Anti-Craving Exercise: The KFC Challenge.
 

Anti-Craving Exercise: The KFC Challenge.

I have had a problem with eating the KFC Deal, which comes around once a week. 2 pieces of chicken and fries, which appears to be about 900 Cal, so I’ll round it up to 1000 Cal.
So this week, instead of going and eating the KFC Deal, I went right by it at lunch, and looked at the menu, and stood there, and SNIFFED in the aroma, as a way to make myself CRAVE the KFC, but then to NOT give into the craving. I tried this a while back, but the first time I gave in and ate it!
But this time I went, and watched my Thoughts…they started to Rationalize…”hey, its Lunch, I can have it, just make it a meal, its not THAT many calories, etc” Its amazing how the Thoughts immediately try to get you to eat it. But I Responded back in my head, and walked away before I gave in. After I did some errands, I walked by again, and stood right in front, and pretended to look at the menu, the entire time monitoring and modifying my Thoughts. They started to CRAVE KFC again, but I Responded to them, and I then walked away.

So this was a great exercise. I showed myself that, yes, I CAN WALK AWAY from the KFC Meal Deal. Its about 100 Cal, and its all fat, fat fat, fat, salt salt, salt. If I want chicken, I can have GOOD chicken.
Once in a blue moon, I could have ONE piece of KFC, but not entire meal its just too much crap.
So that’s great, even if I walked away 50% of the time, that’s good. But I should be able to not eat the KFC Meal 90% of the time, and the other times, split it with someone, with ONE piece of greasy chicken. This way I allow myself to know that once in a blue moon, I can SHARE ONE piece of KFC. Of course, its better not NOT have it at all, and for me it’s a new Rule, to not eat the KFC Meal Deal anymore. But banning a food oftem makes me crave it more, so I will allow myself, once very rarely to have ONE piece, for the taste. But its better if I don’t have it.

When I am tempted and have a KFC Craving, I can use the Mindset and Behavior techniques from the Beck Diet Solution and CBT to simply walk away, and eat something else.

I just saved myself 1000 cals of fat, fat, fat. 1/3 of a pound. That is close to a solid HOUR of jogging, more than 2 hrs of solid walking!!
1 KFC meal = 1 hr of jogging.
Not worth it in the least.

(a KFC commerical just ran on TV...hey...its the KFC Meal Deal... the commericial triggers salivation...we are like Pavlov's dogs, and they are the Master. Well...not anymore)

Good job CBT! You are THE MAN for being able to walk in, sniff the chicken and then leave it alone. I would have been wiping drool off my chin. I find it hard to "strengthen the resistance muscles" that Dr. Beck recommends we train ourselves to do. I have a really hard job a long way from home and I used to find my exhuasted self so many times pulling into a drive through like a lemming. It's been a big accomplishment for me just to steer the car away. For you to stand there and then walk out was HUGE! Good for you.

Karina, I wish you good tidings from the scale tomorrow. I too had great success once from 900 calories a day with 30 minutes of exercise every night. But just the same, the weight loss didn't stick because I didn't modify my behavior to ensure success post-diet. It bodes well that we are all following the book this time.

Sue, I don't have a coach per se. You are my coaches here at 3FC. I don't really discuss this with anyone else. My husband is a naturally thin person who is really ambivalent about food. If he craves something, he has it, but otherwise can go days without eating much at all. Most of my friends are fat and none of them are on diets, so they would be poor choices to say the least. Only you understand what's going on with me right now, so you're the best coaches possible.

Girly, you eat in the car too! I struggled with that lesson because I knew "eating sitting down" was supposed to be eating at a table. But I often don't have time for a sit down meal on the job so I do eat in the car. I havent found a way to get around it yet, even thought I know it's not good. Do you have any ideas?

As for me, today I concentrated on that very task: eating sitting down and savoring every bite. Tomorrow I will create a menu and stick to it, with no unplanned eating. That's a lesson I need to reinforce. I like flexibility about eating but I flexed myself into an Italian beef and a donut on Sunday, so I need to rein it in again.

Well, I'm getting drowsy here so I'll sign off. I took a pain pill for my bad back and my brain is beginning to float away....

More tomorrow.

L

hey
 

Hi everybody,
I feel so good because a friend and I actually went out and played TENNIS. I haven't played in 15 years. It felt so good to be running after the balls and being in the sunshine. Woohoo. So much better than food in front of the TV. I caught a glimmer of how I used to feel in my body.

I was going to use you guys as my coaches, too....I did search for a diet coach in this area w/no luck. I found life coaches but the ones I found were insanely expensive. Phone counseling. 3 or 4 hours was a $400 lump sum. It's great to be able to chat about the book and ask Qs here--better than someone who doesn't know about it or the real struggles, anyway.

Liannie, I don't see anything wrong with stopping and having a meal in your car. What I do is shove food in my mouth unconsciously while driving and listening to the radio. It is a huge habit. Are you driving and eating?

Today was day 4 for me: eating consciously. I only ate breakfast and 1/2 of lunch in this way. Then I ran out of time and shoved the rest of the food after I got back in my car (instead of just not eating it)

I can really see how eating mindfully, if it becomes second nature, would help with the quantity of food--it would just take too darned long to eat all that I have at that pace! And it gets kind of boring. Chew chew chew chew chew chew chew. Fork down. Breathe. chew chew chew chew chew chew chew. It really does take the edge off the compulsivity to eat that way.

Here's what my today realization is: That my lack of planning affects my ability to be healthy. I was supposed to be mindfully eating today, but since I didn't have all my work stuff prepared, I was rushing like a bat out of **** this morning, so I only had time to mindfully eat an apple and a cup of coffee. Then I was starving so at lunch I ate McDonalds. (since I didn't PLAN and PREPARE my food) I knew that I was going to be playing tennis today, but I didn't have any shorts that fit me, so that was some drama. I just ended up cutting off a pair of sweats--they looked cute.

Anyway, I need to start PLANNING. I have loved my spontaneous nature in the past, but I need to change. I have also loved my gusto in eating. I used to pride myself on how I could eat just like a guy, eat so much, and be so tiny. But I can't anymore. I have to let go of the idea that eating with gusto and in large quantities has anything to do with zest for life.

Liannie....congrats on the 6 pounds. I would kill to be 6 #s thinner right now.

thanks for letting me ramble....we'll see how cheery I am when I actually have to start following my diet!

girlythin

2 diets
 

Sue,
Having dieted for so many years, I've had the best luck with lower carb regimens. The last time I did weight watchers I didn't lose for a month, despite having white knuckled and followed the plan to the letter. I believe that I have had insulin issues, so low carb works best for me. I think WW is an awesome plan, though.

So I'm doing a healthy version of Atkins as my #1 choice, and my #2 is a plan called Fat Flush, which is a lower carb, calorie restricted plan created by a registered dietician. I really debated about if that one would be first because it's so, so healthy and I felt great on it, but I finally decided on Atkins 1st because it's a LOT easier to prep the food, and there are more eating out options.

For Atkins haters, Atkins is almost like South Beach in the stages after the first two weeks. Don't hate on me! :hug:

Anti-Craving exposure technique
 

that little KFC Anti-Craving Experiment I did today, I think was actually quite powerful.
I just adapted it from CBT, where you use "Exposure" to face down something you are avoiding, or fear. Its what people do with Phobias.

In this case, the "fear" is the idea that if we are in the presence of KFC Chicken, that we'll HAVE to eat it. That we can't stop ourselves.
That is the actual problem.

So it can be done in stages. A person could pick one of their most intense Cravings, and then PLAN it out in advance. One could start by going for a walk, and then during the walk, go to KFC, or McDonald's, and then go in, and look at everything, smell it, and deliberately TRIGGER the Craving, and then ride out the Craving WITHOUT giving in to it.
We'll then find out that we CAN stand NOT eating that food, even when its right in front of us.

Of course, a good trick would be the first few times, to do this with NO MONEY ON YOU. This way you can't eat it.
Once that is comfortable, then do it with money. Even go up to the counter, start to place the order, and then change your mind and walk out.

This type of thing works better in a mall setting, as its less obvious. I did the KFC Craving Exposure in a mall, and no one knows you are doing it. It just looks like you are browsing the menu.

If a person did this 1x a week, in a few months, we would learn we CAN RESIST by Choice. This is very powerful.

I am going to do some McDonalds Craving exposure on my next walk. (tip, when you go for walk, do NOT bring any money, or wallet! You can't eat then).
I am going to walk into McDonalds, as I have Cravings for McDonalds DoubleCheesburgers, as they are cheap and lets face it, they taste good, fat-salt-sweets, everything our body craves.
But I am going to go for a walk, no money on me, and walk into McDonalds, and just smell the DoubleCheeseburger, and deliberately TRIGGER the Craving. Then I am going to ride that Craving out, and use Responses to calm it down.
then later in the week, I will do it some more, with money on me.

You see, if we did this 2x a week, as a specific homework exercise like they do in CBT. In a few months, or much much sooner, we could have defeated the fear that we can't resist out Craving impulse. Of course we can.
Even a dog can learn to resist eating a steak off the table.

I don't think Judith Beck has this specific exercise in the Beck Diet Solution, but I think it should be in there. Maybe its too risky for people? But that's a good thing.

The core of the Cravings, is our fear that WE CAN'T STOP OURSELVES when we get the Craving, and that if we do "we can't stand not having it". Of course we can.
Its a type of response every child has, and also has to learn to manage.
Its training.

So its just like Judith Beck says, we have to strengthen our Resistance muscle. And I am going to do it like this.
Resisting Cravings is very important, this can cut out masses of calories, from pizza pigouts, licorice bags, McDonalds meals, KFC chicken deals...

To be honest, it would also apply to drinking booze, and also smoking. A very similar pattern. People feel and believe they CAN'T STAND IT, if they don't have it. Well, what if they found out they CAN stand it, when they don't have it? It might feel uncomfortable, or even really bad for a while, but over time, we can retrain ourselves to Resist the Craving, by using the Mindset and Behavioral techniques in the book. (that is the key, to do the things she says in the book, while you are doing the technique).

So I am going to do this on the McDonalds Doublecheeseburger, and McDonalds in general. Just prove to myself I can go in there, Trigger a Craving, and ride it out until is start to dissipate, walk away.
That is possible, no question.

(how many are Craving McDonalds now just from hearing about it?)
;-)

CBT, great job on resisting the KFC! That is a really good exercise, actually. I really struggle with fast food and mexican (I live in San Diego, there's an endless supply of tacos and burritos on every corner). I use to find myself pulling into the drivethrough without even realizing it, sometimes 5 days a week! Just driving past has been a huge accomplishment for me!

girlythin, no hating here! If you find something that works, more power to you. How strict is Atkins? Like is it zero carbs? May be hard to believe but I never tried it!

I too had thought about cutting out all eating in my truck, but I figured it just wasn't practical. I just stopped eating while driving. Now I wait until I'm home or I sit in a lot to eat. And no I'm not talking about fast food, it's usually sandwiches from the deli at the grocery store. We're addicted to those things.

I was lucky enough to be able to ask my husband to be my diet coach. He's going through the same thing as me so we're kind of each other's even though he's much better of a coach than I am!

HI everyone,

I am glad to hear that others are using this site as their coach. My thin DH love to over indulge. He loves good wines and fine food and burn it all off yet I have gained 180 lb since we were together. I think I am straining my friendship with my coach as I believe she feels unassured about what to say and feeling too much pressure. Lianne, I agree I am learning so much from everyone's solutions, tough times and successes.

CBT- love the anti craving exercises! I am in awe of your sucess. I can smell KFC from a block away. I have spent so much energy to avoid and remove certain foods, that I have not worked on direct confronting and "winning" over the craving. It is phobia that I will not control myself in some possible craving situations.

I am still working hard on the NO CHOICE lesson. The only reason fast foods are not a serous problem for me is the closest one is about 1 1/2 hrs. away. I have the hardest time with "luxury" food.-excellent tasting foods I rarely have and never buy.-champagne and fine wines, french cheeses, high end chocolates and pasteries. This is the stuff that our guests often bring or some of our friend serve at thier place. How do I know when I am ready to buy some fancy chocolate and let it sit on the counter and will ignore it?

girylthin-thanks for the diet info-I go between flexability and the lower carbs. I agree about carb problems and work at having mainly carbs with fiber versus processed foods. I have know many who were very successful on both Atkins and South Beach. Good Luck on your diet.

Karina I like the prospective of needing time to study and complete the course work of becoming a thin person. I did 3 yrs of graduate work for my career, now to do it for my health.

success to all
sue

Hi everyone,
The board is really busy these days! That's great! I am doing okay, did not get my exercise in today (daughter was sick and didn't go to daycare, but I probably could have squeezed it in during her nap). I will try to get it in tomorrow. I'm not very happy today, because I got on the scale and weighed 3 lbs more than last week! Seriously, I only did poorly on 2 meals last weekend! How did this happen? I eat between 1200 and 1500 cals a day, and I've been pretty strict. Ugh, I'm hoping part of it is just a daily fluctuation up, so I'll weigh every day for the next few to see what happens. I did my measurements (which I totally recommend to all of you), and I have lost 2 inches in my waist, so at least something is happening.

Anyway, as far as eating in the car goes, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that as I live in a small city and have no commute. The only thing I could suggest would be to pack sandwiches and allow yourself to only eat healthy food you've planned on in the car.

CBT BDS, good idea about the craving experiment. So far, I have been unable to tell if I'm having a craving vs. a desire to eat. I've never had a problem with wanting a certain type of food--I love all foods--, so what does a craving feel like to you?

Re: Atkins, I had a ton of success on it, but in the end, I just love bread too much to do it forever. Also, my cholesterol really shot up even though I was 20 lbs lighter. I think a healthier approach could be a good plan, if you don't mind the limitations. I am thinking about seriously cutting back on my carbs for a while, too--I think it really helps with the weight loss!

All this talk about fast food made me realize I haven't stepped foot in a fast food joint or even thought about fast food since starting to diet 3 weeks ago. I hope this means I'm getting back to the days where fast food isn't even an option for me! Even though the weight loss hasn't gone where I wanted it to this week, I know I've been eating a lot healthier.

Hope all of you are having a good week!

Hi everyone,

Karina, sorry about the weight gain :( That doesn't make sense, but if you lost in inches, that's more important anyhow.

Stacy, Atkins starts at 20 net grams of carbs for 2 weeks which is low. It ends up being like a cup of veggies and 2 cups of lettuce per day (+ 1/2 avocado, 20 olives) an of course meat. But then it works up to an extra 5 grams of carb per day in 1 week increments. If it's done in moderation, it's extremely healthy. Most people's cholesterol actually goes down considerably b/c insulin has some connection to cholesterol and athlerosclerosis, but there is a portion of the population for whom it can go up.

A shout out to CBT, Sue, and Liannie..

Today and yesterday I've realized two things:

One--Working deeper on resistance to planning, I have a mental image of a tight lipped, school marm-loooking, over-planned, fussy woman scheduling everything. So extreme. I'm rethinking it into a woman who is successful achieving her goals, calm because she's organized and planned, and able to enjoy the moment because of the planning. And spontaneity is a lot more than food. I can still be spontaneous.

Two--I have felt powerful from eating in the past. (From when I played sports and was super fit and from when I was a kid and my parents were so pleased with my appetite) and I have an association with eating lots, with gusto, as being desirable. As passion for life. So I have to rethink that image, too. My image of small eaters as fussy, worried, frigid girls/women! No wonder I don't want to eat small portions..ha ha. I definitely need to rethink that one, too.

Have a good night.

girlie

McDonalds Anti-Craving test
 

ok, I went and did a McDonalds Anti-Craving Exercise today, as I had been "grabbing" lost of their cheeseburgers, and mini-chickens, etc.
I went to the counter, and pretended to try to make up my mind, as people do, but I was trying to Trigger a Craving.
So I stood and stood, and nothing really happened. No Craving.

I then went and tried to trigger a chocalate craving, but no luck.

So I guess sometimes the body won't get triggered.

BUT, later on I went to get some Whole Grains at the grocery store, and I was quite hungry by then as I had not eaten for several hours...and WHAM. I started getting a craving, a serious one.
A Craving is an automatic desire to wolf food down, preferably the fattest, hi-cal food around.
I started looking at cheeses, and things of that nature, and feeling sad that "I don't get to eat this stuff".
Problem is, if I buy a bar of cheese, I will eat the entire thing that night.

So the Craving got very very strong in the store, but I was able to STOP myself by reading the Calories on the back of them. They are all about 1000 calories for what I would eat. So that is what saved me this time, reading the calories, and Responding to myself by saying..."I am losing weight, and this CRAVING is just my body wanting to put that weight back on. If I resist it, it will go away soon. If I buy this stuff, i will THROW IT OUT later tonight, so do you want to waste that money?" etc.

So instead I got some whole grains, some raw popcorn, and salsa (which has almost no cals), and I bought a dried Nacho Cheese package, for the popcorn, only 20 cals per serving.

So I got out of the Supermarket Craving, staring at ice cream, cheese, cookies, etc, etc.
So its important to shop when you are FULL.
Also, to Respond and Dispute the Cravings right on the spot. If its 1000 cals, that too much. Do that 3 times, that's one pound back on.

Also a great dietician told me that when you lose weight, about once a week you will go berserk and want to pigout. This is the body trying to get you to put weight back on. Those are the times you have to fight it, and not give in, then the body will drop the weight.

Tonight could have been one of those pigout nights, but I blocked it.
Instead, I bought a ton of Whole Grains, and pulled it off.

Any sweet cravings, and I will eat the sugar-free candies...

Karina, are you about to start or on your period? I know my scale goes up a few pounds higher than normal during mine then it drops back down afterwards. I think it's just water retention, that's why I tend to weigh myself daily so I get use to the fluctuations.

So I have some big personal news I'd like to share with you ladies. I'm going back to school to get my B.S. in Kinesiology! I'm going to be a personal trainer! How cool is that right? The girl that was once 240 pounds and avoided gym class is all costs is going to make other people work out? I really think it will make me more personable with clients though, because it's like I've been in their shoes, not just some intimidating, muscle bound (usually cute) guy. Pretty exciting, I'm really looking forward to getting back to school too!

Stacy, that's wonderful news! :carrot: Good for you! I agree that it will really help your clients out to know you were once in their shoes. I certainly would! Are you starting this coming fall?

Girlie, that is such a good point about the image of small eaters--I feel the same way and hadn't thought about it. That's definitely an image that needs to change! We just need to think of other ways than food to express our passion for life! :D

My daughter is still sick, so I'm home again with her. Poor thing. I find it so much harder to stick to my diet at home--I think I notice my hunger sooner and know there is a fridge full of food right around the corner. So far I've been able to resist. I hope we are all able to strengthen our resistance muscles today! I keep telling myself "NO CHOICE!"

Morning to all

Stacy, I bet you'll make a great trainer- you will have so much more creditabilty as a person who has gone from overweight to healthy. Enjoy your studies-bet is a very focused science program.

Karina- sorry about the disappointment of the temporary weight gain. I am always surprised by the scales-losses after a bit of an indulgement and gains after days of adherence. It is a mystery. I just go for the general trend over a couple of weeks. -Agree that water retention can be a big part on any one day. A sick little one always tough-I would rather been the sick one than my kids.

Since all of our children are now out of the home, durling the past year I have made our food supply so healthy, no snack/proccessed foods, and honestly rather boring. I can hearing sugarly or starchy proccessed food calling to me at all times-so can't have any in the house. Even our bread is very heavy fiber filled stuff.-digestable cardboard. Fruit is the only easy to eat food. The thing that stop my day time overeating is bordom with the selection of foods. Then along comes the evening meal with wine and the volumn of food followed with later wanting a late night snack.-This snack is a craving in that if I schedule a 'healthy" snack I find that that it is boring and want something "good". That is when I have to record prior to eating anything, measure every bit of wine and food and focus on NO CHOICE when the quota ( 1600 calories for me) is reached. I can finally go to bed out a snack. I actually believed I slept better with an extra 400 calories in me at 11PM-plus it was personally rewarding for all of my hard work during the day. Also if I had it alone I did not have to share or be critized. I believed the old MacDonald's phrase of "you deserve a break today".-naturally that break had to be food. I still have not good about giving myself non-food rewards. It is been a struggle but I am gaining success with eliminating this unhealthy late night habit.

girlythin-related to your images of pre-planning. I have felt like it was doing homework and so rigid. Being a hearty and unfussy eater was a very good thing in our family. I understand the importance of the set plan, but I trying to figure out how to have some flexibilty for surprises in a day-friends drop in, invited out, can't face cottage cheese today ect.-yet keeping the important goal of not over indulging and triggering a couple hours/days binge.

cbt keep up the good work with conqueroring those food cravings. I'll need some of the tips when we visit family/friends living around such temptation.

Liannie- yo- how you doing?

sue

Writing It Down
 

Food Log update:
just want to mention that I changed my mind and decided to start writing what I eat down. Part of the problem is I didn't want to use paper, paper is evil.
but finally it occurred to me to use a MS Excel spreadsheet.

I got a template from someone online to enter my weight in, and it puts it into a graph automatically, and that works great.

So I made another page to Log my Food intake, as well as exercise, in a format that makes sense to me, one line a day.

I am also making another Excel worksheet in the same file, which lists each of the Beck To-Do list behaviors, which is a checklist of 24 things. I am going to list them down one side of the sheet, with the dates going across the top of the sheet, and then I can just check off if I did each one each day.

(here is a link to the Beck Diet Solution To-Do-List)
http://www.beckdietsolution.com/libr...to-do_list.pdf

Its important to write it down, otherwise its not as conscious. Now I can write down what I eat, log my weight, keep track of the Daily To-Do list, and link to my journal, all from the same Excel page. I think this way will work, and its easy.

ho hum
 

I just read the chapter on weight loss numbers....I feel so incredibly resistant when it said that 1/2 #/wk is OK. And the comment that in 3 years...blah blah. That is so discouraging. 3 years no way. I think she can say that because she only had 15#s to lose. (OK, I'm a little negative today; sorry)

I am starting week 2 tomorrow, day 8 in the book. Still haven't started my diet, mostly because of busyness. I think I'm going to start tomorrow b/c I just am getting fatter and fatter. My little weight chart below is not accurate...i'm prob 183 right now; up from 180 when I joined this board.

I'm scared that I'm not going to be able to do it.

If anyone is interested in being coaches for each other, let me know. We could schedule like 5 or 10 minutes once a week to talk by phone, and we could follow that one page in the book....it isn't that bad with the cheap plans now.

*************
On the + side,
Stacy congrats...what an awesome field to go into!

Sue, I keep thinking of the good appetite thing more and more. Like my dad grew up with the poor German immigrant mentality, and eating whatever was available was the right thing to do, and with gratitude. Nearly all of my Dad's 11 sisters are/were overweight, too.

Here's to more lightbulb moments in all of our lives to help us get to where we're goin...