Eating what you like vs. clean eating vs. following weight watchers or low carb or other method
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I had issues with binge eating half way through my journey and it pops back occasionally (now). So I haven't yet mastered it but I find I'm happiest and less likely when I'm eating the best and healthiest I can. For example, today I had a green smoothie, protein shake, cereal bar, pear, salmon veg and potato for lunch and chicken and veg for dinner. I'm going to have some sneaky popcorn and that's me, as I feel so good about what I've had I'm less likely to eat junk. Oh and exercise is crutial for me too0
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To help the OP, I'll only eat my "binge foods" in front of other people in a decent portion,not alone because I'm likely to eat too much because that's how I binged in the past. I still struggle with it but planning my day out helps too0
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mamapeach910 wrote: »ITT I learned that eating the right sized portions for my height and age once I reach goal will be restricting because it's not the "unrestricted" free-for-all my unhealthy relationship with food my past self used to have.
I think I have this straight.
Yep, you've got it.
Another way of saying the same thing - once you've reached maintenance, the odds of you maintaining your weight loss by eating "intuitively" are extremely low.
(And by "you" I don't mean just you, I mean most MFPers)
Sorry, but I think that's a bassakwards way of looking at it.
No, I can't eat intuitively, you're right. Because any chance of me doing that was broken long ago. I don't come by that skill naturally.
But I don't look at what I'll have to do to maintain a normal healthy weight by eating normal-sized portions as restrictive either.
Just as I have to wear glasses to see properly because my eyes don't work "normally", I need to take measures to ensure that I'm taking in the proper amount of calories for my body size. For me, that will mean tracking my food intake.
It's as simple as that for me. Not restrictive. Corrective.
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I mostly eat what I want, but I have altered my cravings somewhat by introducing new foods into my meals. Quinoa, kale, beets and other foods that I didn't think I liked, I now know how to prepare and think they are good. I cannot have certain foods though because I will binge - potato and tortilla chips and french fries are the worst for me.0
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I would much rather have no ice cream than the one tablespoon of ice cream that actually fits in my goals - so no, I don't eat what I want because quantity is a big part of what I want, for some foods.
You however may be different - not everybody is the same.
THIS IS SO RELEVANT0 -
mamapeach910 wrote: »No, I can't eat intuitively, you're right. Because any chance of me doing that was broken long ago. I don't come by that skill naturally.
But I don't look at what I'll have to do to maintain a normal healthy weight by eating normal-sized portions as restrictive either.
You are holding two contradictory principles at the same time - you're going to have to let one of those go, eventually.It's as simple as that for me. Not restrictive. Corrective.
Semantics. And if that works for you...fantastic! :drinker:
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4legsRbetterthan2 wrote: »Eat the way you want to eat the rest of your life. If you are happy "eating clean" (however you define that) for the rest of you life then go for it.
If not, then don't. Same goes for low carb.
If it is not something you want to do forever then no use starting. Temporary changes are the base of yo-yo dieting.
Just going to play philosopher here....finding out what one wants to eat for the rest of their life cab only be determined by eating those specific diets/foods. Being on a ketogenic diet, there is limited options, and if everyone ate like I eat for the rest of their lives, the economy would collapse. Is this a diet that I will eat forever? No. Is it a diet that best helps me to control energy intake and regulate energy expenditure? Yep! So I will use this diet off and on until I get where I want to be, but then intermittently after that, but not consistently.
The things that keeps people yoyo-ing have nothing to do with food. Education about nutrition/fitness play a part, as do life circumstances and human will power. But foods do not dictate whether or not one will yo-yo unless it has an addiction factor. No matter the food or the situation, the person always has the choice to restrict or eliminate.0 -
Mycophilia wrote: »I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie and protein goal. Doing great so far.
And what if you have no more calories to consume but you still want more food ? Or do you automatically stop 'wanting' for foods after your calorie/protein macros have been hit?
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
not sure how you got there butlemurcat12 wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
Ok then let's do that. And then an argument goes on and on and on it goes. Ok. Let's do that. It sounds productive lol. Interspersed with photos and jokes about dirt and things.lemurcat12 wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
I'll reply to this right after being accused of hijacking. Lol. If someone wants to give that "clean eater" some clean breakfast ideas? Sure!lemurcat12 wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
I guess for part of the discussion I'm back to this:Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
Not disagreeing there. But that isn't how it always sounds. Since "eat what I want" is somewhat vague, and neutral with respect to quantities. And it assumes folks also "want" to eat a nutrient dense diet.Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »beachlandia wrote: »I eat "whatever" I want as long as it fits in my calories. But this means I have also cut out or greatly reduced amounts of high calorie foods. Like, I COULD fit a 680-calorie giant chocolate muffin from Costco into my day, and it's not that I don't enjoy those muffins anymore... but I'd much rather use those calories for other things. And I guess that makes me eat "healthier" (which is a subjective term) because I'll eat things like chicken breast and fruit instead of a muffin.
This.
It's not really "whatever you want" if there is a constraint around it.
Agreed.
Folks should be saying: I incorporate treats and favorite foods into my calorie and macro counting routine.
Because when you look at some of their logs (I can think of two "I eat whatever" people in particular) they eat a pretty set routine of proteins and veg. With some chocolate or what not thrown in.
Yes but that is the distinction that most people miss. Usually when people say, "I eat whatever" it is in response to people who are posting that they have cut out or severely restricted a food or particular macros in order to lose weight. The "I eat what I want" is meant to explain to the poster that you don't have to cut out entire food groups, you can continue to eat all the foods you like, in moderation.
The strawman assumption then comes out that because these people are saying there is nothing wrong with donuts, that they must be eating nothing but donuts all day long.
For the record, I am firmly in camp moderation. I still eat pizza, donuts, gelato and wine and have lost 30lbs doing so. I don't foresee any issue with maintaining the weight loss and sustaining this lifestyle for the foreseeable future. I don't know if I will be logging when I'm in my 80s, but I don't really see any reason to stop anytime soon.
PS - I've never struggled with binge eating or emotional eating, just wanted to provide that context to the discussion since OP specifically mentioned this.
And the other caveat is: you don't struggle with binge eating. Moderation for binge eaters is much more challenging. And for some, not worth the struggle.
I've never struggled with binge eating either. I just didn't know how to eat or how much I was eating.
I agree that people could be more specific with the way that they respond to the questions or the way that they correct inaccurate understandings about weight loss and that would avoid many of the arguments on here. I often feel that aside from a few zealots on both sides of the debates, if you did a blind comparison of the diaries of some of the "clean eaters" and some of the "IIFYM" folks, you would be hard pressed to say who is who.
I understand that for some binge eaters, moderation is very difficult, but I have also seen many people on here say that moderation was the only thing that helped them overcome their binging tendencies. Knowing that they could have it, even a little bit, each day, made the food have less power over them so that they did not need to binge. Again, just going by what I've seen some folks say, some I think even in this thread. I know there are others who say that that might work for some trigger foods, but then there are still other trigger foods that are not able to be moderated no matter what.
Also, I don't know if there is a difference or not, but I've seen a few people mentioning that they are "volume eaters" which I think Mr_Knight may have mentioned in this thread or another recently. Would that be considered the same as a binge eater? I don't think so, again, maybe semantics but to me, binge eating implies that there is a total lack of control over how much you are going to eat, that you can't stop yourself. To me, volume eating means that in order to be satisfied, you prefer a much larger volume of food, but it doesn't sound like there is the same issue with giving up control completely to the food.
Suppose someone posts on a green car forum and says: looking for other hybrid drivers. Or, I'm looking for hints to get the best mileage out of my hybrid. Wouldn't it be weird and counter productive if EVERY thread immediately had someone posting: you should drive an electric car instead. Followed by long arguments on the pros and cons of electric versus hybrid when all the OP wanted was to talk to other hybrid drivers?
But the context here is that someone posts "I am looking for clean eaters to share recipes and talk about healthy eating." Why are only "clean" eaters qualified to talk about healthy eating or recipes to that person, especially when what "clean" means varies dramatically from person to person. As I like to say, that I enjoy ice cream doesn't mean that my dinners are "contaminated" with ice cream, so why exclude people like me from the discussion? Many of us who aren't clean eaters have been cooking from whole foods a lot longer than many of the "clean" eaters in these parts and eat plenty of lean meats and veggies and all that.
I find the desire to segregate the discussions weird.
And no, I never encourage anyone to eat foods they don't want to eat. There are lots of foods I don't eat (although not because I cut them out, IMO).
But that requires explaining that we can't know what the person means by "clean," but some breakfast ideas are X, Y, and Z, which is, in fact, what many of us do.
There's no reason an argument has to go on. Why would it? Again, why the desire to segregate? If I were looking for recipes involving broccoli I'd, well, look on the internet or in one of my cookbooks for ideas, but if I thought to ask on MFP I'd say "hey, does anyone have broccoli ideas"? or "ideas for dinner focusing on lean meat and broccoli"?
It would never cross my mind to say "I need "clean" eaters to help me figure out how to eat broccoli." Why on earth would anyone assume that the rest of us don't eat broccoli? Or eat broccoli only with chocolate sauce or on top of McD's fries?
Ok. So if someone wants low carb recipes everyone will post them or enjoy them. Not tell them what and how they should be eating instead. Great!
Not segregated (on the main boards)
How we got there is you mentioned the response to the "looking for 'clean' eaters" threads.0 -
Mycophilia wrote: »I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie and protein goal. Doing great so far.
And what if you have no more calories to consume but you still want more food ? Or do you automatically stop 'wanting' for foods after your calorie/protein macros have been hit?
You learn to stop at that point or you eat low calories foods and deal with going over a bit until you learn to choose better or be satisfied within your calories.
When I first started I wanted foods at times I'd been used to eating. It was habit, not real hunger, so it went away.
What do you think someone should do in that situation?0 -
stevencloser wrote: »I would much rather have no ice cream than the one tablespoon of ice cream that actually fits in my goals - so no, I don't eat what I want because quantity is a big part of what I want, for some foods.
You however may be different - not everybody is the same.
LOL
a tablespoon of ice cream is .005% of a serving or something ridiculous like that….
A tablespoon is 15ml. A traditional scoop of ice cream is (or at least was) 50ml. A typical ice cream is ~2.5 calories/ml, so it's a difference of roughly 40 calories vs 120 calories.
I don't have 80 extra calories to blow on it, and a tablespoon would just be torturing myself, so....easier to abstain entirely.
Others are free to chose their own "right" answer, even if it involves detached-from-reality hyperbole....
:drinker:
That you say you can't even use 100 calories of your day on ice cream kinda makes me sad. And curious about how many calories your daily intake is.
I can kind of understand this. I like peanut butter, I do, but I like cookies more. So I can't use 100 calories on peanut butter when I can have a cookie (or 4 tomatoes) instead. It's all about what's worth the calories for someone and what isn't. An 800 calorie slice of my mother's mousse cake is worth every single one of these calories, but 5 calories on a jelly bean aren't.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Mycophilia wrote: »I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie and protein goal. Doing great so far.
And what if you have no more calories to consume but you still want more food ? Or do you automatically stop 'wanting' for foods after your calorie/protein macros have been hit?
You learn to stop at that point or you eat low calories foods and deal with going over a bit until you learn to choose better or be satisfied within your calories.
When I first started I wanted foods at times I'd been used to eating. It was habit, not real hunger, so it went away.
What do you think someone should do in that situation?
The point I was trying to get across was basically:
So many people love to say "I ate what I wanted, and when I wanted and lost all the weight."
But if that was the case then you never would have become overweight to begin with. It might be better to just say, "I ate what I wanted and stopped right before I hit my calorie limit." That might mean you still wanted for certain foods, but had to stop, however to achieve the deficit.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »Mycophilia wrote: »I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie and protein goal. Doing great so far.
And what if you have no more calories to consume but you still want more food ? Or do you automatically stop 'wanting' for foods after your calorie/protein macros have been hit?
You learn to stop at that point or you eat low calories foods and deal with going over a bit until you learn to choose better or be satisfied within your calories.
When I first started I wanted foods at times I'd been used to eating. It was habit, not real hunger, so it went away.
What do you think someone should do in that situation?
The point I was trying to get across was basically:
So many people love to say "I ate what I wanted, and when I wanted and lost all the weight."
But if that was the case then you never would have become overweight to begin with. It might be better to just say, "I ate what I wanted and stopped right before I hit my calorie limit." That might mean you still wanted for certain foods, but had to stop, however to achieve the deficit.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone say, "I ate what I wanted, and when I wanted, and lost all the weight". What people usually say is that they fit what they want to eat into their day. That requires a considerable amount of foresight and planning in order to meet their nutritional goals AND leave room for the treats they wanted to eat.
No one ever says, "you should eat donuts and/or doritos all day every day"0 -
mamapeach910 wrote: »No, I can't eat intuitively, you're right. Because any chance of me doing that was broken long ago. I don't come by that skill naturally.
But I don't look at what I'll have to do to maintain a normal healthy weight by eating normal-sized portions as restrictive either.
You are holding two contradictory principles at the same time - you're going to have to let one of those go, eventually.It's as simple as that for me. Not restrictive. Corrective.
Semantics. And if that works for you...fantastic! :drinker:
Nope. I think you're holding onto a skewed viewpoint.
People who naturally maintain a normal weight never viewed outsized portions in unlimited amounts with unlimited frequency as normal. They never viewed eating a lot one day and less another as restrictive. To them, it's instinct.
For many, many complex reasons starting when I was very young, this ability that I believe I had (I was a small, thin child) got lost under emotional issues.
I realize this isn't necessarily the case for everyone, of course.
I just don't see using corrective measures to return to normality as "restrictive".
This discussion is reminding me of this date I once had. The guy asked me how it felt to be handicapped, and I was totally... WTF????? about the question, because he was referring to my glasses.
Restriction to me connotes a negative, a taking away of something. Corrective is merely putting something back the way it should be. I think that's the point of coming to a healthy relationship with food. I should NEVER have come to mindless eating endless quantities of food. That wasn't the norm that I now need to restrict myself from. I'm returning to the norm.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »Mycophilia wrote: »I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie and protein goal. Doing great so far.
And what if you have no more calories to consume but you still want more food ? Or do you automatically stop 'wanting' for foods after your calorie/protein macros have been hit?
You learn to stop at that point or you eat low calories foods and deal with going over a bit until you learn to choose better or be satisfied within your calories.
When I first started I wanted foods at times I'd been used to eating. It was habit, not real hunger, so it went away.
What do you think someone should do in that situation?
The point I was trying to get across was basically:
So many people love to say "I ate what I wanted, and when I wanted and lost all the weight."
But if that was the case then you never would have become overweight to begin with. It might be better to just say, "I ate what I wanted and stopped right before I hit my calorie limit." That might mean you still wanted for certain foods, but had to stop, however to achieve the deficit.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone say, "I ate what I wanted, and when I wanted, and lost all the weight". What people usually say is that they fit what they want to eat into their day. That requires a considerable amount of foresight and planning in order to meet their nutritional goals AND leave room for the treats they wanted to eat.
No one ever says, "you should eat donuts and/or doritos all day every day"
Yes, there are such people. I frequent the forums quite a bit, and I have actually seen what I described, maybe not in the exact words I've used, but definitely along those lines.0 -
This confuses me. Do you need your whole daily calorie allotment just to meet your fat/protein/micronutrients?stevencloser wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »I would much rather have no ice cream than the one tablespoon of ice cream that actually fits in my goals - so no, I don't eat what I want because quantity is a big part of what I want, for some foods.
You however may be different - not everybody is the same.
LOL
a tablespoon of ice cream is .005% of a serving or something ridiculous like that….
A tablespoon is 15ml. A traditional scoop of ice cream is (or at least was) 50ml. A typical ice cream is ~2.5 calories/ml, so it's a difference of roughly 40 calories vs 120 calories.
I don't have 80 extra calories to blow on it, and a tablespoon would just be torturing myself, so....easier to abstain entirely.
Others are free to chose their own "right" answer, even if it involves detached-from-reality hyperbole....
:drinker:
That you say you can't even use 100 calories of your day on ice cream kinda makes me sad.
Why? I use those 100 calories for something I want more. Yeah, I *love* ice cream - but I have fitness and health goals that are more important to me than a few moments of transitory gastromic pleasure.
To me this a cause for happiness, not sadness.
How big is your deficit if 100 calories of non nutrient dense food is going to offput your fitness and health goals?
But it's not just 100 calories - because it's not just ice cream. Let's say we bring in the ice cream - what about the other treats? Do I say yes to all of them, just because "it's only 100 calories!"
What about the Dorritos? The hot dogs? The Key Lime Pie?
The line has to be drawn somewhere - that's the meaning of "restriction".
And whatever the restriction, there will be a whole lot of things you have to say "No" to. Even if you don't totally exclude, you most exclude - and it's still a lot of saying "No".
Ok so you have 100 calories to play with.
No, I don't. Put another way - if I had a 100 calories to play with, I haven't optimized my path.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »Mycophilia wrote: »I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie and protein goal. Doing great so far.
And what if you have no more calories to consume but you still want more food ? Or do you automatically stop 'wanting' for foods after your calorie/protein macros have been hit?
You learn to stop at that point or you eat low calories foods and deal with going over a bit until you learn to choose better or be satisfied within your calories.
When I first started I wanted foods at times I'd been used to eating. It was habit, not real hunger, so it went away.
What do you think someone should do in that situation?
The point I was trying to get across was basically:
So many people love to say "I ate what I wanted, and when I wanted and lost all the weight."
But if that was the case then you never would have become overweight to begin with. It might be better to just say, "I ate what I wanted and stopped right before I hit my calorie limit." That might mean you still wanted for certain foods, but had to stop, however to achieve the deficit.
Yeah, I said something similar upthread. Obviously, no one thinks eating what you want or not cutting out foods or whatever means that you eat in unlimited fashion.
For me, a good bit of it is focusing on what I really want vs. what I'm using for other purposes or eating because it's there, but that's a pretty fine distinction and one not only I always see. I wish I could eat whatever I wanted (or just not think about it) and lose/maintain, but wanting has never been a good measure for me, and that was the case even when I ate more purely in a way that some would define as "clean."
However, if I ate what I wanted I'd eat too many calories, but I'd still eat a diet that was in other ways basically healthy, which is why the focus on "eating healthy" (or, ugh, "clean") as if that substituted for calorie control doesn't make sense to me.
I'm not saying I think I will always have to count--I've lost before without counting and think I could maintain and possibly even lose now without counting, but I'd certainly have to exercise strict portion control and not eat everything I wanted (not snacking, not eating as much of whatever as I might otherwise, etc.).0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Mycophilia wrote: »I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie and protein goal. Doing great so far.
And what if you have no more calories to consume but you still want more food ? Or do you automatically stop 'wanting' for foods after your calorie/protein macros have been hit?
You learn to stop at that point or you eat low calories foods and deal with going over a bit until you learn to choose better or be satisfied within your calories.
When I first started I wanted foods at times I'd been used to eating. It was habit, not real hunger, so it went away.
What do you think someone should do in that situation?
The point I was trying to get across was basically:
So many people love to say "I ate what I wanted, and when I wanted and lost all the weight."
But if that was the case then you never would have become overweight to begin with. It might be better to just say, "I ate what I wanted and stopped right before I hit my calorie limit." That might mean you still wanted for certain foods, but had to stop, however to achieve the deficit.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone say, "I ate what I wanted, and when I wanted, and lost all the weight". What people usually say is that they fit what they want to eat into their day. That requires a considerable amount of foresight and planning in order to meet their nutritional goals AND leave room for the treats they wanted to eat.
No one ever says, "you should eat donuts and/or doritos all day every day"
Yes, there are such people. I frequent the forums quite a bit, and I have actually seen what I described, maybe not in the exact words I've used, but definitely along those lines.
I think there's a lot of misunderstanding, intentional or otherwise, though. Because I know for certain I've never claimed to be able to eat whatever I wanted or to eat lots of "junk" food, and yet my posts consistently get twisted into claims that one can eat KFC or Twinkies only or some such nonsense (ironically, I NEVER eat either, as I don't like either).0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Mycophilia wrote: »I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie and protein goal. Doing great so far.
And what if you have no more calories to consume but you still want more food ? Or do you automatically stop 'wanting' for foods after your calorie/protein macros have been hit?
You learn to stop at that point or you eat low calories foods and deal with going over a bit until you learn to choose better or be satisfied within your calories.
When I first started I wanted foods at times I'd been used to eating. It was habit, not real hunger, so it went away.
What do you think someone should do in that situation?
Yeaaah but...He said "I eat what I want, when I want."
I just feel like that might be a little unrealistic. I don't think people just conveniently stop wanting food after they've hit certain macros, in his case, calories and protein. lol
I understand the concept of moderation, I just don't believe he stops wanting for food naturally after he's had the correct serving of a certain food every single time .0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Mycophilia wrote: »I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie and protein goal. Doing great so far.
And what if you have no more calories to consume but you still want more food ? Or do you automatically stop 'wanting' for foods after your calorie/protein macros have been hit?
You learn to stop at that point or you eat low calories foods and deal with going over a bit until you learn to choose better or be satisfied within your calories.
When I first started I wanted foods at times I'd been used to eating. It was habit, not real hunger, so it went away.
What do you think someone should do in that situation?
Yeaaah but...He said "I eat what I want, when I want."
I just feel like that might be a little unrealistic. I don't think people just conveniently stop wanting food after they've hit certain macros, in his case, calories and protein. lol
I understand the concept of moderation, I just don't believe he stops wanting for food naturally after he's had the correct serving of a certain food every single time .
Maybe I missed something or forgot part of the thread. Who is this "he" that said that?
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