After my daughter died,7 years ago,I took to my bed,for weeks and weeks,I would only get up if I had to,and thats when my Cheerios and Special K addictions began!Until a year ago, when I went on Atkins diet,all I would ever eat were these 2 cereals.At christmans,I blew the Atkins diet,telling myself I would start it again when the season was over.Yeah,right!I did not buy any cereal,until about 4-5 months ago,I should NEVER started again.It is my comfort food, the food I reach for when I am sad,which is very often.I am back to eating about 8 cups dry Special K,with alot of sugar and milk.I do not like Cheerios anymore,but even if I feel really full,I still go and get more cereal.I have never heard of this type of addiction ever before,and though its humiliating to say it out loud,I would like to know if anyone else has the same addiction? I could sure feel better if I was not the only one!I do not like all of the flavored Special K,just the regular one.Help!!

oh mary, i'm so sorry for the loss of your dear daughter. my heart goes out to you.

i think your "addiction" is emotionally linked to your sadness.
i eat for emotional reasons too.
i wonder if journaling your feelings, writing them down, before you eat the cereal might help.

have you considered some grief counseling.
i'm not suggesting anything i havn't tried in the past and it helped me.
even seeing a registered dietician to help you substitute other things in your diet.

please keep us updated on your struggle. we understand.
you've taken a big step just sharing your loss with us.

You are not the only one -- you are addicted to your comfort food. You understand that and that is the first step to working on helping yourself overcome this. (((hugs))) I love nursenancy's suggestion of journaling your feelings before you eat that next bowl of cereal. She has given you some wonderful advice.

We have an interesting thread here about food cravings:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread28215.html

Cereal is high in carbohydrates, and that may be the trigger,
you are seeking. Carbs in general promote serotonin release.

A Tryptophan supplement may help with that. I am not sure this is available in Canada, as there are restrictions on amino acids there. But it is available now again, in the USA.

You might also be craving some of the additives in the cereal.
At least this carb you have become attached to does have vitamins and minerals in it.

I'd also seriously watch the new medical Vit D videos... Being in Canada puts you in the low serum level category.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread92116.html

When the body is low in some nutrient it can signal odd cravings.
http://www.peertrainer.com/DFcalorie...B.aspx?id=1681

This product contains gluten. "Craving" of a food often signals an intolerance to it. For some reason, this happens when people have food intolerances. Our Gluten forum is a good resource to check this out.

I am sorry to hear about the loss of your daughter. Everyone has some form of comfort food that they love and are addicted to. This is totally normal. Maybe you can slowly bring in other foods to help lose the addiction. Maybe do some searching for some recipes that sound appealing?