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Should You Choose Artificially Low Calorie Food To Help You Lose Weight Or Stick With Healthy?

December 4, 2012   37 Comments

One of the tenets of losing weight is that you must reduce your calorie intake. Eat less, exercise more.

Low Calorie Versus Healthy

How should you go about eating less? Fran sent me this great question:

I would like your thoughts on something I struggle with on a regular basis, that may be an issue for other readers as well.

My question to you… I read recipes and articles all the time about reducing calories to be able to eat the sweet treats and unhealthy foods we love while maintaining a reduced calorie diet. However, all these products are so unhealthy.

Do you think it is healthier to weigh maybe 10 or 15 pounds less because you’re able to maintain a very low caloric intake full of artificial sweeteners and ingredients or Is it better to simply keep the extra pounds from eating a few more calories each day and fill your body with healthy, natural fuel? I struggle with this daily…health vs. low cal!

Yeah, I hear you. At a Weight Watchers meeting there are frequently two sides of the room. One side is trying to eat healthy and lose weight, the other side is trying to reduce the amount of calories they consume to keep eating as much junk as possible (and still lose weight).

My perspective has always been that processed food that is low calorie by including artificial sweeteners or strange additives just doesn’t taste very good. I am on this planet for I don’t know how long and I want to enjoy my food.

The vision I promote here on Snack Girl is that fresh fruits and vegetables taste good when prepared correctly and are so much better for you than any of the packaged diet stuff. They are both low calorie AND healthy. Hurray!

All of the research into diet and nutrition says the same thing. You get less diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc. if you eat more fruits and vegetables so there is a win-win to reducing your calories by eating healthier. I do believe that eating healthy should be a goal of people trying to lose weight versus eating less calories by any means necessary.

And, your question of keeping on the extra pounds versus always being on a low calorie diet is an important one too. I think it is possible to think you are fat and eat healthily and be in good shape.

This is such a personal question - “How much should I weigh?” While I can’t answer it for Fran, I can tell you that I spent 10 minutes on the Victoria’s Secret website looking at underwear and OMG those girls are skinny.

Who really looks like that?

I think that eating healthy is more important than being a perfect size 4. You are taking care of your body and that is essential to a long life. My guess is that you will have more energy and feel good about yourself with the healthier eating route than the artificial low calorie one.

The beauty that comes from the inside because you feel great is way more gorgeous than being artificially thin.

What do you think? What is the best way to reduce calories?


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