Trigger Foods

pledbetter
pledbetter Posts: 11
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Trigger foods: what are yours and how are you working on getting away from them? Have you been successful? Why do you go to them?

Mine - cereal. Ugh. It is such comfort food for me, but then I feel awful after I have eaten half a box (or even a entire box). I know what I am doing while I do it, and I know what the outcome will be, yet I still turn to it. I am afraid to go completely cold turkey and keep it out of the house. Any other experiences out there?

Replies

  • BobbieJo_1977
    BobbieJo_1977 Posts: 197 Member
    Chocolate, chips (anything salty), soda. I love them!!! I do not keep them in the house at all!! If I feel the need to have them I will eat them while I'm out of the house (i.e. Basketball game, the mall, meals out, etc.). I usually only crave them when I've had an extremely tough day or it's TOM. I figure if I don't bring them into my house I'm less likely to binge on them. Also soda, I haven't had any in 19 months, I tried a sip, and it was NASTY!!!! I also try to make it 1 serving size of something (buying it that is).
  • SammiAnne11
    SammiAnne11 Posts: 158 Member
    I have found by eating healthier, I crave things less...my vice is regular coke. It is one thing that will take me a while to completely give up. But I do allow myself 2 a day. I figure if I try to go cold turkey, I'll binge when I get the chance!
    Can you just buy the mini boxes, to limit your eating? I don't think you have to go cold turkey, just have a serving.

    I am working on one goal at a time. First was to log food for a week. Second was to stay within the calorie range. And now I am adding exercise. The weight is coming of slowly, as it should.
    Good luck.
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
    IMHO, if it's a true trigger food, cold turkey is the best thing you can do.

    If you want to read a blog post I wrote about trigger foods, here it is.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/viviakay/view/naming-my-enemies-number-three-the-trigger-food-16393

    I tried moderation on my trigger foods, but all that led to was wanting more. Nowadays, I pretty much abstain completely. It's just easier that way.
  • pledbetter
    pledbetter Posts: 11
    Yeah, I'm being told by others too that cold turkey is the way to go. I thought about the mini boxes - or portioning it out in small snack bags. I am working on it! Thanks for the feedback :o) I really like this site!
  • SarahBethS
    SarahBethS Posts: 29 Member
    Pizza is my trigger food, I crave it like a drug and I'm surrounded by it, not to mention it's advertised on TV every other commercial that comes on. My parents go to an italian place once a week and they always bring home a pizza and my older brother still lives at home and he always has frozen Red Baron pizzas in the freezer and my ex boyfriend had a second job delivering pizza. I would eat pizza Fridays Saturdays and Sundays every weekend and if there wasn't anything else in the house to eat during the week, I would order a pizza and I can't stop at one or two slices, I will eat half a medium pizza or an entire medium pizza by myself depending on how thick the crust is. About the middle of December, I went cold turkey and it's an extremely hard battle to not eat a slice. I've had pizza once or twice since I stopped eating it and I still refuse to eat it even on my cheat days.
  • pledbetter
    pledbetter Posts: 11
    Sarah - that's great! Good for you! Man, I remember when I used to eat an entire Tombstone pizza for dinner in front of the TV....I guess that is one positive change - I can't eat more than 2 pieces now!
    Did you guys get moody or cranky going cold turkey?
  • TheMaidOfAstolat
    TheMaidOfAstolat Posts: 3,222 Member
    Salty foods...chips, pickles, crackers, ect. I will cave and eat as much as I can. My biggest downfall was last year at the RennFaire. I ate 2 servings of fried pickles, fries, and onion rings....and after all the salt I drank 4 glasses of mead. Boy was I dehydrated the next day. I still crave salt and do eat one salty thing a day but it's very limited. I also try to eat as clean as possible...so at least I no longer worry about processed foods as often (I do enjoy my pickles too much to give those up).
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
    Yeah, I'm being told by others too that cold turkey is the way to go. I thought about the mini boxes - or portioning it out in small snack bags. I am working on it! Thanks for the feedback :o) I really like this site!

    IMHO, mini boxes/portioning won't work if the rest of the food is in the cupboard. If it's really a trigger, you'll be obsessed about it until it's all gone.

    I can get away with buying a single serve bag of potato chips and bringing it home. I eat that, then there's no more in the house. If I portion it out of a larger bag, I just eat it all one bag at a time.

    For me, triggers are just asking for trouble. I think acknowledging that you have minimal power over certain foods is important here. I wasted a lot of time in denial, trying to moderate what was really difficult to moderate. Just me.:flowerforyou:
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