Stop me from eating crap!

Art Vanderlay

Hourly daily
I am addicted to junk food at the moment. It is something that has crept up on me over the last 6 months. Previous to this my food habits were very good. Funnily, my wife is very healthy when it comes to what she eats, so its not a habit we both share. I still eat healthy food/meals, but the junk is getting to much. I know from the past, when you are eating healthy, you tend to eat less and feel a lot better.

Weight is not an issue for me, though would be happy to shed a couple of kg's.

I am still managing to get in a fair amount training (road bike) and mtb racing (enduros/XC) but obviously the junk food isn't a great combination.

So from now, I'll use this confession as my motivator to get back on track. Any tips for cutting out junk food would be great along with any healthy food ideas.
 

driftking

Wheel size expert
Just replied to the alcohol thread. It I'll copy it below.

As healthy food it depends how healthy we are talking, to go full you need to make everything includin sauces from scratch. But without getting into too much here are my tips.

-cut out white foods, replace with wholemeal.
-find organic or natural if you can
-snacks, find healthy snacks, if your not trying to loose weight having nuts or natural Muesli bars (Carmen's are good) carrot sticks etc with you when your out will be good.
-look for healthy ea out alternatives avoid fried foods or batter, go for grilled or steamed foods or sushi etc as a lunch out.
-plate rule 1/4 protien 1/4 carbs 2/4 salad green veggies etc
-bake foods instead at home you don't need oil and you don't get carcinogenic burning.
-opt for lean cuts or meat chicken breast, eye fillet, top loin.
If you want something a little more tender with some fat buy a fattier cut but trim it down as much as possible.
-aim for grass feed beef the omega ratio is about 3:1 which is ideal (keep in mind ratio does not mean its high in omegas)
-Use herbs and spices in food for flavour instead of fats and oils.
-Use healthy fats, monounsaturated is the main player.

-for the sweet kick designate a small meal or desert to have either daily dark cholate is good as ts quite healthy injustice don't eat too many serves. (serving size is what gets ya)
-soda water with fresh juice added (not sugar filled bottle but fresh aha) this can help give you a sweet satisfaction without the massive sugar.
-on that note eat fruit for sugar cravings most are actually moderate to low in GI rating but they deffinately satisfy that sweet taste.
-eat regularly by eating regularly and complex carbs you will keep your insulin and sugar levels steady and provide your boy with glucose steadily this will help prevent those down times or cravings for sugars and other crap.

Some people find it hard to do it all at once so just focus on one thing each week or a few things and then slowly build up.

Oh and don't add salt to food unless medically you have to. Once you are making food from starch its fine but with some prepared things you get a good sack of odium.
Pasta and pasta sauce per serve can easily hit 1.5g / 75%rdi

Been prepared is the key, prepare for snacks when your out.
 
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dunndog

Eats Squid
Driftking, what is carconogenic burning? Am I giving my family cancer by roasting veggies or something?! (Not that I burn it.. often)
 

Norco Maniac

Is back!
alongside the good advice re eating raw/organic/etc there's something else that bears looking at - "junk" foods can be the thing we go for when comfort eating. are you particularly stressed or anxious about something at the moment? or eating from boredom maybe?

apart from the fact that i plain don't like most junk food, i find the best way to avoid eating it is to not keep it in the house. you'll find that the desire to eat crap is usually overriden by laziness when you're wanting a quick hit and have to go out and buy it :D
 

Zam

Likes Dirt
ONe easy way to cut out junk food eating is prepare and take as many meals as you need for the day with you, so a little preparation and you are good to go. I like cooking extra for dinner, so extra sweet potato, brocolli, veggies etc, chicken and steak or if i am making a salad make extra for my meals the next day for work, this way it doesnt really take any extra time to prepare anything but your meals are already done so you dont have to go and buy anything.

I found once i started eating healthy the craving for junk food basically went away, i found when i did have some junk food i didnt taste as good and made me feela little sick, then after a while it just become a habit so your not avoiding it as such, but more you just don't eat it because you dont like it.
 

mtb101

Likes Bikes and Dirt
look at the reasons why you are craving junk food or why you are doing something that will harm your health (and fitness) in the long term.

other than that, always have a high fibre breakfast, drink plenty of water and plan or pre-empt your junk food craving by taking healthy food with you. It aren't hard to stack your day with bananas/veg etc so they are there when you need them.
 

driftking

Wheel size expert
Driftking, what is carconogenic burning? Am I giving my family cancer by roasting veggies or something?! (Not that I burn it.. often)


When you cook something or heat something to a certain point like say burning or smoking point with oils, the structure of the food changes and some of these changes produce carcinogens, the levels of them I am not sure but any prevention is good right, especially over time?

It is due to the acrylamide among a few others, it is more prevalent in proteins and starchy foods.

This is why olive oil is not good for cooking, while it is a good oil when it is cooked it has a low smoking point and ends up being bad rather then healthy.

Have a google, there is lots of information on the topic and I mean proper information that is proven.

Marinating meats have being shown to reduce this change and help prevent or lower the carcinogenic levels with cooking.
You can obviously cook something very high in a oven too but less likely to burn it and the use of oil is not needed.

quick search and a quote
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7124501.stm

Burnt or barbecued foods – a group of carcinogenic substances called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can be produced if foods are overheated or burnt. Although charred or smoked foods could contain traces of PAHs. when cooking, it’s best to use relatively low temperature methods wherever possible and limit your intake of char-grilled meats and foods. Low temperature cooking methods include steaming, boiling, poaching, stewing, casseroling, braising, baking, stir-frying, microwaving or roasting.
Some people suggest the levels are too low to be a concern, though other studies have found increased rates.
 
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Ridenparadise

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Sugar is addictive due to the insulin surge it creates and the subsequent fall in blood glucose which stresses your brain into demanding more. Substituting carbs for sugar (whether you call them low GI or complex) does little to break that cycle. Just stop eating the junk, add no sugar to anything (including fruit juice which has no place in a healthy diet anyway) and after 2 weeks the cravings largely go away. Most of these responses are suggesting substituting something else when the cravings come and therefore continuing the cycle of satiety the brain is looking for. Why eat more than you actually need to?
 

driftking

Wheel size expert
Sugar is addictive due to the insulin surge it creates and the subsequent fall in blood glucose which stresses your brain into demanding more. Substituting carbs for sugar (whether you call them low GI or complex) does little to break that cycle. Just stop eating the junk, add no sugar to anything (including fruit juice which has no place in a healthy diet anyway) and after 2 weeks the cravings largely go away. Most of these responses are suggesting substituting something else when the cravings come and therefore continuing the cycle of satiety the brain is looking for. Why eat more than you actually need to?
first up sugar are carbs just clear that up.

The idea to eat complex is to keep insulin and blood sugar at a steady level reducing that rise and fall and therefore the body wont freak out and send those urgent signals as blood glucose wont fall.
The next step is one that you indirectly bring up, which is the cycle, sugar stimulates the brain to a higher level than that of complex carbs which is the cause for the brains want for sugar or essentially a high. This will take time to change. But by eating complex and by replacing foods we can ease the cycle.
We also though have the behavioral side of things and the actual need of being hungry and the act of buying crappy easy food, this is where substituting comes in, we can satisfy the stomach and the act of eating with other healthy alternatives, by having food there you are less likely to go for unhealthy foods or get fast food.
 
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steve24

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I find i go thru cycles of wanting to eat healthy, not want fat/ sweet junk, and then days where eating heaps of veg etc just does not seem to satisfy my hunger....
Add to that mood swings and varying motivation to get off my arse and do some exercise and sometimes loosing a bit of weight can be a struggle ( i know weight loss is not OP's goal, but for many the 2 go together...).
 

driftking

Wheel size expert
I find i go thru cycles of wanting to eat healthy, not want fat/ sweet junk, and then days where eating heaps of veg etc just does not seem to satisfy my hunger....
Add to that mood swings and varying motivation to get off my arse and do some exercise and sometimes loosing a bit of weight can be a struggle ( i know weight loss is not OP's goal, but for many the 2 go together...).
I think the key is to balance the diet, your better off eating a small junk meal a day then binging for 3 days on them. The hard part is when you need to eat things that don't satisfy you as you said, its so easy to just go binge and this is where the addictive side of it comes in and the acquired taste of the years of bad eating comes.

I slowly over the years reduced and stopped adding salt, at first it was hard but now if there is salt added to something I can tell within the first mouthful.
I have heard that the brain while constantly learning takes 2-3 weeks for it to start making those changes on a chemical and brain level, it also has to remove the old habits, this is also where the substitution of things come in, it helps satisfy the brain on the habit level, eventually we will loose those old habits and use the new ones, this is also why older people can learn new tricks and continue to learn into old age, it is harder as the old habits need to be unlearned but eventually a new pathway will be developed and the older one will be gone.

That said if you start up old habits again the habit will be much easier to fall into. I like to think of it like ruts in the ground
as you dig a new one the old one slowly is filled in and the longer you dig the new one the more dirt and hard compact the old one becomes.
Therefore if you go back to early the rut is not filled in, or the dirt is still soft so easier to re dig, after a long time though the dirt will become hard and compact. That's how I look at it on a very basic level :)
 
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Art Vanderlay

Hourly daily
Thanks for all the advice so far, I'm taking it all on board....

Have managed to eat better so far today and I am not too cranky!!

A few notes:
- I have had no coffee (usually 2 or 3 a day) I tend not to drink it in warmer weather anyway.
- No chocolate
- A few carrots, bananna, apple
- Lots of water and no soft drink
- Worse meal/snack was a kids size bag of tiny teddy biscuits (naughty)

The big ones for me to cut out (at least I think) are chocolate, coffee, soft drink & junk food in general. Today I have substituted them for carrots, bananna, apple. I have a bag of dried fruit I can much away at also.

My main meals are usually pretty good, I'm not a big fan of take away (maybe once a fortnight)

Keep the tips and advice coming
 

Norco Maniac

Is back!
Keep the tips and advice coming
still a fair bit of sugary stuff in that list, Art. Apples are pretty high in fructose and carrots too. what's your protein intake like? i find protein keeps me from craving sugar and unless i'm actively racing that day i avoid dried fruit because it's almost as bad as lollies.

maybe try nuts instead?


in the women's forum we have a thread titled "your day on a plate" which is very interesting to me as it really makes you look at how much extra you can eat just picking here and there.



for instance, today being a sloth day in the heat i've had:

one double size coffee with four raw sugars (massive sugar hit)

200g of tuna with Beerenberg pickle (also loaded with sugar)

a litre and a half of water with a dash of pink grapefruit juice

a commercial "natural" muesli bar (also loaded with sugar)

and until i actually typed that out and thought about it, i'd thought i'd eaten ok today. hmm.
 

Anarchist

Likes Dirt
Cut out coffee?? Are you mad??

I'll add a couple of points that you might find relevant.

1. Eat a bigger breakfast. Reduce the size of your meals as the day goes on. "Eat breakfast like a King, dinner like a pauper". Fuller = less cravings
2. Sugar is the enemy. For all the reasons above, but also it continues to drive your hunger from the insulin response. All junk food has low nutrient value but the body craves fat and sugar and salt so you overeat that and 10 minutes later you want more. Milk in general has a substantial amount of "sugar", so have espresso or macs... Yogurt has a fair bit of sugar in it as well.
2b. Don't drink soft drinks with your dinner. The sugar can make you overeat. Try an experiment with this. Alcohol too.
3. Keep a food diary (yes, it sounds nerdy)for a couple of weeks - there are good apps (like my fitness pal) - that make this easy. It is incredible the difference in energy intake when you compare "healthy" food to crap. Provided you have the willpower... I am amazed at the simple effect of controlling portion size has.
4. Chew, Chew, Chew. "Drink your food". Slow down. The act of chewing actually makes you feel like you are eating properly, thus you tend to overeat less. Fuller = less cravings.
5. Snack on something less evil. (nuts, carrots, apples...)

Food for thought. Get it???
 

Anarchist

Likes Dirt
still a fair bit of sugary stuff in that list, Art. Apples are pretty high in fructose and carrots too.
Hey NM, it's true, they have sugary stuff in them, but the added fibre makes it filling, so you won't eat as much.

So, how many oranges or apples does it take to make one glass of juice (200-300ml)? Say 3-4 oranges or apples, yeah? Most of us can drink that amount of juice easy, but eat 4 apples in one sitting? Not likely. Why? Fibre fills you up. Junk food, as a generalization has no fibre, no any other nutrition either.
 
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driftking

Wheel size expert
Fruit is fine as mentioned juice is way worse, also fruit majority is low or mid GI and your getting fibre and a bunch of nutrients so don't cut that out.

Coffee-don't have to cut coffee completly, it actually offers some great health benefits.
I think the key is replace what you can with healthier alternatives and just moderate the other stuff like coffees and alcohol, consider alternatives that may be better, red wine. Organic coffee if he taste appeals, less sugar etc, as in appropriate doses Many things are not only fine but healthy.
Same as chocolate eat one serve not 3 and change to 70% plus as this offers heart healthy benefits, don't get flavours get plain. as your no watching weight this will be no problem.
Natural sugar is significantly better than processed or added.
 
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Art Vanderlay

Hourly daily
Fruit is fine as mentioned juice is way worse, also fruit majority is low or mid GI and your getting fibre and a bunch of nutrients so don't cut that out.

Coffee-don't have to cut coffee completly, it actually offers some great health benefits.
I think the key is replace what you can with healthier alternatives and just moderate the other stuff like coffees and alcohol, consider alternatives that may be better, red wine. Organic coffee if he taste appeals, less sugar etc, as in appropriate doses Many things are not only fine but healthy.
Same as chocolate eat one serve not 3 and change to 70% plus as this offers heart healthy benefits, don't get flavours get plain. as your no watching weight this will be no problem.
Natural sugar is significantly better than processed or added.
Hey driftking

Sounds like you know your stuff, do you specialize in this area or just something you have a keen interest in?
 

fatboyonabike

Captain oblivious
most sweet biscuits are discracefully bad for you, as they contain shitloads of Trans Fats (their the really bad ones)..caffiene is also not too good, as its a diuretic and dehydrate's your body, leaving you craving a sweet sugary drink to quench your thirst..
im a week in to the same, but what got me kickstarted into gear was a good old fashioned dose of food poisioning, have lost just a shade under 3kg,s in a week..has a really good Body ReBoot and Defrag, purge out all the crap and start fresh.oh and cut down on the grog, thats a big killer!
 
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