What About Carbs, Fat & Sugar?

alexreyn13

I see a lot about counting calories in a deficit to lose weight, but should I also be counting in other factors like Fat, Carbs, Sugar and Sodium? Or is it generally all about the calorie deficit in the end? In my life at the moment I've cut out all soda, candy, chocolate, snacks and fast food. I also try to keep my frozen weight watcher type meals around 10g of fat or less, 20-40 or so carbs with the lowest amount of sodium possible (700 or less)

Also, are all calories the same? Does it matter if you get your calories from a steak vs fruits and vegetables, or again is it really just about the deficit? Sorry for the questions, i just really want to make sure I'm doing this right. Please correct anything wrong, thanks .

elphie754

alexreyn13 wrote: »

I see a lot about counting calories in a deficit to lose weight, but should I also be counting in other factors like Fat, Carbs, Sugar and Sodium? Or is it generally all about the calorie deficit in the end? In my life at the moment I've cut out all soda, candy, chocolate, snacks and fast food. I also try to keep my frozen weight watcher type meals around 10g of fat or less, 20-40 or so carbs with the lowest amount of sodium possible (700 or less)

Also, are all calories the same? Does it matter if you get your calories from a steak vs fruits and vegetables, or again is it really just about the deficit? Sorry for the questions, i just really want to make sure I'm doing this right. Please correct anything wrong, thanks .

Weight loss comes down to calories in vs calories out (i.e. A calorie deficit). Beyond that-it is person preference. So people find they can stick to a calorie deficit easier if they have certain macro ratios. For instance-I feel less hungry when I have ~50% of my calories coming from carbs. Unless you have a diagnosed medical condition, there is no reason to cut anything out of your diet.

AnnPT77

If you simply want to lose weight, it's pretty much all about calories, specifically eating fewer of them than you burn (calories in < calories out, a.k.a. CICO). You may find that other factors about what you eat will make it easier to keep your deficit - that is, if you feel more satisfied (not hungry or cranky), you're more likely to stick with it long enough to actually lose weight.

If you want to lose weight *and* be healthy, then you want to get adequate amounts of protein, healthy fats, fiber, and micronutrients (vitamins & minerals & such - basically, eat your fruits & vegetables, and plenty of them), plus do that while maintaining CICO.

If you don't have a specific health reason to restrict sodium (like high blood pressure, for example), it's still a good idea to keep your sodium in reasonable bounds, but probably not necessary to obsess about it. If you don't have a specific health reason to restrict carbs, there's no reason to limit them (though there's controversy about this) unless you choose to do so (like if it helps you avoid cravings, or something).

For weight loss, it's pretty much all about the deficit and CICO. For health, work on nutrition as well. For fitness (and health), add exercise.

shadow2soul

Macros (Fat, Carb, Protein) & Micros (vitamins & minerals) are important for health.
Calories are important for weight loss, maintenance, and gain.

Calorie is a unit of measurement. In that respect all calories are the same. Some foods will give you more micros and volume for the calorie count than others. These help you meet nutritional needs and can help with hunger (b/c of volume). Meeting nutritional needs can also help with energy levels. It is completely possible to meet all your nutritional needs and still have calories for the high calorie low volume stuff (donuts, cookies, cake).

I'm still learning stages of balancing macros/micros and for that reason my main focus is calories and protein.

I think people new to counting should focus on calories first and after they have that down start watching macros/micros if they want to.

alexreyn13

Thank you so much everyone that replied. So basically calorie deficit goals help with weight loss and maintenance, while macros are more for your personal health.

shadow2soul

alexreyn13 wrote: »

Thank you so much everyone that replied. So basically calorie deficit goals help with weight loss and maintenance, while macros are more for your personal health.

Pretty much.

Yi5hedr3

Good - now remove all breads and Cows Milk. Keep carbs low enough to cause your body to burn fat (under 100 grams carbs/day).