I can only offer my opinion Ice and I[m sure you will get plenty of them. The rubbish food we like is generally carbohydrate. That is turned into glocose in our body and some of it goes straight to our brain. We get high. The brain can absorb glucose instantly whereas other cells in or body need to convert it and do all soughts of things to use it. I'm not a scientist. My daughter is type 1 diabetic, this is how I know. So we literally get a sugar fix. Thus you feel better and better. The down side is, of course, the down side. Like any drug we have to keep having the fix to feel OK. For me that is the chemical side of eating to much. Not to many people out there eating to much lettuce huh?
Then there is the emotional, and I think it is a biggy. I have recently come to see that I eat rather than assert myself. In situations where I need to assert myself, say how I am feeling, I tend to protect people, keep my mouth shut, and than go and stuff myself with food.
I also think that those of us who put on weight are prone to depression and that is largely from abuse.
What am I saying? We always walk away from a fight, we have a personality that longs for attention and affection and we learn to get it by compromising ourselves in some way,thus we get abused by people with more "power".
My solution, at the moment. Use "I"statements as much as possible and talk about how I feel whenever reasonalbe. That is how I assert myself. People don't like it, and that is a big problem for us fat people, we want everyone to like us. We will do anything to be liked.
Not any more. I am what I am, take it or leave it.
Please try this as an experiement. Never start a sentence with "you", or "your". Sounds simple until you try.
And on the carbs, don't have them in the house. Like an alcoholic, we need to be abstinant, no junk in the house, as we are addicted to it. I am addicted to it.
So,no more.
Two things:
"I" statements
No junk in the house.
Please, seriously, just try this for two weeks and let me know what happens.

The last few years I began to get sweets to uplift my mood when in pain (I have fibromyalgia).

Now I write in my journal, play with my dogs, watch a DVD, exercise (yep, it does make me feel better), hug members on DS, review my plans and goals, dream up great vacations, and on the worst days of pain, I take a nap so I am well rested.

I am in the most pain when I am tired and I don't sleep well. So I make myself get some rest. Being rested is the best!

For too long I have been in serious denial. Not willing to admit that there was something wrong w/me. The only time that I would feel uplifted would be when I had my sugar fix as stated by cleverdic. I am also a person that needs to fit in. Being an only child, I feel isolated at times. Constantly searching for friends, I ended up being my own worst enemy. I have to start focusing on myself instead of putting so much emphasis on what others think about me.
What really matters most is what I think about myself & also coming to the realization that you can't please everyone w/o disappointing yourself.

Hey Ice,
I love that pic,excellent! I guess you've got enough free advice now to fill a book, but I can offer one thing to you that hasnt been said. Its best to work on one addiction at a time, dont focus on too much at once. And substitution can help, Instead of junk food as a feel good device, is there something you really love to do? A hobby or something you just dont seem to have time for? Take something away and replace it with something of value.

What an honest and couragest post. When I'm in the realms of eating, I too get happy over food. I just smile & smile. I'm not sure what to say. I've been eating healthy for a month now thanks to my doctor for putting on the brakes. She gave me the most encouraging little talk. It did something to me and I've started changing. I also got diagnosed with diabetes. Anyway, try to focus on something other than food that you enjoy. I enjoy coming to this site and all the perks it has to offer, I like to do arts and crafts, I like to watch an occasional movie, I love to read, etc. Maybe focus on some other things besides food. We'll always enjoy food. I'm convinced of that. I just don't have to eat it all the time now. But the food I do eat now, well, I enjoy that too. Thank you for being so honest and couragest.

In my weight loss journey, I've made a deal with myself: When I think I want to eat, I first do something else (ideally exercise) for 10-15 minutes. Usually I do leg lifts or situps or jumping jacks or a combination of those--and if, when I finish, I'm still craving something, I let myself have a REASONABLE portion. Most of the time I don't "need" it anymore, and if I do, I figure it's better to give myself a little break than have a binge later.

Through the years I have developed a strong relationship w/food. When I was younger I ate nothing but junk but I was a skinny kid. I was really active then. I still have the same strong pull towards junk food now as I did then.
Halloween was my favorite holiday because I got to eat as much candy as I collected & I really had a lot of candy!
I have to find the root of my problem.
Is it weird to think about food all day long?

Hey, Ice! I sure think about food all the time. The only time I didn't was back in the fen-phen (sp?) days ... Ten or 15 years ago, that was all the rage as far as diet pills. I visited the doc, got a prescription, and it was like a light switch! Serious! One day I was obsessed with food, and after I started the medicine - boom - completely detached. I'd come home from work, take my time fixing something healthy, eat it, and just be satisfied. I could still taste my food and everything, but I was eating to live rather than living to eat. I'm not saying fen-Phen is a good thing at all. It caused heart damage in some people and I believe is no longer available, at least in the combination of the two drugs. However, my experience convinced me that at least some of the food obsession is caused by chemical imbalance. That's not to say that I've given myself a green light to give in to my cravings. I'm fighting hard, but honestly believe my battle is harder than for some other people, like my mom, who used to forget to eat sometimes. I have never forgotten to eat and never will! Bottom line - you're definitely not alone in being obsessed with food! xoxo

A great big thank you to all of you who responded to my post! Food addiction is not a one two three process, it comes from many different factors involving emotion, chemical imbalances, habit, environment, etc... I will just have to focus on one meal at a time.

OK, thank you very much, just told my story for the day... ugh! I have no advise only complete and utter understanding to it all. I hate that I love food and hate that I hate food... but I am grateful for you guys and happy to have a site to be with others like me on....

Froilee,
I also have a love/hate relationship with food. Sometimes I wish all the foods that I enjoy the most did not come with the horrible side effects of weight gain, etc..