Going Off the Rails – What Are Your Trigger Foods?

SUGAR – FAT – SALT

These are the food addictions we have developed over the years. I personally am addicted to all 3. My work over these past 7 years has been to stave off my cravings for these things. With the guidance of my beloved WW leader Amy, and my sheer desire to get past these addictions so I could live a more active, healthier life, and be a size 8, I have succeeded in giving up diet sodas, full fat & sugar ice cream, full fat cheese, french fries, regular potato chips, pastries, and pizza (BTW, this list can go on and on. I’m just cutting it off here, but you get the point). Okay, the only thing on that list that I really have given up for good is the diet soda. I have no use for that anymore at all. But the other things on that list haunt me on a daily basis.

What I have succeeded in doing regarding those trigger foods is to either find viable substitutes for them OR to allow myself to indulge in them on special occasions, and only when they are worthy indulgences. For example, if a sweet delectable is home made or it’s a special pizza from a special restaurant, I will definitely indulge. Also, I can plan for my indulgences with tracking, and meal planning.

When you feel tempted to go off track for a store bought cookie or run of the mill pizza, remember why you started this journey in the first place. Ask yourself if that bag of potato chips or slice of garlic bread is worth the extra calories.

And what about stress eating? This has been my issue of late. I am going through a really rough patch with my job. It has taken all of my strength lately to stay on track, and I have veered off a bit in the last couple of weeks. Lucky for me, I have been doing this long enough that WW is part of my actual identity. I am able to talk myself down from these cravings for the most part. I also have been replacing stress eating with exercise. I go to the pool anyway 3 times a week after work. Now I bee line there, and the water really does help me decompress. Another way I keep myself safe is to keep these foods out of my house all together.

Here is what I’ll be eating this week:

Breakfast is a veggie fritatta again, but this time with a little bit of plain Greek yogurt added for creaminess and extra protein. I got this idea from the new Hungry Girl Cookbook called Simpy 6. What a great compilation of easy, healthy recipes that for the most part can be made in 30 minutes or less. Here is the link on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Girl-Simply-All-Natural-Ingredients/dp/1250154529/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1JEFXTI8DXI5M&keywords=simply+6+cookbook&qid=1554674380&s=apparel&sprefix=simply+6+coo%2Cfashion%2C201&sr=1-1-catcorr

My recipe is not from the book. I made it up using the vegetables I had on hand. I’ll be switching off eating this and the delicious slow cooker pumpkin oatmeal I have left over from last week.

Lunch is a mish mash, also using mostly things I already had on hand. Last week I made quinoa. I was thinking about mixing it with my Palmini salad, but I never did that. The Palmini salad was wonderful as is. I emulated the ingredients for the quinoa salad I’ll be eating this week, but added garbanzo beans. I’ll use the same red wine vinaigrette I made as well to dress it. I’ll be pairing the salad with a little Italian inspired vegetable soup, and Trader Joe’s Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage, which is 110 calories a serving and delicious.

Have a great week, my friends!

Join the conversation. I’d love to hear how you handle stress eating, and trigger food temptations. I’d also love to hear your meal prep ideas and tips!