I'm really thinking about this question as I make choices throughout the day. I've been overweight since I was seven. In that time, I have tried so many things in so many different ways, and I've never really focused on these options as the 'healthy' way to be. With vegetarianism, I did it because of 'moral reasons'. I was also 17. It was part of my rebellion, my mom called me a pastatarian.
From there I went onto Weight Watchers the first time. Looking back, each time I've done WW I've bulked up on all the packaged 'snackies' that I could. I barely lost weight.
Then I decided to do South Beach, which morphed into Atkins. I lost serious amounts of weight. I did eat a lot of the right veggies and good meats, but I also bulked up on all the fake sugar products I could get my hands on. Oh to think of all the chemicals I consumed... I plateaued a year and a half into it and the plateau became a steady gain.
Which leads me to now. I know that each of these options *can* be healthy it is just a matter of the choices we make. That is what I'm doing now.
I think that is what derailed me this weekend was the mind set of 'getting away with' occasional bad choices because I'm no longer on a strict diet like Atkins.
Instead I need to think about what I eat and decide if it is a healthy choice or not. This will take some time and training. I can't lie to or trick my body. I should stop trying!
How do you assess what are "ok" and "not ok" foods?