how often do you eat junk food?

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Replies

  • Rit1603
    Rit1603 Posts: 122 Member
    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Junk food?

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

    Excuse me can you all tell me how you stay under your macros and eat whatever you like? My plan is 1389 cal x day and I made few trials so tomorrow if the only food I eat is 1 cupcake I already go over my macros. I then tried with chicken nuggets and same . ???? Maybe I got this all wrong but I would love to eat a pizza tomorrow. Maybe i'll get a very light salad at lunch and a good pizza at dinner.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Rit1603 wrote: »
    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Junk food?

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

    Excuse me can you all tell me how you stay under your macros and eat whatever you like? My plan is 1389 cal x day and I made few trials so tomorrow if the only food I eat is 1 cupcake I already go over my macros. I then tried with chicken nuggets and same . ???? Maybe I got this all wrong but I would love to eat a pizza tomorrow. Maybe i'll get a very light salad at lunch and a good pizza at dinner.

    Well first you're supposed to eat back exercise calories.

    Second, yeah, if you have protein-rich meals, a cupcake can fit in macros just fine. And pizza has pretty much perfect macros too... as long as you stop at one or two slices.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    i do not eat processed foods, greek yogurt is a treat!

    @EttaMaeMartin Greek yogurt is processed
  • ybmagpye
    ybmagpye Posts: 11 Member
    edited March 2016
    I have read a fair bit on what 'junk food' is composed of. Pink slime in some fast food burgers, the shilac in M&Ms candies, the bits & bobs of slaughtered chickens found in McNuggets - read enough of what is IN junk food and you'll crave it less, if at all. That said, I eat 'treats' - those of quality ingredients, and known calorie count - 3 or 4 days a week, in amounts and of the sorts I can control for myself. Today, I had a 100 cal bag of popcorn, that I added a touch more salt to than came in the bag. Tomorrow, I may have the Chobani yougurt 'flip' (peach & pistashios) I bought today. Nothing wrong with snacking, if you time them right, control yourself, know the calorie count AND it is NOT junky with crap ingredients. Word up, yo.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    When it fits, it fits. At the moment, it rarely does.
  • DearestWinter
    DearestWinter Posts: 595 Member
    Rit1603 wrote: »
    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Junk food?

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

    Excuse me can you all tell me how you stay under your macros and eat whatever you like? My plan is 1389 cal x day and I made few trials so tomorrow if the only food I eat is 1 cupcake I already go over my macros. I then tried with chicken nuggets and same . ???? Maybe I got this all wrong but I would love to eat a pizza tomorrow. Maybe i'll get a very light salad at lunch and a good pizza at dinner.

    I'm on 1200/day. Plus I eat back 50-75% of exercise calories. Most days I have around 1400 of food so right where you are. I eat "junk food" almost every day. Usually sweets. Everybody develops their own strategy - maybe the really light salad will work for you. I usually don't skimp a lot on earlier meals unless I'm genuinely not hungry. I just reduce the portion of whatever tasty food I want to eat until it's small enough to fit in my calories. Like two pieces of pizza or a quarter of a cupcake or one (weighed) serving of chips.
  • Anabug81
    Anabug81 Posts: 161 Member
    I crave cakes and cookies and chips but I don't eat them.
  • kyrannosaurus
    kyrannosaurus Posts: 350 Member
    I am a massive fan of chocolate and sweet treats. I'm still learning how to moderate them in maintenance. At the moment I am having a small treat every 2-3 days. Ultimately I'd like to eat these foods less frequently and choose more nutrient dense snacks, but my treat portions are typically fairly small.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Rit1603 wrote: »
    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Junk food?

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

    Excuse me can you all tell me how you stay under your macros and eat whatever you like? My plan is 1389 cal x day and I made few trials so tomorrow if the only food I eat is 1 cupcake I already go over my macros. I then tried with chicken nuggets and same . ???? Maybe I got this all wrong but I would love to eat a pizza tomorrow. Maybe i'll get a very light salad at lunch and a good pizza at dinner.

    Are you talking about macros, the split between carbs, protein and fat? Or are you talking about staying under total calories?

    For macros, it depends how you have them set up and if there is one you are focusing on specifically, but most people tend to look at things like protein first, and as a minimum, not a maximum. I aim for 80 or more grams of protein a day but ideally closer to 100. I usually get plenty of fat and carbs just sort of shake out in the end. Unless a person is doing a low carb diet in which case they do try to stay under a certain number of grams of carbs each day.

    But the main thing for weight loss is to be in a calorie deficit. Your macro breakdown can help make sure you are eating a balanced diet, and then looking more closely at micro nutrients (the vitamins and minerals) help to round out the goals for optimal health.
  • mmmpork
    mmmpork Posts: 133 Member
    First off, I set my targets by calculating BMR and TDEE for my target weight to get an idea of what my maintenance should be. I use that as my calorie goal knowing that I may not lose weight as quickly as if I was doing a super low amount, but if I'm eating what I need to maintain my target then it's not a diet. My target is 1500 for low activity days, 1700 for cardio days, 1900 for strength training/lap swimming days.

    I eat whatever I want, and that typically includes at least one serving of "junk food". Macros only matter if you're doing recomp or have specific health issues. You can eat nothing but "processed" food and be perfectly healthy.

    http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/

    "Processed" vs all natural means nothing. The advantage of "processed" things like aspartame vs "natural" (but still processed) things like stevia is aspartame is tested and regulated. No, it does not cause cancer and there's a lot of research supporting that. What can you tell me about the long term effects of stevia? Do you really know what's in your stevia? Think agave syrup is anything special? It's just overpriced HFCS (which is just sugar and is not the root cause of all the diabeetus).

    I'll just leave this little gem:

    http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/06/11/412973926/how-diet-gurus-hook-us-with-religion-veiled-in-science
  • Panda_brat
    Panda_brat Posts: 291 Member
    Saturday is when I have chips, candy, cake or cookies, plus some booze. But I try not to over do things.
  • AmandaOmega
    AmandaOmega Posts: 70 Member
    A couple of times a week, I have about 95g of chocolate frozen yogurt (which equates to about 140-150 calories). The other day, I had two sheets of graham crackers, because I wanted them SO BAD. I still have "junk" food, but in small portions that fit in with my daily calorie goals.

    Eating bad food like pizza or chinese take out or something like that happens very rarely, maybe 1-2 x a month. But when I do have it, it's like a little slice of heaven. I try to save bad food for when I have a really horrible day. Because then I can pig out, I feel better emotionally, and I know that since I don't let myself have it any other time, I can afford the weight gain and I know that I can lose it over the next week or so.

    Overall, don't try to limit yourself to the extreme on "junk" food. That's what can cause people to crash out because it is very hard and people get burnt out on denying themselves things they love. Instead, limit your portions, weigh it out, and make sure it fits into your daily calorie goals.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    A couple of times a week, I have about 95g of chocolate frozen yogurt (which equates to about 140-150 calories). The other day, I had two sheets of graham crackers, because I wanted them SO BAD. I still have "junk" food, but in small portions that fit in with my daily calorie goals.

    Eating bad food like pizza or chinese take out or something like that happens very rarely, maybe 1-2 x a month. But when I do have it, it's like a little slice of heaven. I try to save bad food for when I have a really horrible day. Because then I can pig out, I feel better emotionally, and I know that since I don't let myself have it any other time, I can afford the weight gain and I know that I can lose it over the next week or so.

    Overall, don't try to limit yourself to the extreme on "junk" food. That's what can cause people to crash out because it is very hard and people get burnt out on denying themselves things they love. Instead, limit your portions, weigh it out, and make sure it fits into your daily calorie goals.

    I don't find it helpful to refer to any food as "bad" as I think that can create tremendous feelings of guilt in some people when they eat it. It's just food, some is more nutrient dense than others.

    I agree with everything in your last paragraph!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,589 Member
    mmmpork wrote: »
    (stuff snipped)

    I eat whatever I want, and that typically includes at least one serving of "junk food". Macros only matter if you're
    doing recomp or have specific health issues.
    You can eat nothing but "processed" food and be perfectly healthy.

    (more stuff snipped)

    Macros matter for more than that, in the sense that everyone needs adequate amounts of protein and healthy fat, at least. The definition of "adequate" certainly depends on one's lifestyle/goals (re-comp, yes, but also activity level and whether one's running a calorie deficit, among other factors). But no one who wants to be generally healthy should be thinking "macros don't matter".

    The rest of your post seems pretty sensible, so I'm thinking this may've just been a casual statement rather than intended to be as dismissive of macro-watching as it may've appeared. But I thought it worth mentioning, since some readers here are likely new to a planned way of eating for health and weight loss.
  • nathalier71
    nathalier71 Posts: 570 Member
    Everyday - I have my portion of chips at 8pm. I also have a small dessert after dinner. I just make sure it's burned before I eat it =)
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
    I say make the "bad food" for yourself if you can. I love burgers and pizza, so I make it on my own once a week or so. Low fat cheese, sirloin instead of high fat beef, limit the mozzarella on the pizza, thin crusts...Point is that some foods, you can have all the time when you control the ingredients and portion size. Obviously something like candy/cake junk food is tougher.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    zyxst wrote: »
    E'rry day

    ^^

    e'rry day indeed.
  • dustedwithsugar
    dustedwithsugar Posts: 179 Member
    I started making healthier versions of junk food at home and it's pretty often, 4 times a week maybe? Whenever I want. I make pizza, burgers, fries, curry with naan bread, pasta... I can control how many calories they have when I cook them at home.
  • liftzilla16
    liftzilla16 Posts: 59 Member
    I'd say I have junk food every 4 or 5 days. Not a lot of it, but enough to satisfy the cravings. Sometimes I get a crazy sugar tooth and have bad stuff for a few days straight, but the majority of the time I'm pretty good about eating healthy.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    It's pretty ridiculous that some humans consider any food to be "junk".

    All food nourishes in one way or another.

    I eat what I love within my calorie limit.