Addicted to Food

I’m addicted to food. Not the kind of addicted where you need it to live. No. The addicted where I need to eat just because I want to eat. I eat when the clock tells me to eat. I eat when I feel depressed. I eat when I feel tired. I eat when I’m with people. I eat just about everything in sight.

I’m not always that addicted. I know I have the self-control to quit stuffing my face with every delicacy put in front of me. But more often than not, I choose to allow my tastebuds to experience the thrill of the exciting texture and tastes of …. FOOD!

We have been struggling with behaviour issues with our son. So we made a radical move and eliminated all the candy in our house. We tried to say we got rid of the sugar in our house, but our son (who is too smart for me) says, "No, we didn’t!" and hauls out the big Tupperware container of white sugar from the pantry. So, yes, he’s right. We didn’t get rid of all sugar. But we did bag up and ship out all the candy in the hope to reduce the consumption of processed sugar in our house. That and the consequence of gaining or losing computer time has proven to motivate our son in a remarkable way. His behaviour has been spot-on for quite a while now. He can be quite the gentleman when he chooses to be.

The place we delivered all this candy was to my workplace. I filled a candy dish and have it at the reception area for the clients – the wrapped candy. The unwrapped candy is in a dish by my desk. That includes Jelly Belly jelly beans, Hickory Farms mints, etc. Don’t worry. I have the dish behind my computer screen, so I don’t see it and munch on the candy all the time. But I still do occasionally.

The candy is not the reason I realized I’m addicted to eating. No. Yesterday when I woke up I wasn’t hungry. Bruce made this great breakfast of deluxe hashbrowns -- hashbrowns with bacon, green pepper, onions, etc. I piled them high on my plate with a couple of fried eggs. Delicious. However, I couldn’t finish what I took (keeping in mind I took quite a bit). That’s not the point, though. The point is that I didn’t need any of it. I wasn’t hungry, and I ate anyway.

Okay, so, I decided I wasn’t going to eat again until I was hungry. Our church has bought a new building and we have been helping with cleaning and painting. Yesterday was Family Day (a stat holiday), and a perfect opportunity for a work-bee. We showed up just as lunch was being made. I pitched in and helped cut up apples, wash lettuce, and generally get lunch ready. Our son had a play date to go to before everyone was served lunch, so I fed him and offered to take him to his friend's house thinking I would just skip lunch. I was still quite full from breakfast and had made that promise to myself not to eat until I was hungry. All was well. That is, until I got back and the food was out and people were eating. What do I do? I grab a plate and get a burger. Wait a minute! I’m not hungry! (she says as she shovels the food in her mouth)

Well, when you fall down, you just pick yourself up again. Okay, now really. I won’t eat again until I’m hungry. If I’m not hungry at supper, I won’t have anything. That was a nice thought, but that is all it ended up being. We were invited to friends’ for supper. Lasagna with Caesar salad and blueberry crisp for dessert. Once again my tastebuds won out over my stomach, and I had a very generous helping of supper. The word "Glutton" comes to mind.

Bruce and I have made a bet with each other. Who can lose 20 pounds the fastest? I only have another 25 pounds to lose.

I’m glad Lent is right around the corner.