There are different stages of stages of food addiction that we need to be aware of. Many people tend to self-medicate their mental issues using comfort food, which can provide them with instant relief against High-fat meals and desserts are often foods that people choose to ease their mental disturbance. They may eat huge portions of burgers, pizza, pasta, steak and French fries, followed by huge globs of sugary ice cream.
People could be diagnosed with food addiction when they start to have resistance to changes. This mindset could start a new destructive phase in life, characterized by uncontrolled eating pattern. They may feel that they feel no comfort when there’s no accessible food. People resist changes, because they feel that the old, healthy eating way is no longer working. They may continue to have this kind of conviction, although the new eating habit may cause various negative consequences. They may think that eating to comfort mental issues is a better alternative than succumbing to alcohol and drug abuses. This kind of belief twists are used to justify their eating behaviours.
The second phase is when people with overeating syndrome start to compensate. They know that eating too much isn’t good for their body and they grudgingly decide to join weight loss groups. Unfortunately, they don’t have the willpower to continue with the weight loss program, because they are already resistant to changes in the first place. They don’t want to write down things that they eat each day and they also don’t want to weight themselves twice a day. They can’t stand eating only whole grain cereal and a plate of fresh fruits for breakfast.
The next phase is when food finally becomes their primary source of joy. They only eat things that can make them feel joyful and comfortable. If they are distressed, there are no other things that can provide the same level of relief than a huge portion of food. The new lifestyle becomes a preferred way and food addicts put themselves in a fortress that can’t be penetrated with other things than food. Comfort food may provide a level of enjoyment that causes a numbing sensation, much more than what non-addicts feel when they eat. There’s often a regular pattern on how people with food addiction think about food, get food and eat food.
Food becomes a highly integral part of their self-medicating ritual and they may have great anxiety when comfort food isn’t available in their immediate area. This is the stage when food is only intended to relieve any kind of discomfort, not as a source of energy and nourishment. It is important to be perfectly conscious whether we are on the way of getting food addiction. When we start to have resistance to change, we need to look for much healthier alternatives. There are methods that we can choose to break the usual food rituals. The best way to quell our anger and anxiety is by dealing with the source of problem directly. Once major stressors are eliminated, our discomfort will also disappear and we can treat food in a more appropriate way.