Spaghetti Squash

saraclark62

I eat on average about 1200-1250 calories per day for maintenance. I am 5’5 and 118 pounds. I absolutely love spaghetti squash, anf I generally go through 1 large squash in 2 days. Is this binging? Will eating this quanity of spaghetti squash make me gain?

100_PROOF_

No food itself is good or bad.
Eating at a calorie surplus makes you gain weight. The food itself does not cause the weight gain, the excess calories do.
I think you should go back and read the stickies in the beginning of the forum.

saraclark62

100_PROOF_ wrote: »

No food itself is good or bad.
Eating at a calorie surplus makes you gain weight. The food itself does not cause the weight gain, the excess calories do.
I think you should go back and read the stickies in the beginning of the forum.

Do you think it is normal to maintain on 1250 calories if I am sedentary?

L1zardQueen

You like spaghetti squash? Are you in a deficit? You must be hungry if you can a lot of spaghetti squash.

100_PROOF_

saraclark62 wrote: »

100_PROOF_ wrote: »

No food itself is good or bad.
Eating at a calorie surplus makes you gain weight. The food itself does not cause the weight gain, the excess calories do.
I think you should go back and read the stickies in the beginning of the forum.

Do you think it is normal to maintain on 1250 calories if I am sedentary?

No it wouldn't be normal for me but I'm active. I maintain on double that. 1250 seems low . How sure are you that number is accurate?

bbell1985

I eat a whole squash when I eat it.

AnnPT77

Spaghetti squash is pretty low in calories. If you don't exceed your true maintenance calories you won't gain weight . . . by definition.

If you ate a very, very high volume of high-fiber food (way more than half a spaghetti squash), you might see a tiny, tiny gain on a very sensitive scale for a day or two until all of that fiber made a full transit of your digestive system, but that wouldn't be fat gain, so there would be no reason to worry about it.

I'm 5'5", and I'd maintain at your weight at something in the 2000-2200 range with sedentary daily life, but that's unusually high for our size. However, the calculators estimate I'd maintain at around 1500 when sedentary, even at age 62, so 1200-1250 to maintain seems quite low . . . not impossible, but unusual, unless you're older.

saraclark62

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Spaghetti squash is pretty low in calories. If you don't exceed your true maintenance calories you won't gain weight . . . by definition.

If you ate a very, very high volume of high-fiber food (way more than half a spaghetti squash), you might see a tiny, tiny gain on a very sensitive scale for a day or two until all of that fiber made a full transit of your digestive system, but that wouldn't be fat gain, so there would be no reason to worry about it.

I'm 5'5", and I'd maintain at your weight at something in the 2000-2200 range with sedentary daily life, but that's unusually high for our size. However, the calculators estimate I'd maintain at around 1500 when sedentary, even at age 62, so 1200-1250 to maintain seems quite low . . . not impossible, but unusual, unless you're older.

I am 19

lemurcat12

I think your maintenance seems awfully low, even if you are sedentary. If I were sedentary and a few pounds lighter (I'm 125, so if I were 115), I think my maintenance would be around 1500, and I'm in my late 40s and shorter than you, both of which should make your maintenance even higher than mine, all else equal, probably a lot higher. (I'm not sedentary, so my maintenance is much higher than the 1500-1600 it would be.)

I'd talk to a doctor. Also, unless there's a medical issue, you shouldn't be sedentary. Not good for you.

That aside, I don't think it's weird to eat half a spaghetti squash if you like them. I eat lots of winter squash, including spaghetti squash, and a half is not that much.

acbraswell

I love spaghetti squash too! There are worse things you could be eating in high quantities. As there are different sized spaghetti squashes, I'm not sure how large your halves are, but may I suggest maybe eating a third at a time, and adding a lean protein, such as chicken or tofu? My favorite lunch to take to work is spaghetti squash with cut up chicken breast and pesto sauce.

janejellyroll

I've been known to eat a whole spaghetti squash at a sitting. One squash over two days isn't a binge. It's just called "eating vegetables."

It will only make you gain weight if it results in you regularly consuming more calories than your body can use.

LivingtheLeanDream

saraclark62 wrote: »

I eat on average about 1200-1250 calories per day for maintenance. I am 5’5 and 118 pounds. I absolutely love spaghetti squash, anf I generally go through 1 large squash in 2 days. Is this binging? Will eating this quanity of spaghetti squash make me gain?

How come your maintenance calories are so low? I'm shorter (5ft 2, in my late 40s, 125lbs but average 1950-2000 and I'm only lightly active/ sedentary would leave me at 1650)

I don't think you can equate eating one squash in two days a binge! The only reason we gain weight is if we persistently eat over our maintenance cals.