You are overweight. You decide to take action by starting with nutrition.
You open the Internet and/or share with friends, and then a little horror begins, leaving you with the feeling that you have nothing to eat because everything is forbidden.
“Stop eating bread!”
“You have to get rid of the chocolate and ice cream.”
“You eat a lot of donuts, but now you have to limit them.”
“Once you’re on a diet, pizza is forbidden!”
Is this normal with so many restrictions?
With so many restrictions, especially if they are sharp, very often people fail at the start. And there is a reason.
They fall into the trap of extremes and misleading and misguided food labels.
What will you learn?
In this article, you will learn how to look at food or at least what is the “normal” way to do this.
Because eating should not be something that causes you extreme discomfort, constantly thinking about prohibitions.
You can achieve your goals with a different philosophy that will not put a bitter taste in your mouth.
We will talk about the most commonly forbidden foods, such as pizzas, ice creams, donuts, and others, and whether there is a way to include them in diets for weight loss.
Prohibited/permitted and useful/harmful foods
Nowadays, with easily accessible information on all topics, including nutrition, one would ask, “What can I do?”, And in the context of today’s article, the question would be: “Are there any foods left that I can eat?”
And this is not surprising, because the column “harmful foods” over the years has included eggs, bacon, and the like, for the usefulness of which there is already enough scientific data.
You can also take a look at our best blender for puree foods guide.
Fortunately, science is evolving.
Unfortunately, nothing else develops – the ability not to generalize and the ability to take into account the context.
What is food?
Interestingly, the most common definitions of food are related to calories and body vision.
Yes, it carries calories and is a major factor in losing, gaining, or maintaining weight, but it is far more than just calories and just one of the tools for body modeling.
It carries information.
There are micro and macronutrients.
Through the choices we make about our diet, we can influence our health, especially through long-term choices.
And although there are foods, “fruits” of the modern way of life, which should be kept to a minimum on our menu, the labeling of “forbidden” and “permitted” foods is unnecessary, incorrect, misleading, and out of context.
When food is forbidden/allowed
Foods, in themselves, do not have the characteristics of being banned/allowed and harmful/useful.
They become such only in the context of:
- Who accepts them (a specific person, with a specific lifestyle and health characteristics);
- When a person accepts them;
- How a person consumes them;
- In what quantities a person consumes them.
Accordingly, in order for food to be considered in this sense, it must become clear to whom it applies.
For some people, there would be religious prohibitions, such as that of pork in the context of Islam.
However, this does not make pork forbidden to all people.
In others, there will be health features – such as the existence of a health case or conditions such as pregnancy.
For example, patients with celiac disease should not consume gluten and should look for substitutes.
However, this does not make gluten banned/harmful to all people.
Third, the reasons may be dictated by orthorexia and the fear of junk food being on the menu, but that doesn’t mean that sometimes indulging in pizza or ice cream will hurt us.
Because the whole picture is important
In order to judge whether a food is good to be on someone’s menu or not, we need to know all the important factors:
- What is the person’s whole diet;
- What are a person’s lifestyle and physical activity;
- Does a person have any health cases and what are they?
And since junk food is considered to be the most commonly associated banned food in our field (this includes processed foods rich in sugars and fats, such as chips, cakes, waffles, etc.), we would divide things into two main cases:
- People who take care of it year-round as it gets in their mouths and 80% or more of their diet is represented by foods rich in valuable nutrients;
- People who periodically switch to a “healthy diet”, but generally spend most of their time eating suboptimally – with mostly processed foods rich in sugars, low in fiber, and protein.
In the first case, we have conscious choices about nutrition, and “forbidden” chips and cakes would find a place if one felt the need for them.
In the latter case, we have an unbalanced menu and a risk of deficiencies in important substances, so for these people, “banned” chips and cakes become truly “banned” and their quantities should be reduced at the expense of the whole and unprocessed foods, fruits, vegetables, etc.
If we add to the first case an active lifestyle and regular training, then a slice of pizza and a glass of beer 1-2 times a week would not turn the cart.
If we add a stagnant lifestyle to the second case, then the red light for the next piece of cake should light up if we are interested in our good health.
And yet, we will not label junk food as “junk food.” However, we will emphasize once again that these are products that are good to be present in small quantities in the diet if one needs them at all.
They are not vital. You can live fully without “junk food.”
But they could also be present in any regime. Even in those concerning weight loss.
It all depends, again on:
- Who eats;
- How and how much a person eats;
- What is the whole picture?
Foods that are considered “forbidden”
We will list the main foods in this category that are considered “banned” and give guidelines for those of you who would still like to make the product a little less “banned”.
We will deliberately continue to use these definitions of food in quotation marks to save the lengthy clarifications contained in what has already been said above.
Doner Kebab
It’s a secret to tell you that we at The Sized like doner kebab and think they’re a really good idea.
It is especially good if prepared at home.
Then one can put everything according to one’s regime.
Why it is considered “forbidden”
Doner kebab belongs to the categories of forbidden foods, especially in the weight loss regime, because it has a high caloric value and is a combination of fats, probably subjected to inappropriate heat treatment (french fries), sauces with unclear composition (mayonnaise, etc.) and high salt.
How to make it “allowed”
However, it may have a lower calorie version.
Outdoors: skip the fries and sauces (or add just a few) and ask for more vegetables;
At home: buy Arabic bread for donuts (they are available in large food chains), bake meat in the oven or on the grill and cut it into slices, add vegetables of your choice and a sauce of strained yogurt, garlic, and dill.
Pizza
“What would life be like without pizza?!”
Why it is “forbidden”
Unfortunately, pizza has become a symbol of “forbidden” food because of poor quality products that are widely used to make it in various fast food outlets, etc.
Low-quality pizzas can use low-quality products, artificial flavors, and modified starch.
How to make it “allowed”
Pamper yourself and go to a good pizzeria, where they prepare quality pizzas with good products.
Baked in the oven, with good cheese and prosciutto, homemade sauces, with well-made dough … This pizza will satisfy your senses.
If you bother to prepare it at your own place, just buy quality products and you will not go wrong.
Hot dog
Why it is “forbidden”
It is considered “junk food” mainly because of the sausage, which in most cases contains soy and starch, artificial colors and flavors, and almost never the amount of meat you would expect.
In addition to this are the sauces – ketchup and mayonnaise.
How to make it “allowed”
Buy or make quality whole bread and fill it with pieces of meat of your choice or sausage with proven origin and composition.
For sauces, you can experiment with homemade ones.
French fries
The smell of french fries is among the favorites, along with those of toast and coffee.
Why are they “forbidden”
Due to the content of large amounts of trans fats, salt, and acrylamide – a carcinogen obtained by frying or baking at high temperatures.
Apart from the fact that it is not uncommon to use the fat in which the potatoes are fried more times than recommended.
How to make them “allowed”
Make potatoes at home, using suitable high-temperature fat for frying, or experiment with another way of cooking, in the form of chips – baked in the oven, or as part of the recipe for tahini vegetables with herbs and seeds.
Ice cream
Who doesn’t love ice cream? There are few.
Our team is a big ice cream lover.
Ice cream is one of the “forbidden” foods because of the poor composition in most places where it is offered, as well as because of its high caloric value. Artificial colors and flavors, palm oil, and a large amount of sugar.
However, nothing can replace the real good gelato made from egg yolks, good whole milk, as much as possible natural colors, and additives such as good chocolate, nuts, and fruits.
Therefore, we advise you to bet on quality when you eat ice cream. It’s worth it.
A lesson to learn
The list of junk food doesn’t stop there, but we’ll stop.
The idea is clear, and the most important thing to learn is the following:
If you take care of what comes into your mouth all year round and most of your food is whole, unprocessed and of clear origin, “forbidden” foods can find a place in your life and vice versa;
Foods in themselves do not have the characteristics of forbidden, permitted, useful and harmful – they become such in the context of a person;
You can always improve a recipe or make a better food choice if you want to and are informed.
Eating should not be torture.
There is always room for ice cream or pizza with friends.
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