"Real" Foods - Educate yourself and Eat Smart.

Options
aung82
aung82 Posts: 3 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Reading some of the posts and seeing some of the ways people are eating is a little scary to me. If you have a 1200 calorie diet you should be making smart decisions as to what you put in your body. Don't spend all 1200 calories on a trip to McDonalds! If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you HAVE to be smart about what is being put into your body! Educate yourselves. Eat more fruit and veggies.

I have recently COMPLETELY changed the way that I not only feed myself but also my family. It's so easy buy the readymade meals and stop at the fast food places (Jack in the Box is a weakness for us) on the way home from work. But my family started gaining weight and becoming so unhealthy and our eating habits became HORRIBLE so we are not going on a diet, we are making a lifestyle change!

I have a dear friend that threw out ALL processed food from her house after her son was born and she lost 45 pounds! She did some moderate exercise and just starting eating healthy and doing a lot of cooking!! There are more reasons to her eating healthy and mine too. We hate all the chemicals that are in all the processed food and the horrible pesticides on the fruits and veggies and the hormones in all the meat!!! My family has a strict food budget, and buying organic is soooo hard and can get pricey but we are trying our best to go more organic.

We are not 100% processed food free at my house but we are healthier.

Some changes that I made:

1: Read EVERY label before I buy something in the store. If I can't pronounce what is in the ingredients list and/or if I wouldn't find it in my pantry I don't buy it!

2: Spend the majority of my food budget on fresh fruits and veggies! Need a snack have some carrot sticks, an apple, a banana, etc.

3: We eat a lot of lean protein, fish, ground turkey and chicken.

4. I make sure that I have my 5+ servings of fruits and veggies a day!!! I try to stick with only 2 servings of fruit and I eat a lot dark leafy greens (well compared to what I use to eat which was zero).


5: If I go to the supermarket aka Vons, I shop on the outside portion of the store! Majority of the processed stuff is in the middle of the stores!!!

I know it's hard to find healthy choices at the regular supermarket; I have Trader Joes (Whole Foods is WAY too expensive for me!). This is where the majority of my shopping is done. TJ isn't all healthy but reading their labels I have found that most of the stuff I buy from there is something that I can make from scratch. I'm a working mom, I don't always have time to do this but I do love to cook and bake!!!

6: Plan your meals out every week! This has been such a help for me and my family. It not only helps with my food budget but also we have cut almost all food waste out.

How do you try to eat more "real" foods?
«13

Replies

  • alyssamiller77
    alyssamiller77 Posts: 891 Member
    Options
    I have one thing to say in response to this post "IIFYM - It's been successful for me (35 lbs lost) and my wife (74 lbs lost) so I respectfully dispute your claim"
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    Options
    How do you try to eat more "real" foods?

    I'm a IIFYM kinda gal too but I understand the importance of moderation in everything (as correct IIFYM usage does as well). I get more "real" foods (not a fan of that nomenclature) through a volunteer run fresh fruits and vegetables distribution co-op. For $16.50, it get a large laundry basket of fresh produce. It's awesome. If it is available in your area, I'd check it out (it's called Bountiful Baskets).

    That being said, today I'm working out more and curbing my daytime eating so that I can have 2-3 slices of Papa Murphy's cheese pizza tonight, maybe even a beer. Go food! The "good" and the "bad".
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    Options
    That's funny, I haven't seen anyone using all 1200 calories at McDonald's.

    If there are such people, they're the rare exception.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Options
    Ice-cream is real food.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    Options
    avBy2JU.gif
  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
    Options
    Double Cheeseburger, Hot & Spicy Chicken, Small Fries and a medium Sprite!
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,735 Member
    Options
    i eat a lot of processed foods and it seems to work for me.

    i don't doubt what you're doing works for you, but it's not the processed food that is the culprit... it's your unbalanced energy equation.

    if your calorie intake is greater than your calorie output, you'll gain weight.

    for 99% of us, it really is that simple.

    anything that my body can digest is "real" food to me.

    pop tarts, pizza, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and ice cream... all "real" food. but so are bananas, oranges, yogurt, tuna, chicken, and eggs. these are all in my diet at one frequency or another.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    Options
    i eat a lot of processed foods and it seems to work for me.

    i don't doubt what you're doing works for you, but it's not the processed food that is the culprit... it's your unbalanced energy equation.

    if your calorie intake is greater than your calorie output, you'll gain weight.

    for 99% of us, it really is that simple.

    PWUkWJZ.gif
  • PatrickSwayzesGhost
    PatrickSwayzesGhost Posts: 300 Member
    Options
    Trying to decide what to have for my birthday tomorrow.

    I'm trying to decide between pizza, lasagna, sushi, Brazilian, Indian and Persian.

    Please, I would love some input!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/867189-i-m-at-a-loss-and-need-some-help-please
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Options
    I love the shopping the perimeter of the store. That's where the wine shop is!! :drinker:

    We eat healthy real foods from every aisle in the store. We eat a lof of fresh vegetables, lean meat and fish, but also frozen foods, canned foods, chips, beer, wine, bread. These are all real food, and healthy food.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Options
    pop tarts, pizza, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and ice cream... all "real" food. but so are bananas, oranges, yogurt, tuna, chicken, and eggs. these are all in my diet at one frequency or another.

    Calling pop-tarts real food is a stretch.
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,735 Member
    Options
    Trying to decide what to have for my birthday tomorrow.

    I'm trying to decide between pizza, lasagna, sushi, Brazilian, Indian and Persian.

    Please, I would love some input!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/867189-i-m-at-a-loss-and-need-some-help-please

    wrap the lasagna inside the pizza. dip it in ice cream and enjoy. add some Reese's Peanut Butter cups for dessert.

    feed the raw fish to your cat.
  • PatrickSwayzesGhost
    PatrickSwayzesGhost Posts: 300 Member
    Options
    Calling pop-tarts real food is a stretch.
    If you prick them, do they not bleed?
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,735 Member
    Options
    pop tarts, pizza, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and ice cream... all "real" food. but so are bananas, oranges, yogurt, tuna, chicken, and eggs. these are all in my diet at one frequency or another.

    Calling pop-tarts real food is a stretch.

    your silly label about what is real and what isn't, is silly.

    the test is very simple.

    can your body digest it and derive nourishment from it? if yes, then it's real food BY DEFINITION.

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/food
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    Options
    Trying to decide what to have for my birthday tomorrow.

    I'm trying to decide between pizza, lasagna, sushi, Brazilian, Indian and Persian.

    Please, I would love some input!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/867189-i-m-at-a-loss-and-need-some-help-please

    wrap the lasagna inside the pizza. dip it in ice cream and enjoy. add some Reese's Peanut Butter cups for dessert.

    feed the raw fish to your cat.

    Like the turducken but with non poultry. I LIKE IT AND APPROVE THIS MESSAGE. Except get some sushi too as an appetizer.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Options
    Calling pop-tarts real food is a stretch.
    If you prick them, do they not bleed?

    What!? No. What kind of pop-tarts do you eat? :noway:
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    Options
    i eat a lot of processed foods and it seems to work for me.

    i don't doubt what you're doing works for you, but it's not the processed food that is the culprit... it's your unbalanced energy equation.

    if your calorie intake is greater than your calorie output, you'll gain weight.

    for 99% of us, it really is that simple.

    PWUkWJZ.gif

    lol
  • xMonroeMisfit
    xMonroeMisfit Posts: 411 Member
    Options
    I can't has cheeseburgerz?
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    Options
    Calling pop-tarts real food is a stretch.
    If you prick them, do they not bleed?
    If you tickle them do they not laugh? If you poison them do they not die? And if you wrong them shall they not REVENGE?
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Options
    Trying to decide what to have for my birthday tomorrow.

    I'm trying to decide between pizza, lasagna, sushi, Brazilian, Indian and Persian.

    Please, I would love some input!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/867189-i-m-at-a-loss-and-need-some-help-please

    wrap the lasagna inside the pizza. dip it in ice cream and enjoy. add some Reese's Peanut Butter cups for dessert.

    feed the raw fish to your cat.

    Like the turducken but with non poultry. I LIKE IT AND APPROVE THIS MESSAGE. Except get some sushi too as an appetizer.

    Like a Turbriskafil!!

Categories