FOOD ADDICT

After a long talk a few weeks ago with my nieces husband, I really have come to the conclusion that I am addicted to food.  Hello, my name is Janel and I am an addict.  And I am not meaning that in a funny way, I seriously am.  Below are a few things I have found that explain food addiction a little better.

Food Addiction Defined
Food addiction is a chronic, out-of-control or compulsive overconsumption of certain types of pleasure-giving foods despite potentially negative social and health consequences.
“Food addiction involves the compulsive pursuit of a mood change [through binge eating]," says Kay Sheppard, M.A., a mental health counselor and certified eating disorder professional who has authored three books on food addiction. “This is a disease that is primary, chronic, progressive and potentially fatal.”

Are all food addicts obese?
Size and addiction do not necessarily correlate, says Avena, an assistant research professor at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla. “It is likely that a subset of obese people have food addiction, but not all,” she explains. “Also, there is likely a subset of people who are not obese, but who may also meet the criteria for food addiction.”

“Food addiction manifests itself in the uncontrollable craving for excess food that follows the ingestion of refined carbohydrates, primarily sugar and flour substances that are quickly metabolized and turned into sugar in the bloodstream.  Due to those uncontrollable cravings, a food addict's quality of life deteriorates when he or she eats sugar, flour or wheat. It can deteriorate physically, emotionally, socially and/or spiritually. “

I don’t necessarily binge eat, but during the day I consume way more calories than I should and I am constantly thinking about food.  I really am not trying to make light of addiction or anything, but I truly believe that I do have a problem and isn’t that the first step?  Admitting you have a problem.  I might not look obese to those around me, however by definition, I am technically obese.  I told my nieces husband, that I thought since food isn’t illegal or against the rules of our church (like alcohol and smoking) that I wasn’t doing anything harmful.  But as I have thought about it more, I realize that it might just be killing me slowly. 

During the summer I exercised a lot because I was in a weight loss competition and I wanted to win.  So, that makes me think that the only more important thing to me than food is money.  I did win and I lost almost 24 pounds total last year.  Sadly, I have put some of that back on.  I felt good when I exercised and I know it was good for me, but I haven’t done much since winter started.  But, I have eaten a lot.  I love eating out which is another reason for my admission, I am working on my taxes and did my year-end report and a lot of money was spent eating out.  I am so tired when I get home from work most nights, since the change in my job, that I really don’t want to cook and it seems like the same is true on the weekends.  However, that is not the only problem, I LOVE sugar and chocolate and like said before I  eat way more than I should in a day and starting today I am going to do something about it.