cant contol it :/

mfpcopine

I LOVE cookies and had the same problem. Someone suggested I just stuff my face with cookies so I can get sick of them. Sounds horrible but hey it worked! (I didn't eat THAT many to add up to 3500 cal but I ate enough to make me feel sort of disgusted of how much I ate)

Whatever works, I guess. I personally don't like aversion techniques. I once watched a Tony Robbins tape in which he recommended visualizing gross things about one's favorite foods. It might have worked, but I decided I didn't want to create that kind of relationship with food. Food is good. Food is pleasurable. But it has to be eaten in fairly small quantities.

Scribetoo

I can't tell you how to do it but I had to stop "dieting" and start "allowing" myself to have the damn cookie! Cookies, cakes, bready delicious treats.. brownies.. whatever. I love them.. I used to not be able to even be in the same room with them.. it's not like that anymore.

Here's how I do it: If I want a cookie, I will look up how much a serving of that cookie is worth (Oreos, for example, I think a serving is three cookies or something like that.. maybe five..can't remember.. don't eat them that often).. and I say, "okay.. have the cookie, this is what it's going to cost you."

In a short period of time, I found myself LESS and LESS at the mercy of the craving.. just because I stopped resisting it. And in that short period of time, I found the craving diminished. Now I can have a bag of cookies in my house and they'll go stale before I can get to them all.

I stopped saying "no" and started saying "yes, but here's the consequences."

it works for me.
Stef

mfpcopine

. I haven't looked into the studies on this in much detail but it definitely has a ring of truth about it in my experience.

In mine, too. Sugar primes a desire for more sugar. Same thing with fat. A very small amount of either is OK, for example, a couple teaspoons of sugar.

TrailRunner61

I'm the same way so I just try to not have any of that stuff in the house. In fact, last week I thought I could control myself with a box of low-fat, cinnamon graham crackers. Well.. nope. I ate 2 packs of them over 2 days.
Besides just not having it in the house I chew Orbit bubblemint gum, brush my teeth, go pull weeds, do laundry and drink a big glass of water or sugar-free anything.
In order to not feel deprived, I get a single serving of a treat once in a while. If I get a single serving, I don't have to worry about a whole package being in the house! Last weekend I had a chocolate Snickers blizzard! I can tell you that I ate that thing as slow as possible and enjoyed EVERY single bite! lol I do this because I know that I need to be able to maintain my weight loss after I reach goal and still have treats. We all want them once in a while! We just have to fit them in the right way.
Hopefully you get a lot of tips on here! I love how we can learn from others' experiences! Good luck, you can do this!

reallyregina

I'm a cookie addict too. I try drinking water, brushing my teeth and exercising. If those don't work then I eat the cookie. I tried not having them in the house but then I eat really bad. I'll eat anything and everything to try to get over the cookie craving. Now I make a batch and keep them in the freezer. I'd rather eat a cookie or two than half the pantry.

weighlossforbaby

Just eat the cookie but eat 2 or 3 cookies and log it in, that's what I do. Just exercise to burn off the calories of the cookies you ate. Don't condemn yourself for a cookie!!!!

TrailRunner61

My advice (which has worked well for me) is to take foods like this and divide them into plastic bags by serving and clearly label each one with the calories. I usually do this the day I buy my groceries and after I have eaten dinner so that I'm not still hungry. Then, whenever I'm contemplating eating that cookie or sweet, I have it already broken up by serving and if I decide that the calories are worth it, I'm not tempted to eat more than the serving. It has really helped me break my Cheez-Its addiction. Looking at a bag of cheez-its looks a lot less appealing to my stomach than a whole orange or bag of veggie straws!

I love this idea. I might try this, but write how many miles I'd have to walk/run to earn the calories for the snacks. That should do it. lol

kristynkayte

Are you exercising?

I look at the caloric value of whatever is tempting me and think about how much time I have to spend on the elliptical to burn off what I am about to eat.

That usually does it for me.

That always does it for me as well!! Lol

wasveganvictoria88

Lol don't buy cookies...don't even look at a cookie haha :P

Romans624

For now, I put things out of sight and usually they are out of mind.

At the party store last week I bought 30 snack size candies - 15 for a dollar. I did have one night where i ate like 10 of them, and two other nights where i had one each night. But that was a week ago. Most of the time I don't think about it.

Rather than thinking about the delicious things I want, I think about how good I'll feel when I'm fit and sexy again. I think about how eating healthy foods - that is going to make me lose weight, have better health, and feel better about myself. If a "danger food" (one I'm prone to overeat on) comes to mind, I make a point of thinking of something else.

If I can't get it out of my mind. I will very slowly eat one, and savor every possible crumb. But if that doesn't work, I'll go ahead and eat more. For the most part though, I am able to control myself by remembering that my goal is more important than giving in to my every desire.

stopdangerpi

Ever watch Sex and the City? This is one of my favorite scenes: Miranda battling with a cake!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfk5iseN87k

AliciaNorris81

My husband is a snack food distributor. Guess what he brings home all of the time?

The good thing about it is he also distributes for Kellog's so I get the 90 calorie bars and the good cereals...bad thing is, he distributes for Keebler too, and Jay's potato chips...ugh.

I have had to learn the ULTIMATE self control.

What I usually do is grab a string cheese or a few baby carrots and some water. Carrots are kind of sweet, so it helps. Also, I immediately give myself a task. "Ohh a cookie! I better get that toilet clean!" By the time I am done, I have forgotten about it.

dlyeates

There are many things you can do to regain the control you still have.

1. Don't buy the cookies. If they are too much of a temptation and you can't limit to the prescribed serving don't have them in the house. I'm this way with chips. I still firmly believe the big bags are 2 servings (which of course they are not which is why they are rarely in my house!!!!)

2. Portion them out into single serving bags and allow them into your calorie count.

3. Add them into your calorie count (without portioning them out). You need to find what works for you but this would never work for me if I denied myself what I like. That is why I failed at every other diet. I do this with popcorn (100 calorie bags), wine, ice cream etc. I earn it if I don't have the calories for it!!!

4. Pre-log your food so you know what you have the calories for. It helps me because if I've written it down I'm more likely to follow it and if I'm offered something that doesn't work into my calories I remind myself it's not on my menu for the day.

5. Find a way to get rid of the sugar craving. Many years ago I followed an eating plan called the Sonoma Diet. The first 10 days restricts your calories a lot (you can adjust with additional snack) but it also detoxes you from sugar (no fruit allowed but it's only 10 days) and I didn't think it would happen but I totally lost my craving for sugar. Now it's tons easier to have 1 or 2 cookies and not really want it. Yes the 10 days are hard but doable.

You need to find what works for you and go with that. These are things that have worked for me.

JennedyJLD

Think about how you're going to feel right after you eat the cookie. It's fun for a few seconds, but then there's the guilt and (if you have three more) that uncomfortable, bloated feeling. Now think about how you'll feel when you hit your next fitness goal. Ask yourself whether the temporary rush you get from a cookie binge is worth the guilt you feel later, or whether it's better than the pride you'll feel when you hit that goal.

I always advocate having a little bit of what you want. If possible, try to have just one, and work it into your daily calories and macros. if you absolutely can't limit yourself to just one (I've been there many times!) resolve to do an extra five minutes or ten minutes of exercise to earn back the calories. Sometimes it IS worth it to have some fun and pay the price later!!!

skullshank

some times i have great self control but most of the time i dont ..i can look at a cookie and say "jess your not going to eat that cookie" and next thing i know i am eating the friggin cookie plus 3 more...what the heck can i do to have more self control?

i don't see a progress ticker under your post, so i'm going to ask (rhetorically) how successful you've been in your weight-loss.

the reason i ask, is because i also had a big issue saying no until i started to see/feel results. it then became a priority game with me: cookies vs. feeling better...i was feeling so good, and seeing the results of saying no, that it became easier for me to pass things up, and now to be honest i hardly miss them. i will have some stuff once in awhile...saturday night i had movie night with my son while my wife was out. we made cookies and i had a few. sure it was good but i knew i was in control, and if i wanted to say no, i certainly could have.

logging is also a HUGE help for me.

"3 little cookies won't hurt..."
*log*
"holy ****...those 3 little cookies were 200 calories!"

daylily2005

I had the same problem with diet coke. I was a diet coke addict. Like really. I grew up drinking soft drinks and switched to diet in high school sometime. I don't drink coffee or tea, so that was my only source of caffeine. In February, I decided that I could break my diet coke addiction. I would just constantly tell myself I didn't need it. That doesn't mean that i didn't crave it, because I definitely did. But whenever I'd crave it, I'd think "I can drink something else instead. It's no big deal. Diet coke doesn't have any power over me." and after a couple of weeks I found myself satisfied with water or sugar free lemonade. I went with absolutely no diet coke for 3 weeks before I gave in and bought a can. I drank it over like 3 hours.

Now I have diet cokes occasionally. I don't keep it in the house because then I want to drink it more. When I'm out at a restaurant I might order one, or I might have water.

That's how I'm attacking this weight loss. The incredible satisfaction of knowing that I went from drinking LOTS of diet coke to next to none is what's fueling me forward. I use the same tactics. "I don't need french fries...I'll have ______" Or "I don't need a cookie....I'll have a little frozen yogurt instead...."

I've only been at this a little over a week, but it helps considerably! And when I think about caving, I just remember the good feeling of ditching diet cokes, and remind myself that I DO have willpower

My advice would be something like this. Find something that you've beat and felt good about and just constantly remind yourself of those feelings. And a little sugar doesn't hurt. Sweets are sweet for a reason! Just make sure not to overindulge.

I also found that making something sweet and promising to take it to someone's house or putting the rest in individual bags in the freezer works. I don't buy packaged sweets. Too easy to go overboard. But when you have to pull something out and defrost it...it requires a little more foresight (and calorie saving for dessert!). Hope this helps. You can do it!

rodes27

You cant deprive yourself...telling yourself you cant have any indulgences will just make you eat way more than you need.... .so schedule / eat the cookies... 1 serving size.....and log them in your calorie count. Another thing that helps me beat the sweet tooth is to have some cereal....either a sugar kind like apple jacks, or corn flakes with splenda as one of my meals....... two cups of apple jacks is just 200 calories (minus milk) and it takes care of my sweet tooth. At the end of the day...its about net calories, not protein, vs carbs....not cookies vs not carrots.....so treat yourself once in a while.

mfpcopine

My advice (which has worked well for me) is to take foods like this and divide them into plastic bags by serving and clearly label each one with the calories. I usually do this the day I buy my groceries and after I have eaten dinner so that I'm not still hungry. Then, whenever I'm contemplating eating that cookie or sweet, I have it already broken up by serving and if I decide that the calories are worth it, I'm not tempted to eat more than the serving. It has really helped me break my Cheez-Its addiction. Looking at a bag of cheez-its looks a lot less appealing to my stomach than a whole orange or bag of veggie straws!

I love this idea. I might try this, but write how many miles I'd have to walk/run to earn the calories for the snacks. That should do it. lol

I find that when I'm overeating reason isn't terribly powerful. I know I'm consuming calories I don't need and recognize vaguely that there will be payback, but part of me simply doesn't care. That's why I'd rather not have the temptation around.

On the other hand, if I'm extremely fit, am feeling great and am doing everything I need to do, I'm more likely to be able to resist empty calories because it seems silly to destroy my momentum. But I don't like to risk it.