How do you cut the food addiction?

 I've heard the Beck Diet Solution has been helpful for many people with food issues.  I'm considering purchasing it and working through it after surgery.  

Oh, and I love your ticker too Hisx.  I had to make one for myself!

 I don't think about it anymore.. before I obsessed about it.. what would I eat today, what could I stop and get? and forget Easter time and the damn cadbury eggs I thought about them endlessly!!!! Now when I think about food it's not the same at all.. I'm not dreaming of eating anything don't obsess about should I stop and get an ice cream cone on the way home from work? And then the internal struggle of NO I SHOULDN'T!!!.. I never think about that stuff.  I get annoyed when I am eating dinner and I miss  not being able to eat a big plate of it sometimes.. but it's over quick and I'm glad about it!

 I am addicted to refined carbs.  Physically, mentally and emotionally.  When I eat something with refined carbs I crave more.  I can't think about anything else but getting more.  It is the focus of my life.  It was the reason I failed so miserably with my first WLS.
I know from being the member of 12 step groups that the only treatment is complete abstinence from the addictive substance.  Nothing else I have tried has worked and I have tried everything.  I just take it one day at a time and do the best I can.  I have been doing this for over a year now so it is very doable and livable.  There is still plenty of food out there that I enjoy, the difference is that I enjoy things in a healthy way.  I don't obsess about the next meal or the next treat.  I plan out my meals and eat on a schedule.  I look at it like taking medicine.  I need to eat to survive.  That doesn't mean I suffer at all.  I go out to eat regularly and I have found that I can find something good to eat at just about any place I go to.  I eat a normal amount and have food leftover for another meal.
I am also addicted to large quantities and the surgery has helped me there because I finally feel satisfied after eating and I no longer have unreasonable hunger that rules my life.

Despite being at goal weight, I am still a food addict. Through therapy, I started reading Geneen Roth's books. I highly recommend reading these books, and therapy.

For me, as I lost my weight, I got so busy living my life that I do not have the time to obsess over food like I once did.

(disclaimer: right now I am recovering from my plastic surgery and feel like a sloth lying around the house and playing on the computer all day, but in a few weeks things will get very busy for me again)

Laura

Hi Kattie,

 

First, let’s talk about the word “addiction." It’s used far too lightly.

 

Some believe you can “get over" addiction. I don’t. A true addiction is for life. You always have it. Sometimes you manage it well, sometimes you do not.

 

If you truly feel you have an addiction, that is a disease that needs treatment. Therapists, treatment programs and Overeaters Anonymous are all good options.

 

What I likely think you meant is that you’re having trouble breaking bad habits. Bad habits are different from an addiction in many ways I’ll refrain to spell out here.

 

The short answer is that you keep practicing better habits. With every habit we form, our brain makes a mental pathway to remember it. So we have “default" behavior if you will. There are things that just feel most natural for us to do. You see this a lot with smokers who quit. The deal with their addiction through nicotine patches but their brain has associated certain behaviors – like meals – with a cigarette so that’s a habit they have to break.

The only way I’ve ever read to effectively break bad habits for good is to habitually practice good habits. For people like me this is hard work. Sometimes I have to say to myself out loud, “don’t eat that. You’re not hungry." And it feels ridiculous and I get resentful but it’s what works for me.

So I would encourage you to just keep trying to replace bad habits with good. It’s a process. It’s hard to see right now but you’re right on schedule mentally. The exodus from obesity is not a cakewalk. It’s hard stuff and you’re going through it. So long as you keep learning and trying I have confidence you’ll achieve your goals.

 

Nik