One of my favorite shows is “What Not To Wear.” I’ve always wanted to be on that show – and I kept asking my family to nominate me but they refused!! Anyway, I was watching that show the other night and thought about the fact that although I preach moderation in food choices and not depriving oneself, there are certain foods that I don’t eat much of, or avoid altogether.
My list includes some of the following:
♦ Partially hydrogenated oils
♦ High fructose corn sugar
♦ Bleached foods, like white pasta and rice
♦ Salt in excess
♦ Foods that I can’t tell what they used to be
♦ Unhealthy fats
♦ Diet sodas and artificial sweeteners in general
♦ Beef and pork
♦ Most foods with GMO’s (this is new to me and I’ll be writing a post on it soon)
I’ve said before that the process of having my tastes change and working towards getting healthier has evolved over time. When I was first working on my weight goals just switching from regular sodas to diet sodas was a big step. However, over time I cut them out completely. The same thing with including more fresh foods. Here’s a funny story – when John and I married he had never had fresh green beans. The first time I made them he said, “What are these beans?” I said, “They are fresh green beans.” He said, “You mean like from the ground?!” Too funny.
The hardest thing for us is the partially hydrogenated oils because they are in sooo many things. But the more I make things from scratch the less that comes into play so that’s nice. The bleached food thing wasn’t too bad except for the fact that at first my five youngest kids hated brown rice. But now they are used to it and seem to enjoy the dishes I make with it.
What about you? Do you have any foods you try to avoid? Diane
I try to avoid processed foods. It is hard to eat clean all the time- so I aim for 90/10.
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I dont have one–though I do avoid gluten like the plague to my bod that it is
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I haven’t eaten pizza since I’ve been at my highest, 2 1/2 years ago. However I plan on slowly introducing it into my diet when I’m near goal.
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I don’t think there is anything I really avoid… except for booze, and that only for one moon. Usually my mantra is “Everything in moderation”. Of course there is stuff I do not eat/drink because I do not like it (such as sodas, most store-bought cereals etc.)
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My list is very similar to yours and I’m working on it diligently. Another road I’m heading down is the process of eliminating food from Fast Food restaurants. I’ve never been a big fan because I’ve never felt their cleanliness standards meet my guidelines, however, sometimes something quick is necessary. I’ve worked hard to figure out the “best” choices at each of the major chains and ordering that has become routine. But eliminating fast food altogether is a goal. Definition of Fast Food??? That’s hard, but my loose criteria is that it’s anything with a drive-thru!! Exception: Chik-Fil-A. Several good choices there. Would love to hear from others on this and places they deem “acceptable.” What is your take, Diane?
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All pretty much the same. I tend to eat the same things at the ame times of day, so this isn’t too hard for me. I did have a couple of pizzas over the weekend, but in the entire month of February, I did not eat anything on your list except for beef. I try and eat grass fed beef or bison when I can afford it..
It’s easy to maintain a healthy diet when one sticks with basics and keeps it simple. I think where people go wrong and dip into that list, often without realizing it, is when they get too complictaed with recipes.
All the things you have mentioned, is the things we try to avoid as far as possible. It’s important to our health that we do avoid them, so we are very diligent about this.
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Diane, I have tried to get on WNTW at least 4 times!!! Had my hubby nominate me too! Nope – did not get there! I could use their clothes help big time!
As for foods I try to avoid, I am with your list.. but I am not trying to be perfect so I now a little of this or that over the course of a lot of years is not going to hurt me.. it is when you do it all the time. I just try my best, read labels & eat as many whole foods as possible.
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All those are on my ‘don’t eat’ list as well. I also really try to only buy organic meat for my family. It is pricey so it has cut our meat consumption way down.
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I’m not sure about this. I feel like I should learn more and take my stand, but for now I just avoid all kinds of candy and sweets.. I try to eat less processed foods etc too!
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Most things on your list I avoid as well, except I don’t eat seed/grain oils (canola/corn) and stick to coconut oil and nut oils.
I eat beef and pork, but we try to locally source our meat or at least buy from a certified humane farm. We try to avoid what we call ‘corporate’ meat.
I do limit wheat, but don’t totally avoid it.
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- anything from McDonalds or similar
- Partially hydrogenated oils
- tinned tuna, (and as little non-sustainably caught fish as possible)
- as few ‘ready meals’ and processed foods as poss (usually 1 every couple of months or so.)
- no GM (where its traceable)
- as much organic as possible (am also eating much less meat because of this)
- For sweet things I never drank much soda but try to only go for homebaked or high quality confectionary/pastries/cakes/cookies…
Artificial sweenteners like aspartame and sucralose NEVER enter my food trap. I’m also about 95% red meat free. Only time I eat read meat is the occasional prime rib from Texas Roadhouse. teehee. Soda is another no-no. No way, baby.
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I try to totally avoid candy, except for dark (85%) chocolate. I try to seriously limit foods made with white flour and/or sugar, and other white carbs like potatoes, white rice and pasta. I cook from scratch 99% of the time, so I know what I’m eating. When I go out, I tend to go to a local pub where the kitchen is visible and they cook from scratch – and I typically eat salad with grilled chicken. I eat meat but buy most of it at a halal butcher in an effort to avoid corporate practices- I like it because they will grind chicken or beef in front of me when I order it. I indulge in chips once a month, eating far more than a single serving but then I’m done for a month and don’t even think about them for a long time. Sugar however is another matter – if I eat cake or a cookie I will crave more sugar for a full week, which is why I limit it so severely.
Mostly no white carbs but my list looks alot like yours. Cooking from scratch seems to avoid most of them though. I have been making healthy hamburger helper meals (think 1 pot with a salad and our healthy bread) once a week. I will be posting a new recipe once a week…. I dont eat much of it but my family loves hamburger helper done right! lol.
I find it interesting that so many people avoid wheat. I ate our bread at least twice a day the whole time I was loosing my weight and still do even on maintenaince. Maybe it has something to do with grinding and using it fresh with all the wheat berry parts in the flour that make it more acceptable.
Just a thought.
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I don’t really think about what I don’t eat,
instead I focus on what I do eat:
whole foods, one ingredient on the label, real food.
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I don’t really deny myself anything honestly. I think that’s setting myself up for failure. Once you say “I will never____” that’s when you want it. That being said, I’m trying to get rid of processed foods from my diet. It’s unhealthy and I feel better when I eat natural, whole foods.
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Any thing with trans fats. Foods high in saturated fats, because of my cholesterol issues. I do try to avoid “white” food like white bread, rice, potatoes. I also try to avoid refined sugars.
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I’ve REALLY been trying to cook from scratch and avoid as many processed and packaged foods as possible. I’d be lying if I said bottled dressings or sauces aren’t in my cupboards and used if I’m in a hurry or on a busy weeknight, but as much as possible, I’m trying to be from scratch. Have a great Monday.
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I don’t abstain from anything, long term, 100%. I probably should with a few of them, but my rule is if I can eliminate it from my daily diet, my immune system calms down enough that a trace of it in a condiment or someone else’s cooking generally doesn’t make me flare up.
I am avoiding almost to food-allerg levels:
Wheat and any other whole grain
Beans, including peanuts
Almost all non-fermented dairy, except heavy cream (my body treats it like a fat and it doesn’t break me out)
All hydrogenated oils, rancidity-prone plant oils
Added sugar (fruit sugars aren’t a huge issue in small doses)
I can’t cut stuff out without replacing it – so in place of whole grains I am doing wonderfully with white rice and sweet potatoes, neither of which are flaring my sensitivities. In place of beans I am using meat, and in place of peanut butter I’m doing sunflower seed butter. The dairy I have left myself is yogurt, cheese, heavy cream, kefir, etc, and I don’t miss icecream and milk at all. For oils I am good with lard, coconut oil, and some olive oil. I get a little sugar in my dark chocolate, but otherwise haven’t replaced it and don’t miss it.
There are no foods that are completely banned since my elimination diet stage calmed my reactions to them. That made long term a lot more livable – because while I can avoid oats and the like in daily life, they do pop up on occasion and being able to eat a small amount of them without causing problems takes away the ‘forbidden fruit’ aspect. Nine times out of ten now, when confronted with one of my banned foods, they don’t even seem worth it and I can pass on them without any stress. That is a new, awesome development!
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It’s a shorter list to list what I do eat and that is REAL food! (I just finished reading Michael Pollan’s Food Rules and try to abide by them whenever possible.) I am eager to hear about how you avoid GMO. I do not think it is easy to do. Thank you for your blog. It encourages so many people.
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What a great idea!! they should make a show like that. I definitely have a list of things I can’t eat because they are my trigger foods. If I eat anything with over 4 grams of sugar in it I start having crazy cravings. It’s awful. Same with white flour etc. So I have a list and if I stray from it there is trouble !!
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Our lists are pretty much the same.
I cook most things from scratch, we don’t eat fast food, and we stay away from overly processed foods. If things from the list slip into our diet once in awhile (very rarely), I don’t stress too much.
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Your family must think that you already have an amazing sense of style since they won’t nominate you for What Not to Wear.
As far as things on my “What Not to Eat” list, my list looks a lot yours with HFCS being at the top of the list…
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I don’t know why they won’t! I think it’s because I “can” look dressed up when I need to, but around the house I just wear jeans and a fleece or t-shirt. They don’t think I qualify!
My list is very similar to yours! I think it is so important to get the processed stuff out of our diets, but that is the hardest thing to do, especially with kids in the house. It’s an ongoing battle!
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If it isn’t vegan (or seafood) I don’t eat it!
I didn’t know you were a vegan! Wow, you are really disciplined Dr. J.
Maybe that’s my problem~I don’t have a Do Not Eat List! Never even crossed my mind to do so… HHHHHMMMMmmmmmmmmm….
Many of the things on your list are on mine as well, but I will add to that list items that I just plain old don’t like, such as lima beans (and most other beans except for geen sting beans), liver, and brussels sprouts. These are foods that I was forced to eat as a child, often with traumatic results…
And now, due to a rather new intolerance, I won’t eat any product that has cow’s milk in it…
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Pork, soy, hydrogonated oil and lalala. You gotta start somewhere and then just say NO!
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Your list and mine has salt in excess, unhealthy fats, and beef and pork. I also try and avoid taking food from roadside trolleys.
Thanks for sharing.
-Diana
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