I *honestly* do NOT understand...

For me, it's cookies. I looove cookies. Ginger snaps, chocolate chip, iced oatmeal, windmill, orange thins, coconut macroons, you name it. So I just don't buy them. Right now, the dog, the hubby and I are all over-weight. If I find that I truly need cookies, I'll stop at the gas station and get the small package. It works out better than going to the grocery store and getting the "family size" container. Eating 6 of the small cookies is better than horking down half a bag of of regular ones, even if it does cost more.

I avoid "trigger" foods by:

1. In the beginning, keep them out of the house.
2. Do not eat them at all, ever, as long as I'm still prone to bingeing.
3. Eat a diet full of nutrient dense food (yeah, that's right, fat is healthy).
4. Now that I am fully adapted to a healthy lifestyle, I have no interest in them at all.

For instance, someone came to my door yesterday selling a blueberry pie. My child went all crazy, had to have it, and purchased it with her own money. It is now sitting on the counter with one piece out of it and I will NEVER be tempted to touch it. If a food makes me feel like crap, I am no longer at all interested in eating it. True story.

I am with the original poster, I dont understand just 5 chips or just 1 bowl of ice cream. If I am at a picnic and liked a brownie, Id eat 5.

Two things have helped

1) Substitution- Frozen treats instead of ice cream- A blender, ice, and fruit (pineapple) is saving me at night against ice cream. Veggie trays are saving me at picnics

2) Journaling has helped, but also having a cheat day has helped too. I can say no on most days knowing I can have it on my cheat day

I'm the same way. I manage it by eating really good through the week & allowing myself to eat like a construction worker on the weekends. Today I had a protein shake, banana and salad so far, but by this time yesterday I had already had a Sausage/Bacon McMuffin, two hash browns, a bowl of KD and slice of cake.

Figure out a way to allow yourself all the awesome foods you love.

Overall, I have pretty good impulse control, but there's some foods I have a hard time with portions. Like ice cream. So instead of buying a carton, I buy ice cream sandwiches. If I eat one, it's about 120-150 calories, and I'm happy. If I scoop 150 calories of ice cream into a bowl, it's such a tiny, pathetic, little amount and I wouldn't be happy.

And I don't tell myself any food is bad or off limits. If I know I can eat some ice cream (or chocolate, or whatever) every day if I really want it, I don't go nuts eating it when I get a chance.

Edit: It also "helps" that I'm dead broke, so I have to make things last.

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.

If I have a trigger food, I haven't found it yet. First I thought Nutella was one, but then I realized I could stop because I figured it wasn't worth the calories to me. Then I thought it was chips and salsa at Mexican restaurants, but I've figured out just taking ten chips out of the basket and stopping after those is easy enough for me. I conquered Girl Scout cookies by putting one in my mouth and one in my hand then walking away so I had one to look forward to.

There are tons of little tricks, you just have to try to find what works for you and it'll eventually become second nature.

Easiest way to avoid the binge is definitely to just not buy them in the first place. I can demolish a full-size bag of chips before I know what I've done. So I just make myself walk past that isle in the grocery store now. Helps too that with the Sodastream I don't have to buy pop, which is always in the same spot as the chips.

I'm trying to find ways to make them more emotionally unappealing, such as thinking about how much sodium it would be if I snarfed it down and how bloated and awful I'll feel. The potato chip hangover avoidance theory.

You know, I disagree. You have to teach yourself new habits.

OP - I recommend portioning out the chips, stop at one bag, and if you find yourself tempted to go after another bag, distract yourself.

Moderation isn't hard once you make the concious effort to make a habit of it.

omg... cool ranch doritos... my biggest love

i love putting bugles on my fingers and running around like a gremlin as i eat them off, one by one.
theyre SO good!

I do this, too. I also say "Rarr".

Just had to google 'Bugles'. We don't get them in the UK. The Rarr and running about bit, makes sense now.

Thanks now I'm craving Bugles!

I guess I'm lucky. When I don't want to eat something for health/weight reasons, I just don't put it in my mouth.

...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!

I only have one food I can't control portion size and that's Snyder of Hanover pretzels. So, instead of buying a big bag of them and eating the whole thing in one day, I now buy a grab bag (2 ounces), once or twice a week. It's 280 calories vs around 1,500 for the big bags, and I get to have my pretzel fix, without it hurting my my macros

I take out one serving of whatever it is, put the rest away and sit down and eat slowly. My big downfall is sitting on the couch with a whole bag of chips etc. I still do that at work sometimes with ice cream but on those days I make a conscious decision just to eat atmmaintenance.

I didn't read any of the responses, so pardon me if this bit of genius has been shard already...but I dont eat my trigger foods because I don't buy my trigger foods. Someone has to be sticking them in the grocery cart!

If I want to indulge, it's in single servings. At that TOM, I drive to the drug store and buy a candy bar. Only one. I might get desperate enough to go out and buy another one, but it's still a heck of a lot less than if I had an entire bag of Dove chocolates in my pantry.

Some great suggestions here already! Pre-logging, pre-measuring serving sizes, and working out my daily menu to include the things I want have ALL worked well for me! Some people can just quit things cold turkey, but it takes me some time to work up to a high level of healthy eating, especially when I'm trying to cook more. Some additional thoughts:


*Stock other snacks that you like all over the house, so when a craving hits, you can have something tasty AND healthy! When you're enjoying what you're eating, it becomes easier to replace things that you don't want to include in your menu. 'Denying' yourself is just going to make you miserable!

*Indulge! Go ahead and have some, but try your HARDEST to be the one controlling you, and not the food! Its a hard thing to master if you're an emotional eater, so...

*Try to work out your emotions attached to eating. This is not easy, and you will likely need help. I know a program that uses tapping (tapping on key focus points to help re-write a neural pathway) to help emotional eaters face the emotions behind and underneath of their binges. When you get a craving, think through it to find what is underneath - do you want it because you're stressed? Are you just super hungry and craving sugars/fats/etc? What feelings do you get when you imagine that food in front of you, and then trying to push it away? Are you "shoving it to the man" by shoving it in your face? There's a LOT your subconscious can be trying to tell you!

Every person has their own personal challenges, and there's nothing wrong with trial-and-error until you find out what works best for you! The most important thing to remember is that you're trying to be healthier AND happier, and there's no use in having one without the other