Every single day I do stay within my calorie limit...BUT, I am eating between 260-450 empty calories of sugary treats. I feel like this is the last really bad eating habit I have, yet I can't seem to manage it. For example, tonight I had to have a cookie AND 2 big chocolates. Why couldn't I have just have had one? Why did I have to have all? Why do I always have to have all? I wish I could just control myself. I'm trying really hard, and just not binging everyday is a pretty big step for me, but I know this sugar addiction of mine is holding me back in my progress. I feel frustrated that I can't just limit myself. However, on the other hand, I'm afraid that if I try to limit myself to say one sugar treat per day (maybe 100-150 calories) that I will just flip out and end up eating like 1,000 calories of that treat. Every dinner time after my food is gone and my treat is gone, I am already teetering at the edge of should I eat more, or should I control myself. This is hard for me, as it is for many others.
For some foods, I find that I do much better if I don't eat them at all. It is best for them to be just totally out of mind.
For some of those, I've been able to move to eating them occasionally somewhere else. But if I buy then and bring them into the house I will eat them all in short order. I'm like that on cookies. If I buy a container of cookies that I like I will eat them all so the solution is just not buy the container....
Because sugar activates an addiction reaction in me, I had to give it up cold turkey. Once I stopped eating it, my cravings stopped and I haven't had sugar in 3 months.
Before I started dieting, I ate a lot of chocolate. I pretty much had "dessert" after every meal, including breakfast, and especially late at night before I went to sleep - awful!
For the the first few months I was dieting, I simply removed every sugary treat from the house and did not stock it in the house at all. I did not buy any at the grocery store either. This was a big change for my husband and young children, but the bottom line was I did not have enough self control to stay out of the sweets! Have you tried just not having them in the house at all?
These days I'm doing well on self-control. It doesn't bother/tempt me to have treats or ice cream in the house. If I have a sweet craving, I try to choose something sweet tasting that also has at least some merit. Examples: a bowl of cereal (vitamin fortified,) a protein bar (protein,) or some variety of Fiber One dessert like brownie/cookie bar (fiber.) On the very rare occasions I have a craving for a straight up pointless sweet, I will have a few Tootsie Roll mini-midgees (10 cal each.)
One of the things I have noticed is that the more diet soda I have, the more it sets my taste buds up craving anything else that has a sweet taste. Generally I try to have much much more water compared to diet soda. That has helped.
This is really embarrassing to admit, but in the beginning of my dieting journey, I think there were a few nights I actually shed tears late at night because I wanted treats and couldn't have them because I was at my max calories for the day >< I pushed through because I wanted better health more than I wanted the chocolate, but my reaction really shocked me, and I wondered if I were addicted to certain foods.
Hang in there and just try your best. We are here to support you!
No matter how motivated I am, I am NOT one that can eat only 1 of something sweet... I had to cut it out completely, which isn't easy either.
Maybe cut the sweets out until you get closer to goal... good luck!
There are many things that I can't eat just one of, so I choose to not eat any at all. Life without food cravings is really great and it's worth it to figure out what triggers cravings so that you can get them out of your life. For me, it's pretty nuanced.
Most candy triggers cravings for me, but I can handle dark chocolate with all natural ingredients. This time of year, I'll sometimes buy or, better yet, make crystallized ginger and I'm able to eat that in my planned quantity without triggering cravings for more.
I eat almost no processed foods or anything that most people would call junk foods, but, for some reason, frozen dairy treats don't trigger cravings for me so I use them as a treat. I only eat them outside the house and I order one scoop in a cup to keep the serving size small. There are some places I won't go at all because the smallest serving size is just too large. I also have to be careful in those frozen yogurt places -- candy is triggering, even if it's on frozen yogurt, so I limit my toppings to fruit and chocolate sauce.
It sounds like part of your problem has to do with timing -- the tricky after-dinner period. I find it helpful to make a cup of herbal tea and then declare "the kitchen is closed" (out loud if no one is listening and sometimes even if they are). Then, I find a distracting activity as far away from the kitchen as I can get.
Well done on not bingeing and well done on keeping within your calories, they really are amazing achievements. I'd say that if you everything together at the moment, there isn't any need to feel guilty about what you're doing.
Please don't be too hard on yourself for having an affinity for a certain type of food
I was thinking, I can have a cigarette and never have it again for months or years. Some people can't. I can't totally empathize with people who are addicted to cigs like my father or alcohol, but I can relate to it a lot in the sense that it must turn on some sort of pleasure-center for them that it doesn't for me.
I mean, if took a sample population, and told them all that they could only stop at 1 cookie, not ALL but a good chunk would really really really want several more. Just the way we were made!
The difference is that you are now working towards making sure that this doesn't get in the way of your weight/health goals, which is key!
I honestly don't know too many people who don't have at least 1 vice, whether its food, alcohol, smoking or something!
Every day I factor some dark chocolate into my diet. It took a bit of getting used to but now I don't crave the real stuff. I know that if I nix that and do 0 sweets I will give up.
Detoxing was rough, I won't lie. My sugars are often over the daily requirement just a little due to the fruit I eat but I'm rolling with it, it's better than candy bars.
There are many things that I can't eat just one of, so I choose to not eat any at all. Life without food cravings is really great and it's worth it to figure out what triggers cravings so that you can get them out of your life. For me, it's pretty nuanced.
I so agree. So worth it for me to just ditch those items that are impossible to control.
There are many things that I can't eat just one of, so I choose to not eat any at all. Life without food cravings is really great and it's worth it to figure out what triggers cravings so that you can get them out of your life. For me, it's pretty nuanced.
I wanted to quote this also. It is so true. And it was a transition.
I had 5 (to 7) days of bad food eating recently. We had one Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday for part of the family, another one on Thursday.
Then left for a 3 day vacation that was eating out every meal.
On Monday, Tuesday I ate ok, but not great. But then yesterday I had food cravings/hunger in the evening that I haven't had for months. Like the week of not eating well finally got my hunger going again.
And they were not fun. So it just reinforced how awesome it was going off my junk/processed food habits to healthier habits.
I started reaching for apples last night. The chewing and fiber really help.
I seem back to normal today. But my old normal was food urges/hunger EVERY day. That, sadly, becomes normal. It is only when you are away from it you realize how awesome it is to be free of them via better eating habits (limiting junk and carbs for me) and exercise.
Last edited by diamondgeog; 12-05-2013 at 11:49 AM.
Why can't I just have one?
