Calories are NOT the enemy!

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  • FatWithFatness
    FatWithFatness Posts: 315 Member
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    Muscleflex79 wrote: »
    CyclingRoadie6 wrote: »
    extra_medium wrote: »
    If you consume more calories than you burn, you'll gain weight. If you consume fewer than you burn, you'll lose weight. "Good" or "bad" has nothing to do with it, but you're correct they they aren't the enemy. It's just that you do have to pay attention to them whether you're looking to gain or lose weight.

    The challenge with that is genetics. Good and bad have quite a bit to do with it, depending on how your body reacts to certain foods. Even if you eat at a deficit, some people are not able to lose weight.

    My point is, if you see something that you really want to eat, than eat it. And yes, pay attention to what you want to enjoy, and then you can always enjoy a "healthier" option later.

    who exactly are these people that do not lose weight in a calorie deficit??

    Unicorns.
  • FatWithFatness
    FatWithFatness Posts: 315 Member
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    CyclingRoadie6 wrote: »
    My apologies @Iamnotasenior and @cmriverside . What I should have said is that certain individuals are genetically susceptible to being obese through a number of causes. Eating is only one of these.

    I'm not even sure how it got to this point, because this was never a part of my original post.

    I would argue that this is a small percentage of the population, some people may be genetically predisposed to storing fat, but at the end of the day it is still a matter of creating a deficit.
  • Fyreside
    Fyreside Posts: 444 Member
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    Lots of well read folk in this thread. I'm interested to know more about the effects of consuming different energy sources at different times of day. For example, I assume it is bad to eat a pile of carbs then go to bed. Or even just to consume most of your daily calories then go to sleep sort of thing. But I don't know the specifics of these things and have yet to find information that makes it abundantly clear.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,961 Member
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    Fyreside wrote: »
    Lots of well read folk in this thread. I'm interested to know more about the effects of consuming different energy sources at different times of day. For example, I assume it is bad to eat a pile of carbs then go to bed. Or even just to consume most of your daily calories then go to sleep sort of thing. But I don't know the specifics of these things and have yet to find information that makes it abundantly clear.

    Eat what you want when you feel like it. Makes no difference.

    When I eat too many carbs too close to bedtime I have too much energy to go to sleep, but for weight loss it doesn't matter when you eat your various macros.
  • FatWithFatness
    FatWithFatness Posts: 315 Member
    edited September 2017
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    Fyreside wrote: »
    Lots of well read folk in this thread. I'm interested to know more about the effects of consuming different energy sources at different times of day. For example, I assume it is bad to eat a pile of carbs then go to bed. Or even just to consume most of your daily calories then go to sleep sort of thing. But I don't know the specifics of these things and have yet to find information that makes it abundantly clear.

    Start here:

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9040548

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21475137
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    edited September 2017
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    This is the MFP I've missed these last couple of years :) Hilarious!

    "Correct me if I'm wrong..."

    Don't mind if we do.

    inkheart.gif
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    edited September 2017
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    Fyreside wrote: »
    Lots of well read folk in this thread. I'm interested to know more about the effects of consuming different energy sources at different times of day. For example, I assume it is bad to eat a pile of carbs then go to bed. Or even just to consume most of your daily calories then go to sleep sort of thing. But I don't know the specifics of these things and have yet to find information that makes it abundantly clear.
    "The effects" upon what?

    For weight loss, nutrient/meal timing is irrelevant. Adherence is much more important to success, so eat in whatever pattern makes it easiest for you to stick to your calorie goal.

    For workout performance, it's personal preference. Some like to train fasted, some prefer a light meal beforehand. It won't make any significant difference in fat loss, but it could help you feel/perform better during your workouts.

    For muscle gain, there's some evidence that timing of protein intake could make a slight difference in hypertrophy results, but it's splitting hairs for most people and overall protein intake throughout the day matters much more.

    Might be a good time to add Alan Aragon's graphic in. And to address an issue that's sometimes asked - if you have to ask if you're considered "advanced", you're not "advanced". In the context below, "advanced" is referring to athletes at high levels of performance who are near their genetic potential and striving for every last tiny percentage of improvement:

    dqhonoz1pmlv.jpg
  • Fyreside
    Fyreside Posts: 444 Member
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    Thanks for the replies all.. And interesting read on those links. One last question on topic. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day has been a common theme I've heard all my life. Is it a thing? or just marketing? Is there actual value to stoking the furnace in the morning? Will it make my first workout of the day easier and will it have a positive impact on my metabolic rate as I've seen suggested?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Fyreside wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies all.. And interesting read on those links. One last question on topic. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day has been a common theme I've heard all my life. Is it a thing? or just marketing? Is there actual value to stoking the furnace in the morning? Will it make my first workout of the day easier and will it have a positive impact on my metabolic rate as I've seen suggested?

    Personal preference. Some people do really well with breakfast and others want to gnaw their own arm off after eating it. There's no advantage to weight loss that's worth worrying about. Some people might need it for health reasons (blood sugars, diabetics, people who need to take medications with food, etc) but most people can eat it or not as they please.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    It's personal preference. I've seen people post here that until they start eating, they don't actually feel all that hungry. Once they have breakfast, their appetite wakes up. I do prefer a small (roughly 300 calories of fruit, Greek yogurt, and granola bar) breakfast and find it helps me focus better. But really, meal timing has no impact on weight loss in general. It comes down to whether YOU feel better with or without it.
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,365 Member
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    Fyreside wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies all.. And interesting read on those links. One last question on topic. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day has been a common theme I've heard all my life. Is it a thing? or just marketing? Is there actual value to stoking the furnace in the morning? Will it make my first workout of the day easier and will it have a positive impact on my metabolic rate as I've seen suggested?

    Marketing. I eat breakfast one day a week at a family get together for breakfast each Sunday. The other 6 days of the week I have my first meal after noon.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
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    Fyreside wrote: »
    Lots of well read folk in this thread. I'm interested to know more about the effects of consuming different energy sources at different times of day. For example, I assume it is bad to eat a pile of carbs then go to bed. Or even just to consume most of your daily calories then go to sleep sort of thing. But I don't know the specifics of these things and have yet to find information that makes it abundantly clear.

    I often consume big piles of carbs (popcorn) or a good chunk of calories before bed.

    Makes no difference.

    I can see in another post that you're asking about breakfast. Breakfast eating is a matter of personal preference. If you're hungry, eat. If you're not, wait until you are. The idea that you get some metabolic kickstart by putting food in your body is false.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Fyreside wrote: »
    Well wow, thanks again folks. Shattered some of my illusions there lol. Less to worry about though. :)

    Yep, I found losing weight to be much easier once I found out a lot of things I thought were true were just weight loss myths. Things like "everyone has to eat breakfast" or "don't eat a lot of carbs at night," etc etc.

    We get told these things all the time, but it's irrelevant to weight loss (unless they're tricks that make it personally easier for you to reach a calorie deficit).
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    Fyreside wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies all.. And interesting read on those links. One last question on topic. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day has been a common theme I've heard all my life. Is it a thing? or just marketing? Is there actual value to stoking the furnace in the morning? Will it make my first workout of the day easier and will it have a positive impact on my metabolic rate as I've seen suggested?

    It's a marketing thing that was originally made up by a breakfast cereal company (if you can imagine that).

    Another good read about meal frequency and "stoking the furnace": http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/820577/meal-frequency-rev-up-that-furnace-lol
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Fun fact: advertising for "breakfast as the most important meal of the day" started with John Kellogg, who believed that starting your day with bland foods like his cornflakes would lead to workers who worked harder and less *kitten* (let's see if that gets through the filter!).
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    So what's a "good" calorie and what's a "bad" calorie?

    Explain how the twinkie diet worked (I would assume that would be all bad calories).

    Personally I would commend someone who looked at the menu at the golden arches and upon seeing that their big mac combo is about a zillion calories made a more sensible choice.

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