“C’mon, have a slice of cake! It’s your birthday!”
Why would anybody say that to a friend who just lost 30 pounds?
Do we know about food addiction? Do we know how our loved ones are struggling with food addiction?
I recently was invited to give a presentation about nutrition. After the presentation, an elderly woman approached me and told me that she had lost 300 pounds. She explained, “I mean, if you add all the weight I lost and gained back.” In a tone of frustration, she concluded, “Nothing works.”
This woman was in her seventies. She still hoped that there was something available to help. Why else would she come to another nutrition talk?
Kris Carr, author of “Crazy Sexy Diet,” summarized her experience with food addition:
“At one of my lowest points, sugar had a painful grip on me. I’d buy/binge and then beat myself up over my behavior. Sometimes the only way out of my drug trance was to mutilate my stash before burying it in the trash. This step was very important. If I didn’t jam cigarette stubs into the pints of Ben & Jerry’s or spray them with cleaning products, there was a 50/50 chance I’d rummage through the rubbish to rescue my heroine.”
– Kris Carr
Please share your stories. There are many untold stories among women about food addiction.
We watch our friends constantly trying different diets for weight loss but no words or stories are shared. Although we know they are struggling with their weight, we still offer them foods that cause weight gain.
If we know a friend who quit drinking, would we offer the friend a shot of whisky?
“My drug of choice is food. I use food for the same reasons an addict uses drugs: to comfort, to soothe, to ease stress.”
– Oprah