It seems that "Eating Healthy"  was a problem even 60+ years ago.
See this 1951 propaganda film for amusing and erroneous advice.

The message here:  "the way you ate made you sick"  is very similar to "the way you ate made you fat".  Both messages attach Blame for personal behavior. 

I find the film's portrayal of a "normal" sized family interesting.  Although the population here in the 2010s is generally heavier than the 1950s population, each member of this family (including the children) appeared to be heavier than the people who are commonly shown in most of today's food commercials.  

Mom appears to have a BMI well-above the Obesity border, and Dad's BMI probably is over that border as well .. although his weight might fall merely in the high-area of the Overweight BMI range. The girl (teenage?) appeared to have a mid-normal BMI -- which isn't thin enough for today's skinny jeans, and the pre-adolescent boy would need to wear relaxed-fit pants.

Look at the amount of food served here, and how much everyone was instructed to eat.  Although the film depicts the time of my own childhood, I was seldom served, or even allowed to eat,  such a large meal.  There are a great many calories in: a 4 to 6 oz glass of Juice, bowl of cereal, couple of eggs, a couple of pieces of bacon, some buttered toast and 8-10 oz glass of whole-milk.  About 1,000 + calories, which is actually MORE calories than my body (as a small, sedentary, elderly, female) will burn in an entire day.

Did anyone REALLY ever believe that a healthy person will get a stomach ache from:

• eating a small amount of food really fast,

          or

• eating only a few bites at dinner due to an afternoon snack of a small sugared soda and candy bar?

Also notice how small the boy's soda bottle was.  And how just he tossed away the empty bottle and candy wrappers … although he was outside with NO waste containers anywhere about.

The difficulties of eating "Healthy".

 
Graphic by:  This is Not a Diet - its your life.

This Article contains some great advice for us all. 

The Courteous Healthy Eater
     
          by Kate

People who make an effort to eat in a way that supports their health have a bad reputation. 

It seems that many times, the "Healthy" eater is also the "Judgmental" eater. 

Let us band together, fellow healthy eaters, and change this stigma by killing it with kindness.

If you aren’t sure if you have the right to talk to someone about his/her food choices, ask yourself the following questions:

1.  Is this person my child?
2.  Am I this person’s doctor?
3.  Did she ask me?

Unless you answered yes to one of these questions, you do not have the right to make food choices for this person.

The following suggestions are for everyone who eats food, regardless of your personal choices: 
 

• Don’t Comment on Other People’s Plates.  When you see someone eating something you think looks unappetizing or that you would not eat yourself for whatever reason, you do not have to tell the person who is eating what is wrong with her food.  In fact, you may consider that this person could very well have eating choices of her own that impact her health, mental or physical.  You may even imagine that this person is very sensitive about eating or suffers from an eating disorder if it helps you mind your own business.
   
•  Let Other People Make Their Own Decisions.  Let other people decide what they are going to eat.  If you think the diet they are following is stupid or unnecessary, that’s okay.  Don’t follow it.  But let each person have the autonomy over her own life to decide for herself if and when she wants to make a change.
   
• Don’t Assume Everyone Has the Same Goal.  Do not tell a heavy person that if she stopped eating X she would lose weight.  Conversely, do not tell a thin person that she needs to eat a cheeseburger.  That is not your stomach or your body, you do not get to decide and your opinion is insulting unless it is requested.
   
•  Be Polite Online.  When you see a picture of a food you don’t eat, you do not need to comment about what’s wrong with it.  You can continue to not eat that food, but really, the world does not need to know about it.
   
• You Don’t Need to Broadcast Your Food Choices.  Many people are surprised to find out I am vegetarian because I don’t make a big deal out of it.  When I go out to eat with other people, I order the vegetarian option without ever mentioning it to the other people at the table.  If I am offered an appetizer that contains meat I simply say “no thank you.”  If I am offered a soda, again “no thank you.”  If I have a question about the menu or a modification, I make it to the server and I am polite and gracious.
   
•  “No Thank You” is the End of the Conversation.  Conversely, when you offer someone food and they refuse with a “no thank you”, your job is done.  For whatever reason, that person does not want to eat the food at that time.  You really do not need to know why.
   
•  Stop Talking About Your Diet Constantly.  If you follow a particular type of diet, let’s say you follow the Low Radish Diet, unless someone asks you about it, you probably don’t need to tell them.  The world is awash in dietary advice and most people are just sick of it.  Conversely, if you think Low Radish Diets are really stupid, you should probably stay away from Low Radish Diet communities.  Let people make their own choices.  If they choose not to eat Radishes, that’s their business.  Even if you believe there’s something inherently harmful in eliminating radishes from your diet, it’s really not worthwhile to go to the Low Radish community and start attacking people.  This is completely ineffective.  You cannot deny people the opportunity to make their own mistakes and discoveries. 
   
• Your Diet is Your Job, Nobody Else's.  If you are allergic to a food, then it is very important for you to avoid that food. Asking to know what is in a dish is perfectly acceptable.  If you are concerned about  being able to choose a restaurant that will cater to you, always be willing to research and make suggestions.  When I go to visit someone, I check out Yelp for good vegetarian restaurant options I can suggest.  You can even call the restaurant and ask them if they can make substitutions for your restricted diet.  However, this is your job, not anyone else’s.  In any case, it is quite simple to be civil and non-accusatory when asking questions.

Eating is a very personal activity.  Only you know what you need and how you feel when you eat certain things.  Never assume that what you feel yourself is what everyone feels.  Think about it, do you really want anyone telling you that the food you’re eating is gross or deadly while you’re eating it?  Of course not.  You want to enjoy your meal in peace.

There’s nothing wrong with sharing things that improve our health and make us feel good.  But let’s start doing it from an angle of leadership instead of reactionary fear.  This is my thought process when I share my food photos:

I want to show people how beautiful, appetizing, and appealing food can be when it didn’t come out of a box, can, or drive thru window.  I don’t want them to hear “what you are eating is bad and wrong”.  I want to say “what I am eating is delicious, I really enjoy it, and look, isn’t it beautiful? It’s also pretty easy, really!  You can cook it will just take a little practice.”

Because I do believe in these things and think they could really help a lot of people, I want to promote what I love.  I do this from the perspective of my own choice, rather than tearing down others choices.  People are far more likely to be open minded when you are kind than when you are judgmental.

Eating should not be a source of constant stress.   If you find yourself worried or angry about what strangers around you are eating, it may be time to examine your own relationship with food.

If you want people to accept your choices, then you have to be accepting of the choices of others as well.

         This article written by Kate at  www. thisisnotadiet-itsmylife.com

The number of calories we are advised to take in by BMR or RMR charts are based merely on Averages.

These Basal Metabolism Rate (BMR) or Resting Metabolism Rate (RMR) charts are based on the calculations of basic mathematical formulas such as Harris/Benedict or Mifflin, or some other less-accepted-but-very-similar formula.

There are a great many people who have a lower BMR or RMR than the posted Average.  There are also people who have a higher BMR or RMR than Average, but not very many of them choose to hang around in diet websites.

The standard BMR or RMR calculations might … or might not … apply to your individual body.

There is no predetermined calorie number that tells us whether or not we are eating in a deficit, eating at maintenance, or eating a surplus. The resulting changes in our bodies --- over time --- are what define the amount of how many calories our bodies are using as energy.

Here is an article explaining a few Key Definitions that might help some of us avoid becoming confused about Calories, Diet, and Nutrition.

Defining a Calorie Deficit
            by Brad Pilon, bodybuilder, author of Eat Stop Eat (Intermittent Fasting)

Eating at a calorie deficit.

From my understanding, by definition this means an amount of food that results in loss of body mass. By this definition you cannot be in a deficit if you are not losing body mass.

You can be eating less, a little, not much, like a bird, and not lose body mass since these are all subjective descriptions of an amount of food, but if you are eating less food than is needed to provide the energy you require to power your daily activities then a loss of mass must occur.

This loss may be masked by fluctuations in bodyweight caused by water or the weight of the food in your digestive track (at least for a little while), but make no mistake, it is the loss of body mass that defines the deficit, not eating below an estimated amount of needed calories. The Loss of body mass is what defines a Deficit.


Eating at maintenance.

The term maintenance can be confusing; it raises the question, maintenance of what?

From my understanding eating at maintenance does not mean maintenance of body weight, but maintenance of function.

When you eat at maintenance all of your body’s daily energy needs are equaled by the energy provided by the food and drink you consume. This includes the energetic needs for muscle growth since the energy needs of protein turnover are part of your basal metabolic rate.

In other words, if you were in some hyper-muscle-growth-mode induced by who knows what, the energy needs of that growth would be reflected in an increase in your metabolic rate. Meaning if you were not eating enough to cover these needs you would be eating at a deficit and loss of body mass would occur.

A good way to think of maintenance eating is an amount of food that does not result in an appreciable loss of body mass or an appreciable amount of body fat gain, since a gain in body fat is how we define a surplus, and a loss is how we define a deficit.

As an example – If you are eating 50,000 calories a day and not gaining fat, congratulations you are still eating at maintenance. If you are eating 8 Calories a day and not losing body mass, congratulations you are also eating at maintenance.

The amount of calories you consume does not determine if you are eating deficit, maintenance or surplus, the changes in your body does. Lack of a Loss of body mass and absence of a Gain of body fat defines eating at maintenance.


Eating at a surplus.

Since a deficit is defined by weight loss, and maintenance is eating to cover all daily metabolic needs, then a surplus is defined as eating an amount of food that surpasses your daily needs (including protein turnover) and thus results in the storage of energy for future use (body fat).

So a surplus (to me) is defined by the accumulation of body fat. If you are not gaining body fat, then you are not eating a surplus amount of food.

If you are gaining body fat (and not just weight, which could be water etc) then you are eating at a surplus (regardless of the number of calories you are eating). The accumulation of body fat defines a eating a surplus amount of food.

Summary.

Some random predetermined amount of calories does not define whether or not you are eating in a deficit, at maintenance, or in a surplus, the resulting changes in your body are what define the terms used to describe how much you are eating.