How not to tell myself white lies in weak moments

LOL, that was a brilliant idea SonicDeathMon to cure the desire for a unhealthy food!!: :happy:

-Only eat yummy food, food that is so good that I in 99 out of 100 instances will prefer that to any junk, and food that makes me satisfied, not more hungry.

All really good tips, but ^^this^^ is the key for me. When it's that 1 in 100th time, it's always a let down and then I remember why I genuinely enjoy the good stuff more.

I just log EVERYTHING. And I mean everything. Last night I logged one chick-fil-a chicken nugget and one waffle fry, even though I was well under my calories (I'm sick and my appetite sucked yestetday). That is how I have lost 70lbs in 20 weeks.

Just being mindful has gradually led me into better choices. I seldom want cake, cookies, ice cream or salty/gready snacks anymore, but if I really want it, I pay attention and make room in my calories for it. No mindless eating, period.

ETA: I eat dark chocolate daily, and I still get Starbucks 2-4 times a week. I just get a tall plain latte instead of a venti caramel machiatto.

Wow- you lost 70 pounds in 20 weeks?!? We all need to pause for a moment of silence to honor you. Was that your goal when you started? That is the most amazing thing I have read on here.
I too want that sort of success. You log every single bite? Is that the only key to rapid/consistent fat melt? Kuddos to you!!

I totally feel you. If I'm heading to the coffee shop in the morning it's *so hard* to not also grab a pastry to eat... that was my morning breakfast routine for years, and there's something so delicious about the coffee with the sweetness of the pastry. I know I can tell myself that I just don't need it/shouldn't have it, but yes, I also have those moments of self-sabotage where I will justify *anything* for what I'm craving that very moment.

So, now when I'm running into the coffee shop in the morning on my way to work, I extract $2 from my wallet and then leave my wallet in the car. I have enough to pay for my coffee, and nothing else. If I walk in with my wallet in hand, I may walk out with something more than just coffee once I see that delicious bakery display. But I never walk in with my $2, see something I want, then walk back out to my car just to get more money. Not once. I just pay for my coffee and leave.

I also have enough of a grasp on how much pastries "cost," calorie-wise, that I'll often think of all the other things I could be having *more* for the same cost as that one pastry, like "that one muffin is at least 3 Skinny Cow ice cream bars!" That helps too.

Next time you order a donut, order a dozen. Eat as many as you can until you are physically sick and never want one again. Worked for Peeps, Gardettos, and Doritos. Just don't do it in front of people.

I didn't work for Homer

And it won't work for chronic compulsive overeaters either (raising hand). In fact, eating in secret and eating things like donuts until I was physically sick were things I did every day for about 10 years. So no...it doesn't work.

I do yell at myself in those moments. I think to myself "Oh, freakin' knock it off! You know what that tastes like, it's not going to change if you don't have it right now." You can also practice "mindful eating": instead of eating on the run (in the car, standing in front of the sink, etc.), set the table properly, sit and eat slowly. So go ahead and have that doughnut, but only eat it while sitting at the table. Some other tips are to chew each bite at least 20 times and put the fork down between bites. Good luck!

Oh, you might also find this interesting (from page 14 in the doc I linked to):

THE ACT OF SURRENDERING THE THERAPEUTIC PROCESS
By Dr. Harry Tiebout, MD

In the compulsive overeater, there are two qualities, which are characteristic of their personality: Defiant Individuality and Grandiosity. This may very well explain the well-known fact that the overeater is, among the not so sick, the most unreasonable and stubborn about seeking help or being able to take it even when he seeks it. Both of these qualities operate in unconscious layers of the mind and the influence of both must be defined as: That quality which permits the individual who has it to snap his fingers in the face of reality and live on unperturbed. It has two special values for handling life situations.

In the first place, Defiance, certainly with overeaters, is a surprisingly effective tool for managing anxiety or a bit of reality that is so often a source of anxiety. If you DEFY A FACT AND SAY IT IS NOT SO, and you can succeed in doing so unconsciously, you CAN EAT TO THE DAY OF YOUR DEATH, forever denying the imminence of that fate. It is a trustworthy shield against truth and all its pressures. In the second place, defiance, masquerades as a very real and reliable source of inner strength and self-confidence because it says in essence: 'Nothing can happen to me because I can and do defy it.'

Grandiosity, as structured in the psyche of the overeater, springs from the persisting infantile ego which, as in other neurotic states, characteristically is filled with feelings of omnipotence, demands for direct gratification of wishes and a proneness to interpret frustration as evidence of rejection and lack of love. On the one side, the defiance says it is not true that I CAN'T MANAGE EATING. On the other side the facts speak loudly and with increasing insistence to the contrary. Again on the one side,
grandiosity claims there is nothing it cannot master and control; on the other side, the facts demonstrate unmistakably the opposite. The dilemma of the overeater is now obvious. His unconscious mind rejects, through its capacity for defiance and grandiosity that its conscious mind perceives. Hence, realistically, the individual is frightened by his/her eating and at the
same time is prevented from doing anything about it by the unconscious activity, which can and does ignore or override the conscious mind. With submission to a diet, which at best is a superficial yielding, tension still continues-."There'll come a day when I lose the weight, then I can eat.....".

With surrender, on the other hand, when the ability to accept reality functions on the unconscious level, there is no residual of
battle, and relaxation with freedom from strain and conflict ensues. The tools of the HOW program are therefore designed to induce surrender to the fullest degree possible so that defiance and grandiosity actually cease effectively to function. When that happens, the individual is wide open to reality: He can listen and learn without conflict and fighting back. He is receptive to life, not antagonistic. He senses a feeling of relatedness and at-oneness, which becomes the source of inner peace and serenity, the possession of which frees the individual from the compulsion to eat. In other words, an act of surrender is an occasion wherein the
individual no longer fights life, but accepts it. WITH SOME INDIVIDUALS, THE SURRENDER EXPERIENCE IS THE START OF GENUINE GROWTH AND MATURATION. With others, the surrender phase is the only one ever reached, so that they never lose the need to attend meetings and rely on outside reminders in their daily existence to supply necessary impetus to the surrender feeling, as far as food is concerned.

You need to sit yourself down and have a talk, just like the ones you have when you are allowing yourself to be tempted. This time have a honest talk. Don't go to DD - it is a trigger as you can buy donuts and muffins there! Just don't go. Make your own coffee or go someplace else. Remember this is your body, your decisions, your goals ..... Start having talks with yourself that you can do this, you will do this. And like everybody else said, log what you eat, seeing that information in black and white can be very motivating, as you can't lie to yourself when you see the calories. Good luck and remember this is a journey.

logging it OR looking up the calories of what I think I want ahead of time really deters me from eating the calorie bomb. also, logging my breakfast and lunch the night before really helps me. I teach so I cannot be on my computer logging all day long. if I logged my breakfast and lunch (that I packed the night before) I am less likely to deviate from that--too lazy to go back in and change it or afraid I'll forget OR I can see already how many calories I have left for snacks and dinner and don't want to use them up stupidly. yesterday I had a BIG taste for a chai, so I got a tall non fat chai on my way home and it was still 160 calories, so that meant I didn't have my two cookies with my tea before bed. I missed those cookies, though, so I may not have that chai at 4pm next time!!

when I see how many calories one item is I am usually not willing to "spend" that many calories on one small thing. 400 calories for an entire meal is one thing, but 400 calories for one slice of pie just doesn't seem worth it...most of the time! I did take my kids out for a treat on the first day of school and I too had a piece of pie, but I had a slice of peach not the gigantic chocolate cream slice with two inches of whipped cream on top and then I walked for a little extra that day, so I still stayed within my calories. I gotta say--DD is such unhealthy junk, don't spend your calories that way! if you must have a donut at least go to an actual bakery and have a high quality donut!!!!!!!

like others have said, it's all under your control and all about choices--don't act like "wow, how did that happen?!?!". Be in control!!!!!

I know different things work for different people. Some people need to abstain from certain trigger foods or they will binge. For me, moderation is what worked. For years I tried giving up certain foods, desserts, carbs, fast/junk food.Nothing worked. Until I began to allow myself these foods in moderation. I now let myself have smaller portions of whatever I am craving. If one day I am craving a bag of chips, I have it. Another day I crave Starbucks, I have it. Ice cream, I have it. As long as it is within my daily calories. When I would deprive myself, it would make me gorge on "healthy" foods which made me fat because it was jus too many calories. Now that I am no longer deprived I do not feel the need to eat in such large quantities. Sometimes I cannot believe I lost 44 pounds eating the same foods I refused to because they were fattening. You just have to find what works for you!