Cheese Puffs,Pizza and fettutchini. can't stop with just one!

Chocolate and potatoes! Nothing really replaces them. Actually, I'm happy not to have them if no one else is. It's only on holidays that I want to relax and have a bit.

And Hot Cross Buns!
Last holidays I decided to relax and have a hot cross bun. It made me feel ill. I was disappointed and relieved at the same time!

Melberry

...and Fatty. Hi, I'm Joanie and I'm a JUNK FOOD JUNKIE. Could happily eat that stuff morning noon and night forever (or until I died of malnutrition). My favorite is to take whatever sweet thing I'm eating and go back and forth with something salty. You know...Twinkies and Cheetos back and forth...or Krispy Kremes and Doritos, or M&Ms and potato chips. All very healthy stuff, all very low carb.

Now, it's important to state that whatever my junk item is, it has to have a lot of fat, too. I don't get excited about a piece of apple, then a pretzel (I do like apples and cheese, but not in that 'bing-y sort of way...)


Anyway, I didn't get fat eating just any old carbs. I got fat eating junk food. 'Nuff said.

I used to love bread. I loved it so much, I never had to put butter on it, took away from the taste. I would eat bread and olive oil for dinner, as my whole meal. Rice too. When I was growing up one of my favorite dishes was rice with milk, sugar and rasins. It was delicious!

I used to crave potato chips too. But now, if I don't think about them and find other comfort foods, like diet coke or cool whip. And when I am upset there is nothing better than chomping on celery.

I have been eating the Atkins Endulge chocolate bars, about .5 bar every other day (I do not crave chocolate). They do not seem to have any effect, I have stayed in moderate ketosis. But my weight loss has been slower than I expected, so I keep an eye on the chocolate bars.

No more bread, no more rice....

I don't think it is any one thing, but what it is or the way it is presented for meself.
I cannot think of a single loaf of bread, cake, or pastry at the grocery store that I would have the impetus to buy, even if they were mystically transformed into LC, but walk by a French patissere with its heavenly wafts of crusty bread and jewel-like confection...
I am sure I have scared the patrons inside such shops, with my face pressed up against the glass, wild eyes peering in maniacally (I dare not step inside!) I should feel sorry for the man who cleans the windows... all that slobber.

Having said that, there is nothing like freshly made pomme frites either. I was of the opinion that chips have now grown palid and uninteresting. I discovered, again, that it has to do with how they are made. Cut to scene in French restaurant: My poor bf and I looking at each other, horrified, that I had thoughtlessly consumed a quarter portion of his pomme frites! My brain went blank, I guess. Reception problem! "You're going to be really annoyed at yourself," he says calmly. And I was. If I was going to 'cheat', I should have gotten the escargot encased in puff pastry!! Fade out scene to black.
Fortunately, they did not accompany me to the scale the next day, although I can't help thinking that I have impeded my own progress. Bad! Bad Sock!

Sorry... this isn't the confession line, but I just have to declare that danger lurks even in the most 'civilized' of environs, awaiting to deviously spring when you least expect it! Bwa-ha ha HA!!!!

What is interesting about this tread is that there are so many similarities, and so many varieties in the foods that cause problems. We all have some triggers that may cause problems for us. Determining what those foods are is an individual thing - then determining how we will respond to them is also an individual thing. I used to LOVE my breads and baked goods - lived for them Since starting my lcwol, haven't had a single piece of bread - whether low carb or not. I just don't trust myself, after going through the "withdrawal" period. And, I now realize that I probably am "sensitive" to wheat, so I am so much healthier when I just stay away from it. It is interesting though, that very small amounts don't seem to bother me, or turn on any cravings - for that I am thankful.
I still hate to pass a really good bakery - more for the memories of what I think they used to taste like, or do for me - but I don't let my resolve waver. I sometimes even cross to the other side of the street, to avoid the sight and smells that eminate - why test myself when I don't have to?
I have also learned in my recent research that most commercially baked goods have what is called "hydrogenated" fats in them, and these things are poison for our bodies - it also helps me to keep my resolve, cause I want to continue to feel and be healthy It is really wonderful at 50+ to feel better than I did when I was in my 20's - a REALLY BIG motivator for me!
I do allow myself some lc baking - that I do myself, so I know exactly what is in the item that I eat. I use splenda when I bake and find that it works for me, without any cravings or need to splurge. I just watch what I put in my mouth very carefully, and use nuts and other lc snacks to keep me going between meals.
I have started having serious doubts about all the lc bars on the market - I use them on a regular basis, but never more than one a day - still the recent research on the hidden carbs really makes me mad. And when you check the labels, they all say that because "glycerine is not a carbohydrate, it is not included in the carb count" - I don't know how they can get away with this sort of dishonesty. Ithought that the USDA was going to come down on them for the labelling - maybe it still is
Anyway, we each have to do the best we can with our individual metablolisms, cravings and solutions. It sure does help to have a forum like this one to air our thoughts, and get such great support.
Cheers

some excellent points made in these posts! thanks, people.

These comments reminded me too that something I've discovered is that a tiny amount of sugar doesn't cause cravings for me. I can have a half-piece of regular gum or a mint someone offers and while it may well slow my loss, I don't wildly seek out more pieces of gum the next three days or mentally fixate on the topic. I wouldn't trust a single Hershey's kiss, tho! Similarly, soy flour coating on a piece of fried fish or chicken doesn't bother me...but I'd be reluctant to try a whole bunch of it at once, fearing real problems as a result.

Or at least I thought they were... Dunkin Donuts cinnamon buns and Ben and Jerrys ice cream at one point where my reason for making it through the night. God how sad those days were!

Now I don't even crave them, and I smart enough to avoid them at all cost!

Lay's potato chips dipped in extra thick and extra lemony clam dip, with a little touch of Tabasco sauce. Been known to eat 2 pounds of clam dip in one sitting, all on one bag of Lay's potato chips.

Although I've always loved sweets, I am a woman you know!

I would have to say I'm definitely a starch addict. Back in my old habit days, it was no problem eating a box of kraft dinner, a plate of spaghetti, 6-8 pieces of white bread, bagels, or a huge cooking bowl of white rice at one sitting.

I know for me, right now in my journey I can not eat "none" of these foods, absoultely NONE, it will send me off to a binge frenzy blowout!

I think that the problem here is that we all love all the naughty foods. I mean really.... think about it.

Growing up I used to eat beefsteak tomatoes right off the vine, with a little salt. Hey, this was allowed, I wasnt eating junk food eh?

We still love (okay, past tense) to have "corn fests" with world famous Taber corn. All we would do is boil up a huge vat of corn on the cobb and dig in, sans beurre, only a little salt Yum!

Also, the one dinner veggie we both love and would always have is corn.

Bread. I found a wonderful bakery, which speciallizes in artesian breads. How does a nice round loaf, still warm of white cheese and black olive bread sound? Or even for decadent folks, pear and chocolate, apple cinnamon??

Chocolate - Kit Kat Large, Girl Guide Cookies, Malt Balls

And Fruit. Just what the heck am I supposed to do with my now very large patch of raspberries that I have been cultivating and caring for the last 5 years??? We normally have a nightly run to the patch with a bowl and some half and half cream! Bananas were/are my favorite next to all melons and strawberries.

I find it very very interesting that all the foods we previously thought of as "good" for us are actually very very naughty foods - in large frequent quantities. Kind of depression when you think about it!

Actually--you'll find that berries are among the *best* choices you can make if you're adding carbs and choose to do so by eating fruit! Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries (black and red).... all good options. So are melons with the exception of watermelon: cantaloupe, honeydew are fine in controlled quantity.

I *live* for my protein shake made with heavy cream and frozen blueberries. Makes it really really thick to the point where I need a spoon to eat it!

Don't give up on that berry patch--*enjoy* them when they're ripe off the bush! (With heavy cream and a little AS if you choose.... MMMMMmmmmmMMMMMMmmmmmm....)

are my downfall. i no longer crave any type of food but if i decide to have a few peanuts or a spoonful of peanut butter thats it i eat and eat, so i've learned not to keep either in the house.

Without a doubt 2 things... most any fruit pie (makes me nauseous) ... all I can figure it's the combination of hi fat and sugar and flour together... find myself running to for tha Gas-X.

the other is bread... I don't find I crave too many things anymore... and have tried a few of my old time favorite carb foods once I had broken my addiction to them... rice was one... and it no longer had that "orgasmic, melt into your chair" response like they used to... (chocolate lovers... does that addiction reaction sound familiar?)

But on my first Thanksgiving on this WOL, I had a couple of spoonfuls of stuffing... and I found myself almost uncontrollably wanting to binge... it was very uncomfortable... I did manage to resist, well, I had a little more with my meal, but I found that for about three days afterward, all the cravings that were there before Atkins, were back with a vengence. After that, I was ok again...

I've tried to recreate (it is good to learn how your body works, so long as you can feel confident that you know that craving is not you but addiction... so I find it "a bit" easier to resist) with other foods, even pasta and pastries, but it is bread that triggers the response with even a small amount of it...

I've never tried it with Wonderbread though... I'm not sure if that qualifies as bread...LOL... I may need to do more research.

I think flour makes me feel icky, bloated, gassy. I made a cream sauce at dinner time with milk, cream, butter and flour. I was low on my carbs today so I ate about 1/3 cup. That had less than 10 carbs in it. Now I feel a bit sick to my stomach. A while ago I lost my brain for a moment and ate a big bowl of chocolate icecream. I had the worst gas! My normally sweet husband was following me around with a lit match! OK,OK... I can take a hint! And then the next morning my hands were so swollen and hot and itchy from water gain! UGH! Will I ever learn?

So I think sugar and flour are my enemies. Especially when mixed. Like cookie dough. I havent' made cookies in a very long time. I know I will eat it, and once I get started, I can't stop! I wish I didn't crave the things that make me sick!

Nellie