Any Fast Food Junkies?

After reading some really good advice in this thread https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/dropping-weight-and-improving-overall-health.582123/ I decided to post about as my wife calls it my fast food "addiction" the last few months. Any advice to quit it?

I've been hooked on McDonalds Sausage Egg & Cheese McMuffin's and there Sweet Tea which I know is horrendous for you but has become part of my morning routine. Trying to quit now and thought this could be a positive place to talk about quitting fast food for myself and others.

 

I have quit tobacco, drinking and other bad habits and behaviours. For the life of me, I cannot quit sugar. I think that a lot of people are addicted to foods and they either don't know it or don't realize the extent of it.

The first step to getting over anything like this is being aware of it. Then once you can understand that it is an issue, you can start working to resist it.

I was doing 4-6 large redbulls a day at one point on top of random candies and other sugars. My solution at first was to go cold turkey and this went okay, but I quickly found myself replacing it with other sugars and crap food. What I have found works for me when I have trouble doing something cold turkey is to slowly start transferring to a "healthier" option. So I started drinking some coffee, but using pure sugar instead. Slowly lowering the amount of sugar I need each cup to enjoy it. It has been a slower progressive change and over almost two years I have cut about 100lbs of sugar or more from my diet every year.


So what I suggest is getting a snack that you like, that is sorta healthy, but much better than McDonalds would be for you. Then carry some of that in your car so you can grab one when you see a McDonalds you can drive by. Find a sweet tea that isn't as bad as theirs or a local shop you can get a breakfast sandwich that might be a little bit healthier. Then after you got used to that new food/routine, do it all over again. Eventually you will be pretty healthy.

Or just change your driving route if possible and avoid them all and go cold turkey. It will suck for a few days but after a week or two you won't even remember it.

 

Sugar is tough. My wife and I did a detox called the 21 Day Sugar Detox last March. The book is available on Amazon and gave suggested meal ideas and all. You cut everything with sugar out including all wheat. Only banana's and two other fruits were allowed and you were only allowed to drink Herbal Tea, Water, Coffee/Tea (preferably non caffeinated), and Milk although they suggested you switch to almond or coconut. In those 21 days I lost 15 lbs. My wife lost about 12. I couldn't eat anything with sugar afterwards for a while it took me about a month to get back to normal but I kept the weight off for a while and was exercising daily and kept no bread going for a while. It is amazing though before I "fell off the wagon" around summer I continued looking at sugar content and trying not to eat much and its like you said people don't even realize it. I found cold turkey worked the best for that.

I quit soda as my New Years Resolution, I was drinking at least 3 cans a day. A good friend of mine was drinking probably 2 liters per day and I saw the havoc it was running on his body specifically his kidney's and I decided to quit cold turkey. I realized the havoc it was running on me. I'm proud to say New Years Eve at 8:42 PM will be exactly one year since I took my last sip of soda. I crave it sometimes but I know I can't control myself with it if I go back to it. It was truly amazing the difference in my energy levels after quitting. I stayed primarily drinking water and milk then the tea started in but I only would drink that in the morning because if I drink anything with caffeine since I quit the soda now it literally gets me gittery and I can't sleep.

That's a good idea about keeping a snack in the truck! I'm right now trying to eat a bowl of Cheerio's or have an Egg at home for breakfast everyday and having my big "splurge" be on Christmas where were having Egg/Sausage casserole homemade by my Grandmom and homemade sticky buns.

 

Most fast food tastes terrible and leaves me feeling like shit after I eat it. It’s not like it’s even that cheap anymore and usually the people serving it look like they haven’t bathed or washed their uniform in a long time
Yet some strange compulsion pushes me through that drive thru more often than I care to admit

 

Sounds like you’ve made a lot of progress already. Just gotta kick this last habit!

 

What got me off the Dew, and most soda in general (still weak with root beer) is that some guy/lady tried suing Mt. Dew for having a dead rat in their can when they opened it. Mt. Dew won the lawsuit by showing that any rat canned in it would have dissolved and been just mush and bones by then. If it can dissolve bodies, I didn't want to keep drinking a ton of it.

Just incase someone thinks I'm telling an Urban legend.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/...-dew-is-capable-of-dissolving-animals/250790/

 

Just quit.
Don’t go there and don’t buy it.
It’s a matter of free will.

It always sucks changing habits and its not easy but you have a choice over your actions.

You are just in the habit if eating out, get in the habit of packing breakfast and lunch.

Also calculate how much money is pissed away on eating out. I think that number alone will make you stop over night.

 

That's the truth. Just calculating what a week in breakfast sandwiches and tea is almost $53!

 

You’re welcome.


Lol
I personally meal prep and feel that keeps me eating well. If eating well is easy and convenient I’ll do it.
I think thats why we gravitate towards fast food.

 

I'll throw my Thanks out now! Lol.

I admit I do not eat balanced or well. I love burgers which is why I got hooked on fast food. However I know I need more variety in my diet hence why I'm trying to throw the changes out there. I am a very impatient person and when I'm ready to go out the door I leave which has helped my "addiction" which makes you right about the easy and convenient part.

When I was in college my Great Aunt passed away and my Great Uncle started eating at a diner everyday with my Grandmom, Mom, and Aunt telling him they would teach him to cook. His response was "I don't know how to cook and I'm not going to learn." I then took that motto on myself and started to gravitate to eating out much more.. I gained a lot of weight. When I was Student Teaching I started exercising and eating 95% at home and lost 45 lbs. Slowly I gained it all back due to the convenience. I now realize how bad can cooking be? I've been trying a little more, I'm determined over Christmas break to try to make Chicken Alfredo by myself.

I'm at the point now where I realize no matter what in life there will be stress so the time to quit is now! Also my wife suffers from horrendous migraines so she has been working with her dietitian friend to try to cut out stuff like Gluten and refined sugars and the progress she's made is wonderful. She lost 20 lbs as well doing this the last few months so that was a bonus she said haha. She started meal prepping for herself and continued to try to get me to join her but my stubbornness and one more day attitude made her. After thinking and typing this out its definitely gotta be beneficial!!

 

Easiest way to solve the convenience of eating breakfast out is to make breakfast easy at home. Take an hour on Saturday to make up a batch of breakfast sandwiches, burittos, pancakes or something else easy like that. Toss them in the freezer, pull one out to defrost the night before and put it in the microwave in the morning.

 

Excellent idea! My wife was doing that with these egg in a cupcake pan thing but I wasn't big on them. Might as well do a breakfast sandwich of my own and that way I only will eat one instead of two .

 

Go to the Food section of the forum.
We’ve got a crock pot and a smoker thread.
Cooking is awesome and can mean you get cool new toys!

I love cooking. Particularly meats.
Its fun making delicious things.