Eating "junk" and losing weight?

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  • Stormchasegrl
    Stormchasegrl Posts: 61 Member
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    <----Eats my fair share of what some might refer to as "junk" or "bad". Healthy weight and all numbers are in the healthy range.

    http://www.simplyshredded.com/research-review-the-dirt-on-clean-eating-written-by-nutrition-expert-alan-aragon.html
    All-or-Nothing Dieting & Eating Disorder Risk
    In 1997, a general physician named Steven Bratman coined the term orthorexia nervosa [21], which he defines as, “an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy food.” It reminds me of the counterproductive dietary perfectionism I’ve seen among many athletes, trainers, and coaches. One of the fundamental pitfalls of dichotomizing foods as good or bad, or clean or dirty, is that it can form a destructive relationship with food. This isn’t just an empty claim; it’s been seen in research. Smith and colleagues found that flexible dieting was associated with the absence of overeating, lower bodyweight, and the absence of depression and anxiety [22]. They also found that a strict all-or-nothing approach to dieting was associated with overeating and increased bodyweight. Similarly, Stewart and colleagues found that rigid dieting was associated with symptoms of an eating disorder, mood disturbances, and anxiety [23]. Flexible dieting was not highly correlated with these qualities.
    Although these are observational study designs with self-reported data, anyone who spends enough time among fitness buffs knows that these findings are not off the mark.

    BEST post I've seen in a very long time! Way to quote science like a boss! Love it! THANK YOU!! :-)

    Edit: Sorry...I'm a scientist and I find that this is severely lacking in all the finger pointing we see! :-) Back it up, yo!

    Edit 2: Before I'm flamed, myself included :-P. I do usually try to put a wide-angled lens on things though. It's the global climate systems climatologist in me :-P.
  • funsmile1234
    funsmile1234 Posts: 83 Member
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    I think you can still have junk food in moderation. To me healthy eating is not so much about deprivation but about giving your body fuel and preventing many diseases or chronic conditions later in life. It's also about how it makes you feel. When you eat healthy you have more energy and strength and frankly I believe you are a much happier person in the long run.
  • purplelizzard
    purplelizzard Posts: 93 Member
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    I'm not willing to cut out anything that I won't cut out for the rest of my life. It's not sustainable. I eat my fair share of fruit & veg and other healthy foods, but I eat junk too.

    I agree with this!
  • 366to266
    366to266 Posts: 473 Member
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    If people want to fill themselves with processed junk and frankenfoods that is their human right.

    It means more fresh, nourishing food left for ME :-)

    PS someone upthread said 75% fresh, whole, real foods was unattainable. Well I am eating 100% that way.
  • healthyloserxxx
    healthyloserxxx Posts: 25
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    I agree with you Mary. My sister-in-law is very thin and basically eats very unhealthily, although she wouldn't describe it that way. She is on several meds for B/P, Cholesterol, etc. I have always eaten relatively healthy but BMF and I have hit alot of Happy Hours
    and dinners out over the last 5 yrs, so I need to lose some lbs. However, I am on no meds at 64 and have always exercised. So
    thin doesnt = healthy. Also, her flesh literally hangs on her legs from no exercise...she has huge bags under her eyes from eating
    poorly, her mother looks younger. I am not being vindictive, just validating that the body needs antioxidants and vitamins!
  • Stormchasegrl
    Stormchasegrl Posts: 61 Member
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    If people want to fill themselves with processed junk and frankenfoods that is their human right.

    It means more fresh, nourishing food left for ME :-)

    PS someone upthread said 75% fresh, whole, real foods was unattainable. Well I am eating 100% that way.

    I'm pretty sure the argument has been more that it's unsustainable, not attainable. I could be wrong, but I think the people arguing for the so-called junk food are simply saying that they refuse to cut it all out to an extreme because that would not be sustainable for them.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    I .... always exercised.

    er flesh literally hangs on her legs from no exercise

    And somehow all her problems are because of the food she eats, not exercise.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    A few years back, to prove to my sister and others it could be done, I went 2 months eating nothing but desserts and stayed within my daily calories, lost 2lbs and didn't gain anything. I wouldn't encourage someone to do that for their diet, but it can be done, heh.
    A normal day was something like, 2 swiss cake roll packs 550 calories, 2 packages of smores pop tarts 400 calories, 1 cup of ice cream (vanilla) 300 calories, piece of carrot cake 400 calories. I also worked out 45mins- 1 hour a day still 5 days a week during that time. I was sick of sweets after that little adventure though, I hardly ever eat anything real sweet that isn't very low carb these days.
    Ahhh---only young people dare to abuse their bodies this way--"youth is truly wasted on the young." At my age, If I ate like that for a couple of months, I would probably end up in the hospital (or worse). I'm not surprised that you were sick of sweets after that.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    If people want to fill themselves with processed junk and frankenfoods that is their human right.

    It means more fresh, nourishing food left for ME :-)

    PS someone upthread said 75% fresh, whole, real foods was unattainable. Well I am eating 100% that way.

    I agree. I eat 100% whole real foods too--and have for at least three years. The thing that keeps it sustainable for me is the exclusion of sugar and wheat from my diet. I was addicted to both growing up and I realized that to solve the problem of my "lack of willpower" I had to get rid of forces that were sapping it. Now, my body craves nourishing food instead of the junk and I am slowly regaining the health that I lost from yo-yo dieting. :-)
  • april_mesk
    april_mesk Posts: 694 Member
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    I'm not willing to cut out anything that I won't cut out for the rest of my life. It's not sustainable. I eat my fair share of fruit & veg and other healthy foods, but I eat junk too.

    Agreed. You can't go the rest of your life without eating something that is not quite perfect. If this is your mindset, you are setting yourself up for failure. Not many can eat perfectly clean 100% of the time. I have been here before and gained all the weight back and this is why I am here. Good luck!
  • RandiLandCHANGED
    RandiLandCHANGED Posts: 630 Member
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    I eat a lot of "junk"...so far so good.
  • anon189
    anon189 Posts: 42
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    If I ate only fresh or "clean" food all the time I'd be at like 800 cals a day. Ummm no thanks, starvation. There are a few days on my diary that are super low. I get full fast and healthy food is mostly low cal. So some days I eat cheez its (like right this moment as I'm typing) because I like them and it adds some calories. Honestly, I could probably survive and be happy eating lettuce all day, but I would be sickly because there just isn't enough calories in that.
  • ars1300
    ars1300 Posts: 159 Member
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    Yoi don't know how much more "junk" they were eating before the weight loss. Also its life and we have to find the balance between enjoyment/health. So many things come in to play also metablosim, intensity fo workouts/amt of workouts. I know I could get away with eating alot more Junk a few years back and maintain which I cant do now.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    I'm not willing to cut out anything that I won't cut out for the rest of my life. It's not sustainable. I eat my fair share of fruit & veg and other healthy foods, but I eat junk too.

    Agreed. You can't go the rest of your life without eating something that is not quite perfect. If this is your mindset, you are setting yourself up for failure. Not many can eat perfectly clean 100% of the time. I have been here before and gained all the weight back and this is why I am here. Good luck!

    Well, it probably depends on what you're trying to achieve. If you are young and reasonably healthy, looking better is likely a higher priority than health. When you are older, health becomes waaaay more important than vanity. Just sayin'.
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    I'm not willing to cut out anything that I won't cut out for the rest of my life. It's not sustainable. I eat my fair share of fruit & veg and other healthy foods, but I eat junk too.

    Agreed. You can't go the rest of your life without eating something that is not quite perfect. If this is your mindset, you are setting yourself up for failure. Not many can eat perfectly clean 100% of the time. I have been here before and gained all the weight back and this is why I am here. Good luck!

    Well, it probably depends on what you're trying to achieve. If you are young and reasonably healthy, looking better is likely a higher priority than health. When you are older, health becomes waaaay more important than vanity. Just sayin'.

    My health is excellent thank you very much, and I certainly don't cut out the foods I enjoy.
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
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    No, they won't lose more weight, if anything you might actually lose more weight quicker eating junk because your body will be looking for the nutrients it needs and eat away at things it already has to get those. Now, these people will be lighter, maybe not overweight anymore, but not healthy at all. I eat junk food when I want it, but as a snack, or a dessert, not as my main form of food, I eat salads, beans, chicken, sandwiches, etc. and also chips and chocolate and muffins, but I make sure it fits in, and I (it seems like more than most people) also really try to stay within my macros and also I watch sodium and sugar. I'm almost always under on calories, but sometimes i'll go over on fats, or carbs, or sugar, I often go over on protein. I want to be healthy, and healthy means enjoying life and food so I don't restrict, if I really want something and it puts me over on calories I'll go work out to get those calories back, stuff like that.
  • Stormchasegrl
    Stormchasegrl Posts: 61 Member
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    All due respect to everyone's approach at this process, but I really do not understand why people are thinking you're doing yourself a disservice or even insinuating people are damaging themselves dramatically for eating less than *their* idea of less than stellar foods...especially when nearly everyone here is suggesting they do so in moderation. I just don't see where the logic suggests that people who eat a bit of "guilty pleasure" foods are somehow sabotaging their health. I refer back to the post that actually quoted science refuting this "fact".
  • nubian218
    nubian218 Posts: 16 Member
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    you can still lose weight as long as you stay under calorie, if you deprive yourself of your favorite foods your losing weight will be shot! not to say you should not eat veggies and fruit, but you can still enjoy your favorite foods by eating in moderations, I kind of mix my eating up a little bit but i make sure i dont completely cut out foods i enjoy because i dont want to binge later sabataging my weight loss.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    If you try to set completely off limits foods, then you aren't learning anything. That food still runs your life because you have set this rule, so practicing moderation at all times is better than trying to be perfect right away, nutrition wise. You will just get overwhelmed and ultimately fail if you are too hard on yourself.
    Plus, I think for the most part, people here are focused on weightloss, not building a perfect body. When it comes to weight loss all that matters is calories in, calories out. Just burning more calories than one consumes, that's it. If you can do that, you will lose weight, period.
    If someone goes all nutrition crazy right away then they will probably not stick with their plan. Slow and steady wins the race.

    Like I said, it all depends on what your priority is. To me, my health is much more important than any pleasure that food ever afforded. I have been on this program for a number of years now. The improvement in my health is more than enough to keep me firm in my resolve. As one gets older, one simply cannot afford the empty calories.

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