how often do you eat junk food?

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  • bclarke1990
    bclarke1990 Posts: 287 Member
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    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Junk food?

    Eat whatever you like. Just hit your calorie/macro goals.

    I'll never understand why people think this is good advice. Yes, I get it. You can lose weight by tracking your calories and macronutrients and you can eat more empty calories without getting fat.

    There's a lot more to health than just weight. Being fairly interested in nutrition, it drives me nuts when people think avoiding carbs and eating 250g of protein a day, (lots of which comes from whey protein and processed red meat) is super ideal because they're limiting carbs which means you're going to lose more weight and get enormous.

    We're becoming more and more aware of how powerful eating a wide variety of minerals, nutrients and phytonutrients can extend and improve quality of life. To recommend that someone "just eat whatever bro ice cream and poptarts as long as you hit yer protein!" just seems so misinformed at this point.

    And to answer OP, I try to just eat healthy every day and if I'm craving something lacking in nutrition I'll just eat it; imo, if 90% of your diet is quality whole foods, the remaining 10% won't make a huge difference
  • neldabg
    neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
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    I know what you mean, but as @assijomial said, I don't attach negative labels to food. If I ever have a craving for something particularly calorie-dense, I log in that food first for the day and make sure that the rest of my meals will help me hit my macro goals.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Yea, but you can't hit macro goals without eating a pretty balanced diet. That being said, I consider fiber as a "macro" for myself as well.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,170 Member
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    I eat the occasional chocolate, drink beer or wine once or twice a week, maybe have a home-made cookie or something like that now & again . . . but I generally don't much enjoy the foods that most people mean when they refer to "junk food". I didn't eat them much while I got fat & stayed fat; I still don't eat them much now.

    (Like others, I think it's a vague term, and that thinking of food as "good" or "bad", in quasi-moral terms, isn't very helpful. I mostly think about whether food meets my objectives for tastiness, satiation, nutrition, calories, and overall satisfaction, in a good balance.)
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
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    A bite of chocolate? Pretty much every day.
    Ice cream or cookies? Once or twice a month.
    Doritos? Once every three or four months. (Every four months or so, I have to make a long road trip. I convince myself that Doritos and string cheese are the healthier food options at the gas station convenience stores.)
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,262 Member
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    beer? daily
    cake? weekly
    Cheetohs? once a month
    Sometimes those all coincide. And that's a beautiful day :blush:
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    I eat "junk food" whenever I feel like it. I just make sure it fits in my calories. If it doesn't, and I know I'm really going to want something, I make a point of exercising to earn it. I have no intention of living a life of deprivation. That wouldn't be sustainable for me. (I've been here on MFP maintaining for 5 years now, junk food and all.) I tend to crave junkier foods during the winter and then when spring comes around I find myself really craving fresh foods, salads, fruit, etc. But tonight, for example, I had extra calories, so I ate cookies for a snack. :D
  • PeachesNcreamgal
    PeachesNcreamgal Posts: 357 Member
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    For me, everyday is a struggle to not eat junk food. I eat Chinese once a month, but its chocolate that make it tough for me. Some days I crave chocolates so bad that I finish the entire bar :neutral: I try to eat clean most of the time--->beets, radishes, carrots, cucumbers along with cooked vegetables make up my daily diet. Boring I know lol
  • saanvi83
    saanvi83 Posts: 7 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Huh I eat a lot of junk food:(. Thats why am over weighing now :) I carve for ice creams and carbonated drinks. I know I should control that carvings but always my heart wins over my mind:( Lol!!!!
  • EttaMaeMartin
    EttaMaeMartin Posts: 303 Member
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    i do not eat processed foods, greek yogurt is a treat!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    I also don't like labeling foods "junk" "clean" "good" "bad". I eat all foods in moderation. That includes wine and something sweet pretty much every day. Fast food or pizza maybe once a week. Nicer restaurant meals or bakery treats every couple of weeks.

    I lost the weight I set out to lose and am currently maintaining.
  • Bluepegasus
    Bluepegasus Posts: 333 Member
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    I eat whatever I want as long as it fits within my daily calorie allowance.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,041 Member
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    In for "junk".
    In for "I don't eat processed food."
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    EttaMaeMartin wrote: »
    i do not eat processed foods, greek yogurt is a treat!

    What's your definition of Processed, since nearly everything we eat is processed in some way. There are a lot of nutrient dense processed and ultra processed foods, including the Greek yogurt you mentioned, cottage cheese, steel cut oats, etc.

    I don't find arbitrarily restricting foods because of a vague term like "processed" to be helpful to me. But if it works for you, great!
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    In my world, nothing is junk food. It's all food. Nothing off limits. I want it, I eat a bit. Been maintaining for a long time so I guess it's working.
  • TrickyDisco
    TrickyDisco Posts: 2,869 Member
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    Depends what you mean by junk food - every day I'll eat something like dark chocolate, sweets, biscuits or home-made cakes, and occasionally some alcohol - usually a glass of red wine or beer. I hardly ever eat shop-bought savoury snacks any more and never eat takeaways either or eat in places like McD, KFC or Starbucks. Where I live there's loads of cafes and small restaurants that serve tasty healthy food so tend to visit those when eating out.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    it depends what you call junk food? if its chocolate/ crisps, then yes, every day I enjoy a little as long as it keeps me within my calories.
  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,135 Member
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    I guess it depends on your definition of "junk".

    I had pizza and a beer last night. Does that count?

    Now that I'm in maintenance mode, I don't stress over eating stuff like that every now and again (or even once or twice a week). I don't eat a whole pizza, just a few pieces. Track it, keep in my goal if I can, call it a day.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    edited March 2016
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    I agree there's no such thing as 'junk food'. Some food is calorie dense with limited nutritional value. But it can taste great! I have some most days. I often have a 1/4 cup of ice cream around 9. I really like coconut covered cashews and have 1/3 of an ounce when I get home from work. I'll drink a glass of wine or have cheese and crackers. I'll split a McDonalds hot fudge sundae with my husband. One of those thing happens most days.

    I always indulge in a treat - cake or cookie or milk shake or pie - when I'm with a group who is eating or when I'm out and celebrating and just feel like it. But I can't eat much of it any more. So half a piece of pie is plenty - and I'm even having trouble drinking half of a small shake now. It tastes great, but it's really rich and I only eat around 1/4 of it.

    Now that i think about it, it seems as if with any big weekly indulgence like that what I really want is around 200-300 really tasty calories. After that my stomach (not my head) tells me it's too much. So I try to listen.

    My little indulgences go around 75 calories.
  • rnelson88
    rnelson88 Posts: 122 Member
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    Once every 2 weeks or so I have a piece of cake or slice of pizza. But I make sure it is on a day that I exercise so that the 600 calories of junk doesn't affect my waistline. If that is too long for you to wait between "cheating" then you can try some high protein, low-carb healthy treats. I have plenty of recipes that have gotten me thru some tempting moments. Message me if you want some recipes.

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