[RoseRodent]

Have you ever had any moments that you really realised, it really struck home that you have a serious food problem? Not necessarily the binges and htings but an attitudinal thing.

I realised one just this last week, when my husband was passing out cups of coffee and cookies. I had decided to allow myself a cookie in my allowance and the way he does it he puts out the cookies on a plate for each person and brings them out, then goes for hte next set, then plates up for the next person and finally starts bringing out the coffee to keep it hot. I was going to say to him can he not bring the cookies out so early and leave me staring at it while he gets the coffee ready cos it drives me wild, only to stop in my tracks and realise that for everyone else that plate of cookies is just a plate of cookies, it‘s not burning into their eyeballs eat me eat me, there is no desperate need for him to hurry up with teh coffee so everyone can eat, they aren‘t thinking OMG he‘s taking forever out there I wonder if anyone will mind if I just eat up the cookies before the coffee even gets here, they just sit with their plate of cookies and wait for the coffee to come. That reaction quite amazes me, and of course I am that bit jealous also!

Have you had a food moment like this?

[luckymommy]

I can completely relate. Absolutely. If I see any food item or a photo of one or anything, I immediately turn into a drooling dog! It's ALL I can think about. If there's desert and it's on the table and everyone is about to have it, I can't believe how calm they are. If I had a tail, I'd probably start wagging it and barking in anticipation! It's actually not funny. It's so sad to me. Why oh why am I like this? I really wish I could be like everyone else. But you know what? I"m not and that's life. There are people who have all kinds of tough "stuff" going so this is just one of my challenges. I think it's really good to step back and say, "Hey, it's a cookie, get a grip." But, that's really easier said than done. One thing I"ve noticed is that it's a whole lot easier to control if I"m not hungry or if I have a piece of gum to chew on since the gum is a good distraction and justifies some of the extra saliva.

[Wild Vulpix]

I often offer my boyfriend to split a bag of popcorn with me. He usually takes up the offer.

We were sitting down, sharing popcorn together one day, and I realized that I really did have a problem. Every time he dipped his hand into the bowl to get popcorn, I glared at him. After a while, I tried moving the bowl so that his hand would miss. I was slowly getting incredibly aggravated. If I were a dog, I'm sure I would have bit him.

Afterwords, I realized how I had been acting and feeling, and I realized that I seriously had a problem. I had OFFERED to share popcorn with him, even hoping he'd eat the majority of it, but I was still overly protective over "my" food. I still am.

[matt_H]

I thought about this alot too. How some of us have an unhealthy obsession with food that is in sight. I often have work meetings that are catered and sometimes they place the food (cookies, etc.) right in the middle of the table during the meeting. Previously, I'd notice myself subconsciously glancing over at the cookies every chance I got and waiting for someone else to reach for one so I could feel free to do the same.

I can say that right now those obsessions are nowhere near as strong as they were previously. I think overtime this gets better. Now, my first thought when I see a big plate of cookies is wondering how many calories are in each one and how each cookie is probably close the equivalent of the calories in an entire meal! I ask myself if that one cookie is worth taking up the calories for an entire meal that day and how eating it will complicate my overall health.

I still struggle with this sometimes. One of my problems isn't regarding cookies but the bread that is often brought out during a restaurant meal (before the entree comes out). If I see bread at the table, I eat it and usually all of it . I need to not be afraid to tell the waiter or waitress to take the bread away (usually I go to a restaurant with someone that doesn't eat the bread anyway, so I could get away with this).

Out of sight, out of mind.

[spixiet]

Originally Posted by matt_H

Out of sight, out of mind.

Now if only the holidays would be over so that people would stop giving me cookies, chocolates, etc. so that I can get these things out of sight once again Right now, I've got a plate of homemade cookies, a box of truffles, and a bag of chocolates hidden in the bottom of the pantry to take to a holiday party tomorrow...they were gifts in the last 36 hours, and I just couldn't bring myself to throw them out -

Personally, the instinctual urge to grab unhealthier food choices has lessened, but for certain foods, it's still there, and at times overwhelming. Right now, I'm feeling like I'm thinking about food 24 hours a day, and it's driving me nuts. I too have a really hard time understanding people who just don't react to food that way-

[RoseRodent]

Glad to find that people relate to that, and the one with the meeting reallyhad me thinking back to all those times I waited for everyon else to take the first piece of food, those times that I walked into a meeting and there was unexpected food, the horror that other people sometimes left food (!!!) and the purgatory of being ableto see food but not tell if it was food for you or not, the whole “can we eat these cookies or not“ thing. Or a conference where the coffee and cookies is visible at the back of the room for the whole conference and you are just thinking hurry up and talk about whatever because II want the Bourbons and will stupidly overreact if I get landed with the digestives.

I remember hoarding food everywhere I went and panicking if I didn‘t have a stash, that I might have to pass the night without chocolate on tap.

Gives a good perspective anyway, the more I think about it the more moments spring to mind. Good to know that others have the same thought processes and to reflect on how abnormal that is in the general population so I hope I can start to think more like a thin person, or at least more like a person without total food crazies.

[Martina]

Yes I can definitely relate, and it bothers me a lot. Its good to know I am not the only one though, that has moments like this. A lot of times I have either no desire to eat bad foods whatsoever and stick to eating healthy, correctly, and in good portions or I'll completely binge and eat a whole bag full of chips or cookies in a day. :\

[hope for recovery]

I am totally a food addict and this is why I have problems with what I eat and how much I weight. I have used and abused food over the years for whatever reasons. And I realized I was an addict when I watched people eat and stop ... I mean stop... some delicious high sugar, high fat food... I simply cannot do that. You can't pull me away from cakes and things. I have massive, uncontrollable cravings and once I start eating, I just eat more and more for ever until I feel I am going to be sick.

Addiction for me is a very painful and sad thing to be in. Yesterday, despite eating so much, I still managed to crawl to the other side of the sofa for some more junk food. And I didn't want it but I couldn't stop it. I felt totally powerless. Food makes the choices for me. I then crawled up the stairs and sat outside the bathroom trying to hold my food in and not be sick, it was very painful and I hated myself for doing this to me but I cannot stop it alone.

Sometime I feel weak and ashamed to admit how powerless over food I am but this is the reality. and I don't care if people think that I am a weak person with no self control. I still don't have control over food because in my mind I am thinking I am going to "try" this, then I end up eating more. Then I decide to allow myself to have it... so I ate a whole bowl of fat, sweet naughtiness, thinking that will be eat, just eat that and the cravings will go... but did they. I still ate more than I planned.

The more I try to restrict my food, the worse it gets. I might have the intention in the morning but by the end of the day, it all goes wrong. Sometimes I can't get the obsessive, compulsive thought about food out of my head and it is very painful. I did seek help for that because I just coudn't do it on my own and now I do it with other recovery addicts, it works somehow.

I still fall off the wagon every now and then, usually when i get all cocky about my progress and today I am back to square one. One day at a time, we can do it!

[Lyn2007]

I absolutely have this problem. And ONE cookie is never enough. I want another, and another, and another, even when I feel sick and they don't taste as good anymore, I want another!

I *have* found that if I go completely OFF sugar/flour in a very low carb way (I eat about 85g carbs/day right now), the food becomes a rock. Yes a rock. After a few days on plan, I can see and smell anything... cookies, cake, garlic bread... and watch everyone eat it and NOT salivate and obsess. I can smell it and think "that smells nice" and not eat it and not go crazy. It may as well be a rock on a plate, I don't care about it. THAT is like magic to me. So, for me at least, part of getting through the food addiction is getting off sugar/flour/starches.

[WeightForMe]

I sadly, also suffer from seefood diet. I see-food and i have to eat it! Any gathering or social occasion im instantly in line or waiting for someone to start the line to the food. I also notice that i can eat waaaay more then anyone else. Im sure most of them are just happy with just a plate but i get geniunly upset that i'd look like a pig if i went up for more and why cant everyone just go in another room and let me dig in! I get extremely upset if anyone even thinks about touching my leftovers (have literally yelled over it) and if im out to eat i hate sharing. It really is an obsession. food really is my drug of choice

[Jonesie]

Tonight I told my husband that what my real goal was to just be NORMAL about food. I threw out sweets that were leftover because I felt like they were breathing down my neck. I couldnt get them out of my head. Its a crazy ride, man.

[dragonwoman64]

I can relate to that for sure. I saw this commercial where the bf and gf are about to share a dessert, and the bf goes into the kitchen to get the pot of coffee, when he comes back, pot of coffee in hand, the plate has been scraped clean by the gf. The expression on his face is really funny. It's obviously a common feeling!

[Txalupa]

Originally Posted by Lyn2007

I absolutely have this problem. And ONE cookie is never enough. I want another, and another, and another, even when I feel sick and they don't taste as good anymore, I want another!

I *have* found that if I go completely OFF sugar/flour in a very low carb way (I eat about 85g carbs/day right now), the food becomes a rock. Yes a rock. After a few days on plan, I can see and smell anything... cookies, cake, garlic bread... and watch everyone eat it and NOT salivate and obsess. I can smell it and think "that smells nice" and not eat it and not go crazy. It may as well be a rock on a plate, I don't care about it. THAT is like magic to me. So, for me at least, part of getting through the food addiction is getting off sugar/flour/starches.

I completely agree with this!! since I have given up sugar and have been on a moderate carb plan, I do not have the cookie obsession. I come from a family for whom a sleeve of cookies = dessert. I was also a self-proclaimed 'candy monster' and could eat it all day long.

I also have been the only one hungry after a big meal, and felt crazy when I am the only one who cannot stop eating chips/dessert/candy.

It helps me to have items that I am allowed to eat as much as I want of. Because I limit carbs and sugar, if I'm still hungry after a meal I can eat a piece of cheese or salami or something. 9 times out of 10 though, I don't. It just feels better to know there is something there if I want it.

[hope for recovery]

Originally Posted by Lyn2007

I absolutely have this problem. And ONE cookie is never enough. I want another, and another, and another, even when I feel sick and they don't taste as good anymore, I want another!

I *have* found that if I go completely OFF sugar/flour in a very low carb way (I eat about 85g carbs/day right now), the food becomes a rock. Yes a rock. After a few days on plan, I can see and smell anything... cookies, cake, garlic bread... and watch everyone eat it and NOT salivate and obsess. I can smell it and think "that smells nice" and not eat it and not go crazy. It may as well be a rock on a plate, I don't care about it. THAT is like magic to me. So, for me at least, part of getting through the food addiction is getting off sugar/flour/starches.

This is really powerful what you shared, it really inspires me into believing that it will work for me as well to know that i can start again and cut off sugar and go low carb and hopefully, that crazy craving will go.

[gagalu]

i have the same issues. i'm really ashamed of it, because it's so stereotypical -- but i really do have a weird obsession with food. it's hard to deal with and it makes me uncomfortable around other people, and i remember that in high school, it was even to the point that i just couldn't eat around others. i'd skip lunch and read a book outside.

this thread has helped a lot though, because i didn't realize that so many others struggled with it.