"Diet" Foods

I have eaten low fat, skim, fat free sugar free and such all my life whenever possible. I dont drink sodas, so I cant tell you about the diet craving... I only drink water and lots of it... always have. I actually get headaches if I don't get my water... weird I know. My bf's sister-in-law thinks I overreact to not having my water... but you will come to crave it!

Good job on the exercise. I have found that unless I go to the gym of have a partner to go walking with, I don't exercise at all.

Nope. I eat as 'clean' as possible. I don't mind natural sugars and fats (they are nothing to be scared of)...as they are not processed and full of chemicals. Low-fat is okay with dairy, nothing is being substituted-it's another thing with low fat cookies and such-those will have added fake sugars and sodium to enhance the flavor. Just MHO.

I eat some low fat items. But you have to read more than just that. Check the nutrition values on the back no matter what it says on the front. I have been hoodwinked for the longest time, not realizing that low fat salad dressings have enough sodium to fill my whole day!

I definitely do low fat milk though.

I don't drink soda a lot because it makes me feel bloated from the carbonation. Also - MORE SALT.

I don't know how food companies cut fat by adding salt, but look out for it.

I don't eat diet food, unless you count low or nonfat dairy products. I eat these because they are lower in saturated fat than their fullfat counterparts and excess saturated fat in the diet has a direct link to high cholesterol levels. I eat regular sugar when I eat it, regular everything really, just in moderation. I am a vegetarian, though so none of my fat/calories come from meat, and I don't like soda so that answers that question. I feel like a lot of people who talk about having trouble getting up to their calorie goal (usually these people's goals are only 1200 too) are having trouble because they rely too heavily on diet foods. I believe in just upping healthy stuff like fruits and veg and cutting back on processed foods and meat (there are plenty of vegetarian protein sources with little or no satuated fat) will allow you to lose weight without relying on diet food. Also if I want cake, I eat a little cake, not a 100 cal pack of oreos because to me, what's the point if it doesn't satisfy my craving? I don't want to obsess about food

I honestly think "diet food" is one of the biggest marketing scams ever. I also think it's one of the reasons we have such a huge problem with obesity (not only in America, but over all industrialized countries). I have tried "dieting" eating "low fat," "low cal," "sugar free" crapola-in-a-box before and I failed miserably -- lost 40 pounds and then gained 60 back. Now that I eat real food, this healthy (or at least much healthiER) lifestyle is SO much easier and more satisfying! Notice I said I gained 60 back after that last dieting attempt. That means now that I've lost 62 pounds, I'm officially the lightest (and *by far* the healthiest) I have *ever* been as an adult! Eating real food has been a huge part of my success.

When choosing foods, I tend to go for minimally processed. When I look at the nutrition labels of "diet" foods vs. "real" foods, I almost always choose the real food. There usually isn't a huge difference in calories and fat (not that you should be afraid of fat, necessarily) and the real food tastes better so it's much more satisfying.

The one diet food I can't seem to let go of is diet soda. I don't think it makes me crave sweets. I'm well aware of the controversy surrounding artificial sweeteners and I, in no way, think diet soda is health food. It's just something I like to consume that doesn't necessarily fit in line with how I typically choose my food.

No way. I drink some skim milk and fat free plain yogurt, but from what I can tell, those items have just had the fat removed, they haven't replaced the fat with thickeners, sugars, salt, emulsifiers and other stuff like that.

Otherwise, no. I try to eat as cleanly as possible, meaning that I try to eat whole foods that haven't been processed and packaged and flavored. I would rather do my own mixing/sweetening/salting etc than trust a manufacturer to do it for me. I eat some high calorie things, but I try to go for the real thing and just eat less of it.

What she said :drinker:

I find some of the low fat items actually have MORE calories then the regular ones. And some fat is good in a diet. I used to eat things like (a TON) of jelly beans, twizzlers, NIBS ect because they were labled "FAT FREE" yeah well 3 Nibs are 120 cals.. maybe fatfree or low fat but definalty not much of a snack for that many calories.