Re: What foods could help curve junk food and pop cravings?
If you are craving chocolate, then you could take some lecithin and then eat some nuts. It may be the lecithin and the magnesium we crave.
OR you can just buy organic dark chocolate and eat a few small pieces of that.
Normally I'm not "tricked" by carob, but my aunt made a carob "sauce" (more like a mousse) that was in Alissa Cohen's raw cookbook and it was GREAT, I and my little toddler cousin were gobbling it up!
You have gotten so many great suggestions already.
I went cold turkey off of soft drinks as a teenager (for 2 years I only drank water). That worked well for me. I am not tempted by them at all since then.
I don't know that there is a "substitute" (unless you like things like pellegreno and fruit juice mixed) so perhaps it's better to find a new drink that you like better. A type of tea or a juice, or lemon squeezed in water. Totally different, but you look forward to drinking it.
As far as junk food... gosh there are so many GOOD foods you can have, I would say just enjoy them and try to keep the junk food out of the house and out of sight. I don't know if you are vegetarian, vegan, etc. but I suggest you try to stick with whole foods and real foods. Even if they aren't the MOST ideal for health they are still better than the processed "junk".
Pop some popcorn (not in the microwave) and cover it in melted real butter and some
Sea Salt . Eat fruits, eat bananas, eat avocados, eat nuts, eat olive oil, eat butter, eat cream, eat good salt, eat maple syrup, eat honey, eat dried fruits, eat free range eggs, eat coconut.
Once the cravings significantly diminish, then you can re-evaluate how to structure the way you eat, so that it is optimal (which may or may not involve cutting out some of those things).
OH, and you might want to eat more often during the day to keep from getting "starving hungry" where your resistence to temptation is low!
ONE MORE THOUGHT. Some people do better going "cold turkey" and not touching those things that tempt them. Others feel so deprived doing that, that they end up cheating all the time, with a vengeance, then feeling guilty. It's good to realize which kind you are. If you can avoid them entirely, then do so. But some people need to wean themselves. If that's the case, just come up with a plan. Think of your #1 favorite junk food. Then think of how often you can have it (within reason). Let's say you love Snickers bars. You could buy a bag of minis, and allow yourself 1 every day (all other food is healthy). Or maybe you don't like eating such a small piece. Instead, you say, one day a week (let's say Mondays) you can have a whole big Snickers.
Overall, that's not too bad, is it?
After several weeks of this, then you could consider cutting out the junk altogether, perhaps. It is still better to cut back on junk food but still have your favorite occasionally, it is a small percentage of the overall diet. A bag of Doritos isn't healthy, but one bag a month isn't the end of the world, either.