Please help...can't stop eating junk!

You can always write me if you feel stressed and feel like youre gonna buy junk food. I do this with another friend....We talk each other out of it.... It really takes a team to get in the habit

I am the same. Just a warning....I have been doing this for SO long that it is HABIT now!! I eat wonderful creative proper meals, but then sabotage my diet efforts with extra junk food binges...sweet, salty, ..its ridiculous!! I know what has to be done, but don't seem to have the drive and willpower to stop it. I plan, plan, plan every day and blame cold winter weather, AGE.. or whatever.... I f you're young try hard to get a hold of this bad habit right away...just saying!

Don't buy it... Don't bring it into your house.

I've been at the grocery store many times and picked up things I should'nt be getting and I just have to put them back. You're in control.

Have you stocked up on healthy snacks? Having plenty of healthy snacks on hand can help avoid that unnecessary trip to the convenience store. But it sounds like the issue may be that you are using the snacks/tv to avoid doing what you don't want to do - your school work. Make sure to take breaks while doing your work and save time at the end of each day for those activities (tv/youtube) after your work is complete.

One thing that I do is I look through Pinterest for healthy recipes. I found Chocolate Mudslide Oatmeal (sounds sinful, right?) and it really helps to give me the idea of mmm chocolate without pissing off the MFP numbers and making myself feel bad. Really worth trying!

I do the same thing. It helps me put off doing something I don't want to do like cleaning the house. Maybe you are doing the same thing to stop from studying. Doesn't make sense but usually overeating doesn't. Figure out what your trigger is. Mine is sitting on the couch (only for a minute I say to myself) and it turns into an hour on the computer or watching tv all the while stuffing my face with food. What is your trigger? Is it sitting down to study? Walking by the convenience stores? Try to figure it out then change it. When I get home from work I don't sit down, I head right upstairs and start picking up, laundry etc by the time I get back downstairs the thought of mindless eating has usually left me. Work in progress but it is a start.

If you don't have money to spend on junk, then you won't spend it. Sounds like your trigger is stress, and you are avoiding work because it sounds overwhelming. Make up a list of healthy whole foods that you like, and go buy them for snacking while studying. Things like grapes or veggies and dip. Then put away your bank cards so that you don't reach for them.

If your school offers counselling then set up appointments with a counselor so you can break down all your school work obligations an set up plans to get the work done. Does your school have a gym? If so, then set up gym times between studying. And if your school doesn't have a gym, then maybe you could take the money you are spending on junk and get a gym membership or personal trainer instead. Or, look at how much money you are spending on junk and put it into savings instead, for a trip somewhere in the world as a treat for when you complete your school year.

Food therapy can be extremely helpful for these types of behaviors. Or, maybe therapy in general. Not saying you're crazy, at all-- just saying that there's an underlying issue that it might be helpful to talk to someone about. I have a food obsession that stems from years of an eating disorder-- I spent so much time thinking about food, and when I got pregnant and stopped denying myself, I went nuts. That's where I am now. I still think about food all the time-- what I could eat, what I should eat, etc.-- but I just try to obsess over things that aren't completely bad for me. I still buy junk, but it's getting easier to ignore it. I've had a box of Thin Mints for almost a week now, and I think I've had about 10 of them!

Keep junk out of the house, save the money for better things. Keep in mind that while a treat once in a while is great, junk is detrimental to your health and well being.

erinm5 wrote: »

Make one small change at a time. If you go ahead and try and cut it all out at once then it seems like torture. But try with baby steps. If you are going to the store, instead of buying chips, chocolate, candy pop etc, just buy one. Small changes work to build good habits. You can do this!

^^^This^^^
I was a major bing eater too. I would be good all day and then destroy it at night when I got home from work. I lost 90lbs and put 20lbs back on because of my binge eating habits. I knew I had to get it under control and the only way was to allow myself treats here and there or I would crave it and then binge. I started with slowly cutting out the crap food and adding in better choices and making sure I track everything. You have to have the mind set that you want this or it won't work. I knew I hated how I felt after I ate those things and if i get the urge I ask myself do I truly want it or I am trying to fill another need and is it worth the calories for that day. At that point I am able to walk away and not eat it and then feeling of pride comes and that is the best feeling ever!

helpful for me to have a variety to good things stocked to snack on. I'm familiar with the runs to the convenience store - it was a combo of boredom, avoiding the work I should be doing, and medicating with food. There was always healthy stuff around, but unless there's a big variety, I stare at it and think, "there's nothing there I want" and off I go to find something that fits the moment. So I try to keep sweet, savory, salty, and crunchy, and gooey/creamy categories stocked all the time, but in healthier options. Then there's something to satisfy every craving right at hand.

jmurphy2529 wrote: »

I do not keep anything in the house that I am prone to binge on. I actually bought a safe that when I do buy foods that I am prone to binge on go directly in the safe. My two teenage daughters only have the keys.

This, really is... extreme. Might I suggest that you relable ´binge´ as ´addiction´ instead? That is what I have been forced to do. A good number of years ago I was a thin regular person. In fact, I was perhaps unusual, in that I normally declined cookies when offered, never ate ice cream and seldom bought a chocolate cake. Etc, etc.

Then I developed a depression - without being aware of the fact - and practically began living on junk food. In a snap I then gained about 30 kg of extra body fat. To cut a long story much shorter, I eventually managed to get rid of those kilos by using paper, pen, calculator, calorie lists and one heck of a discipline (pardon spelling errors or grammar; English is neither first, second or any normal language of mine).

Though, now sugars and fat had become true addictive substances for me, and the only safe path was to NEVER keep junk at my place. Even today I must live by that rule - otherwise I ´inhale´ the stuff within hours of purchase.

Then, if I am that firm about junk, why am I here at MFP? Well, two years ago (minus one month) I kicked the other delibitating addiction - nicotine... And surprise, surprise, a lot of kilos started to accumulate. Just by using regular food; and falling now and then for the candy siren ;-) Having truly educated myself about the nicotine addiction, I can place the junk addiction at the same severity, and use the same successful strategies: One day at a time - No candy TODAY - One is never enough - As long as it stays on the store shelf I can resist! Asf...

Perhaps a bit of a rant, but addictions are close to my heart. They can be beaten, though with the rigid rule that for eg. nicotine, I can _never_ take another hit. I am a ´sober´ nicoholic, and will always be.

Marchmallow wrote: »

I recommend keeping a cravings journal, where you write down the time and date, what you're craving and how you are feeling at the same time. Chances are that confronting it in black and white on the page can help you talk yourself out of doing it.

Don't forget to highlight in bright cheerful colors the times you resisted temptation and didn't give in to the cravings!

Also, the more junk you eat the more you crave it. So it does get easier the further you get away from it. The products you crave are actually manufactured to make you crave it. So @superwillpowered‌ it is a matter of willpower, but not •just• a matter of willpower.

Mine is chocolate. ..But only eat a very small amount. Then know you need to workout [/To compensate. For it .

i usually just avoid the food isles with all the junk in when im shopping, if I can't see it I can't be tempted to get it. cause when i see it i tend to buy it in bulk and im way too poor to be doing that now