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this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2025
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Asklemmy
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i started on a quest like yours about 15ish years ago because of diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, drowsiness, headaches, bloating, etc. and; if it could back and start all over again; i would start with the crockpot.
soups/stews in particular are super easy with almost always delicious results and dirt cheap; you just throw in a bunch of stuff that seems like would go good together into the pot and let time do the rest for you. my creations almost always involve garlic, onions, and some kind of lentil (usually black beans) and even those three by themselves are delicious. (if you add in salt the very beginning you'll end up using less salt overall).
every few months/years insuppressible cravings for fast food usually make me fall off this wagon and that generally feeling of zombiness; like you're feeling right now; is usually enough to push me back onto the wagon. this time around i've been off the wagon long enough for those health metrics to show a significant decline and that coupled with both the general shitty feeling and the tariffs are pushing me back onto the wagon. i wish someone had advice to share with me on this.
Doing a ketogenic eating pattern allows for the soups and stews and provides the energy. Without the sugar triggers in the daily diet it is easier to stay on the wagon long term. I also find using a CGM to get back on the wagon super helpful, seeing immediate feedback about blood glucose keeps the diet on track.
i've had cgm's for several years and they were effective at telling me which of the foods i made were good or bad and it lead me to using crock pots like i described.
the cravings overpower any sort of sensibility when it comes to my diet and invariably bump me off the wagon for months to years at a time and that's the one thing i haven't yet figured out. i've learned that that fast food is addicting and i think that explains the cravings.
Maybe a accountability buddy who can see your CGM data in real time can help?
Strategies I've found to get over cravings:
What do you find helps you?
i was going to ask if you're me because i've tried all of these except the accountability buddy and; given that fast food is addicting; i think it makes the most sense.
the first bullet point is the reason why i'm off the wagon for months at a time. my craving for a double whopper with bacon, onion rings, & extra cheese is VERY STRONG and i sublimate it by letting myself eat chicken breast, pork loin, fish, cheese, etc. for months at a time. these efforts help keep me away from the fast food chains, however it's not fool proof because i still cave into the cravings, but at SIGNIFICANTLY reduced level compared to before i started wrestling with these demons.
i used to eat fast food at least once every day and the longer i stay off the wagon the more i slowly inch towards going back to this old habit over the ensuing months; until i have some sort of realization that pushes me back onto the wagon, like op. i'm on the wagon for roughly as long as i'm off it, so i stay on the wagon for months at a time as well; but i've been repeatedly going on/off this wagon for the last 15ish years. the crock pots let me jump back on very easily.
the cgm's always let me fool myself into believing that i can go off the wagon responsibly and; before i realize it; i'm stuffing my face with whoppers again a few months later. an accountability buddy would need to have a 20ish month view of my cgm results to know that i'm backsliding.
i learned a few years ago that studies that used accountability buddies to treat drug addictions were effective because they kept track of drug addicts' gps coordinates and; whenever the addict visited a place where they could obtain their drug of choice; the accountability buddy would pop up to help them. i need something like this that can track my proximity to fast food chains so i don't have to bother with trying to sublimate my cravings because that's always my first step to falling off this wagon again.
Is it possible to never go to a fast food chain?
We have the physical addiction to glucose, but you have overcome that before
We have the habitual triggers, something in your life makes you think of your old addiction, those you have to find a way to get past, maybe the snacking
We have the situational triggers, seeing a place, going past a place, triggers old addictive cravings, this is where having a buddy you can call and talk it out can be helpful.
If you are willing to wear a CGM all the time, you can have a buddy monitoring it and get alerts if it goes outside of a predefined range (say 6.5) so your buddy can help you deal with the recovery
When you fall off the wagon before, you mentioned fast food, but what is different the month before falling off and the day you fall off?
i've spent so much time trying to mitigate the impact of the fast food cravings that it never occurred to me analyze other triggers and i had a "no duh" moment when i read this because i learned by accident the last time i went on the wagon that tv advertisements were a trigger that made me crave that double whopper. lol