Logging The Regret From Sabotage Foods....

IowaPrincess

****My posts are not to be taken literally or as nutrition advice******

So one of the things I struggle with is sweets and breads.
My whole life I have always gotten intense uncrontrolable cravings for specific sweets.
I try fruit, water, walking.... you name it.... and sometimes the craving wont stop.
They usually last until I eat the food.
So one thing I have found that has REALLY helped is logging how I feel after indulging.

For instance, this week I have been craving popcorn balls, like the ones your mom used to make at halloween....yes, I know how random that is.
I have been craving them like they are crack or something and the weirdest thing is I havent had them in like 15 years!!! But this is the games my body plays LOL.

So I went home yesterday and made them. Made my favorite flavor...and guess what???
They were not worth it at all.
But I knew that. I knew that the whole week.
I just had to get rid of the insane craving.
I know this may sound stupid to some of you..... well, I wish it was to me.
So everytime this happens I log in my journal how disgusting I feel afterward and the journal actually helps!!!
The only down side is....technically I did eat the food to get the thoughts to jot down.

Emotional/Binge/Craving Food issues are a real struggle, but my journal is a life saver. Now when I crave crescent rolls or cookie dough.... I read my thoughts from when I ate it and it actually stops the craving!! Thank the good Lord, something finally stops the craving!

Just to give you an idea...here is some of the ridiculous food I sometimes crave like a maiac and what I have jotted down after I ate it:

Cookie Dough = Gross, Naseus, Fat, Stomach Cramps, NOT WORTH IT

Crescent Rolls= Greasy, Fat, Stomach Cramps, NOT WORTH IT

Donuts= Fat, Gross, too sweet, not filling, waste of money, NOT WORTH IT

Chocolate= Not Filling, Ate the whole thing, weight gain, gross, fat, NOT WORTH IT

Popcorn Balls= Sticky, Messy, Mess to clean up, waste of money, naseuas, way too sweet, fat, NOT WORTH IT

Pizza= Greasy, Stomach Cramps, Weight gain from sodium, not as tasty as goat chesse hippy pizza, waste of money, NOT WORTH IT

Anyway, whenever I find something that really works for me I love to share it!!
Best of luck friends!!!

JenforHealth

Thanks for sharing! I can totally relate. I get disgusting nausea. Good idea to write down every time we mess up so we can remember the awful physical pain. We can do this and feel good all the time. I've done it and know!

IowaPrincess

Thanks jenandroxie!!!

IowaPrincess

Thanks Happy Camp!

suruda

Great post! It's amazing how much of this journey is in our head...fighting our own internal voices. I also log even when I know I've eaten something bad...by bad I mean, unplanned, high in calories, low in nutrition...those don't often work into my plan!

nice job...hopefully reading those days when you have those cravings will help you win the battle!

IowaPrincess

Thanks Suruda!!

jnv7594

I think those things are always worth it, lol. That's just my opinion. Just don't overindulge in them. You can have a popcorn ball, or a donut, or some pizza and still stay within your calories. Usually when they make you feel crappy or when you have gained weight eating them, it's because you've overindulged. I've never had that effect from any of those foods when I've just eaten a single serving, but that's just me. But, ya, when I've eaten 3 or 4 donuts or a whole pizza, it's made me feel like crap.

urloved33

two words. pro biotics

IowaPrincess

urloved....i do take probiotics. But thank you for the suggestion!

DanniB423

I would have all of the same feelings until we meet Pizza. Pizza= euphoria

IowaPrincess

LOL!!! I know what you mean Danni

jamierg89

I just ate a slice of pizza literally 10 minutes ago , I rationalized that it was fine because it had veggies on it lol, now I think eating one slice of pizza can be OK for me, it's eating 3 or 4 slices that causes a problem...so far I've resisted the 2nd slice and I feel like I'll make it through this urge...I also have the same problem with intense cravings, every once in awhile I get intense cravings for...GASP...McDonald's. Yes, I know, it's terrible food, probably poisonous to some degree, but I still will gobble up a big mac and fries without constraint (what's worse is that I've SEEN Food, Inc. and read the Omnivore's Dilemma)...if I have a craving for fast food, I will literally battle myself all day, "I want a burger", "no you don't, it's almost not real meat and filled with chemicals", back and forth all day...the problem is, there is a McDonald's two blocks from my apartment and I pass by it when I walk home from the subway, so i'm always reminded of the damn McDonald's! Even if I wasn't thinking about it, I can't avoid the thoughts popping into my head. The last time I ate McDonald's was last Sunday, had a McChicken from the dollar menu, less calories than the Big Mac, but still garbage chicken nonetheless!

IowaPrincess

Jamieg89...I feel your pain!! The struggle is real!

lessismoreohio

I can relate. I crave pizza or chocolate, eat it till I'm sick, then feel ashamed that I can't control the cravings. It's a sick game we play with ourselves.

JanetMMcC

That's a really great idea, IowaPrincess! And I can see from your profile pix how well you've done. Congratulations!


Jamierg --
If you can stop after a slice or two of pizza, you can eat it even under a very low-cal plan.

I'm on 1200 calories. Last week, on a day that I'd earned 375 calories walking, I stuck the nutrition figures on Papa John's website into a spreadsheet. If I hadn't had a quarter-cup of nuts as a snack at work, those four slices of small veggie wouldn't have put me over at all. As it was, I figured I could compensate the next day for 85 extra calories. And I did.

I just figured out that if I don't eat anything else all day, I could get a thin-crust large with half The Works (subbing chicken and extra shrooms for olives and sausage) and half Veggie (subbing extra shroom for olives), and eat three slices veggie and two of The Works. It'd be slightly below the calorie counts shown online, because chicken is lower fat than sausage and shrooms are probably lower than olives. But using the counts for the standard versions (indulgence penalty <g>), the slice counts would put me right at 1200.

Not a healthy 1200, or a good eating pattern. But not something I'd do daily, either.

I also was well under my limit yesterday, so could add a couple/few hundred calories of *real* veggies today without going over 2400 for two days. Maybe even Papa John's garlic sauce.

If you just gotta give in to Mickey D's, try ordering a kid's meal cheeseburger with apple slices instead of fries. The burger would be something less than the 290 of a regular cheeseburger, and the apple slices are 15 cal per bag. A jug of white milk for another 100 calories, and you're at 410 calories (logging the regular cheeseburger caloriies). Compare to large fries alone at 540 plus 750 for a clubhouse crispy chicken sandwich, and you can feel downright virtuous.