Does anyone find it weird when people freak out over consuming an extra chocolate bar?

anxietyfairy
anxietyfairy Posts: 141 Member
in Food and Nutrition

Like at my worst I would eat…

Two bags of chips, a bag of coloured or caramel popcorn, onion dip, a 1.5L of diet coke (lol), 2 bags of sweets and a block of chocolate

or…

Two pizzas, a garlic bread, chicken wings, a drink and chips (usually over two days, but still not good).

It just seems… extreme. Sorry if this seems insensitive. It just seems like if you are only over by a chocolate bar, you don't have that much of a problem.

Replies

  • anxietyfairy
    anxietyfairy Posts: 141 Member

    To be fair, if you are freaking out over that chocolate bar, you can nip the weight problem in the bud earlier and probably won't develop a binge eating problem. You'll also be closer to your goal weight.

  • anxietyfairy
    anxietyfairy Posts: 141 Member

    I still do the pizza thing sometimes, just less often… like once every two or three months, but I would probably just eat half a pizza.

  • anxietyfairy
    anxietyfairy Posts: 141 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48595914#Comment_48595914

    I really wish I knew what words the kitten was covering lol. Would make an entertaining read.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 36,377 Member

    Other people are other people. Their reactions stem from their own personalities, past habits, personal histories, and more. If they say they're feeling some way about some thing, I believe them. If they say something feels like a problem, I believe that, too, and feel some empathy.

    That's true even if I wouldn't feel the same way in the same circumstances (as I understand the circumstances from what they've written).

    In a "do I feel that way" sense, no, I don't understand freaking out over some candy bar that may not even take a person who's losing weight above their maintenance calories. Honestly, I don't see the point of freaking out over any kind of eating, including over-eating by a large Detroit-style pizza all by myself, maybe a couple of high-test beers to wash it down, a whole pint of calorie-dense gelato, and some chocolate truffles as a finishing snack . . . or whatever. Personally, I tend to dislike drama, and definitely dislike feeling icky. Self-recrimination feels icky to me. But that's me, not other people.

    How I look at it for myself is that over-eating is always a decision, not something that "just happens". If it's a good decision, I need to own the consequences and decide how to adjust for them. Freaking out doesn't help. If it's a bad decision, I need to figure out how to minimize the risk of repeating it. Improving the plan to minimize those risks can be anything from simple to needing professional help, depending on the situation, and that's OK, too.

    I also don't really see the point of assessing comparative misery. If someone's mom died, my first reaction isn't going to be "that's not such a big deal, both my parents died" even though they did. It's going to be sympathy. Sure, that's an extreme scenario, and sometimes if it seems right I'll talk about similar (or worse) circumstances in my own life and how I felt about them or dealt with them . . . but only if I think/hope it will help them in some way. I'm sure I get it wrong sometimes, too. We're all struggling humans here, and communication is not only challenging, but requires all parties to be listening and responding with understanding and good faith. It's complicated.

    I screw it up all the time, but my overall goal is to try to be a decent human, to myself and to others. That's pretty much it.

    If they're freaked out about a candy bar, and want help, I'll try to help. That has more to do with my personal goal than with their personality or reaction, I think. YMMV, since we're all unique people, and that's a good thing.

    Best wishes!

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,514 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48598250#Comment_48598250

    Sending hugs. Are wafer bars available where you are? Maybe a small bar of 100-120 calories. Should be possible to fit into any diet.

  • SafariGalNYC
    SafariGalNYC Posts: 2,096 Member

    While I don’t freak out over 1 day of eating excess …I don’t like to make it a habit. I do think on.. why did I overeat or make those choices?

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,643 Member

    I find it weird that you find it weird.😁

  • way2busy34
    way2busy34 Posts: 1 Member

    if I open the door to sugar it stays open. I’m much better off health wise if I never eat it. Some natural sugar is inevitable , but candy certainly can be avoided at all costs. I think of white sugar as poison.

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,239 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10938172/does-anyone-find-it-weird-when-people-freak-out-over-consuming-an-extra-chocolate-bar

    HAHAHAHA! So I go to a movie and within that time I'll eat 2 hotdogs, a nachos with cheese, a small popcorn with butter and a box of Milk Duds washed down with a diet Coke. Nothing goes home with me. I just finish it. Granted I usually come early so I'm chowing down during the previews.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer

    IDEA Fitness member

    Kickboxing Certified instructor

    Been in fitness for 40+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,452 Member
    edited May 10

    if you mean yourself freaking out, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and an extra chocolate bar is just an extra chocolate bar.

    I do it every few weeks. But I don’t make a habit of it, because no way am I going to be obese again.

    There’s always that specter, breathing down my neck, to keep me in line.

    If I do eat one, it’s generally going to blow through any deficit for the day but seldom takes me over maintenance.

    If you’re talking about other people……I play bunco with a ladies group once a month. They knew me when I was obese and watched (like hungry hawks) through my losing process. I eat what I want when I go. I may try to minimize it by having a heavy snack or even dinner before I go. I used to take a giant container of popcorn to share, knowing I could eat that and stay reasonable, until I stopped after the woman hosting that month got unreasonably mad over the popcorn. She hasn’t spoken to me since and avoids me if she can help it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

    But mostly, I pig out.

    I see the side eyes and can read the silent thoughts “how’d she lose weight doing that? She’s gonna blow up and be fat again. What’s the deal? Is she bulemic?”


    They don’t know that I banked calories for a few days, and/or ate a small breakfast and lunch earlier in the day to bank some more.

    It used to bother me, but I finally learned, that’s their problem, not mine.


    Now, about half the group is on a GLP, and several have lost quite a bit of weight. Bully for them, but that seems to make the comparison even worse They don’t know the weight training and other workouts I do,and I learned long ago they don’t want to hear about the “punishing” calorie counting.

    All they see is me, happily devouring stuff with no apparent consequences.

    If they want to freak out, let ‘em. I’ve been in maintenance for years now and would be an awfully good source of experience to take advantage of, if they cared to.

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,452 Member
    edited May 10

    and btw typically the only chocolate bars I keep in the house are the 40gram “mini” bars that come in a six pack from Lidl (and probably Aldi).

    Bigger than a Hershey’s mini, smaller than a Hershey bar. They vary from 220-240 calories each so if I do go buck wild and have two, or even three, it’s not an earth shattering crisis.

    Even better are the chocolate marzipan bars they sell at Easter and Christmas. About 100 calories each.

    I keep all chocolate in the freezer

    Frozen chocolate is not worth the hassle to eat. I have to really really want one. The ones that are in there now have been there since around Christmas

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,967 Member
    edited May 10

    Is it weird for people to freak out? Not really.

    People have to find their own way.

    I know that the first few months I was on MFP I would not have trusted myself with full sized candy bars. At best I would use protein bars as candy bars. My deficits were also appreciable at that time.

    Is it productive in the long run to freak out and, more importantly, to CONTINUE to freak out?

    A major problem I identified for myself a good ten years ago was that I had yet to manage to maintain a substantial weight loss for a substantial period of time. To the point that I was reluctant to even attempt to lose weight.

    So, a good part of my weight loss time frame involved thinking about, trying to discover methods and strategies and backstops and habits, doing everything I could to set myself up with as many tools and options as I could at the time in order to manage maintenance.

    In fact, I wasn't even willing to say the word "maintenance". My thoughts were framed around delaying regain and managing to maximize time at a reduced weight!

    Am I going to pretend that I am not playing just a tiny bit with fire when I have had complete meals that consisted 100% of deserts? Or when I have days logged where 1500 Cal were food and 1500 Cal were candy bars? Nope!

    Of course I AM playing with fire on these days. And if every day were like these days then the five week projection would probably not come out very well ;-)

    But, the good news is that every day is NOT like these days! And it doesn't have to be. And the majority of your days is what (for most of us) influences the direction of our weight.

    Equanimity (and trying to figure out why we do some stuff and how we can maybe find ways to modify or contain our proclivities) is WAY more long term productive than freaking out and swearing off till the next time we crash and burn!

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,456 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48602441#Comment_48602441

    well, yes , like anything candy CAN be avoided at all costs

    just like people who are allergic to x thing avoid it at all costs and it would be worth freaking out over if one inadvertently consumed x thing. X is the equivalent of poison to them.

    But most of us can consume white sugar in sensible amounts if we want to

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