How do you resist junk food?

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  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,136 Member
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    I don't resist it. I don't binge on it either, which doesn't help OP at all. Since I can keep myself from eating all the food, I have no advice on how to stop eating everything.
  • SandyBVTN
    SandyBVTN Posts: 367 Member
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    Unless I know in advance that this is going to be a special flexible meal or day (in advance meaning I don't binge and then say "woops, guess this is a cheat meal!") I pre-log everything I eat. If it fits into my calorie requirement for the day, I'll eat it. But if it doesn't, and I am not willing to do a bunch of exercise to make the calories work, I don't.

    Pre plan your food. Really work on that. If you think there is a chance you might be called in, think about having something ready to bring with you. Check in about the dinner plan so you can pre-log or pre-budget your cals.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    You are going to have to do as suggested above and figure out whats behind it. Yes I know its nice, but the overeating might have a number of reasons.

    Then do as they suggested and remove the junk out of temptations way, but you might incorportae some treats if needed into your overall allowance.

    At some stage you are going to have to get more self control and figure out what you want most and why. The junk or to lose weight. Logging your food on mfp and having friends helps with that.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,143 Member
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    How do you guys resist junk food when it's right under your nose?

    I don't. I eat them in moderation and fit them into my day. I would go crazy if I couldn't have SOME treats.
  • Trueray
    Trueray Posts: 1,189 Member
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    Don't buy it. Simple.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    this is hard. avoiding junk food, fast food, binging on your favorite stuff, overdoing it with alcohol, staying within calories... it's all really really hard. it's going to take a lot of will power, a lot of avoidance, and determination.

    yes, you could not buy it regularly. but you'll have moments of weakness. it happens. there are tons of tricks you can play on yourself. lately, if i want a snack, i try and reach for a healthy option first. chips and dip during the game? let's do some carrot sticks, hummus, and pita instead.

    i have chocolate covered almonds in the house. better than just peanut M&M's (i think lol) and i literally count out a serving or two into a bowl and put the container away and walk to the living room and eat my snack.

    today i'm over my calories by 300. i'm having an "in for a penny in for a pound" moment, and really tempted to just demolish this bag of chocolate covered pretzels. but i won't... maybe.
  • br2012
    br2012 Posts: 52 Member
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    I just try to think about how much harder it will be for me to fight the cravings the rest of the day if I eat high fructose corn syrup or other sugary goodness. those things cause the cravings and set me up for wanting more and more!
  • melissaw78
    melissaw78 Posts: 214 Member
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    I find that I have a much better time resisting the things I am not supposed to have if I get my +/-80 ounces of water in a day.

    Additionally, today is just one day. You haven't failed at anything if you get right back at it tomorrow.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    You either choose to eat it in moderation and make it fit in your calorie goal, find an alternative that satisfies whatever craving you have, don't eat it at all or maybe do a cheat meal once a week.

    Personally I'm not a fan of most junk food and can take or leave it. I've got some hula hoops in the cupboard for my kids. I like them, but I wouldn't eat them. If my husband gets Dominoes I don't generally eat any as I don't like it. I do like chocolate, but I don't buy it. I'll have a treat like some homemade cake once a week usually, rather than do a cheat meal.
  • Journey0912
    Journey0912 Posts: 46 Member
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    Don't beat yourself up over it. It's already in the past. You can do nothing to change what has already happened but you CAN make better choices starting......NOW. Sugar is an addiction. I know this because I am a (recovering) sugar addict.

    I've done the same as some of the other folks have posted here: (01.) I don't keep certain foods in my house (obviously you can't help what your father brings into the house), (02.) I made the switch to 70% dark chocolate (vegan) and only "allow" myself 1/2 a "serving" once a day which is still 125 calories and 9.5 grams of fat! And more often than not I still want more after those two squares, This is where self discipline comes in and reminding myself of the damage it will do to me both mentally (I am guilt ridden and tell myself all sorts of unkind things) and physically I know it will cause me to gain weight if not kept in check so all of the other hard work I'm doing is for what then?? All wiped out because I CHOSE to pig out on some not so healthy indulgence. Are those few moments of pleasure REALLY worth the aftermath? (.03) Make your chocolate "healthier" by choosing a better quality of chocolate (which is usually more expensive so this also helps me to eat it in moderation). There are tons of recipes online that you can whip up so you can have your chocolate and not feel so guilty about it..... Like cooking up some healthy chocolate chip muffins like one member mentioned. Or sprinkle those tiny chocolate chips in with some healthy nuts, seeds and raisins. This will stretch the chocolate alot farther.

    So you made a poor choice. Everyone does. Tomorrow is a new day! Stay strong and stay the course!!

    All the best to you......................
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
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    today is just one day. You haven't failed at anything if you get right back at it tomorrow
    Yes, this.
    Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and do better tomorrow.
    Next time there's a temptation, don't go overboard. Don't deny yourself either, just have _some_.
    I live alone, so it's easier for me to tell myself "no" at the grocery store than to have some favorite temptation sitting around here calling to me.

    Maybe you could get a bag of dark chocolate chips (I like Girardelli 70%) & have a serving. (Yes, count out however many chips they say are in a serving into a bowl, put away the bag, and sit down to pay attention to enjoying your chocolate very slowly; let it melt on your tongue & don't eat the next chip until that one is swallowed.)

    "Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake.
    However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity."
    http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html
    I always tell him not to leave chocolate anywhere in my sight because I'll demolish it all but nevertheless it's alwyas in the same place and he always complains when there's none left and that they're bad for me!
    Why does he want to sabotage your weight loss?

    Is your goal weight healthy for you?
    Here's a BMI chart: http://www.shapeup.org/bmi/bmi6.pdf
    You want to be in the green range, preferably near the middle.

    Once you have a healthy goal weight, this calculator will tell you not only your BMI, but how many servings of various foods to eat to maintain that weight. If you enter your healthy goal weight, this will help you plan your food intake.
    https://www.bcm.edu/research/centers/childrens-nutrition-research-center/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html
    I wish I looked like I did 4 months ago. I NEED to lose those 15lbs.
    Your ticker says 10 lb.
    Either way, that's not much to lose, so it's going to happen slowly.
    (And if you're trying to be underweight, it's going to be even harder, and don't do it.)
    If you see 0.5 lb per week, be happy.
    To do that, you need to be 250 cal under what you're eating to maintain your current weight.
    That's not much.
    If you're aiming for (as an example) 140 lb, eat 1400 cal per day. That's TOTAL, not net. Ignore net, ignore exercise.
    When I started skipping breakfast and making my first meal of the day no earlier than 10 am, my cravings for "bad" foods became blunted. Working through your morning "hunger" seems to reset something in your brain.
    Bad advice. :angry:
    Eating breakfast is associated with lower body weight,
    and eating a large breakfast is associated with more loss of weight.

    "Breakfast is associated with lower body weight ... "
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24898236

    This study compared eating a small breakfast, medium lunch, and large dinner, [200, 500, 700 cal]
    with eating a large breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner [700, 500, 200 cal].
    "The [large breakfast] group showed greater weight loss and waist circumference reduction ... fasting glucose, insulin [&] triglycerides ... decreased significantly to a greater extent in the [large breakfast] group."
    In addition, hunger was less and satiety was greater.
    Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23512957
    Full text:
    http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

    "subjects assigned to high caloric intake during breakfast lost significantly more weight than those assigned to high caloric intake during the dinner"
    Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24467926
    Full text: http://www.tradewindsports.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Nutrient-Timing-and-Obesity-2014.pdf

    "data suggest that a low-calorie Mediterranean diet with a higher amount of calories in the first part of the day could establish a greater reduction in fat mass and improved insulin sensitivity than a typical daily diet."
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24809437
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    I'm a chocolate junkie myself. To control cravings, I stopped buying the cheap crap chocolate, like Hershey's and Dove, and switched to high quality, like Godiva and Teucher's.

    For one thing, a very fine chocolate piece is so much more intensely rich than a huge slab of waxy garbage chocolate, so I can be satisfied with less. Secondly, If I know I am eating a $3/oz truffle, I'm sure as heck gonna savor every last tiny nibble, because it was so dang expensive and I want to make it last.

    Cheap stuff encourages you to hoover it down as fast as you can and leaves you wanting more, fine quality encourages you to slow down and enjoy it.
  • Zerodette
    Zerodette Posts: 200 Member
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    OP implied she lives with her parents. A lot of you are saying "Just don't buy any treats!" without acknowledging that there are other people bringing the stuff into the house. I live with my mom and am in the same situation. You're living with someone, if they want to buy chocolate they'll buy it. (That's not sabotage by the way, despite what some might claim.) So willpower is the key, OP. You HAVE TO work on that. The more you do, the stronger it'll get.

    So here are a couple of tips other than "Don't buy it!" First, if I'm thinking of eating an unplanned treat, I drink a tall glass of water and make myself wait 5 minutes. Then 5 more minutes. Then 5 more. Etc. Secondly, I pre-log every day so I have an idea of how things will fit into my day. That makes it easier to resist, since I have a plan. Third, I'm not above making up songs that I sing to myself-- the words are usually "I'm not hungry, I don't need to eat, blah blah blah."

    Hope that helps!
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
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    I don't resist it - I track it!
  • HeyitsTay92
    HeyitsTay92 Posts: 14 Member
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    Fellow chocolate lover-- to feed my cravings I go to Whole Foods (or a similar type place) and get half a pound of dark chocolate covered cranberries or almonds. I divide them equally into 7 days. I allow myself one a day. If I exceed this and eat all in one day, for example, none til next week. It's all about discipline. I never tell myself no, just moderate what I allow. It took TIME to get to this place. About a month. So if you bite it, write it! Also pre-packing my lunches for work the night before is a life saver! Feel free to send me a friend request! :) you can do it!
  • SLSBurn
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    I know I'm not the best person to give advice, but I think you should just not buy any and use it as an incentive to lose weight, like at a certain weight you can eat junk food ya know? Sacrifice the junk food and make it eventually fade out of existence, cause it's like cigarettes in a way. It makes you feel good for awhile, and even when you know it's bad for you, you still feel the need to do it, cause it's becoming apart of your DNA. So yeah. There's my advice, take it or leave it. Good luck. And PS, use dark CACAO chocolate bars as a sweet alternative. They at least contain some nutrients and are a natural chocolate flavor. Aim for getting ones as high in cacao as you can handle. They cost more too, which is an incentive to just eat less instead of having a 50 cent Hershey's. (GOOD LUCK!!!)
  • cdoesthehula
    cdoesthehula Posts: 141 Member
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    For years and years, you have been training your body to expect little treats. After you have each one, there is a slump. You feel tired and want another little treat.

    This is something that will take you a long time to unlearn. But if you understand you only want the chocolates because your body wants a little artificial high, you can see the chocolate as a sort of trick that you play on your body.

    You need food to live. You don't need highs. If you'd never started eating chocolate, you never would have needed it.

    That, for me, is the reason I don't really eat chocolate anymore. I still get tricked sometimes, but it's not the end of the world. I just move on and start again the next day.