Junk food

Decadent hot-fudge brownie sundaes, greasy chili cheese fries, and ooey-gooey pizza — sometimes it's hard to resist the temptation of these delicious, high-calorie, sodium- and sugar-laden foods. If your junk-food cravings are taking over and it's affecting your mood or your weight-loss goals, here are some ways to control your desire for not-so-healthy foods.

1. Set some limits: Going cold turkey and restricting yourself from every single type of crave-worthy junk food may be asking a bit too much (translation: you're bound to go crazy from want and overindulge). Start off with small limitations such as no artificial sweeteners or no soda, and then add to your list of no-nos as you feel ready.
2. Indulge on the good stuff: Allow yourself one small indulgence each day to avoid feeling deprived, which can heighten cravings even more. Forget low-quality, cheapo junk when cravings strike. Choose treats made with real, rich ingredients like a dark-chocolate-covered strawberry or full-fat ice cream — you're more likely to feel satisfied after a few bites of the good stuff, which means consuming less calories, fat, and sugar.
3. Find healthier alternatives: If you know yourself well enough that it's not possible to eat just a little without wanting more and more, whip up some healthier options of your faves, minus the guilt. You'll feel much better devouring these low-calorie desserts — all delicious and under 150 calories. If pizza is your thrill, try these healthier slices. And instead of french fries or potato chips, these baked tofu squares are a lower-fat way to satisfy your salty cravings.
4. Use the power of a goal: Got a big trip or wedding coming up? Or maybe having to sport short skirts in a couple months is incentive enough. Use the power of a goal to keep cravings at bay. Every time you want to reach for a bag of chips, think about how delicious a healthier you will feel in that bikini or strapless number.
5. Change bad habits: Sometimes there are certain events or places that kick cravings into gear, so identify what sets you off so you can avoid it or start a new habit. If you can't pick up your morning coffee at the local café without grabbing an icing-covered scone as well, make your cup of joe at home. If you always reach for a pint of ice cream when you sit down for some late-night TV, make yourself a bowl of Greek yogurt with fruit instead. After some time, these new habits will take over, miraculously diminishing your old ones.
6. Limit the booze: Alcohol impairs your judgment, making you more apt to say yes to anything edible. Stick to a one-drink-a-day policy to not only curb your junk-food cravings but to also reduce your risk for certain types of cancers.
7. Get enough z's: When we're tired and don't have time for a nap, we tend to reach for a high-calorie pick-me-up. Get to sleep early enough so you feel so energized that you don't need a soda or cookie to pep you up.

Earlier today I watched an interesting clip on Good Morning America about how a food's color affects perception of taste. In the video, children and adults are given the same flavor of jello and chocolate pudding, but it's been dyed several different colors. Both the tots and grown-ups assume each color is a different flavor.

Most food is artificially colored in some way and at the end of the segment they point out that showing the natural color of certain junk foods, like Cheetos, might get more people to stop eating them. Cheetos are naturally gray and they're given a bright orange artificial color. Would you eat them, and other junk foods, in their natural state? How do you feel about artificially colored foods?

Source: Flickr User jeffeaton

On days when I'm craving some comfort food, you can find me in my kitchen making nachos or this mouth-watering snack — vegetarian chili cheese fries. Even if you love the real deal — fries piled high with beef-based chili — my recipe below won't disappoint. I might add that it's much lower in calories than traditional chili cheese fry dishes because it's made without meat and is substituted with much healthier ingredients.

Here's the full recipe!

Like nicotine, alcohol, or heroin, is food a habit-forming substance? New research says yes, and suggests pathological eating belongs in the category of addiction.

A recent study at Yale University claims to be the first to differentiate food addicts from mere overeaters. Before subjecting 39 women to magnetic resonance imaging, the study asked participants to complete a questionnaire designed to identify pathological eaters. When shown an image of a milkshake, those who scored high on the questionnaire also had dramatically greater neurological activity in the same regions of the brain where cravings for drugs and alcohol are experienced.

The conclusion? Among dependent eaters, "the current emphasis on personal responsibility . . . may have minimal effectiveness."

The proliferation of junk food could be part of the issue, too, as they're packed with more salt, sugar, and fat to enhance their flavors, sending more immediate messages of gratification to the brain. Where do you stand in the debate? Could you see the possibility of certain foods being habit-forming?

There's nothing quite like a few slices of delicious cheesy pizza to ring in the weekend. But because I'm unable to eat food products that contain gluten, pizza night usually consists of me making my own mini pizzas at home rather than hanging out at the local pizzeria. What's great about making your own pizzas is that you can add all of your favorite toppings and decide how healthy/unhealthy you want your pizza to be.

To build my own tasty masterpiece, I use whole grain gluten free bread or gluten free pizza crust. And to prevent any food hangovers the next day, I strive to make my mini pizzas somewhat healthy and nutritious just like my healthy nachos recipe. Because do we really want to scarf down 710 calories thanks to one tiny six-inch pizza? I think not!

Keep reading to check out my favorite healthy pizza recipe.

Oh nachos, why do you have to be so delicious? I really do love a good plate of nachos — especially when they come loaded with all the good stuff like cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and jalapeños. Not exactly the healthiest guilty pleasure, but they sure are tasty. With Spring right around the corner, I'm trying to get my body back to pre-Winter shape by amping up my workouts and cutting back on my junk food favorites.

Rather than kiss nachos goodbye for the next four months, I've decided to tweak my recipe by cutting out the fat and calories and adding in some wholesome goodness.

Keep reading to see what I've come up with for my new and improved nacho dish.

We'd love to start off the morning with a little fuel from Dunkin' Donuts, but sadly, it's not possible to do here on the West Coast. So we felt a twinge of agony when we heard the East Coast chain would be the first to launch chocolate yeast doughnuts, which we could admire, yet not try.

The chain's new, limited-edition cocoa yeast flavors are here just in time for Valentine's Day and available through the end of February. The editors at Slashfood were lucky enough to sample the three flavors: Cocoa Confetti, Reverse Boston Kreme, and Cocoa Kreme Puff. How did the new stack up to the old? Browse the pictures and full review at Slashfood to find out.

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