Like Buttah

The real problem with breakfast cereal is that the serving size is ALWAYS one cup.  One measly cup.  Have you ever measured out your breakfast cereal into the one cup serving size?  It's small.  Really, unsatisfyingly small.

For me, breakfast cereal is kind of like ice cream in that I could sit down and eat bowl after bowl with no appreciable sign of slowing.  For a whole day, probably, I could sit at a table and eat bowls of either breakfast cereal or ice cream, and never feel full.  I'm not sure why these two substances are so irresistible to me, but they are.  Upon sight of the perfect storm of bowl, spoon, and breakfast cereal, my stomach opens up into a massive black hole, a spinning vortex of chaos into which many a bowl of deliciousness can disappear and never be heard from again. 

Seriously.  I'll be full after three bites of pasta but I can eat like, 10 bowls of cereal and feel fine.  I have, I'm a little ashamed to admit, gone through an entire BOX of cereal in one sitting, completely on accident.  I just kept refilling the bowl, thinking "well, this time I have too much milk, so just a teensy bit more cereal will fix that" and "oops, not enough milk, let me add a bit - oh!  Too much milk!  Needs more cereal!"  I know it sounds like a ratio problem, but in my heart the truth is all too clear: I just want more.  It's a drug, and I am helplessly addicted.  The type of cereal doesn't matter, either.  I go just as insane over six bowls of Cocoa Crispies (yum) as I do over eleven of Organic Raisin Bran.

Ice cream is a little more easily explainable, what with the sugary, creamy goodness of it all, not to mention the chunks of chocolate or cookie dough that get mixed in on occasion.  However, I am lactose intolerant, for the most part, and so eating more than a spoonful or two of ice cream is a recipe for disaster for me -  and yet, I will happily sit there, eating not just spoonfuls, but entire bowls of the sweet stuff, consequences be damned.

So what is it about these two substances that render me incapable of saying NO MORE?  I usually have decent self-control when it comes to eating, but any time I make the mistake of thinking I can handle just one bowl, I find myself waking up hours later with a cereal hangover, sticky spoon stuck to my chest, empty boxes strewn around me, a crazed look in my eyes...and still craving just one more bowl. 

What foodstuff can't you resist?

Comments

[Whiskeymarie]

I have only recently been able to curb my love of cereal so that I restrain myself and only eat ONE bowl in the morning (a big bowl, but just the one). I do give myself a pass if it's for dinner though- dinner is a bigger meal by nature, therefore more than one bowl is required.
Other foods I eat like they were my last meal before a month-long fast:
*Hummus and pretzels
*cheese and crackers
*nachos
*Doritos and Top the Tater

You'll note that NONE of these items are remotely fruit or vegetable related (though, tot the tater technically goes on potatoes, so maybe we could count that). Why can't I just crave carrots? Argh!

[brookem]

I'm the same way with cereal! I love me umpteen (sp?) bowls of CTC. YUM.

[Trudie]

Oranges. And they never cost anything less than $2.50 a kg where I live.
This must be something that goes back to my childhood. I can almost remember the taste of the first orange I ever had - it was like nothing else I had ever bitten into. From then on I've always loved oranges and I buy them, never mind the price!
(Sorry if this was meant to be about something that made me feel guilty...)

[Operation Pink Herring]

I'm the same way with both cereal and ice cream - except my real weakness is restricted to Honey Bunches of Oats (I long ago stopped buying Cocoa Krispies because I can't keep myself from inhaling the entire box) and Cookie and Cream ice cream. I mix the ice cream with a little bit of milk in a big mug, making a nice, smooth milkshake... and then the minute I finish my shake, I make another. And another. And another. The cereal is the same way. I've eaten a whole box in a day before, I'm ashamed to admit.

Oh, also lactose intolerant, which usually doesn't bother me at all because I don't like milk. But after one of those cereal/ice cream binges, I'm always reminded of just how intolerant I am!

[3carnations]

I love cereal. I mean LOVE cereal. And then love it some more. Incidentally, some of them are only 3/4 cup serving size. Like Life Cereal. And Fruity Pebbles. Then there are Frosted Mini Wheats, which is a serving size of 24 miniwheats. I know this because I recently began consuming only a serving size of cereal instead of jumbo bowls. It's been hard...But it's partly responsible for me squeezing into a pair of pants that didn't fit, and it's really decreased our money spent on cereal. And I'm not hungry all day...the bowl just doesn't last as long as it used to. Sigh.

[Dingo]

I'm actually sitting here right now downing butterscotch like it actually was made from Johnny Walker. Unfortunately, I am full but no buzz has ensued.

["antoinette"]

nachos. Pounds and pounds of shredded chicken and cheddar cheese and jalapenos and sour cream and salsa and chips. GIVE ME MORE.

[Lara]

Ice cream and cookies. Oooh, and cheese.

[EDW]

I totally measure out my cereal, and a cup is small! I'm on WW, so that's why I do it. Normally, I would not. But normally I'd eat cookies for breakfast, so thank God for WW.

Popcorn. I adore popcorn. I can eat till the cows come home. I have eaten entire bags of Smart Food in one sitting - I simply cannot have that stuff in my house. In fact, no pre-popped corn can come in, like Whole Food's 365 bags of salted popcorn. Soooo yummy. I have to eat the 100 calorie packs or make it over the stove - yum, yum - and measure it out. I am a popcorn-a-holic.

[janet]

this is funny because I tend to get sick of both cereal and ice cream about 1/2 a bowl in, but chips?!? I could eat the entire chip aisle at the grocery store in one sitting if you let me!

[velocibadgergirl]

Like you, I am a sucker for cereal and ice cream. In fact, I'm sort of craving cereal right now. Thanks a lot, man! :P

[Suebob]

I don't eat cereal. I eat oatmeal, but I don't think that counts. When dad and I were at the grocery store the other day (I am the newly designated family shopper since mom can't do it anymore) I was AMAZED at the cereal aisle. Strawberry chex? Who knew?

I can eat almost anything endlessly, but a really good cheese is my downfall.

[Wickedly Scarlett]

The puffy Cheetos. And Oreos. I don't even allow them in the house because I will just sit on the couch and go through an entire bag or box. It's disgusting!

[Laurel]

I feel the same way about cereal! I usually eat breakfast at work, so I carefully measure a single serving of cereal into tupperware... that helps control the urge. I eat it with yogurt and berries, though, so I think that bolsters the skimpy portion a bit!

[Cassie]

Hot dogs. (I know, it's disgusting.) And peanut butter Oreos. But not together.

[Laurie]

Have you noticed how many of people's favorite foods are milk products of some sort? I'm also lactose intollerant, but mine is of the '1 spoonful and I think I'll die' variety, so I can't even justify the smallest indulgence. Sadly(?), I haven't always been this way, so now I know what i'm missing!! Cheese used to be it for me. I miss cheese. I have, however, found almond milk a tasty alternative for my cereal because that's my current have-to-have item!

[Chiada]

Back when I was in junior high school I used to eat cereal like that: bowl after bowl after bowl. I can remember sitting there eating six and seven bowls. Usually it was stuff like Cheerios and Corn Flakes. I remember my dad getting after me and telling me that I would regret it later in life and that it would catch up with me. :(

I don't eat much cereal anymore these days, and when I do it's usually something heavy like granola and fills me up with just one small bowl (probably less than 2 cups).

BUT. Ice cream. Holy Coffee Heath Bar Crunch! Oh ice cream..how I love thee. How my waistline hates thee.

Also, I looooooove my mom's Tom Yum soup that is full of thick, creamy, fatty coconut milk, and mixed with a hot & sour tom yum paste. Made with chicken and some other stuff, eaten over white jasmine rice (ahhhh, I love the aroma of jasmine rice), with a squeeze or 3 of fresh lime juice. I just want to hold the taste in my mouth for 5 minutes at a time. Unfortunately I just inhale spoonful after spoonful so that it feels like I'm constantly tasting the stuff. Then when my bowl runs out I get a second helping.

And then my belly explodes from all the rice that is expanding.

["antoinette"]

yogurt! Also Yogurt!

[Chelsea Talks Smack]

CEREAL IS MY FOOOOOODDDDDDDD....Anytime I have cereal, I can finish the whole box. Sometimes, I do. Its my danger food. More than icecream. or pizza. CEREAL HAS SO MUCH POWER OVER ME.

[Arjewtino]

The only thing that stops me from eating an entire box of Life or Frosted Mini Wheats is the amount of milk I have in the fridge.

Good observation.

[Jakki]

My hard to resist food, that I could eat over and over again is nuts. Perferably cashews..I can go through a can in a day if I dont stop myself.

[jamelah]

Other than cereal, which I would eat three meals a day every day if I would just stop running out of milk, I could eat Pringles all the time. Pretty much nonstop. It's ridiculous, and oh, how I love them.

[Dory]

Special K Red Berries... Mmmmmmmm...

Does the lactose medicine help you? Hunky tried it but it didn't make that big a difference. As he's gotten older, the effects are taming down, but sometimes he's still unhappily surprised by an episode.

[cady]

i don't like milk so i'm limited to what cereal i eat, but i could eat the strawberry frosted mini wheats all day. those and tostitos. mmmm. if i had just those to live on, i'd be perfectly happy.