Hi Bluebox,
That was a very honest and humble post you wrote. Courageous of you and hopefully will help some others here too.
I am not a Dr. Phil fan but one thing he said years ago has stuck with me which is that if we want to succeed we need to set ourselves up for success. We need a plan. I used to be a junk food addict also. Now I eat super healthy because I have to in order to control pain and fatigue symptoms I suffer from. Anyway, the way I set myself up for success is to simply not buy any junk food. If it's not in the house I can't reach for it when I'm weak. Of course it is harder when we have husbands who like junk food. Usually when I eat something I shouldn't it's something I bought for him that I then help myself too. But I do try to keep whatever sweets etc. to a minimum and to read the ingredients to buy healthier versions of things.
I would say it might not be a sugar addiction so much as a comfort addiction. When I was a kid I had very little emotional empathy and support in my family. When I cried, if I wasn't being yelled at or ignored I was given junk food to 'make me feel better.' So not hard to see where the compulsion began in my life. I overate all through my childhood and early adult years. It was my friend.
What I have done on a practical level is to replace junk food with healthy treats. If you go to a health store you can buy stevia to use in place of sugar. It is an herb and you only need about
1/2 tsp. to sweeten a whole recipe, or a tiny little pinch in coffee etc. I also searched online and found a bunch of healthy recipes. So I dont' feel deprived even though I only eat junk food a few times a month now because I still have my treats - my versions. Karen (moderator) can tell you how I enjoy my 'bean flour brownies.' Yep! They are made with bean flour, low fat cocoa and sweetened with stevia and I love em!
Also, I do tend to be a very disciplined person, so if I see I am slipping I just tell myself "Okay, time to eat good for 3 days until all that sugar/junk is out of yoru system." At the end of three days having detoxed from the junk food, I no longer crave it. It's when it is constantly in the system that the body becomes addicted to it.
I never used to eat veggies or healthy food but as I began to add raw and steamed veggies to my diet I actually found my body began to crave these things!! THe body can be retrained to want foods that are good for it. So physiologically that is something to think about
.
As far as emotions go, I havn't found a whole lot of healing for why I eat, but just ways to manage it. Like keeping busy, or breaking the physiological cravings via the above, staying clear of junk food etc. Planning menus help too. So all these things help us manage the cravings etc. But true healing is also possible I believe, and that will come from understanding the root of the emotional pain and why we eat and addressing those issues - whether it be through therapy, prayer etc. For both of us, it sounds like there is a childlike part of ourself that didn't get the comfort we needed at important times in our early years. Maybe instead of eating when you feel bad, try thinking of things that would have comforted you when you were four and do those. Like drawing, or getting a nice soft blanket and reading a nice book. Self nurturing things, but also things that will comfort the child within as they say. That can be really helpful. Along the same lines I really liked what you wrote about
showing yourself compassion and knowing that in a day or two you will find your way out of the cycle. That is a very grounded and healthy attitude and in itself speaks of progress you've made.
Hope you have a nice day and that life will bring you lots of comfort now and always,
embers
Post Edited (manyembers) : 11/22/2009 1:33:20 PM (GMT-7)