Why do we allow temptation?

[dawg 0]

I am going to word this kindly and with concern - I'm not ranting at anyone okay? I'm caring here. I'm not waving the big stick of judgement.

Why bandsters and and the bandless, are you allowing temptation through your front door?

I have seen many posts, by many people (the most recent was the evil cookie dough thread that triggered this post) talking about the terrible food they are allowing in their house.

If its not cookie dough, its pizza being brought home by the spouse, ice cream to italian food.

I fully understand that many of us have a clearly defined eating disorder (because thats how I view a lot of obesity) and that we suffer terrible cravings, but I have to ask why more of us (you) aren't putting our foot down and saying "GET THIS CRAP OUTA MY HOUSE".

This comes from my current dietary success. I am losing weight because there is no crap in the house. The chips are gone, the bread is gone, there's no ice cream, no beer, nothing I can go "ooo I want that" with.

I think its about time we started fwapping the Pizza Delivery spouse, beating the candy man and denying sexual favors to Kenny Cookiedough.

Come on folks, its hard enough to live the healthy life outside of your front door, please, my friends, stop bringing the crap inside your door

Perhaps you might cry "But what of my family? They like ...". Well one of two things has to happen, success in your weight loss and ultimate health, or your family eating cookie dough and pizza.

For me? its a no brainer.

This post is not intended to offend or upset. If it does upset and offend you, all I can say is that this is my rant and I won't apologise for it.

[Jachut 487]

Whilst I havent cut out eating anything, special treats included, I do not have anything like that in the house.

I make Cookies for the kids but I make them from scratch so they're not full of crap and chemicals. We only really have healthy food here and I tend to throw away fattening leftovers from dinner parties, I like to enjoy the meal on the night and then be over it.

If I really have a hankering for something, I have it, but I have to go out and buy it. But then I've come to learn that perhaps I'm very lucky in that the type of cravings others suffer from are foreign to me, I've gotten fat through being busy and failing to pay attention to what's going in my mouth, eating for convenience and eating on the run.

But I learned long ago that I cant have certain things around - muffins, cakes, Cookies (the kids eat them ALL when I bake them), or I will eat them, and I wont stop till they're gone.

[vinesqueen 2]

hmmm, temptation implies that something is forbidden. Human nature desires that which is forbidden, it is more aluring, more desireable than things that are easily had.

food is not "bad" unless of course it is past it's pull date or was left out too long. It's like emotions, it simply is, not good or bad. Okay, I'll be the first to admit that there is yummy and there is icky, but I do not believe that food has any intrisnic value beyond what it is. Okay, except for ice cream, since ice cream equals love. But other than that...

I always have candy or chocolate in the house. I have ice cream in my freezer all the time. But that doesn't mean that I eat it constantly, or even frequenly. The ice cream bar I have in the freezer is from a pack of non-fat nestle crunch bars I bought in .... early January. But then again, I'm the one who's had to throw chocolate away because it got dusty.

Just knowing that it is there is a comfort for me. I could have it any time I want to, but I don't want it, but I could have it if I wanted it, and it's there just in case I want it, but generally I don't. Except for when I do.

Besides, I know that the gods want me to have chocolate, I gave it up for lent one year and gained 18 pounds from not eating chocolate.

[dawg 0]

food is not "bad" unless of course it is past it's pull date or was left out too long.

Thats such a fascinating thing to claim.

This would be from the "all things in moderation" concept I suspect.

I have to disagree with you. If the food serves no purpose other than taste its merely pandering to a mind that has suffered years of abuse.

I describe it as abuse as ice cream, cookie dough, pizza, pretty much any fast food, or anything that is composed almost entirely of fat should have no place in a diet.

I consider it much like the abused and battered wife who keeps going back to the husband because she doesn't know how to exist without him.

I can not accept that my favorite foods like Munchies, Bugles, Fignewtons, Sausage gravy and, my old friend beer, have any place in a healthy balanced diet and SHOULD be forbidden.

I respect everyone's right to have whatever they want. This post is for those who cry out in torment at having eaten a tub of cookie dough or walked in to find a large supreme grease with extra lard (pizza) on the kitchen table.

If thats not you, this ain't for you.

There is an over-rated concept that we should accept and pander all of our whims and desires, that nothing is 'forbidden'. That we should explore our desires and temptations and taste of them to figure out who we really are. I disagree with that, vehemently.

[MsButterKup23 1]

Very well said Paul!!

I agree totally. After I got banded in August the Hubster lost 30lbs simply because we no longer bought junk food. I didn't want it in my face because I knew I physically couldn't eat most of it.

I will admit though if I do have a craving I eat just enough of whatever it is to make the craving go away. Tonight I wanted a pretzel from Auntie Anne's, I knew I physically couldn't eat a pretzel so I settled for a pretzel stick. That was the first pretzel I've had in 7 months and it was good. I don't feel guilty in a bite here or there.

My hope is that our lack of junk food will allow my 16 month old daughter to have healthier eating habits and avoid obesity.

[vinesqueen 2]

But I do strive for all things in moderation. I strive for balance in my life.

For me, saying that if all food had to offer is taste and no substance then it should be forbidden is like saying sex is only for procreation and not for pleasure.

Fat is an important part of our diet. There are many vitamines that cannot be metabolized without fat, the As the Es and I think K as well. But don't quote me on K. Fat is vital, but it must be done in moderation.

I couldn't disagree with you more about your analagy to the battered wife senario.

[dawg 0]

I think maybe you missed the entire point of why I wrote this thread Vines. I am talking about people who suffer from temptation and I am advising them that they would best be served by removing and banning the temptation from their house (in my opinion).

If you don't suffer from this, then none of this thread applies to you.

[vinesqueen 2]

Nope, I didn't miss the point.

My point was that perhaps if people do not view food as a temptation, as bad, then they will just see it for what it is, and nothing more. Perhaps if people look at the real issue with the food, then perhaps it will not have power over them any longer.

[dawg 0]

Nope, I didn't miss the point.

My point was that perhaps if people do not view food as a temptation, as bad, then they will just see it for what it is, and nothing more. Perhaps if people look at the real issue with the food, then perhaps it will not have power over them any longer.

I totally agree.

But we also might as well ask that people not commit crime, that everyone gets an annual 20% pay raise and that McDonald's is going to refund all the money we'd ever spent there.

It's laudible to want this to happen, but it isn't going to. Temptation is real, its here to stay. It's an integral part of human nature.

I'm suggesting an action to deal with something that for a lot of people is real. I'm also suggesting that in their countless years of being obese that they haven't rationalized their eating habits and are now ready to eat one quarter of a slice of pizza and call it good.

This post is for the people who haven't figured out how to rationalize and one simple post saying "aha, lets go ahead and realize its just food and we can eat it or not, as we want" is going to provide them the glorious lightbulb to the problem they have had for decades.

[Kelliebelly 13]

I will never be someone that can give up the temptations. I have children...a family. I have them eating healthy, but I do allow ice cream in the house. Biscuits for recess and small bags of chips for Snacks. I know there are plenty other things better for them, but they have them also. I will never be able to give up chocolate. I love it tooooooooo much. I have cit down though, from my family block a day to a packet of peanut M&Ms every few days. It is completely my fault I am having slow weight loss because of it, but in the past my diets have all failed because I restricted myself form the temptations. I find if I know in my head I can have it if I want it then I dont want it as much. The minute I tell myself I cant have it is when the cravings come and I think about it constantly. Kinda like I am doing now giving up smoking. I want this to be a lifestyle for me that I can maintain for the rest of my life and me never having chocolate or other fun stuff like that again is just not an option.

[DevilMayKare 1]

I can be fine around something all day, but in the night hours--watchout! Fig newtons, crackers, etc... I will eat every one. It didn't seem fair to me to deprive my kids of these "goodies" altogether so I had them in the house for years and often had to run to the store to replace something when I had finished off the bag. Then one day I was sitting in some sort of weightloss meeting listening to some poor dieter who--yet again--succombed to the temptation of goodies they kept around for their kids. It's a VERY common phenomenon.

On the way home from that meeting I stopped at Home Depot and bought 2 lockable tool boxes (one small, one big) with locks. I put the small box in the fridge and put the cheese & other cold temptations inside and put the graham crackers, Cookies, Peanut Butter et al in the bigger box, locked them both and gave the keys to my younger son who has no problems resisting food. That was several years ago and it has always been a big help for my night eating. Admittedly, it is a little humiliating to have to lock food away from myself--with my kid as the keeper, but when your mom is 300 pounds the fact that she has a problem with food is hardly a secret.

I hate that I'm compulsive and weak about eating sometimes--but I've accepted that reality and this is one way I handle it without depriving everyone else in the household of things that I can't handle.

[dawg 0]

Kare,

I don't think your solution is in anyway rediculous. You have taken a rational course of action to counteract an irrational problem. By no means is it a cure, but will any of us trully be cured? I am sad to say that I think not.

I guess I come from the standpoint right now (looking back) of wishing my parents hadn't given me 'goodies'. It got to the stage where all I wanted was 'goodies' and nutrition and health could go hang.

I have been totally lucky in all respects with cravings.

Today I had to deal with a tough one. While at home I have total control over my environment. there is nothing 'yummy!' in the house. There is good healthy food but nothing I've ever reached out and snacked on.

Today's test came at work where a box of peanut brittle was left out in the break room. I watched every member of the office stuffing their face with it and telling me how wonderful it was.

Quite the monkey on my back. I did prevail by pure bloody denial. I kept telling myself that this is NOT food, its trash and it has NO reason to be in my mouth.

I just thought about how much easier life would have been if that damn box wasn't on the table today.

[PinkMary 3]

well said Paul! very well said! agree 100%

many people didn't realise that we got throw a whole big procedure, we got an anaisthesia, we got risks just to fall in any temptation!

i will repeat it, the band is just a tool! we have to work HARD to change

this eating disorder, we are prone to any temptation and thats why we are obese and we did this surgery! its a new chance and we have to stop sabotaging our new attempt!

[NewSho 20]

Hmmm... unintentional finger pointing, eh?

I mean, I don't have a spouse/kids to buy No-No's for - but this post seems a bit pedantic and maybe even preachy to me. Oh well, I have long since realized that those who don't feel they need/want additional help with weight loss sometimes think obesity is a problem with willpower. I think there are other factors in this - I haven't bought a pint of ice cream since my niece's birthday party like six years ago. So temptation isn't what drives my struggles - but everyone's opinion is different.

To each his band (or non-band) own...

[Jessiebear 2]

First of all, I want to thank you for caring enough to post this. I do agree with you. And I have thrown a couple of fortunes worth of junk food out over my life time. What you said is simple & effective! It does work! The problem is being able to do it & being able to commit to it. To stick with it. If your average every day obese person could do this, then noone would be obese, there would be no need for WLS, we would not be here right now & you would be a wealthy man for curing obesity. I applaud you for your strength & willpower!! You are winning my friend! I think for a lot of people, food is their drug of choice. I know it has been mine for many years. I'm getting better though! Every day I get a little better!