Eating Healthy Helps You Lose Faster?

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Soon2BeSkinny321
Soon2BeSkinny321 Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Sure for various health reasons it's a good idea to eat a primarily healthy diet. However, when it comes to weight loss, do you think having most of our daily calorie budget come from eating healthy foods like lean protein, veggies, fruits, and whole grains helps us actually lose weight faster? Just wondering as I'm hoping to lose as much weight as I possibly can in the next few months and wondering if eating healthy foods provides a small or maybe even big metabolic advantage when compared to eating a mix of healthy foods and junk food like cookies, chips, etc.

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  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
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    I think it does. Just from my own limited personal experience over 3.5 months. White bread, fried foods and tortilla chips in particular seem to hold back my weight loss.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    edited April 2015
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    No, it doesn't.

    It's not very shocking that high calorie fried foods would hold back weight loss if cuts aren't made somewhere else.

    I've eaten all kinds of "junk" foods over the last year and have lost over 100 pounds while doing so.

    ETA: Misread the OP. Yes, it "helps" because it's about satiety per calorie. Junk food can still fit in and not slow your weight loss.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I think having most of your daily calorie budget coming from healthy foods makes it easier to hit your calorie targets and helps keep you satiated. There is also a small metabolic advantage in RE to increase in TEF...but it's pretty small.

    Let's put it this way...I'm a volume eater...I can eat an load of healthy foods...big volumes of food and easily hit my weight loss target calories with usually some to spare for desert, etc. If I ate the SAD (Standard American Diet) I would hit my calorie targets long before I was ever satisfied from a volume standpoint or feeling full or whatever...
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I think having most of your daily calorie budget coming from healthy foods makes it easier to hit your calorie targets and helps keep you satiated. There is also a small metabolic advantage in RE to increase in TEF...but it's pretty small.

    Let's put it this way...I'm a volume eater...I can eat an load of healthy foods...big volumes of food and easily hit my weight loss target calories with usually some to spare for desert, etc. If I ate the SAD (Standard American Diet) I would hit my calorie targets long before I was ever satisfied from a volume standpoint or feeling full or whatever...

    This^

    Think of it like a "Budget."

    If you can stay full on foods with low nutritional value, then good for you. But most of us need to get the most bang for our calorie buck. That doesn't mean I don't eat treats...I do, but they no longer take such a large portion of my daily calories.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,325 Member
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    donjtomasco wrote: »
    I think it does. Just from my own limited personal experience over 3.5 months. White bread, fried foods and tortilla chips in particular seem to hold back my weight loss.

    I have shared your experience..not to mention - we are what we eat!

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    I think it varies from person to person. I eat mostly healthy foods - grow/raise/hunt a good deal of what we eat. I'm overweight. That healthy food is flippin' delicious, and shockingly, it's not calorie free.
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    "healthy" foods are typically less calorie dense, thus, if you are inexact with your measuring the amount of calories you are off by won't be as bad. In addition, "unhealthy" foods tend to come in packages and the weights are often off, but most of us don't bother to weigh these foods, thus increasing error in our counts. If you are very precise in your logging and tracking, you should lose a similar about regardless of the nature of the foods you consume.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I think having most of your daily calorie budget coming from healthy foods makes it easier to hit your calorie targets and helps keep you satiated. There is also a small metabolic advantage in RE to increase in TEF...but it's pretty small.

    Let's put it this way...I'm a volume eater...I can eat an load of healthy foods...big volumes of food and easily hit my weight loss target calories with usually some to spare for desert, etc. If I ate the SAD (Standard American Diet) I would hit my calorie targets long before I was ever satisfied from a volume standpoint or feeling full or whatever...

    This. I really can't understand how people can over eat if the majority of their food is fruits, vegetables and lean proteins but some say they can. I sure can't. I fill up too fast.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    No, it's calories in vs. calories out.

    But what is your goal or reason for losing weight? Is it to be healthier? To live longer? To look good? To feel good? These are the factors that are greatly impacted by your dietary choices.
  • crazyjerseygirl
    crazyjerseygirl Posts: 1,252 Member
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    Soon2BeSkinny321 wrote: »
    Sure for various health reasons it's a good idea to eat a primarily healthy diet. However, when it comes to weight loss, do you think having most of our daily calorie budget come from eating healthy foods like lean protein, veggies, fruits, and whole grains helps us actually lose weight faster? Just wondering as I'm hoping to lose as much weight as I possibly can in the next few months and wondering if eating healthy foods provides a small or maybe even big metabolic advantage when compared to eating a mix of healthy foods and junk food like cookies, chips, etc.

    Yes/No. A calorie is a calorie but healthy foods tend to fill you up more, plus things like fried foods are hard to calculate calories on. How much oil did it take up? I dunno! And oil is HIGH in kcal!
  • TiffanyR71
    TiffanyR71 Posts: 217 Member
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    I personally have more energy when I'm eating more nutrient-rich foods- that helps me stay more active, thus increasing my CO.
  • LovelyIvy466
    LovelyIvy466 Posts: 387 Member
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    I don't think you can underestimate the possible placebo effects. You can eat healthy or unhealthy foods to lose weight as long as you create a deficit. That is the bottom line. But I think that making healthy food choices is part of long-term weight loss and general better physical health. It's not necessary, but I think it's an indicator that you're more likely to maintain a healthy weight and a healthy lifestyle.
  • lthames0810
    lthames0810 Posts: 722 Member
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    I was thinking that there may be some kind of a psychological effect.

    If I start the day out with a donut, I sort of feel like that day is busted already and I may as well have another donut for lunch, right? That's a exaggeration, but I do feel far less inclined to deviate from my eating plan if I have invested some effort into preparing and eating healthy(ish) foods.

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