Well, I personally don't 'rely' on frozen meals to count my calories for me. I keep them in stock, yes, but most of the time I prepare my own foods. Like today for lunch I had a chicken breast and a potato. Yesterday I had a zucchini and fresh corn on the cob. And both days (well ALL days right now since I have my own tomato garden) I've eaten a whole tomato. The day before that I had mashed cauliflower and baked cod. And I never eat Lean Cuisines for dinner. Those are only a lunch thing. And, as you can see, I don't eat them every day

Personally, I believe it's important to look at processed/whole foods as a full spectrum. On one end is people eating who consider a bologna and "cheese food" sandwhich on white bread, with chips (and maybe some more cheese in a can) along with some "fruit newtons" or a twinkie as a balanced lunch. On the other end is the person who eats only what they personally have grown or raised (and/or bought from others who have done the same).

The vast majority of us are somewhere in the middle. My goal is to keep heading toward the "whole food" end, and away from the "processed" end, but I see myself raising free-range chickens and dairy goats, canning fruits and veggies, and making my own cheese on my little hobby farm only in my daydreams (Sure would be cool though).

The title of this thread should be changed to "Are you a food snob? Can't you just play nice?" LLV you merely said what some of us where thinking.

These last few posts remind me of a former boss I had, who when he saw I was dieting, lectured me on the health benefits of jogging, and juicing (all of those antioxidants you know, apparently he just forgot about all the good fiber he was tossing in the trash). The biggest irony was that he was a chain smoker, his office smelled so bad (even after our building "technically" went no smoking) that I could barely breath in it.

It can be easy to get on our soapboxes, especially when we have the convictions of the newly converted (the biggest social bores are people new to their religion or their weight loss program).

Hey. Leave the juice out of this.


EDIT: And for the record, I am a TOTAL food snob. I didn't used to be, it happened, and I'm not complaining...But I would never ask you to be.

Well, to be honest, it's something I've been wanting to tell her for some time now. I really don't mean to sound insulting or rude. Because believe me, I've been where she is now, thinking 'this food' is bad and 'that food' is evil... and you know what? They really aren't. It's our decision as to what food choices we make. And over the last year, I've majorly relaxed about certain things and I'm glad I did. The main reason I said something to her is because I'm seeing ME - about a year and a half ago - in her posts. And I had someone flat out tell me, "Linda, you really need to relax. Stop freaking out over every blasted thing and just go with the flow. Do your lifestyle and enjoy it. But don't put everyone else down because their lifestyle doesn't coincide with yours."

Wow, that was a wake-up and a half. And I sat back and took a look at myself and thought man, I am FREAKY over this stuff.

I had to relax. And I'm only telling Misti that it would be in her best interest to do the same. I'm not saying she doesn't have the right to look out for what she feels is best for her. We ALL have that right. But more times than I can count, she's literally made me feel 'stupid' for some of the food choices I've made. And I'm basically giving her some friendly advice that it's better to just relax about that stuff. Do your own thing. But don't put down others for the things they do.

And that's all I was trying to tell her.

Relax, babe. It's much better for your stress levels as well as everything else

Especially as Americans, we love extremes and hate moderation. Everything is great, or everything is evil. You're either perfect, or worthless, and I think that's why many of us are here. I know it's definitely plaid a key role in my weight problem for myself, and my inability to dig myself out of the whole I've created.

Even now, into this about 15 months or more, I keep forgetting about the progress I've made especially when I "slip or dip," into old habits. Sometimes it isn't even a matter of making a mistake as much as berating myself for not being perfect. If I eat within plan, and exercise, but not as much or in the way I planned, or didn't get all my water in, or any detail I may have overlooked, I can start to feel all superstitious about it.

We throw a lot of superstition and magical thinking into dieting, exercise, and health that doesn't belong there (or in our lives at all, for that matter). It's as though we believe that one small misstep and it will all crumble.

Virtually nothing is as simple as we often try to make it. Factors affecting factors, affecting factors. You take your genetic makeup, figure in every aspect of your physical and social environment, add on every behavior you've engaged in since you were born, every disease, illness, and injury...

As I said before, it doesn't mean nothing matters, it just means you have to pick your battles and be willing to accept a certain amount of risk and uncertainty. Which risks you take, when, and how often, and even how informed you want to be about the risks you are taking, is really is up to the individual.

I think sometimes we forget that part. We get pretty excited about (or feel the need to defend) our choices, and sometimes try to impress them onto others without even thinking, caring, or agreeing whether the choices are appropriate for "everyone."

I know when I get "worked up," I get kind of preachy, and forget that "my way" may not work for everyone (or I get to thinking they should at least ALL try it before deciding against it).

"When I am Queen of the World...."

LLV, you shouldn't let anyone make you feel stupid for the food choices you make. I also don't think you are going to make anyone change their mind on how they view food. If you want let someone know they are being judgemental, that is fine.

All of us are on this website for one main reason, and that is because we are interested in losing weight or maintaining weight we have lost. We want to share our experiences with people as they share their experiences with us.

Most of us also have a alternative purposes beyond losing weight or maintaining our weight loss. Of course not all of us share the same feelings about food, exercise and methods of weight loss. Some people think diet drugs are the way to go, while others thing that heavily restricting carbs is the way to go, others think that following a specific program is the way to go, etc. We all really speak from our own view and sometimes that may conflict with others view but that is ok.

Sometimes there are people that say "why do I need to do that? I'll lose weight without that" and they are true, but some people do "that" because they want to or they think it'll help with their weight loss and their overall health. Some people may state that if it really doesn't help with their weight loss then they don't need to do it. That is fine and I have no argument with that, if their goal is weight loss.

Personally, my primary goal is weight loss but I also have many other goals. My personal goals include trying to eat as healthy as I can eat. To me this means eating lots of veggies, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes, lean meats and healthy fats. I would like to eat more organics but I don't eat a lot. I am also cutting out meat quite a bit. This also means limiting the amount of processed foods, fried foods, sweets, greasy foods, etc. These are of course my goals and they aren't everyones and they aren't necessary to lose weight.

Basically, I just wanted to say that we are all different and our goals may all be different and I don't think anyone should be offended by someone else stating their personal goals.

The question isn't being offended by someone elses personal goals. Its being offended when someone else tells you your personal goals aren't as healthy/as important/as well executed as theirs, or implies that they know better than you what your personal choices should be.

This is an issue I've come across multiple times on this board, and I'm trying to learn to let it go and acknowledge that just because something is a good choice for one person, its not one for me. Still, no one likes to feel like their choices are being negatively judged - we're all doing the best we can.

This struck a chord with me. I think with a standard diet, the frozen meals can appear heavy on the sodium and I have my own reasons for not eating them. One of which, though, is that that is how I choose to control and manage my diet. Example? I am now under 16% body fat. And I have a confession to make... I make my eggs with real butter. Not PAM, not oil, but butter. I have made room in my diet to accommodate this. My friend is a salad dressing person. She can't imagine life without blue cheese. I can reason with this, because my dressing isn't exactly low cal either. I don't eat high sodium foods. I don't eat fast food. My diet is naturally pretty lowfat, so I can have some good dressing on my salad and butter with my eggs. So I certainly agree with making room and adjustments.

And LLV, I'm with you. You should not feel bad for wanting to come to a wonderful place such as this and feel like what you're doing is inherently wrong with every post you make. As much as I believe what I believe and as strongly as I believe them, they are my reasons. I, for some reason, identified with a raw based and whole foods diet. While I admire those that have made this a choice (high raw) for the rest of their lives, I have made adjustments according to what works for me. I got to where I needed to be and feel good from day to day and believe I can do this for the rest of my life (most days). Compared to where I was a few years ago, I have obtained a wealth of knowledge that I feel I am better for. And I LOVE the fact that this place exists and there is a whole section devoted to the discussion of the diet I follow.

And it does not give me the right to wander into a thread about lean cuisines and announce "I stay away from processed crap like that", or other various one-liners. At that point, it isn't about finding support for the diet you are following or even advocating a lifestyle. I'm not sure the intention is the same.

I am thankful for the advice and support I find here and hope it continues- Misti, Jill, LLV, Stevi-rocks, Nelie, you have ALL said things that have resonated with me and helped me find a power within myself and it usually has nothing to do with what plan we're on, but this certainly gave me something to think about....

Yes-it IS why we have the PM feature.

I am a clean eater for the most part...and I believe that organic products are superior, that plain oatmeal is better than flavored packets, natural peanut butter is superior over most naem brands with sugar and sodium added-and so on and so forth...BUT, on that same note-I think that certain diet products can be helpful if they are not overused. I don't believe that it all has to be "all or nothing".

I think having 2 bags of 100 Calorie Packs per day is too much junk for a reduced calorie diet and that they should be used more sparingly, but I think that they are perfect for throwing in your purse Friday night when you have plans to go to the movies-and want to avoid the large buttered popcorn bucket and the humongo bag of M&Ms that contains 3 servings instead of 1.

I don't eat frozen dinners daily...but I *do* have a few in my freezer. I don't eat them for lunch daily-but my strategy with them is that I use them for extreme cravings that really can't be satisfied in other ways-like the Lean Cuisine egg roll or fried rice entrees. Going to a chinese buffet is an overeating trigger for me, so having one on hand saves me maybe once a month from caving into a craving-and essentially eating 300 calories worth of white rice/chinese, rather than the 1500+ I would eat at the restaurant.