# Anyone out there tried giving up junk food



## Breakdown (Dec 5, 2009)

So I want to lose weight and I find that is it is harder to give up the unhealthy food than excercising. The only reason it's hard is because my house is full of it. We eat pizza, fried chicken, french fries and some sort of soft drink almost everyday. It's hard trying to find the will power to give these foods up and I was just wondering if anyone here has ever tried to give up junk food and how you guys did it because im having trouble finding the will power to do it.


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## Empryrean (Dec 6, 2009)

Funny you would ask, I stay out of my house a lot more lately and do not have the time to eat as much.


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## Sebastian (Dec 6, 2009)

I don't consider "Pizza" a junk food  .. but I get your point...

I didn't ate at McDonalds/KFC etc. for years now... just happened...


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## Prydogga (Dec 6, 2009)

I mainly have junk food, I had KFC two days in a row and I ate almost a whole block of chocolate at work today. I could easily not do it but I like to have a little bit of junk food every now and then.


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## Tiger (Dec 6, 2009)

I mean yea, its 100% will power. It doesnt sound like you buy your own groceries, but you need a list of acceptable items to get and just live off of it.


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## I_infect (Dec 6, 2009)

We've recently made the switch to organics, grass fed beef, free range chicken, non-hormone eggs and milk. Anything worth doing requires effort. We have to drive 2 hours to stock up on meats, but we have a dairy nearby. My best advice is learn to cook and learn about where your food comes from, you might find it as incentive to stop eating 'fast food'. Candy is one thing but fast food is another entirely... it's just dangerous.


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## TomParenteau (Dec 6, 2009)

I found that it didn't take long for me to sort of forget what fast food and sweets taste like. Once that happened, it was very easy to avoid them.


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## TomAwesome (Dec 6, 2009)

Of course one of the biggest things you can do is not keep it around. Exercise might help, too. I found that when I started exercising regularly, I stopped craving those kinds of foods. I don't really even have much of a taste for junk food anymore. Also, either way, the longer you stay away from it, the less you'll want it.


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## troyguitar (Dec 6, 2009)

There's always the "one thing at a time" approach. I quit drinking soda almost entirely and lost some weight from that alone, despite still eating horrible food 90% of the time. Then I pretty much lost taste for sugary/HFCS-y stuff completely after some time. I still eat fast food more than I "should", but now I tend to get chicken nuggets or a sandwich by themselves without the fries and soda so it's like 400 calories instead of 1000.

Not having money is also a good way to avoid eating out too much 

Learning how to cook will also help you out in the long run.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Dec 6, 2009)

I can't remember the last time I ate a bag of chips, would be over a month or 2. I eat bad enough without eating junk food  I'm just not a junk food kind of person. People offer me shit all the time at work (cake, cookies, etc) and I never eat it. I just don't crave it


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## techcoreriffman (Dec 6, 2009)

Once you start excercising regularly, then you don't crave junk food. Your body craves what it needs to keep up with your physical activity, which is why I run, it keeps me from eating fast food/ junk food.


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## Arminius (Dec 6, 2009)

Start with soft drinks. Get some of those flavored water packets if you still need flavor. Whenever you feel the need for junk food, play the guitar.


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## troyguitar (Dec 6, 2009)

techcoreriffman said:


> Once you start excercising regularly, then you don't crave junk food. Your body craves what it needs to keep up with your physical activity, which is why I run, it keeps me from eating fast food/ junk food.



That never worked for me. In fact, my diet was at its worst when I was exercising the most. After running a whole bunch I would eat a whole large pizza and drink a liter or two of cherry coke. I was also 16 and could get away with it though 

I do find that having -something- to do is a good way to prevent overeating. These days I'm so busy that I generally don't even want to stop working on stuff to eat, so I'm finally starting to get rid of the fat I've built up over the past couple of years.


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## Wi77iam (Dec 6, 2009)

IMO, you should just build up muscle mass instead of losing fat.


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## Arminius (Dec 6, 2009)

troyguitar said:


> That never worked for me. In fact, my diet was at its worst when I was exercising the most. After running a whole bunch I would eat a whole large pizza and drink a liter or two of cherry coke. I was also 16 and could get away with it though



That's when you pull out the big steaming plate of veggies 



Wi77iam said:


> IMO, you should just build up muscle mass instead of losing fat.



definitely helps the intimidation factor


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## Jason (Dec 8, 2009)

Wi77iam said:


> IMO, you should just build up muscle mass instead of losing fat.



So he can be a fat guy with muscles?


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## Breakdown (Dec 8, 2009)

techcoreriffman said:


> Once you start excercising regularly, then you don't crave junk food. Your body craves what it needs to keep up with your physical activity, which is why I run, it keeps me from eating fast food/ junk food.


 I actually tried that man I went to the gym for 2 h ours worked out till I couldn't and I came home craving a soda. Glad it worked fo you man but unfortunately doesn't for me.



TomPerverteau said:


> I found that it didn't take long for me to sort of forget what fast food and sweets taste like. Once that happened, it was very easy to avoid them.


I know what you mean man. I used to be on the right track and I forgot what they tasted like too and I was also kinda grossed out by fast food and stuff. I don;t know how I got off track 
lol



Empryrean said:


> Funny you would ask, I stay out of my house a lot more lately and do not have the time to eat as much.


Bad time for that man it's cold as shit now
lol


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## Stealthdjentstic (Dec 8, 2009)

Step 1: Grill an assload of chicken breasts
Step 2: Make an assload of salad

Hungry? Eat salad and chicken breast!


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## TomAwesome (Dec 8, 2009)

Breakdown said:


> I actually tried that man I went to the gym for 2 h ours worked out till I couldn't and I came home craving a soda. Glad it worked fo you man but unfortunately doesn't for me.



That one instance was you trying it? You have to invest a bit more time than that. When exercise is a more regular thing for you, and junk food is a less regular thing for you, chances are you will actually stop craving it so much.


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## Breakdown (Dec 8, 2009)

TomAwesome said:


> That one instance was you trying it? You have to invest a bit more time than that. When exercise is a more regular thing for you, and junk food is a less regular thing for you, chances are you will actually stop craving it so much.


nah man it was a regular thing for a couple of months. treadmill and stationary bike.


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## AeonSolus (Dec 10, 2009)

Well man, i'd be willing to leave cigarrettes rather than junkfood  hell, and i don't even smoke on regular basis!


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## matty2fatty (Dec 10, 2009)

I was in your boat, living in a house with tons of shitty food around, then I'd eat out at crap restaurants with my girlfriend all of the time too, so I ended up getting HUGE, like, almost 300lbs. I'm 6'2", but still, I was a fatass. I moved out, and away from the food and lost about 40lbs, then dumped the girl and lost the rest (I guess you could say plus another 120lbs, haha). Now I go about 225, and in pretty good shape except for the beer I drink.

So yeah, I have no willpower, I just need to stay away from that shit. So my advice to you is to move out, away from the garbage.


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## oremus91 (Jan 5, 2010)

Once you stop for about a week you'll realize how much better you feel without it but it's easy to fall back into.


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## Navo (Jan 5, 2010)

u gotta make a list of what to eat and what not to. When its a solid idea its easier to avoid eating the junk food (vs. having ur hungry side twist ur will power by saying "just one more....")

find something that distracts u. 
when hungry, go out for a run or pickup ur guitar or sumtin.
Always works for me!


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## MF_Kitten (Jan 6, 2010)

when it comes to meals, me and my fiancé pretty much always make stuff on our own, from scratch, using fresh ingredints. it´s just how it´s done 

i don´t resort to the junk food stuff unless i need food simple and fast. in those cases i buy "just warm it up!" foods.

most of the time though, we eat relatively healthy stuff, and we do it ourselves rather than buy finished dinner products. can´t remember my last time at a fast food place, either. if i eat out, i go to a proper restaurant or a small café that has proper burgers (all beef, with an all fresh salad on the side).

it´s easier to live healthy in norway than it is in many other countries though. our standards for what is acceptable is higher than in some countries.

i´m still a total pig for chocolate though. i eat cchips/crisps every now and then, but i´m not that big of a fan. i like cookies, but only certain types, and i only treat myself to that every now and then.

so i guess my diet is above the middle on the scale as far as healthyness goes, but i´m not a health freak either. i just don´t want my body to degrade as a direct result of my eating 

edit: today we´re having baked potatoes. gotta treat yourself every now and then. this week, we´ve had mousakka too, which is great. we often have wok with lots of vegetables and cut beef or chicken filet, too.

it´s easy to eat healthier, just make shit yourself! use rapeseed oil or sunflower oil or something to fry stuff, instead of lard/butter/whatever (unless a recipe calls for it, like if you´re frying up mushrooms), cut off visible fat from your meat before making it, don´t go heavy on gravy or sauce, have lots of vegetables or salads, go easy on cheese and stuff like that... it´s not that hard, really!

we should all be eating way more plants and way less meat too, which is something to consider.


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## Bucks (Jan 6, 2010)

MF_Kitten said:


> we should all be eating way more plants and way less meat too, which is something to consider.



This is correct. Ive been vegetarian all my life, strict vegan for the last 20 years.

Study after study shows how a plant based diet is far far healthier. Ethical reasons aside, humans just aren't designed to digest meat properly.

I'm not into forcing my views on anybody, I respect everybody's lifestyle choices. I'm sure you know the health consequences of red meats, if not look it up, I strongly recommended vastly reducing the amount you consume, or even better cut it all out.


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## Adam Of Angels (Jan 6, 2010)

^Fully agreed. I can count on two hands how many times I ate red meat in 2009, and I ate it very regularly before that. I've had no health issues related to it at all.


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## synrgy (Jan 6, 2010)

Bucks said:


> Ethical reasons aside, humans just aren't designed to digest meat properly.



That's not at all factual.

I don't mean to start any arguments, as I have no problems with any dietary choices anyone else makes, but let's be honest with ourselves -- humans have evolved as omnivores, period.

Further to that, every individual person has a unique body chemistry, so a diet (or any other medical treatment, for that matter) that works for one person is *never* guaranteed to work for another.

I still eat some junk on occasion, but it's more of a "I don't have time to prepare a meal tonight" situation than anything. I think the more time that goes on that one is conscious of "this food is bad for me", the easier it is to stay away from it.


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## Adam Of Angels (Jan 6, 2010)

^Actually, I agree with this, more accurately, haha. However, the human body has a harder time digesting meats.. it takes much longer.


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## rvai (Jan 6, 2010)

Actually meat takes longer to digest because it has a lot of protein to be absorbed in the intestin, opposite to the non digestable carbs found in many vegetables, they still contain protein and nutrients, just not as much as meat, and as someone has already stated humans have evolved as omnivores.

On topic, I have had my blood pressure a bit high for like a week now, so the doctor put me on a low salt diet, no sodas, candy, or junk food, I also have to exercise 1 hour daily.
My family said they would help me and wouldn´t buy any more junk food, so that is making everything easier, not having those things around definetely helps.

Maybe you should try talking to your family and you could all try to change your eating habits?


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## MF_Kitten (Jan 6, 2010)

okay, so the vegetarian/vegan thing i think is bullshit, and i´m sorry if it offends you, but it´s just fact. humans really really need meat. what i´m saying is that we eat way too much of it in general. removing it would be moronic in my mind, seeing how it´s such an important part of what we need to survive.

unless you´re REALLY good at picking the right things to eat, and how much you need of everything, you´ll end up with lots of problems with your body, including osteoporosis. not nice! if you´ve managed for 20 years though, i´m guessing you´re careful to get the stuff you need to stay alive. although you´re only getting one half of it, considering you don´t eat meat.

ethically, i don´t think there´s any problem. if something needs to be ruthlessly murdered for us to get what we need, then fuck it. that´s nature! you don´t see lions feeling sorry for animals, do ya? 

although i do agree that the meat industry does treat animals really cruelly, but that´s another story.


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## Adam Of Angels (Jan 6, 2010)

Bullshit? First, I'll say I'm not a vegan... however, I eat very little red meat. There's ways to get around eating meat that are perfectly plausible and healthy. Just because you think its bullshit doesn't mean that somebody else doesn't take it very seriously... and those same people, 9 times out of 10 DO watch what they eat very carefully. 

I'm still learning to eat what's best for me, but I can tell you that even now I watch my diet very dilligently and that I can tell what does and does not make a big difference in regards to variety and food combining. 

That said, there's lots of people who don't eat any form of animal product at all and are perfectly healthy.. and something doesn't need to be ruthlessly murdered for us to get what we need - as I said, there's other ways around it.. however, Salmon and Steak are fucking delicious, and I think that's where this mentality steps in, haha. I have a hard time comparing myself to a lion, unfortunately.


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## IDLE (Jan 6, 2010)

^ I agree, I eat very little meat as well and I have stayed healthy. It's not as hard to stay healthy as it would seem, you just need to make wise choices. As you should even if you're eating meat.

I think a big problem a lot of people face when they just try cutting out meat is that they don't get enough intrinsic factor and in turn don't absorb enough vitamin B. They get weak and switch back to their old diet and blame the problem on cutting out meat.


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## MF_Kitten (Jan 7, 2010)

as i said, eating very little meat is a good thing, and we should all be cutting down on our meat consumption. but cutting it out ETNIRELY is a bad idea unless you really really know what you´re doing. and 9 out of 10 people don´t know what they´re doing. i know several people, and have heard of many others, who tried to go vegetarian/vegan and failed miserably. i´ve seen reports of people getting liver and kidney damage, as well as osteoporosis, because they didn´t know what the hell they were doing. they thought they could just stop eating meat and just eat salads, and that would be it. they just didn´t consider the stuff their body needed, because they had the "carbs/fat/protein=bad" attitude.

so i´m saying it´s bullshit compared to what we´re made for, but if you´re good enough to "bypass" the need for meat with clever diet tactics, then all the more power to you. the problem is that many people are doing it way wrong, and suffer some serious health loss because of it.

like when parents feed their babies/children all-vegan food, and they fall seriously ill. that´s the stuff i´m worried about!

so sorry if i stepped on some toes with my "bullshit" comment, i have a tendency to over-simplify my words and make it sound really offensive 

as i´ve stated many times before, my perception of what is correct is what science and common sense says it is. if our bodies are made to eat meat and plants in proper proportions, then that´s what i´ll supply my body with.


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## Bucks (Jan 7, 2010)

You are of course correct, poorly planned vegan diets (not really vegetarian) can cause problems, most notably calcium and B12 deficiency. But so can ill substituted diets containing to much meat and no enough essential minerals and vitamin's from plants. 

The fact is regularly consuming red meats is going to effect you later in life, saturates and cholesterol causing cardiac problems as well as a much greater change to develop cancer (particularly prostate cancer in males) than that of somebody on a plant based diet.

Do I think it's a good idea for everybody to cut out meat? ideally yes, but that's just my personal beliefs and I don't wish the enter an ethics debate since we've all heard it all before from those ''elitist'' vegans trying to impose their views on everybody.
For the sake of peoples health and well being, I would greatly welcome your advice of eat far less meat and more plants, rather than trying to change the whole world veggie/vegan.


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## synrgy (Jan 7, 2010)

Sorry to continue the OT, but I have a problem with there being a difference between vegan and vegetarian. If you eat fish and/or eggs, I'm sorry, but you're not a vegetarian. Period. You might have a diet that leans heavily toward vegetables, and maybe you don't eat *red* meat or _whatever_, but to me, there shouldn't be a distinction. Vegans are vegetarians. Non vegans are not vegetarians. It's not so much the concept that bothers me, but the way I understand the English language. The word 'vegetarian' to me, means 'one who does not eat meat'. Eggs and fish are meat. It's not rocket science. 

*edit* as always, this is referring to the _proverbial_ "you". Not anyone here specifically.


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## TomAwesome (Jan 7, 2010)

synrgy said:


> Sorry to continue the OT, but I have a problem with there being a difference between vegan and vegetarian. If you eat fish and/or eggs, I'm sorry, but you're not a vegetarian. Period. You might have a diet that leans heavily toward vegetables, and maybe you don't eat *red* meat or _whatever_, but to me, there shouldn't be a distinction. Vegans are vegetarians. Non vegans are not vegetarians. It's not so much the concept that bothers me, but the way I understand the English language. The word 'vegetarian' to me, means 'one who does not eat meat'. Eggs and fish are meat. It's not rocket science.
> 
> *edit* as always, this is referring to the _proverbial_ "you". Not anyone here specifically.



Veganism and vegetarianism are related, but they're not quite the same. Veganism takes vegetarianism further, so not all vegetarians are vegans. Vegetarians don't eat meat. Vegans don't eat any kind of animal product. Vegans won't consume dairy products, but a non-vegan vegetarian might. I'm not sure where I'd classify eggs. They're not meat, and nothing had to die for people to eat them. I'd consider them vegetarian safe, but definitely not vegan safe.


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## synrgy (Jan 7, 2010)

TomAwesome said:


> Veganism and vegetarianism are related, but they're not quite the same. Veganism takes vegetarianism further, so not all vegetarians are vegans. Vegetarians don't eat meat. Vegans don't eat any kind of animal product. Vegans won't consume dairy products, but a non-vegan vegetarian might. I'm not sure where I'd classify eggs. They're not meat, and nothing had to die for people to eat them. I'd consider them vegetarian safe, but definitely not vegan safe.



I get the difference. One group 'doesn't eat meat' and the other group 'doesn't eat anything that came from an animal'.

Nobody has ever been able to explain to me why SO MANY people who call themselves vegetarians eat fish (or eggs) on a regular basis.

You've almost opened up a completely different argument (somebody call the abortion nuts), cause I would say that eggs are a living animal in an embryotic state, or at least they are before they're cooled down to storing temperature, unless somebody knows something about eggs that I don't. I mean, if we don't put them through the process, they hatch into living animals, right? I'm not crazy?


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## TomAwesome (Jan 7, 2010)

I agree about the fish thing. I never got that, either. The fish has to die so you can eat its flesh. That's meat. The thing about eggs is that they're not living things in an embryotic state. The eggs we eat are unfertilized.


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## synrgy (Jan 7, 2010)

TomAwesome said:


> I agree about the fish thing. I never got that, either. The fish has to die so you can eat its flesh. That's meat. The thing about eggs is that they're not living things in an embryotic state. The eggs we eat are unfertilized.



Interesting. You know, I never knew that. Or if I did, I'd forgotten it. Not that it ever bothered me -- I make a mean omelet! (or Tamago, for that matter!!)

To clarify, does that apply to all consumable eggs, or just the grocery store chicken eggs? Like, if I go to one of those weird restaurants and get an ostrich egg, (or snake egg, or alligator egg, or whatever turns the yuppies on these days) do you know if the same rules apply?


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## TomAwesome (Jan 7, 2010)

I think most eggs that contain a yolk instead of a tiny animal are probably unfertilized.


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## MF_Kitten (Jan 8, 2010)

Bucks said:


> For the sake of peoples health and well being, I would greatly welcome your advice of eat far less meat and more plants, rather than trying to change the whole world veggie/vegan.





i just think that since we´re made to eat meat, we should eat meat. i think meat is being overused (abused, even) in the modern diet, along with salt sugar and fat. these are all things that we crave alot, because they would be really hard to come across in nature. now that we can get as much as we want, our senses are suddenly useless, and only make us stuff our faces and kill ourselves slowly.

so i´m not saying it´s just meat, it´s all the greasy salty sweet stuff too.


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## hairychris (Jan 11, 2010)

Good start = cooking stuff yourself


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## rvai (Jan 14, 2010)

MF_Kitten said:


> i just think that since we´re made to eat meat, we should eat meat. i think meat is being overused (abused, even) in the modern diet, along with salt sugar and fat. these are all things that we crave alot, because they would be really hard to come across in nature. now that we can get as much as we want, our senses are suddenly useless, and only make us stuff our faces and kill ourselves slowly.
> 
> so i´m not saying it´s just meat, it´s all the greasy salty sweet stuff too.



Definetely right.
it´s true that the abuse of meat causes some future issues, but the absolute lack of meat and/or any animal product causes problems too, so the best option is to have a balanced meal, actually everything edible has molecules that are useful for your body, the problem is the excess


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## Jtizzle (Apr 25, 2010)

Eat a lot at home. You'll be too full to eat out when you're out with your buds. The only fast food I eat now is T-bell and Chipotle. I sometimes stop at McDonalds to get a large sweet tea, but that's very rarely. Chipotle isn't that unhealthy, it's just too much food in one serving. T-bell is just cheap as hell, so I usually have a fresco burrito or two between classes if I haven't eaten anything.
But to just quit the other stuff, that's pretty much all you have to do. Quit. Stop carrying too much money with you, and just tell yourself to not buy any food outside of home, or anything unhealthy. It wasn't that hard for me, really.


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## Nick1 (Apr 26, 2010)

I totally gave up junk food and pretty much all high fat foods all together. Ive lost over 100 lbs. I made a thread about it titled something like Anyone on a long term diet.


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## helly (Apr 26, 2010)

Apart from the sidetrack about being vegan/vegetarian, I have but one bit of advice.

You're a grown-ass man. You don't wanna eat junk food? Don't eat it. It's that simple. That solution has worked for me for every aspect of my life. You simply decide to do something or not to do it, and then you do it. It has worked for me in every aspect, from working out, to dieting, to quitting smoking.

If you don't really want to quit eating junk food, you won't, so that's step one. Make sure you actually want to not eat it, and then just stop eating it.


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## NixerX (Apr 28, 2010)

Those who say humans NEED meat are mistaken much in the same way as those who say they NEED coffee. Humans need protein Just not as much as you think. That said the source of your nutrients is typically far more important than the amount. Calcium for example from cows milk is virtually digestible by humans...however calcium from Kale and other sources are easily digested. 

This said im a vegetarian. Not for ethical reasons but because I like it more. I love cheese and use eggs frequently and partake of fish.


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## TomAwesome (Apr 28, 2010)

Fish is meat, too.


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## ZXIIIT (Apr 28, 2010)

I gave up 

meat (since late 2009)
soda (since 2006)
diary (since late 2009, and anything that has any trace of it)

I still only eat sushi though because I like too much , but I don't want to eat meat that comes from animals forced fed with steroids and chemicals, same for dairy after reading all the bacteria and puss that is found in it is just off putting for me to eat.

I don't do it to save the animals or to change the world, I just have that lifestyle because it suits me and it makes me feel a lot healthier (never smoked, did drugs or consumed alcohol)


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## Stealthdjentstic (Apr 28, 2010)

^ Good for you, dairy is a total bitch.


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## ZXIIIT (Apr 29, 2010)

Stealthtastic said:


> ^ Good for you, dairy is a total bitch.



Thanks man, yeah it is, and its in almost everything.


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## Sang-Drax (May 5, 2010)

I found out recently the magical properties of soups. I don't like it when it's too watery, so I blend about half and mix everything up so it gets creamier. Anyway, as long as there are white or brown beans and lots of onions, you can mix any kind of foul tasting vegetables and it will be delicious for some odd reason. I always mix it with some lean meat as well which I prepare separately to retain its own flavor.

And it's really easy too prepare as well. Just throw everything in a pan. Beans usually take longer to cook than anything else, so, when those are ready, it's good to go. Since it's a damn soup, you have to be concerned whether something's overcooked or not.


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