I am loving this calorie counting thing and have been pretty faithful with tracking everything on fitday. I also excersise almost every day of the week, I have a slight case of OCD and I LOVE working out. I was just wondering how many of you eat healthy all the time AND if you feel guilty when you don't? I am trying to just look at this rationally. I personally love to eat healthy foods, but have never been one to beat myself up over not eating healthy every now and then. If I'm short on time and can't make dinner one night then I'll just find the lowest calorie option on a menu and eat that. I really don't want to make the food the issue, ya know? I realize that I can't have brownies in my house or any snack food for that matter because I will pick at things through out the day until they are all gone. I did the Weigh Down Workshop a few years back and lost about 40 pounds (managing to keep it off for a long while) by just eating smaller portions of the foods I loved. What do you all think? Just wondering if eating healthy can become too much of an obsession ( I tend to obsess)

I eat healthy probably at least 90% of the time, and I do *not* feel guilty when I have treats. I plan those in for the most part, so I quite enjoy them.

No point in having treats if you are going to regret them or have guilt about them.

Now if I don't get in my exercise, then I feel guilty.

I eat healthy most of the time too. It takes a lot more junk for me to feel full, so in order to stay within calorie limits I have discovered that I have to. I also plan out treats, and sometimes end up not on plan for special occasions, but don't feel guilty.

Like Lori, I eat healthy, nutritious food most of the time and incorporate planned treats here and there. There's no need to feel guilty about having an ice cream cone or some chips every now and then. Just work it into your otherwise healthy diet.

I do have to say I've eaten 99% healthy since January (ooww, hurt myself patting myself on the back )

Interesting thing is, since I've been eating clean my idea of a *treat* has completely changed. Used to be Cold Stone and Chips Ahoy, now it's an extra serving of chocolate soy milk blended with unsweetened frozen berries

Hi, I'm new here and thought I better pipe in instead of just lurking.

I eat healthy most of the time, but it's a habit, not a guilt thing. If I really crave something I eat it, just in small portions. I just read "In Defense of Food" and then a week later read "Why French Women Don't Get Fat" and that really got me thinking about food, both in terms of eating less processed food, and in really enjoying what I do eat. I stopped drinking skim milk and low fat cheese, because I'd rather have a little bit of double cream brie than a whole bunch of fat free processed cheese.

If I eat too many processed foods, I'm hungry all the time because my body isn't getting the fuel it needs, so I think it's just a balance.

Hahahahah! NO!

I eat healthy maybe 80% of the time. More some weeks, less others. But I'm light years ahead of where I was 18 months ago, so I am ok with that.

I also refuse to feel guilty about not eating healthily ... although there are times when I eat something I really shouldn't and then later in the day realize that it means I can't have my frozen yogurt for dessert or I have to skip the glass of wine or even that I have to rethink my dinner strategy. And in those cases there are times that I do *regret* not having more willpower, but I don't feel guilt necessarily .. just a sense of "well that was stupid of me".

I do think that anything can become an obsession ... but I also think we tend to ... well ... obsess about being obsessed, if that makes sense. It's really easy to label things just because they're outside of your normal frame of reference. To someone who doesn't watch what they eat or who isn't used to watching what they eat, someone who does is labeled "obsessive" when really they're just aware.

I am much, much, much, much more AWARE of what I eat now. All the time. I don't think that's obsessive - I think it's healthy.

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Oh I totally agree with this.

The only time I use 2% milk is when I'm making a smoothie and the texture isn't as important. But lo-fat or fat-free cheese? Puh-leeze. I'd rather not have any at all. I'll nibble on an ounce of Dubliner or Brie and thoroughly enjoy it rather than go with the icky stuff.

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I eat under 1400 calories 6 days/week and on the 7th, I go up to 2000 calories or if I go out to dinner sometimes more. On my 1400 or less calorie days though I do eat COW... my 3 weaknesses Chips, Pepsi One, and Wine. No matter what I do, I can't stop eating those things... and yeah... it frustrates me something fierce, but oh well

LOL @C.O.W. !!! I love the acronym! Chips and wine are two of my personal weaknesses as well. PepsiOne is only a one-calorie splurge though.

I eat healthy probably 95% of the time, I don't fret if I eat something that's horrible for me though. It's funny though, lots of stuff I loved for like 18 years now tastes terrible to me, amazing how those taste buds change.

I eat healthy the majority of the time, but honestly, it's nearly impossible to eat 100% healthy when not at home or on the road. When you are being fed by other people, you are at their mercy (we're staying with family right now and it has been frustrating.)

Of course, my definition of healthy eating includes dark chocolate, wine, and some full fat dairy. Healthy eating isn't so much about restriction it's about moderation. I will say though, that I do avoid processed food, in my mind chemicals don't count as food.

The idea of feeling guilty about food seems to be a very American thing. I saw a survey awhile back that had polled Americans and French people about word associations. When asked about what first came to mind when they thought of chocolate cake, Americans said GUILT, the French said CELEBRATION. Makes you think doesn't it?

Not sure I know what "eating healthy" means... are we talking about "on plan," or are we talking about kinds of foods?

I don't eat any "fast foods" (Wendy's, McD's, BK). I sometimes will have a sub at Subway. Is that eating healthy? I won't have a shake from a fast food place, but I will have good quality ice cream on rare occasions. Is that unhealthy?

I might have one (1) serving of Doritos every few months. That's junk food... probably not healthy in excess...

Well... I guess that most of the time, I think that I am eating healthy if I'm getting my proper mix of nutrients, and am mostly on plan. I prefer organically grown and locally grown foods if they're available, but I don't insist on them.

Jay

I eat on plan 99% of the time. I consider what I eat healthy. Of course, dark chocolate and wine are on the menu daily. Both are healthy foods - in moderation. Like Jay, I consider a lot of foods "healthy". Full fat cheese, whole grain pastas, and the like.

Like the others, I eat healthy most of the time.

But I've had days where I spiral into out-of-control binges that last all day, or even all weekend.

When I binge I do feel bad about it, but I wouldn't say I feel "guilty." To me guilty implies that I am ashamed of what I've done and that I beat myself up over it, and that's not what I do.

Mostly when it happens I am just disappointed in myself that I made a whole lot of poor choices.

For example: if I have one donut, I'm okay with that. No big deal. But if I polish off six or seven in a sitting, and then allow myself to have a big ice-blended mocha with whipped cream along with the donuts, then yes I do feel bad about the decisions I've made.

But I don't beat myself up over it, though, or hang my head in shame: instead I try to learn from what happened so I don't repeat it. I try to figure out what set off the binge, why it got out-of-control, and come up with ways to combat it. I'm still learning, so I still have binges, but they are slowly becoming less and less often and less severe.