Food Addiction? I would like some new friends...

ctb617
ctb617 Posts: 3
in Motivation and Support
Anyone else have a problem with food addiction? I need some motivation and support and am more than willing to give it right back! I would like to find some people and friends that are going through that same thing as me.

My situation: I'll tell myself that I'm going to eat healthy, then I'll subconsciously just go to the cupboard and grab unhealthy food that I crave. I KNOW that eating is a comfort for me. A little too much. I'll sometimes binge on the food until I'm full and sick. Yet, in the moment of eating...I won't care. All I want is the taste and feeling of the food.

Replies

  • haleyelizabeth42
    haleyelizabeth42 Posts: 2
    I am definitely right there with you! I have always used food as comfort. During college, I feel like I had a pretty good handle on it, but in the past year or so, since breaking up with my long term boyfriend and moving 800 miles away from home, I have started to feel out of control when it comes to food. I binge, feel guilty, tell myself I won't eat tomorrow, and end up binging again. I'm not quite sure how to cope.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    When you decide that you would rather have the long-term payoff of healthy and slim, you will stop the Instant Gratification of treats.


    It is a process, you will have set-backs. Keep moving in the right direction. You can change.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    I'm defiantly addicted! My whole family is doing a low carb, no dairy, and lean meat diet and it's working really well, my cravings have completely gone away! I've been a binge (though not purge) since 7th/ish grade (I'm 16 now :) ) and it sucks! Impulses are awful. I'm in the same boat girl, we can do it!!!!

    uh, Emily...you have to be 18 to join this site. :frown: Also, you might want to use a name that isn't your real name when you come back after they deactivate you...Real names just bring problems your way. Especially as a minor.
  • ctb617
    ctb617 Posts: 3
    I totally understand that. It's interesting because once I dropped out of college 3 years ago, things all went downhill. I lost my routine and I was home all the time. That's when I gained this problem. Now I'm struggling getting a routine back because finding a job right now is hard because I'm so overweight and out of shape. I can barely stand for long periods of time.

    Feel free to talk to me any time about your struggles. I'm more than willing to try to help or just be a support!
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    Step number one, if possible get the unhealthy food out of the house. If this isn't possible put as much distance between you and the food so you have to consciously go out of your way to get it. Try little notes/pictures that might help remind you why you want to do this. Try distraction techniques when the cravings hit. Get out of the house and go for a walk, have a cup of tea, call a friend for a chat, put your favourite song on and dance. Try to delay the eating. Tell yourself that if you want the food you can have it in an hour, in the mean time make yourself a big healthy meal.
  • kchirsch
    kchirsch Posts: 5 Member
    I know the feeling! I work 12hr graveyard shifts and sometimes on my home I would have these horrible carb cravings. Specifically, sugar and or bread, I HAD to have cake, French bread too. I would go out of my way to stop and buy cupcakes. These were not small cravings, I physically felt like I HAD to have them.

    I have cut almost all processed sugar out of my diet and have not had a huge craving or binged since. I know the feeling though, it isn't fun.
    I understand how GOOD it feels when and right after you're eating the food you're addicted to. Also, I understand how guilty and bad it feels like 5 minutes later.
    If it helps any, what helped me, plan out having some of the bad food, control it, account for it. I didn't stop cold turkey. I started out setting aside 300-400 calories a day for a cupcake, then half a cupcake. That way I did not feel guilty about "cheating" and then crave more because of the emotional eating. Also, if I do have a craving, I try eating a small amount of whatever it is I am craving and change my next meal accordingly.
    Now, I rarely eat processed sugar, and have not had Soda for 3 weeks. I even tried taking a sip of my daughter's soda the other day, it was horribly sweet and I could taste the chemicals.

    I don't know if this helps any, but good luck! Don't forget that even if you eat bad for one meal. you can eat better for the next...
  • ScarletShopaholic
    ScarletShopaholic Posts: 169 Member
    Addicted to food for forever!

    Had hypnotherapy 2 and 1/2 years ago - it worked and helped, then I started to slide and am trying to do better (the weekend just gone I was horrendous - old habits it seems do really die hard!) Have booked a refresher for my hypnotherapy but I am aware it's still down to me to stop putting the food in my mouth! I know I can do it again, just have to actually do it! You can do it - we all can :smile:
  • Howdoyoufeeltoday
    Howdoyoufeeltoday Posts: 481 Member
    I went through that not too long ago. I still struggle with it sometimes. On the weekdays I would diet a strict amount and hardly eat enough to keep me going and then i'd have a cookie on the weekend and it would turn into 10. then I would just say screw it and eat whatever I wanted. At first it would be cause I was either happy, sad, depressed etc, then once i was done my dozen cookies i would feel terrible about myself, so i just kept eating.

    Music helped me a lot with sorting through my emotions so i don't eat them all. but the biggest thing was my diet change and the mentality i took on towards food. i started eating enough that i wasn't so damn hungry all the time and I allow myself to eat what i want. some people can eat clean and then just have a cheat day if they feel like it...i cannot do that. Sometimes a girl just needs her peanut butter. sometimes i still eat more then i should and go over my limit for the day but then i think about how much worse i feel about myself and how bad my body feels after i binge and i realize that it's just not worth that 4th cupcake.

    After a while it stops being about the food and it starts being about the comfort you get from the food. if you can turn to someone when your feeling a binge coming on, just to talk to, then that might help. or take up a hobby that helps you express your feelings. Don't punish yourself for eating the foods you love and for going 200 calories over your daily calories. you just have to take a deep breath, drink a lot of water (lemon helps curb some cravings too sometimes) and just remember that your human. Hell even crying might help make you feel better. But one thing I've learnt is you cant make feelings go away with food, you have to feel them. running has really helped me with handling my emotions too.

    I wish you the best of luck and I know it's hard. It will always be hard, but one day it'll be a little less hard. I hope you find your balance. :D
  • joselo2
    joselo2 Posts: 461
    I totally understand how you feel, I think this is a real thing. I don't think I have less will power than other people, just a stronger urge which I have to fight. I am just turned 22, at my heaviest a little over a year ago I was over 400lbs, I got that size so young because since the age of 13, in the space of 7 years or so, I put on hundreds of lbs, I did it because I have serious issues with food. This causes problems not just for my weight but also has caused problems with family/friend relationships and social life. Really it affects every part of life. But I am fighting it. Please feel free to add me because I would never judge andything you say or do, chances are I did it too!xxxxxx
  • BigOpenSpaces
    BigOpenSpaces Posts: 1
    I too struggle with a food addiction. There are times when it is purely motivated by emotional distress and other times when I am consciously screaming at myself to stop eating (because I am painfully full, or indulging embarrassingly in public) but I cannot stop. It's horrifying in moments like those because it shows how little control I truly have over my eating behavior. I've tried to handle it on my own for a while now but I can't seem to focus. I am definitely open to making new friends to keep me on the right track.
  • jakki1227
    jakki1227 Posts: 93 Member
    i struggle with food addiction everyday! i feel like i always need to eat even if i just ate! for me the best thing to do is keep the stuff that i would normally gorge on out of my house. feel free to add me and i will support you however i can! =0)
  • joselo2
    joselo2 Posts: 461
    I too struggle with a food addiction. There are times when it is purely motivated by emotional distress and other times when I am consciously screaming at myself to stop eating (because I am painfully full, or indulging embarrassingly in public) but I cannot stop. It's horrifying in moments like those because it shows how little control I truly have over my eating behavior. I've tried to handle it on my own for a while now but I can't seem to focus. I am definitely open to making new friends to keep me on the right track.

    Wow, I can so relate to this. Scary feeling out of control. I heard that many compulsive eaters eat modestly around others, to hide their secret shame. I can't even get enough control for that, I generally try and avoid situations of eating around other people because it's so hard, being pulled in 2 directions and worrying of looking bad. But of course it can't always be avoided, such as going to work! Stuff like this is as big reason why I want to change as the actual weight issues.
  • sabineh12
    sabineh12 Posts: 16
    I totally understand what you are talking about, I have the same problem and I realized that as as son as I have a daily routine and someone to watch over me (like a friend eating with me) I can control my eating habits, but when I am alone and going through some emotional stuff or stress my eating is getting out of control and I satisfy my needs and try to silence my problems by eating.
    Also looking for some friends for support.

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