11-28-03 - 10:38 p.m.
Yes, I know, three updates in one day is too many, but I mean, the first one shouldn't even count since it's just the Red's Snappy Grammar Tips thing.
In this entry, I would like to briefly discuss the idea of a food addiction. (I realize that I split an infinitive in that sentence, but occasionally a writer splits an infinitive, and that's okay.)
I recently discovered that someone who is close to me has been addicted to cocain for the past two years. Yes, that hurts me (a lot more than I will admit) but I learned something from this new information.
A food addiction is not unlike any other addiction.
When a person is addicted to cocain, they feel like they have to do all the coke in sight until it is gone. They have no power to stop until every last bit is gone. The feelings are mutual for me, as a food addict. If there is food, I am going to eat it, until there is no more food.
The coke addict usually cannot get better by himself; he needs an intervention by a friend in order to rid himself of his addiction, much like the food addict, who needs a friend to stop him from eating everything in the pantry.
The coke addict will lie to anyone and everyone to keep doing coke and feeding his addiction. The food addict sneaks food, and lies to friends so that they will appear to be following a certain diet, when they are really eating whatever they can get their hands on.
If a coke addict has been clean for some amount of time, he might say, "It's an everyday effort, I have to say to myself, 'I will not do coke, today,' every day." The same goes for a food addict. People who gain control over their eating habits say that they would love to get a pizza and just eat and eat, but they can't. They have to live every day with the mindset that they will not eat everything.
People will say, "How can you even compare cocain addiction to mere overeating, when cocain can actually kill you?" Well, overeating is a problem, but an addiction to food is more severe. Nevermind the fact that people can eat themselves to death. Food addiction kills you in other ways. You will probably be alive, but only in the physical sense. You will be down because you are fat, and you will feel weak because you cannot control yourself in the face of food. Every spare thought is ruled by food. Bored? Eat. Procrastinating? Go eat. Stressed out? Food will soothe you. When you are addicted to food, a part of you does die: your personality.
Food addiction is society's accepted disease. People laugh about it, and even brag about it. It isn't taken seriously as a problem, when it is clear that we're all getting fatter. Any addiction should be considered a serious problem.
It's amazing how similar all addictions are, regardless of the vices that they are attached to. (It's okay to sometimes end a sentence with a preposition, also - just not too often.)
Until next time - Hello, my name is Rachele, and I am addicted to food.
