I was pondering this while eating a cinnamon and raisin bagel–Thomas’, buy one, get one free. Boy, are they good! I decided they would be a better snack to have around than popcorn.

Diets don’t work. Willpower doesn’t work. Why? Because food addicts eat when they are un-comfortable, when they cannot be comforted.

We don’t want to eat. We want to be comforted. We want support, someone to listen without judging, a confidant to care about us and tell us everything will be okay, when we are feeling overwhelmed.

We give food addictions way too much power, and ourselves way too little. Emotional eating is eating when your heart is restless or broken and you are not in control of your emotions.

Emotions put on scary faces and jump out at you from everywhere, like pranksters on Halloween. But you can’t think fear away. You have to fill up with love so there won’t be any room for fear.

I know it sounds corny but people need to be cared about, listened to, and comforted. You may not carry your “blanky” with you into adulthood but the need for a safe haven is always present.

That safe haven used to be called “home” but these days home can be a very empty place. So we resort to filling that void with food. To the food addict, food and shelter are the same thing.

Food is readily available and you can count on it. How often can you find that combination?

There is plenty of advice available to food addicts, facts and opinions alike. Some is helpful; some is not, depending on the problem the food addiction is causing.

One thing is certain. Food is not the problem. No diet in the world can cure a food addiction. But changing the way you eat can improve your physical and mental health and change the way you respond to stress.

Tomorrow, if I can figure out how to do it, I am going to share with you about a program that helped me tremendously. I didn’t know how to eat anymore. I gained weight no matter what I did.

The packaged food programs weren’t successful. Nothing worked. I was afraid to eat anything and so I panicked and ate everything. Then in 2001 I got healthy.

Food addiction is a real problem and there are some real solutions. You can change the way you think of yourself and your relationship with food. Get healthy again, one good habit at a time.

When you learn how to do this, you won’t have to worry about winning every battle with food, because the war will be over.