View Full Version : Struggle with junk food addiction...
As some of you know or suspect from other threads and discussions on here, I have a junk food addiction. This addiction negatively impacts my simple living goals and lifestyle.
-It has caused me to waste a lot of money, which has led to some more debt (about $2,000 in medical bills I should have been able to pay right away).
-It has caused me to put on some elbeez. And didn't Flylady call that "body clutter?" An apt name, that is.
-It has caused me to drive too much, because I will go driving all over the city to get just the right "fix."
There are other problems it caused, but those are fairly illustrative.
Perhaps more than anything, this addiction has intercepted my very purpose for simply living: Doing the things that are most important to me.
By this I mean, I practice simple living (in the minimalist style) so I can focus on spending time with my dog, reading books, traveling to other countries, and engaging in hobbies/lifestyle experiments that I enjoy.
But the junk food addiction pulls me away from all of those and compromises the resources (time and money and, to a perhaps lesser degree, health) needed.
I am actively trying to find a way of eating that does not lead me to binges (or as I call them "junk food rampages"). I'd like to use this thread partially to document this, but also as a sounding board for constructive criticism and ideas.
While I have been clean for about a week (no rampages) I have been purely white-knuckling it. And I have not been eating 100% healthy. Like I had some chips with dinner for the past two nights and I have also eaten a half of a watermelon both yesterday and the day before.
So the struggle continues.
Chicken lady
8-7-18, 7:21am
A couple of thoughts - if one of the grocery stores near you has the service where they pack your groceries and you pick them up, use that to avoid temptation.
the second suggestion requires buying things - i’m Sorry. Buy several nesting boxes with combination locks. Put your car keys inside the innermost box every time you come home, and on each lid write your best ideas for alternate snacks/meals or actions to junk food or other messages you find motivating. The time it takes to get to your keys may help you get through the craving. Also, the annoyance might make you choose to take your bike more often.
A couple of thoughts - if one of the grocery stores near you has the service where they pack your groceries and you pick them up, use that to avoid temptation.
Oddly, I behave really well at the grocery and buy plenty of good things and few bad things, usually I buy only very good things.
the second suggestion requires buying things - i’m Sorry. Buy several nesting boxes with combination locks. Put your car keys inside the innermost box every time you come home, and on each lid write your best ideas for alternate snacks/meals or actions to junk food or other messages you find motivating. The time it takes to get to your keys may help you get through the craving. Also, the annoyance might make you choose to take your bike more often.
This is an interesting idea. I was talking with my coworker who is also a junk food junkie. He was talking about how his boss in his department got gastric bypass. He is still out of work and recovering. My coworker, "Sam," said: "If you can't do things yourself you have to outsource the discipline. And that is what gastric bypass does. So I will probably have to do it in a few years or so too."
Ideally I would like to cultivate a strength from within that overcomes this addiction.
And to be realistic: When I am on a rampage a handful of locks and maxims will not stop me, not even close. On a binge I am a total, wild-eyed maniac.
What about some healthy yet satisfying (for me anyway) alternatives like nuts and pepitas? Do you tend to crave sweet or salty junk?
White-knuckling is not fun. And will power alone has not been shown to be a sustainable strategy when it comes to addictions and cravings.
I'm sure there has to be an online support group--there's one for everything else. I'm not talking 12 steps--you don't seem like a 12 step kind of guy (I could be wrong). I know when my husband quit smoking, he said the discussion board on the American Lung Association website was really instrumental in getting through cravings. ETA: A quick search turned up this one: https://www.dailystrength.org/group/food-addiction
A psychologist I knew explained that cravings are like waves. They get bigger and bigger but the eventually just fall down and go away back into the sea. So when you have a craving, if you can imagine the wave and then be reassured that it will pass, that might help.
Another tip might be to actually allow yourself a certain amount of your favorite junk food. My 90-year aunt used to have a box of Russell Stover chocolates in a drawer. Every night she'd ask me, "Catherine, go get me my black pill." "Black pill" was one of the chocolates. but she only had "one dose." While I realize that sometimes eating one of something can trigger a binge, unless you are truly addicted to junk food, it might be something to try to keep you from feeling deprived.
Above all, don't be too hard on yourself. That alone can trigger stress and a binge stress-response.
The junk food seems to satisfy some need beyond the caloric. It might be worth your time (or even time with a therapist) to figure out what sponsors the cravings. Is it boredom? Perceived hunger (false blood-sugar low)? Your body seeking some nutrient or food group that isn't sufficiently present in your "very good" diet? A personality that generally favors addictions/jumps into everything both feet first?
Is it possible to wean yourself from the junk food using some compromise mechanism. Maybe giving yourself a budget for the rampages? Cash, in a drawer, and when it's gone, it's gone. No more junk till the next paycheck or next month or whenever. Or maybe you can go get the junk food but it can't be the stuff you really want. You can go to Mickey Dee's but you can't get the Big Mac; you have to get the Filet O' Fish. (I actually used this technique to stop daily raids at the vending machines at work; after a while it just wasn't worth the trip.) I know that seems similar to the keys-in-the-box approach, but it does not seem that going cold turkey is going to resolve this for you.
Oh, and just because you wrote this:
By this I mean, I practice simple living (in the minimalist style) so I can focus on spending time with my dog, reading books, traveling to other countries, and engaging in hobbies/lifestyle experiments that I enjoy.
I noticed that you did not include your current romantic interest in the list. No response to that needed here; just wondering if that was a conscious move.
Why don't you sign up for one of those meal kit services for a month or so? The money outlay might be an incentive to cut out the junk food for that month, it might help cut out the boredom and the variety might help with the "blandness" feeling. Also, those are pre-portioned.
iris lilies
8-7-18, 10:29am
As an aside, I don’t really understand how bariatric surgeries affect cravings. These cravings are all in our heads. The bariatric surgeries are in our torso area. They aren’t brain surgeries. Someone here can speak to that.
Teacher Terry
8-7-18, 10:38am
I like certain junk food but only allow myself small amounts. So for instance I will eat 10 chips with my sandwich for lunch. I never just sit down with a bag of anything and mindlessly eat. You have to eat 3x’s a day so just can’t quit cold turkey like other things.
As an aside, I don’t really understand how bariatric surgeries affect cravings. These cravings are all in our heads. The bariatric surgeries are in our torso area. They aren’t brain surgeries. Someone here can speak to that.
The latest research shows that the brain and gut are closely interrelated. See "gut-brain connection" for pages of fascinating facts.
Also, I'm much more susceptible to food cravings when i'm eating a lot of carbohydrates, due to the action of insulin and blood sugar fluctuations, so I question the "all in your head" theory of hunger.
dado potato
8-7-18, 11:15am
Ultralight,
I would say you are already well on your way, as you white-knuckle along. You are adopting a minimalist style; you are relatively self-disciplined in the grocery store. You are coming to grips with your compulsive behavior seeking "junk food" … and you are asking for ideas. Kudos!
Support first!
Now a couple of ideas...
Have you read the memoir by Bullitt-Jonas, Holy Hunger: A Woman's Journey from Food Addiction to Spiritual Fulfillment? The author's father was an alcoholic, and around age 10 she developed compulsive eating. Her memoir details her personal journey in the Overeaters Anonymous 12-step program. She is an Episcopal priest and a Harvard PhD. Her faith perspective may seem simplistic to an atheist, but it does appear that OA worked for her.
OA is structured around meetings and sponsorship, but their website contains some on-line resources. https://oa.org 12 Traditions, 12 Steps, Recovery that is physical, emotional, and spiritual.
As rosaruga suggested above, there may be healthy alternatives to the junk food you are concerned about. (Minimizing harm as a goal, rather than the goal of abstinence.) I would add my own personal favorite, Medjool dates (watch out for pits!), and copious amounts of filtered water with a twist of lemon or lime. Also, there is quite a satisfactory crunch in crisp celery, an apple or a carrot. On occasion I will air-pop hull-less popcorn.
Be well!
ApatheticNoMore
8-7-18, 1:34pm
Yea it's hard to entirely know what the problem is, eating disordered though probably. I mean first UL has perfectionist tendencies that can be disordered in their own way, very black and white, so maybe cut yourself some slack on the watermelon (again with caveats like IF one has diabetes one may have to watch even the watermelon). And it's probably ok to eat vegetables with fat as well (the only caveat with that one is fat has calories but only a small amount compared to binges), so don't eat plain lettuce or greens, add olive oil etc.. There seems to be a lot of swinging between binging and extreme ascetic orthorexia and there might be a happy medium somewhere.
Now this is from my own experience:
What about true junk food, eating a bag of chips or chocolate chip cookies or a cake or a giant portion of pancakes or massive amounts of pizza in a sitting? Yea now that IS actual binging, not perfectionism. Well I've said many times it's not about willpower, but about those foods being hyper-palatable. They hijack your brain. That many such junk foods are designed to be hyper-palatable and so are many restaurant foods. And the only solution is to try to mostly avoid those foods. Does this mean one needs to eat plain lettuce, uh unless one binges on salad as soon as one adds a vinaigrette. No. There is a difference between palatable and hyper-palatable. One doesn't have to go all ascetic to stop binging, one just has to accept that some foods are hyper-palatable and best avoided and that it's not about willpower.
Now dark chocolate (70% dark) is a treat I like that I don't binge on, so there is that for damage control, but it's still probably a larger part of my diet than it should be even though I don't binge. So I can't say I recommend that strategy as the ideal one, it's just one I use.
Also low calorie dieting ITSELF can cause binging, there are studies on this. Does this mean one should or should not diet? I don't know, up to one's doctor and if one actually is overweight and it's actually causing health problems (people who only have a little extra weight and for whom dieting causes binges probably shouldn't, they just need a healthier acceptance of their weight and relationship to food. Dieting when you don't really need to is me. Also it might be more important to get the binging under control than to diet. Also some people can lose weight with just exercise and that might be best). But regardless low calorie dieting can trigger binges and so one has to be careful. Maybe something like a lower carb diet would work better if one needs to lose weight, one has to experiment with their body and what actually works with it.
It's possible subtle things like food allergies and sensitivities may come in and one binges on things one is allergic or sensitive to. I wouldn't even consider the hypothesis for hyper palatable foods as the hyper-palatability is the explanation. But if one has sensitivities then one can be aware of how they affect one's food behavior is all.
As an aside, I don’t really understand how bariatric surgeries affect cravings. These cravings are all in our heads. The bariatric surgeries are in our torso area. They aren’t brain surgeries. Someone here can speak to that.
Apparently, after a barbaric surgery you want to go number three if you eat more than a cup of food.
I don't know a whole lot about bariatric surgery, but I have a friend who rebounded after. Apparently you CAN restretch the volume of food one can consume.
Small victory. Today I did something I never do. I got lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I ate half the meal. Then I took the rest home in a box. I am having it for dinner now.
Good job!! I can say that quitting smoking was killer a few years ago. I was treating it like a bad habit instead of an addiction. Changing that assumption made a big difference.
Recently i started going to refuge recovery groups, a Buddhist path to addiction recovery, mostly meditation and talking about craving It is a good place for me with my bipolar brain. But no one asks what kind of addiction you are dealing with, and it does not have the god thing like AA, lots of meetings around on their website. There are some online ones if you want to check it out first
Ultralight
8-7-18, 10:11pm
I am fighting the urge to rampage on some fast food right now. Fighting it. Fighting it.
gimmethesimplelife
8-7-18, 10:22pm
I am fighting the urge to rampage on some fast food right now. Fighting it. Fighting it.Think of how much more energy you would likely have if you ate better....seriously - it doesn't have to be expensive. Beans and whatever vegetable is cheap on Wednesdays when most supermarkets have their produce loss leaders on sale......I wish you good luck with kicking this addiction. It's not easy, I know as I was once addicted to regular soda and it was so hard to give that up. What finally did it for me was losing almost 40 pounds during my liver infection illness and being skinny again and wanting to stay that way so I had incentive to give up the soda.
I get that in your case you don't have this particular incentive but is there something you could do or accomplish with more energy/better health/less weight? Rob
ApatheticNoMore
8-8-18, 2:31am
I am fighting the urge to rampage on some fast food right now. Fighting it. Fighting it.
well are you:
1) hungry but trying to eat salads or fruits or whatever is healthier instead of hitting the fast food
2) hungry but trying not to eat anymore today (yea you'll lose weight but this is hard to sustain without very strong reasons)
3) not hungry but it's mealtime when one usually eats so ..
4) not hungry but wanting a treat
or what?
ToomuchStuff
8-8-18, 6:42am
As an aside, I don’t really understand how bariatric surgeries affect cravings. These cravings are all in our heads. The bariatric surgeries are in our torso area. They aren’t brain surgeries. Someone here can speak to that.
It doesn't. What does happen is eating more makes you physically ill. I've known three people (the ones that pop up in my head, I am sure more), that have had the surgery. One person (relative), has had it due to long time weight issues and has stuck with it. One had the band, and the cravings caused them to effectively kill themselves. A third couldn't afford the surgery here and went to this touted wonderful medical country to our south, where after the surgery, she remained sick and bedridden for a year all while she kept losing weight. She was less then 100lbs when doctors in this country went in and found the Mexican doctor did stomach stapling with non medical staples and routed a bile duct back into her stomach. When she came back up for a visit, I wouldn't have recognized her is I didn't know she was coming up and her voice.
The surgery will not help those that have other issues, such as a friend of mine. They have to lock up cabinets and the fridge as they have an adult kid who has no off switch on his appetite. (and hasn't his entire life)
Think of how much more energy you would likely have if you ate better....seriously - it doesn't have to be expensive.
I get that in your case you don't have this particular incentive but is there something you could do or accomplish with more energy/better health/less weight? Rob
If UL has a true food addiction, reasoning might help but it's generally not that effective in fighting cravings. It's like telling a cigarette smoker that they'll get lung cancer in 30 years--studies have shown that those types of messages are completely ineffective. I think if UL is craving a greasy burger or fries or a pie, telling him to think of the joys of a salad isn't really going to help. To be honest, I'm a healthy eater and rarely eat junk food, and thinking about more energy isn't going to stop me from eating a piece of fried chicken if I'm in that mindset, which usually happens when my body is telling me I need more fat.
One good book to read (did someone mention it on this forum recently? I thought I saw it, maybe in the What Are You Reading forum) is The Power of Habit (https://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business/dp/081298160X)by Charles Duhigg. In it he explains the brain's process from cue to reward (or stimulus to response). Some self-defeating behaviors may simply be a function of learned responses that can be unlearned.
When I first read it I thought the idea that addiction is just a matter of breaking the habit loop was a bit simplistic, but it's certainly worth trying.
When I get to craving and wanting to go on a rampage my new plan is to tell myself: "Think about the important things. Think about Harlan and his dental care. Think about reading books. Think about sketching. Think about the important things!"
Last night this worked. I fought off the yearning to rampage.
Good job, i know all the bargaining and negotiating did not help when i was quitting smoking. I think the physical aspect was worse smoking, food you can't avoid which is difficult.
I just was thinking that when you are craving that eating something else may backfire because it is not satisfying, so avoiding snacking in general when you are craving may be a good response. Just scheduled snacks and meals. When we practice mindful eating on retreat we put the fork or spoon down between each bite as well, slows down and allows for better focus
I don't know a whole lot about bariatric surgery, but I have a friend who rebounded after. Apparently you CAN restretch the volume of food one can consume.
DW had bariatric surgery more than a decade ago. It does not appear to have slowed down cravings at all, though I have never seen her on a "rampage". She cannot eat a large quantity of any food -- and sometimes only tiny portions of very rich foods (steak, cream sauces, etc.) or very fibrous foods -- without an immediate "bathroom" reaction.
I just was thinking that when you are craving that eating something else may backfire because it is not satisfying, so avoiding snacking in general when you are craving may be a good response.
That was my thought -- and my experience, both with myself and others. Craving potato chips? Celery or carrot sticks are no substitute unless you dress them with the fat and sodium that brings them nutritionally closer to chips. And if your craving is that specific, you need to address what's being craved (saltiness, fat, chewiness, whatever) or you just consume calories without satisfying the craving anyway.
messengerhot
8-14-18, 6:51pm
A couple of thoughts - if one of the grocery stores near you has the service where they pack your groceries and you pick them up, use that to avoid temptation.
the second suggestion requires buying things - i’m Sorry. Buy several nesting boxes with combination locks. Put your car keys inside the innermost box every time you come home, and on each lid write your best ideas for alternate snacks/meals or actions to junk food or other messages you find motivating. The time it takes to get to your keys may help you get through the craving. Also, the annoyance might make you choose to take your bike more often.
That' a great Idea. Going to the grocery store and seeing all these stuff are really tempting. So I think, buying online will help or order via phone call and ask to deliver would be great.
As some of you know or suspect from other threads and discussions on here, I have a junk food addiction. This addiction negatively impacts my simple living goals and lifestyle.
-It has caused me to waste a lot of money, which has led to some more debt (about $2,000 in medical bills I should have been able to pay right away).
-It has caused me to put on some elbeez. And didn't Flylady call that "body clutter?" An apt name, that is.
-It has caused me to drive too much, because I will go driving all over the city to get just the right "fix."
There are other problems it caused, but those are fairly illustrative.
Perhaps more than anything, this addiction has intercepted my very purpose for simply living: Doing the things that are most important to me.
By this I mean, I practice simple living (in the minimalist style) so I can focus on spending time with my dog, reading books, traveling to other countries, and engaging in hobbies/lifestyle experiments that I enjoy.
But the junk food addiction pulls me away from all of those and compromises the resources (time and money and, to a perhaps lesser degree, health) needed.
I am actively trying to find a way of eating that does not lead me to binges (or as I call them "junk food rampages"). I'd like to use this thread partially to document this, but also as a sounding board for constructive criticism and ideas.
While I have been clean for about a week (no rampages) I have been purely white-knuckling it. And I have not been eating 100% healthy. Like I had some chips with dinner for the past two nights and I have also eaten a half of a watermelon both yesterday and the day before.
So the struggle continues.
I know how you feel LOL. What has helped me, and keep in mind I live about 2 miles from lots of fast food, is too limit my binges.
Just cut back to once a week, maintain it.
Them maybe twice a month?
Once a month?
I drive thru all these places on the way home everyday and honestly, it is cheaper to eat the fast food specials.
Good luck
Back when I was a smoker trying to quit, the old rubber band on the wrist helped me get through cravings which were actually just very ingrained habits. One snap of the band and I would delay the urge for another five minutes until the time between smokes got wider and wider. I finally quit cold turkey when I got very sick and the very thought of smoking no longer appealed. Perhaps it takes a physical/spiritual awakening/loss to make big changes for some people.
As some of you know or suspect from other threads and discussions on here, I have a junk food addiction. This addiction negatively impacts my simple living goals and lifestyle.
-It has caused me to waste a lot of money, which has led to some more debt (about $2,000 in medical bills I should have been able to pay right away).
-It has caused me to put on some elbeez. And didn't Flylady call that "body clutter?" An apt name, that is.
-It has caused me to drive too much, because I will go driving all over the city to get just the right "fix."
There are other problems it caused, but those are fairly illustrative.
Perhaps more than anything, this addiction has intercepted my very purpose for simply living: Doing the things that are most important to me.
By this I mean, I practice simple living (in the minimalist style) so I can focus on spending time with my dog, reading books, traveling to other countries, and engaging in hobbies/lifestyle experiments that I enjoy.
But the junk food addiction pulls me away from all of those and compromises the resources (time and money and, to a perhaps lesser degree, health) needed.
I am actively trying to find a way of eating that does not lead me to binges (or as I call them "junk food rampages"). I'd like to use this thread partially to document this, but also as a sounding board for constructive criticism and ideas.
While I have been clean for about a week (no rampages) I have been purely white-knuckling it. And I have not been eating 100% healthy. Like I had some chips with dinner for the past two nights and I have also eaten a half of a watermelon both yesterday and the day before.
So the struggle continues.
Me too and I'm looking for a better and healthy meal plan.
Ultralight
9-25-18, 8:30pm
Me too and I'm looking for a better and healthy meal plan.
Tell me more.
Do you enjoy doing puzzles of any kind -- jigsaw, crossword, sudoku, etc? I find I am most inclined to mindlessly eat empty calories when I am doing something that doesn't fully engage my brain, like surfing the web or watching TV. If I engage myself in a puzzle or a stack of sudokus, I can go for hours without having any munchie cravings arise.
just had half a bag of popcorn.........after low carbing it since Jan.
Not that I've never gone off the diet, just not too much.
Back to the grindstone.............
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