Food Cravings

It started about two years ago, creeping up on me, but now it’s getting lethal 😢! At first, this Hunger thing didn't freak me out—I just figured I was finally decompressing after years of grinding through college and all that stress. It's weird because I've always been a stickler for my physique, hitting the gym and eating clean, thinking that discipline was basically my backbone.
The weight kept piling on, but I just stayed stuck in neutral. I wasn't even stressing over diets or how I looked 😕 .
The Hunger is still there, and honestly, I'm scared it's getting worse. Now I'm actually worried. I don't get how I ended up caught in this downward spiral of my own making
. Feels like I can't fix this on my own 🤷 . Why the hell is this constant craving following me everywhere 😕 🙄 .
Anyone else dealing with this? Any advice? Please, let me know what you've got 😉

Nicole Nguyen88 said:It all started about two years ago—slowly at first, but now it feels downright lethal😢! At the beginning, this whole Hunger thing didn't really spook me; I just figured I was finally "unwinding" after years of grinding through college, exams, and constant stress. It’s funny, really... I’ve always been one of those people who obsesses over my looks, hits the gym, and stays on top of nutrition, thinking that eating clean was basically a way to build character.
The weight just kept piling on, while I stayed stuck in this mental fog. I wasn't even sweating the diets or my changing reflection😕 .
The Hunger hasn't left; if anything, I fear it’s gaining strength, and now I am genuinely worried. I honestly don't understand what kind of personal demon I've managed to conjure up and get trapped in?
I feel like I can't pull myself out of this on my own🤷 . Why on earth is this cursed Hunger chasing me around like this?😕 🙄 .
Has anyone else dealt with this? Any advice? Please, if you have any, share them with me😉

Food can absolutely become an addiction. We're talking a total physical and psychological dependency, much like nicotine, alcohol, or any other substance that happens to enter the body through the mouth. You need to scale back your intake—and look, you don't necessarily have to cut entire food groups out, but you have to eat significantly smaller portions. If you don't, the problem will spiral out of control very quickly, and that's the direct path to obesity.
Try keeping a daily log. Write down everything you eat and exactly how much. Track it religiously. Believe me, you won't just be surprised; you'll probably feel a bit embarrassed when you see the sheer volume of food and calories you actually consumed that day.
Also, try to keep minimal food supplies in your apartment. When that craving hits, find something active to do immediately to distract your mind from the food. Cook less, move more. That temporary little hit of pleasure you get from eating is going to morph into a massive problem before you know it, and you definitely don't want that to happen—so deal with this addiction now.

Before I dig in, I’m convinced the food in front of me is absolute perfection—like, why wouldn't I indulge when it's this good? But once I'm done... suddenly being skinny is the only thing that matters in the world. 😁

Thanks for the replies. There aren't exactly many people out there struggling with Hunger 🤷.
Sarah Johnson11, I’m worried this Hunger thing is turning into a full-blown addiction. I can still manage my portions for now, but the real kicker is why I even feel this way—is it just depression?
wirednomad42, you basically just wrote my life story in your last post 😁 !

Nicole Nguyen88 said:Thanks for the replies, ladies. It turns out there's a small group of us out here actually struggling with Hunger 🤷.
Sarah Johnson11, I’m honestly starting to worry that this whole Hunger thing is spiraling into a full-blown addiction. I mean, I can still manage my portions for now—mostly—but what’s really eating at me is the *why* behind the cravings. Is this just depression masquerading as an appetite?
wirednomad42, you basically held up a mirror to my life in that post of yours 😁!

Using food as a way to regulate your emotions eventually turns into losing control over your weight entirely.

People unconsciously use food as a shield against bad luck, heavy emotions, sadness, or depression. It’s almost like they think by consuming something physical, they can fill that internal void with actual substance. It becomes a substitute—a way to chase psychological equilibrium through something "acceptable," which happens to be food. So, it isn't always just about depression; addiction can take root for all sorts of reasons.
But from what I can see, you've got a good handle on it, so don't let it slip. Just stay firm.👍

hm... why didn't I try controlling things from the opposite angle? 🤔 at least I'd be skinny 😉

Maybe I’ll shock you a little, but this obsession with food—this constant pull—it’s clearly coming from somewhere deep in the brain. I call it madness. Honestly, there are times when I am completely full, yet I feel this frantic need to eat, and I just can't fight the insanity of it. I'm convinced the root of the problem lies in our psychology, both mine and yours, which is why you really need to start digging for the cause right away. You don't want to end up facing my consequences—my physical health was already shot, which led me to bariatric surgery. Now, even five months after the procedure, the sensation of hunger is gone—they basically removed my hunger receptors—but the madness? The madness is still there, haunting me every couple of days. So please, don't just brush this off. Madness is madness, and living with it is exhausting; you just end up withdrawing into yourself, which only makes everything worse.

Sarah Johnson11 said:But looks like you've got it under control, so just stay firm and don't let up.👍

Sarah, I don't have any control over what I eat, and I definitely don't have a "firm stance" about it. Honestly, my weight is the real issue—my BMI shot from a perfect 21 to a 28 in just two years. I'm managing my current weight, but it's a massive struggle. Hunger is basically louder than my common sense telling me this is bad for me, and that scares the hell out of me.

Just the classic American story.

Check out these shots from India, Cambodia, Kashmir... look at how thin those people are. Then flip to the last gallery (NeighborWorks) and check out the photographer's local neighborhood photos. You'll see the massive difference in how overweight everyone is here.

Photos from India, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia...

Anyone who knows even a little bit about the actual life and suffering—the absolute horrors those people endure—should stop and ask themselves: why am I so gripped by this uncontrollable urge to just keep stuffing my face? Is it really that deep?
What kind of depression or pain could possibly be so bad?

It’s pretty interesting how food addiction seems to be a specific type of dependency found almost exclusively in wealthy, prosperous nations.

Maybe we should start looking at things through that lens instead.

Good luck 👍

Maybe we're just bored 🤷
but—if I actually knew the reason—I’d probably be halfway there by now, wouldn't I?

rustyhound83 said:To give you a bit of a reality check, that Hunger obsession isn't just some physical thing—it's coming from the brain. I call it madness. Even when I'm full, I feel this crazy urge to eat and I just can't fight it. I'm convinced the issue is mental, both mine and yours, which is why you need to find the root cause ASAP before things get bad. My health took a massive hit from being overweight, so I went through bariatric surgery. Now, five months post-op, I don't even feel hunger anymore because they basically cut out my hunger receptors, but the madness? That's still there, hitting me every few days. Don't brush this off. Madness is madness, and living with it sucks. You just end up isolating yourself and making everything worse.

rustyhound83, yeah, you definitely caught me off guard with that one. madness, bariatric surgery 😢 but the madness is still there and torments 😢.
Sorry you're going through all that. If you're up for it, tell me more about what's happening—you can always shoot me a DM. I totally agree that this stuff is buried deep in our heads, which is exactly why we're here helping each other out.

Nicole Diaz37 said:Anyone who actually gets what life is like—the suffering and the absolute horrors people endure out there—should just ask themselves why they’re struggling so hard against this uncontrollable Hunger. Is it really that big of a deal?
What kind of "terrible" depression or pain are we even talking about here?
Maybe we should start looking at things from that perspective instead. 👍

Douglas Cook2, look, maybe I am spoiled, but I definitely feel other people's pain and I try to help those who are hurting whenever I can. If it were up to me, I'd end all the hunger and hopelessness in the world, but I don't have that kind of power.
I'll admit it, I have my own issues, and yeah, they don't compare to the massive tragedies happening globally, but they're real and they're gnawing at me, which is why I'm seeking help. And newsflash: depression is real pain and real suffering.

Justin Green87, look, I wasn't trying to shame anyone, seriously. God forbid. And I definitely don't think you or anyone else out there fighting this should feel embarrassed.
I was just offering a different angle on that classic Western struggle we deal with nowadays.

Take Germany, for instance—I saw a segment on it yesterday saying one in seven kids isn't just overweight, they're actually obese.

And don't get me wrong, I'm far from perfect. I fall into those same unhealthy American lifestyle traps all the time. 👎

But honestly, watching travel docs or reading about people living in different parts of the world really helps me keep things in perspective.
It hits home sometimes. 👍

I honestly feel like I’m right there in the trenches with everyone in this thread. I’m struggling with it too, but I really believe the best way to start "fixing" things is just finding the answer to one question: why? You can definitely spot a pattern in how you act or find that specific trigger that hits right before the Hunger kicks in out of nowhere. That’s step one... just understanding it. Then comes step two, which is way harder—actually accepting yourself and realizing that we’re basically trying to silence our feelings with food. That’s where I’m stuck right now, but I’ll let you guys know how it goes 😁
There’s this one great book that does a killer job explaining the nature and the whole "behavior" of addiction. Doesn't matter if it's alcohol, shopping, food, or drugs—it’s all essentially the same thing. It's Caroline Knapp: *Drinking: A Love Story*. Here’s my quick take on it:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5324333_drinking_a_love_story

Douglas Cook2, I'll take any advice I can get. Your idea isn't half bad. Honestly, watching other people struggle makes my own Hunger easier to deal with, but I still end up spiraling too often.
Linda Long3, I'm gonna track down that book you mentioned. Thanks.
It's just tough, you know? Everything feels like a trigger lately, especially this whole Hunger thing. 😢

Come on Tantala, just keep pushing. You can totally do this. 😉

Look, I quit smoking after 17 years of burning through two packs a day. Smoking literally fries your brain receptors—it’s permanent because nicotine can actually breach the blood-brain barrier, which protects your head from all kinds of nasty stuff. Food can't do that. So if I could kick the habit, you can definitely stop overeating. 👍

It wasn't easy. It was a total nightmare. 😳
Especially since, for me, cigarettes were everything: they were my reward, my focus booster, my comfort, and—honestly—my way of controlling how much I ate.

Yeah, sure, just go ahead and break a vicious, deep-seated addiction like that after 17 straight years!

But I've been clean for over a year now.

So yeah, absolutely. You can do it. 👍

They say that constant cravings and binge eating are really just ways to plug an emotional void. It’s basically when you're feeling unfulfilled in some major area of your life, so you turn to food to manufacture a temporary hit of dopamine—trying to force a sense of comfort through eating because that satisfaction is missing somewhere else...
...it's a total mess😳

Look, everything sounds great and all—as long as we’re sober. But once that moment hits? There isn't a soul on this planet who can stop me from making a straight shot for the Nutella. I'm serious. And then afterward, I feel absolutely miserable. It's like a total addiction fix.
And that other thing, that void we try to bury under mountains of junk food? That missing piece of ourselves? Half the time, we don't even have a clue what we're actually looking for. Because on the surface, everything looks perfectly fine. But deep down, things are totally messed up, honestly...

Honestly, I feel like I only actually start giving a damn about what I eat when everything else in my life is perfectly sorted 🤷
Maybe I just have an allergy to being organized? 🤣

Look, everything seems totally fine on paper, right? But you still have this nagging feeling deep down that something just isn't clicking. And honestly, you don't even want to deal with it because digging through all that stuff is just exhausting. So you just go out for a nice dinner, enjoy the food—because let's face it, it's delicious—and you try to push it aside. You try to forget that there was something wrong, something that was just... bothering you somewhere deep inside.