...well, on Saturday it will have been a year.

It all started last February when one of my friends gave up sweets for lent. I told her I'd do it with her. I was convinced that sugar wasn't a problem for me, so I thought it would be easy. Turns out, it was REALLY, REALLY hard. But, at the end of the 40 days, I had lost about 18 pounds and decided to keep going.

I didn't make much of an effort to alter my diet in other ways, but I found that I was eating less fast food and more fruits and veggies. I started exercising every day, and the weight kept coming off. Now, I eat a fairly healthy diet (sans dessert), run 10K races and lift weights. I weigh 1 pound more than I did on my 16th birthday, and I'm never, EVER going back to the way I was (I've been fat since I was in diapers).

Here's the thing - I have no desire to live my life as some freak who can't bake cookies with her kids and won't eat so much as a lifesaver. So - I'm planning on having quarterly treats this year...one every 3 months. Nothing huge, just a treat. Like a brownie or something. Next year, I'm planning on a treat every month. I'm calling it my "5 year plan to eat cookies like a normal person". My hope is that I can finally view dessert as an occasional treat, and not the beginning of a binge.

Anyway (phew - this got long. sorry!!), It's been so long that I'm nervous about eating so much as a cookie. I'm afraid I'll turn into Eddie Murphy in that scene from the Nutty Professor when he gets fat again and starts popping out of his clothes. Rational? Not so much. But, still.

Has anyone else kicked a sugar habit and successfully reintegrated cookies back into their lives without gaining everything back?

Am I a total freak?

Thoughts?

thanks, guys!

cheers!
paula

It all depends on the person I suppose. Your plan is a recipe for a binge for me. I'd feel so deprived I'd start eating a cookie and I'd end up woofing down a cheesecake, and I'd remember how much I missed all that food I might just give in. But then, I can binge on healthy food and have yo-yoed doing that a LOT. I love healthy food in very large quantities. I love bad food in large quantaties. Moderation is not in my dictionary. So I'm on a quest to teach myself moderation.

What works the best for me is to make my regular healthy food taste fantastic and have a cheat "meal" every week. One meal, one dessert--no more, no less. I can have pizza, cake, lasagna, lobster, whatever I want. But I can only have a reasonable meals worth and a dessert. Maybe I'll have two meals a week when I reach goal.

I've got to do everything that I do now as reasonably close to what I'll be doing for the rest of my life--meaning this is a lifestyle change. So I've got to break my thinking, "When I get to maintenence I'll up my calories!" or "When I get to maintenence I'll eat like a normal person". Fact is, once I get to maintenence I'll probably have to eat barely over what I'm eating now to lose because I'll weigh less and require less calories for weight loss. And let's be honest--a lot of "normal people" binge eat. That's why we live in an obese society! I want a complete lifestyle change. That means I can't deprive myself of normal food. But I can have control over it. Food cannot control me anymore. But anyway, that's my plan. Good luck on discovering what works for you and keep us posted!

Karma

Not weird at all to me, I haven't had a cookie or a muffin since July 2004. I am a binge eater - I find it much easier to say no to the first cookie than the second cookie.

I tried to incorporate sweets back into my diet when I hit maintenance, but I realize I just don't crave it anymore. I had this weird "I should eat a treat because normal people eat treats" but I would buy stuff and have it in the house and not eat it and not eat - just because I didn't really want it.

I have incorporated some treats in my life. I had birthday cake on my birthday and I split the occasional dessert in restaurants with friends. But on a daily basis - no sugar really, at all. I don't need it, I don't miss it, I satisfy my sweet tooth with fruit.

It could be okay, unless you're anything like me...

Food for me is like alcohol to an alcoholic, I believe. Alcoholics start talking about allowing a drink here and there, and its a recipe for disaster. Of course we still have to eat. But we all have trigger foods, that might send us down the wrong path. For me 1 peice of pizza = 1/2 the pizza, and I feel as relaxed as a smoker putting that much wanted cigarette to my lips.

This time around, after weights of 115/200/125/200/135/150, I am realizing this is day to day, week to week. This is not about eating a lean cuisine every day, until I reach my goal and hitting the Cheese Factory again.

People that eat cookies "normal" and maintain a healthy weight, do not have the food addiction that I have. Its so sad for me to think I can never eat pizza. But I know I will eat pizza sometimes, and the struggle will be daily to not let the food take over me.

I had a cookie or 4 on Monday. And although I usually tout how awesome calorie counting is because you can work everything in .... the cookies didn't fit.
While I don't really eschew any foods, it really does work better for me if they are nowhere in sight. I have to keep things that are unhealthy for me ... out of my house!

Sugarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I am a big sugar fan I love the stuff I have not had much in a long time but I am still here...lol Still alive lol...

I think this week was a "cookie" week...cause i had 2 myself.

I cant buy them, because I will eat them all in a matter of days.

I believe there are no bad foods, just bad quantities. If I really want a biscuit (cookie) I have one.........ONE. I was only ever an occasional binger, and now I don't even eat a morsel if I am stressed, I go to the gym or the pool or go for a walk until I am calm. If I eat even an apple when stressed, I will just keep eating!

I certainly never buy a box or packet of cookies, our cafeteria at work as fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, and if I really want one, I get one from there. Can't lead to a binge because the girls at my cafeteria know where I have been and where I am going and would probably refuse to serve me

I can't do the all or nothing thing, nor would I want to. 90% or more of the time, my eating is good, but I can't possibly live a life without the occasional thing which provides nothing nutritionally but makes my taste buds happy!!!!

i agree. i can't even remember the last time i had a cookie, and this week, i had 4 oatmeal raisin cookies. i found some cookie dough in the freezer that i forgot about. i ate them, then felt sick. i just don't think i can/want to eat sugar anymore (except gourmet desserts of course). seriously, after that, i made sugar free pudding, and went to the grocery store to buy some fruit so that i had accessible sweet stuff around.

Wow, Paula, I just want to say kudos to you for not having a cookie in nearly a year; I don't think I could do it. And way to go for taking the time to think through what you'll need to be a normal cookie eater in the future. As a binger myself, I try to go the way of not having anything at all for fear I'll overeat but someday I'll need to start eating treats again like a normal person.

Thanks for all the great suggestions, girls!

Ann

I can't do that (kudos to those of you who can)...I just have to be mindul of quantities. I would feel so deprived if I was so strict on myself. Like, last night, I took my son to the movies...he got popcorn & a soda, I got bottled water. But, I admit I had to have a few pieces of popcorn & a few sips of his soda...AND IT WAS GOOOOOD!! But, I was satisfied after that.

I guess what works for one will not work for us all & that is what makes us all uniquely special people!!!

A few years ago, I gave up all sweets for about 6 months. When I started eating them again, I started bingeing on cookies and gained it all back plus more. Another time, I lost without giving up sweets.

It sounds weird, but being on Zoloft for mild depression has pretty much killed my compulsion to binge.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with eating a cookie now and then. Deprivation is not the answer. I not only have cookies on occasion, but ice cream and even Taco Bell. The key is to eat these things in moderation. This isn't a diet for me, it's a lifestyle change. Which means I'll be doing it FOR LIFE. To go the rest of my life without ever eating a cookie again, or even fast food and the occasional piece of fried chicken is not only unrealistic, but it would be setting myself up for serious binges.

Is that what I need? Zoloft? I was thinking the treatment for OCD might be helpful, which might include an antidepressant.

Wow! Thanks, everyone for sharing your experiences!

Glory, you give me hope, girl!

I think I should clarify a few things - First, I never set out to make NO SUGAR a rule in my life forever. This is the first time I've ever lost a significant amount of weight, and I was sticking with what worked for me. The longer I went without, the harder I started to think about what kind of long term plan I wanted.

I am VERY happy with my life, and my eating habits now. I have no desire to go back to my former ways. I'm thinking that having a treat every few months this year, and maybe one a month next year will be a good way to integrate an occasional treat into the mix. If it turns into a hurricane of fudge, I have no problems pulling the plug again - for good. But, before I do that, I think I owe it to myself to see if I can make it work with an occasional treat.

It's interesting to see how many different ways folks treat dessert in their lives. It's a good way to illustrate that what works for one of us won't for another.

So, girls - here's to finding what works for YOU!

cheers!
paula