Are there certain foods that you can not control your intake of? Once you start, you can not stop? These foods that can lead to binges are often called trigger foods. Common trigger foods include sweets such as cookies, cake and chocolate, salty foods such as nuts, chips, or starchy foods such as bread or pasta. You may find yourself thinking about these foods nonstop - especially if they are in your house. My trigger food is chocolate. There is NO way I could keep a box of chocolates in my apartment and have only one a day. It actually amazes me that some people can do this!

Ask yourself these questions:
Once I start eating this food, is it hard to stop?
Do I eat it when I am not even hungry?
Do you find that you think about this food a lot - especially if it is in your environment?
Have I ever eaten it instead of having a meal?

Trigger foods can lead to overeating which may lead to weight gain. Even if you do not have a weight problem, the uncontrolled eating can make you feel out of control and weak.

Here are some suggestions to deal with trigger foods:

1. The first step is to acknowledge that you have a control problem with certain foods. It is unlikely that you will suddenly learn how to moderate your intake of these foods. I have had many clients come to my office and ask me “How can I learn to have just one?”  Unfortunately, I do not have the answer! It is quite likely that you will never be able to have just one.

2. Do not keep these foods in your house if possible. How many times have you bought this particular food telling yourself that it was for your husband or if company dropped by, but deep inside you knew it was for you?  So rule number one is not to keep it in your environment. If you need to buy desserts or snacks for your family, buy something that does not trigger cravings or uncontrolled eating. For me, since I love real potato chips, I would buy Doritos for my family instead of chips since I really do not like Doritos.

3. If you feel you can handle your trigger food if it is in packaged into an individual serving size, try buying 100 calorie packs, individually wrapped ice cream products, etc. The question is…. can you have just one 100 calorie pack?  If not, do not buy them.

4.  Since everyone is different, you will need to consider whether it would be best if you totally avoided your trigger food OR allowed yourself a moderate portion in a controlled environment. For example, if you love pasta but can not stop eating it if you make it at home, consider allowing yourself a pasta entr©e in a restaurant several times a month. Or allow yourself a real dessert on occasion in a restaurant, but do not keep sweets at home

5. Pay attention to how your body feels after eating the trigger food in the above controlled environment. If it still sets off cravings into the night or the next day, you are likely better off totally avoiding the food.

 6. If you feel really out of control with your eating, you should seek counseling as it can be a sign of an eating disorder.

Related posts

• Will Eating Late at Night Make Me Gain Weight? (0)
• Will Diet Foods Contribute Towards Making Your Child Obese? (1)
• When it’s No Longer a Diet (0)
• Week 5 New Hampshire Biggest Loser Progress Report (1)
• We No Longer Need to Exercise to Control Our Weight??? (0)