LOL !!!! I’m hooked on peanut butter too! But I only use Kraft Original… it only has 1g of sugar and way lower in fat than the lower quality brands.
Previously, I made a short and sweet post that was very well received (hundreds of comments and counting) called The Best Diet Tip EVER.
In that tip, we talked about the simplest way to avoid temptation and cravings—don’t have it in the house.
Simply put, if it’s not available, it’s not a temptation.
But today’s tip digs a little deeper.
Did you know that even “healthy” foods can be a problem for some people? There are certain foods—and it’s an individual thing—that once you start eating them, it’s very hard to stop.
For me, it’s pasta. Sure, I’ll cook the whole wheat variety and sit down to a “healthy” meal, but unless I specifically portion out the amount I’m going to eat, I can easily end up downing half the box or more.
You see, if I’m not careful, “healthy” can easily turn into a massive calorie overload sent straight to my waistline.
These foods—those “Pringles” once-you-pop-you-can’t-stop foods—are what I refer to as “trigger foods” and if you’re going to consume them, you need to do so with a little bit of caution.
Here are just a couple trigger food tips:
1. Only consume trigger foods as an “individual” meal, not with the family. This allows you to cook (or reheat) an individual portion, and not be tempted by a huge serving bowl in front of you.
2. If you are cooking one of your trigger foods as a family meal, measure out a single portion and remove the serving bowl from the table. Tell your significant other “I’m not having seconds; hold me to it.” A little accountability goes a long way.
3. Never eat trigger foods directly from the box/bag/container. Always measure out a specific portion and then store the rest.
Do you have a “healthy” trigger food? Let me know by commenting below!
I’ll bet you anything it’s a carbohydrate of some sort ;)
Talk to you in the comments section!
Joel
P.S. Want to learn some VERY smart food choices for weight loss (and even some “healthy” foods that you should NEVER eat)? My good friend Isabel gives you the details in her video here:
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Peanut Butter… must be high quality Kraft Original; only 1g of sugar and lower in fat than the cheaper brands. I go through about a jar per week…lol. :-)
Dried cranberries!!! They have loads of sugar, but I just can not stop! AND tofu!!!
Deer Jerky that I make every year. I eat one stick and I can’t put the bag down. I made about 20 pounds of it this year and I have it stored in the freezer in the garage so it’s not so handy. At least it’s mostly protein.
Almond butter is the most addicting thing ever.. I go for one tablespoon and ill end up eating half the jar.
Hi Joel,
Like you, mine is whole grain pasta. I would eat all of the seven servings in the box at once if you let me:)
I am a nut person too. I’m not sure how many almonds I SHOULD be eating for a snack. Or how much natural peanut butter is ok. My scale number isn’t moving nearly as fast as I thought it would, but it is going down. I think my nut consumption might be hampering things.
This one might sound silly, but honestly, mine is oatmeal haha. I only keep steel cut oats that take forever to cook in the house for that reason, so I just don’t have time to cook seconds, but with the 1 minute stuff I could easily eat 3-4 bowls for breakfast lol!
I’m like most of the commenters; I’m crazy over nuts of any kind, almond butter and a really good dark chocolate; omg…the craving is starting again lol
hi Joel,
mine is basmati rice, and black beans, and, and, and, i just love food i guess.
My down fall is nuts. Walnut, almonds and pistachios. I do just what you said, I can’t just eat one serving.
Cottage cheese, I love it! I eat it with lots of cinnamon and stevia or some fruit. I also love any fruits or veggies!
@ Tracy:
Oh yeah I forgot about the deer and elk sausage & jerky. At least the stuff we make is healthier than the store bought stuff.
beef Jerky!!!!
mine is Ginger Snaps from MiDel. I have to hide the bag… :)
That’s why I stay away from peanut butter,whole meal foods,fried food with olive oil,potatoes,nuts,sugar free sweets etc…
as a health care provider know that it is a bit of a scam with statins. there really is not a direct link between coronary syndromes and cholesterol and that link has always been skewed per their benefit to sell the product. it’s ALL about sales, nothing really is for the good of the people like you think. the drug companies keep lowering the “recommended” LDL range in order to sell more of the drugs. be mindful that cholesterol is a steroid hormone and when you delve into the steroid hormone family in the body, there is a direct link with stress affects on elevating your cholesterol levels (and many other things heavy metals assoc with high cholesterol too, check out chelation-do the research tho) and remember it’s all about having a constant type of inflammatory process in the body, AND if you arbitrarily lower the cholesterol too low per a statin you could be putting your adrenals at risk, let alone depleting the body of CQ10 (and the best supp if are on a statin is Standard Process Cellular Vitality btw). I really don’t get excited unless someone’s cholesterol gets to be around 300 honestly. some would balk at that, but really, your docs do not know all the stuff out there, and I still hear stories of someone’s dad have horribly high cholesterol living until he was 97. Find a nutritionist or chiropractor that sells StandardProcess supplements and go a holistic route, safe yourself from big pharma via Western medicine, just my two cents.
I go nuts for nuts!!
Interesting comments, I also live in Australia and have just recently lost 4kg if body fat in three weeks or so just by eating all grains and dairy only after my gym workouts, so if you can eliminate them for a while even better. I love almonds and walnuts but I don’t go mad over them eat about 8 to 12 a few times a day with a banana or apple…I am nearly 60 but feel so much younger….Good attitude, good food and exercise is the way to go.
@ Joe:
Me to!! Especially on a Friday after a work week… I feel quite sad that I can’t have a JD and diet coke, if I am going through a strict phase…. I get proper cravings. It’s strange as I only ever allow myself to have a drink on a weekend.
Problems then is I feel like eating something salty and so the cycle begins ;p
My biggest problem occurs in the evening and involves starting out with a good snack and then going from bad to worse. I eat some raw baby carrots, then I eat more with peanut butter on them, then I end up putting the natural peanut butter with some honey on whole-grain bread, and then before I know it, I’m into peanut butter with dark chocolate chips, and wouldn’t they taste great on some ice cream? HELP! The only thing that seems to work is if I have an unsweetened protein drink shortly after dinner and then get as far away from the kitchen as I can!
My problem food is milk and MILO!
wow, a lot of people seem addicted to peanut butter, which begs the question – why is it even in the house???
as for me, wheat is a major challenge – even as a child at a birthday party, when all the other kids were making a beeline for the cakes and sweets, i was diving into the sandwich platter…totally addicted to bread…trying hard not to have it with my meals, but there is no way that i can go without a buttered toast when i have a fried egg…i keep telling myself: lose wheat, lose weight…have completely stopped having cereals, but how on earth do u stop urself from a pizza??? or a chicken turnover?? hard to get rid of wheat from the house as the kids need to have it of course.
also addicted to blueberries, even tho they r so expensive here in the UK, once i start i cant stop…i can easily have 100+ blueberries in one sitting. one of the people in this post is addicted to raw veg – girl u dont know how LUCKY u r, thank God for such an addiction!
I love hummus! I make it myself, so I know what is in it, But, man, I could inhale it by the container!
My trigger foods are meat, rice, avocado and fried foods…spring rolls!! Very bad.. So I baked them instead of frying so it’d would have the same texture
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...