For women, Food
Addiction is unique. Our behavior ranged from daily binges
and excessive
exercise, to starvation and vomiting. We engaged in a high intake
of sweets and
unusual rituals while eating. For some of us it was Compulsive
Over-eating, Bulimia
and Anorexia. We used our bodies to create an illusion that
gave us a false
sense of self-worth. We jeopardized our relationships, health,
jobs, morals and
values; we even neglected our children. All the while, we
rationalized our
addictive behaviors. “Why can’t I have a little something like
everyone else?”
“It’s just food” or “What they don’t know, won’t hurt them.”
We tried to maintain
a “normal”image, yet we lived a double-life. We became
disconnected from
reality making true intimacy with God or other people
impossible. We took
God off His throne and replaced Him with our behavior.
Why? We were
running. Running from love, running from pain, and running
from the pain of,
shame, self-hate, and multiple forms of abuse. We lacked self worth,
had an unrealistic
body image and feared intimacy. We tried to connect;
we tried to escape.
We felt abandoned. We had a need to be in control and have
power over others
and/or situations. Spiritually, we were bankrupt.
We learned to numb
our feelings and to cope with our inadequacies by
reaching out for a
cure that would ultimately destroy us. This unhealthy belief
system was not in
line with the plan God had for the food in our lives.
Food addiction is
progressive. It can begin as a little curiosity or negative
self-talk. When we
cross a line, it sets us in motion to cross the next line more
easily. Ask the
recovering compulsive over-eater, bulimic or anorexic “when,
how they started,
and how it ended.” We’ve asked ourselves, “How did we get
here?” Sometimes, we
don’t even remember why we started in the first place.
We tell ourselves
that tomorrow our food behavior will be better, but it never is.
Eventually our
behaviors resulted in kidney damage, destruction of teeth,
malnutrition,
cardiac arrest or diabetes. For many, the risk of death is now a
reality. And
hopefully before that happens, we hit bottom.
To determine if you
suffer from an Eating Disorder, ask yourself these
questions:
1. Do thoughts about
food occupy much of your time?
2. Are you
preoccupied with a desire to be thinner?
3. Do you starve to
make up for eating binges?
4. Are you
overweight despite concern by others for you to lose weight?
5. Do you binge and
then vomit afterward?
6. Do you exercise
excessively to burn off calories?
7. Do you overeat by
bingeing or by grazing continuously?
8. Do you eat the
same thing every day and feel annoyed when you eat
something else?
9. Do you binge and
then take enemas or laxatives to get rid of the food you
have eaten?
10. Do you hide
stashes of food for future eating or bingeing?
11. Do you avoid
foods with sugar in them and feel uncomfortable after
eating sweets?
12. Is food your
friend?
13. Would you rather
eat alone? Do you feel uncomfortable when you must
eat with others?
14. Do you have
specific ways you eat when are emotionally upset, sad,
angry, afraid,
anxious or ashamed?
15. Do you become
depressed or feel guilty after an eating binge?
16. Do you feel fat
even when people tell you otherwise?
17. Are you ever
afraid that you won’t be able to stop eating when you are
on binge?
18. Have you tried
to diet repeatedly only to sabotage your weight loss?
19. Do you binge on
high-calorie, sugary, forbidden foods?
20. Are you proud of
your ability to control the food you eat and your weight?
21. Do you have
weight changes of more than 10 pounds after binges
and fasts?
22. Do you feel your
eating behavior is abnormal? Do you try to hide it
from others?
23. Does feeling
ashamed of your body weight result in more bingeing?
24. Do you make a
lot of insulting jokes about your body weight or your
eating?_______________________________________________
25. Do you feel
guilty after eating anything not allowed on your diet?
26. Do you follow
unusual rituals while eating, such as counting bites or not
allowing the fork or
food to touch your lips?
If you checked five
or more of the questions numbered 1, 4, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15,
17, 18, 19, 22, 23,
24, you may be dealing with compulsive overeating.
If you checked five
or more of the questions numbered 1, 2, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14,
16, 17, 20, 22, 25,
26, you may be dealing with anorexia nervosa.
If you checked five
or more of the questions numbered 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14,
15, 17, 19, 21, 22,
26, you may be dealing with bulimia nervosa.
