Interesting new study on "food addiction"

Anyhow , I am not here to argue.

Just sharing my point of view gained from extensive experience with "addiction". And I have made my point.

Agree or disagree, that's up to you.

All I ask is seriously ponder it if you disagree and ask yourself. If not you ? Who will be responsible for your every action ?

If this was directed at me...I didn't realize that we were arguing. That wasn't my intent.

Based on my own experiences...I voiced my opinion. Also...no where did I place blame on anyone else. Not even the issues that I faced when I started depending on food to fulfill a void...though those issues were not my doing.

We will leave it at this however...I tend not to like long drawn out conversations!

it was directed at you and no I don't think we were arguing. Just sharing our views. I just threw it out there just to be clear.
I respect everybody's views even when they don't agree with mine.

The term "food-addiction" is being used more and more nowadays.

Of course it is. By playing the addict card people don't have to accept responsibility for their actions. Over eating is a lack of self control.

I think "lack of self control" is over simplifying things. People over eat for many different reasons.

For me...I had to take a look at why I over ate...why allowed myself to become over weight...before I could fix it. Being honest with myself about those reasons is why I have been able to lose as much as I have and not quitting when it gets tough.

I will say this...food became my "new best friend". It was there for me when I felt like nothing else was...it also allowed me to hide behind a wall of fat. Some would say that I had good reason to hide...I look back now...it wasn't...but it was easier than the other alternative.

Not sure that self control had anything to do with it...

I agree with you. It's not a lack of "self control". In fact, there have been studies that show that "self control" or "will power" are not factors in losing weight long-term. It's a complex issue with complex solutions. Some people think in black and white, though....

I have a nephew that craved attention from his mother as a child. When he over ate...he got that attention. He was made to feel special by how much he could eat. Today...he is a 300+ pound man.

It wasn't a lack of self control...food masked the real problems that he had.

This is why I think that many of us have to face the issues that caused our lives to get so out of control...that we turned to the one thing that would give us pleasure and what we needed.

Even now...after having lost 80lbs...I still have to deal with the issues that I had in life. If I don't acknowledge those issues...i will be right back where I started.

I am not saying that for some people that it is not just a lack of self control...I just believe that for some...it goes much further than that.

All these things you mention are true and valid things that lead to over eating as they can easily overcome a persons self control. But at the end of the day....... Self control is what keeps the fork out of your mouth.

i agree with the others that say you are being oversimplistic.

Of course I am being simpilistic , I am trying to convey a complex issue on a Internet forum.

Make no mistake about it though, there is nothing simple with recognizing self control gaining self control applying self control, keeping self control or understanding self control. Kinda like we use the mantra of calorie in vrs calorie burned around here. A simplification of a complex event. Go hang out with a bunch of addicts, ok well maybe former addicts and they will reapeat the self control mantra. It isn't simple and it sure as hell isn't easy.

It's like Yoda said..."do or do not, there is no try."

If someone truly believes they have a food addiction, then they need to be getting themselves into a 12-step (or etc.) program.

It's like Yoda said..."do or do not, there is no try."

If someone truly believes they have a food addiction, then they need to be getting themselves into a 12-step (or etc.) program.

The 12 step mantra.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Over eaters anonymous is around. Www.ao.org. And it is a twelve step program.

being accountable to yourself as well as to a peer group is a great way to help your struggle with self control if you find you can not do it on your own. No shame is asking for or receiving help to accomplish your goals. Pretty sure that is why most of us are at MFP.

It's like Yoda said..."do or do not, there is no try."

If someone truly believes they have a food addiction, then they need to be getting themselves into a 12-step (or etc.) program.

The 12 step mantra.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Over eaters anonymous is around. Www.ao.org. And it is a twelve step program.

being accountable to yourself as well as to a peer group is a great way to help your struggle with self control if you find you can not do it on your own. No shame is asking for or receiving help to accomplish your goals. Pretty sure that is why most of us are at MFP.

I think maybe we have gotten totally off topic of what the OP intended but...

You said this...

"being accountable to yourself"

This has been what has been important to me during this past year. I set out to do this for me...on my own. I allowed myself to get where I was...it was up to me to get myself out of it...depending on no one else.

There have been plenty of times that the "self control" has been almost non-existent. The desire to get my life back has never wavered however.

I don't know...life can be hard...humans are complex...sometimes the two don't mix real well.

I don't usually get in to complex conversations much any more...I have enjoyed however this one...at least it will make you think a little.

Everyone is addicted to food. We all require it and will have physical and mental problems if we don't get it. We have to have it to function.

Compulsively eating may be a sign of an eating disorder. If you find yourself eating more than you think you want to eat...if you try to stop and cannot...consider seeing a therapist who specializes in eating disorders.

Join OA. It cannot hurt and lots of people who cannot stop something sing it's praises. 12 stepping might not work for everyone, but it works for many who went in thinking it probably wouldn't. It's worked for some who were forced in.

Just don't sit around saying, "Well, I have an addiction, so I can't help myself." TRY to help yourself. You owe yourself that.

People do get better!

Annie,

Yes we probably have, but that seems to be the nature of forum topics. They tend to go where those participating in them wander.
No harm no foul. All views are welcome.

And props to you. It sounds like you have made great progress. Keep up the hard work.

The term "food-addiction" is being used more and more nowadays.

Of course it is. By playing the addict card people don't have to accept responsibility for their actions. Over eating is a lack of self control.

Claiming to over-eat is quite different than claiming to be addicted to something, just like claiming to get drunk is quite different than claiming to be an alcoholic.

Over-eating happens every now and then - it's physiological and psychological junk. It's cultural. It's social. It's indulgent. When it's maladaptive, distressing, used as a coping mechanism and ends up being neurologically based, it's not a matter of mere self control. At that point, the only thing an individual can control is whether or not they pursue some sort of recovery or not. Ignorance like this only serves to get in the way of such.

Ok educate us then. Who stops putting the food in your mouth when it become a "neurological ". Issue ?

Gladly! What do you not understand about eating disorders? I will gladly start with the dopamine reward system, endorphins, and/or serotonin, and their relations to food consumption if you'd like; there is actually an emergence of psychiatrists whom believe using the addiction-based medication Naltrexone is helpful in treating Binge Eating Disorder (synonymous with food addiction for the purpose of this conversation), due to it's interactions with the VTA/dopamine reward system, etc. Would you care to talk about things that are more so along the lines of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/things that utilize neuroplasticity as opposed to medication?

You stop putting the food in your mouth, when your brain sends the signals for you to stop doing such. Without those signals, the cells in your muscles wouldn't know when, how, or where to move in a fashion that would allow for you to not only be consciously aware of the food in front of you, your sensory reactions to such, you wouldn't have the desire to consume food, nor would you be able to even move in a fashion that would allow for you to grasp/eat the food, or even touch it.

Why exactly is neurological in quotation marks? Do you not believe in neurology either?

Why exactly is neurological in quotation marks? Do you not believe in neurology either?

Perhaps his point is that all the neurological explanations in the world don't change the reality that putting that fork in one's mouth is still a decision made by the individual.

Unless one is a strict determinist, in which case there is no free will, it's all chemical reactions, and some people are just permanently f'ed.

I was rather clear on what he originally meant when he explained what he thought was the basis of food addiction.

It has nothing to do with free will though - unless you would consider ALS, MS, Schizophrenia, etc. to be matters of 'free will' as well, since they're neurological/neurochemical. Hell, I don't understand why dementia's insane overlap with clinical depression isn't a huge indicator to most that the basis of mental illness is neurological due to the very nature of dementia's progression. Considering how society as a whole has such a skewed misconception of psychopathology, it's not shocking.

Sorry - now i'm just rambling as i just got off a really long shift and it's a bit late where i am. I hope you can see my point though, even if you don't necessarily agree with the stance empirical evidence supports.

I bealive you answered my question when you said " you stop putting the food in your mouth ". That would be self control in all it's glory.

I never said such. Perhaps you should reread my response, because that's not at all what i said, and if anything quite the contrary.

I'll have to disagree with you, simply because i choose to believe in science/empirical evidence over observation, and because quite frankly i'm more inclined to believe that professors/researchers have a better understanding of what they're talking about than you do (unless you're licensed in an area of neurology/behavioral sciences/medicine/etc. and neglected to bring up such, or could provide me with convincing evidence otherwise).

Please then - tell me when you decided to not have a food addiction, since this is a choice? Please tell me exactly what time every morning you wake up, and decide to not have Anorexia, Bulimia, OSFED, BED, PICA, MDD, BDD, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, BPD, PPD, and all other mental health conditions - even those that i didn't list above and i'm 99.999% sure you've never heard of and therefore cannot consciously choose to will away?

Surely if this is "all just a choice" you should share the wealth, eh? If you have it all figured out, wheres a book or research article to back up such? Do you - or a reputable source - have anything published about how eating disorders boil down to a matter of self control?

Until you are able to bring a source, i'm not going to respond because quite frankly i don't see the point. I don't see the point in having a conversation about illogical perspectives, for if that was the case i'd be wasting my time arguing with people about evolution - something that has long been proved yet many people still don't believe.