I am on Day 8 of a self-imposed abstinence from trigger foods, mainly sweets and popcorn. So far I've been really good! I told my husband what I was doing and how popcorn was a huge emotional food for me, and he tried to talk me INTO eating it again! Since he's AA for 23 years I thought he would understand the need for abstinence and the meaning of emotional ingesting, but he couldn't cross that bridge. So I plod on solo, going to Web sites of like-minded people for support. You can give up just about everything else in life that's a problem for you, but everyone needs food so most people just don't seem to get it. I'm grateful to have the tools to succeed if I choose to do so!

Hmmmmm. Glad you didn't respond by asking him to join you for a shot of Jack Daniels. That was very nice of you!

You're right, most people don't get it. But, that doesn't really matter.

For as much as I do "get it", I'm still amazed at how easy it is to pretend otherwise and stray into a pattern of eating less than optimal. I've figured this much out...

1) There are some foods I simply cannot have. They were binge foods for years, so they are 'problem' foods (aka trigger foods) for me. I have to abstain and I do. By and large these were my favorite, top of the list, foods from my carb eating days. These were mostly processed, fiberless, sugar sweetened goodies that I liked to indulge in on a regular basis. These are foods that hammered my system with sugar and gave me an amped up desire for more. Food that compels you to eat too much is not food that I should be eating. When I truly "can't eat just one" of something, then that food needs to be out of my food rotation completely. Cookies, candy, snack cakes, bread, French fries, juice, and sugar sweetened soda have no place in my food rotation. I can make reasonable LC substitutes for most these items, so if I feel the need for a treat, I choose the low(er) carb alternative.

2) There are foods that I do have in my food rotation that are borderline "problem" foods. Nuts, peanut butter, extra dark chocolate, coconut oil, pork rinds, LC protein bars, LC cheesecake etc. are all very calorie dense and I will gain weight if I indulge in them on a regular basis. While these foods don't hammer my system with sugar and don't seem to cause any metabolic issues, they do often hit the 'more, more, more' buttons in my brain. I'm not compelled to overeat as much as I would be from a truly junky treat. The cravings are not intense. It is more like they fail to be consumed with an off switch. Having a little does not bring satiety like a good low carb meal would. These foods do offer more variety in my diet and I am not yet willing to scratch them from the food rotation forever. But I do better when I don't have these foods everyday.

3) When I am in the zone with LC, eating good food at deep keto carb levels everyday, I feel at my best and naturally want to eat the appropriate amount of food to maintain a healthy weight. When I'm in the zone I'm loving this WOE and feeling terrific. So why don't I just stay there? That is a question that I haven't figured out yet. Inevitably I will make food choices that take me out of this awesome LC zone. Eating more carbs makes it harder to eat within reason. Carb creep results in weight creep. The more carbs that I have in my diet the more hovering around the kitchen pantry I do. When I keep the carbs very low, I forget about eating and stay out of the kitchen. I get the best, longest lasting satiety when I stick to eating real food and avoid the carbs.

By abstaining from the worst of the worst foods for me I have been able to do a reasonable job at maintenance over the past year. I have put some weight back on, but I have not come close to falling off the rails like I did when cheating on junk was a regular part of my diet plan. Choosing to keep some 'gray area' foods in my rotation is what is what is bringing on the weight creep, though. I've made such foods too much of a daily thing. They are a habit. An expectation. A craving for a daily treat. I still feel in control of my WOE eating this way - but weight stability is not automatic. If I want to lose these extra pounds that I've put on over the past year, then I know what I have to do. I need to ride the VLC zone again. I need to put some of those 'gray area' foods into timeout for a while. Perhaps I should abstain from these foods for 100 days, too. Eating clean keto through the rest of 2017 just might be the reset that I need.

Humm ... don't think I could go that long -- lol

Hang in there you can do it.
My husband is 6'1 and about 165lbs. So skinny....no fat on his body at all. That man can eat an entire bag of Doritos or bowl of popcorn and not gain and ounce.
When I finally hit the fact that I am doing this for me...not my husband, daughter or anyone else...I just say thanks but no thanks when offered by someone that knows my way of eating.
Is that hard...yep sometimes very hard. But I am going to listen to my body and my brain for what I want for my body.....not what someone else "thinks" I need.
Hang in there....you can do it!!

I don't get why he tried to talk you into eating it again.

I don't get why when I finally began lowcarb again, I'm very obese - my best friend sent me a fedex box full of sweets.

I have to get that they don't get it, then I think they don't want to get it because they don't like change.

Khrussva - Your number one point is the reason I am once again a little plump person. In 2012 I lost 22 lbs, but I was tempted by my trigger foods. I know I can't just eat one piece of chocolate, one little tub of Haagen Dazs ice cream, but I succumb and slowly but surely those lost pounds have been regained.
I know what to do to lose those pounds again so why don't I "just do it"? You have inspired me this morning to take control of my over indulgence in my trigger foods. I would be so happy to lose those 22 pounds by Christmas so that is my goal. Thanks for your inspirational post. Jools. 😎

Thanks for the great responses. I am inspired again this morning to stick with it no matter what...or who!

Khrussva, I break it down pretty much the same way that you do, gray area foods where I'm able to have a little bit once in a while, and trigger/"gateway drug" foods that I need to just not eat period because I can't have a little without it snowballing into overeating, cravings and weight gain.

TrappaOne, abstention is definitely the way to go. I think after 30 days you will hardly be craving your trigger foods, if at all. As for your friends, loved ones and associates seeming like they want to sabotage your efforts, I'd like to think they just don't understand. One of the hardest things I've learned is to say "No thank you" and leave it at that. But anyway, good for you!

These three tenets are a candidate for a sticky. Excellent observations with which I can relate.

My husband does the exact same thing. Or he will eat part of something, and leave the rest just sitting on the counter, to call my name. I have no idea why husbands (not all) do that.

I love this classification of foods! So true and really simplifies how to determine what should and should not be in your diet.

Hang in there with the abstinence. I stopped eating Doritos and chips for than a year.