How do you do it?

[Carmen51]

Temptation is everywhere at work today. On the counter by me is a pan of fudge and next to that is a huge container of snack mix (the kind with the garlic chips and pretzels). Then, in the coffee area, we have a huge container of various cookies in celebration of the company founder's birthday.

I've been trying to visualize something gross associated with the stuff, like people's germ-laden hands digging in the snack mix or someone sneezing all over the cookies. So far it seems to be working - I haven't been tempted.

So I started wondering, what techniques does everyone else use to resist temptation?

[vavcon]

Carmen, that's great! What works for me is kinda boring, I just say to myself, "nope, not even a taste, you know where that'll get you." And since it's not an option, I'm not really tempted...

[daisyboo]

There is plenty of temptation in my home and nearby but i can honestly say the longer i stick with this woe the less i really care to eat anything at all offplan. I am a binger. I've had to find a way within this plan to help me combat that, for me it appears to be a mixture of intermittent fasting and eating higher fat.

I'm at goal now but i put a little on last year, it was heartbreaking for me to have to go up a clothes size (i did have some medical issues at the time), getting back into my goal size has been amazing, it really brings home that nothing tastes as good as being slim feels...

Great job on avoiding so far, i know its really hard but its harder if you give in then have to get back on plan again, that can start of a vicious cycle that is really really HARD to get back off!

[lené]

Ok, this will sound funny. Have you ever had some pile of housework that you know needs done but you don't want to tackle it, so eventually you develop a sort of mental blindness? You can walk right past that dining room table piled high with books and clutter and not really even see it -- you've mentally blocked it, so it's just a sort of background noise to you now. (This is also similar to the way husbands can block the sound of their wives speechifying, or moms can block the sound of the kids squabbling.) I tend to do this with "forbidden" foods, now. I walk right past the bakery goodies or other stuff at the store because it's just like wallpaper to me, the only food that is "real" there is the stuff I can eat.

Now, this works well for me for visual temptations, but when it comes to scents, it's a lot harder. If I can *smell* the cake or what have you, I occasionally have to actively do something to keep my mind from falling into the "ooooh, cake" trap. Having a mug of nice strong coffee wafting its appealing aroma at me helps a lot. You could also try spritzing some peppermint or citrus room spray, or something you like.

BTW, try making some lowcarb cookies to take to work next time there will be lots of goodies around. It'll help you to have something you can snack on when other people are eating the fudge or snack mix.

[advantagec]

I think about the last time I went off plan. I had some desserts and rolls around Christmas. Those things were good but they weren't really worth it. Also, I have come to believe that carbs do bad things to my health, even beyond the weight.

And of course, I think about the great progress I have made and how I have made that progress. Then visualize my appearance and the way I will feel at my goal weight. Fudge and Chex Mix are not worth it.

[pennink]

yes, mental blindness... it does come to you about carbage.

I think you have to want to be thin more than to taste something that is gone from your lips so fast, and on your hips so long. And this woe isn't that forgiving. you get into a good pattern of losing, a wee bit of something is not an option.

as Atkins said, 'one spoonful of potato salad can derail your success'. So it's not an option.

HOwever, there are times over the year that I've allowed a free meal here and there. I knew I'd be up 3 to 5 pounds and that I'd have to have strict induction after it. I'd decide if all the work I was tossing away and going to have to do was worth it.

[mike_d]

LC after a few months helps greatly, but only the discipline that comes from fasting has enabled me to resist snacking-- I just don't feel hungry until its time to eat and sometimes not even then.

[KvonM]

i've done a couple of different things. i've mentally reclassified things like cake, cookies, or snack mix in the same genre as staplers, baseball hats, and extension cords... in other words, they're not food, and they're not even things i would ever consider attempting to eat AS food. i also managed to give myself some serious aversion training, thanks to the atkins bars. when i first started low-carbing, there were only a few different varieties but they were halfway decent... they didn't have all the sugar alcohols like they do now. when i went back to low-carbing, i took a bite of one that nearly had me puking on site... it had this horrible, grainy-sugary texture to it that made my teeth crawl and it was sickeningly sweet. now if i ever get tempted by cake or cookies, i remember that feeling and it turns me off right away.

[Womb]

Weighing myself naked in front of the bathroom mirror keeps me on track most days. Another thing that works for me, is that I have a kind of weird journal, where I write down my cheats, what they tasted like, and how crappy I felt after eating it (both emotionally & physically). The foods I sometimes miss never seem to taste as good as I thought they would.

[Nancy LC]

Lene, exactly! You can erect mental filters and "not see" things.

Something that works for me is saying "poison" to myself when I see something bad yet tempting.

[liddie01]

I have to get away from it , to me that means going outside with the smokers at work, even though I havn't smoked for several years. when I stay in the break room the junk that is all around, even the junk in the machines that I have to pay for :lol: calls to me. It really isn't worth it, but if I stay in there too long I eat something, which leads to cravings, that can lead to mindless eating.

[Citruskiss]

Another thing that might help a bit is to bring something to work that's a nice treat for you, even if it's not food - for example, a nice fancy brand of herbal tea or some mini bottles of mineral water. Something a bit 'luxe' in a way - so that you feel you're also getting a treat in some manner.

Suggestions:

A beautiful bone china mug, in which you make some organic peppermint loose-leaf tea in, with those fancy individual teabags - consider a pretty little silver spoon to scoop the tea into the teabags with.

http://www.republicoftea.com/templates/detail.asp?navID=295

Some expensive hand lotion - something that smells really good and is more than you'd normally get for yourself. Keep this in your drawer at work, or in your purse...

http://usa.loccitane.com/FO/Catalog/Product.aspx?prod=01MA150KA

Or a beautiful pottery mug, in which you'll make organic chai tea in, complete with a cinnamon stick for extra flair.

http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/CategoryDisplay?cgmenbr=175633&cgrfnbr=191363#tn

How 'bout some peppermint oil infused lip balm from Bath and Body Works?

http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=mentha%20lip%20shine&origkw=mentha%20lip%20shine&sr=1

How about a Melitta "Joe to Go" mug with it's very own cone filter thingie? You can make yourself the nicest, best cup of coffee in the afternoon - go buy some really good coffee, keep it at work, along with a small container of cream and/or your favourite sweetener - and while everyone else is noshing on junk food - they'll have to smell the fabulous cup of freshly ground, freshly brewed cup of your favourite coffee.

http://www.amazon.com/Melitta-Ready-Travel-Coffeemaker-Black/dp/B000AF786O

What do you think of these ideas? Silly? I hope not - I hope that you consider getting yourself something special to treat yourself at work while avoiding the temptations all around. No need to white-knuckle it, just get yourself something *better* than what they've got. :)

That's pretty much what I do when faced with these sorts of things. For instance - I'm at my Mom's place and she's insisting on ordering pizza - what do I do? Go and get myself the very best steak, a bundle of asparagus and so on.

It's a case of making sure that what I've got is better than theirs. :lol:

PS - consider bringing some really nice treats to work too - for instance, you can be snacking on mini babybel cheese and italian dry-cured salami or something while everyone else is stuck with high-fructose corn syrup and trans fat laden cookies.

[benebene]

(1) I remind myself that on no account will I look myself in the mirror this time next year and be fat!
(2) I'm still early in LC so my "flu" symptoms remind me of my commitment :)
(3) I remind myself that the option of looking at myself in the mirror next year and being fat does not EXIST, nor can it ever exist!

You go, low-carber! You can do it!

[Carmen51]

Wow - all great answers! It's nice to be able to share our ideas.

[MizKitty]

I guess I have an "advantage" in that before I started LC, my diabetes was very bad...killing me really. Having worked so hard to get control over my blood sugars and regain my health, I never have the luxury of looking at a cupcake or cookie and thinking it's okay to eat, you can always get back on plan tomorrow, like I've noticed people just dieting for weight loss do. (And like I did myself before becoming a diabetic.)
So there's no question that I'm not going to eat those things.
That doesn't mean that the smell and sight don't trigger desires sometimes. It's no fun to be somewhere feeling deprived and punished.
I usually handle those feelings by thinking about some lovely treat or LC dessert I can reward myself with later, for being so good.

And I also look at the way I look now, and remember the way I looked at 310 pounds, and ask myself if I would trade that for a (insert carbage here).

Edited to add: have to agree with Mike... Intermittent fasting has taught me a great deal of control over resisting snacking. It's been an amazing tool. I don't have to "white-knuckle" it (love that phrase!), I just tell myself it's not time to eat yet.

[feelskinny]

Womb; I've found that too!

I think I'm induldging in some [forbidden-sneaky-treat]...then am so dissapointed that it didn't taste nearly as good as I remembered.

[lightenup]

I've found the best defense is a good offense. Wednesdays are donut days around here and I always make sure that I'm NOT hungry when I arrive at the office and have plenty of low carb food around if I get the urge to put my face in a pastry.

But as with the others on the board who have been doing this for a year or more, I find that I don't want the stuff the way I used to. I know this sounds weird, but sometimes smelling the high carb sweets does enough to satisfy me - after all, I remember quite well what they taste like :-)

[Judynyc]

I live and work in NYC....and had lots of trouble walking past all the shops with all those smells wafting from their doors when I first began my journey.

Pizza, bagels, bakery stuff..:devil: ...what I did was force myself to think about all the food that I could have...as opposed to allow my mind to dwell in the food that I was smelling and couldn't eat.

I became pretty good at that and it has continued to help me today as I still have to deal with all those smells!! :lol:

[Womb]

I live and work in NYC....and had lots of trouble walking past all the shops with all those smells wafting from their doors when I first began my journey.

Pizza, bagels, bakery stuff..:devil: ...what I did was force myself to think about all the food that I could have...as opposed to allow my mind to dwell in the food that I was smelling and couldn't eat.

I became pretty good at that and it has continued to help me today as I still have to deal with all those smells!! :lol:

I remember going to Manhattan....the bestest smell I can recall, (and that I am damned glad I don't personally smell on a regular basis!) are those street vendors selling those wicked big soft pretzels. I ate my weight in those back in 1987. They were everywhere!

[pengu1]

I make sure that I eat well, (and other than planned cheat days), I just remember how uncomfortable and unhealthy I was when I was so overweight. It works out nicely.

Like I mentioned above, I do have planned cheat days but even then I make sure that my treat(not cheat), is something WORTH it to me. No candy and coke, but reasonable amount of pasta and/or bread for one meal.Then right back on plan until next months cheat day. I think that knowing that I will allow myself to have these little things once in a great while and not deny myself them forever makes it easy for me to not be tempted to binge on them. Then again, I don't really have any of the emotional issues alot of people here have with food, so you might just take whatever I say with a VERY large grain of salt.

[ojoj]

I find that I no longer want bad carbs very often, if I do I just tell myself its poison and if I had one I wouldnt be able to stop!

[Wyvrn]

There's always some commercial baked products around in the cube farm where I work. The people who eat them have stenchy workspaces because they're always snacking at their desks and dropping bits on the carpet, which gets a gummy build-up under their chairs. Their desks and keyboards are sticky and caked with a gray substance, and their seats have a horrible foul stench that puffs up when you sit in them. I won't guess what causes that but it's probably diet-related.

I don't need to avoid temptation - it ran away screaming long ago.

[LoKarb Kay]

I can have carby foods around and not feel tempted unless I start to visualize what it would be like to eat them. Once I begin imagining the mouthfeel and flavor -- undoubtedly better than the reality! -- I have to catch myself and force that out of my mind.

That said, since I don't have a carb addiction I have allowed myself (rarely) to try a bite of my husband's dessert or a piece of bbq chicken without scraping off the extra sauce. In all cases, I was underwhelmed. None of that is as fabulous as bacon, or my mocha coconut bark, or the changing shape of my body!

[oakdryad]

I usually just tell myself that this is not the last time I'll ever have the opportunity to eat *_____________* and that I'd rather take care of myself and continue to lose weight than try *__________________* again and set myself back anywhere from three days to whatever.

And then I put it out of my head and make it invisible.

[KvonM]

I can have carby foods around and not feel tempted unless I start to visualize what it would be like to eat them. Once I begin imagining the mouthfeel and flavor -- undoubtedly better than the reality! -- I have to catch myself and force that out of my mind.
fortunately for us, the mental experience of eating those high carb things is ALWAYS better than the reality, and has no off-plan side effects either. i've had dreams about eating carby stuff and enjoying every bite, but feeling insanely guilty about going so horribly off-plan. i have to remind myself it's just a dream, i didn't REALLY just plow my way through 3 full loaves of bread, 6 dozen muffins, a truckload of cookies, and a chocolate cake the size of the empire state building :).

That said, since I don't have a carb addiction I have allowed myself (rarely) to try a bite of my husband's dessert or a piece of bbq chicken without scraping off the extra sauce. In all cases, I was underwhelmed. None of that is as fabulous as bacon, or my mocha coconut bark, or the changing shape of my body!
i do exactly the same thing, mostly for the sake of knowing what's been done so i can recreate it later. it's gotten hard for us to find a restaurant where the food is better than anything i could make at home, and we both know it. restaurants have become an "i don't feel like cooking" option, more of a break for me than any kind of treat.

the only exception to that is olive garden. my husband says they're the only ones who make a better alfredo sauce than i do, and i'll happily accept that. they either use cornstarch or start with a roux, so their sauce always comes out much thicker than mine does, but in my not-so-humble opinion, my sauce has better flavor than theirs.

[oakdryad]

I've found a new indulgence along the lines that Citruskiss suggested. I went to Cost Plus World Market today and picked up some Republic of Tea Caramel Vanilla Tea. That stuff is delicious with some heavy cream and a little bit of vanilla stevia. YAY!

[Cheist]

I always keep a high fat snack at work like pepperoni or cheese. Today someone brought in donuts and the boss laughs and says to me 'Aww come on, have one, there beef flavored'. That statement was a huge donut deterrent. They all know that I'm on LC and the thought of them seeing me 'cave' is all I needed. Well, that and a few pepperoni's.

[molly1844]

The last time someone brought doughnuts into the office I imagined they were covered with slimy, creepy, crawling masses of maggots. After I had that visual in my mind there was no way I was tempted to eat one. :yum:

molly

[Born2run]

I'm kind of lucky and haven't been that tempted yet. I expect the day will come when that potato or pot of rice will be calling me, but so far so good. I think I will probably have to distance myself mentally. Thats a good question though I hope it never comes to that, but if it does I will have to ignore it I guess. Judy

[BeautyG]

I'm at the point where I don't even consider that stuff "food" anymore. During one of my rotations they fed us lunch every single day- catered lunch from an expensive place, including Juniors' Cheesecake. Well, I held on and on and on and I didn't cheat at all. For weeks. One day I caved and I ate the stuff- 2 sandwiches, 5 cookies, a piece of cake, washed down with diet coke.
I have never felt so sick in my life...and I will NEVER do that again.
It's not food.
If I eat cake on my graduation date, damn straight I'm picking it out and it is going to be a good one.