Making horrible decisions!!!!

johnsonc1977

I realize I am addicted to food. I just started this journey and I have found that the last couple of days I have slipped. My favorites are the pizza, cheeseburger, fries and mac and cheese. All overloading me with carbs.....I crave them. Any suggestions to make this just a little easier. I am easily distracted and when I feel I am too tired or not enough time, I take the easy way out. Fast Food.

Frozenangel7

Set goals with rewards...For every 5 pounds I lose I have assigned an increasingly better reward. Works for me.

pintade66

eat more often, drink plenty of water, never go to restaurant alone, don't have pizza at your home or fries, try to just have good food (that you like too)

one day a week, eat thoses pizza/cheeze.

I used to be like you but now it's fine, I was waiting my cheat day to eat pizza and thoses things and now I don't even wait after them, I don't eat them anymore too except when I'm drunk and I don't care lol

jenne29

Planning ahead is the only way. I know what I am going to have today for lunch four days before. If you know you will not be home at dinner time tonight pack a lunch. i understand wanting certain foods, you have to make a healthier version or have small portions within the calories alotted. I decided getting into a smaller pant size is a much better feeling than the short lived feeling of an extra cookie. Good Luck! Dont give up!

wpij25

try using those foods as rewards...like if I do x amount of exercise today I can have a slice of yummy pizza...ect

see if that helps, good luck and let me know how things go

lilRicki

stockpile your recipes and meal plan...crockpots are the best, or cook the entire pack of chicken breasts and freeze the left overs for another day...there are tons of different time management and meal planning tips on here. Don't forget to buy your veggies! Go to hungry girl.com for some awesome "eat this not that" recipes if you absolutely can not forgo the cheeseburgers and pizza...also this site has easy recipes (I'm going to try the flat bread pizza tomorrow I think)

OLP76

You are what you eat...! No one can do it for you...only you can! Don't buy that pizza, don't buy that cheeseburger...Like everythin' else in life...you need to train your body and mind...!

bka8

Making a meall schedule is an awesome idea and way to stay on track! Also, for your favorites - to ease out of them have you considered healthier versions? Like making a whole wheat veggie pizza? Or there's a cool recipie for mac n cheese that's vegan, I think its called Squasharoni - and that's healthier but tastes just like mac and cheese. Maybe a veggie burger? I dunno about fries, I love sweet potato fries, but they're probably just as bad.

Stick to your guns! Good luck!

DancingDreamer

there are LOTS of easy no hassle quick frozen foods that arent pure crap (they're still packaged so generally full of sodium but you can find ones that are lower) you may have to look a bit harder for them or spend a bit more for them or go to a health food store for them but trust me its worth it. i TOTALLY understand the "i dont feel like taking the time to make something" feeling (for me, i get it at lunch) but DONT go to a fast food place. have something with you at home or work that is just as quick and easy as fast food but is a thousand times better. this is what keeps me from just eating crap when i'm too lazy to cook something.

also the first couple of weeks are the hardest! stick with it, it gets easier, i promise.

orange_avocado

You could always try going cold turkey and cut out all grains. It sounds like a lot if not all of your trigger foods - pizza, hamburger, mac and cheese - are grain/carb based. I love those too, believe me! But for the last two weeks I've been avoiding them and eating only meat, dairy, vegetables, and fruits. You may have cravings, but if you stay strong you break the cycle of depending on them and can eat a lot healthier.

Is it extreme? Maybe. But it's been working for me (feel free to look at my food diary), and going cold turkey is recommended all the time for smokers and alcoholics.

bethvandenberg

Make a healthy pizza and cheese burger at home. Cook more eat out less to never. You can have what you like just in moderation. This is a way to learn to eat well and live a normal life within limits. Add more exercise when you want some food that's higher in calories. After a while you won't even like to eat the fast food as it will make you sick. Try maybe to have these foods once a week. I mean just one of them not all at once lol.

Hang in there it takes effort and dedication and time to break our bad eating habits.

BigBoneSista

You have to schedule your meals. Pre-cook your meats for the week so all you have to do is fix your sides when you get home.

How much time do you have to cook and eat? I season my chicken breast and stab them with a knife several time (cooks faster) and pop them in a 400 degree preheated oven for 20 mins and its done. Sides are cooked during the same amount of time.

Maybe you can find the time because everything being rushed isn't working for you clearly yanno?

jdpet

Make little pizzas at home using low fat english muffins, a light spread of pizza sauce and a sprinkle of low fat or fat free shredded cheese or you can go one step further and buy multi grain crackers add a dollop of pizza sauce and a pinch of low fat or fat free cheese. They are delicious! and will satisfy your craving. As for burgers, DON'T get a fast food burger EVER! Make a lean turkey burger at home with an Arnolds multi grain sandwich round.

butterflysuga111

I too crave my favorite bad foods. Most of yours are mine too. But what I do is have a cheat day. One day a week where I can eat whatever I want. I look forward to that day every week (Sunday). When that day comes I go and have whatever it was I was craving all week. Just be careful not to binge. If you binge and you have been dieting all week, your body doesnt know how to react to the food it doesnt eat all the time anymore (grease) and you will get sick. Just treat yourself to your favorite craved meal of the week and it will satisfy. I hope this helps!!

jsmjboertlein

Weight watchers frozen meals in the grocery store. They make all of that stuff and it tastes pretty good too.

JustForMe27

If cutting them out completely doesn't work for you maybe you should just try eating them in moderation. Literally have one portion of these items at a time. I haven't denied or banned anything really I just don't eat the horrible stuff often and limit the amount to a serving or sometimes a half of a serving. I know that if I start to tell myself that I CAN'T have something eventually I will give and over do it so this works well for me. Also I find a lot of good recipes for "fake-outs", really just a healthier version of the foods we like on here, allrecipes.com, and recently found skinnytastes.com. There is an excellent recipe for pizza on here called Cauliflower Crust Pizza... Hope you can figure out what works for you soon. Oh and like many of the others I agree that with food we've got to plan ahead, cook meals one day a week and freeze them if you don't always have time to cook. Good luck!

jamie1888

I find it helpful to go through a little detox..... set a mini-goal to NOT eat any of the crap for 1 week. You should find the the cravings for those things come less and less as the days goes by. Then set a new goal for the next week. I find it easier to take it in small steps. Set yourself a reward at the end of the week if you want. Learning to make healthier versions of your favorite foods is also very helpful!

JMun

MFP friends. Add them! How much are they exercising. What are they eating? They'll support you.

Pre-plan and prepare snacks etc 24 hours in advance. Then you know what you can eat and its way easier to pace yourself with food. I'm a horrible binge eater and when I first started I had to FORCE myself to change how I eat food. 6 months in I'm disciplined and relaxed with my food choices (if that makes sense).

Make attainable goals and lots of them! The only thing worse than failing is not trying at all.

Stick with it.

TankGirl71

Approach your issues with foods as a true addiction. Read as much as you can and try to understand what happens to your brain on a chemical level when you gorge yourself with carbs and fats. It is activating the same pleasure chemicals that are released when you do cocaine and heroin! That's why you want it so bad. I know for myself I can't allow myself any sweets or I lose my mind. One or two oreos? Yeah right. In an matter of minutes the whole carton has disappeared down my pie hole. In order to stay on track, I have to imagine those things as being poison. Try to find another way to get those feel good chemicals going, through exercise or pursuing another passion. Get inside your own head and try to figure out what empty hole in your soul you're trying to fill with food. There's no easy way. But with knowledge, discipline and a few MFP buddies, you can kick it.

TanyaJo

Great options Julia!

sfrugrats31

I'm horrible at those too. I LOVE bacon... but I found it's not worth the pant size either. We switched to Turkey bacon, 1/2 the fat, just don't eat double to make sure you're getting the benefit. When we make burgers on splerging days, it's leanest ground beef and we do 1/2 ground turkey and 1/2 beef. It actually makes the burger juicy and sooo good.. Never know the difference. Good luck!!

helenamonks

Make a healthy pizza and cheese burger at home. Cook more eat out less to never. You can have what you like just in moderation. This is a way to learn to eat well and live a normal life within limits. Add more exercise when you want some food that's higher in calories. After a while you won't even like to eat the fast food as it will make you sick. Try maybe to have these foods once a week. I mean just one of them not all at once lol.

Hang in there it takes effort and dedication and time to break our bad eating habits.

It took no time at all for me to start getting sick off of fast food, I went without for 11 days on the 12th day I let my self eat fast food and I was sick all day that day and all day the next day. I didnt feel normal again until the 14th day. I did realize however that avoiding those foods altogether made me realize how they really dont even taste that good. When I get a REALLY unavoidable craving, I normally either get a lean cuisine that has what I want in it or I work out extra hard to work off the excess cals, but I havent really had any that bad yet. I actually keep junk food in my house for my hubby to eat b/c he's not into whole grains, but I havent even been tempted enough to binge. Hope I could help!

123nikki123

try using those foods as rewards...like if I do x amount of exercise today I can have a slice of yummy pizza...ect

see if that helps, good luck and let me know how things go

NEVER USE FOOD AS A REWARD!!!

MemphisMarly

Trick yourself with something similar. In the past, I've eaten cereal (Raisin Bran Crunch) with chocolate milk to avoid ice cream... that's not the most low-cal meal either, but it took some willpower.

I think people who like chips could snack on cucumber slices for something crunchy. Maybe you could try carrots and cottage cheese or something. Work up to eating more and more carrots and less and less cottage cheese. For pizza, try savoring a low-fat string cheese. For burgers, make veggie burger patties. Maybe skip the bun or do a whole-grain option. Load it with more vegetables.