Ok so if you have a Calorie deficit everyday does that guarantee weight loss??

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Replies

  • SymbolismNZ
    SymbolismNZ Posts: 190 Member
    Well wait... who says treats don't have macronutrients that your body utilizes for nourishment?

    And... if you're fitting that treat in after eating healthy (or even not so healthy, after all, a Big Mac or pizza has protein, fat, and carbs that your body will use to feed your muscles), how are you starving your body?

    Are you aware there's not a separate digestive path for "junk" food and "healthy" food in your body? Carbohydrates are carbohydrates. Protein is protein. Fat (say PUFA) is fat. Your body takes it where it gets it and uses it to feed all the complicated systems.

    Completely aware; but take your Big Mac example, being that "all food is equal" in terms of high level macro nutrients in terms of your digestive system, let's even make it more simple and forget about vitamins, sodium, etc...

    Let's say you're doing 40/40/20 - 40% carb, 40% protein, 20% fats over a nice round 2000 calories (200G protein, 200G carbs, 44G fat)

    A Big Mac is 560ish calories, you're consuming 33g fat, 44g carb and 26g protein. Now let's say we eat nothing big three Big Macs a day - for a total of 1680 calories, we do a nice even 180 calories worth of exercise and we create a 500 calorie deficit in our system, losing approximately a pound a week.

    Meanwhile, your macronutrients are screwed up, your body will start to shut down and the likelihood of the "CO" part of your equation remaining the same is slim to none; you'll effectively shut down your BMR and despite feeding your body the same amount of calories, you'll have less energy day by day.

    So even though a calorie is a calorie, a carb is a carb; a protein is a protein and a fat is a fat; food definitely is not the same in terms of how your body reacts to it.

    Now if we take into account the added sugar in the buns, sauce and such on the Big Mac; you're creating an appetite builder, rather than suppressor, so those three Big Macs won't even feel like they're filling you up within a short order of time.

    Nothing above is "new" information to you, I'm sure; but its my personal (humbled) opinion that CICO alone is the major reason people have relapse of weight, it certainly has been for me.

  • SymbolismNZ
    SymbolismNZ Posts: 190 Member
    Nothing above is "new" information to you, I'm sure; but its my personal (humbled) opinion that CICO alone is the major reason people have relapse of weight, it certainly has been for me.

    Just to clarify this; so it's not Captain Obvious; obeying a CICO diet alone and paying no attention to anything other than calories in, calories out is a major reason people relapse, because when they go away from calorie counting, they haven't changed the underlying psychology towards food, nor in many cases added to their BMR through healthy eating and exercise.

  • SymbolismNZ
    SymbolismNZ Posts: 190 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    CICO is a governing energy balance. Anyone who is losing, maintaining, or gaining, is impacted by CICO. It is not a diet or synonymous with calorie counting or "eat anything you want as long as you're in a deficit"

    The post I made above clarifies what I mean when I'm saying CICO - I'm meaning obeying only the principles of CICO - i.e "I can consume 1500 calories and have a deficit, doesn't matter where those calories come from".

    I get now that you guys are meaning more the scientific principle of "Your body burns X, you eat Y, therefore deficit Z = Weightloss A" but as someone who has gone through this whole noise several times in the last 18 years, all I'm hoping to do is give a viewpoint that may help someone.
    seska422 wrote: »
    Who's eating 3 Big Macs as their intake for the day?

    You are straw-manning the eating of nothing but treats.

    Look; hopefully no one is; but as I mentioned, I'm using an extreme to illustrate that you can lose weight with some pretty terrible nutrition following the principle of "I consume less than I burn" - but your future chances of keeping that weight off, or even only going back to the weight you originally were are massively small.



  • SymbolismNZ
    SymbolismNZ Posts: 190 Member
    Are you aware that societies around the world exist on varying macronutrient ratios with carbohydrate intakes that are very high and fat intakes very low to other societies existing with high fat high protein intakes and low carbohyrate intakes? As far as I know, these people are able to go about life without their bodies "shutting down" because some vague, decided upon macronutrient ratio wasn't met.

    How on earth did human beings get anywhere during times when all you could get to eat was whatever was available instead of being able to choose a macronutrient ratio?

    I'm afraid you have much to learn about how the body works.

    Of course; are you aware of their different body compositions and evolutionary genetics that have adapted to the food sources available to them...? i.e those on the Savannah that have access to fats and protein usually have more muscular builds and genetics that allow them to more easily pack on muscle, those in Asia that have more access to grains and rices have leaner builds, less muscular that can survive on less total calories per day, those in South America have more access to fibre filled fruits, etc etc etc.

    That's a whole deeper topic for discussion; but as you're also no doubt aware, our carbohydrate intake (particularly those gained from non fibre sources) has increased worldwide at the same time the obesity epidemic has increased worldwide. I don't get the hostility though, why are you treating this like an argument to be won, rather than a discussion to be learned from?
    This is not universally true. While I personally don't eat Big Macs due to being a vegetarian, I know quite a few people on these boards do, and find them to be quite satisfying. This whole sugar making you instantly hungry within an hour bogeyman is not a universal truth, as much as the low-carb gurus would have you believe.

    You are trying to apply your personal experience to everyone.

    Look, maybe that's true; but I can also point to a pretty thriving diet and supplement industry, and programs like Weight Watchers, or Adkins. I can point to the endless amounts of examples of people losing weight, regaining weight, losing weight, regaining weight. You act like my personal experience isn't a common one.


  • SymbolismNZ
    SymbolismNZ Posts: 190 Member
    On what do you base this "relapse" theory?

    In my experience, restriction of food types is the basis for relapse. The act of denying oneself becomes too much and then "poof", the whole endeavor goes down the drain.

    On what do I base this relapse theory? I mean, poke your head out of the clouds from argument land and look around at the amount of "I lost all this weight, only to regain it and more" stories that perpetuate in places like this and in gyms, and everywhere else.

    Now; keep in mind my point here has been that for those that get to a state of morbid obesity, you absolutely need to change your underlying psychology towards food in order to have sustainable long term success. If you're talking "I need to shift 15-20lbs" - then chances are, you have a completely different set of problems to someone who needs to shift 50+ lbs.

  • SymbolismNZ
    SymbolismNZ Posts: 190 Member
    Plugging any single food into the equation will lead to the same results. Whether it's carrots or chicken or bacon. That's why a varied diet is so important to human beings. The more varied, generally, the better. You cannot prove that a food or a type of food is good or bad based on eating nothing but that one food. Almost anything would look bad under those circumstances.

    A BigMac isn't a single food - it's a combination of all of the macro nutrients, it's why it's a good example as an extreme, because it's actually not too far off an OK macro nutrient ratio.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Let's say you're doing 40/40/20 - 40% carb, 40% protein, 20% fats over a nice round 2000 calories (200G protein, 200G carbs, 44G fat)

    A pound of broccoli is 155 calories, you're consuming 2g fat, 30g carb and 13g protein (rounded for ease of use). Now let's say we eat nothing but 11 pounds of broccoli a day - for a total of 1705 calories, we do a nice even 205 calories worth of exercise and we create a 500 calorie deficit in our system, losing approximately a pound a week.

    Meanwhile, your macronutrients are screwed up, your body will start to shut down and the likelihood of the "CO" part of your equation remaining the same is slim to none; you'll effectively shut down your BMR and despite feeding your body the same amount of calories, you'll have less energy day by day.

    So even though a calorie is a calorie, a carb is a carb; a protein is a protein and a fat is a fat; food definitely is not the same in terms of how your body reacts to it.

    Plugging any single food into the equation will lead to the same results. Whether it's carrots or chicken or bacon. That's why a varied diet is so important to human beings. The more varied, generally, the better. You cannot prove that a food or a type of food is good or bad based on eating nothing but that one food. Almost anything would look bad under those circumstances.

    This is why I don't eat broccoli.

    But man I could go for a Big Mac right now.

    I don't even eat meat and I'm getting hungry for one:) <<< Atkins diet ruined me I can't even enjoy my baco's because of eating so much bacon on that diet.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    edited January 2017
    Are you aware that societies around the world exist on varying macronutrient ratios with carbohydrate intakes that are very high and fat intakes very low to other societies existing with high fat high protein intakes and low carbohyrate intakes? As far as I know, these people are able to go about life without their bodies "shutting down" because some vague, decided upon macronutrient ratio wasn't met.

    How on earth did human beings get anywhere during times when all you could get to eat was whatever was available instead of being able to choose a macronutrient ratio?

    I'm afraid you have much to learn about how the body works.

    Of course; are you aware of their different body compositions and evolutionary genetics that have adapted to the food sources available to them...? i.e those on the Savannah that have access to fats and protein usually have more muscular builds and genetics that allow them to more easily pack on muscle, those in Asia that have more access to grains and rices have leaner builds, less muscular that can survive on less total calories per day, those in South America have more access to fibre filled fruits, etc etc etc.

    That's a whole deeper topic for discussion; but as you're also no doubt aware, our carbohydrate intake (particularly those gained from non fibre sources) has increased worldwide at the same time the obesity epidemic has increased worldwide. I don't get the hostility though, why are you treating this like an argument to be won, rather than a discussion to be learned from?

    How does this address the deeper question: macronutrient ratios do not shut down the body. There is no ideal macronutrient ratio, except on an individual level, and that can vary daily. I prefer to get a decent amount of protein, a good amount of carbs, and very little fat. I feel satiated, some digestive difficulties I have do best eating this way, and my fitness goals are fueled eating this way.

    I do not presume that this is true for anyone but me.
    This is not universally true. While I personally don't eat Big Macs due to being a vegetarian, I know quite a few people on these boards do, and find them to be quite satisfying. This whole sugar making you instantly hungry within an hour bogeyman is not a universal truth, as much as the low-carb gurus would have you believe.

    You are trying to apply your personal experience to everyone.
    Look, maybe that's true; but I can also point to a pretty thriving diet and supplement industry, and programs like Weight Watchers, or Adkins. I can point to the endless amounts of examples of people losing weight, regaining weight, losing weight, regaining weight. You act like my personal experience isn't a common one.

    I do accept your personal experience as being common, but can you accept other's personal experience as being equally common?

    There's some preliminary research indicating that there might be some genetic shenanigans at play here behind this whole "carbs play nicely with me" and "carbs make me a ravenous wild boar" thing that goes on with different people.

  • SymbolismNZ
    SymbolismNZ Posts: 190 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    So is it your position, then, that people who make radical changes in their diet/lifestyle and "eat clean" (by whatever nebulous definition) are magically spared from relapsing? How does this wizardry happen?

    Of course not; I don't have an expectation that people are perfect.

    I will however say that you're far more likely to experience longer term success if you make it about a sustainable lifestyle choice rather than a short term period of dieting... and that fueling your body with a mind to what you're using as fuel will assist you in other goals.

    Just to highlight my experience a little.

    Agegroup/Schoolboy representitive in multiple sports, signed a professional sports contract at the age of 18, broke my back at 20 and by 22 had gained over 65KG; had severe sciatica and other issues that complicated exercise, but lost 40KG by the age of 25 through a niche/fad diet (Optifast) - kept the weight off approximately six months before starting to gain it back, managed to arrest it having regained 20KG back before starting to become intense around running and marathons, got down to the weight I was as a kid by the age of 28 and sustained it until around 32 through good eating and exercise; ran a sub three hour marathon and was gearing up for an ironman, but blew out my knee, had to stop running and also at the same time, took an executive management position for a corporate with a lot of travel/wining/dining - gained 40KG back until the age of 35; started to pay more attention to diet around a month ago and dropped 10KG within the month, now starting to put together exercise and diet, but with a view of making a lifestyle change where the diet I eat will become my lifelong diet.

    I'm atypical of most that get to a state of morbid obesity; but my experience is reasonably common once being there. The idea that people have that relapse is a myth and that obeying calories alone will get you long term results isn't viable in my view; and it is just my opinion, and I'm sure there are people who prove that opinion wrong, just as much as people who prove that opinion right.

    But I'm not here to argue; and that's where this is going - so I'll leave it there.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Plugging any single food into the equation will lead to the same results. Whether it's carrots or chicken or bacon. That's why a varied diet is so important to human beings. The more varied, generally, the better. You cannot prove that a food or a type of food is good or bad based on eating nothing but that one food. Almost anything would look bad under those circumstances.

    A BigMac isn't a single food - it's a combination of all of the macro nutrients, it's why it's a good example as an extreme, because it's actually not too far off an OK macro nutrient ratio.

    Do you eat a single, perfectly balanced meal 3x a day, then, or do you prefer a more varied diet?
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