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Is a calorie equal to a calorie?

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Replies

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    A calorie is a calorie I think that has been clearly established by all the comments. What’s different are the nutrients. You can eat empty calories or you can fuel your body with the things you eat. You know the saying: you are what you eat. While eating a clean and nutritious diet you fuel your body to function right, have more energy and feel good. I liked that example of a mile being a mile... hey I rather take the mile with umbrella and drink at 75 degree weather than the crawling across glass. Same with your calories... make them count and let them make you feel good. Calories from fiber help you poop, calories from protein help build muscles, calories from orios give you a sugar crash and increase your sugar cravings and that in turn makes it harder to stick to your calorie goal.

    Do you see examples of people saying that nutrition isn't important? If so can you point them out?

    What I see in this thread like every other is that calories are all that matter for weight loss, that eating a balanced nutrient dense diet is important for overall health, that satiety varies from person to person, and that context and dosage matters. If I eat a variety of foods with macro and micro nutrients, why is eating two Oreos (which is a serving) within my calorie allotment going to be an issue for me?

    I'm just not sure why people feel that this is counter to what is being said in the thread?

    Heh, you said much more briefly what I went on and on to say!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    A calorie is a calorie I think that has been clearly established by all the comments. What’s different are the nutrients. You can eat empty calories or you can fuel your body with the things you eat. You know the saying: you are what you eat. While eating a clean and nutritious diet you fuel your body to function right, have more energy and feel good. I liked that example of a mile being a mile... hey I rather take the mile with umbrella and drink at 75 degree weather than the crawling across glass. Same with your calories... make them count and let them make you feel good. Calories from fiber help you poop, calories from protein help build muscles, calories from orios give you a sugar crash and increase your sugar cravings and that in turn makes it harder to stick to your calorie goal.

    Do you see examples of people saying that nutrition isn't important? If so can you point them out?

    What I see in this thread like every other is that calories are all that matter for weight loss, that eating a balanced nutrient dense diet is important for overall health, that satiety varies from person to person, and that context and dosage matters. If I eat a variety of foods with macro and micro nutrients, why is eating two Oreos (which is a serving) within my calorie allotment going to be an issue for me?

    I'm just not sure why people feel that this is counter to what is being said in the thread?

    Heh, you said much more briefly what I went on and on to say!

    I hope that the poster comes back to discuss why we seem to have this disconnect about what I believe people are saying and what others are interpreting. This is the second time today I've asked for examples of where the gap is coming from. I feel some specifics might help us understand why we are apparently talking past each other.
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    edited January 2018
    A calorie is a calorie I think that has been clearly established by all the comments. What’s different are the nutrients. You can eat empty calories or you can fuel your body with the things you eat. You know the saying: you are what you eat. While eating a clean and nutritious diet you fuel your body to function right, have more energy and feel good. I liked that example of a mile being a mile... hey I rather take the mile with umbrella and drink at 75 degree weather than the crawling across glass. Same with your calories... make them count and let them make you feel good. Calories from fiber help you poop, calories from protein help build muscles, calories from orios give you a sugar crash and increase your sugar cravings and that in turn makes it harder to stick to your calorie goal.

    Not me.

    Your comment is a generalization that you've made based on your own experiences, but it's not a fact.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    A calorie is a calorie I think that has been clearly established by all the comments. What’s different are the nutrients. You can eat empty calories or you can fuel your body with the things you eat. You know the saying: you are what you eat. While eating a clean and nutritious diet you fuel your body to function right, have more energy and feel good. I liked that example of a mile being a mile... hey I rather take the mile with umbrella and drink at 75 degree weather than the crawling across glass. Same with your calories... make them count and let them make you feel good. Calories from fiber help you poop, calories from protein help build muscles, calories from orios give you a sugar crash and increase your sugar cravings and that in turn makes it harder to stick to your calorie goal.

    Sorry you have such issues, but that doesn't make it a universal truth. I ate lots of vegetables yesterday, hit my protein macro goal (actually went significantly over it) and still had room for 4 Oreos and a glass of milk after dinner and stayed within my calorie goal. No sugar crash, no cravings afterward. They were delicious!
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    JerSchmare wrote: »
    A calorie is a calorie. Like an inch is an inch and a pound is a pound.

    TBH though Id rather get hit by 10 pounds of feathers in a pillowcase than 10 pounds of bowling balls...

    Why?

    Because of a lack of understanding of physics.

    The reason a 10 lb pillow seems less threatening than a 10 lb bowling ball is because not all ten pounds of feathers will make simultaneous impact like the bowling ball will.
    Replace the pillowcase with something that will compact the feathers into a tight ball so that the sponginess is lost (meaning that the entire 10 lbs of feathers will make simultaneous impact) and it isn’t fun anymore.

    When you compare getting hit with a ten pound bowling ball to a ten pound pillow, you’re really comparing ten pounds of bowling ball to a couple ounces (if that) of feathers, because that’s all that’s going to make impact at once. The rest of the feathers hit you later.

    It’s like saying I’d rather take ten bites out of a ten pound bowl of lettuce rather than eat an entire jar of peanut butter.
    No duh, it’s because you don’t have to eat it all.

    That actually may shed some light on why people try to compare 1,000 calories of lettuce to 1,000 calories of [insert favorite junk food].
    It’s because they know they ain’t gonna eat no 1,000 calories of lettuce. That, to me, further proves the point that it’s all about how many calories you eat.
    If eating lettuce means you eat fewer calories, that’s why eating lettuce works for you.
    It has nothing to do with the calories in lettuce being better than the calories in Oreos.

    This is exactly what I meant, if you are hit with feathers they have lower density, hence 10 lbs is not really 10 pounds because technically you wont be hit with them all at once due to their low density. Unless of course they have been compressed to have the same density as a bowling ball in which case, ouch... TLDR; A calorie is not a calories just like a pound is not a pound for the same reason, density...

    Speaking in terms of energy balance, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.

    Speaking in terms of nutrition, individual satiety/adherence, energy levels, workout performance, etc., macronutrient (and micronutrient) balances matter (i.e., how many calories of carbohydrates, fats and protein you're consuming).

    I don't see why this is so *kitten* hard to comprehend.

    This, this, this, this. End of story.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    JerSchmare wrote: »
    A calorie is a calorie. Like an inch is an inch and a pound is a pound.

    TBH though Id rather get hit by 10 pounds of feathers in a pillowcase than 10 pounds of bowling balls...

    Why?

    Because of a lack of understanding of physics.

    The reason a 10 lb pillow seems less threatening than a 10 lb bowling ball is because not all ten pounds of feathers will make simultaneous impact like the bowling ball will.
    Replace the pillowcase with something that will compact the feathers into a tight ball so that the sponginess is lost (meaning that the entire 10 lbs of feathers will make simultaneous impact) and it isn’t fun anymore.

    When you compare getting hit with a ten pound bowling ball to a ten pound pillow, you’re really comparing ten pounds of bowling ball to a couple ounces (if that) of feathers, because that’s all that’s going to make impact at once. The rest of the feathers hit you later.

    It’s like saying I’d rather take ten bites out of a ten pound bowl of lettuce rather than eat an entire jar of peanut butter.
    No duh, it’s because you don’t have to eat it all.

    That actually may shed some light on why people try to compare 1,000 calories of lettuce to 1,000 calories of [insert favorite junk food].
    It’s because they know they ain’t gonna eat no 1,000 calories of lettuce. That, to me, further proves the point that it’s all about how many calories you eat.
    If eating lettuce means you eat fewer calories, that’s why eating lettuce works for you.
    It has nothing to do with the calories in lettuce being better than the calories in Oreos.

    This is exactly what I meant, if you are hit with feathers they have lower density, hence 10 lbs is not really 10 pounds because technically you wont be hit with them all at once due to their low density. Unless of course they have been compressed to have the same density as a bowling ball in which case, ouch... TLDR; A calorie is not a calories just like a pound is not a pound for the same reason, density...

    If you're hit with a 10 pound bowling ball it will hurt. If you broke the 10 pound bowling ball into very small pieces and scattered them over a person similar to the feathers it likely would not hurt or hurt less (depending on the velocity of the pieces). Same thing with feathers. Floating down individually, not a big deal. Condensed into a tiny ball the size of a bowling ball and they'll be a whole lot of hurt. A calorie is a calorie and a pound is a pound, but other factors like velocity, density, can change the impact they have.

    Either way, it's a metaphor that breaks apart quickly when you try and apply it to calories.

    I see what you did there :wink:

    And it was fabulous...
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    J72FIT wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    JerSchmare wrote: »
    A calorie is a calorie. Like an inch is an inch and a pound is a pound.

    TBH though Id rather get hit by 10 pounds of feathers in a pillowcase than 10 pounds of bowling balls...

    Why?

    Because of a lack of understanding of physics.

    The reason a 10 lb pillow seems less threatening than a 10 lb bowling ball is because not all ten pounds of feathers will make simultaneous impact like the bowling ball will.
    Replace the pillowcase with something that will compact the feathers into a tight ball so that the sponginess is lost (meaning that the entire 10 lbs of feathers will make simultaneous impact) and it isn’t fun anymore.

    When you compare getting hit with a ten pound bowling ball to a ten pound pillow, you’re really comparing ten pounds of bowling ball to a couple ounces (if that) of feathers, because that’s all that’s going to make impact at once. The rest of the feathers hit you later.

    It’s like saying I’d rather take ten bites out of a ten pound bowl of lettuce rather than eat an entire jar of peanut butter.
    No duh, it’s because you don’t have to eat it all.

    That actually may shed some light on why people try to compare 1,000 calories of lettuce to 1,000 calories of [insert favorite junk food].
    It’s because they know they ain’t gonna eat no 1,000 calories of lettuce. That, to me, further proves the point that it’s all about how many calories you eat.
    If eating lettuce means you eat fewer calories, that’s why eating lettuce works for you.
    It has nothing to do with the calories in lettuce being better than the calories in Oreos.

    This is exactly what I meant, if you are hit with feathers they have lower density, hence 10 lbs is not really 10 pounds because technically you wont be hit with them all at once due to their low density. Unless of course they have been compressed to have the same density as a bowling ball in which case, ouch... TLDR; A calorie is not a calories just like a pound is not a pound for the same reason, density...

    If you're hit with a 10 pound bowling ball it will hurt. If you broke the 10 pound bowling ball into very small pieces and scattered them over a person similar to the feathers it likely would not hurt or hurt less (depending on the velocity of the pieces). Same thing with feathers. Floating down individually, not a big deal. Condensed into a tiny ball the size of a bowling ball and they'll be a whole lot of hurt. A calorie is a calorie and a pound is a pound, but other factors like velocity, density, can change the impact they have.

    Either way, it's a metaphor that breaks apart quickly when you try and apply it to calories.

    I see what you did there :wink:

    And it was fabulous...

    Agreed.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I think people take internet blogs/articles etc more seriously than average Joe's opinions/references on an internet forum...
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    How come some people can pick up a 10lb pack of copying paper with no problem, but can't pick up a 10lb dumbbell?
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    See, I think the calories from Oreo's are yucky. They are totally different from the calories in potato chips.


    <<runs and hides under desk>>

    I also think Oreo calories are yucky. And before any of you Oreo fans condemn me, just remember this; if there is ever a Nuclear/Zombie/Sharknado Apocalypse, it just means more Oreos for you. :smiley:
  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
    How come some people can pick up a 10lb pack of copying paper with no problem, but can't pick up a 10lb dumbbell?

    *Raises hand* "Because a 10lb dumbbell is heavier than a 10lb ream of paper " >:)>:)>:) LMAO

    Please don't hate me.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    I ate a lot of potato chips today. Salt erases calories, though. It's only water weight. The potassium causes the fat to go out in my pee.

    *nods*


    Also, if you eat broken Oreos it's okay, the calories leak out.




    ^^previously read on MFP.