My #2 rule for preventing weight gain is simple. Do not keep ready-made cookies or cake in your cupboard.
It's too easy to grab a handful as you sneak off to the TV or, in my case, to my computer. Instead, keep bananas, peaches, plums, something sweet but healthy on the ready.
If I want cookies...really, really, want them...I have to make them. From scratch. (I do have mixes for when the kids have friends over. But even that is better than ready-made.) This way a) I have to have time to make them and b) they don't have all those chemicals and preservatives that my body doesn't need.
When you don't have time to make the cookies, or don't feel like getting out all the ingredients and mixing the dough...not to mention cleaning everything up afterward...you don't eat the cookies. If the craving won't go away, you make them and enjoy them. Go ahead. Everything in moderation. Just be sure there are plenty of people around who will eat whatever cookies are left over. Do not leave them lying around or you will eat them for days. 500 calories at a time. Don't say I didn't warn you.
At any rate, keep fresh fruit on hand, which often keeps cravings for sweets at bay, and for God's sake, get rid of those packaged cookies, Twinkies, Little Debbie snacks, etc. They aren't doing you any good. If you need a cookie, really need one (and if you're like me, you do), go to the trouble to make them.
It will make a huge difference in your diet.
As a rule, I don't buy any junk food when I go grocery shopping, but my husband does. For the most part, I CAN ignore the bad food in the cupboard until he pulls it out and either eats in front of me or offers it to me.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any suggestions on how to deal with that?
This is a tough predicament, but one I can relate to, since I have junk food in the cupboards for my boys.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, he should not be offering any to you. You will have to explain that you are trying to eat healthier, and offering something unhealthy is making it tough for you to resist. (We are only human, and willpower is fleeting.) If he continues to sabotage your efforts, you may have to discuss why he is doing this to you. It may be he doesn't want you to lose weight. Or he feels guilty eating poorly and wants you to join him so he feels better. Whatever his reason, it needs to be put out there so you can deal with it. I'm not a therapist, but I do know that if someone is supportive of you, they try to help you. And offering up food that is unhealthy when you are trying to revamp your eating habits is not helping.
As for eating it in front of you...there isn't much you can do about that. It's his prerogative. He has the right to eat what he wants. Unfortunately. :) But you can give yourself permission to have a bite once a week, and the rest of the time dive into a salad or make a small fruit smoothie, which may help keep you from craving his snack. After a while, if you stop eating those salty, sugary snacks, you won't crave them much anymore. The potato chips will taste too salty. The brownies will seem too sweet.
In the end, we have to take responsibility for what we put in our mouths. When I eat my son's ice cream or gobble up his Teddy Grahams, that's my own fault. For every snack I eat, I force myself to work out harder that day.
Not sure if this helps, but know that I do understand. Changing ones diet is not easy. It takes commitment and motivation. And it also takes forgiving oneself when there's a slip-up and a whole bowl of salty, buttery popcorn gets munched.