RunningPirate

Good Evening to Everyone on the Board -

Folks, tonight’s topic is red-alarm foods. This came to me after I realized that I just damn near killed a jar of peanut butter (Low-Fat Jif, Creamy) over the past couple of days. The stuff is like crack to me, so it’s my own damn fault for buying it in the first place (lesson re-learned). Mind you, I realize that I could have lost it with something a lot less healthy, but still…

So, what is it that makes you completely lose control? I'm talking about the stuff that you simply cannot have in the house.

My list:
Peanut Butter (and its cousin, Almond Butter)
Sharp Cheddar
Andes Mints

mkeller234

Sweets, any kind. Chocolate, cookies, ice cream... on and on.

Sixty Fiver

Peanut butter is awesome food (in moderation) but the things that Jif does to peanut butter is just wrong as their fat reduced peanut butter has more calories than natural peanut butter because they add corn syrup, sugar, and molasses and only reduce the saturated fat content by .5 % and increase the total carbs... and it contains a list of ingredients you need a chemistry degree to understand.

surfkitty

Flaming Hot Cheetos
Chili Cheese Fritos
Voltage Mountain Dew and that Throwback Mountain Dew made with sugar not HFCS like it's any healthier LOL
just about any type of cheese (real cheese not that sliced American junk, that I can resist.)

I'm a salt fiend, trying to cut down due to high blood pressure recently diagnosed, it's getting easier though as the more I avoid salt, the less good it tastes if I do eat something salty. And I keep trying to give up the soda, but dammit I think they put crack in the stuff because I only seem to be able to give it up for about a month before I give in and start drinking it again.

(FWIW I'm not *quite* an Athena anymore, but I was at the beginning of the year and if I don't lay off the salty snacks and soda, I might end back up there.)

freighttraininguphill

Those Brachs easter eggs with the colored candy coating and the marshmallowy filling. Luckily they are impossible to find nowadays (probably because they're good)

Candy corn
Cheetos of any kind
Cheez-Its crackers
Strawberry or grape soda, Mountain Dew
Hot Tamales, Jolly Joes, or Mike and Ikes candies
Boston Baked Beans candy
Chick-O-Stick candy
salt water taffy

Cheese is a staple of my diet, so it stays. First of all, I love it Second, it's a great source of protein, which I need to keep building muscle so I can become a Strong Climber someday

john423

Considering I had a jar of peanut butter yesterday (I'm on a bender right now), I gotta put it on the list.

Ice cream is huge - I cannot eat a bowl of ice cream. I gotta eat the carton.

I have a major weakness for peanut M&Ms, nature's perfect food.

I also can't stand it when the local store puts the baked goods on sale. "They're only $1.79, I'd be crazy not to! They'll pay for themselves in no time!"

My name is John, and I have a problem.

Crazydad

Any kind of chocolate and/or ice cream - if they are in the house, I will eat them.

But I would have to say my biggest challenge is pasta. I love all kinds of pasta and cannot have just 1 "serving". With or without sauce, I could eat a whole plateful at every meal.

CraigB

Two things are killer for me - not only can I not resist the first bite, I cannot practice moderation around them at all:

Sweet baked/fried stuff - donuts, cookies, pastry
Pizza - I'm doing great if I can stop at half of a large pie. One or two slices alone is like a form of torture - I'm better off if it never happened.

Push

Peanut butter IS like crack to the more rotund! I try and stay away from it completely but will indulge with some on a banana from time to time.

Doritos...any flavor, doesn't matter, they can't be in the house...

Those little sesame/honey candies do it too, the health food store that I frequent has them at the counter for $.10 ea and I can't walk out without buying a bucks worth, the nice young lady at the counter once told me "we sell them by the 5lb bag too" after noticing that I grab some every time I'm in there, I politely declined explaining that they would be gone before I got home

Capicola is a rare treat for me too because if I had it in the house too often I would eat it for every meal... I usually buy it by the quarter pound as a damage control tool.

Andy Capp Hot fries..... nuff said.

I'm sure there are more but those stand out when I read the thread

As Ever
Me

Aahzz

I'm with Craig on the pizza - I LOVE a good pizza, I can't stop at 3 slices...

rjc100

The key for me is to not get too over hungry, especially in afternoons, then nothing will satisify the screamming attack like CHOCOLATE of any kind.

natbla

My list has a couple specific food, and situational eating problems.

Foods:

1) Pizza - must eat until gone - if in the fridge - must have for breakfast
2) Spaghetti - My wife makes the best meat sauce and If i can keep it to 2 1/2 plate servings its a win.
3) fresh bakes brownies - does anyone know how to stop at one?
4) Tacos - a win is if I stop at 4

Situations:
1) If there is more cooked food in the bowl on the table during a meal (especially meats)
2) If there are chips/snack foods on the counter - they need to be eaten
3)When I make a run to Sheetz or McD's for the wife - its a 50/50 shot I get something for myself too.

All that aside, making strides on these 6 situations have been as important as the miles/time on the bike have been the biggest part of my success in changing habits. I now only 14" pizzas, and don't go to AYCE pizza places more than once every 2 months, use the smallest plate possible, and on nights with meals I "have to get seconds" I start with smaller first servings.

indyfabz

Mayo. I find that if I have it in the house, I will use it, and if I don't have anything that it goes good on, I will go out of my way to buy other things to put it on. The baked sockeye with a dijon mustard sauce becomes sockeye sandwiches with mayo.

We always have almond butter in the house. While I like it, it does not make me crazy. That may be due to the fact that I ate so much peanut butter riding across the country. And I was blessed with a hatred for the taste of chocolate and have never been a huge sweets fan in general. I think the two may be linked as I remember going to many birtday parties as a child and not being able to stomach the chocolate cake, cupcakes and ice cream that were almost always served.

RunningPirate

Excellent point, that. I need to get back to the natural stuff from Trapper Joe's (Healthier, and not so addictive).

I cannot believe I did not put pizza on my list - yes, that's one for me too (though admittedly, I'm winning the battle with that one - in the bad old days, I could kill a large; now I'm down to a small).

BigUgly

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Doritos
Tostitos - especially the one's with the hint of lime
Fruity Pebbles - I would polish off the entire box in one sitting
Chocolate Chip cookies and a couple glasses of milk

zjrog

Doritos, or almost any flavored corn chips, easy to kill the whole bag. And small bags are just torture...
Reese's anything. Same with M&Ms...
Pizza or pasta... drool, slobber... Wait, what were talking about?

Del Taco Macho Burritos... LOVE THEM!!! (Can't stand anything from Taco Bell)

This list could get longer.

CraigB

I'm fortunate in that there are only 3 pizza buffets that I know of in my area. Pizza Hut is one, and I actively dislike most of their pizza, so that's not a problem for me. CiCi's is another, and while their pizza is tolerable, I wouldn't call it good. I can usually avoid them if I make an effort (plus the nearest one to work is too far away to make it there and back on my lunch hour). The third is a small independent place that makes great pizza and they have a lunch buffet during the week. It would be a major problem for me if it, too, weren't too far from work to make it a feasible lunch destination. In fact, when I was unemployed and at home for 18 months it was too close. I went there more than my budget and my waistline could stand.

There is a middling-to-good chinese buffet a couple of blocks from my office, and sometimes that's hard to resist. I have to keep remembering how bad I feel after going there, both physically and emotionally.

The biggest temptation for me these days stems from the fact that many, if not most, days, I'm away from the office during lunch, and the stuff I rely on to get me through a reasonable mid-day meal is usually frozen and needs a microwave for cooking. That makes lunch something I can't easily pack and take with, and makes all those eateries out there too tempting. I'm OK if I can get to a Subway or even a Taco Bell (they have some relatively light fare on their Fresca menu), but most anything else is just a nutritional nightmare.

Sayre Kulp 

Pizza
Pasta
Mexican Food
Sushi
Ice Cream

thestoutdog

Food, the more flavor the better. Spicy food is the best/ worst. I was raised with the opinion that "if you're not sweating, you're not eating".

engstrom

If you have a Chik-Fil-A nearby you can get a grilled chicken sandwich with a cup of fruit instead of fries. I'm sure the chicken is pumped full of all kinds of nasty chemicals/feed but it's still better than a burger and fries.

fsc

Dude, those little sasame honey things are like 300 calories per package!!!! Yet, I have been known to eat 4 or five at one time.

My personal weaknesses:

Peanut butter (with a spoon)
Yogurt
Cottage Cheese
Pizza
Pasta with garlic salt and butter
Mashed potatoes (is there an e there or not?) with garlic salt and butter
Sausages (summer, breakfast, whatever)
Tuna salad with garlic salt, but no butter

And the KING Pringles

Neil_B

Sushi? It's raw fish, how bad can it be?

MIH-Dave

Cast another vote for Pizza! I love me a good "all you can eat" pizza buffet too!

Oh, and Mountain Dew (sweet caffeinated nectar of the gods)! What I learned, is that I can do the whole moderation thing if I limit 1 12-pack of cans per pay cycle. That works out to ~1 Can/day. If there's a 2ltr in the house... blink and it's gone. Another issue is going out to eat where there's free refills on it.

Aahzz

I'm with you on the spicy - the hotter the better!! Luckily, a good hot sauce can be eaten in small amounts and the capsaicin is actually good for the metabolism. That's making me think I should grow some Habaneros and Jolokias again this year....

Sixty Fiver

I am just a slimmer guy who is trying to stay lean and actually gain a few pounds as I have lost a lot of good muscle after f'ing up my back and doing some nerve damage.

I can out eat most people and some will hate me for this, when I was working 10 hours a day doing hard labour and riding 40 km a day I could not eat enough food and that can lead to some bad habits as you can also eat pretty much anything.

I can kill a jar of peanut butter just as well as the next guy... it is best eaten with a spoon or with vanilla ice cream but I have to remember I am not working 10-12 hours a day and that my aging body has finally figured out how to gain bad weight.

I have always been pretty careful what I put in my own mouth and have this responsibility to my daughters to teach them good eating and exercise habits... their mom and her family have issues with diabetes and weight so they have a much higher pre-disposition to develop his later in life.

We just avoid foods with added sugars and lists of ingredients you cannot pronounce and try to follow a singular ingredient approach to eating and cooking... pure foods... without additives that are often designed to make you eat more of what it is.

Sodas with HFCS are off the list and we might treat ourselves with a sugar sweetened soda from time to time... it is more satisfying and my girls usually can't finish a single bottle as they sip it and enjoy it and then the sugar tells their brains that they are full.

This does not happen with hfcs beverages... soft drink companies know this.