Here on 3FC there's a lot of food talk, especially about trigger foods. It makes sense, there are certain foods that trigger an overeating episode in some people. But I keep trying to figure out what my specific trigger foods are and nothing in specific stands out. I guess in theory anything could be a trigger food for me, because in the past I've binged on pretty much everything at some point, but my tastes typically change just like my moods-pretty often. Or maybe I'm just not looking at it the right way. Does anyone else feel this way?
I think I am like you for the most part- I don't seem to have specific triggers.
However in reading others posts on here, it seems like there are at least 2 types of things folks are talking about when they talk triggers:
1. For those physically sensitive to carbs (meaning ingestion of carbs spikes insulin which triggers craving more carbs), there seems to be a physical trigger to consume carbs sugar.
2. For many with eating disordered thinking (I don't mean necessarily true eating disorders, just messed up emotional issues related to food, especially over-control/ no-control issues) consuming "bad" or prohibited foods can trigger an emotional reaction that can lead to binging behavior. "since I've already messed up, why shouldnt I just keep going?"
I don't have specific trigger foods but I do find that sometimes when I am not really physically hungry and I decide to have something sweet, once I have it, I end up ravenous. I am guessing that is blood sugar related.
2. For many with eating disordered thinking (I don't mean necessarily true eating disorders, just messed up emotional issues related to food, especially over-control/ no-control issues) consuming "bad" or prohibited foods can trigger an emotional reaction that can lead to binging behavior. "since I've already messed up, why shouldnt I just keep going?"
Yeah, I think this is more 'me' than having a specific food. I've been working more on changing this thinking and I find that it has helped me tremendously in my journey. I almost wish it was just one thing that triggered me, because I'd just avoid it! But moderation combined with calorie counting has been hugely helpful to me. It's kind of eye-opening when I actually think about what foods trigger me, only to realize that it's just eating in general. And it also occurs to me that there's no real attachment to specific foods when I binge, it's more like whatever exists closest to me when I feel the need to shovel it in. It's all kind of scary, actually.
2. For many with eating disordered thinking (I don't mean necessarily true eating disorders, just messed up emotional issues related to food, especially over-control/ no-control issues) consuming "bad" or prohibited foods can trigger an emotional reaction that can lead to binging behavior. "since I've already messed up, why shouldnt I just keep going?"
Here on 3FC there's a lot of food talk, especially about trigger foods. It makes sense, there are certain foods that trigger an overeating episode in some people. But I keep trying to figure out what my specific trigger foods are and nothing in specific stands out. I guess in theory anything could be a trigger food for me, because in the past I've binged on pretty much everything at some point, but my tastes typically change just like my moods-pretty often. Or maybe I'm just not looking at it the right way. Does anyone else feel this way?
I am more like this myself. I also don't have "cravings" the way people describe them - that feeling where I have to have one specific thing or I will die. I'm not sure I've ever experienced that.
I do love to eat, though, and love to do it recreationally - there are often times when I just want "something" but don't have a craving for any specific thing. Like you, I can binge on just about anything - even roasted or raw vegetables - if it tastes good and is pleasant to eat.
There are certain foods that I have a hard time eating in small amounts - bread and almonds are examples of foods that I have to ask my partner to hide from me, because I can't eat just one serving - but they aren't triggers, in the sense that they don't send me spiraling into binge-land any more than anything else does; they just make me want more of them, and if I get away from them then I can get the behavior back under control.
For me, I've discovered that the main factor in triggering binge-like behavior is not what I eat but rather my state of mind when I eat. If I eat just because it's fun, especially when I am tired, I am going to have a lot less control. For example, if I wander into the kitchen at 11:30 PM and think "hm, a piece of that leftover potato would taste really nice", that is a danger zone. Not because the potato is a trigger, but because eating anything for recreation at 11:30 PM is.
Conversely, if I don't start eating at all unless I am actually hungry, I can eat the same delicious foods (and have just as much fun eating them) but it's much, much easier to stop after a portion.
I don't think I have trigger foods. Trigger moods maybe. I can overeat anything, if I take a mind to do it. Or I can have a moderate serving of anything, if I've a mind.
I don't have triggers in the sense that physically eating something like chocolate will set me up to binge. If anything, my triggers are mental triggers, the belief that I failed, that I feel guilty, etc. This is what causes me to eat everything in sight.
So I'm working hard on conquering the mental triggers so I won't have any physical triggers.
I don't have any certain food or food group that I have to avoid because it will cause me to lose control. It is stress that sets me off, and unfortunately, that just can't be avoided. That is not to say I don't have cravings. Cake has been on my mind lately A LOT.
Like other have alluded to, I definitely have triggers, but they aren't necessarily food related. Stress is a big one. Sleep deprivation is another. Sometimes evnironmental things get me (seeing commercials, seeing other people eating, etc.), but I'm better at controling that now. I would say that food rarely triggers over-eating for me- by the time I'm eating whatever not-on-plan food, in whatever not-on-plan quantity, I've already been triggered.
Here on 3FC there's a lot of food talk, especially about trigger foods. It makes sense, there are certain foods that trigger an overeating episode in some people. But I keep trying to figure out what my specific trigger foods are and nothing in specific stands out. I guess in theory anything could be a trigger food for me, because in the past I've binged on pretty much everything at some point, but my tastes typically change just like my moods-pretty often. Or maybe I'm just not looking at it the right way. Does anyone else feel this way?
You can be overweight without having trigger foods, and without eating more than most people of a healthy weight (I was going to say without overeating, but technically even if you eat less than all the "normal weight" people your height, age, and activity level - if you're overweight then you're still overeating).
But you say you binge, so you still may have a generic trigger food (or a trigger situation). Do you really binge on anything? Have you ever binged on lettuce, or broccoli?
In the book "The End of Overeating" by David Kessler, the author talks about "conditioned hypereating," essentially trigger foods.
He argues that no one, thin or fat, is entirely exempt from "conditioned hypereating." He doesn't talk about specific trigger foods, as much as a generic class of trigger foods, foods that combine sugar, salt, and fat. Something about the flavor and texture of sweet, salty, and fatty foods, makes them very, very easy to overeat (whether you're a human, a dog, or a lab rat).
I really believe that it is genetic. Sweet, salty, and fatty foods are not common in the natural environment. Elephants will travel miles to reach salt deposits. High sugar fruits are rare in the wild, because there's a lot of competition for these sugary foods, and the fruits will be eaten before they reach peak ripeness. Fat also isn't really prevalent in natural foods.
I think we have an inborn instinct to take advantage of what in the natural world would be a gold mine. It's as if our brain and body are telling us, "eat as much of this as you can, because it's a dietary treasure you're not likely to ever come across again."
If you were a paleolithic caveman, yes a salt/sugar/fat food would be an exceedingly rare treasure. And survival could depend on taking advantage of concentrated food sources whenever they were stumbled upon.
In the modern world, the sugar/salt/fat combination isn't a treasure, it's a trap. We're "choking on diamonds."
In the natural world, animals don't really have a chance to get fat, so stumbling on a concentrated food source really is like winning the survival lottery. If there's an overabundance of food, overpopulation occurs well before widespread obesity.
In that respects humans in developed nations are freaks of the animal kindgom. When we have extra food, we don't channel that energy into breeding. We also don't expend much energy in getting food. If we had to chase it down and kill it (while running from things that want to eat us), overeating likely wouldn't be a problem.
I'm getting a little off track, but what I'm saying is that most "trigger foods" are trigger foods for a reason. If we were starving, those triggers would save our lives. We still have those instincts for survival, even though the behavior no longer has survival value (but if you were dropped into the Alaskan wilderness with no modern conveniences, they still would. Take away civilization and the hungriest will survive).
If you don't have a specific trigger food, but you do binge (lose control of the ability to stop eating), I would still suspect that your binge foods have something in common (even if it's just calorie density). Sugar, salt, or fat, either alone or in combination are often the common denominator.
Is it possible not to have any trigger foods?
