Does anyone not buy "lower-calorie" options?

Slasher09 · February 2015

I hope this topic hasn't been done to death. In my teen years my mom was on WW and everything we ate was a low-cal, fat free, sugar free version, and since I myself had an eating disorder, I carried this mentality into my college and early 20's years.

Since recovery, I have been trying to maintain a healthy weight and build up strength, but low cal/fat/sugar options make me want to stab my eyes out with a fork because they remind me of that mindset. It is also so much more expensive .

My question is, does anyone on here that has had success never buy the lower options? We also have children so there are some things we keep around like whole milk, and I can't bring myself to keep multiple different types of milk in the fridge just for a lower calorie option (plus I don't hate the way whole tastes!). We also buy 80% ground beef, because that is what I can get for $2.99/lb (as opposed to almost $5 of any other variety), we do whole chickens as well as just white meat as the whole chickens are $0.95/lb, and sometimes I will use chicken thighs to help with our budget. The same goes for cheese, other dairy, meats, snacks.

I know overall that if I eat at X calories I would maintain my weight/lose weight, but I am wondering if there are people out there who do that without having to use those other options. (everyone in my RL are telling me I need to switch if I don't want to gain weight)

earlnabby · February 2015

The only thing I go low calorie on is my yogurt (I eat fat free plain Greek) and skim milk because I prefer the taste of it. Everything else is"normal" and I have lost 88 lb. i refuse to buy fat free half and half for my coffee. What is the point? The real stuff tastes so much better. I just use a little less of it.

cityruss · February 2015

Reduced calories, normal calorie, fortified foods, they are all just calories. Eat less calories than you use, and you'll lose weight, no matter where those calories come from.

Personally I do utilize some lower calorie branded foods, as I like to eat big volumes, so for me I can have a larger volume of food.

An example of that would be the low fat frozen yogurt I buy, I buy it because I can easily save myself the calories to eat an entire tub before bed.

Eat what you want, what you like, and what makes you happy.

People telling you to switch if you don't want to gain weight are quite simply wrong.

melimomTARDIS · February 2015

cityruss wrote: »

Reduced calories, normal calorie, fortified foods, they are all just calories. Eat less calories than you use, and you'll lose weight, no matter where those calories come from.

Personally I do utilize some lower calorie branded foods, as I like to eat big volumes, so for me I can have a larger volume of food.

An example of that would be the low fat frozen yogurt I buy, I buy it because I can easily save myself the calories to eat an entire tub before bed.

Eat what you want, what you like, and what makes you happy.

People telling you to switch if you don't want to gain weight are quite simply wrong.

Samesies

Laurend224 · February 2015

I don't buy low cal or light anything. I cook from scratch mostly and am vegan.

MalineVD · February 2015

I never buy anything "low-cal". It doesn't taste good and it feels like they also take everything nutritional out of it. I like pure products.

joolsmd · February 2015

I never buy low fat or reduced fat cheese. I'd rather have a smaller amount of real cheese. And when I ate bread I would always use butter, not marg, as it tastes better.
Apparently the only low fat things worth getting are mayonnaise, natural yoghurt, and skimmed milk. Everything else replaces the fat with sugar, and costs more anyway.

VastBreak · February 2015

I find that low fat and fat free options have a lot of additives and higher sodium. I don't think it is worth it to switch. I have a hard time finding full fat yogurt so usually buy reduced. I always buy full fat cheeses and sour cream. I find the taste better and more satisfying as well.

gusinott · February 2015

Newbie on here, so not sure if the topic was done to death... So here goes. I sometimes buy low cal/fat/sugar options (like plain greek yogourt or mayo) but found that portion control is key (recipes, except for baking, in my opinion, are just guides, not rules). It is true that higher-fat versions of meats like ground beef is cheaper, but it also means more flavour. I think after the meat's been cooked, a lot of the fat has melted away; or try rinsing the cooked meat before adding it to your recipe. And chicken thighs are cheaper, and have more flavour and calories, but what can you do. Again, for me, portion control has been important. There are so many ways to get around buying the low c/f/s products, it just takes a bit of figuring it out. For example, make your own salad dressings (great recipes on MFP) and watch the amount you actually drizzle ony. And sometimes you're best off having a natural, healthy product with higher c/f/s instead of taking in all the chemicals that go into making the alternatives (I'm thinking honey or stevia instead of sugar, or apple sauce or mashed dates in baking). Been on here two weeks, and down 5 lbs, so I feel I'm on the right track (for me anyway), and very grateful to have found MFP.

randomtai · February 2015

cityruss wrote: »

Reduced calories, normal calorie, fortified foods, they are all just calories. Eat less calories than you use, and you'll lose weight, no matter where those calories come from.

Personally I do utilize some lower calorie branded foods, as I like to eat big volumes, so for me I can have a larger volume of food.

An example of that would be the low fat frozen yogurt I buy, I buy it because I can easily save myself the calories to eat an entire tub before bed.

Eat what you want, what you like, and what makes you happy.

People telling you to switch if you don't want to gain weight are quite simply wrong.

+1 for me.

NoelFigart1 · February 2015

I don't. I use butter, olive oil, full-fat cheese, real half-n-half for my coffee. Can't eat big portions and stay within calorie counts, but I am okay with that.

I am not a vegan, but I do cook mostly from scratch. I figure that's a big help to having control over what goes into most of my food.

Holly_Roman_Empire · February 2015

I buy low-fat milk, but only because I have zero problems getting my dietary fat from other sources.

williams969 · February 2015

The only "low cal" foods I buy are fat free plain Greek yogurt (store brand only comes this way, anyway, and it's cheaper usually), Edy's Slow Churned ice creams (reduced fat), and I drink a diet soda or two every week (no regular soda at all) and put Mio in my water.

But I ate all those things when I was heavy, too. So it's not that it "helped" me lose weight, I was already accustomed to the taste of them and like them. I don't find any other low cal versions of things tasty enough to make the switch--I just use them modestly instead--like butter, oil, salad dressings, cream for coffee, etc.

ETA: Oh yes, with children (I have three myself), keeping both low-fat dairy and full-fat dairy products sounds like a pain. I guess some of my choices come from that, too. Mine are older, so 1% or 2% milk is what we like now. Even whole milk vs. 1% is only 40-50 calories per 8 fl oz. serving difference. Not a biggie, if you can work it in. And (IMO) low-fat cheese is not tasty at all.

dorkyfaery · February 2015

I have been very successful (in my opinion) and I wouldn't say I never choose lower fat options but I rarely choose non-fat options. I drink 1% milk, buy 2% yogurt (mostly, I do like Chocolate Underground, which happens to be non-fat). I mostly buy full fat cheese and sometimes buy the reduced fat kind but never EVER non-fat cheese, because it's gross and what's the point. I do have other substitutions, though. For example, if a recipe calls for italian sausuage, I generally use chicken italian sausage instead.

As long as you are tracking accurately, you may continue to eat whichever version of the foods you prefer, as long as you maintain a calorie deficit for loss or don't go over maintenance calories. If you find you are gaining weight witht those foods, it's likely you could do something to make your tracking more accurate.

allaboutthecake · February 2015

You have lost 41 lbs !!! I'd say whatever you are doing, it is working for you!

sheclimber · February 2015

I saw this once some where and it stuck with me and changed my buying habits. "When you see the words Low-Calorie and Low-Fat, think Chemical *kitten* Storm."

Lasmartchika · February 2015

I don't think I use anything low cal, fat free, sugar free (except for my 2% milk, and that one sugar free jam I accidentally bought- doesn't taste so yummy :sick: ). The only thing I do use "low" is reduced sodium products, but only because there's family history with high blood pressure and I TRY to eat less sodium. I've been losing weight just fine. :drinker:

fbmandy55 · February 2015

I've said this before but I will say it again. I think a lot of women of a certain generation were taught that if something is high in fat, it will make you fat. I believe it was in the 90's, I was a little kid and I remember a huge trend of everything being low fat and my mom only buying low fat cheese, cottage cheese, dressings, etc.

Fat doesn't make you fat. It's essential for your body to function properly.

earlnabby · February 2015

VastBreak wrote: »

I find that low fat and fat free options have a lot of additives and higher sodium. I don't think it is worth it to switch. I have a hard time finding full fat yogurt so usually buy reduced. I always buy full fat cheeses and sour cream. I find the taste better and more satisfying as well.

Not always, but I agree that it is most of the time. We have a local brand of fat free sour cream that is actually pretty good. They replaced the fat with carrageenan (a seaweed extract that is a vegan option to gelatin) as the emulsifier and there isn't any more of the other unwanted additives than in full fat sour cream. I don't get it often because I cook with my sour cream and it separates at higher heats, unlike the full fat stuff.

YalithKBK · February 2015

I do if it doesn't affect the taste too much. I buy "light" yogurt and drink skim milk or almond milk. I tried reduced-fat cream cheese once and thought I had accidentally bought plumber's putty or something. Let's say this, I don't sacrifice taste but I cut calories where I can so that I can use them elsewhere (fat-free milk means full fat ice cream).

kalamitykate83 · February 2015

Usually if something is low cal or low fat, then it has higher carbs / sugar / salt. You're better off trying to stay away from processed food as much as possible, that way you know what is in your food. Also, your body can handle fats found in butter, olive oil etc better than that in low cal versions.

Does anyone not buy "lower-calorie" options?

Replies

Categories