Does the food you consume impact on how you look loosing?

SamanthaMariex

I have a co-worker, who recently dropped 60lbs over a course of a year. I asked her how she done it and she said when she started she took diet pills but now she walks an hour everyday and eats clean and generally only eats once a day. I know she walks during breaks/lunches because I have joined her, but she drinks alot of soda, chocolate candy bars and take out food at work (example: a double decker twice last week and a brownie ice cream sundae). I realize she has lost weight, but her body doesnt really reflect that..If she hadnt of told me how much she weighed, I would have assumed she weighed 180lbs and shes a tall girl, im 5'6 and shes taller than me, So I dont really understand it (however, she still looks lovely!). She told me she still wasnt happy with her body and wanted to lose another 30lbs. Is the food shes consuming what makes her look so different? I think if she cut out all the junk/soda that her body would start to look differently, even if her weight stayed the same.

The reason Im curious is because I am embarking on this journey to be healthy and I want to look my best and do it right and I had originally set my goal weight to be around 150 lbs but now im not so sure and I feel like I need to add some extra excercises (Right now Im walking, incorporating 30DS and lifting light weights)

55in13

Calorie reduction will make you lose weight. Exercise will shape the body. Bad choices in diet have lots of possible effect but little or no effect on body shape while losing. After loss, while trying to reshape they make a difference. It's always best to try to eat healthy of course...

toutmonpossible

It's good to eat a primarily healthy food for long term health and probably for performance if you're a serious athlete but your friend probably looks as she does because the walk isn't sufficient exercise. If she wants to change her body (and of course, we all have to work with our genes), she probably needs to do vigorous cardio and strength training customized to her needs and goals.

For yourself, yes, you should try to eat a diet that consists largely of healthy foods. But most people aren't perfect. You also need to work out.

kimbtaylor1

From what you are saying she is doing her body a great deal of harm. Diet pills and only eating once a day will put your body into true starvation mode. Sure she will loose weight but she will reach a point where her body goes into panic and everytime she puts one of those candy bars to her mouth it will land smack on her hips.
You said that you know she has lost weight but her body isn't really showing it. It could be that she is trying but hasn't been able to loose weight and she is just telling you she has. The way she says she is loosing weight and what you are seeing doesn't jive.

The best way for you to start is to eat! Eat your three meals but do so wisely, choose healthy food! Eat healthy, move your butt and rest!! We all have our cheat things a candy bar here and there or even a double decker but they aren't a constant. You have started exercising and thats the best thing for you to do. As you get more fit you will be able to do more things as long as you fuel your body correctly.

SamanthaMariex

Thank you. I also felt maybe she blurred the lines alittle with how much she weighed, but we've all been there so I can relate. I just feel if she changed her habits (all the junk she eats is a regular occurance, she'll eat badly a few days a week and not eat anything all day on others) that her body would reflect that change, I just feel it would be incredibly rude for me to throw my two cents in LOL!

JustLindaLou

You can lose weight eating all kinds of crap, as long as you have calorie deficit. For instance, there are many popular (and pricey) diet programs that promote mostly prepackaged and highly processed - but portion-controlled - foods... Or you can eat as your co-worker is, existing on junk but perhaps at a calorie deficit... Or you can eat "clean", focusing on as few packaged, processed foods as possible and going for fresh produce, lean protein, whole grains. You can lose either way, but one way will only leave you looking thinner and "healthier" on the outside, while the clean-eating way will heal you from the inside out, and I believe give you far more energy and radiant good health, and ulitmately be the more sustainable LIFEstyle change, rather than being "on a diet" (and we all know if you're "on" a diet you can fall "off" a diet.)

And yes, exercise is important - cardio for calorie/fat burning, weights for muscle building (so your body will naturally burn more calories).

ron2e

From what you are saying she is doing her body a great deal of harm. Diet pills and only eating once a day will put your body into true starvation mode. ...................

Oh dear, why do people keep trotting out this starvation mode myth? It is total garbage. Please try googling 'starvation mode myth' and read some of the articles by all respected weight loss organisations, by the Mayo institute, etc, etc.

kimbtaylor1

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Oh dear, why do people keep trotting out this starvation mode myth? It is total garbage. Please try googling 'starvation mode myth' and read some of the articles by all respected weight loss organisations, by the Mayo institute, etc, etc.
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Thank you I've done my research and I have experimented with it myself. If your body is not getting what it needs it will store what ever you put in it to help with major functions. If you are doing that and sitting on your rear not needing what you put into your body it becomes fat! Please try allowing other people to have their own opinions that my not be the same as yours.

LavenderBouquet

I would absolutely think it would make an impact. A person who provides poor nutrition for their body will not look as healthy as a person who provides excellent nutrition for themselves. As well, if they don't eat enough protein to build muscle or fats which affect various areas of appearance, I don't see why that wouldn't be apparent. It makes perfect sense that how you feed your body would reflect your appearance and through the process of losing weight.

ron2e

Thank you I've done my research and I have experimented with it myself. If your body is not getting what it needs it will store what ever you put in it to help with major functions. If you are doing that and sitting on your rear not needing what you put into your body it becomes fat! Please try allowing other people to have their own opinions that my not be the same as yours.

Mine is not an opinion, mine is a fact based on proper research, it is not anecdotal or due to experiments on myself (Have you ever heard of the placebo effect?). If you input less than you output, you will lose weight. Get used to it.

Sorry but I just get a bit fed up with people trotting out this garbage on a regular basis, misleading people who are perhaps new to weight loss and perpetuating the myth. And yes it is a myth.

kimbtaylor1

Thank you I've done my research and I have experimented with it myself. If your body is not getting what it needs it will store what ever you put in it to help with major functions. If you are doing that and sitting on your rear not needing what you put into your body it becomes fat! Please try allowing other people to have their own opinions that my not be the same as yours.

Mine is not an opinion, mine is a fact based on proper research, it is not anecdotal or due to experiments on myself (Have you ever heard of the placebo effect?). If you input less than you output, you will lose weight. Get used to it.

Sorry but I just get a bit fed up with people trotting out this garbage on a regular basis, misleading people who are perhaps new to weight loss and perpetuating the myth. And yes it is a myth.

Thank you for your input

LifeJacketWaterJogger

I read that food the kind of foods we eat while losing does affect body shape, it stated that if we eat lots of empty calories, high fat, high sugar, we will just become smaller with the same body shape. so we will just be a smaller looking fat person..look it up on the web..

55in13

Thank you I've done my research and I have experimented with it myself. If your body is not getting what it needs it will store what ever you put in it to help with major functions. If you are doing that and sitting on your rear not needing what you put into your body it becomes fat! Please try allowing other people to have their own opinions that my not be the same as yours.

Mine is not an opinion, mine is a fact based on proper research, it is not anecdotal or due to experiments on myself (Have you ever heard of the placebo effect?). If you input less than you output, you will lose weight. Get used to it.

Sorry but I just get a bit fed up with people trotting out this garbage on a regular basis, misleading people who are perhaps new to weight loss and perpetuating the myth. And yes it is a myth.

I think a lot of it is false positives; people do five things differently but report the result as being caused by a single thing. It is odd to me how it is almost taboo on this board to talk about honesty even though I think it is one of the biggest issues here. There are rare disorders that cause people to lose little or nothing on large deficits, but the majority of reports of large deficits and no loss are not accurate. I would wager a large percentage of the posters know this, though some are really not tracking well or fooling themselves.

The starvation myth gets beaten back by research time and again, but people keep trotting it out using old studies of people with very low BF% or personal anecdotes. I just finished losing 50 pounds at roughly 1200 calories per day, running several miles per week and had a few doc visits during the 6 months it took. I am quite healthy. I had no plateaus and my weight loss has been fairly constant. Why? Because I really did only have the 1200 calories and really did run the miles. It is anecdotal, but matches up with the studies pretty well.

ron2e

I think a lot of it is false positives; people do five things differently but report the result as being caused by a single thing. It is odd to me how it is almost taboo on this board to talk about honesty even though I think it is one of the biggest issues here. There are rare disorders that cause people to lose little or nothing on large deficits, but the majority of reports of large deficits and no loss are not accurate. I would wager a large percentage of the posters know this, though some are really not tracking well or fooling themselves.

The starvation myth gets beaten back by research time and again, but people keep trotting it out using old studies of people with very low BF% or personal anecdotes. I just finished losing 50 pounds at roughly 1200 calories per day, running several miles per week and had a few doc visits during the 6 months it took. I am quite healthy. I had no plateaus and my weight loss has been fairly constant. Why? Because I really did only have the 1200 calories and really did run the miles. It is anecdotal, but matches up with the studies pretty well.

Yes I agree, when I first heard about starvation mode I thought," so the people who survived the holocaust concentration camps in WW2 must have come out fat?" Sadly not, they are proof that if you don't feed people enough calories to maintain, they will lose weight, the bigger the deficit the more they will lose until they have nothing left to lose, at which point they die.

ncmedic201

Thank you I've done my research and I have experimented with it myself. If your body is not getting what it needs it will store what ever you put in it to help with major functions. If you are doing that and sitting on your rear not needing what you put into your body it becomes fat! Please try allowing other people to have their own opinions that my not be the same as yours.

Mine is not an opinion, mine is a fact based on proper research, it is not anecdotal or due to experiments on myself (Have you ever heard of the placebo effect?). If you input less than you output, you will lose weight. Get used to it.

Sorry but I just get a bit fed up with people trotting out this garbage on a regular basis, misleading people who are perhaps new to weight loss and perpetuating the myth. And yes it is a myth.

So you're saying that going on a very low calorie diet does not affect thyroid or RMR?

cwolfman13

What you put into your body does impact body composition.

ninerbuff

Lack of stimulating the other muscles in her body is more than likely not only causing fat loss, but muscle loss as well. People who diet and use very low/moderate steady state cardio tend to just look like smaller versions of their current selves when losing weight this way.
Nutrition does count. Lack of the correct macros and micros does impact body function.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ron2e

So you're saying that going on a very low calorie diet does not affect thyroid or RMR?

Not at all. I'm saying starvation mode, ie that your metabolism slows down and you stop losing or even put on weight is nonsense and counter to the first law of thermodynamics. If your metabolism slows you will lose weight at a slower rate as clearly you won't expend as many calories thus your net intake will not be as low as may appear from the headline figures. Furthermore it is proven to be nonsense by well respected research foundations and is accepted as a myth by all the main line weight loss organisations. I'm not suggesting people should go on a very low calorie diet unless for a medical condition and under the instruction of a doctor, or that they should eat junk food like the OP's friend. My comments are purely aimed at the starvation mode myth that keeps getting trotted out as if it were a fact.

Katla49

Starvation exists. This is a link to starvation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation

"Starvation Mode" is likely a myth, although malnutrition among chubby people is a reality. You can monitor whether you are eating a safe number of calories by observing your own energy levels. Chronic fatigue and lethargy are big indicators that you aren't eating enough calories. For weight loss to be attained and your new lower weight to become a permanent part of your life, you will need to permanently change your relationship with food and continue to follow the new habits you develop here at MFP. Malnutrition is another story. Along the way, it is a good idea to learn how to feed yourself high quality foods whether or not you have a big income.

To the original poster: You need to supply your own motivation, and plan to walk the walk forever. This is a great place to learn how to eat healthy and maintain a healthy weight. If you want to lose weight fast and get it over with, you'll end up right back wehre you started or even heavier. I speak from personal experience. Good luck.

55in13

And then there is part 2 of the myth - after the body was so smart to realize no food was coming and stockpile everything you eat as fat, then when it needs fuel it uses muscle instead. Huh? The fat was stored for this very purpose. Furthermore, each pound of fat provides 3500 calories while each pound of muscle provides only 600. You can do the math on deficits and weight loss and it is usually pretty clear the vast majority lost is fat no matter what kind of exercise you did, if any. Once there are not significant fat stores, things change but any of us that started more that 20 or so pounds above a reasonable goal started with plenty of fat.

dawningr

It absolutely makes a difference. My waist is shrinking a lot faster this go round than it did last time (yes this is my second and final attempt).
I eat fairly clean and work out at least 4 times a week.

Last time I didn't eat clean at all, but worked out. I'm losing more inches much faster than I did before. Also, I feel much better.

ncmedic201

So you're saying that going on a very low calorie diet does not affect thyroid or RMR?

Not at all. I'm saying starvation mode, ie that your metabolism slows down and you stop losing or even put on weight is nonsense and counter to the first law of thermodynamics. If your metabolism slows you will lose weight at a slower rate as clearly you won't expend as many calories thus your net intake will not be as low as may appear from the headline figures. Furthermore it is proven to be nonsense by well respected research foundations and is accepted as a myth by all the main line weight loss organisations. I'm not suggesting people should go on a very low calorie diet unless for a medical condition and under the instruction of a doctor, or that they should eat junk food like the OP's friend. My comments are purely aimed at the starvation mode myth that keeps getting trotted out as if it were a fact.

I think Mayo Clinic is a pretty reputable source:

"That's why if you try so-called starvation diets, your body compensates by slowing down these bodily processes and conserving calories for survival. Only in rare cases do you get excessive weight gain from a medical problem that slows metabolism, such as Cushing's syndrome or having an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism)."

So you're body literally slows down the metabolism process and begins conserving calories for survival.

dixieracer27

To the original poster...I know for a fact that your eating choices have an impact! I lost 50 pounds 3 years ago on crappy foods, it took me over a year to do it and I was always hungry! I had soda, sugar-free junk, and anything that said low cal/fat. I gained 30 of those pounds back and decided to change my life for the better. I started in February of this year, eating clean, no soda, no sugar free junk, very minimally processed foods, and drinking a lot of water. I also do cardio at least 6-7 days a week as well as strength training. I can tell a major different in the way my body looks, I'm not flabby like before and I feel better. Some other perks I've noticed from my healthy diet are my skin is super clear, my hair is shiny, and I've had a few medical problems just disappear! I'm losing at a quicker pace this time around, and I'm definitely eating sometimes I wonder how in the heck I'm losing weight!

55in13

I think Mayo Clinic is a pretty reputable source:

"That's why if you try so-called starvation diets, your body compensates by slowing down these bodily processes and conserving calories for survival. Only in rare cases do you get excessive weight gain from a medical problem that slows metabolism, such as Cushing's syndrome or having an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism)."

So you're body literally slows down the metabolism process and begins conserving calories for survival.

Isn't it Mayo that found dieting slows the metabolism between 4% and 10% in overweight people and does so gradually so that there is no point at which decreasing consumption doesn't increase deficit? So while it is true it slows down, it never causes a stoppage in weight loss and certainly doesn't reverse course and cause a gain.

epie2098

Yes. Even a few days at a conference with more carby foods than I usually eat leaves me puffy in my cheeks and belly. There is so much more to being healthy than the numbers on the scale.