Anybody eat junk food fairly regularly and just work it into calorie budget?

Losingthedamnweight

I don’t eat junk everyday, but every now and then I’ll head down to Taco Bell and get some beefy laxatives and work it into my calories.

I know a lot of you are health nuts and don’t ever eat “junk”, but I’d really like to hear from other people that eat whatever they want, work it into their calories and still lose weight.

For me anyway, the more restrictive I am the more I tend to fall off the wagon. So when I’m able to work in the foods I like, I tend to stick to it longer

L1zardQueen

I eat a balanced diet almost everyday but I have the occasional fast food especially on road trips and we do a lot of road trips. In fact, leaving on one tomorrow. I follow the 80/20 rule.

anna_lowe

i guess it would depend on how you define junk food, but yeah, i don't restrict the 'what'. i just restrict the 'how much'. i literally have a candy bar, or a filet-o-fish, a bowl of ice cream...every single day. i work them into my calorie allowance. i lost 71 lbs and have maintained it for almost 3 years using that strategy.

yweight2020

39 lbs down and counting. I consider myself to eat mostly healthy 80/20 rule also maybe 90/10 rule for me . But I like sweets and chips, so it sneaks into my weekly or bi weekly calorie range. Can't be deprived of the things I like or this won't work.

PAV8888

Yes. Not as frequently as once a day. More frequently than once a week.

Dootzy1

Can't be deprived of the things I like or this won't work.

These are great ideas....
No shame in enjoying treat foods. I have always been annoyed by people who worry or claim "cheat days" or call certain treats "bad foods"--- The yo-yo weight loss I had done in the past is because I felt like I had been bad, so gave up. I have been maintaining over 30 pounds of weight removal for a little less than one and a half years. Of course, I have developed a real pleasure in fueling myself with many nutritious foods. Sometimes, there has to be a piece of pie, or fried appetizer in there, because life!!!

GummiMundi

I don't like the phrasing "junk food", for me food is food. Some more nutritious, sure, but almost everything has a place in my life. If you mean things like burgers, pizza, cookies, etc., yes, I definitely include those in my way of eating. I just learned how to eat less of them, or eat them less frequently. And I'm still losing weight. Strict restrictions wouldn't work for me.

Fflpnari

I eat chocolate everyday. Keeps me sane and on tracks. I make it fit

wunderkindking

Yep. Very nearly every day. My diet has changed to include more 'healthy' foods, naturally, in making having a calorie deficit work, but I've not stopped eating chips/candy/icecream/whatever and have no intention of doing so. Started as obese, and my BMI is now normal. Never been a serious issues.

spiriteagle99

I've been maintaining for several years, still eating ice cream, pizza, beer and cookies. I'm not crazy about fast food, but I eat it when we are on the road. I just usually skip the fries and limit the milk shakes.

AnnPT77

Losingthedamnweight wrote: »

I don’t eat junk everyday, but every now and then I’ll head down to Taco Bell and get some beefy laxatives and work it into my calories.

I know a lot of you are health nuts and don’t ever eat “junk”, but I’d really like to hear from other people that eat whatever they want, work it into their calories and still lose weight.

For me anyway, the more restrictive I am the more I tend to fall off the wagon. So when I’m able to work in the foods I like, I tend to stick to it longer

I don't know whether your supposition (bolded) is true, actually. Some, sure - though I personally wouldn't call them nuts, just maybe strict, or - at an extreme - tending toward orthorexic.

And then there's the "talk vs. action" dimension: Occasionally, someone here has been waving the "eat clean" flag, but has had an open diary. Usually, they weren't eating noticeably "cleaner" IMO than people who were saying it was fine to eat more flexibly (the latter were eating mostly reasonably, some treat-type foods, not all pizza, pop and cookies!).

Personally, I think overall decent nutrition, on average, is important for health, but that doesn't mean some strict prohibition on arbitrary categories of food. Most foods make some nutritional contribution. For sure, a person can get OK nutrition at a Taco Bell.

I haven't had a fast-food burger since 1974 (when I became vegetarian), and don't drink soda pop more than a couple of times a year (don't much like it), but that stuff was true while I was getting fat, then obese, and staying fat. I've eaten Taco Bell, pizza, craft beer, chips, deep fried foods, etc., through that same period, including the weight loss phase (just less than a year) and maintenance since (5+ years so far). It's just food, not some melodrama about good and evil.

The portions, proportions, and frequencies have changed some, but the basic things I eat haven't really changed much at all. If I thought hard, there might be *something* I no longer eat because it never seems worth the calories, but no example occurs to me offhand.

That said, not everyone actually even *likes* fast food, or the full spectrum of so-called "hyperpalatable" foods. I mostly don't. It was still easy to get fat then obese, and stay that way for literally decades. 🤷‍♀️

corinasue1143

I eat the power bowl at Taco Bell. I thought it was health food. Grilled beef, beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole. What’s junk?
I usually drink water.

mgalsf12

I rarely eat fast food, but I definitely work wine into my caloric goal!

sgt1372

Haven't eaten any "fast food" or had can of a soda for over 5 yrs but I still eat pizza and drink beer.

It's just a matter of eating/drinking in moderation and using MFP to count cals and stay on target.

ridiculous59

I have rarely eaten fast food. Ever. But still managed to reach 232 pounds. So clearly, its not about what you eat, its about how much you eat. But before you think I'm some kind of a health nut, I have wine and pizza every Friday. And some kind of "treat" most days. Its usually chocolate, but yesterday, after taking the dogs for a hike and then coming home and mowing the front lawn, I felt I'd earned a cold cider. So, do I eat a whole lot of "junk"? No. But some calories give me more pleasure than others so I work them into my weekly budget.

Sand_TIger

Though I don't eat fast food and high calorie/low satiety foods anymore like chips, etc, I still have a few things that aren't strictly necessary that I fit into my calories anyway. Usually somewhere between 50-150 calories of stuff, sometimes a bit more. They are all portion controlled, high flavor things like ultra dark chocolate, small pieces of sugar free halva, 5 pieces of black licorice, an ounce of corn nuts, things like that. The key being to fit those calories in, measure them out, and not eat out of an open container. So far it's worked pretty well across 92 pounds of loss.

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

There's a lot of sandwiches that I eat for lunch that I eat a small bag of chips with. At some point I'll let that go but I get anxious if I tell myself I can't have them, so until that goes away I'll eat chips.

However, I've discovered that most of the time I personally find ice cream not worth the amount it costs, calorie-wise. I have a few single-serving cups in the freezer for occasions where Nothing Else Will Do, but most of the time, I'm not interested. That was not something I expected as a result of doing this.

I do like cookies, and I make space to eat a few every day. The trick for me is to never feel deprived, because that will trigger me to binge very quickly.

moonangel12

Definitely find what works for you - as long as you are honest with yourself and log it, go for it! My family has a weekly Taco Bell habit - $.99 tacos on Sundays so our family of 6 eats for $20 for lunch after church! (Hubby gets a power bowl because for some reason he can’t eat corn tortilla type stuff anymore). I have a head band that says “will run for chocolate” 😆 peanut M&M’s around around 10 calories each, I would grab a few, log them, and enjoy!

ninerbuff

Everyday. I have chips, ice cream, dried mangoes laced with sugar, and somewhere in the week I eat fast food at least once. Had onion rings yesterday from A&W as a snack.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ccrdragon

I eat dark chocolate every day, chips several times a week, pizza, the occasional cookie, donuts, etc. I have take-out breakfast tacos usually every weekend - easy to grab and go when MBH and I are doing yard work on the weekends, especially in the spring/summer when we are getting the planting beds in order and set-up for the summer and keeping them maintained.

No foods are off limits for me (except menudo - and that's because it's gross)... I just make them fit in the daily calories.

ThatCookieGurl

I am totally one of those folks who eat junk more often than I should, but I also do try to get in nutrients. Some days are better than others, but I just move on. I also don’t believe in restricting my diet because it tends to set off a negative outlook and I enjoy tasty things. A balanced diet is great for me because I still enjoy food, but I count it. Works for me, and I’m learning that is what matters.

Terytha

Meeee! I eat cookies and donuts throughout the week and we order out for fast food or pizza once a week.

I've lost 110 pounds. I have not had significant gain in over 2 years.

Eat what you want is my motto. You can get nutrition from almost any food.

cwolfman13

I meet my nutritional needs...you don't get extra credit for more broccoli (though I love broccoli). I am also a health nut, but my Popeye's Chicken that I will be having this evening doesn't magically undo all of my other nutrition throughout the day and week and month, etc. I also eat desert pretty much every night.

Good nutrition happens on a broad spectrum...it's cumulative of your overall diet as a whole, not based on an individual food item or any one particular meal.

PAV8888

ninerbuff wrote: »

Had onion rings yesterday from A&W as a snack.

Last week! I did too! With a diet root-beer!

mrmota70

Yeah I eat candy, cheesecake, bbq etc etc. However it’s all in limited quantities and I track it. If it’s cals it counts. Healthy or not. Balancing it is just getting the fuel your body needs. Of course exercise is always part of the equation. I don’t do soda and only fried food is maybe 8 wings I may have in a week from Wingstop. Don’t really do a lot of eating out or fast food. Don’t do any type of sodas and only thing I gave up since 2019 is delicious Indian Food (creams, carbs, fried and sodium) to much deliciousness to really know what I’m putting in. And checking in with a Dr for annuals is a must. Full bloodwork to keep tabs on what the insides are doing.

anna_lowe

mrmota70 wrote: »

Yeah I eat candy, cheesecake, bbq etc etc. However it’s all in limited quantities and I track it. If it’s cals it counts. Healthy or not. Balancing it is just getting the fuel your body needs. Of course exercise is always part of the equation. I don’t do soda and only fried food is maybe 8 wings I may have in a week from Wingstop. Don’t really do a lot of eating out or fast food. Don’t do any type of sodas and only thing I gave up since 2019 is delicious Indian Food (creams, carbs, fried and sodium) to much deliciousness to really know what I’m putting in. And checking in with a Dr for annuals is a must. Full bloodwork to keep tabs on what the insides are doing.

oof wingstop, the only place that makes wings hot enough for me

Lhenderson923

Definitely! Sometimes I just have to grab something while I’m out, which limits my choices. Other times I just want something that others would categorize as junk (like a candy bar or a pastry for breakfast. It’s all part of a balanced diet to me. My entire day isn’t junk food, I still get all my nutrients, but if this is long term then I need to include unhealthy things as well. I lost and maintained 60lbs previously using this method, now I’ve lost all my pregnancy weight and an additional 15lbs. So this definitely works for me.

Jordanna_Beast

Me. I've been restrictive in the past and that kind of lifestyle only led to binging. Now I eat a pretty balanced diet, but I will NOT give up chocolate. Add chocolate chips to my oatmeal, my waffles, my yogurt, I don't even care. I just log it into my diary like everything else.

icemom011

I don't eat fast food or drink soda because i don't care for it, haven't had for years. But i love chips, pretzels, chocolate, cake, cookies, candy bars and eat those every day. I have pizza here and there, because wife loves it and i join in. I have lost about 80 lbs, and in maintenance for 4 years. So just manage the calorie intake. Other than my junky snacks i eat a lot of veggies and fruit, overall a good balanced diet.

missysippy930

I eat what some consider junk food every day. I lost 1/2 my body weight, so it works for me. I just work it into my calorie allotment, and keep track of nutrition numbers.

joryrheanne

I had 2 egg McMuffins for breakfast today. Logged it.