Hello

I’ve lurked in this forum from time to time when I started a modified version of the BSD end of May, mainly for advice for vegans as I’m one 🙂 I wasn’t pre-diabetic, hence doing some modification, but I definitely found that staying off sugary things and refined carbs really helped my health and also stopped the cravings/ binge eating. Since a holiday at start of October I decided to loosen up a bit and unsurprisingly the amount of sugary refined carbs has snowballed to a point where I can safely say it is an addiction! So I’m looking for ideas/examples of what other people have tried as their ‘treat’ foods. I have an issue with pretty much anything sweet whether it is sugar, maple syrup, sweetner, dried fruit, plus bread/cakes, etc. Some time back I even switched to 100% dark cocoa chocolate and now have come to love it so much I can eat most of a large bar in a day, so that’s out too! I don’t get cravings though with a mug of unsweetened cocoa, thankfully.

I want to be able to have something which feels like a treat but doesn’t trigger the wanting more. Obviously needs to be vegan. Any advice?

Thanks

Hi there, your issue could be straightforward carb addiction, but as you are vegan, have you had your iron tested recently? There may be a physical reason behind your cravings. Your description sounded so familiar because when my iron goes low then I have absolutely no control with chocolate and starchy or sugary carbs. Once I get my iron levels well back into normal range (even a low normal isn’t enough) the cravings are much more manageable. Cocoa has lots of iron in it, and I think I end up consuming the sugar and starch either for energy or as a form of pica. And it’s not just me. I had a vegetarian flat mate at one point who could not stop eating chocolate and I asked had she had her iron tested because that could be the reason, but she brushed it off. When she tried shortly after that to donate blood, they wouldn’t let her because she was anaemic. I have a slightly complicated iron pattern where my hemoglobin never goes into anaemic range, but I can still be extremely iron deficient so I have to get them to test my serum ferritin as well.
As for vegan treats, I haven’t done it in a while, but nut butter with some apple or pear or berries works well for me. If I’m in the mood for something a bit more decadent I have mixed a bit of cocoa powder into the nut butter.

Thanks for those thoughts, ‘sadly’ not iron-related. I have chronic pain and chronic fatigue so I end up getting various blood tests done most years, including this year, to see if there are any causes and my results have always been good across the board. I live in hope that one day they will find something 🙂 I’m pretty certain it ‘simple’ addiction, my parents are/were carb/sugar fiends and mum ended up with out of control Type 2 which the drs suggest caused her death.

I have done the nut butter & apple route but nut butter is yet another thing I have to be careful of!! Though maybe if I cut the other things out, I’ll find I’ll be able to moderate my consumption of it. I used to have it with cocoa powder, oats and some raisins in the evening, one of the things I obviously had to let go when I started BSD 🙂 I have scones to consume with a visiting friend today so my plan is after today to go back to the strict approach after today. I’ll experiment with the nut butter/fruit. It’s interesting just thinking that at the start I did 5 days of 800cals & kept to the main BSD rules for 7weeks and in that time my evening cocoa, which is simply cocoa powder, oat milk and hot water, would feel like a real treat on the 5 restricted days & I would really savour it. Somehow I need to get myself back to that mindset but without having to live permanently on the low calories!

For me a lot of eating is in the mind, and I can’t bear feeling deprived, so instead I set limits and see how that goes. So, I am eating a fair amount of 90% dark chocolate at the moment but am still losing weight. I try and keep it to 2 squares, with a cheat (today) being 4. So feel quite spoilt, but it’s still not that many carbs. More than 4 would feel outrageous! Maybe just give yourself permission to have half a bar as a treat if that’s what floats your boat but then consider yourself fully treated for the day!

I’m fully omnivorous, so don’t have any vegan suggestions but something quite fatty tends to satiate me in low quantities (double cream – is there a vegan alternative?. I used to be fond of soy milk at one point can that come as a cream?). I do adore almond butter and apple, but I think the apple is too sugary so stopped. And last time I tried the nut butter it was too sweet.

My only down side of this woe is I now don’t have a ‘treat’ food as such , which probably actually good as we aren’t supposed to reward ourselves with food (but still 🙁) although I will go out of my way to eat cauliflower with butter, and lots of pepper and salt. Back to the fatty side of things, although again butter not much use to a vegan.

WhT I am finding works is focusing on low carbs and not worrying too much about how that is achieved, or even how many calories it is. Thus all the chocolate!

Best of luck with it all hope you find something x

Thanks for the reply Jackie. If only I had your self-control….You’re right about being in the mind, and I practice mindfulness/meditation daily, but this is one aspect of my life that I am really struggling to manage that way. Reflecting on this this morning, I did find it a lot easier to have that self-control when I was doing the 5days of 800cals. Maybe because there was only so many treats I could eat on the other 2 days before feeling bleurgh!

I’ve been thinking the same, that having fatty things is probably the way to go, but then I do worry a bit that I’m having too much fat already when I track my diet on My Fitness Pal. I am wondering whether if I make my main meals more indulgent, this will help reduce the need for ‘treats’ e.g. using tahini more (I looove tahini), avocadoes, etc. There is soya cream but it has sugar in it. But there are things like artisan vegan cheeses and almond milk yoghurts that I can buy online, I’m just a bit concerned that if I buy several to make the delivery worthwhile, I’ll scoff them. Still, there’s probably only one way to find out!

I think you’re right, I need to, focus on low refined carbs and especially no sweet stuff, and hopefully my self-control will assert itself again.

Good morning Alli24solio!
Your post made me smile and cringe in equal parts because I know EXACTLY what you are talking about! ANYTHING can be binge food if you like the taste of it — I can literally eat an entire jar of Nutzo (this incredible nut butter with seven kinds of nuts and a ridiculous $17.00 US per jar) in just one day if I let myself do it!
Even after a year and a half of maintenance I can slip into the “eat it all” pattern just because it is something I like to eat and it is rich tasting — I have to consciously NOT buy nut butter, Wasa crackers (like Ryevita), honey (I know, not on BSD) and chocolate and nuts in large bags. I even have to limit my purchases of Fage whole milk yogurt (yup, even that!).
So what does work? For me, it’s going to be different than for you because you are vegan but the things that DO work for me are salty (salami and olives) and pickled (pickles, sauerkraut and pickled carrots) and bitter (coffee with 2 tablespoons heavy cream).
Also, tuna with a teaspoon of mayonnaise and capers, hard boiled eggs with sea salt — or, you will laugh, canned tiny sardines — a protein really helps when you are craving.
Avocados very good, tahini in salad dressing yum! Both good options to get fat because that IS what you are needing. Don’t stress about the fat thing — the research is supporting a good intake of healthy fats INSTEAD of the carb/sugar thing.
I think maybe it is best to stop thinking about “treats” in general. Just eat in a BSD-friendly way 98% of the time and then have an ACTUAL treat every now and then — like a piece of cake at a birthday party or a split dessert to celebrate something.
Over time you will find those treats less and less appetizing and ultimately the desire for sugar (and treats) is going to truly diminish.
I would totally go buy that incredible vegan cheese and almond milk and anything else decadent that is vegan and BSD-friendly — that is a great place to spend your food money!!

Good evening & thank you Californiagirl 🙂

I have been known in the past to eat Marmite by the spoonful out of the jar. Though I seem to have got over that craving in recent years!

Salty, pickled and bitter is an interesting way to think about things. I love salted nuts but they are a definite no no. I don’t eat pickled things but I’ve just read the Gut Health Diet book and I’m going to have a go at making some sauerkraut. Olives I love but I get very healthy ones, so maybe I need to start getting the ones in oil.Actually I just realised marmite might be a good one with some cabbage.

I come from a family of emotional eaters so doing away with ‘treats’ is going to be a toughie but I agree, I need to change my perspective as it doesn’t help at all. I actually spend quite a bit of mental energy thinking about the treats I am going to have each week, and can get quite obsessed about when I can next go to a cafe for lunch and cake. I’m already plotting/worrying about what I’m going to have over Christmas!

I shall go buy the cheese 🙂 (Most vegan cheeses are not great but I’ve heard good things about this artisan cheese)

I agree with others, that you should look to ditch the idea of ‘treats’and just think in terms of BSD and non-BSD foods. I always think about majorly non-BSD foods in terms of ‘transgressions’ rather than ‘treats’ – not sure if that is better or not.

Anyway, you could try the peanut protein bars, which are also quite high in fat., so are quite satyisfying:
Coconut Oil x 60g
Peanut Butter x 60g
Walnuts chopped x 20g
Vanilla Protein Powder x 40g
Chia Seeds x 32g
Almond Flour x 120g

Basically, mix it all together, press into a square tin and chill in fridge to set, then cut into squares. I made 15 pieces out of this mix and they came to 135cals/1.34g carbs per square. The squares will need to be kept in the fridge.

Thanks, SunnyB, that recipe sounds worth a try. And BSD/non-BSD sounds like a good way of reframing things. I like the change in emphasis with transgressions though for me that still conjures up the ‘naughty but nice’ association. Maybe helpful/unhelpful might work, need to mull on some ideas. Thanks again 🙂

SunnyB that sounds soooo nice! And sooooo low carb! Am def. giving it a go! Is vanilla protein powder quite easy to come by? Is there a brand that’s especially good? X

How about enemies/friends? Because a large component of emotional eating is the false sense of support and connection derived from certain categories of foods. That’s what makes them what you turn to when you’re stressed or hurting or sick. It’s all a lie, though, a construct that masks itself as a crutch when it’s really the thing that keeps kneecapping you. They’re not treats, not naughty little taboos, nothing benign or cute or neutral or badboy sexy. They’re your most virulent enemies who have spent years sabotaging, hurting and putting you at risk of death disguised as your friends.

I got vanilla protein powder from Amazon, but I think you can probably find it in health food stores too. Comes in quite large quantities though, but you can add a scoop to yogurt, kefir, smoothies etc to help use it up.

We all have to find ways of making the BSD work for us and that includes finding terminology acceptable to our mind set, but you’re right Esnecca, those ‘comfort’ foods are our worst enemies, cunningly disguised as best friends and supporters. For me, transgression works, as in my mind it suggests a one off aberration and not a new pattern of behaviour, so it helps me to knuckle down and get back to the BSD. Of course alternative terminology will work better for other people, so you need to find out what will work for you.

I’ve been mulling over the labels to use. Enemies/friends reminded me that in Buddhism sometimes the distinction is made between skilful and unskilful action. I realised that thinking about food in terms of skilful and unskilful choices works for me. The food in and of itself isn’t intrinscially bad but my decisions about what to eat are what matters. Using the BSD/non-BSD distinction will work with this.