Will cutting junk alone benefit me?
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sammiebeatty wrote: »I'm a very picky eater, so I'm struggling to find alternatives, which is why I thought it would be best to cut out the junk food as best as possible.
I'm not a fan of vegetables, bar vegetable soup, I basically have a bland diet of potatoes, pasta and meats, making it hard to get variety, and low calorie meals!
Given this, no, I don't think it will work. Unless you develop an adult's palate, you won't learn to like eating like an adult (vegetables and nutrient dense foods).
Follow MFP.4 -
sammiebeatty wrote: »diannethegeek wrote: »sammiebeatty wrote: »I'm a very picky eater, so I'm struggling to find alternatives, which is why I thought it would be best to cut out the junk food as best as possible.
I'm not a fan of vegetables, bar vegetable soup, I basically have a bland diet of potatoes, pasta and meats, making it hard to get variety, and low calorie meals!
This is why it's so unpredictable. There's no telling what you'll find to fill in your calories once you cut the foods you live on. For instance, I have a sandwich every day for lunch. If I cut that out, there's a 50/50 chance I'd end up replacing it with something more calorific.
I'm not against the plan. I just don't think it's a guarantee of success. You definitely need to track it and have some idea of how to adjust if it doesn't work.
Yeah I'm going to try track it all as best as possible, it's the weighing of everything that gets complicated, especially while on the go with work
I don't weigh everything. I tend to weigh nuts, cheese and meat. Everything else I just measure, or even guesstimate. I understand the argument that it can be inaccurate but so are other estimates (like my BMR and exercise burns). I'm losing just fine. Don't let the "requirement" of weighing food deter you from logging.
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I will be following it, and logging food, it's just very hard to feel full and satisfied due to the lack of variety, which makes it hard to stick to1
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This.AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »Cutting CALORIES will benefit you. It doesn't matter what you eat, but how MUCH.
Every time I cut my favourite foods out, I end up craving them like crazy and then ended up going through crazy binges, thus ruining my progress. Once I realised that food is food and a calorie is a calorie, I was able to relax, be happy and lose weight. If restriction hasn't worked for you in the past, you may want to consider flexible dieting.
To feel fuller, emphasize on getting enough fiber, fat and protein.
A calorie is a calorie. As mentioned above, eat what you like, just weigh it all (everything that isn't a pure liquid) and log accurately and honestly. My 80+lbs loss is proof that weight loss can be achieved including chocolate!
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Thanks everyone!1
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »sammiebeatty wrote: »I'm a very picky eater, so I'm struggling to find alternatives, which is why I thought it would be best to cut out the junk food as best as possible.
I'm not a fan of vegetables, bar vegetable soup, I basically have a bland diet of potatoes, pasta and meats, making it hard to get variety, and low calorie meals!
Given this, no, I don't think it will work. Unless you develop an adult's palate, you won't learn to like eating like an adult (vegetables and nutrient dense foods).
Follow MFP.
It might depend on what op means by "not a fan". I find that when I have hyperpalatable foods, they make everything else pale in comparison, and I don't enjoy eating "regular" food. When I cut most of the treats, stuff I used to find unappealing started to taste a lot better.
It didn't do anything for foods I really intensely disliked, but a lot of the foods that were just boring and bland and "meh" have become things I really enjoy eating.
OP, I think it's worth a shot. If you don't like it, you can always add the treats back in.2 -
MakePeasNotWar wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »sammiebeatty wrote: »I'm a very picky eater, so I'm struggling to find alternatives, which is why I thought it would be best to cut out the junk food as best as possible.
I'm not a fan of vegetables, bar vegetable soup, I basically have a bland diet of potatoes, pasta and meats, making it hard to get variety, and low calorie meals!
Given this, no, I don't think it will work. Unless you develop an adult's palate, you won't learn to like eating like an adult (vegetables and nutrient dense foods).
Follow MFP.
It might depend on what op means by "not a fan". I find that when I have hyperpalatable foods, they make everything else pale in comparison, and I don't enjoy eating "regular" food. When I cut most of the treats, stuff I used to find unappealing started to taste a lot better.
It didn't do anything for foods I really intensely disliked, but a lot of the foods that were just boring and bland and "meh" have become things I really enjoy eating.
OP, I think it's worth a shot. If you don't like it, you can always add the treats back in.
Indeed. Given the two posts that's where I ended up, but I'm a BIG fan of making diet overhauls. If the OP can do it: more power to her.1 -
I think diet overhauls are great, but one has to be open to them. Claiming one is a picky eater and can't eat veg makes me think one is not interested in a diverse, nutrition-dense, balanced diet (which is fine, whatever, one can still lose weight). I may be biased because even though I changed my taste somewhat at one point I always liked fruits and veg and never found that so-called "hyperpalatable" foods made me unable to appreciate well prepared healthful foods (or were actually more palatable than homemade, an idea that offends me as stupid). And as for "ultra processed" foods, no matter how much I ate I never loved overly sweetened foods, found an inability to enjoy less sweet foods, or (again) thought they were better than homemade (including delicious savory homemade). The last food I really craved was lamb after I gave up meat during Lent.1
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Im going to break the mould here and say it's not ALL about calorie deficit (although it is undoubtedly very important) I bet that if you replaced those junk calories with the exact same number of healthy, macro balanced calories you would see a benefit.
Your body is very complex and your endocrine system is affected by what you eat. Insulin spikes are going to play havoc with the way your body burns or stores calories and having a steady amount of low glycemic index calories is going to be a lot better than 1500 calories of burger king and soda
at 8pm.
So I would say yes, if you change nothing else but cut the junk you will see a change. But if you control the quality AND quantity of your food that is when you will really see a difference.
Disclaimer: this post contains large quantities of bro science.3 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »I think diet overhauls are great, but one has to be open to them. Claiming one is a picky eater and can't eat veg makes me think one is not interested in a diverse, nutrition-dense, balanced diet (which is fine, whatever, one can still lose weight). I may be biased because even though I changed my taste somewhat at one point I always liked fruits and veg and never found that so-called "hyperpalatable" foods made me unable to appreciate well prepared healthful foods (or were actually more palatable than homemade, an idea that offends me as stupid). And as for "ultra processed" foods, no matter how much I ate I never loved overly sweetened foods, found an inability to enjoy less sweet foods, or (again) thought they were better than homemade (including delicious savory homemade). The last food I really craved was lamb after I gave up meat during Lent.
I don't think giving up sweets has to necessarily mean doing a full 180 and drinking kale smoothies and such. I would definitely say my diet is drastically different, and I think it's healthier, but I still tend to go for sweet/ salty bland tastes. the difference is now it's things like apples, carrots, lettuce, oats and salsa, instead of cookies, ice cream, cake and crackers.
In terms of "hyperpalatable" processed foods being tastier than homemade, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the degree of palate development matters. Most of my "trouble foods" were very simple sugar, salt and fat combinations with low or zero bitterness, sour or umami flavours. I've always disliked complex "adult" foods like mushrooms or dark leafy greens, and even meat, so for me, Kraft and Sara Lee just remove all the things I don't like, and crank the rest up to 1000. This is all purely conjecture, mind you, but it would be interesting to know correlation between picky underdeveloped palates and strong preference for processed food.
(By the way, I am not implying in any way that no one should eat cookies, ice cream, cake, or crackers on occasion if they enjoy it and find it easy to maintain a healthy diet)1 -
MakePeasNotWar wrote: »In terms of "hyperpalatable" processed foods being tastier than homemade, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the degree of palate development matters. Most of my "trouble foods" were very simple sugar, salt and fat combinations with low or zero bitterness, sour or umami flavours. I've always disliked complex "adult" foods like mushrooms or dark leafy greens, and even meat, so for me, Kraft and Sara Lee just remove all the things I don't like, and crank the rest up to 1000. This is all purely conjecture, mind you, but it would be interesting to know correlation between picky underdeveloped palates and strong preference for processed food.
First, sorry if the prior response came off as bitchy. I was tired when I wrote it and the whole idea that hyperpalatable foods (i.e., packaged highly processed things) are more delicious and impossible to say no to compared with homemade is a pet peeve. So much so that I may see it when it's not there or overreact to it. I don't know, I guess I see it as an insult to grandma's apple pie or mom's lasagna or my homemade Easter feast with rack of lamb and potatoes and asparagus or something! ;-)
Second, this is an interesting idea and might be possible. I'm the opposite with a love for new foods and bitter flavors and spicy and sour and adore trying new dishes and flavor combinations. I'm not picky at all except for some weird things (largely childhood type staples).
One thing I've wondered about is whether there may be a genetic link to whether what you eat makes you unable to appreciate other foods. I totally believe that what you eat forms your palate (you need to try new foods many times sometimes, and can develop a taste, people develop tastes for various alcoholic drinks and coffee, the saltier your food the saltier you want it, eating lots of sugar does affect preference for more highly sweetened things). However, lots of people here will say that changing their diet changed their palate in an extreme way, and that eating junk food (or soda) made them unable to appreciate even the sweetness in fruit, and that not eating that stuff allowed them to like fruit and vegetables. That's always puzzled me, in that I've never found that eating some sweet things made me want everything sweet (or not taste fruit or many veg as such). To use a silly example, during the one time in my life when I drank lots of (diet) soda--and I drank a ridiculous amount--I also strongly preferred black coffee (I've always hated sugar in coffee) and didn't like non dry wines. The fact I liked some quite sweet beverages didn't seem to mean I only liked sweet beverages or preferred sweetened beverages at all. And while it was diet and I'd have said I disliked non diet soda, during that period I also enjoyed plenty of sweet junk food (for example, ice cream, freshly baked cookies).1 -
sammiebeatty wrote: »I will be following it, and logging food, it's just very hard to feel full and satisfied due to the lack of variety, which makes it hard to stick to
I will tell you that when I lost weight (many years ago) I ended up learning to love a whole crap TON of things that I had never liked. Broccoli, salad, cooked carrots and black beans were things that NEVER touched my lips. I swear I could make a meal off a bowl of cooked carrots. :-) It doesn't happen overnight, but if you have the discipline to lose, you WILL replace most of the crap with good new foods. Good luck!!1 -
sammiebeatty wrote: »Hello,
I'm new to all of this so making simple changes to start the process.
I mainly live off chocolate, sandwiches and fast food. By cutting these out completely, should It, along with regular exercise be enough to lose most of the weight, without going on a strict diet?
Thanks in advance!
Most likely cutting out "junk" and "cleaning" up your diet and eating more whole foods along with some regular exercise will result in you losing weight, but it's not a guarantee. You can eat very healthfully and exercise regularly and still overeat...I've certainly done it...ultimately it comes down to your calories overall.
Also, I eat sandwiches pretty regularly...don't really consider them to be "junk"...just sayin'1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »MakePeasNotWar wrote: »In terms of "hyperpalatable" processed foods being tastier than homemade, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the degree of palate development matters. Most of my "trouble foods" were very simple sugar, salt and fat combinations with low or zero bitterness, sour or umami flavours. I've always disliked complex "adult" foods like mushrooms or dark leafy greens, and even meat, so for me, Kraft and Sara Lee just remove all the things I don't like, and crank the rest up to 1000. This is all purely conjecture, mind you, but it would be interesting to know correlation between picky underdeveloped palates and strong preference for processed food.
First, sorry if the prior response came off as bitchy. I was tired when I wrote it and the whole idea that hyperpalatable foods (i.e., packaged highly processed things) are more delicious and impossible to say no to compared with homemade is a pet peeve. So much so that I may see it when it's not there or overreact to it. I don't know, I guess I see it as an insult to grandma's apple pie or mom's lasagna or my homemade Easter feast with rack of lamb and potatoes and asparagus or something! ;-)
Second, this is an interesting idea and might be possible. I'm the opposite with a love for new foods and bitter flavors and spicy and sour and adore trying new dishes and flavor combinations. I'm not picky at all except for some weird things (largely childhood type staples).
One thing I've wondered about is whether there may be a genetic link to whether what you eat makes you unable to appreciate other foods. I totally believe that what you eat forms your palate (you need to try new foods many times sometimes, and can develop a taste, people develop tastes for various alcoholic drinks and coffee, the saltier your food the saltier you want it, eating lots of sugar does affect preference for more highly sweetened things). However, lots of people here will say that changing their diet changed their palate in an extreme way, and that eating junk food (or soda) made them unable to appreciate even the sweetness in fruit, and that not eating that stuff allowed them to like fruit and vegetables. That's always puzzled me, in that I've never found that eating some sweet things made me want everything sweet (or not taste fruit or many veg as such). To use a silly example, during the one time in my life when I drank lots of (diet) soda--and I drank a ridiculous amount--I also strongly preferred black coffee (I've always hated sugar in coffee) and didn't like non dry wines. The fact I liked some quite sweet beverages didn't seem to mean I only liked sweet beverages or preferred sweetened beverages at all. And while it was diet and I'd have said I disliked non diet soda, during that period I also enjoyed plenty of sweet junk food (for example, ice cream, freshly baked cookies).
You didn't sound bitchy at all; I just figured you were probably from a family of good cooks
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sammiebeatty wrote: »Hello,
I'm new to all of this so making simple changes to start the process.
I mainly live off chocolate, sandwiches and fast food. By cutting these out completely, should It, along with regular exercise be enough to lose most of the weight, without going on a strict diet?
Thanks in advance!
Yes, you will lose weight if you do this.
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goldthistime wrote: »Maybe, maybe not. Appetite is a much blunter tool than calorie counting. How do you know you won't eat more "healthy food" after a day or two to compensate?
You can eat a lot more nutritious food for the same calories. So appetite issue solved. Yes cutting junk food will definitely help. There is such a thing as empty calories, and candy and junk is just that. Cut the crap and eat the same calories in healthier foods. Hope that helps. You may find your sugar and insulin will stabilize and will be less spikey.1 -
Im going to break the mould here and say it's not ALL about calorie deficit (although it is undoubtedly very important) I bet that if you replaced those junk calories with the exact same number of healthy, macro balanced calories you would see a benefit.
Your body is very complex and your endocrine system is affected by what you eat. Insulin spikes are going to play havoc with the way your body burns or stores calories and having a steady amount of low glycemic index calories is going to be a lot better than 1500 calories of burger king and soda
at 8pm.
So I would say yes, if you change nothing else but cut the junk you will see a change. But if you control the quality AND quantity of your food that is when you will really see a difference.
Disclaimer: this post contains large quantities of bro science.
This!!1 -
goldthistime wrote: »Maybe, maybe not. Appetite is a much blunter tool than calorie counting. How do you know you won't eat more "healthy food" after a day or two to compensate?
You can eat a lot more nutritious food for the same calories. So appetite issue solved. Yes cutting junk food will definitely help. There is such a thing as empty calories, and candy and junk is just that. Cut the crap and eat the same calories in healthier foods. Hope that helps. You may find your sugar and insulin will stabilize and will be less spikey.
Nutritious is not synonymous with low calorie or filling. It can be but there is no guarantee. And if you still eat the same calories, your weight loss will not change to before.1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »I think diet overhauls are great, but one has to be open to them. Claiming one is a picky eater and can't eat veg makes me think one is not interested in a diverse, nutrition-dense, balanced diet (which is fine, whatever, one can still lose weight). I may be biased because even though I changed my taste somewhat at one point I always liked fruits and veg and never found that so-called "hyperpalatable" foods made me unable to appreciate well prepared healthful foods (or were actually more palatable than homemade, an idea that offends me as stupid). And as for "ultra processed" foods, no matter how much I ate I never loved overly sweetened foods, found an inability to enjoy less sweet foods, or (again) thought they were better than homemade (including delicious savory homemade). The last food I really craved was lamb after I gave up meat during Lent.
I pretty much overhauled my diet and gave up most junk food in favor of nutritionally dense foods. I found though, its a lot easier to stay within my calorie limits (even at 2500) when I was eliminating added sugars and ultra processed foods. That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy them from time to time, but not as frequently. And when I do them, I modify my eating pattern to accommodate (instead of 3 meals, I eat two and the first is lower in calories but high in volume).
As a result of my overhaul, I did notice a sweeping change in my taste. I no longer enough fried foods (as they upset my stomach) and I rarely drink calories (I drink coke with my stomach is upset... it's the only thing that will settle it).
Unfortunately, to overhaul my diet, I had to look to various combinations of foods and recipes that would help me achieve my goal. As a result of cooking myself, I found a lot of foods I enjoyed that I never thought I would (squash for example). It just so happened, that I liked it prepared a certain way.
OP, I would recommend start looking for various recipes and trying things.1 -
Yeah, I think my palate had already changed by the time I started watching calories. It did as a teen when I started liking more spicy or adventurous foods than I had as a kid (when I liked blander stuff), and that's actually when I started preferring other sorts of restaurants to fast food. (Still loved my favorite pizza places, and wish I could try the old Italian place that made this amazing pizza I loved then, but it closed long ago and probably wouldn't taste the same as I remember.)
Then in my 20s I had a job that allowed for/often required lots of nice restaurant meals, and I got to try lots of new things and preparations. And around age 30 I got really into cooking and experimenting with all sorts of different vegetables (fell in love with the green market and signed up for the CSA box and all that). That's when I really started loving vegetables, although I always liked them fine, just thought they were the more boring part of the meal before that. Unfortunately, I also decided that I should learn how to bake properly, so started experimenting with that too (I wanted to conquer the pie crust, especially).
So that's the kind of food I got fat on. Even without the restaurants or excessive baking, it's perfectly possible. It is harder, though -- IMO less because the food isn't caloric (some of it is), but because when you cook yourself it's easier to be conscious of what you are eating.
I did gain weight largely cooking nutrient dense foods for myself, though. I like my own cooking too much sometimes. ;-) It wasn't that hard to change the things I was doing, though, and didn't require a palate change at all. The high cal foods I crave aren't really the ultraprocessed ones, which is why I don't understand the idea that they are magically harder to stop eating as people sometimes claim.1
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