Will power
- Thread starter bigfunn
- Start date
The one thing that really works for me is getting it out of my house. When I have cravings, I literally have to go to the shop to satisfy them, and quite often that means I don't have the chocolate. Or if you can't do that due to the people you live with, get them to hide it from you, I suppose (I'm lucky that I live alone).
Another thing (which I'm just incorporating back into the diet) is saving up for my chocolate. If this is a change for life and includes "no chocolate", then buh-bye, I'm outta here, I'd rather be fat and have my chocolate. I do this by calorie counting but I'm sure there are ways of including it in other diets. If you have a little less food (don't starve yourself- for me I'm talking about 100 calories or so out of my nearly 1900 calorie/ day diet- and don't sacrifice your nutrition) for a day or a couple of days, you've "saved up" for a little bit of chocolate (a little- 200 calories is two of those little squares I think). For me, if I've earned it, I'll enjoy it more. Works that way with a lot of things, and I don't see why it can't work that way with chocolate too. That and you probably won't get the guilt.
Do you have any friends or family who can provide more direct support when you have cravings?
Another thing (which I'm just incorporating back into the diet) is saving up for my chocolate. If this is a change for life and includes "no chocolate", then buh-bye, I'm outta here, I'd rather be fat and have my chocolate. I do this by calorie counting but I'm sure there are ways of including it in other diets. If you have a little less food (don't starve yourself- for me I'm talking about 100 calories or so out of my nearly 1900 calorie/ day diet- and don't sacrifice your nutrition) for a day or a couple of days, you've "saved up" for a little bit of chocolate (a little- 200 calories is two of those little squares I think). For me, if I've earned it, I'll enjoy it more. Works that way with a lot of things, and I don't see why it can't work that way with chocolate too. That and you probably won't get the guilt.
Do you have any friends or family who can provide more direct support when you have cravings?
Andy2
New member
I have no will power and a addiction to chocolate any advice or tips welcome
You gotta nix the defeatist attitude first.
Once you realize you have absolutely 100% control of what you put in your mouth, you need to develop a plan to help you get where you want to be.
I dont know how severe this "addiction" is, but like anything, change is easier with baby steps.
If you eat it everyday, start saving it for once a day after dinner, and really enjoy it.
Then after a couple weeks, maybe start enjoying it on the weekends only.
I know I personally gave up fast food AND soda this way - things I couldnt see living without a year ago.
Good luck!
ChefChiTown
New member
I have no will power and a addiction to chocolate any advice or tips welcome
Everybody has will power...even you. Hell, just the fact that you started this threaded looking for help and advice shows me you have will power. You might not see it that way, but it was your will power to better yourself that drove you to start this thread.
So, listen to what Andy says when he says to nix the defeatist attitude. Give yourself some credit.
Monster2
New member
^ I was going to write exactly the same thing.
A few thing you CAN do to stop this so - called addiction are things like this:
1) KEEP chocolate out of your house. duh. pretty common sense.
2) When you go grocery shopping, do it after you've eaten healthy. Don't shop on an empty stomach, because you're always more like to spend money on junk food.
3) There is NO real addiction to chocolate. We all crave sweets every now and then. To curb your desire for sweets, try to get something low fat, like hard candy or low fat sherbet or even low fat chocolate ice cream.
Melancholy
New member
I always felt the same way... said I had "no will power", but like others said, that is a defeatist attitude, and I didn't like thinking of myself that way (because I am not someone that gives up)...
It's funny that dieting has become something tied to morals. I read a book called Intuitive Eating that helped me with this morality that we tie to eating quite a bit. The book talked about how we as a society have distilled down dieting to black or white, setting impossible standards for ourselves. For example, if you adhere PERFECTLY to your diet for the day, that is considered success, but if you so much as have a single bite of chocolate, you fail (gasp)... Once you have "failed", guilt, shame, etc. set it and many of us just say "screw it" and eat as much of whatever we want after this so-called failure. This is the so-called black and white.
The fact is, eating is very much more gray, and not at all black and white. We get cravings for foods, and by trying to circumvent these cravings, we actually make staying on our diet much harder. For example, say you feel like something sweet, but you think you "shouldn't" eat it, because it will result in diet failure. So instead, you get some celery and carrots out of the fridge... you eat this, but you are not "satisfied" because you were looking for something different. So next you eat some low-fat crackers, then some fat-free jello...etc. and just get more frustrated because you are not actually getting what you are searching for.
The book goes on to tell you to really sit down and think about what you want to eat before you eat anything... really think..."is this what I want to eat"... many times, in our diet-mode, it turns out we are eating crap we don't even freakin' like! Once you figure out what you want to eat, as you are eating it, savor the flavors, savor the texture, etc. and really enjoy the hell out of the food that you were searching for to begin with. The book says : Don't eat if you don't like it, and if you love it, savor it"... and finally, tell yourself as you are eating... "I can have more of this food whenever I want"... because it's absolutely true...this small statement alone was the most vindicating thing I have read/ learned about dieting in a long long time. I was so frustrated with deiting/ eating healthy, I was driving myself crazy.. this really lifted a weight off my shoulders and allowed me to enjoy food again.
Another example, If there is a pastry in front of you.. as a dieter, we think... "no, pastry bad because it's fattening"... so we take a bite... and it's good... then we take another, then we think... holy crap, I am on my diet, so I better eat this all RIGHT NOW as fast as I can, because I will never eat one again on my diet. We go into crazy mode sometimes, and scarf down a lot of one thing... but if we slow down and think... man, I can come here and buy a pastry whenever I want, we can slow down, and enjoy these types of foods. It's funny, because many times now I find myself very happy eating a small amount of something that I am really enjoying.
I hope you can stop thinking of yourself as "failing" when you have some chocolate, or sweets, because that could not be farther from the truth. As a human, you have cravings, and they are 100% natural. Good luck, sorry for rambling!
It's funny that dieting has become something tied to morals. I read a book called Intuitive Eating that helped me with this morality that we tie to eating quite a bit. The book talked about how we as a society have distilled down dieting to black or white, setting impossible standards for ourselves. For example, if you adhere PERFECTLY to your diet for the day, that is considered success, but if you so much as have a single bite of chocolate, you fail (gasp)... Once you have "failed", guilt, shame, etc. set it and many of us just say "screw it" and eat as much of whatever we want after this so-called failure. This is the so-called black and white.
The fact is, eating is very much more gray, and not at all black and white. We get cravings for foods, and by trying to circumvent these cravings, we actually make staying on our diet much harder. For example, say you feel like something sweet, but you think you "shouldn't" eat it, because it will result in diet failure. So instead, you get some celery and carrots out of the fridge... you eat this, but you are not "satisfied" because you were looking for something different. So next you eat some low-fat crackers, then some fat-free jello...etc. and just get more frustrated because you are not actually getting what you are searching for.
The book goes on to tell you to really sit down and think about what you want to eat before you eat anything... really think..."is this what I want to eat"... many times, in our diet-mode, it turns out we are eating crap we don't even freakin' like! Once you figure out what you want to eat, as you are eating it, savor the flavors, savor the texture, etc. and really enjoy the hell out of the food that you were searching for to begin with. The book says : Don't eat if you don't like it, and if you love it, savor it"... and finally, tell yourself as you are eating... "I can have more of this food whenever I want"... because it's absolutely true...this small statement alone was the most vindicating thing I have read/ learned about dieting in a long long time. I was so frustrated with deiting/ eating healthy, I was driving myself crazy.. this really lifted a weight off my shoulders and allowed me to enjoy food again.
Another example, If there is a pastry in front of you.. as a dieter, we think... "no, pastry bad because it's fattening"... so we take a bite... and it's good... then we take another, then we think... holy crap, I am on my diet, so I better eat this all RIGHT NOW as fast as I can, because I will never eat one again on my diet. We go into crazy mode sometimes, and scarf down a lot of one thing... but if we slow down and think... man, I can come here and buy a pastry whenever I want, we can slow down, and enjoy these types of foods. It's funny, because many times now I find myself very happy eating a small amount of something that I am really enjoying.
I hope you can stop thinking of yourself as "failing" when you have some chocolate, or sweets, because that could not be farther from the truth. As a human, you have cravings, and they are 100% natural. Good luck, sorry for rambling!
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Hi. Bigfun. I have the same problem with anything sweet but i think about the whole thing differently to those above. If you think you can follow their suggestions, then go that course.
I can't do what they suggest. It doesn't work for me. Because i find it too hard to stop at two pieces. Once i start eating sugar, i just want to keep eating it till there's none left.
If this craving were to hit me, and so far it has hit only once on my diet, i do give in. But because i have quit sweets altogether, i haven't had any other cravings and have been able to go without and not have to battle with self discipline at all. The thing is if were eating a little bit more often, every single dam time, it would be a struggle. At least that was how it was in the past.
I think the reason why i have not had to contend with any other cravings is because my food is very yummy, all my meals are filling and delicious.
I find i either get cravings if i let myself get hungry or if some hormonal thing occurs. I can't really override the hormonal urge. Last time I did pretty much what was described in the quote above. I went to town and looked for a healthy lunch in a restaurant. So i had a lovely plate of fried rice. It was really yummy but it didn't satisfy my craving. So then when i went to the supermarket to "buy some other things" of course i broke down and bought a whole lot of junk" and then i ate almost all of it.
I was a bit upset with myself but becuase i had been doing so well up til then, i just decided to get back on track the next day. And it also kickstarted my exercise program. I hadn't been doing any up til then.
I am happier with this program. Now its been about 4 weeks since i've eaten anything with sugar in it. But we each have to find our own way. You figure out what's best for you. Try different things and stay with the one that works best for you.
I can't do what they suggest. It doesn't work for me. Because i find it too hard to stop at two pieces. Once i start eating sugar, i just want to keep eating it till there's none left.
If this craving were to hit me, and so far it has hit only once on my diet, i do give in. But because i have quit sweets altogether, i haven't had any other cravings and have been able to go without and not have to battle with self discipline at all. The thing is if were eating a little bit more often, every single dam time, it would be a struggle. At least that was how it was in the past.
I think the reason why i have not had to contend with any other cravings is because my food is very yummy, all my meals are filling and delicious.
I find i either get cravings if i let myself get hungry or if some hormonal thing occurs. I can't really override the hormonal urge. Last time I did pretty much what was described in the quote above. I went to town and looked for a healthy lunch in a restaurant. So i had a lovely plate of fried rice. It was really yummy but it didn't satisfy my craving. So then when i went to the supermarket to "buy some other things" of course i broke down and bought a whole lot of junk" and then i ate almost all of it.
I was a bit upset with myself but becuase i had been doing so well up til then, i just decided to get back on track the next day. And it also kickstarted my exercise program. I hadn't been doing any up til then.
I am happier with this program. Now its been about 4 weeks since i've eaten anything with sugar in it. But we each have to find our own way. You figure out what's best for you. Try different things and stay with the one that works best for you.