Step Five: Junk Food Addiction - Part 2

In my previous post, I talked about a study that demonstrated how quickly rats became addicted to junk food. What was most alarming was that once they were addicted it took more and more junk food for the pleasure centers in their brains to light up. When the researchers denied the rats their junk food, the rats preferred to starve rather than eat ordinary, healthy rat chow. Of course, human beings are not rats. However, we can and do become addicted to junk food. And, like anyone who finds pleasure, solace, comfort or relief from anxiety in a bag of chips or ice cream or fast food, we all know how difficult it is to break the grip of this powerful addiction.

When I was creating my own weight-loss program several decades ago, I asked myself many questions about my own behavior. I was loathe to call it an addiction. After all, I didn’t smoke or drink. I was a good student, a loving daughter, a caretaker and so much more. So, I wondered, how could an intelligent young woman who prided herself on her ability to think and reason seemingly go brain dead when it came to her next food fix? What had to change to break this endless cycle of momentary pleasure followed by disgust, sadness and despair?

The first thing I did was to note when I began to have cravings. What drove the cravings? I realized that stress and anxiety were the main culprits in my life. But, fatigue, family celebrations, loneliness, boredom and many other things drove them, too. In fact, any powerful emotion would drive me to eat. Well, I could not go through life feeling nothing, could I? I was always a very empathic person, very caring, but it seemed that the more I felt, the more I ate. I was literally at war with myself. I wrote all of this down in my journal. At the time, I felt both confused and overwhelmed.

If feelings of any kind drove me to seek out junk food, what could I do about it? I decided that each time I had a powerful emotion, I had to be prepared to do something else besides eat. I had to go for a walk, clean, dance by myself in my room, read a book, call a friend, be helpful to someone else. I had to force myself to choose another coping mechanism other than food. I had to keep at that activity or switch to another engaging activity until the craving wore off. Yes, eventually, the craving would pass. But, it was very hard to do this. At times, it was excruciating. I’d be dancing around in my room, but my heart was pounding not only from exertion, but from the desperation I felt. I wanted to eat so badly. But, I told myself, no. I’d say, “Dorothy, you are a prisoner in this room. You will keep dancing until you can’t stand up anymore. If necessary, lie down on the floor and feel the beat of the music. Stay focused. Concentrate on your breathing. Think of something else. The craving will pass.”

Does what I just wrote remind you of a withdrawal scene on reality TV or in a movie? Haven’t we all watched the horrible physical and emotional withdrawal of an addict who goes cold turkey and completely stops his or her drug of choice? I realized that my brain made a beeline for food in so many situations that it was clearly overpowering and overwhelming. No wonder I couldn’t sustain weight loss. The angel on one shoulder had the best of intentions. But, the devil on my other shoulder was whispering in my ear that I needed to “Eat. Eat. Eat!”

At first, I admit, this challenge was agonizing. But, I had strategies in place, and I kept to my strategies. Like Little Nell in the Dicken’s novel, I sometimes trudged through the snow and ice just to get outside and keep myself away from the cozy warmth of food. I even ironed sheets one night. The ironing board was in the basement and, therefore, away from the fridge. I tutored people for free, which made them happy and kept my mind focused on something else. I memorized poems. I even wrote a bad play, well, two of them. It didn’t matter as long as I was forcing my brain and my body to focus elsewhere.

I realized that mind and body must work together for success. In recent years, there has been much written and discussed about integrative medicine, the mind-body connection. However, this was something I discovered on my own. My mind was craving junk food. My body was craving junk food. I, as a whole human being, was craving junk food. My revelation was that the mind and the body were connected. I could, if I worked hard enough, make that connection. If I succeeded, I would make myself whole again without overeating and without stuffing down junk food to feel better.

What gives you pleasure other than eating? Your brain is going to crave pleasure. Just like the rats in the experiment, you need to find a way to withdraw from your cravings. The rats had their researchers to keep them from the junk food until they completed their withdrawal. You don’t have someone to control your eating habits. And, even if you did, you’d only be setting yourself up for failure. My goal, as a weight-loss coach, is to train each client to create strategies that work for him or her. My goal as a coach is to train people to make the right choices on their own. I am not building dependence, although initially a client is dependent on me. Initially, the client needs my knowledge, my guidance, my demands for structure, my nurturing. However, over time, I am training a client to be able to live in the real world and be independent of me. Yes, they can always come back for a “booster shot” when they start slipping, but for the most part, I believe anyone who works with me learns how to care for themselves. They are armed with skills, with knowledge and insight.

So, if you are determined to stop being a junk food junkie, here are my 12-Steps to Break Your Junk Food Addiction:

1. Write down what drives you to eat junk food. What is happening around you when you get the urge to eat junk food? What are you feeling? What are you doing? A food journal is a necessity. Refer to it often.

2. Identify you bad food habits. Write down your bad food habits in your journal. For example, do you always stop off at a fast food place after work because you drive past it on your way home? Is this your daily routine? Or, do you stop at the local donut shop before work or school because it’s a habit? Are you on automatic pilot? The good news is that bad habits can be replaced with good habits.

Once you have compiled a list of your bad food habits, you can begin to make changes. Tackle one bad habit at a time. Replace that bad habit with a good habit. For example, if you eat at night, find something else to do with your time after dinner. Take a walk. Call a friend. Read a book. Play with your kids. Spend time with your spouse. Take up a new hobby. Do volunteer work. Once you have substituted your new and productive good habit for your old bad habit, move on to the next bad habit until you have completed your list. This takes time, effort, trial-and-error, and patience with yourself. Always forgive yourself when something doesn’t work. Always praise yourself for your focus and determination to succeed.

3. a. Write down your emotional triggers. An emotional trigger is any powerful emotion, such as sadness, happiness, anxiety, boredom, fear, excitement, etc., that leads you to reach for food as a coping mechanism. When you feel the emotion, you reach out for food. Write down your feelings in your journal and note the link between your emotions and food. Then, analyze your journal. Get a clear focus on what triggers are driving your addiction.

Once you identify your emotional triggers, you can begin to change them. For example, in many families, food equals love. The more you love people, the more you want them to eat. Therefore, if all family celebrations center around food, what strategies can you put into place to resist the temptation or family pressures to eat? Can you explain that you need your family’s support to succeed in your weight-loss program? Can you explain that you don’t want to die of a heart attack at an early age? Can you share your concerns about your health and wanting to be around to see your children grow up? Can you ask your family to understand that sharing time with them is what counts? If you are consistent, people will eventually accept the new you. But, do expect your family to try to pressure you to conform and return to the old you. Have the courage of your convictions. Stand your ground because you need to nurture and love yourself first before you can truly nurture and love others.

b. Write down your food triggers. A food trigger is usually high fat, high sugar, high salt or some combination. A food trigger leads to a binge of overeating. For example, if you eat ice cream, can you only eat one serving? Do you keep going back for more? Do you eat a whole bag of chips even if you start with a few? Are you unable to resist fast food if you see it, or smell it, or drive by your restaurant of choice? Do you reach for these trigger foods when you feel strong emotions?

List all of your food triggers in your journal. Initially, you will have to keep these foods out of your house. You need to keep yourself safe and avoid the temptation.

When you are in supermarket, for example, avoid any aisle, if possible, where these foods are displayed. For example, in my local market, all of the chips are in one aisle. I never go down that aisle unless I’m looking for a jar of popcorn once a year. If you can’t avoid going down one of those aisles, keep focused on your reason for being there. If I have to go down the cookie aisle to get to the herbal teas, I keep my eyes focused straight ahead. I know it takes me 10 seconds to get to the right spot.

Create your own strategies for keeping yourself safe from your trigger foods while at home, at the supermarket, at work, etc. There may be circumstances, such as parties or get togethers where you’ll be confronted by your trigger foods. Have a strategy in place whereby you remove yourself from the temptation. If you work with someone who brings donuts in daily, try to come in 10 minutes early to get your coffee and move on before those tempting treats arrive.

4. List strategies that you can realistically employ to start changing your brain. For example, can you take a different route to work to avoid the fast food place or the donut shop? If not, can you take other healthy foods with you and wave good-bye to your former “junk food connection”? I had a client who had to drive past her favorite fast food place every day, so she’d wave and say, “Glad to see ya, but I don’t need ya!” It was empowering.

5. Enlist the support of family members, coworkers and friends. The more support you have, the better. This is why people in Alcoholics Anonymous have a sponsor, who is a person who has worked the 12-Steps of Addiction. That person is there for support, understanding and advice. They are living the program, and they want to help the recovering alcoholic to do the same. They know all of the games and the pitfalls.

Your supporters may not be experts on weight loss. They may not have lived your challenges. But, their support, understanding and encouragement can help you to make it through the rough spots and achieve your goals. They can comfort you when you’re struggling and cheer you on when things are going well. Their energy will lift you up and help you to work toward successful weight loss.

6. Accept that breaking the cycle of addiction takes time and effort. You may not succeed the first time, just like the smoker who is trying to quit. You need to keep focused. Do not give up on yourself. It’s hard, but you can do it. Keep the faith. Each time something goes wrong, write it down. Think about it, but do not punish yourself by overeating. Instead, praise yourself for attempting to change. Praise everything you’ve done right. Keep making good choices for yourself. Every positive change is a victory. Be patient with yourself. Again, enlist the support of family, coworkers and friends.

7. Make your house a food fortress. Keep your trigger foods out of the house. If you are addicted to chips, no chips in the house. If your kids clamor for chips, you can explain to them that you need their support. As a family, go shopping for substitutes. Remember, your kids may also be addicted. Break the family addiction together. You are not nurturing your kids by feeding them high fat, high salt or high sugar foods. Give your children fruit and vegetable choices. The more colorful, the better. If there is no junk food in the house, the kids will become part of the team.

8. Keep physically active on a regular basis. Exercise produces endorphins. These are the “feel good” chemicals in our brains. Endorphins are a substitute for junk food. Exercise, as you know from reading my blog, is an essential component of weight loss and weight maintenance. Be consistent about exercise. Get your children involved in regular physical activities as well. Can you take a walk? Go for a jog? Put on music and dance? Do a fitness video together? Set a good example, and your children will follow.

9. Be a true believer. Talk about your program to anyone who will listen. Talking about your positive choices serves to reinforce them. Sharing with others will often inspire them. Being positive keeps the brain active and keeps you motivated. It staves off the depression that comes from junk food withdrawal.

10. Break old patterns of thoughts as well as actions. Write down at least 3-5 positive thoughts about yourself each day. Sometimes the very things you take for granted about yourself are really the best things. Do you hug your kids and tell them you love them? Do you make time to share with your spouse? Do you call a sick friend? Praise yourself for everything you do right. Forgive yourself for your mistakes. Remember, you are human. You cannot be perfect. If you are too strict with yourself, you will eventually break down and make poor choices again and again. Accept the fact that you are involved in an ongoing, lifelong process of weight loss and weight maintenance. You are working on your program to improve your health, your overall well-being and the well-being of your family. Believe in yourself. As your thoughts and food choices become healthier, you will see the positive results. In time, this will all become routine. Exercise coupled with healthy thinking and healthy food choices will be your way of life.

11. Accept that there is no cure for addiction. There can be a lessening of addiction over time. The brain can be retrained, by force of habit, to make healthier, more life-enhancing choices. However, the cravings can, will and do return, especially during times of stress. That is why people who haven’t smoked sometimes start again when they are going through a divorce, a job loss or an illness. Know that this may happen. Have strategies in place for dealing with possible stressors. Keep focused on how you broke the junk food addiction in the first place. Those strategies worked. They will work again. Always ask for support if it is available.

12. Accept that you are human. Eventually, there comes a point when you realize that your healthy exercise habits, healthy thoughts and healthy food choices have become second-nature. You don’t have to keep writing down what you’ve eaten in your food journal. You don’t have to keep track of your exercise routine because it’s exactly that, routine. You don’t have to worry about heading down the chip aisle in the supermarket. You shop according to your list, look for sales and weekly specials, and then you leave for home.

Once you are certain that you are living your program on a daily basis and have truly withdrawn from junk food, you can indulge cravings on an occasional basis. There are times when you will find yourself having a food craving. If you keep having a craving, satisfy it once and move on. If you absolutely must have that ice cream, buy one container with the understanding that you can eat it, enjoy it, but then, you have to stop. You can’t live forever without some treats. Ice cream, a bag of chips, a box of cookies won’t hurt you unless it begins a downward slide toward your addiction. Trust yourself that, yes, some cravings will surface again, but you will go right back to your program of healthy eating and healthy exercise. That is why it is essential to be certain you truly have withdrawn first. Then, you can indulge once in a while, but that’s it. Otherwise, keep these foods out of your home and ask those who love you to respect your wishes.

You are worth this journey. It is difficult, but I am living proof that it can be done.

If you are someone who has broken the junk food addiction cycle, please feel free to share your own thoughts, strategies and ideas. If you are struggling, please ask for help. I’d be happy to respond to your questions.