Hi I'm reading a fascinating book written by two addiction therapists called:
"Unhooked: How to Quit Anything", Woolverton & Shapiro.
No S is by far the best by way of habit control, but this helps you to reveal the WHY behind the habit in a not-too-wordy kind of way. It gives many different examples and puts food in the "soft addiction", but also just as harmful/tough category as drugs.
A good read, if any of you are interested. I just started it.
Some quotes from the book:
The therapist himself dealt with a time of using food:
"The habit of using a substance to calm, soothe and reward myself, to regulate my emotions, and I was doing this against my better judgment. To stop eating the ice cream would have been difficult. It would have made me feel empty, anxious, or depressed. That was precisely why I knew I had to stop. I realized that the criteria for an addiction could now be applied to me. I had been exhibiting the typical addict's attitude that I was alone in the world, and I could handle everything myself. So I decided to treat myself the way I would treat a patient in addiction therapy."
"Here is the reason why I could not ignore my ice cream escapades and why you should pay attention to every change in what you are consuming. Untreated and unacknowledged addictions never get smaller. They get bigger, spreading to other substances and activities or overlapping into more areas of one's life. Addictions rarely go away or dissipate by themselves. They must be acknowledged and understood before any treatment will be effective."
"The void that substances seek to replace can never be filled. So a once-a-week habit that seems to momentarily placate emotional emptiness can easily become a daily or hourly compulsion."
"Hence, the necessity of getting off the merry-go-round to figure out what is really going on and let your sad feelings tell their own sometimes weird, complex, and long-winded story."
The book then talks about FEELING through the suffering, or the void that food fills. Expect to feel like hell. I think that's a good realization. That it won't be easy when your drug is taken away.
Thought some of you may be interested.
Thanks, Liz
A Book Recommendation
Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating
That is very interesting and I totally believe food can become an addiction. We soothe ourselves with it.
One thing I think makes a food addiction more difficult than say smoking or drinking, is that you can't stop eating. You can get through really tough withdrawals and eventually stop drinking and smoking and NEVER do it again. Avoid it like the plague. Unless you plan to eat intravenously how can you avoid food? This is what always made food seem like a more "difficult" addiction to overcome in one aspect.
What do you think?
One thing I think makes a food addiction more difficult than say smoking or drinking, is that you can't stop eating. You can get through really tough withdrawals and eventually stop drinking and smoking and NEVER do it again. Avoid it like the plague. Unless you plan to eat intravenously how can you avoid food? This is what always made food seem like a more "difficult" addiction to overcome in one aspect.
What do you think?
Can reading the No-S discussion boards every morning be considered an addiction? 
Seriously though, I also believe food addiction is an extremely difficult thing to deal with - the book sounds very interesting - thanks for sharing! I am currently reading the Willpower book that was recommended on the board here and it is also an eye-opener.
Seriously though, I also believe food addiction is an extremely difficult thing to deal with - the book sounds very interesting - thanks for sharing! I am currently reading the Willpower book that was recommended on the board here and it is also an eye-opener.