WHAT you eat

Most post on here talk about how many calories you're eating vs burning. It matters just as much what you eat (generally speaking). I see posts encouraging people to keep up the good work when they are posting their food log as including mayo, sour cream, pecans, marshmallos and the likes all in the same day. Encouraging is good - turning a blind eye to nutrition is not!

People come here who don't know what they should be eating, so let's give them some examples of what a great healthy day would look like ....

What are your healthy foods that you eat every day?

Some of my basic daily staples are: cottage cheese, yogurt, whole cereal/oats, bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, veggie burger on whole wheat (skip the condiments)

Here's some of mine:

Chicken

Lettuce, tomato, onions, cucumber

Protein Shakes

salmon

Egg

shrimp

scallops

turkey burger

sybil878, I'm familiar with the post that you are referring to.

The person in question needed moral support as much as she did more people sharing nutrition information with her.  And her choices were actually pretty decent if not the best.

As she indicated, the mayo and sour cream were both low fat.  Is that the best choice for a diet?  Not necessarily, but when you're making chicken salad, it's not a bad choice.  She admitted she could have done without the sour cream.

The pecans were a good choice as long as she used them in moderation.

And if you just HAVE to have a sweet, then marshmallows, although empty calories and full of sugar, can be a better binge or treat then fat filled chocolate, cake, etc.

Dieting is a learning process.  I agree that we need to give them healthy examples, and most people on here do.

The 'keep up the good work'comments in this case were directed to the fact that the person in question was doing a good job of keeping tabs of her food intake, and also for having lost weight.   She saw what she did wrong, and received some advice on great healthy alternatives including many people telling her how important is was to eat breakfast. 

Remember, the weight loss journey is not always about calories, nutrition and exercise.  For many of us, 50% of the battle is mental.  If you've viewed my profile, then you know that I'm living proof of what mind over matter can help you achieve.

My basic daily staples consist of those items on the USDA Food Pyramid:  the healthy variety of fruits and veggies, lean protein, dairy, etc.  I still use condiments sparingly to add a little zest to some of my meals.

Spinach, mushrooms, green pepper, broccoli, onion.....I throw it in just about everything I make. Especially the spinach. I even replace lettuce on sandwhiches with it. My daughter even eats her egss with spinach and veggies just like me! (She's 2 so it's so very cute) Yogurt, apples and grapes are a must. And I really love Kashi GoLean Crunch for breakfast or a protein-packed mid afternoon snack. Also really into the South Beach High Protein Cereal bars...mimicking a great taste of granola bar, but with 10g of protein and only 140 calories. I keep them in the car to munch on the way home from my gym workouts. (this way I won't be completely famished before my lunch has been made and start diving into the kids macaroni!) They have a tasty peanut butter (which reminds me of the rice krispy treats my Mom made us as kids--she always put a dab of PB in them) and a yummy cinnamon raisin that are great (skip the chocolate, it tastes suprisingly BAD!) LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of water too. (I prefer bottles over tap as it tastes a little off in my opinion!)

So, on a perfect day:

Breakfast: 2 medium eggs scrambled with a whole mushroom (chopped), spinach, onion, green pepper with a cup of sliced strawberries

Snack: a SB protein bar

Lunch: I really like the Healthy Choice meals, you have to check the ingredients as some are higher in sodium than others, but being a Mom of 3, these are easy and well balanced. Or I might have a bowl of the new Campbells Healthy Selects light soup (as low as 50 calories) with a 1/2 sandwhich (turkey?) on toasted wheat with spinach and tomato and 0 calorie stone ground mustard. (and I am a Mayo girl, too, but I have learned to love this mustard!!)

Snack: a cup of Vanilla Activia yogurt with a serving of raw carrots (maybe with a dab of reduced cal dressing for dip

Dinner: 3oz salmon fillet pan seared with juice of a fresh orange and a sprinkle of dill, 2 oz of whole wheat pasta (sauce made from a whole can of diced tomatos, juice included, spinach, mushrooms, broccoli, onion, and 2 tbsp of light butter-50 cals each but this is a sauce for me and my husband to share the whole meal comes out under 300 calories) with a light dusting of parmesan atop.

Snack: a sliced apple (or, should I have a sweet tooth, Skinny Cow makes these 70 calorie Ice cream bars that do the trick---and they're half dipped in choclate!) Not so 'healthy' per se, but, if you have a sweet tooth, it's better to address it as best as you can lest you go crazy and binge out!

This is an example of my new healthy eating day. I have been doing great, a complete eating turnaround, at 1600 calories a day, from an estimated 3,000-4, 000 before I started this back on Jan 6th. To date I've lost 22 lbs. And I'm still so excited about healthy eating and boaderline obsessive about working out these days! It's truely a great thing!!

Sure that one post was also looking for emotional support, I wasn't trying to single out the one post, it's just indicative of a bigger issue.  I'm not saying the original poster did anything wrong, or that there is anything wrong with encouraging each other, I was simply suggesting that we should suggest healthy foods to educate people on what they should be eating because a lot of people just simply don't know where to start. Encouraging people without pointing out problems with what they are eating if they are there doesn't really help them at all.

I know that the battle can be a mental struggle. I can also be a fundamental lack of knowledge about good foods.

You've got a good point, and so does kaufmkk. We should encourage people to make healthier choices, but at the same time there's nothing wrong with having fatty condiments and treats in moderation or for special occasions. 

My staples are:

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 1% cottage cheese, plain yogurt, fruit (apples, bananas, oranges, pineapple, grapes, strawberries), vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, red bell pepper, carrots, sweet and white potatoes, romaine lettuce, edamame), beans (black, navy, kidney), raw nuts (almonds, soynuts, peanuts, pecans), soymilk, tilapia fillets, low-sodium canned tuna, Boca burgers, whole-wheat bread, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, old-fashioned oats, cheese sticks, Triscuits, Total.  

I'll also eat Luna and Clif bars, granola bars, frozen yogurt, TV dinners, sugar-free pudding, Smart Ones desserts, and pizza once or twice a week. I like the idea of eating healthy 80% of the time and treats 20% of the time. 

One thing that drives me nuts - the idea that we have to give up everything we enjoy in the name of good health.  We don't.  Sour Cream, Mayo, pecans, mashmellows.  They all can have their place in your diet if they are important to you. 

Learning to moderate intake and being willing to avoid them when you need to (such as not having any more calories or fat in your budget), is what it takes. 

Benjamin Franklin said it best "everything in moderation".  That goes for the health nut attitude too.   Its very easy to burn out if you feel you are deprived.  A little of your favorites can help keep one from totally abandoning their diet all together. 

Yes it DOES MATTER WHAT YOU EAT.  But one can not live in a vacuum.  We live in the real world and so need to learn how to moderate our diets in all kinds of situations.  It is one thing to pass on desert at a restaurant.  Its quite another to pass on desert when your MIL is trying to shove it down your thoat. 

Its much better to know that we CAN indulge and with healthy eating and excercise habits you CAN indulge in your favorites from time to time.  Being obsessed with "never another morsel of fat or sweet again" is just another version of an unhealthy attitude.

One does not have to turn a blind eye to nutrion to enjoy favorites.  But one does have to know when to stop.  Learning how to stop and when, will serve you much better over the long haul than simply always saying no.

*small pet peeve*

I eat very "clean" and I think pretty healthy, but this skinless/boneless thing drives me mad. That is what meat tastes OF. If I'm not eating (some of) the skin and cooking meat on the bone I'd rather have some nice vegetables and that. I am not a big chicken person though... probably for this very reason... tasteless meat, bah.

I like my meat to be bleeding and still have eyes preferably, haha... have some lovely whole trout to cook for me & boy tomorrow!

I rather agree with madamq...   A far bigger problem on these boards is that of diet myths, 'bad foods' and so forth.  So many people that have got the idea that sugar or fat or egg yolks or 'carbs' some other perfectly innocent foodstuff is responsible for making them fat.   When the 'everything in moderation' rule applies perfectly. 

And then there's 'turning a blind eye to nutrition'.  Food is meant to touch us emotionally and not just nutritionally.  Besides which, small changes to a diet can have big effects.  If someone's weight-problem in connected to them drinking 4 litres of original Coca Cola every day and they switch to Diet Coke it's going to help.  There are better things to drink but it would be churlish to point that out.  And if a few marshmallows means someone finishes the day with a smile on their face and hitting their calorie target then what's the harm?

So I'm going to pass on adding my advice on what people 'should be eating' and delegate that to Michael Pollen's excellent seven-word summary ie. "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants".

Oh, my staples:

eggs, yoghurt, weird tinned fruit to get my tropical fix in winter, marmite (), proper nice unsliced bread from the bakery over the road, those ridiculously overpriced unethical bags of herby salads, pork which is cheaper and nicer than all other meats if it is cooked correctly, fish of all kinds preferably whole, any shellfish I can pick up cheap from awesome midlands markets, apples, parmesan, cherry tomatoes, big flat mushrooms, cucumber, endless batches of homemade fruity mini muffins for instant little bites, aubergines, oh i dunno. Wholewheat pasta, rice, noodles. Packets of miso soup drowning in salt probably. I love that indian cheese for veggie curries, paneer. Weird **** from chinese supermarkets. I usually have a giant pack of frozen dimsum on the go, I just steam 'em for an awesome quick lunch.

unhealthy stuff: duck, pork belly, cheese. They're treats though, and in some ways thankfully expensive. sigh.

Recent love: frozen berries. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Original Post by gi-jane:

  Food is meant to touch us emotionally and not just nutritionally. 

 Yes!!

Original Post by bairn:

I like my meat to be bleeding and still have eyes preferably, haha... have some lovely whole trout to cook for me & boy tomorrow!

Haha...wow. 

This reminds me of some things one of my friends says while eating meat:

"I like my meat fresh, preferably still mooing."

Of course food can be enjoyed ... and we can learn to enjoy healthy food as much as our treats. I never said don't occasionaly eat your favorite food - I'm not sure where this came from, my post was for examples of a healty day, no one has perfectly healthy days 100% of the time.

If you are trying to stick to 'x' calories a day though then by eating high calorie foods you'll end up hungry because it's not as much volume. That's why I was suggesting examples of a healthy day, it most often translates into a day that you don't run out of calories or go hungry.

I know one thing that helped me lose alot of weight, is what i like to call the tropical island diet.

Think Tom Hanks in  Cast Away, that guy was thinner but he still had some muscle mass. Fresh fruit and veg, lean meats and lots of fish. I think i have at least two cans of tuna everyday. Also, if i didnt have my oats i dont know what i would do sometimes. I also like brown rice but it takes too long to cook when i want it you know?

Here are some of mine

1% cottage cheese

Dry Black beans made in the crockpot

Cliff Bars

Chicken

96% lean ham steak

93% lean ground turkey

banana

Skim milk with Bran flakes

egg whites!!

2% cheese (on occasion)

And more black beans, those things are key

I have limited access to health food so what I eat is always changing, but my easy staples are:

Tuna

Wheat Bread

Nonfat Cheese

Broccoli

Spinach

Tea

Pam

Naked Juices (100percent everything etc)

Marathon Bars

But today I was able to have yogurt with grapes for breakfast and a stir fry for lunch.  I ended up washing the stir fry veggies to get the sauce off after the silly worker disregarded my "sauce on the side" request.  Sigh.  I thought I'd try it, but next time it's back to "NO.  SAUCE."  In clear loud tones.

Ok, here is my ideal diet day:

Breakfast: a piece of multigrain toast reduced fat crunchy peanut butter and some fat-free vanilla yogart with fresh blueberries and raspberries mixed in

Lunch: a lean cuisine meal (I LOVE their butternut squash ravioli) with a plate of veggies (either a salad or a steamed mix of sugar snap peas, green beans, and carrots) and a side of fresh, natural tuna topped with cilantro

Dinner: a fish of some sort (usually a crusted tilapia or shrimp coctail with the teeniest amount of cocktail sauce) and another plate of veggies

Dessert: a reduced-fat graham cracker with a bit of fat-free cream cheese and a dollop (literally like a teeny blob) of reduced-sugar chocolate syrup.

For a snack I will have a slice of reduced fat hard cheese, a yogart cup, a bowl of whole grain cereal with skin milk, a special K bar, or a handful of reduced-fat cheez-its.

I completely agree that while it is important to have balanced nutrition, it is unfair and unrealistic to not allow a bit of wiggle room.  I know that having a graham cracker with cream cheese is probably not an A+ on the healthy snack scale, but it is enough of a dessert that it makes me happy and keeps me from craving desserts that would be even worse for me. Same with the cocktail sauce on the shrimp.  Sure it has some sugar and I could eat the shrimp without it, but it makes it taste better and I always count for it in my daily stats.

MY DAILYS: 

- Spinach

- Canned Green Beans or Button Mushrooms

- Ground Grass-fed Beef, Bison, Ostrich or Elk

- Salmon or Arctic Char

- Cherry Tomatoes, Bell Peppers or Nori Sheets (As Snacks)

- Olive Oil Spray 

- Dijon Mustard 

- Black Flavored Coffee (Black Mountain Gold brand is my favorite)

- Stevia & Flavor Concentrates 

- Spaghetti Squash, Onions, Eggplant, Zucchini, Portobello Mushrooms, Asparagus OR Cabbage 

Original Post by mars_0112:

Original Post by bairn:

I like my meat to be bleeding and still have eyes preferably, haha... have some lovely whole trout to cook for me & boy tomorrow!

Haha...wow. 

This reminds me of some things one of my friends says while eating meat:

"I like my meat fresh, preferably still mooing."

Ah ha ha! When I go out to eat and the Waiter asks how I would like my fish cooked, I saw: STILL SWIMMING PLEASE! ha ha!

my staples would be

chicken

turkey

spinach

lettuce

brocolli

cauliflower

all natural peanut butter

almonds

water

i usually use full fat condiments.  anything low fat just pisses me off and makes me go find something that tastes better.  i find that eating a little bit of a full fat salad dressing or maynaise satisfies me and makes me eat less.  maybe its just me..

Sybil, I know exactly how you feel.  I have been a member here at CC for a month or so and mostly I've been disappointed.  I thought this was a site about healthy eating and weight loss, but to me it seems to be mostly about weight loss and cutting calories and there is very little emphasis on cutting out the processed food out of our diets and eating whole fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, lean meat, fish...etc.  I see people posting in different threads about healthy snacks or healthy meals and most of the food comes out of a factory and is no better than the lousy food it's intended to replace.  I can't remember where I saw it but today someone posted a link about some new kind of burger they were fond of, so I clicked on the link and I swear to God, it must have had at least 30 different ingredients and half a dozen different kinds of sodium totalling 500 mgs of sodium in one little veggie burger.  To me, that's not healthy food, and I daresay not as healthy as the burger it's intended to replace.

When I joined here, I expected the focus to be on moving towards a natural diet and away from factory food, processed food etc.  I find it's mostly the opposite and if you voice an opinion about moving in a direction of healthy eating, one is often shouted down because that's too "extreme" or "too difficult" or "unfair and unrealistic"...just like some of the comments you have here.