No Self Control

I cut out junk food over a year ago & what helped me the most was doing research on Trans Fats. After learning how common they are in convenience foods & how bad they are for my body, I pretty much just started making everything from scratch to avoid them.

You gotta do it cold turkey. You won't crave them as much if you stop eating junk for about a week. I used to crave sugar and fatty foods, including fast food, and someone on here suggested quitting all of it cold turkey and only eating lean, healthy food for a week, and I was really surprised when it worked! I don't crave the junk anymore and I am losing weight not to mention feeling awesome!

I know exactly how you feel. It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do! The first two weeks I craved everything from a coke to potato chips. The thing is, I don't deprive myself. If I want a coke, i drink one, but since I haven't had one in so long, regular pop is too sweet, I can't even drink it. I drink diet if I drink it at all, which isn't often. Friday's are my cheat days. And I usually only cheat one meal. But the key is excercise. You can really eat anything you want, as long as you stay under your calorie goal and excercise. If you want cookies everyday for a week, eat them in moderation and work your butt off to stay under. You'll lose the weight, I promise. I'm down 19 pounds since I've joined fitness pal in February and I'm down 26 total since I started changing my lifestyle in January. Once you start eating less of those things, you'll find yourself not caring for them in the long run.

You gotta do it cold turkey. You won't crave them as much if you stop eating junk for about a week. I used to crave sugar and fatty foods, including fast food, and someone on here suggested quitting all of it cold turkey and only eating lean, healthy food for a week, and I was really surprised when it worked! I don't crave the junk anymore and I am losing weight not to mention feeling awesome!

Second vote in agreement with this. I find now that when I eat $hittay foods, I also feel $hittay.

Story of my life. Can't wait to see what advice you get :flowerforyou:

:drinker:

I'm interested in seeing the different advice. My opinion would be to either pick a meal that you eat out and cook the rest of your meals or make different choices at the fast food place. I'm not a big believer in many restrictions. I think too many restrictions leads to failure. However, judging by many tickers in this post, you have seen great weight loss on your "cold turkey" advice.

Either way you choose, remember, keeping a caloric deficit and hitting your macros, protein/carbs/fat, is the key to weight loss. Body recomposition is a different animal which would involve eating a little cleaner.

You gotta do it cold turkey. You won't crave them as much if you stop eating junk for about a week. I used to crave sugar and fatty foods, including fast food, and someone on here suggested quitting all of it cold turkey and only eating lean, healthy food for a week, and I was really surprised when it worked! I don't crave the junk anymore and I am losing weight not to mention feeling awesome!

^^^ Yup. It DOES get better. It's tough, but take it one meal at a time, one day at a time. You'll start feeling so much better which will give you even more confidence & reason to stay away from (whatever your trigger is).

I'm exactly the same. I'll eat healthy for a good few days. Then get bored.

Ahh I know this isn't easy. I personally love healthy, clean foods so I get excited to prepare them! I'm all about quick, minimal time in the kitchen and lots of leftovers! Try prepping your meals ahead of time and saving them for later in the week.

What worked for me was cut out most of the bad stuff gradually over the years. I never cared for soda anyway, so that was easy. Fast food (Qdoba Mexican Grill, Subway, or other "better" options than say McDonald's or BK) are still in the rotation since sometimes I'm on the go and don't always take my lunches with me. Candy is still something I struggle with, but the longer I go without, the less my body craves it. Refined sugar is toxic for our bodies, and I feel better without it. Of course, some foods naturally contain sugar, and I have no problem with eating them (Sweet bell peppers, apples, etc). I'm no saint, as I still have my bad days too. I just try to keep things in balance.

All in all, you've just gotta want this bad enough. I believe in baby steps, as it prevents relapses and junk OD's. Best of luck and remember: Your body will follow your mind. Believe that you can overcome the junk and your body will listen.

I don't eat fast food because I can't afford to. I can't afford to spend £5 on a meal at McDonald's when I can go to the fruit and veg shop and get £5's worth of fruit and veg which can make 4 or more meals.

I do still eat chocolate and crisps, but in moderation. My diary is open so feel free to have a look.

If I was to have some extra money then yes, I will east fast food but I make better choices in it. So a couple of weeks ago I had a McDonalds, which was chicken nuggets, garden salad and a diet cola. Was yummy, and I did'nt feel bloated afterwards like I would have done having a burger.

The key word is moderation.

I know how you feel, but in the end, it's about your priorities. You can choose to put the food in your mouth or you can choose to be fit and sexy. If you don't already, spend time on the Success Stories message boards. You will see people just like you who met their goals and they didn't have it any easier than you. You are stronger than food cravings!

I was going to say babysteps but since so many people seem to support the cold turkey approach, here's my other advice:

Research! Find out what's really in these foods and what they're doing to your body and that may at least get you motivated to try giving it up.

Set a goal: "I will not eat junk food for 2 weeks" and reward yourself for each day you keep it. Make it a cumulative reward. Example: Give yourself 1 penny the first day, 2 the next day, 4 the next, then 8, 16, etc. If you give in, you start back at 0, but if you keep it going, you'll eventually have enough saved to buy yourself a something you've been wanting (not junk food!)

Find healthy alternatives! Like baked sweet potato fries, lean homemade burgers, Veggie nuggets, etc. The alternatives are usually tastier and more satisfying any way, so you probably won't miss the junkfood.

Hope that helped, good luck!!

My problem is food! I can exercise like crazy and that's probably why I don't weight more than I do right now, but I can't say no to all the wrong foods. I love fast food and sweets and cokes. I find myself bored with healthy food and it cost more and takes longer to fix (most of the time). I feel so helpless that I can't say no to all these bad foods!!! Help

But you can say no. It's completely your choice, and you have all the power. That's not to say it's always easy, but you can do it, and it does get easier. You've gotten some good suggestions about how to go about it. It's up to you if you decide to do it or not. Good luck!

I've been able to do much better by gradually cutting it out. I've tried the cold turkey way before then I found myself going on "I don't give a SH@T" binges which was worse off for me. I have cut down to fast food to one or twice a month, I only keep much healthier snacks in the house, I have converted to dark chocolate which I eat a couple times a week to satisfy my sweet tooth. Yeah, I still have the occasional bad days, but those are becoming less and less.

Yep. When I was going for 0 soda, I ended up going crazy and drinking a case in a couple of days on crazy binges. Not buying it didn't really work either, because the vending machine is right down the hall.

Restricting myself to 1-2 is working a lot better.

Find what works for you. I don't keep it in the house anymore, but I have some in my car, so if I want a can I have to go to the car, then it's nasty and warm, so I have to chill it, so ... it's easier to convince myself to have a nice cold glass of water, most of the time.

Deprivation doesn't work for me. If I want to eat a piece of chocolate cake, and eat some fruits instead (Sweet is sweet, right? WRONG!), I'll end up eating the fruits AND the chocolate cake. Instead, I eat a little piece of what I want. It keeps me from overindulging, obsessing over food, and drooling.

Most important though, is knowing what my weaknesses are, and simply not bringing anything home. Shop healthier, and you won't have any choice but to eat healthier. And healthy food does not have to be bland or boring either.