Can I eat whatever I want, long as I don't go past 1200 calories.

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  • Scamd83
    Scamd83 Posts: 808 Member
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    zaynesmommy2015 wrote: »
    So for the past week I've been eating the not so healthy stuff like spaghetti, bread, chips BUTT I never go past my 1,200 calorie goal. I've been eating about 1000 calories a day to lose weight faster. I work out 5 days a week so it's not that bad right. I am currently 150lbs and it's not easy for me to lose weight so I'm guessing this way wouldn't be so bad, or is it

    Yes, but if you go past 1200 calories a bomb will arm and the moment you eat below 500 calories it will explode.

    Seriously though, yeah, you're fine. Pasta and bread are not unhealthy by the way, all great. Eat what you want, in moderation, as you're doing. Basically you're one of the few newbies who seems to have got it.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    zaynesmommy2015 wrote: »
    I'm actually ALWAYS hungry!!!
    This is your body's way of telling you that you need to eat more. Listen to it, and to the people telling you the same.

    When I get hungry I go get me a carrot or drink a lot of water then I feel better for a little bit.
    But water has no nutrients and a carrot has little and unbalanced nutrition. You have to eat proper meals. At least have some cheese or a few nuts with the carrot.

    It's easier for me to eat less than 1200 calories because I work over nights meaning I don't eat at work all night then when I come home I eat around 7am then sometimes I eat around 12pm then I don't eat till about 8pm again
    1) Why don't you eat at work?
    2) You can eat whenever you like, just eat more at each meal.
    3) It's not easier for you to eat less than 1200. You say you are hungry.
  • rlemieux736
    rlemieux736 Posts: 4 Member
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    All calories are not equal. If all you care about is changing the weight number you read on the scale, then eat the crap and stay under your calorie goal. You will lose weight. It may not be sustainable for your life, but you will lose weight. If overall good health, body composition, sustainable life long weight maintenance, daily performance, & longevity are your goal, then seriously care about the quality nutients you consume.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
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    Yes, you can eat what you want (and certainly more than 1200 calories).

    You'll probably want to eat a balanced dietary intake, meeting recommended minimums of micro and macronutrients, whilst also eating the foods you enjoy.

    You'll soon develop your own way of eating that promotes adherence, athletic performance, enjoyment etc.

    Also, "stuff like spaghetti, bread, chips" are not unhealthy. Foods should be looked upon in the context of overall dietary intake, not in isolation.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    rlemieux736 wrote: »
    All calories are not equal. If all you care about is changing the weight number you read on the scale, then eat the crap and stay under your calorie goal. You will lose weight. It may not be sustainable for your life, but you will lose weight. If overall good health, body composition, sustainable life long weight maintenance, daily performance, & longevity are your goal, then seriously care about the quality nutients you consume.

    All calories are equal, they are a unit of measurement. Nutrition and calories are independent issues.
  • CasperNaegle
    CasperNaegle Posts: 936 Member
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    Yes you can, but you sound like you are probably not eating enough, that is pretty low on the calories.
  • rlemieux736
    rlemieux736 Posts: 4 Member
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    brianpperkins wrote: »
    rlemieux736 wrote: »
    All calories are not equal. If all you care about is changing the weight number you read on the scale, then eat the crap and stay under your calorie goal. You will lose weight. It may not be sustainable for your life, but you will lose weight. If overall good health, body composition, sustainable life long weight maintenance, daily performance, & longevity are your goal, then seriously care about the quality nutients you consume.

    All calories are equal, they are a unit of measurement. Nutrition and calories are independent issues.

    Calories are a unit of measurement. But food can be nutrient dense or anti-nutritious. If your calorie load is full of anti-nutrients then you will starve your body of the nutients it requires. Feeding yourself properly is essential to good long term health. Have you ever heard the term "skinny-fat?" Daily Eating ONLY at calorie restriction is very hard to sustain for your entire lifetime. Just 2 cents.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
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    Why do you classify spaghetti and bread as crap? I eat pasta or bread every day and have no issues with weight
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    rlemieux736 wrote: »
    brianpperkins wrote: »
    rlemieux736 wrote: »
    All calories are not equal. If all you care about is changing the weight number you read on the scale, then eat the crap and stay under your calorie goal. You will lose weight. It may not be sustainable for your life, but you will lose weight. If overall good health, body composition, sustainable life long weight maintenance, daily performance, & longevity are your goal, then seriously care about the quality nutients you consume.

    All calories are equal, they are a unit of measurement. Nutrition and calories are independent issues.

    Calories are a unit of measurement. But food can be nutrient dense or anti-nutritious. If your calorie load is full of anti-nutrients then you will starve your body of the nutients it requires. Feeding yourself properly is essential to good long term health. Have you ever heard the term "skinny-fat?" Daily Eating ONLY at calorie restriction is very hard to sustain for your entire lifetime. Just 2 cents.

    What are anti-nutrients?
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
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    GrooveMerchant wrote: »
    I know you guys say it all the time... but there's no way I could use my 1,200 calories a day on nothing but cake and lose weight. Maybe your bodies.. not mine.

    1. Sure, you could lose weight. A calorie is a calorie in the same way a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of bricks.
    2. You shouldn't eat nothing but cake, as it would certainly not meet your macro or micronutrient needs. Of course you may spend SOME calories on cake - and I definitely do from time to time.
  • CaptainJoy
    CaptainJoy Posts: 257 Member
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    zaynesmommy2015 wrote: »
    So for the past week I've been eating the not so healthy stuff like spaghetti, bread, chips BUTT I never go past my 1,200 calorie goal. I've been eating about 1000 calories a day to lose weight faster. I work out 5 days a week so it's not that bad right. I am currently 150lbs and it's not easy for me to lose weight so I'm guessing this way wouldn't be so bad, or is it

    Do not guesstimate. Do not. Get a scale and weigh everything. I gave up spaghetti as a regular meal item when I saw how many calories were in one serving. After taring the scale I added meat sauce. That wasn't so bad. Now I eat the meat sauce and leave the spaghetti for my husband. It was such a tiny, tiny bit of spaghetti for so many calories.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited March 2016
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    rlemieux736 wrote: »
    brianpperkins wrote: »
    rlemieux736 wrote: »
    All calories are not equal. If all you care about is changing the weight number you read on the scale, then eat the crap and stay under your calorie goal. You will lose weight. It may not be sustainable for your life, but you will lose weight. If overall good health, body composition, sustainable life long weight maintenance, daily performance, & longevity are your goal, then seriously care about the quality nutients you consume.

    All calories are equal, they are a unit of measurement. Nutrition and calories are independent issues.

    Calories are a unit of measurement. But food can be nutrient dense or anti-nutritious.

    Not sure what "anti-nutritious" means, but setting that aside, no one disagrees that some foods have more (and different) nutrients than others. None has everything you need, so you'll want a mix, as well as foods that are satisfying to you. (I mention that because so often people compare some vegetable to some dessert item, when eating just non starchy vegetables wouldn't be a good diet anyway.)

    But that has NOTHING to do with Brian's comments about calories. Calories is not a synonym for food. A calorie doesn't have nutrients. If someone says "a calorie is a calorie," they are obviously not saying all foods are the same for all purposes. I feel like this is often misunderstood, although I honestly don't get how it's possible to misunderstand it unless you are just trying to argue against a strawman.

    So the answer to OP's question is yes. (And you can also lose weight eating more than 1200, OP, as others have said.)

    It's also true, although a separate matter, that people benefit from eating a healthful diet, of course. (What precisely this means may vary somewhat person to person.)
  • scthomas01
    scthomas01 Posts: 17 Member
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    singingflutelady wrote: »
    Why do you classify spaghetti and bread as crap? I eat pasta or bread every day and have no issues with weight

    please tell me how i can eat pasta and bread everyday and still lose weight?? Lol..
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,137 Member
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    scthomas01 wrote: »
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    Why do you classify spaghetti and bread as crap? I eat pasta or bread every day and have no issues with weight

    please tell me how i can eat pasta and bread everyday and still lose weight?? Lol..

    By eating only the serving size and fitting it into your total calories for the day.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    tamicoil1 wrote: »
    scthomas01 wrote: »
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    Why do you classify spaghetti and bread as crap? I eat pasta or bread every day and have no issues with weight

    please tell me how i can eat pasta and bread everyday and still lose weight?? Lol..

    By eating only the serving size and fitting it into your total calories for the day.

    Exactly right. One piece of wheat bread is 60-80 calories. You could make a turkey sandwich with mustard for under 200 calories, for example.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    scthomas01 wrote: »
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    Why do you classify spaghetti and bread as crap? I eat pasta or bread every day and have no issues with weight

    please tell me how i can eat pasta and bread everyday and still lose weight?? Lol..

    By eating it in moderation within your calorie allotment. I have had bread or pasta every day for the last week. Tonight I had garlic toast and lasagna, wine and Girl Scout cookies. I've lost 35 lbs and am supposed to be in maintenance but I'm still losing. Am currently 7 pounds below my goal weight.
  • James12315
    James12315 Posts: 30 Member
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    Yes you can but it's likely your not going to be satisfied with it. You body is still going to need those nutrients from proteins and veg which if you don't your going to keep feeling hungry and will become weaker. Try balance your diet, it will help you massively.
  • bellabonbons
    bellabonbons Posts: 705 Member
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    I took nutrition courses in college plus I have a registered dietitian that I consult with. A calorie is a calorie and that's one of the beauties of my fitness pal is there are no forbidden foods. But I suggest that you do vegetables and fruits etc. that you know we're healthy for your body and your daily calorie allotment. And don't forget to stay well hydrated the brain needs water and the brain also needs carbohydrates so make sure you include those also but I would go with complex carbohydrates and not the refined.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    bellabonbons wrote: »
    I took nutrition courses in college plus I have a registered dietitian that I consult with. A calorie is a calorie and that's one of the beauties of my fitness pal is there are no forbidden foods. But I suggest that you do vegetables and fruits etc. that you know we're healthy for your body and your daily calorie allotment. And don't forget to stay well hydrated the brain needs water and the brain also needs carbohydrates so make sure you include those also but I would go with complex carbohydrates and not the refined.

    This is possibly just semantics, but I want to point out it's not really complex vs refined carbohydrates, but simple vs complex carbohydrates (fiber - starch - sugars) and more or less refined carbohydrate containing foods (vegetables - bread - pasta - cake - candy). Sugar and starch are processed the same way in the body, and no matter where they come from, but there are other components in the food/meal that determines how quickly they are processed, and different foods contain different amounts and combinations of nutrients, so the overall effect will vary.

    I agree totally to the first part.
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
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    scthomas01 wrote: »
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    Why do you classify spaghetti and bread as crap? I eat pasta or bread every day and have no issues with weight

    please tell me how i can eat pasta and bread everyday and still lose weight?? Lol..

    I had two servings' worth of spaghetti last night, with a piece of bread. Stayed within calories. That's how you do it.

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