Calories vs Nutrition

zyxst

I only care about calories and sodium. There's not that much trans fat in cupcakes. Hells, there's not that much trans fat in anything these days.

lemurcat12

Yes you can eat a 150 calorie cupcake and burn it off with exercise. But what about the trans fat that clogs your arteries; the sugar the makes your pancreas work harder to create insulin; the hydrogenated oils that get into your blood stream and effects your cells composition?

Why would a cupcake have transfats or hydrogenated oil? I make mine with butter (yes, I'm sure this is "bad" too). Admittedly, not that often anyway, since I'm not that into baking, too much measuring and accuracy required. But since it lends itself to measuring, I checked my recipe file, and my only cupcake recipe (makes 12, not a diet version, but the cupcake I traditionally make on Easter) has .75 cups of sugar in the cupcake and another cup of powdered sugar for the icing, for a total of about 84 calories or 21 grams of sugar per cupcake. Hardly going to wreck my pancreas to have one, especially as an occasional treat.

Does anyone read food labels to avoid processed foods?

Doesn't having a label mean something is processed? (I'm never sure what "processed" is supposed to mean in these discussions.) But, yes, I read all labels. The majority of the food I eat doesn't have labels, but I don't eliminate foods that do.

Does anyone buy organic fruit so that you aren't ingesting pesticides?

I'm not concerned about pesticides, but I buy a good portion of my fruit from local farmers and the green market I happen to like is all organic, as is the farm I have a fruit and vegetable share from. However, I also like bananas and fruit that's not in season from time to time (very little in the way of fruit is in season where I live at present and it's already early June, so clearly that applies much of the year).

Does anyone care about their insides or is it all about calories in and calories out?

I don't see it as an either/or. Losing weight (if you need to) is extremely good for your health. It's easier to lose weight for many or most people when you focus at least to some extent on nutrition, as it leads to eating foods that are more filling. That doesn't mean that there's some additional benefit to never eating any but the most nutrient dense foods or that I should buy organic bananas or avoid anything not locally grown (sadly no coffee grown in my area, for example). Also, although I have made certain decisions on these issues for myself, I don't assume that people who make different decisions must not have thought about it or care about it.

Leonidas_meets_Spartacus

Nutrition is key for me, I track calories but don't count them.

SoDamnHungry

A lot of us care about nutrition as well. You want to make sure you get enough protein and nutrients. I notice a huge difference when I eat fruits and vegetables, even when the calorie count is the same. But I definitely indulge in all the delicious junk food. However, I don't eat it exclusively.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Hey, I just thought of something? What cupcakes are 150 calories? Those must be magical because the ones I make are at least 200 a piece.

I'm making these for my daughter's next birthday.

GameGirl777

Thanks for your insights :flowerforyou:

Yes, it would blow my mind to know what is on organic fruit. I thought regular apples were ok, then I read about all the pesticides on them, now you're saying organic has it, too?! Is there no clean food?

I guess it depends on what your goals are, too. Mine has changed from "losing weight" (calories) to "eating healthy" (nutrition).

diannethegeek

I guess it depends on what your goals are, too. Mine has changed from "losing weight" (calories) to "eating healthy" (nutrition).

Personally, I think you're still missing the point of a lot of the comments here.

diannethegeek

Hey, I just thought of something? What cupcakes are 150 calories? Those must be magical because the ones I make are at least 200 a piece.

I'm making these for my daughter's next birthday.

Oh man, those look amazing. I hope you'll be sharing?

kgeyser

Thanks for your insights :flowerforyou:

Yes, it would blow my mind to know what is on organic fruit. I thought regular apples were ok, then I read about all the pesticides on them, now you're saying organic has it, too?! Is there no clean food?

I guess it depends on what your goals are, too. Mine has changed from "losing weight" (calories) to "eating healthy" (nutrition).

Once again, false equivalency. Most people here lose weight and eat healthy. It may not be your personal definition of healthy, but they are getting all their required nutrients while still enjoying the occasional treat.

segovm

Thanks for your insights :flowerforyou:

Yes, it would blow my mind to know what is on organic fruit. I thought regular apples were ok, then I read about all the pesticides on them, now you're saying organic has it, too?! Is there no clean food?

I guess it depends on what your goals are, too. Mine has changed from "losing weight" (calories) to "eating healthy" (nutrition).

I'm pretty sure the more one looks into the international food chain the more one can appreciate that the only people eating "clean" are those that own their own farms and go out of their way to limit the stuff they introduce to the food. Even rainwater and soil has horrible stuff in there now a days.

On the plus side, unless you happen to have a farm, there's not much to be done about it. Eat as well as you can, exercise as often as possible and watch out for random busses is about the best we can do.

SugaryLynx

I elect we start a community like The Village to avoid the ebils of this world. Clean minds only

ChrisM8971

Just a random poll: How many of you care about WHAT you eat instead of just counting calories?

Yes you can eat a 150 calorie cupcake and burn it off with exercise. But what about the trans fat that clogs your arteries; the sugar the makes your pancreas work harder to create insulin; the hydrogenated oils that get into your blood stream and effects your cells composition?

Does anyone read food labels to avoid processed foods? Does anyone buy organic fruit so that you aren't ingesting pesticides? Does anyone care about their insides or is it all about calories in and calories out?

I count calories, I track my macros and I try to eat a nutritious diet but why on earth would I avoid processed foods?

takeitsleazybraj

I elect we start a community like The Village to avoid the ebils of this world. Clean minds only

Brilliant!

stealthq

Processing is not a good thing or a bad thing in general, so I don't avoid it.

Ditto preservatives, food coloring, etc.

And sugar, though you can obviously over-do it.

Organic is a meaningless term in regards to the relative healthfulness of the product. Organic farmers use pesticides, too, and many of those don't cause us a problem in the small doses we'd be getting. Especially if you wash your produce. Now, if I know a specific company is using a pesticide that has nasty effects on humans in trace amounts, obviously I'll avoid their products.

Specific compounds and elements concern me, when I know it's likely I'm eating enough of it to potentially cause a health issue. Mercury, for example. I love tuna salad and tuna sushi and would eat it frequently enough to maybe have an issue if I didn't know to be careful. So, I limit tuna to twice a week max and choose fish less likely to have higher levels of mercury like sardines as a substitute when I can. Things like that.

RunnerStephe

I had no idea there were holy rollers in nutrition.

It would just blow your mind to know you could be healthy and enjoy enjoy a cupcake, wouldn't it?

LOL!! I go for eating clean, but not all the time. I like greasy food, but don't eat it much. Who says cupcakes can't be made healthy.

SugaryLynx

I had no idea there were holy rollers in nutrition.

It would just blow your mind to know you could be healthy and enjoy a cupcake, wouldn't it?

LOL!! I go for eating clean, but not all the time. I like greasy food, but don't eat it much. Who says cupcakes can't be made healthy.

I can agree that for health, aiming for nutrient dense foods is key. I'm not always the best at it but I do try. I guess I just don't like the word clean because it's so vague and is defined by the user in so many ways, it's truly an enigma. I think you'd find most people aim to eat nutrient dense foods as the main goal of their diet, then squeeze in fun stuff on the sides. That's how I aim to meet my goals, anyway. I just prefer not to use terms like clean and dirty because I just can't see them that way. I mean, no one is suggesting someone comprise their whole diets in twinkies but having one or two twinkies along with meeting your nutritional needs isn't going to negate the benefits of it in terms of health.

greengoddess0123

It's not either/or, it's both/and. Yes, nutritious food is important, and I would guess that close to 100% of people on MFP care in some way about what they fuel their bodies with. But whether you're trying to lose, gain, or maintain, it is also about calories in, calories out.

So most of just do our best at both.

:flowerforyou:

ebrggqe

Of course I care about what I eat and nutrition. I don't think that's the key to losing weight, however. For that I count calories.

^This and exercise...

aledba

Just wanted to get a sample. I take it you read food labels and avoid processed foods? thanks :ohwell:

Almost all of the food I consume comes without labels. 90% w/o labels and the other 10% are things like yogurt, almond milk, storebought hummus, ice cream and olives.

paulawatkins1974

Does anyone read food labels to avoid processed foods?

If it has a food label, it's "processed food" by definition.

If you're really concerned about these things, you shouldn't be eating anything that requires a food label.

I was thinking this. It was kind of an oxymoron