Temptations

geekishgirl

I know there is a thread for this within MFP but I wanted to bring it to our board because I have a feeling our answers are going to be very different.

How does everyone deal with temptations of off plan foods?

I know for myself when I'm at home it's pretty easy. But when I'm at work there is a constant stream of cake, ice cream, pizza, donuts, cookies, etc. Then there's my boss who knows what I'm doing but is always offering me left over sushi or cookies because she doesn't really understand. Unlike most MFPers, this is not something we can "fit" into our day.

So how does everyone resist these temptations and stay on plan? And if you make the choice to go off plan, is it something you're ok with or do you regret it in the long run?

randomworldgirl

After 2-3 weeks of being on Medifast, my cravings for cake, cookies, fast food, etc. pretty much went away (except for pizza - more on that later). People in my office bring in bagels, cakes, candy, and chocolate all week long. I just tell them no thanks and walk away.

I am closing in on 12 weeks on Medifast and I still haven't told anyone at work what I'm doing. Oh they knowing dieting, but I don't give them details. These people are not part of my support group and I know I can't rely on them. So when they bug me about food, I firmly tell them that getting healthy is more important to me than having a slice of cake. Because having that cake will set off a spiral of cravings for me. I already went through "detox" so to speak. I don't want to do it again. It sucks.

Another motivator for me is that the food is too expensive to go off plan one day, go back on, go off, go on. You lose your state of "fat burning" and it takes days to get that back. So it's just not worth it to me. I think you have to decide for yourself what is most important to you and then make your own decisions. Sorry, I know that isn't very helpful and probably not the type of answer you were looking for

But going back to the pizza cravings... I had these for weeks and finally decided I was going to figure out how to make the cauliflower pizza in hopes of satisfying that craving. After cooking them about 6 times or so, I finally got it down to a science and it worked actually worked. Somewhat. I still crave pizza, but the cauliflower pizza is satisfying enough to keep me on plan. I actually eat them almost every night for dinner. I think I mentioned this somewhere before, but it's the truth.

When I first started, some of the tips I got were:

Drink a cup of tea
Drink a cup of broth
Eat pickles
Eat a low-fat cheese stick
Drink more water

Last but not least, distract yourself with something else. Our minds make food seem to be so much more than it really is. The more you think about it, the more you want it, the better you think it tastes. Go for a short walk, call a friend, do some chores around the house, etc. Worst case scenario... if you can't get past it, eat an extra Medifast meal. Having an extra 100 calories isn't going to break the bank - in your wallet or your belly.

I hope it gets easier for you. Keep pushing through. You can do it!

p0nderful

I am in my first week and work is a challenge. We do a lot of entertaining, so there is ALWAYS food around. Thank goodness I don't have a sweet tooth so the cookies and brownies don't bother me. But when real food is around---chicken, rice, bread, shrimp, vegetables, it is so had to eat my little bag of chili or crab soup. I haven't given into temptation yet, but it is a daily battle.

geekishgirl

Don't get me wrong. 90% of the time it's pretty easy for me to say no. I know that even though that junk my taste good, it's not what my body wants or needs. But will power gets bent a little bit when the junk is constantly paraded in front of me. To everyone else I work with it doesn't seem like a big deal to just have one cupcake, or one piece of pizza etc. But to me it is.

The cauliflower pizza is amazing and does help satisfy those pizza cravings. I'm glad that there's recipes out there for things like that. It does make it easier. Unfortunately I don't usually have one on hand when the pizza shows up at work!

And eliztenn, you're right about it being expensive. My health coach told me that she estimates that every cheat costs about $75 when you look at the days you messed up before the cheat by cheating and the 3 days it's going to take you to get back into fat burn. Even if the actual numbers don't work out to quite be that much, it's still enough of a deterrent.

Overall, there is no right or wrong answer. Just because we're all using the same program doesn't mean we all do it exactly the same. We can all make our own choices of what we will and won't do. I've just been curious how others handle it because it can be very hard to say no sometimes.

randomworldgirl

Overall, there is no right or wrong answer. Just because we're all using the same program doesn't mean we all do it exactly the same. We can all make our own choices of what we will and won't do. I've just been curious how others handle it because it can be very hard to say no sometimes.

Absolutely! Well said and I couldn't agree more!