Confessions from my former high carb diet

[ArmyBella]

I got to thinking about my eating habits and I remembered something I used to do in the winter or whenever it was cold.

I was addicted to Ben and Jerry's ice cream. I had to have a pint everyday. I was always too lazy to walk dowstairs to get it out of the fridge... so I used to open my bedroom window and stick it outside. I know, I know.

I am not proud of that at all. It might seem funny but it was desperation.

Eating 8 slices of pizza and drinking 4 cans of Pepsi... Or buying 2 pounds of grapes and going through the whole thing in a day or two.

My roommate would ask me where it went and I'd either pretend I didn't know or tell him they went bad.

I am soooo ashamed of it.

What about you? Anything you've done that nobody knows about?

[g8rchic]

I bought a loaf of garlic artisan bread and would eat close to the whole thing and throw out the bag before my husband would get home. When I was a child I would take the whole box of cereal into my room and then hide it under my bed. There is probably more but that is all I can think of now.

[DorianH]

I used to make a whole chocolate sheet cake, heavily frosted, and I'd end up eating half of it. When my husband came home and asked where all the cake went, I'd either tell him some fell on the floor and I had to throw it out, or I'd say that I made too much and gave some away by bringing it to work or giving it to a neighbor.

To avoid that, I stopped making the cakes and just bought cans of frosting. I could put them at the back of the fridge and my husband wouldn't think anything of it and I could just eat it with a spoon- easy cleanup.

I used to work at a place that had us go out on the road a lot. I would bring a small "healthy" breakfast into work and then when I left and was on my own I would stop at a fast food place and get my real breakfast- usually two orders.

[lilly29]

Oh wow. It makes me sad to think about this because I was soooo out of control.

I didn't just crave but felt COMPELLED from the center of my being to binge on carbs every night. I'd go to the store and get two kinds of chips, goldfish crackers, and usually some candy and eat and eat until I was sick. I'd eat the rest the next early afternoon, and start it all over again at 10 pm that night. Let's just say that I was grateful for the self-checking machines at the grocery store so I didn't have to face the checkers every night.

Low carb has truly freed me from this obsession/addiction/compulsion. I will be forever grateful to Dr. Atkins.

[FloridaShell]

I was defintely a carb binger. I'd eat cookies, cake, ice cream, cereal all in one afternoon and into the night. It was awful. I'd have a HUGE bowl of cereal before going to bed.

[ragtopwife]

I would buy cookies while grocery shopping then eat the whole bag on the way home and then bury the bag in the trash. If I didn't finish it I would hide it in garage and then sneak them. It wasn't that I was ashamed of eating them, I didn't want to share. I can't believe I hoarded food like that.

[My_Sharona]

Way back in my binge days, I used to buy frosting/icing in the can and hide it way back in the fridge so DH would not see it. If he was gone for the evening I would eat it like icecream in front of the tv. I think its gross now and would never buy another can whatsoever!

Gawd, no wonder I got fat!

[Conure]

I would ask my husband to go to the store almost every night and pick me up a 32oz coke, a box of powdered miniature donuts, a pack of ding dongs, a recess peanut butter cup, and a little debbie's peanut butter chocolate sticks pack. I would sit in my lazy boy (or lazy girl as he called it) waiting for him to come back, then I would devour everything before bed. He was so nice to me...he never complained and he never called me fat. Sometimes he would pick up enough of the goodies for 3 days, and then stop on his way home from work and get me the coke.
Man, I sucked!

[Naz]

For me, I always purchased lots of goodies "for the kids." I'd buy candy bars for them, and 1 for me. Chips for them, but mostly for me. Ice cream for them, but mostly for me. The kids would forget that certain snacks were around, but not momma!

Those days are OVER! I don't buy nearly so many snackies for them as I used to!

[lilly29]

I'm so amazed when I hear stories JUST like mine about finding freedom from the bingeing by adopting a low-carb diet.

I am also extremely saddened. Look at how many of us struggled -- for YEARS -- and suffered the self-hatred and feelings of lacking self-control completely. Yet our government, doctors, trainers, and nutritionists still promote food pyramid by and large.

For me, the day I started following Atkins is the day I stopped having such intense feelings of compulsion to binge. And I know that so many people struggle with this same issue. I hope that the aforementioned food pyramid pushers come to their senses and soon, so many people out there still suffering could benefit.

[sancie]

I loved cereal and corndogs.

[myanv]

I honestly lived off of junk food. I would eat Donuts and doritos all day and then wash it down with some kind of cola. Before I started low carb I honestly couldnt tell you when the last real meal I had was. Unless it was ordered by number(#1 from mcdonalds). I used to eat my fast food and junk food before I got home so I wouldnt be discovered by the roomate.

[wishnot]

One of my favorite things to pick up at the grocery store when I knew I would be the only one home that night was one of those big frozen pizzas and a pint of Ben & Jerry's, I would often add extra cheese to the pizza too and the Ben & Jerry's was always gone before anyone got home. I also always kept a bag of chips in the car, sometimes it was doritos, sometimes cheese popcorn, whatever, so basically every time I was driving I was snacking. And I ate fast food A LOT! Sometimes I would stop on the way home from work even though I knew I was going home to make dinner.

[allyoop]

I hid the Ben and Jerrys in the back of the freezer, and then would wait until my DH was asleep and sneak out to the kitchen to eat it. Not because he would say anything, but just because I was embarrassed. He and I used to each eat either a half or whole pint every night while watching TV. He quit. Since I did all the shopping, he didn't know that I had only cut back a bit. And of course, if he was out of town, then I would buy a pint for each night he would be gone and wait until the kids were in bed to dig in.

I also would often drive several miles out of my way to go to a different fast food drive thru so that the same people wouldn't see me on the same day, or on several days in a row. I never ordered more than one meal or whatever, so it wasn't that, it was just that I didn't want them seeing the fat girl back at the drive thru again. I would also only go through those drive throughs (especially a local chain that has ice cream....) by myself, so that the kids and DH didn't know I'd gone. I'd make sure to hide the trash, too. It was just embarrassing for me to be so out of control of my eating and I was worried about getting "caught" eating all that junk when i was trying to make my family make "healthy choices" and fixing "good" meals for them while I was home.

They also used to have Krispy Kreme donuts in the morning at work in the break area for everyone....I would never take more than one, usually none at all, actually, if someone else was there, but if I was alone, well..... did you know that you can eat up to three donuts in less than a minute, lick the sugar off your fingers AND the traces from around your mouth, and be looking totally innocent when someone else walks in?

I could probably think of more, but you get the idea. When I stay on the low carb plan, though, these things just don't happen!

[nanberrycritter]

I can remember standing in my kitchen and eating ice cream for breakfast before catching the bus to highschool. Anybody remember Fruzenglaza? I'm sure I'm totally spelling it wrong.

I looooove Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I used to eat nearly a pint a night if I let myself buy it. That mint cookie goes down easy!

[junkfoodmonkey]

You know the Pringles jingle, "Once you pop you can't stop"? It's true. Except I wasn't sharing 'em with a bunch of good looking young people who get way too excited about potato chips.

[NurseMonkee]

I would order two pizzas, eat one, throw away the box and then pretend that I only ordered 1 pizza while eating it with family.

I also would have dinner and then when everyone was asleep I would have a second dinner on my own and really binge.


Such sickness. I can sit here and list a million different things......

[FakeName]

I have done a lot of these things...

The really wild thing is that the guilt is our knowledge that we're not doing what we WANT to be doing. Still, I've eaten many frozen pizzas in the past couple of years. Ben & Jerry's is worse than crack. And I would occasionally buy a big bag of M&Ms and suck those down in front of the TV before having myself a giant bowl of chips and guacamole. All the while telling myself that I'd start being good the next day.

My worst carb confession, and one that actually sort of scars me emotionally, was when I was really little and my older brothers had eaten a whole box of Entenmann's donuts and I didn't get one. I cried about it, so my mom bought another box and promised I'd get some, to make sure I stole it and hid it from my family, eating the entire box over two days. (I was only 4-5, I could down the whole thing these days.)

[LoraJR72]

I used to eat Hormel Chili microwaved with lots of cheese and of course with plenty of tostitos to go along with it.

French bread with butter.

[AnitaLCing]

OK, I used to do lots of these things too. Frosting in the back of the fridge. Cookies and Little Debbies hidden in the cabinets (like the linen closet).

One thing I thought of the other day. I couldn't drive past a Dairy Queen without getting a Blizzard. I would eat it before getting home and hide the container.

So glad I am past that and don't have to do those kind of things. Low carb has given me freedom from food.

[DorianH]

Originally Posted by allyoop

well..... did you know that you can eat up to three donuts in less than a minute, lick the sugar off your fingers AND the traces from around your mouth, and be looking totally innocent when someone else walks in?

Oh boy. I can top that. I would grab a few paper towels and put the doughnuts inside all wrapped up so it didn't look like anything. I would carry one in my hand (because that was normal) and carry the rest- usually 3 more- into the bathroom or some other place where I couldn't get caught and I'd snarf them down.

Oh, I definitely ate the frosting out of the can.

Ugh. I can't believe some of the stuff I'd do. Considering it all now, I actually feel pretty proud of myself. I mean, I'm not at goal- but I'm IN CONTROL. Man, I can't think of the last time I could say that.

[H20Goddess]

Alright, since we're all confessing....

I used to bake apple and blueberry pies every week and since I live alone you can guess who ate the entire pies. These pies were nothing unless topped with huge scoops of vanilla ice cream. Of course with the leftover ice cream I just had to indulge on homemae fudge sundaes. Then, as if that wasn't enough, I live directly across the street from a convenience store and on the spur of the moment used to go buy two bags of chips and two chocolate bars and a package of lemon tarts and go home and eat all of it in one sitting! Someone else mentioned LIttle Debbies in their post....I used to eat whole boxes of Little Debbie peanut butter wafter bars in one sitting.

Wow...times have sure changed..for the better , that is. Thank God.

[amiga74]

yes. ugh. everything already mentioned i have done

[xbeyondthebeautyx]

I eat things I dont even like when I run out of the things I do like.

[ShapeUndefined]

It is amazing any of us are still alive.

[ArmyBella]

Originally Posted by ShapeUndefined

It is amazing any of us are still alive.

No kidding. I thought I was going to be obese for the rest of my life. I was almost okay with it. Thank God my jerk ex-bf broke up with me lol That was the push I needed to get back in shape and guess who's sorry now? Heh Heh

[BigRunner]

I always told my wife that if I ever left her, it would be for that HOT CHICK AT THE GAS STATION.

While the shock was still on her face, I'd say

"Little Debbie, I love that chick."

packages and packages of everything every morning on my way to work.

[ShapeUndefined]

Originally Posted by ArmyBella

Thank God my jerk ex-bf broke up with me lol That was the push I needed to get back in shape and guess who's sorry now? Heh Heh

That reminds me of Susan Powter's story. She was almost totally wrong about anything related to nutrition and really didn't care. She wrote: "I didn't care that much about being healthy, what I wanted is to look better than my ex-husbands new girlfriend!"

Better to be healthy than not if you have a choice, I'd say.