When i became veg 6 (almost 7) yrs ago i didnt have any problems giving up meat/eggs/etc. because i never liked eating them. I gave up soda 6 months ago, i know thats been a really good thing for my health. I would not consider myself fat, but i feel as if i could lose a few pounds. I'm always really enthusiastic when i tell myself to "start eating right", but it never seems to last. Whenever i start to eat junk food (chips, candy/lollies, etc.) i can never stop. Its kind of like something keeps telling me, "Oh well, you ate a few chocolate twizzlers, a few more won't hurt..." and before long i've consumed a whole pack. (which makes me more depressed...which makes me eat more junky food).
I wanted to know if anyone had any tips about how to stay with something?

you feel you could loose a few pounds....

how "heavy" are you and how tall are you?

129lbs...5'3

Then you really do just have a few pounds to lose (none if you are muscular) :)

I have the same problem you do with junk food. I haven't mastered it, but I did find one thing that helps.

When I am tempted to over-indulge I ask myself if what I'm eating is replacing something I should be eating. Usually it does (example: if I eat sweets then I don't want to eat enough of the next meal). Realising the junk food is replacing things I need to eat - that usually keeps me on track.

I have a couple of suggestions:

If you have trouble with 'binge' eating or overeating once you're on a healthy eating plan, try to get away from that black-and-white, all-or-nothing mentality. It's better to have a single piece of candy every day, and eat healthy the rest of the time, than it is to completely freak out once a week and eat thousands of calories worth. In the long run, the moderation approach works way better, even if it isn't 100% pure 'perfect' healthy eating.

Another thing- don't keep junk food in your house! If there are particular foods that you ALWAYS go for when you overeat or binge, then just don't buy them at the store anymore. If it's not right there, the chances are pretty slim that you're going to get in the car and go to the store for twizzlers at midnight. This has helped me the most. If it's not there, I don't eat it, and I don't even crave it that much.

I'm the same height/weight, and I feel like I need to tone up a bit, not necessarily lose weight. My eating habits I think balance themselves out in the end, its just a matter of getting myself up and moving more!

I think the "all or nothing" mentality depends on the person. I'm a sugar addict the way other people are heroin addicts. If I eat some, I can't stop. The only solution for me was to cut out refined sugar entirely. If I have a sweet craving I eat fruit, dried fruit, or have an all-fruit smoothie. I haven't eaten refined sugar (except maybe in the sauce at a Chinese restaurant) in almost two years now, and I don't miss it. I do consider myself a sugar addict "in recovery" as they say, because if I ate a cookie I'd probably fall off the wagon in a second and eat the entire package of cookies. No sugar is the only thing that works for me. I don't know if it would work for you...

On the all or nothing item:

When I have tea on the couch with a pack of cookies available on the table...... :lick:

That's why I get one cookie from the cupboard and leave the cookie jar in the kitchen.

i find that having a "cheat day" really works well. Basicly, get a brown paper bag. If you're anywhere and you want a "cheat food" then put it in your paper bag and then take it home and put it in the fridge. Keep it there until your cheat day.

on your cheat day, eat whatever you want from the bag. whatever you don't eat, save for the next week. Remember what you have in there, so that when you get that hankering for twizzlers, you say "oh yeah, there are already twizzlers in there."

the hardest thing for me was french fries. So, during the week i would want frnech fries and i'd say "wait til saturday" then, on saturday, i would get medium fries. Over time, medium became small, and small became none. Now, i occassionally have fries (like maybe once or twice a month), but it's in great moderation. So, it worked for me really well.

pick a day that is your "normal" junk food day. You know, if wednesday is your craving day, choose wednesday as your cheat day. I find saturday easiest because i'm more likely to be out longer, with family and firends--so it's a better day to cheat for me. :)

I use to have a strong sweet tooth too. What worked for me was to cut out candy totally for a period of time. After when I did eat something sweet, I enjoyed it but I did not "lust" over it the way I did before. It was just a nice, rare treat- nothing more, nothing less! I also had a problem with binge eating and found that affirmations worked for me. For example, you could say and repeat throughout the course of the day, "I refrain from eating chocolate" or "I am a healthy person" or something to that effect. Just make sure the affirmative is positive (do not use the word "not") and that it is in the present tense- not future. It sounds crazy but it really works if you are serious and consistant about it. It is amazing how you can train your mind to do what you want. Meditation and visualization may also be helpful options too.

129lbs...5'3

That's exactly what I am and I think I look great! I've lost about 12 pounds over the past year, and feel fantastic. I have somewhat muscular legs, though, so I guess if you're not real muscular, a few more pounds woulndn't hurt.

I had to decide to stop eating white sugar. I had a terrible habit of eating a huge chocolate bar every day in the afternoons, and had to put my foot down and make myself stop eating all junk food and anything with white sugar in it. I kept a big bag of dried apples and other dried fruits around to get me over the hump with the sweet cravings, but after a few weeks, my habit was gone and I felt so much better.

I've been off junk food for almost 6 months now. [pats self on back]

i'm exactly the same way.. but my metabolism is super duper :p and lucky me, i also prefer salty foods, so i can usually go for greasy and be satisfied pretty quick. 2 tricks when i'm craving sugary sweet things: 1) eat a meal, or something starchy. it's a bit less bad than sugar :). if it's still there, then i eat one little sweet thing, since by then it'll probably be full anyway. or 2) drink a glass of water. after i eat something salty, sometimes i think i'm craving sweets, but turns out i'm just thirsty :p hope that helps.

What works for me is keeping a journal. In it, I track my exercise, but I also keep track of how much eating out & junk food I consume for the week. It really makes me more aware of what I'm putting in my body and it's easy!