I bought a packet of biscuits - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

Esofia · 10-19-2011, 01:59 PM

Carefully chosen biscuits, of course. (They may be considered "cookies" to Americans; I'm not sure). Reasonably low in calories for a biscuit, mainly made of oats with a minimum of not-too-unhealthy other ingredients.

But the reason this counts as a mini goal is because I am eating one at a time, as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea, perhaps 2-3 times a week. This was not my approach to biscuits before. A packet of rather more unhealthy biscuits would usually disappear off to the bedroom with me and a book, and half the time it wouldn't return at all. It wasn't happening all that often, but it certainly wasn't helping my weight.

So when I started dieting, I considered them a trigger food and didn't go anywhere near them. It's now been six months, and I've got to the point where I can safely buy them and keep them in the house. I approach them in a completely different way, as a planned snack eaten mindfully and appreciatively, rather than hungrily wolfing down half a packet or more without paying much attention. Quite a nice little NSV there!

Lovely · 10-19-2011, 03:02 PM

Love it! Grats on the NSV!

rainydays · 10-19-2011, 03:24 PM

Nice willpower!

Esofia · 10-19-2011, 05:49 PM

Thank you both! You know, it's funny but I really don't feel that willpower is involved in my diet. Maybe it's because I do my best to avoid situations that would require it? The biscuits did not come back into the flat until I was past the point where it would need willpower to eat just one, after all. Four months ago it would have been a different story.

rainydays · 10-19-2011, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esofia

Thank you both! You know, it's funny but I really don't feel that willpower is involved in my diet. Maybe it's because I do my best to avoid situations that would require it?

Sounds like that's probably the case!

zenor77 · 10-19-2011, 06:57 PM

Congratulations on the NSV! Changing your mindset is so important, but it's so hard to do.

MaryTylerMoore · 10-19-2011, 08:12 PM

Good Job! I strive for your will power!

jessica2231 · 10-20-2011, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esofia

Thank you both! You know, it's funny but I really don't feel that willpower is involved in my diet. Maybe it's because I do my best to avoid situations that would require it? The biscuits did not come back into the flat until I was past the point where it would need willpower to eat just one, after all. Four months ago it would have been a different story.

lol darling to keep yourself away is willpower alone! what a wonderful feeling to not have food stronger than you, right? Great job keep it up! : )

SaraWrites03 · 10-20-2011, 07:46 PM

That's really great! That is very hard to do and takes a lot of willpower and a completely different mind set. Good for you

Esofia · 10-21-2011, 09:42 AM

Thank you for the support everyone! But now I'm puzzled as to why people won't believe me when I say it's not about willpower? I've always made sure that my diet doesn't make me feel deprived, I'm lucky enough not to have an eating disorder, and being aware of what counts as a trigger food for me at any given point (because this changes) isn't the same as exerting willpower. I'm proud of myself because I've managed to change my eating patterns to the point that a trigger food isn't a trigger food any more, that's all. Willpower would have been if I'd had an opportunity of eating it and had resisted. It probably helps that I'm vegan, my partner isn't, so I can't eat most of his food, plus I'm pretty much housebound so I can't nip out to the shops for something either.

runningfromfat · 10-21-2011, 10:03 AM

Congratulations! What a great NSV! I'm working on doing the same except I love to bake so I don't make all the cookies at once and the ones I do make I pop in the freezer immediately so they're out of sight, out of mind.

Esofia · 10-21-2011, 03:34 PM

Nice idea! Once I'm at goal, I will have to explore the possibilities of low-calorie freezable vegan baking, as I like making the odd thing as well, and I don't want to do that thing where you throw most of it out.

New related NSV: I've been doing pretty well so far by having occasional 3g pieces of very dark chocolate. The chocolate is dark enough that if you're not actually hungry (no point trying chocolate when I am, hunger is for mealtimes), such a small piece is actually qutie satisfying. Each bar of chocolate lasts quite a long time, so I try different ones and then savour them over the next few weeks. I recently got hold of a ginger chocolate which turns out to be annoyingly moreish. 3g pieces just don't work, I've been eating two or three of them at once. This didn't hugely matter, it's a tiny number of calories and it still fit within budget, but I was mildly peeved that it wasn't my usual pattern.

Then tonight I looked at the bar, there were two pieces attached to each other but broken off from the rest, and I took them contentedly enough as I knew I had the calories to spare. While eating them, I suddenly worked out the solution. This will be the chocolate I save for when I have more calories to spare. I have other bars of chocolate I can use for eating a smaller piece at a time, and indeed one is on the go at the moment. It'll just be a different treat, just as I choose biscuits some days and chocolate on others based partly on how many calories are leftover and partly on what I fancy.