What's your "achilles heel?"
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dhiammarath wrote: »I'm not at all a big food person. I grew up super picky and now I have food allergies that limit my already (albeit slightly broadened) limited food choices.
However, there are a few things I would love to indulge in EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. (And did. Numerous times and were a direct contributor to weight gain).
Peanut M&Ms.
Starbucks Frapps (which I can't have anymore, at least not in the US).
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches (also hard to have now, but YUM YUM).
Mac'n'Cheese (can't have that either -- at least not easily ;.;)
So that really leaves Peanut M&Ms and granola. I could mindlessly hork down a whole bag of them babies - and did on vacation! >.>
So Peanut M&Ms are not allowed in the house.
They will be eaten.
dun, dun, dunn~
I am with ya on the peanut m&ms. They are the devil.
Preach.
I am weird about some things. I don't even like sweets but I can eat a crazy amount of peanut m&ms. They lace them with crack. I am sure of it.2 -
Wine and chocolate call to me. I just joined this group and have been logging on Noom and MFP for a little over a week. I noticed pretty quickly that my glass of wine with dinner was blowing my calories for the day. Sometimes I think just getting them out of the house would be best but that is not realistic. I want to make changes that are sustainable.0
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Chips are my biggest weakness. There was a time, I'm very ashamed to admit, that I was eating a bag of chips almost every day. And there were times when I'd eat 2 (of my medium size bag, not the big one thankfully). I don't want to cut them out completely because I know that will lead to a major binge, but I have cut back a lot. I usually only eat them on Saturday night, and it's a good treat. I do eat a big bag, but I eat ones that aren't quite as high in calories so it doesn't completely undo what I've worked so hard for all week. I do crave sweets, but its easier to satisfy that with a small amount. A little piece of chocolate or something will get rid of the craving quickly and I don't consume a ton of calories.
I'm very surprised to find that I haven't had very many cravings the last few weeks. It's a lot easier to turn down super unhealthy food, and I find I want to make good choices because I really want to meet my goals. Let's just hope it says that way
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LilSkittles22 wrote: »Chips are my biggest weakness. There was a time, I'm very ashamed to admit, that I was eating a bag of chips almost every day. And there were times when I'd eat 2 (of my medium size bag, not the big one thankfully). I don't want to cut them out completely because I know that will lead to a major binge, but I have cut back a lot. I usually only eat them on Saturday night, and it's a good treat. I do eat a big bag, but I eat ones that aren't quite as high in calories so it doesn't completely undo what I've worked so hard for all week. I do crave sweets, but its easier to satisfy that with a small amount. A little piece of chocolate or something will get rid of the craving quickly and I don't consume a ton of calories.
I'm very surprised to find that I haven't had very many cravings the last few weeks. It's a lot easier to turn down super unhealthy food, and I find I want to make good choices because I really want to meet my goals. Let's just hope it says that way
I feel your pain. I was eating a big bag almost everyday, and tried to hide the evidence from my wife. I have given up chips, but I do know there will come a time at a party, where I will have some, but I have to just limit what I eat.0 -
Chips I can moderate even though it is not always satisfying. I eat under 100 cal of chips 4 or 5 times a week.
Cheese puffs on the other hand are especially cruel because there doesn't seem to be any way that something so full of air could pack in that many calories. I have eaten 2 full big bags in the past and wanted a third.0 -
My favorite chips are flamin' hot funyuns (I really like the regular ones too) and they are a good portion air much like cheese puffs. In some ways I like that because it means the whole bag is "only" like 750 calories, so I can make room for it a little easier than a bag that's 1,600. There are times I would have eaten more than 1 bag if I'd had it. Not going to lie, there have been times I've gone through 2 or 3 big bags of chips in a weekend. My husband used to work every other weekend, so I'd spend the time he was away eating and watching TV. I'm very glad he no longer works weekends (mostly because I love being with him) because we do more together and I don't sit around eating like I used to. This week I'm allowing myself to have the little snack bags with my lunch, but I've been trying to avoid them. I know cutting stuff out isn't sustainable, but I feel like I need a little tough love with chips because it's really hard for me to practice moderation with them. And long term, I don't want to be addicted to them like I am right now. I'm just glad I'm not the only one! 0
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LilSkittles22 wrote: »My favorite chips are flamin' hot funyuns (I really like the regular ones too) and they are a good portion air much like cheese puffs. In some ways I like that because it means the whole bag is "only" like 750 calories, so I can make room for it a little easier than a bag that's 1,600. There are times I would have eaten more than 1 bag if I'd had it. Not going to lie, there have been times I've gone through 2 or 3 big bags of chips in a weekend. My husband used to work every other weekend, so I'd spend the time he was away eating and watching TV. I'm very glad he no longer works weekends (mostly because I love being with him) because we do more together and I don't sit around eating like I used to. This week I'm allowing myself to have the little snack bags with my lunch, but I've been trying to avoid them. I know cutting stuff out isn't sustainable, but I feel like I need a little tough love with chips because it's really hard for me to practice moderation with them. And long term, I don't want to be addicted to them like I am right now. I'm just glad I'm not the only one!
I wouldn't call it cutting them out I would call it delaying gratification. Instant gratification is definitely not sustainable unless you always crave celery sticks.
Also some people do find that a cooling off period is beneficial. I refused to have beef jerky or reeses pb cups in the house for months. Now I feel more comfortable moderating them. The constant act of weighing my food on a scale and logging forced me to learn to be more mindful.
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Have you ever read the book, “ If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” ?....Well, I am THE MOUSE or in my case, The RAT!...the book is about a cute little mouse that gets a cookie and then he needs a glass of milk to go with it, and then a friend to share it with and then if he is having a friend over, he might as well invite a few friends and have a party!...
How much easier our diets would be and how much healthier we would be if we could stop at just one cookie!...but cookies are my best most favorite greatest thing to pop in my mouth!...and if I have one cookie, then I want another one and since I had a couple of cookies, I might as well have a glass of milk and some candy and maybe order a pizza....I blew the day so I might as well blow it all out!...there is always tomorrow...
Well, guess what?...as sad as it is, eventually your tomorrows are going to run out....you will have missed out on so many things in life that you could have been enjoying if you had stopped at one damn cookie!...I have had a very self destructive life when it comes to food and overeating...at almost 70 years old, I am learning I CAN stop at one cookie!...
Case in point........( drum roll ).... I bought ONE big ginger molasses cookie on Monday and I have saved it all week....tonight I am going to eat ONE cookie with a cup of coffee after dinner and savor every crumb of it....I shall eat ONE cookie!...and I will enjoy every single 200 calories in it.....I CAN do this and so can you!4 -
Congratulations, Connie! You really are a great encouragment to me and this board
That's why when I go to McDonald's and decide I want a cookie, I order ONE. The cashier will always say "but they are two for a dollar!" and I'll point out every time that I only need to eat one; if you give me two, I'm going to eat two and I have the calories alotted for one, not two. Same thing with Hardees - their apple pies are two for a dollar as well, which is even more damaging than mcDonald's cookies, and I tell them the same thing. I have to limit myself like that because I recognize I have no willpower to avoid temptation when its staring me in the face.2 -
Sweets are my biggest temptation - ice cream, candy, and baked goods. I had such a triumph this week when a sugar craving hit! I don't keep sweets in the house because I know I can't moderate; anything I bought would just get eaten in one sitting. So I was having the worst craving for something chocolate and I thought "well, I'll calculate out how many leftover calories I have this week and then go to the store and get myself a pint of ice cream." Problem was, I only had 300 calories to "spend" once I added them up from what I hadn't used the days before, and the pint of ice cream I had in mind was 800. Plus, I was concerned about going to the grocery store while having cravings, as that leaves me susceptible to impulse buys - the clearance bakery cart has roped me in more times than I'd care to remember. So what did I do instead? Rather than driving to the grocery store, I opted to walk about a quarter mile down the street to the gas station, where I carefully examined the nutrition facts on every candy bar until I chose one that fit my calories. Left the gas station with nothing but that candy bar and a 0 calorie flavored water, got my chocolate fix, stayed in my calories, and even got a smidgen of exercise to boot!7
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contratulations, amart! That's a huge NSV!2
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... I opted to walk about a quarter mile down the street to the gas station, where I carefully examined the nutrition facts on every candy bar until I chose one that fit my calories. Left the gas station with nothing but that candy bar and a 0 calorie flavored water, got my chocolate fix, stayed in my calories, and even got a smidgen of exercise to boot!
Woohoo! Way to go!!!
This is my new approach too. Treats are always an option - but not a staple. And somehow planning for one, anticipating and then making a special trip for it makes it that much better. I guess it is part of that whole mindfulness thing.
And, a bonus, I have an easier time declining and avoiding the goodies that pop up in life when I'm saving myself for a special treat I have in mind.
Some people, like my son and daughter-in-law, can have three boxes of cookies on the shelf, a cake wrapped in the fridge and all sorts of salty treats tucked away in their kitchen - and these things actually get stale/dated and have to be thrown out! I don't think I'll ever have that problem.3 -
Ah, I really don't know how people can let tasty treats go stale, or simply "forget to eat". In our house food is not thrown away, and it doesn't every reach expiry date! Actually, this is one of the things mentioned in my "diet book", that it is better to waste food than to eat it (if eating eat means getting off track). Ah, if I could only put that into practice!!!
I am now consciously trying to let food just "be there", like that half bag of chips, or some opened chocolates. But it takes a lot of willpower to not finish the food and get rid of the empty package. It's almost like the empty package is a prize and throwing it away brings happiness.3 -
I am now consciously trying to let food just "be there", like that half bag of chips, or some opened chocolates. But it takes a lot of willpower to not finish the food and get rid of the empty package. It's almost like the empty package is a prize and throwing it away brings happiness.
Exactly! I feel like that too. And not just the food in the fridge/cupboard - sometimes I have a hard time not eating my grandson's leftovers. Last weekend he didn't eat all of his cracker - and though I managed not to eat any myself with soup - a major accomplishment! - without thinking I ate his half cracker.
It's like some messed up "make it be gone" thing in my head.
I love the idea of consciously" letting food just be there". It is so much better to think of what to "do" rather than what not to do. This is very good for the brain I think! Thank you. I know that thinking "do not eat that food" doesn't usually work!
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For people struggling with this issue (and those with no ED) my book recommends taking a bigger serving than one needs for the sole purpose of leaving some part of it for later.
It seems really easy, but for me, it's not.
Maybe some part of it is being raised this way: "eat everything on your plate, children don't have food in other places". And the rest is... well, I don't know where the rest of it comes from, but it's nice to know I'm not alone!2 -
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lately, my acchilles heel has been the big influence of others on me, and my own inability to reign in my wants. Its been almost impossible to keep on track, even if part of my inner self is screaming at me to do so! I'd say I'm really suffering from a case of diet fatigue right now, and am working on just treading water, hoping that when warmer weather gets here, I can get those daily walks going again and get started back in the right direction.4
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lauriekallis wrote: »
It's a book that has really helped me, "The Beck diet solution". I gain nothing by promoting the book. I just found it useful, and, coming to think of it, I should go back to it!1 -
