If you had to chose between healthy or low-cal…?

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LadyTalulah
LadyTalulah Posts: 174 Member
in Food and Nutrition
What would you chose?
From time to time I notice that the healthier options are often very high calorie. For example, if I'm craving chocolate and I have a processed-sugar packed chocolate bar like a twix, I'd be within my calorie limit, but we all know the cr*p this stuff is made of. On the other hand, if I make my healthy brownies from nuts, dates and cocoa powder it would be all natural.. but I'd definetely go over my calorie goal.
Ah decisions, decisions.
What do you choose when faced with this dilema??

PS. There's no right answer, just wondering what your thoughts are on this.
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Replies

  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    I don't buy low fat/fat free stuff. Except cheese. When they process food for low/no fat, they add sugar, when they process stuff for no/low sugar, it's often added fat. Check the labels.

    The last time I bought low fat potato chips, they had 50 calories more than the regular ones. :#
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    I would eat the Twix for 250 calories and 2 grams of protein. Then throw away the wrapper.
    I am too busy taking care of myself to prepare "healthful" brownies.

    If you enjoying cooking, portion them into small squares of 250 calories. Or look for an alternate recipe with few nuts and dates.
    Google this for some ideas on how you could modify your recipe: Applesauce Brownies
  • abk1968
    abk1968 Posts: 47 Member
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    Why not have a smaller portion if you home made and stay under goal ?
  • Anime_Lovin_Jo
    Anime_Lovin_Jo Posts: 9 Member
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    I honestly try to pick the higher cal food cuz it can be more nutrient rich. But we all kno life gets busy and you just need a quick bite to keep ya going. I been there before. Gatorade energy chews are my prob right now. Lol
  • JPW1990
    JPW1990 Posts: 2,424 Member
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    Homemade wins by default for me, simply because a lot of things in pre-packaged can make me sick. That said, if you get in the habit of preparing all your own stuff, it doesn't seem like that much of an inconvenience anymore, and you can get better about adjusting what's in them. You can tweak your brownies to fit any goal you want, so you get more volume and stay under your limit.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Brownies if I crave brownies, Twix if I crave a Twix.

    Any food can be 'low calorie' if you get a small piece, for what it's worth.
  • mstaser
    mstaser Posts: 657 Member
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    My diet changes from 1800 cals one day to 2700 the next. As long as I know I am eating healthy and portioning evenly thru the day, cals don't mean anything to me. It all depends on the given diet you're following.
  • totaldetermination
    totaldetermination Posts: 1,184 Member
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    healthy, but within my calorie allowance.
  • bulbadoof
    bulbadoof Posts: 1,058 Member
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    depends on what i care about that day. i'm very inconsistent. if only a candy bar sounds good, i'll have the candy bar because the healthy substitute won't satisfy me anyway.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    I don't feel that a candy bar is that much healthier than a brownie even if it is homemade. I would be more likely to choose the home baked item because someone I know made it, it is fresh, it smells wonderful, etc.
    A brownie may be more satisfying but it might be the worse choice even if it were lower calorie or more natural. I might eat that candy bar and not even think about eating more where a bunch of brownies might tempt me to overdo it fast.

    Great. Now I want brownies. Maybe brownies with a chopped up Twix bar.
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
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    I go for healthy. But that is based on my own personal health goals. You should weigh your priorities and act accordingly.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Of course it depends on what your GOALS are. Given those two options? I'd aim for the one that's more nutritious.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    I don't understand why the two are relatable or not relatable.

    healthy is such a subjective term.

    Ultimately if the food meets your macros and helps you meet your calorie goals (gain- lose- maintain) then it's a reasonable "healthy" choice.

    Occasionally I'll reach for lower calorie options- only because I can't afford to eat something high calorie- or I won't eat at all.

    Somethings are too calorie expensive- no matter how healthy someone tells me it is- orange juice- and granola- cereals are few that come to mind.
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
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    I pay attention to my macro targets. Whatever foods that will get me there I feel are "wise" choices.
    One exception to that is that I won't eat anything I find revolting. I don't care how many nutrients it has, I'm not wasting my precious calories on it.

    Also, I don't track nutrients except what MFP tracks, and every time I check out my totals I see no reason for me to be alarmed or seek out more nutritious foods.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    Typically i go for "healthy" over low cal. Just for example I don't usually buy anything that says diet because that usually means it had fake sugars in it or some other kind of weird ingredients. I always look at the ingredients before choosing.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited February 2015
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    LadyTalulah wrote: »
    What would you chose?

    I don't see it as a trade-off. For me, I choose what fits better into my healthy diet, which for me will generally be really high quality chocolate or the homemade treat vs. some "diet" treat or storebought candy) just because that's how I prefer to eat. It's about satisfaction and not wasting calories on foods not worth it.

    But I still make them fit in my calories (unless it's a day I've decided to go over for some reason). I reduce portion size or plan my day so I have enough space.

    I have not found it difficult to find single serving (40 gram) pieces of chocolate that have high quality ingredients and tend to be more delicious (to my subjective taste) than a Twix, if that's your concern.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    Healthy is relative.

    I'd choose what fit into my day, calorie/macro wise.
  • lolly715
    lolly715 Posts: 106
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    Depends how many calories I can allocate to it, and how much volume I want. I turned down a "healthy" chocolate dessert today because it was 350 calories and I can't justify a quarter of my day's allowance on a small pudding. So I went with the 99 calorie one which easily fit within my goals, fake sugar and all.
  • entezio
    entezio Posts: 33
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    healthy since my metabolism is god like
  • thatsillyshana23
    thatsillyshana23 Posts: 106 Member
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    Eat which one would make you happiest. I love me some twix, but sometimes I just want something healthy. You can somehow fit either in if you really wanted to.

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