Understanding TRIGGER FOODS

Hi gang!

How are things with you? Winter sucks, doesn't it? LOL...but there are now LESS than 30 days till Spring....so we WILL get through it.

I think it's time to talk about trigger foods...because it's something that affects us ALL, at one point or another during this program (or even afterwards in maintenance!)

My definition of a trigger food is ANY food....EVEN AN MF MEAL!....that I want to eat MORE of.

One is never enough...I want moremoremore....and for some reason this particular food becomes a 'crutch' for me. When things go bad in my day? I start thinking about that trigger food. And I reach for it. Again and again and again and again...until I realize it's TOO MUCH and it has to GO!

Everyone has DIFFERENT trigger foods...they are as individual as WE are.
A food I can eat and be just fine with, a friend may have as a trigger...and vice-versa!

And what's worse is, a trigger food can CHANGE, as well! That's the tricky part about triggers.
A food you may have been able to eat last month or last year may suddenly turn into a trigger and you find yourself knee-deep in it.

Here are some trigger foods I've fought with!

PB2 with chocolate....UGH.
Now, I should mention that PLAIN PB2 is NOT a trigger for me, for some reason (I think it's the added sugar in the chocolate PB2 that 'gets' me...). Plain PB2 is allowable OP and can be a lifesaver if you're a peanut butter 'nut' (pardon the pun) like I am.
We can have 2 TBLs of this stuff, it's a dry powder you mix with 1 TBL water to create 'peanut butter' (and it IS made from real peanuts, it's not fake....it's just dehydrated, and most of the fat has been sucked out, that's why you have to mix it with water), and that 2 TBL counts as 1 MF snack per day. (it's available on Netrition.com, by the way).
Fine....plain PB2 was a 'treat' I used on top of my evening MF brownie at night. I looked forward to it, I measured it, and I did well with it. I even credit it for helping me to stay OP because I WAITED for it all day long..told myself I could 'only' have it if I stayed OP the rest of the day....and I went to bed happy.
But when I reached goal I decided to try PB2 with chocolate...and oh BABY, I wish I hadn't!
It was....TOO good.
Ever have a food like that? You love it TOO much, you eat TOO much of it.

THAT, my friends, is a trigger food for you. WHATEVER it is. EVEN IF it's healthy!
I fought a legendary battle with PB2 with chocolate...for weeks...! Telling myself it was OK, I was 'only' going to have 2 TBLs....but somehow that 'morphed' into 4 TBL....(I justified this by saying it was 'only' 90 calories)...then that morphed into 6 TBL...then I was dumping like, 1/2 CUP into a bowl, then even MORE than that, and practically making myself SICK eating it, but I couldn't stop!!!
UGH!
ENOUGH! I had to finally BAN IT from my house. And I mean, I had like 3 jars of the stuff that I had to literally THROW OUT...yep...wasted money....but hey, better GONE than on my BODY!....in order to 'kick the habit'.
And I've never bought it again. It's POISON to me.

MF Chocolate Chip Soft Bake....YEP, believe it or not, this MF meal was..and IS...a TRIGGER FOOD for me!
Know why? I was eating it RAW....just mixed with water...like it was 'cookie dough'. UGH. And of course, that little packet wasn't much, right? So I added another packet to the bowl...and then another...and another...and pretty soon I was eating this giant bowlful of MF chocolate chip soft bakes raw like cookie dough until I felt SICK. UGH. Can you say BINGE?
Once again, the only way "OUT" was to BAN IT from my home. COMPLETELY. I had to stop ordering it! Sad but true....

Sugarfree BUBBLE GUM...again, YEP....I kid you not. I don't chew 'one' piece of gum....I chew the WHOLE PACK. In an effort to 'keep my mouth busy' and stave off hunger/binges, I decided somewhere along the line to embrace Trident SF bubble gum. Well, what started out as one pack again, as usual with a trigger...morphed into MORE than one. Pretty soon I was making trips out to the convenience store down the street to get MORE packs of gum, because I was always running out! Taking a look at the carb/calorie count on the back, I was horrified to see that with every piece I was ingesting another gram of carb (and again, if you chew 10 pieces at once, HELLO? It adds up LOL)...plus 5 calories!
So guess what? I was adding 10, 15, 20 or MORE grams of carbs to my food plan every day!
The 5/1 was no longer in ketosis with all those extras carbs....it was preventing weight loss! PLUS ... not only was it NOT quelling my hunger, but it was making me CRAVE -more- sweets!
Sweet in = want more sweets....that's the way it works when you're a food/sugar addict like I am.
So once again, it HAD TO GO. And by the way I'm STILL fighting with this one...although I have it down to just 5 or 6 pieces every night before bedtime and that's working because I just tell myself I can have it...just 'later'. But I'm sure eventually, like all triggers, I will start moving UP from 5-6 pieces to 10, 15 or more...and at that point it's GOTTA GO. Period.

MF Soy Cheddar Chips...Again, ANOTHER MF meal that I just ... ate too MUCH of! At one point I was eating 6 of these a DAY. One after every meal...as if it were 'desert'! How STUPID is that, right? I mean, OK, they are just 70 calories each...and they are 'better' for you than say, an off plan chip or something...but STILL.
ANY FOOD THAT YOU EAT TOO MUCH OF IS A TRIGGER FOOD.

I'll say that again...because it's important!
ANY -- and I mean ANY -- FOOD THAT YOU EAT TOO MUCH OF = a TRIGGER FOOD!

I've had friends who've fought battles like these with various foods, including nuts (a HUGE trigger for many of us), gums or candies, (sugar! It's deadly)... various cereals and/or grains, even things like berries (which of course aren't OP until you hit transition). But hey, a 'normal' person would say 'Berries? No big deal...they are low in calories, enjoy!'....but for us? If you're trying to stay OP you CANNOT EAT FRUIT, no matter HOW 'low in calories' or HOW 'healthy' a food is.

Again, the definition of a TRIGGER FOOD is ANY food you eat TOO MUCH OF. (OK OK, already, Linda...SHUT UP! LOL)

Seriously, YOU KNOW what your own triggers are. You may TELL yourself you're OK....but that's Fat Brain talking.
Really think about it. Look at your food logs (you ARE logging, right?)
If you're overdoing on a particular food, this ALONE can throw you out of ketosis and be preventing that scale from moving in the direction you want it to go.

You MUST get rid of it. PERMANENTLY.
It's the only way 'out' of the 'trigger' mess. Sad but true.
It HAS to be BANNED from your life. If it's something that the rest of your family enjoys? Sit down and TALK with them about it. You may be surprised to learn it's 'no big deal' for them...they can DO WITHOUT it! YOU are the one buying it and telling yourself it's 'for the hubby' or 'for the kids' (oh boy is THIS a great excuse, right?)

Look at your trigger foods with a cold, logical eye. REALLY SEE them for what they are. If you're able to stay OP -except- for that food, do whatever it takes to ELIMINATE that food from your life. PERMANENTLY.

And be on the lookout for other triggers as you move through the program, because again, triggers can CHANGE.

You CAN get rid of the trigger foods....and you'd be surprised, really, at how easy it is to stop using them. If you don't have them, you may crave them for a day or two (have a big glass of water or a cup of herb tea, keep busy and the time WILL pass and you WILL stop thinking about it) but after that, I think you'll find, as I have, that the craving DISSIPATES.

REALLY.
You'll be fine. You CAN live without it. In fact, you'll feel much BETTER without that 'crutch'!

Just don't be tempted the next time you're in the grocery store to buy it AGAIN. Don't go down that road. Don't 'test' yourself. This isn't a test...this is your LIFE we're talking about and your HEALTH. You don't have to 'prove' to yourself that you are strong, etc. Instead, set yourself UP for success! "Shrink your world" down to your 5 MF meals a day plus your planned L&G....and staying OP becomes EASY.

YOU CAN DO IT!

KEEP ON keepin' on!

Linda
angiecat6@comcast.net