Bad foods 'in moderation' IIFYM

i finally understand something that so many people have seem to forgotten over time FOOD IS FUEL FOR THE BODY, it was never meant to be more for your enjoyment than for your health, somewhere along the way that has been lost by so many people.

That was "lost" by people thousands of years ago. Food is so much more than just fuel for the body, it always has been. Food makes you feel good. Food is a social thing. Eating releases dopamine. Anticipating eating releases dopamine. Thinking of food solely as "fuel for the body" is actually very wrong. It's a gross oversimplification of a very complex system, and can lead to unhealthy relationships with food (orthorexia and the like.)

Totally true! There is no reason not to enjoy and take pleasure from food. Why does that mean you can't be reasonable and moderate in your intake? Many are capable of both enjoying food and being healthy about their intake. To say it's "just fuel" is the other end of the spectrum from those with unhealthy emotional attachments to food. The truth never lives in the extremes but somewhere in the middle

I do agree that you can have anything as long as it's in moderation. I have lost 113 pounds just counting my calories. I have basically eaten anything I want...just less of it. However, once you start LEARNING to eat healthy, you tend to make better choices. So, intstead of using my calories on a chocolate chip cookie, I now do the math....what could I eat that I could have MORE of instead of that cookie? I could have a pear drizzled with honey and sprinkled with a few pieces of almonds instead.

On the other hand, pizza is one of my favorite foods, and given the opportunity that an entire pizza is set before me, I will go overbaord. My boundary is this: order a subway personal veggie pizza instead of walking into a pizzaria and ordering a whole pizza. This way, I will only eat what I have. If you really need the cookie, buy ONE nice gourmet cookie and eat half of it. Put the other half away for the next day. That way, you are not tempted to eat the enitre box of cookies.

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Food was like sex to me back when I was overweight. Sort of like a one night stand. I'd binge then I'd hate myself afterwards and start the vicious cycle all over again. When I first started my fitness journey Dec 2010, I started out depriving myself. It worked for awhile. Then once I had that "cheat" meal/day I'd relapse and binge. Then I found bodybuilding.com and fitday. Read every article, every success story. I've learned that starving myself or deprivation would never work for me. I also learned that something deep inside me drove me to eat like a glutton. It wasn't what I was eating, it was what was eating me. I am dealing with this issue and my relationship with food has improved. I am able to eat whatever I want in moderation. I'm still a work in progress but I am alot stronger mentally than I used to be. So yes IIFYM works for me.

Yep. Food is "just fuel," just like sex is just for baby-makin'.

Thinking about it, maybe for some people it is. Maybe some people simply don't get sensory pleasure from food. I'm asexual - I have no interest in, or desire for, sex whatsoever. I know intellectually that most people get pleasure from it, but I can't relate to this on a deeper level. Maybe some people are the same with food. The difficulty, of course, is when people assume their own quirk is the norm and should be shared by everyone.

Whoa......

Food was like sex to me back when I was overweight. Sort of like a one night stand. I'd binge then I'd hate myself afterwards and start the vicious cycle all over again. When I first started my fitness journey Dec 2010, I started out depriving myself. It worked for awhile. Then once I had that "cheat" meal/day I'd relapse and binge. Then I found bodybuilding.com and fitday. Read every article, every success story. I've learned that starving myself or deprivation would never work for me. I also learned that something deep inside me drove me to eat like a glutton. It wasn't what I was eating, it was what was eating me. I am dealing with this issue and my relationship with food has improved. I am able to eat whatever I want in moderation. I'm still a work in progress but I am alot stronger mentally than I used to be. So yes IIFYM works for me.

Great post! Thanks for your honesty and transparency. You are fighting the good fight and are dealing with the real cause of overeating in your life. Bravo on you progress and best wished for your continued growth!

Yep. Food is "just fuel," just like sex is just for baby-makin'.

Thinking about it, maybe for some people it is. Maybe some people simply don't get sensory pleasure from food. I'm asexual - I have no interest in, or desire for, sex whatsoever. I know intellectually that most people get pleasure from it, but I can't relate to this on a deeper level. Maybe some people are the same with food. The difficulty, of course, is when people assume their own quirk is the norm and should be shared by everyone.

Whoa......

Is that a 'whoa' of surprise, or something else? I'm not good at interpreting solitary 'whoa's!

If I feel like something "naughty" then I'll eat it. Then balance it out later or if it fits that day I don't worry about it. BUT I've never been a comfort eater and we don't tend to have crap in the house.
I go out once a week to a bar/restaurant with friends for a quiz night and tend to save that night for my "crap", that way it's not in the house and if I want to have more after I've had that first bit the price puts me off, .

Bad food in moderation is utterly fine. Unless you want to be a model, step on stage a body builder then it won't matter really at all. After all, its simply calories that count.

If body composition matters (in terms of muscle etc) then its advisable to avoid junk largely. But for the general populace? No probs at all!

I agree. But based on the many threads of "what is your ideal body" and that type of thing, I imagine many people here want the ideal body (magazine cover model) but also want their nutella and chips, etc.

Dude, you are exibiting a very cynical and negative attitude lately in you posts. I think your posts can be very helpful even though we don't always agree. But lately, there is a negative perspective. Is there a reason for that?

i finally understand something that so many people have seem to forgotten over time FOOD IS FUEL FOR THE BODY, it was never meant to be more for your enjoyment than for your health, somewhere along the way that has been lost by so many people.

That was "lost" by people thousands of years ago. Food is so much more than just fuel for the body, it always has been. Food makes you feel good. Food is a social thing. Eating releases dopamine. Anticipating eating releases dopamine. Thinking of food solely as "fuel for the body" is actually very wrong. It's a gross oversimplification of a very complex system, and can lead to unhealthy relationships with food (orthorexia and the like.)

Totally true! There is no reason not to enjoy and take pleasure from food. Why does that mean you can't be reasonable and moderate in your intake? Many are capable of both enjoying food and being healthy about their intake. To say it's "just fuel" is the other end of the spectrum from those with unhealthy emotional attachments to food. The truth never lives in the extremes but somewhere in the middle

i never said not to enjoy food or that you simply shouldn't enjoy certain foods or food in general because it is ONLY fuel, i stated that it is meant to be fuel, not solely enjoyment. the part right after my cap locks says "it was never meant to be MORE for your enjoyment than for your health" meaning the purpose of it is supposed to be for the health and fuel of your body, not because "this double quarter pounder and extra large fry with a 44oz coke tastes good" your thoughts should be "what is this doing for my (or to) my body" more than "this tastes good so i'm going to eat it" thats all i meant by that. not enough people realize they should be paying attention to what food is fueling their body more than how it tastes. i should have been more specific in my first post i guess.

the part right after my cap locks says "it was never meant to be MORE for your enjoyment than for your health" meaning the purpose of it is supposed to be for the health and fuel of your body, not because "this double quarter pounder and extra large fry with a 44oz coke tastes good" your thoughts should be "what is this doing for my (or to) my body" more than "this tastes good so i'm going to eat it" thats all i meant by that.

And that's where "IIFYM" comes in.

If I'm having a half pound burger and a pile of fries, which I probably will tonight, it's because I'm getting the right amount of protein, fat and carbs from that ground beef, bun, cheese and potatoes to balance out whatever else I'm eating today or the rest of the week.

What's good for my body is part of the thought process. So is what tastes good. So is what I can afford to eat, what's not terribly complicated to make, what's not going to dirty up a zillion dishes, what I should cook before it goes bad in the fridge, etc. I'm perfectly capable of thinking of more than one thing when planning my menu.

that is all i was saying. and alot of people can argue on where the line is drawn on what is or isn't healthy anyway. i will explain a few more points while i am here 1. everything i eat i enjoy the taste of 2. everything i eat is not based on the idea that "this is delicicous" it is "this fits my what my body needs,and as a plus i enjoy it" i think many people missed what i was trying to say by a longshot. i eat things BECAUSE it fits my macros, not because i think i can squeeze this bad food in here because i still have X amount of calories,carbs,ect.. left.do i still eat a half pound hamburger and not consider it as a bad food in moderation? YES, because it is first and foremost about the 45g protein, in which my body will absorb about 65% of (in lean beef). i guess what it really comes down to is i view IIFYM in another way. plus i'm here to try to share my opinion, not argue with people or care what they personally choose to do, each person is perfectly capable of making their own choices when it comes to their menu planning just trying to help people realize what they are eating and make better choices about it, because that is the "largest" problem for 65million+ americans currently