How to Kick your Junk Food Habit and Lose Weight

Renouncing your Junkie Ways

Junk food habits, while giving an instant jolt of gratification, actually prove self-destructive in the long run, much like a drug. In Iva’s article “Sugar: the Drug of Civilization” , she compares the development of that infamous white powder heroin to another well-known white substance: refined sugar.

Poppies >> opium >> morphine >> heroin
Sugarcane >> molasses >> brown sugar >> refined (white) sugar

If you have an iron will, the obvious solution is to eliminate these subpar foods from one day to the next. In my case, going from nachos to carrot sticks overnight just wouldn’t cut it. Iva suggests a gradual change rather than going cold turkey—a strategy she calls healthy replacements—for people like me.

Six Commandments for Weight Loss

I don’t know about you, but it always helps my mood when I look at the scale and see the needle point a few kilos lower than the previous week.

Iva gave me six basic commandments for weight loss:
1)    thou shall not overeat
2)    thou shall not eat late at night
3)    thou shall watch your carbohydrate and fat intake
4)    thou shall exercise regularly
5)    thou shall stay well-hydrated
6)    thou shall get enough rest

Super-duper Foods

Supplements can help fill in the nutritional cracks in your diet and improve your mood and energy levels. Especially in winter, when the quality of fruits and vegetables are lower, Iva recommended supplementing our daily diet from natural sources. Some superfoods which are trending at the moment include:

• Wheat and barley grass, which are cereal grasses closely related to dark green leafy vegetables, contain concentrated amounts of vitamins and minerals, in particular, chlorophyll, and are useful during body detox. Though extremely similar, barley grass has the added benefit of being a free radical collector (which is said to decrease your risk of cancer).

• Chlorella is freshwater algae that can be added to your diet in pill or powder form. In addition to a dense amount of vitamins and minerals, an extremely high amount of protein can be found in chlorella, making it a staple supplement for many vegetarians. Another main usage is for body detoxification because it’s been shown to remove heavy metals from your body. (*It contains a high amount of vitamin K, so if you are taking blood-thinning medication, this supplement is a no-no*)
• Chia seeds come from a plant native to Central America. They contain a high amount of omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and dietary fiber. Many endurance athletes swear by them as an extreme energy source. Health food shops often market chia seeds as a weight loss aid, but current studies are inconclusive.
• Quinoa is a pseudo-grain indigenous to the Andean region in South America. It’s special because it’s a complete protein (a rarity for plant-based food) and is a good source of dietary fiber and other vitamins and minerals.  It can be used in place of rice, barley, couscous…etc.  It has a mild, nutty flavor and tastes good just on its own.  

Superfoods can be found in bio and health shops around the city, but it’s cheaper to buy them online (try a search on www.heureka.cz).

Disclaimer: the benefits of taking dietary supplements are still being widely debated in the scientific world, so I suggest doing your own research before using them.

Getting It Right from the Beginning

Perhaps the most sensible solution to our modern junk food habits is to simply get it right from the beginning. For you parents out there, Iva has some tips on how to encourage and nurture healthy eating habits in our children. Here are some of my favorites (to read Iva’s full article click here):

• Expose your child to a wide variety of tastes. Maybe they won’t like it the first time, but keep offering it in small amounts—sometimes the third time is the charm. (Never force them to eat something they don’t like, though, as it will just build up their resistance to that food.)
• Give your child some control over what he/she eats—let them choose which vegetables and fruits they’d like for that day.
• Set a good example—kids are clever and if they see you eating junk food instead of veggies, they will pick-up on it.
• Kids love to help so if you involve them in the preparation—peeling, cutting…etc.—they will be more likely to eat it.

• Infographic: Czech Republic Is the World’s Most Unhealthy Nation
• A New Study Says You Should Adopt this Czech Habit—Now
• The Czech Capital Gets a New Green Space
• Botanical Labyrinth Appears Outside Prague’s National Theatre
• New App Brings Czech Mushroom Hunting Into the 21st Century