I love junk food too much

[Teknoe]

I need to eat healthier, but find it difficult to cut back on the fast food. Every week I'll pick up either a pizza or a burger with some fries. I also like buying candy and chips at the grocery store. My diet is poor thanks to these bad habits.

 

Who else struggles with this?

 

Has anyone been able to successfully kick the habit? I'd like to hear success stories too. I don't drink, I don't do drugs, but I love junk food and am finding it difficult to reduce.

[Haydn]

Are you overweight? If yes then you should cut back. If not then eat away. I always think we should eat what we like. But if it endangers health like smoking or drinking, drugs, then we should moderate it.

 

I need to eat healthier, but find it difficult to cut back on the fast food. Every week I'll pick up either a pizza or a burger with some fries. I also like buying candy and chips at the grocery store. My diet is poor thanks to these bad habits.

 

Who else struggles with this?

 

Has anyone been able to successfully kick the habit? I'd like to hear success stories too. I don't drink, I don't do drugs, but I love junk food and am finding it difficult to reduce.

[Woggle]

Allow yourself one day a week where you can eat what you want. It will help you stay healthy the rest of the time. If you are generally healthy your body can tolerate the occasional indulgence.

[gaius]

I havnt cut any of the bad foods I like out of my diet. Except for Ice Cream. Ill go to the Chinese buffet maybe once every other month, grab a burger and fries about once a week and hit McDonald's for breakfast 2-3 times a week. I just make sure I don't eat much else on the days I have one very unhealthy meal and successfully manage to maintain my weight.

 

It's really a fallacy you have to get rid of all the bad foods and eat nothing except cardboard and vegtables to be healthy. Just watch your calories the days you decide to splurge for one meal, or have one splurge day a week and behave yourself the other 6.

[Emilia]

Learn to cook OP. That way you will enjoy non-fast food because you will be eating what you enjoy and how enjoy it. Eating 'clean' (ie cutting too much sugar, fat and salt out of your diet) will mean that you will feel better, you will burn energy slower so you won't get sugar rush spikes and your body will look better too. It doesn't mean you should eat carboard and vegetables, only that you should learn how to cook good food. You will feel better and look better.

[Els]

Once a week sounds okay to me.

 

The more important question is: What are you eating the rest of the week?

[veggirl]

Is it just one day a week? Cause that sounds fine to me. But if not...

 

Why don't you make your own versions of them? I LOVE pizza and could probably eat it 5x a week and be thrilled! But I don't, and usuallyyyy if I want pizza I make my own--with a whole wheat crust (buy pre-made) and toppings I choose.

 

And chips...ugh I love chips. What kind do you buy? At least get like the "pop chips" that are air popped or something. Or if you want to cook more, make something like sweet potato fries. I actually had those last night with on sammie night while my bf had regular chips. I was perfectly satisfied. Cut up sweet potato into fries or rounds, toss with olive oil, s&p and whatever spice you want and then bake for like 45 min. Delish.

[Eau Claire]

You are an adult. Don't eat it.

 

You don't need to be coddled.

 

Or..eat it and get fat and be unhealthy.

[veggirl]

You are an adult. Don't eat it.

 

You don't need to be coddled.

 

Or..eat it and get fat and be unhealthy.

 

Well, yeah, at the end of the day....this.

[magicmoon]

It's okay to indulge once in a while. But if you watnt to eat healthier you should try really hard. Junk food is an adiction. But once you quit, you will feel so much better. Your taste buds need to 'reset' from all this bad food. And once they do, you probably wont even crave it that much. You have to rediscover natural tastes and you and your body will realize how better it feels. As others have said, learn to cook and make healthy, yummy food. There are plenty of healthy, ****ing jummy recipes online. Go NC with junk food, avoid it for a month (but still eat lots of healthy foods). And you will see what will happen. Trust in your body and yourself. You can be healthier. And eventually it will come natural to you.

Just dont buy junk. And dont take it as deprivtion. See it as a reward. Reward for you and your body.

Im on a raw, organic food detox (not for weightloss, but for health and to prove to myself that i can do it). 2 weeks in. 1 more to go (and then 1 week of slow adjustmend to cooked foods). and the mindset is what made it possible. I am not depriving myself, I am rewarding my body with healthy food.

[Teknoe]

To clarify, when I say once a week, I mean minimum. Usually though, it's 3 or even 4 times a week (depends on the week and how overwhelmed I feel).

 

So it's quite a bit. Even 3x a week is a lot, and I think I do 3x a week a lot more than I do 2x a week (though I haven't counted officially... I usually order fast food 2x M-F and once Saturday or Sunday).

 

Am I fat? Not obese, but yes, I could drop 10-20 pounds. For reference, I am roughly 5'7" and about 190 pounds. I could get down to 170 and look leaner, yes. I have a gut that I want to trim down.

 

And yes, I do need to learn how to cook, outside of frying some eggs, and heating stuff up in a microwave or oven. I should take lessons from a friend or someone who loves to cook and is patient with someone a non-cook the ins and outs

[Vahagn Aris]

Hi, I had the same problem too. JUST LIKE EATING

But I was feeling heavy and starting to have health problems.

It's then when I stated to really think about it.

I tried different diets, but nothing really worked for me. I would lose some kilos to double gain them shortly.

Then after some research I found out that eating disorder is kind of a coping mechanism. Like smoking, sex, depression, drugs, alcohol. It s one way to "feel good".

Making long story short... I changed my habit by becoming aware of me EATING TO "FEEL GOOD". And I will tell you it is very powerful.

If you really aware of doing something that doesn't serve you, you stop doing that!

If you are interested how I did it, please, let me know and I will tell you step by step what and how I did it.

Be well,

[Bluefin12]

discipline is definitely key here. Maybe only eat fast-food as a reward for some exercise? Set a goal for yourself, and if you have the discipline to achieve it, the reward yourself with what you like (But like everything, always in moderation)

[clia]

There are thousands of web sites, blogs, and apps filled with recipes. You don't need someone to teach you how to cook; all you need to know is how to read. It may take some practice, but just start with simpler recipes that only have a few ingredients and you'll do fine.

[FitChick]

If you don't want to learn to cook, there are plenty of healthy alternatives in the supermarket. Frozen foods, bagged salads, canned soups. No excuse really. Allow yourself fast food once a week on a cheat day so you don't feel deprived.

[pickflicker]

Teknoe, start by cooking at home, versions of the things that you love. I love Thai green curry and pizza - so I make my own at home. Pizza crust from scratch, curry paste from scratch. It tastes better, is healthier, you can load it up with plenty of veg, and you can divide the servings up so they are smaller.

 

Also, when you feel like a naughty snack, drink a glass of water, or water with sugar-free cordial in it. I find the more water I drink, the more I can keep the cravings away.

[Els]

To clarify, when I say once a week, I mean minimum. Usually though, it's 3 or even 4 times a week (depends on the week and how overwhelmed I feel).

 

So it's quite a bit. Even 3x a week is a lot, and I think I do 3x a week a lot more than I do 2x a week (though I haven't counted officially... I usually order fast food 2x M-F and once Saturday or Sunday).

 

Ah, okay. Then that might be a problem.

 

Have you considered broadening your scope of food interests a bit? Cooking is a great way of doing that, but it does take a lot of time to get really good at it and in the meantime you might feel discouraged.

 

Another option would be to try out food from different cultures. There are lots of delicious selections and some are actually quite healthy for you. If you live in a city there should be lots of those.

 

Read some food blogs from your area and pick an affordable place that serves food that you've never tried before. Hole-in-the-wall places run by families and ethnic minorities are way better than chains for this purpose - they cost the same as fast food here but food is actually cooked in the kitchen from raw materials, not processed all the way like fast food chains.

 

Some suggestions of food that is healthier than fast food:

Japanese - sushi, udon in soup, teriyaki chicken with steamed rice

Vietnamese - pho noodles in beef soup, paper rolls with veggies

Chinese - steamed fish/chicken with rice, rice noodles in soup

French - ratatouille, cassoulet

 

You get the drift.

[AnyaNova]

When my energy isn't crashing badly, my only vice, other than my several pre planned cheat mealsseems to be tortilla chops and guacamole.

 

When I do have a nutritional energy crah, I tend to succumb to delivery. U can relate. Perhaps, before indulging, try and concentrate hard on how you will feel after eating the offending food. It is what I try to do and it often works.

[xxoo]

Do you work out?

 

Schedule exercise later in the day. It feels completely awful to work out vigorously after eating junk food, so it acts as a deterrent. I can't even look at fast food if I'm planning a run later.

 

On the other side of the coin, heathy food will make you feel strong and more comfortable working out.

[carhill]

Curse you, Amazon Prime!

[somedude81]

Am I fat? Not obese, but yes, I could drop 10-20 pounds. For reference, I am roughly 5'7" and about 190 pounds. I could get down to 170 and look leaner, yes. I have a gut that I want to trim down.

No offense but unless you are very muscular, you could lose a bit more than 20 lbs.

 

I'm 5'6, 168 and even though I have a decent amount of muscle on me, I could lose about 10 lbs. Girls don't like the gut.

 

As for junk food, I'm hungry and not only am I too lazy to cook, I don't have any raw ingredients. Not only that, I had Chinese fast-food yesterday. So it looks like I'll be getting junk food again tonight. Not good.

[Ruby Slippers]

I generally keep only healthy food in the house - fruit, vegetables, salad stuff, chicken, yogurt, healthier snacks like popcorn. If I have chocolate or chips or other tempting food in the house, it disappears pretty fast - so I try to just keep it out of here, and only have that kind of stuff when I'm out with friends or at their place for dinner.

[Robert Z]

I need to eat healthier, but find it difficult to cut back on the fast food. Every week I'll pick up either a pizza or a burger with some fries. I also like buying candy and chips at the grocery store. My diet is poor thanks to these bad habits.

 

Who else struggles with this?

 

Has anyone been able to successfully kick the habit? I'd like to hear success stories too. I don't drink, I don't do drugs, but I love junk food and am finding it difficult to reduce.

 

 

Yes, I totally kicked the bad food habit after a lifelong addiction to sugar and then a series of related serious health problems.

 

I think knowledge has a large affect on motivation. The more you learn about health and nutrition, the more motivated you will be to improve your lifestyle.

 

 

We have ancient drives to eat high-fat, high-salt, and high-sugar foods. There was a time when these cravings made it more likely for us to survive and reproduce. So they were beneficial for our species. But now they betray us in a world with foods engineered to be addictive.

 

For starters, I suggest learning about how scientists have dialed in on our bliss point and engineered food addiction, just like tobacco companies did with cigarettes. You are like a lamb being led to slaughter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?pagewanted=all&_r=3

Edited January 21, 2014 by Robert Z

[Mr Scorpio]

Has anyone been able to successfully kick the habit? I'd like to hear success stories too. I don't drink, I don't do drugs, but I love junk food and am finding it difficult to reduce.

 

Like so many other things in life, it is simply a matter of wanting to change. I worked at a fast-food joint for years out of high-school. I ate what I wanted when I wanted it, so my diet was terrible.

 

The first change that occurred was that I became disgusted with soda. I took to drinking at least two-liters a day, and I've done so pretty much everyday ever since. Drinking tons of water will help you eat what you want.

 

The biggest thing though is to learn to prepare meals that are healthy and that you enjoy. You don't have to deprive yourself or starve yourself.

 

So you have a hankering for pizza? Get some whole-wheat crust, make yourself some refried beans, top it with onions, peppers, tomatoes, diced-chicken and some low-fat cheese. Eat a few slices one night, save the rest for tomorrow.

 

You want some nachos? Take some pita-bread, cut it into wedges, brush it with olive oil, give it some sea-salt and bake it. Eat it with hummus, which you can buy at the store knowing that it contains "good fat". Want burritos? Make some with beans and brown-rice inside. More low-fat cheese. Lots of hot-sauce.

 

Want burgers? Buy some ground turkey (or chicken) and make burgers. Want fries? Buy a sweet potato, cut it into wedges, brush em' with olive oil and bake em. Have some baked beans on the side.

 

It's really a fallacy you have to get rid of all the bad foods and eat nothing except cardboard and vegtables to be healthy. Just watch your calories the days you decide to splurge for one meal, or have one splurge day a week and behave yourself the other 6.

 

Like so many other things in life, balance is key. There is a difference between eating a healthy diet and eating a diet that allows one to lose weight.

[Teknoe]

Hi, I had the same problem too. JUST LIKE EATING

But I was feeling heavy and starting to have health problems.

It's then when I stated to really think about it.

I tried different diets, but nothing really worked for me. I would lose some kilos to double gain them shortly.

Then after some research I found out that eating disorder is kind of a coping mechanism. Like smoking, sex, depression, drugs, alcohol. It s one way to "feel good".

Making long story short... I changed my habit by becoming aware of me EATING TO "FEEL GOOD". And I will tell you it is very powerful.

If you really aware of doing something that doesn't serve you, you stop doing that!

If you are interested how I did it, please, let me know and I will tell you step by step what and how I did it.

Be well,

 

Sure, I'd like to know. Please post it here. It might help out others here too who may be popping in and out of this thread.

 

Well, I just wanted to say thanks for all the replies. A few thoughts:

 

1. I totally agree it comes down to mentality. Am I ready to make the changes? Like, really ready? I wanna say yes this time. YES, I am ready, by God!

 

2. Yes, exercising is important too. I currently do DDPYoga... but because of work and January being extraordinarily busy, I haven't been able to do it much... I'll do it 2-3x a week... but I want to get it up to at least 4... 5 if I can. DDPYoga is a hot sensation sweeping the nation. It combines yoga with cardio and is a great workout, but I need to watch my diet too as that's half the ball game, if not more.

 

3. Speaking of DDPYoga, I made a breakthrough today! Even though I have a gut, I have always felt like there's a hidden small athletic guy deep inside of me (perhaps literally, LOL!). I can do things that astound some people, like I can jog 7 miles without stopping, whereas most guys my size can't. I feel like I have it in me, I just need to go all the way.

 

Tonight, I was doing DDPYoga and for the first time since I started the program the summer of 2012, I was able to do something I couldn't before.

 

One of the positions is sitting on your butt, and lifting your feet high up in the air using your pointer and middle fingers on the big toes. On the video, DDP can get his feet STRAIGHT out. It takes incredible flexibility to do it. And I could never do it before. My knees would be bent.

 

But tonight... I got my legs straight out and high up in the air! I laughed out loud when it happened because I was so amazed. And, the crazy thing is, I hadn't done DDPYoga in maybe 3 days... last time out I couldn't. Tonight I suddenly could. It's like... muscle memory slowly built up to allow me to be so flexible.

 

I also did some slow-burn push-ups and had an AWESOME work out. I felt like I really turned a corner tonight.

 

If I do DDPYoga 4x a week, cut out the bad eating and eat right, I'll drop some lbs. in no time flat

 

Thanks again for the encouragement everyone and the words of wisdom.

 

edit: What DDPYoga can do, and did for one disabled veteran: