Trigger foods are foods you eat that cause you to overeat, or binge, derailing any weight loss or weight maintenance efforts.  What are your trigger foods?  Mine are Little Debbie Nutty Bars, See’s Candies Polar Bear Paws, and puffed cheese balls. These foods are not allowed in my house! 

Studies have been done to see what causes these compulsions, these cravings.  Called “psychoactive foods,” or even “opiates,” they are different for everyone.  However, they tend to be either high in sugar, refined flour or fat (i.e., chocolate, fried chicken or chips). 

One thing we know for sure:  Once you start eating a trigger food, you don’t want to stop.  There goes the entire box of chocolate-covered cherries, or the entire bag of Lay’s potato chips, or all of the chocolate cake.

So why Trigger the Horse?  Trigger was a famous movie horse, owned by Roy Rogers,  a western movie star back in the day. I want you to be inspired by Trigger, every time you want to be swayed by one of your favorite trigger foods, and know that trigger foods should be avoided like the plague!  And I always remember things better if I think of something unusual to go along with it.

Seven Ways to Combat Trigger Food Cravings:

1)  Remove trigger foods from your house.

2)  If your emotions cause you to overeat, learn new ways to deal with your emotions besides eating (visit “Overeaters Anonymous“).

3)  Concentrate on foods you like that don’t cause you to overeat, and make you feel good (see: Only Eat Foods That make Your body Hum).

4)  If possible, learn to enjoy just a bite or two of your trigger foods; then you can still enjoy them from time to time.  However, if they still cause you a problem, it’s simply better not to have them around at all.

5)  Read “No More Bad Foods.”  That being said, if you simply must eat one of your trigger foods, purchase only one or two Polar Bear Paws, for example (not 10, because I will eat all 10). 

6)  If you must eat a trigger food,  remember it won’t be worth it if you end up eating the whole bag of chips, or the entire container of ice cream — you’ll just end of gaining weight, or feeling gross.  Not worth it.  Think of Trigger. 

7)  Use gimmick phrases, like “I’m not allowed to have Nutty Bars.” That’s what people say when a doctor tells them they can’t eat something for their health.  Even though it’s really YOU making up the rules! Whatever works, to keep the trigger foods in their place. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 at 5:58 am and is filed under Health. Tags for this post: Bathroom scale, BMI, Burning Calories, Calorie Calculator, Calorie Counting, calorie myths, Calories, Counting Calories, Diet, Diet Ideas, fat calories, fat grams, hcg, Health, Healthy Eating, Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Living, Keeping Weight Off, Lap-Band, Living Thin, Living Well, Losing Pounds, nutrition, overeaters anonymous, real age, san diego, Scales, thermic vegetables, trans-fat, Waikiki, Weight Loss, Weight Maintenance, weight management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.