Confused about CICO

Mapes84

So, I just read the MFP blog about busting through a plateau, and it states, "Focus on quality. Busting through a weight-loss plateau is more than calories in and calories out. Processed foods won’t cut it anymore, thus quality whole foods like vegetables, beans, high-fiber fruits and lean proteins are needed for your engine to burn body fat." Please understand, I am in no way refuting or challenging this statement, I am just trying to comprehend- when is a calorie no longer a calorie? I hear people swear by CICO, claim it's as simple as eating at a caloric deficit, etc...so when/why would that cease to be the case? Just genuinely curious, not trying to elicit WWIII.

SideSteel

I'd disagree with that as an absolute statement.

Now, if you reduce your consumption of heavily refined foods then it's likely that you will consume fewer calories and this is probably true even if you are tracking calories because your calorie counts will be much more accurate. There's likely to be less variance in calories when you log broccoli and an apple and some chicken breast then there would be if you were logging servings of potato chips and hamburger helper or whatever other heavily refined food items.

Additionally, satiety goes up when you consume whole foods, it's likely that fiber and protein intake would go up which would have a marginal (yet possibly measurable) effect on postprandial thermogenesis.

So basically is it a good idea to eat mostly whole foods? Yes, it definitely is.

But it doesn't mean that a calorie isn't a calorie. It still is.