How do I stop eating cakes

The secret is to not have anything tempting in the house, if it is there it will call you and resistance will be futile.

Jess no good following your advice here as all the ones we go to have lovely home made cakes!

I used to eat sensibly at work and at home but then have whatever I liked when out and that worked but now we are retired we have such a social life that just does not work any more!

I have a house full of young people who eat me out of house and home and a husband who is so physically active that I suspect he burns about 4000 calories a day. I have a snack drawer (cakes, crisps, biscuits etc.) and a sweetie drawer for them and they can help themselves. My rule is that unless I am replenishing it I DON'T OPEN THE SNACK DRAWER. I also have fruit in the dining room, kitchen and sitting room and if I do crave something sweet I have a rule that I must first eat a piece of fruit. If I still want something sweet afterwards then I have a stash of small packets of rainbow drops (you know, the sugar coated puffed rice) and I have one of those.

Good advice Mishap

Ice lollies - the small Twister ones to be precise. I have one in the evening and it stops me from feeling too deprived. It's tough though. I try not to have anything sweet in the house. I have a jart of boiled sweets for when i am desperate and they last for months. I only buy biscuits for my husband and son that I dislike, and when my daughter and family come to stay they have to bring their own.

However, when I do have a craving and give in to it, it's bad. I find myself eating things I normally wouldn't touch - chocolate spread, jam on toast, all sorts of odd things that I normally wouldn't touch, just because they are sweet. So for that day I just give in to it now, and don't eat any proper meals on top of those sweet things. I think it happens about once every two months.

My idea of the ultimate treat is a really good afternoon tea out somewhere nice, preferably with a large garden attached. I'm sorry, but no amount of flowers, new makeup, perfume, books, haircuts or manicures can ever compensate. I've had to whittle those down to twice a year.

I also have most of my shopping delivered so that I don't have to smell newly-baked eclairs or see packets of chocolate covered peanuts.

I can't give up cake, I have given up chocolate,well I had a little slip earlier this week but that was just a very little bar,I don't eat biscuits or crisps , so cake stays otherwise where is the enjoyment in life. However, I only eat it if I have baked one,and I haven't done that for a few weeks, I feel one coming on in half term for the GC.

Grannyeggs put those you have in the cupboard in a plain wrapper and send to me. I'll deal with the problem on your behalf.

I'll just bake another for you soop and keep mine thank you! I am particularly fond of a fruitcake that is a Mary Berry one with stem ginger in it. Hmm doesn't look like I'm quite ready to give them up.

Thanks, Grannyeggs that's decent of you.

I bake traybake sizes of whatever cake I'm making then I cut and freeze them so I only take out a couple of portions at a time. If the DGSs visit I can take out more and they don't take long to defrost.

I can't do that - I have been known to eat them frozen.

Someone told me to do that when I was given a box of chocolates, but like you and the frozen cakes janerowena , I found them to be even more delicious when taken out of the freezer.

The trouble is they don't freeze tooth crunchingly solid; they just go nicely gooey. My grandson has just left some cake that I'm trying not to eat [I hate wasting food]. He normally scoffs the lot but we're realised he's coming down with chicken pox.

..I ate the cake ....

I'm on the 5:2 diet so I can have my cake and eat it Sorry couldn't resist that! Seriously though, diet's supposed to be good for cholesterol but I do get to eat cake on non fast days

Nuts. I cannot resist nuts. We have them in the house as husband uses them for cooking (trout with almonds, etc). He gets really annoyed when he finds the packet nearly empty. I don't know where they go, I only eat a few at a time.
We also have a very large walnut tree.

Jeannie99 advice often given is to drink glasses of water - I find that boring but I now keep a bottle of water nearby that has has about a teaspoon of pure lemon juice added to it, it is enough to take away the craving for sweet things.
Give it a go and good luck - it aint easy

Thanks everyone for your messages, as for buying cakes it's my husband who does the food shopping and buys all the sweet things, although I have to admit occasionally I will buy my favorite dessert if it jumps out at me.

I'm not overweight it's just health wise I shouldn't be eating cake everyday. I have no will power at all and I agree that sugar is very addictive but can't seem to find a way of stopping.

I feel very disgusted with myself as sometimes I'll eat two cakes when husbands not in, secret eater I guess.

Maybe if you ate more of something else (meat, eggs, cheese, vegetables) you wouldn't feel hungry enough to eat cake, though two pieces of cake in one day doesn't sound like too much to me if you don't eat pudding as well.

What proportion of your food intake is cake? If it's a small proportion, why worry?

jeanie99 i have the same situation where husband has a very sweet tooth and comes home loaded with "treats" and then I succumb to temptation. Luckily though he has taken to eating ice cream lately which I don't like so that's made things easier . I hate feeling as is I have overeaten, that 'stuffed' feeling, though, so that also helps me to say no! Trouble is he shouldn't be eating enough sweet treats for 2!

And daughter is on her way to have morning tea for me and there are home made poppy seed muffins waiting, nicely iced with cream cheese icing. I think I'll have two - thanks Bags!

This thread and the one about holidays made me think - I sometimes long for the days when "treats" were just that - a holiday that you really looked forward to, a meal out at a restaurant only on pay day, cakes that you had on birthdays only. Much more enjoyable than having everything on tap - city breaks, thickly iced cakes in boxes 2 for 1, fast food everywhere. More, more, more!

I have a SIL who is no fun to go out because she eats out so often that every restaurant has to provide for her what I call "more than" - the table has to be the best one in the room, the service has to be beyond good, the food has to be spectacular, the wine has to be the best. Gets a bit bring after a while, not to mention stressful for the companion. I like to take things as they come and enjoy the experience . With hopes that it lives up to expectations of course!

that should be boring, not bring!

I think many posters on this thread need to take their OH' s in hand. And be firmer with them.

j08 I'm of the belief that I am not responsible for another adult's choices ...

Funny I've just got back from the supermarket and couldn't believe it (I'm afraid I stared) when I overheard a woman talking to her husband: "Put it back!" Then louder "I said put.it.back!!" followed by "Oh for goodness sake, just do as you're told" accompanied by forcibly taking whatever it was (poor man, I think it was shampoo) out of his hand and plonking it back on the shelf. Hen and pecked springs to mind.

I guess the secret is not to cut out cakes or other vices we may enjoy but to ensure that we burn off whatever calories we do intake. I confess to having a sweet tooth and the breaking strain of a crunchie bar when it comes to sweets, cakes and desserts but I try my best to maintain activity that can burn it off. It's either that or eat less. A balanced choice of foods must obviously be made to counter the detrimental effects of the sugar and cream intake but why deny oneself lifes pleasures assuming it is not having a clinical detriment to our health and wellbeing.