Doritos are not meth.

Shelbert79

You're awesome! I love this post!

bgerend

Doritos are not meth.

Yeah, meth isn't usually loaded with MSG. Probably better for you in the long run.

/notreally

Great post, I like your outlook!

honeysprinkles

Great post! I completely agree, even though it's sometimes easier said than done.

bethFromDayton

People differ.

This. Yes, people differ. I think of it as terms of alcohol. Some people realize they're drinking too much and they cut back but can still drink moderately. Other people have to stop cold turkey because they know once they start, they'll keep going. Others can't even stand to be in a bar or have alcohol in the house.

We differ--what we need to stay on course varies by person and even varies by time for a person. If someone needs to eliminate all junk food from his/her house to avoid temptation, who am I to tell them they ought to eat it in moderation?

If someone can eat something in moderation and get right back on track, who am I to tell them to cut it out completely?

And if someone eats total junk and gains weight, who am I to tell them to change their habits?

I know I'm working on identifying what works for me *right now*. That may change--but right now is what I'm dealing with now. That's true for all of us.

The OP was making pronouncements and assertions that work for HER--that doesn't mean they're right for everyone. Sanctimonious much?

sdbart

I don’t shiver and sob on my bathroom floor while rubbing Sensa crystals all over my body. I ate a cupcake, I didn’t hit someone with my car and keep driving, so why should I feel guilty?

ROFLOL! :laugh: :sad:
I swear after reading that I was laughing so hard, I almost peed my pants! Seriously.... I agree, to a point. Yes you can enjoy the occasional sweets but if you know that your willpower is not strong enough to have it in the house, then do not have it in the house. It is about how you deal with things that you know you will binge on. Slip ups happen and yes you just need to move on and try a little harder.

chocl8girl

While your post is correct - it is only practical once you have a healthy relationship with food. Everyone has different triggers and are at different stages in their struggle to have a healthy relationship with food. Moderation works for some right from the start, others have to work through some issues with their 'drug' before they can incorporate it back into their diet.

Hmm...but the point of weight loss should be to work on that healthy relationship with food. No one is saying that if you have to refrain from certain foods for now to get to the point where you need to be, that you shouldn't do that. The point is that whilst working on your relationship with food, it is possible that refraining from your "triggers" may not be necessary forever.

Love yourself. Work on your relationship with food, in any way that you need to for now, but know that there are other things you can practice that may work for you.

allisonlane61

I see what you're saying, but we each have to find our own way through the minefield of temptation. There are certain things I don't buy because I don't want to be eating them, and I know if they're here, I will rationalize having just a little, which as often as not turns into a lot.

It does annoy me how easily people throw around the word "addiction". It does not mean "love so much that I can't resist", but I have to admit it's accepted common usage for the word. It shouldn't be.

Yeah, this.

At 51, I'm past working on my will power with my food-weaknesses (you know, those one or two things you just seem to not be able to get enough of). I'll take the easy route and just not bring my weakness food in my house, or I'll buy the mini-size and bring it in. If I'm out, I can control my weaknesses and have a few chips, or just a TBSP of a great dip and bread, but in my home it's harder. I see no need to have to expend energy on controlling will power with my one or two weakness foods. I'd rather spend my time doing something else, so I just don't bring it in.

We each handle things differently. Maybe if you're a young adult, going to master the will power is a rewarding and important experience. I know what I'm able to control and not control, so I'll just treat the symptoms at this point. I do eat that occasional cupcake at work, and I don't have to worry that I'll eat another three if they're a real winner cupcake.

Incidentally, I am 72 pounds lighter, have kept it off, and am now only 25 pounds away from goal. But no guilt, no matter what I eat. That's self defeating.

EDIT: Incidentally, I had no idea the OP's age until reading a post after this one. I was speaking from my own journey and how I've evolved from being a young adult into an older woman who understands herself, her weaknesses, and what is best for her.

darisey

Wonderful post. I absolutely agree (with no "but"'s) and I also think about all of this whenever someone posts something posts out banning food or panicking because they went over or thinking that people are evil sabotagers for offering cake or cupcakes.

I started this journey because I wanted to be skinny, had no willpower, was terrified of food. Nearly 45lbs later, I have learned so much. I eat whatever I want and my goal now is just learning. Learning moderation, learning what portion sizes look like, learning to have a better relationship with food and that there is something in between starving myself and eating way too much. Its a very empowering thing!

PeachyKeene

I am a food addict, I don't understand moderation.

That's just an excuse, everyone understands moderation, you just have to say NO to yourself and see it through.
It isn't easy, but it's not impossible if you keep trying.

Easier said than done, I have been on this journey for a very long time. I know what works for me. Not having these foods works best for me.

Don't judge me, until you have been in my shoes and certainly don't tell me I am using it as an excuse. That is your opinion, not fact.

I am so glad for you, that you don't suffer with my problems.

kungfujen

Love this post. It is ok to indulge occasionally. No food is so evil that you should never eat it unless you have some sort of allergy or intolerance. I just had to have waffles yesterday, so I ate waffles, enjoyed my waffles, and made sure that I had a light and sensible dinner and a good workout.

DaniH826

We all have our weaknesses and our areas where we lack self-control for whatever reason(s).

Maybe the same person who knocks you for being 50 pounds overweight, can't stop watching porn or maxing their credit cards. Same difference.

Exercising self-control with food just happens to be my weakness. But, I'm working on turning it into a strength. Some day it will happen.

Also, great post, thanks for sharing it!

WillLift4Tats

:drinker: This is awesome. Thanks for the laugh and refreshing perspective.

stephdeeable

Only on MFP would a thread about not shaming yourself turn into "STOP SHAMING ME! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Le sigh. I have to go to work now, hopefully this thread isn't nuked before I get home so I can continue to read about how I don't understand what it's like to be fat.

losingdreamie

Excellent post!!

We can't all go around avoiding the things that got us where we "didn't want to be". One of these days you will be at that SuperBowl party with bags of doritos, bowls of dip and piles of hot wings. You can't take yourself out of every situation just to avoid overeating. The key is learning to be in those situations, eating some, whether more than you should or a serving, logging it and moving on. The more you practice the easier it will become to stop at a serving. People who quit smoking can't take themselves out of every situation involving cigarettes......you can always bum one, but just saying no in the midst of the temptation is the key.

hillcontessa

I’m hesitant even as I write this, because I don’t want this to turn into some horrible flame war thread, because I write this with good intentions and not to judge or bully anyone. But it’s been on my mind for some time so I want to write it out…

Everywhere I look on this site I see threads or comments where people are losing their damn mind because someone brought cupcakes into work, or their mother-in-law made pasta for Sunday dinner, or they had to drive past a Taco Bell last Wednesday and it’s been giving them night terrors. They refuse to eat these things in moderation, or fit them somewhere in their daily/weekly/monthly goals and instead spend hours freaking out and obsessing about what they ate, didn’t eat or almost ate.

If someone brings cupcakes into my work, and I decide I’d like one – I eat it, I think “What a delicious cupcake.”, log it as best as I can in my food journal and continue with my day. I never think about it again, I don’t skip dinner or do an extra workout or pray to the Weight Loss God. I don’t shiver and sob on my bathroom floor while rubbing Sensa crystals all over my body. I ate a cupcake, I didn’t hit someone with my car and keep driving, so why should I feel guilty?

I’m not saying I don’t make bad choices some days. The other day I ate an entire bag of tortilla chips and an entire jar of queso dip. And not throughout the day or at a casual social event. I sat on my couch and crammed about 1500 calories into my mouth in 20 minutes. Did I regret it afterwards? Of course I did. Do I now think I have a queso addiction and refuse to have it in my house? No. There is a bag of chips in my cupboard and a jar of dip in my fridge. I like to enjoy a serving of each some nights after work.

The big picture is, food can not own or control us. We have power over our own minds. You are not addicted to chocolate. You are not addicted to carbs. There’s no shifty dudes hanging out in the alley trying to sell you Cheetos. Doritos are not meth. Losing weight to me has nothing to do with looking smokin’ hot in a bikini, one of my biggest goals is to continue to learn and implement my own self control. To learn how to keep things in balance, and make good decisions. I will slip up sometimes and moderation can fly out the window, but I’d rather learn from my mistakes than constantly worry about these “bad foods” and when they’re going to get me. I want to be free from these restrictions we put upon ourselves.

I’m not saying you have to keep eating junk food. If you don’t want to, don’t. If you want to eat clean (whatever that actually means), then go nuts. Just stop giving food more power than it has. I am so sick of people talking about food like it’s a drug. “Oh, I can’t control myself around sweets.” Yes, you can. You just never have. “I can’t have chips in my house!” Sure you can. Sometimes you’ll ration them out serving by serving throughout the week, and sometimes you’ll eat the entire bag at once and regret it afterwards. In my opinion, you will learn more from that than from walking through life with your eyes closed pretending chips don’t exist.

They do exist. And they are delicious.

#WORD!

coderedjulia

Well, I do agree that you shouldn't deprive yourself from a cupcake, but even someone like myself would prolly eat 2 cupcakes. I know my dad likes to fry some chicken wings sometimes, and I catch myself even eating 5 or 6 of them when I already had dinner. I just do my best to avoid it.

chocl8girl

tl;dr

can someone post cliff's plz?

Summary: What works for one person should work for everyone else.

/end

That's not what the OP said at all. Reading comprehension fail.

Gosh, I would love to get into an internet slapping match but I have not had my afternoon java yet.

:yawn:

Just because someone says what works for them, doesn't mean they automatically mean are insisting that it will work for everyone else. What I got was that this worked for her, and it COULD work for you, too. Take what you want from it and leave the rest. It's really not that hard.

Anyway...

infamousmk

Eat Doritos in moderation? Unpossible!

Seriously. It's not even remotely likely.

So yeah, avoiding food which so easily defeats one's willpower is a good life choice.

I'm going to venture a guess that if you're letting Doritos have so much power over you that you can't eat them in moderation, you need to work on your willpower.

You are choosing the lazy way, and you are not making lifelong-sustainable choices.

Wow! Talk about being judgemental! So if I choose to ban foods from my house, like doritos, then I'm being lazy and not making good life choices??? Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you are saying.

Should we fill up our houses with all the junky foods we crave all the time in order to "be strong"??

If I'm trying to eat healthy, why would I go to Wendy's for lunch? Same idea right? If I'm trying not to eat junk food, why keep it in the house. I believe I'm exercising my will power by not buying or allowing these foods into my home. :huh:

Choosing a junk-food-free lifestyle is not the same as saying, "this junk food has so much control over me that I can't have it around." You are making a leap here.

Personally, I'm not giving up junk food or Wendy's. I want to have these things on occasion, when it's appropriate, for the rest of my life. So, I have to learn how to have a healthy relationship with Doritos and Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers, which includes using my willpower to make the right choices.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I think I love you.

plipsurt

What a fantastic post! Like you (author) I am also enjoying my new relationship with food. Finding out that I can say "no" if I choose to, that I can help myself, that I don't have to do anything has been great. Like you, if I want it, I eat it and log it. I then move on