help...Im eating too much junk food.

Can I recommend the documentary 'Fed Up'. It discusses lots of the issues surrounding weight loss including the issue of sugar addiction. Also I just want to add that although people can lose weight with no regard to their nutritional intake that is not a healthy way to live and nor will it help you keep off the weight. A balanced and varied diet is just common sense.

Oh OP. I fear you are going to get lost in the mix of bad responses and arguing.

The advice to reevaluate your goals to make sure they are reasonable (0.5 lbs/week is probably right if you do only have 15 lbs to lose) will likely give you a larger total calorie budget with which to work.

Once you do that, it will probably be easier to plan your day to fit in primarily nutrient dense, satiating foods, and still budget to have small portions of the sweets and chocolates that you've been binging on. For many people, total restriction is what triggers the need to binge, and if you overcome the mindset that these foods are bad, then it is possible you can be satisfied with eating them in moderation. If you still find they are trigger foods for you, even after trying to work them into an overall balanced day, then yes you may need to restrict them for a time.

To those arguing whether or not someone said she should only eat ice cream all day, I don't think anyone logical actually suggested that. The comment that you can still eat the things you want and lose weight is usually understood to mean that in the context of an overall balanced diet where one is meeting macro and micro nutrient targets, it is possible to still enjoy things like ice cream, in moderation.

TiJoGa wrote: »

mwebster11 wrote: »

Ive been eating candy bars and frozen yogurt(chocolate) for the past two weeks.its putting me well over my calorie goal of 1200.any suggestions on how to stop binging like that?I've been on a weight loss journey for four and a half months,and I lost twenty lbs.I don't want to gain any back,but I've been craving chocolate a lot.any suggestions????

I took a look at your diary just for the last couple days and I can sympathize. I would eat chocolate bars and ice cream all the time if I could do that and stay within my calories. (I can't because a serving always leads to ten with me - I'm not saying no one can...)

What helped ME, and take what you will from it, was getting the stuff I felt no control over out of the house. It was hard to "waste" that money but my husband's co-workers were pretty happy with the large donation of snacks for the breakroom

At first I thought I couldn't eat any kind of "junk food" but over time I learned that while I'm out of control around mini candy bars, I'm ok with extra dark (83%) lindt squares. I can eat a whole bag of chili Fritos without a second thought but I can easily portion sea salt kettle chips.

Not everyone will understand me but there are just foods that trigger an uncontrolled spiral that end with me feeling like crap so I just don't have them around.

This is my recommendation too. Some people are able to have a tub of Icecream in the house and eat just a bit everyday or every other day. Others are well, not. OP I actually really respect your ability to eat that stuff and stay within your calorie goal :laugh: The days you went over, it seems to only have been by a little, and on other days you went over 1200 calories but don't forget you can eat back exercise calories and still be at a deficit.

Cosign reevaluating the goals to see if you can do more than 1200. And I didn't see your stats posted

Also I don't think you necessarily have to waste the food. You can always wait till that batch is gone and then make different grocery shopping decisions next time, like buy just the single servings of treats if that'll work for you, etc

Op maybe doing subsutitions...cut up a banana, freeze once the banana is frozen put in a blender with cocoa powder. This will give you a chocolate flavor and ice cream flavor without all the calories. I have a huge sweet tooth and this always seems to be the fix for me.

Bshmerlie wrote: »

SLLRunner wrote: »

Bshmerlie wrote: »

Obviously no one here has actually looked at the OP'S diary. There is more ice cream, candy bars, whip cream and popcorn than actual food. And you can seriously say this has nothing to do with weight loss. Yeah sure you could probably lose weight if you only consumed 1200 calories of ice cream and candy bars but you would also have diabetes and be dead by the time your 40 years old. The OP asked for help to curb the overcompeling desire to eat junk food. My suggestion is get it out of the house until they're ready.

Sugar doesn't cause diabetes.

Food type has nothing to do with weight loss, though nutritional balance usually makes us feel better.

Again, has anyone bothered to look at her diary? Eating 1200 calories of crap is still crap and is not a good solution to long term weight loss.

I'm with you. I keep trying to say this in other threads and I always get bashed with "nutrition doesn't matter, all you need to do for weight loss is reduce calories." Terrible advice, IMO.

whmscll wrote: »

Akimajuktuq wrote: »

galgenstrick wrote: »

hgurke wrote: »

Chocolate craving can be a sign of an iron or magnesium deficiency (if you're not just craving the sugar). It might be worthwhile to look into a multivitamin/supplements, if you haven't already.

Cravings have no connection to deficiencies in your body.

Cuz the human body won't give signals when it's malnourished? Really? A diet based on junk food usually results in many micro-nutrient deficiencies and craving and bingeing are just two very obvious symptoms of that.

I'm not in support of supplements necessarily, but I would recommend to stop eating so much junk food and replace it with nutrient dense whole foods. Good place to start.

Did someone just say sugar doesn't cause diabetes? Um, wrong in SO many cases. omg, I am so out of here, the bs is just too much.

That was my favorite. This thread has been the most entertaining one all day. I'd love for some researcher to follow some of the people on here and see how many of them end up with diabetes and heart disease in 10 years.

There is nothing wrong with eating ice cream and treats and whatever being part of a balanced diet. The problem is when people come on here and tell someone who's diet consists 80% of sugar that its ok because you know, it has nothing to do with weight loss. A diet high in sugar can cause detrimental damage to the body... i can lose weight being anorexic but that doesn't mean its healthy. The worst part of this website is the attitude of welp if its calories in calories out nothing else matters. I could live off of a bag of Doritos and lose weight but i surly won't be health. Macros are NOT the only thing that matters I was on my DEATH BED in the hospital for weeks due to a SEVERE potassium deficiency... but you know... none of that matters as long as i fit my macros.

fishshark wrote: »

whmscll wrote: »

Akimajuktuq wrote: »

galgenstrick wrote: »

hgurke wrote: »

Chocolate craving can be a sign of an iron or magnesium deficiency (if you're not just craving the sugar). It might be worthwhile to look into a multivitamin/supplements, if you haven't already.

Cravings have no connection to deficiencies in your body.

Cuz the human body won't give signals when it's malnourished? Really? A diet based on junk food usually results in many micro-nutrient deficiencies and craving and bingeing are just two very obvious symptoms of that.

I'm not in support of supplements necessarily, but I would recommend to stop eating so much junk food and replace it with nutrient dense whole foods. Good place to start.

Did someone just say sugar doesn't cause diabetes? Um, wrong in SO many cases. omg, I am so out of here, the bs is just too much.

That was my favorite. This thread has been the most entertaining one all day. I'd love for some researcher to follow some of the people on here and see how many of them end up with diabetes and heart disease in 10 years.

There is nothing wrong with eating ice cream and treats and whatever being part of a balanced diet. The problem is when people come on here and tell someone who's diet consists 80% of sugar that its ok because you know, it has nothing to do with weight loss. A diet high in sugar can cause detrimental damage to the body... i can lose weight being anorexic but that doesn't mean its healthy. The worst part of this website is the attitude of welp if its calories in calories out nothing else matters. I could live off of a bag of Doritos and lose weight but i surly won't be health. Macros are NOT the only thing that matters I was on my DEATH BED in the hospital for weeks due to a SEVERE potassium deficiency... but you know... none of that matters as long as i fit my macros.

You forgot the most important part of the story. Were you eating Doritos all day?

If you are having trouble eating the sugary stuff in moderation, it is best to cut it out completely. That's what I did, and I am now a healthy weight while I used to be obese.

The more sugar I ate, the more I craved. It had nothing to do with not eating enough or "depriving myself". It was just simply that a little sugar caused cravings for even more sugar and it was a vicious cycle. Some people can eat that in moderation with no problem Others can't. You are eating VERY high amounts of sugar which is not leaving room to get the other things in you need for a balanced healthy diet. Cut it back, and if you can't....cut it out completely.

whmscll wrote: »

Bshmerlie wrote: »

SLLRunner wrote: »

Bshmerlie wrote: »

Obviously no one here has actually looked at the OP'S diary. There is more ice cream, candy bars, whip cream and popcorn than actual food. And you can seriously say this has nothing to do with weight loss. Yeah sure you could probably lose weight if you only consumed 1200 calories of ice cream and candy bars but you would also have diabetes and be dead by the time your 40 years old. The OP asked for help to curb the overcompeling desire to eat junk food. My suggestion is get it out of the house until they're ready.

Sugar doesn't cause diabetes.

Food type has nothing to do with weight loss, though nutritional balance usually makes us feel better.

Again, has anyone bothered to look at her diary? Eating 1200 calories of crap is still crap and is not a good solution to long term weight loss.

I'm with you. I keep trying to say this in other threads and I always get bashed with "nutrition doesn't matter, all you need to do for weight loss is reduce calories." Terrible advice, IMO.

I agree!

mwebster11 wrote: »

Ive been eating candy bars and frozen yogurt(chocolate) for the past two weeks.its putting me well over my calorie goal of 1200.any suggestions on how to stop binging like that?I've been on a weight loss journey for four and a half months,and I lost twenty lbs.I don't want to gain any back,but I've been craving chocolate a lot.any suggestions????

Took a look at your diary-first of all great job on faithfully recording what you're eating, that's a big step in the right direction! Secondly, I'm a big advocate of eating all the foods you enjoy and not cutting out things that you like, but in order to do this you have to make them fit into your calorie goals, which you're struggling with.

First make sure you're running your numbers correctly. There's lots of free online calculators that you can enter your info into to get your calorie goal. Also, as you lose weight your calories will decrease, so make sure you're re-running your info every few pounds lost (5lbs is a good marker to re-run the numbers).

Having said that-you do have a lot of wiggle room with your calories. Today for example you used up 360 calories in milk. Milk doesn't have a lot of staying power to making you feel full. Same with the cereal-around 600 calories today was used on cereal, which is notorious for not making you feel full for very long. There's nothing wrong with milk or cereal, but you want to focus on foods that will keep you feeling fuller longer, while still keeping you within your calorie goals. When that happens, you'll have more room for things like chocolate

Also, may I ask what all the syrup was for today? Are you adding this to coffee or something? 300 calories today went towards it, and it's another thing that's not going to do you any favors for feeling full.

At the end of the day weight loss comes down to calories in math. But one of the tricks to making it easier, is to concentrate on foods that will keep you feeling satisfied longer. There are no 'good' or 'bad' foods, but foods definitely have different satiety levels and it's important to have a good mix in order to keep you on track, while still enjoying the foods you like

FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »

Akimajuktuq wrote: »

galgenstrick wrote: »

hgurke wrote: »

Chocolate craving can be a sign of an iron or magnesium deficiency (if you're not just craving the sugar). It might be worthwhile to look into a multivitamin/supplements, if you haven't already.

Cravings have no connection to deficiencies in your body.

Cuz the human body won't give signals when it's malnourished? Really? A diet based on junk food usually results in many micro-nutrient deficiencies and craving and bingeing are just two very obvious symptoms of that.

I'm not in support of supplements necessarily, but I would recommend to stop eating so much junk food and replace it with nutrient dense whole foods. Good place to start.

Did someone just say sugar doesn't cause diabetes? Um, wrong in SO many cases. omg, I am so out of here, the bs is just too much.

@Akimajuktuq @whmscll Sugar consumption has no correlation with type 1 diabetes.

As far as type 2 goes, studies show that sugar intake does not play a role in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Really? I don't believe that. Care to share these studies?

If sugar played no role in developing diabetes, doctors would not advise everybody whose glucose levels are higher than normal (not JUST people who already have diabetes!) to eat less sugar.

Honestly, I'm confused about why there's so much debate here.

Simple answer: we all crave things and want to eat over our calorie limits otherwise we wouldn't all be FAT. If you want to lose weight, don't give into the cravings. Stay within your limits. That's it.

MoiAussi93 wrote: »

FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »

Akimajuktuq wrote: »

galgenstrick wrote: »

hgurke wrote: »

Chocolate craving can be a sign of an iron or magnesium deficiency (if you're not just craving the sugar). It might be worthwhile to look into a multivitamin/supplements, if you haven't already.

Cravings have no connection to deficiencies in your body.

Cuz the human body won't give signals when it's malnourished? Really? A diet based on junk food usually results in many micro-nutrient deficiencies and craving and bingeing are just two very obvious symptoms of that.

I'm not in support of supplements necessarily, but I would recommend to stop eating so much junk food and replace it with nutrient dense whole foods. Good place to start.

Did someone just say sugar doesn't cause diabetes? Um, wrong in SO many cases. omg, I am so out of here, the bs is just too much.

@Akimajuktuq @whmscll Sugar consumption has no correlation with type 1 diabetes.

As far as type 2 goes, studies show that sugar intake does not play a role in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Really? I don't believe that. Care to share these studies?

If sugar played no role in developing diabetes, doctors would not advise everybody whose glucose levels are higher than normal (not JUST people who already have diabetes!) to eat less sugar.

Don't forget the converse can also be true. Depending on the same diabetic's situation, they could be asked to drink a cup of orange juice, right?