maillemaker Member

Yes.

Many people with addictions have excuses for their behavior. Or they may realize they have a problem, but will not admit it to themselves or others. This is what happens when you are denial. Recognizing and dealing with addictions is not the same thing as excusing bad behavior. When an alcoholic or gambler admits they have…

I'd say you don't have to be morbidly obese to be addicted to food, any more than you have to be bankrupt to be addicted to gambling. The key signature to addiction is wanting to stop the behavior and not being able to do so. It doesn't matter if you are 10 pounds overweight or 100. If you want to stop eating but cannot…

Fantastic post. Thanks!

This is a fantastic post and tremendously insightful - I am going to use this on my doctor next visit. She was constantly harping on me that the Paleo or Atkins style diets were "unsustainable". What I could not articulate is, "Lady, NO diet is sustainable!" But you've hit the nail on the head. It's a hell of a lot more…

This is my situation also.

I've made it through 6 pages of this recent thread on food addiction, and, based on the last go around on this topic, I've started keeping a picture log of the people who do not believe that food addiction is real. Here's what I have so far: http://i.imgur.com/3vYrsJp.jpg Note I'm not keeping track of people without actual…

OK, but eating without caring about the consequences is an entirely different situation. Many people do bad things, but they aren't trying to stop doing them, either. They may or may not be addicted. But if you want to stop and can't, that's when you've got an addiction.

No, a behavioral addiction isn't when you don't want to stop doing something, it's when you can't even when you want to. Like someone addicted to gambling doesn't wants to stop gambling but can't stop gambling, or someone addicted to pornography who wants to stop but can't stop using pornography. Uncontrollable compulsive…

This is incorrect. There most certainly are medical and mental health professionals that refer to food addiction. Binge eating is now a disorder listed in the DSM-V.

The "mental thing" you are talking about is called a "behavioral addiction".

How so? Our brains trigger reward mechanisms when we consume calorie-dense foods. This would be a positive evolutionary trait encouraging eating when high-value food is available.

You don't have withdrawal symptoms from not eating food because food addiction is a behavioral addiction not a physiological addiction. This does not mean that if you put a plate of Oreo cookies in front of an addict they will find it very, very hard to only eat one Oreo cookie and leave the rest. Yes, it is all about…

Exactly. If you eat calorie-dense foods like ice cream to satisfaction it is trivial to consume 1400+ calories in one sitting. That's one single container of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. And that was just the day's dessert.

Everyone who overeats is suffering from overeating. The question is, why are they overeating?

This has been my experience also, though I am only down 30 pounds. It took me about 2.5 months to feel like I had achieved some level of control over what I eat. Previously, when I saw free snack foods in the office I would think ,"OH MY GOD I WANT TO EAT THAT SO BAD" and now it is more like, "I don't eat that stuff any…

This is my opinion also.

All addictions are a lack of willpower.

When a gambling addict (and this is labeled as an addiction in the DSM-V) quits gambling, do they have withdrawal symptoms? You are confusing physiological addictions with behavioral addictions. Physiological addictions, such as addictions to heroin, nicotine, or whatever, can cause physical withdrawal symptoms. Behavioral…

Awesome!

Awesome! My gym has one of those machines - I use it for tricep pulldowns. Thanks for the tip!

I don't do situps/crunches/ab work at the gym, either. Too embarrassing.

I like people who are inspirational and close to my age. Also, people who routinely comment on my status updates. To me, the most important part of this web site is knowing that people are watching.

I stay away from the squat rack because I'm afraid of it. I work out alone at the gym so I don't have a spotter if I can't get the weight off of me. They may be embarrassed if they need a woman spotter to save them. I do my leg workouts on the circuit machines. Extensions, curls, calf raises, and then the squat press…

I've been going to the gym about 5 weeks now. I try to go 3 days a week. If I miss a day, I don't worry about it, because 5 weeks ago I was going to the gym zero days a week.

I don't see the problem. My gut looks just like that when I do squats! :)

Most of the time when people say they want to "cut out sugar" what they really mean is they want to "cut out sugary, calorie-dense, tempting foods". The reason why they want to cut them out is because when they eat them they tend to eat too much of them and end up eating a calorie surplus and gaining weight. There is…

I find organic products too expensive and the benefits are not scientifically documented. I bought a gallon of "organic" milk once, it tasted like regular milk to me but cost twice as much.

Plateaus are normal and to be expected. I've dieted many times over my life and every time after the first 10 pounds you have a period of a few weeks where weight loss slows down. I have always suspected this is because your body figures out what is going on (caloric restriction) and slows down the metabolism somewhat to…

Here's why: In the US, the food is relatively cheap and the labor is relatively expensive. If you are paying some people to make and sell a plate of lasagna, the lasagna is the cheapest part of the business. The biggest cost is the labor. So it doesn't cost you very much more to serve a big plate of lasagna as opposed to a…