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Sat Dec 19
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04/25/09
#1. It is not a diet plan. Again, NOT a diet plan. She gives you tips and tricks if you're tge kind of person who sometimes really wants to eat a big piece of cake or a big bowl of peanut noodles but would rather eat a low fat, loe cal version of it than the full fat shebang. Gee, that's so unhealthy.
#2. She decided to make a mailing list for her tips and recipes and it needed a name. She loves to eat and is a female so she decided to call it Hungry Girl. Big deal. It started out just being for her friends and family and happened to catch on.
#3. She definitely never claims that all women love pink, sugar and can't follow a diet plan. Way to put words in her mouth and make her look like a generalizing asshole when she is pretty much the opposite.
#4. She doesn't promote a bunch of junk with no nutritional value. While something might have cool whip free in it, it's probably also high in fiber. She talks about fiber and protein constantly as well as low sodium options. She also talks about eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. She loves Fiber One snd Tofu Sheritaki noodles. Boy oh boy, what a bunch of junk those things are. *eye roll*
Of course no one will actually read this and just keep shit talking her. It's times like these that make me wish I were a Jezebel writer just do I could do an opposing post to this ill informed and defensive article.
Personally, I can't afford to eat organic and when I try to not eat junk food and only eat whole foods, I end up binge eating and then feeling like shit. I need better for me substitutes and that's what Lisa is providing. She's not telling anyone how they should eat and to only eat what she writes about. She frequently says that everyone is different and should do their own thing. Weight Watchers loves her but no one is villainizing them.
Also, I wish I wasn't typing this on my phone because there's no spell check.
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04/24/09
Let's ponder the miracle of cool whip for a second* ... it's made of sugar and oil. Still pondering? What kind of deal with the devil did they make so that Cool Whip Free could come into fruition? What kind of strange chemistry experiment is it? And this woman thinks it is heavensent goodness in a plastic tub.
Hmph. Call me a food snob, but there's something really off about it.
*Who hasn't eaten cool whip straight from the tub? It is "creamy" deliciousness, but then I read the ingredient list ...
04/25/09
Fuck that noise. Whipped cream, plz.
04/24/09
HUNGRY GIRL is not concerned with HEALTH. Plus she seems to be shilling all kinds of products and is clearly getting a little in her pocket for it. The answers really do lie in whole foods, vegetables, etc. We've just lost our taste for these things due to early exposures to crazy flavors/additives/etc. that come from artificial means. The problem with people like Alice Waters is that she seems to recommend the ideal rather than focus on more pragmatic steps towards that ideal-organic fresh veg grown nearby is a wonderful thing,but it is not financially, or even pragmatically feasible for most people outside of berkeley.
frozen vegetables can taste really good when cooked well and still have plenty of nutrients (plus are cheap and don't go bad), and if you buy in season, fresh fruits and veg are not that $$$. PLUS, people should eat meat less anyway (from a health/ethics/sustainable development/cost perspective), thereby freeing up more money for the rest.
I also do think we've lost touch with the art of cooking for ourselves and understanding the possibilities of basic foods, which would honestly help out significantly in the health department, and maybe this economy will force us to relearn these things...
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04/24/09
i am a size 18, i eat 10 servings of fruits/vegetables a day, i bike 12km a day, my cholesterol and blood pressure are perfect. i will never, ever be size 6. it is not in my dna and i am totally happy with that.
so stop fucking judging me because CNN feels compelled to run a new story every day about OMG TEH FATTIEZ!! there have always been fat people, there will always be fat people. it's only an epidemic because we invented the crock of shit we call the BMI system and overnight, half the continent was obese.
also, before the hysteria runs out of control, read this:[kateharding.net]
04/24/09
I've lived that way since I was 19 and it's pretty 'effing easy. Bite me.
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04/24/09
Sigh. There are people in this thread for whom it is NOT easy, for a variety of reasons. But I should probably just give up on this.
04/24/09
2. I DON'T LIKE PINK. YOU WILL NEVER GET ME TO LIKE PINK. STOP WITH THE PINK! AAAACCCCKKKK!!!!!
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[www.hungry-girl.com]
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It seems like there is a more logical argument for food being a more moral issue than sex in that what we put into our bodies creates a ripple effect. There is not enough food to go around, global warming, packaging waste, etc. I'm not saying that constantly thinking about these things is a healthy way to live, or that we should drive ourselves crazy about it. I'm just saying that even considering the idea that food may not be a moral issue is a first world luxury.
In places where food is merely a matter of supply and demand, food is not only a moral issue, it's THE moral issue.
04/24/09
That said, though, it's true that junk food is super cheap - go into any dollar store across the nation and there's gonna be more Twinkies than oranges. Just goes to show that even in the so-called first world, there's a lot less choice for the very poor, so maybe we should be putting more effort in bringing food and morals closer together, at least as far as availability of healthy food.
04/24/09
If you live somewhere remote or rural, or even if you're just on a tight budget, it can be really tempting to pass over the expensive, bruised fruits and veggies for some packaged stuff that's fast to cook. So it's not difficult to imagine why some people aren't always able to prepare healthy foods; it probably isn't so much a lack of willingness but a lack of availability.
With that said, I've never really had trouble with junk food "addictions". I don't WANT to know how to use fakey stuff to make a substitute Twinkie or giant Starbucks latte or immense chocolate brownie, because I don't like Twinkies and I hate sweet coffee drinks and I'm merely ambivalent on brownies. I go months without sweet treats and simply don't miss them.
I resent the implication that because I'm overweight, it must be because I "can't put down the chips and soda" or whatever. Fruits and vegetables are the biggest bulk of what I eat, out of any food category, and I walk three miles a day.
I don't drink heavily and I eat pretty well, for all intents and purposes. Yet still I'm overweight. Is it because I'm eating crap? No. Is it because I just "don't know" that there's bacon and cheese on restaurant salads? Of course I know there's calories in that stuff, and besides, I don't even remember the last time I ate at a restaurant. I cook 95% of my food from scratch from fresh ingredients, and I live mostly lacto-ovo.
Not everybody can just put down the junk food and drop 20 pounds, because some of us have put down the junk food over a decade ago. Is there a plan that assumes that overweight people DON'T live to scarf down cupcakes? That we know how many calories are in things, and we're fully aware of what we're putting into our bodies? Is there a plan that respects the fact that I'm doing my damnedest, damnit?
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The thing you have to realize is that Hungry Girl serves her purpose for the people who do like sweet things, who do have difficulty weaning themselves off of junk food. Go to any WW meeting and you will meet quite a few of these people. I don't think she's trying to sell her lifestyle to anyone and everyone. But for a lot of us, eating well is a constant compromise -- well, I'll buy lunch but I'll make dinner with lots of veggies, etc. And she is helpful for people like us.
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If only it was just hunger I was fighting. Then it would be easier I think.
04/24/09
For me that moment was three days ago, when I realized I don't want to either a)keep going to work feeling like crap in pants that don't really fit me anymore or b)spend all my money on a new wardrobe. So I chose c). Maybe we need a Jezebel WW group!
04/24/09
I just see it as two different issues - emotional eating really has very little to do with eating and the crutch could really be anything, it just happens that food is legal, cheap and plentiful.
04/24/09
So I assume then that you would tell a problem drinker, "Duh, it's easy. Just drink until you feel nice and buzzed, and then stop before you get drunk"?
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But once you throw in emotional eating, then the person HAS to admit that it's a problem that's beyond eating and it ISN'T okay to eat sugar because you're sad, or stressed, or tired. But you're trying to have it both ways - you're trying to say "Whatever, I'm gonna eat this ice cream because I had a tough day" AND "It's so much harder to lose weight than everyone thinks it is." This flippant acceptance of emotional eating is what the problem is.
04/24/09
I went back to Weight Watchers this week and I'm kind of looking at it like "food boot camp". I want to fix where I've gone off the rails.
BUT IT IS NOT FUCKING EASY AND I DON'T NEED SOME ASSUMEDLY SKINNY BITCH TELLING ME "DUH, IT SO IS!"
04/24/09
@schweppes:
Recognizing the source/cause of a problem doesn't always mean it is easy to then fix the problem. I don't think anyone would be dismissive of anorexia and tell people that they just need to "admit that it's a problem beyond eating" and then just expect them to suddenly be cured, like you're suggesting we should say to emotional eaters. Binge eating is complicated and it really isn't something as simple as just flipping a switch and getting over it.
04/24/09
I don't think that's true, though. In between variations of metabolisms for all sorts of reasons (age, gender, amount of muscle), varying levels of activity during the day (even before you get into whether someone works out), WHAT you eat when you're hungry, what fills you up more (how you process sugar, etc), not to mention all sorts of non-emotional lifestyle factors like how much time a person has to cook, how many supermarkets are in their area, etc.....it's not. If it were easy, there wouldn't be an obesity epidemic. There are all sorts of ways to only eat when you're hungry and still be overweight.
04/24/09
Another thing to consider is that some of us are not good cooks and don't have the time to a)learn and b)cook for ourselves every night. I should've taken home ec.
I think the end point is, there are a LOT of factors at play in one's diet and to be condescending or to flippantly say that it's easy is really unhelpful.
04/24/09
That pretending that the behavior choices that are the root of the problem need to be socially acceptable.
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04/24/09
My metabolism and genes just did not allow that. So via WW (hell yeah made of win, I hearted you too) I learned better habits and what actually goes into the food we eat, and I have to admit I use plenty of HG's shortcuts to stay within my points. I'd much rather do whole grains, fruits and veg, but there are times when I'll use the splenda or egg beaters for convenience or because I need it for what I felt like eating, I just keep it in moderation. I lose 1-2 pounds a week doing that and getting regular exercise and I feel awesome. Why is me choosing to do that have some sort of stigma like Im doing it for the man, or succumbing to the Cathy lifestyle? This is simply the way I've figured out how to feel (and yes, look) good.
Whew. I needed to say that a lot I guess.
04/25/09
I said this in the vegan vs. meat thread, and I'll say it again, when it comes to food, I'm a "mind your own god-damned business a-tarian." seriously, i couldn't give a shit what anyone else eats, why should anyone care what I eat?
And, yeah, I have had issues with food. Yeah, I did the WW thing, and I think it helped me a lot, but it might not help other people so, whatever. (sidenote: my WW meeting group was probably the most economically, racially, and religiously diverse group of people getting together in North Carolina on a Saturday morning.)
I love to cook - and it was actually weight watchers that got me into cooking for myself. I do enjoy making more elaborate recipes, particularly Indian food; I buy my spices as seeds and have a coffee grinder set aside solely for spices.
That being said, sometimes I do not have the time or desire to fix myself a nice dinner. Maybe Lean Cuisine mac-n-cheese is the best I can hope for (actually, their mac-and-cheese is really good!).
And, sometimes berries and cream really hits the spot, but other times, I want ice cream. But, if I like the 100 calorie klondike bars as much as the originals, then why is it a problem if I eat them? Yes, I do eat the 100 calorie packs of snack foods. Yes, I know they are not "whole" foods. No, I do not give a shit. Processed foods may be the cause of the obesity epidemic, the harbinger of the anti-christ, and the downfall of western civilization as we know it, but I like them, and I will continue to eat them. I don't see why people are getting so worked up about this stuff. It's not like I'm making anyone else eat them!
What I eat is my responsibility, and what other people eat is their responsibility, and any decision they make about what is healthy and appropriate for them is between them and their doctor.
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