Fighting Food Cravings- A Realistic Look

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Fighting Food Cravings- A Realistic Look

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Written by Lorelei Fenton

Saturday, 24 May 2008

by LoreleiFenton

We've all heard it said in many different ways. "Once I get started on dinner rolls, I can't stop." There's not enough pasta in the world for me." "Two cookies, are you kidding?" Let's face it, some foods are addicting. And I don't mean that in the laughable sense. Such as when we chuckle after eating our 3rd slice of cake, and explain "Well, I'm just addicted to chocolate cake." I mean it in a very real and alive way. We are all addicted to many of the foods we eat. And it's debilitating.

Now it may seem extreme to say that food addiction is debilitating. So let's take a look and see what I mean.

Let's take a look at fighting food cravings. You are a size 14. You want to be a size 8. Now we can talk all we want about how society favors thin people, and the model for beauty is skin-and-bones. And all of this is quite true. I don't dispute it. But the plain and simple fact is, you want to be a size 8, and you can't get there. It's you who wants this. It's not anyone else. And the kick in the teeth is you know you could be there. You know your body on some level wants to be there. But you can't stop eating all of the cookies, pasta, and bread in order to get there.

At this point you may wonder what it wrong with you. You may wonder why you have no will power. You might try diets and feel your mood swing, as you starve yourself and your blood sugar goes down. You may become irritable and grouchy as you 'white-knuckle it' with your family. Then you might give up and go eat all you want for a few weeks. You then might watch the pounds you lost come back on, with extra pounds as interest. And once again you are bound to feel there is something wrong with you.

Food addiction as it progresses will soon lead to extreme fluctuation in blood sugar due to the overeating of processed carbohydrates. This will cause bouts of lethargy and sleepiness, and irritability. Certainly obesity will set in, or perhaps a person's behavior will become bulimic. Now the journey for the food addict is perilous. It becomes a psychological addiction to stay thin, inside of the physical addiction to eat more. By the end metabolisms are destroyed, diets on longer work, self-esteem in this area has all but disappeared. And the food addicts very life may be in danger.

You may now cross over into the anorexic spectrum. You might decide it is better not to eat at all, than to live like you do. This is when food addiction becomes truly perilous. If you continue the cycle, but without the bulimic/anorexic behavior, then by the age of 60 you will have adult onset diabetes. Your body will deteriorate from the over abundance of sugar producing carbohydrates. It will be worn out from all of that sugar, and you will have completely depleted your life-time's supply of insulin. It's not a pretty picture to paint, I know. But it is nevertheless accurate.

Still we joke about food addiction all the time.

Fighting food cravings is no laughing matter for a lot of people. But there are sources of help. There is a program called Overeaters Anonymous, which I attended for many years. There is also a program called Food Addicts Anonymous. Both of these will give you the support of other people on a similar path, as well as their experience strength and hope. You will also need a food plan that deals with food as an addictive substance. And there are many other tools I will give you in subsequent articles. But to those of you who suffer, I will just say, yes you can live a healthy happy life with food addiction. But you need to reach out.

About the Author:

For lots of help with various addictions visit the blogs of famed writer, speaker, and addictions expert Lorelei F. at fightingfoodcravings and also at helpfulhintsforquittingsmoking

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