I have this same problem. I used to eat fast food three meals a day. Now I have cut down to 2 sometimes 1 and I know if I stopped eating fast food I would lose weight. It's nice to know others have had this struggle and have overcome it.
I used to be a HARDCORE fast food junkie.
I'd eat Taco Bell until I couldn't move. I've been vegan for a year now, but before that, I quit fast food for good. And here's what did it for me:
Once I started looking at fast food as an addictive substance ie: food engineered with the right levels of this and the right levels of this to make everyone's brain coming back for more, it really helped me stop. Fighting the urge made more sense.
Overeating is still a looming problem for me, but that's because I can't grasp the logic behind WHY I overeat, as opposed to understanding the logic behind WHY I was eating fast food.
Getting over the fast food issue at the very start of my diet was torture. I would drive past a fast food joint and moan in such pain, I wanted it so badly.
I was very mean to myself, like someone said earlier in this thread about creating a mantra - well, I just sassed/picked on myself in the worst way and said things that I would want to punch someone in the nose for. I would say something along the lines of, "Oh yes, a Whopper and onion rings and just top that off with a HUGE diet coke so the skinny window person can laugh at you after they hand it to you, tubbo, make that butt and stomach bigger so your fat pants get even tighter! Have you even looked at yourself lately? Ew! How supersize-sexy are you NOT!?!"
And that is the edited version. I was SO pathetically mean to myself over and over. I am a stubborn woman and I knew I had to scratch my own eyes out a bit... it worked like a charm.
Set up a reward system. How much are you spending on fast food? Start a charm bracelet that you can wear all the time. Set up a number of days to earn the next charm. If you are spending five dollars each time you go through the drive thru, it will take about a week to earn a really nice sterling silver charm. You're spending the money on fast food anyway, so it's not going to be an extra expense.
I like Pandora, Trollbead, and Chamalia. You can think about the next charm you're planning on buying while you drive home.
The starter bracelet will set you back a bit, but you can put them on a simple leather cord from a craft store to start out with.
I am a fastfood addict. It has been 15 days since I ate fast food. I have a goal to make it as long as possible, but at least through May without any fast food. Thankfully there are no fast food restaurants close enough to my work for me to walk too. I used to run errands on my lunch but would always end up swinging through for some fast food. Now I pack a ton of healthy snacks and a healthy lunch from home and I don't leave the building for lunch. I also add up the monetary savings and think about how I am going to spend it.
I used to spend at least 5-6 a day on lunch. In one week I have saved enough money to purchase a food donation box that will feed a family of four for a week!
Just like nearly everyone else on this post, lol, I used to be addicted to fast food. I worked the snack bar at a roller rink, and I would sneak hot dogs and pizza all during the shift. I would stop at McDonalds and get $5 worth of stuff from the dollar menu. I've also worked at Steak n Shake and Fazolis, also sneaking lots of food. If someone messed up an order, I'd say, "Don't throw it out! I'll eat it!" I'd also go to this cheap Chinese buffet near my house and eat all I could for $7. So why don't I eat it anymore?
One main reason that I really overexaggerate in my mind is the people. Like I said, I worked at these restaurants... And I know just how gross and scummy some of those people can be. Half of them smell like they haven't showered in weeks, reek of smoke (cigarette or otherwise), grossly overweight, greasy and sweaty... (Like I said, this is exaggerated) Just imagining that person making the food that **I** eat is repulsive.
Another main reason is I learned how to cook. I like my food full of flavor, not too greasy, fresh... When you get in the habit of eating food like that, you'll be really disappointed in fast food. Sometimes when I'm on a binge and I go through drive-thrus, indulging in what I THINK I've been craving (cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, etc.) I often think, "Wow this food actually tastes bad..."