I can't have treats at home (I will eat all of them), so I try to fit it into my calorie count where it is under controlled circumstances, such as when people are around. We went xc skiing and then for coffee, so I had steamed skim milk and a sugar cookie (not a big one, lol). One more small thing and that will be it for the week.

I would credit fast food cheeseburgers 'n fries and chocolate candies and the closely related any sandwich with melty cheese and potato chips and ice cream as the overindulged vice that contributed the most to me getting fat.

There is no way I would still be on plan if I had to say no forever so I had to find substitutes.

I do not go to fast food places any more so no cheeseburgers 'n fries. I do have sandwiches with cheese but it is reduced fat and I limit it to one slice which is NOT melted.

I cannot have chips in my home as it just triggers me to binge on them. But I found a reasonable replacement in Baked Cheetos. I can have them in the house, measure out a serving and be good with just that amount.

I cannot have ice cream in my home in a size greater than one serving. I have bought the 1/2 c. Ben & Jerry's, Blue Bunny but only when I can't find the Skinny Cow products. I love the Chocolate Mint Truffle but I'm good with just one.

Chocolate candies cannot be in my home. Period. I cannot stop myself at one serving! I do eat South Beach Mocha fiber bars to satisfy the desire for chocolate. It has worked for me so far. They are so filling that one serving is just right.

I hope I get better at controlling my trigger foods rather than just working around them.

This holiday season, I was off plan because of other calorie dense foods - candied walnuts, pierogues, Groton of veal d'Orloff, latkas, biscochitos, tamales, (yeah, a very international menu!) etc - not my trigger foods. I counted all the calories and points even though I was way over. I had to stay honest with myself otherwise why am I doing this.

This was me EXACTLY at first...a lot because my husband wasn't trying to lose so I was cooking the normal stuff and eating less of it. Over time I was able to incorporate other healthier foods, and now could exist entirely on chicken breasts, ground turkey, lean beef and veggies. I haven't had a cheeseburger in MONTHS.

That being said, I do make plans to indulge sometimes, with burgers or a meal out, but it's usually on desserts. Once every couple of weeks I'll schedule in a cookies 'n cream ice cream bar or fried pie or something that I used to love. My most recent splurge on a weekend was a small mint Oreo Blizzard from Dairy Queen. Heavenly. I find if I don't make calories available every so often for a hamburger or pizza or ice cream, I want it even more and it affects my attitude.

You don't want to see me without ice cream.... :devil:

I used to be a little debbie addict.i have gotten much better at resisting them. now i will have skinny cow ice cream a few times a week. and i love bananas. whenever i have fries,which is not often, i will bake them.

While I was losing I didn't have any treats at all. As a maintainer I do have a treat twice a week now, but not of the same foods I ate before. I love NSA ice cream.

I'm a confirmed chocoholic UGH!!! I allow myself 5 dark chocolate hershey kisses a day (no I don't get to carry them over) and in 2 1/2 months I've only eaten all five twice and went over my allotted 5 kisses once or twice. For me I think it's more of a mental thing . . . if you can't have something, then that's what you want. I had an occasional cookie or sweet treat over the holidays, I just didn't try EVERYTHING that was available and it doesn't seem to be affecting me, my weight just keeps going down, slow but sure . . .

Afterthought: sweets and chocolate don't really taste the same anymore . . . I'm not sure what that's all about

I have to admit that lately with all the stress I have had a glass or red wine before dinner. Sounds ok right?
Nope! When I drink I tend to eat more and care less. So I have to give up the red wine. I swore off it last night.
As for the other snacks I never eat fast food. Gave that up years ago and don't miss it. But I love cakes and cookies so if I miss cake I make my own low fat version and have a slice. If I crave a chocolate which is only at pms time I will have a hershey's kiss. One is all I need, ok maybe two but never more. That's all I need, then I grab my Extra gum.
I know I sound like I am on track but I do struggle everyday, not with treats per say but just staying on plan.

That's a hard question! What got me obese was grains. Bread, pasta, donuts, cookies....etc. So now that my obesity brought me a nice case of diabetes, no, I do not indulge in any foods that i feel brought me to that doorstep.

Booze is the one I always want to indulge in. Not for getting drunk, but for feeling indulge with a nice french brandy or a well made martini. I have some about every 5 or 6 weeks, but this year I am considering giving it up and sticking to wine with dinner.

I miss chips and dip, but have a satisfactory substitution with pork rinds and sour cream. I made a fab low carb cheesecake over the holidays, so I have that and I adore simple whipped cream. These are all within my plan and so I never really feel deprived. Still, it is hard to find thay along with aging, some foods and drinks just don't feel good anymore. So it's hard for me to comprehend that a carb indulgence will not just make me fat, it will cause my diabetes to require medication. it's just not the same game anymore.

As for how often? Less than I want. About every 5 weeks or so, as I am on the road otherwise. I wait for holidays or one of the days I am at home for one of the low carb treats. I would never lose weight if I kept eating the "goodies" more often. On the positive side, they sure taste wonderful so long in-between!

I have things that are treats to me just about every day. This usually means a cup of hot chocolate (I make it myself with gourmet cocoa, nonfat milk, and Splenda) or hot vanilla milk (same thing but without the cocoa) or a mocha (same thing but with decaf dry coffee crystals). On Friday nights I have a "treat" meal (usually home-cooked, because frankly we cook better than just about any restaurant) which is something like a hamburger or battered fish, and then dessert which might be a milkshake of sugarless ice cream and fruit-only preserves. On Saturday mornings I have a slice of homemade whole-wheat toast with my poached eggs and veggies. On Sunday mornings, currently, my husband are going out for a "date" at this local cafe which makes THE MOST AWESOME MOCHA EVER.

But this looks nothing like the "treats" I ate three years ago. There was frequent fast food hamburgers and tacos. Frozen food lunches like Hot Pockets. Frequent venti mochas from Starbucks. Half a pound of chocolate every night.

And the truth is, while I was in the habit of all those "treats," I didn't even enjoy them that much. Because they were just my normal diet, so they weren't treatlike at all.

(Of course, NOW I don't enjoy them because they don't taste good AND they make me feel like crap!)

So yes, for my mental and emotional health, I have treats frequently. But they're not really the kind of thing that you (it seems) would currently call "treats." But perspectives can change, a lot, as you go along!

Pretty much daily. What is considered a treat though is pretty relative though...

I'm on a low-carb WOE, so it's very bad to eat carbs or sugar when you've hardly had a taste of them in months. It triggers horrible cravings and can make you sick. I know if I have "one slice of cheesecake" or "one piece of pizza" it can make me stall out for a lot longer than I'd want to. Losing weight is more important to me than eating treats. I sometimes make sugar-free baked goods using splenda, almond flour, cream cheese, stuff like that. They're all on-plan and factored into my carbs.

I have been having 1 piece of chocolate every day. It doesn't count for a lot of calories and it prevents me from feeling deprived. It's all a big mind game for me!

I give myself one or two free days per week, as in "here, eat whatever you want" days.

Sundays are my eat a nice high calorie treat days. I think of something at the beginning of the week that I would really love to just indulge in and I look forward to that on Sundays and it makes it easier to resist temptation because I know that I'm going to have something UBERawesome on Sunday.

What also ends up happening sometimes is that I don't want it anymore by the time Sunday rolls around SO if something comes up at work like cake or chocolate (Ferraro Roche to be exact) I will DEFINITELY eat that and make sure it takes a loooong time to eat!

Alcohol is my big treat that I won't give up. This summer I was drinking pretty much everyday, now I drink 1-2 times a week. I used to drink heavy beers that were over 200 calories each. Now I mix rum with a diet soda. Way less calories, and I don't get excessively drunk anymore. But I could never totally give it up, and luckily I don't seem to have too addictive of a personality, dropping down was not difficult at all.