I *honestly* do NOT understand...

darrensurrey

My husband, for example, will eat just 4 or 5 chips and that's enough for him - I sit and look at him with awe. I generally don't have my "trigger" foods in the house but last week was a bad week and I went on an emotional eating roller coaster of a ride

He doesn't have any emotional problems - or expresses his addictive personality in other ways. Not "judging" (as people call it). It's my training. Often, it's not food that is the problem but something deeper.

You're welcome to disagree.

Velum_cado

Things that I genuinely can't stop eating (like that hardening ice cream chocolate shell stuff) I just don't buy. For other things, it really helps to separate out just a little bit, put it in a bowl or on a plate, and put the rest away. I won't be very likely to get up, get the package out, and have more. Or, I split it with someone else.

Th3stral

This is the second of two health chnaging diets I've been on and in all fairness I wouldn't have needed this one if it hadn't been for the pregnancy throwing everything out. No it's not an excuse, I'm IR and I could ONLY keep down bread/pasta/potato due to extreme sickness, even with the medication, and I had a whole host of doctors saying I HAD to eat for the baby and they could sort my IR out later and I was hospitalised for most of my pregnancy.

Once I've started eating my trigger foods (carbs) I find it horribly difficult to stop and I comfort ate through breastfeeding (which I dreaded every second of) too, there is no excuse for that! Once my eating was thrown out I had a really emotional battle to get it back. Once I've got it back under control, just as the first time I went on the IR diet, I'm totally fine. I've got a load of home made garlic bread in the freezer which I'm able to acknowledge is there and not want to eat it. I'm also able to cook it for guests (reason for making in the first place) and not even feel slightly tempted.

I find giving up things terribly hard, but 2-4 weeks later I can just walk away even when it's wafted under my nose. I think for me food isn't an emotional trigger unless I make it a trigger. And I'm still sure that my IR sways my tendancy towards what type of foods I've latched onto as wel. I just gave up chocolate and never looked back, tea/coffee/alcohol/fizzy drinks - never missed them. Cakes - not interested, who cares about cakes. Super carby hits like white bread, white pasta and chips and I struggle.

yogacat13

Sometimes craving salty foods is a mineral deficiency, so a good multivitamin with minerals might help. I do that, plus I get the tiny 25 gram serving size bags - eating one bag is ok, and the thought of opening a second bag reminds me to stop.

Cait_Sidhe

Will let you know when I find out. Been at this for 3 years now, still haven't found the answer.

barrpc

In the not so distant past I was doing the same thing. I would sit in front of the TV and eat a whole tub of hummus and fritos...YUMMMMY!!! The key word in that sentence was...."sit in front of TV". I am down to about zero hours TV now. I do house work and organize things I have wanted to do for a long time now. I have no problem not munching because my mind is busy until I get ready for bed. So for me, TV was my evil culprit, and canning it has gone a long way for me.

AglaeaC

Easiest way to avoid the binge is definitely to just not buy them in the first place. I can demolish a full-size bag of chips before I know what I've done. So I just make myself walk past that isle in the grocery store now. Helps too that with the Sodastream I don't have to buy pop, which is always in the same spot as the chips.

I'm trying to find ways to make them more emotionally unappealing, such as thinking about how much sodium it would be if I snarfed it down and how bloated and awful I'll feel. The potato chip hangover avoidance theory.

You know, I disagree. You have to teach yourself new habits.

OP - I recommend portioning out the chips, stop at one bag, and if you find yourself tempted to go after another bag, distract yourself.

Moderation isn't hard once you make the concious effort to make a habit of it.

While I think the second commenter is quite right, it's also a lot to ask from a person, who is on their first weeks of proper logging in a diary. For me it is a huge thing to even stay honest in my diary (not leave certain foods unlogged because it's "uncomfortable") and to wrap my head around regular exercise, so if this means I won't buy certain trigger foods for a while then so be it.

What I personally manage is to make a good decision in the store, but if I'm at home and didn't make good decisions but brought home a large bag or huge carton of something, then it's gone sooner than I can say bye bye.

"New habits" for me right now is to log as faithfully as I can and then deal with the aftermath, all the other new habits later. All or nothing is a harsh thing to ask from oneself - log perfectly and learn new habits in a week or don't do this at all aka be a failure. It doesn't work that way.

"Moderation isn't hard"? Well, for many trigger food is an addiction of a sort, so moderation won't work. Alcohol or various drugs in moderation don't seem to work so well for addicts either. If someone deems themselves not to be trusted around certain foods, what's the harm in avoiding them? I don't believe it's helpful to insinuate they should do something entirely different from what they feel comfortable doing.

barrpc

If you eat because you're hungry, you stop eating when you stop being hungry.

If you eat for ANY other reason, what is the cue for you to stop? There isn't one. If you eat because you're stressed, bored, seeking comfort, out of habit . . . you will continue to eat compulsively past your point of satiety because you are seeking but not achieving an outcome that food ultimately cannot provide.

Try to eat to satisfy hunger, nothing else. If you find yourself eating for any other reason, find an alternative activity to meet those needs.

If you crave salty things, maybe you need more salt in your diet.

barrpc

I ike that!!! Well put!

tootoop224

...how someone (not me) is able to STOP eating chips or bugles or cookies (insert trigger food here.) My trigger food: potato chips - or anything salty really. If there is a bag or box of something salty in the house I cannot NOT finish the entire bag or box. I am baffled by people that can eat just a few. My husband, for example, will eat just 4 or 5 chips and that's enough for him - I sit and look at him with awe. I generally don't have my "trigger" foods in the house but last week was a bad week and I went on an emotional eating roller coaster of a ride which culimanated in my finishing ALL chips in the house last night (not logged - too ashamed) and polishing off a bottle of wine (logged.) So, how do YOU manage to not totally inhale your trigger foods? I would LOVE suggestions/ideas/advice! My waist begs you!

First thing is, you have to log it. There is no shame in "going off the reservation" once in a while. We all do it. The shame is in not holding yourself accountable by logging it. This accomplishes 2 things:

1. Allows you to see in black and white what that choice did to all your efforts. It also let's you compare that to some of the healthy choices you have made, and how instead of all those chips, I could have had a ton of healthy food for less calories AND improved my macros. Seeing this in black and white really helped me make better choices.

2. Allows you to measure the damage, and correct it going forward, by making better choices, exercising, etc.

I also think, as others have mentioned, that separating out a single serving (or two if you have room in your cals/macros) and putting the bag away can help with the binge-ing. Hope this helps!

Lisah8969

I agree with the others who suggest just taking out one serving and putting the rest away. My "chip" of choice is now any of the Pringles varieties. It is easy to count out a serving of them and I have them with my lunches on the weekends.

And now that you have mentioned bugles...before I started on MFP, someone had mentioned the chocolate peanut butter ones! I haven't gotten them in more than a year. Before I would have eaten the whole bag in 5 minutes, but now I am sure I could portion it out and be happy. Maybe I will get some this weekend...

cazcarr89

I agree with some others, try not to have them in the house at all and then temptation won't arise! If (like me) you have certains things in the house for others, ie kids, then weigh it out and log it. The numbers should do it!

nyboer

My husband, for example, will eat just 4 or 5 chips and that's enough for him - I sit and look at him with awe. I generally don't have my "trigger" foods in the house but last week was a bad week and I went on an emotional eating roller coaster of a ride

He doesn't have any emotional problems - or expresses his addictive personality in other ways. Not "judging" (as people call it). It's my training. Often, it's not food that is the problem but something deeper.

You're welcome to disagree.

lol - The hubs and I were talking about this last night actually. He definitely is fighting his own demons. It's just that our trigger foods are different. I can't understand his not eating all the chips and he can't understand my not getting into the Skinny Cows. He has to literally stop himself from eating the entire box of Skinny Cows or Oreos or M&Ms.

nyboer

Will let you know when I find out. Been at this for 3 years now, still haven't found the answer.

That's what I'm afraid of! :sad:

dmorinn

I'm honestly the same way, it's either no chips or the whole bag, or chocolate or ice cream....

I used to have a really poor diet since I was so skinny I could eat whatever I wanted, but eventually it caught up to me

now what I do is that I refuse to have that type of food in my house, I eat healthy but I don't eat totally clean because thats when you deprive yourself of the food you really love and then go on a huge binge and hate yourself later. The reason why you can't quit at just one is because when you eat food high in fat or sugar is releases seritonin and dopamine, so you get that feel good feeling and want more. What you need to do if find other activities that give off the same feeling, hobbies, working out, or finding other foods you really enjoy. It's all about moderate, 6 days a week I'll log my food and make sure I eat my macro's, then one day a week I'll take to treat myself... eat whatever I want because you need this to re-boot your metabolism but then usually by that day, I'll be so proud of how good all week I'll treat myself but only in moderate.

itsscottwilder

I have to measure out EVERYTHING. Or else I over eat. Portion control has always been a problem for me.

ninerbuff

...how someone (not me) is able to STOP eating chips or bugles or cookies (insert trigger food here.) My trigger food: potato chips - or anything salty really. If there is a bag or box of something salty in the house I cannot NOT finish the entire bag or box. I am baffled by people that can eat just a few. My husband, for example, will eat just 4 or 5 chips and that's enough for him - I sit and look at him with awe. I generally don't have my "trigger" foods in the house but last week was a bad week and I went on an emotional eating roller coaster of a ride which culimanated in my finishing ALL chips in the house last night (not logged - too ashamed) and polishing off a bottle of wine (logged.) So, how do YOU manage to not totally inhale your trigger foods? I would LOVE suggestions/ideas/advice! My waist begs you!

Usually because of habitual reasons, people gorge till the bag is empty. Thinking has to change before habit does. If someone handed you a bag and said "eat more than 20 chips and your husband will drop dead of a heart attack" (extreme, but I'm trying to make a point) you wouldn't finish the bag. Why? Because you value your husband's life, more than that 21st chip. And that's the mentality you have to make about yourself. Sounds simple, but most don't actually grasp it, especially those who put others first.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

vim_n_vigor

This is how I do it:
1. I remove said trigger foods from my diet for about 1 month.
2. I never bring the whole package with me to eat. I measure out a portion, and have to go back to the kitchen to get more.
3. I don't eat it in the kitchen. :laugh:
4. I make sure that long term there is a place for all of my favorite foods in my diet. I don't try to replace them or make them out of cauliflower or anything like that. I eat the real thing.

It can take time though. Oh - and make sure you are eating enough that you truly aren't hungry all the time. When I tried the 1200 calorie thing, there was no such thing as moderation when I saw any of my favorites!

Zalovar

Well, generally, I just measure out a serving or two and put the bag of *blank* back in the cupboard. I know I can't control myself if I had the bag sitting in front of me. Might sounds silly since I could just go back to the cupboard and get more but portioning it out seems to work for me.

kao708

There are certain things I can't buy because I know I will devour the entire package in 1 sitting. I just accept that fact and don't buy them...or buy the smallest package possible so I cause less damage. This includes cheese, pringles, pizza...it can get ugly!