Going Cold Turkey on Junk Food

Young Blood

I eat junk food every day but it's hard to tell. I run about 10k 3-4 times a week so I manage to keep within an acceptable weight.

However I have ridiculous cravings for junk food and decided I am going to kick the habit once and for all. I'm going to try to limit it to once a week and that's it.

The reason it annoys is because I just had dinner and was completely full and then decided to go to the shop for 'desert' which turns out to be 6 walkers baked, fudge desert and coca cola. I'm not even hungry but I feel I always need desert. It's a more of a psychological reward after a long run. But I don't think I need the calories as my BMI is about 27.8. I'm 5 10 and weigh 88kg.

I heard it takes 3 weeks to kick a habit. Is this true?

Dodge

Young Blood wrote: »

I heard it takes 3 weeks to kick a habit. Is this true?

No. I did it immediately. The key is to have your meals/shopping prepared.

Hard for any strangers to help you change your outlook but if you stop seeing junk foods as rewards, it'll help you in the long run

Look at it in these plain terms; if they make you feel ****e, then why are you doing it to yourself?

Good luck

lyinghere

I think you should aim to combine it with a goal. Definitely scope to decrease your BMI below 25 looking at this at a very high level and not knowing your specific circumstances. Cold turkey is hard, maybe allow yourself a treat at weekends but not use it as an excuse to binge !

Daisies

Why not change what you consider a dessert? Maybe have a square or 2 of dark chocolate. It sounds like it's in your mind so changin what you think you "need" is the key

Dolbert

I've done the cold turkey thing and honestly a little of what you fancy won't affect you in the long run. A bag of treble crunch and a Special K chocolate delight bar would be half the calories of a Hunky Dorys and a Twix, for example.

catbear

I used to find the sugary drinks the worst for piling on weight. I switched to packets of dried fruit over processed junk and that made a huge improvement.

The trick I guess is to never feel deprived, there's an emotional high after an instant sugar rush but I found that slow consumption of dried fruit and seeds filled that sated the emotional bounce I missed after a sugary drink rush.

I used to drive for work which made it really easy to pile in convenience junk food but keeping a constant supply of raisins and other dried fruit in the van really helped me lose the excess weight I'd been carrying.

BTW, I'm really crap at eating fruit otherwise.

Young Blood

Just by giving up food I should shed some weight at least?

Alf Veedersane

Young Blood wrote: »

Just by giving up food I should shed some weight at least?

Dropping calorie-dense junk you don't need will make a difference

zoobizoo

I also feel the need for dessert.

I either go down the dark chocolate route - you can never eat more than a couple of squares and it hits the spot or I eat Nak'd bars.

The problem I used to have was I'd buy bars in bulk (as it was cheaper) and promise myself that I'd only eat one a night... never worked. I just don't buy them anymore. Not to say that I don't occasionally have a bar or a pastry mind.

Healthy alternative
Another good one if you have the time is to stew apples / pear, add in some cinnamon, toast some oats and you've got a quick crumble right there.

Irish_rat

OP don't worry, you will lose weight if you stick to a good food plan and you're doing a good bit of exercise a week too.

As for the cravings, is it during the days you're running? The minimum daily calorie guideline for women and men is 1200 cals. After 10km (~900 cals) run you need to eat over 2000 cals on those days at the absolute bare minimum. A good homemade snack is what could do the trick.

Macy0161

I make myself a few treats for the week. I make basic flapjacks (Just butter, brown sugar and oats, sometimes with a layer of chocolate on top). Or a fairly basic banana bread.

There are also a couple of recipes for oat bran muffins, and wholemeal flour bars (not totally dissimilar to nutrigrain bakes) that I picked up in one of the Aldi brochures. Still high in sugar, but not as processed as a shop brought alternative, and you can cut it down into whatever size portions you want. I normally cut them down so they're sub 150 calories.

Like I said, probably some will consider them "bad", but they give my sweet tooth enough to keep me satisfied, and I feel they're better than the shop brought alternatives I'd go for. In calorie terms (no other factors/ benefits), I'd eat more in dried fruit than I would these.

If you are looking for a shop brought sugar hit, Aldi do Cranberry Cereal Bars which are which are alright (my emergency supply in case I'm tempted for the vending machine!) and come in around 110 calories and are definitely sweet.

Cold turkey didn't work for me - it just ended in a binge.

Andrew Laeddis

Is Manhattan popcorn an ok junk food? (30gram bag/134 calories)

Alf Veedersane

Andrew Laeddis wrote: »

Is Manhattan popcorn an ok junk food? (30gram bag/134 calories)

You can't really look at one item in isolation. It depends on your diet overall.

But if it's not going to cause you to go over what you want, then there are certainly a lot worse options.

haminka

Young Blood wrote: »

I eat junk food every day but it's hard to tell. I run about 10k 3-4 times a week so I manage to keep within an acceptable weight.

However I have ridiculous cravings for junk food and decided I am going to kick the habit once and for all. I'm going to try to limit it to once a week and that's it.

The reason it annoys is because I just had dinner and was completely full and then decided to go to the shop for 'desert' which turns out to be 6 walkers baked, fudge desert and coca cola. I'm not even hungry but I feel I always need desert. It's a more of a psychological reward after a long run. But I don't think I need the calories as my BMI is about 27.8. I'm 5 10 and weigh 88kg.

I heard it takes 3 weeks to kick a habit. Is this true?

If you have cravings for a sweet dessert, can't you simply eat a smaller dinner and then eat something sweet? Or banana or similar sweet fruit?
BMI of 27 and the height to weight ratio is a bit on a higher side unless it's all muscle mass.
Junk food addiction can be beaten if you can find the right balance, i.e. don't deprive yourself completely, don't beat yourselvef if you fail once in a time, it's not so tragic. Learn to bake to see how much butter and sugar goes into your cookies and cakes.

frag420

I have recently changed my relationship with junk food. not much time to go into details now as I am at work but to quickly address fizzy drinks......

I have cut them out. When I fancy a sweet drink I have a glass of choc Milk. Fills that gap perfectly and I am less likely to eat sweets with it as it is rather filling too. Gets some protein into you too!

Andrew Laeddis

Ice Cream really bad for you or ok in moderation (once a week) ?

Alf Veedersane

Andrew Laeddis wrote: »

Ice Cream really bad for you or ok in moderation (once a week) ?

In moderation, it's fine.

Again, you can't determine whether or not something is bad within your diet by looking at it in isolation. It needs to be in the context of your diet as a whole.

NamelessPhil

frag420 wrote: »

I have recently changed my relationship with junk food. not much time to go into details now as I am at work but to quickly address fizzy drinks......

I have cut them out. When I fancy a sweet drink I have a glass of choc Milk. Fills that gap perfectly and I am less likely to eat sweets with it as it is rather filling too. Gets some protein into you too!

You're likely to be consuming more calories per 100ml of chocolate milk than a Coca Cola with a similar amount of sugar.

Coca cola - 10.6g sugar per 100ml / 42 calories

Avonmore chocolate milk - 10.4g sugar per 100ml/ 74 calories

frag420

NamelessPhil wrote: »

You're likely to be consuming more calories per 100ml of chocolate milk than a Coca Cola with a similar amount of sugar.

Coca cola - 10.6g sugar per 100ml / 42 calories

Avonmore chocolate milk - 10.4g sugar per 100ml/ 74 calories

But I would wager the milk is better for you than the coke!!

Would a 1000 calories of chocolate be better for you than 1300 calories of veg?

Less calories but nowhere near as good for you!

NamelessPhil

It doesn't make it "better" for you if your aim is not consuming as many calories to lose weight. 1000 calories is 1000 calories regardless of where it comes from. It is easy to assume that because something is good for you that you can consume as much as you like. 1000 calories worth of veg may give you different nutrients from chocolate but neither is enough for all your daily needs.

The point I was making with the coke vs. chocolate milk comparison is that you're consuming 50% more calories when you drink the milk. You will continue to gain weight if you drink as much milk as you were drinking fizzy drinks and you're still consuming the same amount of sugar. If you want the fizz, then switch to carbonated water.

It is a well known phenomenon that if foods are marketed as having "health benefits" or as "low fat" that people will consume more of them than they would of the regular item.

Irish_rat

Going cold turkey on junk food really is-int hard if you keep yourself fed with good quality meals throughout the day. When you're hungry you will reach for the most easiest thing to eat which usually tends to be utter garbage.

Limestone Cowboy

Cut it all out myself over a month ago and don't miss it yet. Didn't have much of a sweet tooth anyway but was eating take aways 5 nights a week and drinking 2 litres of fizzy drinks a day along with a bit of a tayto additiction. Started going to the gym and just cut it all out. Replaced the fizzy drinks with water and the take aways with a proper dinner cooked from scratch. Can see a difference already.

magicmushroom

frag420 wrote: »

I have recently changed my relationship with junk food. not much time to go into details now as I am at work but to quickly address fizzy drinks......

I have cut them out. When I fancy a sweet drink I have a glass of choc Milk. Fills that gap perfectly and I am less likely to eat sweets with it as it is rather filling too. Gets some protein into you too!

Chocolate milk is an excellent way to beat cravings - I have a hot chocolate made with Green and Blacks Cocoa and a little Manuka honey in the evening after a meal - I'll admit, it's not as satisfying as a bar of Fruit and Nut but it gets me through!!

A bit of jam on toast or brown bread is nice too. Sugary enough to beat the cravings but still not the sugar (or calorie) content of a chocolate bar.

Brussels Sprout

Young Blood wrote: »

I heard it takes 3 weeks to kick a habit. Is this true?

I gave up sweet, chocolates, fizzy drinks, deserts and coffee for November and it's really only been in the past week that my cravings for the above have abated. At this point the only one of the above that I really miss is coffee.

Ruby31

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

I gave up sweet, chocolates, fizzy drinks, deserts and coffee for November and it's really only been in the past week that my cravings for the above have abated. At this point the only one of the above that I really miss is coffee.

Yes, I think it does take your body a couple of weeks to stop craving junk if you were consuming a lot of it daily.

I had a serious junk-food addiction. I literally thought about food ALL day. I cut it out completely. I made sure to keep really busy during my 'detox' as I was definitely going to reach for the junk if I was bored, sitting around the house. Once the cravings subsided after a couple of weeks, I was able to reintroduce treats, but as suggested by other posters, they were homemade and I try to keep them high-protein as a carby treat just sets my cravings off again!

LiamaDelta

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

Didn't have much of a sweet tooth anyway.... and drinking 2 litres of fizzy drinks a day along with a bit of a tayto additiction.

:eek::eek:

It's all relative...but in any case well done on making the change, keep it up