Food Addiction Recovery – #19
Food addiction cravings and urges was the topic of my last post. This is more on that topic. It will probably take from a few weeks to a few months for many of your cravings and urges to go away or be so low in power that they are not a major problem. That having been said, I want you to know they never go away completely or better said after 35 years for this food addict they have yet to go away totally. I still get triggers, cravings, and urges today after over 35 years. The difference is they are not very intense and have little to no power over me. Remember, the more you say “no” to the urges and cravings, the more powerful you become and the less powerful they become and thus more power in overcoming food addiction.
In recovery there are two major theories or approaches on how to deal with food cravings. You need to use the right one in the right situation for you. For some foods you might need to follow the “none, never ever, no matter what theory” on them or risk a bout of compulsive overeating. I will tell you more about “binge food list” later in my 50 Ways to food addiction recovery series. This approach says if you feed a particular food craving even once they will build power fast (more powerful cravings, more often) and you will have to start again from scratch to stop/reduce the food cravings. An example of this approach is when a voice in my head urges me to eat ice cream or some other specific food temptations, I tell that voice, “I don’t want to get that started again.” That one works for me a lot with certain foods like ice cream.
In Food Addiction Feed Those Cravings?
The second approach a food addict can use is to satisfy your cravings that occur with a controlled portion of the craved food. If the item craved is a particular “forbidden food” like ice cream that occurs only infrequently then it is OK to give in to a controlled portion as long as it is infrequently (also be sure to not feel guilty about it either). Let’s face it, if you want some chocolate but instead eat say three pieces of fruit, a bowl of cereal and six graham crackers – and then eat the chocolate anyway – you are behind the game calorie wise (more on calories in later also) plus you will probably feel bad about yourself as well which can just lead to more compulsive overeating. Just go ahead and eat a controlled portion of the chocolate and be done with it and leave the guilt and bad feelings out. You have to be careful with this “eat a little” strategy that is for sure. It is likely not a strategy that will work for you in early food addiction recovery or even middle recovery so use this one with caution I say or compulsive overeating will likely be the end result.