Diet coke with your burger and fries?

I was that person. The one who would order a “hunger buster” value meal (Big Mac, cheeseburger, large fries, chocolate sundae, large soft drink) and ask for a diet Coke with it.

I can be really dumb sometimes.

My logic was that I could easily avoid the calories in the drink, but I still wanted my junk food. It was non-negotiable.

Then I’d get on the scale at the end of the week, and wonder why I hadn’t lost weight.

Things have changed. These days, when I get a craving for junk, I go a cheeseburger or a whopper jr. That’s it. And it’s enough.

I make sure I always have a water bottle on me, so I don’t need a drink. And when I don’t need a drink it seems a bit pointless to have a meal deal (add-on fries and soft drink) when I don’t need or want half of it.

What I realised is no matter how much junk food I ate, it was never enough.

Junk food is not about portions with me. It’s about getting a fix.

I knew – when I began to be honest with myself – that no matter how much I ordered, I’d always want more. I’m perfectly capable of eating two hunger busters, probably. Maybe three. That hole inside me never seemed to get full, no matter how much junk I shoved down my neck.

I realised – and admitted – that I’m an addict. Just like an alcoholic can’t control their booze intake, I can’t control my food addiction.

However, if I only have a burger, by itself, I seem to not go so nutso on the junk food.

I can’t control having large amounts, but I seem to be able to manage small amounts.

Plus, to be honest, I really believe the addictive part of junk food isn’t the burgers. It’s the fries and drinks.

That’s the case with me, anyway.

So these days, if I go with friends to a junk food place, I just order a small burger. Nothing else. I enjoy the experience, and my eating stays in check. I get my fix – because I’m still an addict – but I’m happy.

A whopper jr contains 340 calories. A McDonald’s cheeseburger contains 313 calories. That’s about right for a lunch for a woman who is trying to lose a few.

Compare that with the calories in a McDonald’s “hunger buster”: 1587. Or a Burger King whopper meal: 1620. Either is my whole day’s calories in a single meal. No wonder I wasn’t losing weight!

I know it’s not socially acceptable to believe we can eat the occasional burger and still lose weight.

I know it’s also true that some people are so addicted that they can’t even have just a burger yet avoid going nutso.

I find that this works for me. Maybe it will work for you too 🙂