I began thinking about this this morning in regard to another post.
My question is what are your feelings and any information you have regarding trigger foods. Do you moderate, avoid or use a different statergy. I countinue to want to moderate but find it extremely difficult. However, avoidance has never been permanent and a vacation or special occassion indulgence more often than not leads to binge behavior for me.
Does any one no of any research or psycological information regarding this.
This issue continues to affect me and I need to come to terms with it, as it's my coping with it is not working.
Thanks for any input.
I know what are "bad" foods for me, things that I will over eat either because I'm bored or emotional or just because it tastes good.
I do several things: buy the smallest package, put the too tempting stuff way up on a top shelf, pushed back so I can't see it-where I have to use a step ladder and stand on the cabinet to reach. "Out of sight out of mind".
I'll eat really rich desserts when I go out to eat, or for special occasions and I'll usually share it with another person. Somethings I've discovered that since I've changed my eating habits they don't taste as good and I want something better-poptarts used to be my big trigger, if I had a box in the house I ate it in a day or two. Now they don't taste that good.
Have you read the book "The Thin Commandments"? It has some really good ideas about boxing in and boxing out certain foods that are problems.
We talked about it recently on a different forum. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...903#post975903
Particular situations are bigger triggers for me than specific foods. For instance, I have trouble limiting myself to just a couple of potato chips. But, it isn't because I love chips so much that I can't stop eating them it is because they are in an open bag that I can stick my hand in without much thought. Cake is another example. I don't even like it that much and so very rarely get a piece of it. But, as stupid as it is, I'll fork one to death - getting a bite each time I walk past it.
So, binge control for me isn't so much about avoided foods but just being hyper aware of what I'm eating and why I'm eating. It takes a lot of effort and new situations crop up every now and then that I have to address. But it is very doable as long as I stay focused on my habits.
I tried different approaches and I am still learning. For me, at one time it was brownies and it was hard as all my kids love them and I do not want to deprive my kids of them. So I only buy 2 bags per week and recently limited it to one bag per week, but I still eat at least half of them. This is the food I can not stay away from, and I still did not master what to do.
Other foods I can eliminate. For me it is free access to big amounts - like happy hours or box of chocolates at work. I started to work from home on Wednesdays when happy hour occurs and it seems to work, the good part of it is that I do grocery shopping on Thursday, so when I am home on Wed the house is definitely free of ANY triggers Chocolate is permanently out of the house, however at work my friend always has it - I had to go to her office and explicitly ask for it - just thinking about it makes me feel uneasy, so I rarely do it (only during PMS usually).
I noticed that after 2 years I am a bit better about other triggers and often I still can ask myself - do I really need it? Or take a bite and think - I do not really like tha taste (3 years ago I was not able to do it!) Most of the time mind wins and I am fine. So it is brownies and chocolate which still rule my mind and so far they win
The good thing though is that from just fearing of what will happen I moved to the stage of knowing what will happen (I binge) as well of what will follow (I will get more fat and will have to work hard FOR MONTHS to come to remove it). So apart from PMS time I am totally fine to see the reason and the consequence. I guess this is my biggest maintainance accomplishment. However, solution is still underway
I always had the attitude that, "I can't expect to avoid XYZ forever!" I always thought that if I was strong enough or wanted to enough, I could have "just one" and ignore the rest of the plate, package, tray, trough, whatever.
When I started my recent/current/last program, I decided to have a different attitude. I wanted to have a healthy, normal-sized body more than anything. I had to manage my overeating like I would manage any chronic disease. I HOPED that one day I'd be able to have "just one" of whatever and stop, but I resigned myself to the idea that that might not be possible. I might never get there. I'm a compulsive overeater. So ... I decided I was willing to do whatever it took to stick to my plan, lose weight, and keep it off. I valued the end result over any feelings of what I "should" be able to do. I knew from experience that willpower didn't always work, so I did things like controlling my environment and refusing to have that first bite.
I still give in sometimes, and 4 years later I'm better at stopping early. I have treats as often as I want, but I've learned the times I feel more vulnerable and the times I feel I can handle it. I do things that are previously mentioned, like having trigger foods at a restaurant where I'll only get a serving rather than making it at home. If I feel that it's going to set me off, though, even in those portion-controlled situations, I try to not start. There are foods I can't keep in the house to this day because I can't stop at one serving -- peanut butter, any kind of frozen treat, low-fat/sugarfree or otherwise. Just as I've felt the desire for certain kinds of foods diminish over time, new ones I would never suspect have popped up and become triggers -- buttermilk, for example!
So, it's a process. I don't feel bad about putting something off limits. I don't feel "deprived" or feel that it builds up an uncontrollable desire. In fact, I feel the opposite is true -- the longer I go without something, the less enticing I find it, at least to some degree. I think the idea that we should never ever deny ourself anything, even if we risk going out of control with it, is silly. I'd still rather never have a bite of chocolate my entire life than fall back down the slippery slope of uncontrolled eating, not just for the sake of the weight but for the sake of feeling more in control of my life and actions.
I HAVE to avoid trigger foods. For me it's sweets. When I do have something, even a nibble or a "normal" amount, I always binge afterwards. I've even eaten sugar right out of the pantry in a binge! But if I don't have any at all, I don't even crave it.
People keep telling me I have to have just some or I will binge, that you can't just avoid trigger foods forever. So then I try to do that, and then afterwards I'll go sneak other foods and binge. But if I say no initially I don't.
For me, I just feel empty until I'm so full I could puke. I just need something to keep me busy and keep whatever's going on off my mind.
For me, there is no such thing as moderation with certain foods. Whatever the size container, if I start eating, I eat until it's gone or I'm sick. So those foods are off limits, or I eat them under very controlled circumstances- in a restaurant, or if someone else controls the portion for me. Every once in a while I do have an all out binge with one of them, but I would still be totally out of control if I wasn't attempting to avoid them in the first place.
Funniegrrl's post is very much how I'm attempting to deal with the trigger/compuslive eating. Unfortunately, some of my trigger foods are staples for my son and husband (natural peanut butter). It's really hard to ignore that jar every single time I open the fridge. I'm the one who makes lunches for them, and I personally think I deserve a trophy for the number of times I've made pb&j sandwiches and NOT had a heaping spoonful!
I tend to avoid them. Although I am getting better about having sweets in general in the house, I still try to make sure the ones that would truly trigger me, don't find their way in. Usually, when I do have a sweet treat, it's something that I get outside of my home; it's just easier to control that way, with no leftovers tempting me for days afterward. This is a hard one though, trying to find the balance between deprivation and unnecessary temptation. Bottom line, you just have to do what ever works best for you.
Hmmm sometimes I have total control, but I maintain that by treating myself now and then. I think right now I have gotten myself into a lifestyle that is just clicking with me, however I cannot get too complacent.
In general the junky stuff I keep around the house isn't too terrible... I don't think I have purchased any chocolate, chips, ice cream, cookies, granola bars or the like in ages (my junkiest foods in my house... pretzels and popcorn)... although my control is fairly good, I just don't want to tempt fate too much. This weekend will be hard though with people bringing in stuff... it's my birthday... Ah well, I keep telling myself I have to maintain good nutrition for my practice runs!
What deters me lately from eating very unprocessed foods like granola bars, cookies, chips, any junkie food, is that later, 20 minutes or so, I want to sleep and I will go lie on the couch and sleep away for an hour. I call it 'carb coma', I think Meg mentionned that once... I also wake up and feel guilty for eating it and secondly I just feel sickly and extremely lazy ...
I try to control my environment but it isn't always easy. As soon as I come in the door with groceries I tell someone to go hide the stuff in the basement. Out of sight, Out of mind, works very well for me too. Also right after eating supper I will leave the kitchen and let DH clean the mess, so I often don't clean up after supper, but hey I figure that I clean the kitchen at the other 2 meals, so once/day won't kill him. It seems that right after eating supper is a bad time for me, I'm full from just eating but I still look fore more I don't know why!!
When there are times when I am feeling particularly brave, and I want to sleep anyways, I will have my trigger food. Sometimes I can control it, sometimes I can't, I guess it depends on the mood of the moment...
I also feel that the longer I go without the less I crave it, but like Funniegirl I find new trigger foods, like brown rice!! If I eat more than half a cup, I'm screwed.
Thanks for the recommendations.
I am always intested in new ideas. I am getting tired of the whole game I play, with eating behaviors. I am going to get the book Sharayu recommended.
Thanks all
Unfortunately, some of my trigger foods are staples for my son and husband (natural peanut butter).
Same here. So, last night I labelled the butter, the peanut butter, the honey and the jam 'Not for Silverbirch'. You don't expect a big label on these things and it's in black writing you can see from across the room. I'm hoping that the surprise factor will help me to break a bad cycle, and then I can move on to the next phase.
I would have to say it gets "easier" to avoid buying the "treats" and to avoid putting yourself in the situations that make these foods easy and accessible. I do buy some choice "processed" foods for my son, cookies, crackers, etc...but normally I buy ones that I will not eat (i.e. "scooby snacks" !) It has gotten much easier to pass up the bakery and the ice cream isle...I just dont venture into those sections anymore or I fill my shopping "budget" with other things and I simply cannot afford the $6 1/2 gallon of ice cream. It takes a lot these days to drive by the fast food restaurants, but somehow I have been doing it by just saying that a cheeseburger with 370 calories will look absolutely terrible in my fitday....
It's all in your head, do what works for you...I recomend using fitday or a journal, so that way writing the foods down that you eat may trigger guilt, and you don't want that so you won't eat it...it works for some people. good luck!
Update: the labels are working and I'm not eating that food but .... I've found a few other things to eat too much of. I think I have work to do. Or sleep to catch up on.
I like the moderation is key approach, but also a bit of the Frech eating philosophy. I can't have just one tiny piece of junky chocolate. But if I have one or two pieces of rich good quality organic chocolate, then that does me just fine. Also because the rich luxury chocolate is so much more expensive than a big bar of junk chocolate then I think, "I can't eat that whole bar it cost me £2!!"
At the moment (and I'm sure it will change) I can recognise when a binge is coming on. Sometimes it isn't to do with eating a particular food then wanting to eat more, sometimes it's playing scrabble that sets it off (strange but true!) or last night I'd had a yoghurt, but not really sat down and enjoyed it mouthful at a time, so I was left wanting more "nice" food! I think I had one piece of rich chocolate and went to bed with a book!
Sometimes if I'm just a bit bored I want to eat and eat and eat, then, well I have to go distract myself!
Also recently, which is entirely alien to me. I've been getting Ilene's "carb comas!" They must be catching! I put white sugar on my oatmeal the other day. I've never felt worse! Today I had a small piece of fudge and I found it too sweet! I just hope it doesn't make me feel as ill as the sugar did! Is this a sign that I'm turning into a health freak?
Avoid or Moderation regarding trigger foods
Chocolate is permanently out of the house, however at work my friend always has it - I had to go to her office and explicitly ask for it - just thinking about it makes me feel uneasy, so I rarely do it (only during PMS usually).
I don't know why!!
I just hope it doesn't make me feel as ill as the sugar did! Is this a sign that I'm turning into a health freak? 
