All Calories are not created equal!

Wrenranae

Hello again! Today I want to go through some words of wisdom I received from a very smart Weight and Fitness coach. “It is NOT how many "calories" you eat, but what they are made up of.
All calories are not created equal.
You have calories your body uses almost totally. These are your healthy proteins, fish, chicken, tofu, eggs to name a few. Your fruits such as any citrus are very healthy and low carb and calorie, and your vegetables especially green ones and non-starchy. Your body uses these to live and build immune systems.
Fast carbs such as breads, (white especially), white rice, pastas, potatoes, all are high in carbohydrates and turn into fat easiest as your body does not use them unless you are a runner or heavy exercise person then it converts to energy as you work out. That is why marathon runners carb-load.
Most of us however are not in this category so all the high calorie carbohydrates in our diet stop us from losing weight.
I do eat the carbohydrates but in very minimal portions of no more than 35 carbs per meal. I also limit the eating of high carbs to two days a week, usually one meal per day.
By focusing on the high proteins which for 3-4 ounces are usually less than 150 calories and around 25-30 proteins with 0 carbohydrates, I fill up totally and it takes my body a few hours to digest it and therefore I am not hungry again so fast. By planning high proteins and low carbs I eat three very satisfying meals of a very good quantity and low calories.
Following this I have lost an additional 16 pounds this year to add to my prior 140 pound loss from 2010-2015 year end.
So my rule of thumb: It is not HOW MANY calories you consume per day BUT what they consist of.
Be blessed and be a blessing!

Christine_72

@Wrenranae I hope you're ready for an upcoming clusterkitten of a debate

BradsRedemption

So what you're saying is eating in a caloric deficit made you lose weight?

Alatariel75

livingleanlivingclean

Sorry, but that's all bunk. A calorie is a calorie. Some foods are more calorie dense than others.

To lose weight, you need to consistently eat less calories than you burn. I could eat excess calories of "healthy" food and it would result in weight gain. I could eat "unhealthy" food in a deficit and I'd lose weight.

The healthiness, or nutritional quality, of a food is not related to the number of calories it contains.

rileysowner

Like all inches are not created equal.

Alatariel75

Aren't you the same person espousing 800 cals a day? No matter what you eat, you're going to lose on 800 cals a day. Eat 800 calories of twinkies if you want. It doesn't make it healthy.

If it's not how many calories you eat, but what you eat, why starve yourself at 800 calories per day? Why not eat whatever you want of the "good" calories and lose away?

Also, by the logic that if you eat the good ones you will lose, how come people who don't need to lose and only eat the "good" calories don't slowly starve to death? Or do they have to add some "bad" to maintain?

ariceroni

Mr_Knight

Honestly, what's the point even?

kimny72

But I lost weight and have been maintaining for some time and I eat all the carbs. Fast carbs, slow carbs, tall carbs, short carbs, fat carbs, thin carbs, even the extra-evil sugar carbs. If carbs converted more easily to fat, I'd be in big trouble.

Different people find different macro combinations satiating. It's great that you found what works for you, but what you describe is just not how it works. You store fat if you eat a surplus of calories, regardless of what those calories come from. And vice versa.

ladyhusker39

Fair enough. So how about we put your theory to the test?

Create a thread that all of us can follow where you document day by day your results following your formula. Eat 500 calories a day over your maintenance of only the "good" calories as you describe them above.

Open your diary so we can see exactly what you're doing and commit to honestly and accurately logging.

Do a daily weigh in first thing in the morning, before you eat or drink anything but after you go to the bathroom.

Post your weight daily in the thread and any observations you might like to make.

Do this for 1 month and let's see what you're results are at the end.

I'd be very interested in seeing how it turns out.

Best of luck to you.

JustRobby1

Sorry, but you are most assuredly barking up the wrong tree here at the MFP forums if you think for one second you are going to get away with that one. Even most people here who actually and foolishly still believe this have learned from experience of repeated humiliation to keep quiet.

For the most part, and thanks in no small part to many experienced and educated contributors, these forums almost always gravitate towards accepted scientific consensus on any given issue. People that try to float lunacy might succeed in making for a long and protracted thread (which trolls may get off on), but they eventually give up. It almost always goes down in a similar manner.

If nonsense views are your jam, there are plenty of places online which cater to fringe views and which you are far less likely to be called on them.

mamadon

If what you are saying is the truth, then please explain to me how on earth I lost 118 pounds over three years ago, while not paying any attention in the least to my carb count? I love my breads and rice and potatoes and ate plenty of them. Still do. How was I then successful? How are the other hundreds, maybe thousands on here also successful if we simply eat at a caloric deficit??? There nothing wrong going low carb, if that is your preference, but for losing weight, it still comes down to that deficit.

AnvilHead

No.

VintageFeline

*Sets up camp with all the popcorn, chips and donuts I can get my hands on whilst projecting my 63lbs lost ticker on the wall and waits for the shitshow*

But also. You're wrong about carbs. Couldn't be any more wrong.

goldthistime

I see from another thread that you're writing a book about weight loss. It's good that you're throwing out some of your ideas here first.

Sp1tfire

goodbye

ETA: fyi, the WOO's on your initial post are not really a good thing lol.

bpetrosky

Carlos_421

PaulaWallaDingDong

rileysowner wrote: »

Like all inches are not created equal.

It's true. Ask my ex.

PaulaWallaDingDong

Omw. Have to grab some pumpkin pie Pop Tarts for sharing. Save me a seat.

cerise_noir

Lol, no.

Was this a Beachbody coach?

Calliope610

According to your thread "160-585 pounds", and I quote, "If you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight."

I'm confused now. Which is it?

skymningen

You are right. Not all calories are created equal. Some come from carbs, others from fat, others from protein. Some come from food, others from drinks. But then... they are metabolised and used as energy, which we count in this case as calories.
Now, let's say they became a calorie. In fact, now they are equal. There are exact rules what a 'calorie' is. They are not treated equal, but that is based on your bodies needs, not in where they came from. After the basic metabolism, your body does not remember how they were created. A calorie from chocolate might be stored if it is not immediately needed. Or it might be used up in an instant. Eventually all of them will be used. Storage is kind of expensive, you know.You have to actually expend calories to move all those stored ones. Same with a calorie from broccoli or a chia seed. At this point it all depends on what your body needs.
Of course the foods your calories came from are made of different building blocks and thus give your body different prerequisites to work with. Some are metabolised into usable energy faster, some slower. Some bring building blocks that are important at that point, some just bring additional lipids (fats). But all of this will be used or excreted eventually. The calories are not created equal, but they live in a nice world of equality. Don't discriminate them.

AnvilHead

skymningen wrote: »

You are right. Not all calories are created equal. Some come from carbs, others from fat, others from protein. Some come from food, others from drinks. But then... they are metabolised and used as energy, which we count in this case as calories.
Now, let's say they became a calorie. In fact, now they are equal. There are exact rules what a 'calorie' is. They are not treated equal, but that is based on your bodies needs, not in where they came from. After the basic metabolism, your body does not remember how they were created. A calorie from chocolate might be stored if it is not immediately needed. Or it might be used up in an instant. Eventually all of them will be used. Storage is kind of expensive, you know.You have to actually expend calories to move all those stored ones. Same with a calorie from broccoli or a chia seed. At this point it all depends on what your body needs.
Of course the foods your calories came from are made of different building blocks and thus give your body different prerequisites to work with. Some are metabolised into usable energy faster, some slower. Some bring building blocks that are important at that point, some just bring additional lipids (fats). But all of this will be used or excreted eventually. The calories are not created equal, but they live in a nice world of equality. Don't discriminate them.

You're confusing "calories" with "nutrients". A calorie is a unit of measure, nothing more. A mile can be uphill, downhill, on a paved roadway or a steep, rocky mountainous trail, covered in snow, drenched in rain or baked in desert heat - but no matter what, it's still a mile. If I run it barefoot, drive it in a car or crawl it on my hands and knees over broken glass, it's still a mile. Calories are like that too.

glassyo

I reeeeeeeally want some popcorn now.

theabsentmindednurse

A CALORIE IS A CALORIE!
Not be confused with Macronutrients
While protein is necessary for good health and essential in physical and neurological processes, so too are carbohydrates, essential fats and fibre.

Focusing on only one form of nutrition can only lead to poor health in the long term.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

AnvilHead wrote: »

No.

This ^

stevencloser

So this person has, at the same time, a thread saying "it's not how many calories you eat" and a thread saying "you will lose 1 pound with a deficit of 3500 calories".
Decide OP.

skymningen

AnvilHead wrote: »

skymningen wrote: »

You are right. Not all calories are created equal. Some come from carbs, others from fat, others from protein. Some come from food, others from drinks. But then... they are metabolised and used as energy, which we count in this case as calories.
Now, let's say they became a calorie. In fact, now they are equal. There are exact rules what a 'calorie' is. They are not treated equal, but that is based on your bodies needs, not in where they came from. After the basic metabolism, your body does not remember how they were created. A calorie from chocolate might be stored if it is not immediately needed. Or it might be used up in an instant. Eventually all of them will be used. Storage is kind of expensive, you know.You have to actually expend calories to move all those stored ones. Same with a calorie from broccoli or a chia seed. At this point it all depends on what your body needs.
Of course the foods your calories came from are made of different building blocks and thus give your body different prerequisites to work with. Some are metabolised into usable energy faster, some slower. Some bring building blocks that are important at that point, some just bring additional lipids (fats). But all of this will be used or excreted eventually. The calories are not created equal, but they live in a nice world of equality. Don't discriminate them.

You're confusing "calories" with "nutrients". A calorie is a unit of measure, nothing more. A mile can be uphill, downhill, on a paved roadway or a steep, rocky mountainous trail, covered in snow, drenched in rain or baked in desert heat - but no matter what, it's still a mile. If I run it barefoot, drive it in a car or crawl it on my hands and knees over broken glass, it's still a mile. Calories are like that too.

That is why I wrote this:
But then... they are metabolised and used as energy, which we count in this case as calories.

And this
There are exact rules what a 'calorie' is.
Maybe I should have written "measure" not count. But that is exactly the point. A calorie is a unit of energy. But this energy is 'created' from different things.

paperpudding

I eat far too many carbs and far too many non nutritious foods - from an ideal nutrition point of view.
There is certainly room for improvement in the nutrition balance of what I eat

Some days my diary looks like a 5 years old's party fantasy.

However I do average the maintenance calories MFP tells me to eat - and amazingly I have maintained at a BMI of around 22 for the last 4 years.