Great discussion. Thoughtful points. Courageous confessions.

I've struggled with food/eating/weight my whole life. I took a turn for the "healthy" about 10 years ago and very slowly, started replacing bad habits for healthier ones.

At one point I got crazy frustrated, because I had changed so much, lost a bunch of weight, but was still hungry and craving almost all the time. I felt like I was fighting a losing battle.

The most compassionate words came from my naturopath who said, "Let's see if we can get your body working better so that your efforts have a fighting chance". We targeted my thyroid functioning, which my GP repeatedly dismissed as a problem. That's helped. But I still fight.

I also remember reading a study where cocaine-addicted rats were given sugar water. After a very short time (days? weeks?) the rats chose the sugar water over cocaine. Sugar lights up the pleasure centre in our brains stronger than cocaine.

So many factors to consider, way beyond mere willpower.