I’m addicted to junk food. The idea of “food addiction” is relatively new but gaining traction and support as studies are now showing that junk food can cause our brains to react the same way as it would to addictive drugs.
I cannot control myself when it comes to junk food. If I go to a fast food place I am unable to pick a healthy option. If I drive by a fast food place on my way home from somewhere and im hungry I will almost always stop and get it. I have cravings for junk food that are very strong. I have tried to quit junk food many many times and have been unsuccessful and each failure leaves me ashamed and disheartened.
I’m coming up with a new plan to change my diet that involves acknowledging and tackling my food addiction. I need to become aware of triggers that lead to me eating bad things and learn alternate coping methods or if I can avoid them then do that. I cannot have “cheat” days where I can have junk food. Not even special occasions. The same way getting drunk on their birthday could trigger a relapse for an alcoholic even if they’ve been clean for years, doing something like having cake and ice cream on my birthday can send me on an eating spiral where I will start eating like absolute crap again and gain back all the weight i lost after having been “clean” for however long. (I am not even exaggerating, this happened to me recently with my birthday where I’d been eating great and had lost weight and then decided to cheat for my birthday and eat how I wanted and then it spiraled from there)
I have a pathological relationship with food. I am doing my best to work on it. Im going to take things slow and make changes one step at a time until I have a healthy diet. My initial goal for changing my diet was to get back to a healthy weight. But I think I need to make it my main goal to have a healthy diet first. The weight can come later.
I have had intense food cravings for a long time. People think me cutting out ALL junk food is not the solution but for me personally it is the best way. Doesn’t mean its still difficult. Think of alcoholics who abstain from alcohol, their journey to recovery is still difficult, nevertheless cutting out ALL junk food DOES help, for me PERSONALLY I am not one to recommend this to anyone as we all are different.
I mean I have tried many occasions to just eat normal and the addiction cravings still persist.
Anyways my food story is long I won’t go into it all now, I just want to say that I understand how overpowering the craving sensations can be and I understand how recovery is not a smooth journey but I believe it is possible and also gets easier in some important way.
Best of luck.
Yes I am the same way I have tried just having junk food “sometimes” or having just a little bit and not being as extreme but it inevitably leads to failure for me and binge eating unhealthy foods. For me “sometimes” or “just one cookie” is not an option. Thank you for your support
I have an addiction to food. Out of all of the vices I’ve had over the years, food is what I’ve been dealing with the longest. I eat for every emotion I experience. I eat to punish myself, I eat to reward myself, I eat when I’m happy, sad, or angry, and I eat because I get euphoric after eating a large meal or some type of junk food.
I have quit multiple things that are bad for me from self harm to cigarettes, and food helped me quit those things, I would just eat my cravings away and I fully embraced the hunger from my AP and I kind of used it as an excuse to not police what I eat. It gave me a reason to give into my hunger. I was 351 pounds and I’m down about 6 pounds now, but its still hard.
The problem with food is that I can’t just not have it. I can live without cigarettes and other bad habits, but I literally cannot live without food. I will have to mend my relationship with food so I don’t seek that euphoric feeling when I eat.
I start taking naltexone today. my psychiatrist thinks that this is a good route because I still crave alcohol, and because of my relationship with food. I don’t want to be reliant on it forever, but hopefully it gives me a start in the right direction.
We had rigid table manners, early weaning and strict rules about healthy food. When I grew up, I rebelled. My father also rebelled under different circumstances. He had gone hungry and had a chance to come to America where he would be well fed. But he was a teenager and didn’t want to come. After having starved, he got on the boat and ate 3 breakfasts. My grandmother told me about this. I’m sure it made him unforgettably sick. Thus he was always a tense eater and no fun to eat with.
I eat a fair bit of junk food but am weight stable. The biggest problem is my arthritis after eating something like a few burgers.
If I were on a higher AP dose I’d gain weight like crazy though. Also the intermittent fasting thing helps probably, but I keep eating lunch here and there.
Anyhow, 200 lbs is ok. Not super slim or hot but that’s not stopping me from working.
I hated managing my diet on a high AP dose. Had to be so stringent, and I’d still be net positive in my weight.
