In my experience, compulsive overeating is every bit as much an addiction as alcoholism, smoking, or hard drugs. I saw myself exhibiting the exact same behaviors around food as I did around alcohol (splitting my shopping up between multiple corner stores so none of them would know how much I was eating) and feeling the exact same way about myself (I'm a worthless piece of shit, I'll never get a handle on this, I might as well just dive in and die young).
You might argue that had I not learned those behaviors while being an active alcoholic, I wouldn't have put them into use with food. Maybe. I think that's beside the point. The point is that I couldn't stop even though I desperately wanted to.
In my case I had food problems before I got sober. I hear about people turning to food after they stop drinking (in fact one very well-known program explicitly recommends it), but for me food, booze, drugs, nicotine, and casual sex were/are a package deal. They all hit the same place in my brain, perform the same function for me emotionally, and are impossible to quit on my own.
(Posted anonymously for reasons I hope are obvious.)
The other one he talks about that I think deserves highlighting is the "last house on the block" problem, where a lot of other successful addicts have turned to food as a more "acceptable" vice, and then struggle immensely to defeat it when they realise it's the last one left.
I know I certainly struggle with that fact. I had serious problems with both weed and benzodiazepines, and while I certainly wasn't skinny while I was on them, my weight only really started to spiral uncontrollably once I successfully kicked them.
I agree completely with this article by the way. While quitting weed was mentally exhausting, and quitting benzos was physically painful, food is the only one out of the three that I haven't been successful with so far. I think that says a lot.
Now I'm eating eggs without the yolks, red lentils (very easy to make) and falafel (fried in the oven), and my triglycerid levels and weight are changing without me trying to binge at all.
Oh please. If it didn't work for you thats fine. Don't go spreading baseless FUD.
I seriously believe that I wouldn't be able to live a happy life on a low-carb diet (let's say 30-60 years), but leaving a few unhealthy ingredients out to keep my glucose and cholesterol levels in check is not a problem (as long as I'm not hungry)
I'm doing basically the opposite - I avoid polyunsaturated oils as much as possible, and prefer simple sugars (fruit juices) over starches. I'm starting to sleep much better, which I think is a good sign, for me.
