Real food diet...is that a thing?
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CICO...yes, this is simple math and is obviously going to work. My thought process is that although a Twinkie and a piece of salmon might have the same caloric intake does that make both foods equal? No, it doesn't. I understand that's not the point many are trying to make here. I'm not just worried about losing weight (although that's my main objective), I'm also worried about the food I'm eating and how it affects my health. All things in moderation right? I agree and after reading all of the comments I don't think my original plan is realistic. I also don't think that eating 'whole foods' or 'real foods' whatever you call it is a bad thing.4
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CICO...yes, this is simple math and is obviously going to work. My thought process is that although a Twinkie and a piece of salmon might have the same caloric intake does that make both foods equal? No, it doesn't. I understand that's not the point many are trying to make here. I'm not just worried about losing weight (although that's my main objective), I'm also worried about the food I'm eating and how it affects my health. All things in moderation right? I agree and after reading all of the comments I don't think my original plan is realistic. I also don't think that eating 'whole foods' or 'real foods' whatever you call it is a bad thing.
You're in good company because nobody is saying otherwise.5 -
CICO...yes, this is simple math and is obviously going to work. My thought process is that although a Twinkie and a piece of salmon might have the same caloric intake does that make both foods equal? No, it doesn't. I understand that's not the point many are trying to make here. I'm not just worried about losing weight (although that's my main objective), I'm also worried about the food I'm eating and how it affects my health. All things in moderation right? I agree and after reading all of the comments I don't think my original plan is realistic. I also don't think that eating 'whole foods' or 'real foods' whatever you call it is a bad thing.
here is a little lesson for you.
all calories are the same from an energy standpoint. S yes the 100 calories of twinkie = 100 calories of salmon. However, they do not contain the same nutritional profile.
Calorie deficit for weight loss.
Micro/macro adherence and structured exercise regimen for body composition goals.
Why does it have to be a zero sum game between salmon and twinkies? why can't you have salmon and vegetables for dinner and a twinkie or two for dessert?
There are no bad foods, just bad diets. What matters is an overall diet that hits micro and macro targets and meets your calorie goal for the day.10 -
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does not change the fact that sugar = sugar
and you get a similar insulin spike from protein, are you also suggesting taking fiber with that?4 -
StarBrightStarBright wrote: »crzycatlady1 wrote: »StarBrightStarBright wrote: »FWIW- I found that a "real food diet" (Michael Pollan style) kept me at a sustainable and healthy weight for years without trying.
I spent my teens and early twenties inhaling "fake" diet foods and working out all of the time to maintain a weight of 135 for years - so much work to weigh 135. I gradually learned to cook from scratch and eat whole foods and while I drifted upwards a bit (to 142 (summer)-146(winter)) I kept in that range for 10 years rather effortlessly.
After my last baby and now in my late 30s I'm finding that I need to tweak my diet (macros and smaller portions) to keep my weight in that range - BUT - I firmly believe that eating whole foods in sensible portions will help keep you satisfied while staying in a good caloric range (you do have to eat correct portion sizes though).
*and I agree that shakes definitely do not count as real food.
I eat all sorts of foods, including ones I'm sure you'd consider 'fake' diet ones, and I have absolutely no problem maintaining my weight, (maintenance range is 125lbs-130lbs), and that's without any exercise factored in (I'm also almost 40yrs old and a mom of 3 kids, go me lol). It's not work at all because I enjoy what I eat. I keep my calorie intake lined up with my weight management goals and that keeps my weight on target. Has nothing to do though, with what I'm eating/not eating and has has everything to do with calorie/portion sizes. As you said-you actually gained weight while eating a whole foods diet. It's not the food choices-it's all about the calories.
And satiety really varies between people. I do better on a higher carb macro ratio, others do well on a lower carb one etc. You may do better with a whole foods woe, while others like myself do great when incorporating things like the BK Whopper combo I had for supper last night
I see my quotation marks did not come off as I'd hoped I put both fake and real food in quotes - because they all contain calories and thus do the same job and are both food.
I agree the CICO works for straight up weight loss - but since there were a lot of "it doesn't matter what you eat" comments I was trying to add a positive for what the OP referred to as real food.
What I was trying to say (and what clearly did not come across) was that eating what the OP calls "real foods" was great for me and I think it can be a great way to eat for those that want to attempt it.
Ah, thanks for clarifying! And I'm definitely not saying a whole foods approach is bad, (I'm actually one of those crazy people participating in the 800g a day veg/fruit challenge this month lol). Just that people are successful following all sorts of plans, but the underlying theme for weight loss is cico 1 -
Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »Well, here I am at the heaviest I've ever been. I haven't tried every diet out there, haven't yo-yo dieted, never taken a diet pill but, I have been REALLY LAZY about my health and fitness! What can I say, I'm a super wife, busy mom-of-three, I work full time, you know the drill. It's time for a change!
So, here's what I'm doing so far:
1. Eating only 'real foods', nothing processed.
2. Tracking what I eat here on MFP (1200 calories or less)
3. Cut out sugar
4. Replacing 1 meal a day with a protein shake
5. Drinking half my weight (or more) in water
6. Taking 1 serving of Amazing Grass each day
I've only been giving this approach a go since last Sunday. I have no problem with the food and I've been feeling pretty good, until yesterday. I think I might have hit a wall or something but...I'm exhausted! Any recommendations on things I can incorporate into my routine to help me feel more energized? Also, any tweeks or changes I should do with my 'plan'? Thanks so much for reading!Well, here I am at the heaviest I've ever been. I haven't tried every diet out there, haven't yo-yo dieted, never taken a diet pill but, I have been REALLY LAZY about my health and fitness! What can I say, I'm a super wife, busy mom-of-three, I work full time, you know the drill. It's time for a change!
So, here's what I'm doing so far:
1. Eating only 'real foods', nothing processed.
2. Tracking what I eat here on MFP (1200 calories or less)
3. Cut out sugar
4. Replacing 1 meal a day with a protein shake
5. Drinking half my weight (or more) in water
6. Taking 1 serving of Amazing Grass each day
I've only been giving this approach a go since last Sunday. I have no problem with the food and I've been feeling pretty good, until yesterday. I think I might have hit a wall or something but...I'm exhausted! Any recommendations on things I can incorporate into my routine to help me feel more energized? Also, any tweeks or changes I should do with my 'plan'? Thanks so much for reading!
I think that if you want to do an elimination diet, you should do something like a Whole 30. That will get you weaned off of the foods that gave you cravings and also help you figure out which foods you're sensitive to. I think that those who abide strictly to a CICO approach are a bit narrow-minded, since it doesn't work for anyone. In addition to food sensitivities, most people find it difficult to eat high-carb foods in moderation, so you're better off cutting them out entirely in the beginning.
117 pounds lost using only CICO.. and while some days i second guess myself... i am pretty sure i am someone.
Lots of people misread what I said. I said that it doesn't work for everyone. It does work for lots of people -- evidence by your success. A diet like Whole 30 can help people figure out what works for them as individuals. The approach to eating worked much better for me, since my body doesn't tolerate sugar well.
Also, there have been a ton of scientific studies in the past few years demonstrating the harm that processed sugar causes to the human body, as well as its addictiveness. So please don't all jump on me and tell me that it's all about willpower.
You may have meant to say that CICO doesn't work for EVERYONE, but you actually said it doesn't work for ANYONE. You can see that if you expand the quotes above.
Regardless of what you meant and what you actually said, I'm not sure you understand CICO. It is a fundamental energy balance, not a diet, an approach, or a way of eating. It doesn't mean "eat nothing but junk food and as long as you're in a deficit, you will lose weight" and if you interpret it that way, well, that's on you, not on the people saying that weight loss comes strictly from a calorie deficit, not from the specific foods you eat.
This isn't a sugar thread, and there are countless others where the concept of whether sugar is addictive or not, so I'm not going to get into that any further here.
I'm still curious why you think OP needs to undertake an elimination diet when she didn't describe any concerns about food sensitivities.4 -
Whole foods is a good idea, a very good idea in fact. What is not good is obsession with whole foods to where it affects quality of life and relationships and produces unnecessary stress. It's also not good when restrictions affect your ability to follow your chosen weight control plan indefinitely.10
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Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »
Actually, it does not.
The amount of fiber in a single banana does not even negate even 95% of the natural sugars in it.
If someone is a diabetic, taking insulin they still need to take the same amount of insulin for the carbs in the fruit after subtracting fiber as they would from a chocolate bar with the same carbs. If a diabetic ate fruit without taking insulin to balance it, their blood sugars would spike, same as a healthy person, however the healthy person creates their own insulin and balances the sugar in the fruit the same way a person with diabetes taking insulin would. Spikes happen regardless.
Just gonna leave this debate with a recomandation from WHO.
“We have solid evidence that keeping intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake reduces the risk of overweight, obesity and tooth decay,” says Dr Francesco Branca, Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development. “Making policy changes to support this will be key if countries are to live up to their commitments to reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases.”
The WHO guideline does not refer to the sugars in fresh fruits and vegetables, and sugars naturally present in milk, because there is no reported evidence of adverse effects of consuming these sugars.0 -
CICO...yes, this is simple math and is obviously going to work. My thought process is that although a Twinkie and a piece of salmon might have the same caloric intake does that make both foods equal? No, it doesn't. I understand that's not the point many are trying to make here. I'm not just worried about losing weight (although that's my main objective), I'm also worried about the food I'm eating and how it affects my health. All things in moderation right? I agree and after reading all of the comments I don't think my original plan is realistic. I also don't think that eating 'whole foods' or 'real foods' whatever you call it is a bad thing.
I agree with you on this.
I think where your initial post might have tripped some alarms is that a lot of us have dieted on and off and know all too well how that shiny-new resolve to start a new diet with all sorts of sweeping changes fails really fast.
We've learned that making any kind of drastic drudgery of dieting just doesn't work for the long haul.
So while your commitment to eating well is a good thing, can you maybe think of ways to do it that are easier to implement in stages into your life so that the changes are sustainable and permanent. More importantly, can you make such changes without having rigid rules?
It's okay if your vegetables are frozen, or your spaghetti sauce is from a jar (yes, look at the ingredients and buy the best brand with the fewest ingredients).
It's also okay if you have some dark chocolate or ice cream every day. Or ... you say you're eating fruit? Dessert can be fruit, yogurt... and some chocolate chips sprinkled in or you can top it with chocolate or caramel syrup (I often have this for dessert myself).
Just try to loosen up on the absolutes you envisioned for your path to the new you and take the scenic route. You'll enjoy the ride much more.11 -
Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »
Actually, it does not.
The amount of fiber in a single banana does not even negate even 95% of the natural sugars in it.
If someone is a diabetic, taking insulin they still need to take the same amount of insulin for the carbs in the fruit after subtracting fiber as they would from a chocolate bar with the same carbs. If a diabetic ate fruit without taking insulin to balance it, their blood sugars would spike, same as a healthy person, however the healthy person creates their own insulin and balances the sugar in the fruit the same way a person with diabetes taking insulin would. Spikes happen regardless.
Just gonna leave this debate with a recomandation from WHO.
“We have solid evidence that keeping intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake reduces the risk of overweight, obesity and tooth decay,” says Dr Francesco Branca, Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development. “Making policy changes to support this will be key if countries are to live up to their commitments to reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases.”
The WHO guideline does not refer to the sugars in fresh fruits and vegetables, and sugars naturally present in milk, because there is no reported evidence of adverse effects of consuming these sugars.
So your interpretation of the WHO Guidelines is that if you eat sugars from fresh fruits and vegetables, that you are not at risk of becoming overweight, obese, or having tooth decay?7 -
As I'm typing this I'm eating a piece of chocolate birthday cake from an office birthday. I logged it and I still have 600 calories left to meet my new goal of 1550.39
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WinoGelato wrote: »Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »
Actually, it does not.
The amount of fiber in a single banana does not even negate even 95% of the natural sugars in it.
If someone is a diabetic, taking insulin they still need to take the same amount of insulin for the carbs in the fruit after subtracting fiber as they would from a chocolate bar with the same carbs. If a diabetic ate fruit without taking insulin to balance it, their blood sugars would spike, same as a healthy person, however the healthy person creates their own insulin and balances the sugar in the fruit the same way a person with diabetes taking insulin would. Spikes happen regardless.
Just gonna leave this debate with a recomandation from WHO.
“We have solid evidence that keeping intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake reduces the risk of overweight, obesity and tooth decay,” says Dr Francesco Branca, Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development. “Making policy changes to support this will be key if countries are to live up to their commitments to reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases.”
The WHO guideline does not refer to the sugars in fresh fruits and vegetables, and sugars naturally present in milk, because there is no reported evidence of adverse effects of consuming these sugars.
So your interpretation of the WHO Guidelines is that if you eat sugars from fresh fruits and vegetables, that you are not at risk of becoming overweight, obese, or having tooth decay?
This is straight from the WHO website, not my interpretation.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/sugar-guideline/en/
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I *used to* like you, Kriss.5
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