Treating Myself isn't really working? & I just want to...

I wish I could sit in front of the TV with an entire big box of chewy chocolate cookies and eat till heart's content without gaining a pound or feeling guilty again. Ah, the carefree days of blissful ignorance when you were young :(
That's what I really want to do.... and probably the only thing that will be satisfying.

I realize that treating myself doesn't satsify anything for me. In fact, it makes me want to binge even more. After I have  the treat, I just want more & more because once I start the sugar taste in my mouth, I cant stop...

Like today, I ate 4 cookies (only cause they were my roomate's cookies and I couldnt eat the whole box... I probably wouldve if it was mine :S like ive done before).
But I don't feel any better or satisifed at all after 4 cookies, it just makes me want more afterwards.

Basically, the 'right healthy amount' to sweets/treats is never enough for me.

So is there any point in treating myself?!

Does anyone else feel the same way.... what do you do about it? Is there anything one can do about it.... or should I just avoid it altogether since its not doing me any good at all (as i dont feel satisfied and its just costing me unecessary cals)

If you allow yourself 200 calories for dessert each night, you'll get one, maybe two cookies. Boring.

Instead, take a small serving of a treat (one scoop of ice cream, one cookie, etc.) and then stretch it out somehow. With a cookie, you could crumble it into some vanilla yogurt, dip in a cup of decaf coffee, or eat with berries and whipped cream.

If you really cannot stop with one, find other things you like that will satisfy your sweet tooth. Fruit is good. However, if overeating is a problem for you, you may want to eat it with some protein to help keep you full. Cottage cheese with cinnamon and an apple, a chopped apple rolled up in a whole wheat tortilla with cinnamon (tastes like apple pie!), or fruit with cheese slices (apples, grapes, and pears are great with cheese).

 I have to keep stuff like that (box of cookies) out of the house beacause I too have that problem. Instead I "treat" myself occasionally to an ice cream cone from a shop, or a meal out. Something I have to eat away from the house. Then I get back to healthy eating the very next meal.

  When my fiance brings home cookies/candy/icecream/potato chips I have to remind myself that eating them won't make me happy and I find something really healthy and low cal to fill up on, like grapes or cherry tomatoes. (most of the time, I mean I'm only human and occasionally I have to explain to my fiance that his chips were just calling to me and if he hadn't brought them home I wouldn't have had to eat them )

That is exactly how i feel!  Once i have a bite, all hell break loose.  One is never enough,  i have to finish it all until it's gone.  I usually don't let in the house, it is hard and impossible sometimes.  When i really want it i end up trashing it.  It's better that trashing my body.

If you can't stop at 1 or 2 then just leave them out all together for a while.   It's not a treat if you end up overeating and sugary/starchy foods are notoriously unsatisfying.  We've all got foods we can't leave alone once started.  Remove them from the picture and you don't need willpower to 'resist'.  Find other foods that you enjoy and eat those instead.  

If you have an especially sweet tooth try exchanging all sweetened foods, processed foods and those heavy in refined starches and sweetners for other foods (wholegrains, fresh fruit, lean meat/fish).  What often happens is that the tastebuds become less 'sugar tolerant' after 2 or 3 weeks and then sweet foods don't taste so good afterwards. 

gi-jane... I like what you said.  "It's not a treat if you end up overeating it". I've never thought of it like that before.  That is so true.  Thank you as always for your good, sound advise and words of wisdom.

Not that I'm a huge advocate of this, but maybe one night you should sit in front of the TV and eat the whole bag of cookies.

You'll feel so miserable afterwards you probably won't want to do it again for a while.

Original Post by dm84:

Not that I'm a huge advocate of this, but maybe one night you should sit in front of the TV and eat the whole bag of cookies.

You'll feel so miserable afterwards you probably won't want to do it again for a while.

 That sounds good in theory, but I guess you could say that's how I got to be 109lbs overweight.

Original Post by heathmarpar:

Original Post by dm84:

Not that I'm a huge advocate of this, but maybe one night you should sit in front of the TV and eat the whole bag of cookies.

You'll feel so miserable afterwards you probably won't want to do it again for a while.

 That sounds good in theory, but I guess you could say that's how I got to be 109lbs overweight.

Lol I used to be the same way, but the difference is I used to do that EVERY day. If I did it once a month or something, it probably wouldn't matter.

But when I do eat that many cookies now, I feel sick.

I'm the same way. I'm an ALL or NOTHING type of person. A brownie isn't going to satisfy anything. I feel that I'm better off not having to crave more all day after I've had a treat.

how about eating nothing but chewy chocolate cookies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in your calorie limit until you get sick of it? you'll either have to choose between eating the cookies and being hungry or eating something else.

Its not just cookies.... its any dessert!

Today I had a big slice of caramel cheesecake. I dont even want to know how many calories.... nutritional facts werent provided (i bet if they were i wouldnt have bought & eaten it)
probably like 1000+

I felt guilty after eating it.

But it doesnt make me want cake any less..... even after the cake, I just wanted more. Before the 1000 calorie cake, I wanted cake. After the 1000 calorie cake (& if i keep it up, a few pounds heavier), I still want cake. So I don't see a point in treating myself sometimes!! The 'want' will never be gone.... so why give in :\

You want it because it's forbidden.  Something you deny yourself because it's "bad", but that makes you want it even more.  Something you're constantly striving for but never satisfied with because you aren't eating it in the moment, and the fact that you feel guilty afterwards means you're probably feeling guilty as you're eating it too, which means you're not letting yourself fully enjoy the experience.  So you're left feeling unsatisfied.  First because you didn't allow yourself the pleasure of the experience, and second because it's a taboo food and you don't know when you might get to eat it again.

Stop the insanity! (lol)  Allow yourself all foods in moderation all the time so you don't feel deprived.

you should tell yourself that those cookies are yucky.  or make up some horror story about oreo's and sitting on the couch eating them.... then re-tell the story to yourself whenever you want to eat the oreos/cookies/dessert, but make up a different memory about each food.

I've been wanting to just eat and eat and sit and eat... but I stop myself (somehow, I muster up the will power to not binge eat) 

I know the feeling of wanting the "bad" food, but like the pringles comercial once you pop you just can't stop...

you also shouldn't ban food because it's "bad" but I don't think your doing that.

I'm not sure if there is a point to treating yourself, maybe we should treat ourselves in different ways, like getting our nails done, or going to the movies, or shopping, rent a movie.. or somthing else

buy one packet, serving size (or even 2) of the dessert and save it for a night when you are a lot under calories and just eat it and feel good about it, not bad, tell yourself your satisfied, eat the dessert in small bites and everybite tell yourself that it's delicious.  and when your done you won't have the box/bag to go get another one.

you should force yourself not to eat in front of the tv. i've been trying to eat at the table, it seems that when you eat infront of the tv you eat a lot more than you intended

(blah blah blah, do this don't do that, I'm in a similar boat, I'm 120 lbs overweight, and trying to loose it)

I feel the same!! You're so not alone don't worry, it feels like it though when you having a binge. Feels like your so gross and no one else could possibly eat as much!

It is difficult to overcome the urge to eat all the yummy foods but try and remember those phrases... a moment on the lips is a life time on the hips etc and my personal favourite... nothing tastes as good as being slim feels.

What i've had to do, with sweet stuff especially, is to have low calorie, low sugar etc things.
I would recommed Weight Watchers foods as they tell you how much calories each has AND they taste yummy. So even if you end up having all of them its not many calories!

Stay strong and good luck !

I'm the same way. "Treats" don't feel like a treat to me. They feel like I licked part of the cookie and said, "MM! Wow! SO glad I had that!" Except I didn't take a lick, I spent 200 calories for my day.

Instead -- and I know I'll get grief for this one -- I save up those 200 calorie "treats", while still eating a normal amount every day, and I have a cheat day on Friday OR Saturday each week. Sometimes every other week, if I don't feel like it that week.

Honestly, the only 200-calorie treat I have from time to time that satisfies me is a cup of Ghirardelli hot cocoa. Skim milk, cocoa, and it tastes great. It comes out very thick and fills your tummy. None of that diet crap. Lol. So...do it. Build up a deficit and you can eat your box. You might be surprised -- after eating less over time, you won't be able to eat an entire box at a time. You'll start to feel sick halfway through. But you'll get those cookies! :D

Btw, I love Newman's Own Ginger-O's for occasions like that.

I used to be like that myself.  I could eat a whole bag of double stuffed oreos in a couple of days.  I then went to the once a week treat routine, making sure that I ate no refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners any other day.  Fruits started tasting better and the cookies aren't so good anymore.  Now I am starting to find sweets less appealing.  While I used to spend the whole week thinking about what I would have for my treat and looking forward to it, I haven't given it much thought lately.  Last week I turned down a double chocolate brownie for some strawberries with a little whipped cream because I REALLY preferred strawberries.

Completely avoiding sweets for a while really can change what you want.

yep im dealing with the same thing with chocolate.  but what i am doing is allowing myself a BIG treat. this week i was supposed to treat myself to some chocolate but i blew it yesterday starting with wine.  but next week im buying the good handmade chocolate from the market, i feel more satisfied with it because its sooooooooo good. i dont waste the chocolate calories on that so-so cheap stuff that you get at convenience stores.  it takes time to break the habit but if you eliminate the hard to resist foods for a couple of weeks BUT promise yourself you will have them soon, it becomes easier.

and allowing a free day maybe once a week or every other week wouldn't be bad if you really need to. i've heard some people can handle their cravings better.

Lol I used to be the same way, but the difference is I used to do that EVERY day. If I did it once a month or something, it probably wouldn't matter.

But when I do eat that many cookies now, I feel sick.

I can't wait til the day it has that effect on me.  I used to do it every day also.  It's only been three months since I did it actually, so I will wait a really long time before I try it as a deterrent. (too afraid it will have the opposite effect and put me right back where I started)

Yep, TREATING MYSELF IS DEFINITELY NOT WORKING.

I sort of planned to have cake for dinner tonight. So I just ate a small salad with fat free cheese (for protein). And than ate my slice of Strawberry cream cake (Not sure how else one "plans" to eat a super high calorie slice of cake)
 
However, after my strawberrycream cake.... I proceeded to get more cake from the freezer (just HAD to try my roomate's massive ice cream cake in the freezer!!). And I went back THREE times for more :(
I think "treating myself" (aka ruining/slowly killing myself) really leads to binges. Once I start, I can't stop.

So, that is 4 slices of cake and probably close to 2000 calories :(

Again, makes me very UNHAPPY. I need to stop eating JUNK cause it makes me UNHAPPY/MAD at myself. And guilty!

I need to learn that 2 seconds in my mouth results in very serious consequences!!

I did not exercise at all today... and I didn't eat a light lunch either.
I'll definitely hit the gym tomorrow morning..... is that too late for damage control?

Its never too late.  I think you should try to go a month without sweets.  Have fruit when you get an urge to eat something sweet.  See if that works.