I wonder if all of us fat people have thought “I wish I had diabetes” etc in order to stop themselves from indulging in sugary goodnesses! I remember thinking that myself when I was only like thirteen… Even then I could recognize my addiction but could not control it.

Ummmm so is that picture on the main page of you?

Please continue to post… It gives me something to read as I am too lazy to walk to the bookstore. :D

Anyway, I will have to check out that book.

I have found I cannot totally give up any food or food category, and I can lose weight this way. There’s a wonderful little restaurant in Milltown Indiana, Blue River Cafe, and the chef makes homemade desserts like a perfect chocolate ganache. I eat there at least once a year, and look forward to eating every bite of the dessert.

Sometimes I think skills to lose weight are like a character from a book, Turnaround Norman. He had the ability to turn once around in a circle – over a 24 hour period moving at a consistent rate of motion. Sounds so easy, turning in a circle. Sounds so easy, eating right for my body.

PQ – Girl Scout cookies only come out once a year, that’s why they’re special. They’re like Cadbury Eggs or Peeps or movies from the Walt Disney vault. The limited availability makes them more attractive.

I know I think of food as comfort and something that will numb out feelings just like an alcoholic might sit with a drink or a drug addict might snort something.

To me, I always have to be hyper aware as I am about to eat something when I am not hungry, “Why do I want this? What feelings am I trying to push down?”

Oy! And those people that just push food around there plate like it’s no big? Hate ‘em!

AG

http://www.100daysinbed.blogspot.com

I don’t know if it’s an addiction, but I do think some of us are simply predisposed to think and react this way to food!

Pay the publicist this week.

I label myself a food addict because the label helps me. I wouldn’t whore myself for sugar, I don’t eat myself into a coma, I don’t lie about food or hoard it or hide it, nor do I engage in any other “classic” addictive behaviors.

But certain “trigger foods” (sugar, bread and pasta) tend to make me eat a little too much. I am never truly “out of control,” but when I eat trigger foods, I eat more than I need to.

So, I label myself a “food addict” because it gives me freedom. I just say, “I can’t handle those trigger foods.” I avoid them, and I don’t have to struggle with them. At least for today.

The struggle you describe (“Is it time for dessert? Can we have dessert now?” “I need to go back to the table and get another/different dessert until I’ve sampled them all”) is EXACTLY the kind of behavior that those foods trigger in me.

But the label “food addict” isn’t a useful one for you because you’re willing to deal with the struggle. It’s mentally (and physically) challenging for you to eat those foods occasionally and still maintain your healthy weight, but the challenge is worth it for you.

For me, the pleasure of those foods just isn’t worth the wrestle.

PQ – Thanks, victoria! That was a really insightful comment. It’s interesting to think about how language shapes the way we think. I’ve heard that in Japan the word for “different” is also the word for “wrong.” How’s that for a mind trip?

So to contribute to the topic at hand, I totally feel ya about the compulsion. Tracking my food intake at sparkpeople is the only thing that keeps me from going off the map somedays. Having to own up to everything I put in my mouth and seeing hard and fast numbers makes those french fry cravings go away real quick…so now I really have to plan what I eat. Since that mentally clicked, I now almost want to get the eating part over with so I can concentrate on something else for the rest of the time. I just don’t do well with ye olde buffet table or the grazing all day. I end up eating WAY more than if I just grab a plate, eat it, and then ignore the rest of the night.

So, in summary, yes, I think those of us with weight problems (or past weight problems) have to view food differently. Maybe it’s just in the short term until it really and truly becomes a way of life to eat the way we do now. None of my friends have the compulsion to plan what they eat so thoroughly as I do. None of my friends exercise for an hour a day (I call it my “hobby” and they think I’m strange). Oddly enough, two of my closest friends have lost a good amount of weight (one by just giving up beer for liquor, and being around us a lot means more healthy food and less fast food – and yes, he’s a guy), one just seems to forget to eat a lot (and eats really slowly when she does) and walk her dogs a couple times a day. I wish I could be like that, but I can’t, and it’s my cross to bear. I’d rather track my food and weigh daily for the rest of my life than be fat again so it’s all about priorities.

Heh, I’m rambling. Great blog and keep it up!