Trigger foods can get you when you least expect it. I remember very vividly where a trigger food “got me” unexpectedly. I was in the second or third week of yet another WW experience, and happily watching the Oprah show one afternoon. There on the television screen popped up an advertisement for some kind of gooey chocolate dessert. I watched the commercial intently, and almost felt my mouth water with anticipation. I sternly told myself, “You must not get up and make something like that.” But before I could even completely process the thought, I had hauled myself up off the couch, and wandered into the kitchen. Almost without thinking, I began opening cabinets to see what I had. Oh darn, I didn’t have any chocolate available, because after all, I was supposed to be losing weight! “But wait,” I thought, “There’s the cocoa powder, which when combined with the proper ingredients can yield a huge variety of delicious chocolate desserts.” I ended up making two dozen chocolate cupcakes, complete with frosting, and ate 20 of them before John came home from dinner. That’s a trigger food.
What foods trigger that kind of strong reaction in you? I read somewhere, (I can’t remember where), that most trigger foods seem to be those made with refined, white sugar. That certainly was true for me. It’s important during your weight loss journey to know what foods trigger undesirable responses for you, and what, if any, foods trigger positive reactions. I guess really, it’s not the foods that trigger the reactions, but rather the emotions behind your desire for that particular food.
What are some things that you can do to identify your trigger foods? Ask yourself these questions: Portion control goes out the window with what food? What food would you be embarrassed to show someone how much you eat when you are “on a roll.” And what food is hard for you to turn down?
For me, my trigger food was, and still is to some extent, chocolate. I loved it, and still do. It could be anything, as long as chocolate was the main ingredient - cookies, cakes, pies, candy, fudge, or brownies. No matter where I was in my weight loss journey, chocolate was always a problem for me. So how did I go from being completely unable to control my chocolate intake, to being able to enjoy chocolate desserts without fearing failure.
In the beginning:
I rid the house of chocolate, and cocoa powder. This might not be your choice, but this is what worked for me. I got rid of any food item containing chocolate, or any food item capable of being combined to make a chocolate treat. After several weeks, I was able to reintroduce chocolate into the house, but still in small amounts, for I still didn’t have good control.
I wrote down all the things I could eat instead of chocolate. This was hard, because I wasn’t a big fan of veggies and fruits, but I learned to appreciate them. Some of the things on my list besides fruits and veggies were popscicles, ginger snaps, tootsie rolls (or chocolate wax as John calls them), pudding, and hard candy.
I became aware of the situations involving my trigger food. It wasn’t just a picture of chocolate that would send me running to the pantry, there were also emotional triggers that made me desire chocolate. Becoming cognizant of these emotions helped me resist the urge to overeat.
Over time, I was able to have chocolate treats, always keeping them small and manageable. This was so I didn’t deprive myself of a food I genuinely loved, but wasn’t able to trust myself to have around the house in unlimited quantities. For me, the important thing about trigger foods was becoming aware of them, and having a plan to help overcome the temptation they held.
As you work through your weight loss journey, always keep in mind that “diet land” often isn’t part of “real life land.” When I lost weight, I wanted to do something that I could continue forever. Strive to keep that in mind as you plan your program, and live your life. You can get ahead of your trigger foods, and avoid the “gotcha!”
I’d love it if you’d share any strategies you have for avoiding the trigger food trap. Diane
Those are good strategies, Diane! One of my big trigger foods are potato chips. I just can’t have them sitting in the cupboard, on a regular basis in the house (your first strategy). But of course my husband and kids like to have them from time to time, so my strategy is that we have one night of the week when we either buy individual bags for each of them, or one large bag which they divide up among themselves. The bag must be used up in one evening or I have a really hard time keeping out of it!
Amy in Belgium´s last fabulous musings ..Bloggers Healthy Heart Weekend Run
My trigger food is pizza and chips. I found that this past weekend I had chips and couldn’t stop eating them while at friends. I ate so much of it that it made me sick (vomit). I felt terrible but realized that I am not going to have chips again. I went without chips for 6 months now and this past weekend just showed me how much I have to stay away from it. Good piece you’ve written.
blackhuff´s last fabulous musings ..Did you see yourself as this overweight
I like those strategies. I’ve come to know that almost anything can be a trigger food. For me, it’s about the quantity that is available. I can have one serving of anything anywhere and be just fine with that and it doesn’t derail me. But there are bunches of things that I just do not bring into the house. The usual suspects – baked goods, breads, sweets, chips – can be consumed in single serving quantities outside of the house, but never here. That’s a battle that I tell myself I can win, but I eventually lose. It requires too much energy to stay out of a bag of chips.
Roxie´s last fabulous musings ..The Accidental Valentinist
I think it is not only the trigger food itself that has a negative impact on us, IT IS WHEN THE TRIGGER FOOD CATCHES US BY SURPRISE.
Commercials are always a surprise and catch us at a very vulnerable time (non-food and TV habit was BIG for most of us in our BIG days). I think much of the night time eating problem, which many bloggers write about, has to do with commercials.
I wrote about this TV thing in response to another posting of yours in December 2010:
http://baby-steps-v.blogspot.com/2010/12/tv-eating-and-rebuilding-infrastructure.html
AND
We use similar technique to what ‘Amy in Belgium’ mentioned above in her comment. We buy/make individual servings or ‘just enough’ so nothing is left laying around the house. Highly effective. (I know this happens automatically for you Diane, because you have a large family.)
We also divide and label so the amount is ‘claimed’ by a specific child and that helps too (package of cookies divided by 3-4 kids, depending on who is home, and their share in a separate baggie with their name on it).
Very practical post. I think topics like this are important so people understand to be proactive and do not think they are ‘weak’. Things like this can be a stacked deck, and we have to take action to restructure the way we handle it.
Vickie´s last fabulous musings ..What I did this week
How about crackers? In the beginning of my weight loss journey back in 1997 I could really binge on crackers quite well so as is suggested they were banned from the house for a long time (several years).
I can eat them now with out going crazy but it took a lot time to get here and being without them for quite a long while.
For me right now I dont “think” it is an actual food, but the need to feel full and comfy. Which leads to feeling fat and miserable. Before I gave up diet soda back in Oct. if we had pizza or chinese food I could easily drink 4 or 5 cans and not even think about it. So maybe that was a trigger for me? All those years of drinking soda did a number on me I get crazy sick now if I drink it.
I have many trigger foods and this is a tough issue for me because I’d love to rid my house of them but can’t because it would not be fair to my son and husband. Some are pretty innocuous, like bread and cereal.
Karen´s last fabulous musings ..Candy Is Dandy but Blogging Doesn’t Rot Your Teeth
I have three and thank goodness, I know what they are and know they CANNOT be in my house. They are chips of any kind, Triscuit crackers and kettle popcorn. I am so appreciative of my husband, who readily found a substitute for each of these things that doesn’t “trigger” me, so I don’t have to have them in the house at all!
Sharon´s last fabulous musings ..Frightening Friday
I too tend to try to keep my trigger foods out of the house. If the binge urge is strong enough though, anything can become a trigger food. I’ve binged on tofu in the past. When that kind of an urge strikes I try hard to distract myself and if that doesn’t work, then I try to sit down and do some writing about what I’m feeling and why.
Desert Agave´s last fabulous musings ..37
I think my biggest problem were “trigger situations.” When I got stressed (which was almost daily), I would eat a lot. I loved crunchy and salty foods. Like you, I stopped buying chips and other foods that weren’t good for me. I also had to really work on finding other ways to deal with stress. To this day, I am very cautious around chips as I can very easily eat way too many…
Andrea@WellnessNotes´s last fabulous musings ..Weekend Fun and More Green Juice
Diane, I know my trigger foods & basically, I just don’t keep them in the house!
Jody – Fit at 53´s last fabulous musings ..Meditation & Valentines Day!
one word – CUPCAKES
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Very good plans for dealing with trigger foods Diane! Another similar issue is volume food, such as at a buffet or on a cruise. Same plans apply, stay away from them.
As for people who, of course live with others, have a family meeting and as a family find ways to help each other. That’s what families do
The responses so far are very insightful and have given me lots to think about. For me though, the biggest trigger food is donuts. It’s obscene how many I can eat when I get started. Strategies to deal with this are similar to what others have mentioned. I also plan to have a donut or two on special occasions; like my for my birthday instead of cake, so I know I get them and can say no to them when tempted.
My trigger food is fatty foods – meaty, cheesy dishes like lasagna or cheese burgers. I just avoid them!
Hanlie´s last fabulous musings ..To love you with the sweetest of devotion
TIVO is my best friend in avoiding commercials and thus that trigger. My freezer is the second one … I do bake cookies, but they immediately go into the freezer where I can’t see (or smell them).
Ice cream. I don’t keep it in the house, and now it’s an occasional treat when we eat out. I fix the yearning with thick post-exercise protein smoothies made with milk, protein powder & frozen berries.
(Also, watching the Food channel can lead to triggering certain cravings. I avoid the baking shows).
Cilla´s last fabulous musings ..Savouring Sunday
Brownies are the first thing that came to mind.
It seems I can never stay out of those when they are in the house. So, I
(A) don’t make them often, and try to make them to take somewhere so that leftovers aren’t in the house. or
(B) don’t take the first bite if I think I’m in a mood where I’ll not be able to stop.
It’s the first bite that reminds me of how good they are and then one small piece never seems enough. Sometimes I can handle them, but most times brownies are the one thing I can’t ever get enough of. Those darned refined sugars.
Leah´s last fabulous musings ..My Valentines
I generally keep my house free of trigger food. Sometimes I think I’m strong and can resist them, then I regret it by baking brownies…like this weekend. Trigger!!! I ate too much and regretted it, of course.
I’m too not-a-baker to worry about cocoa powder (nor do I have copious amounts of hot cocoa!) but I do tend to eat Hershey’s dark chocolate kisses or chocolate chips with abandon when stressed.
My solution has been to store them in the freezer. It’s harder to eat too many that way–unless I’m really determined to binge anyway (which does happen but at least it’s not easy!) Thankfully I don’t need to eat 500 calories in chocolate anymore to feel emotional relief… but they still add up.
(I DO want them in the house as in a moderate quantity they satisfy chocolate desires without eating an entire serving of something larger…)
PS to those who like salty and crunchy–I find that air popped popcorn works well. Filling, high fiber, low calories for the volume. Spray with just a little oil (or Bragg’s liquid aminos) and then seasonings adhere!
These are wonderful ideas! When I was quitting smoking it was very similar – rid the house of smokes. Determine all of the times I have a smoke – figure out what to do instead. That’s key for me! Figuring out what to do instead or how to reward myself instead. Sometimes it’s as easy as brushing my teeth or popping a piece of gum!
fittingbackin´s last fabulous musings ..Girl Night- 4 Miles- Abs- New Breakfast Recipe
My biggest trigger food is carbohydrates (pretzels, cookies, doritos, crackers) you name it. I cannot buy them for myself; however, I do buy them for my husband and I stay out of them.
I can be triggered to eat WW deserts or even my Vitatops even when I don’t want them. However, their low enough calories that I know their okay to keep in the house so I can stay sane on my new weight loss journey.
Sheri´s last fabulous musings ..The Isle of Temptation
My trigger foods are the usual suspects: chocolate, chips, dips, etc. However, there is also another food that for me triggers an intense craving for chocolate and cola (not sugar free). That food is raw onions. If there is raw onions in anything, I must avoid it, because I will spend the rest of the day craving chocolate and cola. The same is true for large amounts of garlic. I guess I must have sensitive taste buds.
Jane´s last fabulous musings ..Adding Super Foods to My Diet and Wanting What is True
I have to just keep my triggers out of the house, or have my husband hide them. I can generally keep ingredients on hand without too much issue, but it’s still a battle to not succumb to cooking junk, from time to time.
Taryl´s last fabulous musings ..HYC Week 7
I appreciate all of your tips and strategies! Right now, the fear of pain is enough to keep me from binging, but in the past, I just learned to be more conscious of a cram session and stop it before I got too out of control. That was a hard lesson – it did not come easy!
Pam´s last fabulous musings ..Fear Is An Amazing Motivator
great post! ya know, i really do believe it’s a mental thing. like we tell ourselves we have “no control” around certain foods, and inadvertently, we live out what we say about ourselves. i also don’t believe in labeling anything forbidden because the forbidden fruit is ALWAYS the one we want the most. sigh…