Are you staying completely away from your trigger foods?

frksfrau

I've been on my plan for approximately 6 weeks. I've done fairly well, but I stay completely away from my trigger foods, such as Peanut Butter. It had gotten so bad that my family were hiding jars. Last week while organizing his dresser, my husband found a jar and he burst out laughing.

I know if I get a taste I will eat the jar. What about you? Are you staying away? Or, have you found a solution of having your peanut butter and eating it, too?

CoachJen71

Yes and no. I am having them less often. I find I don't do well with deprivation.

999tigger

Its sensible if you are that bad, not to have it round. I find just being very focused on target prevents food distracting me too much. I can have it if I want, but ive worked hard in the gym already and I want target more. I just moderate to fit the chocolate and chips into my allowance or go and burn more calories at the gym to earn it. Target is far more interesting for me.

Because people were banging on about peanut butter on here and how great it was then I bought several jars, but use it sparingly as I realised about the calories.

ana3067

I used to easily eat like 3 full boxes of chocolate in one sitting, or chocolate bars. I also used to overeat chips, and actually overate fruit in general too (like, instead of 1 pomegranate I'd eat 3-4 in a sitting).

But I no longer over-eat on any foods and don't have "trigger foods" anymore. I haven't cut out any foods. For me it was pretty much just switching my mindset: IIFYM, realizing that exercise won't undo over-eating and that exercise is not for weight loss, and just tracking macros/calories in and of itself has pretty much stopped that behaviour for me.

kbmnurse

I would never be able to eat again if I did that. LOL

ewhip17

But I think everyone is different. I kind of have to stay away from them. Moderation is not something I've ever been good at - it doesn't matter what the.. um... substance... is... :-)
Lot's of "absolutes" on here sometimes but I think you have to look inward and find out what works for you and what doesn't. For me, I'm much better off if I try to stay away from triggers but I'd never say it's the only way to do it.

999tigger

Completely agree people should do what works for them. Its common sense to keep it out of the house if its such a temptation that you cant trust yourself.

lemurcat12

I don't really have any trigger foods. I have foods that I know I will be tempted to overeat, and try to eat them sparingly or in situations where I won't fall into the temptation.

If you have true trigger foods it might be worth cutting them out, at least for a while, but hidden food always worries me, as well as your own assurance that you will eat a whole jar. Sometimes when we build something up as a trigger food, as something you have no control over, it becomes an excuse and a self-fulfilling prophecy, and in that circumstance I sometimes think it would be better to work on the control, especially if you can't really control what's in your house in the first place, because of others you live with.

But ultimately that's a strategy call.

Liftng4Lis

Nope, I eat everything, just make sure they fall within my allotment.

MelodyandBarbells

I buy single servings of items if I can't eat them in reasonable quantities.

It was pretty interesting visiting family. They had bite sized left over Halloween candy. At first I wasn't interested since I do not particularly fancy Milky Way or butterfingers. As time went on I still inhaled most of the candy anyway. Geez!!!

DeWoSa

I haven't eat my trigger foods in about 10 years. I don't crave them and I don't miss them. It's worked for me so far.

frksfrau

I am going to have to stay away from peanut butter for a long time. I may take JaneiR36's advice and buy just a single serving of it. Just can't do it often. :-)

HairMaiden

I have tried to eat small amounts of my trigger foods many times and it always ends in a huge disaster. This especially happens with sugar as I am trying to cut back on sugar to very little. Small amounts of sugar always lead to big amounts, so no sugar for me!

2bizzybee

Yesterday, I ate 3 100 cal fudge ice cream bars. It was out of control.
I will not buy them again. I can say no to a lot of things but not those
ice creams.

fitcrt

frksfrau wrote: »

I am going to have to stay away from peanut butter for a long time. I may take JaneiR36's advice and buy just a single serving of it. Just can't do it often. :-)

I 2nd buying single serve portions - I love chocolate peanut butter ice cream so every once in a while I buy the single serving of haagen dazs ice cream (the teeny tiny one that comes with a built in spoon) & then I enjoy it & it is out of the house. They sell single servings of peanut butter - so that might work for you =0)

Shauna2626

I had to stay away from trigger foods almost completely for maybe 6 months to a year when first starting my weight loss/health journey. Then after a while, once I "broke the addiction" and learned to eat healthier (after re-training my taste buds, so to speak) , I started re-introducing them in moderate portion sizes. I second the person above who suggested single size portions!

bulbadoof

hell no. i just get it in smaller bags now.

Lounmoun

My trigger food is very specifically cheese flavored stuff like chips or crackers. I'd rather spend my limited money on other foods these days so I haven't bought any for a long time. I don't know how I would react today if it were in the house. If I bought some I would probably buy a small package so it wouldn't get too out of hand though.

bwogilvie

I don't have "trigger foods." There are foods, though, that come in large containers; if you put the large container of them out in front of me, I might mindlessly eat far more than I would have chosen to eat had I measured them out beforehand and then put the container away. Chips, nuts, and other calorie-dense snacks fall into that category for me.

My solution is simply to measure out how much I want to eat, then stick to that quantity. If I'm at home, I'll put the container away. If I'm at a reception or somewhere else where I can't do that, I'll take a plate, measure out what I want to eat, and then stop when the plate is empty. It's not that hard to do if I commit myself to thinking of my plate as the total quantity I will eat; that encourages me to pace myself.

Iwishyouwell

I've come to accept that there are foods ultimately that I don't want to learn to moderate.

And that's the bottom line. They use to feel like "trigger" foods, but the ultimate truth was that I overate them because I simply wanted to.

And I still do. If I bring them into the house, I'm giving myself permission to eat them till my heart's content. If I'm not interested in doing that, I simply don't buy them. Instead of fighting the "all or nothing" mentality, I embrace it, guilt free.

But I am a firm believer in the power of abstinence. Previous bouts of cutting out former "trigger" foods actually did eventually, and permanently, kill my craving for the majority of foods I once overate. There is lasting power in abstinence for some.

paperpudding

frksfrau wrote: »

I know if I get a taste I will eat the jar. What about you? ?

No the glass is too crunchy


Serious answer: whilst I agree moderation is good, I also think there are ways of acheiving this - and one of them is not to have said food in the house but to limit it to special occasions or places or methods whereby one cannot over indulge - eg buying single serve container, eating peanut butter if one goes to a breakfast or to someone else's place or orders a sandwich for lunch - eg circumstances you cant just get the jar and eat whole thing.
- That way you are not totally denying yourself but you are forcing moderation on to yourself without the temptation or opportunity to blow it.

LilyOfTheValley008

Have you tried Pb2 for peanut butter?
And for most things I'm an "everything in moderation" kinda person, but I know for a fact nutella can't be in the same vicinity as me without the temptation for a spoon every time I walk past... sigh

MsHarryWinston

I didn't think that I actually had any trigger foods. Turns out it's gummy candies. I will eat an entire bag of gummy bears if you put it in front of me. A days worth of calories just gone in a snap. I eat a few very very very rarely these days.

zeal26

I've been at this a year and I mostly just stay well away from my trigger foods. Any time I've thought ''maybe this time...'' it's just backfired so badly. There are simply a couple of foods I do not have control over. I've gotten a bit better in that if I just buy say, a small 30g bag of chips it's fine. It's when there's more, I'll always eat more (or, all).

Mufflana

I stay away if at all possible, for me it is white carbs, bread and potatoes and crisps, once I start it is a steamroller effect....and I end up weighing nearly as much as the steamroller too! I find that the longer I don't eat these trigger foods the less I am really craving them and it is then easier to look at them and say ' you're just not worth it'. Good luck in finding what works for you, it helps to get ideas and suggestions but in the end it is down to you finding a balance that suits you and your body

baconslave

Yes for now. I find I'm not drawn to them as much either. I have a goal weight and once I reach it, I may add them back in moderation. I feel I can do that now. But I currently would rather get to maintenance as quickly as possible. There will be time and a few more calories to responsibly spend then. Until then, I don't miss them. It isn't that I can't eat them because they are "bad"; it's that I don't eat them right now. Because I don't feel like it.

KayBallin

Nope. I eat what I want, when I want it, in moderation. I stopped snacking mindlessly though (i.e. sitting in front of the TV with the family sized bag of chips; now, I'll measure out a serving and stop when they're gone).

frksfrau

paperpudding wrote: »

frksfrau wrote: »

I know if I get a taste I will eat the jar. What about you? ?

No the glass is too crunchy

That's why I bought one one in the plastic jar. =D

I just know that if I buy it and taste it, I can't stop eating it. Whether it is my low will power or that my body craves it, I guess in the end, it doesn't really matter. I can't have it in my house in jar quantities. I need to stay away from it for a while. I may try a single serving in several months to test the waters.

Francl27

It depends honestly. Basically I keep disillusioning myself into thinking that I can just have one piece of something, but it doesn't often work out that way. So right now, yes, I'm avoiding, although still having some other things in moderation (or I'll make room in my day and go somewhere and have one serving of the thing I crave).

For me it's always sweets though, typically baked good and hazelnut filled chocolates. Ice cream I can eat in moderation for a week then my hormones kick in and I finish the pint, so I'm actively avoiding buying some as well.

SingRunTing

Nope. If I avoid completely, I'll give up and binge. I try to have a little "treat" every day. It helps me a lot.

0somuchbetter0

Some yes some no. That's because after so many months (years?) of eating better, I can actually enjoy some of my previous trigger foods in moderation! For a long time I couldn't buy cookies because I'd eat the whole package. My poor deprived kids! Now I keep cookies in the house and eat one occasionally and don't really think about it. Much.

Nutella is still a no. Can't buy that stuff...can barely walk past it in the grocery store. That stuff is like crack to me.