Have you heard of the term “trigger food”? Do you know what your trigger foods are?
Trigger foods are any foods that trigger you to overeat and/or binge. They are foods that you just can’t get enough of; one bite is never enough and one helping isn’t enough.
Trigger foods can also lead you to overeat on other foods that initially you weren’t even thinking about eating if you feel guilty for eating your trigger foods in the first place!
Some people could have just one trigger food category like ice cream, and others could be triggered by anything sweet, salty, or fatty. Usually trigger foods contain refined sugar, and while trigger foods don’t necessarily lead to a binge, it’s interesting to note that the binge eating survey I did here at Fearless Fat Loss showed that 72% of the survey participants binged on foods that contained sugar.
For me, my trigger foods are anything that contains refined sugar or flour, which basically covers the majority of processed and fast foods. Fried foods also trigger me to overeat, which makes sense because they contain flour (batter) and unhealthy fats. Salty foods trigger me to overeat only because the foods that I would eat that contain the salt would be something like chips, pretzels, frozen dinners, all of which contain flour (most contain sugar also) as well as the salt.
For you, maybe you are only triggered to overeat by one item, or only by food textures such as crunchy foods (chips), smooth foods (yogurt, mashed potatoes, ice cream), or if you examine your trigger foods closely you might find that it’s really the ingredients that are triggering you to overeat. If that’s the case, I’d bet that the #1 ingredient that triggers your overeating is refined sugar.
Not sure what your trigger foods are?
If you don’t know what your trigger foods are, here’s the easiest way to figure it out:
- For one week, write down everything you eat and drink – include how you’re feeling and if you overeat. At the end of that one week you’ll have a clear picture of not only the foods that trigger your overeating, but also you might find that your trigger foods are intertwined with emotional eating, and possibly even food addiction. This will be especially clear if you find that most of the food you eat and overeat on contains sugar and flour.
So how does this awareness help you?
Now that you know what your trigger foods are, what can you do next? The best thing I can suggest is to clean out your house – remove all of your trigger foods so that they aren’t in reach and replace those non-nutrient filled foods with healthy, whole foods such as lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, and whole carbs. If you find that you’re an emotional eater you can learn new ways of coping with your emotions and let go of the emotional eating habit. Most importantly however, is getting those trigger foods out of your house, out of your car, your desk drawers, anywhere that you hang out and are easily triggered to overeat.
I know some people who just aren’t able to eat their trigger foods – once they do they cannot stop eating them. Now maybe in the future you will be able to moderate yourself with your trigger foods – you are the only one who will be able to determine that through your self-honesty and awareness. In the meantime if you want to lose weight and shape up, the best thing you can do for yourself is to get your trigger foods out of the way and focus on the clean, healthy foods that you enjoy – like a cold, Red Delicious apple, one of my favorite “treats” today.
The Quickest Way to Release Compulsive Overeating
Trigger foods are often addictive foods that you compulsively overeat on. When I wrote this article six years ago, at that time what I wrote was helpful for where I was at that time.
Today in 2014 being a certified Master NLP Practitioner and certified professional coach, I know the fastest ways to release your addictions to the food as well as release the root of the triggers. The fastest way is The Inner Self Dietâ„¢, my proven, step-by-step mentoring system to struggle-free weight loss that lasts. You see, in order to drop the fat and keep it off, you must learn specifically and exactly how to release the Root of your symptoms so that you can lose weight for good.
Take your first step by applying for a complimentary weight loss discovery session. It’s the same first step that all Graduates of The Inner Self Dietâ„¢ took and it’s for you if you’d love to finally have FULL success in your life. Yes, what would it feel like to finally have the success you crave to have with your body?
You already have great success in your business, why not have a body that matches? Click here to apply now and start your journey of leaving all of your ongoing food and weight struggles behind you.
fried chicken!
oddly enough POPCORN (well not oddly as it is such a blood sugar spiking food)
I still eat it…but at least Im aware, huh?
M.
hhhhm, did my comment “take?”
for me: POPCORN.
spikes my bloodsugar and I GRAZE on *everything* after
nonstop
now I still eat it—–but at least Im aware.
babysteps š
M.
Hi, thanks for your comments!
I definitely have certain trigger foods – not so much the fried chix or popcorn, more so sweets, which makes sense since they`re the stuff I`d always want more of!
MizFit, it’s the exact same for me- I adore popcorn. It’s my all time favourite food, except for apples (thank goodness I love something as healthy as apples!). If you set a bowl of popcorn in front of me, no matter how gigantic, I’ll pretty much always eat the entire thing. Mmmm. It’s definitely a very good thing that I’ve made it a rule to not get popcorn at the movie theatre! But I eat airpopped popcorn made at home all the time. Delicious.
Hi Sagan,
That`s good you don`t get it when you go to the movies since you tend to overeat on it – sounds like you`re aware of what`s going on! š
I was researching trigger foods when I found this post. As far as I know, I don’t have any trigger foods. I tend to eat small meals throughout the day and stick to my healthy lifestyle. I am approaching 50 years old and still wear the same size clothes I did when I was 18 because I’ve watched my weight over time. I refuse to be addicted to food!