I used to have the mindset that the fewer calories a food had, the better. That way, I could eat MORE food, but the same amount of calories. For example, I'd rather eat 3 pieces of "lite" bread, than 1 piece of whole grain bread.
This is how I ate for YEARS. I'd study food labels at the grocery store, looking for the cheapest brand of "whatever" with the lowest number of calories. Calories, calories, calories, that's all I cared about.
I had it ALL WRONG.
Let's look back at some of the food I ate all the time and have a good laugh at it, shall we?
Sugar free/fat free pudding and ice cream
I used to make sugar free pudding pies and I would stuff my face with at least a pint of ice cream every night. Now I just buy the "regular" pudding and ice cream that is loaded with sugar but I try to eat a smaller portion of it. Try is the key word. I just love ice cream so much that sometimes I just don't care and eat a lot of it anyway!
"Lite" anything... especially bread and yogurt
I don't see the point in eating "lite" foods anymore. Food has a purpose. To fill you me up. To fuel myself. To help me recover from a workout. I need the nutrients and calories!
1/2 the fat ice cream
I only ever eat real ice cream now. It is so much yummier!
Veggie subs from subway
There's nothing wrong with veggie subs, but nowadays, I need protein. I use to be scared of meat. I was afraid it would make me fat. Protein does quite the opposite, actually, but I was too ignorant to realize that!
Source
Diet coke, Diet iced tea, Diet lemonade, Diet ANYTHING
Diet coke, Diet iced tea, Diet lemonade, Diet ANYTHING
I used to drink diet drinks all. the. time. Last summer, I made the decision not to drink them anymore. It really, really sucked at first. It still sucks sometimes! But at least I am consuming a lot less fake sugar than I used to and am drinking more water. I "let" myself have a diet drink once in awhile. I don't time it out but it probably breaks down to once every six weeks or so.
Lean Cuisines
I was so excited if I could find a Lean Cuisine that only had 150 calories in it. I was so dumb! Again, I will reiterate that I failed to recognize that the food and the calories I was eating had a very important purpose. I need real calories and real food to fuel my body. A 150 calorie lunch is not going to do that.
Are there any foods you use to eat that you wouldn't even dream of eating now?
Oh don't even get me started on this. I sometimes kick myself at my stupidity. Although after reading about others who used to eat JARS of that calorie free peanut butter (walden farms?) a day...mine were pretty tame.
ReplyDeleteThere is such a thing as calorie free peanut but??? I bet it tastes like BUTT!
DeleteI gave up soda my freshman year of college and lost like 15 pounds in just a couple months. I drink it once in awhile as an indulgence, but only if I'm sharing it with Matt.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to move away from "fat free" and "light" options, but it's so hardwired into my brain that it's hard not to look at caloric values!
I totally understand the hardwired part. It is not easy to change our habits and the way we think! I'm still a little afraid of cooking with healthy oils due to all of the calories in them.
DeleteAhh this is great and I think we've allllll made the mistake of eating "light" or diet foods. I used to eat Lean Cuisines all.the.time. but I would never anymore--they didn't fill me up back then and they certainly wouldn't fill me up now!
ReplyDeleteI know and think of all the SODIUM in them!
DeleteI used to be the same way - especially with the Lean Cuisine and the soda! I love, love, love ice cream, but I've never even seen sugar free ice cream! Now I'm a lot more like you, I eat a lot more of a little bit of everything, and I try (try being the key word) to avoid processed foods. Especially stuff like diet soda. But I have to eat fat free or low fat foods because I tend to have high cholesterol. No matter what I do, it seems to stay high, though, so I have a funny feeling that when I go to my next physical my doctor is going to tell me I finally have to go on medication for it (I had hoped running would help lower my cholesterol too). Sometimes it's all in your genes, and it doesn't matter how healthy you try to be!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the high cholesterol thing! My dad is like the epitome of health and fitness but he is on cholesterol meds because it runs in the fam... which means I might have it as welL!
DeleteI'm with you on a lot of these things. I had the diet coke habit for years (and it was free where I used to work) but now, like you its a once in a great while thing. I'm trying to get most of my sugar from natural things like fruit whenever possible. Sugar is hidden in so many things lite and low fat. Fat is good for you! The right kind anyway. I think "diet" foods in general are such a huge mistake in the food industry.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I mean, we all need sugar but there is plenty of sugar in things without taking the fat out and adding sugar. Plus, carbs you don't use for energy will be stored as fat, so that sugar will turn to fat eventually if you eat too much of it!
DeleteAhh yes, Subway veggie subs... I actually went even further and had the veggie wraps back in the day, and even those were an indulgence. So ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteI was also addicted to diet Pepsi because it would make me feel full if I drank it really fast (so dumb). I kicked the diet soda habit about a year ago though and now if I have a sip or two I burp embarrassingly loud! :D
I'm a loud burper too, Paul hates it!
DeletePs. Why is it cute when our cats fart, snore, and sneeze but not cute when we do it???
DeleteOh goodness. I used to eat all of this stuff too. The thing is, it isn't even food. They are all food-like products. I'd much rather feed my body with real food that comes from the ground and has some calories in it than be sick all of the time because I'm eating food-like products. It's amazing how many of our aliments we can cure with just good wholesome food.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Food is supposed to have nutrients, fat, carbs, sugar, all that stuff... that's THE POINT OF EATING lol. Well, I know why I did it. I didn't want to eat, I was afraid to get fat.
DeleteI LOVE French fries, but after having a bad greasy batch of them at a restaurant in Atlantic City last year I was totally turned off from them. As part of my half marathon training I decided I was going to give up French fries all Summer. It then went on till the end of the year. It has now bee one full year since I had a French fry. I don't even crave them anymore because I remember how greasy they were.
ReplyDeleteWow! I bet you feel wonderful without all that grease. I really love french fries if I am in the mood for them!
DeleteI used to do the exact same things when I'd study food labels. :S I drank so much pop in university I literally turned myself from it. And don't even get me started on lean cuisines! I think I'd barf now if I had to eat one.
ReplyDeleteI still like pop but would totally barf on a lean cuisine too!
DeleteWhy is fountain diet soda so good!!?? I love it from the fountain!! :)
ReplyDeleteI use to eat Lean Cuisines all the time! It was so easy to stop at the store and pick them up for lunch/dinner at work. Until Gunshow told me how horrible they are and the sodium in them. I don't even look at them now. Plus, sometimes they are not even that fulfilling and you are still starving!!!
ReplyDelete