For years, I was that guy eating fast food multiple times a week. Burgers, tacos, pizza – you name it. I wasn’t some health nut preaching about kale smoothies. I just wanted food that tasted good and didn’t require me to think too hard. I also got into weightlifting around 2017 and around this time, a lot of guys were preaching dirty bulking.
Here’s the problem though: I also wanted to build muscle and actually look decent. I ate like this for years, and for a while looked decent. However, once I leveled up in my IT career, the more time I spent sitting down, so eating this way wasn’t getting me there, even though I’d been lifting for almost 10 years.
So I had to figure out how to stop craving the junk without feeling like I was torturing myself. And get this… It only took about two weeks to rewire my brain.
The Goku Hack (Yes, Really)
This is going to sound stupid, but stick with me.
I’m a huge Dragon Ball Z fan. Always have been. And there’s this recurring scene where Goku trains his ass off in the hyperbolic time chamber, comes out exhausted, and then eats a massive feast – rice, meat, vegetables. Simple stuff. And afterwards, he’s stronger, energized, ready to fight.
This stuck with me.
I realized: what if I could relocate the dopamine hit I was getting from fast food to the feeling of eating clean and feeling powerful afterwards?
So I started framing my meals like Goku’s post-training feast. I’d lift weights, come home, and eat rice, chicken, steak and veggies. And I focused on how my body felt – strong, energized, ready to recover and grow.
It sounds ridiculous, but it worked. My brain started associating clean food with feeling good, not deprivation.
I didn’t lose weight doing this, but despite eating massive feasts, I didn’t gain either. It was actually difficult to eat large plates of food since the food was wholesome.
The Vegetables I Hated (And How I Actually Started Liking Them)
I used to hate most vegetables. Red bell peppers? Couldn’t stand them.
But once I had that Goku mindset shift, I started forcing myself to eat them – not out of discipline, but because I was genuinely curious if my body would feel better. And it actually did.I’ll never forget the first time I ate a red bell pepper after lifting. I actually ate a sandwhich which my wife made for me with some red bell peppers on the side. As I bit into that red bell pepper and heard the crunch and felt the freshness – my body felt ALIVE. It felt like I was fueling recovery instead of just filling my stomach.
I then made the mistake of eating takeout a few days later and the difference was insane. I felt sluggish, bloated, and nasty. I didn’t even have stomach issues, but my body felt like it was actively punishing me for eating that. That’s when I knew something in my brain flipped and maybe I discovered something.
The Timeline: 2 Weeks to Flip, 1 Month to Lock It In
It took about two weeks of consistently eating clean and paying attention to how my body felt for the cravings to start shifting.
By one month I was wating vegetables with ease. I actually wanted them because I knew how good I’d feel afterwards.
I wasn’t white-knuckling it anymore. My brain had rewired itself to crave the foods that made me feel strong instead of the foods that made me feel like crap.
What you need to realize is the brain runs on a reward type system. There are scientists hired at every fast food chain carefully crafting each menu item to light up your brain’s dopamine reward system, making you crave and come back for more. What you also need to realize is that our bodies are designed to adapt. If you give it some time, your brain will rewire itself.
How You Can Do This Too
If you’re stuck in the fast food cycle, here’s what worked for me:
- Find your anchor – For me, it was Goku. For you, it might be a transformation story, an athlete or celebrity you admire, or just the version of yourself you’re trying to become. Connect clean eating to something you actually care about. If it’s a version of yourself, YOU NEED TO ACT LIKE THAT VERSION OF YOURSELF NOW.
- Pay attention to how you feel – Don’t just eat clean because you “should.” That’s boring and doesn’t work. Actually notice how your body responds. The energy, the recovery, the mental clarity. Let your body convince your brain, don’t try to convince your brain with force because it will actively reject it.
- Eat trash once after a 2 weeks of clean eating – Seriously. The contrast will hit you like a truck and make you realize how much better you feel eating real food.
- Start small – I didn’t overhaul everything at once. I just added one vegetable I hated (red bell peppers) and stuck with it. Once that became normal, I added more afterwards. Now my body actively craves vegetables
- Make it taste good – I’m not eating bland chicken and broccoli. Who does this? The Rock? HAHAHA… I use sauces, seasonings, and cook my food in ways that actually taste good. If it sucks, you won’t stick with it.
Trust me
You don’t need insane willpower to eat clean. Willpower alone will eventually fade because seriously, how long will you be able to do it? You just need to trick your brain into associating clean food with feeling good instead of deprivation.
Once that switch flips – and it will if you pay attention – eating healthy becomes the path of least resistance. Your body will literally start craving the stuff that makes you feel strong and will reject the other foods.
And if you want high-protein recipes that actually taste good and help you make that switch faster, check out my YouTube Channel Idawwgg and be on the lookout for my cookbook once it’s released. I’m writing down all of the recipe’s I used to make this happen. These foods are fast food swaps that will ease you into this lifestyle!