Am I setting myself up for failure?

Ok, the naked eating cake comment cracked me up...

The cravings go away, or at least they taper off. If I were better at removing sugar from my diet mine would be gone by now. Give it some time, you don't have to crash and burn you can make it through!

this post has completely made my morning better. i needed someone to be humorous and blunt besides me.

This is just my opinion: I believe that if I forbid myself from having the foods I love that I will be more likely to binge. I also believe that if I eat some sweets and stop myself after one serving that I am even stronger. I still eat out and I just order grilled chicken sandwiches plain. I also will have sugar and carbs because I can't possibly live my life without those things. If this is truly a lifestyle change than I have to be able to see myself eating like this for the rest of my life. I don't think I should be expected to live without pizza or ice cream, I just need to learn to eat in moderation.

What do you mean by "starches"? Are you allowed to eat whole grain breads? If you are leaving out something essential, then you will actually, physically crave things.

If this is an emotional craving for sugar, likely you'll try something sweet one day and notice you just don't enjoy it like you used to. From that point on, you likely won't crave refined sugar anymore.

That's my experience.

I'm not sure what your craving but I treat myself every night with 2 squares of a Lindt Dark Chocolate/Seasalt bar. This really helps to look forward to at the end of my day of eating well and I have continued to lose weight. Find a special snack that works for you and is somewhat healthy. You may also try one cheat meal a week in which you can eat whatever you want just one meal
once a week to help you get through. Stay focused and exercise everyday, good luck!!

Everybody is different.

For me, if I deprive myself completely from something, it'll guarantee a binge.

I'm finding, with logging my food, I can say "Ok, I can have one snack size Hershey bar and still stay within my range." I'm frightfully honest on my diary, so I log it...and if I give into a binge and eat....say 3 of those snack size bars, I know that I'm going to have to work to get it off, or I'm going to have to treat myself to that trigger food less often. Just knowing that I'll have to log that on my diary is enough motivation not to overeat.

Mind you, not everyone has that kind of willpower and I wouldn't suggest it for just anyone. You know yourself the best and what you want for your body and how you want to live.

To me, life isn't about depriving yourself from the things you love. It's about allowing yourself occasional treats (emphasis on OCCASIONAL), but the rest of the time staying focused on your goal.

When I was growing up, we were really dirt poor. Things like going out to eat was a treat. We got to go out to eat MAYBE once a month. It was such a special time for us that it was a BIG DEAL to go to McDonald's. Now, it seems like most people go to fast food joints several times a week just because they're too lazy to cook (and yes, I'm guilty of that myself).

We need to start going to these places as a TREAT, not as a regular weekly occurrence.

no, you are trying to suceed. like the rest of MFP's step by agonizing step. It DOES get better. Your body will appreciate good food as opposed to crap. I think you are missing the instant gratification/satisfaction of of the foods you are used to. Believe me after 3 months fried food even the SMELL of french fries makes me queasy. Buy yourself the BEST good food you can afford. I started going to a foodie gourmetish grocery. I buy steamed shrimp and have it put in 4oz portions, the leanest deli meat the same way. Only the best in seaon fruit and veg. And finally THANK GOD for Skinny girl ice cream bars. Try them. Eve if you eat the whole box(I haven't reallyy done that have I????) it is under 1000 cal. Better than naked in Bakey aisle LOL

You know, I find that with these kinds of things, it takes a while to find what works for you. I've had to eliminate all caffeine and most sugar from my diet, but I refuse to give up my glass or two of wine with dinner. It just makes a meal to me. On the other hand, I don't miss soda at all. I miss coffee a bit, but I'm still okay with that.
Three weeks is what your body needs to fully give up a habit, so if after three weeks you find that you resent your changes or that they have become obstacles for you, then change it all up again and see what happens. There is no single formula for everybody that works, and part of your job in getting healthy is collecting data about what seems to work for you and what doesn't. For the rest of your life it will be your job to pay attention to your body and what it is telling you, as its need will certainly change. This is the definition of self-care, and this is the lifestyle that leads to a great quality of life.
If you do end up naked in the baked goods aisle having a psychotic break/sugargasm, then I'm guessing the total elimination thing doesn't really work that well for you. But if you get a good PR agent, you might be able to parley the incident into some fame and maybe a book or movie deal. Sounds like a great one for the Lifetime channel.
Good luck!

loved your post!!

For me over the years if I tried to completely eliminate or drastically change too much at once, i would eventually fail. (I'm an all or nothing person) Maybe you are stronger than me! This time I'm just making consistent small changes. Like working out doing something every day. Instead of telling myself I have to run a 5k or workout an hour etc. Same with food, I love to eat ice cream, so now when I'm really wanting something sweet I'll have an juice popsicle or a Kashi cookie. For me it helps it not build and then I binge. As the weeks have gone and I'm feeling better and stronger... I'm even wanting to eat and exercise better. Those first few weeks were the hardest for me. Good luck. All the posts / friends are so encouraging and help motivate and keep going.