Binging on drugs or alcohol is a horrible thing. It can wreck lives and destroy families. Given these harsh realities, I conclude that substance abuse is far too heavy a topic for a guy like me to write about.
On the flipside, just because I’ve managed to be a goody-goody when it comes to controlled-substances doesn’t mean I’ve always taken good care of myself. In fact, I’ve wrestled on and off with a less sinister substance: junk food. Now, I’m not trying to make light of drug abuse, because it’s no laughing matter. However, given the prevalence of chronic disease caused by eating habits and other lifestyle choices, junk food “abuse” has real consequences, too.
Junk food abusers tend to engage in behavior that would potentially kill addicts of other substances. A junk food junkie tends to go on out-of-control binges after eating fairly well for a period of time. I’m talking about meals consisting of a whole pizza with a carton of ice cream, perhaps washed down with some beer or soda. Sometimes this single binge turns into a weekend-long bender. If a drug user engaged in this type of excess, they’d most likely overdose and possible die.
This behavior is very common among people who have set unrealistic goals for themselves. With the best of intentions, they swear off all junk food. They go on a strict diet for maximum results. Junk food has no place in their diets. The must adhere to their plan 100 percent or they are worthless.
Of course, they’re human and so they slip up. Now, for a rational person this is no big deal. The rational person realizes that a couple hundred extra calories won’t bring their results to a halt. On the other hand, the binge eater is overcome by guilt. They then engage in the self-destructive behavior of eating more junk, often to the point of feeling physically ill.
The solution, in my opinion, is to not set one’s self up for failure. Accept that humans make mistakes. Realize that turning one dietary slip-up into an all out binge is like slashing three of the tires on a car after finding out the first tire is flat. A better option is to allow one’s self a small amount of discretionary calories each day. As long as overall daily caloric intake is not excessive, there will minimal (if any) impact on one’s diet results. Tasty food is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Trying to completely avoid food one enjoys will only result in a variety of neuroses.
As world-renowned nutritionist Alan Aragon says, “Avoid food avoidance.”