Are there certin foods you just had to give up?

I started off with splurge meals. That would allow me one meal to eat anything and everything that I wanted to eat! All other meals were healthy meals and so when I would eat my splurge meal I felt like crap! I will allow myself to eat anything; however, over time I have stopped eating certain foods because of the way they make me feel. Like burgers and fries, pizza, greasy fried foods, so they just kind of worked their way out of my diet. I hate feeling all bloated and stuff after I eat, so they had to go.

But I will say this when I want to eat a burger or pizza I am very particular about where I will eat it from and what kind I will eat. I have not had a beef hamburger in I can't even tell you how long. Now I eat turkey burgers or veggie burgers. Also, if I'm eating pizza it has to be from a place that uses fresh ingredients and the quality is really good. I have not had fast food in over a year and a half. I think it is so gross and the thought of eating a fast food burger makes we want to barf! That's just me...I still think about it sometimes but then I remember how I used to feel after I ate them and I just choose not to eat them. Also, after watching "You Are What You Eat" I started to think twice about what I was eating. :flowerforyou:

I gave up aspartame about ten weeks into my diet so that entailed giving up the diet coke. Sigh. I still miss it but I know if I had one I'd be straight back on it. I swear it's worse than giving up cigarettes! That, for me at least, wasn't too tough. The diet coke, jeez! Otherwise, I'd say chicken wings - I LOVE dominos chicken wings but I can't let myself have some because it would be the beginning of the end for me. Otherwise, I just eat the bad things in moderation - I have a cheat meal once a week which really helps...I often have a chocolate bar on a Saturday and I'm not worried about that as although I like chocolate I could give it up totally if needs be. As long as it's not harming my diet though - I do enjoy a Snickers!

I've attempted to cut down on pastas and breads. For example, I love having a cheeseburger (foreman grilled) pre or post workout and I switched from using a bun to using two green leaf lettuce leaves. I like this even more as I taste everything else and it's about 2/3 the calories.

Oh right... for me it's cheesy crackers. Cheese-its, nips, goldfish....holy cow I luuurve them

Yeah, I love the hot and spicy cheez-its and the cheez-it party mix. I have a box in the pantry now and I have only touched it once. I think if I portioned it all out at once I would be fine, but if I don't I dig into the box. Oh, and I gave up all fast food and soda and gas station type candy bars and Little Debbies.

The only thing I've given up is the spoonfuls of Crisco... apparently that's bad for you... Who knew?

Even if they reasonably can be kept in your diet?

I ask because I just had peanut butter for the first time in almost 5 months, now I feel like I've just started down a slippery slope, which is crazy because I've had worse things since I've been on this. The thing is though, I LOVE peanut butter, I LOVE it and I fear now it's going to make it's way back in and eat up a ton of calories for me.

It's the same with Mac & Cheese, I know I could have just a little bit and be fine but I fear if I have it once, that will be the end of my diet.

Are there things you gave up completely and other that you kept in your diet even though they might be just as bad as one another?

I can have a chip or I can have a piece of cake and not ruin a thing but for some reason I think if I have peanut butter or mac & cheese, I'm done.

Reading your question before I got to the post I was going to virtuously say, "white flour & sugar". Then you opened up a can of worms with your opening statements!

HELLO LONG LOST TWIN!!! I need a 12 step program for Peanut butter! Before I started my healthy lifestyle changes full speed ahead, I got two big jars of JIF at Costco - money saving coupon, right? I think I ate a cup of it spoon by spoon until my concience finally kicked in! It never even made it to a piece of bread or a cracker! I wasn't feeling sick and I really wanted more, even the pain from swallowing big lumps of it was not enough to deter me as I thought "this will kill me if I can't get it swallowed!" and I did that several times while eating it. Then thinking of my body and what it has to do to process that massive lump of practically pure fat! I froze the rest in 1 cup increments "to make dog bones with". Yeah, right. I couldn't believe how good it was frozen and was so surprised that I didn't lose a front tooth on it! It slowed me down because it was harder to eat but I ate the rest in 1/2 cup increments or probably 1 cup per day over time. If I had to eat only one thing for the rest of my life, I would be content with peanut butter. No questions asked.

I love to cook. Made a gourmet mac & cheese using all kinds of cheeses called for and baked it in the oven. It was okay. My personal favorite? Kraft in the blue box made for kids. Why? It's the cheesiest, just like it says. I am 100% positive that if I read the label on the box I would be horrified!

A few years back when we moved into our house we thought we might have a mouse or rat scurrying about. My husband was going to set some traps and he told me to get some peanut butter. I know who I am so I got the smallest jar I could find and put it in the cupboard waiting for him to ask for it. He never did. This jar SCREAMED my name from the minute I looked at it in the store until I finished the jar and shamefully threw it in the trash. A week or so later he asked for the peanutbutter and I had to tell him I ate it you'll have to use cheese because I am not buying any more!

I've attempted to cut down on pastas and breads. For example, I love having a cheeseburger (foreman grilled) pre or post workout and I switched from using a bun to using two green leaf lettuce leaves. I like this even more as I taste everything else and it's about 2/3 the calories.

LIKE !!!

I gave up aspartame about ten weeks into my diet so that entailed giving up the diet coke. Sigh. I still miss it but I know if I had one I'd be straight back on it. I swear it's worse than giving up cigarettes! That, for me at least, wasn't too tough. The diet coke, jeez! Otherwise, I'd say chicken wings - I LOVE dominos chicken wings but I can't let myself have some because it would be the beginning of the end for me. Otherwise, I just eat the bad things in moderation - I have a cheat meal once a week which really helps...I often have a chocolate bar on a Saturday and I'm not worried about that as although I like chocolate I could give it up totally if needs be. As long as it's not harming my diet though - I do enjoy a Snickers!

I agree with you on the diet coke thing. I gave up smoking two years ago and that wasn't as bad as trying to give up these darned diet cokes. However, I am doing pretty good. I allowed myself one yesterday and it actually tasted too sweet. So that's good!! lol

I gave up Mt Dew -- and all other pop. I also gave up cake as a rule - minus birthdays or special occasions. I never have cake in the house because I KNOW I will eat it (and a lot of it). Oh and donuts. I haven't had a donut in over a year. I have NO willpower where donuts are concerned, so removing them from my life is in my best interest.

I follow the "everything in moderation" lifestyle but these are 3 items that I just can't have around me. Too much temptation and I don't want to fall back into old habits.

Salt and vinegar chips. I love love love them, but there is just so much sodium and I already have trouble containing my sodium intake...

:noway: Chocolate - I can eat a whole Family block to myself :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
:blushing: Bread - Now I have bread once a week.:ohwell:
NO TAKEOUT at all .....We used to buy Chinese EVERY thursday night - :sad: :sad: :sad:
Potato Chips....:sad:

But it is all good....I feel so much better and don't need all the above "crappy" food :drinker:

Pizza! I know one piece would be fine, but I can't eat just one. And I'm afraid it will put my into binge mode! I miss it but it's not worth the risk.

I like to say I haven't given up anything and I can eat anything in moderation, but, yes, crackers, wheat thins, triscuits, anything crunchy salty like that, even plain old ritz or saltines... i just CAN'T stop, I can count out a serving and if there's more, I'll end up eating them all. I can eat one small block of dark chocolate but I can't stop eating crackers.. Sad, but true!!

i'm like that too. haven't really given up anything - just try to plan more when and how much of it I eat. i don't ever want to start to feel deprived or like i'm starving myself or else i will go hog wild and give in and up. my goal is to develope healthier attitudes towards the things i eat and not let them control me.