What is the difference between food and tipple? Nothing, when you are considering addiction, food, can be just as persuasive to make you take up on a vicious cycle of eating and re-eating. The effects of falling into such a trap are devastating.

In most cases, food obsession starts due to stress, and when you see obesity as an outcome, the stress intensifies making up the exact vicious cycle we are talking about. You might simply be an over-eater. However, that lust for sugar or that craving for ice cream might leave a permanent dent upon your physical health and mental health in the long run.

If you binge a little too much, you need to stop right now. Some of these food addiction tips might help-

1. Hit The Gym- Nothing says ‘I love my body’ more than being a regular at the gym. Gym forces you to become more conscious of your body and its weaknesses thereby mentally stopping yourself from grabbing that last slice of pizza. At a gym, you will learn to take better care of your body, both via physical activity and by a diet plan.

2. Practice Stress Reduction- As we said earlier, the most common reason for binge eating is because of stress. If you can channel your stress somewhere else and learn how to manage it, your heart will commend you on your attempts.

3. Maintain A Balance Of Blood Sugar- While an addiction to sugar is understandable, it is extremely harmful. Sugar tingles the dopamine receptors of your brain, similar to how narcotics like heroin work. While de-addiction from sugar is hard, it will cause diabetes if you keep on it, a disease which will be by your side forever. Keep track of your blood sugar levels, try to substitute your sugar intake with fructose(fruit sugar) instead of glucose or sucrose.

4. Simply Don’t Buy Unhealthy Foods- Keep the bare minimum in your pocket while you are heading out for grocery shopping. This will help you to buy only the essentials and stop you from impulse buying the food you love to binge on. If you don’t have unhealthy food, you can’t eat unhealthy food.

5. Sleep Well- The idea here is simple. Lack of sleep leads to stress which in turn leads to overeating. Get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night to keep your cortisol levels down.

6. Make Lists- The daily calorie requirement for man is 2,500 Kcal and for women is 2,000 Kcal. Make a diet plan so that your daily intake comprises exactly of the above-mentioned limits. Use diet charts and the advice from doctors and nutritionists to make yourself a weekly diet plan and adhere to it. Again, make a list of all the foods that you are addicted to. Whenever you crave for food, remind yourself of the list of foods you are not supposed to take.

7. Find Tasty Alternative Recipes- A lot of talented chefs have created alternate healthy recipes for the common fatty foods. Use a vegetable patty for burgers, grind a mint dip to replace mayonnaise, the possibilities are as endless as they are delicious.

The problem of food addiction is extremely worrisome, because unlike other addictive substances, food is both cheap and easily available and comforting. Start today if you wish to live a blissful disease free life.