Beating an Addiction

The 4 stages of addiction come in to play mainly when you try to change an eating habit or anything that is self medicated. Food is the most common addiction for the majotity of us - Bread, drinks, Desserts, alcohol Alcohol. Other addictions are fast fatty foods, this is a high addiction. People usually consume generous helpings of steak, burgers, and chips(fries), large salads, which ar healthy but not with great big mountains of dressing. Chunks of cheese also tend to appear as a part of a daily food consumption.

Calories are units of energy, after your dinner you want to be full of energy no feeling tired.

Eating more than you need you start to feel like you are in a different state similar to a slight drugged state, so when you are eating your not really thinking about anything else, which is why it is said when your unhappy you comfort eat.

Stage One – Resistance to change

A certain program comes says, At breakfast each morning try not to have a drink, except water take a beverage every other day, have a soup as a meal instead of something heavier, and weigh your self every day.

This may be scary stuff. You are probabily thinking that you are just fine this old way and that the new way wont be the same. You are apprehensive about doing something new and something different that isnt as easy as the normal way you do things, but you know the way thing are now are producing negative results.

It is the narrow minded view that the outcome of what you attemping will end badly, even though you dont know or havent even experienced the possible outcome yet. It is the addiction to the old ways that have contorded your way of thinking to give up and make you feel justified for doing so.

Stage Two – Begrudging attempts

You decide to join a weight loss program and have obtained information on dieting, however grudgingly, you will try it out. You think - I dont want to do this, I will just pick 1 or 2 days a week were I wont have coffee and a bun on my break, I don’t want to weigh myself twice a day. I really dont want to document everything I eat. I wnat to have my fry or danish in the morning not cereal. I don’t want breakfast in the morning, but I will because I want to weigh XX pounds.

Stage Three – Surprise, I enjoyed it

I actually tried a bowl of hot cereal in the morning and found it to be most enjoyable. For lunch I took a walk down to the deli and had the most delicous soup, that I was quite surprised to have enjoyed so much. For the evening time I had a cup of hot water instead of my usual coffee and thought it strangely satisfying

Stage Four – The new way becomes the comfortable and preferred way

It is very important to differentiate between the foods that were familiar and the foods that you really love, just try not to overload yourself on food to numb the senses. Striving to get the food and consuming it has become an intrigal part of the self medication that you put yourself through. The mere thought of not getting your food fix induces a feeling of anxiety and you become slightly annoyed. You just eat what ever it is to feel comfortable hense the "comfort eating" term. Consider it this way - not drinking coffee and getting a sore head then drinking coffee to relieve the discomfort caused by not getting it, it’s like horse chasing a corrot on a stick.

Having the knowledge of the 4 stages of addiction with help you to be pro active in getting rid of any resistance to making that move described in stages 2 and 3 and all the way to knowing the new way is the comfortable, preferred way.