I'll agree with Lori. After my husband passed, I turned to cocaine and meth to try to help me "forget" (didn't work). I quit those successfully first attempt with no professional help but for years and years, even today still, I struggle with my addiction to food.

I personally think that people do give into their cravings and I do agree that food is addictive, but I also think people "throw in the towel" because they get burned out and frustrated.

In the beginning we all dive into our journeys, in different ways, but we measure things, we count calories, we do the WW point thing, and for some of us that becomes too much and more like "work" so we want "days off." I mean to be honest, you can't take a day off from your life, so why would you take a day off from living your life by eating horrible foods as a binge or whatever you wish to call it. I've been there and done that and I have to say the aftermath of doing such things last and last. The cravings do come back and if you don't know how to handle them then it can become a hard struggle. I mean recently I had a chocolate bar, took me a week to eat it lol, but I did crave more sweet things after the first bite. So, I had more fruit last week. Lovely blue berries with a bit of fresh peanut butter and I was very happy. I didn't do anything bad or wrong and I wanted it so I ate it. It took me a year to get to where I am at today and to find my attitude I have now. I struggled last year and this year I know I'll have struggles, but I am in a different place now and I think that if I had quit and taken a few months off, or whatever, then I would have been restarting my journey and not progressing to where I am now. That is what I'm trying to say.

I think people feel deprived when they cut things out of their diets that they used to enjoy and then it becomes daunting and I do think the burn out feeling comes into play at that time. To match that with cravings it becomes even more of a struggle. I do think food is very addictive, emotionally and physically, and I think that about sugar especially.

eh that is so me I wanna just start crying my eyes out reading this thread.

I was doing so good, amazing even. I lost 20lbs, I felt great, I was looking way better. and then boom I started slipping and it turned into a downward spiral where I felt I couldn't stop. I struggle with how to get back to where I was, finding that same spark that made me do so good before

I have put so much thought into it, and honestly I just don't know exactly what went wrong....I met some small goals, was on top of the world and gave myself alittle taste of freedom that I just wasn't ready to have yet I think. It is kindof like you have that little voice that told you all the evil excuses that let you pig out all the time before. and when you started doing good you managed to chain up that little voice, oh he was still there but you did really good at ignoring him and hiding him away.

But then you get to that place where you feel alittle more comfortable and you begin to listen to him not realizing how evil he is lol. "Oh I have been doing so good, I can control my cravings/portions now" "I have been doing great I can splurge alittle" "I can have a lazy day" etc...

and then boom he is unchained and you didn't even realize what had happened. and then it becomes easy to listen to the voice again and fill your head with excuses and let yourself slide until you are out of control again sigh.

I don't understand it though. It scares me. If I can do so good and work so hard to completely destroy myself again so easily.

I agree food is addictive. I place food in emotional and mental ties. Like how I love to curl up and watch movies all by myself and pig out on pizza. How whenever I am having my little movie night or wanna cheer myself up I crave that entire experience including the food.

but I am getting back in the zone. It has taken me so much work to get back to just putting in the effort again. So now I am picking back up and I feel strong that I have the momentum to push onward!

**btw I am not crazy lol I don't really hear voices or anything I just meant like yourself giving excuses and such lol

I'm so sorry, but I have to completely disagree about the "sucked into the carb craving" cycle...

Addiction is psychological mostly. Physical dependency does exist, for sure, but this isn't addiction. Think of it this way: if narcotics "caused" addiction, EVERY single patient on narcotic analgesics would be addicts who will do ANYTHING to get the drug. You don't see this. SOME will, but not all. Many many people rely on narcotics for analgesic purposes and are not addicts.

SO, I think the answer to this question is pretty easy: people go back to the habits which made them comfortable. If you are trying to lose weight and change the way you eat, if you experience a setback or fatigue, you are likely to return to the habits with which you are most comfortable. If you spent years sitting on a couch turning to ice cream when discouraged, this is what you will do if you become discouraged with a lifestyle change. If the habit that you turned to for comfort was drugs or weed or cheese doodles, THAT is what you will turn to. And if you remove or eliminate the substances you relied on for comfort, quite often they are replaced with other substances or habit which is the concept of cross-addiction -- the replacement of one addiction for another: it isn't the substance per se, but the behaviour and what a person gets out of the behaviour which is at issue.

I personally don't think there are any inherently addictive substances in carbohydrates. I think that the concept of brain chemical deficiencies and receptor sensitivies in humans is interesting but largely unproven. Just ask your doctor for a test to measure exactly HOW deficient in dopamine you are or how unreceptive your seretonin receptors are -- there ARE no tests. Neurotransmitter amounts and receptor sensitivities are not measurable in a living human at this point. And unfortunately, this unmeasurable and unproven theory forms the basis for most of our psychiatric drug regimes today, which is why a shotgun approach is taken -- take a, b, c, and see how you feel, and if you aren't feeling better, take a, b, and d, and then a, d with 1/3 x, and so on...and it turns out that placebos tend to be just as effective as drugs are with respect to alot of antianxieties and antidepressants. And the worst part is we don't KNOW what the longterm effects of messing with our brain chemistries are...but I digress...

IF you feel carbs are BAD for you, and you choose to eliminate them, then that totally ROCKS. If it works for you, GO FOR IT. I have no issue with any path a person chooses. But I really don't think that to tell people that "carbs are addictive" as a broad statement is helpful, as it gives the illusion to those starting their journey that you MUST eliminated carbs from your diet in order to lose weight. While true for some, it certainly isn't applicable to all. It is more helpful, IMHO, to say that you need to commit to changing your behaviour and if you don't act like a normal-weighted person (without EDs or food issues blah blah blah), you won't BE one anytime soon.

JMHO

Kira

I don't have issues with overeating, but I can tell you why I regained weight. I lost around 15 lbs a few years ago with diet and exercise. I maintained it until last year, when I regained almost all of it. For me, it was a combination of two things: being overworked and stressed out from writing my thesis, still attending four seminars, and working; and saying "it won't hurt just this once" one too many times. My roommates had very poor eating habits, and more often than not, all four of us ate dinner together. Two of them pretty much only ever cooked red meat, fatty casseroles, greasy french fries -- you know, standard student fare. I went ahead and ate with them instead of doing something pro-active like making a salad and leaving the fries. Too many meals like this + high stress + no exercise = 10+ lbs gained back in 9 months. By the time I realized what I what doing, I couldn't zip up my size 6 jeans anymore.

I think old habits are hard to break honestly.

I used to snack all night after dinner- literally probably ate at least 500-1000 calories extra a night. I'd make a quesadilla, then another, then some popcorn, then eat an ice cream, and so on...

Now I have a planned snack after dinner and if I still want more I have to ask why- am I really hungry or am I bored?

Today I'm upset and it's taking every fiber of my being not to binge. I know binging won't make anything better but it's an old habit that is hard to let go of.

Back to the topic I think people go full force into being "perfect" then get tired and just quit cold turkey. So many of my friends who fail at weight loss do so because they are perfect for 1-2 weeks, then just fall back into old habits. When I try to explain to them they should eliminate bad habits one by one they don't want to.

I know that I've done this many times, I give up very quickly, I'll be doing fine for awhile, even great, but then some little thing happens, sometimes related to my diet, sometimes just related to my life and I go on a crazy eating binge and decide to give up. I really can't give the reason that I do this, but this time I've really been watching myself, telling myself that I can slip up and it's not going to ruin everything, that;s what life is about, I guess.
I've never really had anyone to talk to about these things, sure, there are many people in my life who are overweight and going through the same things, but for some reason the subject is taboo to them even though we are experiencing similar situations. I've really enjoyed being on here and feeling like there are people that I can talk to and share with who will give me the support that I need and maybe I can help them too. Sorry, got the warm and fuzzies.

You are awesome!!!Sorry about your husband.

Awww thank you so very much harris, you are awesome too

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,476647,00.html

Kira there is article after article, after article that says that yes, there IS an addictive component to carbs, especially sugar-y ones. Not only that, you are listening to person after person who are sharing their personal experiences that can attest to it. Luckily through those good behaviors/habits that you mention the beast can be kept at bay, but that doesn't negate the fact that they are indeed addictive.

When I respond to a post, very often I will preface it with *for me* and IMO, but sometimes I don't. I pretty much thought that since we are not experts, doctors, dieticians, scientists or anything of the sort, that when we do respond to a post, it is for the most part from our own personal experiences. And I pretty much think (hope) that everyone is aware of that.

Well, there are tons of studies for everything out there, no? And I was just stating that IMHO (which I use every time I preface something that others will most likely take issue with), I don't BELIEVE that there is anything inherently addictive about carbs. And I still don't. And I think this important to say because although there is alot of anecdotal evidence out there, anecdotal evidence is just that. And for every study saying that carbs are the devil, I can find another (read Dr. Dean Ornish) that states otherwise.

So to say that a person who isn't ready for lifestyle changes is a carb-addict and needs to, presumably, cut carbs out in order to be successful isn't necessarily going to work for that individual. And if it IS an addiction, then one must be careful not to replace the carb addiction with another addiction (cross addiction) which means that behavioural issues should be addressed in any event (which is what I said in my original post). And I believe that this is a valid point of view.

I also said in my post that if you feel that carbs are an issue for you and choose to cut them out based on your experience, then that is FAB, because if it WORKS for you, it works for you. I have no issue with paths or beliefs other than mine and I've said it frequently. I just wonder why the issue with MY path and MY beliefs...

Kira

I notice quite a difference in my cravings with regard to carbs vs. noncarbs. It's like I've said here before--people on a binge don't usually go overboard with the boneless skinless chicken breasts.

But it's true, I think, that carbohydrates can't be equated with narcotics like oxycontin or heroin or cocaine. Those last ones are likely to turn just about anyone into an addict with repeated use. Crack cocaine is highly addictive upon even a single use!

However, one could say that alcohol fits into that same non-narcotic category--like carbs. Why? Because not everyone who drinks alcohol becomes an alcoholic. Nevertheless, alcohol addiction appears to be a real thing.

Just as an informal, working definition--I've heard this: If there is something that you do not intend to do, that you perhaps even were expressly NOT going to do, and you keep finding yourself doing it anyway--then there is an addictive process at work. This can apply to just about anything, whether food, alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, gambling... and so on.

I have no issue with any of you folks. It's just an interesting question. Carbs don't need to be demonized, but if they are a problem for someone, then that person has to figure out what to do about it. That's all.

Jay

I never thought I had an issue with carbs. In fact, even at my high weight, one of my few regular extra carb indulgences were the free bakery muffins and bagels at work. I righteously walked right by the donuts and went for the "more virtuous" bagels and muffins.

When I got home from work, I was hungry, it was a long day, I worked hard - I deserved a snack. I reached for bread, bagels, English muffins - every single time. I bypassed the nuts, peanut butter, cheese, etc. - after all, they are high in calories, and fats - RIGHT? Fruit - that's just sugar. A nice whole wheat bagel - now THAT is a snack!!! It made me FEEL good. It DID trigger something in my brain. And I do believe it was a physiological as well as an emotional trigger.

The problem was, that ONE muffin/bagel/slice didn't satisfy me. I ALWAYS was back in the break room or kitchen digging into ANOTHER.

This cycle went on for years. As a vegetarian, I always felt I ate a balanced diet - but I didn't. I ate balanced MEALS, but never balanced SNACKS. And the snacks were a problem - pure and simple.

When I learned to balance ALL of my eating occasions, I found that my cravings for carbs, my tendency to overeat them at snack time went away. It WAS an important piece of the puzzle for me. A very important piece.

Now, do I think that overeating carbs is a problem for everyone? No. And I don't "restrict" carbs in my own diet. As a vegetarian, I eat a LOT of them. I have found that I need to balance every eating occasion (as much as possible) with a 40/30/30 split (carbs, protein, fats).

This is what works for me. It only took me 50+ years to figure that out.

One of the great things about 3FC is that ALL of the keys to my success have been duplicated by others here at 3FC. And most of them I learned from reading other chickie's posts. As I traveled my weight loss journey, when I read a post that resonated with me, I tried tweaking my plan to see if their expericne/plan would help me. Some things did. Some things didn't. That is the nature of a journey.

So, if my experience and success helps someone else on their journey - GREAT. If not, oh, well. Someone else's experience and advice WILL.

This is what makes 3FC such an awesome place!!!

I don't think carbs are bad. I eat carbs, but I think I have found that certain carb type foods like pastas, breads, and things do not make me feel well physically. I just don't feel well after eating them, but then again what else is in that stuff? Is it just because of the carbs?

I do think food in general can be addicting, especially sugar and one could say caffeine. I think sugar, for some people, is like a drug. I mean I know people who HAVE to have their sugar "fix" and would often get a high and a low and then go find more sugar to get that high again.

I also think that food in general is emotionally addicting in terms of making you feel good. Like when I emotionally eat or use food to comfort myself. I have this urge to eat something and a pull to do it, then I feel great while eating it, then I feel down and sad after wards. Today I do not emotionally eat as much as I used to. In fact I can't really remember the last time I sat down and just scarfed down something without thinking, just feeding my emotions. So, I've come to understand the nature of things and learning what works for me and what doesn't.

I think it might have to do with addiction to food. and certain types of food. I know for myself, i did awful this weekend. I bought stuff I shouldn't of, ate stuff I shouldn't off, and feel sick over it. Why oh why after I have fought for nearly 2 yrs to get in the one hundreds, and want to get to goal weight so badly will I throw myself weeks out of wack, ( which I'm certain it will take me to get to were I was prior to just this one weekend )? My only thought is addiction.