i have a problem with cereal, any ideas?

so... my mom keeps the house filled with boxes and boxes of cereal against my will. i respect her choice to do so even though i wish very much so we wouldn't keep cereal in the house. i have a huge weekness for anything chocolaty and or gronola based.

but seriously we have at least 10 boxes of delicious cereal at all times.

i have tried eating other things first. like i had half of a ham sandwhich with lots of hot sauce (for the protien). then a bowl of oatmeal with some raisings and half of a banana cut into it.

even after all of that i could not shake the erge to have some cereal... and quite a bit i might add. after logging everything i was at nearly 1500 cals in one sitting.

is there anything else i could try to fight the cereal? i sooooo wish i could just throw all the cereal away or even just limit the amount of boxes to like two or one. by having so many boxes of cereal in the house i feel as if they need to be eaten and it makes it harder to resist.... :P

I have a similar problem. Mine stems from working in an office and hvaing to eat breakfast that is not a cooked one. I have eaten cereal since I was a child and can't find one that I like that isn't extremely high in sugar. I don't eat a lot of it at one time but I would love to find one that would satisfy my cereal urge. All the grown up ones just don't seem as appetizing as Cap'n Crunch Berries or Honeycombs =(

Have you discussed with her that you overeat on it at all? At least the possibility of cutting down on the amount you have in the house?

If not that, how about storing it in plastic tubs harder to open than your usual box? Or portioning it out?

Lastly, it's important you do allow yourself to have cereal. Saying "no" to it may make it then all the more tempting to overeat.

Britfromla: How about cornflakes or bran flakes, with your own raisins or fruit topping added in? This will give you sweetness while still being healthy. Bran flakes doubly so as they also provide more fibre. Or, make a half and half bowl of half bran or cornflakes and half a kiddie cereal.

i have a terrible time with cereal too. it doesn't even really have to taste good! and my parents keep the house stocked as well. so i'm up for suggestions too because i can't tell myself no, but once i start i just keep going and going!

One thing I'd suggest is to ask your mom if she can buy a healthier cereal such as bran flakes or Uncle Sam cereal. I've found that if you put 3/4 junky cereal with 1/4 Uncle Sam, it's MUCH more filling. I can't eat more than a serving's worth when I combine them, which is great!

maaaaaaaan that is tricky - anything that i might binge on i absolutely cannot have in the house. can you have your mom hide the cereal? "out of sight, out of mind" is my best defense against my weakness foods (if I had a bag of doritos in my apt I would eat the whole bag hands down regardless of the circumstances or time of day).

mostly all we have are kashi cereals which are my weekness for i cannot eat cereal that has no real nutritional value. im addicted to the high protien and fiber cereals :P i find it easy for me to rack on calories since we get the granola stuff that is like 230 cals per half cup or 200 cals per whole cup.

i have tried allowing myself cereal and just measuring it out but i can never stop ( i have very good self control mind you, but i just cant do it with cereal)

i have tried begging my mom to please not buy cereal but she just says " you are just going to have to to learn to control yourself" or something along that line. my brother eats a lot of cereal and my mom just started eating kashi with me.

she has a closet in her room that her and my dad use to keep their own snacks in but she refuses to keep the cereal in there so that i dont have to see it.

I'm with the person who says try to get her to hide it - that's how my husband and I do it.  He has to hide cetain things from me and give me a little portion once in a while.  I know what you mean about granola - it can taste just like oatmeal cookies - yummmmm.  I don't do well with that around either.

Wow i so understand the frustration you"re having, its hard to control your surroundings when u live at home. I have to fight with my parents all the time to keep the bad stuff out of sight... but i have one little suggestion...they say when u crave something soooo bad, its cus maybe your body needs it, i know at one point i started watching my diet sooo much i did the crazy thing of completly eliminating fats (well as we all know some fats are necessary to get RID of fat) well i was craving peanut butter like CRAZY! i didnt understand why...i never even liked peanut butter until then...but now that i look back i think my body was just in need of some fat

Maybe u need to incorporate more crabs to your diet, or more sugars (natrual of course) like fruits...

Okay, in your Mom's defense, just because it is in the house, doesn't mean you MUST eat it.  How old are you? How much weight do you think you need to lose? I know I store tempting things for my son because he is very underweight and "forgets" to eat if I am not home. (he is 17) And it is easy for him to pour a bowl of cereal. It's two possible things really...she knows it is a weakness..and wants you to eat more...OR...if you are actually overweight...like anything else, moderation is key. Just have a tiny bowl of cereal. Not a huge one. (Or three..)

Original Post by monarch777:

like anything else, moderation is key. Just have a tiny bowl of cereal. Not a huge one. (Or three..)

 i wish soooo bad that i could limit myself to just a tiny bowl of cereal. i even tried eating out of a cup and pouring a small amount at a time, putting the box up; but i will keep getting up, reopenning the box pouring a small amount again, and again, and again...ect 

i would do so much better if there was just one or two boxes of cereal in the house, that way i wouldn't have all these different kinds of cereal to choose from and i would be satisfied easier :P

Original Post by moonbay:

Original Post by monarch777:

like anything else, moderation is key. Just have a tiny bowl of cereal. Not a huge one. (Or three..)

 i wish soooo bad that i could limit myself to just a tiny bowl of cereal. i even tried eating out of a cup and pouring a small amount at a time, putting the box up; but i will keep getting up, reopenning the box pouring a small amount again, and again, and again...ect 

i would do so much better if there was just one or two boxes of cereal in the house, that way i wouldn't have all these different kinds of cereal to choose from and i would be satisfied easier :P

 I looked at your pictures. You look like a healthy girl in a healthy weight range...nothing "fat" about you ! Are you eating an entire box of cereal? Probably not. Eating when you are hungry is okay. I also think you are smart enough and old enough to not need the pantry to be "child-proofed" for self-control. (Just like when I know that there is a fresh bag of Doritos...I do not HAVE to eat it...just because I ADORE them !)

Besides, cereal is spendy...maybe talk your mom into buying steel cut oats or rolled oats. She would probably save a billion dollars...and hot cereals fill you up longer and are pretty healthy. (If prepared right!)

Moonbay, I looked at your picture too.  If I looked like you, I would pretty much eat granola at will.  You probably won't want anything afterwards and you can probably burn off the calories, it's reasonably healthy, so it might not be so bad to just enjoy it.  If you stop feeling guilty about it, maybe you can slow down and enjoy it, and you will stop being so obsessed about it. As soon as you have to start buying your own granola, let tell you, the price will seriously limit your cereal intake.  Maybe you should enjoy it while it's free.

First, have that conversation with your mom. Keep it calm and rational. (She may need to keep it in the house for younger siblings or such, though.)

Then, keep a stash of 'your' cereals. Try the high-fiber, low calorie versions. My favorite is bite-sized shredded wheat. and oatmeal.

The best portion size device is a baggie. This sounds silly, but....    Measure out a single serving and seal it in a ziplock sandwich bag. When it's time for breakfast, take ONE bag only. When you're done, you're DONE!

It's tough dieting when others in the house are not, but keep it up. YOU CAN DO THIS!

Seriously, I was in this EXACT same situation 6 montha ago (and still am--but fixed it). My whole family is obsessed with cereal. I never really liked it because I was lactose intolerant, until I found almond milk. Then I realized how in love I was with cereal. OK...blablabla my story...THE ANSWER:

1) cereal is amazing, i have it every day, do NOT deny yourself it or you will end up eating bowls upon bowls

2) try unsweetend vanilla almond milk (its 40 calories per cup) but if thats not possible, skim milk

3) buy wheat puffs/kamut puffs/rice puffs. All organic markets have them, but Quaker oats makes one that most general grocery stores sell. Its about 50 calories per cup (or 1 and 1/4 cup). Fill your bowl with this. Then sprinkle whatever kashi, granola, capn crunch you like on top. It give the illusion and tastes like your eating it, but alot of it is just illusion.

Hope this helps. I eat this EVERY morning and it ends up being only like 200 calories (40 for milk about 75 for a cup and half of puffs and a little less than 100 for other cereal). Hope that helps! Let me know if it works for anyone!!

Original Post by britfromla:

All the grown up ones just don't seem as appetizing as Cap'n Crunch Berries or Honeycombs =(

i'd suggest trying something kind of in between like honey nut cherrios. if/when you adjust to that then try something even more "grown up".

moonbay, sorry i don't have any new suggestions, but it does sound like you need to have a serious talk with your mom. make sure you have some facts at hand to show her that you are trying to eat healthy. maybe you could offer to help plan and prepare meals. that would be good practice for when you're out on your own and you might be able to help your mom learn more about healthy eating.

moonbay - I absolutely adore granola with milk, it's almost like cookies for breakfast.  In order not to over indulge, instead of having a cup of kashi cereal, I mix 1/2 of cup of Kashi with 1/2 a cup of Fiber One (the generic kind from Trader Joe's is cheaper and comes in a larger box).  I actually use a measuring cup to portion out my cereals because if I eyeball it, there will jsut end up being too much and then I take my cereal and go upto my room and eat it there.  I find that putting some distance between myself and the cereal box really helps.  If this doesn't help the situation, like a lot of otehr people who have responded, I think you need to talk to your mom about this. 

sealion311 - that almond milk sounds yummy.  i usually just drink soy milk cause i don't like the taste of cows milk but i think on my next trip to the supermarket, i'm going to have to pick up some almond milk instead.

britfromla - i think that satyswoman's suggestion about honey nut cherrios is great, but if it still isnt' sugary enough for you you could try mixing it half and half with one of your favorite cereals and then make the switch complete in a couple of weeks. 

Original Post by dez2453:

moonbay - I absolutely adore granola with milk, it's almost like cookies for breakfast.  In order not to over indulge, instead of having a cup of kashi cereal, I mix 1/2 of cup of Kashi with 1/2 a cup of Fiber One (the generic kind from Trader Joe's is cheaper and comes in a larger box).  I actually use a measuring cup to portion out my cereals because if I eyeball it, there will jsut end up being too much and then I take my cereal and go upto my room and eat it there.  I find that putting some distance between myself and the cereal box really helps.  If this doesn't help the situation, like a lot of otehr people who have responded, I think you need to talk to your mom about this. 

sealion311 - that almond milk sounds yummy.  i usually just drink soy milk cause i don't like the taste of cows milk but i think on my next trip to the supermarket, i'm going to have to pick up some almond milk instead.

britfromla - i think that satyswoman's suggestion about honey nut cherrios is great, but if it still isnt' sugary enough for you you could try mixing it half and half with one of your favorite cereals and then make the switch complete in a couple of weeks. 

 thanks for the advice, and i agree, the almond milk idea sounds yummy, thanks sealion311!

ps: its not that i think i am fat or anything, its just that when i eat so much cereal i really dont have any calories left to eat a balanced meal :(

Perhaps you should allow yourself to have whichever cereal sounds good to you in the moment, but measure out the portion and then put the box away.  Years ago I used to sit there with the box and pour bowl after bowl.  I learned to measure out the amount I should have as well as the milk (I use soy) and then put the box away!

Sealion: High five, lactose intolerance. xD As well as almond milk, have you tried rice and oat milk? I personally like oat milk quite a lot. :D Soya milk is okay, but I've always found it tastes a bit like tofu (well, duh) and while I am fine with tofu that's a bit strange in your cereal bowl... x__o

Moonbay: If you happen to overeat, do not try and compensate for it. Have your balanced meals as usual. Carry on as normal. Don't try and burn it off or anything like that or feel you are not allowed to eat as usual because you had cereal. I do hope you find a good answer to your problems amidst all this advice, though, because there's some brilliant tips here! :D I'd never have thought of using the desired cereal as a topping on lower cal cereal or otherwise, though I do sometimes use cereal as a topping on porridge - you could also try that if you like oatmeal.