Spellbound

 It’s on your mind all day. You go about your daily business as if nothing is bothering you but it’s always there, taunting, tempting. No matter how determined you are to do better, sooner or later you know you will give in. You have to have it, can’t live without it. It consumes you. You manage to get through your usual evening routine and escape safely to the shelter of your bed but it calls your name. It’s just a moment away. You can’t sleep. In desperation you rise from the soft covers and hurry down the hall. The house is dark but you know where to find it. You’ve been there before. There, just a step away! You rip open the door and behold the pizza and brownies left over from NeNe’s birthday party, and rush in! For just a moment, it was worth it… Sound familiar? This is food addiction.

I Just Like to Eat

Well of course you do! If you don’t then there’s something seriously wrong with you. Somehow, the media has made people believe that eating is a bad thing that only bad people could possibly enjoy. Although we are flooded with food commercials that tempt us to the point of tears, the media also floods us with false images of male and female bodies that are frequently altered in so many ways so that we have no idea of what the original body looked like. This has been going on for much longer than most of us realize. I once read that in 1988, the star of “Earth Girls Are Easy”, Geena Davis, made a reference to the number of inches “they” removed from her thighs in the film. Men are constantly bombarded with those gargoyle-looking, freaky guys who use everything from steroids to Synthol, an oil that is injected directly into the muscle to blow it up, to attain that weird action figure appearance. As a result of all this false programming about what a human body should look like, we have become ashamed to admit that we like to eat. That’s just ridiculous. David and I both eat a specific number of calories every day and we eat more often than anyone that we know. Merely enjoying food is not food addiction. If you don’t enjoy food, you will die. Sooner or later, you will become malnourished and rob your body of essential nutrients. There are distinct differences in the normal enjoyment of food and food addiction.

So, What Is the Difference?

If the introductory paragraph strikes a chord with you, you know the difference. Food addiction is using food to meet needs that are not nutritional, like a drug addiction. Although cocaine has medical applications, the addict is not using it medicinally. It’s an addiction. If you:

1-Get cravings despite feeling full-While cravings alone are not an indication, if the cravings happen often and either satisfying them or ignoring them becomes hard, they may be an indicator of a problem. In that case, your brain may be calling for that dopamine rush that addiction triggers in the pleasure center of the brain.

2-Eat much more than intended-If you intend to take one bite of chocolate cake but you don’t stop until the cake is gone then that can be a symptom of food addiction. It’s like telling an alcoholic to drink in moderation. It can’t be done.

3-Eating until you are stuffed-Binge eating is common in food addiction.

4-Feeling guilty soon afterward but doing it again soon-All of us who have battled this disorder know this feeling.

5-Making excuses-You know, the “I’m buying this for the kids.” malarkey, or “I don’t want to waste food so I’ll eat that.” Seriously?

6-Repeated failures at setting rules-Deciding that you will exert a measure of control over your eating in a given situation and repeatedly failing to do that. An example might be deciding that you will not eat sugar, but continuing to do so.

7-Hiding eating from others-This is a big red flag! This is classic behavior of an addict.

8-Unable to quit despite physical problems-Has your doctor told you to lose weight or change the way that you’re eating but you continue in your self-destructive ways? We all know the diabetics who thrive on candy and soda but there are many other people with many other health conditions that are dying quicker because of what they eat. This is the ultimate insult to the human body. You are already sick and you are making yourself sicker. You have a serious problem. Poor food choices have been linked to almost every disease and malady that can affect mankind. Wise up. Seek help today. A lifetime of junk food consumption can lead to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, dementia and even some types of cancer. (1)

I struggled with this disorder my entire life until I began eating David’s Way and stopped eating sugar. Sugar was the most addictive thing that I ever ingested and it is socially accepted. It creates terrible cravings of all kinds and causes inflammation in the body that sets the stage for almost every disease known to man. This disorder is life-threatening, and if you recognize yourself in this information seek professional help. Talk to your medical doctor today. Our articles are not intended to diagnose or treat any condition. We exist only to help educate the public to the inherent dangers of poor nutrition and overall negligence of one’s health. The average American eats 63 dozen doughnuts a year. (2) People, we have a problem.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/8-symptoms-of-food-addiction(1)

(2) https://www.baltimoresun.com/bs-mtblog-2009-03-the_average_american_eats_63_d-story.html