How do I stop? New here and I need advice.

TheVoiceOfGodlove

Ooh! Another thing that has worked for me is substitutions. I LOVE to cook and pretty much taught myself. A few years back, I started making changes - little, gradual ones. We shifted from white bread to whole wheat (and now they have white whole wheat that is almost as healthy). To make meat go further and cut calories, I will chop tofu up super-small and mix it in with beef for meatballs (you can't taste it at all). I'm really picky about cooked vegetables, so that's a battle I'm still fighting. I'd rather eat two whole green peppers than even half a cup of vegetable soup - ick! I make Italian Wedding Soup, but instead of the pasta, I use barley. Instead of beef meatballs, I use turkey. I use low-sodium broth, or I make my own.

And yes, I still eat fast food. Last week was hard because we had a conference at my church and no time to cook so I ate out a lot! I'm not proud, but I know I can get back on track, and a few bad days won't undo all of my hard work so far! :happy:

pikachuFL

I've done this before, too. Having a houseful of healthy foods you don't want to eat and going out and eating unhealthy foods. You have to create a diet plan that includes the foods you like. If you just have to have pizza, allow yourself to have it but limit the amount you eat and keep track of it. Instead of having a whole pizza, consider going to a restaurant where you can order pizza by the slice. Or get frozen pizza or make your own pizza at home. If you have all these healthy foods at home but eat out a lot, consider making meals ahead of time that you can take with you. You can pack a salad, fruit, and pasta to heat up, something like that. When you go to a restaurant, automatically split your entree in two and only eat half of it, then take the rest home to have the next day. There are ways to eat out and still make good choices and eat appropriate servings.

1223345

One thing that helps me is to make at home versions of the junk food. Pizza made with low fat cheese and your choice of healthy toppings is a good choice. You can buy some good pre-made small pizza crusts. It really isn't expensive either. If you want burgers, you can make your own less catastrophic burgers at home. Sure it isn't health food stil, but it is not nearly as bad as what you get when you go out for it. It wil also help satisfy the cravings and maybe get you finding more ways to fix healthy food instead of going out.

CKJ118

You still have to be able to have the foods that you love and going all or nothing is a huge challenge. There are plenty of healthy options out there that taste great and cooking light magazine shows you ways to still have what you love at lower calories. I had to eliminate the junk all at once because I knew myself and that I would come up with excuses to have just one more. I still have my coffee in the morning downsized ALOT and I still end the night with a mini Reeses, but all other things had to go for me because I know that I cannot have something like a brownie and only eat 1. It is hard in the beginning because you have to completely change your habits and have the "withdrawal" from the processed foods(took 2 weeks-habit for me with the first 3 days-withdrawal being bad), but eating healthy foods and having more energy and feeling really good is a great outcome. Good luck and you can add me as a friend.