Eating Quality Food as Opposed to "Low Cal" Food

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yourmomdude
yourmomdude Posts: 33
in Food and Nutrition
I really don't mean to judge and mean this with no ill-will toward anyone who may eat this way (which of course means I am about to say something sort of offensive...sorry):

When I look at people's food logs, it always makes me so frustrated and/or sad because it seems that the only way to keep calorie counts down is to eat super processed foods like frozen diet meals, Special K (which isn't actually that nutrient rich and has totally antifeminist commercials), egg whites in a carton with preservatives, baby carrots instead of real carrots, products with fake sugar in them, cans of sodium-laden soup, 100-calorie snack packs, low-fat peanut butter full of transfats to get the fat out, overly chemicalized low-fat salad dressing. None of these foods are actually very good for you and their full-fat, higher cal, sometimes homecooked versions.

Is putting these chemicals in our bodies any better? Sometimes I wonder whether being smaller has a bigger health payoff than simply eating whole foods and having a better diet in general. Most good nutritionists (and not ones that recommend crazy diets or work only on weight loss, but healthy eating) continually preach the benefits of whole, unprocessed foods, mostly plants, with some whole unprocessed meat products.

Perhaps it is my Italian heritage making me such a jerk/snob about this, but it feels wrong to encourage people to eat overly processed foods that don't taste good (at least to me). I am not satisfied after a lean cuisine or a bland chicken breast or canned soup. When things don't taste *good*, they aren't satisfying to me. It just makes me want to gorge on something else that tastes good after my low-cal meal. I also love to cook and love good food, so I can't see myself eating this way for the rest of my life. I am using MFP to get healthier all around, not just to be smaller.

So I guess the question is: how do we strike a balance between what is good for us (and tastes good) and what will help us lose weight (and also provide health benefits)? How do you do it? What balance do you strike?
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Replies

  • joshzaite
    joshzaite Posts: 5
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    I agree with you.

    More concern should be made about long term health. We (the collective population) are impatient and quickly discouraged. People crash diet to get results quicker, faster!! The quicker the better, right? Not really. We all know that. No one gets fat over night so why get skinny over night.

    The balance should be all about long term health. The only thing you need to do to lose weight is to eat a little under your required caloric intake. Encourage your body to use its spared energy. But no so far under that it leeches energy from muscle.

    I eat almost entirely 'whole' foods. Fresh vegetables and meat. Low to nil processed carbs. When I was fat I was doing quite the opposite and I was always hungry, always craving, never satisfied. Im now eating less (calories) but Im never hungry, rarely craving and always satisfied at the end of a meal.
  • yourmomdude
    yourmomdude Posts: 33
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    Half the battle is knowing how to cook well, I suppose. That makes it a lot easier to eat good food!
  • AllTehBeers
    AllTehBeers Posts: 5,030 Member
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    I think taking someone's individual point or goal into consideration is important. Are they just starting out, making small changes and learning about the small things they can start out changing? When I first started, my biggest changes were ordering a regular hamburger at Mcdonalds rather then a big mac.

    Also, as I have a lot of weight to lose, my diet is able to have a bit more wiggle room. Maybe when I have the last 25 pounds to go, I'll focus more on my carbs or something similar.

    My diet has changed dramatically. I hardly ever eat fast food any more but I do eat a lot of canned chicken, canned vegetables and canned fruit. I don't buy much fresh food because if I don't eat it (it's only me living here) I've lost a weeks cost of canned vegetables. The cans are always there for me to use, if it's the same day or three weeks. My nutrition has done a complete 180 from fast food burgers to canned fruit and vegetables, so I'll take a minuscule amount of chemicals for a healthier diet.

    Sometimes life just gets in the way. People have to pick up slack at work so they start working 60 or so hours a week, kids started school which means basketball, football, band, cheerleading plus non school stuff like piano or swimming lessons. I respect every person who is a parent, works and still finds time to eat better and exercise, I don't envy the task of balancing that busy life.
  • yourmomdude
    yourmomdude Posts: 33
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    I'm sure you know this, but in case you don't: frozen veg are wayyyyy better for you than canned (no sodium, more nutrients) and oftentimes better for you than fresh veg because they are flash frozen when the veg are very young. And the frozen vegetable selection is much better than it used to be. If you go to a slightly yuppie supermarket, they have things like sweet potatoes and edamame, etc.

    Congrats on the lifestyle change. I take for granted that I grew up in a very specific food culture where I ate homecooked meals 6/7 nights. So while it isn't all healthy, cooking good things for yourself is a little easier. If you ever decide to take on cooking, I suggest the magical CROCK POT! Seriously, you can make 6 meals at once while you are at work and have hot food when you walk in the door and freeze leftovers!
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
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    I'm fascinated. Please elaborate on how baby carrots are "processed."
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    The marketing of such items is pretty impressive isn't it?

    Michael Polan's books spend a lot of time talking about how much our eating habits have changed in the last generation. He's not wrong.

    People eat what they know.

    I will admit: I'd never TASTED brussels sprouts, or beets, or kale before I turned 30. Never.
    And they are 3 of my favorite vegetables now. Growing up we ate canned peas. And that was it as far as veggies went.

    That said: I love baby carrots. They taste better. :smile:
  • TheNewDodge
    TheNewDodge Posts: 607 Member
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    I like preservatives.
  • SomeoneSomeplace
    SomeoneSomeplace Posts: 1,094 Member
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    Some people have these things called jobs and some of us have a job AND go to school full time. And have roommates we share tiny kitchens with tiny fridges and limited pantry space. So not all of us have the privilege of cooking home cooked meals with "natural" products every day,

    The last thing I want to do when I come home from an 8 hour work day followed by 2 hours in the library and 3 hours of class is spend an hour cooking dinner.
  • AllTehBeers
    AllTehBeers Posts: 5,030 Member
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    I'm sure you know this, but in case you don't: frozen veg are wayyyyy better for you than canned (no sodium, more nutrients) and oftentimes better for you than fresh veg because they are flash frozen when the veg are very young. And the frozen vegetable selection is much better than it used to be. If you go to a slightly yuppie supermarket, they have things like sweet potatoes and edamame, etc.

    Congrats on the lifestyle change. I take for granted that I grew up in a very specific food culture where I ate homecooked meals 6/7 nights. So while it isn't all healthy, cooking good things for yourself is a little easier. If you ever decide to take on cooking, I suggest the magical CROCK POT! Seriously, you can make 6 meals at once while you are at work and have hot food when you walk in the door and freeze leftovers!

    I would 100% choose frozen over canned, except i only have a mini fridge and the freezer is pretty much nonexistent. I have one box of frozen spinach in there. Thank you. The only hesitation I have on cooking (i'm actually pretty good at it and I do have a crock pot) is that it is just me. I made a single pot of chili two days ago and I still have half a tub of it, hoping I can eat it before it goes bad.

    Just another reason someone might choose canned or box dinners over freshly cooked meals.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    I agree with the message of eating smaller portions of good quality, tasty foods vs low cal abominations. However, you must take into considerations the context and dosage of the so called "bad/unhealthy" foods people are eating. Is any food regardless of dosage really bad for you, save maybe synthetic trans fats?
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
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    I think you have to find it for yourself. I feel like HEALTHY FOODS often get a bad reputation because they are high in calories and/or fat. Nevermind that they might be loaded with GOOD fat and nutrients--all people seem to care about is making sure that little number doesn't turn red.
  • amy_36
    amy_36 Posts: 421 Member
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    I agree your message is a good one but....baby carrots are real carrots. They aren't fake.

    Eating completely fresh and unprocessed is time consuming and can be rather expensive. I agree with one of the previous responders.....some people are starting somewhere and there is something to be said about that. If they are using 100 cal packs to control their portions while at work or on the go, then they are in a better place than they might have been before. Baby steps!

    As a mother of 3 and one of them being a 5 mth old infant, I do find myself using processed food in combination with fresh, unprocessed food.

    In a perfect world, I would not eat a thing that is processed but, my world is less than perfect.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I'm fascinated. Please elaborate on how baby carrots are "processed."
    Yeah, help me out with how baby carrots are bad? They're carrots. :tongue: Yeah, they've been peeled, and maybe pared down or shaped a bit, but they're still just carrots.

    Ok, back to read the rest of your post. :bigsmile:

    Edited to add: And done! And I agree with you on the rest!

    My own personal preference, because of taste and because it's healthier, is to eat more whole foods, making things from scratch (so thankful that I have a mom who cook almost everything from scratch and taught me well), knowing what goes in my food, and eating natural products rather than artificial things.

    Give me dairy fat (I still eat Trader Joe's 2% Greek yogurt because it has almost three times the protein of the full fat! Why??), butter, good ol' half & half in my coffee, honey, natural peanut butter, whole eggs over any substitute!
  • nancyyoung
    nancyyoung Posts: 1 Member
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    baby carrots are not actually 'baby' carrots, they are just processed into little nubs/petits and bathed in a solution that often turns them white (ish).
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Perhaps a little chlorine bath, but I doubt that's what turns 'em white - I've only ever had my baby carrots turn white when they get lost in the drawer and the bag isn't closed up and they dry out! Any whole carrot that you peel & cut up & leave in your fridge will have that same white or dry appearance after a few days. (I'm well versed in how produce looks - and smells, gag - that is going or has gone extremely south - thanks to 8 years in the produce business!)

    You could always rinse them off....but then our tap water has chlorine in it too. :tongue:

    I will keep eating my baby carrots.
  • careyannal
    careyannal Posts: 161
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    I agree with whoever mentioned it as a convenience thing. A lot of the snacks I eat are the 100 calorie portions you're talking about. But I also eat a lot of fruit and yogurt/"healthy" snacks.

    Pre portioned bags are easier to grab on the go plus I don't trust myself opening a whole bag of chips. Plus I can satisfy my sweet tooth for a lower amount of calories. There might not be any nutrition benefits to these snacks, but there wouldn't be any in the higher cal "normal" versions either. These satisfy my junk food cravings.
  • amy_36
    amy_36 Posts: 421 Member
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    baby carrots are not actually 'baby' carrots, they are just processed into little nubs/petits and bathed in a solution that often turns them white (ish).

    Funny thing....I just went in the kitchen, opened up the fridge to find the bag of baby carrots that I bought this morning from the grocery store, in the fresh produce department and low and behold....the only ingredient on the bag is .....you guessed....carrots. Wow. Who woulda thought since apparently they aren't really carrots.

    edited to add that I also bought a bag of whole carrots too, and they are also just carrots. One might be cut up and smaller in size but same products.

    And neither of them are white.
  • reasnableblonde
    reasnableblonde Posts: 212 Member
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    I agree about overly processed diet food. I quit Weight Watchers for a couple of reasons, but one big one was listening to people rave on and on about eating Weight Watchers meals, WW cookies, etc. Some people would come weigh in, buy armfuls of WW processed foods, and be on their way... all while wondering why they weren't losing weight.

    That said, sometimes it's what you have to do. If you're a busy parent, or back in school, or working hard to make ends meet, whole foods aren't the highest priority over rent and feeding your kids. I personally can't stand frozen diet meals, but I'm guilty of busting out canned food now and then (we prefer frozen vegetables, actually). I'm sorry, but my husband is a human garbage disposal. At 6'7" (and regularly weight lifting), he's EXPENSIVE to feed. I can't always buy whole foods and whip up fantastic meals and still have time and money for everything else. Sometimes I use canned food. Hey, it's better than the dollar menu at any fast food restaurant!

    And I agree with the others about baby carrots. They're fine.
  • yourmomdude
    yourmomdude Posts: 33
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    Baby carrots are raw and don't contain chemicals, but they are processed. Like many processed vegetables, baby carrots are washed in chlorine to kill germs. Baby carrots are made out of a variety of carrot known as the Imperator. They are bred to grow faster and ripen quickly, and because of this, they only have 70% of the beta carotene of a normal carrot. They are bred to be larger, have a larger sugar content, and an even color. All of these things make them more marketable to consumers and children who are vegetable adverse. So, the baby carrot is an example to the extreme of how even our produce in grown in order to sell the best, forsaking nutrition for visual appeal and sweetness.

    Here's an interesting blog post about the history of baby carrots: http://www.wisebread.com/baby-carrots-the-frugal-idea-that-isnt


    And, of course, snopes.com--which has a list of sources.

    http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/carrots.asp
  • yourmomdude
    yourmomdude Posts: 33
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    Agree to disagree on baby carrots--to me, they taste like nothing. But, again, I grew up eating whole carrots raw with the skin. My mom would given them to us and tell us to eat them like rabbits (cute, right?) so I am more inclined to like raw carrots.

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