Four Ways to Deal With “Trigger” Foods

Have you ever scoffed down a cupcake or a bar of chocolate … only to ditch your diet for the rest of the day? Many of us have “trigger” foods. We label them as bad, and if we eat them, we invariably over-indulge. This leads to feeling that we’ve failed, and that we might as well give up.

Often, that giving up means that our diet isn’t just derailed for the day – we take the whole week off, or even quit dieting for months.

So, how can you deal with those “trigger” foods … and those diet-breaking moments? Here are a few different techniques to try.

1. Don’t Have “Bad” or “Forbidden” Foods

Obviously enough, there are certain foods which aren’t tremendously diet-friendly. Giant slabs of cheesecake, chocolate-coated donuts, big chunks of cheese … all contain lots of calories and fat. It’s important to remember, though, that there is nothing intrinsically “bad” about these foods. They’re just not something you’re chosing to eat daily.

Perhaps you’ve found yourself saying “Oh, I’d love to eat that, but I can’t – I’m on a diet.” Setting up particular foods as forbidden just makes them more alluring! And telling yourself that you can never have chocolate means that, sooner or later, you’ll crack and think this diet isn’t worth it.

Instead of ruling foods out altogether, try saying to yourself “I’m choosing not to eat chocolate today”. One day is perfectly manageable. If other people are pressing food on you, a simple “No, thanks” is fine. You don’t need to explain the ins and outs of your diet or make excuses.

2. Do Keep Triggers Out of Sight

When I’m dieting, I have the mantra, “Out of sight, out of reach – out of mind!” One of my particular trigger foods at the moment is Fruit & Fibre flakes. It’s so easy to justify buying them (they’re not naughty or unhealthy) … but I just know I’ll end up sitting on the couch, eating them by the handful straight from the box. It’s much easier not to have them in the house at all.

If you have snack foods like chips or cookies around the place, try keeping them on top of a cupboard. If you have to struggle to reach them, you’ll be much less likely to dip straight in – whereas if you keep them in plain sight, it’s so easy to end up snacking without even thinking about it.

3. Don’t Quit Because of One Slip Up

Even if you do end up eating a giant piece of cake or half a packet of cookies, don’t use that as an excuse to quit. One slip up isn’t going to ruin your diet – you’ll probably still lose weight that week, even if it’s not quite as much as you’d hoped.

Keeping a food diary can help you get your eating patterns into perspective. That 800-calorie slab of fudge cake might feel like an absolute disaster right now – but when you can see it in the context of a week of healthy eating, you can reassure yourself that it really hasn’t undone all your hard work.

4. Do Limit Trigger Foods to Certain Times or Occasions

If you just know that you can’t eat one bag of chips – you have to have five – then limit when you eat chips to certain occasions. Perhaps you’ll only have them at parties, when you’ll exercise some restraint because other people are around.

Some dieters will have a specific day for a particular food, perhaps eating chocolate only on Saturdays. Others will identify particular times of day when trigger foods are especially likely to lead to a binge – perhaps when snacking mid-afternoon, or when watching television in the evening.

Get to know yourself and your triggers – and find ways to ensure that trigger foods don’t lead you to ditch your diet.

Written by Ali Hale

Related posts:

1. Beating the Binge: Six Ways to Stop a Binge Before It Starts
2. There are no “bad” foods
3. There Are No Bad Foods!