That’s a pretty damn cheap meal all right. Yes, it is much cheaper to eat unhealthy than to eat healthy. A handful of mixed nuts and a couple of strawberries is much more filling and satisfying than a can of Pringles potato chips (and about a thousand fewer calories), but both cost more.
And since I started on a low carb diet, I’ve started noticing what people put in their buggies: 80% simple carbs.
With regards to fat on the body, it is possible to be dangerously underfat. Someone else can explain the risks better than I can, but you do need somewhere above 6% body fat to be healthy.
In regards to techchick68’s comment “fat on the body” being bad:
I think you guys know what she meant. I find it highly unlikely that she was advocating 0% body fat. When I have curves in the right places, I don’t call it fat. When my thighs pucker and rub together --> FAT.
Let’s not jump on her for something I don’t think she meant.
I have recently begun to evaluate my eating habits, and am trying to make more healthy chioces for myself. I know that my few extra pounds are from simple carbs and sugars, not fat. I don’t have a big sweet tooth, but I love breads and starchy things. When I was growing up, I was taught that carbs were good for you and low in fat, there was no distiction made between good and bad carbs. Fat was the enemy, not carbs or empty calories.
I agree that eating more natural foods is better for your body, and now that I am shopping for these things I have begun to notice how grocery stores price foods. I find that I shop more now in the outer edges of the store, where the produce, meat, and dairy are, and don’t spend much time in the middle aisles, which are full of processed foods. I think a lot of it is convenience, it’s quicker to pop something in the oven or microwave than to do a lot of prep work, like chopping vegetables. I actually am learning to like cooking quite a bit, and enjoy trying new things. Now I would rather cook for myself. It is still hard for me to stop eating carbs, though. When I feel “snacky”, I want bread, bagels, pretzels.
I lost about 10 pounds when I spend a month in London. The food portions were smaller, but I think most of it had to do with all the walking we did. We walked everywhere, here, I drive everywhere. I think New York is similar, I noticed the overall thinness of the people there, too.
I wish that healthy food was cheaper. I moved out about 7 months ago and was amazed at how little I could afford. I like to eat healthy foods. (Veggies, stir frys etc) but I can’t get a lot of that stuff because I have no money. Often it’s a toss up to do I want to eat for the next few weeks? Or do I want to eat healthy for a week?
So I’m getting pretty sick of eating ramen and mac and cheese all the time. When I do have enough money though, I ‘splurge’ on stuff like steaks and beans and fruit.
One thing I noticed though, the reason I used to overeat was because my father and assorted family had this rule that you must eat everything on your plate. Even if you knew you were full. With this ‘clean plate’ policy I used to eat tons. I’ve since lost weight when I realized that hey I can take home doggie bags from restaraunts and at home I can now just put my plate in the fridge for later if I took too much. Now I can’t even imagine eating the amount I used to. I can recall at one time being able to polish off a whole supersized McD’s meal and still be hungry. Now I can barely finish a regular sized meal.
This doesn’t stop me from eating myself almost sick sometimes*, but for the most part I’ve found that I can eat less and still be full enough.
[sub]*Like Christmas dinner. Mmmm turkey and all the trimmings. Or buffets. Buffets are my downfall.[/sub]
I can tell you how I became grossly overweight. By drinking about 1200 to 1500 cals a day and not even realizing it. I also have a few undiagnosed conditions (really and truely for real medical conditions-- PCOS and diabetes) that contributed to my weight gain. But mostly it was ignorance.
I would wonder how it was that I was eating less than anyone in my family, but was a big, huge thing and they were all normal sized. It wasn’t until I joined Weight Watchers that it dawned on me that drinking all that soda and juice was the main culprit.
I’ve gone from morbidly obese to just fat in a little over a year. My answer would be to teach people about the foods they eat. I remember a thread here in the Pit where I said that eating one of Stucky’s sandwiches (I forget which one, the supreme or Stucky’s Own or something like that) with a small bag of chips and a soda for dinner or lunch will guarantee weight gain. You would not believe the flack I got from skinny people who said that they could eat/have eaten that and they’re not fat-- fat people must be eating whole cows for breakfast!
I don’t want to turn this into a WW testimonial, but that program saved my life. Even now that I can no longer be on it (again, medical reasons) I can look at the diet my nutritionist put me on and see that it would cause me to gain weight, so I started substituting higher “point” items with lower ones.
The truth is Americans just don’t know how to eat.
And that’s why I just don’t get it. How can this country be so friggen’ obsessed with fat and still not ‘get it’? Newspapers, TV, radio, magazines - they are all screaming at how fat America is, they all say pretty much the same thing - and yet America keeps on its Supersized trend.
One major reason is simple laziness. Not ‘lazy’ as in ‘too lazy to get off your ass’ lazy. Lazy as in, our lifestyle now is completely based on what is easy, what is simple. Why walk when you can drive? Why play sports outside when you can playing video games? Why go to the gym when you can buy low-fat yogurt instead?
The biggest reason, though, is the sheer size of portions in the US, plus the infamous ‘clean plate club’. I never understood that. It took me many years to fight through the feeling that I was ‘wasting’ anything on my plate that I didn’t eat. I now make it a point to ask the restaurants to only give me half portions (don’t care if I get priced fully, since I would just be leaving on the plate anyway).
My family came to Japan a few years back and complained of not getting enough food.
The portions here - even in NY, interestingly enough - are fucking obscene.
I am not so important to humanity that I need to bring a damn cel phone onto the workout floor, like a heart surgeon on call. They are finally being banned in many gyms because so many of them now double as cameras, and no one wants a pic of themselves in the locker room available on Kazaa under: Fatmaturebaldinghairymomsexnudistlockerroombritneyspears
>I don?t think that clown with the unnatural interest in our children should be legally accountable<
Now, now. He’s genetically predisposed to have that interest in our children, and therefore not responsible for his actions.
I’ve been surprised at the several people who’ve mentioned how expensive veggies and “real food” can be. I and my wife, both fat people, recently moved from San Francisco - the most emaciated city on earth - to a small town in the central San Joaquin Valley. Vegetables here and in San Francisco are practically free. I know that I now live in a real produce-producing area, but even in SF and Atlanta, big cities, veggies were cheaper than processed crap.
My wife has lost nearly 30 lbs in a couple of months or so, using Weight Watchers, which is really just a tool to teach her how to eat well. Portion size, real food, etc. I’ve also, on my own, been losing weight, mainly by eliminating snacky foods, alcohol, sugared drinks, and an overabundance of carbs, which have ALWAYS, since childhood, been my true junk food. I’d rather have 8 pieces of white bread than a bag of chips or cookies. Now, I eat 3 mid-sized meals during the day and a human-sized, non-American-sized, full dinner. It’s not so tough once you get into the swing of things…
That’s the first time I’ve heard butter, cheese, full-fat milk, pork chops, and bacon described as “low in fat”.
Yep, that mentality needs to die. I can remember being chastised for not eating the fat on my steak.
I always take the extra home. That way, if they give you twice as much food as you need, you’re getting two meals for the price of one.
I lived in Japan with a group of Americans, and we lost 10-20 pounds each. The portions are tiny compared to American restaurants. But the thing is, you get used to eating less, and you still “feel” like you had a satisfying meal, even though it’s way less food. Plus, having to walk to the train station every day really helped. The food isn’t any healthier - it’s lots of starch and deep-fried stuff; it’s just LESS of it.
A quarter-century ago obsession with fatness was tied to the sexuall revolution. Fat = ugly, and people didn’t want to be left out.
Nowadays, the obsession is different. It’s perceived that fat people tend to be lower-class, sitting in their trailers packing their faces with pork rinds, while higher-income earners can afford personal trainers, wheat-grass, etc., adding a whole new dimension to middle-class insecurity.
The vibe I’ve gotten in the last few years is less of the old “I don’t want to be less attractive to potential dates,” and more “I don’t wan’t to be less attractive to potential employers.”
blowero, sweetie, a glass of milk, bit of butter and cheese on your bread and grilled pork chop and bacon (you cut the fat off), are all good.
i’m not talking about pints of milk, pounds of cheese and butter and lots of fried meat here!
trust me, once you realise how they make the stuff low fat, you don’t want to eat that stuff again.
I’m with biggirl on this one- I honestly thought I was eating reasonably until I started Weight Watchers. Then I discovered then when I was snacky, grabbing a few dinner rolls was a bad idea and grabbing a piece of fruit was a good idea. (not rocket science, I know, but I didn’t realize how many calories and such were in the rolls I was munching). I also was shocked at how much I was eating- my portions were WAY out of control. Once I got a grip on my portion control and spent time changing my eating habits (WAY more fruits and veggies, WAY less starches), my weight started dropping.
One change I made that had a big impact was at dinner- we’re a meat/potatoes kind of couple, so instead of eating the starch of the night (potatoes, rice, stuffing), I skipped it and ate double veggies. Much smarter choice (for weight loss, anyway)
I think sometimes you just get into a rut and you don’t realize that your habits are as bad as they are.
PS- even on WW I do not eat margerine, low fat sour cream, or other fat subsitute items that I don’t enjoy. I simply eat the foods I like and count my points. It’s worth it to me.
I’m hypoglycemic and I have issues with emotional eating, so my weight yo-yos like mad. At my heaviest, I was 170 (but I’m also only 5’1 and small-boned, so that was a lot on my frame), and at my smallest, I have been 122. I started WW 2 years ago and lost almost fifty pounds. Recently, I’ve had some stress and depression issues and I’ve gained about twenty so I’m around 145. However, I do know HOW to eat right. It’s just a matter of getting past my emotions to do it.
I’m also frustrated with the low-fat bandwagon. Low-fat products are extremely unhealthy, mainly because they’re all made with sugar to make them low-fat. It’s the ‘white stuff’ that’s responsible for the obesity epidemic in this country—white sugar, white flour, potatoes, etc. I have actually done the Atkins’ diet, too, and while I stopped because I wanted to incorporate some grains into my diet and go back to being vegetarian, it’s built upon sound principles—natural foods, lots of veggies, fresh meats, etc. Whereas, I have seen people do Weight Watchers and survive their entire day on Taco Bell and McDonalds—but they’re within their points, so it’s okay. I’ve actually had WW friends ask me how I control my hypoglycemia, and when I tell them that I cut out sugar and avoid higher glycemic foods like potatoes and corn, you’d think I was telling them they had to give up their first born. Yet, I’ve greatly reduced the instances of my low-blood sugar, and I can steadily lose weight when I’m really watching what I eat, while they yo-yo and complain that they have to eat all the time because their blood sugar will get low and they can’t lose weight. I do Weight Watchers (and will rejoin next week to get back down to my goal weight of 115), but I make sure I keep the emphasis on whole and natural foods. I’m also a strict vegetarian, so it helps that there aren’t a lot of convenience foods available for vegans and I’m forced to cook from scratch a lot.
People know what to do. In a lot of cases, they just aren’t willing to give things up. It’s a sad mentality to me, actually. Peopl are willing to sacrifice their health for sugar.
I do live in the city, but veggies here can be really expensive. I live in Canada and all winter especially we get veggies from California and the like, which adds to the cost. In the summer it is much cheaper to buy veggies and fruit, as more are grown in BC and nearby. But they can still be a little steep sometimes.
My Grandma at least has the luxury of having a backyard. Meaning she can grow veggies all summer, and can a lot of them for the winter. She also gets a lot from her sister out on the farm. Meats like beef can be not too expensive, but I can’t afford to buy a lot of it. When on a very limited budget, like mine, it can be extremely hard to buy enough good food to last for longer than a couple weeks.
Like I said. Often my choice is either eat healthy for a week or two, and barely eat the rest of the month. Or I can eat ramen and the odd ‘splurge’ dinner for all the month.
I’m not saying you’re not telling the truth, but I want to point out that this is an exaggeration. Unless you’re choosing some pretty low calorie choices at Taco Bell and McDonalds, you cannot eat there several times a day and stay within your points. To imply that you can eat tacos and burgers and stay within points is ridiculous.
I get between 18 and 23 points per DAY. There is no way I could eat fast food for several meals a day and stay within points WITHOUT purposely choosing lower calorie/fat items (which is the entire point of the plan). So don’t make it sound like you can be on WW and eat whatever you want and have that be “on plan” because it isn’t. The points are based on a calculation of calories, fat, and fiber. You cannot eat all you want or a lot of junk food and stay on the plan. You CAN have the foods you crave (McDonalds, Taco Bell- whatever) in limited quanities and still be just fine, same as people who aren’t trying to lose weight can.
Veggies are extremelly expensive here. $1.99 a pound on sale for things like bell peppers?
Hello, I live in Colorado, not California where many of our veggies are brought in from. That and Florida, we are land locked but also have been going through a drought that doesn’t seem to be going away this year. I suspect another two years before it’s gone.
I LOVE veggies, I can’t get enough of them but for our landlocked state and our drought, we are sucked into eating expensive foods right now…hell, even lean beef is outrageously priced. Ranchers are having to sell of their cattle at ridiculously low prices in order to save their lot to make it another year.
I would LOVE a salad with all the veggies you can eat and some nicely grilled strips of beef. I would love a chance at some whole foods that aren’t filled with nasty-ass preservatives and additives…unfortunately this is not the case unless you want to eat for two weeks rather than four weeks on a fixed budget.
Three years ago I could afford as many veggies as I could waste, now I can’t afford them…
So screw you if they are pratically next to nothing in cost at your local market, not all of us can get on that bandwagon because of certain issues. I want my veggies and I can’t afford them unless they go on extreme sale.
I’m not saying that everyone survives like this, but I have known a few people who’ll survive on a cheeseburger and fries (which is 13 points together, I think), and a bean burrito (eight points) for the day. So yes, I am telling the truth. I’ve been doing the Winning Points program for two years, and I believe in it for me, but there are plenty of ways to beat the system if people want to do it. Back when it was 1-2-3 Success and the fiber was unlimited, some people were eating tons of Kashi every day and staying within their points. And then they were getting upse because they weren’t losing.
It’s a good system if you play it right and learn to eat healthy, but just like any other diet plan, there will always be people who find loopholes and ways around it.
That’s stuff’s fine in moderation, but please don’t try to pass off bacon as health food.