Alcoholism, but with Food.

I spent the majority of my life beating myself up for my weight. All the way to 255 lbs., while somehow still lying to myself ("Thank goodness I'm tall and so my weight doesn't show" -- it shows... ::sigh::). Two months ago my best friend came to talk to me, he told me that he joined AA and was attending meetings to try and become a "recovering alcoholic."  Aside from it being a really tragic story the things he said were eerily familiar: 

- I'd think that I could control myself, but if I opened a beer - chances are a case would be gone by morning. 

- I'd hide the refuse that drinking created, and I live alone. I just needed to hide it, even from myself. 

- I'd get upset and the only thing that would make me feel better was drinking. It calmed me down. 

- I can't stop on my own. 

...so, I began asking questions about his process. He got a sponsor (support), he committed to attending meetings every single day for 90 days. He stays away from people and places that make it "too easy" for him to fall into old patterns. He turned towards new activities when he felt any cravings, usually exercise to burn off the craving's energy... 

I even went so far as taking the AA 20 Questions to See if You're an Alcoholic self-test (except replacing "alcohol" or "drinking" with "Food" and "eating") and scored a YES to almost all 20 questions. 

... so, anyway... My name is Nadia and I'm a food-aholic - and I've been food-sober for six weeks today.  Thanks for being here. :) 

Yep. There are definitely parallels between alcoholism and food addiction. In fact, there is an overeaters anonymous. http://www.oa.org/.  I don't know much about it, but I think it follows a 12 step program very similar to AA. So, I guess the point is, you're not the only one. 

Congrats! After reading your post, I realize that I've probably been a food-aholic for a while as well. I've used eating as a tool to calm me down or pick me up when I'm depressed. I just got test results saying that I'm in the higher range for cholesterol so that kick started my desire to stop being a food-aholic and get in shape. I agree that it's going to take some support and new activities. Sounds like you're doing great and I hope that I'll be doing as well in 6 weeks. I've got 41 pounds to lose. I sure hope I can do it.