Is it really just calories in calories out?

2

Replies

  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    P.s. Search online foods that heal the body and things that balance hormones. It can help your body not to hold onto weight because of hormonal balances.

    The only thing that I can think of where this makes sense is in the context of refeeds and diet breaks, where someone has either been in an aggressive cut or a prolonged diet.
  • RAinWA
    RAinWA Posts: 1,980 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Nope. Calories are not all created equal. And people will argue and argue and argue on here. Is 1500 calories of twinkies and 1500 calories of 'normal' food all still 1500 calories? Sure! But, will you feel the same and will your body respond the same to all. NO. and i'm sorry, but keto and any other diet is crap. Eat as healthy as you can. Incorporate whole foods and cook your own food as much as possible. You WILL lose the weight. But consistency is key. I like to plan out my whole weeks worth of food and pre log to look at macros and the numbers. It helps me stay focused and not stray. I like to continue to eat somewhat normal foods and calorie ranges (i eat between 1450 and 1600 calories and burn between 300 and 800 for exercise a day) so that i can keep it as a lifestyle and not just a fad diet. Good luck!

    How come in every one of these ridiculous straw man comparisons, the people saying a calorie is a calorie and that CICO is what matters for weight loss are limited to just a single food, in this case twinkies, and the people who say that nutrition is important (which no one is disputing) get to eat the same amount of calories of "normal" food presumably a varied diet filled with a balance of macro and micronutrients? Why does one side get one food and the other side get everything "healthy"? If you're going to play ridiculous straw man bingo at least take one single "healthy" food for your side of the argument. So what would you like? Broccoli? Chicken Breast? Spinach? Tofu?

    Twinkies made with tofu? https://www.instructables.com/id/Organic-Vegan-Twinkie-Recipe/
  • RAinWA
    RAinWA Posts: 1,980 Member
    RAinWA wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Nope. Calories are not all created equal. And people will argue and argue and argue on here. Is 1500 calories of twinkies and 1500 calories of 'normal' food all still 1500 calories? Sure! But, will you feel the same and will your body respond the same to all. NO. and i'm sorry, but keto and any other diet is crap. Eat as healthy as you can. Incorporate whole foods and cook your own food as much as possible. You WILL lose the weight. But consistency is key. I like to plan out my whole weeks worth of food and pre log to look at macros and the numbers. It helps me stay focused and not stray. I like to continue to eat somewhat normal foods and calorie ranges (i eat between 1450 and 1600 calories and burn between 300 and 800 for exercise a day) so that i can keep it as a lifestyle and not just a fad diet. Good luck!

    How come in every one of these ridiculous straw man comparisons, the people saying a calorie is a calorie and that CICO is what matters for weight loss are limited to just a single food, in this case twinkies, and the people who say that nutrition is important (which no one is disputing) get to eat the same amount of calories of "normal" food presumably a varied diet filled with a balance of macro and micronutrients? Why does one side get one food and the other side get everything "healthy"? If you're going to play ridiculous straw man bingo at least take one single "healthy" food for your side of the argument. So what would you like? Broccoli? Chicken Breast? Spinach? Tofu?

    Twinkies made with tofu? https://www.instructables.com/id/Organic-Vegan-Twinkie-Recipe/

    Life is too short for that much fuss over what is likely, at best, a mediocre snack cake. There's chocolate out there people. Vegan chocolate if you want to go that route. Perspective!

    :) I just figured if our choices were twinkies or tofu we might as well combine them!

    And to answer the question - a calorie is a calorie no matter where it comes from. I assume people who ask the question are smart enough to know that nutrition is a different question.
  • Chael2dot0
    Chael2dot0 Posts: 1,189 Member
    .... but does it really only boil down to calories in calories out?

    Yes. How you get to a calorie deficit is all up to what works for you. All the varieties of diets work at almost exactly the same effectiveness *IF* you adhere to them over time. It may take time to dial in the math of a deficit for you, but once dialed in you just stick to it, weigh in every couple weeks or month and you'll see results.

  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    there is no food that "heals" hormones - and you likely wouldn't find any scientific studies supporting that hypothesis either

    ...waits for a link to Mercola or Taubes' websites. :D

    just had a friend link to mercola on FB. sigh. was tempted to address the issue but no one has time for that. and if they are willing to believe them...
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    No. Hormones play a huge part and anyone who woes isn't struggling in menopause.

    I am perimenopausal and have had no problems with weight loss simply by counting calories and making sure calories in is less than calories out. I have also read many comments of other women saying the same thing.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,620 Member
    No. Hormones play a huge part and anyone who woes isn't struggling in menopause.

    I woo'd and I'm in perimenopause, nearing menopause. :)
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,620 Member
    Cahgetsfit wrote: »
    yes and no. yes it's basically CICO. and fad diets - just don't go there.

    some tips - work out your maintenance calories then drop by not too much - don't go gung ho for losing 2 kgs a week or whatever while you're starving because it's too hard to adhere to anything that is too uncomfortable.

    Feeling a bit peckish is one thing - you can trick yourself to stop feeling peckish by drinking some herbal tea or eating some diet jelly or something. You can't trick yourself to stop feeling like there is a massive hole in your stomach and you're about to eat the couch.

    slow and stead is the way to go.

    Now, the no part of my answer is that as well as CICO, other things can help such as more exercise, looking at hormones and if they are out of whack taking the right supplements/eating the right foods to help fix that.

    Also - making choices that will help you feel full - if you can get a massive volume meal in but it's only like 300 calories, it feels like you've eaten heaps but it's not much. For example, I always have a gigantic salad in a fruit bowl. it's always around 300 grams. some sort of meat and a bunch of stuff like carrots and whatever else is around. it takes me ages to eat becuase there is so much volume and therefore I think I ate heaps. if i'd had a sandwich for example, at the same calories, i'd think I was hungry again in 2 seconds. But that's just me - so it's a strategy i've come up to help me.

    And everyone is different so you need to find what works for you. Lots of small meals? 3 big meals? fasting until a certain time and then eating?

    At the end of the day the calories in vs calories out is the main player in your weight loss and you can make it work for you without too much pain or starvation.

    And don't just settle on the 1200 that MFP seems to spit out for everyone. try something like https://tdeecalculator.net/

    Good luck with your journey!!

    That's actually part of CICO. Exercise increases the CO part of the equation. Hormones may increase or decrease it.

    As far as the 1200, MFP generally spits that out for 1) people who are very short and close to goal or 2) people saying they want to lose 2lbs/week when that's too aggressive a target. It has me on 1360 to lose 1/2lb/week (I'm 5'3 and within 10lbs of a healthy BMI). When I started, 107lbs ago, I told MFP I wanted to lose 1lb/week and it gave me 1710.

    MFP also gave me a suggestion of 1700 calories initially but I upgraded to Premier so that I could reset it down to 1350 calories, which is where my doctor wants me to be.

    You don't need to upgrade to manually set your calorie goal, you can do it even with the free version.

    Yep ... I choose my calorie goal, and I don't have the premium package here.
  • Adam__20000
    Adam__20000 Posts: 65 Member
    edited November 2018
    P.s. Search online foods that heal the body and things that balance hormones. It can help your body not to hold onto weight because of hormonal balances.

    My brother is fairly skinny and solely eats unhealthy ready meals and KFC, albeit in smaller portions. He shuns any vegetables offered to him and has never had problems with his weight. It does seem that CICO is the main factor of weight loss/gain
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    No. Hormones play a huge part and anyone who woes isn't struggling in menopause.


    Really? I could've sworn I was menopausal while losing 50+ pounds in less than a year at age 59-60. Also hypothyroid.

    As we get older, we tend to be less active in daily life, and we tend to lose muscle mass. They can become a negative down-spiral. Both of those things also lower our calorie needs, to the detriment of our weight management. But both of those are also under our influence, at least to some extent.

    It's always more effective, IMO, to focus on the parts of a situation we can influence/control (like calorie intake, daily-life activity, and exercise), and stop giving mindshare to the things we can't (like hormones, "food pushing friends", the evil food corporations, or whatever other uncontrollable bugaboos may be present).

    Me too. I lost 100 pounds hypothyroid and menopausal. 59 - 61.