any ex-junk food lovers?

L

l23

Cathlete
Has anyone here been a junk food lover and changed their ways? I'm not overweight and am healthy (I'm also only 24), but I eat so much junk- candy, cake, fries, etc. everyday (not just once in awhile). It doesn't help that I don't love fruits and veggies.

So for those who have adopted healthy eating plans, what helped you? Journals? Going cold turkey? Did your sugar cravings go away? When?

Thanks!!
 
RE: Progress, not perfection . . .

I used to eat a LOT more junk food than I do now. I think part of that is just the fact that I'm getting older, and the system can't process the useless stuff out like it used to.

Also, and I find this very intriguing, when I went from only one strength training session per week (in addition to 5 sessions of cardio / water endurance work) to two-three sessions per week, including a LOT more leg strengthening, my craving for junk has just about tanked. I used to have to have a sugar treat during the afternoon AND after my evening meal; now I'm down to one bag of crunchy M&M's during the weekday afternoons and often I'll forget to have my sweet-treats at night. And I used to need to polish off a big (and I mean big) bowl of Cheez-Its or potato chips each night; now those amounts have gone down as well, although I'll never lose my love for them entirely.

My suggestion is: cut down for now, not OUT, and upkick your real butt-blasting strength training (keeping cardio up as well, of course!).

Hope this helps . . .


Annette Q. Aquajock
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Sep-24-02 AT 12:33PM (Est)[/font][p]The thing that helped me is knowing that your taste buds if you give them the chance will change and so will your cravings.

Its difficult to say what is best for you but what kept me going was I would often go to the Burger King in Victoria Station and as there were quite a few windows in which I could see myself reflected. That really helped when I decided to stop if I was tempted I would see my fat little body walking along and say to myself if I want to change that I need to eat better.

Great motivator looking in the mirror.

My moto is start slowly and build if you like burgers grill your own all the stuff I keep hearing about the meat and health standards in fast places (certainly here in the UK at times) is enough to encourage me and keep me on the straight and narrow.

I agree with Aquajock progress not perfection also remember view yourself as a work in progress, set small goals more achieveable and allow yourself some junk food your more likely to stick with a healthy eating plan that way.

Babs
 
I don't know if I'm an "ex" junk food lover, I still love junk food. What has worked for me so far is :

1. I don't deny myself anything. If we are having chocolate cake at work and I am craving it, I have one small bite and then I don't feel like I'm depriving myself. I didn't used to think this type of thing worked but it really does. I have "junk food" every day, such as granola bars that they sell with little bits of Nestle bars in them, Kudos bars, pudding cups, stuff like that which comes in a small quantity so it's easier to only eat a little.

2. There are so many fruits and veggies out there. I had a hard time initially finding ones I liked but I persevered and have a good collection of things going now. May I respectfully suggest you try a bunch of different ones to see if you find some you really like? Also chopping them up and putting them in a casserole (something that makes them soft) helps because you don't realize you're eating them. I make a chicken and rice casserole and I put carrots in it - nobody every notices them and they are good for you. :)

3. I don't know if you have a bingeing problem, but if so in my experience it is sort of self-fulfilling. The more you binge, the more you desire to binge. The less you binge, the less it becomes a habit and the less you crave it. That's my theory anyway.

Of course everyone is different so that is just what has worked for me. I hope this helps in whatever small way.
 
I don't know if anyone ever recovers completely from being a junk food lover. I know the temptation is always there for me. My only solution is to keep the stuff OUT OF THE HOUSE. If a bag of (reduced fat) potato chips is in the house, I will most likely eat the whole thing in 2 or 3 sitting.
 
I'm with Anna, No, but I wish I was!! I realize that when I totally cut out sweets I crave them even more. So I allow myself a small amount and for the most part it seems to work. I would by lying though if I said I completely controlled it. I wish I did not like the junk!!
 
I'm still addicted and always will be! To me, the perfect dinner is Pizza with double cheese, chocolate cake with bakery icing, topped with ice cream. No I'm not talking special occasion, that would just a perfect dinner at home anytime:)!!

Aimee
 
You know, everyones different. I used to have addictions to cakes, cookies, lots of carbo stuff, icecream too etc. Chips...I couldn't "not" finish the bag. Moderation just wasn't in my vocab. I prayed about this...never do this unless your serious and you know what...this stuff started making me physically sick. That's a long story, but I can assure you, as you try to change your tastes will slowly change. Don't expect an overnight change. Keep working at it. I'm the kind of person (and now I'm in a situation where I can't eat it) that caves under the "just try to eat smaller portions". I can't. I have to cut it out completely and as a result my tastes have changed. Haven't had icecream, cakes, pizza with cheese on it, candy bars, m&m's for almost two years now. And now I'm to the point where they don't even appeal to me, big difference from two years ago. My idea of an awesome snack is a freshly made whole wheat tortilla with lettuce tomatoe and thai seasoning on it. Fabulous. Let me give you some substitutions to help transition.

Make shakes in the blender (vitamix if you have one works great)
Use Frozen strawberries, frozen bananas, orange juice concentrate, (yogurt if you want) some water and soy milk. use in place of icecream. These are great and we give them to the kids all the time since we don't do the icecream thing.

Order Veggie pizza (I get it with no cheese, but work up to this). They will even special make it for you at Pizza Hut or usually any place.

Instead of candy bars, try to switch over to the health food bars. Psycologically unwrapping it will make you feel like your eating candy!! (make sure you read the ingredients, some of those are too close to the real thing).

Check out your local food coop to substitute something for potatoe chips. A healthy chip.

Don't keep anything in the house other than these transition foods. Pretty soon your tastes will change.

Oh and for Veggies. Keep carrots, gr.peppers, cukes, celery cut up on a "pretty" plate with lots of unhealthy dressing of your choice to dip them in until you transition over to enjoying them with a lowfat dressing etc...

You get the idea. Make healthy food look good. Mentally picture an incredible salad, or better yet, find a picture of one and paste it on your fridge. Make these for lunch, even if you begin by putting dressing on it, work up to the fat free kind and pretty soon you'll be eating salad with flax oil on it. Yum!!!

You can retrain your taste buds...:-jumpy
Briee
 
I used to work a lot of hours and resorted to eating junk food for comfort and lack of time to fix anything healthy. What helped me to change my ways was journaling what I ate. I'm a lot more careful now if I know that I have to enter every little thing that I eat into Fitday. But I'd have to say that the most important thing for me was not giving it up entirely. If I knew that I could never have chocolate again, I'd probably give up. I let myself have about 2 unhealthy meals a week and maybe one or two candy bars during the week. I'm careful that if I have a candy bar, I don't go over my max calories for the day though by eating super-clean for the rest of the day. I have absolutely no willpower so I have to make sure that I won't cave in a moment of weakness. First, I don't carry cash. I take healthy snacks with me to school each day and don't have money so I can't cheat and get a candy bar. Second, I keep myself from getting hungry by always having lots of good snacks (crunchy or sweet depending on my craving) around. Third, I never go to the grocery store while I'm hungry. Fourth, I always have sugar free bubble gum on hand.
 
I love junk food but I allow myself to eat it only once a week, and I really stick to it. If someone brings in cake or something at work, I take some home. This works really good for me, and believe me, I LOVE sweets. My favorite thing is birthday cake from a bakery with that sickening sweet frosting! I like corner pieces from a rectangular cake because it has more icing!!!!!!

I treasure my weekly pig out day, and don't intend to give it up unless the doctor tells me I have developed diabetes.
 
I'm still a junk food lover!! I follow BFL and I have 1 free day a week which lets me get in all the junk I need for the day. At first, I went 'hog wild' but slowly I've started realizing how crappy I feel the next day and now usually just have a free meal that day. But mentally I know that if I have to have something, my free day is just around the corner. It hasn't altered my progess as far as weight loss, etc.

Colleen
 
I'm currently reading Body Rx by Scott Connelly after seeing all the discussion about it on this board. There's some excellent nutrition information here. Junk food lovers need to read his chapter on fructose.

My diet hit an all-time low in college. Pop-tarts, chocolate covered granola bars, candy bars, home-baked treats from Mom, greasy fried cafeteria food. I thought I had free reign to eat whatever because I never gained weight, but it will eventually catch up with you in other ways and destroy your health - it did a number on me.

Some folks can quit cold turkey, some have to transition. The transition method has worked for me. My husband calls it making better bad choices. Decreasing the number of times you indulge per day or week is another way.

There are several good books out on carb/sugar addiction. May be worth taking a look. It takes time - for me, a long time - but you'll get to the point where these things lose their appeal - particularly when you know the damage they can do.

Angela
 
Thanks!!

I appreciate everyone's comments- there's some great advice in the posts. I'm glad there are some junk food junkies out there.

One thing I've noticed, is that I'll buy junk for no real reason. If I go to a quickie-mart type store for milk, I'll also get donuts. If I'm at the grocery store, I automatically get chips and sweets. If candy bars are 4/$1.00, I get a bunch. When I forget my lunch, I get fast food. So I think I'll have to work on those things.

You guys are right, if the food's not there, I won't eat it. I just shouldn't buy it! I think I need to figure out if I need to stop eating any junk for awhile, or if I should do the moderation approach. There are pros/cons to each. I'm just not good at stopping after 1 brownie, or a few fries. We'll see.

Thanks again!
 
RE: Thanks!!

The best advice I can give on this topic is to learn about food. Learn what it does in your body. Learn what is good for you and why and vice versa. I found that once I had this knowledge and started exercising, it just kinda all fell into place. I still eat ice cream and pizza, but the rest of my meals are very clean. Eat for health 80% of the time and you will be OK. I don't ever "crave" sugar except for after dinner, which is very much environmental and not physical. You gotta develop new habits!!!

Janice
 
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