Are you staying completely away from your trigger foods?

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frksfrau
frksfrau Posts: 108 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been on my plan for approximately 6 weeks. I've done fairly well, but I stay completely away from my trigger foods, such as Peanut Butter. It had gotten so bad that my family were hiding jars. Last week while organizing his dresser, my husband found a jar and he burst out laughing.

I know if I get a taste I will eat the jar. What about you? Are you staying away? Or, have you found a solution of having your peanut butter and eating it, too?
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Replies

  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
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    Yes and no. I am having them less often. I find I don't do well with deprivation.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    edited November 2014
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    Its sensible if you are that bad, not to have it round. I find just being very focused on target prevents food distracting me too much. I can have it if I want, but ive worked hard in the gym already and I want target more. I just moderate to fit the chocolate and chips into my allowance or go and burn more calories at the gym to earn it. Target is far more interesting for me.

    Because people were banging on about peanut butter on here and how great it was then I bought several jars, but use it sparingly as I realised about the calories.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    I used to easily eat like 3 full boxes of chocolate in one sitting, or chocolate bars. I also used to overeat chips, and actually overate fruit in general too (like, instead of 1 pomegranate I'd eat 3-4 in a sitting).

    But I no longer over-eat on any foods and don't have "trigger foods" anymore. I haven't cut out any foods. For me it was pretty much just switching my mindset: IIFYM, realizing that exercise won't undo over-eating and that exercise is not for weight loss, and just tracking macros/calories in and of itself has pretty much stopped that behaviour for me.
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
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    I would never be able to eat again if I did that. LOL
  • ewhip17
    ewhip17 Posts: 515 Member
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    But I think everyone is different. I kind of have to stay away from them. Moderation is not something I've ever been good at - it doesn't matter what the.. um... substance... is... :-)
    Lot's of "absolutes" on here sometimes but I think you have to look inward and find out what works for you and what doesn't. For me, I'm much better off if I try to stay away from triggers but I'd never say it's the only way to do it.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Completely agree people should do what works for them. Its common sense to keep it out of the house if its such a temptation that you cant trust yourself.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I don't really have any trigger foods. I have foods that I know I will be tempted to overeat, and try to eat them sparingly or in situations where I won't fall into the temptation.

    If you have true trigger foods it might be worth cutting them out, at least for a while, but hidden food always worries me, as well as your own assurance that you will eat a whole jar. Sometimes when we build something up as a trigger food, as something you have no control over, it becomes an excuse and a self-fulfilling prophecy, and in that circumstance I sometimes think it would be better to work on the control, especially if you can't really control what's in your house in the first place, because of others you live with.

    But ultimately that's a strategy call.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Nope, I eat everything, just make sure they fall within my allotment.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    I buy single servings of items if I can't eat them in reasonable quantities.

    It was pretty interesting visiting family. They had bite sized left over Halloween candy. At first I wasn't interested since I do not particularly fancy Milky Way or butterfingers. As time went on I still inhaled most of the candy anyway. Geez!!!
  • DeWoSa
    DeWoSa Posts: 496 Member
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    I haven't eat my trigger foods in about 10 years. I don't crave them and I don't miss them. It's worked for me so far.
  • frksfrau
    frksfrau Posts: 108 Member
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    I am going to have to stay away from peanut butter for a long time. I may take JaneiR36's advice and buy just a single serving of it. Just can't do it often. :-)
  • HairMaiden
    HairMaiden Posts: 5 Member
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    I have tried to eat small amounts of my trigger foods many times and it always ends in a huge disaster. This especially happens with sugar as I am trying to cut back on sugar to very little. Small amounts of sugar always lead to big amounts, so no sugar for me!
  • 2bizzybee
    2bizzybee Posts: 23 Member
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    Yesterday, I ate 3 100 cal fudge ice cream bars. It was out of control.
    I will not buy them again. I can say no to a lot of things but not those
    ice creams.
  • fitcrt
    fitcrt Posts: 76 Member
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    frksfrau wrote: »
    I am going to have to stay away from peanut butter for a long time. I may take JaneiR36's advice and buy just a single serving of it. Just can't do it often. :-)

    I 2nd buying single serve portions - I love chocolate peanut butter ice cream so every once in a while I buy the single serving of haagen dazs ice cream (the teeny tiny one that comes with a built in spoon) & then I enjoy it & it is out of the house. They sell single servings of peanut butter - so that might work for you =0)
  • Shauna2626
    Shauna2626 Posts: 196 Member
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    I had to stay away from trigger foods almost completely for maybe 6 months to a year when first starting my weight loss/health journey. Then after a while, once I "broke the addiction" and learned to eat healthier (after re-training my taste buds, so to speak) , I started re-introducing them in moderate portion sizes. I second the person above who suggested single size portions!
  • bulbadoof
    bulbadoof Posts: 1,058 Member
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    hell no. i just get it in smaller bags now.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    My trigger food is very specifically cheese flavored stuff like chips or crackers. I'd rather spend my limited money on other foods these days so I haven't bought any for a long time. I don't know how I would react today if it were in the house. If I bought some I would probably buy a small package so it wouldn't get too out of hand though.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    I don't have "trigger foods." There are foods, though, that come in large containers; if you put the large container of them out in front of me, I might mindlessly eat far more than I would have chosen to eat had I measured them out beforehand and then put the container away. Chips, nuts, and other calorie-dense snacks fall into that category for me.

    My solution is simply to measure out how much I want to eat, then stick to that quantity. If I'm at home, I'll put the container away. If I'm at a reception or somewhere else where I can't do that, I'll take a plate, measure out what I want to eat, and then stop when the plate is empty. It's not that hard to do if I commit myself to thinking of my plate as the total quantity I will eat; that encourages me to pace myself.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    I've come to accept that there are foods ultimately that I don't want to learn to moderate.

    And that's the bottom line. They use to feel like "trigger" foods, but the ultimate truth was that I overate them because I simply wanted to.

    And I still do. If I bring them into the house, I'm giving myself permission to eat them till my heart's content. If I'm not interested in doing that, I simply don't buy them. Instead of fighting the "all or nothing" mentality, I embrace it, guilt free.

    But I am a firm believer in the power of abstinence. Previous bouts of cutting out former "trigger" foods actually did eventually, and permanently, kill my craving for the majority of foods I once overate. There is lasting power in abstinence for some.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,019 Member
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    frksfrau wrote: »
    I know if I get a taste I will eat the jar. What about you? ?

    No the glass is too crunchy B)


    Serious answer: whilst I agree moderation is good, I also think there are ways of acheiving this - and one of them is not to have said food in the house but to limit it to special occasions or places or methods whereby one cannot over indulge - eg buying single serve container, eating peanut butter if one goes to a breakfast or to someone else's place or orders a sandwich for lunch - eg circumstances you cant just get the jar and eat whole thing.
    - That way you are not totally denying yourself but you are forcing moderation on to yourself without the temptation or opportunity to blow it.

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