First time troubles!

I eat everything, Just find healthier versions where possible (or passable) And make a priority of yours healthy eating, With a side of snacks. Just dont let yourself fall into the "I earned this snack" category, Kind of unhealthy to see bad foods as rewards especially when so new to the healthier eating. A little is fine, As long as your honest with self about what you eat when. Also i find it definatly helps to prioritize. If im craving reese pb cups, I eat a reese pb cup, Sometimes substitutes just arent worth it XD Don't just eat it because its there. Eat it because you want it so bad your willing to walk your butt to the store to buy it, And havent treated yourself in a few days XD

When I get a craving for something I eat it. As long as it's not an entire pan, box, or bag I can usually fit it into my day. I had a craving for a grilled chicken sandwich today, so I swung by McDonald's and got one. It was delicious.

Pasta, bread and cheese aren't junk food. Any reason why you're cutting them out?

Yeah ill be first to say i didnt even bother reading past chips and candy...Nothing wrong with pasta and bread XD Anything in moderation aslong as your honest to self Like pasts coated in a horribly oily fatty sauce...probably stupid to tell self thats a healthy addition to your diet. Or bread with marshmallow fluff...etc. Nothing is wrong with those foods as a food, But can get tricky depending on what you do with them super easy.

And fyi, I keep a baggie of jolly ranchers and scotch mints in my coat at all times ;D Not that bad calorie wise and its me emergency go to snack when i get light headed or dizzy, Or crave sweet XD

COKE ZERO alot of it

erinkavanagh15 wrote: »

Helloitsdan wrote: »

If it's in the house, you'll surely eat it at some time.
How much are you trying to lose and do you usually find yourself craving at night? Or around 3 in the afternoon?

I'm trying to lose around 40 pounds. And I find myself craving them when I'm bored and at night

This is normal.
What low calorie, high satiating food can you replace the "junk" with?
Almonds?
Greek yogurt?
Grapes?
Apples?
Celery with a little hummus?

I make room for treats in my diet by choosing super healthy foods for the rest of the day - lean meats and leafy vegetables leave a lot of room for more calorie-dense foods like cheese and chocolate. I look at it like a puzzle or a math problem and play with the numbers. Also Bolthouse Farms Chocolate Protein Smoothie is very tasty, about 100 calories for 1/2 cup, and full of protein and vitamins. That usually handles my chocolate cravings.

Its totally normal to crave the foods you are used to eating, it will take time for you to adjust to different tastes.
It takes us a few weeks getting into the swing of counting calories and eating better so stick with it, you'll be glad you did.

To the original poster, I think I hear what you're saying. While not all the foods you listed are "junk foods" they sound to me like they are your trigger foods, right. You start eating anyone of these and you go overboard with not much control? I have those foods too. Most of them are are junky type foods, but I have been known to overdo it on cheese and bread. For my first month on MFP, they were definitely off limits to me. I just had to wean myself from them. The first 2 weeks were really, really hard so I made sure I had something filling/satiating in place. I'm not normally an apple eater, but at the time, it happened to be the high season for honeycrisp apples. I had one every night with a little bit of Trader Joe's crunchy peanut butter. That seemed to get me through. I don't use the peanut butter anymore because it is way to calorically dense and I'd rather have something with volume, but at the time I was having cravings it worked. Now that I've been doing this for about 3 months, it's definitely easier for me not to binge on those foods. I can eat a few chips and move on. I can eat some popcorn and move on. I can eat some good, aged parmesan cheese with my apple and stop. But I couldn't before. I haven't ventured yet into full-fat ice cream, brownies, cake, or pie because those are my TRUE weaknesses. Tomorrow will be a challenge to stop with them.

So, what I'm saying is, if you are very new to this, it might be wise at least for a time to actually restrict yourself on these foods that trigger you to overeat. It could be at this point that if you have a few to satisfy a craving, you won't stop. Try to find a healthier alternative (and it's usually not the light version of whatever).