I am a recovering Freestyle eater who is addicted to eating. I'm not addicted to food. You have to eat to live and you can't develop a chemical dependency on the majority of foods we eat. But the mental addiction we feel when every cell in our body is telling us to eat that box of Girl Scout cookies is a real addiction and very powerful.Eating addiction is every bit as series as drug addiction. Drug addiction is a terrible thing. I have the deepest admiration for those who have pulled themselves out of the dark hole of drug addiction and I feel sympathy for those stuck in it.
One thing that makes eating addiction very different from drug addiction is that you must eat every day to stay alive, three times a day if you're doing it right. Your brain is programmed from birth to notify you when you're body needs fuel. So even if you think you have broken away from eating addiction the temptations are always there within easy access. Every day there is a chance you might slip back into it. You have to change the way you think.
Eating addiction IS a serious disease and usually results in life threatening situations. I have great respect for those who have changed their lives and broken the chains of food addiction. Reading their blog stories and following their lives has been extremely helpful.
In order to reach my goals and become a fit, healthy person I have to completely break my addiction to eating. I have to eat to live. I'm doing good so far but It's going to take time. My hope is within the next few months I will leave many of the addictive habits, tendencies and thoughts in my rear view mirror. Thanks to those who have commented on my posts and expressed concern and encouragement. Your support has been amazing and extremely helpful.ETL
Weight loss is mostly a mental process. Once we figure it out, we've one the battle i think.
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My eating addiction wakes up ferocious in the evening. If I need to overindulge I do it on healthy foods and am losing weight but the monkey is still on my back and probably will always be there. I guess as long as I am aware and determined, I can hold it at bay.
ReplyDeleteMy eating addiction wakes up ferociously at night. I make healthy choices and am losing weight but the fact is that monkey is on my back and probably will always be there. As long as I recognize that fact and remain determined I will succeed.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there will be good days and bad days, times when you feel you can accomplish anything and times when you're barely holding on. But you're moving in the right direction, right?
ReplyDeleteI once interviewed a woman who lost 100 pounds 3 times (she was finally successful in making healthy lifestyle changes) and she said the biggest thing that made the last time the REAL time? Surrounding herself with people who believed in her, so that she'd have them for all the times she didn't believe in herself.
I think about that all the time. And the days when I most want to hide from my blog? I think of her, and I put it out there. And am instantly surrounded.
I can identify with a lot of what has been said, and I wanted to comment on the last paragraph you wrote. It does get easier. It takes a long time but you start to forge new pathways in your brain to new habits. Where once before you would have reached for the ice cream you are going for yogurt or fruit, where you would be having seconds without thinking you wait until you can actually tell if you are still hungry or just agonizing over the fact that the food is there.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it will ever be perfect. I have a serious emotional attachment to food that some people probably don't believe could exist. I think it will continue getting easier though, and that's all I could ask for.
Keep coming back here every single day, even if it is just to tell everyone how much you hate this "right now". That accountability here keeps my heart light and makes it easier to keep myself from spiraling downward when I stumble.
You've got this.
thanks all for your kind thoughts. i feel really good about my approach and attitude. it's only been 11 days but I feel like i'm getting in a good groove.
ReplyDeleteETL
Hi there! I have an award for you on my blog!
ReplyDeleteIts hard. There are going to be set backs, but a bump in the road doesn't change the direction that you are driving! :)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more of your posting. Blogging has been the single most helpful tool in keeping me honest and on track... even when I get off track! hah
Just found your blog. Come check me out?
ReplyDeleteI could write a book about food addiction. Hmmm...maybe I should seriously consider that.
Best wishes with tackling this monster. 2010 is our year.
-A-
mywickedwickedways.org
I can so identify with the addiction to eating. It's NOT an addiction to food, there's no specific food that is the culprit. I remember days walking in to a convenience store with $5 and wandering around trying to figure out what the MOST food I could buy for that $5 would be. (And if I would be able to eat it all in the car on the way home so I could ditch the evidence, heh.)
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see others with the same issues and goals. I'm glad I found your blog!