Eating Disorders – Is Food Addiction Real?
Is Being Obese Our Fault?
Do eating disorders count food addiction among them?
Recently I heard about a Doctor who excoriated his patient of 10 years for putting on weight.
All the weight that had been lost and then some, an additional ten pounds.
So when the patient returned to go on a new program, the Doctor was less than warm. True, we can say that the Doctor was being brutally honest and direct, but is it true what he said?
He said that if his patient wanted, if they had discipline, then they would never put on weight again.
He said that obese people have no self control, they have no boundaries, they just do not know when to stop. I was frankly incensed when I heard the comments of the Doctor. I was correct in assuming that this medical professional did not grow up in this country, the land of make believe food.
I think it is clear to people who do suffer with compulsive over eating, binge eating disorders, inability to control the volume of food that they are running after, they know how they feel when they need that fix. I call it a fix because any one who is hooked on cookies or cake can relate. Recently I referenced an article that spoke about Oreos being as addictive as Cocaine! Is that not enough evidence that processed foods can be addictive?
This is my main point, if you are suffering from food addiction. If you are alot heavier than you believed you would ever be. If you had lost weight and now regained it all back. Please stop blaming yourself. In this instance, frankly I do not care what your Doctor has said. If he did not grow up on twizzlers, snickers, pretzels, chips, cookies, chicken pot pie, pizza and every other make believe food in America, he will just never understand. His body never became addicted, accustomed to the taste, sensation, feeling and probably cellular effects of processed sugar and fat.
Stop blaming yourself and start helping yourself, one meal at a time.
Stop eating the processed food and start eating real food.
Stop sitting and start walking.
That is what you have to do. It does not matter whether food addiction is listed in the DSM IV or not. It does not matter whether your Doctor is scolding you. Accept where you are right now and I guarantee you that if you start eating real food today, in six months, you will be a changed person. You will feel the affects even after 5 days, but you have to start somewhere, so start now. Getting depressed over what the Doctor or friends have said will not help.
You have to take action. Every day that you eat real foods, you are going to be changing, for the better.
Walk thirty minutes. Do some strength movements when you are able to. Eat fruits, vegetables, beans, protein sources as natural as possible, as many plant based foods as possible. Your body will return back to what it should be.
It is not your fault, the processed food companies, whether they were intentional or not I do not know, but I do know that those make believe foods are addictive. Sure, I would love to have some Oreos right now, but I am going to go for grapefruit and papaya instead.
And I can only make that choice easily because I am not in the throes of the eating disorder, mainly because I have not had sugar laden foods for the last 9 days.
Let me know if any of this resonates with you and good luck on your journey, I know you can do it!
Rich is a Certified Personal Trainer-AAPT, an 