Instagram can often be a breeding ground for promoting unrealistic body image ideals.
That’s why London-based fitness blogger Lucy Mountain is all about being upfront and being herself when she posts on the platform.
Mountain has two accounts: The Fashion Fitness Foodie and theFFFeed. TheFFFeed features food comparisons that are meant to encourage people to stop viewing foods as «healthy» or «unhealthy.» With them, Mountain proves that our idea of what makes a healthy snack is totally skewed — and that often junk food isn’t that much worse.
Keep scrolling to see some of Mountain’s photos and to read more about her approach to eating.
Mountain likes to show that foods that have been deemed «healthy» — like almonds— often have just as many calories as foods that have been deemed «unhealthy» — like candy.
A handful of almonds have the same number of calories as a packet of Fruit Pastels candy. @thefffeed / Instagram
She makes the point that while the «healthy» food typically has more micronutrients, it’s not about that or the number of calories.
The salt and vinegar chips on the left actually have fewer calories than the veggie chips on the right. @thefffeed / Instagram
It’s about eating what you want and what’s going to make you feel best.
You can eat a much larger portion of regular strawberries compared to dried strawberries for the same number of calories. @thefffeed / Instagram
Mountain doesn’t believe in restriction and she doesn’t think it’s necessary for maintaining a «healthy diet.» Instead, she believes in moderation.
Mountain says there’s no need to cut foods like ice cream completely out of your diet.
«Moderation is key, and this will look different on different people depending on the person, their fitness goal, and their lifestyle,» Mountain said.
She makes the point that no one single food will cause weight gain. Instead, it’s an excess of calories from any type of food that can make this happen.
Mountain says that no single food will cause weight gain or weight loss.
Mountain encourages her followers to look at the big picture. «Having a chocolate bar in a day of well balanced meals and adequate micronutrients doesn’t suddenly make it ‘unhealthy'» she said.
Dark chocolate is often labeled «healthier» than milk, but it also has more calories. @thefffeed / Instagram
She’s all about enjoying the foods you eat; regardless of if your fitness goal is losing, maintaining, or gaining weight. She says she doesn’t consider any foods «treats.»
The bowl on the left is topped with blueberries, raspberries, and Manuka honey, whereas the bowl on the right has a banana, dates, and almond butter.
Mountain’s comparisons also show that small changes to a meal’s ingredients can make a big difference in calories.
These salads look the same at first glance but they’re actually not.
The salad bowl on the right has Parmesan cheese instead of light cheese, sunflower seeds instead of toasted oats, croutons instead of sliced toast, and Caesar dressing instead of homemade dressing.
Both of these bowls contain the same amount of food, but the bowl on left was made with light cooking oil spray and contains beef that’s 5% fat, whereas the bowl on the right was made with olive oil and beef that’s 12% fat.
What meat you choose can make a big difference in your meal’s calories.
Mountain says there’s so much more than calories to take into consideration when looking at food. There’s macronutrients (like protein and carbohydrates), as well as how filling and satisfying it is.
The bowl on the left has strawberries, melon, and pineapple, and the bowl on the right has banana, coconut, and passion fruit.
She also warns that food labels can be misleading.
The smoothie on the left has protein powder and almond milk, the smoothie in the middle has almond milk, protein powder, a banana, and honey, and the smoothie on the right has all of those ingredients plus peanut butter and flaxseed.
«Many companies will use buzz words like ‘low sugar,’ ‘high protein,’ ‘fat-free’ — however these labels don’t necessarily mean they’re going to be less caloric than the ‘normal’ version, or any more conducive to your goal,» Mountain said.
You would expect one serving of a Twix to be the whole Twix, but it’s actually only half.
