Addicted to food, really?

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  • tjl2329
    tjl2329 Posts: 169 Member
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    Don't be mean
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,358 Member
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    I know personally for me there are certain things I can't be around because I lack control. Everyone has a weakness to something. Some people are addicted to Alcohol, you don't shove a beer in their face and tell them they will be ok, that's me with Reese pieces, if they are shoved in my face that's about as bad in my opinion, you're feeding my addiction that I'm trying to clean myself from. Some people just lack control in some areas, everyone's addictions are different.
  • tjl2329
    tjl2329 Posts: 169 Member
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    I think you might be right
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    Don't be mean

    ??????????????
  • Vini9
    Vini9 Posts: 343 Member
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    I believe that food addictions a very true. Sure there are people who use it as an excuse but I think it's something that unless you go through you can't comprehend it. I had a friend who cut themselves. They did it all the time not for any one reason "it just felt so good" In my mind I know it hurt but what made them "feel good" that they had to it again? They were hurting their bodies. Did they not have the will power to stop? What was their transmitter saying? Like mrbiggieswort said about your transmitter and drugs the drugs attaching to it but with cutting and eating they do not. Why anyone would want to knowingly hurt themselves? its an addiction and It's a serious thing to have to go through. You just can't stop. There is no magic button to push to turn it off. With food its even worse because it's something you need to survive. I think it's very real.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    I know personally for me there are certain things I can't be around because I lack control. Everyone has a weakness to something. Some people are addicted to Alcohol, you don't shove a beer in their face and tell them they will be ok, that's me with Reese pieces, if they are shoved in my face that's about as bad in my opinion, you're feeding my addiction that I'm trying to clean myself from. Some people just lack control in some areas, everyone's addictions are different.
    if I have been drinking I will binge on some serious food...but in other instances usually not ...but I know that I can eat a crap ton of food in one sitting, whether drinking or not ...I just don't do it ..LOL
  • Xtrobelights
    Xtrobelights Posts: 39 Member
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    "Food addiction" is 100% mental. Food is NOT drug that you get addicted to such as coke, meth, alcohol, ect... "I'm addicted to food" is just another sad excuse people use to tell themselves they can't be healthy, fit, skinny, or whatever they want they're using their excuse for.
  • Some_Watery_Tart
    Some_Watery_Tart Posts: 2,250 Member
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    I am probably going to catch some major flack for this one, but oh well what the hell, I am used to it.
    This is like beginning a sentence with "no offense, but". If you have to start your comment like that, you probably shouldn't continue.
    I do not think that anyone can be "addicted to food", it just seems like a strange concept to me. I mean if you do not have that food will you have withdrawals? I just think that it is an excuse that people use to tell themselves that they can't eat certain foods, or to just blame their obesity issue on something else, or to cover up an underlying mental health issue. I mean people binge, but to me that seems tied into more of a mental health issue or just bad relationship with food.
    I don't have withdrawal when I quit drinking. So by your logic, that means alcoholics just lack self control or have a bad relationship with alcohol. Right? :huh:
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,358 Member
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    I know personally for me there are certain things I can't be around because I lack control. Everyone has a weakness to something. Some people are addicted to Alcohol, you don't shove a beer in their face and tell them they will be ok, that's me with Reese pieces, if they are shoved in my face that's about as bad in my opinion, you're feeding my addiction that I'm trying to clean myself from. Some people just lack control in some areas, everyone's addictions are different.
    if I have been drinking I will binge on some serious food...but in other instances usually not ...but I know that I can eat a crap ton of food in one sitting, whether drinking or not ...I just don't do it ..LOL

    Just because you don't have a food addiction doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I'm over most of mine but I use to rely on food to comfort me and too much of anything can cause you to form an addiction. When you feed your body crap, your body craves crap. Now that I eat a lot better, I crave fruit most the time over chocolate. I just try not to put my self in a situation now where I might not be able to control myself, yes it's taken me a long time to figure out how to do this. But I did have a real bad food addiction.
  • nursenelson
    nursenelson Posts: 295
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    I haven't read most of the replies but wanted to comment...

    I used to think about eating from the moment I woke up till I went to bed. When I was eating, I thought about what I'd eat next. As soon as I was done eating, I'd wonder how soon was too soon to eat again. It consumed my thoughts. It was never enough. It didn't matter what else I was doing, I was thinking about food.

    Sounds a whole lot like addiction to me. Was it my own responsibility to deal with that? Yes, absolutely, it's on me...but it wasn't merely lack of will power.

    100% agree with this.
    this is me.
    except the only difference is that I not only think about food from the moment I wake up until I go to bed... I also dream about (certain) foods. (or else the opposite - I don't sleep because I'm still obsessing over food)

    It is literally a struggle every moment of my day. day in and day out.
    Sometimes I can control that monster ...sometimes I win... some days it does.
    I am almost 38 years old and I have struggled with this food obsession for as long as I can remember. I even knew when I was a young girl that I thought differently about food. I knew I was different from my friends.
    When I got to my 30's was when I finally decided to seek help - obviously I wasn't "growing out of it"
  • TigerBite
    TigerBite Posts: 611 Member
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    Look up the actual definition of "addiction" ... In theory, a person can be addicted to ANYTHING.
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,358 Member
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    Look up the actual definition of "addiction" ... In theory, a person can be addicted to ANYTHING.

    Exactly!!!

    I relied on food, crappy food's at that to fill a void within me, I would do just about anything to get my hands on it too. That's what crack heads do, right? I have cried and thrown fits because I felt like I'd die if I didn't get whatever it was at the time. It's for sure a real addiction. The difference though, we need food to fuel our bodies, however the bad foods were what I was addicted to, and yes they are like a drug, they are filled with crap that can cause these triggers, do some research.
  • thefragile7393
    thefragile7393 Posts: 102 Member
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    Considering I work in behavioral health and am also in recovery for bulimia, I assure the ignorant that yes, addiction to food does exist.
  • toaster6
    toaster6 Posts: 703 Member
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    Well, there is such a thing as compulsive overeating; it's a behavioral issue, however, it really shouldn't be an excuse for staying overweight since it's treatable. A huge majority of cases can be completely cured, or at greatly lessened with therapy and nutritional counseling (something like 80% last I read). Most people that I have heard claiming food addiction don't reference any other symptom besides "I like to eat" though (and yes, there are other symtoms aside from eating a lot). If people think they have a real problem, they need to seek the proper methods of fixing/ controlling them rather than using it as a crutch.
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,358 Member
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    Well, there is such a thing as compulsive overeating; it's a behavioral issue, however, it really shouldn't be an excuse for staying overweight since it's treatable. A huge majority of cases can be completely cured, or at greatly lessened with therapy and nutritional counseling (something like 80% last I read). Most people that I have heard claiming food addiction don't reference any other symptom besides "I like to eat" though (and yes, there are other symtoms aside from eating a lot). If people think they have a real problem, they need to seek the proper methods of fixing/ controlling them rather than using it as a crutch.

    I agree with you, but for some people they just don't even know where to begin or even realize that they are a food addict. It took me seeing a photo of myself to find the issue. It is mental, all addictions are mental.
  • ssmaling
    ssmaling Posts: 83 Member
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    don't you think its more a self control issue than an actual addiction?

    Using that logic, there would be no such thing as addiction. Meth-heads just lack the self -control to stop doing meth. Cigarette smokers just lack self-control to stop smoking. Addiction is a very real thing, and I do believe in food addiction. I was a smoker and quit cold turkey...yet I can't quit cold turkey. Ok, that was bad to make a joke about it, but addiction is real, it just depends how your body reacts. I stopped smoking and thought nothing of it, while others struggle daily...but food has a grip on me, which I have been working on over the years. So maybe you just don't have the same physiological reaction to food as others, that doesn't mean it's not real.

    Oh, and not to be a **** but it's wolf...people wolf things down, no one woofs anything, except Buzz's girlfriend.

    41526192.png

    This.
  • fatfudgery
    fatfudgery Posts: 449 Member
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    I think food addiction is real for SOME, I also think some people say they are addicted to food when in reality they are just lazy and have no self control and "addiction" is an easy excuse.

    Serious question: so what would you say is the difference between someone who literally can't help herself when it comes to food and continuously succumbs to her compulsion to overeat even though she doesn't want to (i.e., someone who "has no self-control," as you put it) and a legit "food addict"?
  • Xtrobelights
    Xtrobelights Posts: 39 Member
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    [/quote]
    Serious question: so what would you say is the difference between someone who literally can't help herself when it comes to food and continuously succumbs to her compulsion to overeat even though she doesn't want to (i.e., someone who "has no self-control," as you put it) and a legit "food addict"?
    [/quote]

    What's with the "herself" and "she" cause men lack self control when it comes to food too too not just women.
  • mudmonkeyonwheels
    mudmonkeyonwheels Posts: 426 Member
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    Ok so I have not read all of the replies because I have run out of time but I just wanted to say that from a neurochemical and psychological point of view you can definitely be addicted to food. There are many foods that your brain responds to in a very similar way to certain addictive drugs, the 'feel-good' neurotransmitters are released, then your body adapts to this level/number of receptors etc changes and you need more to get the same 'feel good factor'. This means that if you stop consuming those foods, your body is adapted to having higher levels of the neurotransmitters so you do get very real withdrawal symptoms. Furthermore, brain imaging research shows that very similar portions of the brain are active when consuming certain 'junk' foods as they are when consuming other addictive substances.

    From a psychological standpoint, all of the same factors are there to help you become addicted in a behavioural sense. It is very easy to unintentionally condition yourself in such a way to become addicted. Eating something yummy provides positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement (removal of a aversive stimulus aka hunger). You also conditions yourself so that certain foods are associated with certain activities (think the bell and the salivating dog experiment). These are all of the same factors involve in becoming addicted to certain drugs.

    Yes I have oversimplified this a bit and yes sometimes 'food addiction' is overused as an excuse but food addiction can be very real.
  • fatfudgery
    fatfudgery Posts: 449 Member
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    What's with the "herself" and "she" cause men lack self control when it comes to food too too not just women.

    The English language doesn't have a gender-neutral singular pronoun.

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