Eating too much everyday ( eating to many calories )
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kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
Yep, for me it's about having control over what goes in the food, but has nothing to fo with being better than anyone else.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
I get that a lot of people enjoy cooking. Heck, I enjoy it if there’s a reason and people to cook for. What frustrates me is the sheer volume of advice that you MUST cook at home from scratch in order to control calories and lose weight. I think for a lot of people it’s a barrier to entry. The advice to go slow and make small changes flies in the face of the advice that weight loss can’t happen unless you cook from scratch. I think that the perspective that ANY food can be part of a healthy diet, even if it comes from a freezer bag or a takeout box is completely woefully understated.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
I get that a lot of people enjoy cooking. Heck, I enjoy it if there’s a reason and people to cook for. What frustrates me is the sheer volume of advice that you MUST cook at home from scratch in order to control calories and lose weight. I think for a lot of people it’s a barrier to entry. The advice to go slow and make small changes flies in the face of the advice that weight loss can’t happen unless you cook from scratch. I think that the perspective that ANY food can be part of a healthy diet, even if it comes from a freezer bag or a takeout box is completely woefully understated.
Sheer volume of advice? I'm sure it's been said, what hasn't been said, but I can't recall anyone say that unless you cook from home from scratch you won't lose weight.
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kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
This. Plus opening a few tins and packs and mixing it together is a lot different than spending that extra few minutes to get spices and various aromatics right. Sure, I can grab a frozen chicken and veggies and warm them all up, throw a bit of spice and salt over it and eat. But actually cooking these things together gives a totally different taste sensation.
I honestly don’t care much about the difference when it comes to keeping body and souls together. Besides, I can’t air fry a chicken breast in less than 8 minutes and more like 10 or 12. Baking time is even longer, plus the time it takes to empty the oven and find places for all the stuff I store in there. Then you get into finding things for sides and starches and those typically take at least 20 minutes to cook or chop. And then you still have to do all the dishes for that endeavor.
Between my freezer and salad bags, I’m usually in and out in less than 10 minutes and have virtually no dishes to do. Especially since everything in my house goes in the dishwasher (except my knives….don’t mess with my kitchen knives!).
I value convenience over just about everything when it comes to food. If I want a more elaborate dining experience, the lovely people at Door Dash are happy to bring the culinary world to my doorstep. Or I invite people over and cook for them on the weekend. But for the regular day-to-day, I’d rather have my evenings to relax instead of all the unpleasant (for me) work of cooking and cleaning.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
I get that a lot of people enjoy cooking. Heck, I enjoy it if there’s a reason and people to cook for. What frustrates me is the sheer volume of advice that you MUST cook at home from scratch in order to control calories and lose weight. I think for a lot of people it’s a barrier to entry. The advice to go slow and make small changes flies in the face of the advice that weight loss can’t happen unless you cook from scratch. I think that the perspective that ANY food can be part of a healthy diet, even if it comes from a freezer bag or a takeout box is completely woefully understated.
This isn't ringing a bell for me. If posters complain that they eat out all the time and aren't losing weight, sure, people will say it will be EASIER if they eat/cook at home. (But not necessarily cook from scratch.) This is to get a better grasp of the calories.
If posters mention lots of food allergies/intolerances, people will definitely suggest cooking from scratch.
I've seen lots of mentions of frozen food. I myself have talked about the convenience of frozen berries. Less often, I have mentioned that frozen peas and corn are a staple for me.
Oh, maybe you are referring to the statement that packaged food calories can vary up to 20%? I don't think that's been accompanied by "and so you MUST cook from scratch." It's more of an "FYI, be aware of this."1 -
sollyn23l2 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
Yep, for me it's about having control over what goes in the food, but has nothing to fo with being better than anyone else.
I’d posit that I have as much control or even more since the majority of my food comes with labeling. Plus there’s less food waste, I measure the amount I plan to eat and put it in a bowl. No throwing away odds and ends or pits and peels all over. If I want 80 grams of green beans, I pour out exactly that, so total control. Also no temptation to eat a little more just because now I have a little pile of food that I don’t want to throw away that was more than the amount I want to eat. Granted, I don’t eat “flavored food” just pretty much veggies/ meat/ starch, not frozen lasagna or pizzas. Those are definitely harder to calculate. Basic food though? Nothing more to control than the same food from the produce section/butcher counter.1 -
sollyn23l2 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
Yep, for me it's about having control over what goes in the food, but has nothing to fo with being better than anyone else.
I’d posit that I have as much control or even more since the majority of my food comes with labeling. Plus there’s less food waste, I measure the amount I plan to eat and put it in a bowl. No throwing away odds and ends or pits and peels all over. If I want 80 grams of green beans, I pour out exactly that, so total control. Also no temptation to eat a little more just because now I have a little pile of food that I don’t want to throw away that was more than the amount I want to eat. Granted, I don’t eat “flavored food” just pretty much veggies/ meat/ starch, not frozen lasagna or pizzas. Those are definitely harder to calculate. Basic food though? Nothing more to control than the same food from the produce section/butcher counter.
Dude, I couldn't care less whether you or anyone else cooks or not. Yes, of course you can eat in a healthy, sustainable way using frozen veggies and berries. Guess what, it's ok to eat in a completely unhealthy, unsustainable way as well. It doesn't matter. Even The Rock knows it doesn't matter. Nobody's arguing that. Not sure what happened with you, but I'm guessing you felt like someone was judging you. I cook because, with Celiac Disease, I have to hyper control exactly what goes into my food. Is that mentally healthy? No. But I sacrifice a certain amount of mental health so I don't poo my pants.2 -
sollyn23l2 wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
Yep, for me it's about having control over what goes in the food, but has nothing to fo with being better than anyone else.
I’d posit that I have as much control or even more since the majority of my food comes with labeling. Plus there’s less food waste, I measure the amount I plan to eat and put it in a bowl. No throwing away odds and ends or pits and peels all over. If I want 80 grams of green beans, I pour out exactly that, so total control. Also no temptation to eat a little more just because now I have a little pile of food that I don’t want to throw away that was more than the amount I want to eat. Granted, I don’t eat “flavored food” just pretty much veggies/ meat/ starch, not frozen lasagna or pizzas. Those are definitely harder to calculate. Basic food though? Nothing more to control than the same food from the produce section/butcher counter.
Dude, I couldn't care less whether you or anyone else cooks or not. Yes, of course you can eat in a healthy, sustainable way using frozen veggies and berries. Guess what, it's ok to eat in a completely unhealthy, unsustainable way as well. It doesn't matter. Even The Rock knows it doesn't matter. Nobody's arguing that. Not sure what happened with you, but I'm guessing you felt like someone was judging you. I cook because, with Celiac Disease, I have to hyper control exactly what goes into my food. Is that mentally healthy? No. But I sacrifice a certain amount of mental health so I don't poo my pants.
Celiac makes it a whole different story. I had gastroparesis several years ago and remember well how challenging all the eliminations diets, liquid diets, low FODMAP diets and all that stuff were. That's probably when I started seeing food as just one more thing to deal with on my to-do list. I didn't have the option of choosing what I wanted to eat, there were hard limits and a short list of what my body could handle. Thankfully that resolved, but I'd still rather just go to bed than mess with dinners or meal prep most nights. I'm sure it's strange on a diet website to not think about food a lot, but I really can't be the only one.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
I get that a lot of people enjoy cooking. Heck, I enjoy it if there’s a reason and people to cook for. What frustrates me is the sheer volume of advice that you MUST cook at home from scratch in order to control calories and lose weight. I think for a lot of people it’s a barrier to entry. The advice to go slow and make small changes flies in the face of the advice that weight loss can’t happen unless you cook from scratch. I think that the perspective that ANY food can be part of a healthy diet, even if it comes from a freezer bag or a takeout box is completely woefully understated.
Nah, the good news is that you don't need to cook. It's beneficial to track your calories carefully, and restaurant food or a salad from a deli can be notoriously difficult in that respect, but you should be fine with packaged food with a nutritional label. I'd just put it on a scale as well as there's often more in a package than is indicated. And if you enjoy eating this way? Who are we to judge?1 -
sollyn23l2 wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
Yep, for me it's about having control over what goes in the food, but has nothing to fo with being better than anyone else.
I’d posit that I have as much control or even more since the majority of my food comes with labeling. Plus there’s less food waste, I measure the amount I plan to eat and put it in a bowl. No throwing away odds and ends or pits and peels all over. If I want 80 grams of green beans, I pour out exactly that, so total control. Also no temptation to eat a little more just because now I have a little pile of food that I don’t want to throw away that was more than the amount I want to eat. Granted, I don’t eat “flavored food” just pretty much veggies/ meat/ starch, not frozen lasagna or pizzas. Those are definitely harder to calculate. Basic food though? Nothing more to control than the same food from the produce section/butcher counter.
Dude, I couldn't care less whether you or anyone else cooks or not. Yes, of course you can eat in a healthy, sustainable way using frozen veggies and berries. Guess what, it's ok to eat in a completely unhealthy, unsustainable way as well. It doesn't matter. Even The Rock knows it doesn't matter. Nobody's arguing that. Not sure what happened with you, but I'm guessing you felt like someone was judging you. I cook because, with Celiac Disease, I have to hyper control exactly what goes into my food. Is that mentally healthy? No. But I sacrifice a certain amount of mental health so I don't poo my pants.
Celiac makes it a whole different story. I had gastroparesis several years ago and remember well how challenging all the eliminations diets, liquid diets, low FODMAP diets and all that stuff were. That's probably when I started seeing food as just one more thing to deal with on my to-do list. I didn't have the option of choosing what I wanted to eat, there were hard limits and a short list of what my body could handle. Thankfully that resolved, but I'd still rather just go to bed than mess with dinners or meal prep most nights. I'm sure it's strange on a diet website to not think about food a lot, but I really can't be the only one.
That's great that you've been able to find that balance. I get it. There's nothing in the world wrong with finding a way of eating and making your meals in a way that works for you. That's awesome. I refuse to prep/cook anything that takes over 20-30 minutes. Ideally everyone finds their own way.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
This. Plus opening a few tins and packs and mixing it together is a lot different than spending that extra few minutes to get spices and various aromatics right. Sure, I can grab a frozen chicken and veggies and warm them all up, throw a bit of spice and salt over it and eat. But actually cooking these things together gives a totally different taste sensation.
…plus the time it takes to empty the oven and find places for all the stuff I store in there...
Sorry to hijack on a triviality, but this makes my blood run cold.
I had a friend who did this who nearly burned her house down when someone who didn’t know she used her oven as a cupboard turned the oven on to preheat it.
This was the same much loved friend who, as a newlywed, secretly unplugged the stove and convinced her husband for years it didn’t work. 😂
But seriously…,stop using the oven to store stuff.
/PSA
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It’s okay to eat prepackaged foods. They are just more expensive and have added calories to provide taste.0
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springlering62 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
This. Plus opening a few tins and packs and mixing it together is a lot different than spending that extra few minutes to get spices and various aromatics right. Sure, I can grab a frozen chicken and veggies and warm them all up, throw a bit of spice and salt over it and eat. But actually cooking these things together gives a totally different taste sensation.
…plus the time it takes to empty the oven and find places for all the stuff I store in there...
Sorry to hijack on a triviality, but this makes my blood run cold.
I had a friend who did this who nearly burned her house down when someone who didn’t know she used her oven as a cupboard turned the oven on to preheat it.
This was the same much loved friend who, as a newlywed, secretly unplugged the stove and convinced her husband for years it didn’t work. 😂
But seriously…,stop using the oven to store stuff.
/PSA
If there's somebody else cooking in my house, there's a much bigger problem
My dad actually did smoke out my aunt's house because he didn't know she stored her tupperware there. I learned the lesson and try to limit my storage to Pyrex and serving dishes. 1 -
springlering62 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
This. Plus opening a few tins and packs and mixing it together is a lot different than spending that extra few minutes to get spices and various aromatics right. Sure, I can grab a frozen chicken and veggies and warm them all up, throw a bit of spice and salt over it and eat. But actually cooking these things together gives a totally different taste sensation.
…plus the time it takes to empty the oven and find places for all the stuff I store in there...
Sorry to hijack on a triviality, but this makes my blood run cold.
I had a friend who did this who nearly burned her house down when someone who didn’t know she used her oven as a cupboard turned the oven on to preheat it.
This was the same much loved friend who, as a newlywed, secretly unplugged the stove and convinced her husband for years it didn’t work. 😂
But seriously…,stop using the oven to store stuff.
/PSA
If there's somebody else cooking in my house, there's a much bigger problem My dad actually did smoke out my aunt's house because he didn't know she stored her tupperware there. I learned the lesson and try to limit my storage to Pyrex and serving dishes.
Sorry to ask, hope I’m not overstepping here, but why do people store anything in their oven? I’ve never heard this before! Is this common?1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
I get that a lot of people enjoy cooking. Heck, I enjoy it if there’s a reason and people to cook for. What frustrates me is the sheer volume of advice that you MUST cook at home from scratch in order to control calories and lose weight. I think for a lot of people it’s a barrier to entry. The advice to go slow and make small changes flies in the face of the advice that weight loss can’t happen unless you cook from scratch. I think that the perspective that ANY food can be part of a healthy diet, even if it comes from a freezer bag or a takeout box is completely woefully understated.
While I'm a cooking kind of person, I do agree that there's a certain amount of "must cook from scratch" rhetoric here. (The "sheer volume" phrasing implies a greater prevalence than I feel, but generally any of us, me included, notice and have more feels about posts that critique our own preferences, giving those views more psychological throw-weight. I agree that "must cook own food at home" is not rare.)
To me, "cooking from scratch is essential" is one of the themes that can come across as quasi-religious absolutes from some posters, IME often the newly converted. Some other ones - of varying frequency - are "no ultra-processed foods", "nothing with a label", "everyone would be better off cutting out all dairy (or gluten)", "zero added sugar", "nothing white", . . . etc. Absolutist stuff.
Anyone wants to do those things, swell. But hectoring others that they're key elements of everyone's weight management success? Nah, I don't believe it.
I'm a pretty absolutist advocate for certain things, mainly that calories matter for weight management (but aren't the only issue as a practical matter), that decent-ish overall nutrition (on average over a day or few) is a really good idea, and that most people will feel better and be healthier if they find and regularly do some fun exercise.
I do use some packaged/prepared foods, and I do check ingredients lists for various things that matter to me. I absolutely don't understand it when some implies or occasionally outright states that that food is somehow ineffably but importantly different from the food I'd make at home using exactly the same ingredients. In my world, that's weirdly magical thinking.
It's entirely possible IMO to get reasonable nutrition at reasonable calories using entirely prepared or convenience food, potentially some of which is ultra-processed (protein powder, anyone?), or some of which is so-called junk/fast food. If a person is getting decent nutrition, feeling reasonably sated, and achieving their weight management goals while eating foods they enjoy and find practical/affordable, that's perfect.
When someone says they can't cook, I do feel sad for them. Being able to cook gives some flexibility. I think some people who weren't raised doing it think it's much harder to make basics than it really is.0 -
springlering62 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
This. Plus opening a few tins and packs and mixing it together is a lot different than spending that extra few minutes to get spices and various aromatics right. Sure, I can grab a frozen chicken and veggies and warm them all up, throw a bit of spice and salt over it and eat. But actually cooking these things together gives a totally different taste sensation.
…plus the time it takes to empty the oven and find places for all the stuff I store in there...
Sorry to hijack on a triviality, but this makes my blood run cold.
I had a friend who did this who nearly burned her house down when someone who didn’t know she used her oven as a cupboard turned the oven on to preheat it.
This was the same much loved friend who, as a newlywed, secretly unplugged the stove and convinced her husband for years it didn’t work. 😂
But seriously…,stop using the oven to store stuff.
/PSA
If there's somebody else cooking in my house, there's a much bigger problem My dad actually did smoke out my aunt's house because he didn't know she stored her tupperware there. I learned the lesson and try to limit my storage to Pyrex and serving dishes.
Sorry to ask, hope I’m not overstepping here, but why do people store anything in their oven? I’ve never heard this before! Is this common?
I've done it when I had a small kitchen so limited storage, but I limited it to baking pans or cast-iron frying pans. When I was using the oven, those could be temporarily parked elsewhere.0 -
Sorry to ask, hope I’m not overstepping here, but why do people store anything in their oven? I’ve never heard this before! Is this common?[/quote]
Some of us don't have enough cupboards, (very small kitchen) and need that space to store things. I only store pans, cookie sheets and racks in mine.0 -
springlering62 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
This. Plus opening a few tins and packs and mixing it together is a lot different than spending that extra few minutes to get spices and various aromatics right. Sure, I can grab a frozen chicken and veggies and warm them all up, throw a bit of spice and salt over it and eat. But actually cooking these things together gives a totally different taste sensation.
…plus the time it takes to empty the oven and find places for all the stuff I store in there...
Sorry to hijack on a triviality, but this makes my blood run cold.
I had a friend who did this who nearly burned her house down when someone who didn’t know she used her oven as a cupboard turned the oven on to preheat it.
This was the same much loved friend who, as a newlywed, secretly unplugged the stove and convinced her husband for years it didn’t work. 😂
But seriously…,stop using the oven to store stuff.
/PSA
If there's somebody else cooking in my house, there's a much bigger problem My dad actually did smoke out my aunt's house because he didn't know she stored her tupperware there. I learned the lesson and try to limit my storage to Pyrex and serving dishes.
Sorry to ask, hope I’m not overstepping here, but why do people store anything in their oven? I’ve never heard this before! Is this common?
I've done it when I had a small kitchen so limited storage, but I limited it to baking pans or cast-iron frying pans. When I was using the oven, those could be temporarily parked elsewhere.
All my apartments were pretty tiny so I never bought cookware. Because of this I NEVER learned to cook! This was the life hack I needed back then 🤦🏼♀️.3 -
@musicfan68 Makes perfect sense in hindsight.0
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springlering62 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »peazoo1325 wrote: »I believe to be truly successful we need to learn about our eating habits. What we like to eat, how much, and total calories. This is where fitness pal helps. If you are diligent about tracking calories (including weighing) you will learn quickly. From there it becomes choices to find alternate foods that are similar, reduce the quantity, or eliminate the foods altogether.
For most people starting out, this is very hard so it’s common to start buying prepackaged meals with calculated calories. This is okay as the main objective is to change your lifestyle for long term. Eventually you will see that prepackaged meals can be cooked with less calories, fats, sodium or whatever you find more important. This takes time but eventually you will have go to foods you can eat religiously and enjoy.
What happens if the foods you can eat religiously and enjoy are pre-packaged meals?
The results are in, most Americans eat over 70% of their calories from packaged foods because they enjoy them, they're cheap and abundant, and keep almost indefinitely, no refrigeration for almost all of them making them convenient as well. They also have all the nutritional information to make it easier to make smarter choices. Basically UPF have all the characteristics of the ultimate food resource and with consumption of these foods increasing, that's got to tell us, it works. j/k
I honestly can’t see the difference it makes if the food you eat is frozen or you suffer in the kitchen to make it. Frozen grilled chicken is still grilled chicken. Frozen broccoli is still broccoli. Frozen rice is still rice. Scratch cooking is honestly not much more than virtue signaling and not a requirement in the slightest to lose weight and maintain that weight. Or to maintain general good health.
I get that you don't want to cook and I accept that.
I suffer when I CAN'T cook. Can you accept that I love to cook and this has nothing to do with virtue signaling?
This. Plus opening a few tins and packs and mixing it together is a lot different than spending that extra few minutes to get spices and various aromatics right. Sure, I can grab a frozen chicken and veggies and warm them all up, throw a bit of spice and salt over it and eat. But actually cooking these things together gives a totally different taste sensation.
…plus the time it takes to empty the oven and find places for all the stuff I store in there...
Sorry to hijack on a triviality, but this makes my blood run cold.
I had a friend who did this who nearly burned her house down when someone who didn’t know she used her oven as a cupboard turned the oven on to preheat it.
This was the same much loved friend who, as a newlywed, secretly unplugged the stove and convinced her husband for years it didn’t work. 😂
But seriously…,stop using the oven to store stuff.
/PSA
If there's somebody else cooking in my house, there's a much bigger problem My dad actually did smoke out my aunt's house because he didn't know she stored her tupperware there. I learned the lesson and try to limit my storage to Pyrex and serving dishes.
Sorry to ask, hope I’m not overstepping here, but why do people store anything in their oven? I’ve never heard this before! Is this common?
It’s a big empty square box that I might use two or three times a year. Much more useful for storage!2
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