[motivated chickie]

I have pretty much cut out most processed food, flour and sugar from my diet. I have come to enjoy eating a diet of primarily veggies, fish, milk, eggs, fruit, and some fat.

I am confused about where treats fit into a food plan. Do people eat a treat like an ice cream cone because they crave one? Do you eat these things simply for taste? Are you hungry when you eat a treat and do you feel satisfied after?

For me, I think I'd only want a bite or two of a dessert b/c sugar doesn't satisfy my hunger at all. But I do like the taste of things like chocolate.

I hope my question make sense. I am confused about the point of treats in my food plan. Can someone help me out?

Thanks.

[Glory87]

I eat the occasional treat because I like them. I don't have to be hungry to eat a treat.

[Mudpie]

For me treat = reward. That's kinda *ssbackwards in that I'm allowing myself something I don't normally eat (which usually has more calories) as a reward for staying in my weight range.

But that's better than treat = comfort as then I tend to binge on the treat food.

I'm trying to alter my taste in treats too. Discovered I really like green olives stuffed wtih the little red thing - pimento? So those are treats now. Ditto lower fat cheese slice on a piece of toast.

Treats keep my "eating life" interesting.

Dagmar

[WaterRat]

One of my favorite treats in the summer is a soft ice cream cone. Given the variety of calorie counts I've found (and frankly the size varies depending on who is dispensing although I almost always go to the same place) I figure is 250-300 calories. Not an every day thing, but something that "fits" in a week where there are not a lot of other extra calories.

[ncuneo]

I have a ridiculous sweet tooth and fruit usually doesn't cut it for me. I've tried cutting sugar/carbs in the past and that doesn't quite do the trick for my sweet craving. So every night I have a 100-150 cal skinny cow ice cream or some other kind of low cal/low fat thing, like maybe chocolate pudding or whatever. I know that I'm going to have this everyday and I allow for those cals. I don't care that nutritionally it does nothing for me and about 50% of the time I'm not "hungry" per se. The other 50% of the time I am still hungry and it will usually satisfy my hunger and my sweet tooth. I know that I *should* only eat when I'm hungry and I *should* only eat things that fuel my body but my evening skinny cow and morning cup of coffee with sugar free creamer (also planned for) are just something that I enjoy and choose to do. So granted this is 200-300 cals that I set aside for *foods* that don't fuel my body. Sometimes I try to make it greek yogurt with fruit when I'm feeling like a health nut. I think it just depends on the person, like I said I have a ridiculous sweet tooth. So my point being that you just need to set aside the cals for your "treats" and plan ahead for them.

[fiberlover]

Treats are just that - those occasional things we really enjoy eating that aren't a large part of a daily diet. I love a medjool date spread with nut butter, which really satisfies the sweet tooth and the fat tooth LOL!

I go out for frozen yogurt in the summer months. I also will go to a bakery and get a 'real' baked good item. I figure I would rather go out and get a premium item periodically than fill up every day with 100-calorie snack packs. But that's just me.

I really eat for taste and not just food as fuel. I have come to realize that I really am a food lover and that doesn't have to be a bad thing.