Afraid to eat sweets
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nanpask
Posts: 24 Member
I'm afraid to eat sweets because I have never been able to keep from bingeing on them. Once I start I can't quit. That is how I keep regaining the weight. I have dieted my entire life & never kept it off for more than a year. I would like to be able to have one item without eating the whole thing or package.
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Replies
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Make it fit in your calorie goals. Even if it's daily, if you make it fit, it won't be a problem. I just had a rice krispie treat and it fit perfectly.
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I have trouble around some sweets but not all. Dark chocolate, which I find easy to moderate, I can eat but put caramel corn in front of me, I could plow thru a whole bag.
You need to find something you can eat just a little of and then put away. Or don't have sweets at all. It's a tough road to learn how to moderate sweet foods.5 -
Is there someone in your life who can leave one "surprise" sweet item out for you randomly? You could eat it, knowing there would be no more to follow until the next day. Or maybe purchase a single candy bar or baked item each day?3
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That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?1
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CafeRacer808 wrote: »That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?
If she has a self control issue, any attempt at restricting sweets will backfire and lead to a binge. The best way to learn self-control is through moderation, especially when it comes to food.2 -
CafeRacer808 wrote: »That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?
If she has a self control issue, any attempt at restricting sweets will backfire and lead to a binge. The best way to learn self-control is through moderation, especially when it comes to food.
The kitchen safe I was referring to was designed to enable moderation, not restriction.1 -
CafeRacer808 wrote: »CafeRacer808 wrote: »That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?
If she has a self control issue, any attempt at restricting sweets will backfire and lead to a binge. The best way to learn self-control is through moderation, especially when it comes to food.
The kitchen safe I was referring to was designed to enable moderation, not restriction.
That would be a good tool then.
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I started by not bringing into the house things I couldn't moderate in the multiple serving size, I didn't restrict them I just bought single serving size.
For example my sweet fix is hershey's kisses in the small packet. If I eat the whole packet its 220 calories. I'm able to eat only a few most days.
Not sure if this will help you but it helps me.1 -
CafeRacer808 wrote: »CafeRacer808 wrote: »That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?
If she has a self control issue, any attempt at restricting sweets will backfire and lead to a binge. The best way to learn self-control is through moderation, especially when it comes to food.
The kitchen safe I was referring to was designed to enable moderation, not restriction.
That would be a good tool then.
Hence the suggestion.
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I struggle with this a lot too. I've had to take a hardline with it and not keep anything sweet in the house. After a few days I find I start to lose my desire for it. Not that I still don't love all the sweet foods, but they aren't on my mind nearly as much....
On those occasions where I have to have a sweet treat, I'll buy a single portion of what I want, be it a candy bar, single slice of cake/cupcake, ect. Also, if it isn't kept in the house and I really want it that bad, I have to get in the car and drive to get it. That's enough to make me lose interest in itself sometimes.
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I don't keep them in the house. If I want a sweet treat, I'll budget for it in my calories; then I'll go out and get a serving -- a candy bar from the convenience store, a dish of ice cream from the dairy, something baked from the bakery.
Not keeping them in the house keeps me from over-indulging on them. Going out for them makes it a special occasion and a bit of a ritual. It makes it special in a way that keeping a tub of ice cream in the freezer doesn't. Budgeting for it makes you accountable to your food diary.4 -
Preach. It's like moving a mountain trying to have just some reasonable amount of something sweet. People who come around saying "Just make it fit!" or "just have a small square of chocolate every day!" are people who obviously have NO clue what the actual problem is. The problem is trying to eat some sensible portion and having it snowball into a face stuffing extravaganza. The only thing that ever helps me not to binge on something like that is cutting my carbs. I assume this is because when carbs are reduced so is the urge to eat. This is true for a lot of people, it may not be true for all people.5
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ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »Preach. It's like moving a mountain trying to have just some reasonable amount of something sweet. People who come around saying "Just make it fit!" or "just have a small square of chocolate every day!" are people who obviously have NO clue what the actual problem is. The problem is trying to eat some sensible portion and having it snowball into a face stuffing extravaganza. The only thing that ever helps me not to binge on something like that is cutting my carbs. I assume this is because when carbs are reduced so is the urge to eat. This is true for a lot of people, it may not be true for all people.
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OP - what type of sweets do you like? There are tons of great ways to substitute. For example -- I make protein shakes that taste like Frosty's or eat Yasso pops rather than ice cream. I cut protein bars into small pieces to eat like candy, chew sweet sugar free gum. Share what you like and we can offer up some alternatives.2
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I use The Laziness Method.
Just get a serving of your treat out of the cupboard, then go settle down with it and enjoy eating it.
I just don't bother going getting more.1 -
Start off by buying smaller portions or your favorite sweets, then once you'e gained control with that, buy bigger bags and portion them out as soon as you get home.0
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I think there are 2 options for people who have foods which trigger binges and they cannot, at this stage anyway, eat them in moderation.
1. Totally ban yourself from eating the trigger food. For some people this all or nothing approach works better than trying moderation.
2. find ways to give yourself "enforced moderation" - eg only buy in small single serve packet, only eat them out of the house (say, cake at a cafe or leave item at work) ask your partner to hide or lock supply from you.5 -
We're all different but what works for me is not buying them or having them in the house and that goes for anything - when I gave up smoking I couldn't have cigarettes in the house - I knew I'd not be able to resist the temptation. I can't eat chocolate or sweets because of digestive issues - they make me ill - so I don't have them in the house because if I do, I binge on them.
You wouldn't leave alcohol or heroin around in the presence of a recovering addict - to me it's the same thing.3 -
OP, totally understand your problem. While I was on my weight loss, I actually totally banned the sweets because they are a huge trigger for me. Moderation does not work. Instead of sweets at night which was "my time" I fixed a big bowl of really sweet fruit (such as mangoes and pineapple) with some plain yogurt. That seemed to stop me from thinking about ice cream and other junk, but was sweet enough to trick my brain. I didn't eat ANY junk for 3 months.
The holidays have come, I've reached my goal weight, and I have had some things. Fudge, cake, pie, etc. At first, when I started eating them about a week or so ago, it was fine. I could have a few bites and be satisfied. But as the week has progressed, I am starting to get that "out of control" feeling with them now so I need to stop. Grabbing a piece of fudge three times a day...eating pie after normal meals versus just the celebratory ones...it's gradual but those habits are creeping back in, so I need to rein it in. It's been hard. Since 12/21 I have had my son's birthday, Christmas, my birthday, New Year's Eve. It's been one thing after another and people are making that "once a year" stuff that I don't want to pass up.3 -
If you lose weight without sweets, and then ALWAYS regain your weight when you eats swees again, then I think it makes sense to avoid the sweets 99.9% of the time. You have shown yourself time and time again what happens if you eat sweets. You KNOW what will probably happen if if eat sweets again. If you eat sweets, because you have been unsuccessful moderating it, you are risking weight regain.
I'm another who eats low carb, partially to control my sweet tooth. It works. Avoiding sweets works. I'm sticking with what works... at least 99% of the time. That 1% is easier to control now that I am low carb.CafeRacer808 wrote: »That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?
If she has a self control issue, any attempt at restricting sweets will backfire and lead to a binge. The best way to learn self-control is through moderation, especially when it comes to food.
But the OP is fine with control if she avoids sweets. It is when she has sweets, and attempts moderation, that it leads to a binge.3
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