Bread Is The Enemy

kshama2001 wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

BetterThanBest wrote: »

I've always known this, but today at work, I had a conversation with myself and finally admitted that I have a REAL PROBLEM. I'm addicted to bread. The conversation went like this...

Self1:"You don't need those tasty kings hawaiin rolls."
Self2:"They're only 100 calories a piece. Go ahead, have two."
Self1:" So what! There is fruit right beside it, go for the fruit! You already ate a half loaf of bread from longhorn steakhouse today!"
Self2:"Get the fruit and the rolls, that way it balances out."
Self1:"Wowwwww, the lies you tell yourself just so you can have bread. You should be ashamed!"

Needless to say, I ate both and I know it doesn't "balance out" but I have a real problem. I am ADDICTED to bread. Does anyone have any advice for me to help curb this problem? Anyone else have the same addiction? I know for a fact that I'd be much more successful on my weight loss journey if I had more control over the bread problem. I'm on the verge of just cutting it out all together because I can't seem to set limits. Please help me.

-Bread Lover

Some people are moderators, some are abstainers http://gretchenrubin.com/happiness_project/2012/10/back-by-popular-demand-are-you-an-abstainer-or-a-moderator/

The quiz isn't there anymore, but I always find this distinction bizarre, since I'd bet almost everyone is an abstainer about some stuff, a moderator about other stuff.

We don't yet know if this has anything to do with OP's issues -- what I saw in the dialogue quoted is that she doesn't really have a reason in her own mind to prefer fruit to bread other than a vague idea that she shouldn't have too much bread in a day. Whether you are moderating or abstaining you need to have a strong reason that you believe in.

The OP is considering cutting out bread altogether. This link is the rebuttal to the inevitable, "What are you going to do, never have bread again for the rest of your life?" argument. For some, abstaining is indeed a viable strategy.

http://gretchenrubin.com/happiness_project/2012/10/back-by-popular-demand-are-you-an-abstainer-or-a-moderator/

...For a long time, I kept trying this strategy of moderation–and failing. Then I read a line from Samuel Johnson, who said, when someone offered him wine: “Abstinence is as easy to me as temperance would be difficult.”

Ah ha! Like Dr. Johnson, I’m an “abstainer.”

I find it far easier to give something up altogether than to indulge moderately. When I admitted to myself that I was eating my favorite frozen yogurt treat very often–two and even three times a day–I gave it up cold turkey. That was far easier for me to do than to eat it twice a week. If I try to be moderate, I exhaust myself debating, “Today, tomorrow?” “Does this time ‘count’?” “Don’t I deserve this?” etc. If I never do something, it requires no self-control for me; if I do something sometimes, it requires enormous self-control.

There’s no right way or wrong way–it’s just a matter of knowing which strategy works better for you. If moderators try to abstain, they feel trapped and rebellious. If abstainers try to be moderate, they spend a lot of precious energy justifying why they should go ahead and indulge.

In my experience, both moderators and abstainers try hard to convert the other team. A nutritionist once told me, “I tell my clients to follow the 80/20 rule. Be healthy 80% of the time, indulge within reason, 20% of the time.” She wouldn’t consider my point of view–that a 100% rule might be easier for someone like me to follow.