The Lust For Food

The fight to maintain self control is by far the hardest thing about losing weight in a controlled fashion.

I know I sometimes "fall off the wagon" and eat chocolate and drink Coke when I know I shouldn't but in the main it's just finding that pleace in your own head where you can safely keep yourself under control when the temptation is at hand.

I do not drink alcohol anymore. It is impossible to avoid restaurants that serve alcohol, family picnics with cooler upon cooler of ice cold beers, wedding reception toasts, and the like. Friends ask "Can't you even have one glass of wine?" family members turn into 'therapists" and give you their advice. "Drink moderately" and so forth. It is VERY difficult every day not to drink at all, but it doesn't help when every deli has a selection of cold drinks on display and every ball game has shouting beer vendors. I have to go to nice restaurants with wine lists with clients, I have to attend sporting events with clients as well. Clients always seem to like to drink. OK it is hard but that is life. I also work hard to not eat junk so that my body stays healthy and my workouts are more energetic. I can't fall off the wagon on booze or processed baked goods. I have been sober in both areas for 5 years. It doesn't get easier, sadly enough. I just do it because I choose to, it is extremely hard but not torture.

For the longest time I always used food for enjoyment past the point of satisfaction but good thing the Lord has blessed me with a fast metabolism. Food it seems for many people a down fall for healthy eating and right portions. This is an excellent post as lusting for food is a big mis take people use and help is needed.

You make some very good points about how the concept of food has been affected by the abundance and availability we have to it. While this is certainly a blessing, it also requires greater self discipline, making smart choices, and recognizing the emotional reasons behind why people overeat. Recognizing the body's cues as to what it feels like to actually be hungry and to feel satiated (not full) seems to be something so many have fallen out of touch with.

This reminds me of a post by Musa on the Jack Sprat blog (Click,Click July 16th)
Although like all excuses, it is a good excuse! (every excuse is good when you're using it) It is always harder to do something that I have to do, oh it must be way easier for the recovering alcoholic--but we don't need junk food to survive, just as he doesn't need beer to survive. It's easier to avoid beer--yeah, we live in a society where beer is not readily available!!!! I never see beer anywhere! (small joke) I love the excuses and rationalizations though. They come in handy. Everyone needs them.

My long term strategy has been to develop a lust for foods that support good health. Fruits and veggies. Whole grains. Beans. Seafood. Nuts. I'd like to develop a lust for lean meats, but it just isn't happening. ;-) And then after I enjoy a nice healthy salad full of beautiful vegetables or perhaps a sashimi plate with a side of brown rice, I'll follow it up with one perfect piece of chocolate. Or maybe a small dessert, split with a friend.

I've raised my standards considerably. I don't waste calories on inferior food. And maybe once a month or so, I spend some calories on something that's really excellent but totally unhealthy, like the perfect fried chicken or an awesome cheese plate.

This is a constant struggle with me. For all but the last year of my life, I have lived a gluttonous life. Eating was more about taste and consistency, rather than fueling my body.
I still want to eat that way! When something tastes good, I want to eat it until it's all gone. Problem is, I don't want to be fat and sick anymore.
My strategy is to avoid places where I know I'll be tempted, to ask my wife or a friend to hold me accountable, if I'm going to be somewhere where the temptation to stuff myself will come in to play (like a meeting at a buffet-style restaurant), and constantly stay busy. Boredom will put me at the fridge before anything else!
I do better, but it is still a constant struggle, and I suppose it may always be.

I can binge on anything even carrots and diet soda.
That’s why I feel the addiction model might not work with food even though were addicted to it we cannot survive without food. I like to eat so I eat a lot during the day of low cal food to bulk up the rich higher call stuff and I journal.

I think it must be harder for drinkers due to blackouts. I don't drink, only eat.

We CANNOT SURVIVE without food, but we most certainly can survive without greasy deep fried foods, sugary junk, white flour, and the like: We do NOT need crap to survive and saying that junk food abstinance is easy in ANY way than alcohol abstinance is a real slap in the face for any child living with an alcoholic parent. Try some other excuse, whine about thyroid or something.

Have I experienced a lust for food? Occasionally. Am I able to exert self-control? Yes, through my eating habits. What are my strategies? I no longer need them; I changed my eating habits.

I was upset to read some comments about whinging about the need to eat compared to the need to drink if you're an alcholic. I whole heartedly believe that a person can get addicted to eating food and I have first hand experience of the craving of carbs etc and there is proven scientific evidence on the reaction your body has to these types of 'junk' food and it's very similar to that that an alcholic might feel when they have a dink or a drug addict when they get a hit. It really hurts me that people's attitude is just to get a bit more self control when it comes to food - you wouldn't dream of saying that to an alcholic.

I eat to make myself feel better and I eat when I'm down maybe, I do loose control in a similar way to an alcholoic, maybe the side effects aren't quite as bad thankfully and the worst that can happen right now is that I can get fat but it is still something I find hard to control.

I think that if you have no idea what I'm talking about and can not relate then you are a really lucky person. But take a look at some of the books on the subject like the 'The Hungry Years' etc. and you might get a better idea of what some people are going through

People say (or at times scream) the most awful things to alcoholics. No one is spared when it comes to criticism. And just like food addicts, alcoholics use excuses all of the time. no shame in that. it is human nature.

I used to have a lust for high calorie, junky food like Little Debbie cakes and whatnot. I realized that those foods had a lot of calories for not a lot of staying power, so I stopped eating them. I kind of felt like they were a waste of calories or something. I have developed a lust for healthy foods as well...I LOVE fresh spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, a nice cold yogurt, etc. because they make me feel good. Sure, I get tempted by people bringing in donuts at work...but then I ask myself "Do I want to eat 350 calories' worth of pure sugar and fat? Not really". I guess that's where my "willpower" comes from. I do indulge in high calorie fare every now and then...but it has to be darn good stuff!!

Food is good, good tasting. Slow down and actually focus on the taste, and texture of foods, and of the feelings and emotion they produce. You will find that you not only eat less, but greasy foods become somewhat less atteractive. Also, do this with sweets. If you savor it, you quickly tire of it (in other words, satisfy yourself) and dont long for another piece.

Vic - Thank you! You said what I was going to say!

I have found that I cannot just moderate my carbs - they literally do things to my body.

Regardless of what people want to think, there are, and there always will be people who are thin and can eat without worry.

The carb watchers have to have a life-long vigil. It's not fair, it's just reality.

But every person/relative who wants to give advice is another saboteur.

We can't cure our food issues, only manage them in the best way we can. My preference - No Hunger Low Carb!

I binge often, and I binge on all sorts of different foods. I am planning on attending my first OA meeting asap, as soon as I get the courage. I thought this was a good post once you got past the unfortunate and thoughtless first paragraph. Food addiction is really a problem in our country and look at all the obese peopl--they are obese for a reason, not for an excuse, they are addicted to food. probably most of our population has addiction to food. They probably always did but until the mass media we never shown the spotlite on the very obese and why they were zombies for food. Food holds us in a chokehold, we can't help it. That' why OA is such a good thing. I plan to go to OA.

sTAYİNG AT HOME MAKES YOU WANNA EAT MORE.also whenever I WALK AND GET TIRED,I don't wanna eat anythıng,I just want water and have a rest.And when the weather is too hot,I really don't want to eat fatty food etc.

I did yesterday. I was dying to get some Thai food (we have a Thai food every 40 steps here in Chicago) and I couldn't decide on a place... but when I ultimately did and I got that Thai food I wanted... I was happy. :) Tofu pad thai anyone.

It surprises me how often people around me are constantly overeating! Co-workers will come back from break after stuffing themselves until they are uncomfortably full. I went out to lunch one day, and stopped eating after I felt full, and pretty much was looked at strangely because I didn't eat everything on my plate. Shouldn't the strange looks be going the other way around? Why do people feel it's necessary to clean their plates especially when they are going to feel disguisting afterwards? I personally cannot stand the feeling of being over-stuffed. I think everyone should take a page out of the book "Intuitive Eating." Without that book, I would probably be joining in with the rest of my co-workers in overeating!

snacking all day long, little snacks, they add up and they make me think I need food all day long. Same exact thing with my mom except she is very thin,Life is TONS easier for her than for me because she is THIN and I am FAT. she doesn't EAT much, she just smokes all day chain smoking and she has a flask that goes everwhere with her and bottles hid all over even in the shed in the backyard. she "sips" all day long even at her job, she has a water bottle with vodka, so she can sip a little, all day long. and sometimes she has to stop at a bar, then someone has to go and get her when they call as she is too unruly. my dad used to find all her bottles and threw them out but there was always more hidden very cleverly everywhere and so when I get into my SNACK ADDICTION every fifteen minutes I sometimes think of my mom and start to understand her a little . But it is SO MUCH HARDER for food addicts than any other addict just like they said, it is true food is everywhere.

Kayla--it sounds like you and your mom have similar addictive behavior patterns. I know because my mom and her siblings all have food addiction problems and my grandpa was an alcoholic. I think the "addictive" gene is hereditary...not necessarily the addiction itself, but the tendency one has to become addicted to things. My mom and I both have very similar behavior patterns when it comes to certain things...eating, gambling, drinking, shopping, etc. It's very easy for us to lose track of ourselves and get caught up in the activity. My husband, on the other hand, does not have the "addictive" gene. He can drink 8 beers every night for a month and then go 2 months and not even crave any. He treats food like just fuel for the body and he really doesn't care what it is or if it's that great...when he's full, he stops. He tried smoking for a few months in high school and decided he didn't want to smoke anymore, so he threw out the cigs and quit. Do you see the difference? I think most of us here with either ongoing weight problems or weight problems we've learned to control have some degree of the "addictive" gene and food manufacturers exploit that to the nth degree.

as far as food addiction vs drunks go, drunk driving gets much more press than the 'twinkie defense' does...y'all recall harvey milk being killed by Dan white who was all hepped up on junk food. Driving while intoxicated on fake food should get more press. as should P& B in our milk.