Put it to him like this....what happens if you were diabetic...you'd have to eat like this for the rest of your life.

I am the only low carber in our house(dh and ds are not) I do give DS low carb things, but he always eats high carb as well.
I've never had an issue with 'temptation' in a non low carb sorta way. My dh and ds eat whatever they want really. And to me that is not a problem .. I love the way I eat.. and I have no problem with others around me eating different. To me being fit/thin/healthy is WAY more important then a slice of pizza or whatever ..kwim..

Dh has an older sister who is diabetic on meds. She is actually one of the ones that talked me into trying out Atkins back in 2003. But she is currently <trying> to follow WW. She just can't seem to say no to the hc junk. And her health continues to fail.

She is following the advice of her doctors....which is what dh would chose to do. He doesn't seem to be open to anything other than the mainstream "scientific" information. He's not open to reading and researching what isn't in the news or on Discovery or History channels (more lies ).

However, my history, coupled with her history, coupled with carbs are like an addictive drug and if I don't cut them out I'll end up diabetic....that might, maybe do the trick. It's another way to approach it with him that I had not really thought about.

Thank you!

Well...sometimes I kwym...but sometimes I seem to forget. At least I have in the past. So far I'm doing okay....just worried about long term. How long have you been doing this with the temptations in the house? Have you NEVER been tempted by what is in your house?

Maybe it is just simply a matter of will power in the beginning and then you just get used to it and have a whole nother mindset? And I suppose it probably does get easier over time the more you resist....like becomes a habit, maybe???

Yeah I think so, the becoming a habit. I do know I have good willpower, but it def does get easier as time goes by. I love eggs.. I love meat.. I LOVE cheese.. so for me low carbing is the perfect way of eating for me. I do bake myself low carb sweet treats.. I low baking.. I love sweets. I did not eat anything sweet for like the first 6 months of low carbing though. for me this made me in control of my sweet tooth.
I have been low carbing since Jan 2010.. and temptation has been there since day 1. I also bake cakes/baked goods to sell.. I cook my son all home made bread each week for his lunches.. I do let ds drink juice.. I do let ds eat fruit snacks, granola bars, crackers, cereal, cereal bars, chips, home made mac n cheese, grilled cheese, pizza.. lol well you get the idea.. he eats what he wants for the most part. I've learned to cope with temptation.. for me it's not a big deal, I even cook different dinners for dh sometimes(chinese food) . But ya like I said, I love love LOVE the way I eat.. and for me eating off plan is not worth it. And no, I've never been tempted really by things in the house.. I have sat and took a few smells of fresh hot cross rolls(you know opening the container to take a smell) but was not tempted to eat. I do hold on to ds snacks a lot.. again never temped.. but sometimes I smell I really can't explain.. I guess I have really good willpower?

Willpower is nice when you've got enthusiasm and momentum to keep it going, but "willpower is an exhaustible resource." (That's a quote from a book someone posted, I wish I could remember the source.) The real question is, what do you do when you're out of willpower, enthusiasm and momentum?

I do it this way:

• Environment control. Pretty self-explanatory, and it's already been mentioned... if it's not there, you can't eat it. Maybe ask your family to help you by keeping tempting food out of your sight - maybe in their school backpacks or whatever.
• Lots of variety. I wouldn't call myself a picky eater, but sometimes I just don't WANT what I planned to eat, and I'll suddenly get a craving for something different. I always keep a full pantry and freezer of my legal stuff. It's so much easier to resist temptation when you can have exactly what you want, and remain enthusiastic about your food.
• Treat myself... legally. I like to treat myself to maybe an expensive steak, or something rich like a single-serving LC dessert. I will always be a hedonist.
• Internalizing the negative impact of eating off-plan. I already mentioned the gluten, but it can help to write in a journal or somewhere private what happens to you when you eat off-plan. I like the analogy someone wrote in the Confession Booth forum, that when you're considering eating off-plan, play the tape all the way to the end. Imagine the cravings, poor sleep, irritated stomach, anxiety, anger at yourself afterward, and/or however it affects you. That really makes the tempting food a turn-off. "None" is a thousand times easier than "one bite."
• Permission to binge.When all else fails, and you're being driven nuts by cravings (this happens to me at TOM sometimes), go ahead and give yourself permission to binge on the lowest carb foods. Having this mentality makes me less likely to go off-plan. I think people get into more trouble if they think, "...but I shouldn't have too much HWC, or too much cheese, or artificial sweeteners..." Well, it's not ideal, but it's better than a full-on cheat.

I hope that's remotely helpful.

I don't know if I count, since I eat a lot higher carb in maintenance then probably most people on here, but my (young adult) son has lots of carby stuff in the house and it doesn't bother me. Mostly because it's stuff I wouldn't want to eat anyway: Oreos, Hot Pockets (I just gagged typing that ), Pepsi. It's not tempting in the least. If I cook for both of us, sometimes I indulge him carbs (he gets actual tacos, I get taco salad) and sometimes I don't (no rice with the stirfry any more unless we have dinner guests). He's been raised well enough to know you don't EVER complain about what you do or do not get when someone else is nice enough to cook for you, so that's no problem either.

I actually have a slightly harder time outside of home. My office is full of crap and often *that* crap is stuff that is tempting. You just gotta learn to say no to it. You can't expect the rest of the world to change themselves so you aren't tempted, and unless you're a hermit, you're gonna be around other people who are eating at least some of the time.

This hits the nail on the head for me. I've gone a long way on will power. But apparently at some point I ran out and I did not have coping mechanisms in place. I do realize that much of it is in my head....but it's good to have a "doing" plan in place in case my head lets me down.



I'm copying it to my journal. Most of these points have been mentioned, but this is a nice succinct way to put it. Thank you.

<whine>but, why???<whine>

You forgot the <whine>It's not fair!!!<whine>

I'm getting a game plan:

Environmental Control - not much I can do about that right now until all the junk I bought is gone. I'm not encouraging the consumption, but I'm allowing more treats than normal. The ds's even went so far today as to research egg substitutions to make ANOTHER batch of brownies. Since I don't feel good I'm just staying in my room and having them wait on me hand and foot and I can't smell or see them. Also going to start taking some of this hc junk to our co-op on Mondays. Most of the mom's there will enjoy it.

Variety - Been looking through my lc recipes, the one's here and at other sites and have a good variety of dinner, sweet & salty snack, and desert ideas. I've specifically looked for recipes that I know can be frozen (or in the case of deserts only one portion recipes). I'm going to shop for all ingredients Tues. or Wed. and when we make the dinner recipes we're going to double so that I have a good variety in the freezer. I wish that spaghetti squash froze better....

Treat Myself Legally - see above. I did buy some steaks a couple of weeks ago to put in the freezer just for me. We also don't usually buy bacon, but I have been picking a package up now and then.

Internalizing the negative impact - this one I am going to have to practice....but I've already started that with thinking about the impact eating even a bite of those brownies would have had. For one thing, I probably would not have been down a lb. today.

Permission to binge - another thing I will have to practice if it comes down to that. I'm not really one to binge...but I do have those thoughts you brought up about, oh, I can only have 2 TB whipped cream, but it's not enough and I wish I could have more and then I end up having some other lc sweet treat. So what's the difference....it's mind games. Fortunately, my sweet craving is usually pretty easy to quell with some small something.....and that's really the only thing I'd binge on.

I'm thinking of Lisa's line.....progress not perfection. At least I've got some things I can "do" to make a difference this time around. Last two times I just figured I could withstand the temptation forever with no idea how I would do it.

...and we know how well that works. Same goes with me--I'm not having a 4th go at this.

hi-
sorry I'm late in posting, but I think this is a really good thread.

I have been doing this WOL for over 7 years, and no one else in my family is LC. When I first started, I sat DH down and asked him if he would support me in what I chose to do with food, and he said yes. I told him the support needed to include not offering me food, not commenting on my food, not complaining about food, allowing me to pick all restaurants for the immediate future, and not bringing food into the house. This was very helpful. I also started when both kids were out of the house for the summer.

I make the same dinner (everyone is on their own for the other meals) for everyone. Don't like it- make your own food but don't bother me about it. I do make a side dish for DH and DS- one I am not interested in. It is usually rice or pasta. I am very happy for them to eat all of that stuff- I don't care about it.

it is also important that I picked a LC plan that allows me to eat any carb I want once a day. So if I want a brownie, I will have ONE. With a dinner that includes a salad, protein, and veggie. Please note I am not on Atkins.

I also buy all the food, so I only buy high carb crap that I don't like- for example, I hate peanut butter icecream- it is easy to find that for DH. I don't want the temptation- why should I have to say no to stuff in my own house? It is hard enough in the outside world! I also will not bring certain food into my home- no juices, no chips, no poptarts, no french fries, no HFCS sweetened foods, no non-diet soda. If it is toxic for me it is toxic for them.

DS moved home and loves to bake. I have asked him to remove the stuff (bring to work, give to DH for his work) after he bakes. I have also encouraged him to cook and to cook dinners that I like and can eat. That has helped too.

DH likes candy- it is mostly at work, and most of the stuff he has here I don't like. It's a lot of very dark chocolate, halava (sesame seed candy) and stuff like that. If I want a piece of chocolate, a very small piece is enough of that for me. Again, I don't want to have to say no all day long.

I have tried to have DH read books or watch stuff online about LC- he is not interested. Recently DS read GCBC and was amazed.

The most important factor, I think, for DH is that I went from a size 16/18 to a size 6/8 eating this crazy way- and if it works don't mess with it. I certainly don't want to change, and he seems to be more interested in my body than in the food I do or do not eat!

hth-
E

Better late than never. I appreciate you posting, especially as a person with hc eaters in the home. Your advice lines up with what others have said and what I am trying to institute. You have also reinforced the attitude of self preservation/self protection that keeps coming up and that I think I was lacking the previous times I have done this. There are things I can do to prepare and plan ahead for temptations...but it ultimately comes down to me having the confidence that this is the way I HAVE to eat and I CANNOT sway from that thinking. With that comes the confidence to take food with me if I feel I must, or to just say no if I must. It's accepting the fact that I can't eat the "normal" that everyone else does - ever. I think I always thought that I could just eat "normal" sometimes, but the sometimes led to all times....

well said. I sometimes have the inner 2 year old kick her heels "It's not fair"- and the grown-up replies "YUP- it's not fair- get over it!"
This is MY normal- eating like everyone else got me fat and sick in the first place! This is just the way it is for me now!
You have to be your own advocate- no one else will take care of you the way you can care for yourself! Plus, I really believe we teach others how to treat us- treating myself with love/respect/acceptance shows others how I expect to be treated too!
You can do it- this is a WOL- not a diet- and you are WORTH IT!
E