I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

[synthetic]

I started induction a week ago. I have been on this program before and I have to say it's the most satisfing way of eating if you want to loose pounds.

I have learned from the last time that I did this, I ended up making the mistake of buying cheese on induction. First, cheese in the apartment is a TRIGGER FOOD!

I LOVE cheese and I cannot have just a few pieces. I end up eating the entire package. I just have no control. So one thing I have to accept is that I cannot afford to tempt myself with these trigger foods like cheese even though it is allowed in a certain quanity on induction.

I remember when I did this program once before I was OFF the 2 week induction which allowed you to have nuts, I ended up eating the entire package of macadamia nuts. Oh boy, I really love those. But they have carbs and I ate too many nuts and cheese and thats how I ended up off the Atkins plan the last time. The carbs added up and I was back to the carbohydrate burning cycle again.

This time I cannot make this mistake. I know now what my triggers are from experience. I love them but I cannot control myself. Sometimes I wonder if I have a 'hollow leg' becuse I can really pack food away! lol

It's sad I have no control, but at least I recognize that cheese and nuts cannot be in my atkins plan. even after induction is over.

Has anyone else made this choice? To stay away from certain trigger foods entirley to maintain your weight?

[liv]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

Yes you bet. I have plenty of things ot there that I just cannot really eat. Nuts are one of them - especially salted or peanuts. They are just horrible in setting things off. I also have a problem with jello which is kind of weird but I usually have to finish whatever I see. And I learned on my first induction that coffee is a trouble for me - it is like a segway thing makes me hungry and makes me want to eat crappy sugary things.

[soon2bslim]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

Sweetner is a problem 4 me, so i stay away from those awesome cheesecake recipes and mock danish---anything w/ sweetner just gets me craaaaving away! The most i can have is maybe 1-2 equivalent to sugar tsp's which i add to coleslaw - for a crowd or any cabbage based salad to offset the bitter edge of the cabbage BUT i've had cabbage based salad maybe 4x in the last 3 months and my portion would have less than 1/4 tsp equiv to sugar - this is all i can tolerate.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

>>To stay away from certain trigger foods entirley to maintain your weight?>>

I think anyone who is successful has to do that.

Me ... my food drug of choice was chocolate ... so I don't have the sugar free version. Why would I want to repeat a bad habit?

[maxima]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

When I saw somewhere that nuts were allowed at some point, as was a small amount of peanut butter, I knew that these would be two I would never do - I would rather have a big bite of tuna and take care of business that way instead of eating those nuts - too close to "junk food" style for me, the one at a time, little crunch. Nope, I know myself well enough to know that could be a deal breaker. Peanut butter has always been a downfall for me, I quit having it in the house years ago. It's not even a favorite food of mine, but if I have a slice of peanut butter toast, I end up having two more and being on a sweet or bread bing the entire day.

I don't think it is is a matter of control for you at *all* - you should be proud that you now understand the deal breakers and have resolved that you won't fool yourself about deciding that "five nuts won't hurt and after all, it's part of Atkins!"

When I go somewhere for hours, even like to the movies, I bring a baked and frozen piece of my chicken. Seriously. I just keep it wrapped in saran wrap and then take it out, then it's thawed and I eat it during the movie and get my snack time in that way. No, it's not typical movie food but yes, it does the trick of fulfilling the physical need. I'm learning now that eating for entertainment is something I'm willing to leave behind because the price I pay isn't worth it. Most of us also ate for entertainment and some people can do that and be healthy and some cannot and I cannot.

So, let us eat chicken *LOL*

I think you are going to be a winner, I'm just now figuring out what I want to add for after my induction and I think I will go for more string beans, I have grown to love my green beans.

We got here for those same types of "fool myself" thinking, now you are dealing with reality and that makes for a winner in my book.

[Elizellen]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

Well done all of you for recognising that some 'legal' induction and OWL foods will cause you problems and so you will need to avoid or at the least limit thwm for yourselves.

This is the beauty of following the rules of induction and OWL closely as it helps us find these individual things out on our Atkins journey.

[synthetic]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

Yes! I have a problem with peanut butter too!

Thank you for reminding me maxima..... Even the NATURAL chunky peanut butter that is allowed is ANOTHER trigger food for me.

Thank you for saying that about being a winner as well, that was very nice of you to say.


I could eat that right out of the jar and go WAY overboard. So I learned from experience two years ago Nuts, Cheese and Peanut Butter I cannot even buy at all or even have it in the house.

I even saw that liv said jello was a problem. I could see that as a trigger food as well for me to stay away from. I relate with her on that score that I am one of those as well that have to finish everything I see... even the whole jar of peanut butter!

I mean, it's like this for me as well in other areas of my life I have noticed. Once I put the computer on and get online, I cannot stop!

I sometimes make myself do other responsibilities around my studio apartment before I even turn on the computer because I know I cannot get off of it!!

[2big4mysize]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

congrats on recognizing your triggers and being determined not to allow them to derail you.
I have a few trigger foods induction legal celery triggers the I wants in me so I don't eat it even now as a goalie.

Splenda set off the I need sweets and when I talked witrh Dr Atkins medical staff back in 2002 they said you need a different sweetner and avoid it so I do.

Whole tree fruits set off the I wants so i don't eat apples pears and citrus friuts as whle fruits but I can enjoy them as poart of my atkins if they are inpart of another food like in a veggie or meat dish. I can't portion watermellon to a legal size as my brain sees the whole part left and says thanks I'll leave that little one for somebody else and just enjoy this big piece so watermellon is off my list of legal foods. Other mellons are no problem.
I have no problems with nuts if they are raw to begin with, but others do. I know a goalie who is triggered eating Dr Atkins favorite nut so she avoids Macadamia nuts.

Discovering what triggers you and what is safe is what OWL is all about. Take good notes and repeat your testing to be sure it is that food and not something else and don't be discouraged cause you can't have something. Celebrate the foods you can eat and lose weight.

[lolitaleekun]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

I can't believe I just binged on 4 ounces of nuts (macadamias). Never letting those near me again.. (sigh).

[dyjack]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

Those nuts can be tricky. The only way I was able to eat them was to either buy them in near portion sized bags or portion them out the minute they come in the house.

[Aprile]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

I just skipped the nut rung and went to berries. I know I can't eat just a few. I have a habit of saying "Oh I will just grab a couple for now" then I go back and grab a couple more during the day and then a couple more. They are like chips you can't eat just one. Peanut butter, Oh I could swim in peanut butter. I love anything made with it.

[Jules1980]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

How do you know if something is a trigger food? I mean how do you know its cheese or cream or maybe an ingredient in your salad dressing? I guess I will need to experiment with that.

[Aprile]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

I usually gauge by how I feel after eating a certain food. I try to add one new thing at a time. If I try a new salad dressing I eat veggies that I know don't bother me. If I try nuts or berries a certain day I try only one type of nut or berry and eat the rest of the day familiar foods that I know cause no trigger. If after I eat a certain thing I find myself wanting more than the amount I am allowed I know it bothers me. If I am not satisfied with the portion of the new food and think about it all day I know it bothers me and I need to shelf it.

[2big4mysize]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

How do you know if something is a trigger food? I mean how do you know its cheese or cream or maybe an ingredient in your salad dressing? I guess I will need to experiment with that.

note taking and journaling the Ws about your eating who what when where why and how you feel before during and after and an hour after you ate it will let you focus in on what is triggerring you.

not2late thought all fresh cheese was triggerring her but it turned out to be an addative that was not in one companies brand. had she not been going slow and taking notes she might have never been able to eat any fresh cheese.

It took me months to figure out it was celery triggerring my induction cravings cause that is a legal food as were all the rest of the stuff I was having but noting every time the I wants arrived celery was part of the foods consumed saved me from not having all the other foods thinking they were triggers.

[maxima]

Re: I cannot allow myself cheese or nuts TRIGGER FOODS

I am with Aprile, I never introduce more than one food at a time and I will try it for several days so that I'm sure of it's effect upon me.

I tried some red peppers awhile back, and had some significant trigger thoughts for the rest of the evening. I was fine the next day. So, the third day I tried again and again, had a rough evening.

I'm done with red peppers for a good long while. I will be interested to find if it's a case of once it a trigger food it will probably always be a trigger food. Perhaps not with something like red peppers but I already know that nuts and peanut butter are on my forever "off" list because they earned that position (non position?) even before I started Atkins - I just couldn't leave them alone, period. So I quit them several years ago.

Loved them, don't miss them at all. When you cut something out of your diet on a "forever" basis, I suspect that the yen will fade in time and you won't "miss" them anymore because something else that doesn't "hurt" (starts a craving) takes it's place as your yummy that you love. That is the way I have found it tends to be with me anyway.