How I Finally Tamed my Food Addiction
Dr. Jason Fung and Intermittent Fasting
My food addiction went into full swing at age fifteen. I even remember the day. My boyfriend was driving me home. I asked him to stop at 7–11 (a local convenience store). I bought a package of Nabisco Sugar Wafers. I could not wait to get away from him so I could eat them in peace.
Reading and eating
Now alone in my room, I scoffed down two of the three sleeves of cookies. I had recently taken up eating and reading. There was something about reading a magazine and mindlessly stuffing calories into my pie hole that is appealing to this day. Upon awaking the next morning, I shoved down the remaining cookies without leaving my bed.
Let the feast begin
I was very thin. I had an amazing metabolism. I could literally eat anything I wanted and not gain weight. And eat and eat and eat I did. I would visit my friends a couple of towns over. The feast would begin at Dunkin’ Donuts. Then I would proceed to the Chinese restaurant for greasy egg rolls, on to Arby’s for a roast beef sandwich, a stop at the supermarket for a large bag of candy corn or Raisinets, and back to Dunkin’ Donuts. Vanilla creme was my fave.
Then I had my baby
Both my best buds growing up struggled with their weight. It must have been hard for them to watch me down all that junk food with no consequence.
Once I had my baby, my metabolism changed. But my eating habits did not. I gained 65 pounds during my pregnancy. It started with a double Whopper with cheese. I would make my own cakes, thick with icing, and eat at least half of it in one sitting. The nurses told me to stop gaining weight. I didn’t listen.
Food or sex?
Through the years I lost and gained weight — as many women do. (I once told my sister I kept three different sizes of clothes in my closet. She was like, “Every woman does that.”) Each time I found a diet that “worked” I evangelized. Then gained all the weight back. Food had a power over me as strong (and often stronger) than sex.
I tell people I’m a food addict — but not in a cute way. I have all the behaviors of a die-hard heroin addict. I was lucky my addiction was food. If I had been an alcoholic, I would have died face-down in a snow-filled alley decades ago.
Fat girls like me
Like many, it was hard for me to go even a few hours without eating. First, we were all taught to eat three meals a day. Then we were told to eat six small meals a day. Of course, no one really defined what “small” meant. Fat girls like me always seemed to be suffering from “low blood sugar.” I always had food nearby. I was the poster child for “hangry.”
Fit for Life was among the many diets I attempted. You were supposed to only eat fruit until noon. I couldn’t do it. And once I started eating, I couldn’t stop. I would eat up until I fell asleep. Sometimes I woke up with chocolate smeared on my chest with no recollection of how it got there.
It started with the Jewish holidays
For some reason I kept thinking about fasting. I didn’t think I could ever do it. It started with the Jewish holidays. I’m not religious, but I remember my mother talking about having to fast for Yom Kippur. Around that time my partner stumbled across an interview on YouTube with Dr. Jason Fung. He is a proponent of intermittent fasting. I bought his book, The Complete Guide to Fasting, and decided to try it. That was in September of 2019.
Dr. Fung allows you to have certain things on a fast. These are supposed to be “training wheels.” But I’ve never taken them off. I’ve belonged to fasting groups on Facebook where others rail against those of us who do not do pure water fasts. I don’t find it necessary for my purposes.
Forever a food addict
Intermittent fasting keeps me from losing control. I also track what I eat in the Lose It! app. Not obsessively — I find being aware of what I’m consuming tends to keep me in check. I eat what I want — absolutely no restrictions. I still will overeat during my feeding window. But without intermittent fasting (which I track with the Zero app) I would weigh over 200 pounds again. I’m not skinny — zoftig as we Jews say.
Intermittent fasting allows me to be obsessive about food in a controlled way. I love food. I love to think about food, I love to plan making food, I love to buy food, I love to cook and bake, I love to feed people. I am and will forever be a food addict. But intermittent fasting keeps me from eating all day long. It gives my digestive system a rest. It allows me to keep my weight in a reasonable range. Thank you, Dr. Fung. I owe you, buddy.
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Aviva Gittle publishes children’s books in English and Spanish. She’s back in her blue California, happily cooking and baking. And eating.
