The Evil Skinny Cow, and other "Light" Lies and Untruths

I love the Weight Watchers and Skinny Cow ice creams. They are preportioned so I can just grab and go and fit my calorie goals very nicely.

Sounds like you have issues with self control.

I have a few foods that I can't keep in the house because of this. Chips is one, and corn bread. I love that stuff WAY too much. The others I can control myself with, that's what I'm learning. Steer clear of your trigger foods but don't deprive. That's the only way I'll stick with it.

Those horrible Skinny Cow *kitten*. Making lower calorie portions that you can enjoy if you're willing to use any self control at all.

Anyone who doesn't realize that "Light" foods are bolstered by adding sugars of various sorts and aren't satisfying has not paying attention or has been in denial. This has been discussed practically ever since low-fat foods were introduced, about 20 years ago.

BTW - the Unreal candies are THE BEST!

I experienced something similar when Pretzel M&M's came out.....

Me too! I love those things! I would get the big bag so I would have some to 'snack' on over weeks...Yeah it was gone in a weekend Then I tried getting a smaller bag...And it was gone in 2 days! So I just don't buy them anymore (even though they are AMAZING) because I just can't trust myself not to shovel the whole bag into my face in one sitting

I see a lot of myself in your post. I call myself a food addict because I overeat and when a "treat" is in my house I literally cannot stop thinking about it until its all gone. Cookies, candies, Baked Cheetos--I'm salivating now--cannot sit on my shelves. About 7 weeks ago I decided to instead focus on my health rather than weight loss. This meant omitting unnatural things from my life. That is almost anything in a package and anything that claims to lighten any food. "Light" items have a lot of weird chemicals and they take away your bodies ability to be rational and know when to stop.

I decided focusing on my health meant eating natural only as humans have done exclusively until the last 100 years. At first, I was very strict to omit high fats of any kind at first and just stuck to grains, fruits and veggies. After a couple of weeks I gradually incorporated full fat items in moderations. What I have found is that, with the help of food journaling and blogging, my body and my head are communicating more efficiently. I have less of a tendency to overeat and I've even noticed that I don't snap out of anger when I might not be able to have a meal for a long stretch (traveling for graduations in the hot sun).

Its not perfect but I maintain that this is about health first and not weight loss or diet first which keeps me from overreacting when I eat a piece of cake on my birthday or the scale isn't dropping as fast as I want. Besides the mental benefits I am down over 16 lbs in 7 weeks.

This might not be for you but the lack of self control issue for me has made me "diet" and gain and lose in a 70lbs range for the last 6 years. Focusing on health first helps keep everything in perspective.

Having a banned or forbidden list is doing yourself a disservice. The moment I say something is banned I crave it.

Totally 100% disagree with this ^^

While I'm sure forbidden lists don't work for everyone, they absolutely do work for some of us. Recognizing your weaknesses or 'trigger foods' or whatever label you prefer works perfectly for me. If I crave it and it's not there, I won't eat it.

Skinny cow sandwiches? Another awesome sounding thing us Brits are not worthy of yet. :laugh:

Did someone say Skinny cow??

Brb heading over to the freezer.
As you will see in my diary I have an Ice cream sandwich almost every single night.

Edit: Good thing I'm not on a diet.

Ditto, Love Skinny Cow

I'd rather have half a serving of ice cream or a small piece of gourmet chocolate made with real ingredients than whatever chemicals they put in the fake stuff. Even though you get more of the fake stuff, I find I'm MORE satisfied with LESS of the real stuff. The fake stuff just leaves me wanting more.

^^This is my thinking as well. :-)

Here! Here!

if i like it enough to spend calories on it, i want to love it. flavor, fat, and all. no fake stuff for me. i'd rather eat less and enjoy more.

Meh, I eat the Skinny Cow and Weight Watcher ice cream treats because I like them better than full fat ice cream. I hate the phlegmy feeling from full fat cream. It's the same reason I don't drink milk.

Omg, someone ELSE finally gets the "phlemgy" feeling too! yay! LOL

Moderation+intelligence= happiness!

^THIS!

I think it just helps to know what satisfies you; if a Skinny Cow dessert treat does it, great. If a piece of extra dark chocolate with sea salt (YUM) does it, that's great as well. IMHO.

Everyone is different and everyone has a different approach; for me, when I first started my journey, the "light" treats were perfect! I didn't feel like I was depriving myself of treats. Now I don't crave the stuff as badly, but if I want something, I will eat it. Everything in moderation and I never again want to feel guilty about eating a certain food. For me, my relationship with food is the trigger, not the food itself.

mm i Always go with the real thing" (candy ice Cream etc ) even when im in a cut..Becuse if you have a sweet tooth you might not be satisfied by the "low´carb" option, and if you dont satisfy your sweet tooth you will freakin binch big f time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just cleansed my kitchen of all the low fat, non fat, reduced calories crap I had. My kitchen is now a nutrient rich, chemical free oasis! I started eating real butter a few weeks back. When I want something sweet a small square of dark chocolate. All in moderation and all within my daily calories. I have found it reduces my craving for more and is that much tastier! real food not real science is my new eating motto!

Know thy triggers.

I never have, nor likely will ever be able to, have containers of certain foods around me. If I buy a container of Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, I will eat them all. At once.

Sometimes you just have to stop poking the bear.