I am a calorie counter and therefore no food is off limits to me, either in weight loss or maintenance phase. If I want a cookie, I eat a cookie. The key word here being "a," denoting a single cookie!

Having said that, I find myself rarely eating either cookies, ice cream, chocolate or chips, even though all of these foods can be found in abundance in my house. I mean, if I truly want any of these foods, I eat a small portion, but the thing is, I don't really want to eat these things all that often.

I believe it is because I have not restricted myself by limiting the types of foods I can have. For me, there are no good or bad foods. Foods are only bad for you if you eat any of them to excess.

Therefore, since there is no "forbidden fruit," if you will, there is no temptation to indulge in it.

What do the rest of you maintainers think? Do you have "forbidden foods?" And if so, do you find yourselves craving these foods often?

~SilverVixen

Hi
I'm about to start maintaining my weight too and I think what you've said is really interesting because I was considering just taking an "everything in moderation" approach. It seems similar to what you're saying because it won't seem like a huge treat if I eat ice cream or whatever so I won't want to make the most of it by eating more than I'm hungry for! I just hope I can stick to it!

Yep My weakness is chocolate candy. When I first began loosing, I increased my exercise and cleaned up my diet, but I still at a candy bar whenever i wanted. (Though I could not bring a supply of candy bars home!) In the beginning, I had one candy bar every day. Gradually, I started to reach for a candy bar less often. I still have one now and then But when I started losing weight, it seemed important to me not to deny my sweet tooth completely. And it seems to have worked for me! (I have to add the "for me", though, because this could be a terrible approach for someone, maybe anyone, else )

I wonder, if what happens, is partly a changing of our perspective. I now see that a small serving of ice cream is a nice, occassional treat. I used to think ... the bigger the better and as much stuff on top as the bowl will hold ... is there left overs ... can I lick your bowl???
Better? better than what? better for who?

This reminds me of the Are You Moderate thread. What I took away from that discussion is that moderation works wonderfully well for some people and is a disaster for others.

I think I'm wired a little differently than some of you. Cravings are food memories and the longer I go without eating something, the less I remember and crave it. But if I indulge - even in one serving - then it triggers cravings. And I hate fighting cravings!

I definitely have a personal list of forbidden foods. And am much happier for it - but's that just what works for me.

I'm kinda on your path, Meg. Once something is out of my system, I no longer crave it. I will get on sugar kicks where the more often I have it, the more I just *have* to have it. I went about a year with no regular soda or pasta, but the second I reintroduced them, I had to really focus on moderating it. I think it was easier the other way! Out of sight, out of mind I guess.

I'm a calorie counter too, and I don't find this to be true for me. There are a few foods that I must not eat or I will be counting my way up to 5000 in a day, and I do have the journals to prove that!

Fortunately, if I avoid a few trigger foods, I can pretty much eat what I want in a portion contolled way. I do have to actively manage my portions and I still weigh and measure everything because I get a bad case of portion creep after a while.

None of this comes naturally to me. I keep waiting for it to happen, but it just doesn't. I think I'm even worse than Meg and Junebug, in that even if I have a trigger food out of my system for a while, I'm still have cravings. I don't act on them anymore (usually), but they are there.

Anne

Me, too, Susan. And a small serving is in line with that old adage about how we only really "taste" something for the first three bites.

I like the "all things in moderation" approach because it takes what I think of as the value judgments out of food. For me, branding food as "good" or "bad" didn't have anything to do with healthy or nonhealthy, but became a war of good and evil. And boy did that do a number on my head. Cake is not inherently evil, and one who eats cake is not evil either, but I used to convince myself that consuming a single piece of cake made me tantamount to an ax murderer.

Today, instead, I look at a piece of cake and think that for the same calories I can eat a whole mini meal that will keep me going for three hours and will provide me with a lot more nutrients. That kind of thinking works for me.

Another tool that helps me with "all things in moderation" is individual wrapping. Oh boy, do I love single servings and I will often pay premium price for them because in the long run, they wind up "costing" me a lot less.

And finally, like Meg, I really need to be vigilant about some things, especially cookies. It's really hard to stop at one or two, so I try not to get started.

I am a true believer in "everything in moderation." When I'm offered a slice of yummy, creamy chocolate cake I'll eat it and because I know I won't go back for a second or third slice. I enjoy it and do not beat myself up for eating it.

Sure there are foods that I may go overboard with, so I try not to buy them, but I don't consider them "forbidden."

I do have a weakness, though. My old comfort foods--casseroles like my homemade mac and cheese or a turkey tetrazzini. Rarely will we eat a whole one, and I'll usually end up eating the leftovers one forkful at a time throughout the next morning. I don't even bother heating it up! It's one reason why I haven't made any casseroles this year! And my kids are starting to ask why.

For me just leaving certain foods completely out of my diet has worked best. There are things that I can't be trusted with. Ex. I used to love cheetos and regular Mt. Dew. I haven't had any in over 16 months now and I'm better off without them. My DH does have plain chips in the house, but they don't tempt me. I used to love food that was battered and fried, but never eat it that way now. I grill or broil my food. I normally don't measure my food, but did find that with some things. EX. PB, cottage cheese, mayo, salad dressing or any cheese that it's best for me to measure it. I don't care if I have too much lettuce in my salad, that's not going to hurt me.

I totally agree with you, SilverVixen. I lost the weight through an extremely restrictive diet, and boy, do I regret that. Having a list of "forbidden foods" only led me to binge-eating later on in the process. Now I eat whatever I want in moderation (I still count calories) and it seems to work. I'm much happier that way.

Hi everyone. I fall into the disaster group, Meg. Moderation has never been in the cards for me. I have problems with portion control and binge eating so eating small amounts of my favorite foods only makes me want more, more, more.

I approach moderation with moderation. Cutting the "bad" stuff out entirely makes me unhappy and resentful and triggers my overeating issues. So, I treat myself to versions of these foods so I don't end up feeling deprived and depressed. I love chocolate peanut butter ice cream, but there's no way I could stay away from it if it were in my freezer. My version is a Skinny Cow chocolate peanut butter ice cream sandwich. I kill for homemade peanut butter cookies, but I never make them because I know I'd eat the whole batch. The version in my cupboard is South Beach Diet peanut butter cookies (which come 2 in a pkg for portion control). I love chocolate so I have chocolate-like protein bars. I'm a huge Cheetos lover so sometimes I'll have half a serving of the baked variety. This allows me to feed my cravings without spinning out of control.

I get very excited about my versions, but they certainly don't appeal to my husband. They don't stack up to the "real" thing. Well, yeah! But, what I've found is that if I stick with my versions and try my best to stay away from the real thing, I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

The other night, I made the mistake of eating a "fun size" Hershey bar (from my son's Halloween stash). Right after my little taste of real sugar and real chocolate, I had my planned protein bar. My beloved rich and chocolate-y protein bar suddenly didn't taste so rich and chocolate-y. That little Hershey bite zapped the usual enjoyment I get from my protein bar (and reminded me why I need to stay out of my son's Halloween stash).

I know my versions can't be considered completely clean, but I feel comfortable mixing them into my as-clean-as-possible food plan. I'm such a food person that I need to be excited about my day's menu and one version-ized treat every day makes me a happy girl.

I have never been able to do moderation. If I eat a cookie, I want another cookie. I would never be able to eat 1/2 cup of ice cream and be satisfied. I'm jealous of people who can enjoy foods in moderation, I am just sadly not one of them. Almost every binge I've ever had in my life started with "I'll just have 2."

I can enjoy certain foods in "controlled" situations, like sharing a dessert in a restaurant. I'm never as "piggy" (and by that I mean, selfish, hogging, eating more than my fair share) in front of witnesses. It's also a finite amount, once you split it, it's gone and you really can't order another piece of cake at a restaurant! I would never buy cake or cookies or chips or ice cream for the house. Finite amounts I can handle - a carton of ice cream would just get picked at and picked at and picked at until it was gone.

Personally (and this is just my opinion) I do consider certain foods really and truly "bad." Fast food, junk food, packaged baked goods, packaged cookies, cheap candy, sugary soda, anything with transfat - bad and unhealthy and not worth eating ever again (I would still eat a home made cookie or a nice bakery baked good or a small piece of high quality dark chocolate). I haven't had any of my "bad" foods since July 2004 and I don't miss them at all.

I try to eat foods with high nutrional value and avoid foods with low nutritional value. Peanut butter, olive oil, nuts and avocados are high calorie, yet have a lot of health benefits. 100 calorie snack packs are low calorie, but 0 nutritional benefit. I would much rather eat 1/4 cup of nuts (200 calories) vs. 100 calories of snack pack Oreos. A recent study showed that 5 servings of nuts a week could reduce the risk of heart disease by as much as 30%, definitely worth the extra calories to me!

Kayrnlee- That's a fantastic new picture!

I fall very much into the "no such thing as moderation" camp. I lost weight on a restrictive diet and discovered that not only was it the only way that I'd ever successfully lost significant weight (completely cut added sugar, processed food, "whites", and high glycemic foods), but I felt a whole lot better in general. I still eat that way when I'm eating on plan.

I've just discovered that I'm gluten sensitive and carry the gene for celiac's disease. I'm gradually removing foods containing gluten from my diet, and that brings a whole new meaning to label reading and "restricting"! Whole wheat, barley, perhaps even oatmeal are no longer healthy foods for me I never thought I'd crave plain old oatmeal.

Unfortunately, Glory's post about whole natural foods being so much better for us is a double edge sword. Although I'm curently bored to tears by tilapia and chicken, in general I love healthy natural foods and can happily binge on a jar of natural organic peanut butter and apples (see thread in Support). Is this really any healthier than bingeing on pasta or crackers? Well, for ME, yes, because of the gluten. But it still means too many calories. And too many calories mean I get fat again.

Mel

I don't know that I truly know where I fall in this category yet. Many things I thought I could never eat in moderation, I can. Other foods (like ice cream and cookies) I have not dared keep in the house yet for fear of a binge. however, I can eat ice cream out, have a little and be satisfied.

One thing I have noticed is that there are certain foods -- such as dark chocolate -- which, if they are in the house, I *may* be able to eat in limited quantities each day. By buy golly, I feel the need to have some EVERY SINGLE DAY until they are gone. I don't like this feeling, as I feel like the food has control over me. It's not that I'm really craving the chocolate the third day, but I can't put the idea of having a square of it out of my mind until I have it.

Anyone else run into that problem?? Moderation on a daily basis, but the food takes over your brain????