Think you eat too "unhealthy" to lose weight?

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nmpx
nmpx Posts: 76
in Motivation and Support
Think again!

I've been here a few times before, always intimidated by the health nuts and pretty much just accepted that I would NEVER lose weight because I just don't eat healthy. I'm such a picky eater I can't even begin to eat healthy. I'd start a new "diet" (lifestyle change) and last no more than 2 weeks because it was just way too much effort and every "dirty" thing I would eat would make me feel like complete **** and I would just throw in the towel.

The last 20 days I've been logging my foods - good, bad, ugly. Started going down, then went WAY up gaining all I lost (3lbs?) on my birthday weekend. I didn't let that defeat me, as much as I wanted to cry that my weight was back where I started I just grabbed my gym bag and went to the gym. I'm now down 5 lbs past my starting weight (this time around) and just about 7 inches down.. in 20 days! That's about 12 days of gym (30+ mins cardio, 30 mins weights) and logging all foods for 20 days. I've eaten takeout at least 5 times in those 20 days. I don't eat veggies, I'm only starting to eat sweet potato and add green peppers to sauces. I eat ice-cream, pizza, chips, chocolate, alcohol, french fries, sodas, if it's "unhealthy" I probably eat it. The only drastic thing I changed was my water intake. Instead of 5+ sodas a day I drink all water. Of course I still have diet coke when I'm eating out for a treat and sometimes I have regular coke if it fits my calories.

I just wanted to get this out there for anyone who is struggling with the same mindset I had the many times I tried using mfp. I would look for this kinda of a post for days. The way I am cutting calories now is making much more sense to me and will be sustainable for much longer than 2 weeks (passed that already!). I'm not in it for the quick results, if they happen, great. Would I have lost more weight if I ate strictly healthy? Probably. But I would not have made it 20 days and I would not be able to carry that out for the rest of my life. Lots of people can, not I. I know it's been only 20 days, but this honestly doesn't feel like a tortuous diet. It feel like my life, only better.

So, if you're second thinking yourself because of the foods you eat give yourself a chance. No one can tell you what can & what won't work for you. :drinker:
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Replies

  • megg0616
    megg0616 Posts: 59 Member
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    Congrats. Your right it's calories in vs. calories out. I read an arrival of a nutrition professor went on a "diet" of all snack cakes. He reduced his calories to 1800 a day of all snack cakes and some veggies but stayed within his calorie budget. Guess what he lost 27 lbs. Is he going to be healthier in the long run, probably not but it's a good start for junk food eaters to know that it's ok to have. That article helped me although I've always ate fairly healthy but since that It helped me to realize its ok to have the junk sometimes as long as it's within my calorie budget I'm going to eat it.
  • cecesmiles
    cecesmiles Posts: 74
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    Thanks so much for this post. I am the type where I can't eat perfect...I work ft, go to school ft, and eating nice all day just isn't an option. Not to mention I'm on a student budget :p But I do feel that all of our bodies work differently and tbh I am a picky eater as well but I love food. I don't eat terrible but I do eat decent and enough to keep me full and energized throughout the day. And so far that has worked for me. :D
  • cecesmiles
    cecesmiles Posts: 74
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    Congrats. Your right it's calories in vs. calories out. I read an arrival of a nutrition professor went on a "diet" of all snack cakes. He reduced his calories to 1800 a day of all snack cakes and some veggies but stayed within his calorie budget. Guess what he lost 27 lbs. Is he going to be healthier in the long run, probably not but it's a good start for junk food eaters to know that it's ok to have. That article helped me although I've always ate fairly healthy but since that It helped me to realize its ok to have the junk sometimes as long as it's within my calorie budget I'm going to eat it.

    Do you remember the professors name? I'd love to read into that :)
  • kethry70
    kethry70 Posts: 404 Member
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    Do you remember the professors name? I'd love to read into that :)
    Googled Twinkie diet and professor :wink:
    http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/
  • groovy_gals2000
    groovy_gals2000 Posts: 13 Member
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    I'm exactly the same. I haven't changed any of my eating habits besides quantity. I still go out, eat out, get take away, bake cookies (yesterday, i made 6 big ones and 4 are already gone... oops), drink fizzy drinks etc etc. Its all about moderation. If pizza fits into my calories, Im going for it, if I have 300cals left at end of day, a can of coke is clearly going to happen. So far Ive lost about ~8lbs with calorie watching and going to the gym several nights a week in the last 6weeks ish.

    I think at the initial stages of weight loss, its defo how much you eat, not what you eat, that is important! :D
  • megg0616
    megg0616 Posts: 59 Member
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    Congrats. Your right it's calories in vs. calories out. I read an arrival of a nutrition professor went on a "diet" of all snack cakes. He reduced his calories to 1800 a day of all snack cakes and some veggies but stayed within his calorie budget. Guess what he lost 27 lbs. Is he going to be healthier in the long run, probably not but it's a good start for junk food eaters to know that it's ok to have. That article helped me although I've always ate fairly healthy but since that It helped me to realize its ok to have the junk sometimes as long as it's within my calorie budget I'm going to eat it.

    Do you remember the professors name? I'd love to read into that :)
    I can send you the link I got it off pintrest. Give me a min to find it and I'll link it here
  • culo97
    culo97 Posts: 256 Member
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    Congrats. Your right it's calories in vs. calories out. I read an arrival of a nutrition professor went on a "diet" of all snack cakes. He reduced his calories to 1800 a day of all snack cakes and some veggies but stayed within his calorie budget. Guess what he lost 27 lbs. Is he going to be healthier in the long run, probably not but it's a good start for junk food eaters to know that it's ok to have. That article helped me although I've always ate fairly healthy but since that It helped me to realize its ok to have the junk sometimes as long as it's within my calorie budget I'm going to eat it.

    Do you remember the professors name? I'd love to read into that :)

    I don't know if this is the same story as Meg0616 mentioned but there was a teacher who lost weight, 37 pounds, only eating McDonalds. He let his students design his diet.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/08/mcdonalds-diet_n_4557698.html

    http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/01/05/teacher-loses-37-pounds-after-three-month-mcdonalds-diet/
  • craftywitch_63
    craftywitch_63 Posts: 829 Member
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    I've tried several times to eat "clean" but I just ended up on a binge eating nothing but junk food for days. I was miserable, overweight, had no energy, etc. and the worst part was feeling like a total failure. I can give up meat without a problem, but the cheese . . . oh, the cheese! Rice and Soy cheese just aren't the same but I do buy the cheeses made without rennet.

    Now I eat my fruits and veggies and fit in a few selected treats throughout the day. I haven't had a real, honest-to-goodness binge in 80+ days which is a record for me. Even the few times I ate out.

    Moral of the story: Do whatever you can sustain.

    :drinker:
  • megg0616
    megg0616 Posts: 59 Member
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    Found the twinkies diet link if anyone's interested.http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/
  • gymkoala
    gymkoala Posts: 76
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    If it's working for you great, but you don't have to eat 'healthy' because someone tells you, eating healthy is different for everybody but the thing is that you have to find the right foods for you they simply make you feel better, and the more you eat better the more you feel the subtle ( or not so subdle ) changes you make in your diet. Example with drinking, i used to drink a lot and i didn't feel expecially bad, but now that i don't drink if i drink only a beer i feel like **** i don't feel fresh and clear . The more you clean your body with food and exercise the more you become sensitive to the junk .
  • SilverRose89
    SilverRose89 Posts: 447 Member
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    I'm exactly the same.

    I eat the same as I always did, I just track it and try my very best to stay in moderation and under calories. I don't have a ridiculously unhealthy diet anyway but do eat a lot of 'bad' things. Plenty of alcohol and takeaways in my diary! And I've lost 12lbs :)
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,771 Member
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    Congrats OP on an awesome job. You have learned the secret of successful and long term weight loss! Eat what you like, just less of it. Move more than you did before. Throw some weights around for fun. Apply the 80/20 rule - make good choices 80% of the time, you can screw up ocassionally and still do fine.

    high 5!
  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
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    why is cheese so bad ? the fat???
    real cheddar chees is hardly a processed food nightmare, i eat cheese daily, in fact its like the only/main fat in my diet, i dont use butter and VERY LITTLE oil...

    Cheddar is lovely- on oz melted onto .. oh shoot just about anything...

    truth is , eat at a mild defecit, and exercise,
    dont "eliminate" any food, unless you can go for LIFE without it ...

    i love chips, i know they are not a good choice for me, due to sodium, but i am not going to eliminate them , heck i have had them like 4-5 times in the past 30 days... if i tried to eliminate them , that would make me desire the "forbidden" even more...

    its a matter or perspective i guess...
  • raisealittlehell
    raisealittlehell Posts: 341 Member
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    When I first started on here (had a different user name) All I did was reduce my calories and exercise. So if Ice cream fit into my calorie allowance for the day, then I had some. I did find it easier to eat "healthier" things (veggies, lean meats, etc) because it gave me more food for the allotted calories I was given. It was kind of a natural progression.

    I myself am kind of a picky eater while also having foods that I have to stay away from due to allergy reasons. While I try to eat "cleaner" sometimes its just easier to grab a frozen dinner than cook.

    That being said, good for you for realizing what works for you! Just also be mindful as you keep going to make your diet balanced as well. Eat the veggies/fruits that you like (they have soo many good vitamins and things for you in them) try getting in lean servings of meat/ some sort of protein, mix it in with the other stuff that you love.

    :)
  • lthames0810
    lthames0810 Posts: 722 Member
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    For some, health and fitness is their hobby and passion. They devote time and energy into researching, buying and prepareing the optimal foods and doing the optimal exercise. They can sustain this because they are passionate about it. They are to be admired for what they are able to achieve.

    But other peope have different interests that they devote their lives to. In my opinion, it is not necessary to pursue the highest and greatest level of health that can possibly be attained. It's a quality of life issue. If abstaining from junk food and drink makes a person feel their best and that's important to them, I'm glad for them, but I think I can be adequately healthy and fit while I spend my efforts on other passions and eat a proper amount of whatever I like.
  • greyhound9021
    greyhound9021 Posts: 5 Member
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    i don't eat a lot during the day, but tend to eat junk food after dinner (which is right after i run at night). Here's my question - how do you know how many calories you burn during an exercise? For example, I do Jillian Michaels' Ripped in 30 for the entire workout (20 mins?). How many calories do I log in the Exercise on mfp? Should I even be logging exercise? MFP always tells me that after exercise I still need to eat about 450 calories to hit my daily goal. Then why isn't the scale budging?????
  • dreaminaway
    dreaminaway Posts: 10
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    I'm glad you posted this. I feel the same way. I am very picky, and dislike just about every vegetable there is. I know I don't eat healthy. I have tried looking for 'low calorie' foods and snacks, but I don't see anything that I like, so a diet change doesn't seem to be an option. So far my best way is to start my day by filling in my food list as much as I can-- adding in food/snacks/drinks until it nears my daily goal, and then adjust it as needed throughout the day. I seem to snack less if I already have the snacks sitting there- it helps keep me from eating a lot of snacks at once if I see the pile growing smaller! I admire your soda willpower. I love coke.
  • PJPrimrose
    PJPrimrose Posts: 916 Member
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    I eat what I eat.

    Anecdotal story: My step sister swore up and down her overpriced, trendy diet and her overpriced, trendy gym could actually make her stronger than I am despite the fact we were both just going to the gym and eating stuff from the store more or less on our own.

    Now had she been hand trained for athletics, followed a coach tailored diet, and worked out 5 hrs a day she probably would've been stronger than I.

    As it is, I am a whole hell of a lot bigger than she is. I'm 6 inches taller and 30 lean lbs heavier. This is why they have weight classes in fighting. A bigger person, counting lean weight, is stronger than a smaller person.

    We spent 2 days of seeing who could out kayak the other (I'm 30lbs heavier) she lost. Out run the other sprint and long distance (I'm 6 inches taller she lost). Out weight lift (longer arms, heavier, taller) she lost. Treadmill, elipitcal machine, laps in a pool, laps in the ocean, running up and down stairs, sit ups, pull ups (we both sucked, frankly, but I was closer to less sucky), low weight squats(high rep), weighted squats before she simply wore the hell out. She was sucking down some funky looking soy based something or another that was supposed to be something else ( my vote it was dog food baked flat) and I was sucking down restaurant food and candy (peanut m&msssss yummy!)
  • andielyn
    andielyn Posts: 233 Member
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    I eat what I eat.

    Anecdotal story: My step sister swore up and down her overpriced, trendy diet and her overpriced, trendy gym could actually make her stronger than I am despite the fact we were both just going to the gym and eating stuff from the store more or less on our own.

    Now had she been hand trained for athletics, followed a coach tailored diet, and worked out 5 hrs a day she probably would've been stronger than I.

    As it is, I am a whole hell of a lot bigger than she is. I'm 6 inches taller and 30 lean lbs heavier. This is why they have weight classes in fighting. A bigger person, counting lean weight, is stronger than a smaller person.

    We spent 2 days of seeing who could out kayak the other (I'm 30lbs heavier) she lost. Out run the other sprint and long distance (I'm 6 inches taller she lost). Out weight lift (longer arms, heavier, taller) she lost. Treadmill, elipitcal machine, laps in a pool, laps in the ocean, running up and down stairs, sit ups, pull ups (we both sucked, frankly, but I was closer to less sucky), low weight squats(high rep), weighted squats before she simply wore the hell out. She was sucking down some funky looking soy based something or another that was supposed to be something else ( my vote it was dog food baked flat) and I was sucking down restaurant food and candy (peanut m&msssss yummy!)

    Love this. Thanks OP, for posting this topic!
  • fithealthygirl
    fithealthygirl Posts: 290 Member
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    Great post OP! Reading through the forums sometimes makes me feel like I have a serious problem with junk food lol, so it's nice to hear from someone who is having success without a major overhaul to their diet!

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