Junk food

amusedmonkey

What I found helpful when I want something higher in calories and lower on the satiety meter, I make sure my other meals are nutritious and high on the satiety meter so I get to eat fewer calories without feeling hungry and end up with enough calories for whatever I'm craving. For the record, a big mac and a salad fills me up just as well as a regular home cooked meal for the same calories so I need no special planning for that, although I don't find myself craving it often. I only need to do something special to my calories if I decide to also have fries and ice cream with that burger. When the meal I want is very high in calories (like a buffet or something I know I like having in large quantities), and I occasionally have those, I just skip a meal if I feel like it's worth it and/or take an extra walk.

It's all about balance. With time, you will find you are less likely to have these foods unless you really want to because you can't be bothered to plan around them, or at least that's the case for me because I'm lazy, but then again I never was a daily junk eater. Keep one rule in mind: your calories need to be on point most of the time to lose weight consistently unless you are fine with inconsistent losses. That one rule will help you decide when it's worth to jigsaw your foods to fit in something extra and when it isn't worth it. For example, every few months I go out with my sister for movies and dinner. These days are totally worth it. Those cheap soapy chocolates that are sometimes in a waiting room aren't worth the trouble, and I'm not going to put effort into re-arranging my food calories in order to fit in donuts (I'm okay with donuts, I just don't like them enough to be worth the trouble for the calories).

Charlsberg123

Provided you meet your daily calorie goals, ensure you consume adequate protein and micronutrients, are hydrated and you are performing regular exercise then fitting some 'junk' into your daily intake to reduce those cravings will not be a problem and it will make no difference on your weight loss as opposed to eating a calorie-matched completely 'clean' food diet.

snowflake954

gearfreegains wrote: »

I knew my comment would get me drilled! I was waiting for those people to come out of the woodwork. You don’t have to completely remove junk food from your life if you can’t seem to do that. Just make sure it fits into your CALORIC budget for the day, like I said.

I’ve noticed so far it’s mostly women coming out saying they get away with eating plenty of junk. Something odd I’ve noticed in a lot of women I’ve come across in MY life is they don’t seem to be too strict with nutrition, don’t even work out, and seem to be in great shape. As a guy I can have one ice cream shake and it seems like I put on 5 lbs. I don’t know how you women do it.....


I suppose THIS comment will have they gentlemen come running and preaching how they consume plenty junk and still stay fit. Go ahead, grill me.....

I've been on here 5 yrs and plenty of men eat "junk food" if it'll fit their goals. The forums are full of such talk. There's a reason for it. Newbies that come on board with "clean eating" and not eating any more "junk" have a harder time sticking to their calorie goals. Many of them feel deprived, especially when out with friends and family that are eating all the goodies. Since the people that have been successful and around for awhile understand that, they try to encourage cutting down on goodies. It's more important to stay within your daily calorie goal. The nutrition usually takes care of itself over time.

niamhdean97

Thank you so much for all the replies! It's much appreciated. I keep going over my cholesterol every day when I log my food which is driving me mad!

kommodevaran

Maybe you don't have to track cholesterol?

fitoverfortymom

I love junk food. It's still a regular part of my diet, just in smaller and planned amounts. Some things I have to stay away from altogether because I can't moderate it, but I almost always have super awesome sweet or savory treats as part of my week.

I try to balance it out with a lot of other high volume foods that are low calorie, and sometimes I just splurge and decide it's a special event and go over.

We gotta live our lives, ya know, and I firmly believe junk food should be a part of that.