DoloresHaze

That's a good point, Gracie. I don't understand those people either. I see those people and think, how could you eat to that excess and let your body get in that condition? A human being should not weigh 400 pounds.

Then they may look right back at me and think, how could you consume so much alcohol? Don't you know what it's doing to your body?

Hm. A lot to think about.

dwtbd

yeah for me drunk means 'oh look im conscious again, must have been drunk last night' drinking just meant everything consumed til the lights went out, drinking last night means no blackout, drunk other hand..

MattM316

Well food isn't a drug, so essentially there isn't any real reason to overeat to such an extent that you end up morbidly obese.
It's countless times easier to eat healthy or lose weight than it is to refrain from a drug, whether that be alcohol or something else.

mick3580

I am sure that the overwatered on this site will claim otherwise.

MattyBoy

100% agree. I always get irritated when people feel sympathy for those who are obese due to 'comfort eating' and yet unsympathetic to people who use alcohol for comfort, when alcohol actually causes chemical euphori in the brain and food doesn't.

GracieLou

But it does. That comfort causes a euphoria. It makes them feel better even if it is only for the moment.

I am not here to judge. As an alcoholic and a human being, I feel that is one of my responsibilities in life, not to judge others for their personal problems/issues.

I don't understand the addict. I have not taken many drugs but when I have they did nothing for me. I could take it or leave it just like the true social drinkers can take it or leave it.

They don't understand me and I don't understand them. I can't expect them or anyone for that matter to understand me while holding on to prejudice. That is simply not fair.

To each his own.

MattyBoy

I understand that the comfort causes temporary euphoria and I don't judge obes people at all. All I'm saying is that if people can understand comfort eating and sympathis they should be able to grasp the fact that some people comfort drink too.

john44

I don't think it's that easy at all for a lot of overeaters. I knew a person who went to Overeaters Anonymous and this is how they explained it. Imagine trying to get and stay sober but being REQUIRED to consume a certain amount of alcohol a day. Food is the drug they use to medicate the same condition alcoholics have but they cannot abstain from food. I think this makes overeating much more difficult to deal with.

WritingFromLife

John44 soooo true! I have watched my husband struggle with food for many years. He has every reason to not overeat--a daughter begging him to live, serious heart disease in his family including his 49 year old brother just had a major one at age 50--my husband is 47. Similar to an alcoholic that has every reason to stop drinking and doesn't.

I have learned to never, ever minimize anyone elses addictions/issues.

MattM316

I don't agree at all.
No alcoholic really likes the taste of it. I never ever thought "that vodka tastes great, that's why I want more".
It's how it makes you feel mentally.
Alcohol is a drug, food isn't. When people over eat to the extent that they become obese, then it's quite simply down to greed.
I don't think you can seriously compare being greedy to being addicted to a drug, and I think it's quite insulting to most people who use this site to do so.

cittanatha

i have to disagree with a couple of your statements.

i *loved* vodka ... the effect, the flavor, all of it. it was a sweet package deal at the time. so you are wrong there.

also, food is most certainly a "drug" -- in the sense of it being an addictive substance -- for many people.

simply googling ** food addiction } will inform you better about this.

'hope this helps. :-)

WritingFromLife

Well guys, I'm out on this one. Feeling personally attacked. I need to go get some thicker skin.

cittanatha

aw i'm sorry to hear you're feelin' that over *one* ill-informed *opinion*. take care.

LuLu13

Sorry, writingfromlife, not all of us feel that way. I do believe that food can be as addicting and used for many of the same reasons. I do not judge, I am not thin but not due to food, due to the thousands of calories of booze I consumed each day. Please come back to the boards, don't let a few posts derail your efforts.

cittanatha

p.s. googling ** carbohydrate addiction } is also quite informative.

MattM316

They are still debating whether food can be addictive or not. When science can't prove it's addictive in 2013 then i'm going with my view that it's not.
Either way, i'm unsure why people simply eating too much has cropped up in an alcoholism forum.

WritingFromLife

Thanks you guys--not going away permanently--been around here too long--just collecting myself. We all have our days--and on this one, I need thicker skin :-) It's no one else's fault.

To the OP....you are not a freak! And thanks for the thread. Hugs to ALL of you!

GracieLou

Because I don't understand what someone gets eating a dozen donuts anymore than the donut eater understands my need for a 1/2 gallon of whiskey every two days.

The point was the OP thought they were a freak for drinking as much as they did and my point was that it depends were you are standing as what felt normal to you, can be strange or even outrageous to someone else.

I don't think it is the food that is addicting as the feeling they get but then again I have no clue, I don't have a problem with that but I don't look down my nose at people that do.

And I also liked the taste of whiskey. There was alcohol I did not like such as beer so I did not consume it but whiskey, that was my vice.

MattyBoy

I see it from both sides. The processes going on are actually quite similar in alcoholics and food 'addicts' in that there overweight people can actually build up a tolerance to food in the same way we alcoholics build a tolerance to alcohol a,though its a different physiological mechanism that takes place. In people who gain weight, it has been shown that there stomachs enlarge sometimes by up to 300% their original size and thus the overweight individual does not feel full after eating the same amount as regular people and as a result craves more food.

However there are two major differences between food and alcohol. Alcohol actually alters your Brain chemistry causing a chemical sense of relaxation and euphoria. Food does this to some extent as the brain releases feel good chemicals when we eat as we are carrying out a process that keeps us alive but it is far less intense and short lived. Also food isn't physically addictive. You're not gonna get the shakes or rum fits if you don't eat for a while as you can with booze withdrawal but as I pointed out earlier an over weight individual will of course feel a psychological craving.

Also it seems that some people are born to be obese in the same way some people are genetically predisposed to alcoholism. I for one eat a hell of a lot but don't gain weight as I have a fast metabolic rate. I have a friend who doesn't eat that much more than I do who is a good 5 stone heavier and has a slow metabolic rate.

Anyway as Gracie Lou said it is best not to judge things we cannot understand and we should show compassion to both compulsive over eaters and compulsive drinkers.

BikerAcct

Here I disagree with you in a couple of areas. I love the taste of a good beer. Love, love love it! Even some flavored vodka, on ice, was fantastic.

And food makes you feel great mentally also. Nothing beats, to me, the taste of a good, non-lean, full of fat, burger. I had to learn to stop eating those, just like I had to learn to stop drinking.