Addiction is no fun. It doesn't help that our society demonizes certain addictions while seemingly endorsing others. While some people do succumb to battles with illicit drugs which are illegal and deemed immoral, there are others who battle with issues of addiction of a far more insidious nature.
Ever since you were a child, your parents put forth immense amounts of energy working to put food on the table, and trying to get you to eat your meals. As we become adults, we no longer need to be told to eat three meals a day, but there does begin a vying for allegiance by companies wishing to garner our patronage. Price wars, packaging, and all-you-can-eat buffets all distort reality to a certain extent when it comes to making sensible choices regarding food.
Food is such a basic element of our lives. We structure much of our energy around the act of eating and most people recognize the importance of eating well, if not in order to look like the pretty people on tv, then to at least feel well enough to function. For some, the idea of eating being an issue of addiction is unfathomable, but many people understand it all too well. The problem with food addiction is that food is not something one can just quit cold-turkey. In fact, I recommend you don't quit eating at all.
For those steeped in food addiction, I think you'll understand me when I say that my unhealthy relationship with food ended as soon as I stopped dieting. This may sound counter-intuitive to the stark reality for many that losing weight is absolutely necessary for health reasons. In extreme cases I do recommend consulting with a doctor, because whether you do it yourself or with help, removing the "battle" element from the picture is key. If one is intent on battling with weight loss, then a battle, friend, is what you'll get. I propose you do something far more difficult, far more radical, far more practical even—make friends with food.
I'm not a physical trainer or a cheerleader, I assure you. Perky words are not what you want to hear, I know, but this is something to which I have found surrender the only way. I need to eat. It's a biological fact. I need to eat regularly, as well. It gives me a certain psychological reassurance to know I am not going to be deprived, for I believe that this next piece of cake is going to be my last one ever. No amount of cake is enough to satisfy me in that case. You have one thing right. Enjoying food is not only allowed. It is encouraged.
In order to make food your friend rather than your enemy, I suggest that you start making a choice to associate yourself with foods that are good for you. While it may well be possible to overindulge on salad greens, it just isn't done all that often. Shift your focus from trying to restrict what you eat to opening up to new, nutritious foods. Allow your zealousness expression in getting gung-ho for for healthy foods. Try new recipes. Try foods you've never tasted. Channel your obsessive tendencies into making a healthy shopping list, growing your own foods, or having a dinner party. Your drive, the thing that you've been fighting, is simply being misused. I couldn't tell you the best way to use it properly, but I have a hunch that you might know what that is.
To learn more about how to overcome alcohol, drug, food orporn addictionvisit us today.
