That would be a box of Wheat Thins in my garbage. I can’t have them in my house. I just can’t, and I haven’t until someone sent me a box in a care package.
The moment they arrived I wanted to open them. I imagined myself just hacking at the block of cheese I have in the fridge and topping them. Cheese — another old trigger that only resurfaces when certain crackers are around. I stopped buying cheese in block form for years, but The Toddler is such a fan, I get them for him now.
Food triggers are interesting. Sometimes I have no desire when a trigger food is around. Other times the thought of the food is like a virus in my brain.
I’ve blogged about this before, specifically about my pizza addiction. That post is almost 6 years old and I can honestly say I’m not sure if I feel the same way anymore. I’ve controlled my environment so much, I’m rarely around the traditional stuff.
For me, that’s my first line of defense, environment control. I also get creative and find lighter, healthier trigger-food replacements. I’ve come up with a cheese and cracker alternative that I absolutely love and have you seem my pizza idea page on GreenLiteBites? Any time I get a craving, I invent a new way to eat pizza without eating pizza and, honestly, it works for me. Like I said, I haven’t really had or even wanted “real” pizza in years.
I’m not quite sure what the trigger behind the trigger food is for me. I swear it’s a texture thing. It’s like I want the food in my mouth and then once I take a bite I can’t stop myself from taking another one, and another one, and another one.
I also think there are ties to my childhood there. I remember eating cheese and crackers with my dad, and pizza was the one thing I was allowed to make as an after-school snack when I was young.
I know I’m not the only one with trigger-food issues so I thought I’d open this up for discussion and make it Question of the Week.
Do you have triggers? What are they? Why? And how do you keep them in check?
