How to eat just one cookie

rhtexasgal

I think it is all a matter on how we are raised AND how our brain is wired. I bake treats almost every weekend, thanks to two growing teenage boys in the house. And except of a little piece of something each day I allow myself and make room in my calories for, it doesn't bother me to have it in the house. I don't feel compelled to have to eat it and I can also tell myself to hold back, especially if MFP and Fitbit has me maxed out on calories for the day. It took a long time to re-train my brain and change my habits to get this far ... and still, I do give in on occasion so I will just make it up with exercise and eating lighter for the next few days.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

Cookies I do well with. Now, if I could stop at just one glass of wine...

DanSTL82

Didn't read the article, but the easiest thing is to just not keep cookies in the house. Then you don't even need a strategy of how to eat just one, because there's not even one available to you.

lisawinning4losing

lorrpb wrote: »

It is easier for me to eat no cookies than just one.

This. As soon as you eat one, you're torturing yourself.

lisawinning4losing

LastingChanges wrote: »

This article doesnt apply to everyone. 1 cookie for me sets off intense cravings for more, which would require discipline which I suck at. So no cookies for me. I have the same response with bread if I eat a sandwich 1 day, I end up craving it the next day and the next along with other carbs and junk. If I cut all these things out of my diet I stop craving them and start craving healthy things like fruits. If i would have a pack of cookies sitting in my kitchen and I decided to eat it 1 day because it fit into my goal it restarts the cravings.

This. All of this.

Also, have a package of cookies in the kitchen and only eat one a day? Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! Chinese water torture would be easier. (Side note: I don't think the Chinese ever actually used water torture. But it's a funny idea.)

CassidyScaglione

Buy just one cookie. Problem solved.

RobD520

AnvilHead wrote: »

LastingChanges wrote: »

This article doesnt apply to everyone...

I certainly agree. I can have cookies, chocolate, etc. in the house and easily just have one cookie or one piece of chocolate for dessert after dinner, then put the rest away and think nothing more of it. My wife absolutely can't do it - if the cookies or chocolate or whatever is there, they occupy her every waking thought until she gives in and devours the whole package. She can easily do without them and doesn't miss them if they're not in the house - but if they're here, she can't control her cravings.

I JUST WISH supermarkets would make single serve packets - packets of ONE cookie, ONE chocolate...so I only allow myself when the cookies/bread are reduced and I can buy one and throw away the rest.

Similarly, I wish restaurants would offer desserts in very small portions. I like something sweet after dinner, but just a bite or two will do fine - I don't need a 2,500-calorie slice of Seven-layer Ultimate Triple Chocolate Lava Cake the size of a small continent, and I'm not paying $7.99 for it just to take two bites and toss the rest. Offer me a tiny little chunk (a couple bites worth) of that cake for $1.99 and you've got a deal.

There is a restaurant chain called Seasons 52 that provides calorie counts for all items on their menu. There are a decent number of entree items in the 450-600 calorie range for the plate. Deserts are smaller sized, usually 200-300 calories, and they are $3.

pie_eyes

Last chance syndrome is definitely something I go through
Like last night and pizza

auddii

RobD520 wrote: »

AnvilHead wrote: »

LastingChanges wrote: »

This article doesnt apply to everyone...

I certainly agree. I can have cookies, chocolate, etc. in the house and easily just have one cookie or one piece of chocolate for dessert after dinner, then put the rest away and think nothing more of it. My wife absolutely can't do it - if the cookies or chocolate or whatever is there, they occupy her every waking thought until she gives in and devours the whole package. She can easily do without them and doesn't miss them if they're not in the house - but if they're here, she can't control her cravings.

I JUST WISH supermarkets would make single serve packets - packets of ONE cookie, ONE chocolate...so I only allow myself when the cookies/bread are reduced and I can buy one and throw away the rest.

Similarly, I wish restaurants would offer desserts in very small portions. I like something sweet after dinner, but just a bite or two will do fine - I don't need a 2,500-calorie slice of Seven-layer Ultimate Triple Chocolate Lava Cake the size of a small continent, and I'm not paying $7.99 for it just to take two bites and toss the rest. Offer me a tiny little chunk (a couple bites worth) of that cake for $1.99 and you've got a deal.

There is a restaurant chain called Seasons 52 that provides calorie counts for all items on their menu. There are a decent number of entree items in the 450-600 calorie range for the plate. Deserts are smaller sized, usually 200-300 calories, and they are $3.

Love that place! Desserts are very rich, but served in a shot glass. You get the intense flavor, and just enough to satisfy.

lemurcat12

DanSTL82 wrote: »

Didn't read the article, but the easiest thing is to just not keep cookies in the house. Then you don't even need a strategy of how to eat just one, because there's not even one available to you.

Weird. I never buy cookies for my home (never did when I was fat either, I'm not home that much). There's tons of high cal foods at work, and I have no control over that.

CrabNebula

I completely agree with this article. Honestly, I just like knowing I have junk food in the house. I like seeing it. I like knowing that if it runs out, I am free to buy more, so there is no pressure to eat it all now before someone else does like I had all the time growing up. I try to make better junk food choices to boot like Baked Lays, 100 cal bags of microwave popcorn, fair trade dark chocolate, low fat ice cream or froyo, light chocolate syrup. So even if I do go a bit off the rails, the damage is somewhat limited.

I have oil in a dutch oven that I use for deep frying at home, but I don't deep fry probably more than once every six to eight weeks. I think in January, I may have fried some falafel in it? I like knowing that I can if I want to, but it isn't my preferred cooking method anymore at all. Just because it is there and ready to go doesn't make want to deep fry everything. I know my chocolate is in the cabinet, but that's not enough to make me want to eat it constantly.

I think it all boils down to being more mindful and aware of what you are eating and why you are eating. Before I eat anything, I think quickly to myself 'Does it fit into my calorie budget and is it really worth it?". If the answer to one question is no, then the total answer is no and I don't bother thinking anymore about it. It is how I avoid the vast majority of free junk food at work. Even if the answer to the first question is 'yes', the answer to the second question is almost always 'no'. The reason is that it is food is sitting out at work, I can easily get elsewhere. It is usually not the best quality, the number of calories is often unknown and can be assumed through the roof. Why should I waste calories on a mundane baked good I can get anywhere at anytime? Eh, if I am going to waste calories like that, it had better be something very special from a quality local bakery, not a supermarket bakery's manager's special. Losing weight has made me kind of a snobby jerk about my food in some ways. I eat far, far more for quality instead of quantity. Just because it is there and it is free are no longer reasons to eat things anymore. It is false economy if I get fat again from doing that.