Bad foods and keeping track of everything advice :)

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kristenlees122
kristenlees122 Posts: 242
in Food and Nutrition
Hi everyone,

I think I am fairly savvy when it comes to eating healthy. I binge every now and again, but I'm not including that in my 'health savvy-ness' lol. However, I think I am starting to realise I know nothing about healthy eating! haha.

I used to think eating my wholegrain gluten free bagel with peanut butter and sliced banana was a good breakfast.. then I found out the ridiculously high amount of sodium in my bagel.. plus how bad peanut butter can be..

My problem is, how on earth do I keep track of everything? calories, sodium, fat, carbs, sugar... what the heck can I eat? ha. And what is more important to keep track of? calories or fat? sodium? carbs or sugar? how do I know how much of each I should be getting a day?

I dont like salt, so never add it to anything, so I used to think 'I'll never get heart disease, I dont eat salt' but lo and behold, sodium is in everything! I feel so clueless sometimes. I eat lots of fruit and veggies, I love yoghurt, I cant eat bread unless its gluten free, I like rice, mainly brown, but sometimes white because its what we serve where I work, I love potatoes too... I dont eat a whole lot of meat, I live with a bunch of vegetarians so only eat meat when I'm out, if I feel like it.

Anywho, I've traded things like avocado instead of mayo, mustard instead of ketchup.. I'm not a huge fan of cheese so I rarely get that.. what are some other swaps I can make (and why should I be making them?) that will help me make the right choices? What are some of the worst foods that people may think are healthy? people being me lol

I love learning new things about nutrition so any advice would be appreciated :)

Replies

  • anunknownmouse
    anunknownmouse Posts: 118
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    This really depends on your goals. For weight loss, the most important thing to worry about is calories. For optimal health you're going to want to worry about well, everything. Protein is extremely important, as is fat. Carbs are less important, but they're not in and of themselves bad.

    There are very few 'bad' foods. Stick to whole, minimally processed foods and you should be good. Trans fats are the devil, read ingredient labels and if you see anything mentioning "partially hydrogenated"... don't buy it. Beyond that, if it fits your macros nearly anything is fair game.

    Note* This is a very simplistic view of things, if you want to know more... well... look into it. Nutrition is a very fascinating subject. Google Scholar is a great resource for looking up studies, if you're into that kind of thing.
  • aproc
    aproc Posts: 1,033 Member
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    WOAH.... Hold up.. Since when is peanut butter bad? I must have missed something because I eat the stuff every day. Sure, maybe if your buying Jif, peter pan, and other crappy brands... But if it's a natural peanut butter (just peanuts in the ingredients.) then its a healthy food and a good source of fats...
  • prism6
    prism6 Posts: 484 Member
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    Woah, hold up...whats wrong with Jiff and Peter Pan?:wink:
  • aproc
    aproc Posts: 1,033 Member
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    Woah, hold up...whats wrong with Jiff and Peter Pan?:wink:

    Haha, for me it's just the hydrogenated oil they add in and the other couple ingredients. :) After getting used to natural, it tastes funny to me too.
  • kristenlees122
    kristenlees122 Posts: 242
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    I eat Jif :-|
  • aproc
    aproc Posts: 1,033 Member
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    I eat Jif :-|
    I'm sorry! Haha. Have you tried natural? I think smuckers makes one thats completly natural. I've started getting kettle brand since it's been on sale. Both are yummy too. :)
  • aliveaa
    aliveaa Posts: 3
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    http://www.thelondoner.me/2012/01/anti-diet.html

    ^^^^^ go to this website! its seriously awesome :)

    it tells you a lot of cool tips about food and stuff like:

    if you want Carbonated drinks
    You need more calcium.
    Eat:
    Mustard, broccoli, kale, legumes, dairy & sesame.
    *If you crave a specific drink, this is an addiction, we'll talk about this later.

    or


    Coffee
    Your body's craving phosphorous, sulfur & iron.
    Try eating more:
    Chicken, beef, liver, fish, eggs, dairy, red peppers, garlic, onion, sea salt, apple vinegar, seaweed, greens & black cherries.

    there all healthier alternatives :)
  • funky_stripes
    funky_stripes Posts: 119 Member
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    Stick to natural foods fresh out of garden stay away from like crystal light or diet pops or anything that's sugar free, u think it's good but the aspartame crap will make u end up craving sugar n I'll binge, in my experience anyways
  • bluex232
    bluex232 Posts: 135 Member
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    bump
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
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    Peanut butter itself isn't bad. It's just the extra oils they put in there to keep it from separating.

    Go natural, and buy some naked peanut butter. Better yet, buy a Vita-Mix, and toss in some honey-roasted peanuts, and make peanut butter that way.

    Om nom.
  • kristenlees122
    kristenlees122 Posts: 242
    Options
    http://www.thelondoner.me/2012/01/anti-diet.html

    ^^^^^ go to this website! its seriously awesome :)

    it tells you a lot of cool tips about food and stuff like:

    if you want Carbonated drinks
    You need more calcium.
    Eat:
    Mustard, broccoli, kale, legumes, dairy & sesame.
    *If you crave a specific drink, this is an addiction, we'll talk about this later.

    or


    Coffee
    Your body's craving phosphorous, sulfur & iron.
    Try eating more:
    Chicken, beef, liver, fish, eggs, dairy, red peppers, garlic, onion, sea salt, apple vinegar, seaweed, greens & black cherries.

    there all healthier alternatives :)


    woah, what are the odds? i'm freaking obsessed with Rose's blog. :)
  • DFWTT
    DFWTT Posts: 374
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    I eat Jif :-|
    I'm sorry! Haha. Have you tried natural? I think smuckers makes one thats completly natural. I've started getting kettle brand since it's been on sale. Both are yummy too. :)

    Recently discovered this and it's fan-effin-tastic! You wont be disappointed. (edit for smuckers)
  • leez1984
    leez1984 Posts: 22
    Options

    Coffee
    Your body's craving phosphorous, sulfur & iron.
    Try eating more:
    Chicken, beef, liver, fish, eggs, dairy, red peppers, garlic, onion, sea salt, apple vinegar, seaweed, greens & black cherries.

    there all healthier alternatives :)

    Interesting!! I used to be a 6-8 coffees a day kinda girl (and I take my coffee strong and black - 2 tsps strong coffee and 4 sugars)...
    I started taking a seaweed supplement a month before I started using MFP, and (***didn't notice the correlation until now***) almost instantly, I am down to 2-3 coffees a day (I use sweeteners instead of sugar now that I've started MFP lol)
  • mandi2r
    mandi2r Posts: 228 Member
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    On another post someone posted this

    http://bff-dl.s3.amazonaws.com/files/37-Foods-Fight-BellyFat-Report.pdf

    It is surprising whats not good for you even when they say it is right on the packaging..ha
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Options
    There are really very few 'bad foods' - pretty much the only bad foods are the ones that taste like cr*p in my opinion. As long as you fit them into your macros and get enough micronutrients then anything is pretty much fair game.

    Everyone needs to watch their sodium and other folks need to watch other things (e.g. diabetics and sugar) but as long as you get some balance in your diet (fruits, veggies etc) then just make sure to hit you calorie goal and your macros.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Options
    On another post someone posted this

    http://bff-dl.s3.amazonaws.com/files/37-Foods-Fight-BellyFat-Report.pdf

    It is surprising whats not good for you even when they say it is right on the packaging..ha

    I am sorry, but there isn't a single quoted scientific source there and most of it is total cr*pola.
  • CookieCrumble
    CookieCrumble Posts: 221 Member
    Options
    http://www.thelondoner.me/2012/01/anti-diet.html

    ^^^^^ go to this website! its seriously awesome :)

    it tells you a lot of cool tips about food and stuff like:

    if you want Carbonated drinks
    You need more calcium.
    Eat:
    Mustard, broccoli, kale, legumes, dairy & sesame.
    *If you crave a specific drink, this is an addiction, we'll talk about this later.

    or


    Coffee
    Your body's craving phosphorous, sulfur & iron.
    Try eating more:
    Chicken, beef, liver, fish, eggs, dairy, red peppers, garlic, onion, sea salt, apple vinegar, seaweed, greens & black cherries.

    there all healthier alternatives :)


    I've never seen that website before, it's excellent. Thank you. :flowerforyou:

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