I thought it would be a fun topic for everyone to share the hardest moment to not cheat that they've experienced.

I'm going to do two, one major event, and one smaller recurring event.

1. Major Event - surviving a 18 hour bachelor party. The day included an NBA game, two party meals, and of course bars, and lots of snacking by everyone throughout the day...

2. Minor Recurrance - the hardest thing has been ignoring chips and salsa at Mexican resaurants. This is a former passion of mine, before this WOE I would polish off at least 1 full basket of chips and 3 or 4 things of salsa.

Share your stories!!!

Chips and salsa are my number one challenge! When I first started doing Adkins, loaded baked potatoes were my favorite but now I just eat the toppings and not the potato! I still have a hard time resisting those chips and salsa!

Rhonda
190/190/180 (St. Patty Challenge)
193/190/130 (Goal Weight)

oooh, what a good thread! something fun to distract me at work! LOL
anyhoo, for some reason my friends have been picking mexican restaurants ALL the time lately! so i can relate to the chips/salsa situation!
my other biggie is going to the movies ... i LOVE popcorn, and it kills me to sit next to my mom or boyfriend while they nosh away on it!
i cannot believe you survived a bachelor party though! what did you eat and drink instead??
i haven't had to deal w/ anything that severe yet!

Atkins since 1/6/04
152/143/130

Right now it is the the two giant fund-raiser Caramello candy bars that my sister gave to DH. He keeps them in the fridge and they stare at me everytime I open the door. I don't even dare touch them. Did I mention that they were my favorite candy bar?

Esther

This thread is a great idea, we can relly learn how to overcome risky situations this way. But as someone who's extreemly suggestable, may I ask -no, beg you to be more discriptive in how you resisted and not so much what you resisted when you tell us about your self-discipline story?

I'm personally struggling a lot to stay on track right now and my suggestability is at an all time high. I know from previous posts that this can be a real problem for a lot of others here as well. So please have mercy on us and don't lead us into temptation, but help deliver us from... You get the idea.

TIA


Always eat your veggies first!
LCE member since March 2002

Brightlady, I was posting the same time as you. Your request is a good one. I'm resisting those bars by repeating to myself over and over again "I don't eat this."

Esther

Good Idea Brightlady.

DH and I were picked up DD from Daycare and decided to get take out for them and I was going to cook my own dinner. They both have different take out needs so we went to McDonald's drive thru first and then to Burger King. The smell was enough to do me in. I was driving too so I did the ordering and I was almost overcome with the desire to order something for myself at Burger King.

I kept repeating in my head...it's not worth it...it's not worth it...it's just food...it's just food...you'll regret it...you'll regret it.

Somehow this got me at least past placing an order for myself. When we got home I went straight into the house and told DH that he needed to prepare DD's for her (she's only 3.5). I explained that I was weak right now and did not trust myself to cut her cheeseburger into quarters or put out ketchup for her fries without scarfing down her whole dinner. Then I went into the kitchen and stayed there until my bacon and eggs were ready.

As I ate my dinner I thought about the way I used to eat...you know when McDonald's was a semi regular occurence but BACON AND EGGS!!! Wait just a minute...that stuff will kill you. Let's just say that I found it hard to feel deprived after that.

Bacon is my indulgence now. When I feel deprived I have bacon and eggs.

Started Atkins 10/27/03
182/147/140

Okay, Brightlady, here ya go:
Yesterday a co-worker brought in a tray full of homemade peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. Now, I've got to add, that this particular co-worker has missed her calling! She would make an enormously successful baker if she wanted to be that. I mean, some of the things she's baked for the office in the past... I won't even tempt you guys with the description! Needless to say, I looked at those cookies sooooo many times i probably added some carbs just by osmosis!!

Here's the kicker--I kept saying to myself, dontdoit dontdoit dontdoit, dontdoit, dontdoit... you get the drift. At about 3pm when i felt I was at my weakest, I went outside and took a walk around the block in this wonderful Florida sunshine. I thought to myself, by the time the real Florida heat hits in a few months, I'll be wearing tank tops with my shirt tucked into my jeans! That worked! I had no desire for the cookies when I got back into the office!

Now, I don't know what it means to others out there, but a tucked-in shirt means EVERYTHING to me!!
Anyway, there you go: a temptation followed by a solution = Florida sunshine and tucked-in shirts!!!!!

Cherub
304/283/160
5'9"
Started Atkins 01/04/04

Even though I'm not always successful with resisting, I try to tell myself that this is something I just DON'T eat anymore. Just like other bad habits that are no longer a part of my life, I try to form a picture of myself in my head...and she just doesn't eat certain things! But she does love spinach, eggs, etc. and taking good care of her health!

As I said, this is not fullproof, but imagining yourself in a certain way and including food choices in that picture may help. Also, I repeat, "I'm no longer tortured by choclate. It's nothing special. It's not worth thinking about all day." Again, this doesn't always work, but it makes me giggle to think of sugar and flour as these EVIL BEINGS that control me. It lightens up the situation and lets me regain my control.

Also, my BF's mother overcame her binging by just slashing things out of her diet. Anything that made her feel weak (wine, chocolate, flour...) she just doesn't eat anymore. She's very peaceful with this decision because she doesn't have to confront the option all the time. She's just removed the option.

My 15 yo son is selling a variety box of candy for a school club, and I was taking him and his brothers around so he could sell it. (snickers, m&m, skittles, ect) My boys were worried that smelling the candy would tempt me and yes I could smell it.
I wasn't tempted in the least (maybe this is the wrong thread?) because I have truly made my mind over ahead of time. I know for a certainty what will happen if I eat that stuff. Fat is deadly and I've been committing slow suicide for many years. Feeling good, liking the person I see in the mirror each day has no monetary value. Priceless.
I keep plenty of appropriate food on hand, always carry a can of premium nuts in the car, liter bottle for water, and have allowable treats available if I really, really want them.

And I always say to myself, "Look at all the delicious, satisfying food I can eat!", instead of allowing my mind to think of what I can't have. I CAN have anything I want, but what do I want?

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Anything that made her feel weak (wine, chocolate, flour...) she just doesn't eat anymore. She's very peaceful with this decision because she doesn't have to confront the option all the time. She's just removed the option.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I find that that's the best solution for myself as well. With diabetes, it's pretty easy to do too. One of the few benefits, people won't push certain foods on you if they know it will make you sick.

Funny story: my DD has always had a very easily triggered...uh... regurgitation response. Literally one bite too many and all was lost. We had to teach he fairly young to know when she'd reached her limit and not eat that next bite. This was hard to do because she's also always been very underweight, so well meaning friends and family were always pushing her to eat. But evidently we overdid it a bit because by the time she was around 3 she'd tell people very firmly "I can't eat that or I will vomit on you." You wouldn't believe how quickly people would remove the food from her reach.

Maybe I should try that....


Always eat your veggies first!
LCE member since March 2002

Hmmmm, I think I'll add that one to my self-control toolbox. LOL

Here's how I personally deal with the self-control issues, most assuredly doesn't work for all.

DO NOT ignore cravings and impulses, but rather focus on satisfying them in the best AVAILABLE manner. I do not stress out about carb counts, but pick the best options in given situations.

For example at the NBA game, I was STARVED even before the game started. I couldn't bring myself to pay 6.25 for a hambuger patty, so I picked the best option which was a bag of peanuts and a huge diet coke. The peanuts took forever to eat and were very filling (I only ate 1/3 of a bag and it took 45 minutes).

I was once at a restaurant with no reasonable LC options (tired of salads). So I had a philly cheesesteak and asked them to make it on a tortilla (lots of carbs). I got green beans instead of fries, and even though I "cheated" by having a tortilla, it was probably 1/5 of the carbs I would normally have in a meal.

If I had the candy bar or Girl scout cookie problem, the first thing I would do is make a huge batch of rich chocolate whipped cream or something like that. Then whenever I was dying for chocolate I would eat a generous portion of the whipped cream. Is this a good thing to eat a lot of? Obviously not, but a ton better than a box of Thin Mints.

I guess the summation is that you will be more likely to stay "on the wagon" if you are happy with what you are eating. So work to give yourself choices, and don't beat yourself of choosing the lesser of two evils.

My two cents, it's a philosophy that I try to follow but don't always succeed!

I always tell myself that I can have whatever it is that I want, I just don't want it right now. Like the other day I was having one of my normal cravings for chocolate chip cookies. Instead of pouting over not being able to have it, I promised myself that I could have one with lunch. Then when it was lunch time, I told myself I was just going to wait until dinner. I keep doing that - promising myself I can have food x at my next meal - until the craving goes away. I'm not always successful - esp. when I spend the day at my parent's chocolate shop - but it does help.


__________________________________________________ ________

But once in awhile the odd thing happens,
Once in a while the dream comes true,
And the whole pattern of life is altered,
Once in awhile the moon turns blue.~ Auden

See , we all know how to deal with temptation.
My hardest moments not to cheat were at the holidays. My sister makes the worlds best stuffing at Thanksgiving. It has 6 kinds of bread (none of it wonder bread) and fresh and dried herbs and lots of butter. Her mashed regular and sweet potatoes are also awesome. Not to mention 3 kinds of pies for dessert. How did I handle it. I decided ahead of time that I would allow myself one spoonful of stuffing and one spoonful of my choice either sweet or regular mashed potatoes. And that was what I did. I Made a splenda sweetened dessert (key lime pie) so my Diabetic sister could have some too. And even though I exceeded my carb allowance by about 30, I felt I did well, all things considered.

Rob
310/230/180
Me, a skeptic? I trust you have proof.