Hard to work without junk food

[ENTP]

I'm trying to not eat processed food or sweets as much. However, it seems to be the only way I can get myself to study/put in the time to develop a small business/house hunt. That is, to have a bag of jellybeans or barbeque chips and munch on them as I work, or an order of Thai food.

Now that I've reduced the amount of junk I eat and replaced them with healthy alternatives, I feel "meh". Really unsatisfied and just very slow and wanting to procrastinate, because I feel deprived and blah. I've tried those raw food 'cookies' for the crunchy munch feeling, eating healthier snacks in general, etc.

Nope. I'm not satisfied unless I have the EXACT foods I want while I'm working. My work quality is suffering.

I eat plenty and plenty of well-balanced meals and calories/fat/carbs/etc. But I have very very specific cravings that nothing else can satisfy, and I HAVE to work with them to be at my best.

I think I read somewhere that exerting self-discipline in one area of life "drains" your self-discipline reservoir, which would otherwise be applied to other areas.

Well, crap. What do I do? Am I going to have to sacrifice one or the other?

[SireneB]

There might be a short time of retraining your taste, but in general snacking on nutritious food will be more satisfying, over time. What about baby carrots and hummus? Has both crunch and (healthier) fat. good sub for chips.

For me that sort of munching = mindless eating, and this sort of exchange works. But it might take a few days of feeling forced into it.

[ENTP]

Originally Posted by SireneB

There might be a short time of retraining your taste, but in general snacking on nutritious food will be more satisfying, over time. What about baby carrots and hummus? Has both crunch and (healthier) fat. good sub for chips.

For me that sort of munching = mindless eating, and this sort of exchange works. But it might take a few days of feeling forced into it.

No....carrots and hummus are totally unsatisfying. Plus, I'll eat a whole jar of hummus for every 10 baby carrots.

[VinceG]

The solution for low energy is breathing. Take deep, complete breaths anytime you're feeling low on energy. Repeat until you have high energy. It's that simple.

[beautyscientist]

Listen to your body and eat what it is telling you to eat. Your brain needs a certain level of glucose to function properly and if you can only get it from junk food then eat junk food.

Willpower in particular is a very energy intensive business.

Add in some fruit and raw vegetables to your diet and you'll be fine for nutrients and fibre. Junk food gets a bad press but it isn't that bad. Yes excessive processed food will kill you, but so will eating nothing but raw vegetables. The poison is in the dose. If you don't overdo it you will be fine.

[Clint Cora]

You just have to keep exploring healthy but tasty alternatives. Like many people, I loved junk food as a kid but once I started on my health habit in my teens, I had the motivation to get off them. Sure it was hard. But I persisted and now in my middle ages, junk food kind of grosses me out. So it is possible.

[firenexx]

You have to eat healthy food for a while before your taste buds reprogram themselves. I used to have the same problem.

[Agota]

Can it be a solution to eat a well-balanced diet and eat junk while you're working and then substitute junk with healthier options little by little, like one day per week eat something healthier when working, then two days per week, etc?

[NatalieHill]

Boy do I feel where you're coming from. I've got a great tool for staying "up" which is EFT. But today, I chose chocolate instead!

I remember years ago it took me many, many months to break the diet coke-in-the-afternoon habit. Those junk foods contain neurotoxins that we get addicted to, like aspartame and MSG (in chips).

So I suggest you go easy on yourself as you work to change your habits. I think you're on the right path. And I think part of the process is detoxing your system so you crave those foods less.

How about doing a one or 2-week green smoothie cleanse? Start your day with a green smoothie and let yourself eat whatever you want for the rest of the day. See if you crave the junk food less after that.

Good luck.

[Merr]

Originally Posted by NatalieHill

Boy do I feel where you're coming from. I've got a great tool for staying "up" which is EFT. But today, I chose chocolate instead!

I always choose chocolate to help me with work! I feel lousy without it and end up shaking like some kind of junkie as well as biting everyone's head off. I think the key is to let yourself have some junk food and gradually changing your diet like Agota suggested. Personally, I think that coming off junk foods, coffee and lots of other things can make you feel like crap because your body does get accustomed to it like it does any other 'drug'.

[janicelou]

If you give it time you will get used to it. Some people say having a "cheat day" is a good idea!

I tried this a few times but I feel sick when I eat processed foods!

You may want to do a candida cleanse and take some probiotics if you have been eating an unhealthy diet for years.

[jcsites]

You may have a sudden withdrawal from these junk foods that you are feeling deprived. You may want to do a gradual transition instead. It may help you in the process.

[ENTP]

Also I get a really nasty temper when I eat healthy. :/

Last night for instance, I accidentally knocked over a bunch of crap off the dresser top and since no one was home at the time, I threw a bitchfit - kicked all the **** across the room, slammed doors when going to another room, shouting about how the world wants me to ****ing clean 24/7, apparently. Just being totally irrational!

The less junk food/carbs AND fat that I eat, the worse mood I'm in. I only show my temper when alone though - if others are around, I suppress it to the pont of getting headaches.

That's why I love driving alone - I can shout and rant all I want, speed, honk, give the finger, and at the end of the drive, I feel awesome! Mostly, but still not zen.

But the minute I succumb to my craving, I'm zen again.

[justmee]

OMG, you arE SO LIKE ME


TO STUDY I NEED GOOD JUNK OR COMFORT FOODS. not everything but certain foods like chocolate. if it improves performance so what? it's not like im eat 0 meals a day like obese people

op are you overweight? that might be an issue
if youre overweight then your body and mind has become accustomed to eating bad foods to improve your mood. but food shouldn.t this is something ive learnt. food shouldnt improve your mood other things should like socialising or walking or even eating healthily. but allow yourself a cheat day or cheat items as long as most of your food intake is healthy.

[ENTP]

Originally Posted by justmee

OMG, you arE SO LIKE ME


TO STUDY I NEED GOOD JUNK OR COMFORT FOODS. not everything but certain foods like chocolate. if it improves performance so what? it's not like im eat 0 meals a day like obese people

op are you overweight? that might be an issue
if youre overweight then your body and mind has become accustomed to eating bad foods to improve your mood. but food shouldn.t this is something ive learnt. food shouldnt improve your mood other things should like socialising or walking or even eating healthily. but allow yourself a cheat day or cheat items as long as most of your food intake is healthy.

No, not technically overweight. I'm 5'11 and 140 lbs, though I'd like to lose 10-15 pounds or so, because I don't look my best right now.

[agsags]

There are a few possibilities here:

1. You are forcing yourself to do junk work and hence require junk food for it.
2. Your concept of junk food is too broad.
3. Your concept of healthy food is too narrow so you don't consciously explore "gray areas". As a result, you swing to junk food to balance out "healthy" eating.

[ENTP]

Originally Posted by agsags

There are a few possibilities here:

1. You are forcing yourself to do junk work and hence require junk food for it.
2. Your concept of junk food is too broad.
3. Your concept of healthy food is too narrow so you don't consciously explore "gray areas". As a result, you swing to junk food to balance out "healthy" eating.

1. It's only junk work if others are making me do it. J/k. No, the stuff I make myself do are for good purpose.
2. No...it's pretty much universally accepted examples of junk food. Think "white chocolate", Panda Express orange chicken (NO OTHER orange chicken will suffice - Panta Express has the EXACT texture, crunch, grease-level and sauce that I like), etc.
3. Nope. Basically if it's raw or high quality stuff like dark bread with raw butter, organic pastured lamb etc, it's healthy.

[Miss Moo]

Hi ENTP,

I understand where you are coming from, all I want to eat when I'm studying is crap!

It really comes down to two options:
1) You force yourself to eat better. It is really, really hard to start off with, but it does get easier with time. Even if you make your main meals healthy and snack on junk during the day, that's better than eating 100% junk.
2) After your exams are over, or whatever intense study period you're going through, you spend the next two weeks afterwards working off all the crap you ate. If you've only been eating badly for a couple of weeks, if you work really hard for a week or two it shouldn't be too hard to undo the damage.

[polygrrl]

I have the same struggle - to get myself to work as intensively as I want to, I have often felt I have to jack myself up on food drugs for the temporary rush. Then I suffer the consequences later.

Personally, I can't get myself to eat hummus and baby carrots to save my life. I've also heard that baby carrots are not so great - I think they are processed with bleach or something. I'd avoid those.

Green smoothies have really helped me, though. It's the only way I've been able to substantially increase my intake of greens, and there are a lot of options for how to make them that are very satisfying.

However, when I'm really feeling stuck in addiction to certain junk foods (which always happen if I eat them again!), what works the best for me is to do a 3-day fast. It has to be 3 days to really clear the junk out of your system, and then the cravings are not as intense. Once the physical addiction is broken, you can actually feel that your body really doesn't want to feel as messed up as it will feel on junk food. I like to use the master cleanse for this. I've used it for longer fasts also, but that's really a different matter. You may go through a lot in those three days, but it will break the spell, and the addiction-based mood swings/tantrums won't come up in the same way any more.

Your taste buds will be retrained over time, as others have said. One thing that I don't think has been mentioned yet though, is that there is a psychological addiction to the feeling of being stimulated. It's so easy to grab some sugar or caffeine quickly to get that rush, and life can seem boring without it. It can seem hard to motivate yourself without it. But it is possible, and it's totally worth doing for the equanimity you'll gain (take it from someone who spent her entire 20's with a Starbucks cup in one hand!)

I also take a cold shower every morning now after I work out. I still use some caffeine, but I've cut way, way down, and the shower is better than a cup of coffee to make me feel alert and invigorated.