Summary Mar 26, 2008

Central theme-
Eating Triggers, Part I
Once you pop fried, sweet, salty, or starchy food into your mouth, you can't stop!


Thoughts for the week-
We all have trigger foods that set us up for failure, or a binge. Some examples:

• ice cream
• M&M's
• chocolate
• pizza
• chips
• alcohol
• etc.

Risk Assessment
Green Light: Foods that are easily handled. (veggies, water, tofu?)
Yellow Light: Foods that can be controlled some of the time, but not at other times. (party food)
Red Light: Foods that trigger a binge with just one bite. (see list above)

Some Strategies To Combat Red Light Foods

• Ask for help. Ask your spouse to remove the food, or to help limit your intake.
• Don't buy the food in the first place. Eliminate Red Light foods from your environment.
• Save it for a day when you have Bonus Points to spare, and splurge!
• Find a substitute. Like Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches instead of ice cream.
• Don't open the container until you have to.
• Divide the food into individual serving containers.
• If a less intriguing alternative is available, get that. (Sour Cream fat-free chips instead of BBQ fat-free chips. I love them both, but I can't stop eating the BBQ, so I get the sour cream. Also, home made pizza with whole wheat crust. I don't like the whole wheat crust as much, and it's filling, so I eat less.)

Closing quote- grossly paraphrased
He was a chocolate chip cookie. I resisted him at first, he was just sitting there on the plate.... alone. He was the last one, and someone had to save him, it may as well be me. I picked him up, ate him, felt him crumble in my mouth, enjoyed every second of him. (I can't remember how the story ended, but I think it was in regret. Think before you eat.)