That's an interesting theory. Not sure if it's true, but I guess if you think about it, all of us slimmers can get a little bit addicted to charting our progress on the scales and monitoring our diets. Easy to transfer obsessions. It's not even really a transfer, is it? All still revolves around food.
To be honest, I don't think you ever stop being a food addict. But I think that once you realise and accept that you're addicted to food, you have a fighting chance of at least controlling that addiction. In many ways, quitting smoking is far easier than beating a food addiction, because obviously you can't just quit food. If you had to keep smoking at a much reduced rate, that would be vastly more difficult than stopping altogether, I think.
Every time you plan a meal or handle food or go to a restaurant, you have to face your addiction head on. It's always there and there will always be tough days that just come out of the blue. There'll be strange times when you're not even hungry, but just the sight of something 'forbidden' seems to call back that old inner voice of addiction that says 'ooooh, something delicious for me to binge on in secret!' It'll shock you, the fact that the ghost is still there.
I don't think you can replace the addiction with another one. Not sure there's anything I'd want to do with quite the same selfish zeal I applied to stuffing myself, anyway!
All you can really do is try to understand your own personal reasons for being hooked on food. There's no easy answers that apply to everyone. I think it can be more physiological for some people than emotional, more psychological than physical for others, you know? For me, I think I've come to the conclusion that it was mostly physical pleasure. The taste, the texture, the feeling of inner comfort - that's what chocolate gave me. Factor in the mood boost and it's not surprising that it got an emotional hold on me, too.
Once you've got a good idea of exactly what it was you got out of your addiction, you can more clearly and rationally weigh that against what you get out of freeing yourself from it. If you go in the ring and try to fight it blindfolded, without really knowing where it comes from, you'll be swinging around in the dark still believing in a tiny corner of your mind that you can do a finite, speedy diet, beat the bulge, and resume life as usual. And that way lies yo-yo madness...
