I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. So I'm in no position to say whether being overweight is the product of addiction.
I can say, however, that many of the realities of my attaining a so-called ideal weight are similar, if not identical, to the realities faced by people attempting to recover from addictions like opioid drugs, cocaine, nicotine and alcohol.
These are the realities:
William Cope Moyers wrote a book about his struggle with drug addiction, titled "Broken." As is the case with many people who struggle with addiction, his struggle included numerous relapses and setbacks -- and he acknowledged as much to the people who interviewed him for a job at Hazelden, the Minnesota addiction recovery center. Moyers said, in response to their concerns that he might relapse yet again, that the concern was a legitimate one. However, he said, he also realized how his life depended on maintaining his sobriety, and making sobriety the focus of his life.
That's the reality, too, for people like me who have journeyed from obesity to fitness.
I don't and can't know whether food can be physically addictive in the same way as substances like opium or nicotine.
I do know the long-term success rate for people who recover from obesity -- whether they do it with diet and activity changes, medication or surgery -- is so low, it's almost non-existent. One writer said the chance of maintaining a weight loss for five years is about the same as the chance of surviving metastatic lung cancer for five years.
That's a depressing thought, but I think it's also a false analogy. Whereas cancer, once it's got you, often leaves you with few viable options for fighting back, there are things people can do -- hard things, sometimes very hard things -- to combat addiction, and to combat excess weight.
But you've got to want it, and you've got to want it more than anything -- even a pint of Ben and Jerry's.
I can say, however, that many of the realities of my attaining a so-called ideal weight are similar, if not identical, to the realities faced by people attempting to recover from addictions like opioid drugs, cocaine, nicotine and alcohol.
These are the realities:
- I can never return to my old eating habits, if I am to have any hope of maintaining my weight at the level where it is now. No more Papa Murphy's take-and-bake pizzas for supper. No more eating a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream at one sitting. No more Vermont-style mac and cheese. No more Lion's Tap burgers when I'm in Eden Prairie, certainly not with fries.
- Maintaining my weight has to be my priority, always. I can never consider anything more important than that -- not avoiding insulting my hostess when she offers copious servings of fattening fare, not a craving for cold-weather comfort foods, not giving in to a friend who wants to get together over pizza, pancakes or fried fish-n-chips.
- Exercise has to be a priority, too, even with my crazy work schedule, even if I were to move someplace where access to fitness centers is outrageously expensive, even if every pool club is dominated by little kids and teen swim teams, because there's no money to be made from "adult swims."
William Cope Moyers wrote a book about his struggle with drug addiction, titled "Broken." As is the case with many people who struggle with addiction, his struggle included numerous relapses and setbacks -- and he acknowledged as much to the people who interviewed him for a job at Hazelden, the Minnesota addiction recovery center. Moyers said, in response to their concerns that he might relapse yet again, that the concern was a legitimate one. However, he said, he also realized how his life depended on maintaining his sobriety, and making sobriety the focus of his life.
That's the reality, too, for people like me who have journeyed from obesity to fitness.
I don't and can't know whether food can be physically addictive in the same way as substances like opium or nicotine.
I do know the long-term success rate for people who recover from obesity -- whether they do it with diet and activity changes, medication or surgery -- is so low, it's almost non-existent. One writer said the chance of maintaining a weight loss for five years is about the same as the chance of surviving metastatic lung cancer for five years.
That's a depressing thought, but I think it's also a false analogy. Whereas cancer, once it's got you, often leaves you with few viable options for fighting back, there are things people can do -- hard things, sometimes very hard things -- to combat addiction, and to combat excess weight.
But you've got to want it, and you've got to want it more than anything -- even a pint of Ben and Jerry's.
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