~~QOTW! What De-Rails You????~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2003
~~QOTW! What De-Rails You????~~
32
Mon, 07-19-2004 - 6:26pm
What would be the biggest reason you find yourself in a full out cheat-fest?
 
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2003
Wed, 07-21-2004 - 9:22pm

So what would you do if you actually found the taste of a Mickey D's cheeseburger and fries better than what you come up w/ at home?

 
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2004
Thu, 07-22-2004 - 7:37am
My rotten, conniving menstrual cycle.

HORMONES. AAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Thu, 07-22-2004 - 8:16am
I have to be honest and say the fast food habit was really easy to break for me. I started telling everyone how disgusting I thought fast food was, and pretty soon, you really have to practice what you preach. I wouldn't touch a french fry now if you paid me a million dollars (well maybe a COUPLE million). And my BF actually threatened to take me to McDicks to get me back for threatening to take him to the equally evil Wal-Mart last night. That shut me up VERY quickly, as I'll never even set foot inside McD's ever again as long as I live.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2004
Thu, 07-22-2004 - 9:09am

I applaud your ability to resist.

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Fear

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2004
Thu, 07-22-2004 - 12:05pm
Hi Rely,

I guess the notion of Mickey D's cheeseburger and fries tasting better than "home cooking" (anybody's homecooking, not just mine) would probably never come up for me. I've never **REALLY** liked those things, though I certainly ate my share **BEFORE** I started losing weight. If it's McDonald's cheeseburger and fries that you *crave* though (ie if that's not just an arbitrary example), I'd say.....have you tried coming up with alternatives which taste better, and are better for you? Have you asked yourself, what is it (specifically) that you like about those things. For example, is it the texture? The actual taste of the oil, or the meat itself? If you can pinpoint what it is that you like about a specific food item, then you can probably come up with better tasting (or at least good tasting, and healthier) alternatives to the food in question.

I've eaten my share of burgers, over a lifetime. And pre-diet (as I said) I'd end up at a fast food joint a la Mickie D's simply because it was "on the way" (to wherever it was I was going, or coming from) and I had waited too long between meals. I never really liked those *specific* burgers....but if I want a burger (and occasionally, I do) I know that what I like best is probably the texture, the mouth-feel. A good quality veggie burger, then, fits the bill (for me at least). And if it's the *beef* (WHERE'S the beef!!) that I want....well, I can make a better burger at home...and it would probably be one of the expensive sort....maybe black angus prime (a steak that I got the meat manager to turn into burger for me) and then maybe I'd put it out on the grill with some really good quality blue cheese inside it! The end result may not (and probably isn't) something with fewer calories....but it surely would be something that would satisfy ALL my senses, leave me very satisfied, and it would rarely ever happen again because that meal would leave me so satisfied (something a quickie Mickie D burger could never do for me personally). In fact, last time I did that (and a long time ago, it was) I put a good quality blue cheese burger on the grill, and had it with lots of grilled veggies and a grilled peach. Blissfully satisfying.

So what I'm saying (and I take it from your post, you wanted suggestions) is I try to make my calories really, really count. Make sure it's the one thing you really want, that nothing else will do, and then honestly count those calories (or whatever you count, as I think you said you're on Atkins) and make it a legitimate part of your day.

BTW, Rachael Ray (on the cooking network) has done quite a few low carb programs recently. She did a little cheeseburger thing "for low carbers" just yesterday (and you could get the recipes on foodtv website under her program, called "30 minute meals.") Anyway, on this program for low carb dieters yesterday, Rachael made mini-cheeseburgers on her indoor grill (one serving was 4 mini-cheeseburgers) and she put that on top of an interesting salad (to do away with the bun), and then she had a recipe for making "french fried" green beans! Anyway, you might want to take a look at that one, and see if it appeals to you. Apparently, it all falls within the guidelines for Atkins diet. So it's not a matter of "cheating," and who knows it may taste better than Mickie Ds>?!

>> wish that I had never stepped foot in a fast food restaurant. Because it's one of the hardest habits I've ever had to break.<<

Well, all I can say to that is....one day at a time, and find something you like to do better than step foot in one, and who knows, after a while maybe it won't appeal to you either. I can tell you, from experience, I use to eat far far far too many meals in such places, and I swear to you, these days if I go into Walmart to shop (and you know how the supercenters have Mickie Ds in the back?), well the smell of those french fries and burgers (something which use to make me stop in for one)....now REALLY turns my stomach! I can't stand the smell of those things! My son is home from work on vacation this week and he drove to Wendy's, brought home his breakfast... 3 sausage muffins (!!) and once upon a time, those would have made me hungry....this morning it made me feel like "morning sickness" (from the good old pregnancy days, when mornings meant my head in a toilet). BTW, I use to smoke too. Haven't in years though. And cigarettes now have the same effect on me. I can't stand the smell, not on somebody's clothes etc.


Good luck! If I can offer any suggestions, let me know!

forte

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2004
Thu, 07-22-2004 - 12:07pm
Dunno, a million dollars is a lot of money! Maybe just one fry for a million dollars? ;)

forte

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Thu, 07-22-2004 - 1:01pm
no, fries are disgusting.

FYI, I wouldn't eat cantaloupe for 10 million dollars.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2004
Thu, 07-22-2004 - 1:07pm
Rely,

I don't do "a full out cheat-fest," but I have to admit that the hardest times are still late in the day, if I'm tired and didn't eat an adequate amount at the last meal. So I try to avoid that scenario. Keep busy after 4:00pm and don't shortchange breakfast or lunch. That has been my solution.

hippolytes

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2003
Thu, 07-22-2004 - 5:14pm
Thanks for the suggestions.
 
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2004
Thu, 07-22-2004 - 6:52pm
Rely, there will always be hope for you as long as they don't make a cheeseburger flavored cigarrette!

Amy