How do you guys keep yourself from eating junk food????

Former 1/2 pound-a-day candy eater here. At first it was *really* hard to break that habit. I feel ya! First order of business: Know your trigger foods, and *never* bring them into the house. For me, it's economy-sized bags of mini-Reese's. I made a rule for myself: Cheap bagged candy (or insert your trigger food here) is on the no-fly list until I reach my goal. It's not forever. Now I've reached my goal, and am I buying cheap chocolate? No. Who knew that would happen?

That said, I have no intention of living a life without chocolate and sweets every day. I allow myself one high-fiber sweet as an afternoon snack (Fiber One peanut butter granola bar or VitaBrownie. Each of these has 7-9 grams of fiber, keeping me satisfied for 2 hours. Plus, the gastrointestinal consequences of eating more than, say 2, in a day act as a built-in disincentive to binge.:embarassed:

My Rule #2: Don't ever eat your favorite junk food alone/in the middle of the day/mindlessly. You won't even register the pleasure of eating it if you eat it while reading/on the computer, etc. Instead, I only eat it with or after a meal, in the company of at least one other person. You will eat a lot less of it in someone else's presence, and you'll be too full from the other food in the meal to overdo it. Plus, no blood sugar spike and crash because you already have real food in your system. And you'll enjoy it 5 times more because you're fully conscious of the pleasure of every bite. You'll need far less to feel like you've had enough! I always treat alcohol this way, and have never had problems or issues with alcohol.

ETA: My "junk foods" covered under Rule #2 have included: Lindt truffle balls, organic dark chocolate, homemade cookies, premium ice cream (1/3 cup), tortilla chips, and popcorn cooked on the stove top with oil.

I limit myself to a treat before bed and then go to sleep or I know id consume the entire cupboard. Its hard but maybe look at somebefore and after pics of other people posted in the forums as theyre always inspirationalxx

I stay in ketosis and that helps curb my appetite.

Then I put everything with lots of carbs and sugar on my "That isn't real food, dummy!" list and stick to it.

If I fail to stick to it I get so miserable fighting cravings all the time that it teaches me to try harder next time.

Unfortunately moderation simply does not work for me, so finally I had to give up and completely abstain.

I log everything and follow the 80/20 rule.. 80% healthy/ 20% whatever I want. If I have a cheat meal I'll make it up by eating less that day or the next day.

This!

I understand your pain. You can become a mindless zombie when you know there's some tasty junk in the house. What helps me cope is a simple strategy that I read about in an article. Instead of telling yourself "no, I can't have that" or "no, I won't have that", say "I chose not to have that". The former statements are giving food the power over you. I may sound like a quack here, but by saying you willfully chose not to eat something, you're giving yourself power over your cravings. Just by saying the phrase mentally, I've managed to deal with many many cravings. It's not a 100% sure way to cope, but it actually does help. So the next time you're staring down that plate of brownies, take a deep breath, collect yourself, and say "I chose not to eat that"

Something we that may help is to ask your parents, if they absolutely *must* buy junk, that they buy single serving containers. That way, if you're tempted by chips 1) there's no open bag to increase your temptation. 2) if you do decide to indulge, a single serving bag will take away the urge to "eat just one more chip because how could one chip hurt?"

To be honest, the cravings never go away. Anyone who says they do is either lying or really really lucky. However, *you* will get stronger if you just keep at it. Your will power will increase as you exercise it.

"if you're not willing to eat healthy, you're not really hungry you're just craving"

Amazing quote!!!!!!! And truth! :drinker:

Just don't eat it. Ok, not that simple huh. Yeah I agree that if it's not in the house then you won't eat it. I actually think it has more to do with perserverance than anything else and taking pride in the fact that you are in control of what you eat. Food is a powerful negotiator and it makes a good case to be eaten, but only you are the jury and soul decision maker. Why continue to let an outside influence control you? Who really has the power to not eat that junk food?

Everything in moderation. I don't deprive myself of anything as long as it is within my daily limit.

this isn't really answering your question...but I'm sure you are asking it because you struggle with going over your calorie goal like most of us... i try to follow the "if it fits your macros" rule...i also sometimes plan everything that im going to eat the day before...from breakfast to snack to the milk im going to put in my tea. I always make room for my junk food... things I love: 60 calore sugar free pudding (cold jello/pudding aisle) , 150 calorie ice cream cups and sandwiches (i love them because they are portioned and are not gone in 3 bites)...and 100 calorie bag popcorn its called "healthy pop" or something..I buy it from fred meyer...i swear i feel like i am cheating on my diet when i sit down with my diet root beer and 100 calorie bag of popcorn

I'm right there with you. I have been going through this for a couple of years since menopause. I've always loved my junk food since childhood but I was in more control than I am now. I think bad habits are hard to change and it just takes time. I know a lot of people will say you have to want it real bad, or we lack motivation and willpower to make healthy choices, and their probably right. So if someone would give me a million dollars I would lose the weight for sure. lol One of my problems is I don't like to cook so I find myself making something quick or going out to eat. I like to have munchies before going to bed, and the list goes on.
To start this journey get all the information you can on MFP, Sparkspeople, and books to learn all you can about nutrition, recipes and exercise. Then start trying the weight loss tips or ideas to see what will work for your body.
You are not alone change is hard and we all are in this together. You can friend me and we can support each other.

I know how you feel.

If there is no junk food in the house, I can usually cope fine. I usually just drink lots of tea, sugar free drinks or chew chewing gum - something to keep my mouth busy.

When there is food, I do eat it.

However, I usually take "weeks-off", for example, over Halloween I just didn't bother with trying to lose weight and ate what I wanted. I gained a few pounds but lost it the next week anyway.

And before I Christmas I ate very little in the anticipation of pigging out, I did, and weigh about the same as I did before starving myself so I haven't really lost anything, but I haven't gained anything either.

I like your idea!

It's so hard. Junk food is my weakness. I also have kids, so there is usually some sort of badness in our house. I don't deprive myself, though because this is a lifestyle, not a diet.

Once I deprive myself, I WILL overeat - in a major way. It is not unheard of for me to eat almost an entire package of double stuf oreos!!!

Try to incorporate a little sweet treat daily.

I eat it every day so that I wont binge - I've done it before by trying to abstain completely and I just wont go through that again.

Chocolate with my breakfast and usually a junky snack or two, especially if there are goodies at work. The trick for me though is that I have a tiny bit. Someone had german chocolate cake in for their birthday yesterday and I limited myself to a 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch piece. I savored all 4 bites and moved on with my life.

Do what works for you. Build it in your diet and be happy or abstain completely and be happy. Up to you.

I just don't have any. If you don't have it in the house, you can't eat it. I have a rule that I only eat at home so that makes it very easy for me not to eat "bad" foods.

My anti-junk food method is weird but it works for me: I have it right here, infront of me. And when it's there... I don't have the urge to eat it. Sometimes I just do, a little bit, when I earned a treat But usually I never go over one tiny sin each day (good for the soul~). irght now I got chocolate and other sweets here and I don't even want to touch them.