[MrsBigE]

I have always had a problem with food, my entire life... it comforted me, it loved me when no one else would, it helped me through a lot of bad times and in my life I've grown to love it more than I knew...
In 2002 I had gastric bypass surgery to help myself limit how much of my "love" I could consume and to lose the fat that my love had brought to my body...
The surgeon fixed my stomach but she couldn't fix my head... I still love food... I'm addicted to it... I don't eat it like I used to and I'm keeping my weight off after 2 years but I find it still consumes me. I still "want" it, I still "long" for it.
My question is this, is being addicted to food an eating disorder? Does anyone else have this problem?

Peg

[kimboboo]

It's great that you've kept the weight off. Do you see a therapist to help deal with some of the issues that caused you to be overweight?
I haven't had gastric bypass, but have been morbidly obese most of my life. I have always had an unhealthy relationship to food (compulsive over-eater, binging/purging, repeated dieting). In fact, it's one of the specific things I'm working on currently with my therapist. I'm not sure whether food addiction is an eating disorder. Part of me wants to say yes, because it can consume so much of your thoughts and control so much of your behavior. I think people can experience the sense of losing control/hopelessness as they do with an addiction. On the other hand, when I think of addiction, I think of something that is not necessary, and food is necessary to live.

[Rapunzel]

"Binge Eating Disorder" is a proposed new category, but isn't official yet. I think that we can get addicted to behaviors, including eating. Since we all need to eat, that makes controlling an addiction to eating that much harder. When someone is addicted to a substance they can (though it is very difficult) stop using that substance entirely, and avoid exposure to it. But you have to eat, so you can't do that with food. Then again, I think that there may be a personality trait that makes addiction a greater likelihood, making it easier to become addicted to anything - substances, food, behaviors - and also harder to overcome. In that case, no matter what the addiction of choice is, I think there is a tendency even in fighting one addiction to replace it with something else. It isn't easy. There are reasons why we turn to addictions, no matter what they are, in order to cope with the difficulties of life, and we can learn better and more productive ways to solve problems and feel better. That's what we have to do.

Wendy

<font color=orange>"Never forget: 2 + 2 = 5 for extremely large values of 2."</font color=orange>

[alm15]

Have you tried Overeaters Anonymous? It'sd not just for the act of eating but for the compulsion to eat. And isn't an addiction a disorder? If it's causing you difficulties in your life, does it matter? I have real trouble dealing with life without overeating, myself. I consider my eating to the point of being obese a disorder. It is good that you haven't put on any weight. Congratulations for that! Good luck to you in your journey!

[MrsBigE]

I did see a therapist for awhile and he felt that I used food to help me through all the past trials and tribulations in my life. I was an only child and had wonderful, loving parents who I took care of til the day they died which was 2 months apart in 99.... their deaths crushed me, I felt totally devastated and the thought of going on without my mother in my life was almost unbearable... my comfort, always food....
I have always been afraid that my kids would be fat and try to encourage them to stay active and eat to live instead of living to eat... the older child (now 19) is this way, he is active and eats like a normal person and rarely snacks or anything... the small one (now 4) is just like me... she'd rather snack than eat a meal. I worry about her.
thanks for your replies....

Peg
"It's funny, what the caterpillar thinks is the end of the world, the butterfly knows is only the beginning."

[honeyblood]

I would say yes, because it kind of controls your mind. I have the same problem with food, i've always struggled with it. Either I eat too much or too little. Snack or binge. Most of the time i just eat all day. My thoughts are food is too good to not eat, and you only live once. And I know that if you eat too much of it (or the wrong foods) it will affect how long you live. The problem is, getting there, actually taking steps to better your life. It's tough, and i think a therapist could definately help. I'm glad you've been able to keep the weight off, congrats! But I do hope that you do get a therapist to help you. I wish you well!!!

*~in my field of paper flowers, candy clouds a lullaby, i lie inside myself for hours, and watch my purple sky fly over me~*