Yes. You CAN eat 'normal' food! (my rant.)

I think it's all about baby steps... When I started it was just mainly portion control. But yes I had m&m's as a dessert. I still do if I feel like it. What I think we learn along the way is eating healthier means you can eat more! (or at least that's how I see it!) a small bag of m&m's is 210 calories... A cup of pasta is about the same... Salad? Well you can have a huge bowl! But I am a firm believer that if I want a snickers bar, I'm gonna eat a snickers bar. I just figure the calories in.

I do think eating healthier is what we should all try to do... But I will NEVER give up any food!

Eat, drink and be merry... for tomorrow you could get run over by a cement truck while jogging on your way to Whole Foods to pick up your soy milk.

I believe in what you (general you) put in your body reflects your risk of developing cancer and other diseases. I disagree with the poster who said as food is broken down into the same nutriments, it doesn't matter what you eat. I'm not going to bother arguing with him as he obviously has strong beliefs and I do to, just opposite ones.

Whether you eat a "natural" hamburger or a McDonald's hamburger, the body can't tell. Both meats will be broken down to it's simplest forms of amino acids and absorbed by the intestine and distributed to the muscle cells. This isn't a "belief" it's actual science. I would challenge you to find any information on human digestion that disagrees with it.
All foods are "chemicals". They are broken up with "chemicals" in the body. In fact every action in the body is a "chemical" one including thinking.
Even an allergy to food is a "chemical" reaction.
As for cancer and diseases, while avoiding some foods may reduce risk, cancer and disease is based more on your genetics. You can eat perfect and exercise, etc. and still get it, while some who eat "bad" (meaning not getting in their essentials) doesn't exercise, smokes, etc. lives a full life with no disease. My grandmother died of old age and she smoked, ate pretty bad and didn't get hardly any exercise. If you talk to a vegan, they'll tell you meat in any form is a high risk for colon cancer. So if you're belief that cancer and disease is increased by meat, then you should stop eating that too. Like you said, you'll get over craving for it if that's your stance about cravings.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

for a while, I was seeing an abundance of "what's gonna happen to my boobs" threads. new batches daily, it seemed. but, lately, I'm seeing new folks coming in and asking if they can eat so-called 'normal' food. and, of course, soon thereafter they are informed by various members that, no, all of that food is terrible and they must stock their fridge with organic lettuce grown under the sunshine reflected off a tropical rainbow.

that really bothers me. people join this site, often, after years of failed attempts. many are frustrated ... discouraged. so much so that it probably wouldn't take much for them to just throw it in and give up. and you know what just might be that push? the organic rainbow lettuce brigade.

you know what, that food is certainly nutritious. no one is really going to argue that point. and is nutritious food better for your body than not-so-nutritious food? well, yeah. but here's the thing, ORLBs. that's an extreme change many -- if not most -- people can't make. and, yes, I said can't -- not won't. it isn't always as simple as just throwing away all the food you've got and restocking with fresh produce and tofu burgers. the first obstacle is cost. the second is ease/feasibility. and that's not even figuring in the fact that many -- if not most, again -- don't like to eat that food!

I get the concept that food is fuel. sometimes you have to eat things you may not like. but I'm not going to make it long by making that kind of food my only kind of food. that's no way to live, dreading your next meal. and most people won't. that's why diets fail. and that's why MFP works. because a calorie is a calorie.

Yes. You CAN eat 'normal' food. I'll eat pizza. I'll eat chocolate. I eat pasta and bread and even, now and then, a cookie or some candy. I lost 3.5 pounds this past week. I've lost more than 17 pounds in less than two months. and it's because I'm learning to keep my food portions under control. I keep under my calorie limit. I plan ahead if I know I'm going to have a larger meal or a higher-calorie treat that day. and if it just happens without planning and I decide to take that treat? that means a longer stint at the gym to burn those extra calories off.

the ORLBs will now start sputtering, 'but that's not healthy!' and to that, I'd like to ask if being obese is healthy. I think ... no. so. let's move to basic food math:

eating less of most the food I like, keeping calories under my limit = weight loss;
weight loss = a healthier me;
therefore, eating less of most the food I like, keeping calories under my limit = a healthier me.

shedding that extra weight automatically makes you healthier, no matter what it is you are eating. there's simply no way around that fact. now, that isn't to say that you shouldn't make smart decisions. that isn't to say that you shouldn't work to find 'healthy' foods that you like, working them into your daily life. but, like weight loss, that's a process. it doesn't need to happen overnight.

focus on what works. turn yourself into a better you. and do it in a way that will allow it to be a life change. and if, for you, that means 'normal' food? do it, and do it without any of the guilt you've been programmed or pressured to feel.