stopping the urge to get fast food

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tiffany31989
tiffany31989 Posts: 44 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone have any ideas on how I can stop having the urge to get fast food?
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  • PopeyeCT
    PopeyeCT Posts: 249 Member
    edited May 2015
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    It's sort of like quitting smoking. The first few days are tough, then you get used to it.

    You can incorporate it into your diet if you track it carefully to stay within your calories. But I find it easier to just avoid drive throughs entirely. If I'm feeling hungry, I pull into the next grocery store I see and get an apple, or a banana. You can eat fruit while driving. And a pit stop for fruit doesn't really take more than a couple minutes, it's not like it's costing you much time.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    I like to make my own burgers, nuggets, fries, etc and freeze them. Pulling one out is easier then heading to a fast food spot.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,931 Member
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    Try moving to a place without it.

    For about 4 years recently I lived in an area where the closest fast food place was about 75 km away. We weren't about to drive 150 km round trip for fast food ... simply not worth it. It didn't take long to get used to eating what was available in the local grocery store. :)


    If moving is not an option, then make non-fast food choices more convenient. Have a stock of them in your kitchen, drawer in your office, in your car, or wherever.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Find alternative foods if its hunger, spice them up by use of strong flavours or just work fast food into your calorie allowance. At some stage if you are serious and commited about weight loss, then you make a choice as to whether you wnat fast food or to lose weight more.

    ofc as pointed out you cna moderate portion size and you should be looking keeping your deficit active. Restrictions doesnt always work, and moderation may. The point is its a choice you make as part of your overall plan to eat at a deficit.

    I havent restricted fast food and can have it when i want, but choose not to because the calories on it arent worth it for me and id rather eat soemthing else, which suits my aims better.
  • tiffany31989
    tiffany31989 Posts: 44 Member
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    I definitely want to lose weight more than to eat fast food
  • Sarasmaintaining
    Sarasmaintaining Posts: 1,027 Member
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    tiffany31989 wrote: »
    I definitely want to lose weight more than to eat fast food

    You can continue to eat fast food and lose weight. I love fast food and ate it several times a week during my active weight loss phase, and continue to do so now that I'm in maintenance (my hubby is picking up Taco Bell breakfast as I type this lol).

    Weight loss is about calories, math and eating at a deficit. It doesn't matter what kinds of foods you eat, as long as you can fit it into your calorie goals. Pre-planning your food for the day is a good idea, as well as using restaurant's online nutritional info, so you know what you're going to get before you go.

    Eat the foods that you enjoy eating, pay attention to portion sizes, strive to stay within your calorie goals and keep things simple :)
  • tiffany31989
    tiffany31989 Posts: 44 Member
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    That's what I'm trying to do now. I love mfp cause it really shows me the impact some food has on my calorie intake
  • kristydi
    kristydi Posts: 781 Member
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    You can eat fast food while you lose weight. I have a couple of fast food meals that I can fit into most normal days if I get the urge. Use MFP and the restaurant's online nutrition info to plan a few yummy, but reasonable choices. General tips include switching fries for fruit or a side salad if possible and leaving off high calorie additions like cheese or mayo. I nearly always skip the mayo because I don't really miss it, but in get the cheese if I have the calories to spare because I like it.


    Here are my favorite fall back fast food meals as examples.

    Wendy's value menu has smaller items that are reasonable on calories. I like the Jr Deluxe cheese burger with out mayo for 300 calories plus a side salad with ranch no croutons, 25 calories for the salad 100 calories for the whole pack of dressing. That's 425 for the whole meal. Totally doable on most days of me.

    I love Chickfila's grilled nuggets. A 12 pack is only 210 calories. Add a side salad for 80 calories ( this one has cheese ) with half a pack of honey mustard dressing for 45 calories. I eat the nuggets as part of the salad so I don't need additional dipping sauce. 335 for the whole thing, but I usually add a large diet lemonade for 30 calories. This meal is really filling.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    Log what you would get from the fast food place, see if you still want to get it. If you do you have to own it, either exercise it off or cut back the rest of the week.
  • tiffany31989
    tiffany31989 Posts: 44 Member
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    I wanna cut it out all together though
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    tiffany31989 wrote: »
    I wanna cut it out all together though

    It's going to take willpower. Have to learn to tell yourself "no", drive by, and don't look back.
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
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    You can try keeping a snack in your purse or in your car so when you are driving by fast food you are less tempted to stop and just eat the snack instead.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    I would also suggest mapping out the amount you save by not stopping for fast food. If you usually go 2x a week, and spend $12 a week on it, put that money in a jar weekly, and watch it accumulate over the course of the month. Then use that money saved for some new clothes as you get closer to your goal! :)
  • tiffany31989
    tiffany31989 Posts: 44 Member
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    Mission to fitness I love that idea!
  • slideaway1
    slideaway1 Posts: 1,006 Member
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    As I live alone and fairly lazy with cooking, the temptation to order fast food is always there. I could happily order Pizza, Indian or Chinese Takeaway every night and have it on my door step in 45 mins after making the call. McDonalds have now started doing a home delivery service in my area now on orders over £7.00. I live two minutes walk away from a chip shop and Subway. I could also easily make all of my orders fit into my cals and macros for the day too, so there would not be any guilt in eating that way. However, I would prefer to use the stuff in my Fridge that I picked for myself at the Supermarket and practice a bit of self control, save a bit of money and invest the time in trying to learn how to cook properly for myself for personal development. Fast Food just feeds into my lazy mind set and instant gratification that I want to move away from. Fast food is Ok in moderation or a treat, but who wants to be a slave to these multinational companies that don't give a Sh@t about your health.
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    Is it a matter of craving the food or is it a matter of feeling like you don't have time to cook?

    If the latter, start doing meal prep if you can! I have 12 or so containers of food in my freezer ready to eat. The main reason I was getting fast food is I just didn't want to spend time cooking when I was getting home at 5 and already hungry. Now I know I'll be able to eat right when I get home, so stopping for fast food doesn't happen half as much. I will still go sometimes if a craving hits, but I'm not just stopping because it's convenient anymore :)

    ~Lyssa
  • tiffany31989
    tiffany31989 Posts: 44 Member
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    For me it's craving it
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    tiffany31989 wrote: »
    For me it's craving it

    You can learn to make the stuff you want at home. Instead of grabbing Chinese food, you can make your own orange chicken, General Tso chicken, beef and broccoli, ect at home relatively easily. You can make homemade burgers with similar ingredients to McDonald's, and get more food for the same/less calories. Same with many other things! If you're craving it, make it at home. Cheaper, and easier to fit in to your day. :)
  • DaneanP
    DaneanP Posts: 433 Member
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    Imagine that all the people working at the fast food place have some sort of gastrointestinal illness that is highly contagious.
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
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    I agree with the others that say to make similar food at home. You can even make it in advance and bring it with you. You can even make it as fatty and delicious as you want, but at least you'll know exactly how many calories are in it. Once you make that a habit, then start making the food less calorie dense by adding less fat and changing the ingredients slightly. It will be a slow process, and you'll probably slip up from time to time, but just stay consistent and don't ever beat yourself up about it, especially if you know you'll always work towards your goal.

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