Even though I am awaiting a dentist visit and put on a few stone, I still cant stop eating my childhood favourite.... white chocolate fish and chips. If I keep going I will turn into the guy in the Monty Pythons clip that eats till he explodes. I really really really need help. Wondered if a patch exists to put people off sweets, especially white chocolate fish and chips. Didnt know they still existed till I visited Macro and discovered their sweet isle. Wow..what a find.

dont think theres a sweetie patch!! haha.

i stopped all chocolate, macdonalds and joined gym.....BUT...im back on the chocolate...its just too damn nice! and if you stop for a few weeks that first malteser is pure heaven mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... *brb running to shops*

..
..
..
..

right... ive stopped dreaming about maltesers now..... what you need is get yourself banned from where you buy them :0) or tell your mates to take them off you or slap you if you have them!.

failing that...find someone who shares your obsession, buy a big sofa, take a week off work....and eat urself silly

I think the best thing for you to do is still eat sweets but go to the gym or do some exercise to work them off!!! Find someone who needs to lose weight with you or just a mate to go with and your more likely to stick to it - martial arts classes are great I can recommend them :-)

Originally posted by Miss_smiley
Even though I am awaiting a dentist visit and put on a few stone, I still cant stop eating my childhood favourite.... white chocolate fish and chips. If I keep going I will turn into the guy in the Monty Pythons clip that eats till he explodes. I really really really need help. Wondered if a patch exists to put people off sweets, especially white chocolate fish and chips. Didnt know they still existed till I visited Macro and discovered their sweet isle. Wow..what a find.

Try pulling your top eyelid down over your bottom eyelid, it seems to work for everything else in life. Failing this, when you have finished the current purchase why not selotape the emtpy packet over both your eyes, this way you won't be able to find Macro, never mind the Sweeti isle, I tried this approach when trying to quit the evil nicotine, instead, I purchased some of those Nicorette patches, placed one on each eye, couldn't find my fags for days, still on twenty a day so that didn't work too well.

Hope this helps in some way.

Thanks MTheo
Sounds like a damn fine idea. The one about finding someone who shares my obsession and vegging for a week. I do have a friend who is really tough on me when I am naughty but I am the Queen of Sneakiness when it comes to eating those rather tempting little fishines and chippies without anyone seeing.
:)

But seriously........ Honeygirl does have a good point, only I did used to go to a gym for years until this year and have a good friend who we are trying together, but I am just so brainwashed at the moment, nothing seems to be doing the trick.

I WILL TRY HARDER
I WILL TRY HARDER
I WILL TRY HARDER
I WILL TRY HARDER
X 1 MILLION

Good luck keep us posted on progress!!

Maybe I could collect a petition signed by all Forum members and send it to the manufacturer and get the sweets banned from manufacture. I am sure there must only be me keeping them in business. If you havent tried them, they are abit like the old fasioned carnation milk stuff. Rather sickly.
:)

By the way Hellboy, I buy them in large plastic boxes. How funny would that be to tape over my eyes. Very funny indeed.

WISH ME LUCK

:)

Originally posted by HoneyGirl
Good luck keep us posted on progress!!

Ey, thats quite a good encouragement, if I am to keep you posted then I cant fail to succeed (in theory). Thanks HoneyGirl, great idea.

You could always try what I did...

Gave up crisps for 2 years in aid of Comic Relief... Still got 6 months to go but it does actually give you a reason to stop and think... and then walk away... :)

Originally posted by Miss_smiley
Maybe I could collect a petition signed by all Forum members and send it to the manufacturer and get the sweets banned from manufacture. I am sure there must only be me keeping them in business. If you havent tried them, they are abit like the old fasioned carnation milk stuff. Rather sickly.
:)

By the way Hellboy, I buy them in large plastic boxes. How funny would that be to tape over my eyes. Very funny indeed.

WISH ME LUCK

:)

I thought you said you bought them in Macro?, where on earth is Large Plastic Boxes, is this a new retail experience that has escaped my attention.

Let luck be your lady tonight ;)

bupropion hydrochloride is an anti smoking drug that surpresses your stimulus reward 'circuit'.

It may help low/no willpower people give up things they are psychologically addicted to by inhibiting dopamine and noradrenalin reuptake pathways in certain areas of the brain.

It's prescribed for smokers who want to quit under the trade name Zyban.

ask a close friend to give you a good hard wack whenever they catch u eating something, soon you will associate it with pain and won't want to eat it.

or save it as a reward for when you've been to the gym.

Martin,
Did you really give up crisps for 2 year !?

Did you make any money (for charity) out of your experience.

Originally posted by Dick_Turpin
Martin,
Did you really give up crisps for 2 year !?

Did you make any money (for charity) out of your experience.
I'm still doing it!...

But yes... 18 months in and so far got £50 promised... I'll be stepping up the sponsorship demands to friends and family once Comic Relief gets closer... :)

Oh and small mention of thanks to those bods who regularly check to see if I'd like a crisp :P... get thee behind me ya buggers ;)

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
bupropion hydrochloride is an anti smoking drug that surpresses your stimulus reward 'circuit'.

It may help low/no willpower people give up things they are psychologically addicted to by inhibiting dopamine and noradrenalin reuptake pathways in certain areas of the brain.

It's prescribed for smokers who want to quit under the trade name Zyban.

... I was just about to say that Phan...

*cough* *cough* ahem!

Originally posted by venger
... I was just about to say that Phan...

*cough* *cough* ahem!

Ey Venger, I am still trying to decide if Phanerothyme is being serious. Ok ok, maybe I am gullable t-heeee :) but its only because my brain has been invaded by white chocolate and its all gone wierd up there.

I will overcome this invasion, I will, I will.

Sorry to burst your bubble but there is no such thing as willpower.

You either do it or you don't.

By using willpower as a crutch you are setting yourself targets which are a ballache to achieve.

Look at this way - If I said to you, as a doctor, that if you eat just one more chocolate bar then you will definately die I think you'd never touch another one in your life.

Thats not willpower, thats waking up and smelling the roses finally. Same goes for cigarettes, willpower does not help you to stop because its not there.

People who stop and stay stopped do it because they dont want to waste money or their health on rubbish.

People who stop and start again didnt really want to stop in the first place, deep down.

how is that proving that willpower is not the key.

people who stop and stay stopped are the ones who can deny themselves something even when they'd really like one. They still want it for the immediate pleasure, but their willpower and knowledge of the long term consequences allow them to say no. A weaker person will ignore the long term costs and have the immediate pleasure anyway.

Panerothyme ( what does that word mean)

As I am already taking dopermine medically, is this why I find it impoosible to resist chocolate or sweets, or is it lacck of will power
Hazel

On one hand, look after yourself now and it may help you live longer. One the other hand live for today as you dont know if you are going to get run over by a bus tomorrow (does that really happen?).

Suppose at the end of the day its down to preference and at this moment in time, my preference is to eat nice things. Admittedly, its a bit of a comfort thing. Recent difficult situations are helped by the enjoyment I get from eating nice naughty sweeties.

Call me shallow if you like, I call myself realistic and a happy chocolate sweeties eater.
:) :) :)

p.s. I do believe in willpower, but thats not to say that you should coopster1974.

p.p.s coopster1974.... you owe me a bubble as you burst my existing one. :)

if you're asking about not eating chocolate though then it's having an immediate detrimental affect on your life shortly after you've had the short term pleasure of eating it.
you should be able to balance that pleasure with a general happiness in yourself otherwise somethings out of kilter.

I suppose if I am gona face reality (that being that normally I am a happy person) my obsession/addiction to this great invention of white chocolate fish and chips does suggest an underlying issue which I need to pin point and deal with.

I hope my hands up, I need to face the truth, kick willpower into touch and sort myself out. I must say tho, its been the most enjoyable couple of stone I have ever gained.

THINK POSITIVE
THINK POSITIVE
THINK POSITIVE X 1MILLION

You'll see, I will get there and when I do you will know about it.
:)

Thanks to all the supportive peeps with top suggestions. I have enlisted a pal to give me a quick clip if they see me slacking.
:)

i think now i can come out of my shell and admit as well....

i have a similar obsession !!! jelly teddy bears!!!!! and i get them in those plastic tubs from makro...you get like 600!!!! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..

the martial arts idea is great... i did it for a while and was never as fit as i was then (but never as injured as much as well)

as for gym....ive never been stronger (but injured again haha)

im strangly addicted to jelly babies and chocolate....i laze around on my sofa and bed as much as possible and gladly sleep till afternoon on a sat or sun.... but i try to do as much exercise as i can... so im lazy...but go to gym... odd person!

something so good cant be bad!... maybe we should start a support group.. we could all sit in lazy boy chairs and throw sweets into eachovers mouths when we admit we have a problem!.

damn....do you find typing about them makes you want them more??? lol

oh and if you need an extra hand gettin slapped... im always on hand... what a helpfull fella i am ;)

hmmm you didnt state where to slap? oh well :)

Let me explain my rationale behind me saying willpower is a myth.

People who stop anything due to willpower feel they are making a sacrifice and will moan about it. "I've stopped smoking for 6 months but I could kill for just 1 cigarette" That person is doomed - he is missing out on something he enjoys and will undoubtedly start smoking again.

If he starts smoking again, its not due to a lack of willpower, he has simply made the rational decision to start smoking again in order to bring the happiness that cigarettes give. Whats the point of being a nonsmoker if you are miserable without them?

People who stop and stay stopped are the happiest they've been in years so dont feel that they are missing out and sooner or later the fact that they were a smoker becomes a distant memory.

Similarly, whats the point in losing a few pounds in weight if you are miserable without chocolate? Sooner or later you make the decision to eat chocolate.

Willpower is about setting targets "If I can go long enough without a cigarette, the urge to smoke will eventually go"

How do you know when you have achieved it? The answer is that you never do because you are waiting for something to happen and nothing else is going to happen. You stopped when you smoked that last cigarette and what you are really doing now is waiting to see how long it will be before you give in.

People make concious decisions everyday, If, for example, someone cuts you up, you make the decision to beep your horn or even mouth something. What you dont do is ram him from behind and shoot him. It is not willpower that stops you froms doing that, it is a decision that you make.

People who stop smoking/eating chocolate using the "willpower method" are trying to fit in with societys brainwashing - fit and healthy is the way to be!!! But unless that person is fully aware of the benefits of stopping and is repulsed by the negatives of not stopping then they are stopping for all the wrong reasons and they are ultimately doomed to start again.

you've provided a good definition of what willpower is.
it's the ability to make a decision against your immediate wishes because of some perceived longer term benefit.
Without willpower you just act on every impulse you have, so you ram the car, eat the chocolate, shoot the person, have a jelly baby and then get thrown in prison.

Originally posted by Cyclone
you've provided a good definition of what willpower is.
it's the ability to make a decision against your immediate wishes because of some perceived longer term benefit.
Without willpower you just act on every impulse you have, so you ram the car, eat the chocolate, shoot the person, have a jelly baby and then get thrown in prison.

Can I suggest you read it again and understand it. I'm saying its all about making concious decisions NOT acting on impulses. You said that to try and be funny - sorry but it didnt work ;)

no i wasn't trying to be funny and yes i understood it the first time when i read it.
the ability to make conscious decisions and act on them despite your impulse saying to do something else is a demonstration of willpower, or your superego overriding your id.

Ok one last time and I'll make it real simple.

Using the willpower crutch is trying to do something that you dont really want to do.

Therefore you will fail because your needs overcome your wants. "I WANT to stop smoking but I NEED a cigarette". Eventually that little voice will get louder until a cigarette is smoked then back to square 1.

People who succeed have seen the light and realise that cigarettes/chocolate/crisps/whatever is not healthy and therefore decide that it is in their best interests to stop and have realised that they dont NEED what it is they have stopped taking.

Simple as that.

Willpower does not exist because nobody ever succeeds using it.

Originally posted by Cyclone
Without willpower you just act on every impulse you have, so you ram the car, eat the chocolate, shoot the person, have a jelly baby and then get thrown in prison.

Sounds good to me. I will give it a go.

p.s. English dictionary : Willpower - 1)the ability to control oneself and determine one's actions 2) firmness of will.

If it wasnt believed to exist, it wouldnt be defined in a dictionary. But thats just one persons opinion.

Everyone to their own opinion I think.

Personally....... I am happy to eat load when I want and not when I dont and by the way MTheo, so long as it doesnt leave a mark, the slaps can be anywhere t-heeee. ;)

p.s. coopster1974, having spent most of my life being very fit, its not really a worry for me at the moment if I do eat tons and tons of chocs, and thanks to MTheo probably jelly bears now the idea has been planted in my head. :)

fair enough, one last rebuttal then, and i'll keep it equally simple.
It's obviously something you don't really want to do. If there were no longer term consequences that you had used higher reasoning to deduce (ie, weight gain, cancer, etc...) then you would be more than happy to continue stuffing chocolate down your throat and puffing away (and maybe shooting bad drivers).
So, given that we've established that you don't want to give up, because you really like chocolate, smoking and road rage. It seems fairly obvious that going against those impulses whether that be for 1 minute or for the rest of your life is an example of willpower, the exercise of control over your impulses by your higher reasoning faculties, or your superego over your id.

Your ramblings about need and realisation are wrong, people who continue to smoke know that they don't "need" a cigarette and they understand the consequences, they however do not have the willpower or have decided deliberately that the short term gain (impulse satisfaction pleasure) is worth the long term loss (health in both cases).

Clear enough.

An anecodote - the only thing that stops me having a huge cooked breakfast every day is willpower. I know that i don't need it, i know that it's bad for me, i would also really enjoy eating it. Poor willpower would be giving in, strong willpower is not. Simple.

Originally posted by coopster1974
Ok one last time and I'll make it real simple.

Using the willpower crutch is trying to do something that you dont really want to do.

Therefore you will fail because your needs overcome your wants. "I WANT to stop smoking but I NEED a cigarette". Eventually that little voice will get louder until a cigarette is smoked then back to square 1.

People who succeed have seen the light and realise that cigarettes/chocolate/crisps/whatever is not healthy and therefore decide that it is in their best interests to stop and have realised that they dont NEED what it is they have stopped taking.

Simple as that.

Willpower does not exist because nobody ever succeeds using it.

Another one of those where we'll have to agree to disagree I think.

Wouldnt life be boring if we all agreed on the same subjects?

Misssmiley you sound as though you have now changed your mind. Do you want to stop eating choclate or not? Jeez - make your mind up ;)

Originally posted by Martin_s
I'm still doing it!...

But yes... 18 months in and so far got £50 promised... I'll be stepping up the sponsorship demands to friends and family once Comic Relief gets closer... :)

Oh and small mention of thanks to those bods who regularly check to see if I'd like a crisp :P... get thee behind me ya buggers ;)

WARNING:

Under no circumstances should you offer this man your packet of crips ... he has a habit of crushing them in to a zillion tiny pieces ... before declineing your kind offer and returning the packet to you ...

You have been warned !!!

Hi Martin !! :-)

OK ok ok, lets all agree to disagree.

My final words on this subject:

I started this thread as a bit of lightheartedness. I did not realise it would stir up such annoyance in 'certain' people.

I do like chocolate and have eaten rather alot over the last few months. I think now I have had my fill and can get back to sensible eating. I do not smoke. I do not drink (at the moment) as my social life has been dinted by other commitments (not a problem tho) and I do not engage in road rage. I just pass off stupid idiotic drivers as lacking in common sense.

I do have a close friend who I am going to continue to exercise with and I am positive that by the end of the year I will be back to a very sensible lifestyle (healthwise).

Right, now I have made myself sound totally boring (makes a change from my usual wacky daft self I suppose) ............. happy disagreeing folks and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

:) x :) x :)

i think to exercise is hard if u dont enjoy it . it is hard what ever u start but once u get fitter and it gets easier u will enjoy it more.
i joined a mountainbike club good fun get out in the countryside loads fresh air .
the food chips choc i love them but what i do is to not to stop but to earn them if u go 4 a walk or a ride treat yourself but not to the biggest bar ,if u think about it the first bit tastes the same as the last its in your mind . myself go crazy 4 choc if i am unhappy lonely or bored these things u need to change first its all a visons circle once u brake the chain everything will change , but be honest to your self it will be easier to change .
good luck be positive and the most important have fun gareth

Thanks for the support Gareth and everyone else.

What started off as a bit of a fun 'picking on myself' thread has given me food for thought with all the responses.

I am confident about the future because I know myself well, know what I want and have a fantastic set of family and friends around me. I am very lucky.

Now if you could all keep your fingers crossed for me that I am lucky enough to buy a dream house I have seen, it would be very much appreciated.

Cheers all xx
:)