Ok so what is junk food?

jimmydeanbakker

Um ... microwaved popcorn is high in sodium so people with high blood pressure probably shouldn't eat it. About twenty-years or so ago, the movie theaters used to use coconut oil to cook the popcorn. It use to smell sooooooo good and be soooooooo yellow. Unfortunately, the coconut oil was so bad for people's health that the FDA had to step in to have it removed. I use to work at the theater back in those days, and I remember having chest pains after eating a bag. Today's movie theater popcorn shouldn't be near as bad as it used to be. Anyway, I promise you that the obesity epidemic in America has very little to do with popcorn.

kaymiller2

Reduced fat ice cream....have it every night...yep..a full cup...and almost always stay under my calories.

Why it ISN'T "junk food" to me, its a wonderful daily treat that I allow myself for exercising and eating right!

In my serving: Calcium 20%, Protein 6g, fat, carbs, sugar, yep yep yep!

Also included are delicious chocolate chips...

I know I could eat a carrot stick and celery for a night time snack...but what fun would that be...and what would I look forward to in the evenings as the children are sleeping and I curl up on the couch with my husband?

I TOTALLY agree!!! I think the whole 'healthy eating' thing is overrated. Some of the sickest friends I have are the 'healthy eaters'. And I so am not gonna give up my treat at night with my hubs! WOOT! My motto is: "exercise, eat right, die anyways". We all will, ya know! (never mind that I eat home made, mostly heallthy food! but oh how I love a Big Mac!!;)
PS - and the OP needs to relax. live and let live. No one was asking you for help.

jimmydeanbakker

I TOTALLY agree!!! I think the whole 'healthy eating' thing is overrated. Some of the sickest friends I have are the 'healthy eaters'. And I so am not gonna give up my treat at night with my hubs! WOOT! My motto is: "exercise, eat right, die anyways". We all will, ya know! (never mind that I eat home made, mostly heallthy food! but oh how I love a Big Mac!!;)
PS - and the OP needs to relax. live and let live. No one was asking you for help.

Yeah. Many people with health problems eat healthy in order to keep their health problems under control.

lloydrt

PROFITTNESS, next time you copy and paste, just cite your source and ALWAYS use " " when you do....

like.......acrording to an article out of the National Enquirer, " Brittney is now sober"

this way, its not your words that you are using and upsetting to others here on the board.......its plagurism, and in college, you can be expelled for plagurizing articles with out using " " , as well as the place, time, date of your citing/source

Mindful_Trent

Good Grief. People are way too defensive. The OP was just trying to introduce another perspective. Obviously she should've mentioned that this was an article that she was copy/pasting, but I'm sure she'll never make that mistake again!!

Do I agree that everything listed in that article can, in some way, be called junk food? Yes. Am I going to give all of it up? No. Will I LIMIT the "junk food" I do eat? Yes. Most people aren't willing to eat a completely clean diet, and you don't have to in order to be healthy.

I think this article is written with a rather condescending tone, but it does have some value. Some people think that they can eat whatever they want and be healthy as long as they are at the right number of calories... but if you're really striving to be healthy, you need to take a serious look at what you eat. Everyone would benefit from ditching more of the processed foods and eating more fresh foods. Will an occasional treat/"junk food" meal hurt? No. But if you CAN'T go a day without eating frozen pizza, ice cream, a candy bar, chips, etc., or if you have those type of items in every meal/snack, then you may want to reconsider how healthy your diet really is.

For people getting offended and saying that people weren't asking for the OP's advice... this is a nutrition/fitness website where people come to get healthy! It's full of people giving/asking for advice. If you feel this advice doesn't apply to you, then don't read it. I ignore tons of posts that either don't apply to me, I don't agree with, or I'm not interested in. No need to bash the OP for putting a different (though pretty extreme) perspective out there.

lesley12345

Wow, I think we need to chill out.
1. We are all on here for the sole purpose to get healthy and in shape, and we are supposed to be a support.
2. Maybe Pro-Fitness should of referenced the website, but that doesn't mean she was trying to talk down to anybody. I think she was just trying to be helpful and it came off critical to some people
3. We all know that these foods aren't the best foods to be eating, and if in moderation they are okay to eat as long as we are filling our bodies with healthy foods the rest of the time, but some people out there are eating these foods all the time.

Thank you ProFitness for trying to be helpful and encouraging, maybe next time find a source that gives a little more explanation to why things are bad, I think people need answers and just want logical explanations and maybe they won't feel so "judged".
Keep motivating people, that's what this is all about!

lloydrt

accountant, hi............you make a good honest post, esp when you talk about processed foods........Im not judging, Im here to help anyone looking to lose weight with any knowledge or information that I have , or that I have read. Im sure Profittness will cite all her articles

I did notice one thing, and again, Im not dissing, or judging or looking for any drama

Buttttt.,when I read posts of people not losing weight, they all have something in common.......... processed foods

and those are foods that contain hidden processed or refined sugars, or worse., sodium

Its hard to eat healthy, but the best way is to really add lots of fruits and vegetables. If you can, for the most, you can lose, but if your diet has lots of processed foods, its rough

Accountboi..........did you ever find any information about pasta....you mentioned that its also processed food , and you use very little?

I always thought pasta, actually, multli grained Barilla pasta was kinda OK for a person? Any information would be helpful....thanks, Lloyd

lesley12345

Reduced fat ice cream....have it every night...yep..a full cup...and almost always stay under my calories.

Why it ISN'T "junk food" to me, its a wonderful daily treat that I allow myself for exercising and eating right!

In my serving: Calcium 20%, Protein 6g, fat, carbs, sugar, yep yep yep!

Also included are delicious chocolate chips...

I know I could eat a carrot stick and celery for a night time snack...but what fun would that be...and what would I look forward to in the evenings as the children are sleeping and I curl up on the couch with my husband?

I TOTALLY agree!!! I think the whole 'healthy eating' thing is overrated. Some of the sickest friends I have are the 'healthy eaters'. And I so am not gonna give up my treat at night with my hubs! WOOT! My motto is: "exercise, eat right, die anyways". We all will, ya know! (never mind that I eat home made, mostly heallthy food! but oh how I love a Big Mac!!;)
PS - and the OP needs to relax. live and let live. No one was asking you for help.

Seriosly why are you on this site if this is your attitude towards healthy eating and living? For those you know who eat healthy and still die of health problems there are a lot of people with severe health issues who don't eat right and don't exercise. and your comment about noone is asking for your help isn't true, anyone who's on this site, reading these posts are on here for HELP! Otherwise we wouldn't be on a Fitness website, get a grip!

lesley12345

Seriosly why are you on this site if this is your attitude towards healthy eating and living? For those you know who eat healthy and still die of health problems there are a lot of people with severe health issues who don't eat right and don't exercise. and your comment about noone is asking for your help isn't true, anyone who's on this site, reading these posts are on here for HELP! Otherwise we wouldn't be on a Fitness website, get a grip!

amicklin

Good Grief. People are way too defensive. The OP was just trying to introduce another perspective. Obviously she should've mentioned that this was an article that she was copy/pasting, but I'm sure she'll never make that mistake again!!

Do I agree that everything listed in that article can, in some way, be called junk food? Yes. Am I going to give all of it up? No. Will I LIMIT the "junk food" I do eat? Yes. Most people aren't willing to eat a completely clean diet, and you don't have to in order to be healthy.

I think this article is written with a rather condescending tone, but it does have some value. Some people think that they can eat whatever they want and be healthy as long as they are at the right number of calories... but if you're really striving to be healthy, you need to take a serious look at what you eat. Everyone would benefit from ditching more of the processed foods and eating more fresh foods. Will an occasional treat/"junk food" meal hurt? No. But if you CAN'T go a day without eating frozen pizza, ice cream, a candy bar, chips, etc., or if you have those type of items in every meal/snack, then you may want to reconsider how healthy your diet really is.

For people getting offended and saying that people weren't asking for the OP's advice... this is a nutrition/fitness website where people come to get healthy! It's full of people giving/asking for advice. If you feel this advice doesn't apply to you, then don't read it. I ignore tons of posts that either don't apply to me, I don't agree with, or I'm not interested in. No need to bash the OP for putting a different (though pretty extreme) perspective out there.

Well put Trent!!

Wolfena

You mean I'm NOT supposed to be feeding my dog frozen pizza for dinner or ice cream for a snack???? :noway:

iAlly

Are there really that many people out there who don't know what junk food is?

Anyone who thinks that being unable to spot junk food is the reason why people are overweight seriously misunderstands the issue.

Mindful_Trent

Are there really that many people out there who don't know what junk food is?

Anyone who thinks that being unable to spot junk food is the reason why people are overweight seriously misunderstands the issue.

Actually.... you would be surprised. And I'm not being sarcastic, either. You would be amazed at what some people think is "healthy" or at least "not-that-bad", just because it is "sugar free" or "low-carb" or "Natural" (or whatever other labels the marketers slap on it to make it seem better than it really is). Makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

kayemme

Are there really that many people out there who don't know what junk food is?

Anyone who thinks that being unable to spot junk food is the reason why people are overweight seriously misunderstands the issue.

Just remember that marketers get paid to market items; it's a shady and clever business that misinforms the obvious. I remember om more than one occasion seeing people stumped over the idea of eating an avocado because it's "high in fat" when the big "low fat" craze was going on, but had no issue with sucking down sodas. People don't know what is healthy and what isn't. I know I certainly didn't and still sometimes find myself making mistakes.

fit2sit

/popcorn

jimmydeanbakker

Are there really that many people out there who don't know what junk food is?

Anyone who thinks that being unable to spot junk food is the reason why people are overweight seriously misunderstands the issue.

Just remember that marketers get paid to market items; it's a shady and clever business that misinforms the obvious. I remember om more than one occasion seeing people stumped over the idea of eating an avocado because it's "high in fat" when the big "low fat" craze was going on, but had no issue with sucking down sodas. People don't know what is healthy and what isn't. I know I certainly didn't and still sometimes find myself making mistakes.

Yeah. A lot of people will suck down a candy bar, but believe a piece of fruit has too much sugar.

angisnee

Are there really that many people out there who don't know what junk food is?

Anyone who thinks that being unable to spot junk food is the reason why people are overweight seriously misunderstands the issue.

Actually.... you would be surprised. And I'm not being sarcastic, either. You would be amazed at what some people think is "healthy" or at least "not-that-bad", just because it is "sugar free" or "low-carb" or "Natural" (or whatever other labels the marketers slap on it to make it seem better than it really is). Makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

My mother-in-law gives my kids food all the time that she thinks is healthy. She thinks if it says "made with real juice" it's got to be good for you. And that an oreo (or two or three) once or five times a day is an "occasional" treat.

If I want to have a discussion with her about it, however, the worst possible thing I could do during that discussion is call her names. She will instantly shut down and not hear a word I say and focus on the negativity. If you are truly here to help educate other people, it's a good idea to really think about what you're posting before doing so and consider its tone. If not, threads like this will likely be the result, and a lot of potentially good information will be lost in all the nit-picking--from both sides. I actually appreciate some of the advice I read that I don't agree with. It makes people think about their actions and possibly change a bad habit. Even if I think it's extreme, someone else might find it very helpful. It could be the dialogue that follows that helps more than anything. It's just too bad that the good stuff sometimes gets lost in the finger-pointing.

ahsongbird

I think if you dont like what someone posts you should probably ignore it and move on... really, lets play nice now children.

alantin

/popcorn

Well put! :drinker:

alantin

Can McDonald's food be called junk food? They do "deliver quality food".

Nutrition
You rely on us to deliver quality food, and we take that responsibility seriously. From our team of registered dietitians to our trusted suppliers, we’re dedicated to making you feel good about choosing McDonald's foods and beverages.

Quoted from http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/food_quality/nutrition_choices.html


:laugh:

Seriously though, I enjoy fast food every now and then (About once or twice a month I think..) and it hasn't rocked my boat too much. Yet it does tell you something that a Big Mac burger with medium size fries and soda has half of my daily maintenance calories and really crappy nutritional content. Then half on hour later I'm hungry again.. :huh:

nicjane113

Yes there are people who are obese etc. etc. etc. but these people chose what to put in their mouths.
I agree that junk food is bad for you if you are eating alot of it, but not a treat every now and again. It's all about portion size and moderation.
Alot of people on MFP have proved that they can still enjoy junk food or not so healthy options and still lose weight and this is fantastic.

cardigirl

I agree with the original thought on this post that junk food is anything that delivers very little nutritional value for the calorie breakdown. That being said, of course you can have a diet with tons of junk food in it and lose weight, but I wouldn't call you healthy exactly.

I think, in this journey of ours, it is important to educate ourselves about nutritional content of everything we eat in order to make wiser choices. Why? Because our bodies function much better when we give them the best food.

Having become more and more aware of what I eat has brought me to the point where I no longer crave a lot of junk food. I don't need a substitution for it in my life (i.e. I'll eat Skinny Cow instead of Haagen Daz) because I feel soooooo much better on real foods and whole foods.

I do eat "junk" occasionally but it does little for me, and I don't get the satisfaction from it that I used to, so there is no desire for it really.

I do find it odd that most people defend their junk food saying that they are still losing weight by eating it, as if losing weight were the only consideration on this topic. Knowing what junk food does to you internally might make you change your mind about consuming it often.

sbilyeu75

Mmmmmmmmm...junk food.

Grokette

Having become more and more aware of what I eat has brought me to the point where I no longer crave a lot of junk food. I don't need a substitution for it in my life (i.e. I'll eat Skinny Cow instead of Haagen Daz) because I feel soooooo much better on real foods and whole foods.

This is the mentality on this website with a LOT of members that is a pet peeve of mine. I personally feel (and this is only MY opinion) that it is laziness, I have expressed this before and have gotten majorly blasted and flamed for my own personal feelings.

I am not being condescending in the least,nor do I think I am any better than anyone else, just being honest. it makes me feel good that I am doing the right thing for me and my family.

I will enjoy ice cream on occasion, but it will be nothing you can get from a grocery store and won't have all the chemicals in it either.

My ice cream will include Cream straight from a dairy farm (not the pasteurized and homogenized stuff), raw sugar and pure vanilla, made in an old-fashioned hand cranked ice cream maker that was my grandma's.


There are ways to enjoy treats from time to time, but I am a firm believer of going back to our "roots" of what generations before us did. You make it yourself.

I am also a believer that you can have on occasion cookies, cake, pie, ice cream - but it should NOT come out of a store bakery, freezer section or even a restaurant.

We should take the time to make it from scratch. Then you know what is going into it and it is much, much better for you.

The downfall of this nation is the boxed foods (cake mix, hamburger helper, rice a roni, etc), frozen stuff (pizza, stouffers, lean cuisine, etc), boxed and sugary cereals, granola bars, etc………………

I didn't grow up eating the above mentioned stuff - started eating it when I was in my mid 20's and now have stopped. I don't even get the appeal of that crap now and wish I would have never started eating that stuff. I firmly believe that it has contributed to my weight problem that I never had before, the hormonal issues, etc…………...

tbernard

Might I suggest that you google the term "Popcorn lung" ?

tbernard

Not to nitpick too much but the debater in me has to address this logic link. I know lots of people who text and drive, but who have never had an accident. I would never however suggest that based on their experience alone, there wasn't a problem with texting and driving. Different people are going to handle different foods and different chemicals in different ways.

I personally think if you want popcorn or microwave popcorn once in awhile its terrific and you should enjoy it. If eating it is actually a weight loss tool design to keep you feeling full... I would be a touch concerned.. At that point I wouldn't look at it much different that the person who won't stop smoking because they feel it keeps their weight down...

tbernard

Despite the flames, this was a surprisingly interesting thread. After reading it I certainly promise to always quote sources I might post from and make sure I provide my own editorial. I liked this article until I hit the word "lazy" contained within it. Most of the material was nothing new. I've learned to read the content of all foods I buy, and have heard for many years that its best to shop from around the outside of the store where most of the healthy stuff is located but its stuff I would rather hear too often instead of never. I think its silly however to insinuate that people eat prepared or junk foods out of pure laziness. I personally think that my current cooking is far more lazy that it was when i was buying Kraft Differ once in awhile. Half the foods I'm eating I don't even cook.

I find a little silly to get upset over this article though. I find that so often the people who are doing us harm are the one's who are nice to us. For Thanksgiving everyone had to make sure they had Coke for me when I came to their homes. Tables were full of munchies for me to resist. Deserts always had to be offered, with the accompanying look of dismay if I were to turn any of these things down. While I did have some of these, I fortunately had my Ipod and was tracking with MFP to limit my damage. I also made it clear to others that I was in fact tracking, and I wasn't making judgments of them when I refused some things. In the past, every time my wife got an eating and exercise plan in place, her best friend would call her up for an afternoon of cheesecake. At a recent restaurant outing with friends my buddy insisted upon ordering a massive tray of garlic bread with cheese for the table, despite knowing that I was tracking. I even heard the phrase said jokingly to me this weekend that I was on the path to anorexia (I eat 1600-2000 Calories on most days).

Sometimes, as annoying as it is the best advice comes from that blunt jerk who says "Are you sure you should be eating that ?" Maybe sometimes its better to take the advice of a Simon Fuller instead of a Paula Abdul. As I've stopped trying to satisfy the people who "care for my feelings" I've dropped my weight officially from 224 lbs to a muscular 182 lbs.. And I'm certain that I am a little lighter than than since my last weigh in. I've come to realize just how many people who offer me junk food are those who simply want an excuse to eat it themselves but don't want to eat it alone.

I think those who love some junk food should feel free to do so as long as they understand the consequences of it and do it within moderation. We weren't all built to eat nothing but carrots... But don't eat for comfort... Don't eat for spite...or out of righteous indignation... Don't eat because other people are eating... Eat because you enjoy the food and you are hungry..

And thanks to the person who looked up the research on "microwave popcorn" as companies look to move away from chemicals that cause popcorn lung.. That was useful information..

binary_jester

I could not have come across this article at a more perfect time.

Junk Food: The New Weight Loss Diet?

Losing a double-digit chunk of weight in one month was a piece of cake for Mark Haub. On August 25, the Kansas State University professor of nutrition began a 10-year-old's dream diet of Twinkies, Ho Hos, and brownies for each meal. Thirty days later and 15 pounds lighter, Haub not only feels great, but his bad cholesterol is down, his good cholesterol is up, and his blood pressure is fine. But while he is pleased about his new, trimmer self, that's not the reason he switched to junk food. He wanted his students to see for themselves that any diet can produce weight loss­—and if accomplished with a menu all but guaranteed to wreak havoc, then weight shouldn't be the sole standard for good health.

Haub's diet grew from a course he teaches on energy balance. Weight loss, he told his students, is simply about consuming fewer calories than you burn—energy in, energy out. To illustrate the point, Haub announced that he would eat exactly the kind of junk that's supposed to be off limits to someone who wants to lose weight. "If weight loss is the ultimate goal," he asked his students, "does it matter how I achieve it?"

He knew he was a good candidate. At 5 foot 10 and 201 pounds, Haub's pre-diet body mass index of 28.8 classified him as almost obese. To reach his goal of a normal BMI of 18 to 25, he would need to lose at least 25 pounds. He set an eventual target of 175 pounds and calculated that a diet of 1,800 calories a day for one month, 600 to 800 calories fewer than usual, would get him halfway there. To keep his energy up during the day, he grazed on 400 to 500 calories every few hours, more than 80 percent of which came from prepackaged chocolate-coated snacks. He ate almost no whole grains, fruits, or dietary fiber. A daily multivitamin, milk (whole) for calcium and protein, and a small serving of vegetables were his only concessions to nutrition. He also registered about two hours a week of physical activity—cycling, walking around campus, and chasing two young, high-energy sons.

The pounds quickly started to melt away. Haub began to plot out how he would relate his experiment to a larger issue: concern over the obesity epidemic. Of course the trend is alarming and tens of millions of Americans need to lose far more than 15 pounds, he felt, but public health programs seemed to him to be obsessively focused on losing weight, using weapons like taxes on sugary drinks, while ignoring the need to do it healthily and sensibly. He knew his junk food program, like any popular fad diet, was bound to work for a few weeks or months if losing weight was all that mattered, but, like most fad diets, it was hardly a healthy way to eat for very long. Some 90 percent of Americans who try to lose weight, many of them with fad diets, are locked in a cycle of losing and regaining the same 10 pounds, which raises the risk of hypertension and heart disease.

But it's not the junk that's the problem, says Haub. "I'm losing weight and my cholesterol is improving by eating those foods. Is it really soda and chips that are making people obese, or how much of them they eat?"

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/diabetes/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100264421

Take with a grain of salt.

cardigirl

Having become more and more aware of what I eat has brought me to the point where I no longer crave a lot of junk food. I don't need a substitution for it in my life (i.e. I'll eat Skinny Cow instead of Haagen Daz) because I feel soooooo much better on real foods and whole foods.

This is the mentality on this website with a LOT of members that is a pet peeve of mine. I personally feel (and this is only MY opinion) that it is laziness, I have expressed this before and have gotten majorly blasted and flamed for my own personal feelings.

I am not being condescending in the least,nor do I think I am any better than anyone else, just being honest. it makes me feel good that I am doing the right thing for me and my family.

I will enjoy ice cream on occasion, but it will be nothing you can get from a grocery store and won't have all the chemicals in it either.

My ice cream will include Cream straight from a dairy farm (not the pasteurized and homogenized stuff), raw sugar and pure vanilla, made in an old-fashioned hand cranked ice cream maker that was my grandma's.


There are ways to enjoy treats from time to time, but I am a firm believer of going back to our "roots" of what generations before us did. You make it yourself.

I am also a believer that you can have on occasion cookies, cake, pie, ice cream - but it should NOT come out of a store bakery, freezer section or even a restaurant.

We should take the time to make it from scratch. Then you know what is going into it and it is much, much better for you.

The downfall of this nation is the boxed foods (cake mix, hamburger helper, rice a roni, etc), frozen stuff (pizza, stouffers, lean cuisine, etc), boxed and sugary cereals, granola bars, etc………………

I didn't grow up eating the above mentioned stuff - started eating it when I was in my mid 20's and now have stopped. I don't even get the appeal of that crap now and wish I would have never started eating that stuff. I firmly believe that it has contributed to my weight problem that I never had before, the hormonal issues, etc…………...

Just to be clear, what I intended in my post to say, was that I DON'T eat Skinny Cow as a substitute for ice cream, because I find I don't need to find low calorie substitutes for junk food.

I totally agree that processed foods (and especially the OVER processed ones) have contributed greatly to the obesity problem running through our country today.

Whole foods all the way! :flowerforyou:

cardigirl

Interesting article, focusing on weight loss only. But I like that he stressed it would not work out well long term. He only did it for a month.