So here's the deal. Things have been going REALLY well for the most part. I have been eating more healthfully than I have in my entire life. I've lost about ten pounds combining good eating with working out since beginning this journey like 3 weeks ago, and I am pretty ecstatic with the physical change and the slim down I'm noticing already. I finally recognize myself again which is such a blessing. I'm working out and loving it. I have NEVER been able to say that! Thank god for Bar Method!

There's just one thing... It get's me EVERY time...
BUTTERED MOVIE THEATRE POPCORN!!!!!!

I love going to the movies, and I go probably 2-3 times a week. I quit drinking about 1.5 years ago, so I don't often go to bars at night. I've always been a huge movie buff, and going to the movies has always entailed a small(and later, more recently a medium) buttered popcorn and a coke. How is it that I can go all day and stick to my healthy eating, and then I walk into a movie theatre and all of a sudden I seem to have lost all control! The next thing I know I am sitting in my seat, hand stuck in a big bag of greasy, delicious popcorn.

Do any of you have any similar cravings associated with places? I have gotten the suggestion that I should bring my own healthy snack, and maybe I should, but it's just so hard to resist. I went to a Woody Allen movie tonight and I definitely indulged I feel so repulsive. I had a spotless day until then. I'm honestly considering throwing it all up, which I know is horrible and unhealthy and... ya. My E.D. tendencies are coming out again, I fear...

So sorry for the long post... Does anyone have any suggestions or can any of you relate?

I can definitely relate. If I went to my favorite pizza place that makes the most incredible thin, NY-style cheese pizzas, and someone plopped one down in front of me, I would not be able to keep from eating it. And I wouldn't eat one piece. I'd eat four. It sounds so good, I can almost taste it. I swear, if I had to pick a last meal right now, it would be that pizza. And so I haven't been there since I began my weight loss effort in January, because I know I can't resist it and I also know it doesn't really fit within my diet. I may make it my treat for my birthday, though.

Skipping out on the movies doesn't sound like it's really an option for you, and I wouldn't suggest anyway that someone should drop an activity they really enjoy just because they're trying to lose weight. If consuming popcorn while you're there is really part of the enjoyment of the movie for you, here's what I'd suggest: 1) Plan the rest of your eating on movie days around your anticipated popcorn indulgence. This is what I do when I want to have alcohol; I make sure that I eat low-calorie, high-nutrient foods the rest of the day and limit my total intake, and that way I have room in my calories for a glass of wine (or three) in the evening. 2) Get the small popcorn (about 600 calories) rather than the medium (about 900 calories), and if you're doing this more than once per week consider getting a kid's size popcorn instead of the small. Yes, it's a sacrifice, but this way you'll still get to enjoy the popcorn without doing as much damage to your weight loss effort AND your arteries. 3) Skip the sugar soda. Get a diet instead if you want soda (if you don't like Diet Coke, bring your own Coke Zero instead in your purse, or get a different soda where you can't tell the difference as much between diet and regular), or bring a different zero-calorie drink with you. I know that this is a sacrifice as well, but are the 200-400 calories you're consuming with that soda really worth it?

I know my answers aren't very fun ones, but they are ways for you to have your cake and eat it too. You just have to eat a little less cake to make it work.

I think Chickadee posted good suggestions. If try to you follow that approach, please make sure you fill up with a healthy low calorie meal (think veggies and a little lean protein) just before you head to the theater.

Another alternative is to try to get your movie fix in a different (more controllable) environment. Do you see the flick with anyone else? Can you switch to a home viewing with them? If so, you can eat part of your planned food during the movie (which could be popcorn without so much butter). If you can do this for most of the movies you see, and save the theater for a less frequent treat, you will have an easier time integrating the extra calories with your weight loss efforts.

Good luck!

If going to the movies without the greasy-fat-laden popcorn is not doable, then I would totally stop going to the movies. Because

(A) you definitely run into trouble there,
(B) your health is worth more than cinema entertainment.

Try thinking about like this:
You CAN watch movies at home, and you can STILL have your popcorn, only you can make it yourself & it will be 10x healthier. Plus, the little extras such as you can PAUSE the movie while you run to the bathroom! can't do THAT at the movies, eh?

Think of all the money you'll save NOT going to the movies! It's soooo $$$ these days just to buy a ticket, and then the concession stand is wayyyyy overpriced (you know this is the gospel truth!)

And what about the FACTS of the "nutritional value" of your indulgence?
Are you AWARE of how many calories you're ingesting by eating that popcorn? Are you sitting down? here it is:
NOW THEN. Having read all that... how do you feel about your 2-3 times a week "indulgence"?

Beach Patrol, those are some pretty scary facts!

I'm sure this isn't supposed to be allowed, but have you ever popped your own in an air popper or using a calorie controlled microwave popcorn and carried the bag in a backpack or other large bag? It might not taste as good, but it could help you break the habit.

Movie theatre popcorn will eventually kill you. I can't eat it anymore because it gives me a headache and my husband and I used to go to the movies 2 times a week, before we had kids.
If you HAVE to have popcorn and movies, get yourself a BIG purse and stop at 7-11 on the way and pop up a bag of low fat micro popcorn and stuff that sucker in your bag. For 200 calories a bag your body will thank you!

lol, great minds think alike, Suzanne.

Wow ... I knew movie popcorn was bad for you and ridiculously overpriced ....I never knew though just how bad!

I only go to the movies with my kids these days .... and I do cheat and bring my own snacks (mainly to save $$) ....

Holy Crap

It was so hard for me to cut back on portions when I started, so I feel your pain! If it were me I'd make myself get the small, and deal with it a couple times and then I'd get used to it. It seemed like such a big loss the first time I'd do things like that but then afterwards it really didn't seem like a very big deal.

I don't know if you count calories but I think it's easier to cut back on portions then because you immediately see the payoff. I LOVE ice cream and used to have it every night and I cut back incrementally, I still can't believe I eat the actual recommended portion size. And it feels like plenty.

I eventually gave up soda for the same reason, it just wasn't worth the calories to me (had to leave enough calories for that ice cream!). But I did it gradually, I used to have one every day, then every other, then weekly, now every couple months or so.

It's so hard at first to face giving things up, but it's also hard to see how making changes one small step at a time will add up to a big change. My weight loss has been relatively easy because I refused to give my favorite foods up, but instead faced reality a little at a time and made some changes I could live with. Right now I have to face reality one more time and buckle down to lose the last few pounds, and even after losing weight for two years I think to myself "I don't wanna!" but I know that after I do it won't be a big deal.

Good luck!

Bring your own pop-corn?
What is it with putting butter on pop-corn anyway? We only have simple salted pop-corn in my country and it tastes ok... just too salty.
You can get over any craving. You were the one who decided you LIKE pop-corn in the first place. You have the power to tell yourself you don't anymore.
When you see/smell pop-corn grab some part of your body you hate and tell yourself mentaly "That is pop-corn". You will hate the stuff after a while.

If you absolutely don't believe in your willpower then simply manage it into your calories, buy a small portion and no soda.

Oh man...I feel awful. I work in a cinema and I'm the girl who says "IT'S ONLY 30p MORE FOR A LARGE YOU KNOW!" >_> *ahem*

Yeah. I looked at the nutritional value of our cinema food - a small (like 2-3 handfuls seriously) portion of nachos are 500+ calories. That's not including the amount of cheese and salsa people pour all over them. It's disgusting, and I serve it to the masses. Parts of me die when people say "I'll have cheese with more cheese and an extra side of cheese." If you saw what that cheese looks like before it gets heated up...

And I don't know about your popcorn - but at the cinema I work at the stuff is shipped in bags. It sits in a stock room for god knows how long before it gets put out. Food that lasts for weeks and weeks and doesn't need any sort of preparation is not natural and will no doubt be terrible for you!

Going to see a film is great, but you know what? TAKE YOUR OWN FOOD WITH YOU! You'll not only save SO MUCH MONEY but you'll be saved from the awful awful food that is on display. Just get your ticket, run past the food stand and go watch a film!