"Forced temptation" as a healthy-eating tactic

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I was wondering if anyone has tried this method for cutting back on junk food: Rather than not buying any junk food (so it isn't in the house to tempt you) have you tried buying a treat such as a chocolate bar, and sitting it right where you would normally feel like eating it, and seeing how long you can go without eating it?

It sounds ridiculous, I know, but hear me out. I thought perhaps the fact that you already have the snack there might prevent you from going to buy more next time you are at the shops or whatever. And with the snack sitting there clearly defined in your head as the food you MUST NOT EAT, maybe you would end up winning the battle, up to the point where you no longer crave it?

If nobody has tried this, I'm going to give it a go and see what happens. If you have tried, please tell me how it went!

If I have it around, I'll eat it.

I think that a better approach is to choose healthier substitutes instead. Eat some fruit instead of candy.

I tend to just eat both.

I think as soon as you put a food on the "must not eat" list - you've already lost the battle by creating something that you can't have as a form of control.
You're are required to pay attention when you say "I can't eat that" rather than when you don't even think about it - which isn't always a good thing because eventually you "cheat" and a self loathing cycle starts that you can't win.

Mindfulness exercises might be more helpful because awareness seems to be more powerful - most people don't realise how they eat until they have proof laid out in an easy to access and view manner.

I know when I actually recorded my food intake by taking a photo of everything before I ate it (because I'm too lazy to use a food journal) - it was very eye opening to be able to see photos of what I usually ate in a week (this was simply recording the normal). The next week it actually caused me to truly reconsider some of the choices simply because I had to take the photo first - you also have the chance to consider why you are eating it.

I've struggled with food addiction a lot-
if I have it in the house, I'll eat it, all of it,
and then want to indulge in something else.
So...I just don't buy it.

Tamarin, if it works for you, great!
It's an interesting concept.
There's a lot of science behind the formation of habits,
and practicing self control deliberately is a great idea.

By now enough time has passed that you have probably tried it so I'm curious how it went. For me, having temptation right there meant that I eventually gave in.

There is some research that shows "willpower depletion". It says that the constant use of willpower to resist a temptation makes that willpower tire out (rather than get stronger) so that constantly thinking about a temptation so as to resist it means you are more likely to eventually give in. Thus we have "lead me not into temptation", an acknowledgement that humans have a much easier time avoiding something that isn't right there in front of them.

On the counterpoint, there is research showing that if people constantly remind themselves why they are avoiding the temptation, they have a better chance of resisting it,

A comparison article:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cha ... sing-piece

I have found that I do give in to temptation if it is constantly there tempting me. The only thing that I have found to work is a counterpoint temptation that fits within the healthier paradigm and is allowed. That way, you don't get the constant nagging feeling of denying yourself. This was one of the great benefits of going low carb for me. I gave up pasta and desserts, but replaced them with shrimp and avacados, two foods that I find very delicious. Eating shrimp dulled the temptation of pasta because the shrimp was also very tempting. Other health paradigms would presumably have their own tempting treats that you could indulge in to dull the temptation of the forbidden food.

i do this sometimes. i also like looking at food i want in the shop and imagining eating it. There was a study a few years back that showed that imagining eating something can satiate the desire to eat it in real life. I'm pretty sure i have had that work for me. (sometimes does the opposite!)

My mom said something interesting about me. Even though I have ginormous meals (by normal standards) that are easily over 1000 calories per meal, I don't snack really. So everyone else will have small meals, and then just eat a bag of chips, box of cookies, box of crackers, etc, throughout the day. Then that adds 1000+ calories throughout the day.

So I think "snacking" is what really gets people. People get all guilty about eating a lot of food at once, because they'll seem gluttonous or whatever, but they'll be drinking soda and eating chips throughout the day instead of being full from an actual meal. Basically, I try to keep fruit around for a snack and that's it. Either fruit or I go downstairs and use the stove and cook something up, but cooking takes like 20-30 minutes, so I can't just eat whenever I want.

Anyway, I don't quite get this idea of forced temptation of candy bars. I'd just eat the candy bar. Once in a while is OK, just all the time isn't. I think an important thing is not having the stuff at home. Like it took a while for me to get over the "money" thing and accept buying a 20oz Coke once in a while as OK. Sure, a 20oz Coke costs the same as a 2L, but if I bring the 2L home, I'll have to drink 2L of Coke. So I just treat myself with junk food if I want it bad enough. If I don't do it occasionally, it'd probably turn into a weird OCD thing. But I very much do not understand the idea of looking at food and it doing the same thing as eating. It certainly does not have that effect for me at all. For me it's like "damn I'm hungry and I'm gonna have that food I'm looking at right now!"

i think the study was talking about the desire to eat due to craving rather than hunger.
i guess also that it does not work for most people or only satiates one aspect of food desire

For me, when I'm at the grocery store, if I've eaten before going to the grocery store, I buy a lot less compared to if I've not eaten before going.