Is a calorie a calorie?

Tjs8819

I feel this question has probably been worn out but I have to ask... I like food that is not necessarily "healthy". If my goal is only fat loss do I need to worry about where my 1500 calories a day are coming from? If I rather have a 150 cal bag of chips Than 150 calories of almonds is that ok?

pinggolfer96

As long as hitting macro minimums and micros (most optimal), yes you can have the chips. If you're just counting calories then yes a calorie is so calorie, but nutrient dense food may have more of an effect on energy levels/ feelings/ performance

diannethegeek

For just weight loss, calories are king.

If you want your weight loss to be predominantly fat loss, getting enough protein and doing some resistance training helps.

For general health, getting enough fat, fiber, and micronutrients probably matter.

Which is all a long way of saying that if the chips fit into your calorie and nutrition goals for the day and you like them and you don't feel any negative effects from them, then they sound fine.

cwolfman13

A calorie is a unit of energy. When energy is in balance...i.e. consumption = expenditure, we maintain. When consumption exceeds expenditure, excess energy is stored for later use as body fat...basically your back up generator. When you consume less energy than you expend, your backup generator kicks on and you burn body fat to make up the difference.

From an energy standpoint, a calorie is more or less a calorie. Certain foods will provide for a higher TEF and certainly satiety is a factor. As a matter of nutrition, your diet should consist largely of nutrient dense foods...but that doesn't mean you can't treat yourself.

You have to look at your diet in the context of the whole, not individual food items. Your diet on the whole is going to determine whether or not you're getting your requisite nutrition...having a bag of chips instead of almonds would have to be looked at in the context of your diet as a whole.

kommodevaran

What makes you doubt the conclusion from every other thread about this? No single foods are healthy or unhealthy. Some are just more or less nutritious, or more or less energy dense, or have different nutritional profiles. 150 calories is 10% of 1500 calories. If it works for you to spend 10% of your calories on chips, eat a bag of chips every day.

ninerbuff

cwolfman13 wrote: »

A calorie is a unit of energy. When energy is in balance...i.e. consumption = expenditure, we maintain. When consumption exceeds expenditure, excess energy is stored for later use as body fat...basically your back up generator. When you consume less energy than you expend, your backup generator kicks on and you burn body fat to make up the difference.

From an energy standpoint, a calorie is more or less a calorie. Certain foods will provide for a higher TEF and certainly satiety is a factor. As a matter of nutrition, your diet should consist largely of nutrient dense foods...but that doesn't mean you can't treat yourself.

You have to look at your diet in the context of the whole, not individual food items. Your diet on the whole is going to determine whether or not you're getting your requisite nutrition...having a bag of chips instead of almonds would have to be looked at in the context of your diet as a whole.

Was going to post, but I'll just +1 this.

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

I_amnr

a calorie is a calorie but there is a difference between eating 200 calories of sugar vs 200 calories of brown bread. Your body will process it differently

diannethegeek

I_amnr wrote: »

a calorie is a calorie but there is a difference between eating 200 calories of sugar vs 200 calories of brown bread. Your body will process it differently

Absolutely. The same way that your body will process 200 calories of broccoli different than 200 calories of chicken breast. Which is why it's so important to look at the overall diet and how foods fit into it rather than any one individual food.

Also, who's talking about sugar? The OP asked about chips.

caurinus

Sort of. This guy lost 11 pounds in a month eating only junk food (donuts, candy, crackers, etc) for 30 days, just to prove a point:
http://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/junk-food-diet-jeff-wilser

But he has more willpower than I do, I think. I couldn't eat such a small volume of food, notice he compared it with fasting. If I eat a lot of calories from chips, or almonds, or hamburgers or pizza (all are very calorie dense, though the almonds are probably healthier than the others), then later in the day I will usually want to eat more than I'm supposed to eat. So I try to stick to foods that help me keep my appetite under control:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/topics/fullness-factor
http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000995050050000000000.html

MissusMoon

There is room in your diet for everything. It comes down to making decisions and compromises. One 150 calorie packet of chips leaves room for lots of nutritious food throughout the day. I'd say if you find yourself hungry it might be a better option to have several cups of produce over a second bag of chips. You'll be more full. In the end, what you can live with and succeed with is the best option. You might surprise yourself if you move toward healthier foods as far as how salty or sugary some things start to taste.

I_amnr

I was giving an extreme example
I was going to say processed cabs vs wholegrain but some people don't realise the importance of wholegrain

diannethegeek wrote: »

I_amnr wrote: »

a calorie is a calorie but there is a difference between eating 200 calories of sugar vs 200 calories of brown bread. Your body will process it differently

Absolutely. The same way that your body will process 200 calories of broccoli different than 200 calories of chicken breast. Which is why it's so important to look at the overall diet and how foods fit into it rather than any one individual food.

Also, who's talking about sugar? The OP asked about chips.

stevencloser

I_amnr wrote: »

I was giving an extreme example
I was going to say processed cabs vs wholegrain but some people don't realise the importance of wholegrain

diannethegeek wrote: »

I_amnr wrote: »

a calorie is a calorie but there is a difference between eating 200 calories of sugar vs 200 calories of brown bread. Your body will process it differently

Absolutely. The same way that your body will process 200 calories of broccoli different than 200 calories of chicken breast. Which is why it's so important to look at the overall diet and how foods fit into it rather than any one individual food.

Also, who's talking about sugar? The OP asked about chips.

There's plenty of people who get by just fine without any whole grain.

Anyway, as we say time and time again: a single 150 calories of anything isn't going to make a lick of a difference, for neither your weightloss nor your health. It's your total diet, the sum of all your choices over a long period of time that's going to be the deciding factor. And the thing to start it all off is the amount of calories as the single most important factor for weight development, a positive one which in turn automatically improves multiple health risks. Nutrition is second in that you need your minimums of everything (again, overall. You aren't gonna get unhealthy from not meeting your micronutrient XYZ once or twice), a task that is harder to fail than to succeed.

I_amnr

I know some people get by with out wholegrain but if I was going to pick between one or the other I wouldn't pick processed carbs
You can defiantly lose weight if you are in a deficit no matter what kind of food you put in your mouth but at the end of the day you can be a lot more efficient with your weight lose if you eat the right kind of calories, of course a snack here or there is totally fine

stevencloser wrote: »

I_amnr wrote: »

I was giving an extreme example
I was going to say processed cabs vs wholegrain but some people don't realise the importance of wholegrain

diannethegeek wrote: »

I_amnr wrote: »

a calorie is a calorie but there is a difference between eating 200 calories of sugar vs 200 calories of brown bread. Your body will process it differently

Absolutely. The same way that your body will process 200 calories of broccoli different than 200 calories of chicken breast. Which is why it's so important to look at the overall diet and how foods fit into it rather than any one individual food.

Also, who's talking about sugar? The OP asked about chips.

There's plenty of people who get by just fine without any whole grain.

Anyway, as we say time and time again: a single 150 calories of anything isn't going to make a lick of a difference, for neither your weightloss nor your health. It's your total diet, the sum of all your choices over a long period of time that's going to be the deciding factor. And the thing to start it all off is the amount of calories as the single most important factor for weight development, a positive one which in turn automatically improves multiple health risks. Nutrition is second in that you need your minimums of everything (again, overall. You aren't gonna get unhealthy from not meeting your micronutrient XYZ once or twice), a task that is harder to fail than to succeed.