A Realistic Look at Fighting Food cravings

By Lorelei Fenton

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 why do I say that food addiction is debilitating?

It is often said that society favors thin people, and that the model for beauty is skin-and-bones. Now this is probably true and I don’t deny it. But you may be a size 14, and you want to be a size 8, and you know this is your ideal size, as well as very achievable. And yet you can’t get there because of all the cookies, pasta, and bread you eat, even as you say you don’t want to. Then you have a problem. And the problem is that you are fighting food cravings.

Many people with food addiction experience self-esteem problems. They think they are weak and have no will-power. They go on crash diets. They white knuckle it and become irritable and grouchy with their loved ones. Many will give up after a while, and begin to eat even more than they ever did. Most will then gain more than they ever did. Quite often these same people will become convinced that they are less capable than other people, and this greatly affects their sense of self.

This is what a low-level food addiction looks like, before it becomes full-blown. As it progresses, obesity and binge eating often set in. The binge eating causes extreme waves in blood sugar, and a feeling of exhaustion and lethargy. This feeling follows food addicts through their entire lives. Binge eating will sometimes lead to bulimia, as the ‘fight to handle’ extreme cravings rages on. And this, of course, is a perilous place to be. Either way, most food addicts’ metabolisms are destroyed and diets no longer work, and self-esteem becomes next to nil.

People who take another path in food addiction often become anorexic. They decide it is better not to eat at all, than to fight the cravings, or be fat. This of course is life threatening. Now if you don’t become anorexic or bulimic, but you do continue in your addiction, by the age 60 you will be a diabetic. Your body will have used up its supply of insulin over the many years of carb abuse, and it will begin to deteriorate rapidly. In this case you will lessen the very years of your life, and those last years will be painful in myriad ways.

And this is the thing about which we joke at parties as we eat our 10th cookie.

Well it may be time to stop laughing and start listening to our own jokes. I want you to know you can stop the roller coaster of fighting food cravings. Where I got off my own whirligig of was through a 12-step program for food addicts called Overeater’s Anonymous. There is also a program called Food Addicts Anonymous. Since this is a true and bona fide addiction that masses of our society live unhappily with, these programs are good places to start. You’ll also need a good Food plan, and a lot of other tools to help you on your way. But for information on this, you can look out for my subsequent articles.

For lots of help with your addictions visit the blogs of famed writer, spokesperson, and addictions activist Lorelei F. at fightingfoodcravings and also at helpfulhintsforquittingsmoking

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Topics: Diabetes | Comments Off

Tags: addiction, anorexia, bulimia, Diabetes, dieting, diets, Eating Plans, Eating sweets, Fighting Food Cravings, Ove, Stop Food Addiction, Sugar Addiction, Will power, Women

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