Ok so what is junk food?

In recognizing this is not your work, I'm going to respond to some of these things that I think are important.

■Ice cream (this includes even most low fat, low sugar varieties)

I'd just like to note that real, home made ice cream, or even store bought ice cream, on occasion, isn't a big deal. The difference is HOW you consume this, not that you consume it in the first place. I try to stick to ice cream only occasionally, like maybe once or twice a month. It seems to be working for me; if it's made with good, whole milk, it can actually be rather good for you, too. You just can't overdo it.

■Delivery pizza, frozen pizza, fast food pizza (extremely high fat and carb content)

Home made pizza is far, far better than anything you can buy commercially prepared. If you love pizza, try making it at home. A little cheese goes a long way. You can also get nicer cheese for the money you would have spent for the inferior pie.

Why can’t we avoid them?

There are so many reasons behind why we can’t avoid junk food, but let’s simplify it again as much as we can.

Firstly, they taste great. Manufactures of junk foods will put together whatever ingredients they can find to make their product taste the best it possibly can. Millions of dollars are spent on testing these products and seeing how much people like them. I’ll get to what this means for our health as a consumer in a second, but in relation to the millions spent on testing these products, manufacturers of junk foods also spend millions and nowadays hundreds of millions on advertising these to us.

I will disagree with half of this statement. They actually *don't* taste great, except to palate that has assimilated to a junk food diet. They are often far too salty, greasy or sweet to really taste anything except those things. Instead, what you're really consuming is the advertising (the part of this that I do agree with). What's one of the best ways to lose weight almost immediately? Turn off your TV. It's full of lies that attempt to coerce the consumer into believing that "this product is [easy, good, satisfying, desirable, sexy, will make me competitive, smart, funny, clever, etc]; all of which is sometimes true for each of us without said product. Don't believe me? Analyze commercials. What are they really selling you?

What junk foods don’t contain are essential vitamins, minerals and healthy amounts of fibre, protein and complex carbs (slow to be absorbed by our bodies). These are all the things that will keep us lean and fit. Again, this is a fact, there is not debate! Foods that are high in nutritional value include fruits, vegetables, lean meats and dairy products, whole grain breads and pastas, and beans and legumes.

what is misleading about this is that some "snack" or prepared foods boast that they, in fact, are healthy. And while that's not entirely true, neither are some dairy and meat products either, because they also are products of a sick system. Meat especially. If you're going to eat meat, please do yourself and your family a favor and find an accountable meat source in your area.

In today's agricultural /industrial landscape it's our responsibility to really understand what marketers are telling us vs. what is truth. There are plenty of things at the grocery store that are fine to eat; equally there are many, many things that are not.

So, if you're going to eat ice cream, try to go into a local ice cream shop where you are supporting a local business. If you're going to drink milk, buy the best you can afford. If you have to, buy better than you can afford and drink less of it. It's worth it in its nutritional value alone.

Do your best to avoid packaging and barcodes. This alone will help you stay in the realm of better eating. Think about how much packaging goes into the landfill once you're finished with your 100calorie cookie package. Think about how much energy it takes to make those packages in the first place. And think about how better that energy could be used.

Remember that calories are simply units of energy, and the more you can equate that idea into your grocery list, the better. It's better for your body, the planet and the landfill.

Just my 50¢.

TV. It's full of lies that attempt to coerce the consumer into believing that "this product is [easy, good, satisfying, desirable, sexy, will make me competitive, smart, funny, clever, etc]; all of which is sometimes true for each of us without said product. Don't believe me? Analyze commercials. What are they really selling you?

In my marketing classes we were told that marketing is essentially selling people ideas and dreams, not the product. There are countless similar products out there and they'll tell people anything to get their attention. The product itself usually isn't anything extraordinary and I agree that, when we are talking about food, you can usually cook the same thing far better yourself.

Is it me or does the "tone" of this post sound condescending?

I have my own definitions of what junk food is. And I'm pretty passionate about my feelings about food. For me, junk food is anything that has ingredients I couldn't buy on the open market and make myself. BUT I'd never presume to tell someone else what "we" should be eating. we all have to pick our poisons. For some folks on this board walking to work might be more toxic than anything they could eat in three weeks!

I think it's always a good idea to communicate in a way that seems egalitarian, since this weight loss journey is such an individual and personal one for each of us. The important thing is to encourage each other to live out the choices we make for ourselves

I agree...we are not stupid...we know what junk food is!