How to stop craving junk & healthy meal ideas!

smunk13

Hello, I manage 3 days of healthy eating and then I start eating junk for two days and then back healthy, I want to be able to stop the craving for junk after starting healthy eating, any advice for it? Also what are some healthy meal ideas so I'm not always eating the same types off food? (Trying to get 6 pack abs so low carb if poss) Thankyou

4legsRbetterthan2

Just keep trying to eat better, the cravings will go away but it will take some time. In the meatime try to figure out a way to satiate them in moderation.

If you go to the nutrition board there are tons and tons of different threads with recipes for different types of diets or using specific ingredients, i would suggest just browsing there to create your meal plan.

Liftng4Lis

What is healthy eating?

allyourbases

- Junk free house.
- lots of fruit/veg in your diet.
- try a cleanse to "detox" from the sugar - not because there's toxins but because you'll relearn the tastes of sadness.
- dump all the people in your life that eat normal.

or you could just focus on IIFYM and a decent deficit.

dramaqueen45

I try to keep anything out of the house that I have trouble eating in moderation - chips, chocolate, cake, etc. I don't have an issue with eating what I like but just weighing and measuring it and fitting it into the calorie goals, but sometimes there are things that I tend to binge on. Someone once said "you will crave what you eat". So if you slowly change your habits to eating things that you define as healthy (I would assume lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, lean meats, etc)- then when you are hungry you crave those things. We ordered pizza from a favorite place a few weeks ago and although I love it, I didn't find it as enjoyable as I once did and didn't eat as much and it kind of sat on my stomach like a rock. I'm not used to eating that high of sodium and fat and so my body didn't appreciate it.

psuLemon

When I restrict foods I enjoy, I tend to binge more. Instead, I learn how to get the majority of my calories from nutrient dense foods but still fit in "junk". I also tend not to label foods as good or bad because all food has it's value.

elphie754

allyourbases wrote: »

- Junk free house.
- lots of fruit/veg in your diet.
- try a cleanse to "detox" from the sugar - not because there's toxins but because you'll relearn the tastes of sadness.
- dump all the people in your life that eat normal.

or you could just focus on IIFYM and a decent deficit.

No to all of the above bullets (except the deficit point).

AntonioP23

psulemon wrote: »

When I restrict foods I enjoy, I tend to binge more. Instead, I learn how to get the majority of my calories from nutrient dense foods but still fit in "junk". I also tend not to label foods as good or bad because all food has it's value.

I agree

Allow the food you enjoy in small quantities. You will notice you binge much less frequently

PeachyCarol

Plan ahead and make your menus, allowing yourself occasional treats so that you don't have to give anything up completely. The psychology of giving something up completely usually leads me to binge eventually, and that would usually lead me to fail. Conversely, allowing myself permission to have anything keeps me sticking to my goals. I usually chose healthier options, opting for "next time" for the treat.

Plan ahead before you're hungry and have nutrient dense food around to meet nutritional goals while allowing yourself some leeway for little splurges here and there and you'll be fine.

mhankosk

AntonioP23 wrote: »

psulemon wrote: »

When I restrict foods I enjoy, I tend to binge more. Instead, I learn how to get the majority of my calories from nutrient dense foods but still fit in "junk". I also tend not to label foods as good or bad because all food has it's value.

I agree

Allow the food you enjoy in small quantities. You will notice you binge much less frequently

Yes to the above! Also try skinnytaste.com All of her stuff is really good. My boyfriend and I tend to make one or 2 recipes at the beginning of the week and eat them here and there throughout the week. It helps. Plus she has delicious things on there. On monday I made her Broccoli Mac and Cheese and it is amazing.

lemurcat12

Journal--write down when you are wanting to eat off plan and what the triggers are, if you do note down the context to help figure out how to avoid it. For example, my big temptation area was work--perfect conflation of food I couldn't avoid having easy access to and stress situations and pre-existing bad habits. Things that help might be having other food available or cutting out snacking during the relevant times, IMO, or working on the emotional triggers if any (I usually find that working out deals with stress and makes the desire to eat go away).

Also, I think many people don't realize that it's okay to just ignore or wait out a craving. If it's just a need to eat now or that looks so delicious kind of craving, remind yourself you are eating in just a few hours, there's no urgency. If it's for a specific food and lasts, you might want to work that food in, in a reasonable amount.

kenmiller75

I too love junk and it's hard to give up. Sweet Chili Doritos are my favorite! I could smash on a whole bag watching football so I don't eat them often. What I do though is allow myself one or two chips once a day or two to curb my urge and keep my sanity.

A quick and easy meal that really fills me up is tuna sandwich with guacamole instead of mayo. I like to add a little ground flax seed to it sometimes for the extra nutritional benefit. You can eat it without bread to cut carbs. One sandwich fills me up and I'm not thinking about food for a few hours which most food doesn't do that for me.

wooosh

I like to "cheat" my craving for junk with healthy replacement snack.

Whenever i feel like "needing" a junk, i personaly go for a banana+peanut butter snack.

Roughly slice one banana and top each slices with half a teaspoon of peanut butter.
Always go for organic 100% peanut peanut butter and not those crap filled with added sugar.

That's one of my trick to overcome craving for junk. Works well for me.
My mind is pleased and my body is filled with great source of healthy protein and decent carbs + fibers.

katherine_startrek_fan

Is your junk food going out for fast food or chips/cookies at home?

If the first, why not try making your favorites at home, like burgers, tacos, baked french fries, etc? They'll pretty much be healthier as long as you keep general portion sizes under control. If pizza, you could either check out the frozen pizza selection at your grocery store (some are only 440 calories for half the pizza!) or making one using store bought flatbread and topping however you want.

If chips/ cookies/chocolate, go for the good stuff in small portions. I've found that a single serving of the good stuff does more for satisfying my craving than eating bigger portions of the normal stuff.

dougpconnell219

This is the one reason items to disagree with the "everything in moderation" aid around here.

I find, after awhile, you stop craving things if you don't eat them. Giving me a slice of pizza is like giving an alcoholic a shot of whiskey.

Hell, yesterday, I was just dying to have a salad. Are you freaking kidding me? I probably went an entire decade without touching a salad, now I crave them.

I'm not saying never treat yourself. I'm just a saying, get used to the diet first. After about a month, the thought of fat food doesn't appeal to me a bit.

SwankyTomato

For me?

No junk food in the house. Making/buying something as a "treat" is OK. Having chips, donuts, etc...in the house all the time is a big no no for me.

Watch my carbs vs protein vs fats. A large imbalance in my carbs vs protein/fat and I want to EAT non-stop.

ana3067

Stop craving = eat what you are craving wtihin your caloric needs. Usually kills my craving good.

Healthy meal ideas: Any food combo you want, because healthy is both subjective (in terms of what foods are and are not healthy) and is a context whole-picture thing. Eating donuts every day, every meal? Not healthy nutrition-wise. Eating a donut every day on top of your normally varied diet? Perfectly fine (assuming the variety isn't 12 other types of donuts).

ana3067

dougpconnell219 wrote: »

This is the one reason items to disagree with the "everything in moderation" aid around here.

I find, after awhile, you stop craving things if you don't eat them. Giving me a slice of pizza is like giving an alcoholic a shot of whiskey.

Hell, yesterday, I was just dying to have a salad. Are you freaking kidding me? I probably went an entire decade without touching a salad, now I crave them.

I'm not saying never treat yourself. I'm just a saying, get used to the diet first. After about a month, the thought of fat food doesn't appeal to me a bit.

And why not get used to "the diet" by simply eating less of her entire normal dietary intake? I "ate clean" for 4 years; the desire to eat pizza never went away. I simply tried to make clean versions. As soon as I gave up on clean eating I ate a looooot of "bad" food. I eat less "bad" food now that I track calories and have no off-limits food than I did when I was labeling food as good and bad and forcing myself to eat clean (I'd binge).

kandeye

Everyone responds different to diet changes. Some people are great cutting things cold turkey, and some aren't. Obviously you aren't so time to try a different approach. As others said try moderation. Portion out the junk food and only allow yourself so much. Honestly our eating habits are just that, habits. We eat a certain way mostly because it is what we are used to and comfortable with. Changing a habit isn't easy sometimes, but it is possible. As someone else said once you incorporate healthier foods ( it's your choice what you deem healthy) into your diet you will start craving those foods. My advice is don't eat foods you don't enjoy just because you think they are healthy. That's a sure way to associate "healthy foods" as a bad thing. There are plenty of good foods out there you just have to experiment until you find what you like that fits your health goals. Good luck

lemurcat12

dougpconnell219 wrote: »

This is the one reason items to disagree with the "everything in moderation" aid around here.

I find, after awhile, you stop craving things if you don't eat them. Giving me a slice of pizza is like giving an alcoholic a shot of whiskey.

Hell, yesterday, I was just dying to have a salad. Are you freaking kidding me? I probably went an entire decade without touching a salad, now I crave them.

I'm not saying never treat yourself. I'm just a saying, get used to the diet first. After about a month, the thought of fat food doesn't appeal to me a bit.

I ate salads and veggies and so on before I was losing weight, and I never ate fast food when I was gaining, so I don't see it as such a dichotomy.

I did drop sweets for a while when I first started, because I had some bad patterns built up that I wanted to break--I didn't want to assume that every meal should end with something sweet or that I should run to the ice cream if my day were bad or that getting whatever snack had appeared in the break room was the best way to put off doing something unpleasant (MFP works perfectly well for that purpose, heh).

However, I don't think that means that if I do eat them I will crave them all the time--I eat some ice cream after dinner often now, and since I know that's when I eat it I don't think about it at other times and can substitute other foods instead (I went off sweets again in January and so would have cheese or olives or fruit instead, and no big deal). Similarly, I don't think that not eating pizza much (or not eating pie much) means that I won't be interested if it's on offer. Fact is, I will. Not eating fast food (which I quit over 10 years ago) resulted in it not appealing to me ever, but I suspect that won't happen with foods that are really more to my taste. What I find, however, is that if I don't eat pizza or apple pie much I'm find with it being a "once in a while" kind of food. If I told myself never, on the occasions when I "fell off the wagon" and had some, it would be harder not to eat as much as possible, since it was the last time.

neanderthin

Sounds like a good rotation to me. j/k

psuLemon

Also, if you are trying to get a six pack, low carb is not a necessity. What is, low body fat and enough lean body mass.