Hi ! My name is Rita. I need to know how to stop eating junk food. I am 17 and my problem is the following: I’m not overweight cuz I’m 60 kg [132 pounds] but the problem is that I look fat and everyone believes that I should lose some weight. The fact is that I try my best not to eat junk food but I cannot stop my cravings. I wanted to be anorexic but after I did my research and changed my mind. I have the will to do whatever it takes to end up with a healthy body and I do mean healthy. All I need is some help to know what to eat and how to stop eating junk food. Thanks. [via Ask Questions]
Before you can learn about how to stop eating junk food, you need to realize why you seem to be addicted to junk food. It is not your fault; many people cannot stop eating junk food for one very simple reason: Scientific evidence suggests that a combination of fat, salt and sugar is very addictive. In other words, junk food is designed to be addictive. If you think about it, a typical fast food meal (burgers and fries, for example) contains nothing but sugar (in the form of simple carbohydrates), fat and salt.
How to stop eating junk food I am not going to tell you to just stop eating junk food – this approach rarely works. But you do need to slowly transition from eating junk food to eating healthy. First step is sugar detox – as soon as you reduce your daily consumption of sugar, you will notice that you do not crave junk food as much as you used to. Side tip: if you crave something sweet, eat fruit and consider using healthy sugar substitutes.
Second step has to do with incorporating nutritious foods into your diet. What is the best way to accomplish this? By cooking your own food. I am not talking about spending a lot of time trying to recreate Martha Stewart‘s recipes, I am talking about simple dishes that are not only nutritious, but are also easy to prepare. In other words, pin the high-fiber foods list to your refrigerator (the list of fat-burning foods should be right next to it) and make sure to use these foods daily.
Third and final step is exercise. I am not going to talk about the benefits of exercise, it goes without saying that staying active is very important for your overall health, but in your particular case, exercising regularly is even more important. Why? Because it can help you breakaway from your junk food addiction. However, the kind of exercise you do is not really important. As long as you do something, you will be okay. Obviously, your odds of success are higher if you engage in a form of activity you like, so if you enjoy biking, hiking, swimming or simply walking, do it.