What's Worse: calories OR chemicals?

I love that I can eat pasta, pizza, mac&cheese AND that they put the WW points on the side to make my life easier!

I know!!! I've never been so happy with a diet..

At least Lean Cuisines are preservative free! It's nice that we can at least recognize the ingredients. Amy's & Cedarlane also make great microwavce meals - plus they're organic. But you have to be careful which ones you choose - some are kinda high in points,

Anyway the truth of the matter is I agree with everything everyone has said... on both sides of the argument so to speak. I sort of try to stay away from super junk food (read: fast food, doritos, twinkies etc.) but suddenly with the lower amount of calories I am craving all types of bad for you food!

I was trying to see if I could find any literature online about this debate but it pretty much comes up 50/50... the one side obviously saying we just don't know what these substances do to humans in the long run and the other side bringing up that obesity in the USA is directly tied to the many of the leading causes of death and disease (heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. etc.)

You are always better off eating real food, in moderation as others said. If you have the time get a copy of "Never Be Sick Again". I forget the author's name but it is the only health-type book that makes total sense to me as a non-scientific person. He devotes a lot of time to this topic and it actually changed my lifestyle.

 

Basically, your cells constantly rebuild themselves out of what you put into your body. When you put these chemicals into your body "you are what you eat" so to speak, and your cells build themselves out of these toxins. Our ancestors weren't eating high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils, there is no data -yet- to show how these things destroy your heath over a period of 60 years, because most of these chemicals are very new and there has not been enough time to conduct life studies. So, over time these toxins cause your cells to mutate and show up in various ways - cancer, diabetes, chronic pain, obesity, etc. They throw off your body's natural balance.

 

The idea is that every disease or sickness is caused by sick cells, cells that have mutated, typically due to habits of each person. You aren't going to fall ill from drinking one diet soda, but drinking diet sodas daily for years (for example) is a slow poisoning of your cells. If you keep your cells healthy, he argues that you can even beat genetics and avoid these issues. He also goes into chemicals in shampoos, cleaning products, lotions, etc. and how habitual use can cause everything from headaches to cancer.

 

Maybe that's TMI, lol, but it's very interesting to say the least!! A good read, maybe for after the weddings when we aren't so busy!

That sounds like a really interesting book, Jamy!

 

However my problem is that I have difficulty eating real food in "moderation"

 

hee hee hee... that's why I need to lose weight!

I bought those Fat Free pringles and they made me so sick! My poo had like oil blotches in it! It was so gross. I am sure they cant be good for you

Sarah

Hands down - chemicals are worse. Eat real food in the most natural state possible. Have you tried eating a handful of almonds (raw - not all the salt and stuff) to fill you up when you crave junk food? My FI did that when he was counting points.

 

I have had a lot of health problems that are made significantly worse by chemicals in foods so I truly know and understand the long-term effects on your body. You might not notice it, but it really makes a difference.

 

Plus - I'll throw this in - a short term impact is that they really mess up your skin.

When I first started WW I took the easy way out and ate Lean Cuisine's and all that other prepackaged "healthy" crap....But then I looked at some of their recipes and other good healthy recipes and just modified current recipes the food taste better.....it is more for convenience but it is really not that good for me

Kashmira I know what you mean . . . moderation is sooooo hard when something is yummy!!!

really? yuck! Well I can say that that never happened to me (thank god - I eat them at work!)

Anyway I'm thinking that now that my junk food craving are starting to subside, (again, it's particularly weird because before i started WW I really didn't eat junk food at all - just lots of delicious real food!) I want to stop eating so much of these weirder foods. Honestly I don't think there;s anything wrong with Lean Cuisines, often if you read the ingredients that are perfectly normal food that you would eat every day - of course the portions are small! I'm also a huge fan of Amy's and Cedarlanes (both are organic) for convenience food. of course with all packagaed foods they're high in sodium but for now I'm not worrying about that - I have low (not unhealthy low) blood pressure anyway.

But it's the desserts! For some reason I want to eat them and I haven't figured out what i can eat that's not filled with junky chemicals OR junky fat/sugars. I have tried the almonds and other healthy foods approach as well but I can't say it's exactly worked for me in the long run...

But in the end I'm still really torn - i want to lose weight damnit! But i also want to be healthy and fit! well I guess that's what makes it hard, right!?!

What do you guys think of splenda? It clainms to be less bad for you - but then again it just hasn't been around that long...

There's also stevia (I think) an organic sweetener sold in health food stores - has anyone tried this before? Maybe I'll give it a shot in my coffee and let you guys know!