I love sweets more than anyone and grew up with them. In college, I'd eat donuts or cinnamon rolls EVERY morning. It's simple. I do the grocery shopping and I don't buy them anymore. No sweets, no cereal. No magic solution needed. If they aren't in the house, I can't eat them.

The dopamine reasoning is pretty weak. We have rational brains for a reason. If you know it isn't good for you, simply don't partake. It's not like food is giving you a high like alcohol or drugs. That dopamine release is pretty real with drugs. Equating that to food is not, however.

I think that one can be addicted to food, but that it's purely a psychological thing, and not a physical one. Emotional eating, bored eating, etc. I used to use it as an excuse. You're right though. I simply stopped buying it. If it's not around, I don't eat it (junk food). As for bored eating, I just found something else to occupy my time. As I said, eventually, the way I viewed food changed. I still love the sweets and such, but I use them as a treat (about once per month). Otherwise, my cheat meals consist of pizza or just going out to eat someplace.

So much of this. A bag of pink lady apples becomes my "sweets" whenever I have a food craving. Hell, I'm still horrible with sweets. We do Friday "movie night" where we buy M&Ms and other crappy movie theater type candy as we sit around and watch movies. My wife and I go nuts eating that shit. The other 6 days a week, we abstain from any of that shit, though.

I was the same way in college too. God damn Cap'N Crunch cereal with vanilla whey shake mixed in for breakfast and post workout. Mac n Cheese with a can of tuna in it, pretty much whatever tasted good and fit budget.

We try to keep junk food out of the house now too, but sometimes I sneak a few of my daughter's Dora the Explorer fruit snack bags out for a pre workout pick me up LOL.

That is how we are as well with sweets. Maybe have some sweets, ice cream, or pop once a week but completely avoid it the rest of the time.

One thing that has really helped us not eat too many sweets is shopping at Costco. You go into a Hy-vee it is so easy to buy a "small" bag of cookies, a few candy bars, "personal" size ice cream, etc.

But at Costco that stuff simply isn't available unless you buy a huge container of it. Those packages are much easier to avoid because of the price and the fact that it is much easier to see just how much food is there so it becomes more obvious that it is just too much sweets and it will be in the house for a while and it becomes much easier to say we don't need it.

Holy shit. Congrats!

That's an incredible transformation. Seriously. You should be proud.

Still going. I have about 45 lbs left to lose. I'm totally guessing on that, as my goal is 25% body fat (for now). Wherever that puts me at weight-wise.

And thanks. I've worked hard, but enjoyed, every minute of it.

I had about 10 beers friday night. Can't remember if I worked out before or not.

Awesome work!

Quit stealing my thunder!

Nice job, though. You look great and now aren't you pissed off you didn't do it years ago?

You'll be too skinny if you lose 45 lbs. Good job!

Simply badass. Its probably pretty self motivating by now.

My weekly check-in...have been sick for the last 3 days, but still dropping the weight.

Dropped 6 more this week, down to 365 and 1 ounce.

Still riding my stationary bike at an intense rate for an hour a day and monitor my caloric intake..right now around 2,000 calories/day.

Also, I'm adding real biking to the routine twice a week. My wife will drop me off at the office and I'll ride home, about 8 miles a shot.

Yes. I've wasted over 20 years of my life being overweight.