Am I a food Addict?

Hi,
Gotta love jet leg...it is 2 am and I am on the Internet :)  Carole raised a very interesting point in another message...so I got to looking on the Internet....am I a food addict?  And if one is a food addict...is one surgery better at helping such a condition then others?

So...here is what I found.  I have answered the questions pre surgery and post surgery and my surgery is a BPD/DS. 



If you feel that you may be suffering from a food addiction, there are a few questions to ask yourself:

1) Do you always feel hungry even though you know you just ate not too long ago?
pre surgery:  yes, post surgery:  no

2) Do you race through your food with thoughts about the next thing you can eat?
pre surgery:  no, post surgery:  no

3) Is a good part of your day consumed with thoughts about the day’s meals?
pre surgery:  no,  post surgery:  yes (but it feels positive, healthy, not shameful)

4) Do you eat your groceries (a good part of the time) before you can get them home from the store?
pre surgery: no, post surgery:  no, only if I have missed a meal, so buy something specifically to eat

5) If you drive past a fast-food eatery, are you able to have the will power to not pull in, even though the smell is tempting?
pre surgery:  yes, post surgery:  yes

6) When there are leftovers, do you put them away for later, or are you always finishing them up?
pre surgery:  sometimes for later, post surgery:  for sure for later.

7) If you do eat fast food, are you tempted to upgrade a combo for a bigger sized fry and drink even though you know you shouldn’t really be eating the fries to begin with?
pre surgery:  yes, post surgery:  no, never

8) How much sugar do you consume? If you drink sodas or add sugar to your drinks, it may be a good idea to do an experiment and see how much you use.
pre surgery:  not much sugar or a sweet tooth, post surgery:  eating too much sugar then is appropriate for my surgery.  Know I need to kick the habit.  Drop the sweet tooth. 

9) If you just have to have a certain food immediately, do you ever have to borrow or use money you shouldn’t be using just to pay for it?
pre surgery:  no, post surgery:  no

10) Do you ever hide wrappers, food packaging, receipts or other food-related items so people won’t see it?
pre surgery:  yes, was sometimes embarrassed to eat in public post surgery:  no, never now.

Note sure if I found the right questions...but very interesting topic.  And my second question would be if indeed one finds they are meeting allt he criteria to be a food addict...what is the right surgery for them?  This might help those currently doing their investigations. 

or..I just keep going til I bore myself back to sleep  :)

Take Care,
Catherine

Hi Guys, Yup its me again:)

I define an addict as someone who even though they try, they are unable to control urges/cravings/wants.  I do consider myself  a food adict. 

Now before I go any further, I need to explain that I am not saying I was out of control shoving any food I saw laying around into my face.  Most times I would see food and want it and make the choice to eat it or not.  Usually I made the choice TO eat it, and of course I justified it. I ALWAYS justified it. I ate good food, mostly no junk  food, although I did enjoy my BK Whoppers.  I usually didn't eat between meals, or crave sugar.  I did eat a HUGE amount of food at each sitting. 

I did not eat untill I was satisfied, I would eat untill I could not eat anymore.  That was my idea of satisfaction.  If we were going out with friends for dinner, I would worry about what restaraunt we were going to and if one serving would fill me up because Id feel embarased if I ordered another serving.  We mostly dined out at buffets just so I would not have that anxiety.  If we were going to a friends home for dinner, I'd eat before so Id not be hungry and what they would serve would "fill me up" without second helpings. (yes I was hiding it as well)

There is also a great deal of shame that goes along with being an addict. I did hide food, I did hide my eating, I did lie and say I did not have dinner when asked, when I had so people would not think badly of me if they offered me food and I wanted to accept.  I do feel shame when I think of finding out I was pregnant for the first time and after being elated I was pregnant, remembering the next thought being..Oh WOW! I can eat what I want for 9 months and no one will think Im just over eating.  I can remember every meal I had with every major celebration in my life, but I could not tell you who was there or what I wore or any other details.

I feel that if I were able to control my eating, I'd not have reached 320+lbs. And also, that when I was uncomfortable with my weight, I'd have had the control to diet and loose the weight before it got out of  hand.  I did not, therefore I consider myself a food addict.

According to Wikipidedia :

**Compulsive overeaters will typically eat when they are not hungry, spend excessive amounts of time and thought devoted to food, and secretly plan or fantasize about eating alone. Compulsive overeating usually leads to weight gain and obesity, but not everyone who is obese is also a compulsive overeater.**

This was me to a T: the rest is as follows:

Compulsive overeating, also sometimes called food addiction is characterized by a compulsive relationship to food which is addressed by professionals with either a behaviour-modification model or a food-addiction model.^[1] An individual suffering from compulsive overeating disorder engages in frequent episodes of uncontrolled eating, or binging, during which they may feel frenzied or out of control, often consuming food past the point of being comfortably full. Binging in this way is generally followed by feelings of guilt and depression. Unlike individuals with bulimia, compulsive overeaters do not attempt to compensate for their binging with purging behaviors such as fasting, laxative use or vomiting. Compulsive overeaters will typically eat when they are not hungry, spend excessive amounts of time and thought devoted to food, and secretly plan or fantasize about eating alone. Compulsive overeating usually leads to weight gain and obesity, but not everyone who is obese is also a compulsive overeater.

In addition to binge eating, compulsive overeaters can also engage in grazing behavior, during which they return to pick at food throughout the day. This results in a large overall number of calories consumed even if the quantities eaten at any one time may be small. When a compulsive eater overeats primarily through binging, he or she can be said to have binge eating disorder. Where there is continuous overeating but no binging, then the sufferer has compulsive overeating disorder.

Glad (& surprised) to say that I don't think I'm a food addict. I am an evening grazer, but not all the time. I am a food abuser- that is I make bad choices and overeat to feel good. I am an emotional eater. If I am feeling bad or depressed, food substitutes for happiness. Food is my drug of choice. That is really going to be hard to over come, because I am not going to suddenly be happy and live a stress free life.  The only food that I may be addicted to is sweets like cheesecake. I love cheesecke and really good bread sweets like cinnamon buns. I have very poor will power, I control the addition by controlling access to the danger foods.  I only make cheesecake once or twice a year, for festive meals and I will have it when I go out for supper, but not lunch.