How do you silence the temptation?

Just joined this site and want to get some start out advice from the masters.

My past diets always came to a crumble after a week or so due to me falling for those irresistable foods I just can't say no to ( chocolate, cake, cookies, mmm! ).  So I want to know how you guys do it!  What's your favorite forbidden food and how do you avoid it?

Don't make any foods forbidden, that's where I think you're going wrong. Everything in moderation is ok - make good choices 90% of the time and then allow yourself a treat every now and then so that you don't feel deprived and "fall off the wagon" in a big way.

Some of my favourite treats that aren't so healthy are Russian fudge, chocolate cake, most desserts, chocolate, wagyu beef and enjoying a few drinks on the weekend.

But you don't have to avoid these things... Just find a place for them in your diet. Eat a smaller portion, don't keep treats in the house so you can only eat them when you go out, or plan a treat so that you know what you will eat and how much of it. Feeling like you're allowed to eat whatever you want but you're choosing to eat well most of the time is the best way to avoid binging. Not getting too hungry so that you crave high-calorie food is another good move. Sometimes a substitute like a few squares of dark chocolate, a lollipop or a hot cocoa can work instead of a treat, but sometimes it just won't suffice and you'll end up eating the substitute and then the treat on top of that. Learn to tell the difference between just wanting any old treat and really craving one food in particular, so that you splurge when it's really worth it.

Don't go so low-calorie that there is no room for treats. It might mean you reach your goal a little slower but that is much better (and healthier) than crash dieting for a week and then binging on all those foods you forbid yourself to eat on the diet - and not getting any closer to your goal in the long run!

Best of luck.

Just what meryl said.

The first saying I'd suggest you try to remember is this....  'there are no bad foods, only bad diets'.

If you want to fail at anything then set unrealistic objectives - and 'forbidding' foods is a good example of that.  If you set out with a vow that 'I will never eat chocolate again' or similar then you have scuppered yourself even before you've begun.  Nobody can keep that promise.  Failure is inevitable.

And so the second saying to keep top of mind is this one.... 'don't do anything to lose weight that you can't see yourself happily doing for the rest of your life'.   As Merylwhite1 rightly points out.... by taking the steady, sensible approach you're likely to not only get past the first few weeks but you'll be able to carry on to a healthy weight and maintain the loss thereafter.

Ditto what everyone else has said, especially this....."don't do anything to lose weight that you can't see yourself happily doing for the rest of your life." Try to get yourself out of the mindframe of dieting and more into the mindframe of changing your lifestyle and moving more into healthy eating. You will be pleasantly surprised how your body and your brain will appreciate this! Then the foods that you currently look at as forbidden will be more enjoyable when you eat them in reasonable amounts.

I was a chocolate FREAK!!! And I probably currently still am, but I don't need it anymore on a daily basis. One simply lovely way to get my chocolate fix is through Nutella - oh, how I wish I had discovered it much earlier! It's made of hazelnuts, cocoa and skim milk, and very tasty mixed with peanut butter (in reasonable amounts, mind you - I wouldn't eat either of them out of the jar.....) and spread on toast, fruit, etc.

Enjoy - our bodies were made to enjoy what we eat!

I make sure that I am eating enough Protien. That seems to keep me from craving the Ice Cream, my weakness. I have found when I try to keep a balance of the right kinds of foods, I don't crave the sweets and Ice Cream. I keep low fat yogurt on hand for those times that I just have to have something cold and sweet.

Good luck

I eat everything I crave. Just in moderation. Count it in your calories. You can fit in almost ANYTHING you want to eat as long as you are mindful of portion size.

But, sugar-free gum. It helps me when I want to chew but am not really hungry. I just want to chew.