advice needed on overcoming food addition

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buckeyefit
buckeyefit Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I swear I never thought I would admit this but I am addcted to food. I eat because it makes me feel better and then I do not stop. Need advice on how to stop using food as a drug! I know how to eat. I know what to eat and how much but it is changing my habits and the way I view food I need help with

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  • cathleencan
    cathleencan Posts: 20
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    Bump - I need help with this too
  • tptouchdown
    tptouchdown Posts: 30 Member
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    If you feel you are addicted to food you need professional help. Food addiction is a symptom of other issues. A nutritionist or doctor will be able to help you fight the urge until you find out what you are compensating for. If you are indeed addicted to food you probably also are prone to other additions. You don't want to replace on addiction for another. I healthy attitude toward to food is to view it as a necessity, that doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy it. But you will need to admit to yourself why you feel that you need to over eat and deal with that!
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,143 Member
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    If you feel you are addicted to food you need professional help. Food addiction is a symptom of other issues. A nutritionist or doctor will be able to help you fight the urge until you find out what you are compensating for. If you are indeed addicted to food you probably also are prone to other additions. You don't want to replace on addiction for another. I healthy attitude toward to food is to view it as a necessity, that doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy it. But you will need to admit to yourself why you feel that you need to over eat and deal with that!

    Agreed! If you need food to medicate, you need to be cured of the "disease" before you will be able to stop.
  • tptouchdown
    tptouchdown Posts: 30 Member
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    Just checking to see how you are doing. I have a daughter who fights an eating disorder. I learned that this is extremely common and can be helped. Some people just seem to 'out grow' this, but often people can not self regulate and need help. Finding people who have similar issues and can relate with you will help.
  • Peppermynthe
    Peppermynthe Posts: 6 Member
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    If you feel you are addicted to food you need professional help. Food addiction is a symptom of other issues. A nutritionist or doctor will be able to help you fight the urge until you find out what you are compensating for. If you are indeed addicted to food you probably also are prone to other additions. You don't want to replace on addiction for another. I healthy attitude toward to food is to view it as a necessity, that doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy it. But you will need to admit to yourself why you feel that you need to over eat and deal with that!

    How does someone go about seeing a nutritionist? It's something I've considered, but I don't know where to start. I also think it might be too expensive (for me at least, I have no insurance).


    Also - both of you up top (OP and first poster), maybe you should both talk to each other - have a duo support group going on, maybe. Other than that I have no advice. I have a similar problem, I think.
  • 1223345
    1223345 Posts: 1,386 Member
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    Yep. I have kind of a big fat onion when it comes to food. Layer after layer exists. I have peeled a few of these layers off. I found that eliminating the specific foods that I had problems with was a huge help. I hope that someday I will be able to eat certain things again. I get angry when I am told to just eat what fits my macros. "Eat the candy! It fits your your macros!" I can't eat the stinking candy. It will ruin me. "You need to include it and use discipline!" Telling me to eat 3 musketeers in moderation is like telling a crack head to have crack rock in moderation. I find that it takes a certain amount of discipline just to pass the stuff by in the store. Other food was easier to leave behind because it made me feel poorly. It's a battle that must be fought. I find that I do use other food at times in a bad way. But I have made more improvements by just eliminating the junk, and the wheat.
  • Ninguneado73
    Ninguneado73 Posts: 832
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    Maybe don't be too ambitious. Start by cutting something and in small portions. Let's say, soda. Instead of drinking one can a day, try half..or one every other day. Nothing too dramatic. If you exercise your body will need more than junk food to maintain itself. You will be forced to eat better in order to get through the day.
  • skinnydreams19
    skinnydreams19 Posts: 282 Member
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    BUMP. This is me 100%
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    I swear I never thought I would admit this but I am addcted to food. I eat because it makes me feel better and then I do not stop. Need advice on how to stop using food as a drug! I know how to eat. I know what to eat and how much but it is changing my habits and the way I view food I need help with

    There are two parts to food addiction--physical and spiritual/emotional. Of the two, the physical part is the easiest to fix. Just stop eating triggering foods. Sugar and simple carbs are the main ones--they spur leptin-resistance which, in turn triggers binging and a lack of satiation. There is a lot of research going on today in the area of food addiction. It is very similar to alcoholism. (Except that you don't get D.T.s when you go off of a high carb diet---but some people do get headaches and feel lousy for a few days.) Eat more protein and fat and reduce carbs. After I stopped eating sugar and restricted carbs to 70-100 grams per day (and they should be high quality carbs found in vegetables and fruits) I had no more problems with even feeling hungry.

    The other part to food addiction can be solved by a 12-step program like Overeater's Anonymous. I was speaking to someone who teaches at O.A. meetings (who has overcome food addiction herself) and she said that she has never known anyone who follows all 12 steps to fail at overcoming the spiritual/emotional aspects of food addiction. The meetings are entirely free (you can look them up in your local phone directory or check out their website for a location near you).
  • 4given4life
    4given4life Posts: 81 Member
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    I struggle with this also. It's exactly why I have been stuck in my weight loss for 3 years now. :grumble:
  • gigglinangel
    gigglinangel Posts: 8 Member
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    I swear I never thought I would admit this but I am addcted to food. I eat because it makes me feel better and then I do not stop. Need advice on how to stop using food as a drug! I know how to eat. I know what to eat and how much but it is changing my habits and the way I view food I need help with

    I can totally relate because this used to be me. Although I will always have some issues with food and sometimes when I get really stressed I still want to turn to food I have overcome my addiction and have been in recovery from binge eating disorder for about two years now. What helped me is I read the book "Food the good girls Drug" by sunny sea gold. It totally changed my whole world. It made me finally admit that what I had was an eating disorder and it gave me the emotional tools to start to overcome it and get in recovery. Seriously, check it out and it will help you so much. She has a website too but she doesn't update it very much anymore because she just had a baby. But there is a lot of info on it. The link is:http://healthygirl.org/ Good luck with everything. If you need any help at all or just want to talk message me. I know you can do this because I've been there! Hugs- Jenni

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