Have you lost weight eating "junk food"?

Yep. Moderation is key. I don't eat it all the time. I'd say I'm clean 70% of the time.

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This post was very timely for me - thank you! I have been feeling discouraged about a 2 month plateau and had no response from a post I did last week about it and didn't want to bug anyone - lol. This week (today is my official weigh in day) is the official 8th week of the plateau, and of course MFP doesn't show inches lost progress on the profile timeline, and I had lost no inches last week anyway. So when I was the same weight again this morning I really felt ready to cry, and was more worried about how I do eat junk every day, thinking maybe it really wasn't working. However if I didn't I would not have just celebrated my 105th day logging in!!! (I am not good with sticking to clean, though I try to be basically nutritious.) But to my happiness I have lost another 1/2 inch (two 1/4 inch losses totaled) and that was the first double inch lost in a while. So I am feeling more confident again that eating some junk and shooting for my calorie goal is working.

Stats: started at 185, now 175. Reached 175 2 months ago. Although admittedly, I WAS up to 183 a month ago - I only log losses, not gains. I just wait until I lose it again. I believe I gained due to a med I had to start taking (I'm in menopause) that started me retaining water - I since went on blood pressure meds again and think the two are playing with my system a bit. But I have been 175 for a month after that spike. I have lost a total of 7.25 inches, also. I am having 1800 calories and at this point now doing TDEE I do not eat back my exercise calories (where I did do so for the first 6 weeks, following MFP, but changed due to feeling perhaps TDEE would give me more results vs. the MFP approach).

I've lost 30lbs eating junk food! Well, ok it's usually 100 calories of junk food a day but you can look at my diary. I've only had cake 3 times in 5 months (at least a normal size piece), and I get the 'healthy' options at fast food places, and I had a 'cheat meal' last week but that's it though... I haven't had a mcdonald's burger or a big cup of ice cream, or fries etc. It's not worth the calories for me.

I'm not cutting out all junk food forever, just minimizing it as much as possible. When you forbid yourself from certain foods that you want, you're giving those foods power over you. Better to have them once in a while and also develop healthy eating habits that you practice most of the time.

Yep, I lost my weight doing alternate day intermittent fasting and on my non-fasting days I ate typical SAD (standard American diet). Lots of fast food, sugary treats etc etc. And I did it guilt free, because the plan only cares about calories and when you eat them. I had blood work done after doing this plan for 6 months and my numbers were excellent, including no longer being pre-diabetic.

As I started winding down my weight loss journey I started naturally feeling led to eat more natural foods. When I transitioned to maintenance in March I also started transitioning to primal eating. But, I have no regrets about how I ate while I was losing weight-the freedom of alternate day intermittent fasting gave me the motivation to stick with it. It also helped me change a lot of bad eating habits I had struggled with (like mindless night time snacking).

Now I'm almost 50lbs lighter and eat a very healthy diet It's been an incredible 8 months!

I lost 40 lbs and my husband lost 65 lbs (and is still losing). Neither of us cook so that means take-out/fast food/eating out, whatever you want to call it, every night for supper. We do try to limit it to once per day and eat snacks at home during the day. We also had a pretty healthy soda habit early on which has now I think just become a drink or two at dinner every night habit. We also work out every day except rest days a few times a month and average about 90 minutes of cardio a day.

I think we just became more calorie conscious of the foods we were eating and make different choices as a result. For example, last week at Steak n Shake, we each wanted a large onion ring until we saw the calories (800) and decided we would be fine just splitting one.

yes

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I eat what I want as long as it fits in my macros and have been seeing progress lately. Besides for a temporary weight gain after upping calories, things have been going well. I generally eat healthy and give myself something that I want per day -- provided it fits into my calories and macros, which has yet to be a problem.

How much weight did you gain? I'm a little worried about that myself.

I hit a plateau on an unhealthy low calorie diet. Upping my calories, I gained about 2kg. Within about a week or two I started losing again. Today I'm even lower than I was on the VLCD, eating more, and generally feel better. I'm planning on upping my calories again, but only by about 100 this time, because while I had a hard time filling in the 1200 at the beginning, now I'm finding myself hungrier.

I generally eat a lot of things like tofu, kimchi, natto, fish, mini hotpots in healthier varieties, steamed vegetables, raw vegetables, fruits, organic granola, etc. I also eat things like pastas, noodles, chocolate, frozen yogurt, ice cream (tofu or regular), takoyaki, and the occasional donut or high calorie drink. Last night I had Mexican.

I just am sure to keep the portions of the "unhealthier" things smaller and fit it into my macros and daily calories. I no longer have days of just eating unlimited amounts of unhealthy things, I don't restrict myself by eating only "clean" things. I'm in this for life and know I don't want to have a life of eating only vegetables and etc -- despite how I enjoy them as well.

I think the most important thing to keep in mind any time you plan on upping your calories is that you WILL put on a few pounds, and you probably will plateau for a while. Accept that it will happen, and plan to give yourself the time to let it work itself out. I have never done a VLCD, but a couple months ago I upped my calorie intake by 2-300 calories a day in order to start heavy lifting and to bring me closer to where I want to be maintenance wise when I'm done with weight loss.

My weight went up about 3 pounds and then sat there for six weeks. It was frustrating and at times hard not to panic that I wasn't getting anywhere. At the end of the six weeks the 3 pounds dropped off along with another 2.5 on top of it. It literaly just disappeared over the course of about 3 days. Now I'm losing steadily again, albeit at a slower pace, but that also was intentional.

As to the original question, my diary is also completely open. Definitely not "clean eating", plenty of healthy foods too, but I love my DQ small dipped cone on fridays!

i still eat junk food weekly but I try to keep it within my 1200 calorie limit. If I'm over I try to eat a little under my limit a few days afterwards. I know I probably shouldn't, but as long as I'm not cry in out for food I don't see any harm.

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lost almost 60lbs while eating fast food 3-4 times a week, 'processed' foods, cookies, chips etc etc. I'm now maintaining that loss while continuing to eat this way Portion sizes, keeping within your allotted calorie amount, and being aware of your macros. Simple as that!

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