Love yourself...give her sweets?

Eat the cookies. Eat the chocolate. Limit the number and size of the servings. Put it all in your food diary. Done deal.

It's limiting the size and servings that I find to be the issue. why do things that taste good have to be so high in calories?

Because the things that are good for us are never easy to do. What I like to do is if I'm having a craving and I don't have the calories for it, I'll plan to eat it later in the week so it gives me something to look forward to. I also don't count calories on Sundays to keep me sane and so I'll eat some not so healthy things then... it hasn't stopped me from losing weight, you just can't over do it. But honestly, I know limiting yourself is hard at first, but once you get in the habit, the smaller amount satisfies you just as much. You just have to be patient with yourself

I know the REAL answer to this but it's something I struggle with since becoming an aware adult. Why is it, that if I love myself, I wouldn't want to eat indulgent treats like rich chocolate or a home made cookie? Aren't these things just ways of giving my body what it likes? It tastes SO GOOD! I know they're not "healthy" but....argh....

I want to know what you've replaced to "treat" yourself and perhaps how you have overcome this mind set....that you should be rewarding yourself with things other than food....and perhaps you don't actually like or crave that kind of stuff?

The body might like it, but it liked many things before that did me no good in the long run.

I control my body, it does not control me and providing I treat it correctly, it will do as I say. To treat it correctly, I need to feed it properly, that's why cakes, sweets, chocolate, crisps and biscuits no longer have a place in my cupboards.

What I that works is that I plan it. I plan my splurges at least a week in advance. I know the exact number of calories beforehand so I can make it fit into my day. When the day arrives, I enjoy it. No guilt.

I eat a little dark chocolate every day. It kills my chocolate craving but is not so good that I want to eat the whole bar. I don't let my family buy treats that I like, only ones I don't.

You'll see lots of entries in my diary recently for 12 Cadbury mini eggs. :bigsmile:

Stinking Cadbury! It's almost unbearable not eating those little candy shell coated chocolate treats from heaven. YUM!

Those will be the death of my diet lol.. seriously... now i want them.

Because in nature, foods that are high in fat, salt, and sugar are quite rare. If you don't have regular access to these things, then biologically, you want to eat all of them you can when you do have access (because they are high in calories). In reasonable amounts (and in their relatively unrefined forms) these nutrients are actually necessary for survival, but when you consume too much of them, particularly in refined forms (which allows you to eat them more easily), you run into problems. Basically, your brain and body evolved in a world in which food was scarce, particularly food that was high in sugar, fat, and salt, that is no longer the case for many people living in industrialized nations, so it's easy for us to overdo it.

THIS! I have not given up ANYTHING. Just became more AWARE of what and how much I am eating.

I treat myself to 'indulgences' every day.

Recently, I have been on a gummy bear kick, so only ½ a serving every day (ok maybe a full serving on some days ). Though I savor each and every bear...I turn each one into 4 bites rather than shoving a bunch in my mouth at once.

Also, I have become more 'choosy' about my treats. I *love* cupcakes, so there is one local cupcake bakery that I go to once a month to get a cupcake. They use all locally grown natural ingredients and no preservatives so I can still be 'clean' about the cupcakes. I usually don't care for chocolate but when I do have a craving, I make sure it's premium natural chocolate; instead of a mass produced Hershey's bar, I buy a Theo chocolate bar. The Theo bar has 30 more calories per serving, but it is made with pure ingredients.

I don't necessarily eat all 'clean' foods (hence the gummy bears) but I do try to make as may of my treats as 'pure' as possible. When I made this change, I found that slowly, I didn't have the cravings for the candy bars as much as I used to. I loved Twix bars years ago, but I haven't had one (or even a craving for one) in so long.

It is hard to not eat an entire bag of chips, an entire chocolate bar, the whole can of pringles, I know, I used to do that! I guess it's like what alcoholics or smokers go thru when they try to quit. Being aware is the first step, now you just have to learn how to deal with it, keep going!

I don't express my love for myself through food. I eat food. Sometimes I eat sweets. I exercise more when I do that or just own the consequences of my consumption.