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

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  • mazcor536
    mazcor536 Posts: 115 Member
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    Absolutely! Although, as you get on with your journey, you’ll probably find that sometimes you’re just after more “bulk” than your preferred meal will allow, so you’ll naturally gravitate to less calorie dense foods in order to satisfy your hunger. I still eat everything I ate before I started losing weight, but my veg to meat proportions have dramatically changed, and I’ve ditched pasta in favour of spiralised courgette for most (not all, some are sacred and must be respected) pasta dishes since I get a decent plate then! If I do have pasta, I have the appropriate serving, and load my plate with salad too. All about the bulk!
  • GottaClue
    GottaClue Posts: 12 Member
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    Absolutely! All that matters is that you build something you can stick with and sustain. Any of the restrictive overly involved plans lead to quitting for me. Do what works for you and do not let the noise cancel out your focus and goals. I did weight watchers my first 30 lbs and no exercise. With the weight I had on my body I had plenty of hidden muscle from carrying the extra weight. After that I moved to calories and walking. As time went on I was craving more and more exercise. I do what I call toddler exercise bc I can't do any one thing more than 10 mins, so I bounce around machines. I will say that WW was good for getting me to focus on fresh food....the points plus version not the newer. Do what works! For you!
  • Msnatalieann
    Msnatalieann Posts: 56 Member
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    jessereysmith1993 wrote: »
    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

    I know this for a fact. When I used to miss breakfast, I would pig out all day.
  • Msnatalieann
    Msnatalieann Posts: 56 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    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.

    I agree. Right now since i have 2000 cals available, I'm not really crowding out yet but I know if I lower that calorie goal changes would have to be made. I still eat veggies, I just don't eat them I much as I used to. I was a vegetarian for quite a while but for some reason when I had my second baby, my favorite veggies started to gag me. I miss my veggies!
  • Msnatalieann
    Msnatalieann Posts: 56 Member
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    concordancia wrote: »
    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?

    I've tried! I used to devour veggies! This has been the worst thing!
  • Msnatalieann
    Msnatalieann Posts: 56 Member
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    rheddmobile wrote: »
    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.

    I'm pretty good about measuring my food and using a scale. I plan to lower my calories as I get further along. Obviously motivation comes naturally when you start losing weight. But i need it to be easier right now.
  • Msnatalieann
    Msnatalieann Posts: 56 Member
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    Chunkahlunkah wrote: »
    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. :)

    I do tend to get full easily and I really only struggle with "hunger" (boredom) at night. Thank you for the support!
  • Msnatalieann
    Msnatalieann Posts: 56 Member
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    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    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.

    And i totally understand this. I'm just trying to start out as easily as possible. I'm normally a cold turkey balls to the wall kind of person, but not with dieting.
  • Msnatalieann
    Msnatalieann Posts: 56 Member
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    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.

    I think about this every time i crave Chinese
  • mamosh81
    mamosh81 Posts: 409 Member
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    you do you and what works best for you. On the start I would really just focus on the amount of calories you eat. My taste actually changed a lot during my journey. The longer I kept paying attention on the amount of calories I put into myself the more I suddenly started craving fresh veggies. Some of my favorite foods are actually celery sticks or a plate full with Spinach. I also started at 330 lbs :)
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited April 2018
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    Yes, and at no point do these things start to matter for weight loss beyond nutrition and satiety. A burger is not a bad thing to have for lunch. It has all three macros, but may lack a bit in fiber and some micronutrients. You'll want to decide at some point (not necessarily now) if you want to put a bit more focus on nutrition. This doesn't mean not eating burgers, like I mentioned before, they're nutritionally alright. By focus on nutrition, I mean putting more thought into what else you're eating other than burgers, your diet as a whole.

    Vegetables are a nutritional jackpot, but if you're grossed out by vegetables and don't feel comfortable about introducing them back, try eating more low calorie higher fiber fruits for the nutrition and fiber. Things like raspberries, blackberries, strawberries...etc. Most berries, really, and any fruits you like. Do you like beans? beans of any kind are usually pretty nutritious.

    If you're interested in nutrition, think along the line of adding things to your diet, not removing them. If you would rather take it easy for now and not bother with nutrition until you become more familiar with dieting, this is also okay. Sticking to your diet is the most important thing at this point. I don't know what else you're eating or what types of food you have access to, but you may want to switch things around and eat a good variety of things so you don't get too deficient in any particular nutrient until you feel ready to focus more on nutrition. Have a burger one day, pizza the next, a burrito bowl, some type of frozen meal...etc in addition to nutritious foods you already like and eat.
  • Msnatalieann
    Msnatalieann Posts: 56 Member
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    Yes, and at no point do these things start to matter for weight loss beyond nutrition and satiety. A burger is not a bad thing to have for lunch. It has all three macros, but may lack a bit in fiber and some micronutrients. You'll want to decide at some point (not necessarily now) if you want to put a bit more focus on nutrition. This doesn't mean not eating burgers, like I mentioned before, they're nutritionally alright. By focus on nutrition, I mean putting more thought into what else you're eating other than burgers, your diet as a whole.

    Vegetables are a nutritional jackpot, but if you're grossed out by vegetables and don't feel comfortable about introducing them back, try eating more low calorie higher fiber fruits for the nutrition and fiber. Things like raspberries, blackberries, strawberries...etc. Most berries, really, and any fruits you like. Do you like beans? beans of any kind are usually pretty nutritious.

    If you're interested in nutrition, think along the line of adding things to your diet, not removing them. If you would rather take it easy for now and not bother with nutrition until you become more familiar with dieting, this is also okay. Sticking to your diet is the most important thing at this point. I don't know what else you're eating or what types of food you have access to, but you may want to switch things around and eat a good variety of things so you don't get too deficient in any particular nutrient until you feel ready to focus more on nutrition. Have a burger one day, pizza the next, a burrito bowl, some type of frozen meal...etc in addition to nutritious foods you already like and eat.

    What you explained at the end is kind of what I'm doing. I have a small bowl of high fiber cereal for breakfast with a banana, a "burger" for lunch and then a big grilled chicken salad for dinner. I do like beans but i get tired of those quickly. I still eat them, just not more than once a week. I'm familiar with nutrition, which is why I'm hard on myself for disliking veggies. I know how important they are. Lol! Thank you for taking the time to respond!
  • Msnatalieann
    Msnatalieann Posts: 56 Member
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    mamosh81 wrote: »
    you do you and what works best for you. On the start I would really just focus on the amount of calories you eat. My taste actually changed a lot during my journey. The longer I kept paying attention on the amount of calories I put into myself the more I suddenly started craving fresh veggies. Some of my favorite foods are actually celery sticks or a plate full with Spinach. I also started at 330 lbs :)

    Thank you! I'm very familiar with that taste change! Years ago i quit eating bread and when i would be near it i swear i could smell the yeast and it grossed me out! Crazy how we can retrain our mind like that!

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