Accountability Thread - Reduce treats

emmies_123 wrote: »

Maybe have your hubby store treats in a closed cabinet. "out of sight, out of mind"? That's what my hubby does. he takes treats in his lunch every day, but if I don't see them, I don't crave them. As I practice mindfulness, I find I less and less think that treat would be worth the calories or mental beating I would give.

If you are "thin," why are you restricting calories? I find this thread very confusing and a little off-putting. You are sabotaging yourself, and your husband is sabotaging you, but perhaps it's because you don't need to lose weight? If you do, start by getting rid of all the sweets. That's the best advice here. Give them away, throw them away, doesn't matter. Bringing them into your house is your way of making sure you don't progress. In other words, you have become obsessed with the concept of "treats" and you need a reboot. Best of luck!

By acknowledging you wanted that donut and not allowing it to derail the rest of your day is a win. Life is about accommodating need vs want. Eat very clean for your body about 90% of the time allows 10% for the not so clean items. If you can't allow some treats in your life, it won't be sustainable and you'll give up. Keep being consistent!

okay so... this is going to be one of those posts where people realize why I have the username I do. And that they either really like me ... or really don't. It is what it is.

it is not the job of strangers to keep you accountable. It is YOUR job. Not mine. not your husband. Not any other MFP member. YOURS. Your food issues are your own. Just as my food issues are my own. It is not your job to keep peanut butter cups out of my mouth is it? no. it is mine.

I've lost almost 200 pounds. have a bit more to go. not much. my husband, skinny jerk that he is, needs to GAIN weight. Because, of course he does. I've still managed to lose weight, with him having totally opposite caloric needs AND having a teenage boy in the house who eats like a linebacker for the NFL and yet ... is also a skinny jerk. How? Because *I* control what I put in my mouth. Because *I* control how much food I put on my plate. We all eat the same thing for dinner almost every night. They might eat MORE but we eat the same meal.

Regarding sweets and junk food, in particular, there's a fair amount of it in our house. I purposely do not buy the things that i KNOW I can't leave alone. There's not many. Any peanut butter/ chocolate combination is out. I learned last week that the nabisco chewy chocolate chip cookies with the brownies inside can not come in the house again. LMAO. The nutter butter WAFER cookies are a no. the hard ones i dont care about. but the wafers i can sit and eat the entire package in one sitting. So for my boys ... I buy things i CAN leave alone. or only eat a normal portion of. There are PLENTY of things that they DO really enjoy that I dont care about. I love oreos but have no problem only eating a couple at a time. so those are okay. same for most cookies really. chips dont hold too much appeal for me. same for ice cream. I love to bake but really only do it in the fall and winter, but have no problem leaving most of it alone. So, they get a ton of baked sweets and breads and stuff during the cooler months. I will not make fudge, because I can't leave it alone (or i will make it only before a party or something when i know i can send it away with people). So you learn where your demons are, and avoid them altogether. If everything is your demon, then (I'm going to be very blunt here) you are going to have to find a better coping mechanism than food because it is unfair to your family to not have the things they want and enjoy because you are trying to lose weight. if your husband ABSOLUTELY LOVES AND HAS TO HAVE SOMETHING... i would suggest in that particular case ... he keep it at work. but it truly needs to be a one or two item thing, not half the kitchen.

all that being said, you absolutely can fit treats and sweets in. every day if you want. I do. most days, anyway. usually chocolate, but not always. i prefer it to be, though LOL

fyi...pudding cups are a pretty good low calorie option for a chocolate fix thats only around 100 calories theyre even good frozen :P

emmies_123 wrote: »

@callsitlikeiseeit
I have read that thread I am in normal BMI range, i guess that is the better descriptor. Although just barely, on the high end of it. I am happy with my body and what it can do, but I also know I can do better and shouldn't stop here just because it is acceptable.

Afternoon update: Staying to my goals. Had a healthy breakfast and lunch, and planned out my dinner. I'm going to Costco tonight and that will be a test to make sure nothing frivolous makes it back home!

Will you pick me up some frivolous items? They keep me mentally healthy. 😀

And congrats on your will power! It's definitely hard and something I have none of.

I have a different approach.

I love treats. The more treats I can squeeze in a day, the happier and more satisfied I am.

Redefining my definition of “treat” is probably what rounded the curve for me.

Instead of cookies or chocolates, I taught myself to consider these as treats: fruits, cottage cheese, yogurt, jello, a chicken sausage, cucumber, carrots, a single small hard candy (typically 5-15 calories apiece), beef jerky, fruit leather, veggies and zero cal ranch dressing, leftover pancakes from breakfast, tiny little tubs of sardine páte, and so on.

On a typical day, I’ll have 6-800 calories reserved for treats.

The game is to see how many I can squeeze into that budget. It’s like Tetris. I gloat when I can get in five or six snacks.

If for some reason I have a particularly light “real meal” scheduled, I’ll use those extra calories for a super special treat, like the fudge frosted brownie from my corner bakery Tuesday.

For something like that, I put the phone down, turn the TV off, and try to remind myself to eat it slowly and savor every bite to make it worthwhile. I try to make it a completely different experience from “old me” who would have shoveled in several without thinking, reached to find the bag empty, and carelessly wondered where they’d all gone.

I also try to make meals treats. I have been eating cake batter pancakes supplemented with a little whey powder and extra egg white for months. I brush zero cal caramel or chocolate syrup on them and roll them up like pirouettes. It’s all in my head but it feels so extravagant to have cupcake- like finger food for breakfast.

Dinner tonight is carefully shaved London broil pan fried with a little seasoning, rolled in naan bread, with a side of broccoli slaw pumped up with a shredded apple.

TL:DR. Don’t change your longing for treats. Change the treats you long for.