Fact or myth: lose weight by consuming less calories than you burn?
Chibinesekwe
Posts: 6 Member
Example: Could I lose weight by eating only Girl Scout cookies as long as I stay under my calorie limit for the day? (Not going to try it, but curious if this theory is fact or myth).
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Total myth. You need to consume as many calories as you can to lose weight. Totally makes sense too.34
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Yes. It's true.
But... why in the world would you want to do that to yourself?
(Note: did that once with chocolate. The amounts you get to eat are paltry and no where near satisfying + I ended up feeling sick)7 -
gebeziseva wrote: »Total myth. You need to consume as many calories as you can to lose weight. Totally makes sense too.
This is true, but be careful where those calories come from. The must be whole foods, organic, and unprocessed. The moment you touch a grain of refined sugar or, god forbid, a grain of grain of any kind, you will pile on the kilos and unkickstart your metabolism. (Though this can be quickly counteracted with a thorough detox with apple cider coconut grapefruit quinoa enemas).38 -
Chibinesekwe wrote: »Example: Could I lose weight by eating only Girl Scout cookies as long as I stay under my calorie limit for the day? (Not going to try it, but curious if this theory is fact or myth).
yes you could lose weight by eating only cookies as long as you were in a deficit.
google the twinkie diet.8 -
CICO; calories in, calories out. Yes, theoretically you could eat a deficit in any food including GS cookies (I'd do thin mints myself), but you'd probably up your blood sugar and go into some sort of organ failure or such. :-)2
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I don't know how you've come to consider that a myth. "Eat healthy to lose weight" is more like something I consider a myth. You lose weight when you over time, consistently, eat under your maintenance level. Correct and honest logging is way easier as well as more effective than trying to "eat healthy". A healthy diet is important in order to be able to eat under your maintenance level for mre than a short while, but not what makes weightloss happen.6
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Chibinesekwe wrote: »Example: Could I lose weight by eating only Girl Scout cookies as long as I stay under my calorie Maintenance limit for the day? (Not going to try it, but curious if this theory is fact or myth).
FIFY.
You want to eat at your calorie limit MFP gives you plus exercise if you exercise. You want eat under your maintenance calories.3 -
Chibinesekwe wrote: »Example: Could I lose weight by eating only Girl Scout cookies as long as I stay under my calorie limit for the day? (Not going to try it, but curious if this theory is fact or myth).
It would work, but it wouldn't be healthy and you would feel like crap (be hungry and lacking essential nutrients).
That said you want to eat the calorie goal MFP gave you. Your MFP goal is the calories you need to eat to lose weight without exercise. If you exercise, you eat some of those calories plus the original goal MFP gave you.0 -
Chibinesekwe wrote: »Example: Could I lose weight by eating only Girl Scout cookies as long as I stay under my calorie limit for the day? (Not going to try it, but curious if this theory is fact or myth).
Yes but you would become nutritionally defcient.2 -
Chibinesekwe wrote: »Example: Could I lose weight by eating only Girl Scout cookies as long as I stay under my calorie limit for the day? (Not going to try it, but curious if this theory is fact or myth).
I've tested it and yes, I've lost weight eating nothing but cookies. I developed night blindness after a while due to nutrient deficiency but my eyesight is perfect after I stopped lol.2 -
Chibinesekwe wrote: »Example: Could I lose weight by eating only Girl Scout cookies as long as I stay under my calorie limit for the day? (Not going to try it, but curious if this theory is fact or myth).
True!
You probably wouldn't feel very well and your energy level might be all over the place ... but yep, if you eat fewer calories than you burn, whatever those calories are, you will lose weight.
In a way this is freeing! It means you can have a girl scout cookie or two.
But in order to feel good while remaining under your calories, it can help to have a diet with some variety and especially including foods that have a decent "staying power" (foods that leave you feeling full for a decent amount of time).0 -
Has this subject not been done to death, was just reading the CICO thread from 2016 yesterday:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10348650/cico-still-skeptical-come-inside-for-a-meticulous-log-that-proves-it/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/41424241#Comment_41424241
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Yes, weight loss is governed strictly by energy balance so a calorie deficit will always result in lost weight regardless of what your diet consists of.
Granted, such an approach would be reckless and nutritionally deficient but you would still lose weight. Healthy eating/good nutrition is independent of eating for weight loss. They can be achieved simultaneously (by eating at a calorie deficit while consuming a nutrient dense diet) but one neither depends on nor causes the other.1 -
It just goes to show that how flawed is obsession with weight loss...at any cost. Indeed so many health markers improve when people lose weight. I am eternally grateful for the restoration of my mobility.
But then, after achieving a healthy weight, don’t we all also want a healthy body? That means a varied colourful diet and lots of movement.
Of course weight loss is achieved by eating fewer calories than we burn. Total fact. Can be achieved on a Subway, Twinkie, Oreo, Cabbage, Banana, Raw, Potato, Paleo, Keto, or sensible diet.1 -
If you eat a cookie that was enriched and fortified with vitamins, the way cereal is, I reckon you'd be fine.
After eating cookies constantly, I slowly got tired of it the way one does if they eat the same food over and over everyday like chicken for example.
I started to crave savory meals over sweetd. I found that really mind boggling, all my life I've always crave sweets after eating regular food and here I was wanting nothing to do with sweets but craving some veggies like we all crave chocolate. I figured that was my body telling me I'm lacking certain vitamins which begs the question, just why does the body tell you to eat that piece of chocolate? Probably because you're lacking in Magnesium mineral.1 -
Depends. Samoas or Thin Mints?7
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If you don't lose weight when consuming more calories than you burn you've just managed to suspend the first law of thermodynamics.
Well done, you've now invented a perpetual motion machine and solved the world's energy needs forever.2 -
bendyourkneekatie wrote: »gebeziseva wrote: »Total myth. You need to consume as many calories as you can to lose weight. Totally makes sense too.
This is true, but be careful where those calories come from. The must be whole foods, organic, and unprocessed. The moment you touch a grain of refined sugar or, god forbid, a grain of grain of any kind, you will pile on the kilos and unkickstart your metabolism. (Though this can be quickly counteracted with a thorough detox with apple cider coconut grapefruit quinoa enemas).
You had me at enemas.
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It would be great if it was a myth though .... you could solve world hunger just by giving a single girl scout cookie to every homless, starving, wore torn refugee ..... and they would lose weight and starve .... just a single cookie0
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bendyourkneekatie wrote: »gebeziseva wrote: »Total myth. You need to consume as many calories as you can to lose weight. Totally makes sense too.
This is true, but be careful where those calories come from. The must be whole foods, organic, and unprocessed. The moment you touch a grain of refined sugar or, god forbid, a grain of grain of any kind, you will pile on the kilos and unkickstart your metabolism. (Though this can be quickly counteracted with a thorough detox with apple cider coconut grapefruit quinoa enemas).
I am intrigued by your statements and will gladly give you my money. Please, tell me more.
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Fact!
And here's a little something I found and thought was great... Fitness Myths Debunked (Nutrition for body comp) 1. Sugar is not inherently fattening; only a calorie surplus will lead to weight gain.
2. Dietary fat is not inherently fattening; only a calorie surplus will lead to weight gain.
3. Breakfast is not necessarily the most important meal of the day; your total calorie intake matters most.
4. Consuming small and frequent meals throughout the day does not stoke a metabolic fire; your total caloric intake is what matters most.
5. Carbs after 6pm do not automatically get converted to body fat; your total daily caloric intake is what determines body fat. and
6. Fat loss supplements are not the answer; you still need a proper diet with a calorie deficit and sufficient nutrients.4 -
Gotta be Thin Mints, since "thin" is right there in the name; whereas everyone is aware of the culturally insensitive stereotype that people from the South Pacific islands become obese if they consume sugar, so Samoas clearly aren't a diet food (despite the coconut). Simple logic.cmriverside wrote: »Depends. Samoas or Thin Mints?
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I guarantee that you can eat all you want and lose weight by following the "instrument excercise program", where you pull or push a nine foot Steinway grand piano at least a mile a day.2
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That's pretty much what MFP is about.
Can't tell if OP is serious or not...1 -
Gotta be Thin Mints, since "thin" is right there in the name; whereas everyone is aware of the culturally insensitive stereotype that people from the South Pacific islands become obese if they consume sugar, so Samoas clearly aren't a diet food (despite the coconut). Simple logic.cmriverside wrote: »Depends. Samoas or Thin Mints?
One of my favorite things I learned from my trip to Hawaii: "Polynesians don't eat until we're full. We eat until we're sleepy." - The MC of our luau3 -
Chibinesekwe wrote: »Example: Could I lose weight by eating only Girl Scout cookies as long as I stay under my calorie limit for the day? (Not going to try it, but curious if this theory is fact or myth).
Weight management is about energy (calorie) balance. Yes, you'd lose weight eating only girl scout cookies in a calorie deficit...but you'd be sick as *kitten* and obviously unhealthy.
A calorie is a unit of energy. Your body requires so many units of energy to function and maintain the status quo. When you consume energy in excess of what the body needs, that excess energy is stored for later use as body fat...body fat is basically your back up generator. When you consume less energy than your body requires to function and maintain the status quo, your backup generator kicks on and you burn body fat to make up for the energy deficiency.3 -
Did you do the *love* @cwolfman13, or are the mods being all Valentine-y? :laugh:2
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quiksylver296 wrote: »Did you do the *love* @cwolfman13, or are the mods being all Valentine-y? :laugh:
We dont know what the *kitten* you are talking about
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quiksylver296 wrote: »Did you do the *love* @cwolfman13, or are the mods being all Valentine-y? :laugh:
Lol...the mods are totally being Valentine-y3 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Did you do the *love* @cwolfman13, or are the mods being all Valentine-y? :laugh:
We dont know what the *love* you are talking about
Awww.
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