Calories vs Nutrition

Just a random poll: How many of you care about WHAT you eat instead of just counting calories?

Yes you can eat a 150 calorie cupcake and burn it off with exercise. But what about the trans fat that clogs your arteries; the sugar the makes your pancreas work harder to create insulin; the hydrogenated oils that get into your blood stream and effects your cells composition?

Does anyone read food labels to avoid processed foods? Does anyone buy organic fruit so that you aren't ingesting pesticides? Does anyone care about their insides or is it all about calories in and calories out?

I count calories, I track my macros and I try to eat a nutritious diet but why on earth would I avoid processed foods?

Processing is not a good thing or a bad thing in general, so I don't avoid it.

Ditto preservatives, food coloring, etc.

And sugar, though you can obviously over-do it.

Organic is a meaningless term in regards to the relative healthfulness of the product. Organic farmers use pesticides, too, and many of those don't cause us a problem in the small doses we'd be getting. Especially if you wash your produce. Now, if I know a specific company is using a pesticide that has nasty effects on humans in trace amounts, obviously I'll avoid their products.

Specific compounds and elements concern me, when I know it's likely I'm eating enough of it to potentially cause a health issue. Mercury, for example. I love tuna salad and tuna sushi and would eat it frequently enough to maybe have an issue if I didn't know to be careful. So, I limit tuna to twice a week max and choose fish less likely to have higher levels of mercury like sardines as a substitute when I can. Things like that.

I had no idea there were holy rollers in nutrition.

It would just blow your mind to know you could be healthy and enjoy a cupcake, wouldn't it?

LOL!! I go for eating clean, but not all the time. I like greasy food, but don't eat it much. Who says cupcakes can't be made healthy.

I can agree that for health, aiming for nutrient dense foods is key. I'm not always the best at it but I do try. I guess I just don't like the word clean because it's so vague and is defined by the user in so many ways, it's truly an enigma. I think you'd find most people aim to eat nutrient dense foods as the main goal of their diet, then squeeze in fun stuff on the sides. That's how I aim to meet my goals, anyway. I just prefer not to use terms like clean and dirty because I just can't see them that way. I mean, no one is suggesting someone comprise their whole diets in twinkies but having one or two twinkies along with meeting your nutritional needs isn't going to negate the benefits of it in terms of health.

Of course I care about what I eat and nutrition. I don't think that's the key to losing weight, however. For that I count calories.

^This and exercise...

Does anyone read food labels to avoid processed foods?

If it has a food label, it's "processed food" by definition.

If you're really concerned about these things, you shouldn't be eating anything that requires a food label.

I was thinking this. It was kind of an oxymoron

It would just blow your mind to know you could be healthy and enjoy enjoy a cupcake, wouldn't it?

I had a homemade banana cupcake the other day (maybe 10 days or 2 weeks ago.) Novel thought, huh!

So I had a treat, and some fruit at the same time. Sue me, op! My physician today was thrilled with my weight loss and my fasting blood sugar and cholesterol were PERFECT!! Not that they were bad before, but I wanted to be proactive about the weight I put on after a work-related back injury.

Once your have reached your micronutrient targets, you don't get bonus points for having more.






I personally love all these "clean" recipes I see posted with "all organic" coconut oil and medjool dates etc. etc. and have more calories than an equivalent "dirty" one :laugh: But it's ok because it's from "clean" food sources right and you they aren't fattening. :huh:

Calories and nutrition go hand in hand.

A cupcake would be satisfying for all of the 5 seconds it takes to eat it, but will it keep you full? Not likely. Those sorts of foods should be eaten sparingly. Maybe once a week. Sure, calories in and calories out makes a lot of sense for weight loss, but for overall health it's more complicated than that.

I always try to eat healthy, quality foods and limit my intake of junk. I would think a lot of people here try to do the same, as you get more vitamins and minerals that way to help you with your workout and weight management goals.

You wont get a heart attack of something from eating something that has chemicals in it.

If it was that harmful, it would be banned or something.

It all comes down to moderation.

Btw its very difficult to hit your macros from packaged products unless you dont care going over your fats/carbs/protein.

I care about both. I eat at a calorie deficit, log all my foods and meal plan to lose weight. I a nutritious, healthful diet for my physical well-being and to live a long, healthy life.

Fast food, pizza, canned or frozen foods, it's all good as long as it fits in my calorie budget.


Even cupcakes. Especially cupcakes.

Some buttermilk biscuts and rabbit gravy every once in a great while never hurt anyone as long as its counted.