Can someone please explain this to me?

whitneysin

So most people on here seem to agree that weight loss is as simple as calories in, calories out (ex: if you were to eat 1500 calories of Twinkies, VS 1500 calories of vegetables it wouldn't matter-a calorie is a calorie.

On the contrary, a lot of you seem to also believe that weight loss is achieved best by clean eating. I've seen a lot of "90% of my weight loss came from clean eating" type comments. These two statements don't jibe together. Why would clean eating have more gravity than exercise if the equation is really that simple?

Also, why is strength training more effective than cardio? Is it because you burn more anaerobic calories when you're resting if you strength train?

Can someone explain?

HacheraTsarine

People so happen to have different opinions. In my point of view, none are exactly right or wrong. All that matters is that you handle your weight loss journey in a healthy manner.

But that's just an opinion.

mommy3457

I'm forewarning you that this post may go on a crazy path. I think most people on here think calories are just calories, but realize eating mostly clean has many health benefits so therefore it is encouraged.

r_balogh

Clean eating you simply get more for less. Eat 1500 calories of twinkies and tell me if you can eat just that all day. I can eat clean with loads of fresh fruits and vegetables and be full all day on 1500 calories

tkcasta

I think a lot of it has to do with those who "eat clean" are probably consuming fewer calories overall. Those that have the whatever within limits are just that, they stay within limits.

ktsmom430

You can give your body calories that will have nutritional value, or empty calories. Your choice how you want to live and eat and how you want to treat your body.

3dogsrunning

Clean eating you simply get more for less. Eat 1500 calories of twinkies and tell me if you can eat just that all day. I can eat clean with loads of fresh fruits and vegetables and be full all day on 1500 calories

Pretty much this.
It's a lot harder to overeat "clean" foods than other things.
I don't believe that clean eating is necessary for weight loss. I do believe in eating mostly whole foods with some "regular" foods for health.

The other issue is - ask 100 people what "clean eating" is and you'll get 100 variations. There is no one definition.

whitneysin

Gotcha, thanks everyone.

littlesprite11

It definitely matters what you eat. Your body is fueled by nutrients aka the ones found in healthy foods. Depending on what goes into your body is decided how it breaks down. You need to watch how much protein, carbs and fat go into your body. Protein builds muscle, if your eating crap all the time you will not get the results you want. Not to mention it is bad for your metabolism and health.

DatProtein

Technically your 1500 calories could me made up of any food without affecting your rate of weight loss. However in practice, it helps to eat more 'clean' foods as they are more hunger satisfying, helping you to stick to your goals, and are better for your general health.

Strength training is recommended because it will help you maintain your muscle tone as you lose weight, which has benefits such as increasing your basal metabolic rate (amount of calories burned doing everyday tasks), helping you look better once you lose weight.

I also find strength training is a lot more enjoyable, interesting and satisfying than cardio, but that's a matter of personal preference.

whitneysin

It definitely matters what you eat. Your body is fueled by nutrients aka the ones found in healthy foods. Depending on what goes into your body is decided how it breaks down. You need to watch how much protein, carbs and fat go into your body. Protein builds muscle, if your eating crap all the time you will not get the results you want. Not to mention it is bad for your metabolism and health.

When you say it matters, can you define what you mean? It matters for your health or it matters for weight loss? Are you arguing a calorie is not a calorie? I'm just curious what people think.

cmcollins001

Strength training isn't "better" than cardio, just different. Cardio has it's purpose, as does strength training...depends on what your goals are. Strength training does more for body composition than just plain cardio and for a lot of people gives them more of the overall look they want when they reach their goals.

Weight loss in general, well, that's just calories in vs calories out. How you reach your calorie deficit is going to be your personal choice, what works best for you, what you can sustain for life. For some people that's clean eating, for others it's more if it fits your macros, for some it vegan, for others they believe it's one fad diet or the next.

Find what works for you and if you don't know, pick something and stick with it for a while...not just a couple weeks or just a month, give it an honest 6 months of truthful tracking or following the "rules" or plan, track your progress with a scale, clothes, tape measure, how you feel. If you're not seeing steady sustainable results, make some changes...not drastic, just a few minor changes and give it more time.

If you can't find something that works for you and something that you can't follow for life, you have more trouble reaching any goals and trouble maintaining those goals when they are reached.

whitneysin

Technically your 1500 calories could me made up of any food without affecting your rate of weight loss. However in practice, it helps to eat more 'clean' foods as they are more hunger satisfying, helping you to stick to your goals, and are better for your general health.

Strength training is recommended because it will help you maintain your muscle tone as you lose weight, which has benefits such as increasing your basal metabolic rate (amount of calories burned doing everyday tasks), helping you look better once you lose weight.

I also find strength training is a lot more enjoyable, interesting and satisfying than cardio, but that's a matter of personal preference.

Thanks, this is exactly what I wanted to know.

whitneysin

Strength training isn't "better" than cardio, just different. Cardio has it's purpose, as does strength training...depends on what your goals are. Strength training does more for body composition than just plain cardio and for a lot of people gives them more of the overall look they want when they reach their goals.

Weight loss in general, well, that's just calories in vs calories out. How you reach your calorie deficit is going to be your personal choice, what works best for you, what you can sustain for life. For some people that's clean eating, for others it's more if it fits your macros, for some it vegan, for others they believe it's one fad diet or the next.

Find what works for you and if you don't know, pick something and stick with it for a while...not just a couple weeks or just a month, give it an honest 6 months of truthful tracking or following the "rules" or plan, track your progress with a scale, clothes, tape measure, how you feel. If you're not seeing steady sustainable results, make some changes...not drastic, just a few minor changes and give it more time.

If you can't find something that works for you and something that you can't follow for life, you have more trouble reaching any goals and trouble maintaining those goals when they are reached.

Makes sense, thanks. I've always gotten vague answers about the 'calorie is just a calorie' (in any form of food) question. I don't eat a lot of junk, I just needed to know if it really is that simple.

jdm_taco

Don't have to eat clean all the time to lose weight or get fit.


Most people will find that calorie burn from aerobic exercise to be 2x that of weight lifting. If I lift for an hour that may be 300-400 calories. If I run for an hour that easily 800 calories.


However, I think both are crucial to health and desired body composition.

ndj1979

oh god here we go again..

In...for the dead horse...

ndj1979

It definitely matters what you eat. Your body is fueled by nutrients aka the ones found in healthy foods. Depending on what goes into your body is decided how it breaks down. You need to watch how much protein, carbs and fat go into your body. Protein builds muscle, if your eating crap all the time you will not get the results you want. Not to mention it is bad for your metabolism and health.

so unhealthy foods do not fuel your body?

a calorie is a unit of energy ..so you get just as much energy from one calorie of Twinkie as one calorie of green bean..

JoRocka

Strength training isn't "better" than cardio, just different. Cardio has it's purpose, as does strength training...depends on what your goals are. Strength training does more for body composition than just plain cardio and for a lot of people gives them more of the overall look they want when they reach their goals.

Weight loss in general, well, that's just calories in vs calories out. How you reach your calorie deficit is going to be your personal choice, what works best for you, what you can sustain for life. For some people that's clean eating, for others it's more if it fits your macros, for some it vegan, for others they believe it's one fad diet or the next.

Find what works for you and if you don't know, pick something and stick with it for a while...not just a couple weeks or just a month, give it an honest 6 months of truthful tracking or following the "rules" or plan, track your progress with a scale, clothes, tape measure, how you feel. If you're not seeing steady sustainable results, make some changes...not drastic, just a few minor changes and give it more time.

If you can't find something that works for you and something that you can't follow for life, you have more trouble reaching any goals and trouble maintaining those goals when they are reached.

/thread

that's it. right there. all you need to know.

mtnhiker1

What is an anaerobic calorie? In order to measure a calorie (amount of heat required to raise one gram of water one degree Celsius (yes I know food calories is measured in kilocalories) - food must be burned - to be burned it must be oxidized - to be oxidized the "food" must be in the presence of oxygen. anaerobic by definition means - with out oxygen.

Hope I am not being too nitpicky (it is an industry term).

Sarahmeridith

I lost my first 40lbs with just calorie in and calorie out. But then 30days with no change. Switched to clean eating and strength training all of a sudden the pounds start coming off and I have a million times more energy and feel so much better over all. I used to think all the clean eating and body building stuff was crap but I am officially converted ! It really makes a difference in your overall feeling of health. But different things work for different people!

jmadams111

The other question regarding strength training vs. cardio, according to my cardiologist is that a given weight of muscle burns more calories to maintain than the same weight of fat.

Erica_theRedhead

What is an anaerobic calorie? In order to measure a calorie (amount of heat required to raise one gram of water one degree Celsius (yes I know food calories is measured in kilocalories) - food must be burned - to be burned it must be oxidized - to be oxidized the "food" must be in the presence of oxygen. anaerobic by definition means - with out oxygen.

Hope I am not being too nitpicky (it is an industry term).

Calories are burned during exercise. It is the type of workout/exercise that dictates whether you burn calories in an aerobic state, or in an anaerobic sat (i.e. using your oxygen energy pathways in your cells or not). A lot of your basic cardio uses aerobic pathways, which can be good for your heart and give you high calorie burns, yet the energy is from your increased oxygen demand. When doing anaerobic exercise, you exceed your ability to function on oxygen and start to use other metabolic pathways that do not use oxygen. The substrates for these pathways can be in fat and muscle stores. These pathways lead to lactic acid production and muscle fatigue and can generally not last for as long as aerobic exercise.

This is why many advocate heavy lifting or resistance in their weight loss (exclusively, or in addition to cardio) because even if you generally burn less calories, you are burning directly from your stores, therefore losing weight easier. You can generally get the same "bang for your buck" with shorter anaerobic workouts when compared to their aerobic counterpart

*edited to fix poor grammar. sorry, on my 2nd glass of wine!

ChaosMoosie

Technically your 1500 calories could me made up of any food without affecting your rate of weight loss. However in practice, it helps to eat more 'clean' foods as they are more hunger satisfying, helping you to stick to your goals, and are better for your general health.

Strength training is recommended because it will help you maintain your muscle tone as you lose weight, which has benefits such as increasing your basal metabolic rate (amount of calories burned doing everyday tasks), helping you look better once you lose weight.

I also find strength training is a lot more enjoyable, interesting and satisfying than cardio, but that's a matter of personal preference.

I would add that you need a balance in strength training and cardio. I do mostly cardio because I walk like a maniac with what I do after my work, but strength training is needed because you need to maintain the large muscle groups - back, arms, chest - that don't get much workout in cardio as much as you need to maintain your legs and glutes (which get the major workout in cardio).

Determined518

Fats and sugars from junk food mostly get stored for use later. (Hints why I got a big booty). But clean eating actually fuels your body! Your body draws from these nutrients to give you energy and work against bad cholesterol and diabetes exc. So I am sure you will lose weight either way. Whether you eat clean or eat junk as long as you have a deficit. However, it does not mean you will feel any better or actually be any healthier.

eileen0515

Strength training isn't "better" than cardio, just different. Cardio has it's purpose, as does strength training...depends on what your goals are. Strength training does more for body composition than just plain cardio and for a lot of people gives them more of the overall look they want when they reach their goals.

Weight loss in general, well, that's just calories in vs calories out. How you reach your calorie deficit is going to be your personal choice, what works best for you, what you can sustain for life. For some people that's clean eating, for others it's more if it fits your macros, for some it vegan, for others they believe it's one fad diet or the next.

Find what works for you and if you don't know, pick something and stick with it for a while...not just a couple weeks or just a month, give it an honest 6 months of truthful tracking or following the "rules" or plan, track your progress with a scale, clothes, tape measure, how you feel. If you're not seeing steady sustainable results, make some changes...not drastic, just a few minor changes and give it more time.

If you can't find something that works for you and something that you can't follow for life, you have more trouble reaching any goals and trouble maintaining those goals when they are reached.

/thread

that's it. right there. all you need to know.

Yep there it is folks.

Erica_theRedhead

Food calories can be looked at at nutrient dense, or nutrient lacking. Can one lose weight on a diet of fast/processed/synthetic options? As long as you're at an overall deficit, yes. However your body needs to take in many things to function properly. You somehow need to find a way to provide your body with essential amino acids, vitamins, fiber, etc that may not be present in the processed foods. I suppose if one's so inclined, they could purchase supplements to provide these agents if they don't consume them in their diets. However it's not cost effective, and most likely not sustainable in the long term.

Also, the make up of your food that you eat dictates how you metabolize and store the energy. A meal of high sugar/carbs leads to a fast energy reserve. It causes a peak in your insulin levels and is broken down pretty quickly. If you're just starting or completing a high energy exercise, this can be great. However, if your energy demand isn't heightened during this time frame, a lot of this will go unused and will get stored as fat. Having a meal of protein/fat gives you less energy per gram than carbs do, however they are metabolized slower, and therefore sustain your body longer. This is why when people complain about being hungry on a calorie deficit, many suggest eating more protein/fat dominant foods. This then leads to a less drastic insulin spike, which can be good for people with insulin diseases, or those wishing for sustenance for long exercise activities.

megsmom2

Weight loss is about calories in and calories out. Nutrition is about more than calories, though. Eating a variety of fresh healthy foods provides you with the macro and micro nutrients you need for optimal health. You can lose weight eating only twinkies, but your health would eventually suffer for it, and you wouldn't feel well or look well. I think that there is a place for everything in a healthy and interesting diet...even an occasional twinkie...but eating more "clean" (whatever that means to you) is better for you as well as giving you more to eat.

SrJoben

So most people on here seem to agree that weight loss is as simple as calories in, calories out (ex: if you were to eat 1500 calories of Twinkies, VS 1500 calories of vegetables it wouldn't matter-a calorie is a calorie.

On the contrary, a lot of you seem to also believe that weight loss is achieved best by clean eating. I've seen a lot of "90% of my weight loss came from clean eating" type comments. These two statements don't jibe together. Why would clean eating have more gravity than exercise if the equation is really that simple?

I don't think anyone has a proposed mechanism for how 'clean eating' makes a difference. They just say they think it did...somehow. On the other hand calories in vs calories out is based on well understood scientific principles and gives predictable results.

Basically what we have are anecdotes vs evidence. Guess which one I put more faith in. :huh:


Also a lot of people have trouble with fine distinctions and cause/effect relationships. If they eat 'clean' and lose weight while doing so they will say it was because of the clean eating. But they have not actually established that.

ddoeren84

Yes a calorie is a calorie but anybody can see why eating 1500 calories of fruits and vegetables is better than eating 1500 calories of Twinkies.

jhloves2knit

People so happen to have different opinions. In my point of view, none are exactly right or wrong. All that matters is that you handle your weight loss journey in a healthy manner.

But that's just an opinion.

That's a great starting post for a touchy subject.

kimbtaylor1

So most people on here seem to agree that weight loss is as simple as calories in, calories out (ex: if you were to eat 1500 calories of Twinkies, VS 1500 calories of vegetables it wouldn't matter-a calorie is a calorie.

On the contrary, a lot of you seem to also believe that weight loss is achieved best by clean eating. I've seen a lot of "90% of my weight loss came from clean eating" type comments. These two statements don't jibe together. Why would clean eating have more gravity than exercise if the equation is really that simple?

Also, why is strength training more effective than cardio? Is it because you burn more anaerobic calories when you're resting if you strength train?

Can someone explain?

As far as calories and weight loss you can loose weight by just cutting calories. Even if what you are eating is junk, as long as you burn more than you eat. My sister is a great example of this. As a teenager she would eat a candy bar for breakfast and lunch and maybe a salad for dinner. She lost weight, now was she healthy? The answer to that is a resounding no! Non-processed foods are healthier for you simply because they have less additives that our bodies just don't need. However, as long as you are mindful of what you eat you don't have to cut out all processed foods.

For the cardio vs. strengh part I don't believe one is better than the other. You need both to reach your goal. Cardio is excellent for weight loss especially for those who have not been working out. I think of cardio as my heart exercise....it is a muscle after all!! However, to maximize the weight loss you need muscle to do that. You will see a lot of people say you must lift heavy to get the benefits of stregth training but that isn't true either. The idea behind strength training as part of a weight loss routine is to build muscle. If you are one who has never done a push up or lunge doing these to start with will build muscle. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns because they require more calories to work.

I know my comments are all very unscientific but I hope that answered your question.