I *honestly* do NOT understand...

nyboer
nyboer Posts: 346 Member
...how someone (not me) is able to STOP eating chips or bugles or cookies (insert trigger food here.) My trigger food: potato chips - or anything salty really. If there is a bag or box of something salty in the house I cannot NOT finish the entire bag or box. I am baffled by people that can eat just a few. My husband, for example, will eat just 4 or 5 chips and that's enough for him - I sit and look at him with awe. I generally don't have my "trigger" foods in the house but last week was a bad week and I went on an emotional eating roller coaster of a ride which culimanated in my finishing ALL chips in the house last night (not logged - too ashamed) and polishing off a bottle of wine (logged.) So, how do YOU manage to not totally inhale your trigger foods? I would LOVE suggestions/ideas/advice! My waist begs you!
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Replies

  • I can't stop eating chocolate! Major help needed - Think my will power is the worst!
  • TribeHokie
    TribeHokie Posts: 711 Member
    It isn't easy. My triggers used to be pizza and chocolate. Now that alcohol is in my life it has become my trigger and I don't have a problem turning down the pizza and chocolate. Not saying that you can necessarily switch your danger food, more thinking that I don't believe there is anyone who has ZERO triggers. It is more a matter of building up the willpower to resist. Right now I am learning how to have a single glass of wine in the evening. I don't always succeed, but the days that I do are slowly getting to be greater in number than the days that I don't. For me, I have to learn how to live with a vice because I know I can't avoid it forever, and I accept that this will involve some trial and error.
  • megalin9
    megalin9 Posts: 771 Member
    I have lots of trigger foods, but ice cream is probably my biggest. I have been at this for almost 2 years now, and one of the biggest self-discoveries I've made is that meal timing and diet adherence are HUGE for me.

    I was always hungry in the evenings, no matter how much I had during the day, and I ALWAYS wanted dessert. It didn't matter if I didn't have room in my calories for more food and dessert, I ate them anyway, which resulted in no weight loss for weeks/months. So I am now doing a modified version of Intermittent Fasting (modified only because I break my fast with a 90-calorie coffee in the mornings) where I don't eat breakfast and have lots of calories left over in the evenings for the huge dinner and dessert I crave. It's easier for me to go without breakfast than it is to stop munching and say No to dessert in the evenings.

    I am MUCH happier now, and the scale is moving again.

    My advice would be to make some modifications to your diet so that you can fit in the things that you love, since that is more likely to make you adhere to your plan than completely restricting them will. And if you are able to make room for them, don't eat the whole bag. :wink:
  • dlionsmane
    dlionsmane Posts: 674 Member
    The way I did it.. I don't know how it would work for others... I measured out a serving - per the package instructions - and then ate just the actual serving size and LOGGED it.... then you see it in the numbers you go... "Whoa! ok.. enough of that!"
    IDK - it works for me most of the time..
    I need chocolate.. I mean NEED so, I made sure I am allowed to have it every day. I would not make it through this if I couldn't, so again I measure (2 tbsp of mini chocolate chips) into a plastic snack cup and take that to work with me everyday. Some days I have more when I get home, but not always. Most of the time that is enough.

    Try different things, replace the chips with popcorn maybe? You look amazing and are doing great so maybe it's not that bad anyway if you are not doing it everyday?
  • TangledUp_InBlue
    TangledUp_InBlue Posts: 397 Member
    Mmmmm….Bugles.
  • happyheathen927
    happyheathen927 Posts: 167 Member
    I have a potato chip problem myself. :embarassed: I rarely, rarely bring them into the house now. It's just easier. The only way I can stop myself from not eating the whole bag when we DO have them is to measure out a serving and then put the rest of the bag away, in a cabinet I don't normally go into.

    It works most of the time, but it was a long hard battle to get there and for years (yup, I said YEARS) we just didn't have them in the house.
  • doubleduofa
    doubleduofa Posts: 284 Member
    I don't understand it either. I don't believe in "everything in moderation" from the get go. It's taken years, a lot of journaling, and a lot of reading for me to have a semi-normal relationship with "binge" foods. I'm an emotional eater, so I worked on it. I worked hard to identify emotions and find other outlets for them. Generally cleaning up my diet - eating more fruits, veggies, organic meats, and healthy fats really helped curb cravings. It's a sllllooooooooooooww process though. You must be patient. Resetting your brain chemistry is not a easy task.

    I can still easily eat 2 cups of ice cream, but at least I don't eat the whole half gallon anymore, and I only eat it once every few weeks. Somethings, I just gave up. Gluten seems to be a big trigger food for me, so I gave it up - and along with it, a whole host of trigger foods that are made with it. I like dark chocolate, it satisfies my sweet tooth, but I don't binge on it really. I might have the whole bar instead of the 4 pieces I originally took, but I don't eat like 5 of them. I don't keep binge foods in the house. I don't even let myself buy them at the grocery store...if there is a question about it, I don't buy it.
  • acollis1
    acollis1 Posts: 167 Member
    How about small individual serving bags? That way you get to eat the whole bag, but still be good! Dessert is my problem, I have solved this by making a protein shake in the evenings when I get the urge to raid my pantry! Also don't make certain foods "off limits" for me that makes me want them more! Everything in moderation :)
  • PippiNe
    PippiNe Posts: 283 Member
    Peanut butter is my trigger. Love it in candy, peanut butter & chocolate chips, on bread, with fruit etc. It is always in our house because who can have 5 kids and not have an occasional peanut butter sandwich meal?? I try to limit eating it to early in my day (like 1 slice of pb toast for breakfast). My willpower is greater in the morning. If I do happen to go overboard, I have the rest of the day to compensate with healthier, low calorie choices. Maybe allowing yourself to have your chips with a small sandwich at lunchtime would prevent overindulging and reduce your nighttime craving for them? Works for me, hope this helps you :o)
  • Melissa22G
    Melissa22G Posts: 847 Member
    After reading this....

    At first I was like huh?

    And then I was like- they still make Bugles?

    And I was like, girl, why you gotta punish yo man cos you can't control yo self? And that was with a few finger snaps.

    Have a great day.

    :flowerforyou:
  • saxmaniac
    saxmaniac Posts: 1,133 Member
    One poster said he conquered this by telling himself "I'll have another... in 1/2 hour" and then after 1/2 hour passed, most of the time he would forget. It's a powerful technique that works.

    So, put it down, walk away, and say "I'll have more later".

    I think any food like chips, pretzels, or anything you eat a tiny bit at a time are quite difficult to stop eating. You know those "fun size" chocolate bars? Oh, they're not that many calories, and so you eat 1, then 2, then 19.
  • jackpotclown
    jackpotclown Posts: 3,275 Member
    so.....once you pop.....you can't stop??? \m/
  • getting_fit86
    getting_fit86 Posts: 128 Member
    Oh I am the same. If there are chips I feel like I just need to snarf down the whole bag. My boyfriend will eat 4-5 and go "i'm not hungry anymore". its like WHAT?????????
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
    i love putting bugles on my fingers and running around like a gremlin as i eat them off, one by one.
    theyre SO good!



    oh sorry.....advice.....hmmmm

    you dont have to stop altogether...just fit them into your daily allowance of calories/macros.
    you just have to want it bad enough.
  • chrisloveslife
    chrisloveslife Posts: 180 Member
    The white cheddar smart pop popcorn is definitley my trigger food. I could probably eat an entire 6 serving bag in one sitting.
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
    I just don't keep them in the house. If I want them bad enough, I have to go out of my way to get them.
  • bethcw1
    bethcw1 Posts: 24 Member
    UGH - I can relate. I bought a bag of snack size York Peppermint Patties so I could enjoy one 50 cal. sweet craving at the 3:00 slump. Well, it is now 3:43, and I have just polished off 7 of them for a whooping 350 cal. Worse than the calories is the fact that there is no way I will be able to correct my macros for the day. UGH. I cannot eat "Just one" and totally envy those who can!!!
  • I'm glad I'm not alone. Sometimes, I think I actually have an eating addiction. It's like I can't say no. So recently my husband and I have agreed that no junk food is allowed in the house. Not even for the kids. It's been almost a week so it's still new. But when I went to two parties this weekend I had to make sure I kept my bottle of water in my hand as my reminder and I only ate the meats. But it was very difficult. The thing that keeps me going is seeing it pay off, even if it's half a pound.
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
    Chuck norris can eat one lays potato chip.
  • Who can stop eating popcorn at the movies? It's impossible. I swear they lace it with crack.
  • sevsmom
    sevsmom Posts: 1,172 Member
    I don't have a trigger food so when I hear folks talk about not being able to control themselves I have no frame of reference. And, without a trigger food, I still managed to weigh much more than was healthy. So, we all have our issues, we just have to be diligent in managing them. I, love sweets. SO, when I bake, I usually try to give as much of it away as the husband & kids will let me. Enjoy a few and then share with many! That's my strategy for my sweet tooth.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    I don't have a big problem with it anymore. But in the past, I have been known to portion them out in little snack baggies, and when the snack bag is empty, I know it's time to stop.
  • joeysfacts
    joeysfacts Posts: 83 Member
    I just always remind myself...Nothing tastes better than skinny feels...LOL Funny though, my husband always says I have incredible will power. Some do and some don't. I would sweat it. Indulging every once in a while won't hurt you:)
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
    If you eat because you're hungry, you stop eating when you stop being hungry.

    If you eat for ANY other reason, what is the cue for you to stop? There isn't one. If you eat because you're stressed, bored, seeking comfort, out of habit . . . you will continue to eat compulsively past your point of satiety because you are seeking but not achieving an outcome that food ultimately cannot provide.

    Try to eat to satisfy hunger, nothing else. If you find yourself eating for any other reason, find an alternative activity to meet those needs.

    If you crave salty things, maybe you need more salt in your diet.
  • pippywillow
    pippywillow Posts: 253 Member
    I like to think that I'm stronger than the foods I eat. There shouldn't be any food that is capable of "forcing" you to eat it.

    I used to think that I couldn't function without my diet pepsi, then I realized how silly that is. If a food/drink can control me that much than it can't be good for me. I gave it up cold turkey, had a week of horrible headaches, and have felt fabulous ever since.

    That said I do have a serious problem with pasta, but I'm working on it.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    Who can stop eating popcorn at the movies? It's impossible. I swear they lace it with crack.

    Which is why I rarely get it... that and like... the cost. That shiz is expensive!
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    I measure out my portion in a bowl then put the package away. I also always follow with a glass of water.
  • knic2008
    knic2008 Posts: 1
    ... but you are getting exercise running around (like the poster above said with the bugles on his fingers)!

    I have lots of trigger foods and for me, don't bringing them in (though I don't think that's always fair to my family because i'm the one with the problem, not them) ... you can have them later, you can have them later... eat a controlled portion (not mindless) log them, then eat slowly and enjoy. Another thing I heard somewhere is 3 bites... the first and last are the best and you have one in the middle... but you must eat slowly and enjoy the texture, tastes and emotions that go with it. The 3 bite thing has really helped me a lot!

    I do believe in everything in moderation, it's learning how to control that moderation that is sometimes hard but if I say "no eating xxxxx" then it's all I can think about. It sux having a severe attachment to food; but everyone has issues and I guess this is mine to conquer.

    Good luck!
  • Faery_Dust
    Faery_Dust Posts: 246 Member
    I still haven't figured it out. There are just some things I can't have as I can't stop. The longer I go without them the less I want them, but I know from experience, if I give in and think I can just have a small amount, I end up off plan and over eating :(

    Hope you can figure it out! x
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    If I'm hungry and start snacking on stuff like that, it's a disaster. If I'm having chips or something in conjunction with a meal, it's no big deal generally and I can stick to a serving size.

    Like UTBH, I portion stuff like that out as well so that I know when to stop.