At 290 pounds, Julia Havey was morbidly obese and desperate to lose weight. “I tried diet after diet and pill after pill,” she recalls. “But nothing worked.” Her turning point came after a cruel comment from a stranger while shopping. When she got home, she vowed to get serious about her health, and she knew that meant getting rid of the food most responsible for her weight gain – ice cream. Could a trigger food lurking in your home be keeping you from your goal weight, too?
“At my heaviest, I used to eat half a gallon of ice cream a night,” Havey admits. But she hasn’t had a bite of it since 1994. Now, 130 pounds lighter, Havey was the “Master Motivator” to 14 million readers at eDiets, has now joined the leader in online weight loss, SparkPeople.com, find her team at http://teams.sparkpeople.com/vicebusting and author of The Vice-Busting Diet (St. Martin’s, 2006). Let her experience help you overcome your own diet vice once and for all. 
What is a Diet Vice?
According to Havey, a diet vice is any habitual action that keeps you from reaching a healthy weight. You may even have multiple vices. Maybe it’s a habit, like serving yourself huge portions or snacking after dinner. Or maybe it’s a single food, like chocolate or chips, that’s wreaking havoc on your waistline.
According to Havey, a diet vice is any habitual action that keeps you from reaching a healthy weight. You may even have multiple vices. Maybe it’s a habit, like serving yourself huge portions or snacking after dinner. Or maybe it’s a single food, like chocolate or chips, that’s wreaking havoc on your waistline.
Fast food and soda are two major diet vices in America, in Havey’s opinion. But even if you’re a water-drinking, Big Mac-shunning, health-conscious consumer, you may not be in the clear. Diet vices are different for everyone, and not all are junk food. If you can you eat the whole jumbo-sized bag, carton or box of anything in one sitting, it qualifies as a trigger food.
Deprived and Depressed
Once you’ve identified your trigger food – be it potatoes, pie or root beer – how can you resist it? Give it up forever. “It’s easier to go without a food you can’t control than to try to have it in moderation,” says Havey.
If you think your life will be miserable without chocolate, crackers or fast food, ask yourself this: How miserable does this food make me now? Is it preventing me from looking good, having energy and feeling confident?
“Deprivation is not living without certain foods but living with them and being deprived of your true health and happiness,” Havey says. Trigger foods may make you happy temporarily, but if they make you sad in the long-term, it doesn’t make sense to keep them in your life.
Havey promises that if you eliminate your trigger food altogether – whether you implement other diet and exercise goals or not – you’ll lose weight. Not only will you curb calories, but you’ll avoid the binge the food usually inspires.
If you think your life will be miserable without chocolate, crackers or fast food, ask yourself this: How miserable does this food make me now? Is it preventing me from looking good, having energy and feeling confident?
“Deprivation is not living without certain foods but living with them and being deprived of your true health and happiness,” Havey says. Trigger foods may make you happy temporarily, but if they make you sad in the long-term, it doesn’t make sense to keep them in your life.
Havey promises that if you eliminate your trigger food altogether – whether you implement other diet and exercise goals or not – you’ll lose weight. Not only will you curb calories, but you’ll avoid the binge the food usually inspires.
Painless Elimination
If you’re used to eating huge quantities of a certain food, living without it probably seems impossible. But, actually, giving up the food entirely will eventually make you crave it less. To help you along the way, follow these tips:
Make healthy substitutions
- If your vice is sweet and creamy, like ice cream, try a bowl of low-fat plain yogurt with fresh berries when your craving hits.
- If you love the crunchy texture and salty flavor of potato chips or crackers, swap them for popcorn sprinkled with a little garlic salt (hold the butter). Toasted whole-wheat pita chips also substitute well.
- If you love comfort food like baked lasagna or mashed potatoes with gravy, have a meal that’s just as hearty and filling, but that delivers fewer calories. Warm up with a bowl of steaming lentil soup sprinkled with mozzarella cheese.
Sometimes it’s not the food itself, but the act of eating that we crave. Havey found that snacking on baby carrots when a craving hit not only saved her calories, but reduced her appetite and left her with more energy at the end of the afternoon.
If you’re used to eating huge quantities of a certain food, living without it probably seems impossible. But, actually, giving up the food entirely will eventually make you crave it less. To help you along the way, follow these tips:
Make healthy substitutions
- If your vice is sweet and creamy, like ice cream, try a bowl of low-fat plain yogurt with fresh berries when your craving hits.
- If you love the crunchy texture and salty flavor of potato chips or crackers, swap them for popcorn sprinkled with a little garlic salt (hold the butter). Toasted whole-wheat pita chips also substitute well.
- If you love comfort food like baked lasagna or mashed potatoes with gravy, have a meal that’s just as hearty and filling, but that delivers fewer calories. Warm up with a bowl of steaming lentil soup sprinkled with mozzarella cheese.
Sometimes it’s not the food itself, but the act of eating that we crave. Havey found that snacking on baby carrots when a craving hit not only saved her calories, but reduced her appetite and left her with more energy at the end of the afternoon.
Find another way to have fun
“When you remove something from your life, especially a habit, you need to fill that space with something else,” explains Havey. One woman who took this advice to heart is Jayme, 52, a systems analyst in San Diego. Her afternoon cookie break used to be her favorite part of the day. “I was stressed out, and chowing down on cookies was how I relaxed,” she says.
But all that sugar and processed white flour left her tired and sluggish an hour later. One day, after she fell asleep at her desk, she vowed to make healthier choices. “I still look forward to my midday break,” she says, “but now I use the time to read my favorite magazine instead of eating junk.”
If you’re bored, lonely or in need of a treat, “replace the feeling of satisfaction that comes from eating with other things,” says Havey. Some suggestions from her book: Get your hair done, see a movie, buy a great pair of shoes, take a bubble bath, or call a friend.
“When you remove something from your life, especially a habit, you need to fill that space with something else,” explains Havey. One woman who took this advice to heart is Jayme, 52, a systems analyst in San Diego. Her afternoon cookie break used to be her favorite part of the day. “I was stressed out, and chowing down on cookies was how I relaxed,” she says.
But all that sugar and processed white flour left her tired and sluggish an hour later. One day, after she fell asleep at her desk, she vowed to make healthier choices. “I still look forward to my midday break,” she says, “but now I use the time to read my favorite magazine instead of eating junk.”
If you’re bored, lonely or in need of a treat, “replace the feeling of satisfaction that comes from eating with other things,” says Havey. Some suggestions from her book: Get your hair done, see a movie, buy a great pair of shoes, take a bubble bath, or call a friend.
Trading Up
Havey hasn’t had ice cream in 12 years. Doesn’t she miss it? “Absolutely not,” she says. The trick is she doesn’t consider the food “forbidden.”
“There’s nothing telling me I can’t have it,” she says. “I could get in the car right now and buy some at the grocery store if I wanted.” But she doesn’t. She knows that it won’t make her feel good or give her the satisfaction it once did. Besides, her readers are counting on her.
A bowl of ice cream can’t compare to having a body you love and a life filled with energy, happiness and confidence.
Havey hasn’t had ice cream in 12 years. Doesn’t she miss it? “Absolutely not,” she says. The trick is she doesn’t consider the food “forbidden.”
“There’s nothing telling me I can’t have it,” she says. “I could get in the car right now and buy some at the grocery store if I wanted.” But she doesn’t. She knows that it won’t make her feel good or give her the satisfaction it once did. Besides, her readers are counting on her.
A bowl of ice cream can’t compare to having a body you love and a life filled with energy, happiness and confidence.
For more help on busting your diet vices, check out www.ViceBustingDiet.com.
Are You Addicted to Food?
There’s nothing wrong with giving into indulgences from time to time. But have you crossed the line from feeding your body to feeding a food addiction? Find out with this food addict quiz.
Are You Addicted to Food?
There’s nothing wrong with giving into indulgences from time to time. But have you crossed the line from feeding your body to feeding a food addiction? Find out with this food addict quiz.
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