Can you lose weight eating anything if you are in a deficit?

StinkyCheeze

Hello everyone. I'm new to MFP. I'm looking to lose 15-20 pounds. I gained it within last year and this year, technically since I started college. My mom raised me and is a fitness/health freak. She doesn't touch added sugar. She raised me to believe its the cause for weight gain (is it)? She lectured me on organic foods and to avoid any produce or eggs thats not organic. She also would never let me have anything diet while growing up like diet soda or sugar free dessert at a party. She thinks sweeteners are the devil. She also believes carbs are unhealthy in high amounts (what if in a calorie deficit though)? She is in great shape for her age and looks younger than her age but I'm not sure if I've been misinformed this whole time while growing up. I need to lose my "college weight" but don't want to feel restricted. My mom would probably suggest me to cut out table sugar and lower overall carbs while switching to organic. But I hope it doesn't have to come to this. Please tell me I can lose weight on anything lol... I live on my own now by the way (room and board) so I have control over what groceries are here.

Christine_72

There was a thread started a couple days ago asking this.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10458696/can-you-eat-whatever-you-want-as-long-as-you-stay-in-your-calorie-range-and-still-lose-weight/p1

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

Your mom is wrong.

Yes, you can lose weight eating anything you want. Just make sure you're logging everything accurately.

You may need to play around with different types of foods to make sure you're satiated and that you can stay within your goal without being miserable. But losing weight is a lifestyle change, and a lifestyle without tasty food is just no fun.

itsthehumidity

You'll get the same answer a hundred times from other people, and that's a good thing because it sounds like you could use a consensus.

The short answer to your question is: yes, you can and will lose weight eating anything if you are in a deficit. Look up the Pyramid of Nutrition Priorities. It tells you to focus on calories first (that's all you need to focus on to lose weight). Then, when you understand this, you can construct a diet that serves you beyond losing weight. You need a certain amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrates for normal bodily function. You need vitamins and minerals for normal body function. When you've mastered these concepts and applied them successfully for a long time, you can worry about the more advanced things like supplements and nutrient timing.

But that all comes later. Concern yourself with calories for now. If anyone tells you to restrict a particular food, or a particular macronutrient (like carbs), that means they're missing the big picture. At best, such an approach provides an indirect method of turning a calorie surplus into a calorie deficit (which in turn can then make it seem like that's the food that made the difference).

I believe your mother has good intentions in mind and wants you to be healthy and happy. She has much to learn, however, about nutrition. Good on you for making your own way.

CoffeeNCardio

You can technically lose weight eating nothing but donuts. As long as said donuts are fewer calories than you burn in a day then you will lose weight.

Of course, you'll get scurvy and die shortly thereafter, so don't do that. But you don't have to give up all your favorite foods, you just need to portion control.

CICO (calories in must be lower than calories out to lose weight) results in weight loss, each time, every time. But your health is actually, arguably, more important. So find balance. You can have a donut, even two donuts, just get thee some broccoli and chicken breast to balance it out.

Habiteer

Yes.

Calories in, calories out is the golden rule. The hard part is limiting the calories in - although it helps to eat foods that are naturally satiating such as proteins and veggies. Some people can limit calories easily, others have difficulty...

Here's a story about a man who had a "twinkie" diet and ate nothing but carb-loaded sugary gas station snacks and lost 27 pounds: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/

Habiteer

I think your mom is right though - limiting your sugars and carbs seems to help a lot of people with fat loss since its so easy to fill up on them. Not to mention sugar is bad for your teeth (especially soda) and can desensitize some of your hormones eventually... I eat a the fruit equivalent to a peach a day and I'm fine with that.

Sued0nim

StinkyCheeze wrote: »

Hello everyone. I'm new to MFP. I'm looking to lose 15-20 pounds. I gained it within last year and this year, technically since I started college. My mom raised me and is a fitness/health freak. She doesn't touch added sugar. She raised me to believe its the cause for weight gain (is it)? She lectured me on organic foods and to avoid any produce or eggs thats not organic. She also would never let me have anything diet while growing up like diet soda or sugar free dessert at a party. She thinks sweeteners are the devil. She also believes carbs are unhealthy in high amounts (what if in a calorie deficit though)? She is in great shape for her age and looks younger than her age but I'm not sure if I've been misinformed this whole time while growing up. I need to lose my "college weight" but don't want to feel restricted. My mom would probably suggest me to cut out table sugar and lower overall carbs while switching to organic. But I hope it doesn't have to come to this. Please tell me I can lose weight on anything lol... I live on my own now by the way (room and board) so I have control over what groceries are here.

Yes you can eat anything to lose weight

To maximise health you should make sure you hit your macro and micro nutritional minimums but beyond that your mom was rather extreme in her beliefs

You are now a grown up and it's time for you to take control of how you wish to eat and what you wish to eat

Added sugar ...tends to be combined with fats and carbs into highly palatable easy to get and cheap foods ..so some will overeat here...if it works for you to monitor it in order to increase overall calories then go for it ..it is not a cause of weight gain in isolation ..it's lowest common denominator thinking

Organic is a mindset, no inherent advantages nutritionally but may well be an ethical stance

Sweeteners, like aspartame, are the most tested foods in the world..there is no scientific premise to believe any of the scare / conspiracy stories that abound

Carbs are not unhealthy per se. They are a great source of energy and for many satiety (go back to the mixing with fats to create highly palatable, easily obtainable cheap foods). But optional as to how much you eat.

You put on weight in college cos you ate and drank too many calories and moved too little..reverse that to lose

Any other approach is optional to you but go with a way of eating you can stick to for life. Don't start yourself off yo-yoing by having a short term goal then thinking you'll revert to "normal", your "normal" made you gain.

duddysdad

That is a lot of mis-information. You can eat as much carbs, sugar, artificial sweeteners, and non-organic food as you want. As long as you are in a calorie deficit, you will lose weight. You can eat 100% pure sugar and lose weight, as long as you are in a deficit. You would feel like crap, and you would be starving and severely lacking essential nutrients, but you would lose weight. Search for Mark Haub, a professor who ate Twinkies for 10 weeks and lost 27 pounds.