Afraid to eat sweets
nanpask
Posts: 24 Member
I'm afraid to eat sweets because I have never been able to keep from bingeing on them. Once I start I can't quit. That is how I keep regaining the weight. I have dieted my entire life & never kept it off for more than a year. I would like to be able to have one item without eating the whole thing or package.
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Replies
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Make it fit in your calorie goals. Even if it's daily, if you make it fit, it won't be a problem. I just had a rice krispie treat and it fit perfectly.
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I have trouble around some sweets but not all. Dark chocolate, which I find easy to moderate, I can eat but put caramel corn in front of me, I could plow thru a whole bag.
You need to find something you can eat just a little of and then put away. Or don't have sweets at all. It's a tough road to learn how to moderate sweet foods.5 -
Is there someone in your life who can leave one "surprise" sweet item out for you randomly? You could eat it, knowing there would be no more to follow until the next day. Or maybe purchase a single candy bar or baked item each day?3
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That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?1
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CafeRacer808 wrote: »That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?
If she has a self control issue, any attempt at restricting sweets will backfire and lead to a binge. The best way to learn self-control is through moderation, especially when it comes to food.2 -
CafeRacer808 wrote: »That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?
If she has a self control issue, any attempt at restricting sweets will backfire and lead to a binge. The best way to learn self-control is through moderation, especially when it comes to food.
The kitchen safe I was referring to was designed to enable moderation, not restriction.1 -
CafeRacer808 wrote: »CafeRacer808 wrote: »That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?
If she has a self control issue, any attempt at restricting sweets will backfire and lead to a binge. The best way to learn self-control is through moderation, especially when it comes to food.
The kitchen safe I was referring to was designed to enable moderation, not restriction.
That would be a good tool then.
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I started by not bringing into the house things I couldn't moderate in the multiple serving size, I didn't restrict them I just bought single serving size.
For example my sweet fix is hershey's kisses in the small packet. If I eat the whole packet its 220 calories. I'm able to eat only a few most days.
Not sure if this will help you but it helps me.1 -
CafeRacer808 wrote: »CafeRacer808 wrote: »That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?
If she has a self control issue, any attempt at restricting sweets will backfire and lead to a binge. The best way to learn self-control is through moderation, especially when it comes to food.
The kitchen safe I was referring to was designed to enable moderation, not restriction.
That would be a good tool then.
Hence the suggestion.
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I struggle with this a lot too. I've had to take a hardline with it and not keep anything sweet in the house. After a few days I find I start to lose my desire for it. Not that I still don't love all the sweet foods, but they aren't on my mind nearly as much....
On those occasions where I have to have a sweet treat, I'll buy a single portion of what I want, be it a candy bar, single slice of cake/cupcake, ect. Also, if it isn't kept in the house and I really want it that bad, I have to get in the car and drive to get it. That's enough to make me lose interest in itself sometimes.
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I don't keep them in the house. If I want a sweet treat, I'll budget for it in my calories; then I'll go out and get a serving -- a candy bar from the convenience store, a dish of ice cream from the dairy, something baked from the bakery.
Not keeping them in the house keeps me from over-indulging on them. Going out for them makes it a special occasion and a bit of a ritual. It makes it special in a way that keeping a tub of ice cream in the freezer doesn't. Budgeting for it makes you accountable to your food diary.4 -
Preach. It's like moving a mountain trying to have just some reasonable amount of something sweet. People who come around saying "Just make it fit!" or "just have a small square of chocolate every day!" are people who obviously have NO clue what the actual problem is. The problem is trying to eat some sensible portion and having it snowball into a face stuffing extravaganza. The only thing that ever helps me not to binge on something like that is cutting my carbs. I assume this is because when carbs are reduced so is the urge to eat. This is true for a lot of people, it may not be true for all people.5
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ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »Preach. It's like moving a mountain trying to have just some reasonable amount of something sweet. People who come around saying "Just make it fit!" or "just have a small square of chocolate every day!" are people who obviously have NO clue what the actual problem is. The problem is trying to eat some sensible portion and having it snowball into a face stuffing extravaganza. The only thing that ever helps me not to binge on something like that is cutting my carbs. I assume this is because when carbs are reduced so is the urge to eat. This is true for a lot of people, it may not be true for all people.
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OP - what type of sweets do you like? There are tons of great ways to substitute. For example -- I make protein shakes that taste like Frosty's or eat Yasso pops rather than ice cream. I cut protein bars into small pieces to eat like candy, chew sweet sugar free gum. Share what you like and we can offer up some alternatives.2
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I use The Laziness Method.
Just get a serving of your treat out of the cupboard, then go settle down with it and enjoy eating it.
I just don't bother going getting more.1 -
Start off by buying smaller portions or your favorite sweets, then once you'e gained control with that, buy bigger bags and portion them out as soon as you get home.0
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I think there are 2 options for people who have foods which trigger binges and they cannot, at this stage anyway, eat them in moderation.
1. Totally ban yourself from eating the trigger food. For some people this all or nothing approach works better than trying moderation.
2. find ways to give yourself "enforced moderation" - eg only buy in small single serve packet, only eat them out of the house (say, cake at a cafe or leave item at work) ask your partner to hide or lock supply from you.5 -
We're all different but what works for me is not buying them or having them in the house and that goes for anything - when I gave up smoking I couldn't have cigarettes in the house - I knew I'd not be able to resist the temptation. I can't eat chocolate or sweets because of digestive issues - they make me ill - so I don't have them in the house because if I do, I binge on them.
You wouldn't leave alcohol or heroin around in the presence of a recovering addict - to me it's the same thing.3 -
OP, totally understand your problem. While I was on my weight loss, I actually totally banned the sweets because they are a huge trigger for me. Moderation does not work. Instead of sweets at night which was "my time" I fixed a big bowl of really sweet fruit (such as mangoes and pineapple) with some plain yogurt. That seemed to stop me from thinking about ice cream and other junk, but was sweet enough to trick my brain. I didn't eat ANY junk for 3 months.
The holidays have come, I've reached my goal weight, and I have had some things. Fudge, cake, pie, etc. At first, when I started eating them about a week or so ago, it was fine. I could have a few bites and be satisfied. But as the week has progressed, I am starting to get that "out of control" feeling with them now so I need to stop. Grabbing a piece of fudge three times a day...eating pie after normal meals versus just the celebratory ones...it's gradual but those habits are creeping back in, so I need to rein it in. It's been hard. Since 12/21 I have had my son's birthday, Christmas, my birthday, New Year's Eve. It's been one thing after another and people are making that "once a year" stuff that I don't want to pass up.3 -
If you lose weight without sweets, and then ALWAYS regain your weight when you eats swees again, then I think it makes sense to avoid the sweets 99.9% of the time. You have shown yourself time and time again what happens if you eat sweets. You KNOW what will probably happen if if eat sweets again. If you eat sweets, because you have been unsuccessful moderating it, you are risking weight regain.
I'm another who eats low carb, partially to control my sweet tooth. It works. Avoiding sweets works. I'm sticking with what works... at least 99% of the time. That 1% is easier to control now that I am low carb.CafeRacer808 wrote: »That's a tough one. If self control with regard to sweets is a long standing issue for you, I'm not sure how advice like, "just make it fit into your daily calorie goals" is going to help. Maybe try one of those kitchen/food safes can come with a built-in timed lock?
If she has a self control issue, any attempt at restricting sweets will backfire and lead to a binge. The best way to learn self-control is through moderation, especially when it comes to food.
But the OP is fine with control if she avoids sweets. It is when she has sweets, and attempts moderation, that it leads to a binge.3 -
I'm a binger, too. Here's what helps me:
Try finding single servings of sweets. Keep them in a place that's hidden away, out of sight. When you want a treat, take one out, put the rest away, walk a good distance away from where they are stored, sit down and slowly savor the candy. Then immediately have a cold glass of water, brush your teeth or chew a piece of gum to discourage the urge to go back for more if you know you shouldn't.1 -
I find it easier to do without. Otherwise, I find it a battle with myself. Meh, easier to do without.
Except dark chocolate. Like the others, one good piece of dark chocolate is enough.1 -
I don't keep them in the house. If I want a sweet treat, I'll budget for it in my calories; then I'll go out and get a serving -- a candy bar from the convenience store, a dish of ice cream from the dairy, something baked from the bakery.
This is what I would recommend, at least to start.
I'm kind of the opposite. I don't overeat on things at home much, but if I'm at work and snacking while working I will eat way too much, easily, so I don't snack at work, period.
I actually find it easier not to "snack" at all, but having a little something sweet after dinner isn't a problem for me so long as I measure it out and don't do something dumb like eating from a bowl of homemade Christmas cookies or pint of ice cream or bag of nuts or block of cheese.
What I'd really think about is why you regain. What happened so that you started regaining? Was it immediately after you lost so you didn't have a plan for maintenance? Was it that you'd eliminated the foods you think you have trouble moderating and then ate some and decided it was all over so might as well go nuts? Was there emotional stuff going on? Did you have a plan and not stick to it or was the "plan" just not eat too much?
You don't have to answer these here, of course, but I'd think about it -- understanding why things didn't work as planned in the past makes it a learning experience, not a failure.
I find it easier just to never (or rarely) eat some things, although it's not that I think of myself as having cut them out but just that they don't really fit in how I eat or meet my current taste. Other things (Indian and Ethiopian food, for example), I don't like to moderate, so I eat them rarely and on a day when I can eat whatever (preplanning, or big exercise day) and just don't worry about it. Fitting in some days like that might help you if the issue is you cut things out and eventually lose it.
I do think some people find that cutting things out can lead to a greater feeling that they cannot control them, so fitting them in in a controlled way (after a meal, within calories only) can be helpful, but if it's something that you will just want to eat and eat you have to consider whether it's worth it to you. I really don't have that feeling with sweets anymore except in certain circumstances (when I'm doing it for emotional reasons when I really just cannot), but despite that I find it easier to eat baked goods rarely just given the calories. Some other things (ice cream) I find it easier to fit in at the end of a day regularly (not every day). I like ending the day with something special and since I don't drink anymore ice cream or cheese are good options.1 -
I use The Laziness Method.
Just get a serving of your treat out of the cupboard, then go settle down with it and enjoy eating it.
I just don't bother going getting more.
I'd trudge through rain, sleet and snow for a select few items
OP the most simple solution is not to buy them in the first place, if they're not in your kitchen then you cant binge on them. If you absolutely must have some, then buy one serving size things like ice cream, just 1 chocolate bar or muffin etc etc Do not buy the bargain multi packs of things.2 -
Iwhen I started to gain weight back it usually started by thinking I could eat certain favorite sweets in moderation. I then ate them more & more often till I was unable to keep from bingeing. I have gone to therapy & have just come to the conclusion that there may be some things I just cannot control.3
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Instead of buying a whole big package of something, just buy a small, serving sized package at your corner store (or a convenience store, gas station, etc). For example you could buy a small pack of cookies of a candy bar and take it home. This way when you eat it it's gone and there is no more for you to binge on. That's what I do because I have a huge sweet tooth and it has helped me 3
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So... I buy the fun size M&M and I would go for a walk while eating them2
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Thanks for all the tips everyone has given me.1
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I lost the weight but I still struggle with it too. I ask myself a lot if I'd rather learn to have one or just not at all anymore because I can't moderate... and manage somehow to tell myself that one is enough... sometimes. I think the key really is to really think about it before I start!
But yeah - single packages. Single treats at the store. Don't keep it in your house.1 -
It's worth it for me to indulge during the holidays (knowing cravings and unreasonable hunger are sure to follow) but the rest of the year? No way. I value having a normal appetite too much. Dealing with cravings, insatiable hunger and being food focused all day long is hell on earth and ultimately makes maintenance unsustainable. I like a wide variety of foods so I'll happily "deprive" myself of the sweets and junk food and eat a steak and salad instead.
Others revel in their daily ice cream and square of chocolate but I much prefer eating like a normal human being and not being food obsessed. I've learned I can't have both so for me it's a no brainer - the sugary/carby treats had to go.1
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