No sweets in the house rule

[heatherhikes]

Today it happened again…I went to the grocery store, and after I had finished buying fruit, vegetables, bread, etc. I was really tempted to get some ice cream. Since one of my most important rules is “no sweets in the house during the week,†I had a real hard time, going forth and back with my thoughts, like having a little devil on my right shoulder and a little angel on my left shoulder…Well, the little devil won today.
You might guess what happened later on. I had dinner and then ate the ice cream – another red day because of the ice cream.

It’s been suggested at the boards that, not keeping sweets or other problem foods around on N-days would help stay compliant (if your family doesn’t complain about not having sweets & Co. around). But I begin to wonder if this idea to stay “clean†of problem foods is really such a good idea. Maybe I need to learn to have these things around and not eat them until the appropriate time (S-days).

At this point, having sweets around the house is a “special†situation for me because I usually don’t allow them Mon-Fri. So, when they’re there or when offered to me at a friend’s house, it’s almost like I haven’t developed that "mental muscle†or that capacity not to eat them. This has been my main problem.
I hope this makes sense the way I explained it.

Has any of you come across this problem or a similar situation? I would appreciate your input and experience on this very much!

My update since starting No-S 3 ½ weeks ago – 9 reds and 10 greens. It could be better but I am okay with it (I was No-Sing a few months in 2011).
_______________
Heddi

[oolala53]

I kept sweets in the house for decades because of the suggestions of the intuitive eating crowd and their theory that if you know you can have it, it takes away the compulsion. It did not work. Good Lord, the brownies, ice cream, chocolate, etc., I binged on!

While first implementing No S, I also read Mindless Eating, which Reinhard often refers to as well. Because of it, I finally gave myself permission NOT to have sweets in the house. Wansink has shown that even slim people will sometimes eat or overeat because of proximity or excessive amounts available. I know some slim people who say they won't keep ice cream in the house for the same reason, and they don't feel bad about it.

During my 30 months here, I've gone through times of not having sweets around and having them, often kept in the freezer. So I'm saying it's an option for me now and I go through phases where I choose not to. I don't feel bad about sometimes feeling weaker and deciding not to have them around. And there are times it is not a problem.

I can't remember the last time I ate sweets offered to me on an N day. I just don't do it. Most of my friends know about No S and I don't want them thinking there's a chance I'll decide on an individual basis, if I say yes once. (I do have fails when I'm alone.)

I suggest as a kind of training wheel exercise that you go one month with having sweets in the house only on Fridays, holding out until the S days to eat them. Then you might experiment with Thursday and Friday, working up to the whole week. Give yourself time to wean yourself off having to keep them out of the house. If it takes a few months, so what?

If you fail, you can always have the option of ousting sweets for another month and trying again later, or keeping them and chancing it.

I also suggest rereading the No S book for inspiration AND looking up one of the Judith Beck books for strategies to use in the moment of temptation. Her workbook and the lifeplan book have been the most helpful to me to develop the mental muscle.

[GraceW]

I tried to have sweets in the house, but they made it hard to stay compliant on N days and moderate on S days. It took too much willpower to resist them, especially if I was mentally drained from other things. Now I keep them out of the house and walk to the bakery on S days. The treats are fresher that way anyway.

I also read Mindless Eating and highly recommend that book.

[eschano]

I'm tempted a lot at work as my co-workers keep pushing cakes and sweets under my nose (they are slowly learning not to offer) but lately I had friends bring back great chocolates from their vacation too. I resisted and have them at home now, waiting for an S day the way a kid waits for Christmas.

Having to resist most of the day already makes it a real fight to pass up on sweets at home. My solution is not to have them around most days/most weeks. After all, I'd rather not have them around than starting to resent a perfectly pleasant way of living - NoS. But when I do get a great, special sweet that I can save it would be sad to pass up on it just because I don't trust myself.

[r.jean]

My husband is a big sweets eater so I have learned to deal with the temptation in the house. It did get easier with time! However, I try to keep chips out of the house. My husband eats chips some of the time but mostly likes different chips than I do. Thank goodness!

[JayEll]

If you were a recovering drug addict, would you keep heroin in the house?

For some of us, some foods are just too much like that. Once we start, we keep going, whether it's a pint or a half gallon.

As a general rule, I go out to get ice cream. It doesn't live in my house. If I'm getting ice cream for a special occasion, I get the smallest container possible for the number of people I'm having. But it's a special occasion--I don't need a supply in the freezer "just in case." Who would I be kidding?

[bonnieUK]

I can't allow sweets in my house! I've always been all or nothing with sweets. For that reason, I don't even eat sweets on S days unless it is something amazing (it has to really be worth it!). When I do get sweets, I just get a single serving of something (e.g. a chocolate bar or small cake). Occasionally, DH and I buy an apple pie to share, but that means I eat 1 piece and he eats 3 LOL He much taller/larger than me so can get away with the extra calories. Plus, when we do that, he usually has his 3 pieces of pie instead of a meal LOL

[SpiritSong]

If you were a recovering drug addict, would you keep heroin in the house?

Exactly. No one tells an alchoholic to go hang out at a bar to prove s/he can handle temptation.

In 2010, I was doing really well with No S, and my mom gave me a box of orange chocolate candy for Easter. I gave it to my husband to hide and asked him to only bring it out on S-Days. That box of chocolates lasted a loooooooooong time.

[heatherhikes]

Love this thread. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and experience, the practical day to day strategies, with me/all of us. I’ll review your answers for a few days and will chime back in.

So glad that I finally decided to end my NoS lone-rangerdom (see my previous posts) and join the boards here. It’s the next best thing to a weekly small group; I attended WeighDown in the 90's. Actually, surfing the boards is better a) help is more immediate; no need to wait for next week’s group b) we converse and share with people from different countries and (eating) cultures c) it saves time; there’s no need to meet at certain times/days/places.
I’m sure this is hardly new to most of you. Well, I am just glad not needing to tinker around alone any more with my eating habits gone kerflooey. Besides, Switzerland can be a lonely place with its skinny/fit population and all their super-rich cheese dishes. So far I haven’t found out how they do it...Yes, I hike and nordic-walk about the Jura mountains here, still...

Have a GOOD weekend, y’all
___________________
Hedster

[NoSRocks]

hi! Just chiming in with my thoughts on this - as a person who has a very sweet tooth and loves desserts - and until recently, loved to bake and eat treats in anticipation of my S Days.

I would say if you can, try to keep the sweet treats out of the house since if they are there, they will just tempt you. This past month or so, I have had the best weight loss success than when I first started No Sing 3 years ago. That has pretty much been down to the fact I have not had any sweet treats in the house during the week etc. Yes, I do slip up and have just done so this morning. I baked up some brownies for the DH and kids to enjoy and found myself sneaking pieces of it whilst I took it out of the baking tray. I also found myself tempted to have one (before freezing them) but managed to resist this time. This is not to say one CAN'T ever have treats or snacks but I'd just had my breakfast, wasn't even particularly hungry and the sight and smell of the brownies had me drooling. Going forward, I know if I want to progress/lose more OR maintain, sweet treats have to take a back seat during the week (my N Days).

[Jethro]

Since everyone in my household is slim - except me - I had to allow sweets. I couldn't deprive my loved ones from their joy.

How did it affect me? It took me a year to not succumb to temptation on N days.

Better late than never.

[mimi]

I cannot keep ice cream in the house. Period. If I do, I will eat it...ALL. I can put other sweets in the freezer and not be bothered, but ice cream is my downfall. I know that and accept it, so we go out to the local Dairy Queen for ice cream on Sunday afternoons...much more enjoyable that way!

Mimi

[oolala53]

I already posted but I'll add that at least formerly, I think the French kept hardly any food in the house, never mind sweets. They shopped daily, had small fridges, few cabinets, and cooked to avoid leftovers. What we would call dessert they had once a week and bought only enough on the day of the event for everyone to have one serving.

[vmsurbat]

What we would call dessert they had once a week and bought only enough on the day of the event for everyone to have one serving.

Even though we get two S days following NoS habits, I am finding that one dessert per week is ENOUGH. This said after 4 years of NoS!! The first year I had dessert/something sweet (not necessarily large, but still a treat) at each meal on S days. That moderated over time to a dessert one day, something like a cookie the other. Now, I'm down to the one dessert. I FINALLY get the fruit/nut/cheese plate for meal finishing so prevalent in countries with healthy, realistic food cultures.

I'm always a bit saddened when I go to sites like EatingWell and others and find the suggested meal plans include dessert daily as a key selling point.

[osoniye]

Through experience I can 100% guarantee that if there is chocolate, chips or ice cream in the house I will eat them when it is not an S day/not meal time.

While it is very, very hard to pass them by in the supermarket, it is MUCH easier to roll past them there, than it is to keep walking every time I pass my pantry.
I keep dried fruit in the house (apricots, plums) to round a plate out if I am feeling like I need something sort of heavy and sweet-ish, and I am not tempted to scarf those down at other times like I am junk food.

[wosnes]

I already posted but I'll add that at least formerly, I think the French kept hardly any food in the house, never mind sweets. They shopped daily, had small fridges, few cabinets, and cooked to avoid leftovers. What we would call dessert they had once a week and bought only enough on the day of the event for everyone to have one serving.

I don't remember where I read this, but I read that a French woman had a dinner party and planned on ice cream for dessert. She had to send her husband out during the meal to get it, because she had no place to store it.

When I was reading about French school food, I saw a few videos on You Tube about apartments in Paris. Every one of them, including those for families, had refrigerators that we would call dorm refrigerators, very little cabinet space and little counter space. None had ovens like we have. One had an open cabinet for food storage, but it was very small.

It seems to me that if you can't keep a lot of food in your home -- be it groceries, things in the freezer or leftovers, not to mention sweets, you're not going to eat as much. If you don't eat as much, gaining weight isn't going to be as easy.

I've also read that if you plan on baking a cake, for instance, you can buy exactly the amounts of everything you need to make the cake. You don't have extra flour, sugar, and so on so you can't decide to bake cookies, too.

[TUK]

The French guy is giving his two cents.

Indeed, in France, combined refrigerators and freezers are most of the time on top of one another. That's because appliances are designed to fit in places that are about 65-cm wide. (that's a standard for kitchen furniture) It's about 1 third or 1 fourth of freezer space, and the rest of refrigerator space.

If you are lucky enough not to live in Paris and not in an apartment, maybe you have enough space to buy separate freezer and refrigerator. (like we did)

Of course, wider domestic cold appliances exist, with two doors side-by-side, one for freezer space and one for refrigerator space. Guess what. They're called "American" refrigerators. They sometimes have a front door ice dispenser, maybe a cold water dispenser. But none of them have an oven. And I don't think they will have one in any close future. In France, everybody knows that you should separate domestic cold appliances from any heat source to spare work from the heat pump. I could be wrong though.

[TUK]

And, if I may boldly say, Paris is not a reference for France. Paris is the capital. It is another world. Only one sixth of the French population lives there, and yet, one sixth of the population is massed there.

In Paris, when you rent an apartment, you should be happy to be an engineer and afford a 27m² apartment. Everywhere else in France (even on the Riviera), even a 45m² apartment is affordable.

[wosnes]

I meant that none of the kitchens had large ovens like we do.

[TUK]

Oops, sorry for my misunderstanding. It's common sense, of course.

Yes. Standard ovens you find in France fit in 60cm wide furniture. Wider ones are part of wide stoves. ("pianos") And they are rather seldom.

[TUK]

I've also read that if you plan on baking a cake, for instance, you can buy exactly the amounts of everything you need to make the cake. You don't have extra flour, sugar, and so on so you can't decide to bake cookies, too.

I don't know if you're talking about France, but my experience is different. To buy ingredients for a cake, you have to buy:
- 1kg of flour
- 1kg, or nowadays, 900g of sugar. (They change package sizes, but not the price)
- Pastry chocolate bars, 200g per bar.
- Eggs by 6 or 12.

That's in supermarkets. There are alternatives in organic food shops:
- You can indeed take your exact amount of flour and sugar if you want to.
- You can buy organic flour and sugar by bags of 3/5/10kg.

On marketplaces, and in the last surviving butcheries, and some bakeries, you can also buy exact amount of eggs.

In my experience, we tend to always have these ingredients in our cupboards. But we don't bake cakes to satisfy a pressing desire of sweet thing. We are impatient people.

[oolala53]

Did you mean patient people? Or did you mean you would be too impatient to bake such a cake, but would go buy it instead? Or just eat other smaller sweets?

I'd better stop talking about this because I'm now thinking of going and buying something sweet and I'm not even hungry!

American fridges don't have ovens in them, and I believe most people try to arrange the kitchen to separate the stove and fridge.

So the French don't roast chickens or hunks of beef? I guess that's more English and German?

I guess I'm math challenged or is 27m2 really just 88 square feet?

Also, remember that many European cities already had dense population when the States were just getting going and even now, I think a lot of people are within walking distance of good food shops. Our being spread out made us want to make fewer trips for food and go to fewer places to get it. Sure, we brought in on ourselves, and cars helped, but it was a different development pattern. And we had the space, in our minds.

[TUK]

Did you mean patient people? Or did you mean you would be too impatient to bake such a cake, but would go buy it instead? Or just eat other smaller sweets?

That's exactly what I meant by "impatient". If we want something to eat, baking a cake is too long and we want it NOW, so we go buy some ice cream, or cookies instead.

American fridges don't have ovens in them, and I believe most people try to arrange the kitchen to separate the stove and fridge.

Yes, that's what I understand now. Americans are the source of so many household applicance innovations that I thought on the moment that it might be possible. After all, a fridge is a heat pump, so the head taken from the fridge has to go somewhere, so using this heat to heat other things may be possible. Sorry for unwillingly implying that Americans don't have common sense. (about separating cold and heat)

So the French don't roast chickens or hunks of beef? I guess that's more English and German?

We do, but a 60-cm wide oven is sufficient, at least for roasting a chicken or some beef. But a big fat turkey won't fit, I guess.

I guess I'm math challenged or is 27m2 really just 88 square feet?

No, that's 291 sqft. (since it's a surface, you have to convert meters to feet twice. Once for length and once for width) But that's an extreme case of someone single, or a young couple living intra muros. (in the city of Paris, where they don't spend 1 hour and a half going to work, instead of living in the suburbs)

Also, remember that many European cities already had dense population when the States were just getting going and even now, I think a lot of people are within walking distance of good food shops. Our being spread out made us want to make fewer trips for food and go to fewer places to get it. Sure, we brought in on ourselves, and cars helped, but it was a different development pattern. And we had the space, in our minds.

That's right. And you take cars lots more often, if I remember my last student exchange there. I remember the mother of my exchange student driving us someplace, and at some point, stopping in front of an ATM and making a cash deposit. We don't have drive-ins for banks, here

[Jethro]

And, if I may boldly say, Paris is not a reference for France. Paris is the capital. It is another world. Only one sixth of the French population lives there, and yet, one sixth of the population is massed there.

In Paris, when you rent an apartment, you should be happy to be an engineer and afford a 27m² apartment. Everywhere else in France (even on the Riviera), even a 45m² apartment is affordable.

TUK, how much does an engineer make in France?

Are they the highest paid profession?

[TUK]

And, if I may boldly say, Paris is not a reference for France. Paris is the capital. It is another world. Only one sixth of the French population lives there, and yet, one sixth of the population is massed there.

In Paris, when you rent an apartment, you should be happy to be an engineer and afford a 27m² apartment. Everywhere else in France (even on the Riviera), even a 45m² apartment is affordable.

TUK, how much does an engineer make in France?

Are they the highest paid profession?

They're definitely not the highest paid profession, but they are doing better than the average. How much they earn depends on what they negotiate for their hire. It can vary from 26 k€ to 38 k€ depending on the market.

And when I talk about Paris, I am talking about intramuros apartments (in the City, where you can reach your work in less than 1 hour wherever it is).

[oolala53]

I missed the reference about the 60 cm ovens. I thought someone meant French kitchens tend not to have ovens. They weren't standard in Iranian kitchens when I lived there. Most of the cuisine was stews, kebabs, rice, etc. All stove top. They bought bread fresh from neighborhood commercial ovens. There was certainly no lack of good food because of it!

I have a stove with a big oven, but I've ended up never using it, except to keep pot lids and such. I live in 500 sq. ft, which in the U.S., is pretty small. But I'd rather find a way to declutter and make it work for now.

My countertop infrared oven is broken, but I loved it! I could cook quite a bit in it. My maid accidentally broke my new one (I had another one I bought used and cooked in for years), but I can't prove it and I'd feel funny asking her to replace it, even if I could. It's a little pricey to me to go out and replace right now, esp. when it was only a couple of months old. It's not really logical of me, but ...

The automobile emerged as many US cities were developing, so sprawl went hand in hand. No matter how pleasant new redevelopers try to make cities in the States, there is still a love affair with the big house and back yard. And the independence of using the car. I'd love to be able to walk to work, but the schools in my vicinity include some tough neighborhood pockets, and I am just not up anymore to trying to deal with the behavior problems that go with them. I'm at a "nice" school, and it's still a struggle every day. So I commute.

Sorry to get on a tangent.

[bigshoe]

My wife says she loves NoS because there is ice cream in the fridge when she wants it. I used to be horrible ever since I was a kid. I remember waiting for my mom to FINALLY leave the house so I could binge on the neopolitan.

Even recently I would buy a pint and it would be gone in a day. Since NoS, we've had ice cream in the freezer all week and I've been eerily ok. Well until Sunday.

But I was at the store on my S day thinking I should get the mini cup for a treat but there was a sale on pints I couldn't pass up and I figured I can now let ice cream sit and not freak out about it. I used to lay in bed at night unable to sleep until the ice cream was gone. So I know, sometimes you can't keep it in the house. But someday.. may be ok

[oolala53]

Ironically, I had a near-ice cream experience this weekend. I'd had a fine S day but impulsively pulled into the corner market parking lot on the way home because of the sign for "2 for $5" ice cream half gallons. The weather has been very hot and I was having a "that would be a good idea" thoughts. At the same time as "this is a bad idea." I even got to the door of the freezer, but had to admit to myself I would end up eating half the carton if I took it home. I bought fruit and left. I'll save ice cream-- for now- to share with others.

[bigshoe]

smart move oolala!

[heatherhikes]

Thanks, y’all for the helpful suggestions; I’ll check out the recommended books.

Oolala,
the IE bit didn’t work for me either. I tried it for about 5 years, and I remember at some point losing and gaining back the same 20 pounds three different times. Looking back at that totally frustrating time, I can summa summarum say that the sweets were the culprits. At NoS you learn how to slowly deal with sweets, at IE you don’t. At the latter, sweets & co. are constantly dangled in front of you. After all, you’re allowed to have them, so why not keep 'em as staples?!

...most of my friends know about No S and I don't want them thinking there's a chance I'll decide on an individual basis, if I say yes once...

Consistency with friends – insightful; this in turn helps you to stay compliant at future get togethers.

I suggest as a kind of training wheel exercise that you go one month with having sweets in the house only on Fridays, holding out until the S days to eat them. Then you might experiment with Thursday and Friday, working up to the whole week. Give yourself time to wean yourself off having to keep them out of the house. If it takes a few months, so what?

If you fail, you can always have the option of ousting sweets for another month and trying again later, or keeping them and chancing it...

This strategy has written my name on it; I’ll definitely start implementing it in 2-3 months.

I think the French kept hardly any food in the house, never mind sweets. They shopped daily, had small fridges, few cabinets, and cooked to avoid leftovers. What we would call dessert they had once a week and bought only enough on the day of the event for everyone to have one serving.

I was brought up in Germany. We had one of those small fridges but had plenty of storage space in a separate room and the cellar. My mother usually baked 1-2 cakes for the weekend; friends often visited Sundays. During the week we didn’t have dessert. I remember that it was common in some households to throw away leftover cake Sunday night. Unthinkable in my later life...

...The weather has been very hot and I was having a "that would be a good idea" thoughts. At the same time as "this is a bad idea." I even got to the door of the freezer, but had to admit to myself I would end up eating half the carton if I took it home. I bought fruit and left. I'll save ice cream-- for now- to share with others.

I like the way you handled this prickly situation, your choice of thoughts. My challenge would’ve been, “I need to buy this for my poor DH who is so deprived because he can’t have any sweets i.t. house,†then I'd buy the ice cream and end up eating ¾ of it. Well, that was last year. Today I’d say, “we can get something special this weekend.â€

...Occasionally, DH and I buy an apple pie to share, but that means I eat 1 piece and he eats 3 LOL He much taller/larger than me so can get away with the extra calories. Plus, when we do that, he usually has his 3 pieces of pie instead of a meal LOL.

You made me laugh. You buy a pie and he eats most of it? My husband is also taller/broader than me and can eat more without gaining. Can you go to a different room, house, part of town when he inhales the pie? It would be hard for me to watch DH eating this amount of sweets.

...my mom gave me a box of orange chocolate candy for Easter. I gave it to my husband to hide and asked him to only bring it out on S-Days. That box of chocolates lasted a loooooooooong time.

I used to ask my husband now and then to hide sweets; it didn't work so well in our household because I have a “nose†for where the candy is. It would go well for a week or two, but then I would feel “emotionally challenged†one day and get the candy, LOL. It could've happened..and it did.

Since everyone in my household is slim - except me - I had to allow sweets. I couldn't deprive my loved ones from their joy.
How did it affect me? It took me a year to not succumb to temptation on N days.

That’s my problem too. DH is slim and eats sweets in small amounts...can stop eating the most delicious dessert when full. Well, I’m glad he’s slim and can stop...
I don’t want to deprive him of an occasional sweet. However, he understands my problem and is more than willing to keep the sweets out. I have a lot of weight to lose and can't afford to experiment.

...While it is very, very hard to pass them by in the supermarket, it is MUCH easier to roll past them there, than it is to keep walking every time I pass my pantry...

This is so true. I want to keep this in mind when I hit the supermarket. Besides, it could be helpful to have someone go shopping with me, when I need a little extra strength that day, LOL.


It has been real fun reading this post! Thanks again for each and every post, comment, and tip. Overall you confirmed what I suspected with trembling: Get and keep out what ails ya.
For now I decided to keep the sweets out of the house on N-days and S-days (mostly), for 2-3 months. Then I’ll try to slowly add them week by week as Oolala suggests. If it gets harder again to stay compliant, I’ll take a step back. I am reminded of Reinhard’s suggestion of the "fence around the law.†To me, keeping the sweets out is also part of that fence; it needs to be upheld carefully.

Oh, and this week has been green so far.
______________
Hedster

[noni]

I was talking to DH about turkish taffy, my childhood weakness, when I saw it in a Mom and Pop store. I picked up vanilla and chocolate (what... no strawberry?!) and was saving it for the weekend. Well, they either changed the recipe or I had poor taste in candy when I was young. I couldn't give it away because no one wanted it. I took a couple more bites, just in case I miscalculated the taste, then threw it away in the trash. That wasn't enough. I dug it out the next day, a Monday, to try it again ( it wasn't worthy of a weekend treat, you see) since I was feeling nostalgic for a simpler and irresponsible time, but it had cat hair all over it. Should I just wash it off? After all, I have a very clean cat. I've had plenty of hacked up hairballs in the house to prove it. I took it out of the house. I think it would not have been a problem if it tasted like long ago.

Did anybody longingly buy something they hadn't had for a long time and its taste has been compromised? What a disappointment.

[heatherhikes]

noni, you are hilarious! Want to look at it this way?—The One who’s watching over you protected you from eating the whole package...washed off cat hair and all, LOL
The spiel with “into garbage out of garbage†could be from me..been there done that...some time ago. I don’t own a cat, though.
I sometimes buy ice cream that turns out to be disappointing. I used to eat it anyway. Now I spoon out the part I like (if possible) and throw the rest away; that sometimes turns out to be ¾ of the package. VICTORY.

Living in Europe, DH and I sometimes buy food that turns out to taste different than what we imagined. Since No-essing I’ve gotten much more particular and fussy with the food I eat; after all, I have to make every meal count, there are only 3 of them.
The last thing I remember, I bought seaweed in a delicious looking sesame-oil sauce. And, it was pricey. Well, it’s still sitting in the fridge. Being green by nature, it can’t turn greener any more...

Let me think of some more food flukes.
Wishing you all a green Wednesday, void of seaweed
_______________
Hedster

[Rachelocity]

Heddi, I had seaweed salad with my sushi at lunch, and it was delish! Not cheap in Canada, either, but I'm finding that my meals are getting smaller, so I can finish the container tomorrow at lunch. And you're 1000% right that life is too short to eat bad food!

Noni, your story reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George fished the eclair out of the garbage and his girlfriend's family thought he was a homeless person. And I'm also finding that lot of foods that I used to love now taste just bad to me. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be, or more likely, the formulas have changed because of economic factors.

I have a ton of 100-calorie packs of so-called "goodies" in the house, but nowadays I'd rather wait till the weekend and have a few forkfuls of the real thing!

[wosnes]

Heddi, I had seaweed salad with my sushi at lunch, and it was delish! Not cheap in Canada, either, but I'm finding that my meals are getting smaller, so I can finish the container tomorrow at lunch. And you're 1000% right that life is too short to eat bad food!

Noni, your story reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George fished the eclair out of the garbage and his girlfriend's family thought he was a homeless person. And I'm also finding that lot of foods that I used to love now taste just bad to me. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be, or more likely, the formulas have changed because of economic factors.

I have a ton of 100-calorie packs of so-called "goodies" in the house, but nowadays I'd rather wait till the weekend and have a few forkfuls of the real thing!

I'm not sure the formulas changed because of economic factors, but companies did realize, for instance, that their profit was higher using HFCS rather than sugar. And some may have changed due to "dietary guidelines" that encouraged the use of vegetable fats rather than animal fats.

I find I'm doing what Michael Pollan advocates: "Pay more and eat less." I'm buying -- whether it's an ingredient or a finished product -- better quality food. The better quality food also tends to be much more satisfying, so you don't need to eat as much.

[heatherhikes]

...Living in Europe, DH and I sometimes buy food that turns out to taste different than what we imagined. Since No-essing I’ve gotten much more particular and fussy with the food...The last thing I remember, I bought seaweed in a delicious looking sesame-oil sauce. And, it was pricey. Well, it’s still sitting in the fridge. Being green by nature, it can’t turn greener any more...
Wishing you all a green Wednesday, void of seaweed...

Rachelcity, seaweed salad can be very tasty. I figure, I just bought it in the wrong store.
By "void of seaweed" I meant the type I had that day (sorry).
__________________
Heddi

[oolala53]

Taffy story also reminded me of a Geneen Roth story in which she and her friend bought themselves Valentine hearts of chocolate and went to town. Got so full they threw the rest in the garbage. Next day, workman comes to the house. While he's working, she asks if he'd like some leftover Valentine chocolate. Sure! She fishes it out for him.

She ended by saying she was bad. Very very bad.

I'm more suprised that some things still taste good. Like Hershey's chocolate syrup. While Hershey's bars feel grainy now. Cadbury's are still good. M & M's not as mesmerizing.

Dense chocolate cake slices with dark chocolate frosting from really good bakeries aren't as good to me anymore, even though they're the good stuff. I'm much more likely to still love sheet cake from Costco, with the fluffy filling and killer old-fashioned frosting. I fantasize about mousse-like desserts now.

[Rachelocity]

Rachelcity, seaweed salad can be very tasty. I figure, I just bought it in the wrong store.
By "void of seaweed" I meant the type I had that day (sorry).

Heddi, if you were here, I'd gladly share my really good seaweed with you! And my dental floss, 'cause that stuff really gets stuck in my teeth!!

[TexArk]

It has been nearly 2 years since I gave up sweets 99% of the time. I save them for a real S day..not Saturday or Sunday. But I have found that now they do not call my name even if they are in the house. That would not be true I do not think, if I reintroduced the "hit" each weekend. That has been my experience anyway.

Now, the "foods with no brakes" that I cannot keep at home are cheese and nuts. I will eat these but keep them as something special outside of the house. Maybe the time will come when I can resist overindulging in these foods, but I don't see any sense in working my willpower overtime. It has been proven that we can build up our willpower muscle but it also is known that the more decisions we have to make the more we wear down our "governor" in our frontal lobe!

I am getting really good at rolling my cart past the problem foods in the grocery store. Sometimes the items might go in my cart because they are such a good buy, and then after reflection I put them back (sometimes I have to go back several aisles) and roll on by. At home, that is much more difficult. (I also confess to rescuing "treats" from the garbage...I have to dump nasty stuff on top right away or flush the food down the toilet!)

[eschano]

Thanks for having started this thread Heddi. It's great to read all the different opinions on the issue. There are really good strategies in here.

[Rachelocity]

I can't think of one discussion on this board that isn't respectful, kind and very informative!

For me, peanut butter is a trigger food and the only way I can have it is a "controlled substance" - I bought a box of the little individual packs that you get at restaurants to put on toast, and when I'm having PB, I take one single pack. That's it, that's all, and oddly, that's enough!

Intuitive Eating is an Epic Fail for me because my intuition tells me there's gonna be a huge famine hitting the downtown core of Montreal within 45 minutes, and I have to eat everything that I can or I'll resemble pile of pick-up sticks!!! (My intuition is equally ineffective in picking winning racehorses or stocks - at least I'm consistent! )

[heatherhikes]

Heddi, if you were here, I'd gladly share my really good seaweed with you! And my dental floss, 'cause that stuff really gets stuck in my teeth!!

Funny girl, you!
But seriously, if you have a delicious seaweed salad recipe, also with glass noodles, would you write me the ingredients? This way I could prepare my own and not depend on the fish shops' mixed salads any more.

I have a problem with peanutbutter too, and also with Nutella. I am known to have finished a smaller jar of Nutella in one day, bad bad.
At this point I can't have either one in the house. I do believe, though, that sometimes in the future I'll be able to, carefully...
I've had four green days on a string, YEY
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Hedster

[heatherhikes]

Thanks for having started this thread Heddi. It's great to read all the different opinions on the issue. There are really good strategies in here.

You are welcome, eschano!
I'm learning much here. It's in a way comforting to realize that others are dealing with similar food issues. I'm not home alone...and without dem sugary thengs...
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Hedster

[eschano]

because my intuition tells me there's gonna be a huge famine hitting the downtown core of Montreal within 45 minutes, and I have to eat everything that I can or I'll resemble pile of pick-up sticks!!! (My intuition is equally ineffective in picking winning racehorses or stocks - at least I'm consistent! )

So true! My intuition works likewise. That's why I feel so relaxed in a huge supermarket - enough food visible to keep me from anticipating the famine.

[noni]

I have large packs of Sam's Club goodies, sitting on my dining room table for a few days, waiting for vacation. Because of No S, they are not calling my name.
Now perhaps the cadbury bar that oolala mentioned...

[heatherhikes]

...Sam's Club goodies, sitting on my dining room table for a few days...Because of No S, they are not calling my name.
Now perhaps the cadbury bar that oolala mentioned...

noni, I find it remarkable that the SC candies don't tempt you because of NoS...This reminds me of myself; some sweets I probably could have i.t. house right now, others not. But, to give no leeway to temptation and "keep that fence high around the law," I've decided to not have sweets i.t. house at this point, except small amounts on weekends. This has helped me much to stay on target.
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Heddi

[snapdragon]

I have been coming to these conclusions myself. My oldest DD waits u til I leave to eat whatever junk I have in the house. I have to have some sort of snack food in the house during the school year because now kids are required to bring snacks to school. I tried just packing fruit for my DD #3 and she skips it and eats whatever snacks the teacher brings for kids who did not bring snacks. I try to stick to string cheese or pretzels but she gets sick of it. I have to keep finding new places to hide them or the whole box of crackers or granola bars ect will be gone in a day. If I am feeling ambitious I will bake muffins with ww flour, those last forever lol.

[heatherhikes]

...My oldest DD waits u til I leave to eat whatever junk I have in the house. I have to have some sort of snack food in the house during the school year because now kids are required to bring snacks to school. I tried just packing fruit for my DD #3 and she skips it and eats whatever snacks the teacher brings for kids who did not bring snacks. I try to stick to string cheese or pretzels but she gets sick of it...

Congratulations, your oldest daughter supports you by not eating sweets i.f.o. you! That's excellent, considering her (I presume) young age. We don't have children and DH's supporting me with the "sugar-free zone" i.t. house, so it's easier for me. But, as several posters mentioned, they also have/had to learn to live with sweets around...and eventually you'll have more developed will power muscles than somebody like me, for example, who hasn't been challenged that way. I, then, introduce the sugary stuff the SLOW way, as I discussed earlier in the thread. As an ideal, I'd think that most of us would like to live a normal life where sweets/problem foods surrounding us everywhere, anyway, don't drip us up...
Regarding your daughters' snacking preferences, have you asked other mothers with similar problems about wholesome, interesting snacking ideas for school? Be encouraged; I believe there's always a way.
I hope other posters in similar situations feel motivated to chime in here and help. How about a new thread called something like "NoS for school kids" - if they have an eating/weight problem, that is? My humble suggestion.
______________
Heddi

[heatherhikes]

It has been nearly 2 years since I gave up sweets 99% of the time. I save them for a real S day..not Saturday or Sunday. But I have found that now they do not call my name even if they are in the house. That would not be true I do not think, if I reintroduced the "hit" each weekend. That has been my experience anyway.

It's commendable that you don't eat sweets 99% of the time! And that they don't tempt you. WOW.
For many years I went forth and back betwen periods of trying to get sugar foods out of my life, overindulging on sugar (with years of IE). At times I went 1-2 months without sweets, then fell back. I finally decided that moderation with sweets is the only way for me, tried different ways to implement this and kept on failing until I found NoS. This moderate way is the only way for me to regain my sanity with food.
I had to re-learn a lesson last weekend. Saturday I had, what I consider for myself, a perfect S-day. I preplanned 2 special treats and waited until the afternoon to eat the first treat, away from home. The second one I had at dinner as a dessert, at home.
The first treat was very satisfying; I didn't even eat all of my second treat.
Well, Sunday I had too many sweets i.t. afternoon and partly not that delicious, away from home, and so I started to feel jucky (increased insulin, imbalance etc.). When I got home I started to snack on all kinds of food, until hours later I was finally able to stop that "sugar monster." In summary, when I eat moderate amounts of sweets on S-days that I like, then I am fine. When I eat high amounts of sweets and/or I don't particularly enjoy them..WARNING, WARNING. At least, that's where I am at this point. I know this from the past but had forgotten about it.
Hope this experience helps someone.

...(I also confess to rescuing "treats" from the garbage...I have to dump nasty stuff on top right away or flush the food down the toilet!)

I call them funny, determined and virtuous, these coping methods of ours, although an outsider may not see it that way.
___________
Heddi

[leafy_greens]

I don't know if shopping everyday (like the French) is a good idea. Going into a store is like a trap, for me. I can go in with good intentions, but somehow end up in the "bad" aisle. I would rather just stay out of there, if possible.

[r.jean]

I have the ideal situation. I shop almost daily by making a list for my retired husband. He likes to shop, and I hate to shop. It works well. I did have to get him out of the habit of buying me treats that were not on my list though!

[eschano]

I realised that while I have little problem to pass up on sweets in the house on N days my S days are all the wilder. It seems I have no willpower left come S day to pass up on any sweets. So back to not keeping them around.

[heatherhikes]

I have the ideal situation. I shop almost daily by making a list for my retired husband. He likes to shop, and I hate to shop. It works well. I did have to get him out of the habit of buying me treats that were not on my list though!

FUUUNNY
This reminds me of my DH shopping. I like to shop but sometimes try to stay away from the stores (tempted to buy sweets/snacks), so he goes grocery shopping for me. He then used to pick up unplanned treats that I do NOT want in the house, wherefore I didn't want to go shopp. in the first place. I was amused and frustrated at the same time. In the meantime he has "learnt" not to purchase sweets to surprise me...
Sweets and co. are surrounding us; in my darker moments I preceive it as a continuous fight to keep them away from me...until I choose to have some, on S-days.

Wishing you all a pleasant weekend!
_________
Heddi

[r.jean]

I agree! The sweets and other food will always be a step away even if it is not right in the house. Learning to say no to myself or to well meaning friends and family will probably always be a struggle. It does get easier though.

[What Name?]

Today it happened again…I went to the grocery store, and after I had finished buying fruit, vegetables, bread, etc. I was really tempted to get some ice cream. Since one of my most important rules is “no sweets in the house during the week,†I had a real hard time, going forth and back with my thoughts, like having a little devil on my right shoulder and a little angel on my left shoulder…Well, the little devil won today.
You might guess what happened later on. I had dinner and then ate the ice cream – another red day because of the ice cream.
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Heddi

I don't often feel tempted to buy sweets on N days (or on Sunday afternoons, when I shop at Krogers--there ads change on Monday) because I know where those items are located and don't have any reason to go near them. Don't go down every aisle in the grocery store, shop the edges where the healthy stuff tends to be and only go down the aisles for specific items like cereal and canned tuna.

This doesn't work at Giant Eagle though, my local store has the cakes, cookies and bakery items right before the fruit and vegetables. So, that's where I am tempted. The good thing is they sell individual slices and small cakes (really enough for two servings), so on S days I get those and they are gone before the N days start again. I just have to avoid droping in after work when I am tired and hungry.

If you buy ice cream, spend the money to buy the "good" stuff in the small individual packages or at least the pint size (4 servings). If you buy the small packages on Saturday morning then you have two days fo desserts and will finish it before Monday.

[oolala53]

Give it time. I can walk by stuff that would have been impossible to pass up two years ago. In fact, I was in a Wal-Mart (24 hour; needed anit-itch cream bad late at night) yesterday and passed by many former "lovers" with just a glance. Yes, you can dance on the edge. I wouldn't have bought anything if it wasn't an S day, though. I don't need to wear my date clothes until I'm out on the date.

[leafy_greens]

I kept sweets in the house for decades because of the suggestions of the intuitive eating crowd and their theory that if you know you can have it, it takes away the compulsion. It did not work. Good Lord, the brownies, ice cream, chocolate, etc., I binged on!

Ugh.. This made sense to me, at the time I read all the intuitive books. Surround yourself with unlimited trigger foods, and you will suddenly become less afraid of running out, not "getting yours" when you can or there won't be any left. There's always going to be some around, so this will make you stop wanting it! Ok.

There's even a similar tale (maybe urban legend) that to cure kittens of starvation binging, put them IN the bucket of food, so they see that there is plenty and they will not want.

Realistically, it makes about as much sense as surrounding a crack addict with unlimited crack.

[snapdragon]

People always told me with kids if you keep junk food in the house it's nOt a big deal to them and they grow up learning moderation. It doesn't work for us. if they had a choice between an apple or a granola bar (junk in my book) they would pick the granola bar every time. If I buy five boxes of granola bars on sale one day they are all gone within two days, and only last that long if I hide some. Even though my family is slim, it's just not healthy. We all look forward to out deserts on weekends and all have input to what it will be, and kids get generouse portions of whatever it is they choose. Sometimes we go out and buy candy bars, or a chocolate cake, or we bake together, everyone gets something they really want. I think that's better than sugary granola bars, all week. Eat the stuff you really like!

[Nicest of the Damned]

Your paramount objective here is to develop good eating habits. If you can do that without having any sweets in your house, you should do it. If you can do that by having sweets in your house, you should do it. If you can do it by banishing some sweets from your house and leaving others alone, do that. (Adapted from a quote by Abe Lincoln)

If you're doing better with no sweets in your house, and nobody else who lives in the house is unhappy with it, why not do it that way? The opinion of anyone who is not in your house should not matter, since it doesn't affect them. If something is working for you and for everybody in your household, don't mess with it just because you think you "should" be doing it some other way.

I personally draw a distinction between "sweets" and "large quantities of sweets". A few sweets is OK. Large quantities of them is another story.

[wosnes]

I personally draw a distinction between "sweets" and "large quantities of sweets". A few sweets is OK. Large quantities of them is another story.

Can you give more information about the distinction?

[Nicest of the Damned]

I personally draw a distinction between "sweets" and "large quantities of sweets". A few sweets is OK. Large quantities of them is another story.

Can you give more information about the distinction?

I might buy a couple of peanut butter cups for an S day, but I don't buy a big economy pack of them and have them on hand. The only sweets I buy at Costco are individually wrapped bite-size candy bars (and I probably won't do that again, when the ones we have are gone). The idea is to have a fail-safe if I do lose control and want to eat too many sweets- it limits the damage I can do.

I pay more per peanut butter cup this way, but peanut butter cups are cheap, even if you buy the impulse-buy ones at the supermarket checkout line. Health care is not cheap, and eating too many sweets will result in my needing more of it. Lots of peanut butter cups is not a good deal for me.