I used to eat chips daily until I started the IP diet 6 weeks ago. I have so far lost 24 lbs in 6 weeks however, I keep cheating on weekends when my husband and boys eat chips. I understand the chips aren't good for anyone and we should eliminate them from the house completely however, I am not the only one in the household and my partner keeps reminding me that I need willpower and to simply not eat any. I find it most difficult. Any suggestions on how I can overcome eating the chips on the weekends. ps, I try to motivate myself by thinking if I do not cheat on weekends; I would have perhaps lost more weight.
I am a former chip addict. I love everything about them: the look, the taste, the crunchiness. EVERYTHING. I would eat big bags of them, so many chips that it is embarrassing. I couldn't eat chip substitutes (the Special K pop chips or the "diet" baked chips, etc.). Nothing but a real chip would do and it had to be so many at a time.
I haven't had a chip in 8 months and it's the longest I have ever gone in my life since being a baby. I have been eating chips for years and years and years. But you know what? I want to be thin more than I want to eat chips. Chips are my "poison" in my diet and I might never have them again. That is such a sad thought to me but chips (and a lot of junk foods) are my kryptonite. They will erase my efforts and make me gain weight, I am not going through this again.
I wish you a lot of luck. I have never felt better since I got the junk food out of my diet. It was the hardest habit I ever had to break but if I can do it, anyone can. Good luck!
One of my diet rules is: Moderation not deprivation. I allow myself to eat anything as long as it is a controlled portion. If I want chips, I eat chips. (But instead of consuming an entire 1 pound bag, I just eat 10 chips.) This approach won't work for everyone. But I'm the type who if you tell me I cannot eat something, you can be damn sure that is exactly what I'm gonna eat!
Chips is the one food that I miss incredibly. There is just something in my brain that needs it to accompany every single whole-grain, turkey breast and mustard sandwich. I went to the grocery store and spent 30 minutes in the chip isle to find a suitable replacement. I ended up getting this extra crunchy pretzel chips, each serving is .5g of fat and they do give me that salty crunchiness I need. I won't lie and say that the entire time I'm eating them I'm not wistfully thinking of my lays, but it helps curb the craving.
A trick I use is not to say "I can't have these" but to say, "I'm not going to have these TODAY, maybe I'll have some tomorrow or next week."
Of course you're going to have chips again in your lifetime, but you just need to convince yourself you're not going to have them that day.
Another trick is to buy individually packaged bags, and just eat one bag. For example, a Doritos snack bag is only 150 calories. It might be by doing that you're doing your family a favor as well by reducing the amount they eat. You don't have to tell them that's why you're doing it, just tell them it was on sale or something.
I hear you. I can go years without sugar, but I cannot have a bowl of chips, I will eat the whole family size bag.
I had to eliminate it, like an alcoholic eliminates booze. I do, on occasion, put salt & vinegar shaker on plain popcorn (S&V being the only kind I ate), and that's a massive reduction of carbs and practically no fat.
For me, moderation works with everything - except chips. I just can't do it. I have been like this with S&V chips since I was a kid.
I have a dorky game day about once a month, and I let myself have a few chips that day. I try to buy baked sweet potato or whole grain ones and have them with hummus. It keeps me going the whole month knowing I get them that day.
I, too, am a chip addict. Not former, current lol.
The only way I deal with it is to not have it in my house. However, in your case that's not possible it seems, so if I were you I would find an alternative. There are those cracker crisps or pop chips and you can get them in salt and vinegar flavor. Even if you cave and eat an entire bag, it's a LOT less calories than regular chips.
Buy some for your weekends and eat those instead. Tell yourself you can have regular chips 1 time per month or something.
Rachel3, I have the same addiction. There's nothing I love more in the world than chips. Unlike Novus I cannot control myself, I usually finish the whole pack. Can anybody advice what would be a healthy replacement for chips??
I want to step in and say that my name is EskaDee and I am also a chip addict! Currently, I am in recovery! Chips are my kryptonite, seriously if I could only ever eat one food for the entire rest of my life it would be them!
I will share some of the things that have helped me, in case they might be helpful for you. I gave them up for Lent (40 days, finishes on Easter Sunday) in the hopes that by giving them up for a defined period of time I would end up being free of the addiction. I think that going through a period of not eating them at all has been really beneficial, even if I have ended up standing in the supermarket aisle staring at all the rows of chips and fighting internally with myself to not buy them far too many times. Maybe you could set yourself up for another six weeks solid of following your plan and not eating chips, with no cheating, to see if you can get a handle on the addiction. I'm not sure if knowing there is an end date in sight might help you to overcome it!
I also tried to find substitutes that quenched my cravings enough but that I didn't like as much so I didn't want to eat the whole lot of them. I find popcorn, salted nuts (flaked almonds are very similar to chips!) and rice cakes/oatcakes to work for me.
For you, I also like the suggestion above of buying only single-serve packets instead of giant bags of chips, then your family can enjoy some and hopefully you will be less tempted. (Although I would totally support you if you just stopped keeping them in the house - more healthy for everyone!)
I saw on the news the other day that Dorito's is actually putting a chemical in their chips that signals one of your brain waves to keep eating. That's crazy!!!! No wonder people can't resist, Dorito's is making you eat by tricking your brain!
Personally, I think that should be illegal. Using chemicals to alter the brains food sensors and basically turn off the 'I'm full' or the 'I don't want anymore' sensors in our brains. Not cool.
My oldest son had dietary issues, anything that had wheat, oats, barley or rye made him so sick, and hospitalized him more than once. That being said, since most chips aren't made in gluten free facilities, any cross contamination would make him sick. I ended up buying him those little tiny rice cake chips, the reason we chose those was because they came in all sorts of flavours from chip flavours, like ketchup, salt n vinegar, and sour cream and onion, but they had the carmel ones. He was little then and it worked for him, he liked the sweet ones more though. I used to buy him the regular sized rice cakes, but because they were thicker it wasn't the same, the mini ones are thin and crunch too, but really low on the calories compared to chips.
Alternatively, maybe you could make some yourself. Bake instead of fry, not quite the same, but my mom used to make homemade chips and I loved them.
Or, and I'm not sure on the calories on this, but doesn't tostitos make a baked nacho? That could help, make some dip yourself with cottage cheese, roasted peppers, garlic, whatever.
Everyone thank you for your feedback. Unfortunately, I'm out of control with the potato chips, so moderation would definitely not work for me at this present time. I like the idea of a substitute (such as a PopChip) for the interim and select an evening..either Friday or Saturday. I will forewarn my family so they do not give me grief and make me feel guilty (even though I'm the one making all the diet changes)...and hope they will hop on with me towards a healthier future. Once again, I sincerely thank you all for your ideas and suggestions.
You say that moderation wouldn't work for you, but you've lost 24 pounds in 6 weeks which is AMAZING, and you've done it while eating chips every weekend.
Clearly moderation does work for you. It works to the tune of TWENTY FOUR POUNDS.
You don't need to eliminate something you love in order to lose weight. There is nothing BAD about chips, cookies, chocolate or any other 'vice' foods people have.
Chip Addiction
ps, I try to motivate myself by thinking if I do not cheat on weekends; I would have perhaps lost more weight.
