I could write 17 pages about this subject – but I really want to try to keep it short & sweet – hopefully to drill the point home.

There have been many articles in the news lately comparing simple carbohydrate foods and fatty foods to the effects hard drugs have on your body and mind.

I bring this up because I don’t think when someone decides to change their eating habits or to lose weight – they give it the consideration and respect that it needs. If you had a drug or alcohol problem – you would (hopefully) do everything in your power to turn your life around. But because food is something we NEED everyday – it’s really hard to look at it and treat in the same way.

As a weight management coach I deal with this a lot. Clients come to me and the first 3 or 4 weeks of a lifestyle change is HARD. (Not that week five is easy, but it starts to get easier.) With EVERY client I have worked with, they experience some sort of withdrawal. Yes. Withdrawal. They get angry, agitated, moody and many other things. They think that eating crap or overeating will make them feel better – the same way a drug addict thinks a fix will make the pain go away. But the fact is-  the food ‘or drugs’ will only make them feel better for a very short time and then they will feel worse. The vicious cycle begins again.

In starting a lifestyle, the first week seems to be the easiest. You know, your so excited about the new possibilities – you feel like nothing can stop you. Then the uncomfortable period hits and things get tough. You get moody and think the new lifestyle is to blame. But really it’s your old habits that are causing you this pain – only you think your old habits are the answer. So you give up. Here is what I’m suggesting -

SUPPORT.

If you have the luxury of hiring a weight loss coach or a therapist I highly recommend it. If you can’t, having a good friend to talk to everyday about your struggles is great idea. Just like an alcoholic, I think you have to push through the detox phase in order to come up for air. If food addiction is taken as seriously as say, cocaine addiction, then you would not for a second think that you could do it alone. The other thing to remember is you have to seek out alcohol or drugs – you confront food everyday. And you NEED food to live and breath. It’s always going to be there to tempt you.

To read more – click on the articles below. Just a few of the many articles on the subject right now.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=addicted-to-fat-eating

http://www.torontolife.com/daily/daily-dish/read-all-about-it/2010/03/29/junk-food-and-cocaine-pretty-much-the-same-thing-study/

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/28/fatty.foods.brain/

Anyway, it’s all food for thought right? I guess I just wanted you to know that if you have to lose weight for health related reasons, it should not be taken lightly. If you can’t seem to do it on your own – DON”T BLAME YOURSELF!!! There is a really good reason for it. It’s not that you don’t have the will power or are not capable of it! It’s that sometimes – you need support to get you through. And although, “it’s just food” – you can see that “just food” can have a power over you that you can’t begin to understand right now. Once you learn to control it- you will understand it.

I really think those are two keys to success. Feeling in control of food and understand it’s addictive qualities.