Real food vs processed, and calories

You should eat natural foods and in moderation. But moderation is the key word.

I'd rather the real thing, including good thick creamy Greek yoghurt. Michael Pollan is really interesting. 'Eat food, mostly plants, not too much'. Kind of makes sense. I don't have much processed food any more - use my calories on whole foods and lots of veg, and I notice I don't get hungry as much anymore.

Real.

From a strict calorie perspective, real foods are metabolized differently. Essentially, processed foods are "pre-digested" so the body puts in less work to digest it. I'm not pulling that out of my a** by the way. Clinical studies. Somewhere. (Not about butter vs "spreads", but things like flour versus whole grains? Definitely.)

But, more importantly, the main reason to lose weight is to be healthy. So why eat something unhealthy in order to get healthy? If you want to eat something unhealthy *because its tasty*, then enjoy yourself. Knock yourself out, but figure it into your overall plan. But to eat something unhealthy...for health? Doesn't make sense. Why bother?

You are headed in the right direction by following Michael Pollen's advice.

I enjoy cooking and hate the idea of all the salt and crap put it to ready meals and diet products so my main foods are 'real'. I do, however, for my weight loss, use low fat margarine for cooking, for example with eggs. I know I would be better off eating butter but it doesn't bother me that much and does the job I want it to which is to stop my food sticking

I have this little book too, very handy! Definitely always the whole food for me, and as long as it's doing good, don't feel bad if it doesn't quite fit with your intake goals.

Clean eating is the best way to go. It not only helps in losing weight but you feel so much better too. There's nothing that says you can't indulge every now and then.
Just remember, the less ingredients it has the better it is for you. Basically, the closer to nature it is the more natural it is. Hence, the apple and apple pie analogy. 1. apple 2. apple sauce 3. apple juice 4. apple pie....I think there might be one more in there, but you get the idea.

I love Tosca Reno. She is the queen of clean eating.

I prefer real to processed! Michael Pollan changed the way I eat! You should also read The Omnivores Dilemma...this book changed my life!

Funny, I even have some interesting scientific experience with this. I have young children. I do very little processed and try to cook real food for dinner absolutely and lunch is a bit more sketchy... but still LOTS of WHOLE fruits and veg in their diet.... not canned or frozen, but fresh. They have friends who I KNOW their parents feed them complete CRAP. Yesterday we went to the park and I nearly had to drag the processed kids back home.... no energy to make it back to the house.... mind you the park is across the street.... I thought... hm, that speaks VOLUMES! What could it be like for someone with a couple of years on the engine where stuff is already starting to not work as well.....

I am a clean eater so I would rather eat "real" food rather than something processed.

me too usually, but sometimes i go for taste. i HATE butter bu tlove margarine! weird i know

Everything in moderation. If your calorie count is in the right range, and your macronutrient and micronutrient intake is adequate, don’t stress too hard about what you’re eating and just enjoy it. On the other hand, don’t eat McDonald’s three meals a day either.

http://www.wannabebig.com/diet-and-nutrition/the-dirt-on-clean-eating/

I eat very clean, whole ingredients. I try to make as much at home as possible and when I buy packaged foods I read the labels religiously. Like you said, this isn't necessarily going to affect your weight loss at all. I managed to stay over 200 pounds for 4 years eating clean foods. Pints of ice cream made with all natural ingredients are bad for you...haha. Two things I can say in favor of eating clean:

1. Whole grains. I just started this recently and I will never go back. It keeps me full and satisfied longer. When I eat white bread, I feel like I basically ate nothing an hour later.

2. TASTE! It tastes sooo much better. I first noticed the difference when I ate a cheap quality chocolate bar and then read the ingredients...gross. But now I notice it with any food that's not made with natural, healthful ingredients. Bottles of salad dressing, for example, taste weird and chemically.

Just a quick one, who on here would rather take the extra calories and eat something 'real' than go for the extra low calorie/fat option that is highly processed?

A good example is butter - in my fridge i've got spreadable butter, with 3 ingredients (butter, vegetable oil, salt), and low cal 'spread' (flora light) which has 9 ingredients, most of which are unrecognisable, but is a lot less calories and fat.

I got a free book with a magazine that makes a lot of sense, it's basically about clean eating, and i'm finding it interesting.
'Food Rules - an Eater's Manual' http://www.amazon.co.uk/Food-Rules-Eaters-Michael-Pollan/dp/0141048689/ref=pd_sim_b_1

As a reluctant processed food queen i'd like to know if it does in fact make a difference.

I eat low fat stuff, I take sweeteners in my tea and coffee and I watch the calories - I am trying to lose weight

My apologies if someone has already posted this - I haven't read all responses because it's nearly bed-time!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?pagewanted=all

I would completely rather have real food despite the calories - butter instead of table spread with 9 chemicals but no actual food etc. Yes, calorific. But the body's been working with those calories for centuries, it's a bit more accostomed to it.

I've been eating clean-ish for three months and have lost 10kgs (more than 20lbs). I'm not completely religious about it and we do eat processed stuff, but it's well and truly in the minority. And my system is loving it - I'm performing better in every way than I have before. Give me good food! I'll count the calories as well, it's helpful. But if I have to choose between an artificial low-calorie snack and an apple that probably has loads of sugar in it, I'll choose the apple any day of the week. No question. It just makes me happier.