Is it considered healthy, a cheat or what?
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ochoa_ml
Posts: 10 Member
If my meals consists of foods deemed unhealthy, like fried food or fast food, but I still stay within my calories, is this still considered a cheat? I may be within my calories but I’m not eating anything that’s good for me, so I feel I’m at a crossroads.
For example, I really like instant ramen (Top Ramen, Cup o Noodles, you name it) but anytime I eat it I feel really unhealthy afterward, even though it’s well within my calories.
Thoughts?
For example, I really like instant ramen (Top Ramen, Cup o Noodles, you name it) but anytime I eat it I feel really unhealthy afterward, even though it’s well within my calories.
Thoughts?
1
Replies
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For losing weight, calories are king.
For health, the content of the calories matter.
What is your own personal goal?
You can only cheat yourself, so you make the rules.
You tell us. Are you cheating?
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no.. I don't think so.. We only cheat ourselves if we overeat and never reach our fitness goals. If we can eat things we enjoy and stay on our fitness path.. yay!7
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If my meals consists of foods deemed unhealthy, like fried food or fast food, but I still stay within my calories, is this still considered a cheat? I may be within my calories but I’m not eating anything that’s good for me, so I feel I’m at a crossroads.
For example, I really like instant ramen (Top Ramen, Cup o Noodles, you name it) but anytime I eat it I feel really unhealthy afterward, even though it’s well within my calories.
Thoughts?
You need energy to stay alive. The food you eat is energy. In that respect it is good for you.
It is generally unhealthy mentally to label food as good or bad. I think you know you shouldn't eat fried food all the time but in moderation there is no harm in it if it fits your calories.
My health has dramatically improved in the last 2 years. In that time I have had plenty of fast food, fried foods, noodles (not ramen cuz not a fan), pizza, potato chips, processed food, doughnuts, and the list goes on.
My mindset is to eat around 80 percent nutrient rich food and 20 percent treat food. I do not calculate it precisely. It is a mindset. Basically the majority of my food is for balanced nutrition and the rest is whatever I want in the moment.16 -
I agree with ^^^ that a lot depends on your goals. Also, how is this working for you — do you enjoy the things you eat? Are they satisfying? Do you feel really good? If the fried food/fast food/ramen is working for you, and it fits in your goals (calorie, macro or otherwise), then buen provecho!3
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I personally don't call anything a cheat, more hitting goals, not hitting goals, and somewhere in between (not only about calories but other factors as well). All are ok but you want to do things that hit your goals more often (whatever they may be).
I definitely don't think it's bad to enjoy and eat all types of foods, especially if you are maintaining. However for me I wouldn't do that everyday since I have to think about nutrition, my protein goals as well as how it affects my sleep and workout performance.3 -
Thanks everyone for the help!
I think everyone is right, if it fits my goals, I’m enjoying the food, and I’m eating fried or processed foods in moderation, that’s what matters. I very much am still struggling to mentally refrain from labeling foods good and bad, but I think everyone’s advice helped put things into perspective
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I had a look at a bottle of "real mayonnaise" and what's in it. All those chemicals, some of them I can't even pronounce. Do I want them in my body? Me things not. If I want mayonnaise, I make my own. EasyPeasy.2
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neugebauer52 wrote: »I had a look at a bottle of "real mayonnaise" and what's in it. All those chemicals, some of them I can't even pronounce. Do I want them in my body? Me things not. If I want mayonnaise, I make my own. EasyPeasy.
So do you avoid dihydrogen monoxide? Or sodium chloride, or ascorbic acid? Because they are all chemicals. Food is chemicals. Google the list of chemicals in a banana. The ability, or inability, to pronounce a chemical name says more about your ability to read than the appropriateness of food to eat. I can pronounce arsenic, but sure as heck don't want to eat much of it
Oh those three I mentioned, water, salt and vitamin c.
OP I eat chocolate every day, I love chocolate so make a place for it in my calorie intake.
I dot refer to cheat days anymore cause I'm not cheating. I have indulgent days, where I choose to go over my calorie allowance. Then I'm not cheating and all the guilt that comes with it. I'm merely choosing to indulgent that day. As long as my weight trend is going where I want (down atm but eventually in a flat line) then I'll have the occasional guilt free indulgent day. 019 -
neugebauer52 wrote: »I had a look at a bottle of "real mayonnaise" and what's in it. All those chemicals, some of them I can't even pronounce. Do I want them in my body? Me things not. If I want mayonnaise, I make my own. EasyPeasy.
If you make your mayo with raw eggs, it is way more dangerous than the store bought. Don't get me wrong I do make dishes with raw eggs but I understand the risks involved and avoid it at certain times in my life.10 -
neugebauer52 wrote: »I had a look at a bottle of "real mayonnaise" and what's in it. All those chemicals, some of them I can't even pronounce. Do I want them in my body? Me things not. If I want mayonnaise, I make my own. EasyPeasy.
If you make your mayo with raw eggs, it is way more dangerous than the store bought. Don't get me wrong I do make dishes with raw eggs but I understand the risks involved and avoid it at certain times in my life.
I use boiled, peeled whole eggs - just a bit of olive oil and a strong food processor. We vary spices and herbs. Recently we used a little bit of curry powder freshly mixed from Durban. My favorite - fresh herbs which we grow in our garden: chives, parsley, lemon grass, curry leaves, basil, thyme - no salt needed.1 -
It's not a cheat. Just check that the other calories you consume that day are giving you proper nutrition. You can then bulk out your food with whatever you fancy. My only caveat would be - don't eat food that triggers cravings. I've cut out refined carbs and it's really shown me the difference between actual hunger (quite a pleasant nagging hollow feeling in the stomach that is capable of waiting 30 mins - 1 hour before dinner) and cravings (an obsessive mental hysterical chant of "I'm starving, let me eat everything in sight, immediately!)3
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I'll count the disagrees at the end of the day.
It's not cheating your calorie count but you might be cheating your body of much needed nutrients in place of a lot of salt, more or less empty carbs, that sort of thing. And I believe that too much salt, too many carbs instead of fresh vegs/lean meats/etc. if done all the time, is not the best way to go.
There's room in our eating plans for everything, as long as we maintain balance and good nutrition, for the most part, along the way.4 -
neugebauer52 wrote: »I had a look at a bottle of "real mayonnaise" and what's in it. All those chemicals, some of them I can't even pronounce. Do I want them in my body? Me things not. If I want mayonnaise, I make my own. EasyPeasy.
Your body has a lot of parts that you would find very difficult to pronounce. If you got rid of all of them you would be dead. It is not your food's fault or your body's fault that people named them things that are not common terms.8 -
I'll count the disagrees at the end of the day.
It's not cheating your calorie count but you might be cheating your body of much needed nutrients in place of a lot of salt, more or less empty carbs, that sort of thing. And I believe that too much salt, too many carbs instead of fresh vegs/lean meats/etc. if done all the time, is not the best way to go.
There's room in our eating plans for everything, as long as we maintain balance and good nutrition, for the most part, along the way.
That is why you see a doctor from time to time and have blood tests done so you do not have to live in the dark. I believe that stress over nutrition is not healthy in the long run.7 -
neugebauer52 wrote: »I had a look at a bottle of "real mayonnaise" and what's in it. All those chemicals, some of them I can't even pronounce. Do I want them in my body? Me things not. If I want mayonnaise, I make my own. EasyPeasy.
So do you avoid dihydrogen monoxide? Or sodium chloride, or ascorbic acid? Because they are all chemicals. Food is chemicals. Google the list of chemicals in a banana. The ability, or inability, to pronounce a chemical name says more about your ability to read than the appropriateness of food to eat. I can pronounce arsenic, but sure as heck don't want to eat much of it
Oh those three I mentioned, water, salt and vitamin c.
OP I eat chocolate every day, I love chocolate so make a place for it in my calorie intake.
I dot refer to cheat days anymore cause I'm not cheating. I have indulgent days, where I choose to go over my calorie allowance. Then I'm not cheating and all the guilt that comes with it. I'm merely choosing to indulgent that day. As long as my weight trend is going where I want (down atm but eventually in a flat line) then I'll have the occasional guilt free indulgent day. 0
I'll chime in : did you know that you actually need amonia in your body, and that if your amonia levels are too low, it can cause adverse health effects? In fact, a person recently asked our church to pray for them because of health complications they were dealing with because their amonia levels were way too low.
Secondly, I cannot make homemade mayonaise and get the calorie count per serving down to below what I can get from a jar of Smart Balance. And since I only use mayo rarely, I can't get even a small jar of homemade to last as long, since it goes bad within a week whereas the smart balance lasts at least a month or more. I hate wasting things.7 -
Amazing how much difference the words themselves actually make. The mental issues caused by cheat, indulgent etc. I am really noticing that it is mindset that makes huge differences. I want to run an experiment and for a week repeat the mantra, this week I can not eat.... and pick something like carrots, repeat and repeat. I am sure before the end of the week I will be lusting, dreaming and craving carrots.......14
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neugebauer52 wrote: »neugebauer52 wrote: »I had a look at a bottle of "real mayonnaise" and what's in it. All those chemicals, some of them I can't even pronounce. Do I want them in my body? Me things not. If I want mayonnaise, I make my own. EasyPeasy.
If you make your mayo with raw eggs, it is way more dangerous than the store bought. Don't get me wrong I do make dishes with raw eggs but I understand the risks involved and avoid it at certain times in my life.
I use boiled, peeled whole eggs - just a bit of olive oil and a strong food processor. We vary spices and herbs. Recently we used a little bit of curry powder freshly mixed from Durban. My favorite - fresh herbs which we grow in our garden: chives, parsley, lemon grass, curry leaves, basil, thyme - no salt needed.
That's not mayo. That's seasoned hard-boiled egg slurry. It omits a key ingredient (the acid), besides.
(I've made mayo. Yes, it's easy. Not enough better tasting to bother, regardless. If you want something closer to mayo you can make yourself, without worrying about raw eggs, pasteurize the eggs - also easy. Mayo is an emulsion, not a slurry.)19 -
If my meals consists of foods deemed unhealthy, like fried food or fast food, but I still stay within my calories, is this still considered a cheat? I may be within my calories but I’m not eating anything that’s good for me, so I feel I’m at a crossroads.
For example, I really like instant ramen (Top Ramen, Cup o Noodles, you name it) but anytime I eat it I feel really unhealthy afterward, even though it’s well within my calories.
Thoughts?
Did you enter into some kind of social agreement with someone else about your body? I'm guessing no. Then the term cheating just doesn't fit.
Would I recommend you eat your big kid foods more? Sure. They'll probably help you stay on track too.
The evidence suggest, if you're getting in your micronutrients in general, and going from obese or overweight towards a normal BMI, your health markers are probably going to improve even on a "poor" diet - it's been shown with things like McDonald's diets, and Twinkie diets.2 -
If my meals consists of foods deemed unhealthy, like fried food or fast food, but I still stay within my calories, is this still considered a cheat? I may be within my calories but I’m not eating anything that’s good for me, so I feel I’m at a crossroads.
For example, I really like instant ramen (Top Ramen, Cup o Noodles, you name it) but anytime I eat it I feel really unhealthy afterward, even though it’s well within my calories.
Thoughts?
You need to look at "healthy" in the full context of your diet as a whole, and not the minutia of a singular food or meal. If you ate ramen for every meal, that wouldn't be very healthy...nor would eating nothing but broccoli at every meal. But lets say I have a turkey sausage, spinach, and tomato omelette for breakfast...Salmon and wild rice and asparagus for lunch...and then have some ramen for a snack and grilled chicken, wild rice, and broccoli for dinner...how would that ramen snack magically undo all of that nutrition for the day? Logic...common sense.9 -
Many opinions and insights! I very much respect the discussion!
I had an office lunch today and I had some cake. I thought back to this thread and normally, I’d skip the cake but I decided if I allow myself to eat this without guilt then I’m on my way to a better relationship with food and so long as I track it and stay within my calories I’ll also reach my weightloss goals.18
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