3 Steps to Control Food Addiction
Being addicted does not necessarily mean you have to be hooked on weed, drugs, or even cocaine. When people hear “Addiction,” they first think “drugs, smoking, porn.” Addiction basically means — “too much.” Too much eating, too much TV, too much drinking, and, you know, too much porn.
Do you know that you can be addicted to food? Although addictions are generally harmful, food addiction can make you broke. A school of thought thinks that you cannot get addicted to food. Why do they think so? Apparently, some people believe that food doesn’t have addictive substances.
Hold on a second. Have you tasted my mama’s chicken? Nah, I do think some food can have addictive substances. I could be addicted to my mama’s chicken but seeing as I’m African, she (my mama) cannot and will not fry chicken every time for my addictive ass. I digressed, my bad.
People assume that being addicted to food has to do more with how an individual acts when food is around. Some say that food addiction results from what a person thinks about food. I have never met someone that ever thought bad about food before. I sure do hope you haven’t too.
WE EAT AND CONSUME OUR EMOTIONS
I want to say that I don’t know how or why this even became a thing. Food has suddenly become a means by which we humans now put up with emotional stress, distress, any stress for that matter. When we repeat this act of turning to food each time we are stressed in any way (which is most of the time to some people), addiction is born.
Each time we turn to food to deal with natural feelings like stress, love, anxiety, and grief, our body, becomes reshaped to need food. Put it this way; food now serves as a relief. In the movies, when people are so addicted, the only way to calm them is to give them the drugs — that is what our body turns to.
Usually, people think of pleasure as foods with high sugar or fat components. Who to blame? This can be traced back to a young and innocent age when our loving parents gave us candy and sugar as a “reward” for good acts. Studies have proven that the brain tends to release dopamine (the feel-good hormone) when we eat the food we so crave and want badly.
Anytime you ask yourself why you are this big, could it be because you go into the kitchen every night when HUMANS are supposed to be SLEEPING to EAT? Stop finishing the damn food.
Dopamine — Dopamine can also be called the feel-good hormone. You know that nice immediate feeling when you are a bit itchy, and then you watch a bit of porn. That release, that flow, uhh, you feel good at the moment (don’t forget to wash your hands, though).
What about that drink you crave so much, and once you have it, boy, do you feel good and great. The dopamine causes that effect, that release, that feel-good vibe. The dopamine releases that feeling anything you engage in, something that gives you pleasure.
SLIPPING INTO FOOD ADDICTION
You don’t just wake up one morning and decide you don’t want to eat anymore simply because you feel addicted. You can decide you don’t want to smoke anymore, watch porn anymore, drink any more alcoholic or sugary beverages. Most times, you often slip into food addiction without realizing it.
Before you slip into food addiction, there are some signs that show themselves. While some of these signs might seem normal, too much of it gradually becomes a red flag hence, an addiction. Below are some of the signs:
- Sneaking to eat food at night in secret when you are supposed to be SLEEPING.
- Thinking about food every time (buddy, there are better things to think about)
- Using food to reward yourself
- Using food to relieve stress, anxiety, love, heartbreak…
- Feeling hungry even after a nice meal
- Shifting between weight
HOW TO OVERCOME YOUR FOOD ADDICTION
Recovering from any addiction is a journey, a long journey at that. The same can be said for food addiction. Taking back charge from food or any vices sometimes needs multiple hands to make a total bounce back. In other words, you may need a team to do a complete comeback from addiction.
Indeed, there are lots of steps one can take to recover from addiction, or in this case, food addiction. Here are some steps;
1. Build a healthy food relationship
No, I do not mean you should date the food, but you can tell your girl that she is a full meal though, flirt 001. A food addict cannot simply stop eating as it is with other addictions like smoking, porn, and drinking. You cannot stop eating food because, well, you’ll die in some days. Hence, you need to build a healthy relationship with your food.
Building a good relationship with food means you have to start taking good nutrition for your physical and mental well-being. Building a healthy food relationship is not something you can do by snapping your fingers. You will need to work on it, preferably with someone.
You can start by not sneaking into the kitchen to eat good food and breathe all the good air. Stop sneaking around; it’s not cool nor healthy. Also, cut down big time on the junky, greasy, fried foods because those are, in most cases, your pleasure food.
2. Have a balanced meal plan
The best way, in my opinion, to get back on track is to create a perfectly balanced and healthy meal plan. This is a huge step in helping the addict not feel a need for emotional or physiological eating.
A balanced meal plan helps the addict set the proper boundaries with his food. You get to eat healthily and keep to a regular eating style.
3. Look for professional advice.
You cannot kill the addiction overnight. Why is that? Because it took a long process and time to build addiction. In the same manner, expect it to be a long process and take some time to drop. You will scale the addiction faster with the assistance of a licensed therapist.
These professionals are taught to help you make a comeback from your addiction. It starts from the head; you have to believe that you can drop the habit because, in all honesty, you really can drop it.
Conclusion
Nobody willingly jumped into addiction. Addiction always starts small and takes time, but then it grows, and when it does, you become an addict. Being a food addict can be expensive, given that you always eat food everywhere and nowhere.
You can seek professional help to assist you in curbing your food addiction. Also, stop sneaking into the fridge to eat. I hope to see you free from the shackles of your addiction in whatever form it may come.
