Incapable of moderating sweets
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formylover wrote: »we all have ower own addictions. like you mine is carbs and sweets ( natural or industrial). i recently failed going keto for my asthma because i had the most severe headache : i could stand light (not even tv) or sounds, even medications did nothing to reduce the pain until i binged on cookies and then i'm fine again.
What matter i believe is to know if it is a benign foodness for sweets or a real addiction like in my case with severe withdrawal symptomes.
i'm still looking for a way around this ....
I think I am like you. I am extremely sensitive to the foods I eat. I can not eat gluten (celiac), dairy, caffeine, and sugar because they affect my body so harshly. Some people think my diet is very restrictive but I feel so awful if I don't eat this way that it is worth it to me.
I get similar reactions to going low carb. 100g of carbs a day seems to be the sweet spot. I have gone lower and suffered through the "carb flu" like you were probably experiencing but then one little mistake or off moment and I have to do the whole process over again. It's just not worth it to me. You have to find what works for you and stick with it.
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I choose not to do sweets in moderation. I just don't eat them anymore. Not worth it to me. I'll try something like a Quest bar, and if it doesn't cause me to *want* to eat more of them, I may keep them around. if I start to feel like it's a battle, nah, it's not worth it.
It works for me. I don't miss donuts and what not. They just don't really exist for me.3 -
Christine_72 wrote: »I don't keep peanut butter cups in the house, or any choc/peanut butter combo confectionery, as i have zero self control around them. My other kriptonite is Cheerios, i buy a small box once a month and finish the box within 24 hours.
There are just certain things i cant "eat in moderation", and it's easier for me to abstain then moderate.
I thought I was the only person who can eat a box of cereal in a day. It's not just Cheerios. I can eat most of my favorite cereal in a day. That's why I never buy them anymore.1 -
It's not that you're incapable. You're just not willing to change a habit enough. For many people who consume sweets till they are all gone, it's a habitual behavior. Maybe you had to fight with siblings to get the last piece of candy, or maybe somewhere in your life it wasn't available as often as you wish.I have been refined sugar free(except for honey in cooking) for the last 8 months for health reasons that don't have to do with weightloss. I recently gave a new brand of protein bars a try that are made with coconut sugar (something I am allowed) and I couldn't stop myself from eating 3 of them. I have tried them once before a week ago and the same thing happened.
I have always had a huge sweet tooth and would frequently eat more than my fair share if I had them in the house(which I always tried not to do). Since being off sweets, for the first time in my life I have finally gotten to the point where I don't crave them. I don't have this issue with other foods, just anything sweet.
I know everyone talks about the importance of everything in moderation but are there some people that this just doesn't work for? Do any of you have to keep foods off limits for this reason or am I just weak for having no willpower?
You change behavior by adhering constantly to a new behavior. Break that consistency, then you have have to start over again (of course that doesn't mean you can't have any "fun" days).
In the real world, people are more drawn to eating food that tastes good, but nutritional value isn't great and calories are high. That usually means they are possibly laden with sugar somewhere in the ingredients. So you're used to the taste. Not having them around, you're changing your behavior on taste. The only issue I see now with the all or nothing approach, is the first time you eat something sweet again, you may not stop.
Moderation for many work because they've learned the habit of not over consuming anything. It takes time and some attention, but it can be done IF you're really wanting to do it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I have been refined sugar free(except for honey in cooking) for the last 8 months for health reasons that don't have to do with weightloss. I recently gave a new brand of protein bars a try that are made with coconut sugar (something I am allowed) and I couldn't stop myself from eating 3 of them. I have tried them once before a week ago and the same thing happened.
I have always had a huge sweet tooth and would frequently eat more than my fair share if I had them in the house(which I always tried not to do). Since being off sweets, for the first time in my life I have finally gotten to the point where I don't crave them. I don't have this issue with other foods, just anything sweet.
I know everyone talks about the importance of everything in moderation but are there some people that this just doesn't work for? Do any of you have to keep foods off limits for this reason or am I just weak for having no willpower?
Some people are moderators and some are abstainers: http://gretchenrubin.com/happiness_project/2012/10/back-by-popular-demand-are-you-an-abstainer-or-a-moderator/
I abstain from some foods and moderate the ones I have learned by trial and error that I can indeed moderate. Because of the Completion Compulsion, I can moderate many single serve items. For example, I can have 70-140 calories of Ghirardelli squares (1-2 squares) and stop, but once I open a bar of chocolate, it's difficult for me to not eat the whole thing. I can have a 1 oz bag of chips around the house for ages, but once I open a bigger bag, it calls to me.
I was hungry last time I went to BJs (never a good idea) and bought a case of what I thought was single serve trail mix, but each bag is 2.5 servings, and I'm having a really hard time not eating the whole bag once I open it.0 -
Only 1 box of cereal ? I'm not trying to boast here ladies but i had a 2 days marathon of double chocolat chips cookies just because i went keto 6 days. Casualities: 11 XL Packs of cookies, and a cramped digestive track. For the life of me i could not eat anything else! not even potato chips when my husband offered .... what can i say, not sugary enough!
Today i'm back on Keto ( Aka sugar detox for the addicts).0 -
kommodevaran wrote: »Don't rely on willpower, use your skillpower.
Love this! What a great quote. You're right. If moderating sweets doesn't work for me then I shouldn't try to force it.
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It's not that you're incapable. You're just not willing to change a habit enough. For many people who consume sweets till they are all gone, it's a habitual behavior. Maybe you had to fight with siblings to get the last piece of candy, or maybe somewhere in your life it wasn't available as often as you wish.I have been refined sugar free(except for honey in cooking) for the last 8 months for health reasons that don't have to do with weightloss. I recently gave a new brand of protein bars a try that are made with coconut sugar (something I am allowed) and I couldn't stop myself from eating 3 of them. I have tried them once before a week ago and the same thing happened.
I have always had a huge sweet tooth and would frequently eat more than my fair share if I had them in the house(which I always tried not to do). Since being off sweets, for the first time in my life I have finally gotten to the point where I don't crave them. I don't have this issue with other foods, just anything sweet.
I know everyone talks about the importance of everything in moderation but are there some people that this just doesn't work for? Do any of you have to keep foods off limits for this reason or am I just weak for having no willpower?
You change behavior by adhering constantly to a new behavior. Break that consistency, then you have have to start over again (of course that doesn't mean you can't have any "fun" days).
In the real world, people are more drawn to eating food that tastes good, but nutritional value isn't great and calories are high. That usually means they are possibly laden with sugar somewhere in the ingredients. So you're used to the taste. Not having them around, you're changing your behavior on taste. The only issue I see now with the all or nothing approach, is the first time you eat something sweet again, you may not stop.
Moderation for many work because they've learned the habit of not over consuming anything. It takes time and some attention, but it can be done IF you're really wanting to do it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Hahaha...you hit the nail on the head with both the sibling comment and the lack of sweets. My mom didn't allow us any sugar so it became a feast or famine mentality in our house. If you didn't eat sweets fast you didn't eat.
At the moment because I am regulating my sugar for health reasons (I have postpartum panic disorder and sugar is a trigger) I will probably abstain for now but in the future I will probably need to figure out how to have a more healthy relationship with sweets.
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JayWillis99 wrote: »
I've lived in rooming houses and close shared apartments for many years. And that always involves food on the counters. Many times I can get others to keep their sweet snacks in their rooms, or in their personal refrigerators, and away from at least me. I don't believe in that "moderation" thing either, when it applies to eating. I don't want to even consider these where I live: pies, cakes, cupcakes, cookies or sweet drinks. So if you buy those, don't leave them out on the counter, or in the living room, or in the kitchen, or on top of the refrigerator. And just because they are free, you're not doing us a favor by buying them and dumping them in our common living area. Those aren't sacred spaces for you to dominate others, through their sweet tooth. Just keep the sweets to your own sweet self, because we don't want them.
Controlling what others around you do is rarely an option. In a rooming house or in life.
When at work, for example, you don't get to tell people what they can and can't have in the break room or bring in for others to share. So at some point, you have to do you and let others do them. If you cannot control yourself in an environment where foods you don't want to partake in are available, that really is your issue to deal with and not the responsibility of others to meet your standards of what should or shouldn't be done with their food.
Life just doesn't work that way.
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formylover wrote: »we all have ower own addictions. like you mine is carbs and sweets ( natural or industrial). i recently failed going keto for my asthma because i had the most severe headache : i could stand light (not even tv) or sounds, even medications did nothing to reduce the pain until i binged on cookies and then i'm fine again.
What matter i believe is to know if it is a benign foodness for sweets or a real addiction like in my case with severe withdrawal symptomes.
i'm still looking for a way around this ....
This is the keto flu - it occurs as the body transitions to ketosis which requires the brain to adjust to a new fuel source.
It happens to everyone who goes keto and has nothing to do with addiction to carbs.2 -
good because it was almost ridiculus. did any of you had a hard time keeping a conversation? i swear at times i was like a granny going off track ....0
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For me, it's not about any particular trigger food, it's about life's situations I might have a difficult time dealing with that can trigger me to eat too much. However, I don't have any problem (anymore) keeping snack foods around the house because, for me, it's not about the food but what might be going on with me and my life.0
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Glad to hear I am not alone in this. I am actually fine not eating any sweets. I have done it for the last 8 months (no cookies, cakes, candy, icecream, etc...). Before I had the protein bar I would have told you that sweets no longer have a pull on me because I can sit in front of a plate of cookies and not be tempted. I never even think about eating sweets anymore because it is second nature. But then I ate the protein bar and now I'm craving more. Plus it has thrown my hunger levels all out of whack so I am feeling hungrier than normal. I guess for me moderation of sweets just isn't going to work.
Weird thing is, salty foods like chips have no major sway over me. I could have them in the house and I wouldn't even think to touch them but I had to make my husband take the protein bars to work with him so that I wouldn't eat a bunch.Glad to hear I am not alone in this. I am actually fine not eating any sweets. I have done it for the last 8 months (no cookies, cakes, candy, icecream, etc...). Before I had the protein bar I would have told you that sweets no longer have a pull on me because I can sit in front of a plate of cookies and not be tempted. I never even think about eating sweets anymore because it is second nature. But then I ate the protein bar and now I'm craving more. Plus it has thrown my hunger levels all out of whack so I am feeling hungrier than normal. I guess for me moderation of sweets just isn't going to work.
Weird thing is, salty foods like chips have no major sway over me. I could have them in the house and I wouldn't even think to touch them but I had to make my husband take the protein bars to work with him so that I wouldn't eat a bunch.
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I have a terrible time. I have to go all in or all out. Some people like to claim, "OH that's because you deprived yourself! That's why you can't step away from the Ben and Jerry's!" Well, I have certainly not deprived myself, yet I just cannot stop once I start. Then I hear, "You should exercise some self discipline so you can have sweets in moderation!" What? Does it not take discipline to abstain from that which I cannot get enough of? We don't tell alcoholics to go to a bar and just have one beer do we? Nope! Many people refuse to understand that is a serious problem. Some of us just can't have a little and walk away. I would love to be one of those people who had it in them to just have some reasonable serving of whatever it may be. I'm smart enough to know that I am not that person. Good luck!5
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I do much better with elimination too. Some foods lead to craving more or just thinking about food more in general. I know some people who moderate foods say they can have a bit and they feel satisfied whereas I feel satisfied before ever having the problem foods but after I've had some I think about food a ridiculous amount, and the physical sensations that come with those foods are unpleasant yet lead to wanting more.
I am much happier and healthier skipping certain foods.3 -
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I keep chocolate out of the house because I can't moderate with that kind of access.
Instead, I buy a pack or mini bar (or occasionally, large bar of dark sea salt) of chocolate when I intend to eat it. What size I buy depends on how much I'm planning to eat, because I will have the whole thing in one sitting. Last night, I went to the movies and smuggled in my own single serving 49g pack of peanut M&Ms. I would otherwise have bought the huge theatre pack that's 3x the size and eaten the whole thing.
I think this is just the mindset we are trying to train ourselves into. Track your food, do your exercise, and plan ahead. You were smart to bring your own bag. I am the same way. I found I have to really tell myself, "when I go to dinner I'm going to have this, or "I am going to cook this" or "I'm going to Dairy Queen for a back to school treat with the kids, how many calories do I have and what will fit into that?" Lol...I'm laughing because that last one happened tonight. I had a hot fudge sundae and I still have 500 calories to spare. And no, I cannot have a sundae every night but, I can every once in a while. So I do believe in moderation but I also believe your mind has to be in the right mindset control what you are taking in.1 -
The mindset is important. "Mindful" eating and being aware and cognizant to plan in treats is very key to keeping weight off.
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I don't buy a big container of Goldfish crackers or cheese puffs anymore. I have a hard time moderating those kinds of salty cheesy foods. Not my food of choice anymore and I haven't eaten them for quite awhile but if someone put a big bowl of them in front of me I would have a hard time eating an appropriate serving. If I just bought a single serving I'd probably be fine.
I can walk away from sweets all day long but salty foods are more difficult for me. I watch my sodium intake and try to make choices that won't be too crazy high most days.0 -
Well you stopped sweets for 8 months, so it's not really a shock that it's hard to moderate now that you've reintroduced them... that's why banning a food type is never really a good idea.
What I'd do in this case is not keep it in the house, but if you really crave something, make room for it and go buy ONE serving.0
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