Quiz: Are You a Food Addict?

These eight simple questions will help you zero in on the trigger foods that set you off.

Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock, Photodisc/Thinkstock, iStock/Thinkstock

What are your trigger foods?

Some people can have bags
of potato chips in the house till they go stale from neglect, but can’t leave
ice cream in the freezer without it disappearing in a single sitting. Answer yes or no to the following questions from my new book Sugar Savvy, which teaches you how to detox from sugar and helps you lose weight, and see what kind of trigger foods you should avoid.

iStock/Thinkstock

If you reach for one cookie or chip, is the bag empty before you know it?

a) Yes
b) No

iStock/Thinkstock

Can you control your food intake during meals, but lose it when you start to snack, especially on chips and crackers?

a) Yes
b) No

iStock/Thinkstock

Are you tired all the time? Are there things you’d love to do, but you just don’t have the energy?

a) Yes
b) No

iStock/Thinkstock

Do you spend the day on a roller coaster of snacking highs and lows, hitting the doughnuts in the morning, the vending machine chips or candy in the afternoon, and the ice cream at night?

a) Yes
b) No

amana images/Thinkstock

Did you answer Yes to two or more questions?

Your food
addiction likely lies with sweets and/or salty snacks—foods like
cookies, chips, and cakes—that have been carefully engineered to keep
you eating and eating and eating. You’ll need to find snacks and desserts that don’t set you off. Even then,
though, avoid keeping them in your house; just enjoy a
few occasionally when you go out. Next: More food triggers you might have »

iStock/Thinkstock

Can you easily skip dessert, but empty the bread basket—and the pasta platter?

a) Yes
b) No

iStock/Thinkstock

When you want to lose weight, is it easier to skip meals altogether rather than just eat smaller ones?

a) Yes
b) No

Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock

Once you’ve had “just a taste” of bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, pasta, and rice, can you stop? Or do you keep going back for second (or third) helpings?

a) Yes, I can stop
b) No, I go for more

iStock/Thinkstock

Do you eat healthy when around other people, but lose it when you’re alone?

a) Yes
b) No

iStock/Thinkstock

Did you answer Yes to two or more of these questions?

If so, you are
highly susceptible to the addictive powers of white flour (which acts a whole lot like sugar in your system)! Like
me and many others, you need
to kick all refined foods to the curb, probably permanently. Since desserts
and snacks are not always a problem, you may be able to cautiously add
back certain “treats” that are not triggers for you. But it may take
trial and error. Note: If your food triggers are sweet and salty AND white-flour foods, you, like me, are highly susceptible to food addiction, period! That means you’re in danger of overeating pretty much all “bliss point” types of foods.

Get Sugar Savvy:

The Sugar Savvy solution helps you slim down, beat your
bad habits, kick your sugar addiction, and unleash your inner power to take control of food so it doesn’t control you. Learn more about Sugar Savvy here.

Originally Published in Sugar Savvy Solution