We’ve all heard it said in many different ways. “Once I get started on dinner rolls, I can’t stop.” There’s not enough pasta in the world for me.” “Two cookies, are you kidding?” Let’s face it, some foods are addicting. And I don’t mean that in the laughable sense. Such as when we chuckle after eating our 3rd slice of cake, and explain “Well, I’m just addicted to chocolate cake.” I mean it in a very real and alive way. We are all addicted to many of the foods we eat. And it’s debilitating.

Now why do I say that food addiction is debilitating?

Now in our society, it is very true that thin is in and fat is out. However you may also be a person who is a size 14, and wants to be a size 8. And you may know that size 8 is a good, healthy place for you to be. However, you may not be able to get there because you can’t, or won’t, stop eating the cookies, spaghetti, and home-baked bread. And for you, not being a size 8 is a problem. If this is you, then you are probably fighting food cravings.

Many people with food addiction experience self-esteem problems. They think they are weak and have no will-power. They go on crash diets. They white knuckle it and become irritable and grouchy with their loved ones. Many will give up after a while, and begin to eat even more than they ever did. Most will then gain more than they ever did. Quite often these same people will become convinced that they are less capable than other people, and this greatly affects their sense of self.

All of this is what I would call a low-level food addiction, or the onset of more serious problems. Later down the line the cycles often get worse and worse. Your relatively harmless binging may turn life-threatening and bulimic. If not, your binges may become so extreme as to cause obesity. This in turn has you lethargic all day long, as well as lackluster and prone to sleeping. Your disposition is grouchy because your blood sugar is constantly shooting up and shooting down. And after a while your metabolism is destroyed, along with your self-esteem, and no diets will work any more.

If you’re lucky, at this point you will just continue your cycle of irritability, obesity, and carbohydrate abuse until your body depletes its insulin supply. At this point you will become diabetic and sentence yourself to a shortened life-span, and an old age of pain and misery. If you’re not so lucky, you will convince yourself that it is better ‘not to eat at all’ than to fight the cravings, or to be fat. You will then become anorexic. If this is the case, judging by statistics, you probably won’t make it.

And this is the direction in which we are headed, even as we joke about being addicted to chocolates.

I want you to know that it is possible to stop fighting food cravings. There are various programs of help for food addicts. The one I have attended is called Overeaters Anonymous. If your addiction is very extreme, you may want to attend a program called Food Addicts Anonymous. You will also need a food plan that does not include the foods that you are addicted to. And there are many other tools I can tell you about in later articles. But for now, suffice it to say, there are sources of help. And you can find them. You just need to you look.

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