The Pleasure Trap Trigger Foods Poll

[JeffN]

Which is the biggest trigger food for you in regard to The Pleasure Trap and overeating.

Please choose the one category that is *the* biggest problem.

Thanks and feel free to discuss below.

In Health
Jeff

[StarchHEFP]

Which is the biggest trigger food for you in regard to The Pleasure Trap and overeating.

Please choose the one category that is *the* biggest problem.

Thanks and feel free to discuss below.

In Health
Jeff

Can you say all of the above, equally?

[bethannerickson]

Yup. I can't even keep nuts (or nut butters) in the house. Even if I plan on making a special nut-based cheese... nope. The nutty siren song will woo me every time.

If they're not there, I don't even think about 'em.

Interesting poll. I can't wait to see what everyone else says.

Beth

[JeffN]

Which is the biggest trigger food for you in regard to The Pleasure Trap and overeating.

Please choose the one category that is *the* biggest problem.

Thanks and feel free to discuss below.

In Health
Jeff

Can you say all of the above, equally?

Which one, if you were to have a bite (or two) would more likely lead you to overeating on that food?

All equally?

If so, so be it.

In Health
Jeff

[Mercrock]

Fresh bread from the market is my downfall! My DH can eat all he wants (and should or else he would disappear!) but it's best if I walk on by. Used to be dates and sweets were a problem for me, but I've got that craving under control for now.

Martha

[BlueHeron]

It always bothers me when people say no one can eat nuts in moderation. I have no problem eating an ounce or less and stopping. In fact, when I was eating nuts, I decided to weigh my normal amount to make sure it wasn't over an ounce. It was half an ounce. I also have never liked cheese, which always gets cited as the biggest problem for going vegan. But I can easily eat half a loaf of French bread at one sitting. People's tastes are just different.

[dailycarbs]

It always bothers me when people say no one can eat nuts in moderation. I have no problem eating an ounce or less and stopping. In fact, when I was eating nuts, I decided to weigh my normal amount to make sure it wasn't over an ounce. It was half an ounce. I also have never liked cheese, which always gets cited as the biggest problem for going vegan. But I can easily eat half a loaf of French bread at one sitting. People's tastes are just different.

Just substitute almost no one in place of no one. The vast majority of people cannot handle certain foods in moderation. I'm not a binge eater or someone who can't stop eating nuts. But if I allow nuts into my regular diet, pretty soon, an ounce turns to an ounce plus 1 more nut, then 2 more nuts, etc. (unconscious behavior + time). If I weighed or counted them out I'd be fine but if I have to eat my food by measuring it, it's not much fun. So the best scenario for me (and I suspect everyone else who has a full on binge eating disorder or is just a bit mindless in what he/she eats) is to abstain 100%. I will eat a few nuts outside the home on occasion but I will not make them a part of my daily diet. I've failed multiple times with such experiments.

Cheese is a super addictive food. I've seen it over and over. Most people would give up meat before cheese. I've had a slim, well educated, intelligent woman tell me she's done everything asked for her to lower cholesterol naturally except give up cheese. She wasn't sure if the next step was the cheese or take meds. The look on her face tells me that she will go with the meds. The idea of a life lived without a glass of wine and some cheese was not worth living for her.

[MINNIE]

I don't buy dried fruit any more. They are the only items in the poll that think I would tend eat too much of. They were part of my family's traditional Middle Eastern cuisine, so I always thought of them as benign, healthful snacks.

Now I think of them as sugar bombs . So, it's better not to have them around. I would take them as snacks for strenuous backpacking or biking - maybe.

I like bread, a lot, but I can easily stop after a reasonable amount. I don't like sweeteners at all any more, so they don't even interest me. Nuts - I'm not sure about. I don't like them enough to buy them, so the problem never comes up.

[EvanG]

Peanut butter sandwiches are the Achilles heal over here. Avocado or hummus on bread will do it too. So, it's a combination of 1 & 2. I try to eat bread with a bid salad or lots of veggies to compensate.

[BlueHeron]

It always bothers me when people say no one can eat nuts in moderation. I have no problem eating an ounce or less and stopping. In fact, when I was eating nuts, I decided to weigh my normal amount to make sure it wasn't over an ounce. It was half an ounce. I also have never liked cheese, which always gets cited as the biggest problem for going vegan. But I can easily eat half a loaf of French bread at one sitting. People's tastes are just different.

Just substitute almost no one in place of no one. The vast majority of people cannot handle certain foods in moderation. I'm not a binge eater or someone who can't stop eating nuts. But if I allow nuts into my regular diet, pretty soon, an ounce turns to an ounce plus 1 more nut, then 2 more nuts, etc. (unconscious behavior + time). If I weighed or counted them out I'd be fine but if I have to eat my food by measuring it, it's not much fun. So the best scenario for me (and I suspect everyone else who has a full on binge eating disorder or is just a bit mindless in what he/she eats) is to abstain 100%. I will eat a few nuts outside the home on occasion but I will not make them a part of my daily diet. I've failed multiple times with such experiments.

So what are you basing your "almost no one" on? You're one person. I'm one person. Are there studies about people being unable to stop eating nuts? My problem is with people extrapolating from their own experiences to a generalization about what people in general can and cannot eat moderately. If this were a board for alcoholics, people might say that almost no one can drink moderately. But lots of people can, including me. My point is just that people are different in what foods are "addictive." I'm definitely a binge eater of certain foods, so I understand binge eating. Nuts just don't affect me that way. That says nothing about you, just as your experience says nothing about the vast majority of people.

[SarahJ]

Potato chips will trigger binge eating for me. Oily crackers will do the same thing. I can limit nuts and seeds to an ounce, and maintain weight, but I can't eat them and lose any weight.

Sarah

[jeff_t]

I'm not sure what to select om the poll, but the dangerous foods for me are the items sometimes referred to as "recreational sugar." Things like:

Donuts/pastries
Cakes
Cookies
Ice Cream

"Free sugars" as listed in the poll aren't a problem if used in moderation. I can sweeten things to add a little flavor without issue. But if I eat something from the list above, I completely derail and binge on and off for days, weeks, or months.

[JeffN]

I'm not sure what to select om the poll, but the dangerous foods for me are the items sometimes referred to as "recreational sugar." Things like:

Donuts/pastries
Cakes
Cookies
Ice Cream

"Free sugars" as listed in the poll aren't a problem if used in moderation. I can sweeten things to add a little flavor without issue. But if I eat something from the list above, I completely derail and binge on and off for days, weeks, or months.

Thanks.

I am trying to limit it to foods deemed somewhat acceptable on the WFPB diet and tend to be trigger foods. The three biggest ones on a WFPB diet are nuts/seeds, flour products and dried fruits. Salt also but salt is consumed as part of a food, most often bread products. Some consider maple syrup and honey as whole foods too.


In Health
Jeff

[Vegankit]

I chose nuts, however you don't offer chocolate as a choice of triggers - a mixture of sweetener, fat and chocolate - that was my most addictive food.

[rickfm]

Flour products.

I can't remember the last time I ate nuts or dried fruit. And I eat my daily bowl (or two) of oatmeal with a rounded teaspoon of brown sugar and cinnamon and never feel the slightest twinge of compulsion.

Latest example of flour trigger was "treating" myself to a big pot of spaghetti along with a loaf of sour dough bread. I figured it would last me three days... I ate most of it in one evening and polished it off the following day for breakfast and lunch.