Can I eat whatever as long as I stay under calories?

Msnatalieann

I'm at the beginning of my journey so I'm starting at -1lb/week so my adorable calories is around 2000 (I'm 300lbs). Does it really matter what I eat as long as I stay under that total? Like I totally had a cheeseburger for lunch, but no fries. I always eat a light breakfast because I'm very "full" in the morning so I have quite a few calories to spare. This question might seem silly but I am losing weight even though I haven't really changed my diet drastically. Obviously I'm eating lower portions, but as far as what I'm eating, that hasn't changed. I know eventually the fat, carbs, sugar and sodium will start to matter. I'm just trying to make it easy so I don't quit. Trying to ease in I guess. I just can't fail again. (For the last three years I've been LITERALLY grossed out by veggies thanks to pregnancy, so I'm currently trying to overcome that silliness)

concordancia

Yes, but...it may be easier to feel satisfied if you are getting proper nutrition.

For those veggies, have you tried them grilled? Roasted? Hidden in meatloaf?

ISweat4This

Yes

jefamer2017

It doesn't really matter. However, you may find certain foods that do not leave you as satisfied as others. For me personally a bunch of carbs are going to keep me hungry but a nice pork chop and some vegetables will keep me full. So as you continue to count calories you will figure out which foods are best left out and which ones you should incorporate.

missysippy930

You can eat whatever you want, just a lot less than you may have been eating. The key is honest, accurate logging, and staying within your daily calorie budget.
Portion control.

workinonit1956

Yes, whatever you want that fits in your calorie allotment. Best of luck!

erickirb

Yes for weight loss, no for optimal health, performance, adherence, satiety, body composition

bbell1985

Yes. Remember that nutrition is important for health, and certain food choices may make being in a deficit easier for the sake of satiety. For example...I can eat a bagel and stay in a deficit. But for me it is calorie dense and leaves me hungry. So I'll have a big salad instead. The choice/option is still there though.

ladybug4233

Yes. I am given 1240 calories a day and get exercise calories back. I allow myself a sweet treat or a glass of wine some days. Like today, I had a chicken salad for lunch with a brownie (that I weighed) on the side. I still have 1200 calories left.

jjpptt2

erickirb wrote: »

Yes for weight loss, no for optimal health, performance, adherence, satiety, body composition

Agreed.

If you only care about the number on the scale. Eat whatever you want as long as you stay in a calorie deficit.

However, eating "whatever you want" could potentially have a detrimental effect on how you feel (energy levels), your workouts, body composition, hunger levels/satiety, etc etc.

GottaBurnEmAll

Pretty much what everyone else said.

I will add the insight that I think the need to pay attention to satiety increases with the more fat you lose and that your approach to easing into it is a good one. Taking baby steps towards transitioning to a better diet when you're starting at 300 pounds is better than diving in head first, trying to make drastic changes, and crashing and burning.

Do start to try to incorporate vegetables in your lif. Look on pinterest for ideas on how to prepare them that might be different to how you have tried them in the past. You have time to work on this while you are still just starting.

adarbyem

Technically, yes. I agree with your approach too, ease into it or it will burn you out. I like to suggest from time-to-time on here that people start with the "low hanging fruit", much like your eat the burger but not the fries example.

1. Stop / cut back drinking calories (soda, alcohol, fruit juices, etc...)
2. Cut back on calorie dense condiments and sauces. (ranch, mayo, dressing)
3. Park a wee bit further from the entrance to where you work, shop, etc..., those extra few calories burned can add up.

See if this works for you and establish a habit, then you can do things like get a food scale and meal prep, incorporate veggies and nutrient dense foods, increase exercise. You got this, keep us in the loop!

MerryMavis1

bbell1985 wrote: »

Yes. Remember that nutrition is important for health, and certain food choices may make being in a deficit easier for the sake of satiety. For example...I can eat a bagel and stay in a deficit. But for me it is calorie dense and leaves me hungry. So I'll have a big salad instead. The choice/option is still there though.

Whereas I'm the complete opposite and carbs have a very high satiety level for me (a bagel keeps me feeling full for hours). For supper tonight I had a baked sweet potato, corn on the cob, (with 2 tbsp of butter), and 6 oz of blueberries and I'm absolutely stuffed/won't snack at all before bed. If I had a large salad with a chicken breast on top I'd be in the fridge an hour later Lol. Every one of us is different/responds to macros differently-the trick is figuring out what kinds of foods keep you feeling full/satisfied and then working them into your calorie goals

Yes OP, to lose weight the only thing that matters is that you're at the correct calorie deficit for your weight loss goals. This means you don't have to cut out your favorite foods, which makes things more sustainable. However, weight loss aside, focusing on a mostly well rounded, nutrient dense way of eating is also encouraged for overall health.

ccsernica

For good health it's important to pay attention to nutrition, but the basic principle is that you can lose weight by maintaining a calorie deficit no matter what. For comfort, it's best to find a combination of foods that leave you feeling sated even when you're in a deficit. This is highly individual, so what works for one person won't necessarily work for you.

Chunkahlunkah

Yes, for weight loss it really does not matter. Cheeseburger, cake, pizza, ice cream...fill in whatever is thought of as a "fattening" food. They're only "fattening" in the sense that they're calorie-dense so could easily push people over their calorie limit. (That's easy to guard against though by simply tracking calories.) There's nothing special about them that makes a person gain weight if there's no calorie surplus going on.

I actually unintentionally lost about 10 pounds when I was a teenager working full-time at McD's one summer. Almost every day for lunch I ate a double cheeseburger (no fries). The job made me more active than I had been, so I lost weight because I must not have been eating enough calories to make up for the added activity. And I was at a normal weight to begin with and not at all looking to lose weight. Even so, the weight fell off even with a double cheeseburger most days (and other free food that my manager would let me take home at the end of my shift).

The vehicle for the calories does not matter for weight loss.

As other have mentioned, it can matter for satiety. I know for me it does. You may not need to mind that though until your calories get dropped to a level where you feel more hungry. And you may not ever need to drop to that level. You're going about this in a great way.

JeromeBarry1

For instance, yesterday I did my typical weekend working out in the yard having one decent meal at noon and then snacking the rest of the day on a variety of stuff including cake, several fun size chocolate candies, and ice cream.
I logged everything, trusted the exercise database (at least for 'gardening, general') and finished the day within my calorie budget. Advocates of macro counting, database doubting, sugar fearing and whatever other trending diet shibboleth may tut-tut, but I logged a loss this morning, and have lost 1.0 lb since last Monday.

rheddmobile

What everyone else has said. The one thing I would add is that calorie dense foods are easy to overeat, especially if you are guesstimating the size of portions instead of measuring and especially weighing. For example an official "tablespoon" by weight of peanut butter is much smaller than what fits in a tablespoon, and if you accidentally eat two tablespoons instead of one it's 100 calories. When you are first starting out and very heavy, it's easy to stay in a deficit, but if you find your weight loss slowing down, check your measurements.

solieco1

Yes. Calories are king. I personally make it a game to eat as much food as I can within my budget. I like quantity.

bbell1985

MerryMavis1 wrote: »

bbell1985 wrote: »

Yes. Remember that nutrition is important for health, and certain food choices may make being in a deficit easier for the sake of satiety. For example...I can eat a bagel and stay in a deficit. But for me it is calorie dense and leaves me hungry. So I'll have a big salad instead. The choice/option is still there though.

Whereas I'm the complete opposite and carbs have a very high satiety level for me (a bagel keeps me feeling full for hours). For supper tonight I had a baked sweet potato, corn on the cob, (with 2 tbsp of butter), and 6 oz of blueberries and I'm absolutely stuffed/won't snack at all before bed. If I had a large salad with a chicken breast on top I'd be in the fridge an hour later Lol. Every one of us is different/responds to macros differently-the trick is figuring out what kinds of foods keep you feeling full/satisfied and then working them into your calorie goals

Yes OP, to lose weight the only thing that matters is that you're at the correct calorie deficit for your weight loss goals. This means you don't have to cut out your favorite foods, which makes things more sustainable. However, weight loss aside, focusing on a mostly well rounded, nutrient dense way of eating is also encouraged for overall health.

Yeah that sounds like hell to me. Everyone has to figure out what way of eating works best for them. I can eat a bagel (and I live in NYC land of giant fresh bagels) and need another one immediately.

lynn_glenmont

Yes, for weight loss, calories are what matter. And for nutrition, eating the things you need is what's important, not avoiding things you've labeled as bad. They're only bad if they're crowding out the things you need. So it's better to focus on adding the things that are missing (veggies, in your case -- or fiber and micro nutrients in veggies, which you may be able to get from other sources, like fruit, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds) than to worry about the fat, sodium, and sugar in your diet.

jessereysmith1993

IIFYM! Yes it will work, but do you want fast results or slow ones? Calorie dense foods during the day could possibly make you Splurge before you go to bed