I respect people that eat

There are lots of different mentalities on this site about what you have to eat and how much you have to eat to lose weight. It seems like there is this percentage of people who dont even try to learn how to eat properly, how to balance nutrition, yet eat totally wasteful calories to meet their really low daily calorie goal. Yes, they lose weight but these are the people who will gain it all back. The only ones who can function normally eating like a rabbit are rabbits. I have seen diaries where people's meals consist of crackers, yogurt, fruit, maybe half a bagel, etc... no substantial food. Its a little bit frustrating to me to see this because I am actually very proud of what I accomplished through my fitness pal and even more proud of how much I get to eat and I am only eating between 1430-1590 calories a day ( I am still a few pounds away from reaching my maintenance weight.)

I am deciding whether or not I want to stop reading peoples food diaries or only look to weed out the people I dont want on my friends list. I want like minded people who are losing weight by actually eating--not starving themselves. I am not talking about the 1200 calorie peeps. I started on 1200 calories. I ate 3 portion controlled meals a day that I prepared for myself consisting of 4 oz meat/chicken/fish, 2 oz greens, half cup of starches, etc...my only snacks were fruit or 100 calorie popcorn. I just cut out the junk snacking while I was on 1200, as well as the added oils and other food add-ons I could live without while losing weight. At the 1430-1590 calorie level I am still eating the same meal sizes I just added sweets/salty snacks in addition to all the fruit I was eating before. I get to eat my burgers, steak, potatoes, chinese food ( just weigh it first), pizza, etc... I get to eat my donuts and ice cream ( also weighed in appropriate portions).

I just find it discouraging and frustrating when people are surviving on scraps to lose weight and dont even realize what the long term effects of that will be.

I learned to balance my meals, eat the right size portion for my particular body/size, and learned self-control. I am confident I can eat what I want and not gain weight. I am condident that when I go to restaurants, parties, or any other thing revolving around food that I am not going to wind up like a fat piggy a few months down the line when holiday season comes around. The only reason I gained weight is because I was no longer the gym rat I was in my 20's and didnt realize I couldnt eat the same. I wasnt a binger or constantly eating, I wasnt the type to go for seconds but I filled my plate way to much and ate bowls of ice cream that were the equivalent of 4 servings.

MFP taught me how to eat the right way, not starve myself. It made me accountable for myself. The odd thing is, before, I only ate because it was a necessity. I rarely felt hungry because my eating habits were so bad. But now, I love to eat and I eat less but just several times a day.

You've got to eat to lose weight, eat to maintain weight, and still get to eat out of enjoyment when you know how to do it.

Remember being a young person? Remember that rejection just hardened your resolve? Pro ana people need to be included in conversations so that they get a real world sense that what they are doing is not the norm. Shutting them out just isolates them. Young people with eating disorders have a distorted view of their body and need realistic models. They also need to stay on here long enough that someone may recognize them and read their food diary so they can get help.

I'm a little surprised at the backlash OP has received on this. This is what I took from her post:

-She respects people that eat well *regardless of their calorie goal*. She even specifically said she is NOT talking about the people who aim for 1200 calories.
-She wishes that people who scrape by on next to nothing (because they're not eating nutritious food) would realize that they can eat "real" food and still be within their goal.
-She's proud of her progress (40 something pounds? Go you!)
-She is trying to make a personal choice on how to handle the people who don't eat well. (Why do any of you care how she handles her friends list, btw?)

Anyway... +1 OP. I personally wouldn't un-friend someone who didn't eat "well" but I do like having people on my list that do. Helps give me ideas for my dinners and snacks. Whatever you decide, best of luck on the rest of your weight loss journey.

How is yogurt, fruit, and half a bagel not "substantial food"? That sounds like a great breakfast to me.

Besides that, I get your point, but I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about what strangers eat. That's not really going to get you anywhere, emotionally or otherwise.