What do i do when i live with high carbers?

[velveteen]

Hi everyone
I've been on this diet for 6 months and have lost 40 pounds with little to no exercise and 40 carbs a day which was easy. But now i've stalled and have'nt lost anything in a month. So I started exercising. Then some of my family moved home and they eat lots of high carb high suger food and leave it lieing around the kitchen. If I see high carb food i can't help eating it and even if its out of sight I will find it and eat it all. I HAVE NO WILL POWER!! Also i'm a college student with very little money who doesn't like cooking. I've grown up a microwave child! I feel like running away but i cant.
Does anyone have any advice for me?
Thanks

[nikkil]

a lot of us here live with "normal" eaters and we even have to shop and cook for them :lol: :lol: (for me - 3 sons and a husband).

If you really, really have a hard time either chew sf gum so you know it just wouldn't taste good because of the taste of the gum or just tell them they can't leave that stuff around. They can have a separate cupboard, etc.

It's inevitable that you're going to be exposed to HC foods in real life so I hope somebody else can offer better strategies than I can :)

[Iowagirl]

Definately talk this over with them. Your family may not realize how they are tempting you.

[Ladycody]

I agree with nikkil...I too shop and cook for my husband and two boys. You simply need to decide that you're not going to be tempted and hold yourself to it. Putting stuff in a carb cupboard might help. I also tend to buy certain items that fit their needs that dont tempt me...vanilla cookies for the boys instead of chocolate chip. Ritz instead of wheat thins...that type of thing. Sometimes...if the other items are requested...I'll get them. You get good at ignoring what you cant have after awhile.

[cs_carver]

For me, I have had to come to think of those "foods" as poison rather than something that I can eat. They were killing me, just a little bit more slowly than cigarettes but just as surely.

You eat them until they're gone because that's what HC foods do.

It is easier to eat LC when you're the only one in the kitchen, but there will always be temptation. How do you handle fast food places and Quick Marts? Use the same techniques.

That said, IS running away an option?

[TonyT1965]

this is ifficult, but at the end of the day if you dont do it for yourself no-one else will do it for you.

think of it like this, do you want to be fat and eat carb filled food or do you want to be thin and eat LC food...

the choice is yours sweetheart...

my house is full of crisps (potato chips), ice cream, bread, pasta, potato's.. in fact everything high carb you could mention resides in my kitchen, but i'd never dream of asking my good lady and my 2 boys (6 and 2) to stop eating what they want to eat...

I dont think ANYONE should have to go without just so MY WOE is easier to do... I think that would be selfish really, and just not my style at all..

that said, YOU CAN DO THIS, but IMO once you start having something you shouldn't every now and again its the rocky road back to the pounds coming back on...

we have take away at least twice a week, and i can honestly say I have not cheated since I started LCing, eve tho I'm not losing quickly I am committed to this, and the for me this is 90% mental and 10% physical, a battle which my head is so far winning hands down...

all the best, this can be done, but only YOU can do it...

Tony

[Lisa76]

I know it is hard velveteen especially when you do not have the will power not to.. I'm that way with shopping. Honestly I love it! Especially now that I'm older (27years) and make more money and engaged to a wonderful man who makes a good living and is willing to spend it on me... it's hard to say no!

But I've taken the same stance on carbs as I do with shopping, don't put yourself in a position where you are tempted!

I don't go to the malls anymore because I don't want to buy a ton of stuff anymore.

I also stay out of the areas where high carb stuff is stored.

Take nikkil's advise and place all those high carbs snacks in one area, fill your fridge with healthy low carb alternatives that both you and your family can eat.

This is a change that you will have to make and we are here for you. If you can learn to control it home then you can also start learning to control it other places, restuarnts, markets, convience stores etc.

Baby steps, ask yourself do you really want this?

[velveteen]

Thanks everyone.Your all so nice.
I dont have enough money to move out for another year but if you people can look at a bag of crisps or a bag of m&ms all day and not eat it than maybe its possible for me too.
thanks again

[CurvyAngel]

There's only certain things that really trigger my cravings, and I had a good idea I haven't tried it yet so I don't know if it will work, but I'm thinking of getting a box with a lock and giving my husband the key, and then having him put all his tempting stuff in there, so that way he can have it whenever he wants, and I can't have it, even if I want it. I cook for him, but that's no problem, it's really only the sweets I have a problem with. Hope this helps.

[rloveman]

I actually use that stuff to reaffirm my commitment every day. I keep a jar of candy on my desk at work for everyone else, and haven't touched a single piece since returning to low-carb in April. Every day that I see them eating that junk and I don't touch it makes me feel stronger.

[penelope]

I used to wear my tightest clothes around the waist and stomach.
High carb foods are bloating.
It keeps your mind on the right LC.

[potatofree]

It's not selfish to ask for a little consideration from your family. If they can't/won't help you, you'll have no choice but to white-knuckle it and just talk yourself out of eating it. You can do it! :D

[Karenemt]

I say try to tough it out if you can. My DH is a total carb addict, makes whole pots of pasta all the time right in front of me. He eats a whole box of Twinkies in one sitting sometimes.

Actually, watching his disgusting overindulgences and putting away the leftover carbs has reinforced my resolve to stick to this diet! I no longer find that stuff tempting anymore. It makes me sick to think about eating Twinkies or anything like that.

I would ask them to tuck their treats away into a designated area - out of sight, out of mind.

Keeping lots of easily accessible, ready to eat, low-carb treats for yourself is also a great idea - makes their stuff less tempting.

[nikkil]

I do what LadyCody does: I buy them things that don't appeal to me as much. Examples are flavours of potato chips that I don't like (sour cream and onion, dill pickle, BBQ). The only things that I find super-tempting that I just cannot have around or if it's there it has to be gone PRONTO are frosted cakes (birthday cakes) and fresh baked cookies. I feel bad that I haven't made cookies since Christmas (I had just started LCing and bit the bullet, not the cookie :p ). I'm feeling super-strongwilled at the moment so I think I will be baking some in the next little while but I have to pack them up and get them out of sight, chew gum, drink water and even leave the room!

Somebody said they leave candies around?? I do that at work -- well, there's loads of candy and junk around on hospital desks ( go figure :o ) but it doesn't tempt me at all. That makes me so proud of myself :)

Good luck with this, hon! Try your best to remind yourself that you don't WANT those foods, not that you're not ALLOWED to have them -- see the difference??? :)

[Built]

HAVE SUBSTITUTES AVAILABLE!

Cookies: pork rinds, dab of natty PB, sprinkle of splenda

Chips and dip: pork rinds and ranch; celery stuffed with cream cheese or natty PB

Keep sf jello made and in the fridge. Also a/s whipped cream.

Make sure you get enough fats - you'll feel full and reduce cravings if you eat sufficient fat.

Emergency sweet fatty snack: stir together a tablespoon of natty pb with a few tablespoons of heavy cream, splenda to taste, couple drops of vanilla. Tastes like a cross between icing and raw pb cookie dough.

The best offence is a good defense.

Good luck!

[Steve175]

I actually use that stuff to reaffirm my commitment every day. I keep a jar of candy on my desk at work for everyone else, and haven't touched a single piece since returning to low-carb in April. Every day that I see them eating that junk and I don't touch it makes me feel stronger.

Somehow, that type of thing helps me, too. I'll cook a dish for my kids that's off limits for me and then just proceed with preparing my own meal. Not only am I getting strengthened by surviving in a high carb world, but I also find that it tends to decrease the tension between the HC and LC eating in my home. In other words, if my family sees that I'm willing to still buy and cook them the things they enjoy, they respect the WOE that I've adopted. Plus, when they see that LC'ing isn't this horrible punishment that causes agonizing misery, they adopt some LC habits themselves.

Smooth relations make life easier... ;)