How do you break the addiction to fast food?

I left all $$$ at home to avoid temptation while I was out!
Good luck

My husband and I got a real eye opener when went on a budget. I figured out how much we were spending on going out for food, at the grocery stores, and at the Farmers Market for three months straight. We were shocked.

Now I spend about one quarter of that total, cook from scratch, and we all actually feel better. Maybe once every two months, we will go out for food.

We are eating so much better now and it's a huge savings on our food bill.

When I first started MFP I wasn't ready to stop my fast food addiction, but in order to stay in my calorie goal I had to really pre-plan my fast food meals. That is where you should think about starting. My breakfast was oatmeal from McD's. lunch was chili and a side salad from Wendy's. Dinner was an al fresco burrito and a side of refried beans from Taco Bell. This was all in my calorie range. Then, once you realize how much money you're spending and the crazy level of sodium in all the foods, you should naturally start to want to cook at home. Go to the grocery store every week, buy a few things that can be made in a hurry (frozen veggies, pre-mixed salads, etc.) for when you're super duper hungry and the fast food lane will become a distant stranger.

I used to eat fast food during the weekday because I honestly coulnd't image what else to eat. It was so delicious and convinient. I lived like this for about 3-4 years until I had to have a serious sit down with myself and set two goals:

1. Money: Mentally set aside $5 every day. I had the option of using it on eating out or it went into a "Ipad" account at my bank. Every Friday, I could transfer $5- $25 to this little secondary savings based on my savings. My goal was to buy myself an Ipad, but you can use it for anything.

2. Making lunch: whew! this was the difficult part. I made a little calendar for myself
Monday: Sunday dinner left overs
Tuesday: Sandwich. PB& J was the most common one.
Wednesday: Tuesday night left overs
Thursday: beans and rice (a staple in my home- i just use brown rice and pinto peans. top with cheddar, tomato or salsa, olives, and avocado if i have it. Eat it with tortilla chips)
Friday: Thursday left overs

But with both goals it took baby steps. First, I stoped buying soda pop to go with my meals. It would save me like $1.5 per day and about 150 calories too! Then I wouldn't get sides. Just buy a hamburger,no fries because i had chips at work or just the teriyaki bowl, not the double entree with an eggroll.

With all this, its not to say I won't eat out. I still get Chipotle when everyone at work orders and get In n Out when I having an awesome day cause I worked out in the morning. I just only do this once or twice a month instead of everyday.

Hope this gives you some ideas.