Look what fast food & ice cream have done to my cholesterol

And so it begins. Where did I put that kettle corn...

Wow! I also see no "spare tire". You look awesome!

Your subject implies the fast food and ice cream caused your cholesterol levels to lower. Which is false.

This.

From my understanding, there is a huge difference between blood and dietary cholesterol. I'm not an expert in the subject matter but supposedly, "About 85 percent of your blood cholesterol level is endogenous, which means it is produced by your body. The other 15 percent or so comes from an external source -- your diet." This means that your diet may or may not have been a factor in relation to your past and current cholesterol levels.

When it comes to exercise, let us not ignore reports about athletes dying of heart attacks even at a very young age.

My apologies for not being able to reason well but I hope I get the message across: Just because it looks good doesn't mean it is good. Just be careful and best of luck on your journey.

it is about what works for you. Your post is just as bad as clean eaters criticizing junk food eaters. I could not eat like that and have the same results period. I had one weekend of junk food eating while still exercising, and my PT session Monday was still harder than any I had while simple eating, and I had no energy all weekend. So, be comfortable and proud of yourself without being snide and smug. What works for you doesn't mean it should be the norm. And what works for me does not mean it should be the norm.

Showing that it can be done another way through your own story does not make you snide or smug. I think he's saying if you find it hard to cut out processed food, sodium, fast food, etc...try moderation. I really don't understand why MFP makes assumptions about how "proud" or "comfortable" you are based on posts like these. I'm not knocking clean eating, however my experience was that trying to do clean eating 100% of the time made me miserable. I was not comfortable or proud and my relationship with food got worse instead of better. I didn't feel any better either. I felt a lot worse because I hadn't dealt with the REAL problem, which was not "dirty" food for me. I'm sure it IS the problem for some people but that wasn't my truth. There's a billion and one people out there preaching that fast food, sodium, processed food, etc makes you fat, unhappy, and unhealthy. It's just a bowl of lies, over consumption is the problem and whether your food is clean or dirty if over consumption is your problem, moderation is the answer. Calling out those lies is not wrong or an attack on clean eaters. It is simply saying you do not need to cut out everything you love to be healthy and feel awesome...which is 100% true.

This post probably got the OP marked by The Cult of Clean Eating

I really don't understand why MFP makes assumptions about how "proud" or "comfortable" you are based on posts like these.

It's pretty simple. If you have success doing something the way person x does it, you get applause and commendation from person x.

If you have success doing something the way person x thinks is no good, then you get accused of arrogance, preaching, and future health problems from person x.

ooooooooh I see

Your Cholesterol levels can be checked by a "finger stick" method similar to checking blood glucose levels for diabetics. Check into it! :-)

You should watch "Fat Head" by Tom Naughton...it was in response to Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me". I found it interesting. There is so much information about food/nutrition that I really don't know what to think anymore. We should probably just have everything in moderation and we will all be fine.

I have a friend that is in the same boat as you, he eats taco bell 3 times a day (about 6000cals average), drinks a lot of soda and sugary drinks and doesn't gain weight or have bad cholesterol. He also has a very active lifestyle both personally and professionally.

The keys here have already been highlighted, you live an active lifestyle, you exercise regularly and despite the fact that you eat "junk" food you stay within your macros each day. I think this is a VERY important part of your claim. You have inputs and outputs that equal each other. So your initial statement is correct in that junk food doesn't make you unhealthy, eating too much of most any food makes you unhealthy. That being said, you have a unique situation and have adapted to this lifestyle, it works for you!

The main driver behind demonizing "junk" food is the additives that are added that drive you to want more of said food. There's a reason one 12oz can of soda has so much salt! Also you mention that you eat a lot of sugar, but sadly 60grams a day isn't considering a lot. The recommended daily levels are around 40g and on average most Americans consume around 150-200grams per day. You are actually within 1 standard deviation of what is recommended so I wouldn't consider that a lot of sugar.

"Fast food is inherently neither good nor bad.." - To you this is true, but assuming the exception proves the rule is misguided and dangerous. Perhaps if you were really sincere on this topic you would bring forth more than personal experience and inject unbiased statistics and data to prove your points.

it is about what works for you. Your post is just as bad as clean eaters criticizing junk food eaters. I could not eat like that and have the same results period. I had one weekend of junk food eating while still exercising, and my PT session Monday was still harder than any I had while simple eating, and I had no energy all weekend. So, be comfortable and proud of yourself without being snide and smug. What works for you doesn't mean it should be the norm. And what works for me does not mean it should be the norm.

Showing that it can be done another way through your own story does not make you snide or smug. I think he's saying if you find it hard to cut out processed food, sodium, fast food, etc...try moderation. I really don't understand why MFP makes assumptions about how "proud" or "comfortable" you are based on posts like these. I'm not knocking clean eating, however my experience was that trying to do clean eating 100% of the time made me miserable. I was not comfortable or proud and my relationship with food got worse instead of better. I didn't feel any better either. I felt a lot worse because I hadn't dealt with the REAL problem, which was not "dirty" food for me. I'm sure it IS the problem for some people but that wasn't my truth. There's a billion and one people out there preaching that fast food, sodium, processed food, etc makes you fat, unhappy, and unhealthy. It's just a bowl of lies, over consumption is the problem and whether your food is clean or dirty if over consumption is your problem, moderation is the answer. Calling out those lies is not wrong or an attack on clean eaters. It is simply saying you do not need to cut out everything you love to be healthy and feel awesome...which is 100% true.

Great post. I agree completely that 100% clean eating made my relationship with food worse because of the guilt of eating BAD foods. Also, it made it harder to get together with friends, and my poor husband who never struggled with his weigh had to put up with it....
A point to make to those who say they cannot moderate themselves. I was like that too but it got easier over time. I found for me I am better off eating a large portion of "junk" less often, than a little of something every day. So I might eat a pint of gelato in a weekend,(double dark Talenti) It is pretty rich and satisfying, so it usually lasts 2 days. When I eat candy, I normally eat 2 regular sized at a time. that way I am satisfied when im done and move on. I cant understand you people who can eat one square of dark chocolate a day and be happy with it! I spend the next few hours trying to distract myself from wanting the whole thing!

bravo!

(and can I just say... lose the towel? lol)

awesome work and ignore the haters

Yes! This ..... especially the towel Looking good!!!!

I'm IN for the man-in-towel thread!

LoL! Great job and keep up the good work!

Solid work, man!

You'd enjoy the documentary "Fat Head" on Netflix. It's biased like anything else, but pretty good stuff... but it really touches on this topic, debunking the lipid hypothesis.

It inspired me to Eat More Bacon, for sure.

Pop-tarts forever!!

The lipid hypothesis is bull****. I eat bacon no fewer than 4 times a week and my doctor asked ME how I improved my hdl amounts and ratios. I told him butter, bacon and the occasional scoop of ice cream. He told me to keep doing what I was doing. My BP also dropped from 170-190/90 to 130/76 <- still room for improvement but pretty solid for 4 months work.

You look freaking fantastic! I completely agree with not forbidding foods. If you want to eat "clean" more power to you, but that's not the only way to be healthy.

I am glad this has worked for you and good job on your success :drinker:

However, I have genetic hyperlipidemia, as do many others here on mfp.

I do both cardio and strength.
I am at goal weight and a very healthy person.
However, eating "non clean" foods is not an option for me.
And I am not comfortable with the side effects of the statin drugs used to lower cholesterol.
So, I need to eat as "clean" as possible along with exercise and a healthy lifestyle.

Where is one of those cool graphics when you need one. AWESOME post! You look great! Confirmation that you don't have to cut out the foods you love and you can still be healthy and look great! Cheers! :drinker: