Everyday Systems

I could eat only one piece of pie, or one piece of cake, but when it comes to chocolate candy bars I lose all sanity. I don't normally buy the cheap kind, but they are given to us by well meaning relatives who are really treating my slender and grown sons in the house who eat them moderately.

Around holidays, I'll even buy better types of chocolates and tell myself that I'll keep them in the freezer and have one or two on an S-day. That doesn't work, either, which is so distressing. I usually end up giving these expensive chocolates away.

Does anyone have this problem? If so, have you cut out this type of candy from your life altogether? I've done this for about a month in the past. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but I sneaked it back in anyway, obviously.

I have! It has taken about 8 months to root out all the chocolate that I had hidden in odd corners, boxes and shelves. Now there is absolutely none in my house. I know I have the strength to say "No" to it in the supermarket, and that I do not have any strength against it in my house.
This year so far, has been 1 time that someone has given me a 125g bar of the good stuff and I divided it up over 3 S days.
Another thing that happened was I brought an unopened bar to share with the office... that was a struggle for as long as it was in my house (around 2 weeks, before Valentine's Day) and I stayed strong because I had told people I'd be sharing it with them. That struggle made me think that I should bring something different back from travel, to share next time!
If I were in your position, I would stop buying the good stuff to keep in the freezer, and tell the others to take what they want of the cheap candy gifts and to get it out of your reach. Then give the rest away. If you want to buy a very small amount of the good stuff from time to time for S days that's fine. Just don't buy more than you know you want to eat that particular weekend.
Being stringent up front is so much better than going through the torture of trying not to eat it once it is in the house and I have a craving.

I can't keep ANY sweets in the house without losing my sanity. I can't keep it in the garage (I've tried) or the trunk or at my husband's office where he'll just bring me one piece a day (because I'll cajole him into bringing more). And if I know I have a piece coming anyway that day I'll buy another bunch at the store because it's not like I'm abstaining. Making cookies and giving most of them away doesn't work either. I just break down and get some more to replace those I shared.

I make a lot of justifications! I really do behave like an addict. It's no wonder to me that the research is starting to support that strongly. I even wonder if I can do S days with sweets because I have already failed at the NoS Diet several times now when the weekend sweets allowance snowballed into the N days. One time I said I would wait to buy a particular sweet on my S day and the store was sold out. I was beyond devastated. I don't like food having that effect on me. It's embarrassing even to write this.

I did manage to go off all sugar (including white flour and stevia, maple syrup, etc.) for four solid months on one occasion and a few weeks on another. Unfortunately nothing particularly great came out of it. My weight didn't change. My headaches didn't clear. My work output and energy weren't improved. And worse, my tastes didn't change like everybody promised. I white-knuckled it each time before I gave up. I read later from someone else that it really takes probably 8 or more months for your brain and gut bacteria not to keep asking for the old sugar fix. I don't know if that is true, but it is interesting to see osoniye also say it took 8 months. But knowing it could be hard for four to eight months (for me) is daunting.

Anyway, I wish I had some advice for you!

ETA: I do sometimes think about the old AA advice about one being too many and a thousand never being enough. I feel that way with sweets.

I'm the same way! Several people gave us boxes of chocolate recently, and they are all gone within a few days. I am always amazed when I go to someone's house and they have jars or bowls of mini candy bars that they keep out. How do they not eat them all within a day or two?? That seems impossible to me. I cannot keep things in the house. Maybe some day....

I've discovered that over time it's gotten somewhat easier to have chocolate in the house and only indulge on S-days. What came as a surprise to me a couple of days ago is that I was standing in the drugstore looking at the bags of Hershey Easter treats and realizing that none of them were appealing to me. If I bought a bag I'd feel compelled to have the whole thing done by Easter, and there might be other treats in the coming month I'd want instead. Oh, I did buy a couple of single-sized chocolate items, and I knew I'd pick up some M&Ms later, but those Hershey ones won't be coming home with me this year. You might be surprised at how your tastes and treat selection could change with No-s.

I find I can say no on N days, but once I say "yes" on an S day, I don't seem to have an "off" button! So...it's feast or famine here!

You might make a point of having to go to the store on an S day, and buying just one as a special treat. Then it's not in the house the way it would be if you stock up, but you can still enjoy them occasionally. When I don't have candy in the house (ahem, Valentines!), I make a special trip for a treat.

I'm generally the same as you Merry: on N days I can stay off it, but on S days I can go wild. I have got MUCH better at controlling how much I buy. I no longer fool myself into thinking I can have a multi-pack in the house - I just buy a single-serving size bar of chocolate. If I buy more, I eat more - it happens occasionally, but not with any regularity these days.

I'm the same with biscuits (cookies) and crisps (potato chips). Crisps are my worst really - if I have a large bag, I eat a large bag; if I have a multi-pack, I eat all the bags. Doh!

Well, I see I'm not alone in this. I take some morbid comfort in that...lol. Thank you all for sharing your experience and advice. Very helpful!

It's not a big loss not to keep them around, as there are other lovely foods that don't have the same effect. And no shame, either. Big deal.

If you really want candy bars, and aren't willing to go wild with them- I was-have some under controlled circumstances to start. Then see if they are worth it.

I used to keep sweets for S days in the freezer. I wasn't always moderate with them, but I wanted to have the freedom. Mostly, they began to play such a small part in my life that I decided there wasn't much reason to keep them around. I have only sugar cubes in the house and use them less and less. But I do use stevia.

What about asking your sons to keep the candy in their possession, if you want them to still have access?

Have to stay away from candy or else blood sugar will skyrocket--goes up too much even w/ no-sugar-added types plus those cause GI problems.
Since No S I have actually forgotten that my husband has had a bag of Lindor truffles over by where he sits in the living room--not interested. I made a no-sugar-added scratch snack-type chocolate cake for my weekend Sweet; will wrap and freeze what's left for another weekend when chocolate calls to me--only had ONE roughly 3X3 piece each yesterday and today so there's plenty left. I only buy candy for others on special occasions, like Halloween of Christmas/Easter for hubby.

Chocolate biscuits are my nemesis (Tim Tams). If I buy a packet I will definitely not be able to resist them. So far I have not bought a packet (have not been doing no s for long) so I have no strategy. If you find a way, let me know

Bullisaba, you are doing the strategy. Depending on mostly non-sweet foods eaten at meals for pleasure and sustenance. Give it a year or two before you expect to be sane about former insane foods. Sooner than that is just luck, no insult intended to the lucky ones. And you can have derivates of the insane ones along the way. It's up to you whether you abstain or just go overboard on S days while the process does its thing. If life looks pretty good without the packet of Tim Tams, enjoy the memory but eat something else!