All Calories are not created equal!
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Lol, no.
Was this a Beachbody coach?8 -
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?6 -
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.15 -
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.30 -
I reeeeeeeally want some popcorn now.5
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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.11 -
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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.8 -
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.3 -
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.10 -
What a weird coach. Scratch that, what a lazy coach who would rather get swept up in the latest trends than have a skeptical eye. First of all, fruits are generally high in carbs. Starchy carbs don't "turn into fat" unless you are overeating, in which case anything and everything "turns into fat". It's good to eat nutrient dense foods, but it isn't good to have such a narrow and one dimensional opinion about food. Calories are calories, for all practical strictly weight loss purposes as a proxy for the energy used from food, they're equal (I'm not even going the semantic route here). Food is food, and every food has a certain energy value (calories), different foods have different nutrients and provide different energy values. Balancing nutrients, energy, physical health, mental health, social health, and how a person enjoys life is a much smarter strategy because we aren't one dimensional machines.10
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If Calories were not created equal they'd be pretty useless as a measurement of energy... just saying.
But it gives some of those people in the Fat-Denial camp a great excuse to say they don't understand how they never lose weight when they "hardly eat anything". It must be all those "unequal" calories they consume...
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Forget your popcorn, pass the peanut butter cups........10
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thunderchild007 wrote: »Forget your popcorn, pass the peanut butter cups........
Why not both?
(I love mixing popcorn, sweets and chocolates together and getting all three in one mouthful!)
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livingleanlivingclean wrote: »thunderchild007 wrote: »Forget your popcorn, pass the peanut butter cups........
Why not both? (I love mixing popcorn, sweets and chocolates together and getting all three in one mouthful!)
That would be too many carbs and you'll wake up weighing 300 pounds tomorrow if you attempt to do that.10 -
... and now for something completely different ...
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Carbohydrates are rarely, if ever, stored as fat in humans (doesn't matter if they are da evil 'white' carbs). Overfeeding studies show dietary fat is what is stored. Also, the human body cannot create energy from nothing nor make ingested energy just disappear, therefore it IS the amount of calories you eat.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!
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I know everyone is looking at CICO as the golden rule but maybe some people handle carbs better than others? I recently upped my carbs but stayed under my calorie goal every day and really should have lost at least a full pound in the last 10 days but instead maintained (or gained .5 lb depending on which morning weigh in I want to use) I weigh and measure all of my food meticulously so I know Im not eating more than I think. Im having a bit of a nervous breakdown not seeing my expected results. Im dropping my carbs today 16
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Nothing but catch phrases and cliches. Wrong wrong and wrong...3
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