Being a food addict is a tricky thing as you have to eat to live. I have gone to OA at times but I don;t know that it was helpful to me. Anybody have as useful tips in terms of beating a food addiction? I could use some tips. It would help. Some of us that are food addicts wear it on our sleeves.
I would say to try something like suckling on candy or chewing gum, have you tried that? A lot of people over eat when they are bored so it might just be a matter of picking a hobby that will keep you occupied.
Try to eat those healthy foods that could easily fill you up. It is usually mind over matter since those who are food addicts feel full already but still eating. Try to condition your mind to know what is just enough and be busy on doing some other things to avoid thinking much of eating.
Try to overlook the urge to eat by occupying your time with meaningful activities. Find something that you love to do and always do it. The more occupied you are, the less time you will spend eating; you will just forget to! I love to write so I write more than I normally do because I do not want to just sit around thinking of or waiting for food.
I agree with what you said - I think a distraction from food when you know you're just eating for no reason is important. I often do things like paint my nails when I'm in that mood of mindlessly eating - I find that it's a good distraction and then the fact that my nail paint needs to dry keeps me from diving into a bag of chips or things like that. After a while I find my cravings pass.
Eating is already part of our daily activities in life and we will not live if we will not eat. But we should be doing this thing in moderation and in the right quality and quantity only. Sometimes the urge to eat always is just in our state of mind even if we are already full and not hungry. You can beat food addiction by following a schedule for the regular time for eating so that your stomach will be use to it.
I would say to find something you like to do and focus on that whenever the need to eat hit you. If you must eat then try to make healthy choice. Don't keep a lot of junk food on hand. Don't buy in bulk if you tend to overdo it. Get out and go for a hike or walk. Do anything that distracts you from overindulging. You can even come here and talk to us!
Before I eat, I drink water first. If I am feeling hungry, I drink water too first. Sometimes, the feeling of hunger is just thirst. And when you drink water, the feeling of hunger will be gone. Of course there are times that you really do feel hungry. Why not choose health snacks? Like fruits or nuts, if you are really hungry. It is not good to starve yourself. Just eat healthy and regularly to maintain your health.
The best thing that I could think of is a philosophy. Eat to live, don't live to eat. Everyone needs food to stay alive, so food should be looked at that way. As long as you get all of your nutrition in every meal your eating right. Any thing in excess should be limited. I hope this helps.
I remember when I was real young and would have to be told to control my eating habits and was used to eating more than I needed, and can lead to being an addict real easy if you are not careful of the amount you take in your body. I think eating at the right times can be more satisfying, as eating when you are not hungry will be hard to for the stomach to digest and also the food will feel like a burden and not nice. I think eat when you need to eat as we need to eat food in this world, but should not be addicted to it that we just think about it and spend more time on food than other things.
Food addiction/Binge eating etc. must be one of the hardest addictions to overcome. With other substances you are able to abstain completely to avoid a relapse, with food you still have to have some of the addictive substance in order to survive. I don't have personal experience with this but my heart goes out to you.
I've never had an eating disorder of any sort. My dad on the other hand would regularly binge on food. He absolutely loves food but the negative health ramifications meant that he had to make changes. The doctor put him on a strict diet which he struggled to adhere to. Eventually, he managed to stick to the diet but that's because my mom sort of forced him to. I guess having loved ones around that care makes a big difference.
I think the best thing to do would be to make yourself more busy. If you are preoccupied you would not think of eating all the time. When I'm super busy I even forget to eat.