Quantity vs. Quality
Food quantity and food quality - they BOTH matter.
There's a common misconception that if something is "healthy" for you - you can eat as much of it as you want. The food industry really plays off this notion, often marketing foods as "guilt free." Man this pisses me off!
Well that's great that you pre-packaged power ball has chia seeds, dates and natural almond butter... you know what else it has, calories.
In NO WAY am I suggesting that there isn't room for something like this in your diet. The problem is that many poeple think three or four of these things are just fine because they are "healthy." Before you know it, you've consumed a 600-800 calorie snack and possibly a days worth of fats.
On the other hand, you have people that think that junk food is totally ok as long as it "fits in their calories or macros."
I can tell you that if you spend a lot of time tracking, you've probably noticed that you won't get a lot of bang-for-your-buck with junk food. That alone can be a deterrent to eat it but still, some people find a way to keep less nutritious foods consistently in their life. For example, you don't eat all day and then hit the drive-thorugh on the way home and think it's ok because you're under your calories. When you do that, you are missing out on all the benefits that less processed foods offer your body like micronutrients and fibre... chances are, you also are not eating optimal levels of protein either.
What you eat and how much you eat BOTH matter.
If you have weight loss, body composition or performance goals, you should probably spend some time trying to learn about how much you should ideally be eating in a day and how that breaks down from meal to meal. You should also consider stocking up your fridge and pantry with as much whole, unprocessed foods as possible... think things that grew in nature or that were once living and breathing.
If you are unhappy with your weight, body composition or physical performance in the gym, your sport or your life - consider that food could be part of this equation. Consulting a nutrition coach like me 🙋♀️ can be your missing piece 👊.