What is "healthy eating?"

[wambam]

How do you define "healthy eating?" Is it particular types of foods? A macronutrient ratio? Calorie defecit?

What say you, H&F?

[clseale]

Idk, it's nothing too terribly specific for me. I eat a lot of fresh fruits & vegetables. I incorporate a lot of lean protein, yogurt, & eggs. I try to limit the amount of packaged, processed food I eat. For me, for my personal diet, I consider that healthy eating. I guess it's more about the quality of the food. Someone can live off of luna bars & protein shakes and have a good calorie count and macro ratio, but I don't think that's the healthiest use of your calories.

[ebeth]

eat food.
not too much.
mostly plants.

:::beginning countdown to this thread imploding into a paleo/low carb/SBD/whole30 hate fest. we haven't had one of those in awhile:::

[clseale]

Jul 10, 2013 8:29:27 GMT -5 ebeth said:

:::beginning countdown to this thread imploding into a paleo/low carb/SBD/whole30 hate fest. we haven't had one of those in awhile:::

I was thinking this as well.

[breezy8407]

Jul 10, 2013 8:29:27 GMT -5 ebeth said:

eat food.
not too much.
mostly plants.

:::beginning countdown to this thread imploding into a paleo/low carb/SBD/whole30 hate fest. we haven't had one of those in awhile:::

I still love those 3 principles and try to do that. But I also like pizza and beer, so I guess my 4th item would be everything in moderation - including moderation

[ebeth]

Jul 10, 2013 8:34:04 GMT -5 breezy8407 said:

Jul 10, 2013 8:29:27 GMT -5 ebeth said:

eat food.
not too much.
mostly plants.

:::beginning countdown to this thread imploding into a paleo/low carb/SBD/whole30 hate fest. we haven't had one of those in awhile:::

I still love those 3 principles and try to do that. But I also like pizza and beer, so I guess my 4th item would be everything in moderation - including moderation

pizza and beer are food. my ancestors ate pizza and drank beer. 

[Deleted]

Jul 10, 2013 8:23:28 GMT -5 clseale said:

Idk, it's nothing too terribly specific for me. I eat a lot of fresh fruits & vegetables. I incorporate a lot of lean protein, yogurt, & eggs. I try to limit the amount of packaged, processed food I eat. For me, for my personal diet, I consider that healthy eating. I guess it's more about the quality of the food. Someone can live off of luna bars & protein shakes and have a good calorie count and macro ratio, but I don't think that's the healthiest use of your calories.

This is how I view it for me.

I will buy things processed but I read the ingredients first.  I have a specific brand of canned tomatoes I buy, I switched from Luna bars to these Greek Yogurt bars which have similar nutritional value but a whole lot less junk, I prefer grass-fed dairy just for the extra health benefits, etc.  

I also believe in "everything in moderation"  is part of healthy eating. 

[clseale]

Jul 10, 2013 8:34:04 GMT -5 breezy8407 said:

Jul 10, 2013 8:29:27 GMT -5 ebeth said:

eat food.
not too much.
mostly plants.

:::beginning countdown to this thread imploding into a paleo/low carb/SBD/whole30 hate fest. we haven't had one of those in awhile:::

I still love those 3 principles and try to do that. But I also like pizza and beer, so I guess my 4th item would be everything in moderation - including moderation

I practice a 90/10 rule. I eat & exercise the way I do 90% of the time, so when I indulge & treat myself 10% of the time, I feel no guilt. 

[Wines Not Whines]

Real foods, not super processed, not too many added sugars or chemical junk.

[al320]

Jul 10, 2013 8:29:27 GMT -5 ebeth said:

eat food.
not too much.
mostly plants.

I also subscribe to the michael pollen definition.

[Brit]

Jul 10, 2013 8:23:28 GMT -5 clseale said:

Idk, it's nothing too terribly specific for me. I eat a lot of fresh fruits & vegetables. I incorporate a lot of lean protein, yogurt, & eggs. I try to limit the amount of packaged, processed food I eat. For me, for my personal diet, I consider that healthy eating. I guess it's more about the quality of the food. Someone can live off of luna bars & protein shakes and have a good calorie count and macro ratio, but I don't think that's the healthiest use of your calories.

This exactly.

[gt7301b]

Jul 10, 2013 8:05:18 GMT -5 wambam said:

How do you define "healthy eating?" Is it particular types of foods? A macronutrient ratio? Calorie defecit?

What say you, H&F?

I don't think calorie defecit has anything to do with an item being healthy or not. I could only eat 1,200 calories a day, but if I only eat potato chips that's not healthy

I think the less processed the item it the better it is for you. Right now we eat a lot of fruits and vegetables from our CSA and our garden.

However, most other things can be debated. Is chicken good for you or are you setting your self up for cancer? What about beef? Or what about the other extreme, should I only be eating meats and veggies? Are too many fruits making me fat?

Personally, I eat most things in moderation.

[taratru]

Jul 10, 2013 8:35:27 GMT -5 ebeth said:

Jul 10, 2013 8:34:04 GMT -5 breezy8407 said:

pizza and beer are food. my ancestors ate pizza and drank beer. 

Since I'm (we're, right, ebeth ?) from Wisconsin, this is actually true.  

[al320]

Also, i try to not eat any trans fat at all. Theres no moderation for me with that, i read every label, and do my best with restaurants.. Of course, it doesnt fall into my definition of "food" but i thought id clarify.

[ebeth]

Jul 10, 2013 9:05:50 GMT -5 taratru said:

Jul 10, 2013 8:35:27 GMT -5 ebeth said:

pizza and beer are food. my ancestors ate pizza and drank beer. 

Since I'm (we're, right, ebeth ?) from Wisconsin, this is actually true.  

tis true. I grew up in WI.  I don't know that I'd say my ancestors are from there though.

but one thing humanity has in common is that we all figured out how to make booze.  vodka, sake, wine, whiskey, rye, tequila, meade, beer, etc. ALL of our ancestors were able to buckle down, pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and fashion some booze using the materials available. ergo, alcohol is paleo.  ywia.

[msmerymac]

Jul 10, 2013 8:35:27 GMT -5 ebeth said:

Jul 10, 2013 8:34:04 GMT -5 breezy8407 said:

I still love those 3 principles and try to do that. But I also like pizza and beer, so I guess my 4th item would be everything in moderation - including moderation

pizza and beer are food. my ancestors ate pizza and drank beer. 

Plus, beer is fermented, so it's totally beneficial.

[sadlebred]

Eat food. Good, healthy food. Try to eat processed food as little as possible. Eat organic when I can.

Everything in moderation including chocolate, cheesecake, cookies, and wine. I think the 90/10 rule is good. Mine is probably more like 80/20 in practice.

[sitnspin]

Jul 10, 2013 8:45:36 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

Real foods, not super processed, not too many added sugars or chemical junk.

::skips into the sunset with Whines::  I totally agree! I am not too rigid, I just don't eat too many chemicals and I enjoy the hell out of my food (and drinks!).

[gumi]

I think sometimes people often overthink it (orthorexia) and it becomes too controlling. I am all for eating natural but just like anything else, it cannot consume you. I personally have never worried about micro-nutrients or anything. I just make sure I eat a variety of colors (and as much green as possible), meat when I feel tired (for iron) and stuff like fish, avocado and nuts for fat.

I find myself breaking a lot of "rules" now that I have kids. I have never been much of a cereal or cracker type of person but now that I have two 4-year olds, there are so many boxes in my pantry. I don't care much though as long as there is also fruit in the fruit drawer.

[shelbyann]

Last summer/fall, I played around with eating "low carb" (or I guess you might say paleo-style, but I was not strict with it and still ate cheese/milk/dairy) for a few months. I don't even think low carb is an appropriate descriptor, I ate tons of fresh fruit and starchy veggies like potatoes, squash, etc. Mostly I just cut down on bread, pasta, and sugar. I felt awesome, looked great, and was the leanest I've been since college. And although I cut back on booze and junk, I still drank plenty of beer on the weekends and had a glass of wine most nights and it was still quite effective. So for me, when I picture super healthy eating, that's what I picture.

But now I am 8 weeks PG and am eating practically the opposite, LOL. Dinner last night was mac and cheese and a popsicle. That's about as healthy as it's gonna get right now.

[clseale]

Jul 10, 2013 10:49:39 GMT -5 shelbyann said:

But now I am 8 weeks PG and am eating practically the opposite, LOL. Dinner last night was mac and cheese and a popsicle. That's about as healthy as it's gonna get right now.

Whoa!!! Did I miss something, or did you really just try & slip that in?! Congratulations!!!!

[taratru]

Jul 10, 2013 10:49:39 GMT -5 shelbyann said:

Last summer/fall, I played around with eating "low carb" (or I guess you might say paleo-style, but I was not strict with it and still ate cheese/milk/dairy) for a few months. I don't even think low carb is an appropriate descriptor, I ate tons of fresh fruit and starchy veggies like potatoes, squash, etc. Mostly I just cut down on bread, pasta, and sugar. I felt awesome, looked great, and was the leanest I've been since college. And although I cut back on booze and junk, I still drank plenty of beer on the weekends and had a glass of wine most nights and it was still quite effective. So for me, when I picture super healthy eating, that's what I picture.

But now I am 8 weeks PG and am eating practically the opposite, LOL. Dinner last night was mac and cheese and a popsicle. That's about as healthy as it's gonna get right now.

Ummmm.... CONGRATULATIONS!!! Sneaky. 

[shelbyann]

Ha, yeah I guess it was sneaky! We had a couple of early losses before this one so I have been pretty nervous (still am, actually, even though we heard the HB this week). It seemed like making some big announcement would be bad karma.

[clseale]

Awwww. Yay for baby HB!! That's awesome! Congrats, mama. (heart)

[lb2006]

Jul 10, 2013 11:01:00 GMT -5 taratru said:

Jul 10, 2013 10:49:39 GMT -5 shelbyann said:

Last summer/fall, I played around with eating "low carb" (or I guess you might say paleo-style, but I was not strict with it and still ate cheese/milk/dairy) for a few months. I don't even think low carb is an appropriate descriptor, I ate tons of fresh fruit and starchy veggies like potatoes, squash, etc. Mostly I just cut down on bread, pasta, and sugar. I felt awesome, looked great, and was the leanest I've been since college. And although I cut back on booze and junk, I still drank plenty of beer on the weekends and had a glass of wine most nights and it was still quite effective. So for me, when I picture super healthy eating, that's what I picture.

But now I am 8 weeks PG and am eating practically the opposite, LOL. Dinner last night was mac and cheese and a popsicle. That's about as healthy as it's gonna get right now.

Ummmm.... CONGRATULATIONS!!! Sneaky. 

YEAH!  Congrats!!!! 

[lb2006]

Jul 10, 2013 9:35:40 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

Eat food. Good, healthy food. Try to eat processed food as little as possible. Eat organic when I can.

Everything in moderation including chocolate, cheesecake, cookies, and wine. I think the 90/10 rule is good. Mine is probably more like 80/20 in practice.

agreed - i'm probably 80/20 or on vacation 70/30

[sadlebred]

Congratulations, shelbyann!

[thom]

Shelby - congratulations!!!! That was sneaky as can be. I hope you come back to your blog sometime too. (Definitely understand if you're not ready to put your announcement out yet.)

[thom]

And for the healthy eating; I'm all for less processed food, lots of real meat and dairy, fruits, veggies and grains. I try to choose whole grain but I'm not super good at that. I eat more sweets than I should. This, I know.

I suppose I'm in the minority that I embrace red meat and full fat dairy. I gave blood last week though, and the nurse commented on how great my blood pressure, heart rate and iron levels were. So, apparently I'm active enough that it works for me.

[shelbyann]

I apologize for the threadjack! And yeah, I definitely have not shared with the blog world/facebook so if we are connected on either of those, please don't say anything yet!

Back to the healthy foods discussion...