can you eat what you want and lose weight?

Arees23

Basically I want to know if you can eat what you want, as long as it's within your calorie goal? I've had a peak at a few members food diarys and it seems that people are eating what they want e.g chocolate,chips,cakes etc and they seem to have lost weight.
Can you still lose weight if these foods come under your calorie limits? Or is it best to give them up?

tsh0ck

no reason to give up anything.

you can absolutely eat whatever you want. you, however, cannot likely eat how MUCH you want. it's all about finding a balance.

overs5

eat what you want in moderation.. as long as you stay within your calories..eat drink and be happy :drinker:

Mokey41

I regularly eat fast food, ice cream, sugar drinks and other junk food. As long as I stay within my calorie budget all is well.

etoiles_argentees

yes.

teagirlmedium

You can still lose weight. However, I have found that calories in certain foods do not work the same as calories in other foods, at least for my body.

alt1268

I can't. I have to eat a well balanced, high protein meals and snacks to loose weight. The closest junk I come to is my skinny pop, popcorn. I tried to eat junk, didn't work for me.

prattiger65

I eat anything I want to eat. Period. With that said, I am finding that I am starting to make better decisions. I love ice cream, I found a very good tasting no sugar added. Things like that will come later, for now, just hit your calorie goal.

sc10985

I definitely have treats when I want them and I fit them into my calorie goal. But for me, when I fill up all my calories with junk my weight loss slows way way down, or stops. That's just me though, other people may be different. Or it could be water retention. Who knows. Some people say calories are calories and it doesn't matter but idk how much truth there is to that.

glin23

eat what you want in moderation.. as long as you stay within your calories..eat drink and be happy :drinker:

This. If I ever banned a food it would probably jump back at me in a huge craving so I ban nothing.

BigBrunette

Works for me!

TheDarlingOne

How I understand it - in the beginning the weight comes off 'fairly easy' (unless you have some sort of medical issue of course) as long as you just stay w/in the calorie budget to lose weight. (takes 3500 calories outgoing to lose 1lb a week....most find that with a balance of fitness and food)....

in the beginning it is 'easier' and you can eat usually 'whatever you want' - but i've heard from others who get closest to their ultimate goal weight - that's when you have to start worrying more about the 'balanced diet'

good luck!

luckydays27

I eat what I want, when I want, just not as much as I used to want.
I have fast food, desserts, pizza, beer etc. Just not as much as I did when I was heavier. I also dont eat it as often as I used to. I do make better choices though and try to eat healthier options.

But I am not going to avoid eating out or having drinks with friends just to lose weight. If I did, I will never lose weight or get into shape because I would just give up.

kts3639

Works/is working for me :flowerforyou:

pushyourself14

Yes, you can. If it fits into your daily calorie goal.

freebirdjones

If you cut out foods you love how will you learn what a day in your cal goal is like with these foods? You will not be on mfp forever and need to learn how many cals these foods have and their macros so you start getting an idea of if you eat this how much should I have. Also what would happen when you add them back in? If this is a lifestyle change it should be something you can keep forever. Im 5'5 eat 2000 cals and I find it manageable.

TheRealParisLove

It depends on the person. Some people can lose while eating junk food, others can't. There is no one rule that works for everyone. I've met people who can never eat any sugary foods at all or they go into a binge spiral that undoes all their weight loss efforts. Others can have sweets every day without issue. It just depends on how your body responds.

MelsAuntie

I eat what I want to, pizza, fried chicken and chocolate ( every single day on the chocolate) included. I don't give up anything, but I do eat sensibly ( i.e., two fried chicken thighs instead of 4 or 5 pieces, two slices of pizza instead of half a pie) and I'm steadily losing weight... It does help that I do a lot of gardening and farm work. I've never gone to a gym. I may add; I never do cheat days, don't believe in that, and have no need to.

befreakingstrong

Here's my take--for what it's worth! I think that the foundation of the food that you eat should be whole grains, veggies, lean protein, and lots of water. With that said, I think it's super important to treat yourself every day. Figure out the few things that are really "the bomb" for you, and have small amounts as a treat for eating well, exercising hard, a birthday, etc. I don't think that you can eat 'what you want' all day every day and still maintain a healthy weight. I weigh just five pounds more today than I did when I got married, which was 16 years and 5 kids ago! I am grateful that my mom taught me the basics of good, solid nutrition as a basis for my life. Thanks, Mom!!

AbsoluteNG

If you have a medical issue, no you can not. At 80 pounds overweight, you need to make sure you're not insulin resistance before you start eating pizza or icecream. It will make losing weight harder for you and lead to diabetes.

LexiAtel

You can, but it's pretty hard not to go over. Plus if you eat a lot of junk food/fast food you wont get a lot of nutrients and by doing this for many years it can cause issues when you are older.

I eat fast food/junk food every once in a while, normally when I do, I try not to eat more than 1 meal a day.

But yes, if you meet your macros (carbs, protein, etc) and your calories, you, essentially, will lose weight.

geebusuk

Calories in vs calories out.

However, do appreciate that the type of calories in may affect the calories out.

For me, I'm not convinced it massively does - maybe for others it does more.

(For instance this article http://www.simplyshredded.com/the-science-of-nutrition-is-a-carb-a-carb.html suggests that if you're reasonably healthy, how you get your carbs doesn't really matter.)

LorinaLynn

I eat what I want, when I want, just not as much as I used to want.

That pretty much sums it up.

As far as dropping pounds, all that matters is calories. For health and fitness, nutrition matters. That doesn't mean that you can't eat the foods you love... you just need to balance them. That's where the If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) approach comes in. It doesn't mean "eat whatever you want," it's "eat what you want if it fits within your nutrition goals."

If I've hit my protein goals, fat goals, had a good amount of fruits and vegetables and still have room... hell, yeah, I'm having some ice cream or chocolate!

jaimrlx

I can't, but that's because I have PCOS. Dairy, pasta and bread just do not work with my body anymore.

Edit: I still do.. but I've also been on a plateau for 6 months.

Gwen_B

While you could maintain a lower calorie count eating junk food or fast food, the calories you get would be empty calories — calories without any nutritional value. This means your body would not be properly nourished, which it needs to be in order to function properly. Avoid foods with too much added sugar, fat, salt and cholesterol, and focus on consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, whole grains and low-fat dairy products. Eating three meals a day spread out at least 3 to 4 hours apart keeps your metabolism steady and allows time for proper digestion.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/533768-can-you-eat-what-you-want-still-lose-weight-as-long-as-you-exercise/#ixzz2XqLG0z49

BrianSharpe

No foods are completely off limit (I think that's one of the reasons "dieting" fails so frequently). Measure & keep within your caloric goals.

Gwen_B

Here's my take--for what it's worth! I think that the foundation of the food that you eat should be whole grains, veggies, lean protein, and lots of water. With that said, I think it's super important to treat yourself every day. Figure out the few things that are really "the bomb" for you, and have small amounts as a treat for eating well, exercising hard, a birthday, etc. I don't think that you can eat 'what you want' all day every day and still maintain a healthy weight. I weigh just five pounds more today than I did when I got married, which was 16 years and 5 kids ago! I am grateful that my mom taught me the basics of good, solid nutrition as a basis for my life. Thanks, Mom!!

Well put!!

carolyn000000

As long as you know what your trigger foods are. I cannot a few Hershey 's kisses. If I eat one, I will eat 10. So I avoid all trigger foods. Ice cream too, I cannot eat it in moderation. I can however, eat just a few potato chips. Other than my trigger foods, I eat what I want.

pkw58

You can eat what you want as long as you want what you need... does that make sense?

cwannabee

Medical conditions not withstanding, theorhetically you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight as long as output is greater than input (calories consumed are less that calories expended).

However, what you will find is that those items like cookies, ice cream, 'junk' food, etc. are so high in calories that you can't eat much before you max out your calorie count for the day. Then you find yourself hungry and raiding the pantry at 5pm. Fruits, veggies, and other 'healthy' foods often (there are exceptions) tend to be lower in calorie so you can eat a greater quatity of those items in a day and feel full and are less likely to go over your calories. This is what I have found anyway.

My advice is to take small steps. Make one change at a time. Make sure it is a change you can live with for the rest of your life. Get that one change under control then make another one.

I used to drink a lot of soda. That was a lot of calories I was comsuming by drinking and I knew there was a more efficient way to use those calories. First I cut back to two sodas a week. Then one. Eventually I found I didn't even need that. I still do have soda on occaision. I eat out and rarely order sald. I don't eat low fat or 'diet' items and yet here I am almst 70 lbs lighter than when I started.

It's about a lifestyle change, take baby steps...you can do this!

whitecapwendy

I can't. When I allow myself junk food and stay within my calories I don't lose weight, but if I make wise choices (lots of fruits and veggies and whole grains, my body responds and I lose weight consistently.

This is a lifelong change I am making, so to avoid binges, I do allow myself treats here and there, realizing that they will slow down my progress, but I need to make this something I can live with. I allow myself a treat, but seek to make it an occasional treat.