my name is Jessica: Im a food addict

_Jessica_ · February 2011

Hello all. I have recently taken a job in chemical dependency treatment. While in training, I had to attend the seminars with the Patients to learn how the program works, and what the patients do. BUT What I learned wasnt about the patients, it was about me. I am a food addict.

I am overwhelmed with the thought and never thought I had an addiction to food. I always just thought i liked food and that I was just fat. After learning about addictions in general, I thought to myself... oh my god I have a problem. My day is centered on when I can eat, what I can eat and what I should make for meals. when I get up in the morning, I know I have an hour before breakfast and am already starting to plan what to eat before getting out of bed. I am already thinking of supper at breakfast time. the whole day i am constantly thinking about food, just like the drug addict would think about drugs. when we plan vacations, I am looking for resturants to go to that would be good rather then sights to see. The sight seeing will just come natural, but I need to make sure that the food we eat at the resurant is delish. Yesterday my boyfriend took my to red lobster for a date. I was thinking about it for the week in advanced thinking what I was going to eat. It is horrible! I cant stop. food consumes my thoughts. And sadly, I have kept it a secret from myself for years... not even relalizing I was doing it. Please help.

WanabeHotMama · February 2011

I think there are a lot of people that are this same way. One, being myself. I completely relate with being consumed about food. For me its something that I always look forward to. My husband & I are full time students and our income is pretty tight. I see food as our opportunity to "treat" ourselves. I know we can't afford to go out and do much but I know our budget can handle one or two meals out per week. Therefore, its what I look forward to and what I center everything around. Eating became our "hobby" or what we would do in our spare time. Go to a restaurant and come home. I too, realized I had an issue with this, and recently joined a gym (for us its free because my husband is in the military). But my goal was to find something productive and healthy that could be our "new thing" to focus on. Not that we can't ever eat out but rather change our activities and time we spend together and not associate it with food. Now in our spare time our new "thing" is the gym. Its not always fun but its something we can do together. Is there something you could find to be your new "thing" that doesn't involve food? I'm still struggling with it daily, this past week in fact I would label as a "failure" but we're going today and going to get back into our new good habbits...its definitely a process but its been a good start so far.

corey_e · February 2011

Well first of all, good for you for being brave enough to call yourself out. But please don't be hard on yourself. You have been living this way your whole life and it's going to take baby steps to change that. Don't dive in! I took it slowly and while it's only been 2 months it became easier each day. I started off by just giving up fast food and soda. Then I started preparing healthier smaller meals at home. For exercise I started off just playing my wii and walking my dogs for a half hour daily. Then I went to the gym every other day for about a half hour. Now I'm going every day for 90 mins and eating healthier is just natural to me. But everyone is different. I would not say I was ever addicted to food so maybe that's why it was a fast transition. You can do this. Trust me. Just take it slow. Set a goal but not a date to meet it. I started off with a date in mind and then thought, that's not really going to help a life style change it's more like a diet which diets fail. I want to lose 60lbs total and to do it healthy I can't put pressure on myself to do it in 6 months. Not to mention what's going to happen after 6 months? I will start eating more and gain even more weight. Taking it slowly helps your bpdy adjust to the changes and will make it easy to stick to. Sorry, I guess I kinda went off in a different direction but I just wanted to let you know you're not alone with this. You are stronger then you think. Just give yourself a chance to prove it! :flowerforyou:

suzieqdiva · February 2011

I think in some shape or form, all of us have used food to substitute feelings, relationship issues & stresses. How pronounced we have used food is very varied... & requires a different way of addressing it.

I had joined a group called FA for Food Addicts about a year ago. They follow the 12 step program of AA (Alcoholic Anonymous) & people actually have to examine their relationship with food & how they use it to supplement, replace or deal with relationships, hardships & issues of self worth. I believe it works successfully for a lot of people & you might want to look into it. You get a sponsor, commit to a plan & meetings & a support system.

http://www.foodaddicts.org/index.html

Personally it was too regimental for me... but after being here for a few days... this is no easy path either! My heart goes out to you & I genuinely hope that you can find some answers among people's responses here. If nothing else, look into the FA program.

Good luck & email me if you want to know more.

Bmorrow · February 2011

Welcome Jessica,
I had to laugh when I read your Topic Title. I felt the same way when I found MFP. Like Dr. Phil says though, "You can't fix what you don't own." Looks like you are on the right path to fixin it. Stay faithful to your sign ins and keep track of everything...before you know it you will be thinking about what exercise you can do instead of what food you can eat. I love this site! Would enjoy being your friend on here, so friend me if you please.
B

jb_2011 · February 2011

Hey Jessica,

You're not alone - I think lots of us here are in the exact same boat. I don't know if there's a way to stop thinking about food other than getting involved in projects that take your mind off of it. One of my most important projects is weight loss, which unfortunately means I have to think about food!

It's important that we learn about nutrition, and portions, and sodium levels....maybe you've been doing this already. Study about foods rich in potassium and include them daily. I think we can get to a balanced position mentally if we feed our bodies properly.

Humans are by nature hunter/gatherers. Once upon a time people actually had to hunt and gather. And go hungry half the time lol. Since food is so readily available now and we see it everywhere we turn, the temptation to eat eat eat is all too difficult to overcome. Thus is why we're here on MFP. Let's pay attention and try to get over the hump.

Just my thoughts.

my name is Jessica: Im a food addict

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