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megan00
megan00 Posts: 16
in Food and Nutrition
Anybody have tips on how to kick junk food addiction?

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  • suziblues2000
    suziblues2000 Posts: 515 Member
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    Well I'll be glued to this thread because I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM!
  • angeleyes527
    angeleyes527 Posts: 31
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    All I know about addictions is you replace one for another, so taking my own advise (sweets are my downfall) you have to find another addiction to replace junk food. The last month i started P90x, I dont do it exactly i add in Jillian Michaels and brazil booty lift to break it up a bit. trying to exhaust myself, see how many calories i have to burn to burn off a blizzard. some days it works other days i say screw it and go for the blizzard. Probably why i dont look like everyone doing the program yet, but one day I hope too.
  • fxst78
    fxst78 Posts: 221 Member
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    Junk food addiction is exactly that, an addiction. It is due to the spikes in blood sugar that junk food promotes. Eat junk, blood sugar spikes, once it goes back down you feel flat so you eat more junk food. The best way to sort out your JF addiction is to regulate your blood sugar levels. This can be done my eating low GI foods, upping protein and fibre. Low GI foods are slow release so you don't get the spike and subsequent trough.
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
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    Well to begin with . . . you have to REALLY want to be healthier . . . I mean the WANT that overrides your desire to sit on the couch or eat junk food. Until you are completely fed up with the way things are and truly WANT it you will never find the willpower.

    Now that I have that out of the way (ha ha), what helped me was to apply the same principal that I used to quit smoking years ago . . . take one day at a time . . . no that is not a cliché . . . I read Bob Greene's book (he is the trainer that worked with Oprah) and he had a phrase that I now live by and LOVE . . .

    I create myself with the choices I make each day

    Don't think past today. Get up every morning, repeat the above phrase, and promise yourself (and a loved one-I promised my husband too) that you are going to eat healthy ONLY and get in some exercise today only. You may sit at a buffet for the day tomorrow, but today you PROMISE to do everything to work toward better health. Then mean it. If you only focus on today it is acheivable, thinking about the big picture is too overwhelming so it is easy to cheat because you can convince yourself that it is "only this once".

    Now step #2 - sometimes you will cave, you will have a stressful day and eat junk food. By living day by day, only focusing on today, these bad days will get fewer and fewer . . . when you are ready you need to go cold turkey. The cravings for sweets and crap will diminish with time, mine took almost 2 months . . . but they do go away.

    Feel free to add me as a friend if you need me to talk you out of a bag of chips anytime!
  • st27
    st27 Posts: 101
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    Try juicing. Get the right vitaimins into your body and it should take away those craving Add juicing to your meal plans. It should help. good luck.
  • megan00
    megan00 Posts: 16
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    Well to begin with . . . you have to REALLY want to be healthier . . . I mean the WANT that overrides your desire to sit on the couch or eat junk food. Until you are completely fed up with the way things are and truly WANT it you will never find the willpower.

    Now that I have that out of the way (ha ha), what helped me was to apply the same principal that I used to quit smoking years ago . . . take one day at a time . . . no that is not a cliché . . . I read Bob Greene's book (he is the trainer that worked with Oprah) and he had a phrase that I now live by and LOVE . . .

    I create myself with the choices I make each day

    Don't think past today. Get up every morning, repeat the above phrase, and promise yourself (and a loved one-I promised my husband too) that you are going to eat healthy ONLY and get in some exercise today only. You may sit at a buffet for the day tomorrow, but today you PROMISE to do everything to work toward better health. Then mean it. If you only focus on today it is acheivable, thinking about the big picture is too overwhelming so it is easy to cheat because you can convince yourself that it is "only this once".

    Now step #2 - sometimes you will cave, you will have a stressful day and eat junk food. By living day by day, only focusing on today, these bad days will get fewer and fewer . . . when you are ready you need to go cold turkey. The cravings for sweets and crap will diminish with time, mine took almost 2 months . . . but they do go away.

    Feel free to add me as a friend if you need me to talk you out of a bag of chips anytime!



    thanks for the advie. its much appriciated. :)
  • megan00
    megan00 Posts: 16
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    thank you. :)
  • jojoworks
    jojoworks Posts: 315 Member
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    well...this may sound obvious, but my main way to control consuming junk food is to NOT HAVE IT IN THE HOUSE!

    good luck and good eating!
  • ccornett
    ccornett Posts: 7
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    well...this may sound obvious, but my main way to control consuming junk food is to NOT HAVE IT IN THE HOUSE!

    good luck and good eating!

    This is a GREAT point, and it is sometimes obvious things like this that we overlook. If my kids have junk food in the house I have to work hard to avoid it. It's tough.
    Also I have found that it helps to have some alternatives...some treats that aren't SO bad, that I can reward myself with every now and then (assuming I'm staying under my calorie count). My favorite treat, when I've had a good day and I am hankering for something sweet, is a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich. It's only 140 calories and it is really, really good. The key is to stop with just ONE though. :-)

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