Can you tolerate junk now that you know how great healthy feels?

  • I was just thinking upcoming local Fairs and how much emphasis some ppl place on the foodstands. Honestly, I rarely deny myself things so I thought about what I will order when we attend next weekend. Honestly, the thought of anything other than the homemade dill pickles or the roasted chicken wings turned my stomach bc I remembered how sick I feel after flour and sugar products. Can you tolerate junk now that you know how great healthy feels?
  • I eat junk food at least once a week, last week (for my after-a-healthy-dinner-treat lol) I had McDonald’s large chocolate shake + large fry + 3 cc cookies + quarter pounder + pepsi - and it was delicious - the most unhealthiest food on this earth - but delicious nonetheless.

    Next day, I feel the same, bloated - but still the same as when I eat salmon or grilled chicken.
  • I def have my share of high cal splurges. I guess now I just prefer seafood drenched in butter, huge chef salads, garlic butter wings with blue cheese, and other such things I don't prepare daily. I prefer homemade milkshakes bc of sugar intolerance. And I feel you on the burgers, we order from our local mom-and-pop diners.
  • Nope. Strangely, the first thing it messes with is my skin.

    When I splurge, therefore, I eat a ton of healthy stuff. Not junk.
  • In trying to eat almost all healthy because honestly those French fries taste good but so do veggies and they will fill me up more
  • I eat junk on occasion but certain things will turn my stomach (fried food especially) and if I eat junk food for most meals for a day or two I'll start feeling really sick and lazy.

    I have noticed that my taste buds have changed - some high calorie/high fat foods I used to like are no longer interesting to me. CHEESE is the big one there. I used to have sliced or shredded cheese on pretty much everything and now I don't even put cheese on sandwiches. I just realized that regular store cheese in the US has very little flavor, and when I took it off my food I just didn't miss it at all.

    Now I sometimes buy small amounts of gourmet cheese for snacking on, but otherwise I'm content to keep the stuff out of my life.
  • I can definitely "tolerate" it, physically, but I'm like you - I'd rather have the healthy version and feel and look better in the long run.

    Still, I do indulge in junk on my up days, though the majority of food on those days is still super healthy. Yesterday, for example, I filled up on a homemade egg salad before I went shopping, so I wouldn't be so tempted. But I bought both a donut - which I ate on the way home - AMAZING - and birthday cake Oreos.

    The Oreos were not good, flavor-wise, for me. So I screwed the tops off and threw away the parts with the frosting. Will save the tops for my next up day.

    Nice thread idea, btw! And, Ian, I like your new avatar.
  • "Junk" and "healthy" are terms that mean a lot of different things to different people. I once encountered a woman who considered anything other than gnawing on raw veg to be eating junk. Oof, she was hard work.

    I've always eaten a wholefoods diet, been vegetarian since I was eleven and vegan since I was nineteen, so a lot of junk food is stuff I can't eat anyway and don't really have on my radar. My problems with food are less about the content and more about when I eat (boredom eating, stress eating), so I have less of a junk/healthy thing to think about.

    Anyway, for me that sort of category involves things like veggie sausages, vegan cheese (I always suspect that it's made with plastic), packets of biscuits (cookies to Americans - possibly small cookies?), getting nachos with my partner when we're having an occasional meal at the pub. I never ate them all that often, and I still eat all those things occasionally, though I don't buy biscuits as I always end up wolfing down the whole packet. I think they taste the same to me. I can't imagine eating a really high-fat/high-sugar/high-additive food, I'd be ill!
  • I can tolerate either junk food or healthy foods and I won't become bloated or feel gross of anything, but I find that I am more satisfied with healthy foods and I don't have to eat as much. Junk foods aren't as filling and I have to keep going back in order to feel full and then I realize how many calories I've eaten and that's when I feel 'ick' but it's a mental ick like I can't believe how much I just ate and still feel hungry.
  • I decided to splurge on a Chai Latte at Dunkin during a road trip last weekend. Couldn't drink it- I've gotten away from all sweeteners and it about choked me!
  • Depends on what is classed as junk food really. Since beginning the weight loss journey I do find I prefer foods that are classed as 'healthy' but I still eat chocolate and ice cream. I probably wouldn't order a burger though so maybe certain attitudes to food have changed!
  • I consider burgers (100% meat) to be very healthy. It's things like pasta and other processed products that I am grossed out by.
  • I would have burgers AND pasta. My problem is that my stomach has shrunk so much by the time the up days roll around, I can't have both! I seriously have a little box of pasta in the freezer, but I never think of it 'til the end of the up day, then I'm like "There's no way I can fit one more thing in there and sleep well tonight."
  • I understand that Werks; I crave salads, meats, and fats when i'm hungry now. I don't believe in forcing yourself to eat anything you don't like. JMO.
  • This is a great post. I do eat junk but just in moderation. Over the last 4 years I have lost 45 pounds. Just last week I had a bag of Sour Patch kids that in times past I would have eaten in one sitting but now that I have learned portion control I had for over a week. Also I have a Cadbury chocolate bar that I have had for over a week just sitting there. Junk is not bad as long as you don't binge on it.