Conference rocks::weight_control

    I don't know that therr is any one item that causes my problem.  Any
    sweets trigger a 'need' for more.  Although some people might
    be able to identify one food of abuse, I wouldn't be surprised that
    if the offending item was eliminated a substitute would quickly
    be found. At least in my case.
    
    Just like the alcholic who has a problem with beer would have no
    problem substituing another drink when he 'needed' it; I have no
    trouble finding a food to abuse.  The root problem for me is using 
    food as antidepressant rather than as a nutrition source.  I can't
    seem to understand that the only problem food has ever solved is
    malnutrituion;  a problem that I've never had.
    
    Just as the line between having a drink with friends and being an
    alcholic is blurred, so is the line between having a piece of chocolate
    and 'needing' the whole box.  I know which side of the food abuse
    line I find easier to live on; for me, the only solution is to strive
    not to cross it today and worry about tomorrow when it becomes today.
                                                           
    It does me no good to pile on the guilt for 'failing' yesterday,
    Easter Sunday.  That is in the past.  All one can work on is the
    present, one meal at a time.
    
    -Joe
    
    
                                                  

    For me, it's any type of chip snack, french fries, or nuts (especially
    pistachios).  I guess it's the grease.  I haven't had enough "won't"
    power to avoid them, but I do try to limit my intake.
    
    D.

    I agree with Darlene (.2).  I am drawn to savories rather than sweets.
    Anything salty and oily (chips, nuts, buttery sauces) I am better
    off avoiding altogether.  I don't have enough control over these
    substances to have "just a taste".
    
    This doesn't mean I don't *like* sweets.  It just means that I can
    control my sweet tooth, but not my salty/oily one.
    
    Lynn

    I think my base note should have been a little more directive.l
    
    Question: Do the things you are "addicted" to have some
    physical/emotional effect on you?
    
    MAC
    

>    Question: Do the things you are "addicted" to have some
>    physical/emotional effect on you?

    Answer:  Absolutely!

    If I'm totally out of control, I'll usually be ODing on sugar - it's by
    far my worst addiction.  Like Joe, though, I've found on WW that I do
    substitute some other food.  The biggest has been popcorn; at home it's
    raisins and peanut butter.

    It's my understanding that this sort of addiction is a primary focus of
    Overeaters Anonymous.

    Beverly

    REPLY TO 256.2
    
    I CAN'T BELIEVE I FOUND SOMEBODY WITH MY SAME ADDICTION - PISTACHIOS
    I LOVE THEM. I FOUND THEY DO HAVE A REAL LOT OF SALT THOUGH, BUT
    I ALSO HAVE A HARD TIME SAYING NO.

    I read somewhere that chocolate contains a large amount of magnesium
    and that it is this that forms the addiction.  I find that I just
    can't touch the stuff.  If I do, it leads to a binge generally on
    other things such as chips, other sweets and crisps.  I am trying
    to see chocolate for me in a different light - I try to look at
    it as if it's a harmful drug addiction.
    
    When I first started dieting I could never see the connection between
    chocloate and binges.  Now I know that chocolate is the cause I
    steer well clear of it.
    
    Angela

                                Diet Chocolate
    
    	For calories counters with a passion for chocolate - real
    chocolate, not grainy tasting low-cal look-alikes - a German company
    has the answer : a new sweetening agent with half the calories of sugar.
    
    	The sweetener, called Palatanit, doesn't cause cavities or affect
    the taste or feel of food.  It's currently being used in England,
    Germany, Switzerland, and several other foreign countries in hard
    candies, baked goods, and chewing gum.  But the product is getting
    the most attention in chocolate.
    
    	"Palatanit has fewer calories because it is not readily absorbed
    by the small intestine", says William Irwin, PhD, a biochemist from
    Ekhart, Indiana, who has been studying Palatanit for the past 10
    years and is currently working with its German manufacturer, Palatanit
    Sussungsmittel.
    
    	"It passes into the lower digestive tract and is broken down
    there", Irwin says.  This is significant for diabetics, he adds,
    because the less sugar absorbed, the fewer problems with insulin
    production.  The material is also extremely stable and is not easily
    broken down by microorganisms in the mouth, hence, no cavities.
    
    	The product has shown no toxic side effects in 10 years of
    testing.  Chocolates made with Palatanit should be on the market in
    the US within a few years.

   <<< Note 256.8 by ANT::ZARLENGA "radios pumpin' to the way she walked" >>>
                        -< from Longevity, Aug 89, p16 >-

>>                                Diet Chocolate

I have always known there was a God, this PROVES it!!!  

:-). Liz

    OK, folks, I was at my local K-Mart last night and I found a box
    of Whitman's chocolates with 1/3 fewer calories than regular chocolate.
    I bought a little box (4 pieces) and it was just like the real thing.
    Each piece had 30 calories.  I bought a mixture (chocolate covered
    coconut, marshmallow, caramel nut, and a jellied candy), but I think
    they also had just plain chocolate.  I think I may have found my
    saving grace.
    
    Virginia

    Definately chocolate 100% of the time, 75% something crunchy can make
    me feel better. I used to eat Triscuts like crazy when I "needed"
    something crunchy.
    
    ~beth