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COULD YOU BE DEALING WITH A FOOD ADDICTION?

    Food addiction is characterized by an obsession with specific foods and the compulsive use of those foods. The body chemistry of a food addicted person is different from a non-addicted person. One bite of an addictive food will set up the craving for more, and triggers loss of control over consumption.

How do you know if it is an addiction? Food addicted people experience symptoms of withdrawal, such as dizziness, chills, nausea, shakiness, swimming vision, lethargy, and extreme headache, in their first few days of abstinence from addictive foods. It may take forty-eight hours or more to eliminate these foods from the body and recover from these physical discomforts. It may take twelve days to three weeks to lose the physical craving or compulsion for binge foods, with the strongest compulsion averaging around four days. The food addict is at risk during the period of withdrawal from “junk” type foods. Consuming addictive food will cause the addict to temporarily feel better, but it will also start the addiction cycle again.

Food addicts experience a physical “craving” which results in a physical need to get and keep a certain amount of addictive foods in the body at all times. (Examples of these addictive foods might include foods high in sugars or starches, fried foods, snacks that are empty of nutrients and high in sodium and/or sugar, soft drinks high in sugar, etc.) The addictive foods are seldom nutritious, but the constant presence of sugars, flours, and fats in the system subdues the feeling of hunger. The body sends signals for nutrients, and the addict’s mind says “eat binge food”. This creates a circular trap.

It is a mental obsession or fantasizing that will take an abstinent food addict back into the addiction. Returning to addictive eating involves acting upon this obsession to eat. Since an individual tends to move toward their dominant thought, a food addict who is obsessed with food will eventually eat addictive foods again. The food addict who is active in the addiction will experience progressively more frequent obsessions about food and act upon the obsessions more often.

Since this is a progressive disorder, an individual who is food addicted goes from eating for pleasure, to problem eating, and then to addiction to specific foods, at which point the person loses control and can no longer choose what to eat or when to eat. There is no specific timetable for this progression to occur.

Early signs of food addiction involve distinct attitudes and behaviors concerning food, which may include: secretly obtaining and/or hiding supplies of food, “stealing” food and lying about it, extreme concern about being deprived of a favorite food, or the use of food to relieve tension, boredom, or frustration. Frequently using food to relieve uncomfortable feelings is a hallmark of addiction, as is developing “tolerance” or the need for greater quantities of food to relieve discomfort.

A food addict will tend to feel uneasy in situations where food is not available, thus becoming restless, irritable, and tends to lose ability to concentrate as obsessive thoughts of food persist. A food addict will become preoccupied with specific foods, begin arranging their life around food, plan ahead to avoid being without, and begin to seek out eating occasions. Food addicts become sensitive and defensive when their eating is discussed.

Loss of control is the signal that the addict has moved into the crucial stage of food addiction. At this point they are unable to stop with “just one”. Despite good intentions, there is no return to controlled eating of addictive foods. Total abstinence from these addictive foods is the answer for arresting the progression of this disorder.

Food addicts become caught up in making excuses for their eating patterns, and rationalize their behavior to protect dwindling self-respect. They believe their rationalizations, and their alibis indicate their actual dependence on addictive food.

Food addicts try every form of weight control, but regardless of what method they try, when they return to addictive foods they are in trouble again.

Food addicts, caught up in the compulsion, suffer from guilt about their eating behavior and the expenses related to weight loss remedies (most of which have not worked for them). They feel painful remorse, and detest themselves, but don’t know how to change. They eat again to relieve the emotional distress.

The addict eats to feel better and always feels worse!

If you find yourself relating to what is described in the above information, you will benefit from several of the self-hypnosis audiotapes/CD’s such as:

• Gaining Control to Accomplish Your Goal” -Guided Imagery for Weight Reduction and Management;
• Eating to Feed Your Feelings: Emotional or Compulsive Eating”;
• Getting Active: Exercising for Fitness and Weight Management or Reduction”;
• The Part of Me that Resists”: The Inner Struggle - Overcoming Resistance to Healthy Change or
• Times of Temptation: Late Evening or Weekend Eating.

Select any of the preceding titles for a complete description of the audiotape/CD.