[GotothegymOKAY]

I have lost a lot of weight and I definitely consider myself "thin and normal" looking. But sadly (though visibly, people would never guess it) I still have a full blown binge eating disorder, and I'm still totally capable of, lets say, eating five more dinners. (It's 10 PM).

I was talking to some friends about this Mexican restaurant with burrito bowls and the girls were saying how they love it because they can make theirs last for "lunch for 3 days." I eat mine in one sitting. Even though I'm as thin as them now, it still gets to me that I'll never see food as unimportant as they do.

But has anyone fixed their mental addiction along with the physical weight aspect? I wonder if it ever really does go away.........

[angie7896]

You are definitely not alone in feeling that way. I think food is going to be a struggle forever for me. I would love it if it were an unimportant part of my life but I just don't see that happening. I feel I am better equipped to deal with it after my weight loss, but the addiction is still there.

Maybe others have experienced something different?

[alaskanlaughter]

Originally Posted by angie7896

You are definitely not alone in feeling that way. I think food is going to be a struggle forever for me. I would love it if it were an unimportant part of my life but I just don't see that happening. I feel I am better equipped to deal with it after my weight loss, but the addiction is still there.

Maybe others have experienced something different?

this, exactly....while over the course of some weight loss i've developed tools to help deal with my struggles with sugar, food, overeating etc, i think i will always have that "addiction" there...part of me wonders if it's biological because my sister is addicted to alcohol...makes me wonder if i got the "addicted to food" part of the genetics...but honestly i expect to always struggle with it, and i'm okay with that knowledge

[Candeka]

It hasn't gone away from me. I went from 165 down to 141. However, within the past 2 months I have shot back up to 149 due to losing the will power to just say "no" to the mass amount of cravings and the never ending black hole of a stomach. I stayed with my friend a month ago and was shocked at how she only ate breakfast, lunch and dinner. The entire week I was there I felt like I was starving since I am so used to snacking ALL day. From talking to others who have lost weight, it seems like in most cases it is a life long battle.

[HungryHungryHippo]

Yep, I'm there with you, sistah!

[ValRock]

It takes time. I can confidently say, that after 8 years of working at this, I have my eating 85% under control. You just have to keep at it. All the changes add up and become your new normal, over time. Hang in there!!! NEVER give up.

[Arctic Mama]

It gets easier with time and habit, but it never goes away completely, as far as I can tell. However being vigilant allows me to mitigate any damage of a slip much faster than I could before, and that means I can maintain even when I'm not always at the top of my game regarding food or activity.

It is far from hopeless.

[Misa66]

Short answer, no.

Ugh I wish it would though! I still find myself bingeing some days and loving every minute of it until I wake up (I usually do it before I fall asleep, terrible I know) and think of all the food I ate and feel like doodoo :/ but the good thing is I don't only feel bad because I know I shouldn't have eaten it, but the junk food actually makes me feel pretty terrible now. I still love every single bite but I can't eat nearly as much of it as I used to which is the good news it will always be a struggle for us who love food but we have to learn self control

[IsobelRose22]

I totally understand! Its such a hard thing to beat. i'd definitely class it as an addiction.

Personally I have my eating under control as long as I keep busy. While i'm with friends/family/boyfriend, at work. The second I'm at a loose end, while watching tv, or if I'm on my own at home it becomes so, so hard for me to control my cravings. You should see the mental battle I have with myself! lol Even exercise doesn't really help at those moments. To help curb my cravings, I drink a lot of black tea with calorie free sweetener, water, and I have, mini milks (Ice cream lollies 30cals) crackerbread (16 cals) and salsa, strawberries and raspberries in stock if I have to eat something lol. at least if I binge on that it's not going to break the calorie bank too badly.

[kelly315]

I neglected to take care of the mental/emotional side of weight loss and BED last time around, and I gained it all back- all 125 pounds I lost, plus two extra. From what I've heard, weight loss without proper counseling can often exacerbate the eating issues in the long run. There's really no substitute for taking the time to sit down and talk to a professional who knows how to help you.

[MyLilSweetPeas]

I know what you mean! I love delicious food! There have been times that I could eat more in one sitting than my husband! I think it will be something I have to work on for the rest of my life. I will say though, I have been counting calories for a few weeks now and it has made me realize how many calories I was consuming before I started. I wish that I had tracked the calories a day or two before I started my plan because I now don't want to go back to eating the way that I was just see how much it was. I can guess that it was probably between 3000-4000 a day. I usually never ate breakfast but I would have lunch, dinner and snack in between. It was stuff like I would feed the kids and big portioned meals at dinner. Last time I made a trip to the grocery store I looked at Marie Calendars chicken pot pie to see how many calories was in it. I was surprised to see it had over 600 in the regular size pie. In one sitting, I could eat 2 of those pies over white rice. That's well over 1200 calories in one meal so add the lunch meal and snacks to that. Yes, I was consuming a lot of food! I am a girl of the South and I good home cooked meal with family has always been my thing. Food was a very good friend / enemy of mine. I just didn't realize. So, I will have to really work at it the rest of my life to make good choices. There will always be temptation but I will always have a choice. There will be times I don't do so good but hopefully most times I will make the better choice. You have really done great with your weight loss!

[Steph7409]

I wish! I think of it as more of a compulsion than an addiction. My life used to revolve around food, with most of my plans being about what I was going to buy or cook to eat. Not so much these days, but it's still a struggle. I fight the obsessive thoughts pretty much every day.

[Beach Patrol]

Originally Posted by Candeka

It hasn't gone away from me. I went from 165 down to 141. However, within the past 2 months I have shot back up to 149 due to losing the will power to just say "no" to the mass amount of cravings and the never ending black hole of a stomach.
...it seems like in most cases it is a life long battle.

THIS.

I was 192 at my highest weight. I've lost 39 lbs, but recently gained 5 lbs and then there's that 2-3 lb "bounce" that I get at TOM every month. Sigh. And my problem? I JUST LOVE FOOD. And when something tastes really, really good, I just want it & want it & want it... and have it & have it & have it... and hey, sometimes I eat until I am literally physically sick of a food. I don't think it will ever go away for me, either.

Yup. "life long battle".

[kaplods]

For decades, I believed that my "food addiction" was a mental thing. Something was inherently WRONG with me. I was lazy, crazy, or stupid.

Then I started thinking maybe things weren't that simple. My worst binges were always during PMS/TOM week. When I reluctantly started taking birth control in my late-20's (I'd put it off as long as possible, because of the risk of weight gain) and stopped dieting, my weight gain stopped - but I couldn't seem to LOSE any weight.

Then I read David Kessler's book, The End of Overeating as well as various low-carb, slow-carb, good-carb, and paleo/primal books, and I realized that I didn't have a mental food-addiction, I had a physiological carb-addiction, especially to the carby/fatty/salty combination David Kessler talks about.

When I eat below a certain carb-threshold, not only do I lose weight, I don't have the compulsion to binge. I still have to pay attention to what I eat, but I don't have to use absolutely every bit of my mental and physical fortitude to implement white-knuckled, tooth-and-nail willpower. I have to THINK, but I don't have to OBSESS. I have to use will, but not willpower.

Though TOM/PMS is still tough, it's now more purgatory than ****.


Unfortunately the "addiction" isn't cured, it's just in remission. While I'm not tempted to binge when I'm eating RIGHT, if I eat foods that are too high in carb, or that contain the sweet/salty/creamy flavor of foods that combine carbs, fat, and salt, the cravings are back full-force.

If I avoid most high-carb foods, especially the ones that are also high in fat and salt, I can maintain my remission for the most part. I still have to exert common sense and portion control, but I don't eat "crazy."

Even though it's not a cure, it still seems a miracle to me. It's like a lap-band commercial a few years ago in which a woman talks about the surgery turning her hunger from a lion walking around her house with a nametag that reads "hunger" to an orange tom cat sitting on her lap.

That's exactly how I feel paleo eating (and birth control) has done for me.

Although my natural hunger makes the lion look like a kitty cat. My natural hunger wasn't just a lion, it was more like a rabid t-rex.

Birth control turned the rabid t-rex into a rabid lion. Eating a whole-foods, South Beach style diet turned the rabid lion into a normal lion. Paleo eating turned the lion into a feral cat (still not tame).

My hunger may never be a lap cat. I may always have to work to keep my hunger under control, but not having to fight tooth-and-nail has been an absolute godsend.

I finally feel (at least almost) like a normal person. I used to think there had to be something seriously and majorly defectively wrong with me. Now I realize it wasn't me, it was the food I was trying to use as fuel.

For many years even the "professionals' thought obesity was largely a mental problem, and more and more research is suggesting it's a physiological one. Changeing the food can change the addiction.

It is hard though to overcome the SOCIAL "need" for certain foods. I KNOW that I do not need pastries or chips or any non-paleo foods, but sometimes I feel that I do, because all of the carb-pushing that friends and family do.

Did you ever notice that no one ever pushes BROCCOLI on you? Or fish and lean meat? If it's remotely healthful, no one tries to force it down your throat. It's usually only junk (sometimes expensive junk, but junk nonetheless).

[ringmaster]

it's often said maintaining is harder than losing

I wonder, how many people that truly struggle were overweight as kids? my theory is it's harder if you were overweight as a kid since you picked up those habits then.