My junk food "weakness" had always been chips, ramen, and fried foods more so than sugary stuff like candy/cake/ice cream. I mean, I DID like the latter, just not as pathologically or intensely as I do the salty/savory crap.
Given the many times I've tried and failed at weight loss, I decided recently to approach it differently by slowing down the changes I make. I decided to NOT restrict myself from bad stuff b/c in the past that would blow up in my face then I'd binge (I'm sure people can relate). This time, my new rule is - I can still eat the crap, but ONLY after I finish eating a HUGE bowl of veggies that gets slowly munched on throughout the day. So I'm not cutting anything out, I just make it a rule that I have to eat the right stuff first. I guess a good metaphor is how playtime is only allowed AFTER finishing homework. This is good b/c it makes sure I eat what I need, AND I have something to look forward to.
Two changes: 1. my esthetician whom I visit monthly commented that my skin looks better, and even my mom said my complexion looked brighter, and 2. I notice I'm craving crap less! The first change is not surprising, but the second really was a revelation. I still think about chips, but the intensity of that craving is a lot less.
I just find it interesting, and would love to hear your stories or theories about why this is. My theory is that unhealthy lifestyle = our body lacking trace minerals/micronutrients, and this is expressed as "cravings." But we don't recognize it so we keep running to junk foods. I think maybe the salt in chips is "similar" to the minerals we need and so we get tricked into eating that.
Also, https://www.reddit.com/r/leangains/comments/o4kwjj/i_lost_my_craving_to_binge_and_for_junk_food_why/
There's some great comments in this that I think also add to the picture, like how our gut microbiome adapts to foods we eat. So start eating Food X --> gut bacteria adapt to want Food X --> we eat more Food X. This is true whether X=good or bad food.
The highlight isn't that my craving got less after a long time of no exposure, it's the fact that even when I let myself eat junk, I want it less. I'm sure I'll still enjoy it, but that weird desperate craving is less! I don't think about it as much. It's weird but great. Would love to hear if you experiencer the same thing, or if you have other science theories.
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