Are You Addicted to Food?

I watched another episode of Brookhaven Obesity Clinic last night.  This episode featured three patients, all of them SMO and suffering from life threatening conditions because of it.  One man had a huge and grotesque mass (I forget the medical term) on his leg.  He had a difficult time walking because of it but no surgeon would dare try to remove it because he was so obese and the surgery probably would have killed him.  Even though his condition was getting steadily worse he continued to have junk food sneaked into the clinic and he was getting bigger and bigger.  Sometime later he found a surgeon who was willing to attempt to remove the mass, but after the surgeon examined his leg, he told him there was no hope.  He would either have to live with the mass (it was steadily growing and getting worse, but he could still walk on it) or have the leg amputated and be fitted with a prosthesis.  At first the patient said that he was going to do everything he could to lose weight and save his leg.  He started watching his diet and exercising a little and lost 38 pounds.  But his enthusiasm didn’t last and soon he was back to sneaking junk food, gained back all the weight he had lost plus some.  Now he wanted to have the leg amputated but the doctors said he was too big and they wouldn’t do it. Of the three featured in this show only one woman was willing to make lifestyle change because she had a 5 year-old son that she wanted to be there for.  She had massive tumors on her legs and had to lose over 100 pounds before the surgeons would operate and remove them.  She lost the weight and had the surgery.  Why was she able to change her lifestyle and the others couldn’t?  Why do people continue to abuse food even when their behavior is making them sicker and sicker.  Can they not stop their behavior because they are addicted to food? The contemporary definition of food addiction is: a pathological disorder; the compulsive, excessive craving for and consumption of food. This condition is not only manifested by the abnormal intake of food, but the intake and craving for foods that are, in themselves, harmful to the individual. So, even though these people knew that their destructive behavior was killing them they seemed unwilling or unable to stop it.  They have lost control. They understand that their addictive behavior is harmful, but continue it anyway.  Experts say that the phenomenon of food addiction is both physiological and psychological. My question is, do you think that you have a food addiction?  If so, what kind of addiction do you have (e.g. sugar, carb, chocolate, etc.)?  And, what are you doing/planning to do to combat the problem?

I watched Brookhaven aswell last night and was appalled.  That man with the elephantitis on his leg was horrible.  He had this huge mass and he refused to lose weight to make it better.  He cheated like crazy, his girlfriend HELPED him cheat like crazy, he had sores on his leg, barely able to walk, could barely lift that thing into his bed and STILL he would not follow the Brookhaven program and lose the weight.  When weight loss is given to you on a silver platter (like these people at Brookhaven have it) you don't turn that down.  Their meals are made and portioned for them, they're given a gym to exercise in, they're given psychologists to talk to, nutritionists to work with, and these people ignore it all.  Why are they even bothering then???  It made me so mad.  Shoot, if I had an opportunity to live in a facility made purely for losing weight, and everything was handed to me like that, where I could dedicate my life to losing my weight and worry about nothing else (ie: work), I wouldn't have had WLS.

And that woman who was the hair stylist who had that husband with one arm.  Omg...  She was talking about how she wanted RNY and that after she had the surgery, how she didn't know if she'd have room for him in her life anymore.  This poor man has helped this woman through thick and thin, lovingly, and she's talking about dropping him after she loses weight???  Un-f*cking-believable.

That woman with the 5 year old son was nice to see, though.  It was great to see her progress, her ambition, and her positive attitude. 

Those people just shock me - the cheaters on that show.  I'm shocked by how ungrateful they are with this program.  It makes me sick.

I don’t entirely blame the patients who sneak the food in for their behavior.  I think we would be remiss if we don’t also point the finger at the hospital administration and management.  They know very well that many of the patients are sneaking in food yet they do nothing to stop it.  I do not believe that they could not put a stop to it if they wanted to.  Yes, it’s wonderful that the SMO have such a facility that can help them, but why have the facility if there are not going to be rules and regulations that have to be followed.  There are only 75 beds in the facility and who knows how many SMO people are out there who could use these services.  I feel that if the patients are not willing to follow the dietary restrictions, exercise to the best of their ability or participate in any psychological counseling that’s available to them, they shouldn’t be allowed to stay.  If this clinic is all about helping the SMO it makes no sense that patients who are not willing to follow the rules are allowed to stay month after month and year after year. 

As a recovering compulsive overeater, I can attest to food addiction as well as an eating disorder first hand.  Since I have been coming to Overeaters Anonymous, this addiction and the behavior that goes with it has been arrested.  We are taught that there is no cure for food addiction, but with the help of a Higher Power and the OA support group and the 12 steps, it can be stopped in it's tracks, one day at a time.  This is what abstinence is - refraining from the compulsive overeating behaviors, one day at a time, with God's Help.  Eventually, when abstinence has become a permanent way of life, we recover enough to not go back to those old behaviors.  But we need to continue to go to the fellowship and work the program and pray every day in order to maintain our recovery.

Denise Phares

1. 1. Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance: a drug used in the treatment of heroin addiction.
   2. An instance of this: a person with multiple chemical addictions.
   3. The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or or involved in something.

For me it would be C.  I used to be obsessed with eating it, in large quantities, all day.  I used to be obsessed with the next meal while eating the one I was eating.  If I were going to a function I would wonder what kind of food they were serving and how much of it, and how I could get to it and eat it without anyone seeing me do it.  Of course if they didn't see me eating it, what, I wasn't fat anymore?  I am still obsessed with food.  I still wonder what food is going to be at a function and I deploy all kinds of thought processes on how I can eat what I want to eat without feeling guilty.  These days I win most of the battles, which is a thankful thing.  Doesn't mean I obsess less about food.  Whether I'm obsessing about having it or not having it, food tends to monopolize much of my thought process.  I sincerely believe I have an allergy of sorts to carbohydrates.  I sincerely cannot stop eating carbs once I start, they overtake me.  I have decided that in my continuous journey to stay healthy I have to abstain completely from carbs.  It's as simple as that.  If I don't eat them, I don't want them.   I sincerely believe that a food addiction is just as bad as drugs or alcohol, sex or gambling.  The worst part about a food addiction is it's all over the place and we cannot avoid it.  We cannot avoid eating or we die.  But just because it's more benign doesn't make it any less damaging.  This is why I have become less judgemental of alcoholics and drug addicts because addiction is an addiction, whatever costume it's wearing.

I can definitely say it's not fun.  I am a full 2 years from my starting point, July 7, 2005.  I started at 352 pounds, and my last weigh in was 235.  My lowest weight ever was 215, for a day or two.  I struggle every single day with staying at this weight.  I panic every single day that I will gain every ounce and more back.  But I keep trying, it's all I can do.  I don't want to be super morbidly obese again, I just don't.  So I watch what I eat, CONSTANTLY, and I work out 4-5 days a week, and I am active and committed.   Yes, I am addicted to food.

as i was reading your message about addiction, the word obsessed kept coming up in your text. what do you see as the difference between "obsessed" and "addicted"? in my mind they are  different concepts, but i'm interested in what you think.

I find it interesting that you see them as different concepts, Andrea.  I see them totally linked!!  I obsess constantly about how I can obtain my addiction.  I obsess constantly about NOT being able to enjoy my addiction. The addiction to me is physiological, the obsession is psychological.