Buying in bulk: BEWARE!

Purchasing the 3.375-lb. bulk canister of chocolate-covered raisins seemed like good idea at the time.

"Oh, I'll just have a few at a time," I deluded myself into thinking. "A quick choco fix for when I'm stressed or PMSing." What was I smoking? The first night they were in the house, I rushed home from dinner with a girlfriend and flung off the frisbee-sized lid, proceeding to furiously feed the chewy gems into my mouth one after the other like a lil old lady plugging quarters into an Atlantic City slot machine. Twelve hours later, after breakfast (fine, during breakfast), I downed a handful more. It was like they had crack in them or something. This was sick and wrong. Why was I busting my butt working out and eating fruit and salmon and salad if I was going to undo all my healthy efforts loading an arsenal of calorie and fat bombs down the hatch? Don't get me wrong -there's nothing wrong with enjoying treats...in moderation. But moderation is about as much a part of my vocabulary as the word cooking.

Which is why I had to ask my husband to hide the chocolate-covered raisins.

I was double-fisting the suckers before an afternoon run when I plopped the canister next to him and begged him to bury them somewhere deep and far away. Out of sight, out of mind, I figured. He obliged, promising not to tell me where they were for two days. Man, he's good. The first day my plan worked to my advantage but the next, I found myself practically shaking with cravings and, I'm ashamed to say, started looking around for his secret hiding place. I checked under the bed, in the laundry room and even in the oven (like I said, a cook, I am not.) Finally, I broke down and called him at a Cubs game.

"I need my raisins," I whined. "Are you sure you want me to tell you?" he asked. In the background I heard a ball crack and the crowd roar. My poor husband - this is what he was dealing with as the Cubs played St. Louis. "YES!"

"They're in your closet, on the floor under your tank tops." Oh...he's good. I flung the phone down and dove into my closet, finding my sweet little babies, safely hidden by my sweet little baby. I only hope he can come up with another good secret spot, because I had to ask him to squire them away a second time. Wish me luck.

Lesson learned: Don't enter warehouse grocery stores immediately post-workout while hunger pangs are beginning to rattle around and do not, under any circumstances, delude yourself into thinking a bulk container of chocolate-covered ANYTHING can be slowly rationed out unless you have the willpower of Jenny Craig herself. In that case, by all means, go for it. Otherwise, learn from my mistake.

And tell me...have you ever had to hide food to keep yourself from over-indulging/triple-dipping/going crazy? Tell me I'm not alone!

Comments

Worse than hiding it on myself- because that would never work- I have a deal with my room-mate. He buys junk food, I don't. If I need junk food, I have to find him (assuming he is home) and request his permission to steal his food, he'll give me a little bit, and look at me funny if I want to binge on it - sometimes not letting me for my own good. And in return I occasionally cook for him.

You pretty much described the last four days of my life, lol. For me it's chips though. I often read diet articles that say, "Eating one cookie won't make you fat, eating the box will." That's such an oversimplification. Learning to eat one cookie and put the box back in the cupboard has got to be one of the most difficult skills in the universe to master!

I hear ya! I love chips so I buy a bag, put a few in a bowl and tuck the rest away, out of sight. Next thing I know, I'm walking past them and grabbing a handful. Usually I get so annoyed with myself I end up throwing half the bag away just to stop eating them. But I can't leave them on top of the garbage, I have to bury them down or I might reach in again.

Oh god Leslie, I just did the same thing last night! I was out to dinner with my boyfriend and was so good - only ate half the meal and a mango salad, yum! so I decided I could have dessert. I stopped into trader joe's and picked up a container of chocolate covered cashews. MISTAKE! I took them home and proceeded to eat them to no end. I had to beg my bf to take them to work tomorrow...only to have him promise to bring them home later so I would have some to eat when I saw him this weekend. sigh...guess I can't handle such overwhelming temptation.

My downfall is frosting. I've been known to polish off a store-bought container in no time. You'd think the crazy sugar rush (followed by the dizzying crash later) would be enough incentive to quit...but the real deal-breaker is those grocery-store bakery cakes. The cake I can pass on, but once I dip my finger into that sweet, light frosting...well people may just find a cardboard rectangle with a completely naked cake sitting on it later...lol

I definitely DEFINITELY understand where you're coming from on that! My bestfriend is very supportive of me and my dieting attempts... and my last diet-go-round we had purchased a bag of blow pops and some other candy fun... for a special event we were holding at my house. After this event was over with -- so was me eating any of the sweets. I told him to HIDE THE TREATS!!! Lest I would eat them all... I have horrible binge moments.... if it's there, I'm going to consume it, unfortunately. Which is why I need to have healthier crap around the house more often than not so that if I MUST binge, I can binge on a salad, loaded with lettuce, and not on dressing :)

You are not alone in your binging... and especially not alone in your need to have treats hidden.

Oh my gosh, I hear ya! It might not so bad but I tend to overdo it when it comes to dried fruit...REALLY overdo it. It's my vice! Just the other day I saw that my mom bought a huge bag of trail mix from Trader Joe's. Just the sight of those sweet, chewy chunks of fruit made my mouth water. Well, later that night I went to grab a "little" snack and the bag was gone. I asked my mom where she put it and she laughed a little but then looked at me seriously "I can't tell you". What!? Was I really that bad that she had to HIDE trail mix?-TRAIL MIX?! I didn't even have any but she somehow knew that if I got to them first, there would be none left for anyone else!

I completely understand where you all are coming from. My boyfriend LOVES those little Cadbury minieggs that come out around Easter. He stocks up on them for delicious snacking through out the summer. If I see a bag on the counter, I actually count out a serving and promise myself that I will not eat anymore. I lie to myself! I sneak back to the counter, look around to see if anyone is watching (I'm usually the only one home at this time of day hehe) and I'll steal 2 more out of the bag. Do I stop there? Oh No! I do this at least 5 more times before I have to walk out of the house and go somewhere until the boyfriend gets home so he can move them out of my line of vision.
(sigh)

my weakness is pretty much everything sweet when I first get the cravings..

phew! so glad to know I'm not alone. last night, I was a good girl and got a surprise - a little ziplock bag of chocolate-covered raisins plopped down in my lap from up above! It was my husband...he's helping me learn portion control! Don't get me wrong - if he had his way, I'd be chugging them by the fistful...he LOVES to watch me eat. But he knows how I beat myself up over these stupid raisins so he's trying to help me along. Love him!

I thought this was story was great warning to all the dieters out there, or anyone who is trying to eat healthy. For me shopping hungry means buying snack food.

You should take the container and serve out little portion sizes in plastic resealable baggies and only eat one at a time. Put the rest in an old shoe box or something and have your husband hide that, then when you want some tell him to just get you a baggie, which is already portion-sized so you won't binge. As for as feeling like when you're out of control, if you feel the need to finish the whole container, just take the suckers and pour them all in the trash, you'd have to be REALLY PMSing to dig through the garbage to fish out the chocolate covered raisins.

My thing is dark chocolate, which is not easy to get except at the dollar stores, where it is both cheap and relatively plentiful.

Trust me, freezing those dark chocolate covered caramels and macadamia nuts does not help; I broke a filling on rock-hard chocky and nut.

Don't even ask how long the 6 boxes of Girl Scout cookies lasted-- I ordered "extra" so they would last the whole year (I can't even type it with a straight face). I live alone, so there is no one to keep me in check- or to even share them with. Whoever thought up the name Thin Mints was a sick, twisted individual!

HA That Thin Mint comment made me laugh out loud!

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooodddddd forrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!
totally Dick ass harvert and yes that is my real name dont know what my parents were thinking and yes it is imbarresing.lol I still laugh at myself though but I really did enjoy reading your comment Im not tryig to be mean just funny in the beging peace out dude and have fun

be radical and super duper man

Now I don't feel so ashamed and alone. Just knowing that I'm not the only one who binges gives me the strength and courage to stop, because for me, it's the secretive shame that keeps me bingeing.

I've got a candy-loving, high-metabolism boyfriend who just can't gain weight, no matter what he eats, and he desparately tries to. All the time. So. He has this huge transparent floor-vase that he fills to the brim with chocolate and candy and all sorts of sugar and calorie-loaded stuff, so that he can 're-fuel' any time of the day or night. I have to cover that thing with a tablecloth so that I don't have to look at that stuff every time I'm near it! Because of his eating habits, I've gained 7 kilos (!!!) since we've started living together one year ago, and he just keeps losing weight, cause he's been adopting some of my eating habits as well... It's difficult maintaining your weight when you're living with someone with a much higher (or lower) metabolism than yours. :(

I have a little trick to control my binge eating. I chew gum right after my sweet treat. That way, the taste is gone and I stop craving and I can chew on the gum as long as I want and then be done with it.

I live alone, so there is no one to keep me in check- or to even share them with. Whoever thought up the name Thin Mints was a sick, twisted individual

diets are very dangerous just want to point it out

Watch Girls Bravo! Its a great diet show