Are all calories the same?

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Does it matter what you eat as long as you're within calorie limit set by mfp? I was losing weight for the first 4 days then went up .2 lbs then another 1 lb even though I've been eating my net calorie limit 1240.
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  • spaghettiburger
    spaghettiburger Posts: 13 Member
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    So if I'm retaining more water weight, what are the foods doing that? Sugar? Bread? If I try to eliminate those and swap for veggies, would it make a difference? I mean I know I'd feel fuller from eating a bunch of veggies as compared to 1 cookie but I feel like I'd rather eat that damn cookie and feel hungry than forcing veggies.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Carbs or sodium. But water weight also comes from starting a new exercise routine, where you're at in your menstrual cycle, lack of sleep, stress, etc.
  • spaghettiburger
    spaghettiburger Posts: 13 Member
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    :s I know I'm impatient. It's frustrating that 3 days ago I was a pound lighter and I'm starting to worry the scale is not going to continue to budge downwards even though I'm logging everything, particularly scanning the barcodes, and meeting my calories. It makes me want to give up and go back to my before habits if the weights not moving, you know?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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  • ITUSGirl51
    ITUSGirl51 Posts: 192 Member
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    Stop weighing until you feel smaller. The scale is affecting your mood and desire to do what’s good for your body. When I start a new weight loss plan I don’t weigh for about one month. Then I don’t obsess over the scale and just focus on eating better and moving more.
  • spaghettiburger
    spaghettiburger Posts: 13 Member
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    I just want to make sure I'm doing this right before waiting for a while to fix what I may be doing wrong. Like I don't want to waste a month and see no progress because I'm eating the wrong type of foods. I'm under the assumption it doesn't matter what I'm eating as long as I stay within my calorie limit.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Salt happens. Mense happens. Don't worry about it.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,867 Member
    edited January 2018
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    I just want to make sure I'm doing this right before waiting for a while to fix what I may be doing wrong. Like I don't want to waste a month and see no progress because I'm eating the wrong type of foods. I'm under the assumption it doesn't matter what I'm eating as long as I stay within my calorie limit.

    If your activity level and specifications are correct. If you are an average person. If you are logging correctly. If you are keeping to your desired deficit. THEN, over a period of 6-8 weeks or longer, you will, ON AVERAGE see the results you are expecting to see.

    The answer to not "wasting" a month is not making things so difficult that you have to worry about a "wasted" month.

    I mean... we all hope to be around next month, right? At least I am!

    So trying something new could not possibly have been "wasted"!

    At the very least we will have learned something--am-I-right?

    Just to be crystal clear: If you eat the correct amount of calories consisting of 100% SNICKERS BARS, you may start suffering from malnutrition down the road, but you WILL lose weight according to your caloric deficit. If you eat the correct amount of calories consisting of 100% STEAMED WILD ALASKAN SALMON STEAKS, you may start suffering from malnutrition down the road, but you WILL lose weight according to your caloric deficit over a period of several weeks (you will actually lose a bit of extra water weight initially compared to eating 100% snickers bars, but your rate of loss over a period of time will equalise, and you will regain that extra water weight as soon as you re-introduce sufficient carbs)

    You could even eat a combination of steamed wild Alaskan salmon steaks and snickers bars and you could even add some of the foods and combinations suggested at https://www.choosemyplate.gov/ or similar... and you would still lose or gain weight over the long term according to your caloric balance.

    Many people find that using a weight trend application helps them out with the concept of disregarding daily weight fluctuations.
  • spaghettiburger
    spaghettiburger Posts: 13 Member
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    I just didn't know if a calorie is a calorie. Weight watchers has a lot of success with there point system taking into account their calories, fat, and protein. So it made me wonder if eating 100% snickers bars or whatever junk to be at my goal calorie limit would work the best.

    And I mean you never know what tomorrow will bring
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    Nutritionally, no. But a calorie is the exact same thing no matter what food it's in.
  • YogiJear
    YogiJear Posts: 118 Member
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    You might also be weighting yourself too frequently. I'd space it out to once a week at least. There's a lot of fluctuations that can go on during a day and it also makes you obsessive in watching the scale daily and might stress you out and raise cortisol if you see any increase in the scale. I get that you don't want to waste time but it's best to see this as a sustainable lifestyle change rather than a quick starving fleeting diet. If you think you might be eating the wrong type of foods you can ask around more specifically around that.
  • spaghettiburger
    spaghettiburger Posts: 13 Member
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    Pav8888 mentioned the snickers. I think you missed that point. I'm not eating 100% snickers. I was asking if I'm going to see the same results on the scale overtime if I eat a cookie for 100 calories versus an apple + nuts for 100 calories for example. Like both options have different nutritional content in them. Is it that specific nutrients that I'd be missing out on for having a sweet or carbs instead of choosing salads while still staying within my calorie limit going to affect my weight loss. I get in the short term day to day it could be water weight but I'm thinking longer term.
  • 3bambi3
    3bambi3 Posts: 1,650 Member
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    Pav8888 mentioned the snickers. I think you missed that point. I'm not eating 100% snickers. I was asking if I'm going to see the same results on the scale overtime if I eat a cookie for 100 calories versus an apple + nuts for 100 calories for example. Like both options have different nutritional content in them. Is it that specific nutrients that I'd be missing out on for having a sweet or carbs instead of choosing salads while still staying within my calorie limit going to affect my weight loss. I get in the short term day to day it could be water weight but I'm thinking longer term.

    Calories are king for weight loss; health, body composition, satiety, etc. are variable based on the nutrition contained in those calories.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,069 Member
    edited January 2018
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    Pav8888 mentioned the snickers. I think you missed that point. I'm not eating 100% snickers. I was asking if I'm going to see the same results on the scale overtime if I eat a cookie for 100 calories versus an apple + nuts for 100 calories for example. Like both options have different nutritional content in them. Is it that specific nutrients that I'd be missing out on for having a sweet or carbs instead of choosing salads while still staying within my calorie limit going to affect my weight loss. I get in the short term day to day it could be water weight but I'm thinking longer term.

    They won't affect your weight loss in the long run, but it could affect your health and the sustainability of your weight loss.

    For weight loss - meet your calorie allowance and log accurately.

    For satiety and good nutrition - eat a balanced diet that meets your nutritional requirements and helps you feel full. An overall healthy diet doesn't necessarily exclude junk food, it's just a case of moderating it to ensure you're getting everything else you need.