Donuts are not poison. You're giving them way too much power over you. They're not actually calling your name, that's just the voices in your head

It took me a while to understand this but I've figured out that most of the time when I'm craving something I see I'm not actually hungry. And if I realize that my stomach is actually not hungry then I can make a more appropriate decision. Let's say I was in your situation. If I was actually hungry I would eat a donut and enjoy every moment without guilt, I would do so publically not by hiding somewhere behind my desk. Then I'd check my hunger again and make sure I act accordingly, this donut may very well have just been my lunch or dinner depending on what time it is. I don't force lunch on myself just because it's time to eat.

OR I may find myself not hungry but still wanting to eat it. In that case I'll just tell myself that the donut shop around the corner from my house has much better donuts and if I'm going to eat a donut I'll wait until later when I can pick up a better tasting donut. Life is too short to waste it on mediocre donuts. Because if i DO eat that crappy little donut then I will for sure stop by and get a few of the good ones too.

The whole point is, if you spend all your time sending voodoo signals to the "poisonous" donut you're just setting yourself up to overindulge in something similar later. It happens to us all, you're just prolonging your craving, making it stronger and fiercer and then we binge. It's human, it's normal. Eat the donut, enjoy it, don't feel guilty about it and move on.

Wise words, Wannabeskinny. And not just the bolded ones; your entire post is spot on. But I just loved how you summed it all up in a nutshell, which is why I emphasized that particular sentence.

To DietDevil - It's amazing how demonizing a particular food can make it larger than life. I'm actually not a big donut fan myself, but there are days when nothing else will do.

Yesterday I had an interesting doughnut "experience" - I had a dentist appointment at 8:00 am and was to be at work at 10:00 a.m. Got finished at the dentist at 9:00 am and needed something quick to eat, as I work until 4:00 pm and generally don't bring any lunch to work & wait to eat until I get home, which is 5 minutes from work. So what to eat quickly? Humm....how about a doughnut? That ought to hit the spot. I was hungry but not ravenous when I left the dentist, so I went to the nearest doughnut shop and got a nice hot glazed doughnut. I sat in my car and ate it slowly, drinking my delicious hot, black coffee in between bites. It was really good and just what I needed to get me through my six-hour shift. (I don't react as many others do to a high-carb intake).

There was a time in my life when I would have been unable to concentrate at work for dealing with the guilt and shame of eating that doughnut. Not any more. I never gave another thought to what I'd eaten for breakfast, and if I'd wanted another one when I got off work that's exactly what I'd eaten for supper.

Wannabeskinny is so right; assigning any food as "bad" immediately brings it to the forefront of your food thoughts and desires. There is no such thing as good or bad foods. That's a gimmick the diet industry has used to manipulate people - with much success, unfortunately. If you think of it as just food without assigning it a label it no longer has power over you.

I might not eat another doughnut for years. Or I might eat one tomorrow.

But I can guarantee you one thing - you'll not see me thinking about doughnuts unless and until I decide I want one to eat.

And then I'll eat it and enjoy it - and not feel a bit of guilt about it.

I was thinking about this more and perhaps in a way all of the straiges worked for me. They are all about avoiding them. Well I personally avoid them all together. And to me they are poison. And I give what they do to me A LOT of respect. Having just one is totally not worth it, for me.

I didn't set out this way but it turns out my WOE is I eat things that are good for me. And they key is I am not deprived at all. I've found tons of stuff I love and are also healthy. Maybe it won't work for you. But why not go for it? Different strokes though.

My approach is it is poison. Slow acting but poison nonetheless. The doughnuts itself but also the making me hungry then I eat a candy bar after the doughnut. Then the candy bar leads to an ice cream. So maybe knocking them out wont work. But you never know until you try. And complete avoidance, if it works, is awesome. But if not less is better.

It's great that you've found a WOE that works for you and has also resulted in weight loss, diamondgeog. That you can restrict yourself in this way is quite remarkable. I applaud you for it and am happy that you have been so successful.

But the reality is that most people simply cannot maintain this sort of restriction long-term. It doesn't make them weak; it makes them human.

There's no harm in anyone trying out your WOE and perhaps the OP may opt to do so. Who knows? It may turn out to be the answer for her.

I can sense your zeal for your WOE and who can blame you? It has proven to be very successful for you. I know it's not for me - how? Because I've tried it. Several times. It was a bust every. single. time. And not just because of the "low carb flu" symptoms.

Any type of "diet" - no matter how reasonable or workable - requires SOME type of restriction and/or counting, measuring, you name it. For me, that's just something I can no longer tolerate. Why not? Because it makes me OBSESS about food. And that is NOT a good thing. I'm guessing your WOE does not make you obsess about food. If so, I envy you that!

Eating when you're hungry and stopping when you're no longer hungry is just, well, natural. And logical. But unfortunately not as simple as it sounds, particularly for people who have completely buried their hunger/fullness cues. Which dieting (of ANY kind) does to most people.

Hunger is NOT the enemy. Well, not in my opinion, anyway. Restriction is, for most people. If it weren't, every person who'd ever successfully dieted would have never gained their weight back.

And we know what THOSE statistics look like, unfortunately.

Thank you everyone for the sound advise. You all have some nice tips and tricks that work for you and I will be giving some of them a try.
I won my personal battle with the doughnuts and am proud of myself for doing so.
Doughnuts are a trigger food for me, eating one can cause a slippery slop that leads to other bad food choices so yes to me they are poison.
When I weighed in today I had lost 2.2 pounds this week! I know it was not just passing on the doughnut that helped the weight loss it was other good choices mad during the week and getting back into walking a couple of times a week. But I like to think it helped!
Thank you again for the advise everyone I really appreciate it.
DietDevil

Congratulations on the weight loss, DietDevil. And walking is always a good thing. It clears the mind and well, just makes you feel better! Your weight loss was likely more a result of calorie restriction as opposed to exercise, but never discount the benefits of moving your body.

Hot tea, iced coffee... Thinking about goal. Remembering nothing tastes as good as thin feels. Having snacks on hand... Fruits, veggies, nuts, string cheese, etc. I am learning to incorporate everything in moderation, like having half a serving of something like that and tracking it. I'm a calorie counter. But I realize that triggers foods can be hard to get a hold of, and I still struggle with this at times. But the moderation prevents all out binges for me, to have a little, so I don't feel deprived or like something is off limits or like I'm cheating on my diet. I can't imagine not eating a doughnut or piece of cake or cool ranch Doritos for the whole rest of my life. I'm trying to stick to a plan I can stick to forever and for me, it's accommodating foods like that in moderation. It's taking me years and many rounds of dieting to learn to treat this as a lifestyle, and not a diet where I cut everything out and race to the finish line, just to gain it all back. Just my 2 cents, for what it's worth.

put on your headsets and focus on a single task you want to do at a time. being focused on completing a task will sometimes remove other distractions.

Just a reminder guys, please if you want to PM eachother, feel free to do so but remember the OP came here for support

DietDevil - I am glad that you won the battle

DietDevil chips used to be that for me, now they are just a sometimes treat food and really have lost their power. I had to stay away for awhile, then portion control, then suddenly just didn't have the desire. Now I can have them on the side with a sandwich or something, or not.

Best of luck, you'll get there with the donuts, I feel identifying triggers is the first step in putting them I their rightful place...making them powerless. How you do that is as individual as everything else in this journey.