I love to eat. Truthfully, I live to eat. I’m not discriminating either, healthy food, unhealthy food, fruit, vegetables, cake, candy, ethnic, American, I don’t care – I’ll eat it… and probably love it! Unfortunately, that’s just not possible.  While 90% of the food I eat is healthy, I still know the line needs to be drawn somewhere.

I think this is a misconception that traps a lot of people – that if they eat healthy foods, they can eat freely and not gain weight.  The fact is, your body has a limit of calories it can handle without gaining weight, and that includes every type of food.

Quantity and quality are both important, no matter what the food is. While you can eat more healthy food than junk, there is a limit to how much of it you should eat over the course of a day. All that’s needed to gain weight is a calorie surplus over time – regardless of the source the calories come from.

Why eat healthy food then?

Yes, “less healthy” food tastes great and is fun to indulge in. That’s exactly how it should be enjoyed – as an indulgence. Unhealthy, processed foods are more calorie-dense than healthy food options right out of the gate. How are they so high in calories? Because they’re high in fat. Additionally, they’re lacking in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, which are vital for our health.

Final verdict

While you can definitely eat more quantity of  healthy foods, and will get health benefits from them, we all have our limits of how much we can eat without packing on extra weight. This limit is personal and depends on your current body composition, activity level, and metabolic function. So, if you like to eat a lot of food, picking healthier options will allow you more quantity, but there’s still a limit if you’re worried about your waist line.