I know a lot of people on the forums have said over and over getting their eating under control is one of the most difficult things they do. People don't understand it's like an addiction when they're saying "One piece of cake won't hurt". They wouldn't think to offer a recovering alcoholic "Just one drink." It's not widely accepted to think of food and our relationship with it as an addiction. So I was surprised to read this interview on CNN with a former (?) Biggest Loser trainer named Brett Hoebel. I'm not familiar with the show but I'm sure some of you are.
This is the part that stuck out to me:
CNN: What's the biggest weight loss or fitness obstacle you see people encounter?
Hoebel: Really, No. 1 is diet. Most people want to think it's a fitness thing or a nutrition regimen, and I'm like, it's a mental and emotional thing.
We are in a society where we're exposed to food so much of the time, and what people don't realize is that food is a drug. Chemicals make up drugs; chemicals make up food. Food is the most over-prescribed drug we have today.
Food is a lot of people's therapy -- when we say comfort food, we really mean that. It's releasing dopamine and serotonin in your brain that makes you feel good. And as you (indulge) more and more and more, it can become a little bit addictive. After you do that for too long, it can no longer be a choice -- you really change the physical structure of your brain and it's going to be harder to quit.
(But) the food addiction is only part of it. The emotional issues are the deeper thing, and if you don't fix that, it's just not going to work.
http://us.cnn.com/2013/04/04/health/...?iref=obinsite