The Thin Line

There’s a thin line between giving your self a treat and binging. Unfortunately for me, I have a tendency to cross that line when it came to some foods. Most of these foods are snack types like chips, crackers, and candy. When I buy myself these foods, I would eat most or all of them at one sitting or before the next day. Then I would hide the evidence, so that my husband wouldn’t give me grief about it. Unfortunately, I don’t have the good sense to be more discrete when these foods are offered to me. No matter how hard I try to limit myself, I end up eating most of it. Everyone notices this and it’s embarrassing. I don’t want to seem greedy, but it’s like I’m possessed.

What should I do? Here are several suggestions given to me:

Solution #1: Only give yourself a serving worth of any type of food.
Problem: I’ve tried this method since forever. I’m good with most food but food I have trouble with I go overboard.

Solution #2: Only allow yourself one day a week where you can eat whatever you want.
Problem: I’m afraid this would be too restricting. What happens if I already used my free day and I get offered a chocolate cake later in the same week? I’m not ready to let go of this mentality.

Solution #3: Make a black list of all your foods you have trouble with and quit cold turkey.
Problem: I’m afraid I will become obsessed with these taboo foods, and when I do eat them I will definitely overeat.

Right now I’m toying with the idea of solution #3. Maybe give up each food, one by one. Ideally I would like to eat whatever I wanted in moderation, but it seems impossible to control myself.

Here’s my black list. I listed in order from hardest to easiest to give up:

1. cookies
2. Macadamia nuts
3. small chocolates
4. candy covered nuts
5. potato chips (and other of these type of snacks, i.e. Fritos, Doritos, Cheetos)
6. crackers

Here’s my grey list. It consists of food that I love and can still eat in moderation.

1. chocolate cake
2. cheese cake
3. custard pie
4. halo-halo
5. ice cream
6. ranch salad with croutons and cheese
7. young coconut juice.

Here’s my white list. It consists of food that I totally love and I can have unlimited amount of.

1. strawberries
2. cherries
3. mango

Sadly, my white list is incredibly tiny.