My particular addiction is binging on fast food. I’m in the early stages of my recovery and have brought myself to a question: what counts?
Fast food as a category isnt as easy to identify, at least in America. McDonalds, Taco Bell, Wendys? Absolutely. These are the places I have to force myself to drive past. Where even after a meal my stomach grumbles and mouth salivates at the thought of.
But what about Chipotle? Panera?
At first blush my answer is no. I dont crave these places, theyre just places where I can grab food while I’m traveling. But I’m also aware that addicts find other “safe” things to replace their addictions with and don’t want to head down that path.
Would love to hear others thoughts on this who have been down similar paths.
I’ve always had an unhealthy relationship with fastfood. I don’t know that I say I have an addiction to it, but it is a large part of my life and diet, and for that, I hate it. Maybe I do, idk.
After getting sober from alcohol, I lost a bunch of weight, but then, after going back to work months later, the truncated evenings at home usually resulted in fastfood for dinner. Since then, I’ve packed on 30lbs and I feel like shit, but yet I crave it. I suppose that is the science behind it.
I don’t know if I would try to classify one place as “fastfood” over another, I would go with how it makes you physically feel, after. If you aren’t feeling great after eating Chipotle, then it’s probably not worth eating Chipotle, ya know?
That would knock out a lot of sit down restaurants in town, and as I write this, I am ok with that!
For me, anything that has a drive through is “fast food”. I still go out with family to sit down restaurants like mexican places and texas roadhouse. Even those are pretty far apart. We go out maybe 2 or 3 times a month. The rest of the time I eat at the house.
I agree with Dan though- What’s your plan? What’s the goal? Do you want to stop eating out completely or just cut down?
Im trying to start small so I dont end up feeling overwhelmed/defeated and quit. Right now Im at no drive thru and especially no delivery. Delibery fast food is my go to after a stressful day at work. I deeply deeply want to order some right now.
There are different ways to deal with cravings, which will probably be your first concern at the beginning. I find mindful breathing into the emotion of craving helpful until it passes, because it always does.
You probably know your worst offenders, you already mentioned them. You will probably find more. What worked for me was to be very mindful with my emotions about foods.
Hello there!
As with any addiction, merely abstaining isn’t going to cut it. Going to the root of the issue is vital. I do a lot of comfort eating. I don’t binge but I do like to treat myself when I’m happy/stressed/BORED/feeling festive etc. For me, it’s been helpful to educate myself on nutritious food and talking to a nurse who specialises in eating habits.
Hi Nas.
Slightly off topic from your OP but I was wondering if preparing some meals ahead of time would help eliminate the convenience element of the fast food. How do you feel about batch cooking? Might help to stick a pre-made meal in without any fuss.
I have a recipe book that includes some fakeaway meals - healthy versions of the classic takeaways. Would that help? If it’s of interest I’ll send you some pictures from my book later this evening x
Edit: meant to say - I batch cook these x
I’m still struggling to define what counts as a binge for me. I have successfully stopped ordering takeout but I still tend to overeat at home, mostly by grazing throughout the evening I guess if it makes you feel bad (physically or mentally) afterwards then that’s a red flag. I have found the Brain over Binge podcast useful.
You’ve already gotten some great responses that I agree with. “What counts” will be different for everyone. Since you want to start small, perhaps you can identify exactly which types of fast food you have a weakness for (the places, and specifically which meals/food), then write it down in a list. After that, look over the menus and find meals which you not only do not crave, but which would be considered the healthier options (such as salads with grilled chicken, lightly using any dressing you get). The less processed, the better. Write those down.
This way you have a concrete place to look at and remind yourself, “These are the things that cause me the most problems, but I am hungry and need something quick, so here are the options that will not cause me problems.”
I like the idea of making food ahead of time if possible. Also using mental fortification, like thinking, “What they serve is not actually ‘food’,” when you see a fast food joint (because the reality is that the ways some of those meals are made, your body literally doesn’t see it as “food”).
I’m a huge fan of having food ready. I normally spend 1 day a week prepping food or my meals take less than 20 minutes. I love using the air fryer, easy and quick.
I was thinking do you having a savings account? (My accounts are linked so I can transfer money)
What if you transfer the money you would have spent at the end of the day to an account? Maybe it would be motivation to see the money stack up.
I feel like shit, but yet I crave it. I suppose that is the science behind it.[quote=“nas, post:1, topic:175725, full:true” @HoofHearted is right. There is science behind how junk food hooks us. Here is a link I hope we can all find helpful.
Similar to many other things that are out there in our environment that easily hook people, drugs, alcohol, social media, etc… junk food is another pitfall. Big ag makes tons of money getting us hooked and keeping us there.
Untangling why I binge on fast food is going to be my biggest hurdle. I know I get happiness and comfort from it in a way thats otherwise seemingly unobtainable in my life otherwise, but I dont know why. And until I unwrap that ugly package I wont have much of a game plan for tackling it. Thats also why Im starting slow. Peel back the layers – my coping mechanisms – until I find out whats underneath.
Do you turn to the delivery because you feel like it’s a quick option instead of cooking?
To help combat this you could arm yourself with a bunch of super quick home recipes, there are recipe books available which specialise in healthy things that you can cook fast.
I like to cook omelette with veg in as it’s super quick
I guess if it makes you feel bad (physically or mentally) afterwards then that’s a red flag. I have found the Brain over Binge podcast useful.