What is "healthy" cooking to you?

[dbhost]

Healthy to me consists of "better bad choices".

Minimal commercially processed foods, but not eliminated.
Minimize fast / restaurant foods that are pretty much sky high in salt, sugar, fats and more or less everything bad for you. (There are good fats, and bad fats, not all fats are bad, minimize the bad ones, enjoy the good ones in proper portions).
Artificial sweeteners are bad, but not as bad as high fructose corn syrup. Both are a lose lose situation... How fast do you want to lose?
Simple carbohydrates? I'd rather not, but I will work with it as best I can.

 

[Econ]

Dear Fat Haters: <GG>

Anthropologists state that Homo Sapiens are about 2 million years old. Farming started about 12,000 years ago. So for the first 2 million years natural selection choose humans that lived off of fat and meat best.

Egypt was known as the land of wheat back in the Pharaoh's days. Heart scans of the mummies show rampant heart disease.

Pfizer made $129 Billion off of Lipitor before the copyright expired.

Don't get me started on healthy eating. <<GG>>

We bought a camper because that was the only way to eat healthy on the road.

 

[Toedtoes]

Moderation is the key. If all you eat is high carb, you'll have problems. If all you eat is high protein, you'll have problems.

Exercise is the most important thing. Sitting at a desk all day then going home to your couch is not healthy. Walking around the building on break is not enough to do you good UNLESS you have a severely low metabolism. It won't hurt you to take that walk, but it isn't making up for the cookie dough ice cream last night.

In December 2016, I stopped drinking non-diet soda. Now, I drink water almost exclusively. An occasional glass of milk or fruit juice or lemonade or hot cocoa. Guess what? For all the media attention on sodas making people obese, I actually gained weight when I stopped drinking it. I changed no other food choices or eating habits - simply switched non-diet soda to water. I was drinking 2-4 cans a day. That's about 360-720 calories I took out of my diet daily with no weight loss. There is so much more to healthy eating (and healthy weight) than just eliminating "bad stuff".

I will recommend that if anyone is looking to remove soda from their diet to do it in 2 stages: stage 1 - switch to caffeine free only sodas. Wean yourself off the caffeine first. When you can drink the soda without getting that "aaah, that's what I wanted" emotion, you have broken the caffeine fix and can go to stage 2 and stop drinking soda altogether. Trying to stop all at once means you are fighting against both the caffeine and the sugar.

 

[dbhost]

In December 2016, I stopped drinking non-diet soda. Now, I drink water almost exclusively. An occasional glass of milk or fruit juice or lemonade or hot cocoa. Guess what? For all the media attention on sodas making people obese, I actually gained weight when I stopped drinking it. I changed no other food choices or eating habits - simply switched non-diet soda to water. I was drinking 2-4 cans a day. That's about 360-720 calories I took out of my diet daily with no weight loss. There is so much more to healthy eating (and healthy weight) than just eliminating "bad stuff".

Funny you mention that, I was still gaining weight when I was drinking diet soda, I switched to regular, and try to get only pure can sugar varieties, and my weight loss has resumed. I don't drink much, maybe 1 bottle (.75L) of soda twice a week though. Most of the time I drink coffee, or natural home made juices except cranberry, haven't figured out how to juice cranberries yet... Yes I use artificial sweeteners, but avoid aspertame like the plaugue. I have no clue how that stuff keeps its FDA approval. Every time I have a drink with that stuff in it I get a massive migraine.

 

[Toedtoes]

I think blaming sodas on the nations obesity levels is a huge copout. Sure there are folks who will drink 1 or 2 mega-cup sodas a day. But most of the folks I see doing that, don't stop to eat all day either. They run on empty at work unless someone brings in treats and then they gobble up the treats. I suspect many go home to eat chips, pizzas, etc. for dinner. In those cases, it's not the soda at fault, it's the poor eating habits in general.

I'm of an undetermined opinion of artificial sweeteners. Without them, I would have a very hard time drinking as much water as I do (54-72 ounces per day). But I never drank "diet" sodas and I will choose a regular dessert/snack over a "diet" dessert/snack. I don't get migraines, etc., from anything so I'm good there. I like the water drps because I can flavor according to my daily taste - some days I go with a less sweet flavor or less flavoring and another day I do more.

I have also dropped caffeine from my life. I never drank coffee or tea, but did drink coke. I never felt a "caffeine high", but when I started drinking caffeine free coke, I realized how much my preference to soda was based on that caffeine. Once I broke that addiction, I found other drinks more satisfying. When I had my kidney stone, I found my citrate levels were abyssmal. So, my water drops are lemonade flavors (you have to watch each flavor regardless of brand for salt and caffeine additives). If I buy a drink somewhere it is lemonade.

In just about 5 months, with 1-1/2 on an exercise propram and no work, I have lost 4 lbs. But my stamina and muscle tone has improved more than triple. I am looking at this from a sceletal perspective - rebuild the muscles and joints to support healthy movement and the weight loss will follow. I'm in no hurry. And I don't deny myself a craving. Cravings happen for a reason. I've been learning my triggers and particular cravings over the years and have tried to keep those items out of my daily foods. So when I do get a craving for cheetos puffs, I can indulge once and then go back to eating better stuff. That seems to help me.

 

[Econ]

Cravings happen for a reason.

Cravings are your body telling you that you are not supplying what it needs. It is also your body crying for another hit to the substances you are addicted to, like certain hormones in what you are eating.

I don't have cravings anymore. But I sure did during the 3 week withdrawal phase when I drastically changed my diet.