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Conquering Food AddictionA food addiction has it's own unique set of problems. With other addictions one can avoid the substance or the situations that precipitate the destructive behavior. With alcohol, one can avoid having liquor in the house and stay out of the bars. With shopping, one can stay out of the malls or leave the credit cards at home. But one cannot quit eating.
So diets were created to help us live with our addiction rather than conquering it; to keep the wolf at bay instead of shipping it off to Yellowstone. Webster's Dictionary defines an addiction as "the devotion or surrendering of oneself to something habitually or excessively." That "something" may be drugs, alcohol, sex, exercise, religion,--- or overeating. Does that sound like you in relation to food? There are two kinds of addiction, physical and psychological. The physical kind is a "compulsive need for and use of a habit forming substance (such as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by well defined physiological symtoms upon withdrawal." The psychological form is compulsive behavior such as shopping, gambling, sex, even exercise---and overeating. There is also a psychological component to physical addiction. Long after all traces of nicotine are cleared from a smoker's body, the craving for a cigarette appears when life gets rough or a party is going on. Confronting the MonsterThe first step is to acknowledge the food addiction. Do you think about food all the time? Do you eat continually during your waking hours? Maybe you even get up at night to eat. Do you eat very large meals? Do you "super size"? Does your stomach ever hurt from being over-stuffed? Do you have food cravings? Emotional eating? Compulsive behavior? Are you overweight? Do you overeat all foods or is it mostly carbohydrates.Face it. ("Hello, my name is Harry/Mary, and I am a food (carbohydrate) addict.") No need to tell anyone else, but tell yourself. Tell yourself that you are a beautiful human being with a little work to do. Look at yourself as the piece of marble from which David or Venus was carved. Michelangelo said that David was always there in the marble; he just chipped away the part that wasn't David. Inside your body is a thin person, a David or Venus. All you need to do is chip away the excess fat. Acknowledging your food addiction is the first step to
weight loss. There are 7 more steps as outlined in the behavior modification
paper. Take your time. If you haven't printed them out, do it now. Learn and practice each one. Then add
meal planning
andexercise
to your daily activities and you are on your way to a new healthy you.
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