You may be suspecting yourself or someone you know of having a food addiction. Lately, you have been noticing certain signs and behaviors that could indicate a compulsive overeating problem. But everyone loves the foods of their choice. How do you distinguish a food addiction from a healthy love of food? Below are several signs to watch for in order to identify a food addict:

• When eating certain trigger foods that are particularly pleasurable, the addict will consistently eat more than they intend to eat, exceeding their desired portion.
• A food addict will continue to eat even when they are not hungry, ignoring their bodily signals that are telling them they are full, even to the point that they are physically ill.
• The thought of having to quit or cut back on eating certain favorite foods causes stresses and worry in food addicts.
• A food addict will go to great lengths to obtain the food they want when it is not available, such as calling around to stores and restaurants to locate it at any time of day.
• For food addicts, eating becomes such a time consuming daily activity that time for work, school, personal relationships, goals and hobbies is lost.
• The desire to eat is so overpowering for food addicts that they may even avoid certain social situations so that their overeating problem is not discovered.
• Eating interferes in the daily obligations of food addicts, such as school or work.
• Refraining from eating or not having the option to eat causes feelings of anxiety, agitation and hunger pains in food addicts.
• Emotional issues result from overeating in food addicts, such as guilt, anxiety, depression and self-loathing.
• Food addicts do not eat a consistent amount of food, but rather increase their food intake over time in order to inrease the pleasure of eating or supress negative emotions.
• Food addicts build a tolerance for the amount of food they take in and increase the amount of food they eat to continue experiencing the same pleasure feelings.