Hardest to quit

salad dressing, sweet tea, pizza, and cheeseburgers.

the pita bread pizzas, flat bread pizzas, and tofu/veggie/turkey burgers just don't cut it for me lol

I haven't actually quit anything, but the toughest thing for me are the desserts that aren't part of my plan. For example, my office has food around all the time, and usually when they get something catered that involves cookies or brownies. My assistant has a bakery business on the side with her family, and brings in stuff they are trying out all the time. There's a Godiva in my lobby that hands out free samples on occasion. I go out to dinner a couple times a week and the dessert menu looks tempting. I can control having this stuff in the house (luckily I enjoy cooking more than baking) and am not tempted by packaged treats at the store, but I was in the habit of eating dessert items more than I currently can fit into my calories or think is reasonable for someone of my height and ideal weight, so I'm having to learn to say no, even if it seems (usually incorrectly) that everyone else is having them.

Giving up sugar and grains - easy. Giving up dairy - still struggle with that one.

I have to follow a low carb diet for medical reasons. Normally, I don't miss anything. It's a very satisfying way of eating.

However, I miss the sheer convenience of food. Don't feel like cooking? No problem. There's a bowl of cereal or microwavable mac and cheese. All delivery places have things that I can eat, and I can always make myself a sandwich.

Now, I have to defrost things and dirty pots, pans, cutting board, knife, spatula, plate, fork, knife. It's awful.

I'm not sure I miss the flavor of the things that I crave, or just the short timespan it takes to prepare them.

Don't quit them entirely. I found that if I denied myself these things, I ended up going overboard on them when I caved in (and I always caved).
So, for every glass of Coke, make sure you have at least 1 glass of water. (try a low cal version of Coke?)
Put your dressing on the side and dip your fork in before each bite.
Pastries...don't buy them and keep them in the house, just enjoy them when you encounter them (preferably only 1 per time!)

I can.not. have Kit Kats or Rice Krispie treats around. They are gateway foods for me...to more Kit Kats and Rice Krispie treats!!

i agree with this personally, but some people will find it easier to resist the temptation at all. i had to stop with chips entirely for the first month or so because id dip my hand in and without realizing it the whole bag is gone 10 minutes later lol

Exactly! Not everyone can eat everything in moderation at first... hello that's why we're here! lol I think it's awesome if you've reached the moderation point. Many of us haven't so to hear over and over to eat chocolate, junk carbs, salty junk & 'poptarts' (adding an eye roll) etc... we know our bodies or are learning about them as we go, so please try and be considerate when telling us if we don't eat poptarts, icecream every night and chips we'll fail. I slip when I eat those.

There are millions of ppl on MFP... not all of us have 5 lbs to lose, some have 100 lbs. to lose well, no thanks on the poptarts. I'm learning to make healthier chooses (ones that contain real nutrients). Not knocking 5lb ppl...wish I was one of them but eating poptarts with 5 lbs to lose is way different than making a habit of eating boxes of them when someone is simple carb addicted

If you can't do moderation yet...sometimes the best thing is to either alter the recipe or simple keep that food out of the house for a bit. Yup I agree, there ARE gateway drugs that are food.

off to the gym ;o)

But Some of the people giving the advice to not cut things out *have* lost a hundred pounds. Why white knuckle it if you don't have to, especially if it could affect your long term success? Either way I would think it helps to be aware of other options out there

To the original question, if I can't have controlled quantities of an item, it does have to stay out of the house. I do not yet know now to be face to face with certain food items and not eat ALL of it. On this list are: icecream, nuts - pretty much all kinds, grapes, bananas, bread, cakes/

Uh.. Accidentally tapped the post reply button but I guess I was done, oh well.

I've been encountering a lot of healthy alternatives for several products and foods; however there are a couple of things that are proving very hard to quit, in my case:
- Pastries
- Salad dressing
- Coke

For you, what are the hardest things to quit or what were the things you had the most trouble with quitting and what was your alternative?

Don't quit. Moderation.

If these are things you really love, then just eat them in moderation. Fit them into your calorie goal. The exceptions to this paradigm are:

1. If you have a sensitivity/allergy to the item, obviously you would have to quit it.
2. If you have a tendency to binge on the item (Just can't eat one and leave it alone) then by all means quitting it would be best.

Exercise can help you increase your caloric capacity so by all means if you are running a mile or two a day, you can tolerate a higher caloric intake and compensate for the extra calories... Just again, moderation is key.

Now for alternatives:

1. Pastries. Look for snack food alternatives that have SOME nutritional value that you may like... The breakfast section of your store has these. If you are spending precious calories on treats, you should at least receive some nutritional benefit from it. Is it better than whole foods? Of course not but the body wants what it wants. Remember most obese people are also malnourished which contributes to their hunger. Body is lacking in nutrients so it responds with hunger. Also many snack foods also contain appetite enhancers.

2. Salad Dressing. Low Fat versions, moderation. Opt for dressings that are not mayonnaise based. Again. Moderation. Measure it out... Use packets rather than globbing it on out of the bottle, unmeasured.

3. Soda. Moderation is key here. The sugar-free versions have chemicals that make them worse than the real thing. Flavored waters are great -- just avoid the ones with artificial sweeteners... (Diet Coke drinker speaking but will not recommend something I do that I know is not best for me)...

PPPPPPPIIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAA :explode: its my biggest downfall.