Go to the grocery store when you’ve already eaten.
Allow yourself to purchase 1 kind of junk food per week only (it’s ok to have a treat, going whole hog can just make you go back to buying crap). Purchase health snacks as alternatives to the rest. Personally I go for things like cashews, carrots, and healthier chips (I can’t eat anything with gluten, so already forced to avoid some things. Because of the GF health craze that hit some years ago, a lot of GF foods are fairly healthy, so you may want to look at those to make it easier to start selection).
Schedule time to do meal and snack prep. Watch something while you make it, I like to re-watch shows so I don’t have to pay a lot of attention to them while I cook. I work from home, so it’s mostly stuff I can combine with other things - tons of rice, chicken I can add to rice to make fried rice or drop in some soup with rice noodles, etc. You’ll need to figure out what type of foods you want quick access to.
Most people here recommend stopping something not taking into account that it may not last long. One slip and you’re back. No addiction is cured by stopping immediately. You cannot simply get rid of a habit in one day. It has to be steady and progressive so that there’s zero stress during transition.
First, start combining junk food with healthier meals. Like once a week, have something semi-healthy. Find something that tastes right for you. It may be not completely healthy, but the main thing is that you should enjoy it. Then start expanding it to more days per week. Repeat until the week days are all “semi-healthy” food. Next step, do the same but lean towards even healthier food, repeat the same process. Start marking cheat days on your calendar, when you can eat whatever you want. At this point you want to make eating healthy food a habit, and cheat days (1-3 per month) as an exception.
I used to drink lots of Lipton Ice Tea. First I switched to some other drink but with less sugar. Then I switched to Cola Zero. Then I started drinking mineral water. Now I basically drink just water and occasionally some Coke Zero. Same scenario also worked for smoking.
TLDR: steadily find better alternatives. Never make sudden change. Make it a habit. Rinse and repeat.
I think that the real answer is that different things work for different people.
Personally when I make changes in my life I always go 100% straight away. I have a really hard time with half measures. Like when i wanted to lose 5 kg I started logging everything i ate and just was super strict with ny kcal intake for a year to not gain it back, no cheat days. And when i went vegan a few years later i did that cold turkey.
You have what is called an “addiction”. An addiction is a self-destructive behavior you can’t control. Or rather, that you can control but not with the normal ease at which you normally control your own actions.
There’s two ways out of an addiction. One is far more effective than the other.
The method that’s more effective short term, but less effective long term, is willpower. Just force yourself to hold off on those treats. Wait five minutes, then dig in. Next time, try waiting six minutes. Just brute force your way out of the behavior.
The method that is less immediately effective, but far more effective long term, is to heal your psychological trauma so that moment-to-moment consciousness is not painful. This will remove the base motivation for pleasure-seeking, making that junk food mildly attractive, but nothing more.
In my own experience with addiction, brute forcing an addiction merely leads to another addiction forming. The only lasting addiction relief I’ve gotten in my life is from deep psychotherapeutic work, with men’s groups, with zen training, with individual therapy, and with native american healing ceremonies.
If your addiction were to alcohol or crack or something else that debilitated you, I’d recommend starting with the brute force method just to get breathing room. But a junk food addiction is more subtle, and doesn’t immediately debilitate you, so my recommendation is to go for the trauma healing strategy.
However, if your job is at all in danger, then I recommend the brute force method to begin with, because the inflammation caused by junk food will affect your job performance and if there’s any danger of losing your job then you need to take immediate action to protect it.
Everyone is saying don’t but snack foods, which is one step. But if you don’t have some form of healthy snacks on hand, you’re just going to revert back to it. I suggest dehydrating fruits and having nuts and seeds available so you can still snack but not feel bad about it.
Dried fruit and nuts are all super calorie-rich options.
Fresh fruit will be healthier. It’s still possible to overdo it, just more difficult.
For something basically impossible to eat many calories with, vegetables kick butt. Cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, cucumbers, and so on are the way to go.
A friend of mine stopped their addiction by developing the habit of putting junk food in the freezer. The freezer makes it taste better but forces you to wait out the craving because it has to get cold.
Are you hungry or just bored and looking for extra stimulation while enjoying some entertainment? Have you considered a fidget toy or something to keep your hands occupied? A puzzle? Knitting? Chewing gum?
I just want you to consider one more aspect of it. I’ve seen this discussed and backed up with scientific articles but I’m too lazy to find and include them in my post. Basically, all your cravings originate from your gut and your gut is ruled by the bacteria that have made your gut their home over the years. You’ve colonized your gut with a particular set of bacteria by giving them what you eat.
Now, if you change that food pattern, these bacteria, that control the gut, will make your body release chemicals that will make you crave for food that will keep them alive. Realise this and act accordingly. Being conscious about it has helped me overcome many food related ‘addictions’ i had like that of soda, of wafers. I still fall prey when I consume sweets continuously for a few days during festivities. Everytime it is the same struggle against the cravings, but I realise I’m just fighting against the settlers in my gut, brave it for a few days and notice my cravings become dull over time. Probiotics like kimchi, saurkraut, kefir, kombucha etc. help to some extent but ultimately it is more of a mind game.
Make what you will from my advice, but it does work for me. I wish you all the best in your fight against your gut settlers.
This is the only way. I lack all self control to not eat junk food and sweets. I never buy them for this reason. Only eat dessert and junk food if I’m out or it is provided for me somewhere else.
I still have some of it in my house, but over the past year I’ve cut down majorly, by refusing to snack during the day, and tracking my calories each day. Just being aware of what I ate made a huge difference. Also, instead of ice cream, I buy TruFru dark chocolate raspberries and just have a few each night. I’ve lost about 50 pounds since last January through diet and exercise.
I’d say it’s more like 70/30 personally. It also gives you some wiggle room with a low cal diet. But you definitely can’t just do some running then go out for bucket of KFC all the time.
Calories burned from running isn’t that great of a return.
An estimate is that a 200 pound person burns 792 calories per hour running at 5mph (12min/mile, or 8kph) on a firm, level surface. A 140 pound person burns 555 calories in the same scenario.
So yeah, with a 1500 calorie deficit diet, that’s about a 3rd of what you eat for the day, so like 33%. That’s a pretty big chunk, and easily allows you to snack on occasion and still hit your deficit. I’d say it’s pretty helpful, but diet is still absolutely necessary for any results.
I was able to curb my nervous/bored eating and drinking with bitters and sours. Instead of reaching for food I now reach for some tea (with just lemon), coffee (decaf black), a glass of water with lemon, or just suck on a lime wedge. The lime thing is mostly to curb alcohol cravings.
PS: My wife’s answer was Kombucha. Everybody is different.
It can be tough to break from habitual behavior in the moment (i.e. when you’re reaching for a snack). Instead try putting some effort on making it harder or more inconvenient to indulge in that habit, while also giving yourself alternatives so it doesn’t feel too torturous and make you want to give up.
For example, I’m guessing it will be a lot less emotionally “painful” to resist buying those snacks when you’re out grocery shopping than it will be to resist grabbing them when they are already in your pantry. Use that to your advantage and stop buying the worst ones and try replacing them with a few healthier alternatives so that when the urge to snack hits at least the worst options are not available to you.
I’m hardly the healthiest eater, but a good apple sliced up satisfies a lot of my urges to snack. Baby carrots with hummus also keep your mouth busy and fill you up with relatively few calories. Try a few fruit/veggie snacks to see if any scratch your itch to snack. You don’t have to change 100%, if you can break the junk food habit even 1/4 of the time, that’s a step.
Another thing that’s worked for me is portion control. Instead of bringing the whole bag of chips with you, pour a bowl and leave the rest in the kitchen. You might go back for seconds sometimes, but it still creates a barrier to eating more.
I think the most important thing is don’t try to make it all or nothing. That will just set you up for failure and frustration. Take steps that are meaningful but achievable. And when you have the motivation, try to think of ways to set yourself up for it to be easier to make good choices when you have less motivation. You got this 💪
I love me some salty food so I feel the pain. I’ll echo the sentiment of not buying it in the first place. Will power is an exhaustible resource.
I find that it almost doesn’t matter what I snack on I just want to snack. I will literally buy a huge bag of carrots and just eat those. Or my other favorite is toss a couple of strained cans of garbanzo beans in an air fryer, spray a bit of cooking spray, toast those suckers for 25 min, and salt/season them for a protein heavy snack that actually has fiber. Cheap, easy, and gives me similar vibes to a potato chip in an incredibly more healthy way.
Thanks for the chickpea recipe! To add to your carrot tip: when I buy them I peel them straight away and store them in a sealed container in the fridge. They stay crispy and juicy that way.
I get them whole and eat them whole. So dang cheap. Like $3 for a 5lb bag. I get made fun of endlessly by some, but I joke that if it were a bag of Doritos no one would bat an eye and that says a lot about the state of things. My wife joked that I have “car carrots” and just leave a big bag of carrots in the car if the weather permits.
I am never hungry for a snack if I eat 2lbs of raw carrots.
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