Most of us know what it feels like when we have pigged out on something to the extent that we feel the food pushing at the back of the throat. But what if this happens on a regular basis? If you are prone to bingeing, you must be wondering what it is about your favorite food that makes you gorge, and you desperately want help in avoiding these foods.
The first step in getting binge eating help is to understand what foods to avoid. Almost all people who are prone to binging have certain favorite foods, foods they cannot do without. They stock up on these foods and stuff themselves in privacy. Not surprisingly, all these foodstuffs are extremely rich in calories.
Comfort foods like cheese, chocolate and sweets flood your system with carbs, which in turn make you feel good – for a while. This is because the carbs that you take in through these foods instantly flush your bloodstream with glucose and make you feel high. But this artificial glucose-induced high crashes just as quickly as the bloodstream quickly empties the glucose and begins the process of storing fat. The extra calories you take in are directly stored in the form of fat.
Instead of munching away at foods that are harmful to the body, make wise choices
- Avoid sugary foods; choose sugar-free.
- Avoid colas and soft drinks; get water instead.
- Avoid foods rich in salt and oil; munch on fruits instead.
- Avoid foods rich in Mono Sodium Glutamate; use natural spices.
- Avoid polished rice and white flour; go brown.
Want to identify foods that are regularly doing you in? No problem. Simply monitor your activities so you can shortlist your trigger foods. For some people it is ice cream, others can’t say no to burgers or coke, and still others munch away on chips and salty fries. What food makes you go weak in the knees? Write them down, and the next time you shop, avoid them like the plague.
Eating too much junk food is one of the main problems which people who want to lose weight, and emotional eaters in particular face each and every day.
If you too want to stop eating too much junk food the first thing you must remember is that this isn’t your fault. It’s so easy to eat too much fast food. It’s all around us and the commercials which press on our hunger buttons are very effective. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t take action against this.
Here are some tips:
1. Don’t go Cold Turkey – Trying to stop eating junk food entirely abruptly isn’t something that will work for everyone. It may work for some people but in many, it may trigger a massive craving which will only result in a binge of the same food you’re trying to eat less of. My advice is to take it gradually.
2. Don’t go out hungry – Going to a restaurant hungry may seem logical, but if you want to stop eating junk food, then don’t go to a place that serves it while you’re hungry. It’s like giving an invitation for the food to come in. Eat a little something before you head out.
3. Don’t supersize – The fast-food companies love the supersize option and you must avoid it like the plague. You’re already getting enough food on your plate. You don’t need to get more. Supersizing can easily mean a few hundred extra calories in your belly. You don’t want that.
4. Avoid sugary sodas – A coke goes well with a burger and pizza, right? It may taste good but drinking sodas is the definition of eating empty calories. Try to stick to water or freshly squeezed juice and you’d do much better.
5. Most important of all, you need to look at things from a wide perspective and learn to control your cravings. Until you do that, you may solve part of the problem but not all of it.
Following these tips is taking a major step toward eating better and losing weight more easily.
Healthy Fast Food Tips
When you think of healthy foods, you might not think healthy fast food is even possible but today’s consumer is demanding and getting better meal options. They’ve made the restaurant industry aware that they will spend money on fast food if it’s healthy and tastes good, too.
This trend is really not that new. Fast food restaurants have been trying to include fast food choices that are healthy for years. But the products that were developed did not satisfy the consumer. They were, quite frankly, yucky. Remember the veggie burger?
No restaurant has done a better job,(in my opinion) at making healthy fast food tastes as good as Mcdonald’s restaurants. They’ve been widely criticized and blamed for the obesity rate in the United States among adults and children.
But in the past few years, they’ve been successfully developing healthy and delicious alternatives for adults to eat while their kids indulge in happy meals. At McDonald’s fast food web site you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the healthy info available, including advice from Oprah’s personal trainer Bob Greene and author Dr. Dean Ornish.
If you need nutritional info on their menu items, they’ve put together a fun way to figure it all out (you pick your menu item from a drop-down list and then drag it into the Mcdonald’s bag). It tells you complete nutrition info so if you are a weight watcher or count your calories, you can make good choices based on the info they give you.
Some good healthy fast food options to try include
- Any of the premium salads, especially the new Asian salad. Fabulous-tasting and great for your waistline at 290 calories!
- Fruit and Yogurt salad is a delicious healthy dessert that will satisfy your sweet tooth. It includes apples, grapes and yogurt with a small bag of candied walnuts. (Walnuts add a little bit of unnecessary sugar but it takes it to the next level as far as taste goes.)
- Premium grilled chicken sandwich on a whole wheat bun…420 calories. Yum!
Other healthy fast food choices
Lest you think this is a Mcdonald’s commercial, here are some healthy fast food choices at other restaurants:
Chipotle – eat it without the tortilla! You’ll save about 340 calories! Skip the sour cream and go light on the cheese for a healthy and satisfying meal. It’s still a hefty price tag at 719 calories (chicken, lettuce, black beans, rice, corn salsa, and tomato salsa). Rice is the biggest part of that mix…240 calories, so you can get rid of that if you want.
Quizno’s Sierra smoked turkey with raspberry chipotle sauce….only 350 calories! But you can customize any sandwich with dressing on the side and no cheese!
Papa John’s pizza “The Works”….veggies and 2 kinds of meat…Only 240 calories for 1 slice! That’s 1/8 of a pizza. The trick is to practice portion control – stop after 1 slice (okay, maybe 2 slices).
A few healthy fast food tips
Here’s what to do when faced with eating at a fast-food restaurant. You know what’s fattening and what’s not. Generally, cheese and any kind of mayonnaise-based dressing. Bread, unless it’s whole grain and high fiber, is going to add calories. What you have to decide is what is worth the cost in calories.
You might be surprised to experience how a tomato can add a lot of moisture to a sandwich and there’s no need for the sauce or the pizza tastes better with veggies and no meat. Try everything once and remember to make wise choices.