Eating Junk and counting calories
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iluvlife445
Posts: 7 Member
Ive saw multiple posts explaining how it doesn't matter where your calories come from but its all about how many calories you consume vs how many you burn and that a pound of fat 3500 calories. I get that but i dont get how junk food can be eatten and lose weight. Doesn't sugar convert to fat? Sugar on its own is pretty low calorie so can someone explain?
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A calorie is a calorie. Sugar doesn't convert to fat, but eating a lot a junk might leave you feeling unsatisfied and feel like you might want to overeat.
I like to think I keep a balance. I don't shun any one food and the only thing I gave up before weight loss was full-sugar soda---just don't have the calories each day to drink it.
Some days I want to eat a lot, so I eat a ton of roasted veggies so I get a lot of food for very few calories. Other days, I just have a hankerin' for something more obscene, so I make room in my calories for a slice of pizza or two or some Dairy Queen, or whatever I feel I need.
There's many paths to weight loss, but ultimately it's the math of Calories In > Calories Out and keeping that deficit so you consistently (not linearly necessarily) lose weight. It's worked for me, and I've done nothing more than count calories by weighing all my food on a scale.3 -
It takes 3500 excess calories to make a pound which is relative to each person's metabolism. I know from experience that I can eat 1400 calories (give or take about 50) and maintain my weight. I've been doing it for 18 years. And, I eat whatever I want as long as it's in my calorie range. I don't know how it works exactly or what my body is doing with sugar vs. carbs or fats. All I know is that a nutritionist gave me that "magic number" years ago and my weight has stayed within the same range throughout the aging process, running a marathon and no working out at all. I wish I could give you a better answer, but that's all I've got: counting calories works without any no carb, low carb, gluten free, whatever. And yes, I had 4 chicken McNuggets for dinner.4
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If you take in more calories than your body needs, of any nutrient, you will store it. If you are in a deficit, regardless of where your calories come from, your body will utilise the calories to fuel its functions.
Once it's broken down, your body does the same thing with sugar from fruit and vegetables as it does with sugar from a sweet.3 -
Excess calories turn into fat, not sugar. Whether you eat 1200 calories of salad and chicken or 1200 calories of cookies you'll lose the same amount of weight*.
*-obviously not recommended, but it would happen6 -
What and how much you eat impacts satiety, and that --IMO-- is the key to successful weight loss. Eat 200 M&M's or 200 grams of fruit, which is going to fill you up and keep you satisfied?0
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Most MFP users, while advocating healthy choices, tend to subscribe to the general idea that as long as you burn more calories than you consume (calories in < calories out) than you will lose weight, regardless of where those foods come from.
You will notice that some people take this approach more militantly than others, and there are threads dedicated to people proving that they have lost weight on nothing but a diet of Slim Jims, Mountain Dew, Big Macs, and a sporadic Flintstones Chewable. And yes, you can lose weight just eating high sugar, high fat, processed foods, as long as you are in a calorie deficit. The question is, can you sustain it, and are you going to healthier once you lose the weight.
There is disagreement about sugar, so I'll speak to my experience and you can take what you want from that. If I eat sugary foods like candy, I just want more sugary foods like candy. I tend to get highs when I eat then, and lows about an hour after I eat them. When I eat 1000 calories of chicken, I couldn't eat, let alone want 1000 calories of chicken an hour later. Now Reese's peanut butter cups.... see where I'm going with this.
Having said all this., these foods have a place in your diet. I had burgers on Sunday. I'll have carnival foods this Saturday. Just practice mindfulness when making these choices.3 -
If I eat a lot of junk, I'm less satiated. So I usually eat too much. And then it spirals. I try to keep junk foods lower just because I tend to go overboard. But I work a treat into all my days just because I like it and I can.1
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I eat some snack foods every day. Things that are kind of on the borderline between what people would call healthy vs junk (I try to get away from labeling foods that way, but I don't always succeed.)
Example: I'm trying to boost my iron intake and I've discovered that a 30-gram serving of Quaker Corn Squares cereal will give me 30% of my RDA. I don't like cereal in milk, so I eat it dry. It's relatively sweet. Not like Frosted Flakes or Coco Puffs, but definitely not Shredded Wheat or All-Bran. If I let myself, I could probably open a large box in the morning and nosh on it mindlessly all day. Pretty sure it'd put me into a calorie surplus, but one or two portions fit my day well.
I've got more of a salt tooth than a sweet one, though. And I usually have 2 cups of seasoned Skinny Pop popcorn. Much better than potato chips. Reasonably healthy. We can still arguably call it junk food.
Once a week, though, I choose to have a bit of potato kugel and a frosted shortbread cookie. It's not cheating; they fit my calories, or I make them by exercising enough to cover it. And a lot of it is psychological. If everyone at the buffet is going for the pastries, I'm not going to shoot longing looks at the platters while I 'virtuously' hit the fruits and raw veggies. Knowing that I can have something high-calorie, too keeps me from feeling deprived and makes it easier for me to keep on track. I guess it's the whole 'forbidden fruit' thing. If it's not forbidden, if it's okay for me to have some if I want it, I can take a little and stop.0 -
iluvlife445 wrote: »Ive saw multiple posts explaining how it doesn't matter where your calories come from but its all about how many calories you consume vs how many you burn and that a pound of fat 3500 calories. I get that but i dont get how junk food can be eatten and lose weight. Doesn't sugar convert to fat? Sugar on its own is pretty low calorie so can someone explain?
A pound of feathers (lettuce) and a pound of stones (candy) weigh the same. One simply requires a greater quantity than the other to make a pound. The same principle applies to calories. Fat is a storage of excessive calories. Too many vegetables *will* add fat, it simply takes a greater quantity to meet the calorie requirement.2 -
Excess calories turn into fat, not sugar. Whether you eat 1200 calories of salad and chicken or 1200 calories of cookies you'll lose the same amount of weight*.
*-obviously not recommended, but it would happen
Ohh, ok that makes sense. I thought sugar regardless of how many calories has been consumed got converted into fat. I get it now. Thank you and everyone else for clearing that up!
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Excess calories turn into fat, not sugar. Whether you eat 1200 calories of salad and chicken or 1200 calories of cookies you'll lose the same amount of weight*.
*-obviously not recommended, but it would happen
The thing is if we only count calories, there's a very high chance we won't be given to our body all the nutrients and vitamines it needs
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What and how much you eat impacts satiety, and that --IMO-- is the key to successful weight loss. Eat 200 M&M's or 200 grams of fruit, which is going to fill you up and keep you satisfied?
To be honest, the m&m's... More fat, and some protein, and more calories than the 200g fruit.3 -
samaradoring wrote: »Excess calories turn into fat, not sugar. Whether you eat 1200 calories of salad and chicken or 1200 calories of cookies you'll lose the same amount of weight*.
*-obviously not recommended, but it would happen
The thing is if we only count calories, there's a very high chance we won't be given to our body all the nutrients and vitamines it needs
Which is why I added the disclaimer. A lot of people on here assume those who promote not cutting out foods and eating them in moderation don't care about nutrition at all. That is not the case. Focus your diet primarily on whole, nutrient-dense foods, but don't deprive yourself of that cookie if you have the calories for it and have met your macro goals.2 -
erienneb66 wrote: »If I eat a lot of junk, I'm less satiated. So I usually eat too much. And then it spirals. I try to keep junk foods lower just because I tend to go overboard. But I work a treat into all my days just because I like it and I can.
This is exactly how it is for me. So i keep junk food as an occasional food, not a regular part of my diet. I save it for the nights where i couldn't be bothered cooking dinner.1 -
iluvlife445 wrote: »Ive saw multiple posts explaining how it doesn't matter where your calories come from but its all about how many calories you consume vs how many you burn and that a pound of fat 3500 calories. I get that but i dont get how junk food can be eatten and lose weight. Doesn't sugar convert to fat? Sugar on its own is pretty low calorie so can someone explain?
Excess calories are stored as fat...
Also, you need to look at the context of these discussions...nobody is saying to just eat a bunch of junk food...it's usually in response to something like, "OMG...I'm craving a snickers...what do I do?" In the context of a well balanced diet that is rich in nutrition, having some "junk" here and there isn't particularly material...and it has nothing to do with weight management. Weight management is by and large about calories.4 -
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MilesAddie wrote: »You will notice that some people take this approach more militantly than others, and there are threads dedicated to people proving that they have lost weight on nothing but a diet of Slim Jims, Mountain Dew, Big Macs, and a sporadic Flintstones Chewable.
@MilesAddie I miss Flintstones Chewables. I wonder if I could eat 1300 calories' worth without puking? Hmmm
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cwolfman13 wrote: »
That's what I was thinking-I've hit over 200g of cherries a day the past few days and it does nothing to keep me feeling full, I only stopped because I ran out
Same with candy/other sweet stuff. Neither would be what I would gravitate towards if I needed something that had staying power. 0
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