Hi Girls,

I am pretty sure this has been discussed plenty of times, but I am just gonna ask again. LOL. I've seen some advice on it but it just does not seem to apply to my situation.

I moved back home a few months ago, in the middle of my weightloss attempts. I was doing perfectly when I lived on my own because I just did not buy junk and cooked healthy meals. Now I have to live home for another 8 months at least but it's so difficult.

My mom LOVES to cook. And she cooks high calorie/high carb foods. Not so many veggies either. The dinner isn't the biggest problem though, when I am not too lazy I just prepare my own food. But the problem is the candy and snacks that are in the house. When it's there I just CANT control myself. I eventually cave in and walk over there and have some. And then some. And then some more.

How do I stop myself? She won't get rid of the junk because her hubby likes it and they both can eat what they want and not gain so much as I do. She won't think on solutions with me either because she just doesn't get it. So it has to be my own willpower - but at this stage I just don't feel like that's enough.

Any tips?

Ooh - that's tough. I'd say maybe keep some veggies and gum around to keep your jaws moving on stuff that isn't junk. Sour gum if they're chocolate people, that way it'll just taste bad if you do get into it! Good luck to you.

Where is it stored?

Will she at least consider "closed" storage that is out of sight? In a basket on the fridge? Or solid candy dish rather than clear on the coffee table?

A.

I have two teenage boys in my house and a husband who is a sugar-holic. There is tons of junk around here.

I don't know what plan you are on, but I am doing WW. I find that if I keep the WW ice cream bars around, when I want a sweet, I can get those of those and be totally content and not delve into their junk.

I am also weak-willed if there is yummy chocolate and such in the house.. i also recommend the gum idea, i find mint works well for me. it makes everything taste really gross!

I define such food as "not mine".

If it's not mine, it'd be the same as stealing someone's lunch out of the refrigerator at an office - completely deplorable. I don't steal! So I leave it alone.

Your weight lost has to be the most important thing. Every time you eat, you make a choice whether it will be something that supports your weight loss efforts or makes it farther away.

I'm going through something similar (although for me it's the person I live with right now who eats a lot of junk).

I've tried and failed and tried and failed in this very situation. So now I'm trying something different. I've written down a short list of my trigger foods (things I can't eat just a little of and/or that make me crave overeating other things, too), and I'm staying away from them. I can't fight that battle and win, and believe me I've tried.

So, I tell myself I can have anything except those trigger foods (there's like 6 of them). So I don't feel deprived (like I would if I said, "NO sugar"), even though I still crave them. I have to say, no, just not that.

I think the "not mine" idea is also a good one. Only I'm around someone who is very open about sharing, which is nice and annoying because I KNOW he won't mind if I eat some of whatever.

Good luck! I'll see how my plan goes, and I'll check in and see how you're doing (doing well, I hope!). This thing is a big problem for me, too.

My brother is the only junk food eater in our house (right now, haha) He can eat whatever and not gain (No FAIR! ) But he keeps all his junk (minus like ice cream) in his room. It's strictly his so that helps me. Have you tried asking your family members/roommates to do the same? Maybe keep in a less visible area. Also, another thing that helps me is a healthy, diet smart alternative to all the things you'll be tempted to eat. Something similar, but not too similar or you'll be tempted to binge on that too. When I want something sweet, I eat a Fiber One 90 cal Brownie (yum!!) if I'm around Bro while he's eating cookies I don't sit there all sad haha. Also, maybe diet microwavable (or air popped) popcorn for salty cravings. Or reduced fat string cheese for a yummy protein fix. And I've noticed that since I'm such a salt junkie, when I eat unsalted almonds or walnuts I don't feel the urge to binge. I eat a serving size, and then I'm fine.

Basically I'm saying if you're really stuck being around that food, your best bet is to have alternatives that won't kill you. Good luck!!

Hi,
When you cook veges cook for 3 to 4 days. Your mother and her boyfriend would not eat it anyway. So you can eat it when your mother cooks junk food.
There are so many testy recipies. Today I made a very testy dish, try it.
In olive oil saute onion, garlic, redpepper, green pepper, yellow pepper,
Edmame, carrots, broccoly, cherry tomatoes, yellow squash and zuccini.
It tastes so yummy!! I just had fried salman with it.
This dish will be enf for 3 days.

I find sugarless gum helps a lot. If I know it's going to start a snack attack, I try not to have any at all and talk myself into having a portioned amount when I feel less snacky. If I am just feeling crazy-snacky, I try to go for an apple. Apples are pretty filling and take a few minutes to eat so they can be very satisfying when you want to eat lots of sweets.

It's hard but this can be a great time to learn new habits and coping mechanisms for this behavior so you stand to gain a lot from the experience.

Living in a house where everyone else can eat communal food, but you can't is discouraging. Have you considered having a separate cabinet or container in your room, and a mini fridge specifically for your food? This way, you never need to reach into the kitchen cabinet to forage for food.

Thank you all so much for the input, there's a few things I will do for sure.

- Eat more gum so I won't be tempted
- Find a way to have my food seperate from 'their' food and start looking at it as though I am stealing other peoples food.
- Go away from the temptation. So when they are eating bad and I know I can't stopmyself, go sit in my room. Or go out for a run.

Hope these things help, because I agree it's a perfect time to learn how to deal with temptation. And let's face it, I should be in control of what I put in my mouth, not this lil temptest on my shoulder that wants to devour everything in sight. lol

I also agree think of it as not your food. Like for example, my mom doesn't buy as much junk food as before. So last night, my brother asked her to bring him cereal, rice krispy treats, powdered donuts, brownies and frozen pizzas, waffles etc. If she does, I'll just look at it as not mine. Plus all that food is just mostly flour, sugar, salt & butter. Why would I want that? I've already had enough of that in my body for 20+ years.

You can also ask her to buy you good snacks. Like 100 calorie popcorns, rice cakes, and 100 calorie cookie packages. (just saw some from snackwells and they look good)

What helped me the most not craving whats around the house is fasting for 24 hours. I do it from 7am to 7am. It really puts things in perspective. After fasting i dont even think of junk foods. It makes my mind healthier too. I am planning to do this fasting on mondays or every other monday.