I never want to ban food. I like food and I really dont want to be like no I can never have a bite of this again.
But at the same time I know I do not have good self control. Alittle bite often leads me down a path of a binge So atleast for now there are things I prefer to limit or ban.
I am a huge insane pasta & bread lover so I have to be very very careful. I was making out my shopping list and was like mmm I could totally make some veggie mac and cheese but then the image popped into my head that I would eat it all lol so I decided not to get that.
I hope someday in the future when I am really better at all of this I can develop better self control.
I used to ban foods and used to adhere to strict dieting plans that eliminated foods (like low carb or vegan) but for a long term basis that ALWAYS backfires. So I decided nothing was off-limits... even the junkiest of junk, because when I feel stressed/lonely/sad, I'll get that because it usually tastes SO GOOD immediately.
It helped me to eat these "bad" foods on a semi-regular basis in front of people. I now occasionally eat fast food. I eat dessert. I even eat meat (I was a vegetarian who used to binge on chicken strips and sandwiches in private). Whenever I eat a "bad" food and think -- this is the last time I'll ever eat this -- chances are I will eat it again within a week. By normalizing the experience, I don't crave it as much.
It helps a lot that I live with my boyfriend. He calls me out when we buy sweets and he goes to work and I eat a bunch of it. Having him there holds me accountable. But if I ever found myself single and living alone, I think I would do what someone else said and buy a more expensive single serving of something I was craving. For me, its OKAY to eat unhealthy food occasionally.
Oh yeah and it also helps me to always have produce on hand. I feel really, really bad throwing out produce that's gone bad and consequently, when I want something sweet, I tend to go for fruits if only because I want to eat it before it goes bad (and junk food never goes bad, so that can wait). Sort of tricking my mind into doing the right thing.
For me, the important thing that I don't have any foods that I completetly ban, I trick myself into waiting. yes, you can have it but not right now. Then I try to eat this problem foods when I'm in a group or at least with someone else. that way I don't binge like I probably would at home by myself.
What is it about being alone that some how triggers the "go ahead and eat everything in site" mind set?
For years I denied myself nothing. I felt I should be able to eat junk on occasion because everyone does...right? Every "food plan" or "diet" a started I felt I MUST work sugar treats into my plan anyway I could or it wasn't sustainable or realistic *for me*. I'd not eat my healthy protein and/or fruit for a dish of ice cream. It worked for a while, except even though I would STOP eating at one serving, my MIND would dream of more. I would fantasied about eating the entire batch of cookies, even though I stopped at one. It really sucked for me.
I pretty much tortured myself for years. I'd eat junk in moderation for quite a while and lose a good chunk of weight, but little by little, more would slip in. Eventually the junk would win, and I'd never make it to my goal and I would end up gaining back twice what I lost because of the junk. I tried and tried, over and over and over FOR YEARS to eat it in moderation, but I couldn't. I yo-yo'd needlessly because I didn't believe it was possible to give up sugar.
THIS time, I have totally eliminated certian food from my life. FOr the first time EVER I have reached my personal goal weight. I have also now maintained a 193 pound loss for almost 14 months by eliminating certain food and drink items. I finally realized that life wasn't all about if I could eat a cookie or not, (because I thought I deserved it,) but all about living in a fit healthy body that isn't any longer craving MORE.
FOr the first time in my life I am finding that although we need food to live, I don't need sugar to live, and boy oh boy does it feel good to be a nice healthy weight since I realized that.
I agree with a lot of the posters. There are things that if are at a party, I can have some, but just can't come into my house! Things that are easy to bash a lot of, like chips, cookies, lunchmeat, cheese. I just can't have them in my house.
I disagree with the train of thought that you can't have a large group of items. Like low carb, or no sugar. I just cant function like that. You should 'replace' bad things with good. Like if you are a soda-holic switch to diet, then to club soda with honey and lemon, then maybe water! Doesn't mean you can't have a soda every again in your life!
Banned from the house - ice cream and especially DRUMSTICKS - I will eat the whole box of 8 in one night or 3/4 container of ice cream (normal size, not those little ones like Ben & Jerry's - I will eat that whole thing.
I am following Jackier Warner's diet and she allows a treat meal on Sat and on Sun, so I plan to have my ice cream on those nights. Her only rules are that you have to eat clean the other meals on those two days and you should try to keep your treat meal under 1500 calories. Also she says not to keep the treats or any leftovers of the treat meal in the house, so you are not tempted.
I like this plan a lot, because if I really want some ice cream/dessert during the week, I tell myself I will have it on Sat/Sun. Plus 1500 is a lot of calories and I am finding that I am not needing as much of the treat as I used to.
I do "cheat" during the week once in a while, like when it's a birthday at work. I have one bite of the cake (if it's a kind I like) and toss the rest.
I also finds that it has helped me a lot a LOT to become EXTREMELY picky about what desserts I want. If someone offers me a donut, I just think I'd much rather have ice cream, and then plan on it on the weekend and pass up the donut.
Can you tell I LOVE ICE CREAM? Kinda makes me live for the weekend sometimes!
I do restrict myself, banned a lot of things I used to consume before such as sugary soft drinks, chocolate, muffins, etc.. I cut everything sugary and anything that salty, my only "desserts" are fruit yogurt and fresh orange juice, it is very hard but bit by bit you'll get used to it.
Tinycities, I thought that your post was really good, but I have had to ban the things I binge on, mainly junk food, sweets, especially cookies & nuts. I do have a few sweet things I can eat without binging like little cups of low cal jello mousse and low cal ice cream sandwiches. Maybe I won't have to ban them forever, but I need to right now. And I don't even want them. It's not worth the calories or the guilt.
I don't like to ban anything, but I am also realistic and know certain foods just are not healthy and if left alone with them, I will tend to eat them without any regard to hunger. I think more in terms of what I can have rather than what I shouldn't have and that keeps the eating experience positive.
For me, moderation with some foods just doesn't work. In AA they say "one drink is too many and one hundred is not enough." That's how I am with sugar and white flour, I just want and want and want and am never satisfied, so I find it's best to just avoid it completely.
I binge harder if I'm not "allowed" something. It's awful. Almost like I'm blacked out, and come to in a parking lot shoving food in my mouth at 3 am.
I try to keep key favorites on hand in tiny servings - and if I feel a minor "urge" I eat the small thing right away, and shut the voice up, I guess. It helps me not WANT those things the longer I go without a binge.
I don't cut anything out of my diet, because I've learned that when I do that I just want those foods even more! I am still eating my favorite peanut butter pie! Lol* I just count calories and if I'm going to eat a piece of PB pie I have to subtract all 900 calories from my daily allotment of 1200, so I'm pretty much going to eat pie and carrot sticks for the day! Lol* So more often I try to eat lower calorie foods, or cut my pie in half so I can still have it but still be able to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner too!
I have learned, I hope, to ban from my home, the foods that are altered, empty, triggers and those which cause me to feel bad, or to which I react.
That means I DO eat lower carb... without the corn syrup, bleached white flour, bread made with chemicals instead of allowing the yeast to grow naturally, and much sugar. I also avoid some shell fish, since I am allergic. For me, those things affect my body in a way that I don't like, creating rather than satisfying hunger, re-awakening my addictions, messing up my insulin balance, causing me to retain water, and making me very fat. (Low carb isn't no carb, just less carbs)
Do I have treats? You betcha. I eat lovely whole foods, spiced and presented in a lovely manner. I eat dark chocolate....only without the cheap and addictive additives designed by science instead of nature, I am satisfied with only a piece or two.(I used to be able to eat 2 or three butterfingers) I eat pumpkin pie with a pecan/oatflour crust instead of white flour. I have lovely fruit parfaits with whipped cream. I have freshly ground coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon, lovely fragrant teas, frozen desserts without chemicals and other extra stuff added. I eat nuts, and cheeses, natural yogurts and terrific cheesecakes. I eat 2 large salads with yummy dressings, and vegetables at every meal. (yup, even breakfast) I can have a glass of lovely wine if I want. I have found low sugar replacements or substitutes for my most addictive foods.
I focus on what I can have, instead of what I can't have. Because I know if I eat the donut-unless it is made in an adaptive, whole food manner- it leads to a swollen ankle, headachy, no-energy, ravenously hungry, binging and unattractive me.
I know I will want this stuff at times, and may give in. So I won't beat myself up, but will get back on program. I may "plan" to break program sometime... I am thinking about a cruise I am taking.. but I will have a plan to cope with the addiction response, and if I don't think I can, I won't.
I don't think it is a good idea to ban total food groups, but banning the foods that are your individual triggers seems to only make sense to me.
if you are sure you can avoid a certain food for good, then it might not be bad a idea to cut it out completely.
I still like practice control, like can I have 1 or 2 cookies and stop? and not go back the next day and eat more? Can I have a slice of pizza without going for a second or third? Usually the answer is no... but I'd like to eat normally one day and be able to really control how much food I can eat and not going off and binging.
Nah... if I'm craving something, I eat it. But only if I'm craving it, and not just because I feel like eating it. Sometimes it does trigger those "binge feelings" but more often than not, I can suppress them and then it's no problem. (:
So atleast for now there are things I prefer to limit or ban. 
Kinda makes me live for the weekend sometimes!
