Fat free, Sugar free,"Diet" food. Do you use it?

 I'm a big fan of eating whole foods - it's often even cheaper than processed foods!
However, still do occasional shakes/bars to suppliment/convenience, am Splenda-dependent (may even start up my own 12-Step group for it!), and occasionally eat sugar-free chocolate as a rare treat b/c full chocolate would lead to dumps-ville for me!

I am going to be first in line to sign up for your splenda -dependent 12 step program!

Fat grams are not created equally! When you're looking at that 25 grams of fat in the walnuts, you also have to look at what is SATURATED fat and how much UNSATURATED fat there is. There is only 2 grams of saturated fat in 1 ounce of walnuts. The balance is Omega 3 fatty acids and unsaturated fats that are heart healthy! Also, several studies have been done (one by the Institute of Food Research in England) which has determined that fat satieates hunger. The Atkins Diet in particular speaks of fat satiety and promotes the use of full fat foods.

Even when I was SMO I had "excellent" cholestoral according to my doctor. The only thing I can attribute that to is that I have always eaten a good share of nuts! Cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds, pistachios and macadamia nuts. Nuts are an excellent substitute for chips, you get the crunch and the salt without the empty calories.

Early out my surgeon was low fat, low carbs, high protein.  After I reached goal I changed to full fat cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese mostly.  I can definitely tell a difference in my skin and hair and this is TMI but bathroom issues are very rare when I add full fat into the mix.

I read Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels, and now work to avoid the 'Franken-foods".  My main exception is no sugar added popsicles.  I may need a 15 step program to stay get off of those, but I'm not eating 5 a night, so I'll let it go for now.

Facebook is a little dangerous, don't know where the photo initiated, but there was a woman that put up a before and after pic.  She was thin, but had a little pudge around her mid-section she was trying to conquer.  She gave up all sugar replacements and her after picture had a 6 pack.  A lot of time your body doesn't know the difference between sugar and sugar replacements, so while you may not be getting calories, you may still be getting a reaction from your incillin and it's still turning to fat.  At least that's my very low understanding.

About a year ago, facing a 35-lb regain, I started eating "diet food" and got most of the pounds back off.  However, I started feeling dizzy all the time and could barely stand up without falling over.  I was eating plenty of calories, but VERY low fat.  After seeing various doctors with no resolution to my problem, I did my own research and figured out it was hypoglycemia.  I added fat back into my diet in the form of nuts, avocados, 2% dairy, and even some real butter and I feel 100% better. 

I eat some low fat items (like Greek yogurt, cream cheese, and 1% milk) but I eat full fat cheese most of the time (because reduced fat cheese -- other than string cheese -- is... well, NOT cheese), regular peanut butter (in small amounts), and I have nuts almost every day as one of my protein snacks.  When I was about 5 or 6 months out, my skin and hair were very dry, I started having constipation problems, etc. and my surgeon told me I needed some healhy fats in my diet.  That's when I added the nuts and added in more cheese, and all of those problems disappeared.  

Your body NEEDS a certain amount of fat to function properly. I think part of the prevalence of constipation among RNYers is because people try to keep their fat and carb (and therefore fiber)  consumption so low. I eat 45-50% of my calories in protein and the rest is fairly evenly split between carbs and fats (leaning a bit more towards carbs than the fat).  Other than the period of time mentioned above, I have not had problems with constipation, and I am maintaining my weight loss at 5 years out.

I don't eat a lot of processed foods -- and that includes protein bars or special protein snacks  -- because so many of them are loaded with chemicals.  I even usually get a small turkey breast and use that rather than deli meat because of the chemicals. I occasionally eat the frozen microwaveable dinners and notice that I don't feel as well if I have too many of them rather than the whole foods.

I am more sensitive to sugar alcohols than small amounts of sugar, so I sometimes opt for something with sugar rather than artificial sweeteners (like hard candies), but I do routinely drink beverages with artificial sweeteners.

Lora

Aside from diet soda, I stay as far away from artificial or heavily processed foods as possible. Generally if the ingredient label lists more than two things I wouldn't use when cooking it fre**** goes back on the shelf.

Things like citric acid and nitrates I understand. I use citric acid when I can fruit, and nitrates when I am curing pork belly or sausage. Those kinds of preservatives have a necessary, beneficial use. But when we're talking about multiple kinds of salt, thickeners, texturizers...etc., then it stops being food in my book.

Pre-grated cheese is one of the things that gets me. Have you ever noticed that it has kind of a gritty texture? There's all of this crap added to keep it from clumping together in the bag and make it more shelf stable, when the same amount of cheese is cheaper to buy in one solid piece and is more flavorful.

Keeping things as whole, clean, and fresh as possible is the way to go for me. Even better if it's local and has been picked at premium freshness (and not while it's still hard so it transports well). I am a better runner and a more focused writer when I eat those whole foods. So I gave up buying my morning coffee every day for $2 and started making it at home for what works out to about 25 cents a day. With the money I save, I can afford to buy better produce and locally sourced animal products that I know aren't full of hormones and antibiotics.