idk what im looking for on labels? good/bad foods? help plz lol
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jess427
Posts: 36 Member
Hi:) I grew up eating whatever was convenient which is rarely healthy such as canned foods, frozen micro meals, or greasy & spicy mexican food yum, good but not good for you! I rarely remember having to try new foods or veggies in our meals but i started trying to incorporate veggies into my meals at around 19 when i met my now hubby who craves a salad or veggies at times & i felt like i had to force myself to eat that way but didnt really stick with it. Fast forward 12 years, i now realize I have kinda brought him over to the dark side cause hes a bit overweight, and our 8 year old is getting to the point he gained alot of weight this last year and when we dont see someone in a while always gets called out for being "the chunky kid" now (not in a mean way just mexican culture to be so blunt and say "ay esta gordito". Well i can see its getting to bother his self esteem recently and i have fluctuated in weight all this time being overweight 30-45 lbs. I dont necessarily wanna put my whole family on a diet but just make better choices that we can learn to like in the long run, get healthier and the added bonus is to lose the excess weight. Like they say lifestyle change not diet. So i have tried in the past and i now limit choosing any foods out of a can & have not fired up the deep fryer in a while but go grocery shopping and the labels literally look like a whole different language to me. I dont know what to look for because some fats are good fats, we do need some carbs and calories, even some fruits are too high in sugar etc.
so snacks calorie range im looking for? bread (which we eat with everything aaggh) is it ok to eat wheat or only the 100% wheat flat bread? (please say all bread & tortillas are good for you!lol jk) nutella ive heard its a better option than other stuff but is it ok? not looking to starve myself and go super strict on my family but for the most part slowly change their ways...as for me I am logging even the bad foods i eat to instill guilt on myself lol & it helps me think more about uhm should i really eat this cinnamon roll or honeybun? Another prob. i have is i get into a binge eating contest with myself at times get depressed or bored and cant eat just one snack to satisfy the urge my mindset wanders on to..."ugh well i already fudged up anyways". A little help or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
so snacks calorie range im looking for? bread (which we eat with everything aaggh) is it ok to eat wheat or only the 100% wheat flat bread? (please say all bread & tortillas are good for you!lol jk) nutella ive heard its a better option than other stuff but is it ok? not looking to starve myself and go super strict on my family but for the most part slowly change their ways...as for me I am logging even the bad foods i eat to instill guilt on myself lol & it helps me think more about uhm should i really eat this cinnamon roll or honeybun? Another prob. i have is i get into a binge eating contest with myself at times get depressed or bored and cant eat just one snack to satisfy the urge my mindset wanders on to..."ugh well i already fudged up anyways". A little help or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
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So there is a lot in this post. For me, I try to stick to whole foods as much as possible and when I eat pre-made stuff, I like to be able to pronounce all of the ingredients. However, I did not get this way overnight. Start with changing your bread to 100% whole grain/wheat (not multi grain and make sure to flip the bag over and read the ingredients, because you will be surprised how many bread products say whole grain and then you flip it over and one of many grain ingredients are whole grain) Also, flip over those packages and count how many times sugar is on the list! You can google a list for all of the different names for sugar. If you put them all together, there are probably more than 100 different names! Just being aware of what you are putting into your body with help you make better choices. Things with lots of fiber also help keep you full. Try to reach 25 grams of fiber a day. Build slowly. Start with a goal of 10 grams and work your way up. Protein also keeps you full. Try to have some form of protein for each meal. There are tons of options! Chicken, beef, eggs, tofu, and the list goes on! Once you start to get more comfortable with eating healthful, start substituting those processed items with whole foods.
You can also set some goals for cooking at home more (this does not include just heating up premade meals). Maybe set a goal that every Saturday, you cook both lunch and dinner. Once you have that down, slowly work your way up to cooking almost every meal. It's the little habits that will form a solid foundation.
Now about the binging. That sounds a lot like depression/guilt. I have been there before. First, you need to stop beating yourself up over your husband gaining weight (you did not force him to do anything unhealthy unless you were literally holding a gun to his head). You also need to realize that everyone makes mistakes. Lastly, you need to be honest with yourself. What is triggering these binges? This part will take time. It has taken me years to get to where I am, in terms of my binging. Just know that even posting here means you are ready to get on track and that is the first step to healing! You can do it!2 -
Sugar grams are a good thing to look at on nutrition labels. Also what is listed for a serving/portion size. If you are just starting out, I wouldn't worry too much about natural sugars in fruits, etc. An apple or carrots are probably not going to be what throws you offtrack! You want to read ingredients listed and try to avoid high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, etc.
For healthy fats, it's going to be things like olive oils, nuts like almonds, avocado. Just look at what the serving size is - 1 tbsp of olive oil, etc. Peanut butter, but I have such a hard time sticking to 1 tbsp!! Nutella (so good!!) is going to have a high sugar content. I like Crazy Richard's peanut butter which the only ingredient is "peanuts." Basically try to avoid more processed as a regular part of your nutrition. That doesn't mean never having treats!
I am a big fan of ezekiel bread. I like cinnamon raisin ezekiel english muffins (I don't even think those taste like "health" food. I also like ezekiel tortillas and pita bread.
It's awesome you are trying to make good healthy choices for your family! You don't have to do a big overhaul overnight, but you will find ways here and there that you can make a healthy or lower calorie swap without losing flavor.
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I don't believe in calling food good or bad. Food is food. It doesn't have a personality. Moderation is the key. Instead of looking at food individually you'll do better to look at your diet as a whole.
Example - So you had a honeybun for a snack but the rest of the day you had a good amount of protein, fats and fiber. Lots of veggies and a corn tortilla with dinner. Your whole day isn't a waste because of the honeybun and tortilla.
Start by logging your food. All of it. Then you'll start seeing where you need to adjust things. In the beginning just get it logged - don't worry about making perfect choices. Baby steps - you've got this!11 -
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First of all, half your plate is veggies. You don't have to worry about nutrition labels from the produce aisle. To start you can use bagged salads and Green Giant heat and serve packets but you can venture out as you get practice.
Second of all, log all your meals. MFP will add everything up for you and you can start to track trends and where you want to make changes.
Baked instead of deep fried.
I've been reading labels like forever; first to watch for forbidden foods because of my son's migraines (MSG, tomatoes), then for sugar/carbs for my T2 diabetes, and finally for salt and fat for high blood pressure and cholesterol.
When heading down the prepackaged section, decide on one or two things you are going to compare. Line up several products with the nutrition label showing and pick the better one.
Hot dogs were an eye-opener for us. The cheapie dogs are lower and salt and fat. It was also disheartening to realize it only takes two dogs to get half your daily allowance for salt.3 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »I don't believe in calling food good or bad. Food is food. It doesn't have a personality. Moderation is the key. Instead of looking at food individually you'll do better to look at your diet as a whole.
Example - So you had a honeybun for a snack but the rest of the day you had a good amount of protein, fats and fiber. Lots of veggies and a corn tortilla with dinner. Your whole day isn't a waste because of the honeybun and tortilla.
Start by logging your food. All of it. Then you'll start seeing where you need to adjust things. In the beginning just get it logged - don't worry about making perfect choices. Baby steps - you've got this!
THIS. All of it. There are no 'good' or 'bad' foods for weight loss.
It's ALL about calories.
Throughout my almost 100lb weight loss, ice cream/wine/chocolate/cookies/cake/cheespuffs have been along side my nutritious foods.3 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »I don't believe in calling food good or bad. Food is food. It doesn't have a personality. Moderation is the key. Instead of looking at food individually you'll do better to look at your diet as a whole.
Example - So you had a honeybun for a snack but the rest of the day you had a good amount of protein, fats and fiber. Lots of veggies and a corn tortilla with dinner. Your whole day isn't a waste because of the honeybun and tortilla.
Start by logging your food. All of it. Then you'll start seeing where you need to adjust things. In the beginning just get it logged - don't worry about making perfect choices. Baby steps - you've got this!
This! You don't need to eat in a specific way to reduce your weight. Don't worry so much about things like white or 100% whole grain wheat bread; those are little things that can wait until you're less overwhelmed by it all.
As a rule of thumb, try to buy and eat more fruits and vegetables than processed snack foods. That alone will go a long way to reducing your family's calorie intake every day. It doesn't matter so much if they are fresh, canned or frozen. If you're eating much lower calorie and nutritious vegetables instead of high calorie foods like rice, potatoes, chips, etc. you'll easily lower your calorie intake.
I'd be really careful with how you approach this with your son. He's young and if you can help correct some of his eating habits without even having to mention them to him, you won't stress him worrying about his weight. It'll just go down without his having to think about it at all. You control the food in the house so just subtly make the switch from cookies to apples and from chips to carrots. If he asks for "junk" food make it a special treat in a very small quantity. Limit sugary drinks which are a huge calorie issue. It can be difficult to make that change if there's always soda and other high calorie drinks in the house but there are a lot of low calorie options like Crystal Light if you all get tired of plain water and unsweetened iced tea. Also make sure he's getting plenty of exercise. Kids have a lot of energy and they're better off expending it in play.
Learning to read food labels will definitely help you in your quest, though. Go to the USDA website and there should be a "decoder" but it's a fairly simple layout. I think what you are really looking to learn is what on that label is important and what is not. The USDA is revising the labels, actually, because some of it is redundant or unnecessary.- I'd worry less about the types of fat and more on the total fat content and only because fat has more than twice the calories of protein or carbohydrates. If you eat something with a lot of fat you can eat much less of anything else.
- Look at sugar and fiber instead of total carbohydrates. You want to get enough fiber and limit unnecessary sugar.
- Protein is the remaining macronutrient. Whatever isn't fat or a carb is protein. Lean proteins are an important part of a healthy diet.
- I'd not worry too much about the vitamins at the bottom. If you're worried you aren't getting enough calcium or iron take a supplement rather than getting it from food with a label.
- Hopefully, you're going to be cooking with some fresh, whole foods which don't have labels. Rely on MFP for that information.
Learning to eat more whole foods and less overly processed foods is definitely a good idea for you and your family but you don't need to go completely the other way from the way you have been eating to accomplish that, either.
For example, dinner tonight in my house will start with a box of Hamburger Helper Beef Stroganoff. I'll use ground turkey and I only use 3/4 of a pound instead of a whole pound. After the turkey is browned and I drain off any leftover fat I'll add 8 ounces of sliced fresh, white mushrooms. I use skim milk instead of whole milk, too. If I have any in the house I'll add some plain, nonfat Greek yogurt (it tastes just like sour cream but is all protein, no fat) right before serving because it goes well with this flavor. I'll serve dinner with a green salad and steamed broccoli.
It's really all about balance.2 -
I just look at the calorie count. If it fits within my calories, and I like it, I get it.
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Ready2Rock206 wrote: »I don't believe in calling food good or bad. Food is food. It doesn't have a personality. Moderation is the key. Instead of looking at food individually you'll do better to look at your diet as a whole.
Example - So you had a honeybun for a snack but the rest of the day you had a good amount of protein, fats and fiber. Lots of veggies and a corn tortilla with dinner. Your whole day isn't a waste because of the honeybun and tortilla.
Start by logging your food. All of it. Then you'll start seeing where you need to adjust things. In the beginning just get it logged - don't worry about making perfect choices. Baby steps - you've got this!
It does not have to be complicated. Choose foods that make it easy for you to stick to your calorie goal, try to hit your protein and fat goals, eat vegetables.
Don't assign moral values to food. Restricting "bad" foods can lead to the binges, which leads to guilt, which leads to more binging. It's a terrible cycle. You should never feel guilty about anything you eat (unless you eat the pope? Maybe?) Everything you enjoy can be a part of a well-balanced and overall healthy diet.2 -
For weight management you need to eat or burn the right amount of calories. To lose weight loss you need to eat less than your maintenance level. You can burn calories with exercise but it is easier to control weight mainly with your food intake.
You and your dh and your child have different calorie needs even at healthy weights because you are different people, different genders, different sizes, different ages, different activity levels. You would have to figure out the calorie requirements for each of you.
My Fitness Pal tells you how much calories, protein, etc you should eat if you input your data. Go by that. Log everything you eat and drink as accurately as you can. Set a reasonable goal like losing 1 lb a week.
Unless you have a medical condition you don't really need to go super low sugar, low salt, low fat. If you buy whole foods and cook from scratch you can reduce all that stuff if you want.
It is a good idea to eat enough protein, several servings of vegetables and fruits, and whole grains. It is a good idea to drink water more. It is a good idea to use your calories on mostly nutrient filled foods instead of low nutrition foods or drinks.
When you look at a label if the item has little to no protein, little to no vitamins or minerals then it is not the best choice to make up the bulk of your diet. Doesn't mean you can never eat it just meet your needs first.
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Yes, true ... I will occasionally look at protein. My protein intake tends to be slightly low, so if something (like say, a soup or my yogurt or something) has some protein, that's probably a good thing.2 -
You can eat whatever you want in moderation. You look for ingredients that you know might have to eliminate or moderate.
For example, I am lactose and soy intolerant, so I work hard to stay away from foods with milk and soy in them. I am also on a special way of eating for a medical issue (as prescribed by my GI, and under the care of a dietician), so I have to avoid certain some foods, moderate others, so I don't feel ill.
If you have high blood pressure, you want prepared foods lower in salt.
The list can go on. 0 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »I don't believe in calling food good or bad. Food is food. It doesn't have a personality. Moderation is the key. Instead of looking at food individually you'll do better to look at your diet as a whole.
Example - So you had a honeybun for a snack but the rest of the day you had a good amount of protein, fats and fiber. Lots of veggies and a corn tortilla with dinner. Your whole day isn't a waste because of the honeybun and tortilla.
Start by logging your food. All of it. Then you'll start seeing where you need to adjust things. In the beginning just get it logged - don't worry about making perfect choices. Baby steps - you've got this!
This too.0 -
You've gotten some good advice. I especially like starting where you are, making small changes, and not oversimplifying. Really, it's common sense: eat vegetables, eat some protein, limit/moderate snacky high cal stuff like sweets and chips. Bread et al is fine, but look at the serving size and calories and limit it to what makes sense given the rest of your diet (don't eat it instead of getting your protein or vegetables, but a serving at a meal is fine).
If you want to get a little deeper into it, here's a good site (so is MyPlate, though): https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/
Things I think about when planning meals: as mentioned above, vegetables (I personally try to have vegetables with all meals, and usually multiple servings or half the plate, and I make a particular effort to eat a good variety and plenty of greens), protein (I try to have a significant source of protein at a meal or a couple of smaller sources, at least -- my overall protein goal is around 100, so I plan based on this). Then, I tend to favor (all else equal) whole grains or whole food sources of starch (whole wheat bread, corn, oats, barley, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.). I also seek to add in healthy sources of fat like avocado, olives and olive oil, nuts and seeds, and fatty fish (good option for the protein source). Beyond that, I save room for some favorite foods not listed here (cheese, ice cream) and focus on what I like and making meals tasty.
What to look for on a label: I like to know the ingredients and understand where the calories are coming from. I look at whether something is whole grain or not if a grain -- for bread this means you need WHOLE wheat, not just wheat, but it is not essential. I look at how much protein, how much fat/carbs (inc sugar), and generally favor things with fewer ingredients, as what I buy tends to be foods that I want to have fewer ingredients (pasta should just be wheat, canned tomatoes just tomatoes or maybe oregano or basil if you want that, so on). If I was buying a packaged meal (but I don't do frozen meals just for personal preference), I'd look at how many vegetables it contained, whether it had a reasonable amount of calories and protein, and the types of fat. If I ate a lot of them I'd look at sodium content. Stuff like that.1 -
Theres a cool app that I sometimes use called Fooducate http://www.fooducate.com/ It has a barcode scanner so while you're grocery shopping you can scan an item, see what grade they give it as far as healthiness, and also see the healthier alternatives. It takes all of the guessing out.
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I'm like Oprah - I LOVE bread (and foods made from flour). But it's not very filling to me (and also makes me sleepy.) I can easily overeat when flour products are involved. Eat and eat and eat.
So I limit flour-based foods. Rice is more filling to me, and I only need 75-100 grams of cooked rice to be happy when I have around 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of protein plus veggies with it.
I find potatoes very filling as well (and studies back this up.)
You heard Nutella is a better option than what? It has sugar, and I consider it desserty, rather than a snack food. I use unsweetened peanut butter like Smuckers instead. PB is very calorie dense, so I weigh it rather than eyeballing it. I love apples and peanut butter as a snack. Baby carrots and or celery sticks and PB are a great snack as well. I also like hard boiled eggs with almonds and sometimes baby carrots. I make sure all my meals and snacks have a good amount of protein.
I suggest you focus on whole foods for a while and then come back to get more granular on labels 1 -
Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »I don't believe in calling food good or bad. Food is food. It doesn't have a personality. Moderation is the key. Instead of looking at food individually you'll do better to look at your diet as a whole.
Example - So you had a honeybun for a snack but the rest of the day you had a good amount of protein, fats and fiber. Lots of veggies and a corn tortilla with dinner. Your whole day isn't a waste because of the honeybun and tortilla.
Start by logging your food. All of it. Then you'll start seeing where you need to adjust things. In the beginning just get it logged - don't worry about making perfect choices. Baby steps - you've got this!
It does not have to be complicated. Choose foods that make it easy for you to stick to your calorie goal, try to hit your protein and fat goals, eat vegetables.
Don't assign moral values to food. Restricting "bad" foods can lead to the binges, which leads to guilt, which leads to more binging. It's a terrible cycle. You should never feel guilty about anything you eat (unless you eat the pope? Maybe?) Everything you enjoy can be a part of a well-balanced and overall healthy diet.
Well - we agree lol - I back this 100%
Funny, because this is what I always say.
*shrug*5 -
As far as the depression & boredom eating goes, it might be a good idea to find something to do instead of eat. For example if it's depression or stress you can write it out in a journal as a way to get it out. If you are bored find a hobby. When I'm feeling bored I will crochet or get out a coloring book. It keeps both my hands and my mind occupied so I'm not wandering into the kitchen looking for food.1
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