I am addicted! No, it's not meth, crack, pot or even alcohol. My drug of choice is food. I crave it. It numbs the pain, and makes everything better. I can hide away in a big bag of chips, or a huge bowl of ice cream.
But when I come out of my daze, oh what a hang over I have! I feel like crap! Tired, yucky, discouraged, disappointed and out of control.
I have often wished that I could stop cold turkey, just like I was addicted to drugs. But with food, you can't. You have to eat. You're caught between a rock and a hard place. You can't stop eating all together, but you also can't give in to temptation and eat too much. It's like telling a crack head to just have a little everyday, and it will be okay.
I am slowing learning to eat in moderation. When I lose my head and do overindulge I always regret it, but now my body does too. I feel so different than when I am eating healthy. It is helpful to compare the two feelings. When I remember how yucky I feel, or how great I feel when I am working out and eating right it is a no brainer.
How to you fight the addiction?
I know it sounds trite, but it really is a learning process. Or perhaps unlearning process is a better term. We have to unlearn behaviors that we have held dear for years. It takes time.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you are noticing how differently you feel when you overeat not as opposed to the past is a great sign that you are changing on the inside as well as on the outside.
Thanks for stopping by my blog...I too suffer from food addiction. Right now, I fight it by dieting...and that includes both exercising and religiously counting calories...Yes I eat what I want, but that turns out to be eating what I also feel good about. This is a great distraction from the addiction, but sometimes just replaces one addiction (of eating) to another of dieting.
ReplyDeleteWhere I have failed before is the maintenance phase...this time, I hope to substitute exercise with other physical puruits that demand a healthy body supported by healthy food, e.g. adventure racing, marathons, distance cycling, etc. Something...
Anyway, the majority of the obstacle is the mind. We all know how to really do this, it isn't intelligence, it is heart.
We'll get though this as a community.
I write down everything I put in my mouth. It's the only way I can keep myself from eating everything in sight!! For me it's worked, and I've accepted that I'll probably have to keep a food journal for my entire life. I'm hoping not, but if that's what it takes, I'll do it. We'll see! Good luck to you in 2010 - keep up the great work :)
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