Hello to all! I am new here and I have been reading tons of posts and this looks like the place for me. I am getting married in May (Cinco de Mayo in Tulum, Mexico) and I have got to get motivated and lose weight before then! Yay, beach wedding, boo, bathing suit!! I was determined to start limiting calories to 1200-1300 a day and get some form of exercise each day. I would LOVE to lose 40 lbs by May but I don't know if that's possible (or healthy). And yesterday I started the day with a Special K breakfast bar (not bad), then proceeded to Lays Sour Cream and Onion Chips (for BREAKFAST!). Lunch was a cheeseburger and fries at Wendy's and dinner was Pepperoni/Ham/Mushroom pizza from Pizza Hut. So I only went over my goal by about 1300 calories! Geez! Any other fast food junkies out there? I don't understand why it is so hard for me to control the urge to eat what is absolutely the worst possible thing for me. Help! Fast food is the devil!!
Congratulations on your impending wedding! Have you seen our "Brides to Be" thread yet? It's in "Miscellaneous Clubs"...might be great for you to stop in on.
You know, fast food is, for many of us, an addiction. Literally. Our bodies crave the combination of fat and sugar found in most fast food items. So for most of us, we need to go cold turkey for a while...start cooking at home, making healthy versions of things we like or trying new recipes. It isn't easy to break the habit, but honestly? Once you do you'll feel SO much better and wonder why you were ever so tied to that garbage! I used to eat Wendy's 4-5 times a week - literally! And now it sort of makes me nauseous.
Anyway, settle in and keep posting. Can't wait to get to know you better!
Thanks for the welcome! And fast food is most definitely an addiction, a scary one at that. I have got to just stay away completely!! I checked out your pictures and that is just amazing! You go! Hopefully I can hang in there and lose weight too and I really, really think this site is going to help! :-)
, Slirpee! Your starting weight and goal weight are identical to mine! And YES, I DO think it is possible for you to get rid of those 40 pounds by May - I lost my 40 pounds in a span of about 5 months also. We can be weight loss twins!
I do have to warn you, though: to lose 40 pounds in 5 months or less, you have to be extremely dedicated. Everyone slips up (I know I did plenty!), but each time you do, you have to keep going. You don't need to start out eating only 1,200-1,300 calories. You can actually start out eating 1,600 calories and still lose weight. Also, what do you plan to do for an exercise plan, or have you decided? The only reason I ask is because exercise is pretty much mandatory in your scenario.
That aside, I sympathize with your love for fast food! I could eat French fries all day, and the same goes for Frito Lay Munchies and Krispy Kreme. If it's a deadly fat/carbs combo, I'm LOVING it! But like mandalinn said, once you break the addiction, your body will feel so much better. I ate greasy crap around New Year's and it tore up my stomach (the drinking didn't help, either, but the greasy crap really did me in ). I was (and AM) SO happy to be back on plan making healthy choices.
I used to eat a lot of fast food (esp. McDonald's) and junk food. My own solutions: for the fast food, I just stopped going into those places. For the junk food, what works for me, besides also choosing other healthier options (like sometimes I'll just have fruit instead) is portion control. I can pretty much control myself via portion control, either by using 100-calorie packs or portioning it out myself. And I've done things like rather than the usual potato chips (I loved me some Pringles), I may go for a few pretzels (lower calories, slower to eat, lol) or veggie chips, sunflower chips. That way, I can calm my salt beast and stay on track and get a little more "bang for my buck" or a little less calories for my junk food than I used to.
I think maybe you need to figure out if what works for you is to go cold turkey or go in moderation. Some people can't have it around at all. Some people figure it into their plan in a moderate portion because, if they were to go cold turkey, they might crave it too much and go overboard as a result. I fall in the latter group. I realized I could still have some junk food in the house (except I don't buy Pringles anymore, lol) and use either the pre-determined portion control (like the 100-calorie packs) or use the information on the package to figure a comparable portion. So for me, being able to have, say, my little 100-calorie Hostess mini-cupcake trio with my lunch, lets me turn down the Oreo cookies they offer me at work.
I also used to have a total addiction to McDonald's breakfast-and not the Egg McMuffin which is probably the "healthiest" breakfast on their menu! I'd get the sausage biscuit with hashbrowns-and put the hashbrowns on the sandwich! Crazy! On days where I could exercise some "self-control" and drive past McD's, I would end up at Burger King. For me, it had to be cold turkey all the way. After losing my first 50 pounds, I decided to "reward" myself with McD breakfast (more craziness.....) I got halfway through it and had to go home and lay day because it made me so sick I thought I might be getting the flu!
Amazing how your body reacts once you've detoxed from the junk.....
I had to go out of town and just got back to here..I'm still learning how to navigate on here :-) Night: You're my hero! I am so motivated now...I checked out your pics and I am your "before" picture so I know that I can make it to your "after" picture if I just keep it up. My only problem is I haven't start exercising yet...We have an elliptical at home and I have to drag it out and get on it! My goal is to start that today when I get home from work. Ellie- I'm with you on the Pringles. I could sit and eat a whole can at a time which is why i don't buy them anymore! HA! PJS: I've done the same thing! Passed McDonald's only to stop at Burger King! I love love love a bacon egg and cheese biscuit but I haven't had one in about a month and I"m doing my best to stay away. My other big "addiction" that I'm fighting tooth and nail is good ol' coca cola. I love a big ol' coke. I've gotten used to the Coke Zero (not nearly as good but it'll do when I just gotta have a soda) but I'm trying to drink more water and I drink a whole lot of sweet tea, sweetened with splenda instead of sugar. Hopefully tomorrow I will report my first day of exercise!! :-)
Hello to all! Help- I'm a fast food junkie!!
, Slirpee! Your starting weight and goal weight are identical to mine! And YES, I DO think it is possible for you to get rid of those 40 pounds by May - I lost my 40 pounds in a span of about 5 months also. We can be weight loss twins! 
). I was (and AM) SO happy to be back on plan making healthy choices.
