How do you break the addiction to fast food?

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Jessruns
Jessruns Posts: 25
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all,

I would love to hear from anyone who has had success ending their relationship with fast food. I feel like it's really what is holding me back the most in terms of my progress. I've gone without for a few days or even a week or two, but I always seem to come back. What has helped you the most in ending the addiction?

Thank you!!
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Replies

  • SayLiLIG
    SayLiLIG Posts: 197 Member
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    I'd love this secret too. I think you just have to make it a goal. Im not gonna eat fast food for a week, and then when the weeks over make it a goal for the week after as well. Just have to take strides is what I keep telling myself.

    :D
  • cowgirlashlee
    cowgirlashlee Posts: 301 Member
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    What stopped me from eating it so much probably won't help a lot of people, but I looked at my bank account, saw how much I was putting into eating junk for so long, and realized that I can eat food that's just as good if not better (almost always better) from home if I just make myself pack it.

    I spent several days not carrying my debit card or cash around, therefore forcing myself to bring my own food. And for the most part it's worked. I only eat out now if my family or fiance are buying.
  • MemphisKitten
    MemphisKitten Posts: 878 Member
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    Look up some articles about the ingredients in fast food and what they do to your body. And check out the KFC post from earlier where the guy found a chicken brain (or kidney) is his bucket.
  • RVfrog
    RVfrog Posts: 213 Member
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    watch the movie super size it....that should do it.
  • LuccyH
    LuccyH Posts: 266 Member
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    Simple, dont eat it.
  • elexichoccyeater
    elexichoccyeater Posts: 310 Member
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    Buy healthy ready made meals ... It's easier to put them in the microwave and they have the calories on the box! Eat them with a whole heap of veggies... Or.... Cook from scratch and treat your self with the money you save x if this doesn't help.. Move to the countryside where there are no fast food restaurants! Xxxxxx be strong.. How much do you want this? X
  • ichorica
    ichorica Posts: 475 Member
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    Stop buying it! Make your own fast food by prepping grab and go meals/ snacks. Just say no! Good luck ladies!
  • bookworm_847
    bookworm_847 Posts: 1,903 Member
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    My husband and I used to eat fast food 4 or 5 times a week. Now we'll eat it maybe once a week when we go out grocery shopping... just sort of as a treat. As for the rest of the time, I started making some of our favorites at home. My homemade pizza, hamburgers, and french fries have become some of our favorite dishes to have at home. There are really easy recipes for pretty much everything online.

    I'm not sure if it would work for everyone, but just making the stuff at home when we can use better ingredients has helped. It's also helped that we haven't made fast food "forbidden," just not as frequent.
  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member
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    here's the secret. Stop eating fast food.
  • Bobby__Clerici
    Bobby__Clerici Posts: 741 Member
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    I broke my addiction by eating fast food 3 or 4 times each week.
    It was not easy, and one must never give up the fight. There were times I thought I was ready to just quit, but I knew in my heart that I never need to settle for defeat.
    I could rise above this addiction, and I did.
    Today, I enjoy McDonald's, KFC, Taco Bell, Sonic, Burger King and other places free from the shackles of addiction.
    It's nice to finally be rid of that bondage.
    I am like a bird who finally learned to fly...
    :drinker:
  • anjoneill
    anjoneill Posts: 98 Member
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    You really need to cut all junk food out of your diet for at least a month. During that time your tastes will change and you will no longer crave the sugar and salt in the junk food. You then need to restrict the consumption of junk food to no more than once a week but less frequent if possible. It gets easier as time passes and you will learn the triggers that set you backwards again and so will be able to avoid them in the future.
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
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    Meal planning!! My work schedule is all over the place and it's so easy to stop by the drive thru when I get of at 11 at night. I meal plan instead and cook at home. If I know what I'm going to be eating, I don't resort to fast food.
  • verykristin
    verykristin Posts: 40
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    If quitting cold turkey doesn't work for you, take smaller steps. If you usually get a burger and fries, switch to the smallest burger and get a salad. Leave yourself enough calories so that it doesn't ruin your day, and let it be a once-a-week treat. Try making healthier versions of things like tacos, burgers, pizza at home, so you can still partake in the foods you love and get some nutritional value from them.
  • UKMarjie
    UKMarjie Posts: 257 Member
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    The first thing is looking at what is in the food. Like see pictures and really look at how it is prepped - if you can stomach a lot of it after that then start comparing it nutritionally to other food - like straight compare veggie burgers to a McD's cheese burger - see what is in one and the other and what their value is. Also, give yourself like a month of not eating it - and then when you go back see what your body reacts like...I ate some cinema popcorn recently after not eating any processed food for a month and had a hangover the next day...
  • mrswaite08
    mrswaite08 Posts: 93 Member
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    Watching my almost 2 year old daughter have food poisoning for a week from eating part of a happy meal from McDonald's did it for this family. We've been fast food free for a couple of months now. (Even before that it was a rare treat, it's very bad for you & expensive)
  • GurleyGirl524
    GurleyGirl524 Posts: 578 Member
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    looking at the nutrition facts did it for me. I can eat 1 fast food meal a day, or I can have 3 healthier meals a day AND snacks.
  • Olivia1977
    Olivia1977 Posts: 84 Member
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    Portion control with everything is the key. Stick to portions and you will be fine. If you can't portion it, then avoid it. My weaknesses are salt, sugar, and ice cream especially that tom.
  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member
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    also, just to give you some support:

    the longer you go without eating that stuff, the easier it is to do. I crave things like collard greens. And I whine when people want me to eat fast food because to me it tastes gross. It'll happen to you too.
  • whitneyps7
    whitneyps7 Posts: 409 Member
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    The first thing is looking at what is in the food. Like see pictures and really look at how it is prepped - if you can stomach a lot of it after that then start comparing it nutritionally to other food - like straight compare veggie burgers to a McD's cheese burger - see what is in one and the other and what their value is. Also, give yourself like a month of not eating it - and then when you go back see what your body reacts like...I ate some cinema popcorn recently after not eating any processed food for a month and had a hangover the next day...

    wow...this ^^^^^^^ i totally agree
  • eylia
    eylia Posts: 200 Member
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    While it isn't 'ideal' weening yourself off it may work better than just stopping. If you allow yourself to have it once a week or so for a little while, and cut down until it's almost never/never. You might find you're less inclined to really crave it, and snapping and binging like mad when you do. Fast food tastes differently to 'real' food, and your taste just needs to adjust to not wanting it. Try searching online for some recipes that fall close to what you usually indulge in and see if you can find a healthier home made version that makes you happy. As others have said, after a it gets much easier to avoid the longer you go without it; I feel quite ill after I eat it now, and don't enjoy it at all.

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