I think Shirley was wrong about being able to control even your favorite foods, eating a small, normal, thin person's portion. I used to believe it could be done, but now I know it can't, at least not for me. I'm going to stay at coping level 7 with all the sweets, chips, and other fatty foods. I can't have them around me, and that's that.
They'll be in the house, but I'll have to find a way to avoid those trigger foods. I have to give them up forever. So when do I want to do this? Hah, that's the problem, isn't it?
But as with alcohol, certain foods trigger overeating--I could end up binging for days, weeks, even months, as I do every year at holiday time. It's so difficult to say no, though, even when what is offered is not appetizing at all. How insidious is this problem? Quite, considering the level of media blitz that is focused on consuming fattening foods.
One show: ad for M&Ms which starts out talking about lack of resistance to chocolate, and has a kind of dark edge to it--the M&M candies don't seem to know they will be eaten, and then that "eating" has a sexual connotation.
Wendy's ad: burgers with cheese that are spicy. Just a picture of the burgers, joke about fire, two-for-one sale to give you an excuse for eating there. An Arby's commercial remarkably similar. Another Arby's commercial with a "big" fish sandwich with plenty of fatty tartar sauce and a bargain for incentive.
So, the marketers know what people are addicted to, and for most people it's fat and possibly also chocolate. I can't control those things any more than an alcoholic can control whisky or wine. I have no trouble sipping a beer and then putting the rest away for days or weeks. If I had some cake or ice cream or candy, it would not last the night. I don't feel about sweets the same way I feel about alcohol, and that tells me that there's something different about sweets and their effect on me.
I should think of myself as allergic to these kinds of food. Allergies can be thought of as a heightened sensitivity to the substance in the way that an allergy to bee stings or peanut butter can be. If I have a heightened sensitivity to chocolate, for instance, in that I receive an overly strong stimulus from it, can I consider that an allergy? Maybe.
They'll be in the house, but I'll have to find a way to avoid those trigger foods. I have to give them up forever. So when do I want to do this? Hah, that's the problem, isn't it?
But as with alcohol, certain foods trigger overeating--I could end up binging for days, weeks, even months, as I do every year at holiday time. It's so difficult to say no, though, even when what is offered is not appetizing at all. How insidious is this problem? Quite, considering the level of media blitz that is focused on consuming fattening foods.
One show: ad for M&Ms which starts out talking about lack of resistance to chocolate, and has a kind of dark edge to it--the M&M candies don't seem to know they will be eaten, and then that "eating" has a sexual connotation.
Wendy's ad: burgers with cheese that are spicy. Just a picture of the burgers, joke about fire, two-for-one sale to give you an excuse for eating there. An Arby's commercial remarkably similar. Another Arby's commercial with a "big" fish sandwich with plenty of fatty tartar sauce and a bargain for incentive.
So, the marketers know what people are addicted to, and for most people it's fat and possibly also chocolate. I can't control those things any more than an alcoholic can control whisky or wine. I have no trouble sipping a beer and then putting the rest away for days or weeks. If I had some cake or ice cream or candy, it would not last the night. I don't feel about sweets the same way I feel about alcohol, and that tells me that there's something different about sweets and their effect on me.
I should think of myself as allergic to these kinds of food. Allergies can be thought of as a heightened sensitivity to the substance in the way that an allergy to bee stings or peanut butter can be. If I have a heightened sensitivity to chocolate, for instance, in that I receive an overly strong stimulus from it, can I consider that an allergy? Maybe.
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