's motd Monday August 30, 2010 - Food Addictions

[Guest guest]

ADDICTION

Monday, 30 August 2010

Where

do addictions comes from? Well, I can only talk

about my own addiction right now and

tell you where I think it came from. At a very

early age, I became addicted...to food.

(Betcha saw that one coming, huh?)

Back

in the 40's when I was born, people didn't think

so much about what to feed their children. (Not

the way they do now.) My parents gave my

brother and I the foods they loved

so we'd end up loving the same foods. And

boy...did I!

My parents loved to cook. And I have to tell

you, they'd talk about food all day long.

My mother, as she pondered what to make for

dinner that evening, might say to herself: "Hmmm, I'll

butterfly some pork chops and fill them with

my delicious cornbread stuffing. Let's see,

what else? I've got it, I'll make some

asparagus with a rich hollandaise sauce. I'll

make some rice pilaf, too. It'll go perfect

with everything else. And while we're having

dinner, I'll have some chocolate chip cookies

baking in the oven."

When my parents went grocery shopping, they'd

take my brother and I with them. When we got

home and one of them was in the kitchen cooking,

I'd be right there watching the whole time. I'm

telling you, I learned how to make eggs benedict

even before I could pronounce eggs

benedict! LOL.

My addiction to food continued through my high

school and college years. And the older I got,

the harder it got for me to break the food

addictions I'd grown up with. They'd become

such a part of my life. And as my food

addiction grew, well, so did my body.

Thankfully, later in life, there were

things I had to do to help break my

addiction to food.

For

instance, every time I found myself thinking

about eating, (often when I wasn't even really

hungry), I'd find something else to do and

distract myself from that urge to eat. I would

pick up a book and read. Or sometimes I would

simply lay across my bed, think about things I

wanted to do or even take a nap. Better,

sometimes I would take a long walk,

just anything to take my mind off that food.

When I was tempted to eat, I might also have an

ice-cold glass of water instead.

But the point is, by doing something else, other

than eating, I was able to put my food

temptations behind me. And in time, I was able

to control my addiction to food. Of

course you know and, (in case you don't), I'll

admit, I'm still addicted to food. Oh, I can

close my eyes and see my parents preparing a pot

of gumbo or frying up a skillet of chicken.

Hey, if I really concentrate, seems like I can

actually even smell the food as

they're cooking up a storm back on St. Louis

Street in New Orleans!

Are

you addicted to food...like me? And

besides the food, do you have other addictions?

Well, I want you to know this...You can be

in charge of your addictions, whether

it's food or something else. I've met thousands

of people who were addicted to alcohol, drugs,

even credit cards and of course...food.

And they all had to learn to control

those addictions, no matter what they were.

And may I say one more thing? If you're

addicted to something and you just can't seem to

get it together and take control of that

addiction on your own, please don't be

afraid to seek some professional help.

Love,