How can I stop my addiction to fast food? Need help...

joe_rdz18 wrote: »

Today was going just fine until I ate a burger from a fast food chain. I had this temptation of getting it & I couldn't resist.. I think I'm addicted to the actuall carbs, sodium, & sweets that come with a burger combo, not the actual taste. Could anybody share any ideas on how to substitute fast food with healthier meals?

First don't stress out about it. It happened. You survived. You can move on from here. Today can still go just fine starting with your next meal!

Second, check your calories for the day. How are you set for calories? Can you make the rest of today fit into your goals? You can mitigate the damage from a bad lunch by not going crazy at dinner. Sure you may end up over your calories by the end of the day, but it was only one bad meal!

Next, ease out of it. I eat out all the time. I used to have a fair bit of chain fast food in that mix. It all changed the day I decided to order fruit as a side instead of fries. I still had a burger, but it was a burger with fruit. I did that for a long time. The next step was to order less calorie intense burgers. I mean, a burger is a burger, so if I was going to eat a 1000 calorie burger, why not order a 700 calorie burger instead? Would that not satisfy my want for a burger? Then I started to get chicken or turkey sandwiches instead of the burger. After a few months, I noticed that my tastes were changing. The quality of the food was becoming more important. I still enjoy a burger and fries, but the craving is different now. I want a good burger and good fries. Most fast food chains don't satisfy that craving. I want the flavor and texture of fresh foods. When I bite into a grilled chicken sandwich I want to be able to recognize what kind of animal it came from. I want my beef to taste and feel like beef. It's hard to explain without you already knowing what I mean, but take your time and ease out of the junk food. The difference is amazing.

As for craving carbs and salts and fats... Look into the "why" of it. Is it a stress thing? Was it a "im getting out of my food comfort zone and need to fall into a familiar bad habit" panic attack thing? Is it a confidence/self-worth issue? Try to address the root cause. If it was completely inexplicable, you may want to talk with your Dr about it. I learned early in my journey (with a trip to the ER) that a big part of why I love love love fries is that I have a bad potassium deficiency. The deficiency was covered up by all the fries I ate. So... Yeah, I always suggest people with food cravings check with their Dr. Most of my cravings completely vanish when I take my vitamins.

star1407 wrote: »

Sorry but no. Food is not addictive. You are not going to suffer withdrawal symptoms if you eat a sandwich instead of a Big Mac. Self control is the answer

The statement that food is not addictive isn't quite true. I've watched enough TV shows about junk food over the years to recall being told many times that actual withdrawal symptoms occur in the body after the removal of sugar, if it was previously a constant and in excess (commonly the case today unfortunately).

The withdrawal symptoms aren't to the same degree as heroine of course, people don't need prescription withdrawal medication for giving up snickers bars, but they were still clinically described as withdrawal symptoms nonetheless. I watched a TV show called Food Matters that covered this, but I've seen it mentioned many times elsewhere.

The withdrawal symptoms aren't to the same degree as heroine of course, people don't need prescription withdrawal medication for giving up snickers bars

I think that's the point. To equate missing fries with heroin addiction trivializes real addiction and becomes a crappy semantic exercise.

But hey, keep up the McDonald's circle-jerk hate ITT. It's fun to blame The Man for being overweight instead of yourself.

lessismoreohio wrote: »

I used to eat at fast food restaurants 5x to 7x week. I began to move away from eating fast food after I read the book "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (2001) by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser. The book opened my eyes to how this industry operates.

I think it should start in school, all health classes should show movies about fast food (some of the ones mentioned earlier). Show kids early on how bad that crap is for them. Basically undo the brainwashing by the companies.

ShrinkingScientist wrote: »

star1407 wrote: »

Heroin is addictive
Nicotine is addictive
Food is fuel for our body. It is not addictive. You like it a lot.
First step, remove the thinking that you have an addiction, all that does is make you feel powerless
Plan your day, measure and weigh everything and log it. Read the stickiy threads and read them again. Look at the success stories. Ask yourself if you are ready to change your lifestyle and how much do you want it

I will say from a neuroscience perspective, fast food absolutely is addictive. It triggers many of the same neurotransmitters that the drugs you mentioned trigger. Something being an addiction doesn't make one powerless over it, that's AA's verbiage. It just means there's a physiological craving for it because of the effect in the brain.

OP, I think one of the best things you can do (assuming moderation isn't an option) is to completely cut fast food out of your diet for a while.

It may trigger similar reward pathways as drugs do, but let's be clear. That is not all that is needed to determine an addiction. No one has had to go to detox to prevent the dangerous withdrawal from a Big Mac. No one is selling their bodies to score some fries. Yes people have cravings for certain foods, but that's due to the reinforcement of the behavior and the result of said behavior. It's positive reinforcement in the form of "I eat McDonalds so I feel better".

You know how to break that habit? By replacing it with a healthier one. Such as "I go to the gym and I feel better". Or "I drink some water with lemon and I feel content".

TL:DR the rest of the posts, but just beware when using the work "addiction" in here. People get their ginch in a knot when that work is used for things other than drugs or alcohol.

You probably just need to plan better. Make your lunches, make healthier choices when you do eat out, etc. As with anything else, it's a new habit you need to form.

All good tips. Another suggestion is to plan a day out of the week, say Saturday, when you'll allow yourself that (one) fast-food meal. Sometimes, knowing you will treat yourself at some point helps with self control.

feisty_bucket wrote: »

Huh. So I go out of state to visit my parents for 2-3 weeks, and eat about 1000 calories of fast food every day off the dollar menu, the cheapest $/calorie/protein ratios. Alternating McDonald's and Taco Bell, to get out of the house. Have a wonderful time, because they have unlimited diet soda and will let me sit for an hour to read and enjoy myself. Such a resource in a town otherwise thin on "third-place" options. Much respect.

Then come back home and, cold turkey, make all my own food for the next six months, because at home I have my own kitchen. Yet my health stats are ideal. I'm so brave, I'm an addiction survivor, how can I do it with that terrible fast food monkey on my back? I should write a memoir and go on Oprah.

You don't have to be a jerk about it. This site is supposed to be a place where people can come for support, encouragement, and advice, because losing weight/getting healthy is really hard for many people. We should be building each other up and not mocking people. If you have never personally experienced the struggle of trying to cut back on unhealthy habits, that's great for you. OP asked for advice on something they're struggling with. If you don't have any advice to contribute, you don't need to chime in.

OP, I am struggling with fast food cravings too. For me it's T. Bell. Those quesaritos... What has helped me so far is focusing on my goal. When I get a craving, I do whatever it takes to remind myself why I want to lose weight: look at the long list of reasons that I made myself, look at photos of really fit people, window shop for cute clothes that I want to fit into, look at current photos of myself to remember how much I hate how I look, etc. All while chugging water to fill up my tummy. It just takes a few minutes of that and then I realize the short-lived pleasure of the fast food is not even slightly worth it. I also try to remind myself that I always feel disgusting, guilty, and ashamed immediately after I eat junk like that. A big part of it is just willpower, too. You just have to force yourself to make a healthier choice, you'll feel better and it'll be a tiny bit easier to resist the next time.

I just fit it into my calories. That means not having fries, and going with a smaller burger rather than the big ones.

lionrace wrote: »

If you have never personally experienced the struggle of trying to cut back on unhealthy habits

No, I know all about that stuff, I was a fat kid. I thought the OP was being histrionic and demonstrating all-or-nothing thinking. I was trying to bring some perspective and be funny. I'll bow out now.