Four Stages of Breaking an Addiction by Caryl Ehrlich

Stage Two – Begrudging attempts

You join a weight loss group or purchase a book and decide, however grudgingly, you’ll give it a try. “I don’t want to do this, but I’ll pick one no-coffee day. I don’t want to weigh myself twice a day. I don’t want to write down everything I eat. I don’t want to eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I don’t want to eat breakfast, but I will because I want to weigh ________ pounds.

Stage Three – Surprise, I enjoyed it

“I tried hot cereal at breakfast and I enjoyed it. I tasted the most wonderful soup for lunch one day. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I did. I had a cup of hot water instead of tea one night and it was actually very nice.”

Stage Four – The new way becomes the comfortable and preferred way

It’s important to know, however, that the attachment you seem to feel for certain foods is not predicated on how much you “love” that particular food. Rather, it indicates how very addicted you are to numbing yourself with that food. Thinking about the food, getting the food, eating the food in a certain way, has become an integral part of your self-medicating ritual. The thought of not “acting out” (not getting your drug) causes you great anxiety. You eat the item (bread, beverage, candy, popcorn, etc.) to relieve the discomfort caused by not eating the item. Consider not drinking coffee and getting a headache and then drinking a cup of coffee to relieve the discomfort caused by not drinking the coffee. It’s like a puppy chasing its tail.

Knowing there are four stages to breaking an addiction will help you be pro-active in traveling through stages two and three and shifting from resistance to change all the way to knowing the new way is the comfortable, preferred way. This information will break you of the food rituals you use to help quell your anger, anxiety, or other uncomfortable feelings or thoughts. Then you can deal with the feelings more directly, more appropriately.

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BIO:

This article is an excerpt from the book Conquer Your Food Addiction authored by Caryl Ehrlich. Visit her at http://www.ConquerFood.com to know more about weight loss and keep it off without diet, deprivation, props, or pills. Contact her at Caryl@ConquerFood.com or call 212-986-7155.

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