I know that I can't/shouldn't.

If I have one, I will undo all the work I did easing myself off of sugar/desserts and it will bring back more cravings.

In order to have one, I will have to bake them. And you can't just bake a single damn cookie either, you have to bake at least a dozen! Then there will be twelve evil little baked goods sitting in my kitchen, calling to me.

Nope.

I will NOT eat a cookie.

Oh I hear you, I have been mildly/moderately obsessing over my own favorite dessert as well. I'm just trying to put it out of my mind and work on some projects I want to get done instead.

It's hard!!!

I'm trying to decide if it's better for me in the long run if I "satisfy" my craving with something healthy but still sweet, or if it's better to push through the craving entirely. Obviously the ideal would be to just push through but I'm worried I'll cave!!

Ahhh, the struggle.

I usually chug a bottle of water so I'm too full to want anything anymore.

Smart! I had the same thought. It will definitely work for the immediate craving... hope it can keep my mind off of it later, too!

Have a party, bake cookies and share them.

Life is too short.

Enjoy a cookie but in the company of good friends.

Well, that's been my philosophy in the past but I find that if I give into my cravings I will only continue to crave those things and it just gets stronger!! If I push through and don't cave, eventually I stop craving those things like that.

It's my damn opiate receptors!! :P

Good. Then don't have a cookie.

And move on....

My problem is that I could bake a small batch for when we have friends round for board games, I don't mind the calories from doing that once or twice a month and eating two biscuits (Brit here). But I am really not getting on with sugar, I'm still having a pain flare from the last time I ate any.

Avoiding cookies for a long period of time only results in big binges for me. I keep cookies and most sweets (except honey and fruit) out of the house because nobody really eats them and I don't like to waste time and money on stupid processed stuff like oreos. So when I'm craving something like a cookies or a slice of cheesecake or whatever I go to a really nice bakery and treat myself.

Most recently this happened at a Jacques Torres chocolatier. He makes the most amazing chocolate peanut butter cookies and I'm not even much of a cookie person myself. I order a cappuccino and a cookie and I sit down and linger over both. I usually pair the experience with a shopping spree. There is just something so pleasurable about sitting by myself in public enjoying a beautiful cookie and coffee. It reminds me of when I was in Paris.

Because the experience is so fulfilling it doesn't send me into a tailspin of cravings. But I credit that completely to the hard work I've done with IE and getting rid of the diet mentality. I remember the long years when I was labeling food as "evil" that kept me in a constant state of restriction and consequent binging. It's no way to live.

American cookies are a lot bigger than British biscuits, am I right?

I can't keep biscuits in the house, I end up wolfing the whole packet. Making a small batch myself is different, it's got that sense of occasion mentioned above that differentiates it from lazy snacking. It's totally different doing something as a social group, it seems, plus the group means that my portion size remains small and it doesn't happen often.

Also I think I get hungrier when I'm socialising! I've had this since I was a (very slim) student, you could feed me a three course meal and then take me to the pub and I'd be starving and eating lots of crisps. I think some of it may be because I developed ME/CFS in my first year of uni, so socialising is exhausting now. And when I'm exhausted, it's tempting to eat food in the hope that it'll give you energy. Provided I'm eating enough over the course of the day, and I'm careful about that, this isn't true, of course, because lack of food isn't what caused the exhaustion and food isn't going to fix it.

I make a batch of cookie dough, put in parchment paper, roll it into a " log ", freeze it, then cut off portions to be baked when I feel like it. This way I can bake one cookie. Because aside from not wanting to leave temptation lying around, I think they're the best when they're fresh from the oven. Nothing but the best for this fat chickie. Lol!

I won't judge someone else's WOE, because everyone is different and there are those who've found from experience that some foods are triggering and not worth indulging in. I can only speak for myself when I say that I've had foods that I felt that way about ( looking at you, Doritos) yet now they don't have the same effect after years of single serving indulgences. Nowadays, I don't buy Doritos in full size bags because they go stale.

Can you create a cookie substitute that hits the right notes, but healthier. I have seen so many versions of choc cookies. My gram used to make them with apple sauce instead of the sugar and butter. She even made them half half all purpose flour and whole wheat. Which is better than traditional. I have seen people use alternative sugar substitutes and flours even dates. Cacao nibs or high % cacao dark chocolate could remove the sugar content from the chips.

I'm like Palestrina. If I don't satisfy the craving, I'll keep craving. And in an effort to satisfy the craving but avoid eating the particular food I want, I'll just eat a TON of something else. Not a good solution for me.

You can make small batch cookies. There's tons of recipes out there for making one or two cookies at a time. I'll also second the apple sauce. Great sub for eggs and oil. Or you can go to a bakery.

You have to figure out what works for you. If you truly know that having that cookie will set off weeks of sugar cravings, then yeah, maybe not the best choice. But I hope you can figure out something that works! You got this!

Some people can give in to their craving, eat a cookie, and move on. Others can't. It sound to me like you know yourself, and you are one who can't give in and just eat one.

For me, I believe in the old rule of waiting 20 minutes to see if the craving will go away. Go for a walk. Do something else for 20 minutes. When I lived alone there were never any goodies in the house. If I wanted something, I had to go to the store and get it. That was enough for me to change my mind about wanting it. If you are like Palestrina and my 20 min rule doesn't work for you, go somewhere that you can buy just 1 cookie, or an ice cream cone vs a half-gallon, or a single serving of whatever it is you are craving. Whatever you do, don't bake the cookies and freeze them. Do you know how easy it is to defrost cookies?! LOL