Yes, one of my favorite books is Anne of Green Gables, and in it the main character can suffer though any number of things by imagining things were otherwise. It gets her in trouble sometimes, but it's so endearing.

So, tonight was the night all my friends come over to the weekly tabletop RPG game. This was the big test, because our house was full of people who brought in all kinds of yummy delicious smelling things DH and I can't have. (Phase 1).

I smelled that stuff and imagined I was a vampire who couldn't eat food, but could enjoy the smell. I also tried to figure out how to cook something I can eat that would smell/taste similar (which was a challenge for me as I'm not a very experienced cook.)

What do you do or imagine when all sorts of "bad" food is right there and you know you can't have it?

PS - I got all those friends to take everything I can't have home.. so now my fridge and pantry have only good things I can eat!

I imagine it has mold on it...inspired from She's Come Undone.

MISTY, I don't believe I've properly welcomed you, so

Next time, be prepared by checking out some of the wonderful recipes for appetizers and snacks right here in our recipe section. It helps immensely, knowing you'll have some yummy things to enjoy while everyone else is snacking away. Plus, you can feel guilt-free!

I use visualization ... for example if they are brownies I don't think about how wonderful warm chewy browns taste fresh from the oven, I think about how unappealing they tasted when they have become stale. Then I will look at them and convince myself they are probably old and stale and don't taste to great.

Oh, I already have been checking those out. In fact, i've already made 2 entrees from this site! Very helpful and DH likes all the tasty new things we're trying.

first i envision all those delectables as fat cells swimming thru my body then adhering themselves to my flesh. so i guess that's a pretty graphic image of the old adage: "a second on the lips..forever on the hips"
then i picture myself-lean, healthy..in those wanna-fit-into jeans with perfect hair. works (almost) every time.
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misty, also love anne..re-read her almost every fall/winter

What a great idea for a thread, Misty!

I love Anne, too.

What I do is think about how good it would taste and let myself enjoy the memory of it (which isn't hard, since there is little I haven't tasted in the past!), then I think about how it would make me feel (knowing that sugar gives me a huge headache and the shakes now). The combo works well for me. Imagining how it tastes makes me feel like I've had a little, and thinking about how it'll make me feel helps me remember why I'm not eating it.

I also work hard on my language. I don't say, "I can't have that." Rather, I say (usually in my head), "I'm choosing not to eat that because it'll make me feel sick." Lately, I've also been thinking about what a friend said when she wanted to eat because she was sad: "But if I eat it, then I'll just be pudgy and sad." So true! Eating doesn't take away the feelings...just delays them and adds another problem to the mix!

I eat it. However, I only eat if I'm hungry and I only eat what looks truly fantastic. If it's something I can have any time (chips & dip or store bought desserts) I skip it. If there's something people are raving about or that looks unique and fabulous, I take a small portion and savor it. If it's that great, I ask for the recipe. Then I don't need more because I can make it myself.

I've learned (and it may not be true for anyone else here) that if I deny myself everything, I end up face down in the ice cream carton.

Misty, Evangeline, Zeff and all I love your ideas... I have always envisioned cheat foods will truly make me feel 'ill' or 'tired' the next day. I like your idea of imagining it will taste yucky...

(Hmmm.. filing that one away for the next temptation)

Welcome Misty!! I love Anne too! That's why I opened the thread!
I imagine whatever it is as Blobs of Chicken fat or if it's chips I imagine the germs all over it
Gross yet effective!

Imagine that someone sneezed on it or that the person who made it did not wash their hands after using the restroom and touched the food. Or the last person to take some of the food picked their nose and touched the food/spoon/tongs/fork/spatula! GAG!!!

That's why I have little difficulty eating like a mouse at buffets. I think of all those people with unwashed hands touching the utensils....ick!

This is a really interesting thread.

ITA - I have no desire to cheat. I have found now that if I eat something I should not (as in, it contains simple carbs) I feel very sick. I do not want to feel sick. Lucky me huh??? :P The only reason I would "cheat" would be if I were absolutely starving and the only things to eat were off plan. - even then I would choose something high fat in lieu of sugar because while that makes me feel gross, it wouldn't be as bad and IMO it is more "ok" since the glycemic index is the basis for SB.

I do think that this means this is the right "diet" for me. - I see things I used to love to eat and I don't want them. I remember how I used to want them so much but I do not feel deprived. In fact - the thought of eating some of the extremely sweet things turns my stomach! I feel like the food I eat now is worlds better. It is "they" that miss out.

I thought of a few more things... I realized the vampire thing wouldn't have really appealed to dear Anne... but I also read a lot of urban fantasy romance. XD

A lonely ghost who can relive the memory of things experienced in life.

An air slyph spirit, lighter than a feather, swift as the wind, but unable to touch or eat anything material. But is empathic and can sense things through others.

An alien who tastes things differently then humans. So what is yummy to us would be yicky. lol.. I haven't really gotten into that one though.