The Addiction Help .com

I have been thinking this lately. You can give up most other addictions forever but you will always have to eat again. So, I feel that it might be easier to get out of another addiction. With food addiction every bite could be the kiss of death for the rest of your life. You can give up alcohol forever though.

I totally agree with you. Everyone has to keep eating, food issues or not. A recovering alcoholic for example, can stay out of bars.

2008-01-31 20:59:35 by Walt 1938

Ashley Gearhardt is a clinical psychology doctoral student at Yale University exploring the possibility that certain foods may be capable of ...

I have never been skinny throughout my young life, but I managed to stay healthy and active until I got married. I went from 170 pounds at the time of my marriage in 2003 to 235 pounds in March of 2005. I lost 30 pounds last year the healthy way, but lost my battle with food and gained that back too. My dad says it's genetic, as he is huge and eats constantly. I have problems controlling my portions. No matter how hard I try to discipline myself, my brain always tricks me into eating more than I should. I really want to try hard but I have gone down so many avenues with little success. I swear it's like a drug addiction. I love to cook and that is another thing that gets me into trouble. Any other former food addicts out there? How did you kick the habit?

You need to get professional help. I saw a Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor, which is a social worker specializing in addiction, weekly for 11 months. She used the same techniques on me that she uses on coke addicts and alcoholics. The hardest thing is that you can't ever stop eating. You have to learn what's behind your eating (it's not hunger!), the process behind overeating and how to short-circuit it before the food gets to your mouth. It's the Cycle of Addiction--it includes self-loathing and trigger behavior and other steps. You learn to recognize each step in yourself and what your triggers are.
It takes a while, it's difficult, but it can be done. Good luck.

2006-04-11 14:02:58 by Yuna

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My husband says he has an addiction to food and he just can't stop eating. He even eats when he's full. He says it's not like a drug addiction where you just STOP because no one can quit eating. I don't know what to do for him. I want him to go see a regular counselor, but he's afraid that wouldn't help.

I've heard that acupuncture works sometimes. Try stalking the fridge with healthy stuff because if he overeats vegetables then I guess that wouldn't be as bad as cookies or chips. And try serving him his food on smaller plates. Doctors can prescribe certain pills if he's becoming obese and its adversely affecting his health.

2007-03-11 13:00:59 by Ihate R

(Food addiction is a term recently coined to describe compulsive over-eating, and the compulsive consumption of unhealthy foods and beverages.)

Not bulimia and not anorexia.

The Carbohydrate Addict's Program for Success - by Richard and Rachael Heller

The Diet Cure - by Julia Ross (nutritionist)

and check to see if you have candida albicans, which you will need to address, and/or intestinal parasites, as these can make you have constant and insatiable cravings for sugar and carbohydrates.

the emotional issues around compulsice overeating need to be addresses as well. Geneen Roth has written some great books on this, and on her own journey with food addiction

2008-02-16 02:08:40 by .

I'm a 21 year old male i'm in great shape and I have a very fast metabolism so I don't gain any weight no matter what I eat, but I know that one day my bad eating habits are going to catch up to me and I'm going to be 300lbs because of my terrible diet, how can I break my addiction to junk food? I have tried before but it didn't last to long, obviously.

I totally get it. Quitting cold turkey is too hard for me. Here is a simple method I used.

Make a list of the things that you want to change in your diet. It is important that the list is written and then put in a place where you will see it every day. These are the things that you are going to change.

Pick one item to change and put a check mark next to it. Over the next couple of weeks you will develop a habit without feeling deprived. Every couple of weeks check off another item. You don’t have to check them off in any particular order.

Your list will be different. My list started off like this:
1. Deep fried food
2. Salt shaker
3. Refined sugar
4. Refined flour
5. Caloric drinks
6. Red meat < 1 x week
7. Fruit every day

Gradually you can make small changes that will get you the results you want. Go for it.

2009-03-05 10:53:44 by Ralph