Trigger Foods

I've done enough dieting over the years to know that I have a few "trigger" foods. These are foods that actually cause me to crave more. Not even always more of the same food, but after I eat them, I'm not satiated but rather left wanting more.

For me, some of those foods include: Peanut butter, brownies, licorice, sugary cereals, pudding, macaroni and cheese (pasta in general), and jelly beans. These foods are necessarily bad in their own rights, but they are foods I should avoid to ensure success in limiting my calories.

I highly recommend you work to identify your trigger foods. You may already know some of them and be thinking to yourself right now, you mean how I cut one brownie out of the pan to eat last night, but somehow there's only one brownie left today? To really figure them out, start a food journal. This is not a food journal to track calories (although you can do that, too, if you like). But rather to track your hunger levels before and after eating. It would look something like this:

Source: Drop It and Eat

Then track everything you eat (and I mean everything!) for a week. Then go back and review (although you may notice trends as the week goes on) how you felt after certain foods, which days you snacked more (and if there is a common theme in other foods consumed). You'll be able to see your trigger foods bubble to the surface. And then you can eliminate them. 

Wait, did I just say eliminate them? Yes. I did. Almost invariably when I'm having weight loss success peanut butter comes along and foils everything. Okay, that's a little extreme, but it's still true(ish). I really like rice cakes with peanut butter on them. It only takes a teeny bit of PB to get that great taste, so it's a fairly good snack choice. But, I can't have just one. And then, I'm left craving and then I feel bad that I ate the extra calories and indulge more to mask my guilt and then...you get it. 

Unless it's some sort of food you have to eat for religious purposes (is that a thing?) then you really don't need to ever have it again. Part of weight loss maintenance (which I hope to document with you all as well in 6-9 months) is eating healthy, satisfying foods every day with a few treats now and then. But, the treats don't need to be trigger foods. If I know that jelly beans are a trigger food for me, I can just choose to have an ice cream bar for my treat. I'll enjoy it just as much, but won't have to deal with the cravings afterward. 

For the last week I've been focusing on healthy, satisfying foods and I've already lost 4 pounds. I'll share my meal plan (and meal planning techniques) later, but my meals might not be the right ones for you. Figure out those foods that you enjoy and that don't leave you hungry and you'll be able to map your way to success without feeling deprived. 

P.S. I'd recommend never waiting until you are a 1 to eat, odds are you'll over eat because you are so hungry. Also, I'd never eat until you are a 7. You'll likely have overindulged and feel yucky. Try to keep you hunger levels between 2-6 (or even better 3-6) and you'll have better success. 

And put your fork (or spoon) down when you are at a 5 hunger level and wait 5 minutes. If you are still hungry, eat some more. But, sometimes we keep eating because the food is good or we are busy socializing and forget that we have really had enough.