Does calories in vs calories out really matter?

geneticexpectations

SLLRunner wrote: »

geneticexpectations wrote: »

jenilla1 wrote: »

geneticexpectations wrote: »

I know a few people who absolutely need to count calories for weight management success, but the vast majority of people that I know in real life (as well as in the clinic) with sustained significant success all seem to have whole food based diets and don't have the need to count calories.

LOL. I've eaten a nutritious, low and no-processed "whole-foods" based diet while primarily cooking from scratch at home for decades. The thing that helped me dropped weight and maintain at goal for almost 6 years now has been CICO. Even training for marathons didn't help, because I wasn't paying attention to calories and was inadvertently eating back all my training calories. Once I started tracking my intake, it was like magic.

The only people I know in real life with sustained significant success are those who maintain awareness of their calorie intake and expenditures.

But that's just my experience, of course.

Glad you've found something that works for you. And I acknowledge that that's your experience (without the need to add an LOL simply because your experience is different than mine).

It sounds like you have found something that works for you buy choosing foods you see as higher quality, which probably help you to control your appetite. That's wonderful!

No matter what we do, and setting aside those medical conditions that need a doctor's attention, we must eat at a calorie deficit to lose weight. How you get to the calorie deficit is individual. Some people literally count calories, other people choose to eat only certain types of foods because they know they will be more satiated and eat in a way that causes weight loss.

As to weight loss, the only magic that food quality has is the magic we give it. Nutrition is a whole other story.

Agree. (Yet I have a feeling somebody will nonetheless comment that I disagree).

LINIA

lemurcat12 wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

Is this going to be one of those threads where an OP drops a provocative and inaccurate statement like "everyone agrees quality of food determines how fast you lose weight" and then the rest of post comments which largely agree with each other but disagree with the OP, but we never hear from OP again to clarify where the inaccurate information came from or if she meant something different?

I'm betting yes. Hope not.

YES--two posts from her and NADA on this topic after getting it going. My guess, we helped her with a school assignment. BS or MS, maybe a degree in Nutrition or Nursing.

Annie_01

LINIA wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

Is this going to be one of those threads where an OP drops a provocative and inaccurate statement like "everyone agrees quality of food determines how fast you lose weight" and then the rest of post comments which largely agree with each other but disagree with the OP, but we never hear from OP again to clarify where the inaccurate information came from or if she meant something different?

I'm betting yes. Hope not.

YES--two posts from her and NADA on this topic after getting it going. My guess, we helped her with a school assignment. BS or MS, maybe a degree in Nutrition or Nursing.

I think sometimes people start a thread and never anticipate the enormity of responses nor the depth of the scientific info that they might receive. In other words...the thread went way beyond what they were anticipating. I think they thought it would be more like sitting around the table with ma, pa, Aunt Jane and Uncle Ben. When that is not what they get...they get up and leave the table leaving the rest of them to argue it out. They might possibly grab a cookie on their way out the door.

At least that is what I think...they ain't got no time for all this technical stuff.

GaleHawkins

TeaBea wrote: »

bercyn1291 wrote: »

It is agreed upon that quality of the food matters in faster weight loss but ideally calories out-calories in should determine how much weight you lose. Please share your experience.

Calories in vs. calories out are ALL that matters for weight loss.

Quality of food matters for health.

Faster weight loss is usually unhealthy weight loss. Obese people can lose quickly, but the rest of us risk lean muscle mass. When our bodies don't have fuel.....they will catobolize existing lean muscle. High quality food does not make us immune.

bodyforwife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/contributors-to-obesity.jpg?x88132

This graphic posted by @jgnatca in another thread helped me to better visualize CICO factors.

LeshWeshy

On topic of healthy vs clean, I actually found it easier to lose weight by making my diet less healthy. I used to eat a lot of nuts, which are very high in calories and fat, but not very filling.

When I started trying to lose weight, I actually found that sipping slowly on a bottle of soda seemed to make my stomach be quiet. I could use one 17oz bottle to buy a good 2+ hours from when I was hungry, until when I had a meal. Before adding soda, I was struggling to keep myself at -300 kcal a day. After I added soda sipping, I was able to do -500 kcal with much less hunger or effort. I think it would have the opposite effect for most people, from what I've heard. But it works for me.