What you need to know

[Guess Who]

Food and beverage companies do not have your best interest in mind. Only their pocketbooks! They prey on our desire to be thin, and therefore market items that we will pay for. We all try so hard to lose weight to no avail. We often think it is our fault but in reality it is the fault of the government allowing us to be duped on a daily basis. We try to make better choices, but why is nothing happening??? Well here is a few "better" choices that are not better! This is just a very small amount of what is out there. Once you learn and realize that you must read labels and then adhere to certain boundries you will be headed for success.

Taken from "the daily plate" (136 calories per serving - 40 calories from fat)
97/3 ground beef - When we purchase this ground beef it's labeled on the package usually as "extra lean". We also I am sure all are in agreement that this 97/3 means that this particular meat is 97% lean with 3% fat. Well that sounds like a healthy choice so let me get that. Divide 40 by 136! It's actually 30% fat! WHAT? How can that be???? well the government allows companies to label their stuff in terms of weight and volume. So in this one pound of meat only 3% of that pound is fat. However at 9 calories per gram that puts quite a bit of fat into your calorie count for the serving. 30% to be exact. I know some of you will say "well that is a much better choice than the 80/20 so I should be able to eat it" again these are the excuses you hear from people who don't want to give up certain foods. Yes!!!! when you have lost the weight and are ready to maintain a healthy lifestyle then you can eat the heathier beef, but in the grand scheme of things, where this 97/3 has 30% fat per serving, the 80/20 has 50% fat. Not much difference when you want to lose weight.



My tricky favorite! I mentioned a bit in an earlier post.

Taken from Kraft.com
Kraft Real Mayo - (90 calories per serving - 90 calories from fat)
So the real mayo is 100% fat. Some people think hmm 90 calories isn't that bad. I mean I have 100 calorie snack packs and they are okay. Umm it's 100% fat. You will never lose weight eating 100% fat!

So let's take a look at "LIGHT" mayo (45 calories per serving - 35 fat calories)
Hmmm well everything tells me (the colors, the font on the words and hey the lower calories) that this is a better choice. I mean it's LIGHT and has fewer calories. YUM!

Well the calorie and fat calorie ratio is NO BETTER than the real mayo. It's almost 80% fat! So we miss that train and still say "well lower calories means a better choice" For companies to be able to legally call their product "light" then it has to have 1/3 less calories than it's couterpart. So how do companies do this? They add water and air. So now you are eating watered down crap! You see when you get a level tablespoon of regular mayo you are getting all mayo and 90 calories worth. Well when you dip you tablespoon into the "light" mayo a portion of that is water and air. A mathmatical portion so they are allowed to say that since water and air have no calories then the portion that is water and air can be subtracted from the calorie count.

It is the exact same principle of oil. Let's use the assumption that 8oz is an entire serving. I have 8oz of oil which is 500 calories, well I pour in 8 oz of water. Now I have 16oz of oil/water liquid. We should all be agreement that just because I added in water does not take away the fact that I have 500 calories in my serving. Well legally I am now allowed to tell you that your serving is only 250 calories. My percentages never change. I am still consuming 100% fat and just because I have added water does not mean I lowered your calorie intake.

It's all true folks. Next time you go to the store see for yourself. Make it a fun challenge to look at every label that claims to be light,lite, 97% fat free, etc!

 

[KaraCooks]

OH good grief. The anti-fat rant again.

There is nothing wrong with eating healthy fat and in fact everyone needs some fat in their diets to help process certain nutrients.

There is nothing wrong with mayo in reasonable amounts. There's nothing wrong with olive oil in reasonable amounts. There's nothing wrong with eating beef in reasonable amounts.

And given that I lost 80lbs eating those things and have kept it off for nearly 2 years now, I think I can speak fairly knowledgeably about these things.

And btw, you want my rant about mayo ... here it is:

 

[Guess Who]

OH good grief. The anti-fat rant again.

There is nothing wrong with eating healthy fat and in fact everyone needs some fat in their diets to help process certain nutrients.

There is nothing wrong with mayo in reasonable amounts. There's nothing wrong with olive oil in reasonable amounts. There's nothing wrong with eating beef in reasonable amounts.

And given that I lost 80lbs eating those things and have kept it off for nearly 2 years now, I think I can speak fairly knowledgeably about these things.

And btw, you want my rant about mayo ... here it is:

I never said it was not okay to eat those things. I even said that they were a must in a healthy maintained diet, but not for WEIGHT LOSS! It's funny how people really want to argue rather just start to think and maybe try it out. What do you have to lose? It seems to me that if you love to cook as much as you say then you are more than creative enough to cook delicious foods that meet the criteria. I have a little over 50 recipes.

You say that you lost 80lbs and have "kept it off" for two years now. This tells me that you have stopped losing weight. Two years of your way of eating has no resulted in any changes towards your goal weight.

My rant was not about fat, it was about food labels mainly and how we are duped by them. Basically it was if something says 95% fat free, don't believe it and look to make sure in the label.

Oh and so no one gets me wrong! I have lost all my weight while being knowledeable but at the same time every now and again I go all out at my favorite place to eat, and I have my red wine every now and then too. I don't want anyone to think that I have completely restricted myself to no fun at all!

 

[KaraCooks]

You make a lot of assumptions while you're throwing around arbitrary rules.

I even said that they were a must in a healthy maintained diet, but not for WEIGHT LOSS!

I disagree with this. These foods - healthy fats are just as necessary for weight loss as for healthy eating. The two are not mutually exclusive. What I object to is this idea that you're promoting that healthy eating and eating for weight loss are not the same thing - and they ARE.

It's funny how people really want to argue rather just start to think and maybe try it out.

It's funny how people who are being dogmatic accuse others of not thinking and not trying it out. I've eaten low fat before. It didn't help me lose weight. I've tried every possible diet and combination out there in the last 20 some-odd years.

You say that you lost 80lbs and have "kept it off" for two years now. This tells me that you have stopped losing weight. Two years of your way of eating has no resulted in any changes towards your goal weight.

Assume much? If you read my journal you'll see that I made a choice to stop losing when I hit 170 and maintain for a while ... because I needed to make the mental adjustment of having lost as much weight as I had. I was also dealing with a lot of personal stress in my life at the time, and I needed a break from the pressure of weight loss. Now, I've started my journey to lose the rest of this weight and I'm doing quite nicely thank you. Don't take a line in my sig and use it to create a situation that doesn't exist to try to prove your point.

My problem is not necessarily with the information you're trying to share: I agree 100% that people should read labels and make healthy, educated, informed choices about the food they're putting in their bodies.

I don't agree that fat is the enemy when someone is attempting to lose weight. I am happy for you (sincerely, not being snide) that you found a way for you that works. But saying it's the ONLY way is misleading and incorrect. It is one way - it is not the only way.

 

[Guess Who]

Your absolutely right, it's not the only way and I was not trying to say that it was the only way.

There is more than one way to paint a house. You can paint it with a toothbrush, or you can paint it using a machine operated paint sprayer. I am just the person that is walking down the street that sees you painting with the toothbrush that tells you that paint sprayer exists and where to go find it.


So Kara, let me ask you this, would you be more inclined to listen to me and maybe take into effect that I might be right about the fat intake and weight loss if I told you I was a professional??

I think if you were to tell me that a certain digital camera was better at doing a certain type of photo than another one would, I would be inclined to listen to you and try it out.