GeorgeBMac

You have a lot of support from the American Dietetic Association:
"There are no good foods and no bad foods"
Position of the American Dietetic Association: total diet approach ... - PubMed - NCBI

Which is not surprising, since they are partnered with and funded by the fast food/processed food/junk food industries
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Conflicts of Interest | NutritionFacts.org

They say: "To increase the effectiveness of nutrition education in promoting sensible food choices, dietetics professionals plan communications and educational programs that utilize theories and models related to human behavior."
... In other words: Tell people to eat what they want, not what is healthy for them. Which is the message of the junk food industries...


... Unfortunately, the nation keeps getting fatter and sicker following their advice....


All of which is reminiscent of the tobacco industry from a few years ago:
"Smoking is not bad for you, just excess smoking"

... Sorry, smoking is not good for you and neither is junk food...

Twinkies anyone?

Machka 

IMO that has nothing to do with specific food items ... and everything to do with two things: overindulgence and a sedentary lifestyle.

Don't blame sugar for the nations obesity rate ... blame the fact that people eat too much sugar and don't exercise enough to burn it off.

These days, a lot of people sit or lie down most of the day ... even those of us who exercise. The person who did my ergonomic assessment really put it into perspective. She asked me how much I exercised each day. I told her that I tried to get in at least 1 hour of exercise a day. To which she replied ... so you're sitting or lying down 23 hours a day ... 95.8% of your day. Oh. Um. When you say it like that ... And of course she strongly encouraged me to get up and walk around at least once an hour for a few minutes throughout the day.

I really saw it in Rowan ... we had been fairly sedentary (maybe active only an hour a day) for a while, and we had both put on some weight. But when he got the job he has now, an active job, he dropped the weight in no time. I've done the same thing in the past as well ... more activity = less weight.

And of course, there is the overindulgence aspect as well, and again I say ... everything in moderation. If you're cycling 5 days a week, and you stop by an ice cream place in the middle of your weekly long ride ... no big deal.

GeorgeBMac

I agree... Even the 'moderation' part.

It is nearly impossible to avoid junk food in our industrialized cultures -- If junk food were sex, we would have topless bars and HoHouses on every corner...

But, moderation? I believe that junk food -- which tends to be mostly refined, highly processed products laced with fat and sugar -- bear a close relation to drugs. Like drugs, our systems are designed to crave them -- and eating them only relieves the cravings for a short time and then the cravings become even stronger. In the medical literature it's called 'Tolerance' and 'Dependence'.
... So saying 'moderation' for junk food is like telling a drug addict to practice moderation...

The problem is: junk food has become so pervasive that most people consider daily and multi-daily intakes as "moderate". Of course, if you consider pizza, French fries, Cokes and the like to be 'normal food' rather than 'junk food' then you only have to practice moderation with donuts, cheesecake and Blizzards...
... The fast food/processed food industries have moved the bar...

But, I believe sugar and high fat foods are largely responsible for the obesity epidemic. Not only do they have addictive properties, but their calorie density is so very high that it is impossible to feel full from eating them without taking on an incredible caloric load...

But, I strongly agree with your thoughts on sedentary lifestyles -- even among the supposedly 'highly active' people such as you and I. I have recognized that my 1-2 hours a day of exercise still leaves me with 22-23 hours of sitting -- and sitting has been recognized as a health risk...
... I just haven't figured out a solution. So, I comfort myself with the delusion that 1-2 hours per day is a good thing!

rumrunn6

for broccoli I would sauteed it in a pan w olive oil and garlic. toy with the cover, meaning off and on to help be sure the broccoli cooks but doesn't get soggy. keep the heat high and keep it moving, don't rush it but it doesn't take long. the broccoli should char up and the garlic will get toasty. there's a thin line between toasty and burnt so practice makes perfect. oh, and don't fear the olive oil, it's a super food too, like garlic and broccoli. when I was a kid my mom boiled (steamed?) vegetables and or covered them with tomato sauce. I didn't like them and only reluctantly ate them. it wasn't until I grew up that I acquired a taste for veggies

Machka 

Yes, as I mentioned earlier, there are some people who cannot be near the "junk food" of their choice. They've got no willpower. So they need to avoid that sort of food entirely. Unfortunately that can be tough when you're surrounded by coworkers munching away on chips, etc.

But many people can look at a bag of chips (or whatever it is) and make the decision that they haven't been exercising enough to get away with eating something like that ... and they walk away.


That's not my definition of moderate!! Perhaps we've got a language/definition difficulty here.

To me, "moderation" is not a daily thing. If it is every day, it is pretty regular ... not moderate at all. Moderation might be weekly ... it might be monthly or annually or on the odd occasion.

I think I drink a moderate amount of alcohol. I drink a bit alcohol on Christmas day and maybe once or twice other times in a year. That's moderate. I think I eat a moderate amount of potato chips. I'll have potato chips on or after rides over 100 km for the electrolytes ... and maybe once or twice at other times of the year. Last year, that would have been less than 10 times. That's moderate. Donuts ... pretty much just when we visit Canada. So we had quite a few donuts for about 3 weeks between mid September and early October. That was about it in a 2-year period. I figure that's probably moderate too. Blizzards ... I think we had a couple of them when we were in Canada during those 3 weeks. That was also it in a 2-year period ... moderate. (It helps that Australia doesn't have particularly brilliant donuts ... they're not bad, but they're quite easily avoidable ... and we don't have DQ's with their delicious Blizzards here either. )


So I take it you don't watch the Great British Bake-Off on TV each Sunday evening, and then think about what sort of creation you might make that week.

We've fairly recently moved into a new house and have unpacked our kitchen stuff which was in storage for a long time. I've been so pleased to have access to my baking equipment again! I've started experimenting ...


I'm collecting chocolate-making equipment too ... treated myself to a new candy thermometer right around Christmas. And I've got about 5 recipe books, and most of the ingredients now.



Get up and move.

The articles which are sent around my office recommend things like:

-- standing at meetings rather than sitting. This is an easy one for me because our meetings are usually very crowded so some people always end up standing. I make sure one of them is me.

-- work standing up for at least some of the day, if possible. Unfortunately, not possible for me.

-- walk around the office about once an hour. No problem.

-- go for a walk at lunch. I enjoy walks at lunch most days.

-- walk (or cycle) to and from work. I walk 500 metres at the beginning and again at the end of the day. I could extend that if I got off the bus earlier.

-- at home, get up and walk around the house at least once an hour.

-- park far from the grocery store and walk.

-- do housework and/or yard work.

-- if you've got kids walk/cycle to the park, and toss the ball around, play tag, or whatever.

-- if your kids are in soccer or swimming or something, go with them and instead of sitting on the sidelines, walk up and down the bleachers, jog up and down the field ... one of my coworkers took his kids to the pool for their lessons and then he hit the adjoining gym and indoor track for an hour or so until they were done.

-- stand up and lift weights while watching TV.


I had DVT in 2009 and have a genetic predispostion toward developing it again, along with other complications. Ever since then, I have to keep "Get up and move" in mind all the time. It can be hard sometimes ... I get into the zone working with my photos or something ... and then all of a sudden I realise that it has been 1.5 hours since I got up and moved. But I'm a lot better about it than I was before the DVT. Nothing like a bit of incentive.

GeorgeBMac

Yes, all good points.
And, yes, I agree that there are semantic issues involved: First, people have quite different definitions and criteria for junk food. The obvious example of that is the debate between the Vege people and the Atkins advocates. But, beyond that, the processed & fast food industries work hard to make the line between the two as grey as possible... And, even then, as you point out, the definition changes based on conditions and context (Your example of potato chips for electrolytes after a long ride. Others use chocolate milk and Coca Cola). And THEN, we get to differing definition of 'moderate'...
... Heavy Sigh...

As for get up and move, each and every one of your suggestions is a good one. The problem for me and for many (as with any healthy lifestyle choice) is implementing it. For myself, I spend way too much time on this computer. I get stuck on it doing this or doing that... "Just a few more minutes" usually turns into a few more hours...

My Mom called that 20-25 years ago when she told me:
"Skip [my nickname], that computer will be the death of you".

She is gone now, but I doubt that she ever had any idea of just how true her words were....

CyclingAddictSA

I was just busy buying ingredients for a cheesecake last night when I saw a cheesecake standing there on display. It had an expiry date for 2017 I think. You would probably die from some horribly toxin in 40 years if you ate that. The safe way to go I think is to prepare everything you eat yourself. That way you know whats in it.

But as GeorgeBMac said: sometime you can't help it. Like when you are at a restaurant with family. You won't say "You guys order I'll get something on our way home" or something like that.There's nothing wrong with it every once in a while. In those cases just don't overdo it "It's all about moderation".

What do I consider junk food? Anything that doesn't have any, or very little, nutritional value and only contain a bunch of carbohydrates and sugar.