to think that most people don't eat really well, they just eat ok

[BellaCB]

I've been following some threads on weight loss and snacks lately as my diet isn't great and I need to make some changes, so have been following for some tips. Sometimes a lot of advice on these threads comes across to me as a little 'extreme' or very radical. As in, you often get people talking about how they never snack, or eat mainly seafood and vegetables and stir fry, say. The threads can go a bit round in circles – "snacking is just a lack of willpower, processed food is evil, carbs are terrible for you" etc.

Now I'm not questioning that this isn't just a very healthy way to eat – I'm sure it is probably one of the healthiest ways to eat. (And this isn't meant as a criticism of people who enjoy eating those foods, or people who have to eat a more restricted diet)

But it got me thinking about what people I know eat (colleagues and friends) and it seems to be the same. The general attempt is to eat relatively well, to have fruit and veg, and to have decent meals where possible. When you go to someone's for a meal or you share recipes, the general aim is something relatively healthy, or at least with fresh ingredients and vegetables. But they are also still eating biscuits in the office, still happily getting a cake in a café, and talking about having had a chippie takeaway one night.

I know the ideal would be to cut out processed food, but AIBU to think that actually, most people just eat quite well, try and get their five a day if they can, but still "indulge" - biscuits and desserts and takeaway and alcohol - sometimes? That most people just live in a middle ground between eating terribly and eating super healthily?

I believe I eat really well, but then I eat for flavour and enjoyment, I also can and will eat pretty much anything.
I can't be doing with not eating x or y because it's 'bad', if it tastes good, it's good.

Well...yabu actually. We only eat meat on very rare occassions. Our diet is absolutely packed with vegetables and pulses. DH is vegan and has a very well balanced healthy diet. The DDs and I have chicken once a week and perhaps something like minced meat once. DDs and I do have sweets/crisps/wine on weekends but not in the week.

I think our diet is very good. We don't buy fizzy drinks or squash at all. I drink coffee with milk though. We don't have processed foods in meals at all.

Meant to add...a lot of our friends are the same as us. Either vegetarian and eating loads of salads, roast veg, pulses etc or met eaters who cook all their own meals and don't buy anything processed.

Brillo that's nonsense. It's not !"good" in a healthy way if it's loaded with additives and fat. It might taste good though. But what we eat tastes good. Both DH and I are good cooks and make really nice soups and curries etc.

Meh yes agree op. Most people eat most things in moderation.

And then eventually all the overweight, skinny, fanatical and yes even vegans all die.

Most people in real life, or most people on MN?

I think most people believe they eat reasonably well. Whether they actually do probably depends on their definition of healthy foods and 'occasional' indulgences. It's very easy for occassional indulgences to become weekly indulgences, then several times a week, etc.

The statistics floating around about how many people meet the targets for fruit and vegetable intake, prevelance of obesity abd lifestyle diseases, etc. suggest that most people really aren't eating a healthy diet.

YANBU. I think that a lot of people think they eat well but don't particularly. I'm pretty lucky, I grew up in a home where meals were all made using fresh ingredients and we rarely if ever had processed foods so I know how to cook and do so daily.
I have a lot of friends though who don't get portion sizing, what is processed and what isn't, salt content etc.

YANBU. The level of eating well that some people aspire to is pretty impossible.

It takes an awful lot of time/money to eat well all of the time. Who really has the time to sit down and meal plan for a week making sure that all protein/fat/carb %ages are optimimum, and that all vitamin and mineral RDAs are met, not to mention growing/raising your own food so that you can be confident of its origin/nutritional content/lack of processing.

To whoever mentioned milk in the same sentence as non-processed, unless it is raw milk it will have been both pasteurised and homogenised after leaving the cow, and the cow itself doesn't exactly live in a "natural' state.

This is worth a read. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/21/a-feast-of-engineering-whats-really-in-your-food

Its about all the processing that goes into " unprocessed" food.

The level of eating well that some people aspire to is pretty impossible

Yes, that's it. Sometimes the advice you find is very, very strict.

I just get the impression that most people (in RL, not MN ) don't live in quinoa and steamed fish, but on spag bol.

Also, I'm arguing this from the point of view that I eat 'ok'. I don't believe in banning processed food, thinking you can't ever have a piece of breaded fish for dinner.

Everything in moderation as they say. As long as you are fit and healthy, don't worry about living 'up' to Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle. We are all going to die of something.

We eat an "ok" diet-and I'm fine with that. I'm quite strict about eating "food" food at mealtimes, but I honestly don't care if they have a couple of biscuits after school instead of yet another bloody banana.

I'm partial to a nice pint glass of wine meself too.

The level of eating well that some people aspire to is pretty impossible

That's why I have a belly on me that is bigger than it should be. I dont aspire to eat as well as others. I know what I should do to get rid of it, but I rather like the taste of biscuits, cake etc and rather eat cake than be thin. Then again Im a size 14 so not huge.

I agree with you, I'm in the middle ground of eating healthy and eating rubbish, I'd have something like a mackerel salad for lunch washed down with a donut, crisps or chocolate.

Hasn't done me any harm so far.

Yes but if you're reading this on weight loss threads, then you probably will see people saying that they don't eat biscuits/cake/snack every day, because they're trying to lose weight.

I don't snack, I enjoy eating healthy food, I enjoy eating junk food and I enjoy alcohol and fizzy drinks.

Just like a lot of people who aren't trying to lose weight, I enjoy them all in moderation.

YANBU, most people do eat just 'okay' with regular treats and maintain their weights, and it's definitely the easier option! But that's also why most people have more podge than they want.. When I want to be as lean/fit as I can I do have to cut out carbs and junk. It is an effort sometimes but my body is happiest when I just feed it meat and veg, it never complains or aches!

I don't think it's impossible to eat that well- it would be entirely possible for us not to eat any chocolate or crisps without much effort.

I just don't think it's necessary to be that strict. Not for us anyway- it isn't my idea of a life lived to the full.

Each to their own tho. Many people enjoy the gym bunny look and lifestyle- and good luck to them.

Exactly - it isn't my idea of a life lived to the full

MN is skewed, and yes, the weight loss board will be skewed in one way, the cooking board will be skewed another way.

I was just thinking of most people I know in RL, I suppose. They might have bought a salad or soup in to work for lunch. Then they'll happily have some cake if there is some later.

It's just different levels of indulgence. For some that's a weekly takeaway, others it's every 2 weeks.

I have a cappuccino once a week. Some people have one daily.

I was just thinking of most people I know in RL, I suppose. They might have bought a salad or soup in to work for lunch. Then they'll happily have some cake if there is some later.

That's like most people I know, unless they're trying to lose weight.

But it is entirely possible for people not to snack, simply because they don't want to/need to.

I've never worked in an office so I genuinely had no idea how many people seem to spend all day eating in them, until I joined Mumsnet.

Even now, it still strikes me as strange.

It's the dire boredom of sitting at a desk all day, Worra. It's either tea or biscuits to cheer you up!

Well, I think Spag bol is not bad food. Nor is potato or carbs.

That is just warped weird thinking.

If you do any sport/are active, carbs are very useful and good.

You are prone to cramps if you do heavy exercise and stint on carbs. It si not good to cut them out IMO.

Neither are they fattening, we (family, friends) eat loads of carbs (and protein and veg) and noone is fat.

Also gwyneth Paltrow smokes so no body is perfect!

I don't think it's bad food either, Nimpy. I think it's a perfectly normal everyday meal. Some protein, some carbs, some vegetables on the side, and relatively easy to make without resorting to overly processed food (though I'm aware some people will consider both pasta and tinned tomatoes processed foods).

A lot of hte advice is people's idea of being on a diet - not a forever way of living, something you do for a bit to lose weight. It's rarely sustainable.

I don't believe in 'good' and 'bad' foods either, there's 'every day' and 'treat' foods certainly, but biscuits aren't evil, they just fuel that doesn't come with additional nutriants so should be a smaller part of your overall diet (if you look on a weekly/monthly terms). If you are burning it all off and getting enough nutriants from your diet, then you are eating really well for you. Some people do bugger all exercise, so no, they aren't burning off enough to be able to have foods that are just fuel.

It's also worth noting that different offices have different cultures, I went from one where noone really brought in cakes and biscuits as we had an open plan office and were discouraged from eating at desks, so there wasn't the norm of joining in with eating them. Then I moved to a place where there was something being handed round every day, I found by the end of my probationary period my work clothes were all very tight and had to start saying no thank you. But that can be seen as strange unless you are trying to lose weight if the rest of the staff are all tucking in.

Interestingly, in the first office where there wasn't the culture of 'treat foods' in the afternoons, most people ate considerably more at lunchtime, few people did just have a small salad or just a sandwich for lunch, it was much more normal to eat a full meal as that would have to sustain you until 7-8pm at night.