Tag Archive | Stuff

Food Addiction is Painful

Nov24

I read a quote tonight that caught my eye. Unfortunately, the author was unknown so I can’t give credit where credit is due.

This is the quote: “Pain is inevitable: suffering is optional.” What a great statement. While pain can be physical or emotional, suffering is always emotional.

By using food to stuff down our feelings, we choose suffering. Food addiction and emotional eating each create their own kind of pain. Self-rejection and shame jumpstart the suffering.

Acceptance and forgiveness do wonders to short-circuit a food addiction.  Since that dynamic duo sometimes doesn’t come from family and friends, it’s up to you to make them work for you.

Rescue yourself from a triggering event by accepting the situation in the moment, embracing it, and then letting it go.  Then forgive yourself for thinking that you have to be perfect to be worthy of acceptance. You’re worthy just the way you are.

Acceptance will help you deal with the pain. Forgiveness will teach you how to end the suffering.

AC-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive

Nov5

That’s the title of a song by one of the greatest American songwriters of all time, Johnny Mercer. What does that have to do with food addiction, you may ask?

Simply stated, to someone with a food addiction, everything is relative. The second line to that song says “eliminate the negative”.

When you’re struggling with a food addiction, it’s pretty easy to get down on yourself, think of all the things you should be doing and aren’t.

But what about the good things you’re doing? Your simple wins for the day? How about that great deal you got on something you had planned to buy last week for more money?

How about the way you stood up for yourself at the car repair shop? That ticket you won when you called in to the radio show? The surprise and elation you felt when someone told you that you are awesome.

Maybe getting over the food addiction is less important then learning how the chemicals in your brain work when you crave food, or finding out what your triggers are.

Maybe it’s smarter to sign up for a walking group than to tell yourself you are stupid or worthless because you feel isolated and small. You can kill two birds with one stone with that one. Exercise and companionship—what a great combination!

And just maybe you could think about how truly awesome you really are, and how even more awesome you will be tomorrow. Remember to leave out the word “if”.

Don’t focus on the negative stuff. Dealing with stress and food addiction is negative enough. Focus on what you want to attract, not what you don’t.

In other words, accentuate the positive! And sing your best song–out loud!