I have to beg to differ with you. Just saying "no" altogether is FAR from easy. I think if it were that "easy" more people would be doing it and we wouldn't have a country full of obese people. There's nothing easy about it. It takes determination, strength and commitment. It's worth it yes, but easy - no. And if it were in fact easier - what would be wrong with that?

And I don't think for one second that the "real sense" of control comes only from moderation.

And intuition doesn't work for everyone. If intuition worked for me, I never would have gotten to be 287 lbs.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

I don't really have a problem with ice cream. I used to buy a pint (that's the little box right??) of Ben & Jerry's double chocolate fudge chunk icecream. It says it was 4 servings but I always made it last about to 8 servings. I'll tell you what my trick was. I ate right out of the carton. But I did so with a silver baby spoon. So i had to take small bites because the spoon was so small and the ice cream was so hard. But as i noticed the ice cream thawing out, i would decide that was enough. I would make it all the way around the top layer of ice cream by the time it thawed out. Just a little way i used to enjoy ice cream.

Now, I think I know a junk food that i do have trouble resisting....chips!!! My daughter had a birthday party this weekend and i bought a bag of sour cream and chive chips. OOOOOOhhhhhh...those were sooooo good. Thankfully i WAS able to control myself and not have more than 5 or 6 chips. But i could have easily sat down with the bag and munched away if I wasn't also so conscious of the fact that I want to lose weight and that won't help!!

I agree with the point of going to get ice cream, as a cone, instead of having the half gallon.
I'm the type who will think about that half gallon all morning, day, night... and then eat the whole thing and then be SO MAD at myself. You know it's a stupid thing to do, but the temptation is too big.
Thank god I never tried drugs... I have too much of an addictice personality.

Veggielover -

I didn't mean ice cream was bad. At all. I meant that bad/uncomfortable feelings/thoughts making you head towards huge portions of unhealthy food you feel bad about..that can't be good. I think everyone should eat everything in moderation, but if you have a certain issue emerging over a certain food, its often an idicator of a deeper issue.

emily

I'm with rockinrobin on this one. There are some things for which moderation just doesn't work. Think about heroin--would anyone think heroin is OK in moderation? Well, for some folks, ice cream might as well be heroin.

Also, IMO, moderation isn't possible until after one has learned to eat properly--and that takes some time of staying with a plan to undo the bad habits.

Jay

For me the best thing to do is plan a day for "junk food" but I still try very hard to stay on plan. My last "junk food" was on Saturday and I had a 100 calorie individual bag of popcorn and a 100 calorie Cadbury Dark Chocolate bar. I tracked it all in my slimfast journal and still managed to stay under 1500 calories that day! I also found that while I used to wolf down treats like this (handfulls of popcorn and whole squares of chocolate bar) I was eating each individual popcorn piece like it was puffed gold! LOL...and the chocolate...little tiny nibbles in between popcorn bites, I made that snack last about 40 minutes or so. It was probably the first time in a very long time that it wasn't mindless to snack on "junk food"...it was such a big deal to allow myself that treat (while sticking very close to plan) and I savoured every single bite. I even realized about 1/2 way through the chocolate bar I'd had enough and was able to put the other half away until "next time" LOL! I love that there are so many options available to us in the form of lower calorie snack foods and recipes on the internet for low-cal treats...it makes a huge difference in your ability to stay on plan and sometimes you end up trying something that you never would have thought of as an indulgence but one bite and you know that it's the yummiest "healthy" treat you've ever had.
Good luck and I hope you can keep to your plan to make yourself healthier and happier!
Cheers,
Tamara

CousinRockingChair that quote earlier was great I think that is so on target for so many women.

Treats? Ice cream? It's summertime! - ice cream is just part of the beauty that is summer! And every now & then, I crave it. So every now & then, I'll have it. But I do know that if I get it at the grocery store, & it's in my house, it'll be gone before you know it. So I avoid that - I just don't bring it home. If I'm going to have it, I have to DRIVE somewhere to get it. My favorite is Mint Chocolate Chips! Yummmm... but gas prices these days are enough to keep me at home!

I do like the Skinny Cow fudgesicles and there's a really yummy 100% Frozen Fruit Bar that is really good too. Those aren't too dangerous to keep in the house, esp. the fruit bars, because I'm pretty good about taking the "allowed portion size" & not going back for 2nds. (unless it's Mint Chocolate Chip... then all bets are off!)

My downfall ....for the summer months.... during those hot days at the beach... FROZEN MARGARITAS. Waaaayyyyy more calories than ice cream! (and a better buzz.... LOL.... )

Beach Patrol, what you could do is force yourself to ride your bike or walk to get ice cream. That way, you're getting off your butt and getting some kind of exercise before eating fattening yummyness.

For me, to avoid ice cream (or other trigger foods) completely or to consume them in moderation once in a while ... at different times, each of these has worked for me. If I've been consistently on plan I can 'budget' for a helping, but usually if I'm consistently on plan I don't really crave it, and it can sit in the freezer for weeks. Other times, I hug that cardboard carton like my life depends on it.

I love chunky monkey I could eat the whole pint at once. It was such a habit of mine buying ice cream that sometimes I would go to the store freezer and pick it up, then I would see my fat reflection in the door and put it back. There were a few occassions that I did bring it home and would eat a few bites then give the rest to my dogs. Now I will not allow it in my house under any circumstance. I do buy the fat free fudge bars. At only 40 calories per bar I can eat 1 or 2 of these and get my ice cream fix.
Terrie

gettingsmaller,

You've reached your goal!

Jay