“I was never denied any foods as a kid and became a junk food addict for a long time.”
There is a basic, psychological principle that is even described in the bible. If a person is told they can’t have something, they want it all the more. I don’t know what your issues were. I spent years wondering how so many, very wealthy, young women were so skinny. I had the revelation that it was because they could have/eat whatever they want, just as the scientific studies showed about children essentially getting bored with junk food and choosing nutritious food instead. It’s about options. I cook healthy meals, the aroma’s are in the house, and that wins out over the junk. I don’t make an issue out of food. I cook. If someone wants to eat it that’s fine. If more family is around and we make it a social event, that’s ok, too. Food isn’t the center of our lives. Making such a huge issue over food and nutrition is one of the things that creates problems in the first place.
I WAS ALLOWED to have anything I wanted. And what I wanted was 1-2 pounds of chocolate per day plus the most fatty, greasy foods in existence.
When I finally quit this was “the usual” for lunch. The guys at the diner all had my order memorized: 1.5 foot Philly steak, double meat, triple cheese, fried mushrooms, mayo, an extra-large side of inch-thick onion rings, a whole styrofoam cup full of molten cheddar cheese as a dip (by special request) and an entire 8” mini cheesecake or brownie. It's a delicious meal but not something to have every day.
My parents enabled my addiction and never said a word about obesity. They even tried to make up excuses after my heart gave out.