regular or diet food?

tmbg1

Just curious: Who here eats "diet" food - meaning food that has been made sugar free/fat free/calorie free? And who here only eats regular food?

Example - Will you eat a regular yogurt or a reduced fat/calorie yogurt? Will you eat regular bread or reduced fat/calorie bread?

I know there are pros and cons to both, so I was just wondering what most of you all choose.

shellma00

I eat a little of both.

Depends on what it is really... some "diet" stuff tastes like crap and some is not really that bad or tastes just as good as the full fat regular version.

stealthq

Nearly everything I eat is regular food. I eat a couple of 'diet' foods. I make the decision depending on taste and bang for the buck.

The usual suspects are:

Skim milk - I actually like this better than whole milk for drinking.

Coconut almond milk, unsweetened - has been a good baking substitute in recipes where coconut and almond flavor is a good thing.

2% cottage cheese - For me, there's no appreciable difference from whole.

Sugar free chocolate pudding - definitely not as good as the real deal, but I won't normally take the time to make the real thing.

Diet soda - regular soda is not good enough for me to waste the calories on it.

grumpyldo

Mostly diet food. Low carb yogurt, healthy delight wheat bread, dressing with low carbs, etc Even started eating better lettuce, now stay away from iceberg totally.

MinnieInMaine

I do a mix of both.

When I first started, I tended towards low fat, low calorie everything but after many trials, I realized some of that stuff just doesn't taste very good (fat free cheese - ick!) so I've learned to make compromises when I can and worry more about portion size.

aneary1980

With the exception of diet coke everything I eat is regular.

I compared full fat greek yogart and 0% fat greek yogart same brand and realised the 0% fat had a ton more cals so I now stick with full fat stuff.

I have smaller portions and alot less carbs but more protein. I'm not saying carbs are bad but it works better that way for me.

bfergusonii

Mostly "real" food.

Half and Half in my coffee instead of pure cream, but that's about it.

mamaoftwins9197

Most of what I eat is regular food, with a few exceptions, like most others. Most of my exceptions are dairy, except for cheese, always has to be real cheese.

2% milk. It's what I grew up on and what I have always drank.

4% cottage cheese. Don't know why, just what I eat.

Yogurt can be real or light, depending on what's on sale and what the flavor is.

Almost never do anything fully fat free or sugar free. They don't taste as good and they tend to up the opposite of what they're leaving out (sugar free = more fat, fat free = more sugar).

AmyG1982

I eat regular. All that diet stuff is too processed (and I also don't like the taste of it lol). But I eat pretty "clean" most of the time so the more natural the better (for me)

healthymelisa

I do a mix up of both regular and diet foods. I mostly stick to regular foods and fit it into my diet.

JustSomeEm

A little of both, really. Mostly decided by what I actually like better. I drink diet soda occasionally, but only because I actually like the taste of it better. I eat cookies, ice cream, butter, mayo, and full fat yogurt. Moderation is key. :flowerforyou:

CallMeCupcakeDammit

I do a mix of both to help meet my macro/calorie goals. I buy fat free Greek yogurt and cottage cheese, I'll buy lite breads for the fiber content, and I drink diet Coke because regular soda makes my teeth feel gross. I used to be one of those low-fat/fat free all the time people, then I learned that fat is good.

newdaydawning79

I eat a mix of it but usually the "diet" stuff because that's what I'm used to. I was pretty much raised on skim milk, sugar free pudding, etc. LOL

spirit095

I pretty much eat regular food most of the time. Sometimes I'll chose the "diet" options if I feel like it. A lot of times, I find the diet food compromises on taste.

_Zardoz_

I just eat Food. I do not discriminate by creed, colour or content it's just food. Except for Kale that's just the work of the Devil

CLFrancois

It all depends on what the ingredients are.
If it's "regular" and has high fructose corn syrup as the 2nd ingredient. No thanks, upsets my stomach.
The reason I do not drink most regular soda, hfcs makes me sick.
But I have will power, so if it is diet and tastes like cardboard I won't eat it, instead eat the real deal and eat less.

andibenoit

Mostly regular foods, just in smaller portions.

btanton27

Besides skim milk, most is full fat. I do usually use 2% cheese though, tastes the same to me n i gotta get my cheese fix in lol

seltzermint555

I eat a little of both.

Depends on what it is really... some "diet" stuff tastes like crap and some is not really that bad or tastes just as good as the full fat regular version.

Basically this. A huge mix.

ltlemermaid

I eat regular food as much as I can and stay away from the artificial diet foods-low fat etc. Regular food tastes a ton better and keeps me full longer too.

lillyrose2020

Must admit I am a sucker for anything labelled 'diet', 'low fat', 'reduced fat' but I do check that is hasn't been rammed full of sugar and other crap first.
I love skimmed milk, that is more down to taste as to me anything else tastes to creamy
Reduced fat houmus, margarine, cheese all taste pretty much the same for me so I stick to those.
I also do go for the Weight Watchers snacks as they tend be between 70-100 cals, such as the Jaffa Bars which are nice. Some may argue that they aren't healthy, but for me it allows me to have a sweet treat without going over my calories.
I don't 'eat clean' so those are just my preferences!

deansdad101

Just curious: Who here eats "diet" food - meaning food that has been made sugar free/fat free/calorie free? And who here only eats regular food?

Example - Will you eat a regular yogurt or a reduced fat/calorie yogurt? Will you eat regular bread or reduced fat/calorie bread?

I know there are pros and cons to both, so I was just wondering what most of you all choose.

TMB;

Have (in a previous life) "swung both ways" (on "diet" foods<g>).

When I was still under the "spell" of the low cal, low fat, USDA Pyramid charlatans, we went straight to the "diet foods" aisle did not pass Go and didn't collect $500 because that's what the "experts" said to do. LoCal - first, last, forever!!

Cal reduction worked (we both lost ~1#/wk average over a couple months) - but "food" no longer tasted like the food we had come to know, love, and enjoy for our many prior decades of existence.

Like many others though, there were "some" items we just couldn't give up - butter, eggs, a glass or two of wine, red meat, etc. So "perfection" be damned!!

The more "research" we delved into regarding the (pathetic) "outcomes" (radically increased rates of obesity, diabetes, etc) of such "expert" advice over the last 40 years - the more we came to understand that while cals do matter, they're NOT the "holy grail".

Macro nutrient "balance" (as in LCHF) matters MUCH more - not only for long term weight reduction and maintenance, but, more importantly, for overall health and wellness.

Others can agree or disagree and I'm the first to offer the disclaimers that "no method works for everyone", "everyone is different", and "what matters most is that the method you select is one that you can sustain, long term".

We know what works (worked) for US and have no interest in "converting" anyone - that's a job for others more skilled in that arena.

BUT, for US - the "rule" now is, "If it says "diet" on the label - it STAYS on the shelf"

The "reasons" are legendary, many of which have been mentioned in this thread and all of which can be uncovered by anyone willing to spend the time and effort to do their own "DD".

Adding back "full fat" (which is where most of the "taste" comes from), "real" foods, to our "diets", while continuing to lose weight (in my case), or to "maintain" (in my bride's case), AND eliminating the HFCS they add to "improve the taste" of the LoCal, processed, "diet" JUNK - was the BEST thing we've EVER done - both for our long term "wellness" outcomes, AND for our ability to sustain, long term.

cosmiqrust

i'm trying to stick to real food as much as possible, but i eat low-fat greek yogurt and skim milk, and i'm a sucker for sugarfree energy drinks when i'm in a pinch. it's not like i'm grabbing junk from the actual diet aisle. when you say "diet food" i'm imagining a shopping cart full of special k products.

SingRunTing

Mostly regular food with a few exceptions. One is drinking 2% milk instead of whole because I can't stomach whole milk. I also drink diet coke because I like it better than regular.

Everything else is just based on flavor variety. A lot of times I'll buy low fat yogurt instead of regular because I want the strawberry cheesecake flavor (or whatever) and that one happens to be the low fat one. Same with ice cream. I usually stick with the basic cookie dough, but sometimes the low fat flavors intrigue me and I'll buy it.

Meerataila

I eat real food. Heavy on fiber, light on additives and processing. It's far more expensive than either diet food or standard American diet food, but I feel a hell of a lot better on it.

hill8570

Regular food. When I go on maintenance I'll just up my quantities.

MrsWilliams89

Only regular food. I don't like fake sweetener and I don't think unnatural things are all that great for me anyway. I look at it as this is not a temporary change and I would only want to eat "diet" food temporarily. There is a place for the "bad" foods in my life because I will want them forever, I am never going to wake up with a distaste for potato chips and cheese burgers. The key is balance and moderation. The best super healthy foods come straight from the earth anyway.

sweetnlow30

I mostly eat regular food with some exception. I don't like drinking my calories so I stick to water, unsweetened almond milk and coffee with Splenda and the occasional diet drink. I do have a few go to lower calorie salty snacks like Special K cracker chips because I love the taste and can moderate my portion better than potato chips. I used to eat low fat yogurt but I find the full fat versions of foods just stick with me better. I choose lower calorie meats because the fats from meat like beef make me feel ill. For the most part we eat healthy whole foods with some treats in the mix for my sanity lol.

donnat238

about 90% real and 10% diet (mostly lower fat dairy products - it just tastes better to me than the full fat stuff)

lemurcat12

Hmm. I would deny eating "diet" food and claim that I eat just regular food, but there are lower calorie, lower fat options that I eat and have since well before I was watching my weight. Mostly, certain kinds of lower fat dairy.

I also prefer to make my own salad dressing but when I'm out or feeling lazy I'm likely to go for lower calorie options, since I don't generally want to waste the calories on salad dressing. I wouldn't necessarily defend this as a great choice, but for me they are a trade off. (I know fat is good when eating vegetables, but I'm talking about salads that already have some kind of fat source on them.)

Oh, also diet drinks sometimes. Not as an alternative to the sugary versions, but just to have something other than water, coffee, and iced tea.

Francl27

Depends. I buy 2% milk, more by habit than anything else really, but I hardly drink it anyway, and the kids can use the extra calories. Yogurt, I can't really tell the difference between nonfat and 2% or more, so I go for nonfat, besides when I have some it's for a low calorie protein snack anyway. But I typically avoid the artificial sweetened stuff... yuck. I like Stevia but that's about it. For cheese, it depends, cheddar typically low fat as I just use it in salads or dishes anyway, for the other cheeses sometimes saving 10 calories isn't worth using low fat... Puddings etc, the only sugar free stuff I liked were the Jello mousses. Can't stand the other stuff.

Bread... what's the point? It's just less dense, and typically those '40 calorie slices' are typically more like 50 anyway, and not satisfying at all. I typically buy the smaller loaves that have 60ish calories slices.

Salad dressing, definitely light. Or I make my own. Mayo... light. I don't use it much anyway.

Ice cream, a bit of both, depending on the calories I have (typically it's Breyer's or Edy's slow churned for lower calories, and Talenti for regular, I avoid the 300+ calories a serving stuff).

I don't drink soda.

In the end, it really depends on what is worth spending your calories on for you.