by katgirl55 » Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:59 pm
In reading a couple of other people's journals today, the topic of food addiction was a common theme. Last year I jumped on that bandwagon full force and bought into the "abstinence" mindset of another program (literally since I paid money for it) that I will not name here. I cannot speak to any other person's experiences, just my own: not only did it not work for ME, it turned me off of WFPB at all for a while. I did not throw out my McDougall books or whatever, but I quit listening to the message because it was too much like what I had experienced. Literally throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but just for a bit. After a few months I calmed down and analyzed what had happened...
First, it was all about total abstinence, not just from meat, dairy and oil, but also excluding other types of foods or condiments because it was decided that these were "trigger" foods. This left me eating lots and lots of potatoes, which I know is a mainstay here but I prefer not to have for every single meal because I find them very bland. Second, there was a running vibe of negativity - a very us versus them attitude, "we have now found the holy grail and everyone else is deluded, or what worked for THEM could never work for US because we are ADDICTS". Third, I felt like there were ever more hoops that we had to jump through to be compliant - many "extras" that were not about food, but supposed to help our addicted brains. What I ended up seeing were many, like me, who just could not get on board all the way for some reason. I eventually left and went back to SAD because at that point I was frustrated and had given up. I would never succeed because this was supposed to FIX ME and it didn't work!
After some time and analysis, I figured out that framing my problems as being an addiction that forces me to abstain from enjoying my food is not the right path for me. I can NOT smoke, drink or take drugs, but I must eat, and I need to like it or I get rebellious and cranky. For me, that means that I need to strive toward doing Starch Solution, not MWL or any other ultra restrictive programs out there. I cannot get wrapped up into the addiction recovery mindset that tells me I am being wrong, noncompliant, off the wagon, or failing if I have a meal that is not perfect.