Calories are NOT equal

NonnyMary

Is this really true? I always thought that all food are alright in moderation, but that it's generally better to eat non processed food because it have more beneficial nutrients compared to, say, McDonalds each day. Is there really no evidence that suggests this?

Well, that one guy Morgan Spurlock (i think that was his name) did that 30 day McDonalds ONLY menu, and he ended up getting really sick after about day 27 and couldn't continue.

then again, a homeless person who is starving might be able to survive another 30 days by eating McDonalds.

then again, someone on MFP can eat McDonalds sometimes but they also eat other foods elsewhere.

jonnythan

Is this really true? I always thought that all food are alright in moderation, but that it's generally better to eat non processed food because it have more beneficial nutrients compared to, say, McDonalds each day. Is there really no evidence that suggests this?

Well, that one guy Morgan Spurlock (i think that was his name) did that 30 day McDonalds ONLY menu, and he ended up getting really sick after about day 27 and couldn't continue.

then again, a homeless person who is starving might be able to survive another 30 days by eating McDonalds.

then again, someone on MFP can eat McDonalds sometimes but they also eat other foods elsewhere.

Could have something to do with the fact that he was eating 4000+ calories a day.

whierd

Is this really true? I always thought that all food are alright in moderation, but that it's generally better to eat non processed food because it have more beneficial nutrients compared to, say, McDonalds each day. Is there really no evidence that suggests this?

Well, that one guy Morgan Spurlock (i think that was his name) did that 30 day McDonalds ONLY menu, and he ended up getting really sick after about day 27 and couldn't continue.

then again, a homeless person who is starving might be able to survive another 30 days by eating McDonalds.

then again, someone on MFP can eat McDonalds sometimes but they also eat other foods elsewhere.

That guy was full of crap.

I was traveling last year for three months and ate fast food 3x per day nearly the entire time. I lost 45lbs and felt great.

HollyRed13

Okay so I'm not saying that it was a particularly healthy diet but for like a week a few years ago I spent every single calorie on crap. I would eat four jaffa cake bars as the majority of my food. I was getting vitamins and minerals from a variety of multivitamins, and okay so I was lacking in protien and fibre etc. But in the end a calorie is a calorie. I lost weight that way, I felt fine.

Weight loss is as simple as calories in < calories out. A calorie is a scientific measurement of energy, and they are all equal.

ruejacobs

:laugh: Haha! Something I wonder about myself when stalking open diaries. Everything in life is a choice. I choose myself to fuel my body with healthy natural foods, also I cannot justify or afford wasting money on empty calories. I am no saint though, and give myself slack when the chocolate peanut butter cravings come and go with homemade cookies or Granola.
It is true when you eat healthy ( and get those 8 glasses of water!) your body and skin will thank you.

I have been surprised to find so many people staying under their calorie goal, yet when you see what they eat is shocks me. Yes, they stayed under, BUT they ate crap! Fast food, processed foods, white breads, and soda.

This site is great for calorie counting and nutrition data, but it doesn't teach how to eat to fuel your body the best way possible. You body is not going to burn/use those crap calories the same way healthy foods will. When you eat healthy, your body burns it fast and uses pretty much every bit of that food, but when you eat processed, high sodium and fat foods, you will more then likely store some of that food into fat. Proof? Give a person the same number of calories but one eats all the healthy/clean foods while the other eats the junk. Whose body looks better? Also, it's not just weight gain that's affected, it's your hair and skin health too.

When you eat healthy, you feel healthy

What do YOU think?

Hahaha :laugh: I always wonder why people "stalk" other's people's diaries just to judge them. Makes me wonder exactly how much free time you have on your hands...

Wow. People here seem to be so passionate about what others put on their plates. Maybe I'll hide my profile so no one knows I shared an entire box of mac and cheese with my puppy dog last night! To be fair, that's all I can afford at the moment and the dog did not seem to mind that it was processed crap. Besides, that was my only meal the entire day.
I could see if I was holding a loaded gun to someone's head and forcing them to gag it down, but really, becoming judgmental and self-congratulatory about whether the peas on someone else's plate are organic or frankenfood derived seems to point to deeper mental issues.

Lol.

dixiewk

The horrid, disgusting thing on the right is the product of fast food and ice cream.

Tell your children! Let me be a warning.

If I keep eating fast food and ice cream, I'm going to become a man?! Dammit!

VixenInTraining

Eh whatever. I lost over 60 pounds eating white bread, pasta, bacon, fast food, chips, cookies icecream every farging day. I hate fruits and veggies, never touch them don't plan on it. I have donuts and coffee from dunkin for breakfast, mcdonalds cheeseburg and fries for lunch and then dinner is whatever the heck i feel like. Usually a meat and heaping pile of mashed potatoes. I stayed under my calories every day and BAM 60 pounds gone. My last doctors visit all my bloodwork came back great. Poo on you and your rabbit foodz haha

tigersword

And what in the name of all that's holy is a macro, please? Sounds like something Hubs might put on my computer for playing MMORPGs.

There are three (well, really four if you count alcohol) macros (macronutrient)

Protein, Fats and Carbs.

there r also some laboratory made macros - sugar alcohols. sweet as sugar but about half the cals.

Um no... there isn't.

He's right. Xylitol, sorbitol, etc. These are used in sugar-free gum and syrup, among other things. They taste sweet and are artificial but still have calories. The difference is they're sweeter than sugar so you need less and each molecule has fewer calories to boot. They're mostly found in nature, but produced synthetically.

Those are considered carbs.

carbs have about 4cal per gram. these have less.

Calorie count is irrelevant. Fiber is also considered a carb, yet it has less than 4 calories per gram. A carbohydrate is a molecule containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Sugar alcohols are made from sugar (also a carbohydrate.) Sugar Alcohols are a type of carbohydrate, which is why you will find them under the carbohydrate heading on nutrition labels.

stumblinthrulife

Well, that one guy Morgan Spurlock (i think that was his name) did that 30 day McDonalds ONLY menu, and he ended up getting really sick after about day 27 and couldn't continue.

then again, a homeless person who is starving might be able to survive another 30 days by eating McDonalds.

then again, someone on MFP can eat McDonalds sometimes but they also eat other foods elsewhere.

That guy was full of crap.

I was traveling last year for three months and ate fast food 3x per day nearly the entire time. I lost 45lbs and felt great.

As a contrast to that, for years I ate three to four thousand calories a day of home prepared food, including lots of fruit and vegetables, and got fat and sick. Purely anecdotal evidence, I accept, but these two data points suggest that quantity is far more important than perceived 'quality'.

jonnythan

Well, that one guy Morgan Spurlock (i think that was his name) did that 30 day McDonalds ONLY menu, and he ended up getting really sick after about day 27 and couldn't continue.

then again, a homeless person who is starving might be able to survive another 30 days by eating McDonalds.

then again, someone on MFP can eat McDonalds sometimes but they also eat other foods elsewhere.

That guy was full of crap.

I was traveling last year for three months and ate fast food 3x per day nearly the entire time. I lost 45lbs and felt great.

As a contrast to that, for years I ate three to four thousand calories a day of home prepared food, including lots of fruit and vegetables, and got fat and sick. Purely anecdotal evidence, I accept, but these two data points suggest that quantity is far more important than perceived 'quality'.

Make that 3. Look at my ticker, then look at this graph.

jillybeansalad

I like Coca-Cola. It is worth the calories. I also enjoy carbs. I build muscle (which helps me burn fat).

Moderation and vigilance. I'm going to enjoy my life, even if I break the record for "longest life lived," it's too short.

margaretturk

I agree with what WestCoastPhoe said.


I alsobelieve we all make choices in what we eat. You know yourself best what works for you. I know for myself when I eat more fruits and vegetables and less processed food I do feel better. Is my diet perfect? NOOOOOO! I just try to remember I eat to live rather than live to eat. Life is more fun for me when I feel healthy and strong. To all my fellow MFP may you find the lifestyle diet that works for you. I also appreciate the support I receive on this site.

Cindyinpg

Is this really true? I always thought that all food are alright in moderation, but that it's generally better to eat non processed food because it have more beneficial nutrients compared to, say, McDonalds each day. Is there really no evidence that suggests this?

Well, that one guy Morgan Spurlock (i think that was his name) did that 30 day McDonalds ONLY menu, and he ended up getting really sick after about day 27 and couldn't continue.

then again, a homeless person who is starving might be able to survive another 30 days by eating McDonalds.

then again, someone on MFP can eat McDonalds sometimes but they also eat other foods elsewhere.

Could have something to do with the fact that he was eating 4000+ calories a day.

Yeah, he had to Supersize every time the cashier asked him if he wanted to. The whole 'documentary' was ridiculous and made no point whatsoever except that it is not healthy to be a complete glutton.

stumblinthrulife

I agree with what WestCoastPhoe said.


I alsobelieve we all make choices in what we eat. You know yourself best what works for you. I know for myself when I eat more fruits and vegetables and less processed food I do feel better. Is my diet perfect? NOOOOOO! I just try to remember I eat to live rather than live to eat. Life is more fun for me when I feel healthy and strong. To all my fellow MFP may you find the lifestyle diet that works for you. I also appreciate the support I receive on this site.

That's a healthy attitude, in my opinion. By all means eat clean because you like to and it makes you feel better. But don't do it because you feel you have to, and don't try to shame others into doing the same.

stumblinthrulife

Is this really true? I always thought that all food are alright in moderation, but that it's generally better to eat non processed food because it have more beneficial nutrients compared to, say, McDonalds each day. Is there really no evidence that suggests this?

Well, that one guy Morgan Spurlock (i think that was his name) did that 30 day McDonalds ONLY menu, and he ended up getting really sick after about day 27 and couldn't continue.

then again, a homeless person who is starving might be able to survive another 30 days by eating McDonalds.

then again, someone on MFP can eat McDonalds sometimes but they also eat other foods elsewhere.

Could have something to do with the fact that he was eating 4000+ calories a day.

Yeah, he had to Supersize every time the cashier asked him if he wanted to. The whole 'documentary' was ridiculous and made no point whatsoever except that it is not healthy to be a complete glutton.

Yep. It was completely unscientific because it didn't isolate food choice from quantity consumed.

Sarauk2sf

I love the people who actually debated this, but for those who exploded with defensiveness and hate, makes me see a nerve was hit in a big way...I wonder why that is.

I think it could be because you are seeing what you want to see.

Sarauk2sf

And what in the name of all that's holy is a macro, please? Sounds like something Hubs might put on my computer for playing MMORPGs.

There are three (well, really four if you count alcohol) macros (macronutrient)

Protein, Fats and Carbs.

there r also some laboratory made macros - sugar alcohols. sweet as sugar but about half the cals.

Already been mentioned - but they are still considered carbs.

baptiste565

And what in the name of all that's holy is a macro, please? Sounds like something Hubs might put on my computer for playing MMORPGs.

There are three (well, really four if you count alcohol) macros (macronutrient)

Protein, Fats and Carbs.

there r also some laboratory made macros - sugar alcohols. sweet as sugar but about half the cals.

Um no... there isn't.

He's right. Xylitol, sorbitol, etc. These are used in sugar-free gum and syrup, among other things. They taste sweet and are artificial but still have calories. The difference is they're sweeter than sugar so you need less and each molecule has fewer calories to boot. They're mostly found in nature, but produced synthetically.

Those are considered carbs.

carbs have about 4cal per gram. these have less.

Calorie count is irrelevant. Fiber is also considered a carb, yet it has less than 4 calories per gram. A carbohydrate is a molecule containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Sugar alcohols are made from sugar (also a carbohydrate.) Sugar Alcohols are a type of carbohydrate, which is why you will find them under the carbohydrate heading on nutrition labels.

sorry, not correct. fiber is a carb so it has 4 cals. it is just that r bodies do not digest it well to get all the cals from it. sugar alcohols are a kind alcohol made from carbs. the alcohol that we drink is made from carbs but it is not a carb. it is ethyl alcohol 7cals per gram.

stumblinthrulife

Ever notice that its almost always relative newbies claiming that it's essential to eat clean, and old-timers who have lost 50+ pounds saying that it's rubbish. That speaks volumes if you ask me.