Food Addiction and Food Cravings
I have struggled with food addiction and food cravings for a large portion of my life. I don’t know what the national statistic is but from the just a casual observation of society I would have to say it is pretty high. Also a recent CDC report from October 2018 states that 84.8 million U.S. adults consume fast food every day.
My struggle started at a young age with the typical sweets that kids like. Ice cream, soda pop, and candy bars; although my favorite as a kid was big old soda and a bag of red licorice. As I grew into my teenage years and even into my college days I turned to the good old greasy hamburger and French fries. Occasionally, I would switch out those French fires with chili cheesy fries with onions and throw in a Coney dog (a hot dog and bun smother in chili).
During my college days I seemed to always be snacking. Chips, candy, and still that beloved soda pop. It even came to a time when I looked so forward to summer. Was it the weather, the time off from school, the time with family? No. It was because the local convenience store sold refills of soda for 99 cent during the summer months. Now I am not talking some tiny 16 ounce refill of goodness. I am talking in about 44 ounces of what I use to call the “Nectar of the Gods”.
I easily would drink two to three 44 ounce refills a day and not think anything of it. And to top it off, the convenience store had a loyalty card. So for every ten 44 ounce refills I purchased I received one free 44 ounce refill for free. As you can imagine, I was receiving my free 44 ounce refill on a regular basis. In fact, that was one way that I would justify having another soda pop – heck this next one is free.
I guess that when I was a teenager and in my college years that I was busy enough with sports, friends, and just plain moving around that my metabolism could keep up with all my snacking and soda pop intake. However, as I grew into a young adult I could tell that my body could not keep up with all the junk calories that I was consuming on a regular basis. At some point, I had to reevaluate my life decision. Now my consumption of all the empty calories was starting to take a toll on my life. Not only physically but also with my health and relationships. I was gaining weight and was unhappy.
My lifestyle choices were catching up with me. When you are a young kid you never think that the choices you make as a kid can and will affect your 30, 40, or 50 year old self. Yet, my eyes were opened. My blood pressure was out of wack, my Body Max Index (BMI) was off the charts, I had a serious lack of energy and motivation along with a bleak outlook on life.
I knew that a change had to be made. I had to find a new direction in life. I also needed to wrap my mind around what was causing my food addiction and food cravings because I knew that just eating different was not the answer. What I had become was not only based on what I ate but why I ate it. Was it boredom, was it stress, or was it something else?
I will dive deep into some of what I did to break some of my food addictions and cravings in future blog posts. Please continue to join me on my journey.
