I know the thread title might lead one to say, "duh . . . yes. . . "
But I feel that I am in a peculiar situation, in that of all my acquaintances, I am the only one I know who feels fine subsisting off of junk food. Everyone else i know will eat a chip or two, and then, if they’re hungry, will go out and procure “real food.” Now granted, this real food doesn’t have to be healthy; more often than not it’s a burger or fried chicken or something like that, but it’s more of a meal type thing than a snack, I suppose.
Or, for example, there are people like my dad, who dislike eating processed snack foods because they can tell there’s nothing substantial in them besides calories. Once, while driving in the car on a long road trip we had taken food with us. My dad, driving, asked for something to eat and when I offered him my fritos, or whatever, he snarled that those were rubbish and instead wanted the grapes we had with us.
I, on the other hand, feel like I could eat nothing but chips and cookies and candy bars and be fine. I’ve had days where I’ve eaten nothing but an entire tube of Pringles. I realize this is extremely unhealthy, and I’ve tried cutting back in the interest of my health. I’ve tried to convince myself that one day, with training I too will detest all fried, fatty snack foods and choose to munch on an apple when I’m hungry instead. But this has yet to happen. Instead, even though I will force myself to eat broccoli, if given the option, I’d gladly eat an entire bag of potato chips instead.
So is anyone else like me?
FWIW, I’m 21 and a college student. I’ve heard that these kind of things change with time.
my story is very similar, but it’s mostly predicated on how i was raised. you see, my mother doesn’t cook. i’m a picky eater, too, but chicken is easy to cook about a billion different ways, if need be, so her excuse just gets chucked out. she was just lazy.
anyways, i’ve got a saying: “home cooking comes with a paper hat”. of course, that’s in direct reference to fast food. i’ve had so much fast food in my life, i’d have starved without it. it’s also good that potato chips come in single serving bags, too.
i’ve had problems with my friends…we’ll go out to sam’s club or some such store and look for junk food. i’ll point something out…usually an entire aisle…and i’ll get vetoed because it’s a lot of whatever it is i’m pointing out. well, no shit. meanwhile, if i were to do the same thing with my dad, we’d come back with 5 bags of junk food.
by the way, dad and i are workout freaks. he’s more overweightish, but that’s because he let himself go with binge drinking in his 20s. he is a very active 60 year old and is losing weight. me? i’m 24. i weigh 160 pounds and i’m FAR from overweight. despite the bad food choices, i’m VERY healthy. this drives my buddy’s mom crazy, because she thinks i’m malnourished because i don’t “eat properly”.
If you’re like most people, it will start to change drastically the first time you 1) realize those size 32 jeans that you wore your whole life don’t fit you, and it’s a squeeze to get into 38s and/or 2) you start to feel it when you don’t eat right - you’re tired/cranky/lethargic/sick a lot and suddenly you realize that you don’t feel that way when you eat a salad and some lean meat for dinner rather than a bag of chips and a six pack.
I used to sometimes interchange junk food with real meals when I was in highschool. During college, I had gallstones (not related; hereditary) and had to have my gallbladder removed. This is when I realized just how hard the preservatives and chemicals in junk food are on your body. Previously, my gallbladder must have played some role in handling the stress on my digestive system, because since then, most junk food triggers diarrhea and terrible gas. The only thing that doesn’t affect me like this is chocolate (but then I still can’t have a lot). This effect has pretty much turned me off of junk food altogether, which is good.
Oooh. I used to love junk food! Well, I STILL love it, but I can’t have it anymore. I was diagnosed with Diabetes exactly one month ago. I’ve had to give up all my favorite junk, which would be potatoes. Potato sticks, potato chips, french fries, fried potatoes, etc. Limiting myself to only 40 grams of carbs per meal each day REALLY puts the hurts to the junk food I can have. I prefer to get my carbs in ‘real food’, so I can eat a little more! Eh, I’m better off in the long run, truthfully.
I never did have a thing for sweet junk food, such as ice cream, chocolate, cake, pie or cookies…only now, I find myself almost craving them. The things I really miss are the potatoes, in all their beautiful and tasty shapes, forms and styles!
I’ve not let a potato, in any form, or any sugar touch my lips in one solid month, so I think I’m doing good!
You’re not alone. I could live off frozen pizza, pizza rolls, chips, and cookies if I didn’t have a couple of spawn for whom I’m trying to set a halfway decent example. The boy’s a good eater, he’ll try anything, but the girl is picky like me. I have a hard time with vegetables; I try to choke them down, but I find it difficult to believe there’s people out there who actually like the vile bitter nasty things. Blech.
amen, brother. you’d think that a few of our smarter, chemically-inclined brethren would make some sort of veggie that doesn’t taste like a slug.
popcorn is a vegetable, right?
also…i find that when i get a craving for a food or a fruit…it’s my body’s way of telling me i need it. my dad and i have been known to go through a crate of oranges in about 4 days because we’ve got an unexplainable desire for oranges.
I could and have lived completely on junk food. Honey barbeque Fritos, Hostess cupcakes, frozen pizza, candy bars…mmmm…
But I have to take care of my family so I cook every night, veggies included. Since it’s there I’ll eat it too. Give me a weekend alone and I revert back to the bad habits.
Maybe if I were to stop covering up my broccoli and corn with cheeseburger Hot Pockets in the freezer, I’d eat more of my veggies.
It’s a never-ending battle for me to cook, actually cook, a meal rather than rip open a bag and microwave it for two minutes.
I swear, I only buy them for a time-crunch, yet I eat them for every meal until they’re gone, then have to scrounge for something when I actually am in a time-crunch. sigh Evil hot pockets, they are…EVIL!
