How to stop eating so much junk food

Question
Recently, I've noticed that I have been eating a lot. Snack and junk food mostly. I guess because it's summer and I don't really have anything to do. But whenever I get really bored, I find myself eating again. I can never seem to get full. I often find myself standing over the snacks and not knowing what to eat but wanting something. It's gotten a bit worse lately. I just can't seem to stop eating so much food.

My diet in general is kind of poor. I'm a very picky eater. I usually avoid meat except bacon and occasionally some ham. I don't eat a lot of fruit and vegetables either. I want to chance my diet, but It's hard. I try to, but always end up eating the same old things until I get sick of them. All I eat is basically junk food.

So I guess this a a two part question. How do I stop eating so much junk food, and how can I change my diet to something more healthy.

Answer
Hi Meg,

To answer part I of your question-- you want to change your diet. But it sounds like you have no motivation. So the first thing you have to do is find your motivation.
Get a pen and paper. Write down the 5 top reasons you want to eat healthier. Usually these will be one-word, non-descript answers that will not be motivating (eg, "to be healthy").Then you must break these down further and ask yourself "Why?" to each, and then another "Why" to the answer you get. Like, 'Why is it important for you to be healthy?'; perhaps you won't feel so tired. Why is it important not to feel tired? Because you can't participate in things you like to do anymore. Why is this important? Because you're losing touch with your friends since you don't hang out with them.

Keep going for each of the 5 until you have some motivations that strike you enough to WANT to change.

As for the junk food? Same thing! Why do you want to quit junk food. If there is no reason to, you won't ever stop. Until your suffering is greater than the pleasure of eating junk! And that's often tough, since junk food is so enjoyable.
You might try not buying it in the first place ;)
Or coming up with a reward system for avoiding it. For example, put a quarter (or a dollar) in a jar every time you choose a piece of fruit or a glass of water instead of a candy bar or a cookie. Decide what you are saving up for ... maybe a pedicure or something that will make you feel good. The goal is to aim for things that make you feel even BETTER than eating junk food.

Good luck as you start working on these tips and let me know how it goes for you.
Laurie

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