Compulsions & Eating

You’re sitting there. The clock is ticking. You have sugar on the brain. Or, maybe,  you have salty chips or crunch fried food on the brain. Processed food and sugar addiction is real and it is often the stimulant that replaces drug or alcohol addiction once a person starts working towards recovery. This happens because our brains are wired to our habits. Once the high or pleasant feeling from drugs or booze is eliminated, we are left with raw emotions and an expectancy to feel pleasant emotions from chemicals that are no longer present, which leads us to turn to food and often cigarettes! Are you now struggling with compulsive eating?

We have to look at ourselves everyday. How we approach our view of ourselves can either hurt or harm us. When you feel like nothing is going on, that your mood is flat- maybe even low- look at yourself from a far away perspective. Are you really hungry for something sweet at that time? Or are you feeling like the pleasant emotions are gone and boredom- perhaps even sadness- is kicking in.

I’m finishing a book right now on the very subject of sugar addiction and recovery. We can’t recover unless we understand the why. With food addiction, it is ourselves that are hurt first. When that addiction has real life negative effects on our bodies, well it starts to impact those who love us, too. When we turn to food to feel good, it is essential to reminder ourselves that we are not our thoughts; we are not our behaviors, or our feelings. What we have are thoughts,we create our behaviors, and we can address then change our feelings. An essential element of this approach is that there is a part of us that is in the driver seat. Sure, addicts have compulsive behaviors. Food addicts have compulsive behaviors.

Sugar addiction feeds compulsive behavior. When you’re sitting alone, bored, allowing yourself to feel bad about yourself or your body, know that our brains are wired to please this feeling. We don’t like discomfort. Addicts, at their core, like to mute emotions with everything from drugs to booze and on to food and sugar. You don’t have to live in a cozy feeling all of the time. You don’t have to compulsively seek out certain sugar foods to sustain a natural high feeling.

This weekend you can address compulsive behaviors with food by not giving into feelings. There are simple steps you can take. Take out the availability of sugar in the home, toss it all out. Make a plan to keep busy and add in some physical fitness too, this will help your brain feel happier and better – eliminating the need for the sugar high. Think of leaving sugar as leaving any other addiction. You are now in recovery. Learning to eat right, learning to say you deserve better health, and learning to control your thinking will help you beat any processed food and sugar addiction.

Maybe it’s time to consider a “detox” from sugar. Getting help with a plan of action that is safe, simple and effective. After all, we are told to “keep it simple” right? Well I have a plan that works. Check it out here. This 10-day program offers you the good orderly direction you need to help you with your sugar addiction. Join me on the road of recovery! 

Of course, I am here to help too. Contact me for more personalized information.

Roseann