Home » Expert Q & A » Food Addiction & Obesity » Food Addiction: William Anderson

How can I stop myself from night eating?

  • anonymous Asks ...
    anonymous

    How can I stop myself from night eating? I can control myself all day long but at night when I am watching the TV food is all I can think about. I am even dreaming about the food I will eat at night during the day time. I am overweight and it is getting worse but no matter what diet I try I always break down after dinner and eat way too much. It’s like the pleasure I have to look forward to to get me through the day. What can I do to break free from this? It sounds like it should be easy but I have tried so hard and I always fall back into the habit of pigging out after dinner. It's like an addiction to me.

  • William Anderson Says ...
    William Anderson

    While someone may be telling you that controlling your eating should be easy, for people with your problem, it is anything but easy. It's not that what you have is like an addiction, it is an addiction, and it may be the most difficult of all the addictions to get under control.

    What you have is described as food addiction or compulsive overeating. It can be solved. However, you need to let go of the idea that it should be easy to solve this problem. You will be able to get things under control and lose your excess weight permanently, but first, you will need to make solving this problem top priority in your life and decide to do whatever it takes to solve it. You will need to do much more studying and reading about it until you can settle on a good plan of action. Until you know much more about it, stop beating yourself up about what you are doing and try to do your best at eating in a more healthy fashion.

    Diets are not a solution to your problem, though developing a good food plan will be very important. Since you look forward to eating when you get home, it will be important to plan what you'll be having then, and make sure your food plan is the most pleasurable and healthy selection you can think of. Don't have anything in the house that is not part of that plan. Get rid of all the foods that are your hardest to control. Don't have any of your most addictive foods in the house.

    Start studying. Read all my Q&As here at ChooseHelp.com. Read all my articles at my website, www.TheAndersonMethod.com, with the table of contents at the bottom right of the page. Google about food addiction and compulsive overeating. Learn about OA, FA, and FAA and read what they have to teach you about food addiction and compulsive overeating. Read my book, The Anderson Method.

    As I said, you need to let go of the idea that solving this problem should be easy or that it is going to be easy. I and many of my clients have solved it, but I don't believe I have ever seen anyone solve it in an easy way. You will be able to solve it and have a much healthier and happier life, but as far as I know, that will only come when you have done the work. Until you have, just do the best you can and give yourself a break for your imperfections. 

    After you have read everything I've referred to, don't hesitate to write again. I will help.  

Related expert answers

Featured Experts