Everything in moderation

Helloitsdan · April 2014

If you know someone who says "I can't eat XYZ food because I cannot control myself when I eat it." They need to add this food to their week.

Why?

Because if you believe the 1 food you love so much is making you fat because you binge eat it, that's because you're trying to completely eliminate it. Eat the ****ing food and enjoy it in moderation! Fit it into your macros! The psychological anguish you have thinking about this food you love is far far worse than simply having a serving of it every few nights. Especially on lifting days.

This type of mentality should be used in just about everything you do!
Except of course the love you have for your family and friends! ;D

Seriously though.
All over this forum I see people demonizing food and activities.
Sugar causes diabetes so I cannot have any sugar at all.
Saturated fat causes heart disease so I cannot have saturated fat at all.
When I go bowling, I drink beer. I cannot bowl ever again.
Paleo is the only way to live.
Ketogenic diets are the only diets that work.
Strong Lifts 5x5 is the only way to lift weights.
Calisthenics rule and if you want to be lean, only do calisthenics.

All of that is total Bull****!

Do the things that make you happy in moderation!
If you restrict too much, you'll surely fail and binge on what you think is causing the issue.
If you don't try new things, you'll never know what really works and what doesn't.

Relax and live!

Mischievous_Rascal · April 2014

YES!!! A voice of reason cuts through the shouts of the extremists...

Mods, can we sticky this one, please???

smc864 · April 2014

All of that sounds lovely and I wish I were able to do it...

There are certain things I just cannot have in my house, ice cream being one of them. I bought frozen yogurt this week and the gallon was gone in 4 days.

Some people are seemingly unable to control themselves when it comes to certain "trigger foods". In theory everything in moderation sounds fabulous, but in practice it's not always best for everyone.

You wouldn't tell an alcoholic to enjoy a couple beers in moderation, would you? I'd hope not...

neandermagnon · April 2014

I agree. I used to have a lot of trouble *not* eating certain foods, as in I'd eat one biscuit and want to eat the whole pack. Jaffa cakes in particular. But really any sweet food that I saw as food I shouldn't be eating.

I changed my mentality, and stopped thinking of certain foods as "forbidden fruit" because when I think of foods like that and the opportunity to eat them arises, then I feel this need to eat AAAALLL of it because I feel like this is my ONLY CHANCE to eat that food, so gotta eat it all now while i have the chance.......... instead I saw all foods as permissible as in I can eat them whenever I want. Just that change in mentality alone made most of these foods suddenly much less desirable. And then when I do eat them, I can just eat some and leave the rest for another day. Right now I have half a bar of chocolate in my fridge. In the past I would not have been able to have half a bar of chocolate in the fridge. It would have been constantly calling to me, to finish it, not let the opportunity to eat it pass.... but now, it's sitting in the fridge and I'll either eat it tonight or some time tomorrow depending on how many calories I have left over tonight.

And more recently, I had this "crack food" experience with cinema popcorn... something I hadn't eaten in years... decades even, well my kids wanted some so I bought it and just kept on and on snacking on their popcorn, couldn't get enough of it, re-experienced that "crack-food" feeling of gotta eat all of it... well I didn't beat myself up, and on the next 2-3 trips to the cinema, I ate popcorn, not in as much moderation as I would have liked, but I made room for it by eating less for other meals. Then, on the next trip after that *I didn't want any popcorn* - my daughter even gave me some of hers and I ate like 2 pieces of it and gave it back to her, thanking her for her generosity, but I just wasn't in the mood for popcorn. And since then I haven't felt the urge to steal any of my kids' popcorn. Because it's lost that "crack-food" appeal, which I think it only had to begin with because I hadn't eaten it for decades. Now it's filed back in the "meh - take it or leave it" category.

And before anyone lambasts me for letting my kids have a small popcorn when they go to the cinema, well it's for exactly the same reason... I don't want them to get into the forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest/crack-food/eat it while you have the chance because the chance might not come again mentality about any food. They go to the cinema 3-4 times a month, so it's not a lot of popcorn in the grand scheme of things and they a play outdoors a lot and I take them to the park as well so they burn off the calories.

Anyway... I support the "yes you can learn how to eat these foods in moderation" and the "indulge your food cravings and they lose their power over you" school of thought.

neandermagnon · April 2014

alcohol is an addictive drug which causes physiological changes in the body that leads to physiological dependence

food is something that's supposed to be in your body because that's how animals evolved

not the same

amyfullbrook · April 2014

I completely agree with this!

If I have a tub of Ben and Jerrys in the freezer I can't honestly, and I seriously mean honestly, stop myself from eating it. Even if I go to bed earlier, I still feel like I have to eat it. So I just don't buy the stuff otherwise I know I'll be feasting on ice cream all night!

FancyPantsFran · April 2014

Like everything in life it is up to the individual. I believe in moderation but there are some foods that I wont buy or keep in my house because I know I cant /wont moderate yet with those things. I don't believe in any bad foods... Its not the food it my behavior.

Helloitsdan · April 2014

Thats disordered eating BTW. It's a mentality thing. I found that if I don't have something I enjoy in the house, I think about it all day long. So now, instead of obsessing over Ben and Jerrys but refusing to have it in the house, I have some but only on lift nights. I'll eat a pint within a week. It's my reward system for a day well spent.

I wouldn't tell someone with T1 Diabetes to eat cake either. What i'm saying is if its something thats not causing you physical harm, don't demonize it. On the same token don't put certain foods or ideologies on pedestals!
We have way too many pale gurus, keto gurus, raw vegan gurus.
Just eat food!
I personally enjoy a 70/30 ratio of whole foods to processed foods.
Depending on the day that could swing either way.

For instance yesterday was a pretty clean eating day but I got to have my fun food along with my good whole food!
At the end of the day if you are happy.....let me repeat that in caps:

AT THE END OF THE DAY IF YOU ARE HAPPY, YOU'RE DOING IT RIGHT!

smc864 · April 2014

I don't know if I should even bother responding, because wow... but here goes nothing.

Food addiction -- Compulsive overeating, also sometimes called food addiction, is characterized by the compulsive eating of food. Professionals address this with either a behavior therapy model or a food-addiction model.

And I highly doubt our ancestors ate twinkies and potato chips to "evolve" as you put it. The high salt, high sugar foods of today are an overload to our systems and have been PROVEN to release pleasure neurotransmitters in our brain.

Helloitsdan · April 2014

Now i want a Jaffa cake. Off to Wegmans.

tryclyn · April 2014

Just not a good comparison. One can live quite well without alcohol, but it is rather difficult to live with out food.

jackielou867 · April 2014

I love ice cream, I have to have it in the house or my kid misses out. I have a tiny 100ml pot and I measure it into that and eat it slowly with a tiny spoon. Today I took a teaspoon to the freezer and had just one spoonful. A year ago I would not have thought that was possible. I used to demonise certain foods, now I just demonise calories, not all calories, just the ones over my 1800 daily allowance.

ladymiseryali · April 2014

I do keto, but I'm not a jerk about it. I don't think everyone should do what I do. I just know it works for me. However, every so often I have candy, or cake. I don't deprive myself of foods, but at the same time I also know that carb-heavy foods make me feel like crap.

You do what works for you and I'll do what works for me. :flowerforyou:

geebusuk · April 2014

Yes, that may be the case for YOU, op.

But for many people, we have self control issues.
That means if I buy a small bit of cheese, I'll eat it and it'll all be good.
If I buy a much better value large bit of cheese, I'll eat the whole 2000 calories. Not so good as that much fat doesn't really fit in my goals.

Lesa_Sass · April 2014

SMH

Now another person new to the forums is going to run to the market and stock up on cookies, icecream, soda and chips, all because they were told they could and SHOULD eat them in moderation.

2 months from now they are going to be just as frustrated as they were the day they started MFP.

Some people have to learn new behaviors and get their weight and body fat down to a point that they understand what will happen to them if they binge and know it is not worth it.

Until that day comes, they need to cut the foods out of their life they are incapable of moderating.

To shame people that can not moderate food is bullying them.......period.........some of us have things we are incapable of moderating, and we have to abstain from them. I have not died yet from not having a drink of alcohol in 6 years or a bag of Costco cashew pumpkin clusters.....cant moderate them....and I am not ashamed of that fact.

smc864 · April 2014

Because you say it's not a good comparison, then I guess it's not.

One can live quite well without ice cream and peanut butter. But for some people these foods elicit a compulsive response in their brain that makes them want MORE, MORE, MORE! In this case, these foods much like other addictions should not be eaten in moderation. Period.

Just because something is your experience, doesn't make it applicable to an entire population.

LizL217 · April 2014

For those saying "that's great, but that doesn't work for me because I can't control myself", this is exactly the point that the OP is making. That maybe it's better and mentally healthier to actually address and solve your self-control issues rather than just throw your hands in the air and say "well, I have no self control so I can't have X food in my house".

There are going to be situations where you don't have control over which foods are available to you... cookies brought into your office by a co-worker, a cake given to you by a friend, etc. Isn't it better to actively work towards being able to control yourself around such foods so that you can continue to enjoy them, rather than just resign yourself to never eating them again?

Personally I believe that a lack of self-control is a flaw that one can overcome, and when I have flaws that I can fix, I aim to fix them rather than just accept them. Now some flaws can't be fixed, but I don't think that lack of self-control is one of them.

smc864 · April 2014

Well put. :flowerforyou:

HeidiHirtle · April 2014

Refined sugar is also an addictive drug, and numerous studies have proven this to be true.

Also, if you have bad bacteria in your gut, you're going to crave refined carbs to feed them, so starving that bad bacteria is in your best interest and worth way more than satisfying a supposed "need".

There's also food sensitivities, which may zap a person's energy etc., which can be cured with some determination on an elimination diet.

I thinking "everything in moderation" can apply to some people, but not to most.

Besides that, why would I want to intentionally eat something that's obviously not health promoting!

hazelovesfood · April 2014

This made me laugh so much, one coz im a reeses feind myself and 2 because Im am like that, I can control sometimes and I do try , but sometimes I do eat a lot all in one go, chocolate peanuts are one of the worst for me, and lindt balls, once ive had a few I end up eating the lot, their just too good.
But I can see the dan,s idea and I think its a good one, im just not good at putting it into practise, however I will keep on trying!!!

Everything in moderation

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