Sugar monsters! Aaah!
For some kids (and grownups), being surrounded by candy corn, Tootsie Rolls, Kisses, Hershey’s Miniatures, SweeTarts and Smarties is just yummy and uncomplicated. Not so with me. And I imagine, many of you.
I remember being very scared during the first Halloween after I stopped binge eating. I didn’t know if I could make it through without stuffing myself with all of the chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, whatever that were going to be surrounding me at work and at parties. I did make it-partly by avoiding my main trigger food, chocolate candy, partly by using some of the strategies that Michelle May, M.D., talked about in this great post. I’ve highlighted (and tweaked) a few of her bits of advice for you here. Hoping they’ll help you have a happy, guilt-free, stress-free Halloween!
- Eat fearlessly without guilt. We all know that guilt leads to more eating, not less, so let it goIf you love a certain treat, act like it.
- Enjoy those M&Ms (or in my case, that cupcake) one at a time, mindfully without distractions. And without pouring them into your mouth, if you can help it!
- Eat what you love. Skip the Smarties if they’re not your favorite and just have your real favorite treats. You can’t regret what you really enjoy.
xo…Sunny
[photo via chanchan222]
Scares me right now! But I find it completely impossible to eat just one M&M without feeling guilty… of course, you know technically that a couple of M&Ms isn’t going to make you gain 30 pounds (haha), but you still wonder whether the scale goes up!
love your posts<3
Thanks Dora! And thanks for sharing.
[…] (you could call it a form of meditation) a few days a week. Then I started looking at what my trigger foods were—things that always seemed to lead to a binge. And I started avoiding those foods most of the […]
i always thought i was just greedy but now i know i have a problem.i think its because i was molested at 10. i hide food so i can eat it later & noone knows about it. i eat really fast and sometimes im full but i keep eating then i get sick,feel better & eat again.i think about what im going to eat at lunch before i finish breakfast & so on. im always thinking about food.if i have bill money in my pocket & i have an episode i will spend it food and deal with the consequences later. its not all the time but enough.i have been dieting for 4mos. i have lost 35 lbs but its getting harder. today was someones birthday & cake was left. everyone knows im on a diet so i didnt have any in front of them i went to the breakroom and saw the cake it was like a drug before i knew it i was scarfing down 3 huge slices rapidly in case anyone was coming. as usual after i feel ashamed & sad i was doing so good. please help me i dont know what to do i already had a gallbladder removed i have arthritis in my knee im only 32!!!!
Hey- are you doing better now?