Can You Be Addicted To Food?

We are happy to have been guests on Brian Shellabarger's 100 down, Weightix podcast several months ago. Brian asked Marissa and me to be part of a discussion specifically asking the question, is there such thing as being addicted to food, can you be a food addict, and do you have a food addiction? I hope you enjoy this deep dive that Brian drove through his podcast and that you also feel his passion for helping people achieve goals that even he thought were impossible at one time. Addictions come in all shapes and sizes and on behalf of our team, we hope that in the 2021 season of Extracurricular Recovery, you will join team Addict to Athlete and achieve the goals you never thought possible. Happy new year athletes, and more importantly, happy sober New Year! Check out this blog post for more information about this topic. If you want support from Brian’s Weightix program use code '“A2A”

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Podcast Transcript
Introductions:

Blu -- 60-second introduction of himself, and A2A, and his role. (REALLY quick intro.. because I want to dive deeper into A2A and their approach about 15-20m into the podcast).

Jared - 60-second introduction. REALLY quick mention of heart-attack, decided it was time to do something, lost a ton of weight, decided to run a half marathon.. trained hard and did it... and then gained all the weight back (fairly quickly).... And now struggles with staying committed to it, even though his life is (quite literally) on the line.

How do you know if you’re addicted to something? [read phrases, let Blu common if that sounds like addiction or not..] Common phrases I hear:

"I'm not addicted to food. But I tend to rely on food as a coping mechanism when I get stressed or emotional."

"I'm not addicted to food. But I just really feel like I need 'comfort food' sometimes... Like when I'm sick, or when I've had a tough day"

"I'm not addicted to food. But even when I'm full, I still find myself reaching for my favorite snacks.. [chips, cake, etc.]"

"I'm not addicted to food.. But my doctor told me that if I don't lose some weight, I'm going to die soon.. but I just can't seem to stay committed to it.."

"I'm not addicted to food.. but many times in my life I've lost 20 to 100 lbs, and then within a few months, I just fall back on old habits and put all the weight right back on."

Tell us about AIIA.. and what’s your role? (Want to spend at least 10-15m on what AIIA is.. You might honestly find people in Weightix who resonate with what you're doing, and want to join... even though the "substance" they are addicted to is different).

What is the difference between a “drug user” and a “drug addict”.. (does that also apply to a “food eater” and a “food addict”?)... I’ve had conversations with soo many people who are overweight who don’t believe they are addicted to food... But also can’t often say no when faced with temptation. (Is that because “addiction” is such a hard word to own? Or is there really a possibility they aren’t addicted.. )

(My own journey.. I realized I was addicted when I would be eating two double whoppers for lunch... and the only thing I could think about WHILE THE FOOD WAS IN MY MOUTH was what delicious thing I was going to have for dinner...).

How do you balance, “you are beautiful, you are perfect just the way you are” with “you’re addicted to something that’s going to kill you and you need to change.”

”Admitting you have a problem” is the first step. What’s the second step?

I know you’re not a fan of the “12 step process”... talk about that. What's wrong with it? What do you like instead?

Jared has an amazing story.. and one of the ways he stayed so focused on his weight loss journey not too long ago was to make a goal to run a half marathon.. he crushed that goal... but lost focus after that.. What do you tell your athletes to keep them focused for the next few days.. weeks.. months.. years?

One of the things I love saying is that if you rely on motivation, you’ll always come up short — because it’s never there when you need it. I use the word “discipline” as a lot, as a substitute for motivation. How does discipline fit into this? Where does motivation fit?

Why is it that we can be so powerfully motivated to change our life.. but the first time we’re faced with a chance to prove we’ve changed... we crash and burn?

How do you break an addiction to something you need to survive? (Unlike substance.. we NEED food). further, one of the best ways to break addiction is to remove yourself from situations where you’re tempted. (Recovering alcoholics are taught to avoid bars, for example). How do we do that in the context of food, junk food, etc.. when it’s basically everywhere? You can’t even go to work without having someone offer you a plate of early-death.

I think there's a "stigma" about substance abusers.. I've seen people who are sitting in the McDonalds drive-through with a twinkie in their hand talk about ashamed they are of (someone they know) who is working through addiction, and cleaning up their life.

”You are the average of your 5 closest friends” — really resonated with me. I know when I started losing weight, my social circle changed. Talk about this... Do people need to get rid of their friends? Is that really how this works? What about being around family who aren't on board? For example, it would be really difficult to quit heroin if your spouse and kids all did heroin every day, and had absolutely no desire to change that... What's the best way to approach this? How do we help our loved ones understand what we're going through and what do we tell them so they can help?

Why do you think being an athlete is “the” angle to fighting addiction?

[Brian will] briefly mention the previous podcast on the secret to weight maintenance is daily exercise... 95% of people who los a significant amount of weight will gain it back wihin 1-2 years... The 5% who are exceptions all have one thing in common.. they started exercising daily.. (not "steps"... dedicated, put on workout clothes, and SWEAT kind of exercise).

One of the key tenants of breaking addiction is admitting that you’re going to fail sometimes... I hate telling people this... because they end up using it as an excuse in that moment of weakness “Ah.. I was told I was going to fail sometimes.. so I might as well have the cupcake.. ... How do you balance the “you’re going to fail sometimes” message with “stop failing”.

Question from Keith Collins: [paraphrasing a LOT..] Is the only way to recover from food addiction to never take that first unplanned bite? Cause once an addict unleashes the addiction, it takes over and ruins everything. What are some practical ways a food addict goes about recovery? Sometimes a cheat bite unleashes the monster for me and binge eating occurs, other times not. How do you handle the holidays where the ENTIRE CULTURE is built around consuming junk food?

Brian's Answer..

PLAN your cheat meals ahead of time.. if you didn't plan to eat it 24 hours ago.. you don't get to eat it.

Many people let a cheat MEAL turn into a cheat DAY, which turns into a cheat WEEKEND.. which turns into a cheat WEEK... which turns into, "Eh.. I guess I don't care about losing weight anymore."

Sugar tends to be particularly bad. For some people, a single bite of a sugary treat can send them on a full-on junk-food binging session. (Will fit this in somewhere)"

Rose Hunter: Wants "self-help" suggestions because going to counseling is "out of the question for several reasons".

How do you measure progress during an addiction-recovery journey? (It's easy with weight-loss.. since there are lots of black and white data points to show you... number on the scale, BF%, etc.)