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tricks and tips

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 4:09 pm
by ~reneew
For some reason, when a craving hits really hard and I bring the offending temptation to the kitchen counter and plop it down to add to my next meal, the craving goes away instantly! It's like I am promising myself that I can have some in a little bit. Like the mom in me telling the kid in me "yes, but you'll have to wait a little while". I may have a pile of junk when my next meal time comes, but I usually just choose one to add to my plate. :wink: Oh, the mental games we play. Whatever works!

What I'm wondering is, does anyone else have any tricks or tips to avoid snacking, seconds, sweets, or anything?

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 4:11 pm
by ~reneew
Oh! And my favorite for sweets is to put a serving in a container and hide it in the freezer for the weekend. What I think will drive me absolutely crazy is sometimes forgotten when the time actually comes!

Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 2:00 pm
by eschano
Tea, tea, and tea.

In the evenings when I really want something sweet I use unsweetened Yogi Choco Tea (made with cocoa but no sugar or sweetener) with a little bit of milk.

During the day: green tea

For me the biggest temptation of the three S is sweets so Tea helps a lot.

Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 3:24 pm
by GraceW
I agree on the tea trick, My favorite is Stash Licorice Spice Tea. It has a sweet aftertaste, perfect for curbing a sweets craving.

Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 5:56 pm
by jw
The easiest thing for me is just not to have the stuff around during the week. I buy single serving treats and have them finished by Sunday night. Now, four months in, I can buy a treat and keep it for an S day, but in the first weeks, I would wake up in the middle of the night knowing it was there
. . . but if it's not there to tempt me, I don't even think about it. (This is harder to do with snackers in the house, of course -- I really admired somebody who posted that she had a snack cupboard in her house that was off limits to her -- her kids and husband could fill it with anything they liked, but she treated it as forbidden ground!)

Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 7:11 pm
by oolala53
In the beginning, being sure that I planned to have some starch I really liked at the upcoming meal often helped me stave off between-meal eating or even bingeing. Knowing I had that biscuit waiting at home could keep me from stopping for a burrito or bag of chocolate. It's similar to the "later" tactic. Funny, because now I don't have even those starches as often.

And I always planned a fat at the meal, too.

The second "trick" was just constantly reminding myself that I had eaten before and would again. I kept telling myself that a grown human should be able to go for a few hours without food without dire consequences. I was very calm about it, though. Not shaking my finger at myself.

The third was reminding myself what I wanted more of in the future. Did I want more giving in to binge foods or less on N days? Whatever I did in the present was likely to be repeated. (Though this didn't work quite like that on S days. I gave in plenty but desire escalated until it became too tiresome! Then I was able to implement some mods.)

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:46 pm
by Zoid
Tea and water helps me. If I feel "full" from liquids, I don't want to eat.

Also, I really focus on just getting to the next meal. Sometimes thinking about the whole day/whole week gets me too overwhelmed and causes me to cave more easily.

I'm starting to like the feeling of not being overstuffed. Who knew?