Avoid temptation, don’t resist it

Simply avoid it

There is something about it. Avoid temptation. Why make your life unnecessarily difficult when you can have it much easier? All you have to do is a little planning and being cautious. I am not saying anything about being spontaneous or having some adventurous ideas here and there. But daily, it is better to play it safe.

Why am I saying this? Well, we are bari patients. We know better than anyone the things that trigger us and we are likely to end up sorting our troubles with food. We had done that before and that is why we ended where we were. No need to expose ourselves unnecessarily again to the same temptation.

If you know that your weakness is a box of donuts, you won’t walk into a pastry store in the morning, right? And it is the same with having sweets, chocolate, chips, pizza, and stuff like that readily available in your pantry. If you keep seeing it, you have to keep fighting the temptation to sneak in and have a bite. We all know that it won’t stop there.

Play it safe

If it is not at home, you don’t even remember it. You don’t see it, you don’t crave it, you don’t want it and you won’t eat it in the end. It is the same with drug addicts. They don’t have their substance at home either. And for a reason.

So when you go shopping, do it right. Buy things you had prepared on your list. You know you will need these things for the upcoming week, maybe a little longer and these are things that are good for you, you have meals planned with them and it will be all ok. You will eat healthy nutritious meals, you will reach your protein goals and everybody will be happy.

Find healthier options

I don’t have anything about having chocolate at home, I have it myself. Just it is a 100% Lindt. So when I crave chocolate, I have a piece of this and it is perfectly fine. I make sure I won’t eat it all. It would be quite hard with 100% cocoa anyway.

If you know that there is something that you seriously can’t resist, that it is something that you must have or you will die, try to find the option that would be the most bari-friendly possible. Buying those XXL-saving packs is dangerous. You know best how it will inevitably end. So if you must, buy a small package. Also putting it somewhere reasonably hidden would be a good idea.

We fail sometimes

We have our weaknesses. Everybody has them. And we are humans, not machines. We are not perfect. Sometimes we fail. So what? You have eaten a whole chocolate. Most likely you are already feeling miserable, our stomach won’t allow for such an adventure, so here you have it, punished right away. But even if you are lucky and you miraculously make it. One chocolate means nothing. On condition that the next meal will be the right one.

Plan for exceptions

It is not so easy to start gaining weight just like that. It requires quite a good amount of extra calories. One chocolate won’t make you gain an extra pound. But if you start doing it every day, the narrative changes dramatically. I like planning for exceptions. Things I normally don’t eat. Have a pizza sometimes. Some yummy things from pastry store, a donut, ice cream. Why not? If I have a thing like this once a week, nothing will change. If I keep eating things I should and do exercise for the rest of the week, one ice cream means nothing.

I had my treat, I felt good, and I enjoyed it. And then I can keep eating right. I was craving something. I planned to have it to satisfy my craving, and all is fine, under control and it is easy for me to keep doing the right things. If I have things under control, I can do this easily. I write things down and I check what I did the whole week. Like this, I make sure it is the only exception and I can check the week off as successful.

Write things down

I know this sounds like a little military-like routine. But I do this for a reason. Why? I know myself. If I don’t write things down, I forget. And then I purposedly forget and I won’t make one exception but they will all of a sudden be three in a single week and I am in trouble. I would be surprised why I see a higher number on my scales. And it would not be any surprise. I messed up. So to avoid this, I log things. And I revise them.

I am 2,5 years out now and I maintain a healthy weight. Yes, I have to admit I had a brief period of weight gain, about a year ago. And it was exactly because I stopped logging in, I was too confident, I thought I knew it all, that I had things under control. I didn’t. And that is why it happened to me.

Lesson learned

I had to go back to square one and start doing what I should be doing. No more cooking just like that, without scales and my lunch boxes prepared for the week. I tried and it didn’t work. Yes, my colleagues keep bringing things to the office. I just make sure I don’t enjoy with them every day. Sigh, I will never say no to the apple fritter. My colleagues know it. So I asked them not to bring it. That it is hard for me to resist. They are incredibly helpful and support me. (I should thank them here for being so nice to me.)

And this is exactly what I mean. If I don’t see it, I don’t crave it and if it is not in front of me, I won’t eat it. I avoid the temptation and my life is much easier. I have my piece of fruit if I feel like eating something sweet and that’s it. It is a better, more bari-friendly way of satisfying my sweet tooth. More nutrients, and some fiber, it is sweet, has very reasonable calories, and has no fat. In apple fritter… well, it is what it is. Yes, I have it sometimes, but not every week.

It is better to prevent than to cure

Why expose myself unnecessarily to temptation that I know would be hard for me to manage? You know yourself best. You know where your weaknesses are. What is hard to resist for you? Even if you have to have these things at home, ask the rest of the family for cooperation. Let’s have it, but keep it somewhere else. Have a special cabinet, maybe in a garage, some box where it won’t be visible to you. Let them have it in their room. Somewhere but not where you are.

They will understand it. They want to help you. They would be very happy if you successfully lose weight and maintain a healthy weight. It is beneficial to them too. And they see it. They feel the difference. They would go the extra mile for you. Even if they sometimes make you feel miserable, they comment on stuff and they pick up on you. They don’t mean it. They are your closest people and they are happy for you. Even if sometimes it doesn’t look like that.

Tell them your needs

Yes, it may be annoying, but it is not easy. But it is the same for you. And even worse. They can have whatever they want not you. You have your limitations and restrictions and you have to live within them. Maybe talk to them about his. What it is like for you? How does it feel? What impact does it all have on you? Unless you tell them, they won’t know.

Maybe they would be surprised. They never knew. Most likely it is much harder for you than they can imagine. So if you can keep the temptations away and you won’t have to fight them all the time, everybody will be happier and calmer. It is like that. But communicate your needs. You have your mouth not only to smile at strangers 🙂