I decided to begin another book, and I'll be doing it slowly, like TCE.
"I'm going to make a confession: I used to have a food addiction. Although I've since kicked the habit, every so often I want one of the foods I used to be addicted to." Dr. Mike Dow
From me:
"I have a confession to make: I have a food addiction. I crave different foods and haven't figured out how to get control over it yet." ~ Me
Introduction:
Self-medicating (with food) is not just a metaphor. Anti-depressants like Wellbutrin lift dopamine levels, as do nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine, bacon, potato chips, and other high-fat foods. Serotonin and dopamine are helped by Prozac and Zoloft and street drugs.
We do not want to feel as bad as we feel, so we turn to our addiction to self-medicate.
Just as you can form an addiction to alcohol, nicotine and drugs, so can you become addicted to food.
When your life is full of serotonin-and dopamine-boosting activities, and when your thoughts trigger big doses of serotonin and dopamine and the self-esteem, optimism, and energy they bring, you will no longer crave the fix of different foods. (This is a "light-bulb" moment for me.)
Part One: Understanding Food Addiction
~Willpower is not the problem.
If your life is stressful or if you feel chronically anxious and unsafe, your serotonin levels probably have been low for a while, making you all the more vulnerable to the power of sugar and carbs. Like wise, if your life feels boring and restricted, if you chronically feel blue and lethargic, your dopamine levels have likely dropped even before you started worrying about your weight. (pg 25)
When you do weight-loss surgery, if you do not address the patients' brain chemistry, they'll continue to feel miserable and deprived. They'll still crave the foods that make them feel good--that did, actually, generate the brain chemicals that we all need to feel good-and then, as happens to most people who have weight loss surgery, they aren't able to stick to the recommended behavioral changes for one year after the procedure. (pgs 25-26)
We all have to feed our brains with the right foods and activities or we'll never be able to be free from the addiction. (pg 26)
Two: How Food Addiction Makes You Fat:
~Discover Your Food Habits
01- Is there at least one unhealthy food that you consume every day?
Butter, Salt, "White" foods.
02- Do you panic if you think you might not have access to this food everywhere?
No. I do, however, think about when & how I will get it next.
03- Have you ever felt you might need to cut down on this? Yes.
04- Has anyone suggested you change your eating habits? The doctors.
05- Do you ever feel guilty after eating or drinking? Yes. I also feel a lot of discomfort.
06- Is this unhealthy food on your mind within an hour of waking up? Yes.
07- Do you feel powerless when you have a craving? Yes
08- Have you tried, but failed, to cut back on this item in the past? Yes
09- Do you turn to this food when you're feeling low or high, or when you're not even hungry? YES!
10- Have you felt as though your self-esteem and relationships might be better if you didn't have these cravings? YES!
11- Do you seem to think about eating most of the time? Yes
12- Is there a difference between your private and public eating? Yes
13- Do you tell yourself you could quit consuming this item whenever you want, even though you've never been able to? Yes
14- Do you look forward to the time when you can eat this item? Yes
15- Are you envious of people who have a casual attitude toward food? Yes
16- Do you sometimes enter a translike state when you are eating? Yes
17- Does most of your eating occur late at night? Yes
The Dangers of Tolerance:
One of the key hallmarks of an addiction is tolerance: when you keep needing more to get the same high. (pg 32)
* First you enjoy "something".
* Then you need the "something". You still enjoy, but it "hurts" not to have it.
* Finally, you need "something" desperately, just to feel normal. You feel lousy without it.
Making It Through Withdrawal:
The other hallmark of addiction is withdrawal--the pain of giving up an addictive substance that the body has come to rely on.
Withdrawl symptoms:
* Problems with memory
* impaired concentration
* changes in sleep patterns
* anxiety
* depression
* fatigue
* increased reliance on other addictions
* moodiness
* irritability
* headaches
Because of tolerance and withdrawal, food addiction is not a stable solution to the problems of unbalanced rain chemistry. You are always going to keep wanting more--and you're always risking withdrawal symptoms the moment you cut back. It is hard to revel in the pleasures of food when food feels like your jailer. (pg 35)
To be continued.
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