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Fighting Food Cravings- a Life and Death Issue

Author: LoreleiF
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Word Count: 615
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I want to talk a bit today about my father, who passed away about a week ago. I have been thinking a lot about him in conjunction with this blog, as his major illness was diabetes- the disease of chronic, lifetime overeating. It mostly goes hand in hand with food addiction and cravings.

I remember back to the days of my childhood. My dad and I used to have a grand old time together sharing fun, sharing food- ice-cream, donuts, and cake being our favorite things. When I was with my dad, there was always a treat in store. In those days I had never even heard of food addiction or the concept of immense cravings.

In short my dad loved to eat and so did I. It was one of the many levels upon which we met. We were very connected and we loved each other a lot.

But in the last years of my dad's life as I began to grapple with my own food addiction, and my dad began to lose all of his health and vitality, I began to wonder- did we really need all of that? We had something special together; no question about it, and it would have been there even if we weren't eating the junk food. So was it all really worth the loss of my father's mobility, eyesight, and vitality in the last years of his life. This same sickness eventually had him doing nothing but sitting listless in a chair for days on end, alternating between sleeping in the chair and sleeping in his bed.

And one could arguably say that he starved himself to death in the final weeks of not even being able to eat.

So what is there to say about all of this? I know for me I lived a full seven years with no traces of sugar, wheat, or flour in my body- as well as a whole host of other ingredients. And it took a lot of work because in truth there is hardly a box, can, or jar on a grocery store shelf that does not contain at least one of these ingredients, and usually they have a lot more than one. Now I live mostly craving- free, perhaps because it also takes seven years for the cells in a human body to replace themselves. Considering that the cells in your body literally become addicted to those substances, I probably don't have any addicted cells left.

Most food addiction plans will tell you to stay away from all of those foods permanently. And I don't disagree. Why play with fire after all? Although I will say that during the week of my dad's death I lit the match a bit by eating some onion rings and some ketchup with sugar. In some ways I think it was a last feeble attempt to connect with my dad again. Still, I have had my days of intense cravings- and I don't think I am any too smart to play around in that arena.

So where does this whole conversation leave us. For me it leaves me with a stark reality. I feel healthy, vibrant, and fully alive these days, and I want to honor my father's love by not following him down the path to self destruction. He could not avoid it, but I can. So I will stick to the foods that keep me feeling great. And I will try to educate others on the same issue. And I will hope that the manufacturers and food stores eventually start to provide us with foods that we can eat. And knowing my father and his loving nature, his spirit will be happy if I follow this path.

About the Author

For more help with addictions go to the blogs of famed author activist and Second Hand Addiction expert, Lorelei F at fightingfoodcravings and at helpful-hints-for-quitting-smoking