Processed JUNK vs. eating clean???

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carajo
carajo Posts: 532 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I eat well....most days....but last week i had an entire day of processed junk.....packaged brownies, rice krispie treats, sugar cereal just to name a few....needless to say i felt so sick the entire day consuming that much!!!
So i'm wondering how long does it take your body to get all that out of your system and when it does do you crave all those again? I do really well eating lots of veggies, fruits lean protein then it seems like after a week i just have an entire day off the wagon, and it is keeping me from losing...i don't gain either, but these last 10 lbs. i can't shed!! Any advice? THANKS!!

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  • carajo
    carajo Posts: 532 Member
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    I eat well....most days....but last week i had an entire day of processed junk.....packaged brownies, rice krispie treats, sugar cereal just to name a few....needless to say i felt so sick the entire day consuming that much!!!
    So i'm wondering how long does it take your body to get all that out of your system and when it does do you crave all those again? I do really well eating lots of veggies, fruits lean protein then it seems like after a week i just have an entire day off the wagon, and it is keeping me from losing...i don't gain either, but these last 10 lbs. i can't shed!! Any advice? THANKS!!
  • yoginimary
    yoginimary Posts: 6,784 Member
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    I think it takes 2-3 weeks to break a habit/craving. It will never completely go away though. Ever talk to an ex-smoker? They will still think about smoking years afterwards. But the trick is, they don't think about it every hour of every day. Food is the same way.

    Your body should get all that stuff out of your system in 12-24 hours depending on your, um, fiber intake.
  • jpketz
    jpketz Posts: 73
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    (Disclaimer: NOT an expert, only an avid reader and health/fitness junkie. Please take what you like and leave the rest).

    While the quality of the food you eat is certainly important in the long term, if only because the foods you listed are full of simple carbs and will play havoc with your blood sugar and may set up a nasty little craving-binging cycle if eaten day after day, and are pretty much devoid of any nutrients, I wouldn't think that one day binging on "junk" would set you back enough to stall your progress if the rest of the week you're on target calorie-wise. (Sorry for the run on sentence).

    As far as the weight loss goes, strictly speaking, it's all calories in-calories out (for most of us) so if you're in stall mode, I would do the math first. And remember it takes 3500 extra calories to make a pound (roughly).

    If your numbers look good, it may be any number of other things causing you to plateau and most of them have to do with diet and exercise consistency, which is a lovely thing but can cause your body to get nice and comfy metabolically and throw you into idle. The best way to jump start your metabolism, in my experience, is to change something up; your cardio routine, frequency of workouts (not necessarily more, I've busted a plateau by eating more and exercising less, believe it or not), start strength training, vary your calorie intake so your not exactly right on every day...etc. Lots of info on this out there.

    As for the "day off the wagon"...I would ask how does it make you feel, not just physically? If you take a day/week and treat yourself, that's one thing. No harm, no foul. If it feels like something you're "getting away with", or you feel ashamed of later, that's something else entirely. That comes out of deprivation and we humans normally respond to deprivation by overcompensating. That's when things get ugly.

    Hey...lots of experts recommend going easy on yourself one day a week, so instead of 6 days "in control", one day completely running amok, try giving yourself permission, so you retain the control. Then plan your "easy day" around some really healthy but extra yummy stuff. It's all about staying in control of what we eat, right?

    Wow...that's a long answer to short question. Dismounting from soap box now.
  • nmsp2180s
    nmsp2180s Posts: 12
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    It's been proven that eating refined sugars has the same addictive effects as drinking alcoholic beverages does to an alcoholic.

    If you can stick to eating clean and work though the craving without giving in, you'll soon find that the cravings stop. I can verify that with personal experience. I very rarely have a craving anymore, and when I do, I stop and get on the treadmill (if I can) until the amount of calories in the food I'm craving have been burned in exercise.

    A few miles of running in order to burn enough calories for you to have a brownie will generally quash any craving. And if you do it enough, soon brownies don't even sound good.

    You can also think about what that refined/processed food is doing to your body. It is very literally killing it, bit by bit.

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