freedomfries

I do alright during the day with diet and exercise, but then I wake up in the night and binge on cookies and milk. It's only early days in my recovery. Day 10. So maybe I should just focus on quitting the booze. But I'm overweight and I need to do something about my belly. Maybe I should have some fruit and a glass of water when I wake up at night. What are your tips for overcoming food addiction?

least

My only true food addiction is to M&Ms dark chocolate candy. I'm not doing anything about it other than eating healthy otherwise.

Let go of the booze first, then work on the diet, is my opinion. Get comfortable and secure with sobriety before changing your eating habits.

gypsytears

I would talk to my doctor and a nutritionist if it’s a serious concern. Barring that, not having junk food in the house eliminates the availability when temptation hits. Keeping healthier choices like fruits & vegetables, nuts & seeds, popcorn etc is a good idea. That being said I feel that in the early days of recovery giving yourself a bit of a pass on sweets can sometimes make sobriety easier at first. Exercise can be as simple as a nice walk in the fresh air. That’s always helpful.

Wastinglife

I gain weight and become bloated when I am off the wagon. I drink about 12 pints a beer a day and those empty calories pack on the pounds.

When I sober up and try to lose weight I change my diet. I don't keep any junk foods or things with sugar. Currently, I have a bag of raw baby carrots and a bag of grapes in the fridge. If i get hungry late at night, that's all there is.

WaterOx

When I quit I went for months at a time eating a pint of Ben & Jerrys every single night. I gained more weight doing that than I did with booze and I still maintain that it was just as bad for my health as booze...maybe worse.

That's just my experience. I completely understand why anyone would want to go there in order to help quit booze- but the next time around I'm doing it differently lol.

Sober45

I have that issue...waking up and eating )even when I drank). I go for sweets. If I eat fruit I wake up fine the next day. But I only do that when the other crap is not around. Last night it was cookies and my stomach is Not happy this morning! Today I have to get back on track.

I find that when I eliminate flour (gluten) and dairy I lose weight no matter what I eat. Today I’m gonna make some energy balls (includes peanut butter and pure maple syrup, coconut. They go down good at 2am and don’t cause issues.

get creative with your food. It’s time consuming but a great way to stay healthy and kill the boredom ( hint hint).

freedomfries

I asked my mother to lock the cookie box away in her room at night time, so that should stop the night binges. Drastic times call for drastic measures.

Sober45

My mother eats like this too and that’s what she does. She hardly ever brings junk into the house. For me though hubby eats a lot of junk so I keep getting into his stuff. I’m going to ask him to take it away today. But I’ll make sure I’ll have something made that won’t kill my stomach. If I wake up and have nothing I can’t get back to sleep. So right now it’s damage control until I have at least a year sober under my belt.

eat food you can digest easily. If it clogs my digestive track it also clogs my mind and mood.

D122y

At 10 days clean I was a mess on the inside. Photos of me, my wife takes hundreds a month, look normal, but the physical and mental healing were just starting.

I didn't know if I had a food addiction, but I knew I had a booze addiction. I craved so hard. I poured out about 2 gallons of hard booze. I had no remorse watching the poison go down the drain.

The crave was so strong back then and it seemed to really ramp up for a several months. After about a year clean, the addiction morphed into a near relapse. 2 years was the same thing. SR saved me. Both times I was considering starting to drink again, but more sober heads prevailed.

SR still saves me today. Last week when my wife handed me a shot of soju, I knew I would eventually have to answer up here if I drank it.

This place can be used to stay accountable, before the relapse.

Thanks for the therapy.

snitch

Yes, I do.

I am in AA, sober for 2 years and 5 months and only now am I ready to tackle my food and been in OA (overeaters anonymous) for 3 weeks now and doing really well.

My advice based on my own experience is to concentrate on getting sober first. Getting and staying sober has to be top priority. Everything else will follow. However if you are feeling really bad when eating then try snacking on healrhy food options instead.

I will ALWAYS pick up a cookie or candy before picking up a drink.

♥️🙏

freedomfries

I put the cookie box in my parents' room at 7pm then went to bed. Then I woke up at 10pm, retrieved the cookie box and binged. Brought the box down to the kitchen and binged several more times in the night. :/


So putting it in my parents' room has been a failure.

I just need to rely on willpower moving forward. I'm going to apply AVRT.

I will never eat cookies again and I will never change my mind.

Honestly, I think I might need to go to rehab for food.

MythOfSisyphus

Well, that's a challenge! I can't say what the best approach is for you. Personally when I first quit drinking I kind of gave myself permission to eat whatever so long as it wasn't booze. After a while I started back on low-carb/keto. That kind of corrects the cravings after a while. In a sense relying on willpower alone with food isn't much easier than willpower for booze- you need a system/method IMO.

anxiousrock

I have always struggled with eating disorders and food addiction, even more so than my alcohol addiction, but it's all related. I have finally found something that works for my eating problems.
now if only I could find something for my anxiety . I havent been drinking but my anxiety has been off the charts.

freedomfries

I struggle with anxiety too, What's worked for me is lexapro. Are you taking any medication? Maybe talk to your doctor.

biminiblue

FF, food is a very difficult one. Sugar/fat combos like cookies especially.

I think you might be setting yourself up for failure with a Big Plan for cookies. I spent many years getting my food under control and it isn't the same thing as smoking or alcohol, at all. You have to eat.

I know Overeaters Anonymous preaches "None whatsoever" of binge foods, and I suppose that might work for some, but I decided that life wasn't worth living without things like cookies. I just only eat them now and then because once I start I'll eat the whole package. Special occasion food.

You can quit cookies, but it really isn't necessary right at this moment in time. I really think you are putting WAY too much pressure on yourself, almost like you're punishing yourself for your thing with your sister.

Cookies will take a very long time to kill you. Many people have problems cutting back and will binge on sugary or sugar/fatty treats. Carbs are good for your neurotransmitter system, so there is some physiology/biology going on when you crave carbs in early sobriety. I ate anything and everything I wanted in early sobriety and what I usually craved was sweets or bread.

Just....anxiety is going to be worse when you are hungry - so be careful, it could lead to an alcohol relapse if you're cutting carbs too. It's really common for alcoholics to have insulin problems in the beginning and especially at night so what you're doing is not abnormal or something to be scared or angry about.

Cookies > Alcohol

anxiousrock

Yep! I take Paxil... but i don't find it helps all that much.