TLC Last Night Anyone?

Wow, did anyone happen to catch the program on food addiction last night on The Learning Channel? I just stumbled upon it while surfing and I was transfixed. The hour-long program focused on 4 people, each of whom was self-admittedly totally addicted to food. One woman weighed 370 lbs., the other woman weighed over 600 lbs.; both men weighed over 700 lbs. and were bed-ridden. It was heartbreaking. They all had the most profound common denominator: none could control their eating, no matter how hard they tried, no matter the weight-loss method, they had absolutely no control over what they ate. For each of them, a full day's intake of food was spread out over the table so that they could see what they took in, what went into their stomaches - the amount of food was astonishing, alarming; the women broke down and cried, the men seemed emotionally detached and resigned to their lives as super-morbidly obese people. Typically, a day's worth of eating ran anywhere between 4,000-7,000 calories - a day! I wanted to jump through the tv and wrap my arms around them; I wanted to call my surgeon and scream, "Save these people!" And I thought of my pre-surgery self and tried to connect to how it felt to be trapped inside mounds and mounds of fat-flesh, barely able to move. I know that food was what I thought about all the time - from the moment I woke in the morning til the moment I closed my eyes at night. Food, food, food, food, food.....Today, I have stayed away from the M&M's and have stuck to my eating plan. I've lost my workout edge, don't feel I have the strength or energy these days. I'm zapped. And I'm thinking about food addiction, knowing that I am NOT cured - it only takes starting to eat the crap, a little at first, then a little more, every day until the addiction is full of life - and ruining mine once again. Would love to hear your thoughts on this - where are you at in terms of thinking about yourself as a food addict - past, present, future? Love you guys - Reenie

Oh Jeez... Food is my drug of choice. I'm addicted beyond a shadow of a doubt. I've decided to live with my addiction and just take it one day at a time. Honestly Reenie, I don't know a single soul who's not addicted to something. Shopping, cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, exercise, gambling, cleaning.... Food is possibly the worst of them all in that you can't give it up, you can only try to control it. I gave up cigarettes in a heartbeat after smoking 3 packs a day for 10 years. I could never have another drink in my life and not miss it a bit. You can't stop eating. You can control how you eat and how you respond to food, but you can't stop. I've just decided to wrestle with the demon I know. Love ya, C.

o yea its food with me shopping is 2nd. i work constantly on controlling the addiction. its funny how the foods that i use to think about eating have now switched. I'd never dream of the snickers, babe ruth, butterfingers that i use to. Now i dream about snackwell sugar fee shortbread cookies. I'm not kidding or joking on this! They have calories too they are not a food that I need but they are what I think about. Usually I control it. I dont buy them. I avoid the cookie aisles. I won't go out at 11pm to buy them but...if I've had a bad day, if the boss was cranky, if no one asks me to dance at the singles dance I might just stop to pick something else up like milk or fruit for work the next day and OOOO lookie here the cookie aisle! I cave buy a box sit in the car and eat 6 of them. Not good thats not someone who is controlling an addiction. Then I feel bad that I had eaten something with worthless calories and I throw the box away. Money wasted. Calories wasted. I wonder what the stop & shop people think finding a box of cookies with 6 missing in it. A bad week they could find that box in their trash 4 out of 7 days. The saving thing is its not a needle but it is my needle. How do we control it? years ago I went to a food addict meeting. That just made me feel very odd. its a constant battle. One i want to control. I know I'll be working on it for the rest of my life. fitday rules. hey connie, I had read your post about howyou lost then within a few days gained it back and that you'd been sticking with the plan. I've had that happen too! why does that do that??? Gotta keep fighting the battle. never give up! Pam

Reenie, I've watched that program before. Very upsetting. It made me cry. But I wondered about the men who are trapped in their beds how they get the food. I htink one of them paid pizza delivery men to put the foodin a bucket then he would pull it up from the window. But how does he get the money? why doens' this famiy say no more food no more money you get this to eat from now on? yes it is hard to do but isn't it harder to watch him kill himself? tough love it would be. I don't know. I don't really have the answers other than it is my addiction too.

Oh yeah, I'm right there! For me, the determination of giving in or controlling the addiction comes down to focus. Not whether I am disciplined, or whether I want to control it. Not whether I focus on dietary commitments or cravings. Not on whether I focus on the scales or my waist size. But whether I focus on myself or on others. When I focus on myself I get drawn into self-pity and rationalization. When I focus on other people, my own desires lose some of their power. The fact is, that when I am eating out of control these days, I feel bad and am unable to do anything of service to anyone. There is a world out there with real needs. I CAN make a difference, if I will. I'm trying to hold that thought... Joy

Oh, Joy, this is exactly what I'm talking about! The very real "secret" to keeping this damned weight off is getting outside of our own little tiny insular self-centered worlds and living fully, especially in the context of how we can make a difference. When I'm speaking in front of a WLS crowd, I beat this drum incessently: KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF AND THEN GIVE IT ALL AWAY!!! This is truly the secret to healthy, happy maintenance. The minute I get caught up in my tiny little bubble...job, kids, marriage, mortgage, yadda, yadda, yadda, I lose ground in staying healthy - I start eating garbage, I lose my edge to work out, I just start slipping down a slope I don't even want to be on. KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF AND THEN GIVE IT ALL AWAY....this is the secret; not only diet and exercise; not Weigh****chers or Jenny Craig; not the Zone, Atkins, Beverly Hills or Miami Beach. It is simply extending ourselves into the wonderful world of living. The mortgage takes care of itself; the kids go off to college; jobs change, marriages falter, the only thing constant in life is change. I hope this makes sense. I LOVED your post. Thank you. Stay focused, my dear friend. When you post to this board you help me...always. Love, Reenie