habits, trying to eat healthier, be more active, is any easier for non-addicts; it's just different. No easier, no harder, just different.

This is one woman (op), talking about her struggles, trying to relate and give hope to others in the same situation. If you are not in the situation, that's great. But there are a lot of us who struggle with this. I can attest that the high I get from particular foods is as good if not better than the majority of legal and illegal substances that have gotten me high.

So consider yourself lucky if restaurants don't necessarily terrify you because you're afraid that one bite of the wrong thing will send you spiraling. Be glad if you don't feel agonizing shame about the secret eating that you did in the car on your way home from the store. Say a thank you to the universe if food does not consume every waking hour of every day and then plays a major role in your dreams. There are those of us out there who are constantly thinking about our next fix.


And I say this last bit with no malice or even irritation: You're on the motivation and support board-if you don't have any to give regarding this topic, or you don't need any regarding this topic, I'm not sure why you're here.

Good luck to you on your journey.

I don't think encouraging denial is being supportive. I think that the message that "It has nothing to do with willpower" is wrong and destructive, so I feel compelled to speak up. I wasn't aware that only agreeing and enabling is supportive.

An alcoholic may have preferences, but if his favorites not available, will easily just drink anything that contains alcohol. What leads to massive weight gain is not an addiction to food in general, it is through foods you like. You are not pulling over by the side of the field, ripping raw carrots out of the ground and tearing into them without even washing. You want specific foods. Foods you like, foods you enjoy.

And sure, I do know that if I go to my favorite restaurants I will eat that entire sizzling iron cast plate of fries topped with real cheese, ranch dressing and bacon. So I can't go there. And if I do, I must plan for how many calories that will be. If I go to a favorite Mexican place I will have what I usually have and drinks, Korean pancake at a Korean restaurant... etc. So I must plan for it and either not go or accept the calories. But it is a choice. I am an adult woman. It is very hard and I dream of it, and love those foods, but IT IS a matter of willpower. A lot of it.

But no, I never secret ate. That is not a willpower thing. It is an honesty thing. I and blow my calories sometimes, and own it and move on. You can't move on from your mistakes until you learn to own it.

That is why I think this line of thinking is not really supportive.

bump to read later

THAT is what you got from this post?

You know how some people are more susceptible to say, drug addiction? Or nicotine? It's all about the pleasure center of the brain and the opiod response that SOME people experience stronger than others. It's different than craving or loving a particular food and has ZERO to do with willpower. Let me say that again, IT HAS ZERO TO DO WITH WILLPOWER. There is no implication in this post whatsoever that changing bad habits, trying to eat healthier, be more active, is any easier for non-addicts; it's just different. No easier, no harder, just different.

This is one woman (op), talking about her struggles, trying to relate and give hope to others in the same situation. If you are not in the situation, that's great. But there are a lot of us who struggle with this. I can attest that the high I get from particular foods is as good if not better than the majority of legal and illegal substances that have gotten me high.

So consider yourself lucky if restaurants don't necessarily terrify you because you're afraid that one bite of the wrong thing will send you spiraling. Be glad if you don't feel agonizing shame about the secret eating that you did in the car on your way home from the store. Say a thank you to the universe if food does not consume every waking hour of every day and then plays a major role in your dreams. There are those of us out there who are constantly thinking about our next fix.


And I say this last bit with no malice or even irritation: You're on the motivation and support board-if you don't have any to give regarding this topic, or you don't need any regarding this topic, I'm not sure why you're here.

Good luck to you on your journey.

I don't think encouraging denial is being supportive. I think that the message that "It has nothing to do with willpower" is wrong and destructive, so I feel compelled to speak up. I wasn't aware that only agreeing and enabling is supportive.

An alcoholic may have preferences, but if his favorites not available, will easily just drink anything that contains alcohol. What leads to massive weight gain is not an addiction to food in general, it is through foods you like. You are not pulling over by the side of the field, ripping raw carrots out of the ground and tearing into them without even washing. You want specific foods. Foods you like, foods you enjoy.

And sure, I do know that if I go to my favorite restaurants I will eat that entire sizzling iron cast plate of fries topped with real cheese, ranch dressing and bacon. So I can't go there. And if I do, I must plan for how many calories that will be. If I go to a favorite Mexican place I will have what I usually have and drinks, Korean pancake at a Korean restaurant... etc. So I must plan for it and either not go or accept the calories. But it is a choice. I am an adult woman. It is very hard and I dream of it, and love those foods, but IT IS a matter of willpower. A lot of it.

But no, I never secret ate. That is not a willpower thing. It is an honesty thing. I and blow my calories sometimes, and own it and move on. You can't move on from your mistakes until you learn to own it.

That is why I think this line of thinking is not really supportive.

I understand your line of thought about being supportive versus supporting denial. But I still disagree with your assertion that food addiction does not exist and that people who claim to be food addicts are simply weak, looking for an excuse for their lack of willpower. Although, I can imagine that's what it looks like to someone who hasn't dealt with it, or with any other true addiction.

I think this post irritates me because it implies that it is not as hard for the rest of us!

I find it fascinating that some people seem to want validation that what they are going through is addiction and that you are irritated by being excluded. My takeaway is that I should avoid caring what other people think at all.

If anybody has chosen their next fix for a cheeseburger over their children and basic needs for survival feel free to correct me.

I don't have children - but I have chosen food over family and friends. I have chosen food over fuel for my car. I have chosen food over medication. I have driven far away to go to a supermarket where I run no risk of running into someone I know for food.

Food addiction and binge eating disorder are very real things.

They're not as obviously debilitating perhaps as drug addiction or alcoholism - but they do rule your life.

I struggle every day. Food and where I'm going to get my next 'fix' (whatever that fix may be) is ALWAYS on my mind.

Yes, anyone who is/has been overweight has obviously overindulged on food and probably spent a good portion of there time thinking about food. But, there is a difference between overindulging and needing to eat everything in sight because it's the only way you'll feel better/right/numb/something.

The sooner it's accepted as being an addiction the sooner we can move on and get better. I'm too scared to talk to a doctor or a psychologist or anyone because when I've tried in the past it's been dismissed as nothing. But it controls every second of my life. Don't tell me it isn't real.

I've been wanting to see a therapist for some time in order to help get my compulsive eating disorder under control. I've dealt with gambling addiction, which I was able to kick years ago, and the compulsions were very similar, mechanically, so I imagine that it translates across the concept of addiction regardless of the substance. We all struggle with different things, be they mental, emotional, or physical. Trying to say that one is worse than another or that one has it hard than someone else is ridiculous. The concept that because something is hard for one person or easy for one person and so it MUST be easy or hard for another person is completely ignorant. We are all different individuals with different ways of working through our issues, and what some people perceive as shortcomings or excuses can easily be inexperience or simply an individualistic pace that is actually working toward positive change.

I had my first binge-eating relapse a few days before my birthday, this week—the first in the four months that I've been losing my weight. I don't need someone else to tell me that it's real. I experienced it. I feel what I feel and I struggle with what I struggle with, and someone telling me that my issues aren't real isn't going to change that. It's nice to be able to connect with others who understand and can relate, though. Even silent empathy between two people in a similar situation (or different situations, even) can be meaningful support and influence that person positively.

I've lost 67 pounds. I have another 80 to go at least. I recently came below 300 pounds for the first time in almost 7 years, and my binge may have pushed me back above it, despite my promise to NEVER be over 300 again. Sure, in a few days i'll reason that out and I'll be okay with it. In the end, I'm going to move forward. Does that mean I can't express myself now, when I'm struggling, though? Absolutely not. It's okay to struggle. It's okay to hurt. It doesn't matter if it's addiction or an injury or anything else that affects our emotional morale. I'm not perfect and neither are any of you, and that's not an insult. It should be an expectancy. And I'm not going to put enough power in the words of a complete stranger (OR a loved one, for that matter) to completely dismiss how much I want this because of how my individual choices do not match up to someone else's personal criteria for what qualifies as dedication, desire, willpower, or anything else.

Have some pride in who you are and what you're doing. I know how shameful it can feel to even broach subjects like this, but I'm tired of being made to feel lesser because of it, and I won't any more. I hope that no one else does, either, regardless of what your personal addiction or other struggle might actually be.

Eating disorders are real. Bad habits are real. Each of us had to decide how we got overweight, what we have and how we will deal with it. There is no end to the amount of money spent inticing all people of all ages to eat food that we don't need.

I had a bad habit of eating emotionally, and not planning what i was going to eat. Logging my calories and getting on a plan to eat for fitness, not necessarily "fun" got me to my new goal weight and it is going to keep me there. I will log my calories the rest of my life. I don't trust any other method. ---for me ---

I have never really had to worry about my weight. I was one of those guys who could eat as much as I wanted without having to suffer the consequences. I’m now 42 and this is not the case anymore. I’m approximately 40 lbs overweight and it is a difficult thing to navigate. I suffer from shortness of breath, back pain, lack of physical motivation, not to mention the health risks. I am an addict in recovery 5 years clean and sober. I have spent a large portion of my life chasing one thing or another that would help me to disassociate. Food seems to be next on the list. This is difficult because I can’t abstain from eating. Think about it what if A pot luck was…… Any way here I am I’m going to give it a try. I like the peer support aspect as well as the accountability that is worked into this program. Ill approach this one meal at a time. The exercise will truly be a challenge. But I’m up for it. That’s my story, Im eager to see what the next chapter will be.

You crave it because you're "dieting".
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Dieting and food craving. A descriptive, quasi-prospective study
Anna Massey, Andrew J. Hill,
Academic Unit of Psychiatry & Behavioural Sciences, Institute of Health Research, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, 101 Clarendon Road, Leeds LS2 9LJ, UK
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2012.01.020, How to Cite or Link Using DOI
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Abstract
Evidence linking food restriction and food craving is equivocal. This study investigated whether dieting was associated with a greater frequency of food craving. Dieting to lose weight was distinguished from watching so as not to gain weight. Participants were 129 women (mean age = 41 yrs): 52 were currently dieting to lose weight, 40 were watching their weight, and 37 were non-dieters. They completed a food craving record after every food craving, a food diary, and a daily mood assessment over 7-days. Of the 393 craving incidents recorded, dieters experienced significantly more food cravings than non-dieters, with watchers intermediate. Chocolate was the most craved food (37% of cravings) but neither the types of food, the proportion of cravings leading to eating (∼70%), the situations in which cravings occurred, nor the time since the last eating episode differed between groups. Compared with non-dieters, dieters experienced stronger cravings that were more difficult to resist, and for foods they were restricting eating. Watchers showed similarities in experience both to dieters (low hunger) and non-dieters (lower craving intensity). These results support an association between dieting and food craving, the usefulness of distinguishing dieting to lose weight and watching, and suggest a need for further experimental investigation of actual food restriction on food craving experiences.

Highlights
► Women dieting to lose weight reported more food craving episodes than non-dieters. ► Women currently watching their weight were intermediate in food craving frequency. ► Mood state around craving did not distinguish dieters and non-dieters. ► Dieter’s food cravings were more likely for foods they reported restricting eating.

Craving is not addiction.
Food Craving and Food “Addiction”: A Critical Review of the Evidence From a Biopsychosocial Perspective
Peter J Rogersa, , Hendrik J Smita
a Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TN, UK

Although certain commonalities exist between eating and drug use (mood effects, external cue-control of appetites, reinforcement, etc.), it is argued that the vast majority of cases of (self-reported) food craving and food “addiction” should not be viewed as addictive behavior. An explanation is proposed that instead gives a prominent role to the psychological processes of ambivalence and attribution, operating together with normal mechanisms of appetite control, the hedonic effects of certain foods, and socially and culturally determined perceptions of appropriate intakes and uses of those foods. Ambivalence (e.g., “nice but naughty”) about foods such as chocolate arises from the attitude that it is highly palatable but should be eaten with restraint. Attempts to restrict intake, however, cause the desire for chocolate to become more salient, an experience that is then labelled as a craving. This, together with a need to provide a reason for why resisting eating chocolate is difficult and sometimes fails, can, in turn, lead the individual to an explanation in terms of addiction (e.g., “chocoholism”). Moreishness (“causing a desire for more”) occurs during, rather than preceding, an eating episode, and is experienced when the eater attempts to limit consumption before appetite for the food has been sated.

Neither article provides evidence that food addiction is not real. The first simply provides some evidence that people tend to crave when they're deprived. From my understanding, food addicts crave regardless of whether they are deprived or not.

The second article was simply a review article proposing that craving is not addiction.

I would agree that not all people who crave certain foods are necessarily food addicts, but I suspect that all food addicts are cravers. There is an important distinction there.

I'm not a food addict, but I'm almost certain my sister is. She has struggled with her weight most of her life.

It's bad but it could be worse. Drug addicts go to jail.

What an insensitive comment, not surprising though. And food addicts put themselves in an early grave with morbid obesity if they keep feeding their addiction.

ETA: I luckily...by the grace of god...am not a food addict, but that doesn't give me the right to be insensitive or callous about those who suffer from it.

Do they shake and vomit like heroin addicts? Do they get psychically ill if they do not eat those donuts or cupcakes? Do they steal money out of their dying mothers purse for another cheeseburger fixe? I DON'T THINK SO. Its psychological. ALL in the head.