We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
Bad tasting, healthy food.
Replies
-
kommodevaran wrote: »
I just want to expand on my previous replies by commenting these: I struggled A LOT with "healthy" food which I believed to be (had to be) the opposite of tasty food. And I thought of myself as a lousy cook. No wonder, I was so afraid of salt, fat and sugar, so I avoided it as much as possible (and of course I took it to the extreme). At the same time, I felt I could relax when someone else had made the food, like it was out of my hands. (Not really distorted thoughts, but pretty in denial.)
Worry took away so much of my enjoyment. The stress of never feeling "good enough" lead me (paradoxically, but not at all unusual) to overeat.
Then (around the time I discovered MFP) I just decided that I wasn't going to be afraid of food anymore. It was difficult. I had been afraid of food for more than twenty years. But all of a sudden, food started to taste amazing. And cooking was fun. And easy. I started to prefer my own food. And my food budget plummeted because I stopped buying and throwing away "good intention" food. Instead, I bought meat and produce I had plans for, and cooked and ate. Everything tasted great. I intentionally eat a lot more fat. But I also eat a lot more vegetables and whole grains.
Oh, and I lost 50 pounds and have kept them off for more than two years now.
Interesting thoughts. I've never been afraid of food personally.
The food I cook also is usually better tasting and cheaper than a restaurant. I like to cook. I plan dinners for the whole month. I prepare almost all meals for my family except 1 meal a week/month. We couldn't afford to eat out more often.
Why bother eating out then? Someone else cooking that 1 meal makes it much more appealing because I did no work, I have no clean up. It is more of an event to eat someone else's cooking. I know I can fit the food into my goal so I don't feel concerned about eating a tasty burger from a restaurant versus a burger I cook. I have no health issues that require me to strictly limit fat, sugar or sodium.
I don't view foods as bad or junk unless they are gross to me. I think rice cakes are junky pieces of styrofoam. I think a lot of reduced fat or fat free products are not good tasting. I have a grudge against margarine. I'd mostly rather choose foods that are naturally low fat or eat smaller portions.
If someone doesn't choose to eat out or eat packaged foods they may or may not be eating healthier than someone eating out often. Depends on their whole diet choices and individual health issues.
As you say, we don't need to fear food to lose weight.
4 -
I appreciate everyone's input. I'm glad to hear some of you can eat what I'm trying to avoid and still lose weight. That will not work for me. If I eat fast food it will open the flood gates and I will definitely not be on track. It has happened to me in the past and took me almost a year to get back on.1
-
You will lose weight if you stay under your calories, but that's only part of being healthy. Your body still needs vitamins and nutrients that fast food is really void of in decent quantities. So while you can loose weight off of eating fast food and staying under your calories, you are starving you body of what it needs to really be healthy.0
-
I appreciate everyone's input. I'm glad to hear some of you can eat what I'm trying to avoid and still lose weight. That will not work for me. If I eat fast food it will open the flood gates and I will definitely not be on track. It has happened to me in the past and took me almost a year to get back on.
An honest question: what are you plans for handling the flood gates when you reach your goal weight? Do you plan on living on foods that you dislike for life? Do you plan on re-introducing the foods you have problems with later, focusing your energy on learning how to handle them once you hit maintenance? Are you hoping your tastes will change with time?
See, I'm not against eliminating whatever foods you believe you need to eliminate. I'm all for it if it makes things easier for you (although it does sound like you are having a hard time without them). Looking ahead is important, though. Try to think of a plan for the future so your efforts don't go to waste. Whether or not it will include fast food is for you to decide, as long as you realize that now or later you will need to think about what strategies you believe could help you prevent regain.10 -
I appreciate everyone's input. I'm glad to hear some of you can eat what I'm trying to avoid and still lose weight. That will not work for me. If I eat fast food it will open the flood gates and I will definitely not be on track. It has happened to me in the past and took me almost a year to get back on.
You know you can make a burger or chicken at home, right? I think it's tastier than fast food, personally. The point isn't that you can eat fast food (although you can if you find a way to fit it in), it's that eating healthfully doesn't mean you eat bad tasting food.
IMO, fast food isn't even particularly tasty compared to good home cooked food (or many other restaurants -- had a great pork chop with peaches, roasted sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, and chard last night at a restaurant, although no doubt it was higher cal than is ideal), but of course tastes vary. The point is start with not only what you think meets your nutrient needs and calorie goals but also what is delicious for you and make that.
I think it was amusedmonkey who said that having lower calories made her care MORE about eating only tasty food, not less. I couldn't agree more. I wasted tons of calories before I was paying attention on things I think are eh, and now when that happens it bothers me. Not everything I make or choose is successful, but I try.5 -
Hey, don't dis on "sometimes" foods (as I tell my kid)!
Warm chocolate chip cookies are are REASON TO LIVE as far as I'm concerned!
I don't necessarily want to eat lentil soup every lunch, as good as it is for me. But neither should I eat chocolate chip cookies every lunch, too.
I've found that if I do my 45 minutes of Zumba I really seem to be able to eat just about anything I really want to (within sanity), and I've found that to be a pretty good motivator for me. Not that I actually eat crazy those days but it's liberating to know that I could.
I know what others say about eating back calories but I've found that it's liberating for me. 4 -
Healthy foods can taste very good when you know how to cook. Also, people tend to have a very myopic view of what constitutes healthy and tend to make very bland and boring dishes. Healthy food can be very flavorful. I just made a one pot cabbage, potatoes, and roasted chicken last night...it was delicious and the drippings from the skin really added a nice flavor punch...in that regard, dietary fat is essential and totally healthy when consumed in appropriate amounts...and dietary fat makes food taste good.
If you miss fried chicken, why not do some in the oven...roasted chicken is pretty tasty...
When I do tuna salad I usually make it with avocado...I scoop out the avocado and reserve the casing...mix in some S&P, tuna, some roasted red peppers, and lime juice and then use the avocado casing as a "bowl" and top with some cilantro...healthy and very delicious.5 -
I must say I'm shocked at the number of people who don't want to eat healthy and eat better food, they just want to lose weight
Are you basing that statement on comments you are seeing in this thread? Can you please point to one where someone said they only want to lose weight and have no interest in eating "healthy"? Why do you think the two are mutually exclusive?8 -
kshama2001 wrote: »
When I was new to the forums, I thought this is what a lot of posters were saying as well. However, if you stick around you will realize that no one is actually advocating 100% junk. Most people who say only calories matter for weight loss also go on to say that what you eat matters for satiety, health, nutrition, etc. Sometimes people give a short response because they have answered the same question hundreds of times, but if you have read their other posts you will have context for their complete views.
All of this and I appreciate you acknowledging you had that assumption but have changed your perception. I think that's helpful for people to hear rather than just assuming that people are either in the "a calorie is just a calorie and nothing else matters" camp or that they care about nutrition and there's no middle ground. There is another thread going on where no matter how many times people explain that saying "calories are all that matter for weight loss" does not mean "ignore nutrition" the posters keep coming in with that erroneous and somewhat offensive interpretation.6 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »
Why would you think this?
I was thin for years and ate an almost neurotically healthy diet, but was extremely unhealthy in other ways.
Then I was fat yet continued eating healthfully (well, except for the major problem of overeating). I knew vaguely that of course it wasn't good for my health, but my lifestyle was in other ways less unhealthy than it had been so I figured I would get it together eventually. Plus, I never had any health issues related to weight -- my doctor mentioned it was a risk factor, of course, but my tests were always good.
Eventually I got disgusted with how I looked in a photo and with the clothing options available to me and was just generally unhappy with my appearance and wanted to get back into running and biking, so decided to lose.
If I'd waited 'til the health thing was enough to motivate me, I'd have put it off much longer. Obviously if someone has bad tests, that's more motivating, but often just losing weight improves health a lot (and my healthy diet didn't make being fat okay for my health).
Oh, and I've been losing more or planning to lose more despite being well within a healthy weight for a good bit of my time here, as are many others, so probably that's not really for "health" either. (For me it's because of wanting to run faster and be more fit for athletic stuff, and because of what I think looks good for me, and plus I like vintage clothes.)
I'll chime in on this note. I was 210 pounds eating quite the healthy diet.
I started losing weight for health reasons, and lost enough weight in 2014 (70 pounds) to take care of that issue.
Since then? It's been all about vanity. I lost 24 additional pounds last year, and I'm looking to drop some vanity weight this year and improve my body composition because I enjoy the idea of being able to consider myself lean for my age.
The interesting thing is that since I have starting to lose weight, become less restrictive in my food choices. Things still need to taste good, but if I want french fries or candy or cookies on occasion, I have them.
I still vastly prefer my own cooking, and I've been a scratch cook since I was ten years old. Tonight is stir fry night. I'm having cottage cheese with vegetables for breakfast. Then I'm going to have popcorn with a protein shake for a big snack and possibly a gluten-free poptart since it's my maintenance day. If there are any calories left, I might even have some chocolate.4 -
I must say I'm shocked at the number of people who don't want to eat healthy and eat better food, they just want to lose weight
That's not what people are saying...nobody is saying go live off of fast food and other junk food...people are saying that one can enjoy these things in moderation...as in occasionally. I eat very well for the most part and eat primarily whole foods and meals prepared from scratch, whole ingredients...
I generally get in my 6 servings of fruit and veg (mostly veg)...eat whole grains like oats...lentils and legumes and whole food starches like potatoes and sweet potatoes...most of my protein is lean sourced, primarily from fish and chicken, eggs, etc and I get my fats from things like avocados, nuts, good cooking oils, etc...All of that is substantially the composition of my diet. On Saturdays we usually take the boys out for pizza after their soccer and football games...it's pretty irrelevant to my diet as a whole.6 -
I do oven fried chicken nuggets sometimes. They are so much better than the chicken nuggets that you get at a fast food restaurant.
When I want egg rolls I use up leftovers and bake those in the oven.
Occasionally I do burgers on some type of really good bread. If I want that fast food feel I will eat some type of chip with it.
All of the fast foods that you like can be made at home...healthier and with less calories. More work perhaps but there is always a trade off.2 -
I appreciate everyone's input. I'm glad to hear some of you can eat what I'm trying to avoid and still lose weight. That will not work for me. If I eat fast food it will open the flood gates and I will definitely not be on track. It has happened to me in the past and took me almost a year to get back on.
As Amusedmonkey said, it's helpful to think of the long term here. Fast food isn't necessary (I can't eat it since I have celiac disease, and even the places that would accommodate me hold no interest me because I find the quality of them lacking), and eliminating potential trigger foods is a valid strategy.
But eliminating everything isn't often necessary. There's usually a middle ground to be found as you go along wherein you can find that there are foods you find you can moderate.
Also, as lemurcat said, it's not as if you never have to eat a hamburger again. You can make your own at home. You can buy an air fryer and make fried chicken. You can slice a potato into wedges and toss it with a little oil and roast it instead of having french fries. These are quite tasty substitutions.4 -
I appreciate everyone's input. I'm glad to hear some of you can eat what I'm trying to avoid and still lose weight. That will not work for me. If I eat fast food it will open the flood gates and I will definitely not be on track. It has happened to me in the past and took me almost a year to get back on.
I hear you and I begrudgingly accept that there are certain foods that are usually not worth the calorie bomb and subsequent flood-gate opening for me, but I refuse to live my life without some of my faves so it's been worth investing some effort into making "copy cat" versions of the foods I love. I make a breakfast sandwich now that keeps me from wanting to go through a drive-thru. On the rare occasion when I have something on the road I realize I'm getting way less food than when I make it at home and with variable freshness. A teeny little sandwhich for 460 calories when I make a bigger one for about 300. Bah. You get way more bang for your buck if you make it yourself. If you are just a little bit creative you can find a way to make something you love at home. It's worth the effort.1 -
I eat healthy foods every day and none of it tastes bad or makes me miss heavy greasy overly salty fast food. I know how to pick really yummy foods that are healthy but also have good flavor. I'm good at cooking. In fact when I do occasionally have fried or heavy fast foods it leaves a gross aftertaste in my mouth and usually makes me feel physically ill or have digestive issues.
Keep going you'll get there too. The taste buds eventually adjust and you will learn how to make that healthy food even more delicious than your old fast food/comfort food favorites.1 -
You will lose weight if you stay under your calories, but that's only part of being healthy. Your body still needs vitamins and nutrients that fast food is really void of in decent quantities. So while you can loose weight off of eating fast food and staying under your calories, you are starving you body of what it needs to really be healthy.
One thing I have learned while trying to lose my excess weight is that I can eat the so called "bad" foods in moderation. I seriously doubt the one fast food meal I have every two weeks, that's 1 out of approximately 42 meals, will starve my body of nutrition.5 -
The golden ratio for desirable food is 1:1 fat:sugar. They did a study on it with Krispy Kremes-why are the ordinary normal glazed ones a heap more popular than the chocolate ones or fancier ones?
-because the ratio of fat to sugar in the glazed ones is 1:1 where as the fancier ones have a different ratio and are therefore less desirable to our tastebuds and visual perception.
Quite interesting really.
Well done on making healthy changes! I miss pizza like proper fat cheesy pizza the most x1 -
BiomedDent wrote: »The golden ratio for desirable food is 1:1 fat:sugar. They did a study on it with Krispy Kremes-why are the ordinary normal glazed ones a heap more popular than the chocolate ones or fancier ones?
-because the ratio of fat to sugar in the glazed ones is 1:1 where as the fancier ones have a different ratio and are therefore less desirable to our tastebuds and visual perception.
Quite interesting really.
Well done on making healthy changes! I miss pizza like proper fat cheesy pizza the most x
Neato. That means more fancy, chocolate donuts for me!5 -
BiomedDent wrote: »The golden ratio for desirable food is 1:1 fat:sugar. They did a study on it with Krispy Kremes-why are the ordinary normal glazed ones a heap more popular than the chocolate ones or fancier ones?
-because the ratio of fat to sugar in the glazed ones is 1:1 where as the fancier ones have a different ratio and are therefore less desirable to our tastebuds and visual perception.
Quite interesting really.
Well done on making healthy changes! I miss pizza like proper fat cheesy pizza the most x
I eat the regular glazed ones because those are the ones they give out free
4 -
Neato. That means more fancy, chocolate donuts for me!crzycatlady1 wrote: »
Not gonna lie-I find Krispy Kreme revolting lol
1 -
Therealobi1 wrote: »
i must admit mcdonalds doesnt taste as good as it used to. but then i guess i used to eat so mindlessly i prob couldnt taste what i was eating.
Now and then i do go back and try foods that i hated but i still hate them. i.e olives, avocados, celery, cottage cheese etc.
I absolutely hate avocados. They are so popular right now and it seems everyone loves them.1 -
Rebecca0224 wrote: »
I absolutely hate avocados. They are so popular right now and it seems everyone loves them.
I like them but just about never eat them alone. A recipe I just made calls for avocado slices on top of the soup just prior to serving. Are you trying to just eat plain avocados?0 -
I appreciate everyone's input. I'm glad to hear some of you can eat what I'm trying to avoid and still lose weight. That will not work for me. If I eat fast food it will open the flood gates and I will definitely not be on track. It has happened to me in the past and took me almost a year to get back on.
That stumble could actually be part of the learning process. Success isn't always a straight line!2 -
healthy and yummy recipe soures: forks over knives cookbook, thug kitchen (comfort foods), oh she glows, onegreenplanet.org (see recipe monster)
I used to hate salad but then i tried a view that were like wow this is good! its all trial and error.1 -
I must say I'm shocked at the number of people who don't want to eat healthy and eat better food, they just want to lose weight
You do you.
And again, no one has been advocating eating so-called "junk" food for every meal and snack. My dietitian recommends consuming all foods on moderation... and I trust her educated advice.
4 -
cerise_noir wrote: »
Why eat it at all when you can cook the same thing with better flavour and a lot more healthier for you?1 -
-
I can make burgers for my family for less than it costs to get value meal Whoppers for everyone. Real, high-quality meat, homemade buns (or decent store-brand), thin slices of real cheese, spicy mustard, freshly sliced onions. IT actually takes less time to make them than it does to drive from my house to the nearest Burger King and order.
Yeah, they've got as many calories in them as a Whopper does, but when we don't get sodas and we have them with a small serving of potato chips and a side of coleslaw, the meal fits my calorie goals and is well within my definition of "a healthy meal."
We're on a tight food budget that means we can't afford to eat out. I'm cooking almost every meal we make, and the way that's tolerable to me is I make the food I want to eat. If I can have good, tasty food at home, I don't miss eating out -- and I've learned that I can make *better* stuff than almost any of our old restaurant favorites.
(When you learn how little some of those favorites cost to make, then you start getting cranky about spending that much on a meal that you can make better at home).
This idea that you have to eat special foods to lose weight -- and the idea that people who don't need to lose weight don't eat those foods and would not want to eat those foods -- seems really unrealistic to me. People will post about what to do about feeding the rest of the family while they're on their diet, and I ask "if a food really is that unhealthy, why are your kids eating it? And if its okay for your kids, why is it not okay for you?" Model a life of eating good food in moderate portions and your whole family will be better off.4 -
Can we all, really, though? You're making a blanket statement about everyone's ability to cook better tasting meals than what we purchased from a restaurant. Also if you eliminate every single thing we've all bought from restaurants, that would be a very limited diet, IMO.1 -
Rebecca0224 wrote: »
I absolutely hate avocados. They are so popular right now and it seems everyone loves them.
They've always been popular in my neck of the woods...1
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 394.7K Introduce Yourself
- 44K Getting Started
- 260.5K Health and Weight Loss
- 176.1K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.7K Fitness and Exercise
- 444 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 4.1K MyFitnessPal Information
- 16 News and Announcements
- 1.3K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.8K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions