Is Over Eating An Addiction

And no, over eating is not usually an addiction but habit.

I have always thought diet and weight gain more complex than just eating less. As has already been said health, medication and metabolic rate all play a large part.
However, a big culprit seems to be ‘accidental’ calories, as in just that one mint in the car while driving, the biscuit offered with the cup of coffee or snacking while absorbed in a film or TV programme.
These, often sugar loaded calories can add up to 100s if not 1000s a day without the brain thinking of them as food.

Seerkeen, sounds like something most of us has experienced at some time or another..Thing is...has something occurred to trigger this off..sadness, loneliness, unhappiness ?? getting to the root of the cause could be half the battle...
I feel I've managed to curb this by making a little more 'me time'...spot of manicure/pedicure grooming...thinking a little about ourselves instead of ALWAYS putting others first...etc...try it, good luck!

Serkeen There are a lot of us about! I think it's not so much an addiction as an eating disorder ( usually called compulsive eating) . As others have said , some people completely go off their food in times of stress while some of us overeat. I think the medical profession is beginning to see the problem as an emotional one instead of "greediness".It may well seem like greed but there is an underlying cause somewhere.

As I have said before on GNet if your gut bacteria is not healthy it is difficult to resist eating as your gut send messages to your brain to eat more.
This isn't me going loopy. Read Tim Spectors book- the diet Myth. I don't know the man and have no interest in his income from promoting it but his book answers a lot of questions.

There's emotional eating which many of us suffer from. If we're upset or worried we eat more to comfort ourselves. I've got it a bit. I'm sure that modern refined foodstuffs contain something addictive in them which make you want to reach for yet another slice whether you're hungry or not.
It takes a lot of self-discipline to break the cycle. Don't beat yourself up about it - just say that you'll be better tomorrow.

It also depends on your metabolic rate. D.S. processes his calories VERY quickly. If I wait too long for food, I can feel quite wobbly. I also think that sometimes I over eat because I am thirsty! We have to find a regime that suits us. I have just started reading a library book about tapping (E.F.T.). I know I have mentioned this before. I use it to counteract stress and anxiety. But the book talks about using it for all sorts of problems so would recommend it for helping with over eating.

I had a session with an RTT hypnotherapist, absolutely brilliant result. In hypnosis found out the underlying reasons for overeating. It was to do with a death in my family and my aunts bringing lots of sweets, cakes etc to comfort me. Having uncovered that I was able to eat sensibly.

Morgana I agree with you, EFT tapping is brilliant. I have just taught it to my adult son to help him cope with a relationship break-up. I used it recently to help combat my spider phobia when there was a plague of those massive house-spiders.

Growing up I realise now I used food as a comfort. It filled the hole. Due to circumstances in my family. It definately WAS my comfort. Later in Life if I was upset I lost my appetite and couldnt face food atall. As far as alcohol addiction or any other addiction is concerned (as others on here have talked about) in my experience having worked in the addiction field. Every person I have ever met who has an addiction has come from (here we go) a dysfunctional background. i.e. not having had their needs met. Hole in the soul. need to fill it. by either shopping, drink, food, sex, co-dependent relationships, keeping busy, in order not to feel. Of course that is not to say that everyone who overeats is an addict, but there is always a reason why anyone overdoes anything.

Not every alcoholic comes from a dysfunctional background. There is a possible genetic cause.

I'm the opposite when I'm stressed I dont eat and never touch alcohol..I like to be in control .If I'm stressed I feel out of control so food and drink is the only thing I have control over /Always been like thst.Not that I drink often anyway but I sometimes like a nice brandy after dinner

I dont think it is an addiction, more comfort eating.I dont over eat, but turn to chocolate if I am feeling a bit down or if I am bored or worried, it is only a litttle bar of chocolate which is a great "comfort"

Yes, over eating is an addiction, please get help before it gets really bad. The longer it goes on the more difficult it will be to stop. I speak from experience, it happened to me when we lost our eldest son.

Over eating can only be helped by dealing with the underlying cause through counselling or other mental therapeutic intervention.

I overeat when I am moderately stressed, it acts as a comfort and a sedative.
When I am really stressed I run on adrenaline and can cope without food.
Also eat when bored or lonely.
Really feel I am locked in a Dolls House at the moment.
DH works all the time, but doesn't want any animals so I can't have a cat.
He can only see the world through his own eyes. Arch traditionalist. Very kind man though.
Really want to lose weight and get to a healthy bmi.
Will try EFT also the 18/6.
Thanks for listening. Perhaps we can use GN to ease the need to eat for comfort.

LOOPYLOO Yes agree know exactly how you feel

I think we need to occupy our minds and life get out more live life

I always hate myself after I have eaten too much well hate a strong word but am upset but tell myself its ok you don't do this often which I don't I weigh 10st 9 but want to weigh a lot less x

Whatever you call it, over eating is not easy to overcome. You ask any fat person whether they like being fat, the majority will tell you they don't and they actually feel self loathing because they are fat. Ask them whether they have ever tried to get slim and a vast majority will tell you they have been trying for years. If it was as easy as not eating so much, don't you think fat people would just eat less? It is all such an easy equation on paper but the variables of human psyche completely screw it up.

I haven’t read all the posts, but just to answer the OP, no, I would not call eating more when stressed as an addiction.
When things settle down you will eat normally again,an addict could not do that.
There are two types of stress related eating, those who comfort eat and those who can barely eat, I am one of the latter.It’s just a pattern of eating when feeling stressed.

icanhandthemback totally agree.

An addiction is needing an ever increasing amount of something to obtain the same effect.
However overeating to a level of self harm is an eating disorder.
Serkeen is this way of eating affecting your whole life? Has it given long term bad health over many years in the past? If not then you're okay.

Anya you are entitled to your opinion. But in my experience of working with addiction, I stick to what I stated in my post

About a year ago my doctor told me that as well as having rosacea I was developing rhinophyma. I had discovered a lump on the left side of my nose, and it was getting bigger. The Dr. was quite dismissive about it, said that only men got a huge red and lumpy nose, and people wouldn't notice that my nose was changing shape. Well, since then my nose is definately getting worse, red, and lumpier. I go bright red in the cheeks whenever i am somewhere warm, for instance if I am on a bus, and of course my nose swells and almost glows, so I never go out unless I have to. So what am I doing instead? Yes, I overeat. I tell myself not to do it, but at the same time I am stuffing the food down. I know I don't need it, am not hungry, but still eat it, and then eat more. I am getting to the stage when i feel worthless, that life is a drag, but it seems i cannot take control. I am piling weight on, look awful, feel worse. I look in the mirror, and all I see is a nose that looks horrible, and quite a few people have noticed it. One of my 'friend's laughed and said I was getting a 'boozers nose'. I know that I am comfort eating, but cannot stop eating, and am now quite desperate.

brunswick do you deny the genetic link?

Whether a person decides to use alcohol or drugs is a personal choice, influenced by multiple biological, familial, psychological and sociocultural factors. But, once a person uses alcohol or drugs, the risk of developing alcoholism or drug dependence is greatly influenced by genetics. Research shows that genes are responsible for about half the risk for alcoholism and addiction, and while genetics are not the sole determinant, their presence or absence may increase the likelihood that a person will become alcohol or drug dependent.