Former food addicts: What's your new "addiction?"

I know a lot of people trade one addiction for another.  And for me, I know I need something to take the place of food after my surgery.  I'm planning on that being exercise.  I was wondering what other people used?

Shopping for clothes.  Fortunately, I have learned to LOVE shopping at Goodwill and Salvation Army.  It has become a real hobby.  Low calorie and cheap!

First, not all obese people are food addicts. They all overeat, but true addiction is far more than overeating, and the steps that true food addicts need to take to be successful long-term can be different than what people who are not addicted need to do. In general, though...

For most people, it really isn't a matter of finding one new thing to replace the food. Or it shouldn't be, anyway. What SHOULD happen is that you develop a new, healthy relationship with food and find more appropriate ways to deal with the underlying emotional and psychological reasons for the overeating. Just substituting exercise for food isn't going to get you to a healthy mindset. Even if you are successful short term in using exercise to help you keep from eating when you are not hungry, or when you are bored or stressed, what happens if you become ill or injured and no longer have exercise to turn to? If you have not learned to deal with the emotions and situations without using "something" to help you, you are at greater risk for developing a cross addiction (alcohol is by far the most common cross addiction).

Although exercise may help if someone eats when they are bored or stressed, if someone eats for comfort, exercise is unlikely to provide them with the comfort they seek. It may distract them for a while, and any endorphins they get (I personally don't think I have any!) might make them feel a little better for a little while, but the issue is still there. Dealing with the NEED to be comforted, healing the hurt, and finding healthy ways to find that comfort, is the key to long-term success.

Lora

Totally a food addict... but I don't have any new addictions.  I love exercise, but my relationship with it is healthy - if I need rest, I rest. If I want to do more or less, I can without any guilt or pressure.

 I love the freedom RNY and weight loss have given me.....

I'm not a former food addict, but I do enjoy shopping more! I have a pretty good relationship with food.

Can't say I was addicted to food. I just ate more than my fair share and everyone elses lol  I also can't say that I've gone overboard or became addicted to anything else since my surgery. 

I do love shopping for new clothes but I stay with in what I can afford. Then again, after living in jammie pants and 5x t-shirts for so long, who wouldn't love to shop for new clothes lol 

Nail polish. Sweet Baby Jesus, I've spent a fortune. Every time I go into the drugstore to pick up a prescription, I get 2-3 new bottles. And not the cheap stuff. It has to be OPI or Essie. And those are gateway polishes. I've moved on to Julep and Nails, Inc.

Before the surgery, I couldn't be troubled to keep polish on. Even if I got a manicure at the salon, I went with clear so you couldn't see it chip. Now I paint my nails at least three times a week. I find it keeps my hands busy, which I think was part of the problem before the surgery?

Anyway, I had to buy a spice rack to mount on the wall in my bathroom to hold all the poli****'s ridiculous.

*snrk*

​"Gateway polishes"

Stop it. 

I am not a food addict, I am a food apathetic. 

But I did develop a nasty caffeine addiction.

I am not a food addict or former addict. I was someone who could not exercise (even when I was 100 pounds in HS). I love to exercise now, play Wii fit or Wii Dance or ride my bike. I still cannot run and I realize that I may never be able to do that. I just love knowing that every minute I spend exercising, I am getting healthier and that is a real "high" for me. After all, that is the reason I had this surgery. I also love, love, love thrift shopping and extreme couponing. I did those things before surgery, but now they are even more fun.

julie