Addiction and Food

I come from a family of addicts, mostly alcoholics. I grew up with my dad actively drinking along with a good deal of my extended family.

My dad wasn't a mean drunk, he was very congenial even fun to be around when buzzed. However he drank daily, stayed up late at night to drink and it took an incredible amount of alcohol before he even appeared tipsy.

Addiction comes in many forms and while alcohol, drugs, gambling and even porn are acknowledged as seriously detrimental to the family, there are other addictions not even talked about.

No matter what the addiction, it will screw up your life. I believe there are no good addictions. I've watched the family member obsessed with exercise so much, he did nothing else. Not date. Work only enough to spend his time recreating and now at middle age he has no life.

Oh sure, I understand he has some great pecs but in the terms of long term happiness what does that bring?

If there isn't a balance, then there's something wrong.

I see addictive behaviors in myself, mostly concerning my relationship with food and I have no doubt that if I didn't live my life abstaining from drinking alcohol, I'd inevitably become an alcoholic. I think I'm wired that way.

Why the post on addictions? I worry about my children and the unhealthy behaviors I still deal with and how those behaviors affect my children. Worse, sometimes I flat out see my behaviors mirrored by my children and frankly it scares me that they have the same struggles with food. It seems I haven't broken the cycle.

We had an issue tonight dealing with compulsive eating and it broke my heart to have fears confirmed that one of my daughters struggles with the alcoholic type of addiction that compels her to eat. I think an outsider might look in and think I'm reading way to much into a bag of swiped chips however knowing my own struggles to find some kind of healthy relationship with food, I understand my daughter far more then I think most could understand.

I see myself in her. At the same time, my heart breaks for her knowing what she'll deal with.

We're trying to build a healthy relationship with food. We're offering healthy foods here at the house. We're working towards making the options appealing and yet somehow I feel like I've failed her.

When asked why she made the choices she made, in tears she made it clear that she didn't feel like she had a choice. With something dangling in front of her, the only choice is to give in.

Of course this isn't true. Of course she always has a choice but she doesn't know that. All she knows is that saying no doesn't seem to be an option for her. So I guess we play hard ball.

It's time for a carb vacation at our house. My girl honestly believes that if she doesn't have sweets then life has no good option and since that's the farthest from the truth, I (hopefully) can help her see what living really is. It's not about the junk food. It's about making the most of every minute and I hope and pray to break through and teach her that.

If nothing else, she needs to know how good the good really is. And I'm not talking food!

Hopefully, I can get some divine help in reaching her. I have a feeling that this is not an issue for me to tackle alone.