Weight-Loss Is this meal once or twice a week 'okay'?

Weight-Loss
T

The Escapist

New member
I eat well 95% of the time. Healthy, balanced portions, plenty of fruits, wholegrains, veg, protein, complex carbs, etc. Every Sunday though, I allow myself a treat. Maybe a Chinese takeout or a large pizza. I'm strict in keeping it to the one meal, and not over-indulging, and I find this strategy generally keeps me sane the rest of the week. My weight loss has been going fairly successfully so far and I've been told I've been told it's visible, so I'm obviously doing something right.

Which brings me to my question. My Mum generally prepares good, healthy, balanced, nutritious meals, but once a week she'll prepare oven-baked chips, with baked breaded cod and mushy peas.

Now I know weight loss doesn't mean cutting out 'danger foods' altogether. Merely cutting down. And I don't think having a small fish and chips meal once a week (along with my personal Sunday treat, of course) is going to do much harm.

However, I really do try to minimise my intake of fat, period. I know you need some fat, but I just don't feel comfortable ingesting overtly fatty foods (again, aside from my Sunday treat! :D ).

Don't get me wrong, I do regularly consume fat, but I try to minimise it to 'incidental' (and 'good') fat only. Such as the fat that's in low fat milk that I pour on my cereal. The drizzle of oil used in roast potatoes. The mayo mix they use with the tuna in the canteen where I eat lunch. That sort of thing.

That said, I don't know if the fish and chips meal my Mum prepares is even that fatty. As I said, she oven bakes the chips, she doesn't shallow fry them. The cod is only a small piece of fish, with a thin coating of batter and breadcrumbs. Ketchup I'm not too sure about, but I only ever have a blob or two. And the mushy peas...well, that's a veg, innit?

So yeah, probably worrying over nothing, I just don't feel comfortable eating this meal midweek, but don't want to disrespect by Mum by refusing to eat it. So I need some third party reassurance that it's "okay" (even though I probably already know that it's not that harmful, lol!).
 
worrying over everything you put in your mouth will make you crazy...

Once a week is fine... Just be aware of portion sizes...
 
Cheers for the quick reply!

I'll throw another one at you, while you're here.

Sometimes, when she's tired, she might prepare a 'convenience meal'. That being pasta (usually wholegrain, in fairness), with tomato pasta sauce and melted cheddar cheese (a little too much for my comfort), and a side of white bread infused with garlic butter (all oven-baked).

So I have the fish and chips one night, the pasta another, and then my Sunday treat.

The treat can't go, it's my little concession for 'being good' the rest of the week (gotta live a little, right?). The fish and chips meal I don't worry about too much, but the pasta meal I don't like at all. All that melted cheese, the garlic bread and dripping butter...

Tell me that the pasta meal isn't (or is) tipping the scales into undesirable territory?
 
Well let's just say more often than not I enjoy food, lol.

I enjoy eating stuff that isn't necessarily healthy and I do so multiple times per week.

There are times during the year I'm very strict. Right now is one of those times simply b/c I want to be as healthy as possible for an upcoming moutaineering trip.

Other times I strictly diet to cut fat off.

Many times though, I'll eat shit. I'm simply mindful of things like calories and macros. Once calories, proteins and efas are accounted, at times, I'll eat pretty much whatever I feel like on top of this foundation.

I have pictures in my album linked in my sig.
 
I say this so often here, I feel like a broken record or worse, being more condescending than I am when I try to be condescending...

Baked Fries (chips)
Whole wheat pasta...

it's all healthy... I got to almost 400lbs eating nothing but healthy foods... unless you're paying attention to portion sizes and accounting for those calories, healthy foods or junk foods... if you're going over youof calorie limit regularly... you're going to gain weight

Eat what you enjoy... Do get some vegetables and fiber and protein and other good stuff in there - but really be aware of portion sizes... and give yourself a good calorie goal to shoot for i a day (check the stickied threads in nutrition for a ball park figure to shoot for)
 
Exactly.

Eating to lose/maintain fat and eating healthily are not one in the same always.
 
Steve said:
Eating to lose/maintain fat and eating healthily are not one in the same always.
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Well I'm the first one see. I want to lose fat. Gone, gone, gone!

That's why I worry whenever I'm faced with a meal that I perceive as being 'overly fatty'.

Obviously I'm aware that main thing is portion sizes and overall caloric intake, but the logic side of my brain still surmizes rationally that fat in is not desirable when you're trying to lose fat (save for small amounts of 'unavoidable' fats, such as in low fat milk or the drizzle of oil you'd use to roast a potato).

That said, I don't think the fish and chips meal certainly is that bed. Chips are just potatoes really, as I said, my Mum bakes em, not fries. Fish is good food and I can always remove the coating of breadcrumbs and batter. And mushy peas are vegetables (although you'd wonder about the sugar content and juices in the canned stuff - or maybe not).
 
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So I'm assuming if your mom cooks much of the time, you are still living at home. Have you ever offered to help her get dinner on the table? I remember being a teen at home and my mom would offer up a few decadent meals a week just like your mom, but most of the week it was reasonably healthy. The portion sizes here are good to watch, but your mom might find it really nice if you offered to cook on these nights when she's feeling more tired and hectic to take the burden off her. Unless she's one of those moms who would take offense and think you don't like her cooking, lol. Either way, I have always loved to cook and looking back I wished that I'd offered my own cooking services to my mom more growing up. Now that my sister and I are both on our own (although sis stays at home on school breaks) my mom actually says how weird it is to have time to sit and read with no interruption. I wish I had offered to prepare dinner more often so she could put up her feet and relax more back in the day. Anyway, good luck with your weight loss and enjoy your mom's cooking, just be mindful of how much of it you're eating :)
 
Yes, most of us know, the diet doesn't has to be 100% so-called clean to lose quality tissue.

But, I simply I do not give a damn. The diet can be a slow fricken death, given consideration to family history/genetics in the "potential" one's body processes the food that is eaten.

Most that are young do not realize just how much the food they had eaten when young......effected them, until........they get a bit older, and learn about the plaque built up, that took many years to accumulate in the arteries. Oh, boy..I wish I had watched my diet many years ago.......some say.

Though we are all flesh/blood, we are not put together the same. Some persons can tolerate a bad diet history, and live long and prosper, while others are not so fortunate. The problem is we do not know which one we are. Roll the dice? Uh, no, I do not think so.

Therefore, I set out, to reduce the odds, and control what I have control over, and accept the aspects I do not. And, I have control over my mind, my mouth, and my limbs. I do not have control over how my body processes food (and each of us can be different), but I can control what it has to process. And, this I do care about, because it "can" effect my health in the short term, and in the long term.

I bust my body's balls, all the time baby. It cries, and I slap it around.

I am in charge. My body simply does not know what's good for it (all the time, it can lie to me, it can tell me the truth).......but my head can determine the difference; therefore, I look at food with an educated eye--on "overall" health, while attempting to earn my personal fitness goals.

Over and friggen out.

The body is simply an accumulation of its passed history, and it is not wise (given one's efficiency/deficiency) in processing foods (and family history), that one can go off eating what ever, and when ever they want, and not be "potentially" negatively effected. Therefore, the best thing to do, is take control of the "parts of you" you can, and attempt to reduce (but not eliminate) the odds, and this is WISE.

In the end, when all the smoke clears, and we stop quibbling about our "appearance" our health is what is going to matter, and what goes into the mouth, plays a very large and significant role, and sometimes even "looking" good can be irrelevant whether one is really healthy (on the inside).

You continue to be wise with your food choices. And, continue to ask these sorts of questions, young man. Attempt to eat as healthy as possible, and keep so-called bad foods in moderation.

Continue to ROCK-OUT!


Best wishes,

Chillen
 
Chillen said:
But, I simply I do not give a damn. The diet can be a slow fricken death, given consideration to family history/genetics in the "potential" one's body processes the food that is eaten.
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Funnily enough, many of my clients tend to eat less rigidly or 'clean' as you put it (though I'm not sure what makes a food clean or unclean) than what most consider necessary for fat loss or health.

And they all have improved health measures from when they started. To suggest eating processed food is a slow death is somewhat silly in my mind since life isn't so one dimensional. Once you factor in other things such as exercise, vitamin/nutrient/mineral density of a diet, etc things tend not to matter as much as many would like you to believe.

Most people I run across on the net or in person who are struggling with consistency and progress struggle simply b/c they're too rigid in their approach. They think they can't eat processed foods. Or they can't eat sugar. Or they can't eat hydrogenated oils. Whatever you want to fill in the blanks with. And it's just silly that they're struggling to this extent when avoiding this stuff at all costs isn't necessary at all for fat loss and health.

Shit, if they were less rigid, they'd probably be healthier than they currently are since they're floundering around trying to 'fight' through the rigidity.

Most that are young do not realize just how much the food they had eaten when young......
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I'm having trouble following you.

Are you talking about quantity of food (calories) or quality of food (cleanliness)?

effected them, until........they get a bit older, and learn about the plaque built up, that took many years to accumulate in the arteries. Oh, boy..I wish I had watched my diet many years ago.......some say.
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See my response to the first part of your post.

Though we are all flesh/blood, we are not put together the same. Some persons can tolerate a bad diet history, and live long and prosper, while others are not so fortunate. The problem is we do not know which one we are. Roll the dice? Uh, no, I do not think so.
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Unfortunately, and this is something you seem to overlook a bit, we can certainly influence our genetic proclivities through lifestyle habits. That said, the predominant force is and always will be genetics rule all.

Not eating some processed food b/c you *might* have a genetic proclivity to not being able to handle such foods doesn't make sense to me. Eat healthy foods. Eat some processed foods if that's your cup of tea and it makes you happy. Exercise. Get tests done at regular intervals. If your health measures are improving or are good... what's the problem?

Therefore, I set out, to reduce the odds, and control what I have control over, and accept the aspects I do not. And, I have control over my mind, my mouth, and my limbs. I do not have control over how my body processes food (and each of us can be different), but I can control what it has to process. And, this I do care about, because it "can" effect my health in the short term, and in the long term.
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So are you saying you don't ever put processed foods into your body?

Also, are you suggesting that everyone else shouldn't either if they care about longevity and health?

I bust my body's balls, all the time baby. It cries, and I slap it around.
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As do I.

I am in charge
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.

As am I.

My body simply does not know what's good for it (all the time, it can lie to me, it can tell me the truth).......but my head can determine the difference; therefore, I look at food with an educated eye--on "overall" health, while attempting to earn my personal fitness goals.
Click to expand...

I don't know what you mean by this.

The body is simply an accumulation of its passed history, and it is not wise (given one's efficiency/deficiency) in processing foods (and family history), that one can go off eating what ever, and when ever they want, and not be "potentially" negatively effected.
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Who said eat whatever you want?

Therefore, the best thing to do, is take control of the "parts of you" you can, and attempt to reduce (but not eliminate) the odds, and this is WISE.
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And if your health measures are good with eating good and 'bad' foods?

Life is short man. Not everyone sees things through your lenses. You may not enjoy food the way others do. Food may not mean the same to you as it does Joe or Jane. You don't share the same values as Joe or Jane.

To suggest that processed foods are evil to the extent you are, in my opinion, is a major over-exaggeration.

Mind you, nobody is saying you can be healthy eating nothing but cake and chocolate and beer and wings and ice cream as long as calories and macros are controlled.

We're simply saying that moderation isn't going to kill you. Even if it were hundreds of years from now, your genetics are probably going to get you beforehand.

In the end, when all the smoke clears, and we stop quibbling about our "appearance" our health is what is going to matter, and what goes into the mouth, plays a very large and significant role, and sometimes even "looking" good can be irrelevant whether one is really healthy (on the inside).
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You're making a lot of claims here. I'd be interested in seeing what research you are specifically talking about. I'm well aware of much of the research in relation to health measures and nutrition... but I'm specifically interested in what you're looking at, Chillen.

You continue to be wise with your food choices. And, continue to ask these sorts of questions, young man. Attempt to eat as healthy as possible, and keep so-called bad foods in moderation.
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Wow, I'm responding as I read. All the harsh warnings repeated over and over and than you conclude this. I'm left scratching my head.

No offense intended with this post. I'm just not feeling the vibe you're giving off and would like to hear further explanations than what you provided here. We very well might end up agreeing to disagree, which is fine.

Thanks.
 
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Steve said:
Dietary fat doesn't make you fat.
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Sooo ingesting a load of (yucky) melted cheddar cheese in a meal, for example, will have NO effect on retention of adipose tissue, so long as your overall daily calorie intake is below your maintainence?
 
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You might store more fat acutely.

But the net effect assuming calories are accounted for will be the same.
 
It's like the old 3 vs. 6 meal debate.

Eating larger meals might lead to more storage acutely but you're also experiencing longer periods of fasting between feedings.

Read the meal frequency sticky, I think it will shed some light.
 
Just b/c you store more fat in the short term doesn't mean the net effect is more fat forever.
 
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