stopping yourself from cheating....how'd you do it??? page 2

[JudyCr]

Keep good treats with you, in your car, backpack, etc.
Macadamia nuts, boiled eggs, jerky, olives, cheese, apple, banana
Don't buy junk if you live alone; ask people you live with to keep their junk out of sight
Drink water ALL THE TIME.

The longer you go without bad foods, the easier it'll be to ignore it.

[Richard Seekins]

How long does it take you to eat 4 cookies..maybe 2 mins tops..that a pointless 2 mins of pleasure. Think of the long term health gains. After three months my cravings for most bad things have gone enough for me to walk on by with ease.

[goinggrok]

I wish there was a like button....some great suggestions. I don't usually beat myself up about it, but I wonder if I will get past the point...or if the 4 day thing will be a long journey.

Thanks for the great replys...keep 'em coming.

[magnolia1973]

Take all of the crap you cheat with and put it in the trash. Go buy a bunch of great foods that you love that are primal. Eat your FAVORITES. Don't have a crappy option, but make sure you are noshing on your top pics for Primal foods.

This weekend I was getting cranky about Whole 30 food options. I bought duck breast.... problem solved. If I had eaten something I liked less- like baked chicken thigh or a bunless burger, I would have just gotten crankier.

[namelesswonder]

I'm trying to heal my gut. If I'm tempted to give in to cravings that I know will be bad for my body, I remind myself of the end goal. I used to stress over it, and now I just allow myself to eat whatever, if I'm going to feel badly about denying myself. "I know this cookie will hurt my stomach, but I want to eat it, and I won't feel bad emotionally for this one indulgence." Small things make it easier, and because I have no reason to feel guilty about it, it doesn't add up and become a huge cheat.

[JoanieL]

Someone who posts here has a sig line that basically states that there is no cheating, only some days when you don't eat primal. I think that's a good way to look at it. Even a person who is doing this with weight loss as one goal.

Getting crap out of the home is a big thing, especially if you live somewhere where you'd have to get dressed and get in the car and drive somewhere just to have the cookies. Another I find helpful is to only go off primal with something very well made. IOW, no Pepperidge Farm yummy, but a trip to the best bakery in your area. No Pizza Hut delivery, but okay to the best pizzaria in your area. Make it both time consuming and expensive to go off primal.

[kbn1]

Anticipating temptation and visualizing making good choices helps me. One of the offices I work out of keeps bowls of candy around for everyone. Every time I am at that office, before I am even in the building, I visualize myself not taking any candy. And when I go out to eat, I look up the menu (most places have them on their website) and narrow it down to a couple of good choices. In a sense, I try to make the good decision before I am actually presented with the choice. Does that always work? No, but it works most of the time.

[MattyH]

It also depends on why the cookies are calling to you. If they're just lying around and you're being "cued" to eat them, get rid of them, or remind yourself that "junk food" is food in exactly the same way that "wax fruit" is fruit. Reaffirm your motivation, whatever it may be. Mine is "why would I sacrifice muscle tone for some commercial cr*p?"

If the cookies are calling to you because you're really low in energy at that moment and a nap isn't possible - late afternoon and shortly after dinner are likely suspects - then reach for something easily metabolized like berries, or milk if you drink it. I've found that a cup of herbal tea with a splash of milk and a .25 teaspoon of honey completely kills my cravings for sweets.

Best of luck!
Matty - The Slow Learner

[Legbiter]

I'll very occaisonally eat something with a little too much sugar in it or polish off a bottle of wine during an evening but I don't crave the snacks and candies anymore. At this point they're just inanimate objects at the store to me. If I really, really crave something maybe not exactly primal I'll go ahead and indulge then carry on my merry way without a second thought. Eating primally really killed dead the carb cravings.

[Chris_H]

I keep raw almonds, home made jerky and hard boiled eggs around. Easy, relatively portable and always satisfyimg. Also, a nice cup of tea helps me.