Mourning my fast food ritual

fastfoodietofitcutie

I know I can still eat fast food but I'm trying to limit it to once a week or every other week. On my way home from work I would get an insane amount of fast food and I would come home, plop myself in front of the tv and watch some bad reality tv for the rest of the evening. I live by myself so this is easy to do.

I still come home and watch bad reality tv, but watching while eating a chicken breast and vegetables just isn't the same. I've tried recreating the fast food I love but I really don't want to spend all the time after work plus it's just not the same.

I'm truly mourning my fast food and after work ritual and it's sad. I feel like I have nothing to look forward to now.

Alisha_countrymama

I know exactly how you feel that was me 2 years ago. Fast food junkie. Me and McDonalds were BFF's.

jynxxxed

I feel like I have nothing to look forward to now.

You have your health to look forward to. Added years of your life, plus all of the awesome selfish reasons like looking better in clothes (and out of clothes).

norcal_yogi

try and incorporate something social... a walk with friends...a weekly get-together..something. you can also have your healthy dinner in front of the tv, but plan a treat for yourself daily that stays within your calorie goals (so you can look forward to it!). :-)

arcticfox04

Just plan getting some fast food into your log. Say 1 night you go out and get a reward meal for being good for the rest of the week. Losing weight should be fun not a punishment. You can make anything work just got to have go planning. I lost 105lb's and I might get fast food 4-5 times a week just I make sure it fits in my daily carb/fat/protein macro's.

stunningalmond

I sometimes miss the taste of a good ol' big mac, but in no way do I miss the disgusting feeling I'd get after eating it. Bleck!! It's all about breaking the habit though. Stick with it. Before you know it, you won't even want the junkie stuff once a week

myofibril

I'm truly mourning my fast food and after work ritual and it's sad. I feel like I have nothing to look forward to now.

Apart from being slim, healthy and gorgeous....

MaraDiaz

I was mourning my morning egg and cheese biscuit from McNasty. Then I looked up the ingredients. There is a lot more than egg in that egg! EWWW!

LuckyLeprechaun

You are allowed to eat all the fast food you want.

But if you want to lose weight you are going to have to be in a calorie deficit.

So the choice is, are you willing to work out enough to overcome those calorie-dense meals? I'm not being sarcastic, I know LOTS of HIGHLY successful members here who regularly eat pizza, ice cream, drive-thru food, and they can maintain their results because they work out a lot.

If you aren't willing to work out at that level, (and that's totally OK), then yeah, you're gonna have to eat fewer calories in order to lose.

You have to choose a level of activity. Being sedentary doesn't use much energy, so you don't get to eat so much if you wanna sit.

Running and lifting and doing stuff uses more energy, so you get to eat more.

YOU get to choose, that's the beauty of it!

krisiepoo

Just remember that you're making a lifestyle change and that you're not on a diet. Diets are restricted and tell you what you CAN'T eat when you need to figure out that you CAN eat anything you want, just in moderation.

Find some new foods, new rituals, something you can do for the long term.

You should be celebrating the new you

Crankstr

You are allowed to eat all the fast food you want.

But if you want to lose weight you are going to have to be in a calorie deficit.

So the choice is, are you willing to work out enough to overcome those calorie-dense meals? I'm not being sarcastic, I know LOTS of HIGHLY successful members here who regularly eat pizza, ice cream, drive-thru food, and they can maintain their results because they work out a lot.

If you aren't willing to work out at that level, (and that's totally OK), then yeah, you're gonna have to eat fewer calories in order to lose.



You have to choose a level of activity. Being sedentary doesn't use much energy, so you don't get to eat so much if you wanna sit.

Running and lifting and doing stuff uses more energy, so you get to eat more.

YOU get to choose, that's the beauty of it!

yep...plenty of room for treats.

concordancia

I find that eating with my hands helps me feel like I am indulging - veggies with hummus dip, celery or apple slices with peanut butter, cheese and popcorn...even the occasional sandwich, made on sandwich thins. All of these make great substitutes when eating in the living room.

homelystar

Maybe healthier snacks with special textures would help too? Soy nuts, roasted almonds, puffed Kashi, freeze-dried fruit...depends on what you like, of course. Or making a smoothie with ingredients you particularly like?

Shal1217

Ugh I know how you feel, in the beginning it's hard but honestly, you'll feel (and look!) so much better if you resist the temptation most of the time. I think the issue here is that you've associated fast food to a ritual that relaxes you so that's why you may be mourning more than some.

I stopped eating processed foods and the first time I ate McDonalds as a treat, I got SO sick afterwards so I don't even think it's worth it anymore, no matter how tempting it is. It takes time to get to that point but trust me, it's worth it!

Hinxx

I used to be like that for a period of time in my life. I know it might be hard to break the habit but this is what I do:

1. Find the food you like best.
2. Look for DIFFERENT SIMPLE recipes online to make that food so that it's not so much work.
3. Find healthy substitutes, for example: instead of french fries make baked sweet potato fries.
4. DO NOT make it so difficult for you that you end up despising healthy food. It's not a change of diet, it's a change of lifestyle. If you keep pushing yourself to eat "chicken and veggies" all the time, of course you're gonna miss fast food. There are thousands of healthy alternatives out there!


I hope this helps and if you need any help looking for recipes, let me know!

Woolooloo

Pick your favorite show and get fast food on that night. Otherwise break the cycle. Not to be mean, but sitting around watching reality TV every night won't do anyone any favors. Find something else to do the other nights, and hopefully the association you have with reality TV and fast food will go away since your routine will be completely different. It seems like this is a chance to improve your life overall, not just your health.

Mjhnbgff

That all sounds very ritualistic. If you take away part of the ritual (the food), coming home and watching t.v. just isn't the same, which is why you're feeling so sad. If you keep doing that, you'll eventually fall back into the ritual. Believe me, I know. You need to break the ritual. The only way I have been able to stop bingeing in the evenings is to not come home right away. Instead of going home, most days I go to the gym straight from work. Or I do errands. After working out for an hour or two, I'm hungry but I don't feel like bingeing because bingeing after exercising was not part of my ritual. I have broken the ritual by not doing what I used to do (buy food, go home, eat in front of the t.v.). The urge to binge fades with time but I have learned to recognize the warning signs that I will binge so I take precautions to not go home right away. It still happens now and then but the binges are only once in a while. Being active is the only way I have been able to stop bingeing.

I don't know you at all but what you describe sounds a lot like depression. This really isn't about fast food vs. chicken breast and veggies. Please get screened.

bailuna

Ugh, I so know how this feels. I freaking LOVE fast food. And no amount of anyone telling me how gross/bad it is will stop it. Burger King and McDonalds and I were very, very close. And so easy when I don't feel like making dinner!

I have no solutions to this yet, but you're definitely not alone.