The Skinny on Fat 12-04-2009 - Giving up junk food for an addict is a very difficult process. It doesn’t happen easily. My health coach, Nancy Jerominski, said, “Your binge foods are not foods and are not healthy in the slightest, other than to pacify the whining little addict in you.” That pretty much sums it up. So, why is it so difficult to let go? Why must there be a process? Why can’t I just say no and go?

I’ve learned that when we eat unhealthy foods, which includes highly processed and sugary foods, foods with no nutritional value, they create a deep hole that has to be filled by more of the same. They stimulate a craving, a yearning. So when you start eating the non-food, then you are subconsciously prompted to eat more and more and you get stuck in an endless loop, an endless, merciless loop in your brain that does not quiet easily.

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But that is not all. Unhealthy foods sooth difficult emotional issues and feelings. If you are alone, they fill you up. If you feel bad, they make things sweeter. If you are sad, they are cheery and colorful, tasty and fun. Junk food is always beside you if you so chose. If you need crunchy or salty, hot and spicy, creamy and filling, whatever you want, they never judge, just comfort.

Also, people live by habit. Whatever we eat becomes our habit. Habits get set in our lives, so the longer we eat the junk, the more the habit is ingrained. There are other complicating factors, too. We can have allergies that make us crave more allergy stimulating foods. There are traditions and family connections to foods, hormonal responses to eating and other factors as well.

Obesity is about growth -- people growing in size and the problem itself growing in the numbers of people affected all over the world. What can we do? Even though there are huge numbers of huge people, the resolution is done by each individual. For me, right now, I am focusing on getting more healthy by fueling my body with real food that is good for me. I struggle at times remembering the sweet, tasty items that were such good friends and always there, never judging me, but triggering that hormonal shot of feel-good to get me through -- well, not exactly getting me through, but covering up everything so that I didn’t have to go beyond what seemed easiest -- grabbing for that next bite and stuffing it in my mouth.

I don’t do that now. I don’t know if I ever will again because I am doing the moment-to-moment thing, and am fighting those habits and urges. But somewhere in my shadows, sweet, colorful images lurk…a stack of cinnamon bears, a bowl of ice cream covered in huckleberries, hot buttered popcorn… enticing me, reminding me of the simplicity of it all. That’s the whiny little addict who is an ugly thing with horns, a tail and is as dark as a smoke-filled room has to put all that unhealthy food in front of himself so that I don’t see how scary he is and run off shrieking.

I’m on a mission to get healthy. If you need to lose weight, come along with me. We can do this together. Join my online support group by going to http://realcoachingradio.net/affiliate/sheridonica and emailing me from there, or email me directly at sheri@sheridonica.com. Be in the audience of my radio show, “The Skinny on Fat,” Fridays at 1:30 Eastern with Coach Nancy and I. Follow my progress, help me out. Help yourself. We can do this together. Coach Nancy is there, too, so she can be your coach, if you want one. Junk food has left the building. [The Skinny on Fat Archives]

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