Calling all unhealthy eaters out there..

I personally think it's quite unhealthy (from a mental, social and possibly even physical perspective) to eat too clean all the time. I cook a lot - so I often have very fresh, home made lunches and dinners with loads of veggies and made with whole ingredients. But - I like to eat out so I do, I like to enjoy a dessert with my hubby so I do, I like to bake at the weekends have one piece and send the rest to work with hubby on Monday so I do!

From my job (registered dietitian) to my travels to my social life, my world is about food and I'm not about to give that up. I have certainly maintained a healthy weight for a long time living this same lifestyle (if only it weren't for the few years of miserable comfort eating doing the ultra-long-distance relationship thing I probably still would be!).

I'm not a healthy eater by inclination, although I am certainly eating more healthily than I was before I started on MFP. I suspect, though, that some of what I eat would probably give some of the more hardcore MFPers nightmares. Mostly on the sodium front - I loves me some salty stuff. I worry, though, that some people, coming here with lifelong unhealthy habits, will be overwhelmed by how high the standard has to be and think "well there's no way I'm ever going to manage *that*" - and give up. There is an acknowledgement that you don't go from zero exercise to running marathons overnight. For many people, going for a small pizza rather than a large is a real improvement, and as long as they keep moving in the direction of making improvements, they'll be fine.

I'm pretty much the same. I have a calories limit of 1300 a day, and generally always come under that, even if I'm full and feel like I've eaten a lot.
I love yogurt, it's high in sugar, but who cares?!
I eat fruit bars, and now instead of chocolate, I eat a weight watchers chocolate pudding. I don't feel like I'm missing out at all.
Take tonight for example.
I just ate KFC for dinner, (a big meal mind you), and went for a walk, and now have 146 calories left. I'm full and don't want a thing now!
I just can't believe you can eat stuff like that occasionally (I limit it to once per week, for one meal only) and still lose weight!

Wow you guys are all amazing... I feel exactly the same as each of you about the food that I eat... Theres no way in hell I'm going through life not being able to eat ice cream and chocolate ever again.... Its called life for a reason and I love living it hence why im shedding the kilo's in a healthy way and still enjoying the nice foods I like... Feel free to check out my diary... at this stage I have consistantly lost 1kg a week for the past 4 weeks so at this rate I'm happier than a piggy in poo :-D

i think the mistake people make is when they say to themselves oooh i must go on a diet etc... its not a diet you need its a lifestyle change.... you are not gonna get a good loss unless you change your eating habbits for the better..... im following Rosemary Conley and her eating plans and am doing really well 1200 cals a day and to be honest im not going hungry at all and then once a week _ wi night i have a night off where yes i do eat choccy or have a pizza and pudding then the next day without fail im back onto the 1200 cals... just that one night off a week stops me craving throughout the week...

I've always been an advocate of making sustainable changes rather than going out in the garden and grazing.

I will never be able to be "healthy". I'm going for "healthier". That way I can keep this up indefinitely. I still have chocolate every day, crisps, soda, chicken legs (WITH skin! ), etc. Just in moderate portions now, and get 7-900 cal burn 6 days a week. I've never felt stronger, fitter, or healthier!

This is something that im sure puts a lot of people off even trying to lose weight. The fact they think they have to cut out everything nice, and just eat rabbit food for the next X months.!

I am "guilty" of eating the 'not clean' foods as well. I like to eat out and if I know it is a time that I am likely to eat out (on the weekends) then I make damn sure I work out that day. I try to "eat right" all week and splurge on the weekends. I almost always stay under my calorie goal for the day and I am consistently losing weight. Even during the week I still eat white bread, white rice, etc. I am not much in the way of having a sweet tooth but if I find I want an extra snack I go for it. I drink wine, that's probably the biggest rule I break and guess what... still losing weight! I actually saw someone post that he'd NEVER seen anyone lose weight while consuming alcohol. I just sat and shook my head. Whatever! Enjoy life a little I say!

Yeah, I try to eat healthy-ish when it's possible but often have treats, and often rely on convenience foods which are probably not great for me...

Yeah, I definitely have treats throughout the week. It's not like it's a big treat, but big enough to satisfy my craving. I tried cutting them out when I first started but when I did the 'cheat day' I ended up binging, so not the best for me. Like today! My boss just made new "sweet potato cookies" -- I can't not try that out :-p

By "clean eaters" standards, I'm a junkoholic!

Love pizza, pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, pretzels... I'm a carb burning machine!

*holds up hand*

Hello! I also am an "unhealthy" eater.

I do try to be healthier it's true, but it's hard to beat bacon, sausage and egg for breakfast of a weekend, especially when it's made for you by your other half!

If I couldn't have takeaway food every again I would have failed *months* ago.

Everything in moderation and get up and move your *kitten* every once in a while.

We're doing just fine brothers and sisters

Awesome post! Thx for sharing... As it is very interesting. For me, if I wasn't able to get some lobster, fried clams and ice cream treats in this summer I'd have given up a long time ago! It is all about customization, portion control and planning ahead. Of course we can't all just eat all the bad stuff when & however much we want as we'll all still be starting at day one again right... But it is possible to work in favorite foods and still lose weight! I too, am healthier and more fit than I've been in a long time but I'd be pretty miserable living on so called 'diet foods' only... Funny thing is, I actually crave green veggies sometimes! But, I agree, this is a lifestyle change not a short-term diet! You can have your cake and eat it too AND lose weight in the meantime!! Right?? Enjoy

i so agree...i do try to eat healty, but i eat what my family of 7 (5 kids under 12) eat. We are so rushed when its dinner time, to get out the door for whatever is going on, that sometimes, we eat very high fat suppers. BUT....I now eat measured portions, to stay in my calorie goals. I used to eat until I was stuffed.
I go way over on my fat grams most days!

This has been alot easier than I thought....hopefully it stays that way!

Man, I was just thinking about this!! lol I generally try to stay away from too much sugar and processed foods and such. That's probably my main thing and I'm not too strict on meals.

Like example, for my supper tonight I just did fried rice with shredded carrot, bacon, onion, and egg (too bad I didn't have mushrooms! That would've been delicious) and to me that is healthy but to so many others it wouldn't be healthy to them. My main thing is non processed foods but I'm not going to cut out too much. And I can't eat a lot of raw foods like raw veggies and having salads and such. I can't afford to buy enough veggies to keep in the fridge at all times so I try to just add frozen veggies to some things (like I love to add frozen veggies to my fried rice...I'm currently on a rice binge...haha). And I like eating red meats. My biggest meat I cook with is ground beef...but that's also mainly because I get all my meat from my dad's farm so I get mostly ground beef (though he recently ran out so I'm waiting for more) sausages (usually beef or pork or mix of both) and bacon (lately he's had LOTS of bacon) and also got some pieced chickens as well since about a month ago we butchered chickens.

I also don't eat whole grain or multi grain bread. I do however eat like 60% whole grain bread or rye bread. I do prefer brown rice to white (but can't it now since my boyfriend's mom gave us a lot of white rice so I'm happy eating white just honestly prefer the flavour or brown) but I do prefer white pasta so that's what I'll eat. I won't force myself to eat whole grain pasta if I don't like it. And I prefer 2 or 3.25% milk. I used to drink all 1% but now I prefer full fat or whatever. I usually buy full fat milk to make my yogurt and then I'll end up just drinking that milk.

But to me that's my healthy...lots of red meat and stuff like fried rice, full fat milk, white pasta, etc.

Sooo the more I explore the forums the more I see that so many people on MFP eat very healthy, such as veggies, fruits, low/no fat foods, no sugar foods, organic, etc, etc. all the time. Maybe have the occasional cookie. I think that's great and I commend all who can do it.

But for me, I can't eat like that. My diet consists mostly of protein items (such as chicken, turkey, pork, or beans) with lots of sugary goodness with it. Even my 'healthy' foods have a lot of sugar, such as yogurt. A typical day for me would be fiber one bar or cup of coffee in the morning, one piece of bread and either tuna or turkey w/ mayo on the top. Usually I eat yogurt with it. Dinner is always random. Anywhere from soup to enchiladas to cheese burgers or fish burgers. And I have to something sugary every night. If I don't I feel deprived. It's usually a chocolate bar, ice cream, cake, or pie. I almost never go over 300 calories for my sugary snack and most days it's under 200.

Anyone else like that? That manage to stay under their calorie limit even though it consists of some unhealthy food? I still feel I eat healthy though. Anyone who wants to check out my diary can, but I have been very bad the last few days because my TOM is acting up and I crave more food than normal. lol.

I usually have one, sometimes more, treat per day. Like I eat healthy 80% of my cals, and unhealthy the other 20%. Sometimes, if I'm at my calorie limit, I will exercise to effectively "afford" a treat.