Seeking Moms with Interesting Ideas About Desserts & Candy/family

My solution is to eat about the same amount of something healthy first and then waiting 5 or 10 minutes. That way the food is already in my belly and I am not as hungry for the junk or don't want it at all. This also works with a half cup of water if you want to avoid calories completely. As for exercising, do something with the kids. I like to find a play ground with a swing set and swing for about 30 minutes. It is amazing how much exercise you get swinging!

Ask your husband to stop bringing home to goodies. Don't buy candy bards becuase they are on sale. I have a rule, if I want dessert, that's fine, but I have to go out for it. I don't have it in the house. So, we'll all go out for ice cream or something. When we come home, there isn't any tempting me in the house. Also, a lot of times I will not want to leave the house for it, so I just go without.

As for your walks, do you have an MP3 player? I run a lot and download books to listen to from audible.com. It does cost money but it is well worth it.

I have a drawer in my desk for European chocolates. I open very few and now only take a small amount from time to time. I suggest a drawer and that you go to it infrequently. I use the good European chocolates as presents. I hate Hersheys and other garbage like that made with terrible ingredients. They taste like crayons. So I never ate chocolate until I went to work in Europe.
Don't give your children sweets unless you want to turn them into fat adults. I did not let mine have any.

What you can say to yourself is "Nothing ever tastes as good as being thing feels!". It's true.
Don't bring snacky foods into the house.
Eat veggies, fruits & lean meats.
Eat well balanced diet.
Exercise (even if it's just walking consistently 30 mins/day).
Drink a glass of water before your lunch/dinner meal.
No gimmicks, think small changes for life (no fast food, no late night
snacks at 10pm etc. Those kinds of thinking.)
Exercise whenever you can (a body in motion burns calories).
Walk by yourself (in a safe area, at a safe time of day w/o headphones.
Be safe. I have found while having a partner is great, it's not always
practical & sometimes you just need yourself to depend on).
Make a short list of sensible goals (cut out sodas, cut out sweets, lose 10
lbs over 3 months etc.)
Make your weight loss/exercise plan a lifetime goal instead of a fad diet.
Tell someone. It's easier to keep on a diet plan or follow a goal if you've
shared it w/someone & they occasionally ask how you're doing...holding
you accountable.
Drink a lot of water throughout the day (shoot for 4 glasses a day to start)
Good Luck!

Well, I will eat food if it is in the house. So I don't buy candy, cookies or snack food. It's actually been easier for me since I had my son, since I now look at it as a health issue. I don't want him to have issues with food, so we eat healthy at home. I do serve fruit for dessert almost every day. If DH brings home 'something' it is enough for 1 night - otherwise it gets tossed in the garbage or given away at work the next day. I have finally gotten him to buy 1 small pint of ice cream if he needs to buy ice cream. That way it is only one evening of temptation - and I can pretty much skip one dessert.

Quit "rewarding yourself" with food. You don't need a candy bar to clean anything. You also don't want to teach your kids this no-no.

Make a plan to get the whole family healthy. Just because junk food doesn't show up on the scale for the kids/husband, doesn't mean it is okay. You want to teach them good nutrition to last them a lifetime. Teach them what a proper portion is and stick to it.

As for sweets/snacks, I told my daughter, just because you can get away with it now does not make it okay. My kids only get one sweet treat a day and it is typically after eating a healthy dinner. I like to keep that sweet treat 150 calories or less so your typical pies and cakes do not fit into that plan. Regular size candybars do not either so if we have a full size Snickers it will be splt between two nights.

As far as exercise, you think walking sounds boring but I'm sure if you got back into it, it would become very addictive. It is just a matter of getting started and sticking with it until it is something you WANT to do. Not because you have to do it.

I'm not sure how old your kids are but get them involved as well. Maybe walk at a track so that everyone can walk at their own pace and are somewhat 'contained'.

Get your husband on board with not bringing home any more goodies. You do the same when you do the grocery shopping. If it's not in the house you can't eat it.

HTH

The best way is to totally overhaul your whole family's diet. That's pretty much what we did and we hardly keep any kind of sweets or desserts in the house. My husband has a hard time controlling his sweet tooth when we keep that kind of thing in the house so we just eliminated it from our pantry. It took a while to totally take the plunge but once you do you really won't miss having that stuff in your house.

We eat a whole foods kind of diet with very little processed foods so our cupboard is practically bare except for seasonings, spices, tea and the "treat" for my son's lunches.

Check out a book like "The Cleaner Plate Club" for ideas on good grains and some great kid/family friendly recipes. My son LOVES kale chips which are so easy to make and satisfy that crunchy/salty chip craving. We do have treats but it's kept to once a week or so and we don't keep in a whole box of cookies or whatever so that temptation is removed.

I've found that if I can not eat sweets for a couple of weeks I lose the craving for them. Then I just have to be sure not to bring in home.

It does have to be a whole family thing. If your children are in elementary or higher school they are taught nutrition. My 11 yo granddaughter has told me to not eat sweets for a couple of years now. Appeal to your children's desire to eat healthy. Use fruit for desserts.

Can you ask your husband to get sweets/candy you don't like? I've had my husband buy mint chocolate chip ice cream when he wants some - I do not like mint and would never eat it.

I second a lot of what has already been said, and add the following thoughts: I seem to recall that there are on-line support groups that help folks deal with temptation - having a community facing the same issues as you are can help provide the support you need to say no to the extra calories. As for the specific issues you mention: as you seem to have recognized, buying candy bars because they are cheap is a bad idea - you're giving yourself permission to eat them because they are inexpensive, not because they are good for you. Find a better snack, even if you have to spend a little more. Rather than eating while cleaning, find a podcast or radio station you like and let that distract you. Start making your own healthier sweet treats. I love, love, love sweets, and deal with it by finding recipes for lower fat/calorie cookies or frozen treats. They aren't calorie-free, but still let me have a goody that isn't as bad for me as other treats. Implore your husband not to bring home the goodies any more. Let him know how important it is to you to lose the weight, and that his bringing in the tempting treats simply doesn't help. Making your own treats at home might encourage him to stop.
Good luck -

Listen to your iPod or whatever while you're walking. If you can afford it, buy a treadmill (bought mine on Craigslist) or get a gym membership. You can use it during the day when no one is around and watch TV while walking. (The gym always has TVs on in front of the bikes and treadmills.)

Once I get over this dang flu I'm going to get a membership to the new gym up the road and start with walking and biking, as well as the weight machines. If you lived closer I'd set something up with so you'd have someone to chat with when you go.

I have posted this website often, It is called skinnytase.com. Weightwatchers points are added in for convinience. She has some dessert recipes that are AWESOME. I too have a sweet tooth and I am not good with self comtrol :(.
Also, I would check into weight watchers. You can still have sweets and things on it. Everyone I know who has done it, has actually lost weight.
And you can google everything you need to know without paying for it.