Throwing out junk food; yay or nay?

I'm at the beginning of getting in shape again and I'm already having trouble with binge eating and snacking on junk food meaning chips, sweets, etc.

For those of you who chose to clean out your kitchen, do you think that had a noticeable effect on your weight loss? Did you stick with it or buy more? Was it worth it? If you're prone to binge eating, did you find yourself binging on other stuff instead?

For those of you who choose to live with the temptation, how do you get yourself to eat the junk food in small amounts? Or if you only have it because of others in the house, avoid it altogether?

*By throwing out, I mean donating the packaged/unopened foods. Not literally tossing it in the trash.
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Replies

  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
    nope, I eat it, bits at a time, then go work it off
  • magster4isu
    magster4isu Posts: 632 Member
    I got rid of my trigger foods. The other "junk" food I repackaged into single serving bags and made them part of my meal plan.
  • thetrishwarp
    thetrishwarp Posts: 838 Member
    Didn't throw anything out, but everything got move to a high shelf in an awkwardly positioned cabinet. We need to get out a step stool to reach the chips/chocolate/etc - so if we're going through the effort, it must be worth it! I find it easiest to just measure out a portion of whatever it is I'm wanting, and then put it back up on the shelf and put the stool away in the closet. I'm not inclined to go back in there for more, but whatever craving it is ends up satisfied.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
    I live with other people who want certain foods and have different calorie needs than me. I never got rid of food unless no one but me would eat it.
    I did start buying smaller packages of some items, not buying some things very often and putting all food out of sight. I prelog my food and eat a specific times.
  • Fitnessmom82
    Fitnessmom82 Posts: 376 Member
    I gave all of our processed food and junk food to neighbors that could use it. Temptation was too much for me! I'm an all or nothing type of person, especially when starting a diet. It's better now. I can keep junk in the house and not touch it. But it took a month of cold turkey, zero junk, to break the habit!
  • I cant have pizza rolls in the house, unless they are in small boxes. If I bring a bag of them in I will eat the bag. I think it may be a matter of learning true trigger foods and situations.
  • Eire228
    Eire228 Posts: 238 Member
    I can't have it in the house. I have enough will power to not buy foods that are bad for me, but if they're in the house, I cannot resist. I eat too much of it, and when I'm counting calories to lose weight (rather than counting to maintain), that junk food isn't worth the calories to me. I can't stay within my goal and have a handful of m&ms without skipping out on something else healthier and more filling. Also, it would never be one handful of m&ms for me. ;)
  • ts218
    ts218 Posts: 23 Member
    I really just had to throw out food or donate. I also try to buy snacks for the kids that I don't like. I make kids' lunches every day and try to keep healthy options and stuff that I do not like. I've also kept cookies in our garage to keep them farther away from and less a temptation.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    The only thing I really had issues with when I started out were potato chips and cheese. I couldn't eliminate cheese from the house, so that was just will power. I did get rid of the chips for awhile. I've never had a problem with sweets...not much of a sweet tooth.

    Five years later, I only buy chips when we're going camping or tortilla chips for salsa when we have company.

  • batorkin
    batorkin Posts: 281 Member
    edited December 2017
    Depends on person. Some people can have it around, others cannot.

    I will always eat the most tasty thing nearby and can't control myself, so I got rid of everything the day I started my diet. The other people in the house weren't happy about it, but they've come to terms with it and are happy now because they each lost about 10 pounds over the last 2 months.

    So yes, I would not be 20 pounds lighter than I was 2 months ago if I didn't clean the kitchen out. I'd had kept getting fatter.
  • Fitnessgirl0913
    Fitnessgirl0913 Posts: 481 Member
    Certain things I can keep around, I either buy them in single serving packages or immediately put them into single portions when I get home from shopping. I do have certain "trigger" foods that I know I cannot keep in my house, my biggest one is chocolate covered almonds, yum! I will eat the whole bag. So my point is if you can stop yourself at one serving then by all means keep it handy for when a craving strikes but if you have certain "trigger" foods like me I find it is best to not have them around.
  • mayaikedi1979
    mayaikedi1979 Posts: 1 Member
    I'm so glad i'm not the only one
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
    There are a lot of foods that I only buy on special occasions, because I know if they're always around the house, I'll eat them ALL in one sitting.

    Mainly... chips, crackers, cookies, etc. Portable tasty little carby treats are my weakness.

    The only treat my fiance and I keep stocked in our house is Halo Top. Even if I eat a whole pint, I'm only looking at 250-300 calories. And I usually get sick of the flavour before I'm 1/3 through the pint, so it's not a 'danger food' for me.

    If I'm having friends over, I only buy enough 'danger food' to serve to them. So that might be 1 bag of chips, or 12 freshed baked cookies (instead of a batch of 24, for example).
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I don't really remember what I did with the "not on my plan" foods when I started out, it's kinda blurry, but I actually don't think there was much left (I had few boundaries for the last few weeks leading up to my "lifestyle change"). At first I did't buy anymore junk food, but then I thought I should try to "train my willpower", tried and tried, but it didn't go very well. It's best for me to just buy a small amount occasionally. Dried fruit is very hard to moderate, but semi-sweet cookies and finger biscuits and jam are surprisingly easy.

    I'm creative, so I can make my own "junk food", though - dulce de leche mixed with peanuts, or almond butter with honey - sometimes I eat a bit more than I think would be optimal.

    But I've also made cheesecakes and pies, and it works very well, I'm not really tempted to eat more than 1/6 per day. I'm not sure what the reason is, but I think it helps that it's a bit of effort to make, and I know that if I portion it out, I will be abke to eat cake for six days, and I like that.

    I don't overeat "normal" food to "compensate". I used to overeat anything out of habit, but it's easy for me to portion out appropriate portions of my everyday foods, and then I stick to that, and usually quite happy.
  • alondrakayy
    alondrakayy Posts: 304 Member
    My favorite junk food is Hot Cheetos. I found that if I have it in the house, I will eat it everyday. Yes I can make it fit, but it makes me hold water weight like no other and has other negative affects to my body. I started to not buy them and instead purchase a bag once a week which is SOO much better. I'm not sacrificing nutrient dense food for hot Cheetos everyday and my body is loving me for it.

    Hot Cheetos are my true love, though. I can easily have cookies, cake, ice cream, etc. in my home and it doesn't do much for me. Half the time I forget its there.