Maltesers are chocolate covered balls of honeycomb. They are horrid really. I don't like them at all. Nasty chocolate!!

Its so incredibly hot here today I've not been able to do anything. Just lounging around and being very lazy.

Is Order Of The Phoenix worth seeing? Ill probably wait for it to be on DVD - I don't fancy going to the cinema with all them kids! Popcorn is hard to resist too.

Been okay today, bit easier to be focused. Not felt as hungry which makes a change. Hopefully my stomach will shrink soon!

A positive thing I noticed today, we are discussing a holiday, and instead of the usual thinking "how much can I eat, what food will be available" thoughs, I was thinking "how can I continue my abstainance". Thats a real positive change!!

Hope the quietness is due to everyone being out having fun

Odaat, I can’t believe you’re saying it’s too hot to move in England today! Is it sunny sunny hot, or cloudy muggy hot?
You’re only across the ‘pond’ from me here in Dublin, and we’ve had such a rainy Sunday, it feels like I’m right in the middle of the pond! Swamped! Everyone is going around muttering about needing a blast of global warming. Wettest July on record and August not shaping up too well either. Enjoy your visit to the historical house tomorrow.

I loved Aud’s query about Maltesers – and your answer!

Maltesers have been teasing me forever!
Years back, they were very cleverly marketed at you by the tantalising slogan – the lighter way to enjoy chocolate’. Which, in my innocent days, I thought meant that I could consume vast quantities in one sitting and not put on an ounce. That was before we all became calorie counting experts!

It’s actually good to test myself by talking in a safe place to you guys about trigger food. It really is, because it makes me take the trigger to the end conclusion – like ok, I focus on a Malteser and I swear I can taste it.
And it’s Sunday evening, and that in itself is trigger time!

I’ve had a good day, I was working all day from home, but had family visit and friends pop in, and I was able to feed some of them and not compromise my abstinence at all. I ate scallops for dinner with quinoa, broccoli and cauliflower. Gorgeous and good.

So. The little Malteser. Melt in your mouth moment.

I’d find it hard to stop at 5 or 6 little sweets. I’d have to have at least half a box. Then I might go to bed, I’m on phone duty so that protects me from running out to the shop for junkfood – can’t leave the phones.
And by the way, ladies, only eating half a box would be a MEGA achievement. But here’s the thing. There’s a lot of sugar in half a box of Maltesers. I’d fall asleep, no problem. But I’d be GUARANTEED to snap open the eyes at some ungodly hour like 3am – and I would be wide awake and full of sugar-hangover. And that would be sleep gone out the window. And I’d be facing into a Monday full of exhaustion – and I’d probably have to overeat to keep myself going through the day.

I'm not saying there won't be a day for me when I'm recovered enough to say - yeah, ok, today it feels right to have a small sensible portion of chocolate. But I'm so glad that I least I know that tonight, feeling triggery and tired, that would not be a good option for me.

So thank you for allowing me to see the fantasy for what it is. A delusion. A chocolatey madness with a HUGE pricetag.

thank you all for such amazing support.

Maltesers.....yum!!! I worked for a UK-based company a while back and my former colleagues introduced me to the wonderful world of UK sweets. My personal favorite was the Aero bar (mint flavor). It's like a candy bar with little air bubbles in it. Very delicious. I also became addicted to Hob Nobs (delicious, chocolaty, oaty biscuits). I was so excited when our local supermarket here in the US starting carrying a wider variety of UK foods (including Hob Nobs). I can't tell you how many binges included eating a whole container of Hob Nobs among other treats. The one sweet I could never understand was the Flake. It never did much for me. There aren't a lot of sweets that I don't like, so that's saying something.

Aud--In US terms, maltesers are chocolate malt balls. In the US they are called Whoppers. I have to say, however, that maltesers taste much better. The chocolate's better.

So, my dear husband has decided to cut out all sugars and white flour to support me. It's also good for him since he has a lot of diabetes in the family. For me, I prefer NOT to have any sweets at all now. I also prefer not to use artificial sweeteners. First off, I'd prefer to eat only natural foods. Secondly, I just fear that artificial sweeteners may trigger a binge. Hubby, on the other hand, wants something sweet. Last night he bought sugar free frozen yogurt for himself. Tonight, he found a recipe for a sugar free rice pudding. He's making it in kitchen right now. I smell all types of sweet, cinnamon-ny type smells coming from the kitchen. Again, I won't eat it because I don't like Splenda or whatever artificial sweetener he's currently using.

I do have to share that I have had some sweets in the form of fruits (lots of them! yum!). I also use a drop or two of Agave nectar in my oatmeal and plain yogurt. For those of you not familiar, agave nectar is a natural sweetener that comes from the agave plant in Mexico. It looks similar to honey, but is much thinner and easily dissolves into just about anything. What I like about it is that it's all natural, it's almost all fructose, and it's very low on the Glycemic Index, so it doesn't have the same effect on your blood sugar as something sweet normally would. In fact, I was surprised to read that it has a lower glycemic index than an apple, peas, or brown rice. Anyway, I've been experimenting with it using a bit here or there when needed. It hasn't triggered any binges or made me want to eat sugars.

Ok, I've rambled on quite a bit here. Hope that all my talk of food hasn't triggered anyone. So far, I'm feeling strong for today. Let's hope it lasts.

Shari

Well I'm new. I've been lurking around for a while and now I'm joining you guys. I've been overweight and binge eating my whole life and I'm trying to stop but it's hard. I bought a nice digital scale and I've been using fitday for four days now. So far I am doing okay, but I'm struggling. I had my first mini-binge last night and felt terrible afterwards. It wasn't that bad and I only had 2050 calories for the whole day, but I just started eating and I couldn't stop. But I'm doing great today and I feel better and happy.

lsyor--Welcome. Glad you found us. I'm also glad that you stopped that mini-binge before it got out of control. 2050 in one day is not bad. I have to be honest and say that I've had binges where I've consumed more than that in just a few hours.

Anyway, sounds like things are already looking up...I'm glad.

Hope to see more of you.

Ann – thank you for passing on your wisdom – like you, my journey seems to be leading me always towards natural foods. It’s been trial and error, but I’ve made some wonderful discoveries when my motives are right, and to have that happen, I need you guys.

I do use sweeteners, they don’t make me binge, but I DON’T like them in my body. I only use them in hot drinks, for oatmeal I use stewed apple and whatever berry I have to hand – blueberry today.

I know I have the willingness to let them go – before I joined OA, I bought this very expensive natural sweetener called ‘Zylosweet’, very natural, low GI, but I development a resentment against the product, because while it was about 7 times more expensive than sweeteners, the little drum container was invariably only half full – due to settling! I felt it was a rip-off, and intended making a point to their customer-service, but never got around to it. You’ve reminded me, so I’ll do that today.

I’m going to check out about your Agave nectar – may not be available in Europe, but there may be a similar product.

I’m so grateful today not to be blocked physically and spiritually – binge eating high fat stodgy food literally blocks me from the sunlight of the spirit. When I’m free from binge eating, my God given intuition kicks in – and I get inspired.
Today, I trust Searsha. Just this weekend, for example, I acknowledged that I had a little niggling concern around my breakfast foods.

Ok, so I often go for hot unprocessed oatmeal. It’s a natural food and it sustains me well. But I had the sense there was something ‘missing’. Not in taste, but digestion wise – made me feel just a bit sluggish. Intuitively, I added some natural unprocessed bran into the mix and took out some oatmeal and bingo! It made all the difference to how I feel – lighter and better all around.

That almost makes me cry with gratitude. To a ‘normal eater’ that might seem silly, but coming from such a dark dangerous place around food, being willing to nurture my body is nothing short of a miracle for me today.

Wishing everyone a lovely day.

Hi Isyor,

You’re so welcome – it’s great to have you ‘on board’. In the early shaky shaky days of letting go, I found even logging on here allowed some healing to take place.

Lovely to hear how well and hopeful you feel today. Keep in touch.

Order Of The Phoenix - yep, give it a shot!

I overate today for first time in AGES...but only 150cals though. i mean, its fine. right? And I'm helping out at a community play thing tomorrow...cool.

emily
xxx

Hi everyone!

I kind of disappeared due to an exceptionally busy social life these past few days. So I've just caught up with all the posts. I'm glad everyone seems to be doing well. And even when there are some little hiccups they seem to be controlled, which is great

I was over in London yesterday, just for the day, meeting up with 5 friends I met on another forum (non-weight related) and we had a great time, went to the innocent fete and chattered away. I was completely spent! But, anyway, I wanted to say how cool it was to realise how aware people are of healthy food in Britain. It was great seeing all the food stands selling pulse salads and hummus and fruit salads. A festival here typically sells pizza, chips and hamburgers. Bleh!

I devoured a book called "Natural Alternatives to Dieting" which I have owned for years. I read it years ago and although it made sense at the time, I never really put it into practice. But now I really feel I want to treat my body better and feed it quality fuel. I get so much satisfaction out of eating healthily.

Next step is trying out some typical health foods, like pulses, seaweed and tofu, which I am absolutely not used to using in my everyday cooking.
Right now I'm really enjoying mucking around in the kitchen and coming up with surprising dinner menus. It's so liberating to buy and prepare all the vegetables I love and not feel obligated to eat a huge piece of meat or 5 potatoes.

But it's bedtime for me now, so i'll read you all tomorrow. Good night everyone!