Thoughts on my eating philosophy?

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Nakeshia88
Nakeshia88 Posts: 119 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My new philosophy for food is that if you can't grow it, catch it, kill it or make it yourself then don't eat it. For example: I can grow fruits/vegetables/legumes/grains and nuts so these are OK; I can fish and shoot so meat is OK; and I can/could easily learn to do things like grow/grind my own flour, salt and coffee, I can brew beer, make bread and pasta so these are OK - however, I couldn't make something like Coca Cola or anything containing artificial ingredients/additives so I won't eat these things.

So lately when I'm picking up food that's in a tin, bag or box I'll read the ingredients and ask myself, could I grow or kill these ingredients, process and mix them together myself to make this? If so, then I'll buy it, if not, back it goes! What do you think of this philosophy?
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Replies

  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
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    I think it's terrible. There's nothing wrong with foods you didn't make yourself, so why not eat them? Life is too short to constantly deprive myself of things I enjoy.
  • Nakeshia88
    Nakeshia88 Posts: 119 Member
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    lemonsnowdrop wrote: »
    I think it's terrible. There's nothing wrong with foods you didn't make yourself, so why not eat them? Life is too short to constantly deprive myself of things I enjoy.

    I'm not saying I'll only eat foods that I make myself, I'm saying I'll only eat foods I *could* make myself. It would be way too restricting to only eat food that I'd made myself! For example, I'd still buy a pizza because it would only have ingredients that I could grow/kill myself - like flour, salt, milk, vegetables, meat etc, all things I *could* grow, kill or make myself if I needed or wanted to, but thankfully someone else has done all that for me! I wouldn't buy a Coca Cola because I couldn't grow and make my own high fructose corn syrup, caramel colour, phosophoric acid or natural flavours... I don't even know what half those things are!
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
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    Nakeshia88 wrote: »
    lemonsnowdrop wrote: »
    I think it's terrible. There's nothing wrong with foods you didn't make yourself, so why not eat them? Life is too short to constantly deprive myself of things I enjoy.

    I'm not saying I'll only eat foods that I make myself, I'm saying I'll only eat foods I *could* make myself. It would be way too restricting to only eat food that I'd made myself! For example, I'd still buy a pizza because it would only have ingredients that I could grow/kill myself - like flour, salt, milk, vegetables, meat etc, all things I *could* grow, kill or make myself if I needed or wanted to, but thankfully someone else has done all that for me! I wouldn't buy a Coca Cola because I couldn't grow and make my own high fructose corn syrup, caramel colour, phosophoric acid or natural flavours... I don't even know what half those things are!

    But...those things aren't bad for you.
  • Nakeshia88
    Nakeshia88 Posts: 119 Member
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    lemonsnowdrop wrote: »
    But...those things aren't bad for you.

    Perhaps not, but to put it simply I'm trying to eat things that are as nature has provided them, or as close as possible to...
  • forgtmenot
    forgtmenot Posts: 860 Member
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    Nakeshia88 wrote: »
    lemonsnowdrop wrote: »
    But...those things aren't bad for you.

    Perhaps not, but to put it simply I'm trying to eat things that are as nature has provided them, or as close as possible to...

    Why?
  • Nakeshia88
    Nakeshia88 Posts: 119 Member
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    Because in my view that's the healthiest way we could possibly eat, and why not put only the best into your body?
  • misskarne
    misskarne Posts: 1,765 Member
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    What are you wearing right now?
  • 93gemmac
    93gemmac Posts: 8 Member
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    Deprivation usually results in intense craving for the 'forbidden' food. Nothing wrong with having a little Coca Cola here and there; no food is intrinsically 'bad', it's the quantities which make it unhealthy...
  • AbsoluteTara79
    AbsoluteTara79 Posts: 266 Member
    edited May 2015
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    There's nothing wrong with this philosophy if you're excited about adhering to it for the rest of your life.

    But if you don't think you can do it, or the thought of never having diet coke again makes you sad, you might consider a philosophy that moves you closer to your health goals but isn't as strict.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    I appreciate that you've shared your philosophy and am glad it works for you. I grew up in farming country, and what you are talking about was literally how people got their food. I eat some processed foods, but I really enjoy baking my own bread, making my own peanut butter, and buying fruits and veggies from local farmers. This has nothing to do with weight loss, and I personally don't believe foods are good or bad, but you have to find a dietary plan that is sustainable for you.
  • Nakeshia88
    Nakeshia88 Posts: 119 Member
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    93gemmac wrote: »
    Deprivation usually results in intense craving for the 'forbidden' food. Nothing wrong with having a little Coca Cola here and there; no food is intrinsically 'bad', it's the quantities which make it unhealthy...

    Who said I'm depriving myself of anything? I can still have things like ice cream, cakes, beer, wine, and even chocolate, because these are all things I can make myself from ingredients that I could grow myself...

  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited May 2015
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    I don't know how long you've been here, but just so you know, this idea is a very unpopular one on the site (see any thread involving the phrase "clean eating"). You're going to be challenged a lot on this.

    But since you're asking for opinions, I don't have a problem if you want to eat that way and are shooting for nutritional balance. Go for it.

    I do think it'll be harder than you imagine, depending on how strict you're going to be, because unless you're prepared to spend a lot of dough, the bread etc. that you could make but are buying is probably going to have some of the ingredients you don't want (preservatives, etc.).

    If it does turn out to be hard for whatever reason, you can still lose weight eating more processed foods.

    I do think trying to get more veg and fruit and meat and stuff into your diet is generally a good thing.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Nakeshia88 wrote: »
    93gemmac wrote: »
    Deprivation usually results in intense craving for the 'forbidden' food. Nothing wrong with having a little Coca Cola here and there; no food is intrinsically 'bad', it's the quantities which make it unhealthy...

    Who said I'm depriving myself of anything? I can still have things like ice cream, cakes, beer, wine, and even chocolate, because these are all things I can make myself from ingredients that I could grow myself...

    Sounds good to me. :)
  • Nakeshia88
    Nakeshia88 Posts: 119 Member
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    I too don't label foods as good or bad. I just want to give my body the best fuel I can, and treat myself every now and then. For the record, I don't even like Coke, or any soft drinks really, I just think that this philosophy simplifies things and gives some good guidelines for a healthy diet.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Could you make your own bleached flour?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,692 Member
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    A bad philosophy? No. A tough philosophy to follow if you're not able to prep your own meals? Probably.

    People want simple. The more complicated things get, the less they may want to do it.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • Nakeshia88
    Nakeshia88 Posts: 119 Member
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    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Could you make your own bleached flour?

    Nope, but I could make my own rice flour :p I'm on a low FODMAP diet at the moment with instruction from my nutritionist so trying to avoid gluten
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
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    I actually do make/grow/harvest a large percentage of my own food.

    Still--NO.

    I can make all kinds of things from scratch that do not work for my body.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    Nakeshia88 wrote: »
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Could you make your own bleached flour?

    Nope, but I could make my own rice flour :p I'm on a low FODMAP diet at the moment with instruction from my nutritionist so trying to avoid gluten

    Aha, well - if you're doing that already, and sticking to rice and potatoes (I think the bread will be harder, for real, though) - yeah, it's kind of built in.
  • TahoeSki
    TahoeSki Posts: 69 Member
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    A simpler version could be I "don't eat fake foods" or I "won't eat foods that have ingredients that sound like chemical weapons". Not a bad philosophy.

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