trigger foods
 

Well I found one of my first trigger foods and I didn't even know it....yogurt covered pretzels. I went over my calories for today because of them and ended up having to put them away hidden in the cabinet so I'd leave them alone. It wouldnt be so bad if they weren't 140 calories for 5 pretzels :o I can definately eat more than 5. What are some of your alls triggers?

Cereal bars and chewy granola bars. I can't have them in the house. I'm not a big chocolate person, but these sugar-filled carbs get me every time! I could sit and eat an entire box without thinking twice.

The really weird thing is that I *can* keep cereal in the house, just not the bars.

My trigger is peanut butter. I still don't keep it in the house. I would love to because in small quantities it is great but I eat the whole jar in a couple days. Oh well, lots of other healthy foods out there that don't have that affect on me.

See I can do peanut butter but not reeses pb cups, I only allow them in the house if its TOM because those are my craving. I hate chocolate too except for that time. There are times though when I get on a PB kick too and I eat PB spoons :) yum

I am like scgirl32, granola bars really get me. The sweet & salty ones are my favorite but at nearly 200 calories a pop and lots of fat they are a terrible thing for me to have around because I can't just eat one...

anything little and chocolate, i always want more

Cheese definetly cheese. Before I went on this weight loss program I would eat a pound of hvrati with jalepeno or havanero pepper in a sitting.

Ice cream. A portion is so small and I always want more!

BREAD..I have learned this week if I eat bread I tend to want more.Im having a hard time this week. I ate a subway 6" this week and have been craving more. I know they are not bad but it seems like I have been hungry ever since I ate that sandwich. My calories are coming in between 1200-1400 per day and I am eating alot of veggies and fruit. Its getting close to TOM and I have actually gained back the 4lbs I lost last week . Im sure its water weight but it still makes me mad. I have been exercising everyday. I also think it maybe the weather here making me hungry. Its snowy and icy and we cant leave home....usually this is when I would bake a cake or make cookies( actually made the diet coke cake on sunday and had a piece. I ended up going to bed last night at 7 to keep from eating. Yesterday I had a ham and cheese crossiant, 6" subway club sandwich and an apple , apple mid afternoon, dinner was a baked chicken breast, 2 cups of steamed veggies and a small baked sweet potatoe. plus an ounces of almonds at 6pm. I totalled the calories and came in at 1400 even. I dont understand why I was starving..I think it was truly boredom...

BREAD!!! I am avoiding it like the plague because I can never have just once slice of toast or one sandwich!!! Also cookies, chocolate and ice cream

I hear you all on the Reese PB cups. Those are even hard for me to walk past in the store and when I am checking out at the grocery store. Those are a definite trigger food for me.

I am like Sharon, I can't eat peanut butter or any nut for that matter. Even if I measure them out they cause me to gain weight or in the least stall my weight loss. I have no idea why and it has been proven to me again this week. I know they are healthy so I have tried to add healthy nuts to my eating plan off and on and they consistently keep me from losing weight. :?:

crackers and anything super salty. I definitely can't eat one - or two - or ten...

Definitely sweet stuff. I don't get gallons of ice cream anymore because I can't stop at one bowl. Instead I get single serve individually wrap ice cream bars. So far I have been able to stop at one each time. Cookies (mainly chocolate chip or oreos) are another thing, can't eat just one or two, end up eating the whole bag.

chips and peanut m&m's...

No bake cookies. I refuse to make them anymore. MIL used to make them and bring a large bowl over every few weeks. No kidding it probably had 100 cookies in it and I would polish it off in 2 days. Now if I am really really craving one there is a party store in town (24 miles away so not easily accessible) that sells them. I can buy one and be good for a few more weeks.

Anything with MSG in it (some chips, some Chinese food, etc.) I can always tell when MSG has been added to something because I'll keep eating even when I know that I'm full.

Zinke~ I LOVE LOVE no bakes, but I can eat only a couple before I'm good for a while on them, my dbf hates them....he's so odd ;) I don't doubt that that bowl had that many cookies...the recipe on the back of the oats box makes about 60 cookies a piece I think. It's crazy. I used to make them and we would have them for weeks. My brother loved it though b/c he likes eating them before they have set up.

Zenor~ I can avoid chinese food except for egg rolls, I go to places and just get egg rolls. Yum

It seems like for most people it's either sweet or salty. I don't know how you ladies though go without bread, that would kill me. I love bread, I contemplated the atkins diet with my mom and we both decided that without carbs we would not be pleasant people to be around :lol: I give you major props for being able to avoid that all together.

I think one of my main problems is if it is a trigger food I will just eat it for my meals. Like pizza, love it and can and do eat it for all three meals somedays. If i get on a kick with something like that I will eat it nonstop for a couple of weeks and then not want to see it. Probably not the heathiest thing to do, but these pretzels, they are truly addicted. It gives me the sweet, salty, and crunchy all in one. Stupid things! I need to go to a healthfood store and see if there is possibly a healthier version, or maybe try to make my own!

THanks for all the responses though it's really neat to see all the different things that people just have to avoid.

Hmm... nothing, really, which I'm surprised at. I mean, before my 'lifestyle change' I guess everything was sort of a trigger food. I'd eat it just for the sake of eating. But ever since I started this, I've been perfectly fine having small portions of the junk I used to eat occasionally and am OK not touching it for a long, long time after that. My family keeps all sorts of junk in the house, from cookies to cakes to ice cream to potato chips, you name it, and none of it triggers me despite the fact that I have to stare at it all day. :shrug:

baked goods
 

Baked goods are so tough although I have really gained a will power against them. I work at a childcare center and there are usually donuts, cake, cupcakes...for the teachers. I used to eat a piece here and there all day long. But now I "just say NO!" One of my co-workers actually asked me yesterday were I get the will power...well, I guess I just have to. I tole her that I got up at 5:30 in the morning to go to the gym to work out for an hour for what? That is my motivation, I didn't sweat for nothing, I did it to lose weight not to eat sweets.

Dpeends on what time of month it is. I get different cravings before, after and during my TOM. I crave ice cream, chocolate, cookies or cake at different times. I like to bake so I go ahead and do it but then give it all away. Another thing I do is if I eat one small serving of something (one cookies, one small piece of chocolate, etc) I will not count it into my calories for the day, but if I have more than one then I make myself record them all against my calories for the day. This keeps me to just one.

helenandaudreysmama - I got so lucky in this area, with cupcakes I only eat the icing and that's only if its buttercream. I always just take the top off and throw the rest, same with muffins.

peachcake - I completely understand that my TOM craving is reeses cups, I usually buy them and put them in the freezer so I can have one. I do that too, the only type of chocolate I really like is dark so I can eat a mini and be done. I got lucky in that area I think. I think I'm lucky cause I'm fairly picky about stuff like that ;)

helenandaudreysmom, that's a great idea to think of it against your exercise! I work really hard at the gym and it's a neat idea to think of it negating everything you did. Unfortunately, my rationale is usually "well, I worked out this morning, so it makes up for eating this." I need to turn that logic around!

Laura, I have to fight that logic too. I have been much better since I started counting calories. Before that I would let myself eat more on days I worked out...I wonder why I wasn't losing weight;)

Scenestealer & Switzie, I use to have the same problem! I use to say, well I would have eaten this anyway but I worked out so now I don't have to feel guilty about it. Now that I count calories that mentality has gone away. Even though I fight with myself about it on a daily basis.

Weirdly, my trigger food is dried mango. There is just something about it that becomes so addicting, it's sweet and chewy, and since it's a fruit it's easy to convince yourself that it's not bad for you, even though it's loaded with sugar and calories. I can't have just one piece... if I open the bag, it becomes an empty bag within 30 minutes.

I count calories, and generally try to hit my calories without exercise... but sometimes I allow myself to go over if I KNOW I've worked off that much. I know you can't really trust estimates, so I aim to basically burn double the extra calories I eat (like, walking 2 miles really burns about 200 cals, but I only count it for 100 cals of extra eating). I really need to stop that practice though...

Butter on bread, quality cheese - like Brie, St Andre. *shudders* And hazelnut chocolate - Ferrerro Rochers and Nutella are my bane.

white rice, cheeses (which I still eat in moderation now),ice cream, white potatoes and white bread!

I guess the trick for me is finding good substitutes for the things that you like

white rice- sub. brown rice or a small portion (gotta allow it some times)
cheeses- sub. 1 oz vs the 4 or 5 that I used to be able to eat in one sitting
white potatoes- sub. with sweet potatoes (thanks to 3FC I have learned about baked sweet potato french fries !yum!)
ice cream- sub. single serving wrapped, frozen yogurt vs pint of whatever kind of ice cream i would eat that day.

It is interesting that everyone has such different trigger foods. I wonder if it's because of things we ate growing up, difference in taste buds, or just chemical differences in the body. Interesting...:chin:

peanuts & doritos ( or god forbid those darn restaurants with chips and salsa) My kids love going & getting those.

It has to be Tim Tams for me... I can never have just one and I before I know it, there goes another packet.

Tim Tams are one of the (few) reasons that I'm glad I no longer live in Melbourne. People bring/send me packets of Tim Tams periodically, and it's almost impossible to eat fewer than 5 at a time! I can demolish an entire package in a day with very little trouble.

I have a problem with Salt and Vinegar chips (especially Tim's brand). I literally cannot stop eating them when I start. Same with Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream. I have no 'stop' button with those foods.

What are Tim Tams? I've never heard of them. Maybe that's a good thing judging by your comments :)

They're an Australian cookie: chocolate cookie sandwich thing with chocolate cream filling coated in chocolate. They come in all kinds of flavors nowadays and they are very very good and oddly addictive. If a friend or relative ever goes to Australia, ask them to bring you Tim Tams and a Cherry Ripe (best candy bar ever--does not taste like nasty synthetic cherry. It's coconutty and chocolatey.) :)

Wow, my trigger foods would have to be mashed potatoes, garlic bread, lasagna, and on my sweeter side, bear claws. Oh yeah, put some gravy on those potatoes and I'll finish them off:devil: Guess that's why I'm here! Jackie Oh my gosh...I just saw that Baffled111 is smoke free since Monday! Hurray for you! I quit in October and now I'm working on my other vice (food). I'm really proud of you. Keep it up, it really does get easier.

im addicted to diet coke and it makes me want to eat food.

Thanks for noticing, TinyGrammy. :) I've gone from 2 1/2 packs a day to NONE! I will say, however, that my greatest trigger, as it turns out, is quitting smoking. I've been eating constantly all week. I never even knew that it was possible to binge on carrot sticks and grapes!! But, today is better than yesterday, and next week I will get my eating back in line. But I am just a little bit proud of myself. :)

Anything really "carby" (breads) or sweet (chocolate, ice cream, nutella) can trigger me. I have to be very careful. Even things made with white whole wheat flour can trigger me which I find very odd. True whole wheat stuff doesn't usually give me any problems though.

I can't have girl scout peanut butter cookies in the house ( even though I dislike peanut butter ) I can't eat one or two of the things. I eat half a box. There haven't been any in the house since I stared to lose weight 40 weeks ago. I am afraid to even let them in the house. I might be ok with them now but I am not sure I am ready to take that chance. I don't eat many sweets anymore, things just taste way to sweet to me. Was never much of a sweets eater anyway. There are only 4 things I don't allow in the house. Do you think it might be time for me to find out if I can handle them being in the house and not going over board on them?