No Fast Food in 2018

Tami_in_Idaho
Tami_in_Idaho Posts: 26 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have been overweight and on a roller-coaster ride all my life. I have been a yo-yo dieter since the age of 9. I have lost several hundred pounds during my life, but sadly it is the same 20-30 pounds over and over again. I was raised mostly on fast food and as an adult I have been addicted to it. 6 years ago I lost 65 pounds using MFP, only to gain it back after having my son. He is almost 5 and here I am still not where I want to be weight wise or health wise. My goal for 2017 was to lose 60 pounds. I lost 20 and have been maintaining my weight for the last 4 months (not gaining it back during the holidays was HUGE for me!). I've given up soda, chips, white bread, white rice, white pasta and energy drinks as my first steps to getting healthy. This alone has made me feel a whole lot better (and I sleep way better too). Now with the New Year at hand I am setting some new goals. My main goal is to eat healthy. I am determined 2018 is the year of change and that, for me, means NO FAST FOOD (along with other food changes, but this is my BIGGEST challenge right now).

Replies

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  • sak20011
    sak20011 Posts: 94 Member
    I think at the end of the day the issue with fast food --for me---is that it is just not that satisfying in a lasting way. whereas I can make delicious meals from scratch with high satisfaction.... But it does take more time and planning and figuring out new things to eat.
  • lolliopopsnrainbows
    lolliopopsnrainbows Posts: 101 Member
    @Tami_in_Idaho - good luck, that's an impressive aim and you've got your history on your side which leads me to believe you might actually be able to do it! I, on the otherhand, have just ordered a takeaway to be delivered tonight for our NYE dinner :smiley: I've found a more powerful way of thinking for me has been to concentrate on what I CAN eat rather than what I can't! Often that's fruits, veggies, dark chocolate, nuts etc or in the instance of today for example, I will eat my takeaway and really enjoy it and not feel guilty about eating it. I prefer to use the method of crowding out the bad stuff by concentrating on the tasty tasty good stuff I can eat instead.

    I wish you a happy and healthy 2018!
  • paygep
    paygep Posts: 401 Member
    I am going fast food free for 2018!! I don’t eat a lot of fast food usually, but I find myself stopping for donuts and coffee, or a bacon-egg-cheese biscuit more often and I need to lose weight, so I’m going to give it up all together. I’m planning to eat at home for the most part, and I’m keeping a bag of almonds and a bottle of water in my car so I won’t be tempted when I’m on the go. Cheers!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I don't like fast food (depending on what you mean, I do go to Pret sometimes, get a turkey sandwich from Potbelly's or salad from Protein Bar on occasion), so didn't give it up.

    I think one helpful thing (for any New Year's resolution) is not to focus on "I won't" but on how you will bring that about.

    One related question is understanding what will make it hard.

    Do you get fast food because it's convenient and you are tired and don't feel like cooking? Then giving it up is probably a great idea. Figure out what to do in such situations instead -- can you make leftovers and have them ready to be reheated? Have some ideas of fast things to cook at home? Other "pick up a fast dinner" options that fit your new goals?

    Or is it because you really, really like fast food (certain dishes, I mean)? If so, finding other things you like as well might be an important thing to do, but in this case 100% giving them up may be less of a good idea. Instead, you could fit them in occasionally but make sure it's not too often.

    I find it helps me more to focus on positive things -- I will make sure all my meals include a good amount of vegetables, for example, or I will learn to construct a healthful and calorie-appropriate diet so that it feels easy and is tasty.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,281 Member
    Muscleflex79 wrote: »
    Tami_in_Idaho wrote: »
    I have been overweight and on a roller-coaster ride all my life. I have been a yo-yo dieter since the age of 9. I have lost several hundred pounds during my life, but sadly it is the same 20-30 pounds over and over again. I was raised mostly on fast food and as an adult I have been addicted to it. 6 years ago I lost 65 pounds using MFP, only to gain it back after having my son. He is almost 5 and here I am still not where I want to be weight wise or health wise. My goal for 2017 was to lose 60 pounds. I lost 20 and have been maintaining my weight for the last 4 months (not gaining it back during the holidays was HUGE for me!). I've given up soda, chips, white bread, white rice, white pasta and energy drinks as my first steps to getting healthy. This alone has made me feel a whole lot better (and I sleep way better too). Now with the New Year at hand I am setting some new goals. My main goal is to eat healthy. I am determined 2018 is the year of change and that, for me, means NO FAST FOOD (along with other food changes, but this is my BIGGEST challenge right now).

    call me crazy, but why not just eat foods you enjoy within your calorie limits??

    I guess because you have to change something and just eating less in quantity doesnt work for everyone - and cutting high calorie low nutrition foods like chips, sugary drinks, bread, rice is good way to cut calories as well as improving nutritional content of dietary intake
    (i agree colour of bread and rice doesn't make much difference except the wholemeal bread, IME, is more filling presumably due to fibre)

    Its not as if OP is planning to cut whole food groups or foods of nutritious value or something with no apparent logic (no eggs or fruit or something)

  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,300 Member
    I mean, I am giving up fast food and eating out for the most part but it's mostly due to money.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Orphia wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Do you get fast food because it's convenient and you are tired and don't feel like cooking? Then giving it up is probably a great idea.

    Disagree. I think fast food is a great idea if you're tired and don't feel like cooking.

    If OP is consuming it for reasons other than she really likes it, and chooses higher cal items than she otherwise would, then yes it's a good idea to find other options.

    If she really enjoys it, it would make more sense to me to fit it in occasionally, but lots of times people eat high cal foods for other reasons.

    Sure, there are some vegetables (not many appealing choices, IMO), and some lower cal choices available, and if that's what you tend to want from a fast food place, great, but OP may find that what she wants when she goes to fast food is something else, and a healthier alternative she would enjoy is more available elsewhere.

  • Thr33N1N3
    Thr33N1N3 Posts: 39 Member
    I think I like that challenge. I'm trying to cook all meals at home and not eat out at all. I don't know what they put in that food.
  • NoxeemaJackson
    NoxeemaJackson Posts: 102 Member
    edited January 2018
    Good luck! There are lots of health and financial benefits to reducing or eliminating fast food.
    I DO still eat fast food, not as often as I used to.
    But I knew that it wasn't realistic that I would NEVER eat fast food again (I'm on the road alot)
    So, my go-tos:
    Taco Bell:
    bean burrito fresco style
    2 chicken soft taco fresco style
    black beans and guac
    steak cantina bowl no rice

    Wendy's:
    Jr. double no cheese (the one from the value menu, not the big one
    grilled chicken, no sauce
    chili
    jr. frosty

    All of these are 300-400ish calories for a meal, and have high protein and/or fiber, except for the frosty, which I just really like and a junior frosty is 200 kcal

    In other words, I knew I couldn't NEVER eat fast food, but I knew I could make better choices when I did.

    Good luck to you!!


  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2018
    Thr33N1N3 wrote: »
    I think I like that challenge. I'm trying to cook all meals at home and not eat out at all. I don't know what they put in that food.

    They have ingredients available, if you mean big chain places.

    I mostly go to small local places (of a large variety), but would never give up going out to eat, since it's a social thing for me and I'm kind of a foodie, and enjoy eating out with friends and trying new places and old favorites.

    I lost 95 lbs eating out in places without calorie counts at least once a week, on average. I mostly cook at home, and don't see why it should have to be all or nothing, and eating out actually inspires me to be creative in my cooking, gives me ideas.

    No reason anyone else should if they don't want to, but it's certainly possible to lose just find while going to restaurants sometimes.

    Also, I travel for work sometimes and go out to dinner for work sometimes, so such a goal would be an impossibility.

    Again, that's not so for everyone, but I hope people don't feel like it's something they must aspire to. The New Year seems to bring out the all or nothing approach, which I think can be a bad thing for a lot of people -- posting big goals, getting congrats for making the goal (rather than working to actually achieve something), and then if you find you can't keep the goal (for lots of good reasons) feeling like you've spoiled it and just giving up vs. focusing on making sensible and continual improvements or just generally eating well and at a deficit.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    OP, I'm going to quote a post I made in another thread and then add some additional food for thought
    Allow a veteran of the dieting wars share some advice.

    It's a very wonderful thing to want to eat a nutritious, varied diet.

    In the pursuit of that goal, don't let perfect become the enemy of good, and don't let the inevitable burden that the boundaries of too much restriction place upon you deter you from the larger goal of achieving permanent weight loss and management.

    Too often, someone picks a way of eating as a means to an end and they post on these boards all full of enthusiasm for their new found plan only to crash and burn when the novelty wears off or the siren song of forbidden fruit becomes too irresistible for them to ignore. Without having taken any advice on board outside of their restrictive regimens, they are left floundering as to where to go from there and just give up.

    I have some experience in giving things up. I didn't eat sugar for ten years. Ponder that. I never cheated. Not even once. I ultimately found it wasn't sustainable, and furthermore, I found it wasn't the only thing needed to manage my weight. I still managed to gain weight during that time because I was eating too much food. And all of it was healthy whole foods.

    A proper understanding of energy balance (yes, that is what CICO means, CICO is not calorie counting or eat whatever you want, it's just the energy balance equation) is imperative no matter what you do.

    So have at your clean eating and sugar free period for now, but read the forum stickies and stick around the forums and read the experiences of people who have been there and learned that a sustainable path isn't necessarily a restrictive one. Have a back up plan ready and be prepared with knowledge of how to manage your weight should you decide that hey, you know what? Maybe that candy bar in the grocery check out line isn't the worst thing in the world after all.

    What struck me reading your post was how you kept talking about all of the things you were restricting and eliminating.

    A very wise poster on here (holla @WinoGelato) often posts of how she thought of her process of changing her lifestyle in terms of what she could *add* to her life, and I think that is a more psychologically productive way of approaching a sustainable change.

    If you want a healthier lifestyle, what can you add to it? More vegetables, more fruit, more home cooked meals, more movement in your day? What concrete steps can you take to achieve those goals?

    Setting goals to achieve and then achieving them is a process that is self-affirming and builds upon itself in creating habits.

    Restriction is often a demoralizing experience that leads to set backs and failure and all of us who have been down that road know that it is not a sustainable strategy.

    It is commendable of you to want to have a more nutritious diet. I applaud that impulse you have. I just urge you to adjust how you approach achieving that goal.

    Baby steps. Start by saying that you'll make one more home made meal per week, perhaps. Do that for a month. Then, do it again in another month. Add some more vegetables. Take a short walk every day.

    Over time, the changes will add up, and you'll have built habits and a sustainable lifestyle.

    Oh hai! Thanks for tagging me in, it's funny, I saw this thread earlier and was going to provide my experience (which @GottaBurnEmAll summarized perfectly) and then got distracted with stuff at home.

    So yeah I totally agree with the advice to focus on small, sustainable changes and in particular my approach of what could I add (more vegetables, more protein, more exercise, more sleep, etc) worked far better for me than trying to be so restrictive. I found when I focused on adding those things it naturally prioritized the "healthy" foods but left enough room for things like wine, pizza, or cookies in moderation.

    I also think that looking at what you want your lifestyle to look like when you are in maintenance, and trying to lose weight in the way you intend to live forever, is something that not a lot of people consider. OP you clearly know how to lose weight, but it seems like maintenance is where you struggle (don't feel bad, that's what gets a lot of people!). Do you think you'll never eat fast food again? Could you instead focus on what food choices you make at those kind of restaurants and make some changes there?

    Good luck.


  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    @Tami_in_Idaho It may be wiser to become more accurate in recording your Calories from whatever you eat, than to try and eliminate the foods you normally have.
  • Mazintrov13
    Mazintrov13 Posts: 135 Member
    I think sometimes it can actually be helpful to still incorporate fast food (or any high calorie food) you enjoy while losing weight and using mfp as it helps you see what a normal portion should look like, or help you learn how to incorporate these foods into your day.
    That way you can continue living your life while still incorporating these treats after the year is up, unless these items are causing you to binge or causing other issues for you in which case completely cutting it out may be the best option.
    Good luck!
  • natboosh69
    natboosh69 Posts: 277 Member
    Personally it would be an unrealistic goal for me, but if you can stick to it and make it a permanent change then go for it.
  • Tami_in_Idaho
    Tami_in_Idaho Posts: 26 Member
    I must say the majority of you have great advice regarding this topic. For me, giving up fast food for 2018 is not about New Year resolutions, but about health. Can you find healthy options at fast food places? These days, yes. Is that my go to most of the time I walk into a fast food place or drive up to their window? No. I love salads at many of the local fast food spots, but it is not always my meal of choice. And then there is the sodium issue. I can make much better tasting food and healthier without the sodium at home.
    Will I never eat fast food again? I honestly cannot say. But, my intention is not to. If I can give it up for a year, then I can go the rest of my life without it. Is it convenient? Yes. Do I want to continue living by convenience? No. I want to get healthy and lose the weight I have battled all my life. I am taking "baby steps" in doing so by making one change at a time. I did not give up the foods I have all at one time, but throughout the course of 9 months. I never thought I would give up energy drinks, but I also knew the affect they were having on my body drinking them 4-6 times a week. I gave them up in September and I do not see myself ever drinking one again. I am hoping for the same outcome with fast food. :)
  • shawnamomma74
    shawnamomma74 Posts: 152 Member
    Good luck! I have given up fast food for the most part. After a while, it won't taste good to you anymore and you won't crave it anymore.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    Good luck girl! I enjoy fast food, usually once a month at most. Thankfully I haven't struggled with addiction to it - that obviously makes it much harder to moderate. So I understand where you're coming from.

    If you want to add on to your resolution, perhaps you should think about addressing WHY you keep gaining and losing the weight. Obviously something is going wrong for you to continue in these vicious cycles. Seeing a therapist might help, or even just journaling or thinking about these things on your own.

    - Do you think of losing weight as a temporary diet that you can quit when you reach your goal?

    This type of thinking can lead to bad results. Maintenance is simply continuing your diet with a higher calorie allotment. You may still need to count your calories FOREVER, and stay on top of weighing yourself regularly so you can monitor your weight. Some say that maintenance is even harder than trying to lose weight.

    - Is your weight loss method too aggressive or restrictive?

    Setting a calorie goal that is too low can lead to feeling ravenous and giving into cravings, derailing your progress. Choosing a modest goal of losing .5 - 1lbs per week is much more sustainable and you won't feel as hungry.

    A diet too restrictive - cutting out too many of your favourite foods - can result in a quick relapse too. You can lose weight simply by cutting down on your portion size. There's no need to remove sugar, carbs, processed foods, etc. entirely from your diet. Many of us find a small daily dose of cookies or ice-cream helps keep us on track (and sane).

    Just some food for thought. ;) Good luck.

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