Thanks happytobeamomof2! Not at ALL harsh... in fact, I appreciate what you said! You're right -- peanut butter is JUST an object -- letting it control me is just ridiculous! Thinking about that makes it easier... it sounds silly, but sometimes it's hard to remember that it's JUST an object and only has hold over me if I let it.

Duqserb -- Thanks for the support!

Fruitlady -- I don't experience those symptoms, no. But I don't think I've been binging on it for the time period that you have. I wouldn't be surprised if eating too much of it too often could create a food allergy, especially if it makes you sick... hey, for the next week I've decided I'm going to be completely PEANUT BUTTER FREE, and I could really use some help, someone to check in with... would you want to take the peanut butter free challenge with me for a week? We could PM back and forth, check in with each other... if you don't want to, it's OK, but I want to BEAT this addiction and I think knowing someone else was going through the same thing would really help!

I used to have the same problem (and sometimes still do.) The only solution I've found is to eat PB with a tablespoon. That way I know exactly how much I'm eating instead of "guestimating" how much is on my spoon.

Hi Skyra, Sure, I'll try to be peanut butter free for the next week. I have done it before, it was really hard and I did cave in on the 7th day. I ended up binging on it the whole day. But I will try my hardest to stay away from it starting today. Maybe we should start a new thread " The Peanut Butter free challenge" so anyone with this problem could be a part of it. I'm not sure if there are many other people that have a problem w/ P.B like we do. lol I would like someone to check in with also, so I'm in!

I am craving peanut butter as I type. I already had two (I'll be honest, at least three) tablespoons this morning and I feel like I will go crazy if I do not have some more. I have just started seriously trying to lose weight, and I'm not sure what to do about this pb issue. The nutritionist I started seeing is always trying to get me to eat pb, but always with something else : smear pb on a banana, an apple, or a cracker, for instance. When I have peanut butter like that I don't binge and I still enjoy the taste. But having the jar in the house is so tempting!

Fruitlady -- if you think staying away from PB for a week would make you binge, maybe you shouldn't? I dunno, you know yourself best... I just don't want you to join a "challenge" that wouldn't be helpful for you. That said, I would love the company. I do like the idea of starting a widespread peanut butter challenge, but I really have no idea whether we'd have anyone else joining us.

I haven't read all the replies, but I have blended PB with silky tofu for a low cal PB dip. It's yummy.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE peanut butter and I keep it in the house for my kids but I kind of trick myself. I eat one tbs. of REAL peanut butter every single day, if I want anymore that that one tbs. I eat powdered peanut butter. It's by Bell Plantation and actually really good. If I'm craving peanut butter than I'll mix a tbs. of it into some greek yogurt or something and it will nix that craving or I'll add it to my tbs. of REAL peanut butter. It has really helped me. Now, if only I could do the same thing to Nutella... LOL@

Skyra, I found it in the natural foods part of the grocery store. If you can't find it there, you can order online: http://www.bellplantation.com/

They even have little sample packs if you just want to try it out.

One thing I tried once and really liked was to mix some with low fat whipped cream. It was like peanut butter pie, only way better for you!

Hi Skyra, I didn't touch the peanut butter yet! lol How are you doing? Actually I haven't had any for four days now. But I find myself going after some of my other favorites instead. Everything is gone but the peanut butter now, so I should be ok.

Well, I am kind of up in the air about the powdered pb thing.

I am a pb fan (even got the pb&co lunchbox!), but, I have switched from pb to more heartier nut butters like sunflower or almond. I find that the almond is so thick and that good kind of crunchy, gritty, that eating more than a tablespoon or 2 at a time would be very difficult.

I often will have a tablespoon warmed up so I can have a nice warm treat that isn't terribly high in calories, and the fat and carbs and protein ration really help to keep my hunger at bay.

If I had a more commercial pb with lots of added sugar, then I can see the binge factor more.

I SO need PB in my life. It gets me through a long afternoon at work. It just helps to curb my hunger. I keep a measuring spoon - teaspoon at work with my peanut butter and I'll have 1 teaspoon then wait and see if I need more.

I east Skippy Natural - 190 cals for 2 tbs. 1tbs = 3 teaspoon. So I just figure 1 tsp of it is around 32 calories. The most I've eaten is 1 full tablespoon. It's just such a godsend to keep me from another sort of treat.

Hey Fruitlady, sorry for being so late checking in!

Yesterday I DID have peanut butter... only one tablespoon, though, and I ate it slowly. That was after 4 days of not eating it... I noticed that the peanut butter didn't seem NEARLY as appetizing as when I had been eating it every day.

Of course, since I had that tablespoon I have been craving peanut butter ever since, so I'm still gonna keep away from it... I'm gonna aim for 5 days peanut-butter free this time. Keep strong Fruitlady!! Let's keep doing this together!

Hi Skyra, today was my 7th day without peanut butter and I really blew it. I thought I would also just take a spoonful, well I ate the whole newly opened jar! I dipped marshmellows in it! I can't eat much f.f Reddi Whip with P.B anymore, I don't like how I feel when I eat it, so I chose marshmellows. I don't feel as sick as usual, but mentally I feel horrible. I'm going to try again, so I'm with you Skyra! Let's do this!

Hi all,

This is such a strange coincidence! My roommate got some junk food and peanut butter and gave it to me because she didn't want to lose control with it, but then I left the house and when I came back, she confessed that she had taken some of it back. I, feeling guilty about accepting the food that she had recieved in the first place, and feeling a little strange about her "taking food from me" (even though she had given it to me), woke up and HAD TO HAVE some tablespoons of peanut butter and a bunch of the chocolates she gave me.

I was able to stop myself before I began to feel sick, but this thread, and especially Skyra, how you talked about the emotional attachment to certain foods, made me realize how easy it is to feel possessive and controlled by food. And it's so silly! It's so silly that one person just telling me a food is loaded with emotional baggage, giving it to me, and then taking it back, makes me want to binge on it.

In an odd way, sometimes I binge on food because I feel like if I don't eat it, someone else will take it away from me. I think peanut butter is a big binge food for me because I know my roommate will always steal it if there is some in the house. Has anyone else felt that sense of "I have to eat it or someone else will take MY food!!"?
It makes me feel really silly, embarrassed, and selfish!

(edit: ...I think I am being very roundabout in my point, basically my point is that emotional attachments may come suddenly, or be connected to things which are usually not about the food itself at all. And I think it is helpful for me to really look into what associations I have with a particular food, and why, and what the root of that is. So, maybe my feelings can be better dealt with, not by binge eating foods I feel possessive over, but by talking to my roommate about how her behavior makes me feel and sets me up for failure too.)