Overcoming Food Addiction
MattMacedo
Posts: 2 Member
I am someone who suffers from food addiction. First step of the process is admitting the problem. I'm sure there are hundreds of people here on myfitnesspal who have overcome food addiction. I need as much help as I can get! Please inform me of what has helped you overcome this awful addiction.
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How can you be addicted to food? I get that there are foods that are difficult to moderate intake of (I have that problem myself), but we need food to live.0
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kommodevaran wrote: »How can you be addicted to food? I get that there are foods that are difficult to moderate intake of (I have that problem myself), but we need food to live.
And that is what makes it so difficult. You cannot avoid it. You can be addicted to anything, even things like brushing teeth.
I have no experience with this, but I would assume planning and logging the entire day in advance, including snacks, might help. Then preportion and only focus on that pile of food that is all yours? Much success to you.4 -
You are not alone. Eating some foods releases dopamine for some people. So - here is an article on that for those that need it. http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/binge-eating-disorder/mental-health-food-addiction I have a friend who was bulimic - so...call it what you will...she was addicted to food(her words) but knew it wasn't good for her. She had to learn not to overeat...and eat for fuel. Here are some tips on stopping before you binge. http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/binge-eating-disorder/mental-health-food-addiction. Wishing you the best - and just remember....if you do have a moment where you binge - immediately get back on routine. Plan your meals. Carry a healthy snack with you like fruit...at all times. Get on a good digestive enzyme and probiotics to clear up any unknown issues you are having with cravings for sugar caused by issues with digestion etc... Plan your meals ahead of time...and stick to it as much as possible. All things I thought you might find helpful as they were for my friend.7
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My fitness pal is a wonderful resource for us all with lots of support but food addiction is very complex and not alot of people understand it or even know they are an addict themselves. I know there are forums for food addiction I would Google that and look for that specifically.3
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kommodevaran wrote: »How can you be addicted to food? I get that there are foods that are difficult to moderate intake of (I have that problem myself), but we need food to live.
It's a proven fact we need sex to live but there are still sex addiction problems all over the world. Sex addicts have a group called SSA there are also over eaters anonymous.5 -
I'm not sure that many people would actually admit to thatMattMacedo wrote: »I am someone who suffers from food addiction. First step of the process is admitting the problem. I'm sure there are hundreds of people here on myfitnesspal who have overcome food addiction. I need as much help as I can get! Please inform me of what has helped you overcome this awful addiction.
but
I understand where your coming from I would consider my self a food addict as well , for me it's always been an obsessive craving for 1 particular food usually at a time, where I can never seem to get enough of & that may last for months & just as suddenly move to something else. As a personal opinion I think some people have more of addictive personalities than others Re: gambling smoking drugs drinking etc & food , not to use this as an excuse but for me I definitely obsess with food - still do but am trying to do it clean so to speak , so i'm doing what cesser1 suggested I prepare as much in advance as possible, I have been weighing logging & prelogging as well . I also cleaned out my cupboards totally 12 weeks ago for a fresh start.Most of my relatives believe that it is sugar that has caused so much cravings and spiraling obesity in our cultures , so i am trying to cut back on processed foods - eg go clean but also a bit slowly so not to feel starved as such . I'd have a look around the different threads and see if there is a group for you to join into , sometimes having others for support can make all the difference in your day
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MattMacedo wrote: »I am someone who suffers from food addiction. First step of the process is admitting the problem. I'm sure there are hundreds of people here on myfitnesspal who have overcome food addiction. I need as much help as I can get! Please inform me of what has helped you overcome this awful addiction.
I don't really believe in food addiction. I think many of us have problems moderating or bad habits around food that need to be broken, and that many people have trigger foods (foods that they tend to overeat -- often highly palatable foods with a mix of fat and carbs, often either sweet or salty), others find they are more likely to experience cravings or hunger with certain kinds of diets (often higher in refined carbs), and still others (much smaller number) are eating addicts or have binge eating disorder. I say this, because understanding your specific problems are necessary to solving them.
For example, I cut out added sugar for a while to see if that helped with emotional eating. It really made no difference (wasn't hard, though). What I learned is that for me I control eating much more when I eat to schedule (3 meals, maybe a planned snack) and don't graze (and don't have the opportunity to go eat for emotional purposes). Adjusting to this was hard in the way breaking habits can be hard -- I perceived hunger throughout the day at first and had to be really logical about the fact I'd be eating in just a few hours and had had plenty, but also let myself eat low cal things like raw veg. Within about a week I was adjusted to my new schedule and fine. I can eat pretty much anything within the context of this schedule and make it work.
Others find that changing their macros helps (I did increase my protein some and simply make sure my meals are delicious and satisfying).
Others find that eliminating trigger foods for a while helps, or not keeping them at home/at the office.
I would keep a diary for a while and note when you overeat or feel out of control around food -- it can be really educational in figuring out a solution.5 -
In all seriousness, how did you conclude this? What are your symptoms?MattMacedo wrote: »I am someone who suffers from food addiction. First step of the process is admitting the problem. I'm sure there are hundreds of people here on myfitnesspal who have overcome food addiction. I need as much help as I can get! Please inform me of what has helped you overcome this awful addiction.
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amber76bailey wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »How can you be addicted to food? I get that there are foods that are difficult to moderate intake of (I have that problem myself), but we need food to live.
It's a proven fact we need sex to live but there are still sex addiction problems all over the world. Sex addicts have a group called SSA there are also over eaters anonymous.
Ummm, no, pretty sure we don't need sex to live. Not at an individual level, though of course on a societal level we need people to reproduce, but that's different to saying that someone would die if they never had sex.7 -
amber76bailey wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »How can you be addicted to food? I get that there are foods that are difficult to moderate intake of (I have that problem myself), but we need food to live.
It's a proven fact we need sex to live but there are still sex addiction problems all over the world. Sex addicts have a group called SSA there are also over eaters anonymous.
Really going to need sources for this, (and ones that aren't from guys)
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amber76bailey wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »How can you be addicted to food? I get that there are foods that are difficult to moderate intake of (I have that problem myself), but we need food to live.
It's a proven fact we need sex to live but there are still sex addiction problems all over the world. Sex addicts have a group called SSA there are also over eaters anonymous.
Um, nope.2 -
OP, if you've been diagnosed with an eating disorder, you should seek out resources for behavioral therapy in your area. There are good treatments for compulsive behaviors with food, but they should be directed by a professional who can help you identify the causes.5
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amber76bailey wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »How can you be addicted to food? I get that there are foods that are difficult to moderate intake of (I have that problem myself), but we need food to live.
It's a proven fact we need sex to live but there are still sex addiction problems all over the world. Sex addicts have a group called SSA there are also over eaters anonymous.
No, not a proven fact....
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2714380/
That said, still an issue for people who feel like they are, wether or not there is a clinical diagnosis...1 -
MattMacedo wrote: »I am someone who suffers from food addiction. First step of the process is admitting the problem. I'm sure there are hundreds of people here on myfitnesspal who have overcome food addiction. I need as much help as I can get! Please inform me of what has helped you overcome this awful addiction.
@MattMacedo I'll send you some info on this.1 -
Nuns are dropping like flies, dying all over the place.6
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I am shocked by some of the responses. Where is the support? Food addition is a real problem for some people. For other people it is not. The first step is to admit the problem and you have people here saying they don't believe it's a problem. I haven't been on Fitnesspal for some time. I come back today and found this. Extremely discouraging.15
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1. Understanding that anything you binge on will NOT solve the issue you're trying to avoid, and 2. Having experiences to look forward to. When life seems hopeless and dull, food can quickly become the bright spot in it.0
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I believe there is a food addiction, it is perpetuated by an underlining mental disorder, trauma or it can be behavioural (i.e. eating when you're bored). It is important to know what your triggers are. Some people are stress eaters and will cope with stress by eating. I use to do that, now I do cardio - and it actually suppresses my hunger. Drink lots of water. Don't have tempting foods that are calorie dense around you. Talk to family and friends so they can encourage you to eat healthier. Also seek a counsellor possibly if you are truly struggling. However, don't let it define you. One study stated that some people use their food addiction as an excuse to overindulge.0
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2istheperfect1 wrote: »I am shocked by some of the responses. Where is the support? Food addition is a real problem for some people. For other people it is not. The first step is to admit the problem and you have people here saying they don't believe it's a problem. I haven't been on Fitnesspal for some time. I come back today and found this. Extremely discouraging.
Actually, for many people, understanding that food addiction is not the actual problem they are trying to solve, but many of the habitual/behavorial tendencies that @lemurcat12 do exist and are the root cause of the situation CAN be helpful. Some people suffer from binge eating disorder, which is a clinically diagnosed condition, and if OP has BED, then there are certainly techniques and steps he can follow to get help with that. Many people however come here thinking they are "food addicts" or addicted to one particular food or ingredient but not other foods or other foods that have that same ingredient in them. Understanding that they are not physically addicted to the food substance itself but that they can work on addressing the cravings, the triggers, the emotional aspect of why they over eat that food can be very empowering for many people.
OP I just read your profile and noticed your comment about being a filmmaker who recently made a documentary about a teenager overcoming heroin addiction. That sounds very powerful. I am intrigued, after your experience filming this movie, that you still use the phrase "food addiction" as many people who have been addicted to narcotics or other drugs, or who have had loved ones who have experienced drug addiction, are often reticent to use the label "food addict" as it seems to pale in comparison to what drug addicts go through. Thoughts?
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I feel like it's easy to nay say and deny when you haven't experienced the situation in question. Food addiction is real. I am currently working to overcome an extremely unhealthy relationship with food. Until you experience what it feels like, you don't understand. Some may call this an eating disorder and not an addiction but I don't believe those terms to be necessarily mutually exclusive. Until you binge eat 6000 calories in a single sitting then cry because you did so, be desperate for change, and go right back to that behavior three hours later, you might not understand. Yes, there are different trigger foods for different people. People who are addicted to food will literally overeat themselves to death. For some people eating is compulsive. It IS an addiction. For most this destructive behavior is developed early and is nearly impossible to break. You can't tell me that what I feel isn't real. I didn't realize how bad off I was until I started this journey a little over a month ago. It's a sickness. And realizing that is a large part of the battle. OP, I'm proud of you for making this initial step in your journey. Don't listen to the negative people. You reached out for advice and instead got people wanting to deny you have a problem at all. I thought this was supposed to be a place where we encourage and support people to lead better, healthier lives? OP, feel free to friend me. I understand your struggle.6
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Speaking as a licensed psychologist, what lemurcat12 said is absurd and clearly from someone who does not understand addiction. There are diagnosable eating disorders ~ Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder and a ton of variations that would be considered disordered eating (or possibly Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified).
Put plainly, if food were not addicting, people wouldn't literally be dying from obesity. The addiction either to not eating/eating and purging/overeating, is very similar to alcohol and drugs as certain ingredients (like sugar - which is in EVERYTHING) impact neurotransmitters in the same way using crack does. Or they are reinforced by various consequences (positive and negative) like losing weight, releasing stress, decreasing anxiety, feeling in control, etc.
I would echo those above with getting a therapist if you starve yourself/purge/and or eat until stuffed frequently. If you can't afford formal treatment, and don't have an eating disorder which is different from disordered eating, try Googling Judith Beck. She has a series on self-help cognitive behavioral therapy books that help individuals better understand their relationship to food.5 -
As a mostly recovered anorexic binge/purge I have to say this- for me IT WASN'T ABOUT THE FOOD. It was about masking emotional pain, depression, anxiety, insecurity, etc. When I binged I binged on everything. It didn't matter what it was. It wasn't about the food! Once I dealt with my pain I don't binge very often1
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MzJones1920 wrote: »Speaking as a licensed psychologist, what lemurcat12 said is absurd and clearly from someone who does not understand addiction.
I understand addiction. Care to identify what part of my post was "absurd"? From what you say here I can't tell that you even read it (and I wrote it some time ago now -- weird this thread got revived when OP doesn't seem to be around).There are diagnosable eating disorders ~ Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder and a ton of variations that would be considered disordered eating (or possibly Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified).
Obviously, as I noted.
That doesn't mean that people with these disorders are "addicted" (although I personally think compulsive eating or BED could be considered a form of addiction, as I said).Put plainly, if food were not addicting, people wouldn't literally be dying from obesity.
Now this is absurd. That people gain weight and have trouble losing weight doesn't require addiction at all. It's easily explained by environment, evolution, and human difficulties with long term vs. short term incentives. According to the same "logic," one would have to conclude that choosing to watch TV instead of studying, for a less successful student, given the importance of school to long term success, means that one is addicted to TV. No, one is just making poor choices when it comes to trade offs given human tendency to favor short term incentives.
Rather than assuming addiction if one has some out of control or poor decision making about food (as seems to be the case for the majority of the population), it makes more sense to try to focus on the specifics. Obviously there are some people (we don't know enough about OP, despite the number of people who are jumping to conclusions) who will need therapy and may have more difficult issues like BED.4 -
MzJones1920 wrote: »Speaking as a licensed psychologist, what lemurcat12 said is absurd and clearly from someone who does not understand addiction. There are diagnosable eating disorders ~ Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder and a ton of variations that would be considered disordered eating (or possibly Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified).
Put plainly, if food were not addicting, people wouldn't literally be dying from obesity. The addiction either to not eating/eating and purging/overeating, is very similar to alcohol and drugs as certain ingredients (like sugar - which is in EVERYTHING) impact neurotransmitters in the same way using crack does. Or they are reinforced by various consequences (positive and negative) like losing weight, releasing stress, decreasing anxiety, feeling in control, etc.
I would echo those above with getting a therapist if you starve yourself/purge/and or eat until stuffed frequently. If you can't afford formal treatment, and don't have an eating disorder which is different from disordered eating, try Googling Judith Beck. She has a series on self-help cognitive behavioral therapy books that help individuals better understand their relationship to food.
What do you feel was absurd about lemurcats post? ( Be specific so we can see what you are referring to)
I read it several times and felt like it was on point. I did not disagree with anything she said4 -
MzJones1920 wrote: »Speaking as a licensed psychologist, what lemurcat12 said is absurd and clearly from someone who does not understand addiction. There are diagnosable eating disorders ~ Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder and a ton of variations that would be considered disordered eating (or possibly Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified).
Put plainly, if food were not addicting, people wouldn't literally be dying from obesity. The addiction either to not eating/eating and purging/overeating, is very similar to alcohol and drugs as certain ingredients (like sugar - which is in EVERYTHING) impact neurotransmitters in the same way using crack does. Or they are reinforced by various consequences (positive and negative) like losing weight, releasing stress, decreasing anxiety, feeling in control, etc.
I would echo those above with getting a therapist if you starve yourself/purge/and or eat until stuffed frequently. If you can't afford formal treatment, and don't have an eating disorder which is different from disordered eating, try Googling Judith Beck. She has a series on self-help cognitive behavioral therapy books that help individuals better understand their relationship to food.
First, @lemurcat12 never disputed that there are eating disorders. In fact, she plainly said that, while she doesn't believe people are addicted to food, there are people who are addicted to eating or have eating disorders.
Second, if food were not addicting, people would absolutely still be dying from obesity. Do you really believe that all obese individuals are addicted to food? That's ludicrous.
Third, as a psychologist, you should understand that while sugar does impact the same neurotransmitters as crack (as do kissing, petting puppies, laying in the sunshine...) it does NOT have the same impact. Not one reliable study has been done which implicates sugar as an addictive substance. Not one individual has ever been legitimately proven to be dependent on sugar as a substance (those who claim they are, strangely, are never drawn to fruits or even to straight sugar, just to cakes and other "sweets" (which typically contain as much fat as sugar)).
Also, behavioral triggers, consequences and rewards like those you mentioned do not indicate an addiction to the food itself.
Again, no one is saying that eating disorders or behavioral addictions aren't real. What is being said is that most of the members here who claim to be addicted to food or to sugar are either a) actually suffering from a behavioral/eating disorder or, more likely, b) misdiagnosing themselves entirely.
A behavioral disorder or eating disorder is not the same as an addiction to a substance. The problem is the disordered behavior, not the substance being ingested during the behavior (not to dismiss the effectiveness of dealing with triggers).
I'd expect a psychologist to not only understand the difference but to also see the value in making sure that those who may have such disorders know the difference as well.6 -
Carlos_421 wrote: »Nuns are dropping like flies, dying all over the place.
cuz dey ain't gettin' nun!
I'll show myself out.8 -
"I don't really believe in food addiction."
What I find absurd is the first sentence.
I am not on here to change minds or debate so I won't go into all the other lengthy posts that were sticking up for lemurcat12, I honestly didn't read them in their entirety because, see the first part of this sentence. I stated my opinion, if you disagree with me, I am totally fine with that.
Have a great day
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MzJones1920 wrote: »Speaking as a licensed psychologist, what lemurcat12 said is absurd and clearly from someone who does not understand addiction. There are diagnosable eating disorders ~ Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder and a ton of variations that would be considered disordered eating (or possibly Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified).
Put plainly, if food were not addicting, people wouldn't literally be dying from obesity. The addiction either to not eating/eating and purging/overeating, is very similar to alcohol and drugs as certain ingredients (like sugar - which is in EVERYTHING) impact neurotransmitters in the same way using crack does. Or they are reinforced by various consequences (positive and negative) like losing weight, releasing stress, decreasing anxiety, feeling in control, etc.
I would echo those above with getting a therapist if you starve yourself/purge/and or eat until stuffed frequently. If you can't afford formal treatment, and don't have an eating disorder which is different from disordered eating, try Googling Judith Beck. She has a series on self-help cognitive behavioral therapy books that help individuals better understand their relationship to food.
Clinically diagnosed eating disorders definitely exist and are treatable. Did anyone say that Anorexia, Bulimia, or Binge Eating Disorder among others do not? I don't think so.
Food addiction does not have clear parameters and definitions from a clinical perspective which would allow us to call it either a behavioral or a substance addiction.
I'm concerned that someone speaking as a licensed psychologist would make such an obvious appeal to authority and yet not be able to read and discern the salient points of @lemurcat12 post .5 -
MzJones1920 wrote: »"I don't really believe in food addiction."
What I find absurd is the first sentence.
I am not on here to change minds or debate so I won't go into all the other lengthy posts that were sticking up for lemurcat12, I honestly didn't read them in their entirety because, see the first part of this sentence. I stated my opinion, if you disagree with me, I am totally fine with that.
Have a great day
As a licensed psychologist, can you please explain the definition of food addiction and the clinical measures by which it is diagnosed? Please note, I am not referring to Anorexia, Bulimia, or Binge Eating Disorder. Strictly "food addiction".4 -
MzJones1920 wrote: »"I don't really believe in food addiction."
What I find absurd is the first sentence.
I am not on here to change minds or debate so I won't go into all the other lengthy posts that were sticking up for lemurcat12, I honestly didn't read them in their entirety because, see the first part of this sentence. I stated my opinion, if you disagree with me, I am totally fine with that.
Have a great day
You clearly didn't read her explanation of that statement either.
So you're rendering your opinion on someone's post without even reading it and don't care to read responses to your claims, entirely dismissing any discussion on a matter to which you, as a psychologist should be able to add valuable input. K2
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