Food Addiction?

[SpaceyCasey 97]

Ok so how do you know if your addicted to food or if your just an over eater? I'm still pre op and I really don't know if I'm addicted to food or not. I'm some ways I think I am because food kinda controls my life but then I've done the HCG diet for five month and was very successful if you don't know about that diet its a very strict 500 calorie diet. Then of coarse gained it all back. So what I'm asking is how do you know if you have a food addiction?

[ocean_ophelia 31]

I think many (if not most) people who are obese are food addicts. That's what overeating is. It means you can't control what you eat and you eat even when full and even though you understand logically that it's not good for you. It means food controls you in some way; it means you think of food as your friend. I doubt anyone can get to be 100 pounds overweight without a food addiction. I fully acknowledge that some people have slower metabolisms and medical conditions that make it harder for them to lose weight, but the bottom line is that everyone loses with the sleeve just by restricting, which goes to reason they were overeating before.

This is just my opinion, of course, but I think someone without an addiction to food on some level could lose the weight and not gain it back.

[MoonSiren 48]

I was on the HCG diet for a month as well and lost 30 lbs, only to gain it all back. It was a diet for me so I thought of it as a temporary change when I should have adopted a lifestyle change. Diets don't work at all for people in the long term, only lifestyle changes. I think you stuck to the diet because you thought of it as a diet, only a temporary change. When you stopped dieting, you may have over ate once again. I personally think over eating is the same as addiction since you can't stop yourself!

I used to eat until I felt full because I loved the feeling so much. It made me feel safe and secure to have a warm tummy filled with food. Getting this surgery forced me to change how I ate and not go back to my old ways.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

In my opinion if anyone is eating food for any reason other than simple survival or more than they need, then they are addicted to food. I mean to the point that they are obese, not everyday individuals who will eat with others even when they aren't hungry but wouldn't at other times.

Not sure if I'm making any sense, but I think most will agree.

I was and still am a food addict. I will always be a food addict. Realizing I had a problem was my very first step to overcoming this problem. I was able to lose weight but never could keep it off. I used food to cope to all my internal problems and I always kept going back for it. Thus gaining 180 Lbs!! Oh yeah, I was a big girl.

Now I have built in Portion Control. I won't be foolish enough to think it's over, because I will always have this with me. I will always have the ability to gain my weight back if I'm not careful.

[thebionicbroad 127]

Studies have shown that certain foods "light up" the pleasure centers of the brain, just like cocaine. Those certain foods are common "trigger" foods. I didn't get 80 pounds overweight by eating green veg and cottage cheese. Hello! My name is Pat, and I'm a foodaholic. Thank God for the sleeve!

[SpaceyCasey 97]

I agree with all that. My sugery is jan 30 and I want to work on some of my food issues before so that my brain is not in shock along with my body. I know it's going to be hard I'm just glad I'm getting help before it gets to out of control.

[SpaceyCasey 97]

I need to try and find my trigger food so I know to stay away from those foods. Thanks everybody for your input