[burkee]

Hey eveyone just wondering if anyone does what I do?the day started out great eating was good then.....I made them, the homemade chocolate chip cookies(for the kids of course) I really need help

[wchs2007]

well that happens to the best of us.. I have 3 sons who love junk food...
So I always keep the 100 calorie snack pack cookies on hand for me..
The fat free 40 calorie fudge pops ( Sugar free) was a great treat.. I could eat 2 and not feel guilty..
I love to snack so I always keep low calorie ones on hand..

[burkee]

great idea thanks

[Cheryl14]

Hi Burkee!

Believe me, girl, you definitely are NOT alone on this!

I am POWERLESS when it comes to having the ability to resist cookie dough! There are just some things that are humanly impossible, and NOT eating COOKIE DOUGH seems to be one of those for me!

I realized this quite a while ago after I read about "triggers" and how there are just some foods that cause a person to lose control!

Some people must have willpower of STEEL! It's possible, too, that not everyone has as many triggers as I do. Believe me, weight loss is a HUGE mind game!

I find that keeping the temptation away is the best tactic, but that is not always possible. In the event that I HAVE to be in the same room/house/UNIVERSE as one of my "triggers", I TRY some things that I've read in several weight loss books. Here they are:

1) Remind yourself that you already KNOW what this food tastes like. It is not a new taste, and yes, it DOES have a wonderful alluring aroma. You don't need to taste it again, because you have had it before many times.

2) Use your nose and take a huge whiff of the food. Take in all of the goodness through your nose, and smugly enjoy the "taste" of the food that way without taking in even ONE little calorie. This may sound absolutely absurd to you, but believe me, realizing that you just "enjoyed" say a Caramel Pecanbon (1100 calories) completely guilt-free because you never actually ATE it is really empowering! I did this last night with the pizza that my skinny son ordered from Papa John's. He asked me if I wanted some. I told him that I would LOVE some, but I was just going to enjoy the aroma of it. I opened the pizza box several times and took in a very long whiff each time. I closed the box and congratulated myself by saving THOUSANDS of calories by smelling without eating!

3) Make lots of signs that say, "Burkee! You know that THIS is NOT going to help you reach your goal!" Put them around any foods that you may have bought for your family that YOU should definitely NOT eat. I have my signs on the cheese in my fridge, one on the kettle chips in the pantry, and even on the chocolate semi-sweet chips that remain in my cupboard BEGGING ME to make them into some yummy cookie dough someday!

4) Find a low-calorie SOMETHING that will substitute for the trigger. When I get the CHOCOLATE thing, I have fat-free, no sugar added hot chocolate. That is satisfying without doing much damage in the calorie department. For the cheese thing, the Laughing Cow cheese wedges have 30 calories and are satifying, too.

5) TRY to think of food as FUEL instead of just that marvelous yummy stuff that tastes so good. I read "Ultramarathon Man" by Dean Karnazes a few months ago. What a book! He's the guy who runs a marathon (26.2 miles) just for a warmup! Anyway, he plans out what FUEL he needs to take in to accomplish what he needs to accomplish for that run. It was reallly an eye opener for me. I don't think I EVER thought of food as FUEL for my body before! I began thinking about my car and how absurd it would be to KEEP ADDING more fuel to it when it already had a full tank. I likened that to myself keeping eating when I already had WAY MORE than enough "fuel" (FAT) on my body!

Well, I hope these help! I know these tactics are helping me learn how to play the eating game...and it IS a game! It has rules and strategy, and requires planning and practice. These are all new concepts for me to take in, but the more I read and the more I am inspired by so many who have lost HUGE amounts of weight, I know that THE EATING GAME is one that CAN be mastered.

Good luck to you! We are all there right with you !

Cheryl

[CyberGypsy]

Finding something low fat is not the way... I ended up buying the 100 calorie snacks, sat down and ate the box!!!!!! So I banned anything like that from the house....If i want it, mostly at night, I have to get up, get dressed and drive to the store 5 miles away.....ALways works for me.....but i live alone...

[csoar2004]

Originally Posted by burkee

Hey eveyone just wondering if anyone does what I do?the day started out great eating was good then.....I made them, the homemade chocolate chip cookies(for the kids of course) I really need help

Your belief system will ALWAYS trump your motivation/willpower. However, it IS possible to change your beliefs.

Welcome to Charli's Get OUTTA Your Ruts/Change Your Beliefs Bootcamp!

Fat Belief #1 (the "I'm not losing weight fast enough so I might as well eat off plan anyway"):
> oh yeah, like that's logical! D'oh! Ok, anytime you hear that little voice in the back of your mind, grab a glass of water (or a handful of <insert fave veggie here>) and say this 5 times "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels." and ask yourself this question "will eating this food further my weightloss goal?" Make food choices that are in line with your GOALS and you will succeed.

Fat Belief #2 (the "No diet works for me! I'm just incapable of losing weight"):
> You're special babe, but you ain't THAT special! EVERYONE can lose weight. It takes determination, attitude, and motivation. Next time you hear THAT little tape playing, go look in the mirror and ask yourself who died and made YOU Queen of fat? NOBODY! Go for a walk. Take the stairs. Change the voice - tell yourself - Oh YES I CAN shed this weight! Yes I CAN and I DESERVE to lose it!

Fat Belief #3 (the "It takes too much time to eat right! And besides, I HATE cooking!"):
> No kidding! How do you think you got fat in the first place? By eating the quick fix (fast food nation!), by going for the box dinner, high salt, calorie-laden, poor nutritional food industry faux-food of the week.
You're WORTH the extra time! You DESERVE to be slim and healthy! Make the kitchen thing fun - play real loud music in there and keep the beat while chopping veggies. Plaster pictures of the skinny clothes you plan on buying all over inside and outside the cupboards. Get RID of any non-plan foods. If you have family members in the house who aren't on the same plan, buy only maintenance/healthier versions for them (what..THEY don't deserve to be healthy?)

Fat Belief #4 (the "I'm just big boned. All my family are big boned. We NEED more <insert cheat food here>.")
> <snicker, chortle, wheeze, snort> Sorry Told m'self this one for ages. Now it just makes me laugh! The fact that I can palm a basketball doesn't mean eating a 2 pound chocolate sunday is required for this ability. Reality check, please! No - you DO NOT need more sugar. Protein - perhaps, but NO MORE SUGAR!

Fat Belief #5 (the "I'm too tired to exercise, cook, shop, etc.")
> Yeah, riiiiiiiiiight. Ever stop to think WHY you're so tired? Let me help you out. A) You're overweight. B) You're stressed out. C) You think you need 36 hour days. D) You take care of everyone else BEFORE yourself. Wot's WRONG with this picture?? Babe, you're useless to those you love when you are tired, cranky, unhappy with yourself. You deserve YOU time. Make it sacred (The next half hour is ME time. I will be soaking in the tub with lovely candles and a funny book. Don't come knocking - no matter WHAT!)

Fat Belief #6 (the "Poor lil deprived me! I DESERVE <insert cheat food here> and cannot be expected to give it up forever!")
> Get yourself back to your food plan and review the lifestyle/maintenance section. Many old favorite foods return in healthier forms. Think of the early stages of the plan as DEFERRING your fave food. And babe, if the food you're missing is truly now forever forbidden think of it this way. THAT fave food of yours helped make you fat. Do you REALLY think you need more of it?? I used to be a glass-a-milk-a-day girl until I learned I'm mildly lactose intolerant and no doubt my dairy fix was directly related to my insomnia, bloat, and brain fog. D'oh!

No one gets out of life alive. We're ALL on a limited timeline here. WHY would you devote a precious finite commodity (YOUR time) to 50-60 or 80 hour work weeks??? I mean...really. You can't take money with you. So why are you stealing time from yourself and your family and giving it away at work??
Name ONE person who - on their deathbed said, "I shouldda spent MORE time at the office!"

Pamper yourself. Be kind to yourself. You DESERVE it! When you are well and happy, your FAMILY is well and happy (if they know what's good for them heh heh). Take an aromatherapy bath. Get a pedicure. Rent a comedy and laugh out loud (it not only releases endorphins, but laughing burns fat!).

Last of all, give yourself permission to be human (aka: NOT perfect). Dust yourself off, look yourself in the mirror every day and make this promise: I'm going to lose this weight because I DESERVE it!

Now go make it happen.

[wchs2007]

Yes I agree You can not eat the whole box of 100 calorie snacks..But learning to eat right and not to stuff yourself is the key...
So it worked for me to have something I could have on hand.
It really all boils down to what is best for you..

[rockinrobin]

When I first started doing this in Sept 06, I couldn't keep a thing in the house other then veggies and healthy stuff. And I have 3 teenagers. I couldn't even have 60 calorie jello puddings in the house (which I now eat almost daily). I was not to be trusted. It was too hard. Baking was out of the question. Then my daughter was sleeping by a friends house for the weekend and wanted to bring some homemade cookies and that was that. So she made 2 batches, one choc. chip, one oatmeal raisin. And I helped her and I ate 1 cookie. It didn't matter anymore. Enough was enough. Now granted I was already on a roll, so there was nothing gonna stop me at that point. It does comes to a point where it's simply a matter of will power. Or maybe it should be called WON'T power. Because I just WON'T eat out of control anymore. It was wrong to punish my family. They can eat things in a normal sized portion, it was me who couldn't. It took me years and years to feel this way. And I certainly don't think I'm home free just yet. I think there will always be times when I want to cave in. But hopefully they will be few and far between and not to the extent that I used to. We're all human and slip ups are bound to occur. Just gotta keep it to a bare minimum. Although I'm not a thin person yet, it's time to start thinking and ACTING like one.

[KnitALisa]

I say banish the food from your home if it tempts you. And this comes from a 20 year old whose mother has done this. Sure, there was some whining at first about not having our junk food (especially from my 16 y.o brother). But the fact is your kids don't need those cookies. I promise. They don't. They'll survive. In fact, by banishing the junk from your house, you're setting your kids up for healthy futures and decreasing the chances that they too will have to fight obesity.

So when the whining starts? Take a cue from my Momma and the Rolling Stones. Start belting out "You don't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you get what you need!"

[GirlyGirlSebas]

Originally Posted by theobviouschild

So when the whining starts? Take a cue from my Momma and the Rolling Stones. Start belting out "You don't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you get what you need!"

I sing that to my daughters all of the time! So funny!

I agree with Lisa. My hubby is on Southbeach with me. Our goal is not only to lose weight, but to learn to eat and be more healthy. This is a good goal for our daughters as well. The whole family is eating Southbeach food which is wholesome and nutritious. Are there some healthy snacks the kids can have instead of the homemade cookies? And, don't think you are depriving your kids....just look at what cookies, etc did to us! and....Mom should be a priority too....right?

[melissalaurel]

It is hard when the kids are nagging and my non dieting hubby is eating junk. I buy the kids treats that I don't like (fruit roll-ups/poptarts) and if I do give them something I really want I just go in the other room while they eat it. I must admit though that my kids are really used to eating a piece of fruit or carrots sticks as a snack so it's probably easier for me.
I am a baker too and have stopped baking completely. The last thing I need is a German Chocolate cake sitting in the microwave calling my name. LOL

[wchs2007]

Buying the kids snacks that you don't really like is a great idea..
My kids like my snacks... On the other hand with 3 sons between 18 and 11 we can not keep food in the house.. They eat EVERYTHING.. They are active in school sports and the one that does not play sports is into running..
They did not get this from Me.. HAHA

[KnitALisa]

I have a 16 year old brother who eats us out of house and home too! I watched him eat an ENTIRE JAR OF PEANUT BUTTER!!! And he's 6'1 and 189 lbs of pure muscle. Grrr...

Rhonda- I love SBD too! My mom and dad eat what I eat, so they've both noticed a little weight loss. And I love that song. Whenever she started singing it, we couldn't help but giggle.

[Lovestorun]

I am one of those people that have no problem with sweets/sugar. I can bake anything and not touch it at all. HOWEVER, my problem is with pizza, chicken wings ect.... Last night I was making spagetti and I make it with whole wheat pasta and the meatballs with ground turkey- my two kids (12,9) are not real wild about it so they pegged me to order them a cheese pizza! Well, I gave in and orded it (they have not had in a long time) boy that was so hard to pass up even just picking off some cheese but, I DID IT. I was very proud of myself.!!!!! One small step for ME and no extra calories.!!!

[108tolose]

I feel your pain over the cookies, even though i didn't make them. I walked into the hotel lobby and was greeted with the beautiful smell of chocolate chip cookies - which immediately made my stomach start growling. I resisted (stood on the opposite side of the desk than the cookies), went back to my car for my stuff, and came back in a different door. I'm drinking bunches of water to try to get my stomach to shut up since the only snack food available right now is from the machine in the hall (not going near it!) and I am meeting some friends for supper in a bit.

Thanks for the wonderful ideas in this thread everyone (for when I have a little control over cookies sitting on the counter...)!