Any luck stopping junk food cold turkey?

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resistsweets
resistsweets Posts: 21
in Food and Nutrition
I have been trying for years to eat clean, and I have a major sugar addiction I crave processed foods no matter what. When I eat healthy (or at least semi healthy) and give in on a small indulgence which I've heard is ok and important I can't stop myself I have no control. I'm thinking of banning all unhealthy foods from my house and warding off all junk and sweets cause I can't ctrl myself when they're near. Anyone have same problem?

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  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
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    I haven't managed cold turkey but I'm not really trying. But honestly once I got used to eating healthy I don't really crave it and hardly ever eat it. Junk food fulfills it's intended purpose for me. I.e a quick stop gap when I am way too busy for anything else. Once in a blue moon.
  • ukaryote
    ukaryote Posts: 874 Member
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    It's all about habits.

    I had to ban junk food from the house to get off the habit. Potato chips are my special weakness. Junk food to me also includes those "healthy" energy and granola bars with 200, 300, or more calories each. A Hershey bar only has 200 calories, for pity's sake!

    It was not cold turkey. I did not get rid of all junk food right away and sometimes back-slid and brought home a bag of chips. It took a good 3 months to build the habit of not bringing in junk food.

    -- edit -- I did not substitute sugarless candies and gum for the standard. The main reason is, we have several dogs,and the artificial sweetener xylitol is deadly to dogs. They are more sensitive to it, and xylitol causes their blood sugar to drop precipitously to fatal levels. One pack of sugarless gum snagged from the counter and it's bye-bye Husky.
  • Lelah77
    Lelah77 Posts: 177 Member
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    I have found that I have a lot less interest in snacking on crap now that I am eating more wholesome foods. I still want a candy or chips once in a while, but I also find they don't taste quite as good anymore. Cakes and things are too sweet for my palette. A bite or two satisfies my craving. I cringe admitting that, because I used to roll my eyes at people who did just this, but it is true.
    However, if I do want chips or something, I simply eat it, log it, and move on!
  • greenaznpanda
    greenaznpanda Posts: 11 Member
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    For me, not buying it helps A LOT! Out of sight, out of mind. I do occassionally cave in and buy a small snack sized pouch of chips. Chips and anything crispy and salty is the bane of my existence and I just can't resist.
  • Soggynode
    Soggynode Posts: 1,179 Member
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    I have found that I have a lot less interest in snacking on crap now that I am eating more wholesome foods. I still want a candy or chips once in a while, but I also find they don't taste quite as good anymore. Cakes and things are too sweet for my palette. A bite or two satisfies my craving. I cringe admitting that, because I used to roll my eyes at people who did just this, but it is true.
    However, if I do want chips or something, I simply eat it, log it, and move on!
    ^^This. It just doesn't really interest me anymore. I have plenty of headroom on my log for chips and candy and such but I look at it in the store and it just kinda looks... meh. Going cold turkey on diet coke... that was much more difficult for me for some reason.
  • theCaityCat
    theCaityCat Posts: 84 Member
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    I stopped diet soda cold turkey. It was awful for about two weeks. However, once the cravings subsided, so did the desire to eat a lot of junk food. Artificial sweeteners trigger a lot of junk food cravings for me. So yes, I had good luck. I partake in the occasional bit of junk food, but I have not had artificial sweeteners in a month and a half, and I am better for it.
  • pammyd76
    pammyd76 Posts: 42 Member
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    I've been told that will-power is like a muscle; the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. I'm still learning this. But, I have had to go cold turkey because, like you, I can't moderate self-control. So far, so good - I've just said no. It was tricky a couple of nights ago, my kids were eating pizza (which I love). I so wanted some that I put it in my diary, planned for it, but while I ate my lovely small steak and veg dinner (which was yum!) I had to wrestle my will and tell myself I don't need it. I knew that if I start making allowance, it'll get out of control. I had to wrestle myself all night - but I felt so proud and happy the next day when I could say I didn't give in. So, be encouraged, cold turkey hurts in the short term, but it is doable.
  • skytoads
    skytoads Posts: 79
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    It never worked for me, I just focused on adding more healthy foods so I had less time/desire to eat snacks.
  • LiveLoveLift67
    LiveLoveLift67 Posts: 895 Member
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    I love sweets and have been having an affair with cupcakes for a long time now. My friend recently challenged me to 30 days with NO sweets ....no candy, cupcakes, cookies , bakery items etc.....i am on day 25 and while it was hard at first with these things all around me, i am doing fine now. I eat fruit when i feel like having something sweet and i hardly crave it any longer. I think the cravings for me now are all just mental and i really dont want the junk,. Ive lost a few lbs in the 25 days and i am going to keep up with not having them after the 30 days pass.

    Next up for my Sept challenge....no chips. I LOVE chips but not as much as cupcakes so it should be easier.

    If you want something bad enough you can do it. Its not easy at first but, the results are worth it.
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
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    I tried quitting cold turkey when I first started but it led to binging, which was not something I had ever done before. A few repeats of that and I realized what I was doing, which scared me. Then I realized it wasn't all about cutting the bad stuff out, but more about cutting back and replacing it with an increased amount of the good stuff. And then I started looking at hitting my nutrient levels and making sure I got them in on a daily basis... and then cutting back on the bad stuff (truly bad stuff, the kinda stuff that doesn't even taste good but you used it eat it cuz you were addicted to salt or sugar (or fake cheese flavour, and lowest of low quality meats in my case)) became easier.

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