I've been doing SO good on plan this last month, even incorporated jogging, and being able to up my endurance makes me feel great!
Well, I will say I am ADDICTED to sweets, so at the beginning of this journey I quit all deserts, sodas, etc... everything, cold turkey for a month... Well, today was the break of that, and I told myself I was going to allow myself 100 calories of chocolate a day...
Im pretty sure I've eaten about 600+ calories of Dove chocolates now... Of course I feel depressed & like CRAP!
So out they go... I think I should actually take them to the trash right now.. oh but what a waste of money & chocolate!! Ok Im going to... right now...
But I do want to start to incorporate sweets... Its been a month & I think on sweet a week isnt bad- obviously I just cant keep it in my house... maybe it'll have to be a McDonalds ice cream cone or something... any suggestions???
Oh my. I wrote this same post a few weeks ago. I am a sugar addict. Plain and simple. I cannot have chocolate in the house. I would have done exactly the same thing you did if I had Dove Chocolate's around here. I would not have been able to stop. I have not had a candy bar or any chocolates in 5 months. However, I purchased some dark chocolate almonds and could not leave them alone.
I ended up throwing them in the garbage (completely emptying the bag) after eating about 3 servings. I have finally decided that I cannot have chocolate treats sitting around. If I absolutely must have some chocolate/sugar, I would go somewhere and get 1 small serving of something. Never would I ever bring it home again. WAY too tempting.
I truly want this to be for my life time, and it's the only way. You sound an awful lot like me. I think adding in the 100 calories of chocolate a day would do me in. Maybe once a week, but not once a day. Just my opinion.
Well, I will say I am ADDICTED to sweets, so at the beginning of this journey I quit all deserts, sodas, etc... everything, cold turkey for a month... Well, today was the break of that, and I told myself I was going to allow myself 100 calories of chocolate a day...
Well, one month in, is still the beginning of your journey IMO. According to yourself, you are addicted (as am I) to sweets, so I don't think adding it back is a good idea, as I think you've discovered.
My suggestion? Take this addiction very seriously. Don't think you can add it back in, yet alone so quickly without serious repercussions. Just ask any alcoholic if this is a good strategy.
Perhaps waaay down the road, you'll be able to add back a *treat* now and then in a very controlled setting. Perhaps. But you're not there yet and I wouldn't start experimenting. Why take the chance? It's not worth it. It never, ever is.
I think you got away pretty lucky by only eating 600 calories worth - and yes - throw the rest of it away. You've already spent the money, you can't get that back by eating it. You can only fall further back into the hole by eating it - toss it.
I would do myself a favor and refrain completely from those foods. I would rethink what a treat is. You don't need this once a week or once a month. You deserve something that tastes good, but doesn't propel you to overeat it and become depressed and feel like crap. Where's the treat in that?
Yea exactly! I was worried about me going back in the trash (yes, ew- but I would rationalize it by "well, its on the top, nothing's touching it...") so I dumped some milk in the bag & threw it in the trash lol- I just cant imagine having NO sweets for months to come- that doesnt seem like a life-long thing to me; I feel like deserts are a part of me & I'd feel so deprived without them! Well... actually I felt pretty good this last month... maybe just some sugar free jello?? I just dont know.... I DO want this to be for life, and I guess whatever it takes to get there, even if that means tossing the chocolate (for now) I'll do... but there's nothing left here to eat & Im officially back OFF sweets! ... layin in bed with a tummy ache... yuck! not worth it!
I made a rule for myself that only my husband is allowed to buy my chocolate. He picks something he knows I like within the prescribed calories I can allow, and that's all I get.
It sounds like you are letting the chocolate have control over you. To regain control you need to break free from it and not have it around AT ALL. It is going to complicate your weight loss goals. What is more important to you, being at a healthy weight or being tempted by the chocolate?
I'd completely stay away from it until it doesn't have control over you. Maybe at some point you can have a tiny bit on a special occasion, but don't let it regain the power it has over you.
I've had to give up trigger foods and I can honestly say that I'm at the point now where I don't miss them at all. I'm eating healthy things and that is what I want to eat.
I agree with Robin; it's still early on in your journey. I'd wait a while until you are set and comfortable in this overhaul of your way of living. Maybe reconsider then.
But, I will say, there are some foods I just can't have - even in moderation. If you put in front of me a big bag of Sour Cream and Cheese Kettle Brand potato chips, I will without a doubt eat the entire bag. I've tested myself time and time again on this. It cost me 10 pounds! I realize I have a salty/cheesy addiction (those chips, cheese fries, anything of the like)...and I just have to steer clear of things like that.
There's nothing wrong with making certain foods off-limits, IMO. This is no different than any other addiction in that regard.
Some people just can't stop things cold turkey. Unfortunately, I take it from your post you aren't one that can "only have 100 calories." That would be a good sign that it's something that can and will hold you back, so IMO it's something that should go. I would try to go at LEAST 2-3 months without it entirely, then if you have it outside the house and in the smallest quantity (if a friend is having some ask for a piece, you can't actually sit there and ask for more so that will be your cut off point) go ahead. but if you still feel like it's got such a hold on you, then you may just have to cut it out completely, until you learn to deal with it.
Either way, just start over. Tomorrow is another day. Know what? I ate spaghetti last night, with way more noodles than I should have. Did the scale go up? Yeah, a little. Am I upset about it? A little, but I knew it would happen when I ate it. But today I'm going to drink my water, eat healthier, and exercise, and tomorrow is another day.
<3 Once you determine and eliminate your biggest problems, things will get a lot easier.
It sounds like you are letting the chocolate have control over you. To regain control you need to break free from it and not have it around AT ALL. It is going to complicate your weight loss goals. What is more important to you, being at a healthy weight or being tempted by the chocolate?
I'd completely stay away from it until it doesn't have control over you. Maybe at some point you can have a tiny bit on a special occasion, but don't let it regain the power it has over you.
I've had to give up trigger foods and I can honestly say that I'm at the point now where I don't miss them at all. I'm eating healthy things and that is what I want to eat.
Right? I used to LOVE chocolate. Yesterday I thought to myself, "hmm, a mars bar sounds good." So I went and got a mini one from my sisters halloween bag. Then I got distracted (on 3FC of all places), and 30 minutes later I saw the bar and realised I wasn't having any cravings anymore. Just because I occasionally THINK about eating something doesn't mean my body/mind/tastebuds will always be on board. It's weird.
Awesome GREAT tips!!! Like I said I threw em out last night... dont miss em at all (yet) & best of all when I weighed myself today I reached my second mini-goal YAYYYY!! Gonna go eat some oatmeal & go for a jog & have a sweets-free energetic happy day!!
Here's my thing with this. I too am addicted especially to chocolate. I have got to come to grips with this even now! LOL! It takes me three days of not eating it to get it out of my system and stop the cravings. But getting those three days in is killer. I screwed myself up yet again over stupid Halloween candy. I've been fighting to get just one clean day under my belt ever since.
BUT, when I DO have the chocolate under control, I can do other treats like McDonald's ice cream cones. I like that plan because one, it's not in the house and requires effort to get and two, it's not a trigger for me. However, if I am under the grips of chocolate, all sweet treats are a bad idea for me. It's hard to explain. Chocolate is the crux of my issues.
A good substitute for me is popcorn. Another good substitutes oddly is vegetables. That's my plan for today. When I go home and want that chocolate, I am going to roast some vegetables instead. Pretty much the first thing I do when I get home today is going to be throwing some veggies into the oven.
At first, I had to go cold turkey on this. I couldn't have sweets in my house. And even now I struggle with it. I find that it's better to just not have it in my house.
When I have cravings for sweets, I give my body fruit....delicious fruit!!! Even if it's expensive. Even if it's out of season. It's not just because it's healthier because I'm getting fiber and vitamins, but it's also to tell my body "you can have sugar cravings and I'll give you sugar... just not chocolate!"
One month isn't that long, really. Having one chocolate per day, and keeping them in my home, would be mental torture for me. And I'm not blowing it out of proportion either. I would wait all day watching the clock for my chocolate time. It would take me 30 seconds to inhale the little chocolate. Afterwards, my mind, body, and soul would literally ache for another chocolate. Every fiber of my being would be screaming "more more more!!" After working myself into an anxious ball of nerves trying to resist, eventually I'd do what you did and lose control. I probably wouldn't be able to stop at 600cals though, I'd systematically destroy every last morsel in the bag. Then I would have to deal with the regret, guilt, anger, sadness, and it really is a frightening experience to feel so out of control even when you logically know you are in control. Nope, the whole thing would just not be worth it to me. An emotional fiasco. I'd MUCH rather avoid it all, and spend the 100 calories (or however much a chocolate is) on a big filling on-plan snack. If I were you, if you haven't done it already, I'd destroy the chocolates. I'm such an addict that I have literally taken stuff out of the trash to eat it (in wrappers). I need to put them in water or something to make them completely off limits.
As I said, little treats everyday or even once a week or something DO NOT work for me. But I have accepted that rare treats are important to me. I weighed the pros and cons and have determined that the happiness that having a treat IS worth it for me. So what I have done is planned (planning is important, not just any day I feel like it) one day every month to eat whateeeever I want. For the whole day, I get a free pass. Not just a cheat meal, I get a whole day. And you better believe that I went nuts on my first few free for all days. I put away some serious food. But ya know what? I felt so crummy with tummyaches and sluggishness that I learned that I didn't want to do that. Now on my cheat days, I hardly ever go overboard. I'll have a cheeseburger and fries and maybe a snickers bar or a cup of frozen yogurt. Sure, I go over my calories for the day, but I'm far more moderate.
That absolutely wouldn't work for everyone, but it has worked for me. And I didn't start this until I had practiced being on plan for about 5 months. I found it easy to jump right back on plan the next day (in fact, with how bad my tummy hurt, I was craving clean whole foods as opposed to junk), but not everyone can do this. I try to keep my cheat days as separate from my normal routine as I can so I can't justify doing "cheat" things on normal days. I plan them on special occasions (weddings, parties, etc). It's easy to justify two pieces of birthday cake on my birthday. It doesn't make sense to have two pieces of birthday cake when it is not my birthday. I also try to keep the whole event away from my home. I go out to eat and I don't bring treat foods back.
Oh, I'm there with you! Throwing them out is the right thing to do.
I'll be honest, for over a year I thought I was able to have sweets in moderation and it didn't harm my plan - before and then throughout my pregnancy I got away with it. But looking back over my eating before I buckled down and got strict again, you know what a few sweets and carbs lead to? A LOT of sweets and carbs! My diet shifted to more crud than I was comfortable with without me even realizing it, despite logging everything I ate. And The problem wasn't the one item, but that it left me craving more and with Jo pressing need to stick like glue to a calorie budget (pregnancy ) I didn't, and so I could get away with a Drumstick or a few truffles a night as a planned dessert, after a day of barely decent eating more sugar and treats (a few cookies here, a serving or three of dates there, etc etc).
It wasn't an issue until I wanted to lose the four pounds I'd kept postpartum, and then I tried cutting back. But there was a problem - suddenly, when trying to limit those treats I noticed that if I got started on them I'd enter the territory Megan talked about - mental torture! It required SO much willpower to stop at just one, and I'd often fail and feel horribly guilty. So then I finally decided moderation wasn't going to work right now, not for starting back out, not this time. The baking is done, except for what has to be achieved for my family each week. The sweets are gone, or my husband brings home a single portion and there is NONE in the house. It isn't worth the mental anguish and stress of balancing some junk right now, I am happier not having it. It took four days of white knuckling it with some stevia sweetened tea and crystal lite in the evenings, but I managed to break the habit my body had gotten used to of junk in the evenings and the extra, unneeded calories that go with it. Now I find I am not craving it much at all anymore, at least not to unmanageable degrees.
I can keep some chocolate in the house and not be tempted - semi-sweet baking chips aren't a problem for me to dole out a tbsp or two or be done, when I have enough calories to do it. Carob chips, same thing. The other thing I do okay with is bars of very dark gourmet chocolate (70+ percent). They are so rich and strong a little taste does it for me, and I often used to have one of those in the cupboard for several weeks, slowly disappearing in pieces. But even then, I don't have one right now because I just don't need to fat or to test my newly on-plan resolve more than necessary. Those treats can be added back in down the road, but not right now, when weightloss is serious and I am in no mood to dink around!
So many of us have been there. Abstinence is often the very best solution, and I am more and more turning into Robin with these things - if I have a treat it is OUT OF MY HOUSE, ONE SERVING! That way I am joy being faced with it in the cabinet or fridge, and I cant binge on it. That works for me!
Last edited by Arctic Mama; 11-11-2010 at 01:55 PM.
I am a huge SUGAR-holic, especially chocolate. I can't have it in the house at all, because one little piece (hey, those Dove squares are only 45 calories!) turns into two, two turns into four, four turns into 8, and so on and so on. I can't keep it in the house for that reason. I do allow myself to indulge every blue moon - when I'm out and about. I CANNOT bring it into the house though, because I don't stop with one.
I was like you, when I first realized that I can't bring it into the house - I was upset (I even had a little tantrum with my BF. Why can't I be like everyone else??? Wah!) - but now, I know if I have it in the house - I WILL EAT IT.
Well... so much for that...
