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teejegs
Past Member
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Posted: 3 Dec 2008 02:15 am |
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| Article was pasted verbatim - source article at http://www.truthaboutabs.com/healthy-vs-junk-food.html Last edited on 17 Dec 2008 08:18 am by
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BJD74
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 Dec 2008 03:08 pm |
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i can appreciate what you say in your thoughts. i dont not like health food and surely everyone likes junk food...but i think i fall somewhere in the middle. sure, you walk into my house and you will see junk....we do have homemade cookies not store bought, we do have vanilla flavored milk, and chips like doritos or cheezy puffs as my 3 yr old calls them...but there is also an abundance of fresh fruit, red meats and seafood, vegetables. No rice, not alot of bread etc. I realize the importance of healthy eating, but sometimes i simply dont like the taste and to try to force it onto myself well, in the long run it wont last. i know myself enough. I also know that i dont like alot of the stuff here that is junk as well, my taste buds have changed somehow. Like, I bought hostess twinkies cuz my hubby got an itch...so, i tried a bite and ICK i didnt like it. I havent had one since, and in fact i ended up tossing them into the garbage. I keep the less than healthy things around because my hubby has the ability to eat and burn all of it off. He doesnt gain, his metabolism at this time in his life is wonderful, he is the opitomy of health, this coming from his physician. His body fat is like 3%, its quite annoying, but its his makeup. I know he wont be that lucky in the aging process, of course, but he was forced to eat healthy as a kid and it scarred him. He doesnt like veggies, he isnt a junkie, but he isnt a fan of fresh fruit, low fat milk or avocados...things like that...but he adores red meat, rare and a baked potato with a salad. So, that being the case, I have to work both of us into the choices for food. My daughter, she loves crab, eats shrimp, and broccoli, and all the good things you can imagine, and isnt a huge fan of junk. She likes mnm's and candy canes, and chips..but she also eats alot of carrots and apples and pears. SHe is somewhere in the middle too. The other thing about eating the really super healthy organic food is the cost. It is expensive and quite honestly we arent able to budget that in at this time. I dont know if I would go there even if i could afford it because well, the tastes are often very different even when seasoned by my spices etc and i dont enjoy it. We only live once, and sure sometimes I dont eat healthy, but I try to make it a point to. I dont want to spend my time eating soy products, for example if they taste ickey going down, because i will inevidebly go back and eat the better tasting stuff and end up double dipping. I love a good salad, with oil and rice vinegar and blue cheese. I enjoy eating healthy, but like right now around the holiday, yeah i buy the cordial cherries, they are yummy and they are special and if i eat one and not the box, i dont think i am getting closer to putting my foot into the grave with that one cordial.
I just wanted to share, and I appreciate your furver....  and i commend you on making the change. I think for us, for now, being in the middle with a little here and a little there...well, it works for us. I just have to make my choices a little more carefully. :) I agree with you about the sweetened teas...ickey sweet. I make sun tea almost daily because it is one of my hubbys favorite drink. I do use sugar, but i measure it and it gets blended into the whole jug of tea and not dumped into his single glass.
I am losing weight in my time at my pace and people know that i am not a junkie. I dont think I ever was a junkie. I am a lot like you in that, I stay away from certain items, and then i would get an itch, go buy it and say gross, not gonna do that again..and never go back. Like, the cereals i ate as a kid, well, you go back for nostalgia and you try it and its so processed and ickey that you cant get the flavor you had as a kid and you are disappointed. I tell you there is nothing worse than being disappointed in a food that reminds you of being a kid again. Does that sound funny??
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fruitloop
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 Dec 2008 04:56 pm |
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Yeah, BJD, I know what you mean about that last bit. I fell in love with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups when we were in the U.S. when I was a kid. After we left, I never got them again, because they weren't available. They came out here a couple of years ago, and I was so looking forward to having them again. I was so excited. Then I had one, and it was like, 'Erk, this is gross!' Big disappointment!
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MidgeH
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 Dec 2008 05:10 pm |
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Actually we in the US kinda feel that way about them too. Years ago when they were still in the paper wrapper - awesome, now not so much. If you can get them try the "big cups" they are much better.
On this topic though, what I don't understand are people who control what comes into the house actually volunteering to buy this #%@&!. For the kids, the husband, whatever. Just don't do it. They like that stuff, fine, make them get it. Kids won't eat anything but chicken fingers and fries - wrong! Kids won't starve themselves - keep giving them the baked chicken.
If YOU want the junk, fine but stop giving excuses and stop complaining about "trying" and not losing weight. You're not trying, you're just wishing.
Sorry for the tirade.
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BJD74
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 Dec 2008 05:32 pm |
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hey midge...i wont take that personally, i dont think it was directed solely at me. i would never use the kid or the hubby as my excuse to buy the food. i myself, dont buy alot of junk, and these days it is all junk in some way...but i digress. i dont encourage my daughter, and we do real well eating healthy, but i do give her treats sometimes that would not normally be around. we have goodies in moderation. my shopping cart always ways more on healthy and filling and what will feed all three of us, plus anyone who comes to the house. as i said in my last comment, my baby girl that is 3 likes seafood. now, i dont know alot of kids, but i have never met a one as young as her that would eat seafood. in fact, most pre school kids i Do know live on sh** or #%@&! and dont know the meaning of moderation, hence they are already overweight and their moms are too lazy to cook them decent healthy meals. I think the majority falls into this catergory, saddly enough, esp in the US and I say esp in the Southwest as well, as many know it is poorer economy here so fast food seems to win out. It is a sad state really. I hope I am raising my baby girl to enjoy all foods, and not hate anything for when she is older and a mom and she will raise them as I raised her. She is the epitomy of health as well, in fact she couldnt be more perfect, so I am doing right for her. My weight problem is emotional overeating not a compulsion for junk and only junk. In fact, oddly enough it is NoT always junk i over eat with???? if that makes sense? 
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MidgeH
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 13 Dec 2008 04:54 pm |
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Of course it wasn't directed at you, it wasn't directed at anyone in particular. My problem isn't with people who try to have a balance of treats and healthy or really with anyone who buys nothiing but junk. My problem is with those people who complain about not losing weight while insisting they have to make processed mac & cheese and frozen pizzas - and also eat them - because their family makes them. I don't really care what people eat, buy, or do in any way what so ever. What annoys me is not taking the responsibility for the choices you make, instead trying to fine an outside source to blame it on.
i just think that everyone would be in a better state of health if they stopped taking the path of least resistance. I know I am. (I took the easy road for decades and all it got me was a heart attack at 35.)
Sorry if I was vitriolic. I just get worked up about the fact that it's not about exercise, it's not about diet, at the end of the day it's about the value we put on ourselves that impacts the choices we make.
By the way, a "feeding a healthy family on a budget" would make a great thread.
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BJD74
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 15 Dec 2008 03:42 pm |
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I love your big words. It is fun to read your entries. And thank you for ensuring you were not directing to me. I get so insecure about sharing sometimes, and also about telling others what I may think will be a good idea....but I do try to accept responsibility for what i bring into the house. Sometimes its not the best, but most times it is and I dont feel guilty going thru the checkout!!! lol 
I think you got something there, I will start a new thread...Hee hee i love using the techie words.. :)
Thanks Midgeypoo!
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CrimsonAnimus
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 22 Dec 2008 02:34 pm |
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I second what you said, Midge. It's so easy for people to blame it on "the other factor".
In my case, my family has not been eating the way I have, and the house is always full of junk galore. These past two months, I have been eating even more than I used to before I started to lose weight. Sure, having the food in the house has been a big temptation, but there are only three people responsible: me, myself, and I.
Really, though, I think it's just a decline of civilization in general. People just don't want to take responsibility for their own actions anymore - it's the government's fault, it's my spouse's fault, it's my co-worker's fault, it's my dog's fault...
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Terabyte
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 18 Nov 2008 |
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| Posts: | 1628 |
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Posted: 26 Dec 2008 01:16 pm |
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I have read the entire book by Mike Geary (the author of the junk food article), and I really liked it. He has a lot of good and useful information in there. I have utilized a lot of the information in there.
I will say, though, that I still do enjoy junk food. And I do not feel guilty about it. I do not feel like I am "dying a little with every bite" as Mr. Geary commented. I am probably most like BJD's husband, actually, in that I do tend to probably eat more "junk" than the average person who is trying to lose weight, and I still manage to reach my goals as long as I control the amount of the junk I am eating. I will admit it, I love sweets, I love candy, I love fast food, I love Italian food, Mexican food, chips, nachos, chocolate, cakes, you name it--if it's "junk" than I probably really like it and I like to eat it. My strategy is that I just go ahead and eat it in moderation and then also make sure I get some healthy food into my system as well (fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts, cottage cheese, whole grains etc.) I also make sure I take a multivitamin every day because I know that I don't eat as heathfully as I could, but I am cool with that and I am up front about it.
I have tried the methods that Mr. Geary outlines in his book, I have tried implementing his very strict guidelines, but for me they just weren't sustainable. I did lose about 7 pounds in about 3 weeks completely cutting out white carbs and doing his hardcore workouts, but after 3 weeks I gave up. Why? Because, like I said, it just wasn't sustainable for me. For a diet and exercise plan to work, it HAS to be sustainable. I just love junk too much I guess. I am a hedonist, and my life is fairly hedonistic in lots of ways, not just related to food, but I have always basically been able to walk both sides of the line. If I can put it to you this way, I am a raver AND I am a social worker with a Master's degree. I think that pretty much sums up my ability to balance things, lol! That is a good metaphor for how I balance all kinds of things in my life.
Not everyone has the same systema, as William Gibson would say, some people like asceticism and strict guidlines, and Mr. Geary is one of those people, and God love him for it! (and everyone else who is like him!) But I am definitely NOT like that, and I guess I have been pretty blessed with a body that doesn't bloat up if I do eat junk. Again, though, like I said, I have to control my portions or else I am sure I would look like the goodyear blimp.
I probably transformed my body the most (for the better) about 2 years ago. And the way I did it was really simple--I just made sure that I burned more calories than I ate. I ate whatever I wanted, I ate all the forbidden junk food and I lost about 20 pounds and about 2 pants sizes. I went from being what most people would call "chubby" to having a body that looked pretty good in a bikini. This all took about 6 months. And that sort of plan, for me at least, is sustainable, because I was able to eat all the "junk" that I enjoy.
Of course, as Mr. Geary said, if I was utilizing that particular method and NOT losing weight, then of course I would have to change tactics instead of whine about it. But since it did work and continues to work, I will continue to use it! And feel good about it. :)
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