I find I cannot avoid taking part in the gluttony...I feel I NEED these things... Of course I know, intellectually, that I do not, but the feeling is there.

It sounds like you see the problem and know what the solution is (i.e. not taking part in these things). Yes, of course it is possible to live in the world without these issues. Many people have done it every day for thousands of years.

What precisely are you asking? I don't ask this in a condescending or presumptive way. I am very serious.

Many people (myself included at times) know that we should not engage in particular behaviors, but do so anyway because the alternative is difficult. However, this is not a problem resulting from a lack of insight: it is a problem resulting from a lack of effort and desire to actually do what is difficult.

These are things that you have to build and strengthen through your own personal practice. No one can tell you a magic formula to give you the power to climb a mountain that you already see in front of you. The mountain is there, the map is laid out: the only thing to do is to climb.