Rant......I think my first ever.....Addicted to Food

Your body may have gotten skinny, but your head is still as fat as ever.  If you would just for once get over yourself and realize that you do not know all there is to know for anyone except yourself, you might learn something valuable.

Maybe you genuinely want to help, and maybe you do some of the time, but you are by no means the final word on anything.  You can't just discount someone else's reality just because it ****** you off.

Food addiction is not an excuse...it's a reality.  It is an insidious, tenacious and extremely clever "excuse", if it is one.  Your take no prisoners, give no quarter attitude is really not helpful.  Some may think it is until their cold hard reality hits them square in the gut when their hunger returns or their life gets turned upside down.

Your success with WL does not give you the right to put people down, discount their struggles or spew your holier than thou edicts.  Sometimes, you have to get out of your own head if you truly want become a wise and just human being.

Has your bravado and intolerance taken the place of your food addiction?  Maybe it helps you cope.

I get what you're saying... DUH... hell, we're all food addicts here.

I think what you see though is people REALIZING and ACCEPTING that here. That's a huge step in anyone's process. Recognizing that you really do have a problem and learning to deal with it. Denial is a powerful force and one that let us all get to where we were. Until you learn to accept that part of yourself it's hard.

"But, I'm a food addict" can definitely be a defense mechanism and another way of denying what you're doing. Accepting it, "I am a food addict in recovery" is a totally different ball of wax.

For me, I still have addictive behaviors. Learning to recognize them before I act and put a plan in place to keep me from screwing up is part of my own recovery.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of folks that won't get to that point. The remain active food addicts - just with smaller stomachs. I've said it a million times... it isn't about the surgery.

I didn't read all the response but  you did make me laugh. We are all here because of food issues... and ATTITUDE toward changing rather than EXCUSES is definitely the best way to approach this VSG journey.

2 co workers have since had VSG and one is major GUNG  HO and following the plan to the letter and doing his best. It is so exciting to see his positive attitude and he isn't even looking back @ the previous food issues. He is exercising and counting his NSV's. :-)

If I wanted to today, I could eat 5 protein bars along with all of my other food. That's like *removes shoes and socks - starts counting* ...1000 extra calories.

If they ever find a surgery to fix our brains, I'll be first in line.

Oh yeah, and I'm guilty of using excuses. Totally ****** me off when I do it.

My newest ones are "salt" - aka too many nuts, and "puffy" - aka too many nuts. Don't get me wrong, I've dealt with water retention for many years - and I still do deal with it now. I was on a water pill before surgery. But, those are words, imo, that I am using to mask whatever it is I don't want to deal with.

I had a lightbulb moment this weekend. I intend to use that moment to get to my goal.

Alright, so I'm gonna preface this with the caveat that I'm a researcher who studies drug addiction so...take this with a grain of salt. and I personally bristle when I hear "food addiction" for these reasons below...

By the truest definitions, food addiction is a different beast from substance addiction. Yes, they both change brain chemistry, but ALL things rewarding do (food, sex, drugs, exercise, maternal care) so...using that as the only definition can be a problem. Substances are something that you can become tolerant to as well as develop a physical addiction to. Are you PHYSICALLY addicted to sugar and carbs? Do you need to eat more sugar and carbs to feel that same sort of "high"?

While not perfect and currently undergoing revision, DSM is what is used to define these criteria (I pasted below). If you read these, food doesn't really fall into those categories, but something like gambling would as it interferes with your ability to work or go to school and creates legal problems.

That being said, I like sugar and carbs (mostly carbs). and I need to avoid them. Am I "addicted" to them? Eh. For me, eating carbs begets eating more carbs, but if I don't eat them, I'm fine. I don't get the DTs from not eating them or relapse by seeing someone else eating pasta or walking by the 3 million bagel stands on my streets here in NYC.

I think that by using "food addiction" as a crutch, one may actually be ignoring more serious eating disorders such as binge eating (which I'm sure we all did at one point, I know I did), anorexia or bulimia. and OA is about treating binge eating, not so much food addiction.

Brilliant and so true.

"Note: The symptoms for abuse have never met the criteria for dependence for this class of substance. According to the DSM-IV, a person can be abusing a substance or dependent on a substance but not both at the same time."

What the hell does that mean,  Sounds like a bunch of double talk to me.  The criteria listed sounds just like a food addiction to me.

 

You either meet criteria for abuse or dependence...at least according to the DSM. You can't meet criteria for abuse and dependence at the same time for the same drug (ie heroin). It's an either/or kind of thing. But you can be heroin dependent but alcohol abuser at the same time.

Trust me, it isn't perfect. But it's a place to start.

and yes, if you wanted, you COULD apply it to food. But, in the super extreme. Emphasis on extreme. Simply put: food tastes good. and we like it. and it evokes pleasure when we eat it, much like drugs. or sex. or exercise. or raising kids. Which is why I think it's easy to lump it into an "addiction". But...*for me* it just isn't the same.

I study this. and see these people. and see these people overdose daily (yes, people kill themselves with food, but it is the secondary effect of the food, not the food itself that is the result). and perhaps it's a gradient, but my food issues (even though I was fat...and had surgery) in no way resemble true, hardcore addiction. Are you willing to forsake EVERYTHING for food? Sacrifice EVERYTHING for food? Or do you just really, really like food? (and the "you" in this case is a general you...).

I don't think asking whether one would forsake anything or everything for food is relevant.  Yes, if I were starving, I would forsake everything for food.  Anybody would do that.  There are plenty of addicts who do not forsake everything for their drug.  They get off of it and they stay off of it.  You can't do that with food.

Those people you study have forsaken everything for food.  I don't think you can separate what is causing their sickness from their sickness and possible death.

Somethings just are not suited for study in a lab where things must be absolute.  There are plenty of things that science can not explain, but it doesn't mean they are not real.

Yes, I really do like food and sometimes I use it inappropriatly for a fix.

I don't like the term food addiction and I'm not sure if it's because I just feel weird using it because it's not a universally-accepted term or if it's because I don't think that it exists. It's hard to say. I do know that the closest I've come to using the term was when I tried to explain to my husband why it was difficult for me to "just have one bite" or "just have one" of something sweet (I don't really have that problem with any other kind of food). He couldn't understand why I just didn't stop.

It was hard to explain the sort of compulsion I had... if I knew there were still Swiss Cake Rolls left in the pantry... I had to go and eat them all until there was nothing left. Why did I feel like I had to eat an entire container of ice cream even though I'm lactose intolerant and it made my stomach hurt? Why was I hiding cookies in my office desk drawer? Why did I buy so many girl scout cookies that I could've funded the whole operation lol?

Who knows! What I can say is that after 2 1/2 weeks of not eating that way, I started to feel less of that physical feeling. Maybe it's all in my head? Maybe lots of sugar just makes you want more sugar? Maybe I just stayed strong long enough to develop new habits because I just developed a habit of eating things until they were gone? I don't know what it is...but I do know that I have had three months of clean sugar-less (except fruit) eating and I haven't never felt better and I don't find myself wanting those things any more. Because of this.... I feel like I have to "stay on the wagon" (addiction or not, I have no idea!) because I feel as though it would be too easy for me to fall into a slippery slope.

I've done a lot of self-reflection and have just come to realize that I am not someone that can go off of a plan occasionally or even plan for something that sets me off. I don't care whether or not that makes me an addict or just someone will no willpower. I just want to be healthy, happy, have kids, and live a long life! I think we all deserve to do that, regardless of our opinions of food addiction or each other!

Interesting convo! I love interesting threads!