In DANDR he talks about looking for your trigger foods, and paying attention to what happens around you in your life when you get cravings.

My wife didn't take any meat out while I was at work - and immediately after I got off work I had to run errands with 3 hungry kids (and I was hungry). There was a pizza place beside the bank .. two larges and a bottle of coke later .. yeah.

But while this situation seems like a perfect storm - its not the first time I've been in it .. and I found it very easy to go to the store and get something quick (ie. rotisserie chicken) that WAS on the diet. What was different this time? I was sick. Have had strep since Thursday .. feel REALLY icky.

That being said .. I started doing some retrospective ponderance and I think I realized something ... when I feel like crap ... I often turn to junk food.

Once I feel better - I've blown the diet and say "oh well"...

So I need to, at the very least, take my newfound knowledge and say "Okay .. its a phase .. give in - but plan to get back to it as soon as you are feeling better". Ideally I should find a way to cope as to not blow my diet.

Anyone have the same trigger mechanism? How did you end up coping?

I've fallen off many a time due to outside forces or by the encouragement of others. One thing that has helped me more than anything is thinking about how I feel AFTER I mess up. I usually feel bloated, tired and my tummy feels terrible. I know it basically means everything there is terrible for me.


I was reading an article about Drew Carey (who lost an immense amount of weight and is continuing to be low carb) ... he said he fell one night (I believe it was a party or something) and ate a whole pizza. He felt like death the next day and gained a couple of lbs. He said it woke him up and he realizes it's basically eating poison.

His story helped me frame it in that way - it's poison. I fail all the time and get back on - each time learning from my mistakes and eliminating the triggers. Now its becoming fewer and farther between. Good luck to you.

Yeah - I have totally adopted to that for normal cravings when I'm on the diet. I simply don't want that stuff anymore... but when I am sick - its like an uncontrollable compulsion to it .. I made it half a day at work without eating crap today ... then after sitting at my desk for an hour at lunch .. I ended up going out and buying some junk food. It tastes good - and I don't feel sick to my stomach .. I know that if I continue I will get there .. but right now its making me feel pretty good - albeit a bit guilty.

I just saw your meal plan on MyFitnessPal - You started off great! Drop the Doritos and try to see if you can close the night with a great low carb meal.

I would say if you know when it's likely - say, like now when you are sick, gather around an analog for all your typical crutch foods. Cheesecake factory low carb cheesecake. Strawberrys dipped in dark chocolate - pork rinds. Whatever it is - sure, you might go a bit over in carbs but it can be a manageble amount or a binge. YOU get to decide.

What helps me is I also thinking about how I feel afterwards...the emotional and physical guilt and pain of eating food off plan....but usually I don't even let food off plan BE AN OPTION. I went to Cedar Point (amusement park) and although difficult, I found a salad....if I am somewhere where there are no low carb options and I'm hungry....then I just let myself be hungry, I'm obviously not going to starve to death and I can wait until I find a better option for me. Did the pizza place offer salads? Did you consider scrapings the toppings off (although not ideal, would be better than eating crust and all)? You have to change your mind of thinking because the world isn't going to change for you....you have to do all of the work!

Thinking about how badly I might feel later does nothing for me. For one thing, I never do feel bad later. For another, like many people I have low impulse control around food when I'm HUNGRY.
The key to me staying on plan is to not let myself ever get over-hungry. It's a lot easier to make good choices when you're not so ravenous you're tempted to gnaw on the steering wheel.
A friend of mine in AA says it's best for her to avoid being HALT-- Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. I think that's appropriate for most of us too. All of those factors can influence our decisions.

Think it through to the end. We usually just stop thinking at "Wouldn't it be okay if, just this once..." but keep thinking past the moment of giving in to what happens afterwards, the bad feelings you'll have about yourself and perhaps the pounds gained, the weight loss stalled, or the bad things wheat/sugar/etc does to you.

Think it through to the end.

For me it happens when I'm very hungry AND tired. I head straight for the carbs, and they always make me feel better. The downside? I gain weight, always, and have to fight cravings for over a week after.