@Julio – Hardly a health food
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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306 comments - add yours
Nuts! I try to limit myself to just a couple with each meal but if I’ve gone overboard my brain tells me I’ve blown it now – what the hell!! Then it’s serious – peanut butter on oat or rice cakes, bananas,grapes – any fruit really
Hello all!
This is quite funny, but just yesterday this happend to me! Me and my wife decided to start eating healthy (all natural if possible, as little bread as possible, no sweets around the house, and exercise of course!) and it has been like that for a couple of months. Las night we came back from the gym and decided to make something good and healthy for dinner, so I remembered the famous Bolognesa pasta without pasta! which is basically your meat souce with vegetables!, so we cooked about 1 pound of lean grass feed meat and made the souce, and also A LOT of potatoes, carrots and peppers, and when it came to serving time, well, I just went crazy! although it was healthy, I did over eat, I just couldnt stop! And the funny part is that though I new it, I wasnt worried because it was “healthy”. This article REALLY opened my eyes, I have GOT to be carefull with the amounts, if not, its like eating a chesse burger!! Thanks for the tip, REALLY good!
Hi
I read this info and immediately identified with it. My fav trigger food has to be wholw grain rice. It’s deliscious, especially a supermarket brand here in london, UK. I just love and can finish the bag which has 8 cups in side. Because of this I would only cook 4 cups at any one time for 5 people. Better still I usuallu wait till the weekend before I have rice and would have kindney beans, chicken and brocolli instead. For me, if it doesn’t touch my tongue then I’m alright. Lol!
Kehinde
London, UK
Bread is definitely a trigger, dry crackers – like Joel, I try NOT to keep trigger foods or temptations in the house, but I live with my husband and can’t deprive him just because I chose not to eat these foods. There are days when I am almost pulling my hair out as it feels like the foods are calling my name !
everything sweet specialy chocolate
Juicing. After a few days of juicing really healthy greenstuffs with a little apple, carrot or beetroot and drinking maybe only a glass each morning I get uncontrollable cravings for crap such as high carbs and pizza.
I’ve given up juicing.
Fruit juice or other sweet stuff doesn’t have the same effect.
As a critical care/emergency nurse, there are alternatives to statins that are extremely effective, have no side effects, and are all natural. You can order them online from a reputable lab that is most helpful. The name of the product is “cholox”. It lowers you cholesterol in a different manner than statins. Statins work by sending a “signal” to the liver telling it NOT to produce cholesterol. It’s virtually a disaster to tell an organ NOT to function. I’ve seen some pretty severe side effects from these drugs and would recommend something other than statins.
BJ – to lower your cholesterol, continue low-carb (just think what good results Atkins patients have) & take plant sterols; they don’t deplete Coenzyme Q10 levels the way that statins do. If your doc insists that you take statins, fire him/her!
I find that apples are my trigger food – I think that they give me hypoglcycemia, & I’m always hungry after.
Trigger foods? There are lots: nuts and seeds (even raw), anything salty–especially, as you say, Pringles, Chocolate.
I have several “healthy” triggers especially in cold miserable weather. All carb of course. A huge bowl of porridge, granary or seeded bread toasted with loads of butter, enormous jacket potatoes and macaroni cheese.
Any kind of cereal. It’s always a killer on me. If I don’t measure out a portion, I could easily eat and entire box!
Hmmm…my trigger food would be cabonara pasta. Not really healthy though.
My other one I only recently discovered – salted pistachio’s (I can’t find them unsalted anywhere). I just can’t stop eating them, and my fingers get sore cracking open those bloody shells.
@Chistine Al Lon
Hmm, don’t know about leaving that food out of the fridge – here, we’re in the midst of a subtropical heatwave! :D :D :D
The cholesterol discussion is very interesting. Like BJ, I have a time limit until starting drugs for high cholesterol. My time ‘runs out’ in mid-February.
Fenella, do Atkins patients have good anti-high cholesterol results? I think I might do some googling…
My trigger is cheese, just love any type and I need to be very careful not to over do it. I am allergic to peanuts so this is not a problem for me, however I notice that many protein snacks contain some kind of nut, it makes finding interesting snacks quite difficult.
Ben & Jerry’s Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream. A pint of that goes down quite deliciously! And much too quickly!
Dried Fruit and mixed Nuts…..
I have several healthy triggers, but my main triggers are lean red meat and peanut butter. Some times I’ll eet several tablespoon after a meal….
And of course dark chocolate….
My trigger food would be pasta (all types of pasta) I really love pasta can eat
the whole 1lb box and peanut butter can eat the whole jar of that also
Oh man… you are soo right, Nuts are my trigger food. Actaully peanut butter, I can eat the whole jar if I am not focused!
OMG!
My trigger food has got to be some form of carbs. I warned my fiancee that i will down just about anything that comes in ‘sleeve form’. That seemed the easiest way to lump most of them together : Saltines, Ritz, fig Newtons etc… But the true trigger food for me is…
White Rice.
I have been known to go to a chinese restaurant with my family parents and sister.. and eat not just mine but all of the rice on the table they didn’t eat, and still want more. I have on more than one occasion cooked 1 cup of uncooked rice for my family.. and eaten the whole thing PLUS dinner. They find it weirder still, that I seem to love and crave the flavor of unflavored white rice. soooo good
I’m pretty easy to overdose on dried fruits. Darn them, they’re so good. :P
Roasted salted peanuts! Have to measure them out for sure or next thing ya know, 1/2 the jar is gone.
Making Christmas cookies today and really seriously thinking of putting some masking tape across my mouth to remind me not to nibble on the dough. :/
almond butter as well as quinoa … both are healthy but I struggle with the proper quantities I should be consuming
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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...