Addicted To Food?

Do you ever feel like eating unhealthy foods isn’t a choice?  Do you sometimes feel powerless, like you eat them without much conscious thought? Or perhaps you know you’re eating foods you should not be, but yet, you just cannot seem to stop yourself no matter how hard you try?

Food addiction is a very real thing and something that gets overlooked far too often. If you are not aware of what’s happening in your mind and body when you eat these foods, it may easy to get yourself down over it, chalking it up to you having no will power to stick to a diet plan.

But, it’s much more than that.  If you are currently suffering from food addiction, it’s going to take some hard work to break free, but the great news is that with the right approach, you can definitely do so.

Let’s go over what you must know about food addiction.

The Cause Of Food Addiction 

So what causes food addiction in the first place? If you think it’s simply the fact that your taste buds have a strong preference for sweet or salty foods, you’re not quite correct in that thinking pattern.

While there’s no doubt that your personal preferences on taste do play a role in the foods you choose, there are other responses going on when you eat certain types of foods.

The most problematic perhaps is consumption of carbohydrates – namely simple carbohydrates. This includes foods like cake, cookies, ice cream, crackers, granola bars, cereals, bagels – basically anything that is not wholesome and coming straight from nature.

Essentially, all the foods you should be aiming to avoid. 

When you eat these foods, they do two things.  First, they spike blood glucose levels.  This initially makes you feel very good as you suddenly have a high surge of energy going through your body. Who doesn’t love that?

But more importantly, these simple carbohydrates also cause a high release of the neurotransmitter in the body called serotonin, which has extremely strong impacts on your overall well-being.

It makes you feel calm, relaxed, and at peace.  It helps to reduce stress and can even help you feel closer to others.  To put this into perspective, this is the same neurotransmitter that is released during hard drug use.  It is that powerful – and that addictive.  There’s no question how addictive hard drugs can be. Well, carbohydrates can actually have a similar effect.  You aren’t getting addicted to the carbohydrate itself, but rather, the feeling that those carbohydrates create in your body due to the response you get.

Why do you think so many people turn to ice cream, cake, and cookies when they are highly stressed out? It is this response that’s soothing them – not just the sweet taste these foods offer.

The bad news however is after you get this initial high from these foods, you are also going to crash, feeling worse than before.  Especially as your blood glucose level comes crashing down, you are going to feel irritable, lacking energy, and your overall mood will also take a tumble. So while you found relief, it was only temporary and now, you have just worsened the situation.

Not to mention the fact that with this spike than crash of blood glucose, your pancreas will be working overtime, releasing insulin to control all that sugar, and eventually leading you to a higher risk of developing diabetes.

Those who put their body through this on a regular basis – sugar highs and then lows will also be at a much greater risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity due to the excess weight that will accumulate.

Even more is the fact that upon reaching this blood sugar low, now your body is going to want to prompt you to consume more simple sugar in order to bring it back up again, a cycle that just continually perpetuates itself.

Getting Help 

So if you find yourself in a situation of food addiction, how can you get past it? How can break free so that you are not longer controlled by your food and carbohydrate cravings?

First, realize that it isn’t going to be easy. Accepting this is key to ongoing success.  You are going to feel miserable for the first while and you will have to push through those feelings. Just like a drug addict goes through withdrawal, so will you.

Mentally preparing for this will help get you ready. Just remember that with each day you stay sugar/simple carb free, it will get easier.  Eventually those strong cravings will subside.

Next, turn to your family and close friends for support.  Explain to them what you’re doing so they are also prepared to support you through those difficult times.  Talking to them instead of reaching for that cookie jar will keep you on track.

Sometimes the simple distraction of another person can be enough to help you stay on track and prevent a slip-up.

Finally, make sure that you enlist the help of a personal trainer who has assisted others with this same problem you are now going through. A personal trainer will be a great ally to help you work through realistic goals to achieve as far as both your diet and workouts go.  They’ll also be able to give you nutritional tips to help you avoid feeling so fatigued so you don’t need to reach for simple carbs as often as you have in the past. A great phoenix personal trainer who also does online personal training is Seth Thurston. He has helped 1000+ just like you get control of their weight and reach their dream body by developing a healthy lifestyle.

If you’ve set yourself up a proper diet plan, you’ll find it far easier to break free from the food cravings you have because you are constantly fueled with nutrient dense foods.  Lack of a proper nutrition program is what gets many people in this situation in the first place, therefore taking steps to resolve this is a good place to begin.

So next time you feel like food is calling your name and you are too weak to disobey, keep these facts in mind. Something stronger than just willpower is at work here, but with conscious effort and the right protocol, you can overcome this problem. A great location for lots of information and support is www.Carbaholicsanonymous.