Provided by Prevention

You might have a food addiction if any of these descriptions fit: You continue to
overeat even though you know it's harming your health and possibly your family
and social life; you hide out and eat alone; you feel compelled to finish all the food in
your line of sight (or house); you eat to the point of pain or discomfort. Also
consider the following questions to find out if you have a food addiction, suggests
Mark Gold, MD, chief of addiction medicine at the University of Florida College of
Medicine. "You really need to answer yes to only two items to indicate that you may
have a problem," he says. Then follow our eight steps to help you get back on track.

Have you ever felt the need to cut down on your eating?

Many people overeat on occasion; the difference is that you feel that if you don't
ration yourself, you will completely lose control.

Have you ever been annoyed by criticism of your eating?

If you get upset when anyone brings up what or how much you consume, it may
mean that you are too attached to eating.

Do you feel guilty about your eating?

It builds up, because at every meal you say you're going to control yourself--and you
fail.

Have you ever needed an eye-opener?

You may wake up in the morning and feel compelled to consume. "We have patients
who get up in the middle of the night and eat," Gold says. "They say, 'I finished a
cake--I don't know how I did it.'"

Get Back on Track Tip 1: Don't go cold turkey.

Although treatment for life-threatening drug or alcohol addiction generally requires
abstinence, an all-or-nothing approach is impossible for food addicts--everyone has
to eat. Besides, some weight loss experts believe that such rigid thinking can make
you crave the offending food more than ever. Says Edward Abramson, PhD,
professor emeritus of psychology at California State University, Chico, and author of
the book Body Intelligence, "If someone told me that I could never eat another
doughnut as long as I live, I would become so preoccupied with doughnuts that I'd
probably gobble down a dozen by the end of the day. If I know I can have another
doughnut sooner or later, I won't feel so desperate. I can eat just one."

et Back on Track Tip 2: Learn to eat only when you're hungry

One classic tool that weight loss experts use to teach people how to better manage
their appetite is the hunger scale. The scale ranges from 0 to 10, with 0 being
ravenously hungry and 10 being overstuffed. "A food addict's goal is to stay away
from either of these extremes," says McQuillan.

Eat when you begin to feel hungry (2 or 3 on the scale) and stop when you feel
comfortably satisfied (5 or 6). Though it's obvious that you don't want to eat to an
overstuffed 10, using the scale to gauge when you should start munching is
important, too: If you wait until you're at 0, you may eat all the way up to 10.

Get Back on Track Tip 3: Control your home environment

Just as someone with an alcohol problem shouldn't buy a magnum of champagne,

you shouldn't overstock your kitchen, says Gold. "You have to assume that every
food or drink you buy will end up in your mouth. You'll see a TV commercial or
some other trigger, and that food will end up in your mouth." Exercise purchase and
portion control, Gold advises.

Get Back on Track Tip 4: Temper temptation

Sometimes it's not just a food that sets you off but also the place in which you eat it--
and that's why putting yourself in a situation where you used to eat excessively can
be a recipe for trouble. Ex-drug addicts face this problem all the time, reports Marcia
Levin Pelchat, PhD, a research scientist at Monell Chemical Senses Center in
Philadelphia. "Going back to the old neighborhood often triggers a strong craving,"
she says.

Similarly, the sight of the bakery where you used to buy brownies might melt your
resolve. So shake up your routine. If tortilla chips are your weakness, don't go to
Mexican restaurants. If you always have ice cream while watching TV, read a book
instead (or knit to keep your hands busy as you watch CSI: Miami).

Get Back on Track Tip 5: Retrain your brain

In order to be satisfied with two cookies instead of an entire bag, you need to change
the way your brain sees food on the plate, says Gold. First, switch to smaller plates
and bowls to automatically reduce portion sizes. "This can make people very
distraught because the brain looks at the smaller portions and decides they're not
enough," says Gold. "But over time, the brain gets used to it."

Next, leave more space on the plate by again reducing the amount of food you serve
yourself. Each step may take several weeks to feel comfortable, but stick with it and
consuming smaller portions will become second nature.

Get Back on Track Tip 6: Adjust your tastebuds

One of the best ways to gain control over your eating is to restore your sensitivity to
flavors, says Katz. You can do it without depriving yourself: If sugar is your downfall,
keep sugar cookies in your diet, but when picking prepared foods that aren't
supposed to be sweet--such as pasta sauce, bread, and chips--look for ones without
added sweeteners. Check ingredient labels for all the names that sugar goes by,
including fructose, dextrose, and corn syrup (for a list of sugar's aliases, read "Find
the Hidden Sugars").

"By removing all that superfluous sugar from your diet, you'll soon reset the
sensitivity of your tastebuds," explains Katz, who says that the same technique can
be used to reduce your desire for salt or fat. Be forewarned: You'll have to maintain
vigilance. "Tastebuds are very adaptive little fellows," Katz says. "If you let extra
sugar and fat into your diet, you could be lured back into your old patterns."

Get Back on Track Tip 7: Exercise regularly

Milky Ways and Big Macs aren't the only things that satisfy the pleasure centers of
your brain--so does exercise. In animals, at least, research has found that it increases
dopamine levels and raises the number of dopamine receptors in the brain.

Making a commitment to work out helped Littleton kick her chocolate habit. As a
result of a vigorous exercise routine and a more sensible diet, she's gotten down to
134--a loss of 114 pounds in the past 3 years. "The feeling I get after I exercise is
nothing like I'd get after eating chocolate," she says. "It's much better, and it doesn't
come with guilt."

Get Back on Track Tip 8: Deal with your emotions

Even if a brain scan at Wang's lab were to show that you have a physiological basis
for food addiction, it's likely that there would be an emotional element, too. It's
important to stop using food to cope with your feelings, says McQuillan.

This can mean getting better at tolerating sensations of sadness, anger, or boredom,
rather than rushing to soothe them with food. Sometimes it means asking what you
need to make your life better. "I failed when I tried to comfort myself with food after
the death of my dad and after two miscarriages," says Littleton. "I had to turn
around to face it head-on. Now I'm in control of my decisions."