If you are like me, you're already discovering that you have addiction issues with certain foods. This thread is for mutual support, sharing ideas, tips, experiences, struggles, victories, resources such as favorite books, etc.
All too often, the threads around this topic develop into debates about whether or not there is such a thing. With all due respect, I invite those who would like to express their opinions about whether food addictions are real to post on the many relevant threads already up and running. Thanks

This is a great idea, mars735! I agree that this thread should just be for support. After all, we already have so much to deal with, the last thing we need is to have to defend our views.

Over the years, I've discovered that I'm addicted to sugar and flour. I do have one fruit a day but that's it. I can't even handle dried fruit or frozen grapes. I was in denial for a very long time. I kept trying to have things in moderation and I would gain and lose the same 50-70 lbs. more times than I can remember.

I've now been getting support at OA (Overeaters Anonymous) and it has been a life saver. I attend meetings three times a week and also listen to phone meetings if I can't get to a meeting. I also have people that I call every day, as well as when I need support. I've read many books but nothing has seemed to help me as much as the combination of abstaining from foods I can't manage and embracing the OA program.

I'm not trying to motivate anyone to join OA. I'm just sharing what I"m doing and what I find helpful.

I look forward to reading more posts from other members who find that they're addicted to food.

Welcome luckymommy Thanks for jumping in! I'd love to hear whatever you'd like to post about OA. It sounds like very effective support. Your ticker indicates you are getting near goal--congratulations!

I'm similar to you--addicted to refined sugar mostly. I also watch my fruits carefully & avoid flour. After 7 months of low cal, lo carb, lo fat, I've become more aware of how foods make me feel and those things send me into orbit. Sugar is what causes cravings, though.

I've had plenty of minor lapses and reboots--vacation, social, stress, etc. I thought this was going to be my long term plan. But now I think I might consider stopping altogether once and for all. Insidious how relapses creep up: it seems so manageable to have these things every now & then. Then WHAMMO, 15 lbs are back along with cravings and hunger for more, more, more.

A question: how do you do with artificially sweetened things, if you have them?

I feel for you and appreciate the congratulations and welcome! YOu're also incredibly close to goal, so a huge congratulations to you as well!

I don't consume artificial sweetener, but I do use stevia. Whole Foods has a stevia with vanilla in it that I put over my morning oatmeal (along with cinnamon). I do have one shot of espresso in the morning that I sweeten with Stevia as well. I've read that artificial sweeteners are very harmful. Luckily, I'm ok with stevia's flavor (although you have to find the one that works for you since not all of them are the same) but if I wasn't, I just wouldn't sweeten with anything at all.

With regards to wanting more, more and more...someone at an OA meeting said the following: if they come up with a one time diet pill that lets you eat whatever you want and not gain weight for the rest of your life, OA members would want more than just one. For us, it's never enough. We always want more. It helps me to plan my meals in advance and I end up eating almost the same things every day. I still enjoy food but I'm not as tempted by too many exotic flavors. Honestly, my life is so much better because before I got started, I was on a downwards spiral with nothing but dread and misery running my life.

The other thing I should add is that this is a re-start for me. I've been abstinent for over 90 days and before that, I was in the process of gaining all my weight back and then some, probably. I got really sick of the loss and gain yo-yo endless cycle. That's why I knew I had to do something different and I needed to find the level of support that I require. This website is fantastic, but it's just not enough for me. I've been learning how to live in a state of acceptance and to not try to control the world around me. What I can control is very minimal compared to what I can't...but I'm probably going on and on now, so I apologize.

It's really nice to meet you and feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

Thanks so much luckymommy & so nice to meet you too!!! I hope you'll continue to post. You've made a genuine commitment to changing. I think that's key to keeping a healthy WOE. For me, losing weight has been like getting out of jail. I have a lifetime of yoyoing behind me so I sure can't kid myself about needing to be vigilant, always.

Btw, everything you wrote fits me to a T. I'm happiest eating a consistent & pre-planned diet day to day, and do best with things that taste 'good but not too good.' Thanks for the sweetener info, too--something I need to work on.

I do best on low carb as far as keeping hunger in check. Unfortunately on low carb, I become moody and not so clear-headed. I think exercise has been helpful, but it can hard to fit in so hope to figure out the carb balance.

Although it's hard work, it sure beats the alternative that you've described so well.

I also have categories of foods that trigger me to spiral out of control. BUt I have been in control since january 2014 and my life has improved. I will always be an addict, but so what! I did not choose to be an addict therefore avoiding the foods that set me off is an act of kindness I give myself. It is not deprival or punishment. It is out of love for my health that I have walked away from my trigger foods.

mars735, sounds like finding the carb balance would be awesome for you. Any chance it could be fat missing from your diet? Just a thought. I think having low carb and low fat is a tough combo, but it's just a hunch and I could be way off. I'm glad you're looking into it though. Another thought I'm having is with regards to yeast. When we eat low carb/low sugar, there's a die off of yeast that happens and that can cause some fogginess. I've read this on some healthy sites, but don't recall which one. It may sound ridiculous and it very well maybe, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

lucindaarrowspark, you're absolutely right. Avoiding our triggor foods is an act of kindness towards ourselves. I never thought I'd be able to live without those foods...I remember buying horrible foods (I won't mention which ones, so as not to triggor anyone) and not being able to get home to have them. I'd shove them into my mouth in the car and when I was at a red light, I'd stop because I didn't want other drivers to see me binging. The thoughts weren't exactly rational at the time.

The best part is I no longer feel at the mercy of these foods. I still have urges/cravings, but most of the time, I'm not even tempted. I have never said that in my entire life. I always used to white knuckle it and I could only last for so long. Another benefit has been discovering just how unhealthy my triggor foods are so I actually feel better knowing that I'm extending my life, rather than shortening it (not to mention the quality of life issue).

Wow thank-you thank- thank-you luckymommy! Are you my long lost ideantical twin or what?? : )
My fat intake was so restricted during weight loss that I developed a condition called dry eye which finally is getting me to include fats. That may correct some of the other issues, too. It's funny how hard it is to add even small amounts now, except when the addiction takes over and I eat all the crap you alluded to. Your idea couldn't come at a better time.

I'm fascinated by the yeast idea. Do you mean sugar-dependent yeast cells that I am colonized with? I'll do some googling. Thanks for that.

I agree with your comment about lucindaarrowspark's profound post, which is a paradigm shifter for me: it's IS a gift of kindness. The deprivation, for me anyway, is perhaps a response to underlying self-neglect. I learned this recently dealing with illness in the family. The less I took care of myself, the more I wanted to eat those unhealthy foods. Before, I labeled that kind of eating as the root of self-neglect. Maybe it's the reaction to it, and starts up a self-perpetuating cycle.

mars735, we may very well be identical twins! It's really nice to chat with someone who *gets* it.

With ******s to yeast, I've read that they colonize in the gut and feed off sugar. People who have a white film on their tongue are thought to have an issue, but I'm not sure if absence of this means you don't have it. Antibiotic use obviously increases yeast. I kind of think (just a hunch) that yeast increases the drive to consume carbs/sugar because the die off is very unpleasant. Having fermented foods like raw sauerkraut and kimchee is supposed to help with this, and I've read about young coconut kefir that you make at home. It's a lot to go through so people who follow this type of eating are usually ones who are very motivated.

Interesting that you're adding fats but sorry to hear about the dry eye condition. I like nuts and avocado but I do have a hard time adding them in because psychologically, I still worry about gaining weight, even though I know it's not true and is so important for my health. The addictive mind isn't exactly rational.

I hope you have a good day!

Thanks luckymommy!

Just a ramble....My first inkling of food addiction issues was years ago when I realized I could not keep mayonnaise in the house. It's as if it calls out to me. I'll only eat it on certain things, but it's a long list that includes almost any vegetable along with almost any meat or eggs, even scrambled.

The only brands with which I experience this are Best Foods & Hellmans, which I think might be the same thing under different names. I don't like any other mayo very much.

I'm used to the idea of being addicted to sweet things that contain a lot of refined sugars, and flour too. As for mayo, are they adding some secret addictive ingredient???

Interesting question. I guess we ARE twins! Well, I had a jar of Veganaise (cuz I'm weird, hahaha...it's like mayo only from the health food store) and I would just spoon it out of the jar and onto bread (a very fluffy bread from the bakery)....I actually forgot about that time....because there have been so many other times.

I don't know about you, but whenever I'd binge, I wouldn't remember what I had...I wouldn't say I was in a trance, but there were just so many different things and it was all very rushed most of the time. I'd devour something, then run back to the fridge or cupboards and get something else to devour in front of the t.v....then something else. I tended to have something sweet and then savory and then sweet and so on, until I could sometimes feel the food coming up my esophagus and into the back of my throat. I also felt incredible guilt/shame/utter disgust and self hatred, with a good dose of depression. I don't miss those days at all.

Every time I binge, I never know how long it will last. I've had times when it was just one "meal," but that was only if it was at the end of the day. I could have an all day extravaganza and that might sometimes turn into days and days, weeks or months. People could physically see the changes and I could see the shock in their eyes as they'd try to act natural but being really surprised by the change in my appearance in a short amount of time.

Then, I would restrict calories and eat at a huge deficit. I tried purging (although I hated it and after I'd purge, I'd just go and binge again 90% of the time), I tried diet pills, counting calories and working out like a mad woman and a lot of other stuff.

Right now, I feel like I've finally figured it out. However, I still know I'm at huge risk of going back to my old ways if I'm not constantly doing the work that it takes for me to maintain sanity.

Ciao.

I know for me, the yeast is like having a little bit of the devil in me. THe yeast can overide my own brains' messaging center and send out SOS's for more "sugar please"
I know when I am about to have a yeast outbreak b/c even if I am eating non processed foods, dry fruit like raisins increase the yeast in me
Since going sugar free and carb free and wheat free and booze free since January 2014 my yeast problem has all but disappeared! I am sure I still have a healthy yeast colony but not the hackers of my brain!

luckymommy: Amazing about the mayo/bread! As a child, I loved mayo so much that I tried it solo on Wonderbread. (I was surprised that I didn't like it much).

You really have walked through fire to get where you are now. I'm in awe. I was spared some of the ordeal you have experienced, though it rings oh so familiar. I think I was more of a compulsive overeater, with occasional binges. I still do some binging every now and then, especially since reaching my goal after low carb, lo cal diet. Thanks to Brain Over Binge, I learned to not berate myself while I doing it. Somehow that's tamed things quite a bit. I'm old enough to have a LOT of dieting experience and realize that I lack the innate ability to maintain healthy weight or eating habits without working at it. As lucinda said, it's a gift we give ourselves to eat well.

That's fascinating. I've read about it. I don't know how to tell if the yeast is or isn't affecting me. I probably have never been long enough without sugar to know the difference, lol.
I just started having Bubbie's sauerkraut after lunch and dinner, which is probiotic. Do you think sucralose is a fuel source/stimulus for yeast? I have a lot of products to eat through! Guess it's a good time to get my head into gear for knocking sugar out of my life. Kind of scary, really, yet it makes so much sense.

Thank-you luckymommy & lucindaarrowspark!

mars735, I really look forward to your posts! You're very kind and wise. I don't know much about the sauerkraut so perhaps lucindaarrowspark will have some info for you.

I had a really tough time giving up the sugar. I think it took me about 2 months before I started to really feel the benefits. I was so lost without it and in such withdrawl that I experienced a great deal of fatigue. I was so tempted to have it again, but my Sponsor helped me stay away from it. I felt like I had chronic fatigue and it really messed with my mind. Now, it has been so worth it. I hardly miss it. I still want it when I see something tempting, but it goes away quickly and the craving is not anything insurmountable.

The addictive mind will deceive you and it's often impossible to tell if I'm thinking or my addiction is thinking. That's why when in doubt, I ask my Sponsor. Lately I haven't had to though.

I'm still not confident though and I don't think I ever will be. Once an addict, always an addict. I've been battling this for so many years (I'm almost 44) and I've asked myself this question: How many times do I need to get into the boxing ring to realize that when I get in, 9/10 times I come out with a bloody nose? That's how my red light foods are. Sure, I could theoretically have something that's off limits and be fine...but why should I take that chance? Is sugar THAT important to me that I need to risk my well being and happiness just to have a cookie? To me, it's SO not worth it.

I wish you a wonderful day!

Thanks for your kind words,luckymommy I will say the same about you, and you're much younger than I--I'm 61 : )

You wrote that you're still not confident. I recently learned something interesting about confidence:
I had a consultation with a pre-eminent yoga instructor to see if she would work with me for a hip problem. She gave me a lot of precise instruction to move this way and that. One of her comments later was that she thought I would do very well because I was careful to make sure I understood correctly what to do. She said when she sees that uncertainty in a student, THAT's the learning taking place. [this was not some sort of yoga aptitude test, lol--I'd never done yoga]

I may not have said it clearly but I hope it makes sense to you. Maybe not feeling confident means you are making sure you've really 'got it' each day going forward. That said, I sure hope you enjoy what you have already achieved!

Best to you for a wonderful day.