@rosemarya The fruit I do-one of those no sugar, milk, etc. folks. Typically I have steel cut oatmeal w/ fruit when night time munchies attack. Stress triggers me to eat. I keep little around to munch-how I deal.

I just got this in my weekly Mayo Clinic Diet newsletter. I thought it fit our discussion. Chocolate is my downfall along with Pina colada anything. Lol

@jodeej
I 'try' to enjoy a small portion of something that I should limit instead of avoiding it all together. (and feeling deprived and grumpy). But I never even thought of the tip to: "Eat something healthy first. It's often easier to eat less of the food you're craving if you're not ravenously hungry". I'm going to give that one a serious try next time I see a treat that I cannot resist!

@jodeej Great ideas for most people but most of them have not worked for me. This one may be worth a try:
"Change your mental picture. When you experience a craving, replace the image of the food with a picture of yourself doing your favorite activity or some other pleasant image."
Another of my downfalls is freshly ground honey roasted peanut butter. I buy it at Fresh Market and Whole Foods. I try to not buy it because I don't want it around tempting me but sometimes I give in to it. I put it on Wasa Crisp and Light crackers which are very low calorie (70 for 3 of them) and sometimes on celery.
JK

@rosemarya @jodeej I, unfortunately, am not motivated by hunger frequently. It's just by the allure of whatever food it is. I am an endomorph, through and through.
JK

If I am home I keep Gala apples or navel oranges on hand. Still looking for ice cream swaps which often occur when out driving.

@bulgebattler, Ice cream cones and driving scream at me too! I try to choose the smallest size. Sometimes, I am able to drive on by and fight the temptation. One thing that has helped me is to self-talk before I get in the car, and to congratulate myself if I drive on by.
My husband loves to stop for ice cream anytime - and he is/has always been thin. It is not fair!

I am happy that you have joined our group! I get encouragement by knowing that I am not alone in this.
Rosemary

@rosemarya I have never stopped alone for an ice cream, but boy have I been tempted! Of course I was very overweight for a long time I figured people would probably look at the fat lady getting an ice cream and pity me. The real trick for me is when we are away and others are getting cones. When I manage to refrain then, I really pat myself on the back.

I was talking to my son today, he will be here on Friday for five days of vacation on the lake in Maine. He is a very in-shape person but apparently has not been as disciplined as usual recently -- he just bought a house, he's moved from southern CA to Denver, so his life is sort in turmoil, happy turmoil. He asked me to not make any goodies to bring to Maine because he can't resist them -- my goodies really are good, that's why I got so fat. I mentioned that to my husband and my son-in-law who is here tonight with my daughter, and they both said they want goodies! I guess my son and I will really have to muster up our will-power. I laugh that he is concerned, if you saw him, he does not look like he has an ounce of fat on him.
He says I am a role model for how well I handled things when I had cirrhosis, but he is my role model for how well he manages a healthy lifestyle.
As I mentioned, my daughter and her husband are here tonight on their way back from a long weekend in Montreal. Tomorrow is her birthday so we celebrated tonight. It was so nice having her here. I wish I got to see both my son and my daughter more. Unfortunately, since she just started a new job, she won't be able to come to Maine this year. She had already committed to the trip to Montreal so she did ask for the time to do that. 🙁
JK