A recovering food addict

Hi, I'm Raelene, and I'm a food addict.

Yet if I was an addict of another kind in recovery there would be so much more support.  (Not that this post is in any way intended to judge those that ARE addicts of ANY kind!).

As food addicts, we are constantly bombarded with temptation.

If you manage to avoid the "bad" aisles in a supermarket, there will be plenty more brightly packaged, super addictive, and completely yummy items as you get to the checkout.

You go out for a coffee and there's always a display case filled with cakes, slices, and other goodies that we associate with guilt when we eat.  If you're with other people who wish to partake but you don't, do they accept your decision and leave it alone, or do they tell you that one won't hurt you?

Most work meetings or catered events consist of sandwiches on white bread and a platter of slices or muffins.  What are you to do?  Refuse and go hungry, or break with the standards that you're trying to set for yourself?

So just imagine these three situations in a different context - that of an alcoholic;
(and you could interchange this for any type of addiction)

You go to the supermarket, the alcohol is separate.  But what if it was on offer at the point of sale?

The coffee scenario - what if we changed it up slightly and you were out at a bar with friends.  If they knew you were recovering, would they offer you a drink anyway?  And would they even ask you to meet them at a bar in the first place?

And in the work situation, well I guess it's a little like Friday night drinks.  Although no-one turns their noses up at you if you refuse a beer.  And there's always a non-alcoholic option (at least in my experience).  Plus, you can just not go, which isn't an option with catered meetings.


I guess the point I'm trying to make in a very long-winded way is that for those of us on a weight-loss journey, it's bloody hard out there.  And although I'm at "goal weight" whatever the heck that means, it doesn't lessen the temptation, and I certainly don't consider myself "cured".  The thing that I'm addicted to is shoved in my face several times a day (not literally - I would keep my mouth closed if someone was shoving crappy food in my direction - most of the time at least) and there's absolutely nothing I can do to avoid it.  It's everywhere.

All we can do is take it one day, one meal, one win, however small at a time :)