9 February 2011
Best of YN: Not Full? Probably Because You Didn’t Actually Eat!
Today, I’m continuing my series Best of YN. I’m reposting some of my favorite stuff from the past you might have missed. Be sure to check out last week’s Best of YN post, Why I’m Not Running.
Originally posted May 10, 2010
A few days ago, I was sent some fiber bars to try out. I won’t name the company, because they were extremely generous to send me free stuff, even though I told them I don’t eat fiber bars anymore. I was honest and told them I’d pass them on to someone who would try them.
But when I got the bars and read through the ingredient list, I knew there was no way I could tell anyone else to try them in good conscience. Ingredients included all kinds of hydrogenated oils and even something called shellac, which I’m fairly certain I want nothing to do with.
Right after I read the ingredients on the fiber bar, I saw a commercial for sugar-free Jell-O with “zero Weight Watchers points!” I had this thought like, “If I ate that, it’d be like eating air… Because it isn’t actually food!”
When I get questions from readers who say that they’re constantly hungry, my first question is, “What are you eating?” Without fail, it’s diet foods like Baked Lays, Fiber One, Light & Fit Yogurt, low-fat Kraft cheese, etc.
It’s no wonder they’re never satisfied — they’re not actually eating real food! Those foods masquarade as health foods, but they’re not healthy. In fact, they’re not even food. They’re a bunch of ingredients and chemicals processed together to RESEMBLE food. I know, I know, nothing you haven’t heard before from Michael Pollan.
But here’s where I’m going to take it a step further: If you’re eating a bunch of food with no calories, even if it adds up to your designated 1,400 cals (or whatever) at the end of the day, you’ll feel like you’ve hardly eaten anything — because in reality, you haven’t. Calories are your friends, guys! Foods with an appropriate amount of calories for what they are — be it a calorie-dense food like meat or a food with high water content like a veggie — are going to satisfy you more than something that’s been processed to remove calories/fat/sugar/whatever. Calories aren’t always a bad thing. Remember, calories (when they’re not in processed food) usually mean nutrition. Foods with more calories also tend to have more nutrition.
Let me ask you this: Would you rather eat a sandwich on reduced-calorie bread with low-fat cheese and fake mayo and be starving in an hour? Or a REAL sandwich on sprouted grain bread, full-fat cheese, and some high-quality meat and only need to eat half because you’re sufficiently satiated mid-way through? Even if you ate the whole thing, you wouldn’t need to eat your snack of popped air later that afternoon. Sure, you’d be consuming more calories in the moment, but you wouldn’t be setting yourself up for the munchies later.
REAL food is satisfying. Fake food is just that — fake. I’m not saying there’s no place for Baked Lays or frozen yogurt (I eat it all the time!). Just don’t pretend it’s food.
