Now that you're maintaining, are you eating "real" food now?

I've been analyzing the foods I'm eating lately and have realized that I still eat a lot of the "diet" type of foods... low/empty calorie type food.  I want to be healthy and be good to my body, so I think there are better choices out there and I should start swapping out some of my old favorites.

- I drink a LOT of water, but have been neglecting drinking any other calories since I like to eat them, rather than drink them.  I've recently started adding an 8 ounce glass of Trop50 orange juice to my breakfast routine.

- I LOVE peanut butter so I've tried out the low cal options: Better'n PB, PB2, etc.  But, I've come to realize that PB contains lots of healthy fats that are GOOD for your body, so I've switched to the Skippy Natural now or Naturally More.

- Trying to eat more nuts... usually avoided them because of the high cals

- Low cal Bread... been using Nature's Own Light Wheat bread, but I think I'd get more benefit from eating one of the less-processed looking types.  I'm trying to incorporate the Pepperidge Farm Double Fiber Whole Wheat now instead.  It's tough though because it's 40 calories versus 100/slice, but I think it's worth it...

What do you all think about this and what "diet" foods have you swapped out w/others?  Any suggestions?

Thanks! 

Original Post by pgeorgian:

Original Post by littleshellys:

Original Post by ily51:

For the most part I will eat real food. Exceptions are dairy (I choose low fat most of the times, since I`ll add nuts/seeds to it anyhow) and crackers and biscuits (I go for no sugar added).

 Lowfat diary is best. Milk and yogurt are different when it comes to lowfat than say cookies and chips. Most of the time when manufacturers remove the fat they add sugar, salt or chemicals/preservatives to make it taste better so you are not really benefiting.

i was drinking skim milk long before i was trying to lose weight (and long before i needed to).  i don't think of it as "diet food"; it's just milk ;)

 I agree, I use organic fat free milk on my cereal. Don't drink milk anymore just because I save those calories for food.

oh, i drink milk; i drink it all the time.  that's my top-up when i know that breakfast isn't going to hold me long enough, or when i'm hungry after work and need to walk the dog, or when i need to delay until the next meal, or when i need to cram in more calories because i'm light, but not hungry.

protein, calcium, vitamins A & D: as far as calories go, i think it's a good investment.

I think there are a lot of myths about what is "healthy" and what is "natural."  Some foods that are "manipulated" such as having minerals and vitamins added are much healthier than foods that are "natural." Unless we bake our own bread from flour we mill ourselves, almost all the bread we eat has been changed artificially somehow or has had certain "unnatural" ingredients added.

Some people think eating something like spinach leaves which contain an incredible amount of iron means they are eating healthy while getting iron.  But the body has a very difficult time extracting iron from things like raw spinach.  Also, many people think "fresh" vegetables in the store have more nutritional value than the frozen ones in the store's freezers, but, depending on shelf life, many "fresh" vegetables have lost some of their nutritional value, while many frozen vegetables were "flash" frozen and have retained almost all their nutritional value.

We often take supplements such as calcium, zinc, and iron--as well as certain vitamins such as Vitamin C which is often added to fruit juices, etc.  So when we say natural foods or real foods are better than fortified or enhanced foods that may or may not be true. 

Many people think decaffeinated coffee in healthier than regular coffee, but many of the chemicals used to decaffeinate coffee are very suspect and could easily be more dangerous for us than the caffeine.

As far as "organic" foods go, one needs to carefully check the background because some "organic" foods are not all that organic.  Similarly, since the bottled water industry is not really regulated, most of the bottled water is no healthier (and in fact some studies suggest that some bottle water is less healthy) than most tap water. 

I read an interesting article on YahooHealth, written by Margaret Furtado.  A study it cited suggests that MSG (monosodium glutamate) is largely responsible for weight gain.  "Those participants who used the highest amounts of MSG had nearly 3 times the incidence of overweight as those who did not use MSG, even when physical activity, total caloric intake, and other possible explanations for body mass differences were accounted for. The positive correlation between MSG and higher weight confirmed what animal studies have been suggesting for years."

Original Post by pilgrimdude:

I will guarantee you that I love eating bread--french toast, PB sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, hamburgers, toast and preserves--and that D'taliano does not taste in any way inferior to regular bread.  Yes, some of the things I have "swapped" do not taste as good as regular, although I have had no trouble swapping, with one gigantic exception.  I tried some Hershey's no-sugar chocolate syrup and that is so baddddddddddddddddddddd!  That is the first "swap" item that I will not eat again.

 I tried the sugar free chocolate syrup once too and it was awful! I like most anything sugar free, it's the only thing I've tried and didn't like! YUCK!

Here is an example of "swapped" food items that I eat and hope are healthy for me:

For breakfast this morning:   FN = Fitnutz Peanut Butter Mix  DB = D'Italiano Bread

I had 5 slices of bread and 3 tbs. of PB mix.

The following is the basic nutrientional information about my breakfast:

Calories = 275 (FN 75 + DB = 200)

Transfat = 0%

Saturated fat = 0%

Cholesterol = 0%

Iron = 26% (FN 20 + DB 6)

Protein = 19 g. (FN 9 g. + DB 10 g.) 

Sugars = 5.5 g. (FN 3 + DB 2.5)

Original Post by pilgrimdude:

I think there are a lot of myths about what is "healthy" and what is "natural."  Some foods that are "manipulated" such as having minerals and vitamins added are much healthier than foods that are "natural." Unless we bake our own bread from flour we mill ourselves, almost all the bread we eat has been changed artificially somehow or has had certain "unnatural" ingredients added.

Some people think eating something like spinach leaves which contain an incredible amount of iron means they are eating healthy while getting iron.  But the body has a very difficult time extracting iron from things like raw spinach.  Also, many people think "fresh" vegetables in the store have more nutritional value than the frozen ones in the store's freezers, but, depending on shelf life, many "fresh" vegetables have lost some of their nutritional value, while many frozen vegetables were "flash" frozen and have retained almost all their nutritional value.

We often take supplements such as calcium, zinc, and iron--as well as certain vitamins such as Vitamin C which is often added to fruit juices, etc.  So when we say natural foods or real foods are better than fortified or enhanced foods that may or may not be true. 

Many people think decaffeinated coffee in healthier than regular coffee, but many of the chemicals used to decaffeinate coffee are very suspect and could easily be more dangerous for us than the caffeine.

As far as "organic" foods go, one needs to carefully check the background because some "organic" foods are not all that organic.  Similarly, since the bottled water industry is not really regulated, most of the bottled water is no healthier (and in fact some studies suggest that some bottle water is less healthy) than most tap water. 

I just wanted to say great post.

UD

Original Post by pilgrimdude:

I read an interesting article on YahooHealth, written by Margaret Furtado.  A study it cited suggests that MSG (monosodium glutamate) is largely responsible for weight gain.  "Those participants who used the highest amounts of MSG had nearly 3 times the incidence of overweight as those who did not use MSG, even when physical activity, total caloric intake, and other possible explanations for body mass differences were accounted for. The positive correlation between MSG and higher weight confirmed what animal studies have been suggesting for years."

Can you link to it?

UD

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/weightloss/22 00/the-surprising-ingredient-causing-weight-g ain/

meganwillians2: Too funny.  I often will fluff up some skim milk with a hand-beater for the second pot of strong coffee that I sometimes have in the afternoon or evening.  When I was reaching for the skim milk, I noticed that chemically altered "chocolate syrup."  That got me to thinking of the mocha coffee drink that McDoogles makes; I had tried one of theirs and did not like it all that well.  So I gave my skim milk a few squirts of the Hershey's.  Then I fluffed it up.  I then added some of the fresh, strong coffee.  I was quite surprised!  I actually liked the concoction.  It was better than the McDoogles anyway, which I paid $3.50 or whatever for.