Are there any foods that are banned in your head?

I tend to avoid things when I'm out to eat that are hard to estimate (French fries at a sit down restaurant, for example)... Since I only have 1400 calories to work with, there are several things I love but don't eat because they just aren't worth the splurge to me.

Yes, I have to forbid chips and salsa because I cannot control those binge impulses yet with that particular food. I went to lunch with a friend last weekend and I counted out 14 chips and used the green salsa and that wsa OK but it was so hard it was almost not worth it. Boo

Nothing banned. There are foods I don't frequent but not banned, per se. I used to think if I banned them then I'd stay away but that just raised the temptation and increased the guilt when I indulged so it totally defeated my purpose. Now I just have foods I frequent more than others and some I enjoy on occasion. Nothing is off limits and I see more success that way.

Not "banned" per se, but I avoid Mexican restaurants because chips/salsa are my kryptonite.

I have banned buffets! When I go to a restaurant when I first get my plate I divide it up, saving half to take out for a later meal. To drink I have iced water and since I don't really like desserts I often don't order any.

I don't ban any foods (well, sort of: I've been ovo-lacto vegetarian for 42 years. ) To me, to think of particular foods as "sin" is to bring an undesirable level of emotion to my eating. The only emotion I want to admit to my dining room is pleasure.

But while I was losing weight, I did review my diary regularly, and replace or reduce foods that, to my personal taste, "cost" too many calories for the satiation, tastiness, or nutrition they gave me. It had nothing to do with what I read about them someplace, and everything to do with how they fit into my personal way of eating.

I haven't banned anything I like forever, though some things become rare. (I had a lovely blueberry bread pudding with caramel sauce last week, for example. ).

Some people do have "trigger foods" that they can't stop eating once they start; I can understand banning foods in that scenario. But the strategies that work for weight loss will vary from one person to another, and we each have to find our own best approach by experimenting, I think.

(edited to fix that nonsense where MFP cuts off a post if I forget and insert an emoticon).

I ban in my head the foods I consider to be disappointing in some way. My calories are precious and I only spend them on foods that please me and that are served in a place that pleases me.

So banned are "diet" foods and drinks and sugar or fat free anything. Fast food is banned except in desperation because the food isn't that good and the "ambiance" is awful. Trendy restaurants and coffee shops are banned because I won't wait in a line for food.

tbullucks2006 wrote: »

However there are some foods that I heard along the way that were really bad so I don't touch them. For instance - pasta. I love love love pasta. With dieting though, I feel like i have committed a sin eating it. Even when I am not dieting I avoid Alfredo sauce because somewhere I've heard it's one of the worst things in life you can eat. I also no longer eat bagels for breakfast because I heard they are just empty calories for breakfast.

But you're not actually eating what you want...your word selections indicate you've very clearly moralized foods that in the past you liked to eat. There's nothing "sinful" about flour, water, and perhaps a bit of egg rolled out and cut into thin strips. There is nothing really, really, really "bad" about cream, butter, parmesan cheese, and perhaps a bit of garlic heated until it forms an emulsion. Bagels are not exactly calorie bombs above and beyond other leavened breads...until you pile on the butter/ cream cheese and toppings. If you eat them without accompanying protein and fat, sure, you could be the type that feels hungry again two hours after eating one as the blood glucose spike created by a plain bagel starts to come down.

Meanwhile, I'll be eating spaghetti with regular pasta noodles all this week since it's just food, not some 8th Sin I was unaware of until now. And again for the last week of the month. Because a serving (56 grams) of spaghetti with a cup of my homemade meat spaghetti sauce run through the recipe builder by weight and verifying every ingredient against USDA, comes out to 547 calories. Which with desert I've selected is a near-perfect 697 calories for the meal, for me. (I shoot for 6-700 calories per the two meals I eat to leave a couple-three hundred calories for an evening snack)

I ate homemade Alfredo sauce over a serving of fettuccine pasta with veg and meat for 'brunch' (my breakfast/lunch combined meal) quiet a bit this past spring when I was consistently losing a pound a week. Will be doing so again either next month or the one after that, depending on how the food planning goes. And I'm looking forward to it as I want to try making Alfredo sauce with sodium citrate and a portion of water to see if I can cut down the amount of cream to end up with larger portion sizes with the same taste for fewer calories and the emulsion doesn't break after being reheated more than once.

Cintirich wrote: »

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

Turkey as a replacement for beef (ground, hamburgers, hotdogs, bacon etc.), brown rice, whole wheat whatever, quinoa, flax seeds, low fat, low sugar... the list goes on. Any "healthy" food or food products like that I shy away from. I fell for all of that healthy-this-healthy-that nonsense hook, line and sinker and feel foolish now eating any of that stuff.

Can someone explain the above? I started 9 days ago on my journey to losing 50+ lbs and I've been actively excercising and have completely changed my diet. I have been eating "healthy" since then, including brown rice (small portions to avoid too many carbs) instead of white, Brownberry Oatnut bread instead of the white bread that the rest of my family loves. Low fat mayo instead of my beloved Hellman's, ect... No fast food at all and no unhealthy snacks like cookies, ice cream, cheese and crackers ect.

I'm down 6 or so lbs and almost an inch and a half, so it's working so far, but I'm still curious about the comment above, Thanks!

I think the poster is saying he doesnt buy into food marketed as diet food. I agree to an extent. Your doing nothing wrong though, your reducing your fat but as u go along you might find real mayo is fine and worth the extra calories. I eat white bread but prefer reduced fat mayo. Its all about choice and as long as your macros are ok and not over your calories then u dont need to choose lower fat, lower sugar etc. Well done on your loss thats a great start.

Nope.

Only foods I don't like.

Like others mentioned, not necessarily ban, but more avoid. I know I can have these in moderation. Bacon, egg and cheese bagel from McDonald's, pizza, sugared drinks, donuts, deep fried food

Artichokes. Because they're disgusting.

I weep for the bagels, the pastas, and the luxurious sauces whose only purpose is to be consumed and enjoyed.

How about half a bagel at breakfast with cream cheese and berries?

I avoid Red Robins and Poutine. I judiciously measure my butter with measuring spoons rather than eating it sliced like cheese.

pasta has been unfairly demonized so i see why so many people feel badly about eating it. even recently my grandpa told me to stay away from pasta right before a trip to italy. i went, i ate pasta every day, and i walked a ton and lost. part of that is portion control, servings were smaller than may come on a plate at the cheesecake factory or olive garden or than i used to make for myself. i used to think that half a box of fettuccine was totally reasonable even though i called the recipe 'fat girl pasta' in my head. but 'fat girl pasta' is my favorite comfort food, so i reduced the quantity, weigh each ingredient and plan ahead for it to make sure that it fits in my goals.