Addiction

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Pillowcrunch
Pillowcrunch Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone think that food is an addiction? I love food, way too much. I feel like an addict. Opinions welcomed.
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  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    Pillowcrunch wrote: »
    Does anyone think that food is an addiction? I love food, way too much. I feel like an addict. Opinions welcomed.

    Nope. Sorry but I do not. I have never heard of someone taking out second mortgages on their home or selling their body to support their food "addiction".
  • cdgroves121
    cdgroves121 Posts: 1 Member
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    Yes. Just today, I had to pick up my daughter from school and take her directly to an appt, because of this I stopped at a fast food place to get her a quick bite. It was so hard to not get myself something too. I wasn't hungry, but Man that greasy food smelled wonderful! To resist eating one of her fries took everything I had.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    cdgroves121 wrote: »
    Yes. Just today, I had to pick up my daughter from school and take her directly to an appt, because of this I stopped at a fast food place to get her a quick bite. It was so hard to not get myself something too. I wasn't hungry, but Man that greasy food smelled wonderful! To resist eating one of her fries took everything I had.

    you could have bought it, logged it, and eaten it if it fit your calories.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    cdgroves121 wrote: »
    Yes. Just today, I had to pick up my daughter from school and take her directly to an appt, because of this I stopped at a fast food place to get her a quick bite. It was so hard to not get myself something too. I wasn't hungry, but Man that greasy food smelled wonderful! To resist eating one of her fries took everything I had.

    That is not an addiction.
  • poohpoohpeapod
    poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
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    I think people can get addicted to the biological good feelings that sugar and certain simple carbs provide. They affect the brain in some people much more than others. I think some people feel out of control and have difficulty eating these foods in moderation. Sugar has been proven (on pet scans) to light up the same areas of the brain as cocaine does. Call it what you want. Many will say IIFYM however, some of us cant do moderation, thats why we got big in the first place.
  • obscuremusicreference
    obscuremusicreference Posts: 1,320 Member
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    Since I started really paying attention to my macros food is more like a game. I love carbs and it's a challenge to keep them down and my protein and fat up.
  • jnv7594
    jnv7594 Posts: 983 Member
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    elphie754 wrote: »
    Pillowcrunch wrote: »
    Does anyone think that food is an addiction? I love food, way too much. I feel like an addict. Opinions welcomed.

    Nope. Sorry but I do not. I have never heard of someone taking out second mortgages on their home or selling their body to support their food "addiction".

    If food cost as much as drugs you might. A lot of food is cheap and readily available.

  • softblondechick
    softblondechick Posts: 1,275 Member
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    Food is an addiction. But only those who have seriously had out of control binges and gone into a literal food coma can understand.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    jnv7594 wrote: »
    elphie754 wrote: »
    Pillowcrunch wrote: »
    Does anyone think that food is an addiction? I love food, way too much. I feel like an addict. Opinions welcomed.

    Nope. Sorry but I do not. I have never heard of someone taking out second mortgages on their home or selling their body to support their food "addiction".

    If food cost as much as drugs you might. A lot of food is cheap and readily available.

    I don't know where you live, but by me, drugs aren't exactly "expensive". Also- people have used money that should have been used for other things (like their kids and homes) to pay for drugs/alcohol because they use that much of it. How many people do you know that spend every last cent they own to pay for a binge, knowing that by doing so they will end up on the street? I'm not saying it is impossible, I am saying that food "addiction" is NOT an addiction in the true sense of the word. Addictions tend to significantly impact someone's life (loss of job, homeless, not having enough money to eat or feed their kids) and their life become centered around the addiction. Most of those individuals cannot practice moderation with the substance and if they have any hope of recovery, have to cut it out completely. Simply put- you can not live without food.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
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    jnv7594 wrote: »
    elphie754 wrote: »
    Pillowcrunch wrote: »
    Does anyone think that food is an addiction? I love food, way too much. I feel like an addict. Opinions welcomed.

    Nope. Sorry but I do not. I have never heard of someone taking out second mortgages on their home or selling their body to support their food "addiction".

    If food cost as much as drugs you might. A lot of food is cheap and readily available.

    Good point.

  • emmab852012
    emmab852012 Posts: 82 Member
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    I think it is an addiction. I know personally I have food on my mind all the time.
  • cincysweetheart
    cincysweetheart Posts: 892 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Personally, I think it's an excuse. Rather than dealing with the stresses of life, one chooses to eat. Then claims that they can't deal with life without food. They eat because it tastes good and they like the feeling. But they don't want to take responsibility for it and have the discipline to say no… so they have created "food addiction" as a way of excusing themselves.

    edited to add: This is just my opinion. But it comes from someone who started off at 381 pounds… with no injuries or medical problems, therefore most of the civilized world would think I had a food addiction.
  • choligeetu
    choligeetu Posts: 22 Member
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    Follow your heart and eat when you really "want to". But please remember while we eat to live, we not live to eat, especially junk food.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    emmab852012 wrote: »
    I think it is an addiction. I know personally I have food on my mind all the time.

    Just because you have food on your mind does not make it an addiction.
  • oxers
    oxers Posts: 259 Member
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    I think comparing garden variety cravings for junk food to an addiction is insulting both to people struggling with disordered eating and with actual addictions. Can you use food as an emotional crutch to avoid dealing with *kitten*? Yeah, absolutely. Is that the same as someone on heroin? God, no. Absolutely not.

    Compulsive eating is a thing, keep in mind. It's an actual condition, but it's debilitating. It's life-destroying. People suffering from compulsive eating can knock out up to 15,000 calories a day during a binge. Compulsive overeaters often do lie, cheat and steal to support their habit, and they generally cannot stop without help. That's classic addiction territory right there. Struggling to pass up the cheeseburger when grabbing your kid a happy meal is not.
  • tbilly20
    tbilly20 Posts: 154 Member
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    Mariam-Webster defines addiction as a strong or harmful need to have something or do something. Is there a strong need for food, either to cope with stress or to fill a reaction from the body? Eating is certainly habit-forming. No one is saying that it does not take discipline to overcome this habit/addiction. The same is true of any other addiction.

    Alcoholics are vigilant, there is a fight everyday to stay sober. There are support structures like AA in place. During meetings people share there thoughts, struggles and cravings. After certain steps are achieved, a sponsor is chosen to help personally guide you through you journey.

    In the same way, eating helps people cope with their problems. It is a comforting method of escaping from the real world and its tribulations. If done in excess, it can be very harmful and deadly. When you decide eating has damaged your life enough to make a change, you seek help. After finding that help, you need to be constantly vigilant over your eating, or you may fall prey to over-eating again.

    It certainly fits the definition of addiction, and it has a striking number of similarities to other accredited addictions. The difference with food is that we must have it in order to live. An alcoholic can swear off alchol, a drug addict can stop using completely. Someone who is addicted to food still has to eat. Imagine a heavy scotch drinker trying to conquer alcoholism by being told cut back on their scotch intake, or switch to beer! Not going to work. Food can be a very dangerous and addictive stub stance. Failure to recognize that fact is even more dangerous.
  • CarrieCans
    CarrieCans Posts: 381 Member
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    Yale University believes that food addiction is real. Not sure where i sit in this debate.

    http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-food-addiction

    Experiments in animals and humans show that, for some people, the same reward and pleasure centers of the brain that are triggered by addictive drugs like cocaine and heroin are also activated by food, especially highly palatable foods.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    tbilly20 wrote: »
    Mariam-Webster defines addiction as a strong or harmful need to have something or do something. Is there a strong need for food, either to cope with stress or to fill a reaction from the body? Eating is certainly habit-forming. No one is saying that it does not take discipline to overcome this habit/addiction. The same is true of any other addiction.

    Alcoholics are vigilant, there is a fight everyday to stay sober. There are support structures like AA in place. During meetings people share there thoughts, struggles and cravings. After certain steps are achieved, a sponsor is chosen to help personally guide you through you journey.

    In the same way, eating helps people cope with their problems. It is a comforting method of escaping from the real world and its tribulations. If done in excess, it can be very harmful and deadly. When you decide eating has damaged your life enough to make a change, you seek help. After finding that help, you need to be constantly vigilant over your eating, or you may fall prey to over-eating again.

    It certainly fits the definition of addiction, and it has a striking number of similarities to other accredited addictions. The difference with food is that we must have it in order to live. An alcoholic can swear off alchol, a drug addict can stop using completely. Someone who is addicted to food still has to eat. Imagine a heavy scotch drinker trying to conquer alcoholism by being told cut back on their scotch intake, or switch to beer! Not going to work. Food can be a very dangerous and addictive stub stance. Failure to recognize that fact is even more dangerous.

    No it is not the same and saying that it is trivializing actual addictions.
  • sifjada
    sifjada Posts: 9 Member
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    cincysweetheart wrote: »
    Personally, I think it's an excuse. Rather than dealing with the stresses of life, one chooses to eat. Then claims that they can't deal with life without food. They eat because it tastes good and they like the feeling. But they don't want to take responsibility for it and have the discipline to say no… so they have created "food addiction" as a way of excusing themselves.

    edited to add: This is just my opinion. But it comes from someone who started off at 381 pounds… with no injuries or medical problems, therefore most of the civilized world would think I had a food addiction.

    tbh this sounds like a milder form of addiction, the reasoning you used here is a lot of the same that addicts use to support their habits. Addiction is psychological and physical.

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