Can I eat whatever I want and lose weight?
amc00821
Posts: 1 Member
If I don't go over my calorie goal, will I still be able to lose weight? Meaning, can I eat candy or junk food and go out to eat regularly (junk food once a day... going out to eat two times a week) but still lose and maintain weight?
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It may not be very healthy eating candy and no veggies but yes. It's all about the calories.0
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Yes, absolutely.
Agreed you want to moderate junk food for health reasons - for weight loss it's all the same.0 -
You sure can, just monitor and don't go over.
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Yes if it's just weight loss you're concerned about.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Sure you can! But you'll probably find it a little challenging hunger-wise.0
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Yup. But if you don't eat fruits or vegetables you might get scurvy or something.0
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Yup.0
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MarziPanda95 wrote: »Yup. But if you don't eat fruits or vegetables you might get scurvy or something.
Skittles will keep that scurvy away!0 -
Yes, but you'll likely feel better when you eat better. For weight loss, it's all the same.0
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Yes.
But once you get good at this you'll see that wholesome food is like an investment in your body's stock portfolio while skittles & donuts are about as effective as Monopoly money at building & maintaining healthy tissue!0 -
Essentially. But I'm going to qualify that. If over half my calories come from carbs I don't lose no matter what my calories. And if it's much more than that I can ever gain despite a deficit.
So some candy and treats - sure, I have ice cream and chocolate almost every day. But that's not where most of my calories come from.0 -
Yes, CICO for straight weight loss.0
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Essentially. But I'm going to qualify that. If over half my calories come from carbs I don't lose no matter what my calories. And if it's much more than that I can ever gain despite a deficit.
So some candy and treats - sure, I have ice cream and chocolate almost every day. But that's not where most of my calories come from.
so you are saying if you get 50% of your calories from carbs you do not lose weight even if you are in calorie deficit?0 -
Yes.
But once you get good at this you'll see that wholesome food is like an investment in your body's stock portfolio while skittles & donuts are about as effective as Monopoly money at building & maintaining healthy tissue!
I disagree your assessment of what "getting good at this" means.
I don't save EVERY penny I earn toward investing in a stock portfolio. Sometimes I spend money on things that are just fun.
Likewise, I don't use EVERY calorie on maxing out nutrient density. Sometimes (the emphasis on Sometimes) I spend my calories on things that are fun.
Balancing your 'investing' with your 'fun' while meeting your overall goals is, to me, what 'getting good at this' REALLY is.0 -
juggernaut1974 wrote: »Yes.
But once you get good at this you'll see that wholesome food is like an investment in your body's stock portfolio while skittles & donuts are about as effective as Monopoly money at building & maintaining healthy tissue!
I disagree your assessment of what "getting good at this" means.
I don't save EVERY penny I earn toward investing in a stock portfolio. Sometimes I spend money on things that are just fun.
Likewise, I don't use EVERY calorie on maxing out nutrient density. Sometimes (the emphasis on Sometimes) I spend my calories on things that are fun.
Balancing your 'investing' with your 'fun' while meeting your overall goals is, to me, what 'getting good at this' REALLY is.
SO MUCH THIS! ^^^0 -
Yep! I lost 20lbs and have maintained since, and throughout I've had pizza every Wednesday night, and two good quality chocolates from a box with my cup of coffee every evening.
As others have said though, if you only eat junk food then you'll be famished, as you get so little food for your calories. If you're going to work in daily or weekly treats, you'll end up wanting to use the rest of your allowance healthily to keep your energy up and constant.0 -
Essentially. But I'm going to qualify that. If over half my calories come from carbs I don't lose no matter what my calories. And if it's much more than that I can ever gain despite a deficit.
So some candy and treats - sure, I have ice cream and chocolate almost every day. But that's not where most of my calories come from.
so you are saying if you get 50% of your calories from carbs you do not lose weight even if you are in calorie deficit?
Yes. I plateaued when I was on a deficit if my carbs were too high. Even if I was in a quite deep deficit - 700 calories/day for example. But if I was under 50% of my calories from carbs - especially under 40% - the weight would fall off at the same calorie level.
That's not low carb at all. It's just higher protein and fat. I think (for me) it has to do with insulin spikes. If my carbs get too high it is indicative that I'm eating too many easily digested carbs - pasta, potatoes, etc. All good food, but not something I want to be getting most of my calories from.0 -
snickerscharlie wrote: »juggernaut1974 wrote: »Yes.
But once you get good at this you'll see that wholesome food is like an investment in your body's stock portfolio while skittles & donuts are about as effective as Monopoly money at building & maintaining healthy tissue!
I disagree your assessment of what "getting good at this" means.
I don't save EVERY penny I earn toward investing in a stock portfolio. Sometimes I spend money on things that are just fun.
Likewise, I don't use EVERY calorie on maxing out nutrient density. Sometimes (the emphasis on Sometimes) I spend my calories on things that are fun.
Balancing your 'investing' with your 'fun' while meeting your overall goals is, to me, what 'getting good at this' REALLY is.
SO MUCH THIS! ^^^
YES! Eating should be ENJOYABLE. One of the nice benefits of MFP is I try hard to make sure everything I eat is something that tastes good. More mindful and fun eating.0 -
As others have said, calories are calories, and junk food is likely to leave you hungry during the day.
It also makes it harder to eat enough protein and nutrients to stay healthy.
So yes -- possible. But for most people not a successful strategy unless you are *very* active.0 -
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ericGold15 wrote: »
I too would like to know this. Because we may have the answer to alleviate the problems of world hunger if this is true over the long term.
Or...more likely...what you THOUGHT was a 700 calorie deficit wasn't really a 700 calorie deficit.0 -
juggernaut1974 wrote: »ericGold15 wrote: »
I too would like to know this. Because we may have the answer to alleviate the problems of world hunger if this is true over the long term.
Or...more likely...what you THOUGHT was a 700 calorie deficit wasn't really a 700 calorie deficit.
Or water retention from a sudden increase in carbs.0 -
Essentially. But I'm going to qualify that. If over half my calories come from carbs I don't lose no matter what my calories. And if it's much more than that I can ever gain despite a deficit.
So some candy and treats - sure, I have ice cream and chocolate almost every day. But that's not where most of my calories come from.
so you are saying if you get 50% of your calories from carbs you do not lose weight even if you are in calorie deficit?
Yes. I plateaued when I was on a deficit if my carbs were too high. Even if I was in a quite deep deficit - 700 calories/day for example. But if I was under 50% of my calories from carbs - especially under 40% - the weight would fall off at the same calorie level.
That's not low carb at all. It's just higher protein and fat. I think (for me) it has to do with insulin spikes. If my carbs get too high it is indicative that I'm eating too many easily digested carbs - pasta, potatoes, etc. All good food, but not something I want to be getting most of my calories from.
did you weigh, log, measure everything, or were you assuming that you were in a 700 calorie deficit?0 -
Essentially. But I'm going to qualify that. If over half my calories come from carbs I don't lose no matter what my calories. And if it's much more than that I can ever gain despite a deficit.
So some candy and treats - sure, I have ice cream and chocolate almost every day. But that's not where most of my calories come from.
This is me as well, particularly with breads. Somehow my body doesn't process carbs right. A hamburger bun adds 3 pounds overnight, even when well below my calories for the day. That 3 pounds stays for 3-4 days. If, within that 3-4 days I eat more bread/pasta/junk carbs, I add another couple pounds overnight. Sure, eventually that initial 3 pounds goes away, but if I consistently eat heavy carbs the problem just compounds and it never goes away. For me it is definitely the quality of the food and not CICO.0 -
Essentially. But I'm going to qualify that. If over half my calories come from carbs I don't lose no matter what my calories. And if it's much more than that I can ever gain despite a deficit.
So some candy and treats - sure, I have ice cream and chocolate almost every day. But that's not where most of my calories come from.
This is me as well, particularly with breads. Somehow my body doesn't process carbs right. A hamburger bun adds 3 pounds overnight, even when well below my calories for the day. That 3 pounds stays for 3-4 days. If, within that 3-4 days I eat more bread/pasta/junk carbs, I add another couple pounds overnight. Sure, eventually that initial 3 pounds goes away, but if I consistently eat heavy carbs the problem just compounds and it never goes away. For me it is definitely the quality of the food and not CICO.
that is water weight and not real weight.
and if you are getting bloated that badly from carbs, then you may want to see if you have a food allergy or maybe there is gluten in said carb products and you are allergic to that.
water weight gain does not equal fat gain0 -
Essentially. But I'm going to qualify that. If over half my calories come from carbs I don't lose no matter what my calories. And if it's much more than that I can ever gain despite a deficit.
So some candy and treats - sure, I have ice cream and chocolate almost every day. But that's not where most of my calories come from.
This is me as well, particularly with breads. Somehow my body doesn't process carbs right. A hamburger bun adds 3 pounds overnight, even when well below my calories for the day. That 3 pounds stays for 3-4 days. If, within that 3-4 days I eat more bread/pasta/junk carbs, I add another couple pounds overnight. Sure, eventually that initial 3 pounds goes away, but if I consistently eat heavy carbs the problem just compounds and it never goes away. For me it is definitely the quality of the food and not CICO.
You can't possibly add three pounds of fat overnight, so it must be water retention. If you normally eat low carb, this is common because glycogen is replenished when eating carbs, and all glycogen is associated with about four times its weight in water.
Once your glycogen levels stabilize you will stop retaining any excess water. Your body can only store so much glycogen - about 2 lb total glycogen and 8 lb water.0 -
Yes.0
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Essentially. But I'm going to qualify that. If over half my calories come from carbs I don't lose no matter what my calories. And if it's much more than that I can ever gain despite a deficit.
So some candy and treats - sure, I have ice cream and chocolate almost every day. But that's not where most of my calories come from.
This is me as well, particularly with breads. Somehow my body doesn't process carbs right. A hamburger bun adds 3 pounds overnight, even when well below my calories for the day. That 3 pounds stays for 3-4 days. If, within that 3-4 days I eat more bread/pasta/junk carbs, I add another couple pounds overnight. Sure, eventually that initial 3 pounds goes away, but if I consistently eat heavy carbs the problem just compounds and it never goes away. For me it is definitely the quality of the food and not CICO.
If your body didn't process carbs they would just pass through you.
Like others said, it's water weight. It's not possible for someone to consistently gain in a true deficit just because they eat carbs. How could that possibly be explained?0 -
nope. All calories and foods are not the same.
example, eat 8oz of high-salt pumpkin seeds and retain 4-5 pounds of water for a day or two.0 -
ericGold15 wrote: »
I have been logging - I think accurately - for four years. I spent several years weighing and measuring. I wore a fitbit and now an Apple Watch. So for me, I think this is accurate. I also know that I have worked with two family members who were logging on MFP and couldn't lose anything despite hitting their numbers. But they got 70% of the calories from carbs. They dropped to 50% and started to lose. Again this is not low carb. It means you're raising the relative proportion of fat and protein.
I am sure that this is more relevant to people who are insulin resistant or diabetes prone. But that's a lot of the population and is particularly high among people who have lost a lot of weight. I'd also say that MFP is lousy at macros - it doesn't distinguish added sugar from white rice or slower to digest carbs like brown rice or whole oats. But if most - 70 to 80% say - of your calories are coming from carbs, and most of those carbs are processed, I don't think your body responds to that in terms of insulin production the way it does to higher loads of protein, slow carbs, or fat. My body doesn't anyway.0
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