this post was submitted on 06 May 2026
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Just eat less? Golly, why didn't I think of that? So simple!
Also if you have basically an addiction to food, this is like telling a drug addict "just use less heroin!" And the survival rate of withdrawals from stopping cold turkey with food is approximately 0%. So you will be managing that addiction for your entire life.
Without a doubt.
Addicted to alcohol? Stop drinking. You can't control an addiction so you have to completely stop.
Addicted to cigarettes? Stop smoking. You can't control an addiction so you have to completely stop.
Addicted to crack? Stop smoking crack. You can't control an addiction so you have to completely stop.
Addicted to food? Must be your fault for being weak-willed. Just don't consume so much of that thing that you're addicted to. You can control your addiction. Just stop being a loser...
The literal solution to every addiction is stop it, cold turkey. One Day At A Time. But you can't stop eating food.
Except you are ignoring the concept of tapering.
If you cold turkey alcohol or benzos you will have seizures and do permanent damage to your body. You're supposed to be weaned off.
In a similar way, you can wean yourself off of excess calories by reducing portion size.
Obviously the end result isn't a complete stop but it could be a complete cessation of certain foods. Just like how heroin addicts are given suboxone/methadone for their cravings.
Except with alcohol and benzos you don't have to consume a perfect, healthy portion of alcohol and benzos for the rest of your life to stay alive.
You're missing the point. No one would suggest to an alcoholic that they just get better at consuming the right portion size of alcohol, because that's not how addiction works.
As tmyakal said echoed, and I said originally, the better comparison is suboxone/methadone, its about weaning off the harmful food into healthier ones with medical help.
I wasn't trying to snark, and I understood the point, I was primarily trying to point out how harmful it is to 'stop cold turkey' with drugs, and how the relationship with addiction is still similar.
You can wean off of Xanax onto Valium and then reduce dose/dosing frequency until cessation.
You can wean off Heroin onto suboxone/methadone in the same way.
You can wean down from 20mg nicotine to 12, 6 and 3, before switching consumption methods and then finally quitting.
In the same way you can wean down from mcdonalds and taco bell, to home made meals with controlled portions, you can try foods that have high volume. You can stop drinking your calories and consuming sugar. Over time those meals that make you fat will become disgusting and your habit and addiction will falter.
Obviously you can't stop eating completely, and just like alcohol addiction the triggers are ever present in society. But the idea that you can't approach it in the same way is faulty.
And once weaned off of whatever the addict is addicted to, then what?
Is it OK for a crack addict to have a reasonable portion of crack? Or an alcoholic to have a reasonable portion pf alcohol? Or an ex-smoker to have a reasonable number of cigarettes?
No it's not OK. No one would ever suggest that. And if you think that a food addict is only addicted to sodas and Ruffles, you're mistaken and have never seen me at a sushi bar.
I mean, methadone is a portion-controlled opioid used to treat heroin addiction. It's traditionally meant to be weaned off of, but there are plenty of people that use it their whole life.
It's the equivalent of sitting down with a dietician, making a meal plan, and holding yourself accountable to it. Addiction only ends when the user is willing to commit to the action.
To come full circle, that's what GLP-1 drugs are. A medical intervention for an addiction. Same as methadone. It's not a coincidence that GLP-1 drugs also curb cravings for other addictive behaviors.
And that's why the snark of the "Did you know you can just eat less to lose weight?" falls flat, because it's completely uninformed.
Can't forget metabolic disorders too. I'm a T2 diabetic. Well controlled, to the point I've had a few doctors literally not believe I was diabetic (at the time my A1c was like 5.1, a decade later it's generally between 5.5 and 6). I'm pretty strict with my diet. I occasionally will fall into snacking, but when that happens, I literally just stop buying snacks altogether to prevent it.
I eat the same meals often, and roughly track my calories. I do intense workouts weekly, and roughly tracking via my fitness watch indicates that I'm burning around 800kcals per HIIT cardio workout 2-3x per week most weeks, plus my other sessions with weight training. I'm taking in probably 1800 calories give or take most days, and burning off over an entire extra day and a half worth of calories weekly. But I'm still struggling to lose weight. Even at what should be a high caloric deficit where I'm feeling regularly straight up ravenous, it took me a year to lose around 15 lbs, and my weight still flip flops up and down weekly, even though the overall trend is downward.
I'm a big believer in fitness, in the idea of calories in -> calories out, and managing my TDEE. But it's just downright harder for some folks, and I'm apparently one of them.
Well at least part of the "addictive" part of food addiction is sugar, and that you can absolutely ditch.
It's possible to cut out sugar, yes. But also keep in mind sugar is literally everywhere and the cheapest easiest food substance to access. It's on every menu, it's at the check out counter of every store, it's offered for free by coworkers bringing in treats or birthday cakes, offered in bowls at the exit from some restaurants or other businesses, it's thrown out at parades, etc. It's possible to avoid eating sugar, but avoiding temptation is basically impossible of you have a habit of leaving your home to work or shop. If you are addicted to sugar, it's a constant struggle.
It's like wine in france.
But you can do it OP!
Do you mean added sugar? Because cutting out fruit and veg from your diet is pretty unhealthy.
You can ditch any veg that's filled with sugar (corn, and a few others).
An apple has fructose in it which is absorbed slower so if you don't abuse it you'd be fine.
I'm mostly talking about refined sugar, if you are already living off fruits and vegetables I think you're fine.
I'm addicted to Tostito's queso. Of course I know it's horrible for me. At least it'll be a queso OD, instead of "horse".