Banish trigger foods for successful weight loss

I admit it; I live to eat.

On my way up to 327 pounds I learned that one cupcake's too many and 100's not enough.

No, I've never eaten 100 cupcakes, but I have eaten a dozen glazed doughnuts in one sitting. At another time I ate an entire warm-from-the-oven cinnamon raisin bread loaf.

Sweets, especially chocolate, bread and salty snacks (pretzels and peanuts are particularly dangerous) are my trigger foods.

What's a trigger food? Weight Watchers defines it as "a specific food that sets off a course of overeating where control is lost and excessive amounts are consumed." It's not emotions or situations that set off out-of-control eating; it's the food.

Trigger foods aren't necessarily favorite foods or comfort foods. A trigger food is a food that you can't, and I mean can't, stop eating until it's gone.

Weight Watchers puts most trigger foods into two categories: those that are sweet/fat and those that are salty/fat. Did you see the common thread? Fat.

Not only does fat taste good, but it's the transportation on which flavor rides; it makes sweets, like chocolate frosting, taste so good that folks like me can't stop eating.

If you're in the process of losing weight, identify and avoid all trigger foods. May be it's a bag of M&Ms, a sack of potato chips or a package of cookies. If you can eat one or two cookies and put the bag away for a day or more: great, it's not a trigger food. If you feel driven to head back to the bag minutes later, get rid of them. Don't just opt for smaller portions, banish them from your food plan - totally.

That's what I did. When I began losing weight in 2005, I emptied my home of all candy, chocolate and sweets, as well as bread and bread products (pretzels, crackers, etc.). Easily available meant I'd eat it.

Does sending trigger foods away mean they're gone forever? No. Authorities believe that once you've achieved and maintained your weight loss goal, you can begin adding them back, in small quantities, one at a time.

For those moments when you're hungry and it's not meal time, have some vegetable or fruit munchies, such as celery sticks, carrot sticks or cucumber chunks, or oranges, apples or pears, available. They'll quash your hunger and add just a few healthy calories to your daily total and, most importantly, won't trip you up on your road to weight loss.

Try this recipe: Here's a healthy side salad created to deliver wonderful flavors (there's some fat for flavor transportation) with few calories (70) and some healthy fiber (4.4 grams).

• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe make-over requests. Write him at don@theleanwizard.com.