Hypno's approach to life, the universe and debtbusting.....

InaPickle

Different_Corner wrote: »

Morning Hypno, I hope your scratching as I type ! On the foodie front I am known at work as a total chocoholic, always have something sweet stashed away somewhere, keeps the the sugar levels up ! But on the MSE front I probably spend £3 - 5 quid a week topping up my little stashes, so it stops - today.

Different Corner, you could be me! We should probably start a 'Giving Up the Sweet Stuff Support Thread'. There would be loads of joiners from the replies here! :rolleyes:

hypno06

elantan wrote: »

i had a dream bout you last night ...into my head popped "chocolate will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no chocolate " and i thought hey hypno could have that as her sig .... 5 am mrs ...why am i dreaming about you at 5 am

Am loving that saying.....but am also concerned that I am invading your sleep :eek::rotfl:

So far, so good.......breakfast, lunch and a banana at 11am. My tum is rumbling so has obviously got to get used to this........I'm going to buy a bottle of flavoured fizzy water from Tescos in a mo to try and kid it that it is full :rolleyes: and will have some more fruit this afternoon.

Tomorrow I am at the boss's house, and again on Friday, and get lunch there - but that is normally something healthy anyway, so I shouldn't have too much of a problem over the next few days provided I keep my head together! (always the difficult bit!!).

Hopeful - I am the world's best at knowing what I *should* do......I even used to teach nutrition! That's why I despise weightwatchers and slimming world classes so much because I feel so patronised by them telling me what I should do........when I already do the majority.

I have had skimmed milk and sweetners in my coffee for 20 years......and I generally make all the right choices for my meals. Cooking the MSE Old Style way is quite healthy too, which always helps!

It's just that I also like chocolate. And I am quite good at eating it when no one is looking I eat sweet stuff when I am stressed, depressed, and tired.........and that is the bit I need to take control of. It is my "support mechanism" in the same way as others use ciggies or alcohol. I use sweet stuff.

So, today I am in control. Doing this, one step at a time!

Keeping_Motivated

Hypno I am with you on the 'sweet' addiction. I read recently about the ex weather girl off GMTV (can't remember her name!) and she had an addiction to chocolate and went to a hypnotist about it as she said she was literally hiding and eating chocolate in secret because she was embarrassed that she ate so much of it. Anyway she swears that the hypnotising worked. Have you any colleagues who could try this on you? I know nothing about hypnotism by the way so ignore me if that is not the same as what you used to do.

Good luck with the not snacking, I know its difficult.

InaPickle

hypno06 wrote: »

It's just that I also like chocolate. And I am quite good at eating it when no one is looking I eat sweet stuff when I am stressed, depressed, and tired.........and that is the bit I need to take control of. It is my "support mechanism" in the same way as others use ciggies or alcohol. I use sweet stuff.

That's me, too, Hypno! That's why I was like 'I need to get the dissertation out of the way then I can deal with it'. It's got to end as my blood sugar levels are up the wall and I've gone up a dress size due to it. I need to find a method of 'rewarding' myself and eating a small amount of chocolate or something sweet to stop me then going off the deep end and eating a big bar (yum!).

hypno06

Hypnosis is fab, and I can get Paul McKenna to sort out the chocolate thing because he does it in exactly the same way as I would......just have to find his CD, which is no doubt buried in a pile somewhere :rolleyes:

It is like any habit - often goes quite deep.

I have been to Tescos and bought fizzy water, a delish selection of fruit, and some yoghurt, plus some salmon to have for dinner with couscous Plus I bought some reduced veg and will make a batch of vegetable curry to put in the freezer - if that doesn't help me lose weight, nothing will :rotfl:

hypno06

InaPickle wrote: »

That's me, too, Hypno! That's why I was like 'I need to get the dissertation out of the way then I can deal with it'. It's got to end as my blood sugar levels are up the wall and I've gone up a dress size due to it. I need to find a method of 'rewarding' myself and eating a small amount of chocolate or something sweet to stop me then going off the deep end and eating a big bar (yum!).

I just can't do the "eat one square of chocolate to satisfy your craving"......that's ok, if the "one square" is 12 inches by 12.........:rolleyes:

My GP said that if you *truly* crave chocolate, mix a little cocoa powder with water and have a teaspoon full. If it is a true craving you have got, then it will satisfy the craving without you needing to finish off the whole pack of Green & Blacks or Galaxy.........

Once upon a time on my diary, I seem to recall having a discussion about putting vanilla essence on your wrists - it too stops sweet cravings. I think I did actually try this for a while and it worked while I did it, but of course you never know whether you are just going through a "determined" phase at that point anyway, so have the willpower you need to stay away from the sweets!

InaPickle

hypno06 wrote: »

I just can't do the "eat one square of chocolate to satisfy your craving"......that's ok, if the "one square" is 12 inches by 12.........:rolleyes:

My GP said that if you *truly* crave chocolate, mix a little cocoa powder with water and have a teaspoon full. If it is a true craving you have got, then it will satisfy the craving without you needing to finish off the whole pack of Green & Blacks or Galaxy.........

Once upon a time on my diary, I seem to recall having a discussion about putting vanilla essence on your wrists - it too stops sweet cravings. I think I did actually try this for a while and it worked while I did it, but of course you never know whether you are just going through a "determined" phase at that point anyway, so have the willpower you need to stay away from the sweets!

:rotfl:No, I'm the same!

About 5 years ago, when I was living in France for the year, I was the healthiest I've ever been. I had to ride my bike everywhere, and ate amazing, home-cooked healthy food. I was tiny as well: I lost at least two stones and nobody could believe how well I looked when I came home. Alas, the slender me did not last upon my return as my lifestyle was so different to the one I had there, but I did learn one thing: as a chocolate-eating fiend I had always assumed that when I fancied something sweet it meant that I fancied chocolate. Not so! I learnt the difference between a chocolate craving and a sugar craving by having some small bags of jellied sweets and some 70% cocoa solids chocolate at hand (nothing less than this will do else it's too full of sugar and negates the point of the proper chocolate). When I fancied something sweet, if I tried a square of the chocolate and it tasted bitter and horrible, it wasn't really chocolate I wanted at all, rather sugar, in which case I ate some of the jellied sweets. Sugar craving satisfied, and all for less fat than chocolate, which wasn't what I wanted anyway. :cool:

Now to put it back into practice...:rolleyes:

Karmacat

Wow , pickle ... thats quite something. I feel I can get addicted to chocolate - I was certainly behaving in an addictive way, i.e. buying what I felt was a "large normal" amount of chocolate in 3 or 4 different shops a week, so no one set of shop assistants would know how much I was eating. Thats why I never keep any in the house, "one square...etc" is never going to cut it with me.

Sympathies, Hypno!

InaPickle

Karmacat wrote: »

Wow , pickle ... thats quite something. I feel I can get addicted to chocolate - I was certainly behaving in an addictive way, i.e. buying what I felt was a "large normal" amount of chocolate in 3 or 4 different shops a week, so no one set of shop assistants would know how much I was eating. Thats why I never keep any in the house, "one square...etc" is never going to cut it with me.

Sympathies, Hypno!

I can be like that, too. It's because the majority of choclate in this country is quite crap (Cadbury's, Galaxy etc.) and has a high sugar content so it makes your blood sugar levels zip up (and down) faster. It's only when you start to eat the real stuff you realise the difference. My above method only worked when it was dark chocolate (as the milk stuff has only about 40% cocoa solids) and as it's so dense and cocoa-y when you want something sweet it doesn't really cut it there's a much lower sugar content in it than 'normal' milk cholcolate, and certainly the sweets.

If you find yourself out and about and craving chocolate, buy a small bar of Green & Blacks or something else 70%+ and you will see what I mean: you won't want to eat anywhere near as much. You might even start to think 'Eugh. I've got a really cocoa-y taste in my mouth and it wasn't anywhere near as satisfying as I thought it was'. That's cos you're not getting your usual sugar fix from the chocolate bar. The good stuff is a tiny bit more expensive, but thankfully they have started selling it in smaller bars, and I guarantee you will want to eat less. Avoid the milk stuff like the plague...that and white chocolate are the highway to hell! :rolleyes:

gallygirl

I could easily just have one square of chocolate and no more........ if I could just find somewhere that sold square shaped bars