Fitness blogger Lucy Mountain compares calories in different types of snacks

With one swipe at your Instagram feed, it’s obvious that there is a number of fitness bloggers to aim to encourage “fitness” and health as such, however, not everyone is interested about realistic depictions. 

Well, one one fitness blogger has changed the game with her refreshing approach to using the medium to share useful calorie-based tips.

Meet London-based fitness blogger Lucy Mountain, she posts images of foods, both traditionally healthy and sugar-laden snacks which are shown side-by-side with a specific calorie count to help fans weigh out their options.

Mountain is working overtime, that’s right she currently looks after two accounts: The Fashion Fitness Foodie and theFFFeed. TheFFFeed includes food comparisons that are meant to encourage people to stop viewing foods as “healthy” or “unhealthy.” With these posts, Mountain shows us that the idea of what makes a healthy snack can be very skewed — and in many cases opting for junk food isn’t that much worse.

Checkout some of Mountain’s most popular photos below.

Same amount of food, different calories ?⠀ ⠀ You might recognise this guy from my post on Saturday. He featured on my full day breakdown of food ? Thought he deserved some of the spotlight by himself ⭐️⠀ ⠀ The only differences are the percentage of fat in the meat and the oil used to cook it. Firstly FAT IZ GOOD 4 U. It's simply more calories per gram than carbs or protein. That's it.⠀ ⠀ Secondly CALORIES R GOOD 4 U. You need them to fuel your body. However making a simple swap like this could be useful if your goal is weight management and you're getting adequate fat in the REST of your meals through-out the day ?⠀ ⠀ I appreciate some of you aren't about the Frylight sprays in replacement of oil. Das cool. I personally am okay using it, but use normal Oil if not! ?⠀ ⠀ Left Side:⠀ – 125g Golden Veg Rice⠀ – 80g Mushrooms⠀ – 60g Peas⠀ – 100g Chopped Tomatoes⠀ + 125g 5% Fat Beef⠀ + Frylight Olive spray⠀ ⠀ Right Side:⠀ – 125g Golden Veg Rice⠀ – 80g Mushrooms⠀ – 60g Peas⠀ – 100g Chopped Tomatoes⠀ + 125g 12% Fat Beef⠀ + 1 tbsp Olive Oil⠀ ⠀ #theFFF @thefffeed #theFFFeed

A post shared by lucy mountain (@thefashionfitnessfoodie) on Jul 11, 2017 at 12:07pm PDT

Protein Porridge vs. Protein Porridge ?⠀ ⠀ Neither of these bowls are 'good' or 'bad'.⠀ Neither of these ingredients are 'good' or 'bad'.⠀ They are just bowls of oats with different toppings.⠀ ⠀ Both bowls have different calorie totals.⠀ Both bowls have different macronutrient values.⠀ Which one you might go for depends on your goal.⠀ ⠀ Why you might pick the left bowl:⠀ 1. Your goal is weight-loss and this will help you reach a sensible calorie deficit.⠀ 2. Your goal is weight-gain but the remainder of your diet for the day will meet your total requirements.⠀ 3. The micronutrient value.⠀ 4. You just wanna eat it.⠀ ⠀ Why you might pick the right bowl:⠀ 1. Your goal is weight-gain and this will help you reach a sensible calorie surplus.⠀ 2. Your goal is weight-loss but the remainder of your diet for the day will meet your total requirements.⠀ 3. The micronutrient value.⠀ 4. You just wanna eat it.⠀ ⠀ Calories aren't the sole indicator of 'health'. This is subjective term. How many calories you consume and how many you use through activity is an important part of weight management but there any many other things to consider ?⠀ ⠀ So just do you ?⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Left bowl:⠀ – 40g oats⠀ – 1 scoop protein⠀ – 250ml almond milk⠀ – 60g blueberries⠀ – 60g raspberries⠀ – 15g manuka honey⠀ ⠀ Right bowl:⠀ – 40g oats⠀ – 1 scoop protein⠀ – 250ml almond milk⠀ – 1 banana⠀ – 4 dates⠀ – 20g almond butter⠀ ⠀ #theFFF #theFFFeed @thefffeed

A post shared by lucy mountain (@thefashionfitnessfoodie) on Jun 29, 2017 at 12:58pm PDT

Salt and Vinegar Crisps vs Vegetable Crisps ?⠀ ⠀ Each of these bowls contain 1 bag (40g) of crisps. The bowl on the left are salt and vinegar, the bowl on the right are mixed root vegetable.⠀ ⠀ Although the difference in calories is pretty minuscule, you’d expect the vegetable crisps to be considerably less calories right? This is just another little reminder that often there’s not much difference between the product marketed as the ‘healthy alternative’ and the real thing. So go for the thing you actually WANT to eat ?⠀ ⠀ Although there are many different aspects that describe ‘healthy’ (yes – it IS subjective), such as salt content, micro-nutrient value and how that food makes them feel, calories play a fundamental part in weight management. This post isn’t to say 'TRACK EVERYTHANG, TRACK THAT DAMN CUCUMBER’, it’s more about looking at your diet within the context of a whole day – and eating the damn salt and vinegar crisps if that’s want you actually want.⠀ ⠀ I want this and all my comparison posts to give encourage freedom with your food choices, not restriction. When 80% of my diet within a day is full of adequate micros and macros, i will ALWAYS eat food I love purely for taste. Because life. Ygm. ??⠀ ⠀ (All crisps are vegetable crisps ?)⠀ ⠀ Which side are you guys going for?⠀ ⠀ ⠀ *Crisps from Co-Op Irresistible range* – #theFFF #theFFFeed @thefffeed

A post shared by lucy mountain (@thefashionfitnessfoodie) on Jun 8, 2017 at 12:22pm PDT

Peanut butter on Toast vs Peanut Butter on Toast ?⠀ ⠀ Both are made from one slice of the same bread, both have a spread of the same peanut butter on top. However one side is roughly 150 calories more than to the other.⠀ ⠀ I bladdy love a bit of PB but it can be super easy to accidentally-on-purpose spread half a jar on a piece of toast lol (I've been there ?) Because nut butters are high fat, they tend to be high in calories. WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY FINE GUYS. It's just something to bare in mind if weight-loss (or weight-gain) is your goal. Weighing out yo PB is a good method of managing this.⠀ ⠀ Left Slice:⠀ – 1 slice of Hovis Wholemeal Bread (88 kcal)⠀ – 15g Peanut Butter (94 kcal)⠀ ⠀ Right Slice:⠀ – 1 slice of Hovis Wholemeal Bread (88 kcal)⠀ – 40g Peanut Butter (250 kcal)⠀ ⠀ As you know from my recent posts, I'm about enjoying ALL ze food and there is nothing I cut out of my diet that I like the taste of – no matter my goal. Learning how to manage portion sizes has allowed me to achieve this! I hope this helps my fellow PB addicts out there. I got chu. ???⠀ ⠀ #theFFF #theFFFeed @thefffeed

A post shared by lucy mountain (@thefashionfitnessfoodie) on May 20, 2017 at 8:18am PDT

Salt and Vinegar Crisps vs Vegetable Crisps ?⠀ ⠀ Each of these bowls contain 1 bag (40g) of crisps. The bowl on the left are salt and vinegar, the bowl on the right are mixed root vegetable.⠀ ⠀ Although the difference in calories is pretty minuscule, you’d expect the vegetable crisps to be considerably less calories right? This is just another little reminder that often there’s not much difference between the product marketed as the ‘healthy alternative’ and the real thing. So go for the thing you actually WANT to eat ?⠀ ⠀ Although there are many different aspects that describe ‘healthy’ (yes – it IS subjective), such as salt content, micro-nutrient value and how that food makes them feel, calories play a fundamental part in weight management. This post isn’t to say 'TRACK EVERYTHANG, TRACK THAT DAMN CUCUMBER’, it’s more about looking at your diet within the context of a whole day – and eating the damn salt and vinegar crisps if that’s want you actually want.⠀ ⠀ I want this and all my comparison posts to give encourage freedom with your food choices, not restriction. When 80% of my diet within a day is full of adequate micros and macros, i will ALWAYS eat food I love purely for taste. Because life. Ygm. ??⠀ ⠀ (All crisps are vegetable crisps ?)⠀ ⠀ Which side are you guys going for?⠀ ⠀ ⠀ *Crisps from Co-Op Irresistible range* – #theFFF #theFFFeed @thefffeed

A post shared by lucy mountain (@thefashionfitnessfoodie) on Jun 8, 2017 at 12:22pm PDT

20g of cashews vs 40g of cashews ? ⠀ Both are technically a ‘handful’ but there are twice as many calories in the right than in the left. Portion-sizing can be super hard to get your head around at first, especially when you don’t want to track or weigh your food. But getting familiar with the best portion size according to your personal goal and what it looks like will massively help you get there quicker ?⠀ ⠀ If your goal is fatloss specifically, creating a caloric deficit is essential. This doesn’t mean restriction and this doesn’t mean cutting anything out. It just means being a little more MINDFUL of what you’re putting in your body (your diet) and how much energy you’re expending out (activity) ? And because nuts often come in large snack bags and are considered a ‘health food’, it’s so easy to eat over 500 calories of nuts in one sitting, which could potentially put you in a calories surplus.⠀ ⠀ So if you’re trying to get a little leaner, maybe the left side would be better for you. If you’re trying to gain weight, maybe the right side would be better for you. If you just bladdy love cashew nuts, maybe both sides in one big nutty mouthful would be better for you ?? ⠀ Not everyone wants to count calories and thats absolutely fine. But just having an awareness of whats in your food when you’ve got a goal in mind should really help you! I hope you guys found this useful ? ⠀ #theFFF #theFFFeed @thefffeed ⠀

A post shared by lucy mountain (@thefashionfitnessfoodie) on Apr 1, 2017 at 12:20pm PDT

While some may claim it’s a little confronting to count calories constantly, in true Mountain style, the blogger has written a useful piece of information for anyone at any fitness level. “There’s no difference because the method you choose (if any) does not solely dictate the food you consume. It starts with you, and is influenced by many factors.”

And just what factors is she referring to? Mountain says it’s important to consider what you like to eat, what you don’t like to eat, your lifestyle, your goal, your moral stand point, and your income.

“Love you posts ?? really good to really understand what we actually eat ?,” one Instagram user wrote.

“That’s such a great way of looking at it,” another shared.

when you don't care what your face is doing as long as there's at least 20% of an ab visible. – Had all the fun shooting some content with my gal @ninahealthily followed by a rooftop workout with @adanola and @clean_eating_alice ? – So a pretty virtuous day so far. Watching kardashians now and getting ready to ruin it all with friendz, pizza, gin and @brixtonjamm ??? #ACTUALBalance – Wearing all @laainsport urrrthang. – #theFFF

A post shared by lucy mountain (@thefashionfitnessfoodie) on Mar 25, 2017 at 8:30am PDT

This article originally appeared on WHO.

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