Initially weight loss

hamburger100

Hi there, I've recently watched a few things by Giles Yeo, (Cambridge geneticist), who said that if we ate sensibly and stuck to healthy, wholesome foods, we would probably lose weight naturally. However I wonder if we should get down to our goal weight (by calorie counting) before we can consider eating healthily, which I imagine would be close to maintanence calories. Any thoughts?

yirara

I think it's very individual. I can gain weight on lots of fruit, or wholegrain bread because I love both so much! Add a nice cheese from an artisan cheese maker and I'm in heaven.

claireychn074

Oh I could easily get fat on “healthy” food. I adore nuts, olive oil dips with homemade wholegrain bread, vegetables (jacket spuds, carrots, sweet potatoes…). I think the key is the “sensibly” word, and not everyone’s hunger signals shut off when they’re full. I wasn’t massively overweight when I joined MFP but I’d put on a stone of fat over 2 years by eating just a bit more than my maintenance. Probably put on c 1lb a month by eating mostly healthy wholegrain food before I stopped myself.

tomcustombuilder

You can lose weight just fine without eating “healthy and wholesome food” as long as you have a consistent weekly calorie deficit. What he probably means is eating non ultra processed foods can be more satiating and cause fewer calories to be eaten however this isn’t always the case as many foods considered “healthy” are highly caloric, especially if someone is drinking calories.

To be successful in any weight loss program you need an eating plan that you can stick with pretty much for life otherwise you’ll most likely put the weight back on. Totally eliminating foods you enjoy is a recipe for failure in the long run.

briscogun

This made me think of one of those pictures I saw recently that someone posted online. It was a shot of a crowded beach in the 1970's. Everyone in swimsuits, packed beach, not a single overweight person in the shot. Everyone was a healthy weight.

I'm sure its a comment on the processed junk we eat today, but if we all just not only focused on the quantity of our food but the quality of our food, we would probably all be in a better place.

zebasschick

"if you ate sensibly" is probably the significant part for many of us. i used to eat a super healthy diet - no processed foods, whole grains, almost all organic, fully vegetarian, very few snacks, and i was at least 60 pounds overweight.

i weigh less now even though i eat lots of protein bars, pre-made dressings, chocolate, and so on simply because i eat less calories. eating less healthy foods hasn't impacted weight loss one way or the other. and then there's my ex. he lived on candy bars, hot dogs with ketchup and onions (ew!), soda, bags of chips, fast food burgers and occasional delivered pizza, and he was quite thin but he was super active. i don't think he ate anything with a vegetable, whole grain or unprocessed fruit or vegetable on it in the years i knew him.

AnnPT77

hamburger100 wrote: »

Hi there, I've recently watched a few things by Giles Yeo, (Cambridge geneticist), who said that if we ate sensibly and stuck to healthy, wholesome foods, we would probably lose weight naturally. However I wonder if we should get down to our goal weight (by calorie counting) before we can consider eating healthily, which I imagine would be close to maintanence calories. Any thoughts?

First bolded is a key word. I think many people will find less-processed foods more filling than more-processed ones, generically speaking. That may result in weight loss.

Second bolded: You're thinking we have to be eating at/near maintenance to be eating healthily? I don't think so. If we're substantially overweight, a calorie deficit is a healthy way of eating, even though the deficit does create some physical stress. Being overweight creates health risks in itself. It's good idea to get good overall nutrition, and eat foods we find filling, whether we're losing weight or maintaining weight. (Even people who need to gain weight should get good overall nutrition, but they may want to focus on foods that are less filling.)

Of course it's not healthful to lose weight crazy fast, but the definition of crazy fast differs. The same weight loss rate isn't equally healthy for someone with 5 vanity pounds to lose, vs. someone with well over 100 pounds to lose. Totally different situation.

I'm another person who got overweight then obese eating predominantly healthy foods. I'm a hedonist; healthy food is tasty; I don't mind feeling over-full; I don't like missing out on yummy. Voila: Weight gain.

I ate the same range of foods when I was obese, when losing weight, and in the 7+ years of maintaining a healthy weight since. What has changed is the portion sizes, the proportions on the plate, and the frequencies of some calorie-dense foods . . . in other words, I eat fewer calories of the same foods as before. Voila: Weight loss then maintenance.

hamburger100

Thank you everyone, this is really helpful😊.

ninerbuff

briscogun wrote: »

This made me think of one of those pictures I saw recently that someone posted online. It was a shot of a crowded beach in the 1970's. Everyone in swimsuits, packed beach, not a single overweight person in the shot. Everyone was a healthy weight.

I'm sure its a comment on the processed junk we eat today, but if we all just not only focused on the quantity of our food but the quality of our food, we would probably all be in a better place.

I ate McDonald's, Jack in the Box, pizza, etc. back in the 70;s and so did my parents. It's almost the SIZES of meals that matter. A medium fries now was a large back then. We didn't have 2 cheeseburger value meals, but single cheeseburger with small fries. And drinks only went up to 20oz where now 32oz isn't uncommon.
While eating more whole foods usually is a lower in calories and more nutritionally sound, people just eat way more than they need to today and physical movement has been dramatically reduced compared to the 70's.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

kshama2001

briscogun wrote: »

This made me think of one of those pictures I saw recently that someone posted online. It was a shot of a crowded beach in the 1970's. Everyone in swimsuits, packed beach, not a single overweight person in the shot. Everyone was a healthy weight.

I'm sure its a comment on the processed junk we eat today, but if we all just not only focused on the quantity of our food but the quality of our food, we would probably all be in a better place.

ninerbuff wrote: »

I ate McDonald's, Jack in the Box, pizza, etc. back in the 70;s and so did my parents. It's almost the SIZES of meals that matter. A medium fries now was a large back then. We didn't have 2 cheeseburger value meals, but single cheeseburger with small fries. And drinks only went up to 20oz where now 32oz isn't uncommon.
While eating more whole foods usually is a lower in calories and more nutritionally sound, people just eat way more than they need to today and physical movement has been dramatically reduced compared to the 70's.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

While I agree with the points about portion size and nutritionally dense foods generally being more satiating, I wanted to also chime in on the exercise portion: in the 70's I bicycled miles to tennis lessons.

PeachHibiscus

briscogun wrote: »

This made me think of one of those pictures I saw recently that someone posted online. It was a shot of a crowded beach in the 1970's. Everyone in swimsuits, packed beach, not a single overweight person in the shot. Everyone was a healthy weight.

I'm sure its a comment on the processed junk we eat today

There were overweight people in the 70's but it wasn't the norm, especially for kids and young adults. The degree of obesity also seems to have increased. Me and another girl were the "fat kids" in our class. We'd be average sized kids today.

People ate junk and processed foods then, too. Most of the kids I went to school with ate sweetened cereal for breakfast and had cookies or chips for snack time. My parents didn't buy that stuff for our house but I was the one who gained weight, not the other kids. I ate too much. They didn't.

It's also a comment on the lack of physical activity done today. We had one car for our household in the 70's so if I wanted to go somewhere I had to walk it or bike it. Or I could take a bus but by the time I walked to the stop and waited for it to come, I might as well have just walked or biked so that's usually what I did. My friends were the same way, even the ones whose parents both had cars. Parents weren't dropping everything to give someone a ride and no one wanted someone's mom or dad hanging around anyway so you'd walk or bike.

And the "automatic dishwasher" in a lot of homes, like ours, meant that after a meal, someone got up and automatically hand washed the dishes. And there were no roombas so you had to actually walk around to vacuum. And most people did not have riding lawnmowers. My grandparent's one didn't even have a motor. And my parents didn't get a leaf blower until I was in college. Before that it was rake it all up by hand. And shovel the snow. And I remember having to get up and walk across the room to change the channel on the TV. And get up to answer the phone which was attached to the wall in another room.

tasmart1796

While I agree with the sentiment say eat sensibly is a normative statement. My sensible eating got me to 270 pounds. Tracking and I fell more importantly logging my calories has me at 260 and dropping.

elisa123gal

We all create our own reality and justify our existence and habits.

OP.. i can see the point of your expert. We get fat by overeating mostly bad foods and not moving enough. Move more.. and eat whole foods .. sure.. we'd all slowly melt to smaller versions of ourselves. I think calorie counting can be a crutch for those who want to hang on to hotdogs and poptarts. Let's be real.