Overcoming junk food cravings

[Ivan]

Hi. I have recently been doing some introspection - I wanted to make a list of things in my life that could change so that I can become a better person for my sport, my career, but also as a whole. One of the top issues I face in this list is the addiction to processed, carb-heavy foods. This is an addiction that everyone in the modern world seems to have. We all indulge in eating crisps, chocolate bars, sweets etc; we all have this sugar addiction. It doesn't help that I have a huge sweet tooth. I would say that I indulge more than the average person and that the only reason I can maintain a respectable physique is due to the amount of sport I do and also due to my metabolism as a young adult.

When I say that I indulge more than the average person, I am very serious. My biggest weakness is energy drinks. At this point, I could make an entire YouTube channel as an "energy drink connoisseur". Over the past two years, almost every day without fail I have had an energy drink. I also live very close to convenience stores, so unless I meal prep constantly, I end up buying the worst type of food to satiate my hunger. This is not sustainable and I want to change. I want to start being able to meal prep with good consistency; my issue is that many of these snack fests are due to me being too tired and lazy from training. The energy drink habit/addiction was caused after I had energy drinks before weight workouts, and I got addicted to the buzzy feeling whilst lifting heavy *** weights. Honestly, nothing beats it.

I envision my improved self being able to completely replace carby snacks with fruit, and supporting myself with a diet made up of dairy, steak, fish, eggs, rice, and vegetables. Poultry too. However, I am currently not disciplined enough to stick to this lifestyle. How can I build up discipline and change my eating habits?

I am not sure how I built up my discipline in terms of training, partly because I have been training since I was a 9-year-old, and started martial arts and weightlifting as a teenager. I feel that exercise is a lifelong habit I've had since I was young, so it is almost like breathing to me. This discipline does not extend to other areas of my life, and I would like advice on how to build it up from the ground up. Any advice would be well received and appreciated. My thanks to all of you.

 

[MetalBoar]

Hi. I have recently been doing some introspection - I wanted to make a list of things in my life that could change so that I can become a better person for my sport, my career, but also as a whole. One of the top issues I face in this list is the addiction to processed, carb-heavy foods. This is an addiction that everyone in the modern world seems to have. We all indulge in eating crisps, chocolate bars, sweets etc; we all have this sugar addiction. It doesn't help that I have a huge sweet tooth. I would say that I indulge more than the average person and that the only reason I can maintain a respectable physique is due to the amount of sport I do and also due to my metabolism as a young adult.

When I say that I indulge more than the average person, I am very serious. My biggest weakness is energy drinks. At this point, I could make an entire YouTube channel as an "energy drink connoisseur". Over the past two years, almost every day without fail I have had an energy drink. I also live very close to convenience stores, so unless I meal prep constantly, I end up buying the worst type of food to satiate my hunger. This is not sustainable and I want to change. I want to start being able to meal prep with good consistency; my issue is that many of these snack fests are due to me being too tired and lazy from training. The energy drink habit/addiction was caused after I had energy drinks before weight workouts, and I got addicted to the buzzy feeling whilst lifting heavy *** weights. Honestly, nothing beats it.

I envision my improved self being able to completely replace carby snacks with fruit, and supporting myself with a diet made up of dairy, steak, fish, eggs, rice, and vegetables. Poultry too. However, I am currently not disciplined enough to stick to this lifestyle. How can I build up discipline and change my eating habits?

I am not sure how I built up my discipline in terms of training, partly because I have been training since I was a 9-year-old, and started martial arts and weightlifting as a teenager. I feel that exercise is a lifelong habit I've had since I was young, so it is almost like breathing to me. This discipline does not extend to other areas of my life, and I would like advice on how to build it up from the ground up. Any advice would be well received and appreciated. My thanks to all of you.

I used to have a sugar addiction. Some people feel that's an inappropriate term for it, but I really had little control over my sugar consumption and intense cravings. I beat it by going zero added sugar and very low carb for about 2 weeks. It was awful, a lot like how friends have described quitting tobacco. I was always hungry, even though I allowed myself to eat as much as I wanted of anything that was either low carb or slow carb. I was probably in ketosis a lot of this time. After about 2 weeks I wasn't unreasonably hungry anymore, my cravings were gone, and things that I would not have previously described as sweet tasted very sweet to me. I could tell some funny stories about the whole experience.

If you want to try this, be aware that it gets worse before it gets better, day 12 or 13 the cravings were kind of ridiculous. Since you're a big energy drink user, don't try to quite caffeine at the same time. Substitute coffee or a lot of tea or anything unsweetened and caffeinated. I personally avoided alternative sweeteners at this time too and I think it would have been much harder if I hadn't. Think Atkins, or Keto diet kind of an approach (I hadn't read Atkins at the time and Keto hadn't taken off yet, but that's the same kind of idea). I wasn't quite that level of strict, but it gives you an idea what I'm talking about. No added sugar, no sweeteners of any kind, no grains, no fruit except tomatoes and avocados, no white potatoes, no legumes. It was pretty much meat, eggs, tree nuts, and a lot of vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, spinach, and that sort of thing.

Having a quick, easy, portable, snack is key. Don't let yourself get hungry enough to be at risk of consuming simple carbs and always have something acceptable to stick in your mouth if the cravings start to get to you. I ate a lot of almonds and a lot of raw broccoli florets. I always had a big bag of almonds with me and I ate huge amounts of them. I probably developed a cyanide tolerance from the vast quantities I consumed! Choose whatever you want for a snack - beef sticks, almonds, walnuts, whatever, as long as it's very low and/or very slow carb, this isn't a lifetime diet, it's 2 weeks-ish. Keep going until you don't feel hungry all the time and you don't feel excited about your usual sugar fix.

If you're like me, the other key is that you have to then stick with a low sugar, low fast carb, diet like you say you want to be eating or your body will go back to expecting that regular sugar hit and you'll have to go through this again to kick it, again.

Let me know if you have any questions, and no worries if you think I sound kind of crazy on this topic, I know there are others who do!

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

There's three things that I recommend. The first is meal prep before you're too tired and too lazy. I get the idea that when you're hungry you want to eat now - if you make food beforehand, and store it in a backpack, you don't have to worry about a quick fillup. This can be something microwavable if you're near a microwave, or if you're not it can be a salad or a cold cuts sandwich. What works for me is a pb&j..I'm not always in the mood for it, but when I eat it, by the time I finish I'm not in the mood for anything else.

The second is that a lot of the time when you think you're craving sugar, you're actually just thirsty. Drink some water in the moment, wait about 15 minutes, and see if you still need that energy drink.

Finally, carry around some sort of protein with you. For me that's a bag of peanuts. A friend of mine uses beef jerky. There's debates over which option is healthiest, but honestly, a quick protein boost is almost always healthier than going for a red bull and hersheys.

 

[mograph]

my issue is that many of these snack fests are due to me being too tired and lazy from training.

I wonder: if you're tired after your workouts, are you working too hard? For me, a good workout is when I feel energized. Isn't that the point of workouts: to improve how you feel between workouts?

I envision my improved self being able to completely replace carby snacks with fruit, and supporting myself with a diet made up of dairy, steak, fish, eggs, rice, and vegetables. Poultry too. However, I am currently not disciplined enough to stick to this lifestyle. How can I build up discipline and change my eating habits?

You might want to look at what you're thinking when you eat the unhealthy snacks.

• Do you think you deserve this snack? Well, you deserve to be healthy.
• Are you bored, so you snack? Get too busy to be bored.
• Are you too tired to make something? Our lazy go-to is scrambled eggs, with spinach, maybe with sauteed mushrooms, and that's really fast. When we have more time, we'll make soup, stew, and/or rice in the Instant Pot. We eat when we make it, but then we spoon it into those 1- or 2-cup Anchor Hocking tubs, and freeze them, expecting to be lazy later in the week. Sometimes we split a tub half stew, half rice.

And ...

• Buy frozen vegetables as much as possible, because they don't really go bad (avoiding the guilt of letting fresh veggies go bad). And you can toss a cube of frozen spinach into anything.
• We don't have unhealthy stuff in the house, because we just eat it. Except when we have company ... there's leftover cheese, ya know.
• Energy drinks? Tell yourself they're all sugar.
• Indulge on spices. I like adding Hondashi for an umami flavour. It all doesn't have to be bland, ya know.
  
  That's all I have. Good luck!

 

[HighKick]

Hi. I have recently been doing some introspection - I wanted to make a list of things in my life that could change so that I can become a better person for my sport, my career, but also as a whole. One of the top issues I face in this list is the addiction to processed, carb-heavy foods. This is an addiction that everyone in the modern world seems to have. We all indulge in eating crisps, chocolate bars, sweets etc; we all have this sugar addiction. It doesn't help that I have a huge sweet tooth. I would say that I indulge more than the average person and that the only reason I can maintain a respectable physique is due to the amount of sport I do and also due to my metabolism as a young adult.

When I say that I indulge more than the average person, I am very serious. My biggest weakness is energy drinks. At this point, I could make an entire YouTube channel as an "energy drink connoisseur". Over the past two years, almost every day without fail I have had an energy drink. I also live very close to convenience stores, so unless I meal prep constantly, I end up buying the worst type of food to satiate my hunger. This is not sustainable and I want to change. I want to start being able to meal prep with good consistency; my issue is that many of these snack fests are due to me being too tired and lazy from training. The energy drink habit/addiction was caused after I had energy drinks before weight workouts, and I got addicted to the buzzy feeling whilst lifting heavy *** weights. Honestly, nothing beats it.

I envision my improved self being able to completely replace carby snacks with fruit, and supporting myself with a diet made up of dairy, steak, fish, eggs, rice, and vegetables. Poultry too. However, I am currently not disciplined enough to stick to this lifestyle. How can I build up discipline and change my eating habits?

I am not sure how I built up my discipline in terms of training, partly because I have been training since I was a 9-year-old, and started martial arts and weightlifting as a teenager. I feel that exercise is a lifelong habit I've had since I was young, so it is almost like breathing to me. This discipline does not extend to other areas of my life, and I would like advice on how to build it up from the ground up. Any advice would be well received and appreciated. My thanks to all of you.

Ivan,
I have a good friend who just turned 40. He owns a business and does renovations and remodels on homes. He has worked out with us for 5-6 years. Very fit, good body shape. Two years ago, he had a heart attack out of the blue. No family history of heart disease, never had Covid, healthy as a horse. The doctors were stumped until they learned that he had been drinking 5 energy drinks a day. Once they knew this the doctor said they could see the evidence in his arteries and heart muscle. The drinks were literally killing him.
I hope that is all you need to hear about energy drinks.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Ivan,
I have a good friend who just turned 40. He owns a business and does renovations and remodels on homes. He has worked out with us for 5-6 years. Very fit, good body shape. Two years ago, he had a heart attack out of the blue. No family history of heart disease, never had Covid, healthy as a horse. The doctors were stumped until they learned that he had been drinking 5 energy drinks a day. Once they knew this the doctor said they could see the evidence in his arteries and heart muscle. The drinks were literally killing him.
I hope that is all you need to hear about energy drinks.

It's a lot more common than one would expect for college athletes to have heart attacks. I think I had one myself (it's what I was told at the hospital, but don't have the records - went to two doctors for ekg's a few years back, one said my ekg showed a past heart attack, the other said the opposite).

People find it crazy, until I bring up that I was exercising 6 hours a day, eating dominos 3-4 times a week, loading up on free pasta at school, and drinking a ton. No amount of exercise undoes the health effects of a bad diet - which many college students don't realize.

 

[HighKick]

It's a lot more common than one would expect for college athletes to have heart attacks. I think I had one myself (it's what I was told at the hospital, but don't have the records - went to two doctors for ekg's a few years back, one said my ekg showed a past heart attack, the other said the opposite).

People find it crazy, until I bring up that I was exercising 6 hours a day, eating dominos 3-4 times a week, loading up on free pasta at school, and drinking a ton. No amount of exercise undoes the health effects of a bad diet - which many college students don't realize.

I was heavy into scholarship sports in my college days and was doing all the things you mentioned. I ate anything and everything and I drank like a fish but never did any kind of drugs, not even pot. I was practicing or in the weight room 3-4 hours/day 6-days/week. I also wrestled so I did have to watch my eating certain times of the year. I never had a huge problem with weight unless I had to wrestle down a weight class. Then it was a usually a sucky short-term cycle of laxatives, and diuretics, leading to a massive hang over before the matches.
Energy drinks were not around back then that I can remember but I more than a few of us would get amped up on NoDoz before games.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I was heavy into scholarship sports in my college days and was doing all the things you mentioned. I ate anything and everything and I drank like a fish but never did any kind of drugs, not even pot. I was practicing or in the weight room 3-4 hours/day 6-days/week. I also wrestled so I did have to watch my eating certain times of the year. I never had a huge problem with weight unless I had to wrestle down a weight class. Then it was a usually a sucky short-term cycle of laxatives, and diuretics, leading to a massive hang over before the matches.
Energy drinks were not around back then that I can remember but I more than a few of us would get amped up on NoDoz before games.

Except for the laxatives/diuretics, this sounds exactly what happened on my team. No drugs, but everything else - somehow we figured pot would mess with our lungs so we shouldn't do that (plus ncaa can drug test), but everything else was fine. And definitely energy drinks as we were getting off the buses.

 

[Darren]

Hi. I have recently been doing some introspection - I wanted to make a list of things in my life that could change so that I can become a better person for my sport, my career, but also as a whole. One of the top issues I face in this list is the addiction to processed, carb-heavy foods. This is an addiction that everyone in the modern world seems to have. We all indulge in eating crisps, chocolate bars, sweets etc; we all have this sugar addiction. It doesn't help that I have a huge sweet tooth. I would say that I indulge more than the average person and that the only reason I can maintain a respectable physique is due to the amount of sport I do and also due to my metabolism as a young adult.

When I say that I indulge more than the average person, I am very serious. My biggest weakness is energy drinks. At this point, I could make an entire YouTube channel as an "energy drink connoisseur". Over the past two years, almost every day without fail I have had an energy drink. I also live very close to convenience stores, so unless I meal prep constantly, I end up buying the worst type of food to satiate my hunger. This is not sustainable and I want to change. I want to start being able to meal prep with good consistency; my issue is that many of these snack fests are due to me being too tired and lazy from training. The energy drink habit/addiction was caused after I had energy drinks before weight workouts, and I got addicted to the buzzy feeling whilst lifting heavy *** weights. Honestly, nothing beats it.

I envision my improved self being able to completely replace carby snacks with fruit, and supporting myself with a diet made up of dairy, steak, fish, eggs, rice, and vegetables. Poultry too. However, I am currently not disciplined enough to stick to this lifestyle. How can I build up discipline and change my eating habits?

I am not sure how I built up my discipline in terms of training, partly because I have been training since I was a 9-year-old, and started martial arts and weightlifting as a teenager. I feel that exercise is a lifelong habit I've had since I was young, so it is almost like breathing to me. This discipline does not extend to other areas of my life, and I would like advice on how to build it up from the ground up. Any advice would be well received and appreciated. My thanks to all of you.

Oh yeah the sweet tooth!!!! I use to eat a one pound bag of bubblegum(bubblegum I would finish off in about 1.5 hours) and drink 8-9 soft drinks in 3-4 days time then start all over gave my self pre-diabetes. It’s hard to do but the thought of losing anyone of my limbs or going into a coma kinda started me thinking this was not very healthy!!!! There are herbs out there that can help the body get rid of sugar, I drink a tea made of green tea, dandelion, fenugreek, sarsaparilla and spearmint to do it and a bunch of other herbs, then 5-6 days of a kidney and liver cleanse regiment. Got my blood sugar levels down from 121 to 92, then got stupid and grabbed the bag of chocolates with peanut butter cups, went to the health food store with a buzzed head the next day and found the tea and back on the no sugar thing again and mean to stay there!!!!!!!! Where in the hell is the bubblegum!!!!!!!!

 

[Taiji Rebel]

Worrying numbers of older children having energy drinks regularly

Up to a third of UK children - mostly teens - consume at least one energy drink a week, research reveals.

www.bbc.co.uk

Last year, medics writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) warned of the dangers of energy drinks, after a student who drank too many developed heart failure. The 21-year-old university student spent 58 days in hospital after consuming four 500ml energy drinks every day for two years.

 

[Gyakuto]

I once underwent professional hypnosis for Mars Bar addiction (although the therapist admitted she couldn’t actually ‘get me under’ - some people just aren’t susceptible, it seems). After each session I craved Mars Bars even more and would buy one on the way home! In the end I just gritted my teeth and stopped buying them and hence eating them. Unfortunately I think it’s a matter of will power.

 

[Mider]

I replaced soda with sugar free energy drink…it’s a good start. Just don’t drink that all day as they can be bad for the organs.

 

[Ivan]

It's a lot more common than one would expect for college athletes to have heart attacks. I think I had one myself (it's what I was told at the hospital, but don't have the records - went to two doctors for ekg's a few years back, one said my ekg showed a past heart attack, the other said the opposite).

People find it crazy, until I bring up that I was exercising 6 hours a day, eating dominos 3-4 times a week, loading up on free pasta at school, and drinking a ton. No amount of exercise undoes the health effects of a bad diet - which many college students don't realize.

It's comforting to see that I am not the only person who has fallen prey to unhealthy eating habits regardless of sport. It seems I have to do my best to change these habits and quickly too.

 

[Kemposhot]

It's comforting to see that I am not the only person who has fallen prey to unhealthy eating habits regardless of sport. It seems I have to do my best to change these habits and quickly too.

I’ve also suffered from unhealthy habits. But I think the high amount of energy drinks is far more damaging than simply having a bad diet. Eating fatty foods may have long term consequences but some of that is mitigated with an exercise routine. Genetics also plays a part, a buddy of mine at 36 eats everything like a teenager and still doesn’t really gain any weight.

 

[drop bear]

Sugar is addictive. So stop eating it if you want to stop eating it.

Then you won't get the cravings as bad.