Trading in one addiction for another?

[TrishS 3]

Im not afraid of not eating, Im not afraid of PBing, Im not afraid of pain, Im not afraid of gas..... I AM, afraid, of trading one addiction for another!!! Now my addiction is FOOD. And when I can't have that food I don't want to replace it. I never knew how much food REALLY affected until now. I knotice things more now then I did before I decided I was going to be banded. For example: Yesturday I had Ramon Noddles for lunch I was good not hungry but an hour later out of the blue i warmed up leftovers and ate that. WHAT! I wasnt even hungry! Anyway the addiction im scared of is Alcohol, it runs in my family... on both sides My mom and My dad. I wont list everyone in my family thats an alcoholic the list is to long. Has anyone replaced Thier Food addiction with something else? How did you deal with it?

Thanks

[donali 57]

Trish -

This is a very real and valid concern.

When I went into counseling that was a point that was discussed - whenever you give up one habit/addiction, it is always replaced by something else. We have to consciously choose what that is going to be, and not let it happen by default.

An excercise I found valuable was this:

http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=434

It helps us identify and clarify what exactly is going on when we eat without physical hunger, and allows us to comtemplate constructive alternatives to that behaviour that will result in the same kind of soothing we would have received from food.

Good luck, and congrats for being aware of this danger - you are more likely to be able to avoid falling into the trap if you're aware it exists.

[TrishS 3]

Thanks Donali for your reply... I will read the thread/link you sent me.. I never thought of this as a "Danger" but really it is.. We all have a pattern in life.. and on April 28th I will be changing my pattern... and replacing something with something seems right... but over all its very very bad.. I dont have the discipline I need to just say no to anything that will replace my food. Does this make me not ready to be banded.... I dont think so... I want this so bad.. nothing can change my mind... but then again I say that now... I cant take up smoking.. I already do that LOL... I dont know I just got to see what happens Thanks again

[donali 57]

Trish -

I hazard to guess that you DO, in fact, have A LOT of discipline. Start now choosing the habits you'll use to replace your food habit, and you're less likely to end up with a habit just as bad (or worse) than the one you were changing.

You CAN do this!! :banana

[TrishS 3]

I WANT the discipline.,. I really DONT think I have it... ((I met an old friend i havent seen in years.. Said to me " oh i heard your husband spoils you... you always have been spoiled....")) Makes me think Yeah I have been spoiled all my life... I have been lazy and who knows what else... so discipline NO i dont have it.. will affect my band? Myabe... I try to be strong.. I want to be thin, healthy, pretty... once again... what else can get in the way of that... just another addiction to stall my progress.. SNACKING could even be one of them... who knows... I just want to see WHO else has gone to somthing else since they cant have food anymore.. or as much food anymore...

[DeLarla 22]

Yep, yep, and yep. Hubby says I've had more booze since banding than since we moved to Vegas 10 yrs ago. And I can't stop spending the money we don't have, and I can't stop eating candy, and I can't stop gambling, and I can't stop....

[DeLarla 22]

OH, and lip gloss... how much lip gloss does a girl need? A tube used to last me a year, now they're everywhere. I just got to have them! There are 3 on my desk, 2 in my purse. Nine on my bathroom sink, one stuck like glue to my truck's console, one rolling around the back seat. They are in the washer, the dryer, and my dogs chew on them. What's with the lip gloss?

[TrishS 3]

Oh I am already in love with Chap Skick.... LOL i have about 100 somwhere LOL... Ohhhh im so gald i dont live in Vegas then I would have to worry about gambling NOT drink LOL we have lots of casinos here but nothing like Vegas.... Sep. Vegas here we (the Staples) come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Delara, I know you have a hard trouble at night... is it replaced from being banded.. or just something you would do either way???

[Marimaru 7]

I've thought a bit about this myself. I also have alcoholism in my family. More that alcoholism, I think it's just that "addict" gene, an whatever someone gets into becomes their addiction. Up until not too long ago I never even admitted to myself (or anyone else) that I was fat, let alone that I might be addicted to eating. I was always careful to watch my drinking patterns, because I knew alcoholism was in my family but it hadn't occured to me that I'd already found a dangerous addiction. There was a period I went though not too long ago where I was drinking quite a bit. I caught myself and didn't have anything for 2 weeks. That's what I do when I worry about it. Then I had some over the weekend and none this week during the weeknights. Beyond the empty calories I don't need, I just really don't want to go to that place. I don't even like being drunk, I just like the taste of what I drink (which means it's really the same as the first problem, just in liquid form).

I've always liked drawing, but hadn't been for a while and recently picked up again. There's also the online chatboards, and I'm slowly trying to teach myself to read Japanese, among other 'non-consumption' things to do. Fortunately I don't smoke, nor do I have the desire to, because EVERYONE in my family does but me, including my 2 younger sisters who both started when they were under age.

:ramble ramble ramble:

I guess my point is that I DO allow for substitution, but I'm being very careful about what I'm substituting. I tried to get into crochet and knitting, but I wasn't very good at it, but it's something you might try if you are interested. Hit up a craft store and see if anything grabs your attention.

[daisydoodle 0]

I've never had much sympathy for drug addicts. I always thought that it was a choice they made. Ignorant me. Since I don't have the food to depend on, I found myself really enjoying the numb feeling that my liquid lortab gave me after surgery. I really wasn't in any pain after the first couple of days, I just loved the feeling the drug gave me. I was sooooo sad (actually depressed) when I sucked down that final drop. I remember thinking, "how can I get some more of this stuff?" And then it hit me, BAM! I was using this pain rx for the temporary relief that food gave me in the past.

Still don't know why I want to feel numb sometimes. (I would categorize myself as a pretty happy person). At least now I recognize that I do it. Anyway, I've got a whole new respect for people with any kind of addiction.

Anybody want to mail me their leftover RX? (Don't worry....I'm only KIDDING!!!! That would be SUPER illegal.)

[TrishS 3]

Oh wow your so right Jack, but it all seems so far for me to do any of those things... Yard work.. My Back hurts, excersie: i cant right now.. my ankles hurt way to much. walking: cant walk more then a block if that... the pain its unbareable, home repairs: I live in a APT. i dont deal with that... Volunteer work: I do that I bake Cookies.. hahaha..

Im NOT making excuses.. belive me... but other then what I already do.. food is there what will be there after i cant have it... the drink.. maybe drugs... I dont know.. im asking you all... I know what i CAN do.. and alot of it i CANT do not that i DONT want to I REALLY REALLY CANT really... lol try being 5'1 and 330lbs Im breaking I have SMALL bones and im breaking.... gardening,house repairs, excersie, walking, Ohhhhh how I would love to do all those things and belive I will TRY but thats not my question... Im talking about Eating.. Food... what will I do without that... you know what i mean???

[Emmy27 1]

There is a difference between an addiction and a habit. An addiction is mind/body dependency and a habit is purely a mind issue. They have one big thing in common - they both SUCK!

The heating up of the left overs was, i think, a habit. I found myself having a snack the other night and almost half way into it I realized what I was doing and had to consciously think about HOW I got the snack together in the first place - it was like I was on autopilot.

Now, when I eat I have to stop and concentrate... seriously, I stare into no where land and have to think hard "okay, is this full?" "Is my stomach filled?" "Is that real hunger or do I just want to eat more?". It takes me a while to eat JUST because I have to concentrate so darn hard on reading my body signals.

The addiction part comes in where I can't stop thinking about my next "fix"... when will I eat, what will I eat, should I eat it with this.... I was at a weight loss support group through Curves the other day (not surgery focused) and a few women and I were walking out together. One woman stoped and asked "am I the only one thinking about what they are going to go have for lunch?" All of us were....

I'd like to say excercise will replace my eating... it won't - it's not feasable. But when I want to eat I make a concious decision not to (most of the time) and just get into something different than what I was doing when the thought occured to me (if I am at the computer I get up to do laundry, etc.)

HTH

[jqpublic 1]

Hello everyone. Anything can be addiction if you use it in excess, food had ahold on me I, ate my self from 180 to 310 was depressed for a while.Doctor told me to lose weight or else!!!! so I did 276 today.walking every day eating right chosing new life style not to be fat! I'ts a mind game some time's you can do it!

You can beat it! good luck God bless!

[DeLarla 22]

I'm completely at the mercy of food. I wake up with it on my mind, I fight it every second of the night, it never leaves my mind. I have both the addiction and the habit. They go hand in hand. I turned to food at a very early age to replace love. No parents, no siblings bonds, no nurturing - so it was just me and food. Over the years it became habit, but all bad habits turn to addiction. Smoking is a bad habit, but try to quit and the physical sensation is too strong. Bad habits turn into addictions, and trying to break the addictive cycle without professional help will surely drive me mad one day.

So much depends on our genes, also. I have an alcoholic father and a schizophrenic mother, so I'm zapped with compulsion and obssesion. It's really hard to admit on paper, but I'm like Daisy with the pain meds. When I'm lucky enough to get a bottle, I take them till their gone, pain or no pain, which keeps me from eating. Numbness. It's the only safe place I've ever known.

Trish, my night eating was my big problem before getting Banded. I discussed it with my doctor, and he said the Band would help. It does help for the most part, but I don't have much of a fill, and I don't have a port so I can't get filled. So I'm flying solo while fighting the demons.

It's extra extra hard for me cuz hubby is already alseep on Friday night, and it's not even 7pm. I already took the dogs to the park & did my weights, and now I have several hours before bedtime to be alone. Sucks. Sucks in a big bad way. And I've picked up some hobbies, but they can only occupy so much time. There come too many moments where I just plain have nothing to do. Ergo, LBT.

[kimalicious 5]

I noticed that after I was banded I drink less. I would rather use the calories for some good food then to waste it on a beer or mixed drink. I have been the designated driver quite often lately for that very reason. I do still have cheat days and drink at my favorite bar or party, but under normal circumstances you just have to think of how many calories that drink is and what you could have had instead to eat. I am still obsessed with food so I guess that covers up any other obsession I will ever have. Food will always be more important to me than anything else, that is why I will never be an alcoholic or druggy. Those things get in the way of my food consumption. Ok, so maybe this post took a bad turn but I was just trying to be honest with myself. The idea of the post should have been to save your calories for your healthy food and not the alcohol so just try to keep that in mind.

Ugh, Kim