My name is Joseph and I need help. :/

bellygoaway

Joseph,

I don't cook either. Enter Progresso Soups! Also, I changed to the SaraLee bread that is only 45 calories a slice. I eat out several times a week, but I track everything. The first day I did that, I was shocked to see I had consumed over 4000 calories. When I saw that, it became easy to cut back. In less than a month I have lost 9 pounds (probably more as I have not had a weigh in almost a week). I am not on a diet, I am making a change. I have not gone the health/fitness nut/Nazi route. I still have cady/ice cream/regular soda on occasion. But I know that when I do that, I have to limit my calories somewhere else. Also I walk, not fast and not even for long periods, but consistently. I figure it took me a while to put these pounds on, it will take a while to put them off. If I can loose weight, anybody can. I know I am older, but that only means my bad habits have been in place longer than you have been alive.

Good luck, and you can do it!

natachan

Hi Joseph! I'm nata!

I completely understand. I'm 25 and working full time while going to college full time. And I was in the same boat as you. I ate a LOT of fast food simply because I had to rush to work, or to class, or whatnot. I still do, but it's a bit better now. I was tired, going through emotional highs and lows with the flow of food in my gut, plus (this one is kinda gross) my GI tract did NOT appreciate what I was doing.

My tips: fruits in the trunk of your car. Fruit is cheap, mcdonalds is not. Although now I'm having a problem with yogurt-covered raisins.... They're so yummy!

josepb

Yea the first step is to realize that you are addicted. It sounds like you are. I know it's not a fun word. But hey if it's true, it's true. *shrug*

Once you are ready to say "yup, I'm addicted" Then the next logical step is to say "Okay, so how do I get UNaddicted?" And that's the same for all addictions, really. Somehow you have to get to a point where you don't crave it anymore. Either cold turkey or slowly wean yourself off. In this case, I don't think cold turkey really makes sense because you don't necessarily have to never eat fast food again. We all have some fast food from time to time, it's just wise to have it way less than how often you currently have it. :P

Make tiny steps that you can accomplish right now. You don't need to make big changes all at once. Small things. Easy things. I always say that if you don't know how to accomplish something, just start with something small that you DO know how to accomplish, and worry about the rest of it later. Over time it will come to you how to get the rest of it done.

I would recommend using the blog feature on MFP to keep track of your trips to get fast food and how you felt about it. Then you can record how often you end up going in a given week, and start from there with trying to decrease how often you go in a given week.

Anyways I know this is vague but it's how I got past my emotional/psychological bumps in my roads. The most important things are to 1. Believe you can succeed 2. Always think positive 3. Never guilt yourself 4. Always be proud of whatever you can accomplish, no matter how small.

Not necessarily in that order. :P

Thank you very much for this advice, I'm going to keep it handy. Starting a blog sounds like a wonderful idea, I don't know why I hadn't thought of that sooner. Thank you!

josepb

Joseph, just making this post showed how much dedication you have to getting healthy! It is good you made the first step and admitted you are addicted to fast food. I had the same thing happen with me but with sugar :ohwell: It is going to be hard to get off it but, from your post, you know you can do it.

Feel free to add me if you want support :flowerforyou:

How long did it take you to kick sugar? I'm feeling quite helpless.

ArtGeek22

It took me about 2 weeks to get off the process sugar. I just substituted processed sugar for tons of fruit. You can do this you just need to find a healthy substitute. What I did was the swap method where is I wanted a cookie I got fruit. With you, you might want to try "I want fries, but I am gonna get carrot sticks" or whatever works. It also just takes will power but you can do it.


Keep Strong and Carry On :flowerforyou:,
Anna

MsDandimite

I find that giving my body the reward feeling it needs from somewhere "real" instead of food really helps. Do the C25K first thing in the morning or something else that really gets your heart pumping and your endorfines flowing, maybe add some intervals (can be really small!) to your walk and run. You're not physically addicted per se, but emotionally and maybe mentally. Exchange the thing you "reach for" to quiet the nagging feeling of "I need something".
Drink LOADS of water and get some multivitamin and minerals in your body.
Every time you feel the craving, drop down and do push ups or sit ups or jumping jacks or whatever. I swing my kettlebell. The happy feelings from the exercise will very soon feel like a better reward than the food and actually "fill you up" as the fast food never can, which is, I think, what makes me reach for more and more.

Good luck!