I was thinking about this today..Can you really get away with eating LOTS of healthy foods and still loose weight?Or eat small amounts of food with some junk food here and there and still loose weight...?

Lets get some opinions on this..

I have always managed to eat loads of good food and still lose weight. It's only when I start to mix it with junk food or alcohol, that I put on the weight. I have always had a large appetite, and will always want to eat large portions, but my weight is coming down nicely, so no worries yet.

The kids are always asking for candy.. so I buy the bags of candy that are 'snack size' I believe you have to reward yourself.. and one snack size candy bar, gives me the chocolate I crave, but I don't feel guilty about eating a whole candy bar.
As for eating meals, I try to eat healthy, but still watch portons

This is what I've been doing, plus some moderate exercise, and I've lost 24 pounds since Jan 1. I'm still basically eating foods I like, just less of them, smaller portions....some are healthy, some are junk foods. I've stopped some foods, substituted some foods, added some foods. My main junk food is salty snacks...those entice me more than sweets. So, rather than go cold turkey, I just cut them down. I can be satisfied with less but I'd be really frustrated with none. It may not work for everybody...we all have different levels of craving and styles of eating but the thing that's been helping me succeed so far is that I came up with something that worked for me, my style of eating (eating frequent, smaller meals), my preferences. I don't need to eat half a can of Pringles potato chips. 100 calories of Cheese Nips and the salt fiend in me is satisfied. I think part of is mental, too. That is, whether one can have junk food in the house and control the consumption of it. I've discovered I can.

I strongly believe it's both.

My friends say I eat a lot! But, it's mostly veggies, fresh, lean proteins, chicken, turkey, fish, nothing fried. I am a volume eater, always have been. What I eat at one meal, most people, volume wise, only eat during the whole day. I do also occasionally cheat, but on those days, I strictly adhere to total calorie count and do extra cardio.

It is probably really just mostly down to calories in v. calories out. You can have loads of healthy food (generally) that will the same amount of calories as a much smaller amount of "bad" food.

So, sometimes I opt to only eat 2 giant cookies and a frappacino for a whole days food comsumption and on other days I will have literally pounds and pounds of fruit and vegetables to eat.

In the end, I think it's how much you eat that determines whether you will lose weight. BUT, I think what you eat helps determine if you will feel satisfied and healthy with what you have eaten.

I eat loads, but it's mainly healthy stuff. I burn loads off though too.

In theory I know it's just calories in vs calories out. In practice, if I eat sweet things it starts me off eating and eating, so I stick to savoury stuff to stop myself becoming a remorseless eating machine!

I eat a lot but it's mainly healthy. At work people make fun of me because I'm always the last one done with lunch. I usually have a big salad or something, then fruit, then yogurt or something else.

I did notice yesterday I had a really small lunch at 11, I went to the gym at 4 for 2 really hard classes, and I didn't eat anything in between. By 7, I was so hungry, really not a smart move.

I like to have a big lunch and a small dinner. The lunch gets me through my workouts then a small dinner makes me not feel so bloated at night.

Its down to how many calories you consume versus how many you expend. I know someone who lost 5 stone while eating two bars of chocolate everyday (at least), she was mad about chocolate and lost by restricting calories rather than type of foods. However, she is probably not the healthiest of people and as the majority of us are in this to improve our health it is probably more workable to eat bigger portions of healthy foods.

Personally speaking, I don't watch my portions with salad and veg but do everything else, whether good or not.