Fast Food

abbullar
abbullar Posts: 61
edited October 3 in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone else addicted to fast food? It's so easy and yummy. How can I stop?

Replies

  • thespence
    thespence Posts: 25
    pack ur lunch.. it's the only way to go
  • majolley
    majolley Posts: 10 Member
    preparing you meals ahead of time & taking the packed lunch is the way to go. Before you know it you will not even want the fast food :-)
  • Nikki582
    Nikki582 Posts: 561 Member
    Set goals. Every two weeks I revise my goals and always in my goal is "No food from a place with a drive-thru attached" then in 2 weeks I might say "Only once at a place with a drive thru attached" you know? Two weeks is achievable.
  • dobarber
    dobarber Posts: 611 Member
    Easy, look up the calories of the items before you go through the drive thru. You'll realize how bad things are and you'll eventually stop craving those items. If that doesn't work then do what I do with the vending machine here at work. RUN right past them before you get a chance to stop.
    Doug
  • Krisengel
    Krisengel Posts: 161 Member
    A fast food lunch was always my "reward" for grocery shopping. Last week I made myself eat lunch at home. It was hard to drive past, but I was so proud of myself when I got home. Besides will-power I don't know how to stop eating it. I hope it gets easier to say no!
  • JoDeeD
    JoDeeD Posts: 391
    I agree, pack your lunch. Also set mini goals for yourself and reward yourself with fast food when you reach those goals. Be warned though... after eating healthy to lose the weight, fast food may make you sick. Good luck with your cravings!
  • hbkanumalla
    hbkanumalla Posts: 61 Member
    Sometimes it can be difficult dealing with fast food because it's so convenient and no prep involved, but once you haven't had fast food in a while, you really don't miss it. It takes will power and some planning ahead on your part. I agree with packing your lunch. You can make bigger meals on the weekends and separate them out so you have lunches during the week, or even pack your lunch the night before.

    Good luck trying to kick the habit! :)
  • Marcel7
    Marcel7 Posts: 52 Member
    I love fast food, but I don't like the waistline that comes with it.
  • Raf702
    Raf702 Posts: 196 Member
    Pizza is my kryptonite! Any topping any size, lol. But everything is will power. If you want to achieve a goal, you need to make sacrifices. You don't have to completely avoid junk food. Just make sure the calories in the junk food you crave is within your calorie consumption of the day. You never have to stop eating junk food, just make sure it fits in, and does not go over. With that said, eat whatever makes you happy. Just count your calories and don't go over your limit.

    For me If I want pizza, typical pepperoni can be around 220-230 calories per slice. If I want to eat it, I'll eat 3 or 4 slices, and still be under my calories for the day. All of it comes down to counting calories. Good luck, and don't give up the foods you love! Just be smart about how you eat it and when.
  • tiedye
    tiedye Posts: 331 Member
    What is it you like about fast food? Is it the flavors? The convenience?

    You can buy frozen sweet potato fries and make turkey burgers at home (this would be the healthier option). OR you could even make french fries and regular burgers at home, and if you watch the salt and oils it's STILL going to be healthier than going to mickey d's.

    I am a major mcdonalds and chick-fil-a addict. I still go about once a month, and work those calories into my total for the day. I skip weighing myself the next morning and drink tons of water.

    It honestly doesn't affect the scale for me if I work it in to my life. I eat at chipotle weekly but don't really count that as fast food because I get a vegetarian salad and the calories are nutrient-richer than other fast food.
  • oswaldbowser
    oswaldbowser Posts: 164 Member
    Anyone else addicted to fast food? It's so easy and yummy. How can I stop?

    Perhaps this might put you off http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8FZuARBvUk
  • Le_Joy
    Le_Joy Posts: 549 Member
    Get food poisoning! I got REALLY sick after eating at a certain fast food place in the summer of 05 so I quit eating all fast food for just one month and haven't eaten fast food since! When travelling I will eat salads from fast food places or get an ice cream cone or have a baked potato but I haven't had a burger fries, taco, chicken nugget, chicken sandwich, etc from fast food in 6 years! Do I still miss it? YES!!!!!!! Would I love to go back to eating it? YES!!!!!! Did stopping to eat it improve my health? I really don't know. Still fat, but I know I eat way less fat (esp the "bad" kinds) now. Am I planning on going back to eating it? Not in the foreseeable future. I figure I have done it this long why go back now now?

    But seriously even without food poisoning you can do it!
  • jakejacobsen
    jakejacobsen Posts: 584 Member
    Pizza is my kryptonite! Any topping any size, lol. But everything is will power. If you want to achieve a goal, you need to make sacrifices. You don't have to completely avoid junk food. Just make sure the calories in the junk food you crave is within your calorie consumption of the day. You never have to stop eating junk food, just make sure it fits in, and does not go over. With that said, eat whatever makes you happy. Just count your calories and don't go over your limit.

    For me If I want pizza, typical pepperoni can be around 220-230 calories per slice. If I want to eat it, I'll eat 3 or 4 slices, and still be under my calories for the day. All of it comes down to counting calories. Good luck, and don't give up the foods you love! Just be smart about how you eat it and when.

    amen
  • siabevis
    siabevis Posts: 811
    WATCH FOOD INC! That stopped me and I never ate fast food again after that night.
  • abbullar
    abbullar Posts: 61
    I really like how fast food tastes. I get a fried food craving all the time. I love chicken tenders and fries.
  • fordster99
    fordster99 Posts: 181 Member
    Is it during your lunch hour or is just going in general? If it is on your lunch hour, then yes, I would suggest packing your lunch. If you can't imagine life without fast food, then try cutting it down to a set amount of days a week at first and then slowly wean yourself off. I still eat fast food once in awhile but I try to make healthier choices. For example, I absolutely love Arbys. Last year, I would have polished off the biggest roast beef sandwich and fries they offered and gotten a regular pepsi. Now, if I really really want Arbys and nothing is going that desire from me, then I go there and get the Arby Jr (200 calories), water and the apples with yogurt dipping sauce (I never eat that). I feel full and don't feel deprived. Start small and it will come.
  • kjaull
    kjaull Posts: 8
    Fast food for me was typically for the "high" I would get. I think the junk was like hooking up a direct spike to my blood sugar. Unfortunatly, there is the corresponding crash and hunger really quickly. As my overall eating habits have improved and my regular exercise, I find I don't have the same need for the quick fix. Changing habits takes time! Lots of good advice here, change a little at a time and it will become your new normal!
  • abbullar
    abbullar Posts: 61
    With me it's that I sit at home thinking about what I want for dinner. And I think "I can cook something, so I can just go to a drive thru, and it'll taste a lot better."
    Also it takes less time than trying to go to the grocery store more than once a week.
  • Nikki582
    Nikki582 Posts: 561 Member
    I think planning is key then. Take a piece of paper, divide it into 7, write the days of the week on top of each segment then write all your meals for the week and shop for them. Done.
    Then you're not sitting there at 5.30 going "gee, what's for dinner, don't know i'll just have maccas"
    I've found that really helps.
  • Cosmic_Unicorn
    Cosmic_Unicorn Posts: 150 Member
    Recreate the fast foods you love for a fraction of the calories and sodium at home. Make them healthy!

    I started making veggie burgers out of assorted beans and fresh veggies, with whole wheat buns and home-baked sweet potato fries to curb the burger and fries cravings, and I love it. I ate McDonald's for the first time in months on the road a while back and it the grossest thing I think I have ever eaten.

    Eat good food, your body will thank you.
  • Scorpioangel
    Scorpioangel Posts: 951 Member
    Honestly I used to be. I would go on french fry late night snack runs but now I don't really like it that much! I will eat it still but my like for it is a lot different than it used to be :)
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    I think it depends on where you draw the line for fast food. I'll eat a double-meat burrito bowl at Chipotle somewhat regularly, but even though you can call Chipotle fast food, it's so damn easy to fit one of these into my daily intake, and I do beleive they use quality ingredients (at least, identifiable ones LOL), so in my head I really don't consider this fast food.

    I don't crave McDonalds or other similar places because if I'm going to eat something really calorie-dense, I'm going to go out of the way to make sure it's REALLY good. Five-Guys for example, or a pizza.
  • ivyjbres
    ivyjbres Posts: 612 Member
    I work in fast food, so its available 24/7 since I'm on call when I'm not at the store. And I eat it, or at least a variation of it 4 to 6 days a week. A lot of people hate on it, but you can control your portion size and calories if you plan ahead. Check the restaurants website for nutritional info before you get hungry, and decide what you're going to allow yourself to eat. Don't eat the fries, don't eat the sides, don't let yourself believe that a combo's a better deal. If it makes you pay for something you don't want, its not a better deal.

    I recently found out I'm hypoglycemic and that the fat content in the food I was eating was what was making me feel so awful. So now I can only eat 2 dishes at work: 1 sandwich and 1 salad. And I don't mean at a time, I mean on the whole menu. That said, there's nothing like knowing that a particular food makes you feel like crap to make you quit craving it. My advice would be to take a few weeks off of fast food, play around with the percentages of your micro-nutrients and see what your intake is on days when you feel the best. Keep that proportion, and after a few weeks of feeling great and learning how to eat to feel your best, if you can check the website and find something that fits your macros and won't make you feel terrible, you can allow yourself that.
  • duffydog1
    duffydog1 Posts: 76 Member
    Try googling articles on how the particular fast food you like is made. If it includes burgers or chicken you will probably not find it so yummy after you have seen what goes into a burger or a nugget - beleive me, it isn't pretty!

    Good luck!
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
    leave the wallet/purse at home. no $$ for fast food = no fast food! it helped me get over that hump.
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