Question about the QUALITY (not the QUANTITY) of calories

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Replies

  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    well, im more of a ford excursion v-10... I run just as good with the cheap stuff... whether its premium or not, im still only getting 8 miles to the gallon...
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    well, im more of a ford excursion v-10... I run just as good with the cheap stuff... whether its premium or not, im still only getting 8 miles to the gallon...

    You actually get FEWER mpg with premium gasoline. Not a big difference, but it's measurable.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    From personal experience I can manipulate my weight by adjusting calories whether I am eating junk or "healthy" foods.

    BUT also from personal experience I feel 100x better when eating real food. The bulk of which being whole fruit, veggies, rice, meats, fish etc.

    As a kid I used to eat pretend food from miniature Tupperware. It no longer satiates, and I forgot what it even tastes like. Real food FTW.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
    Would you buy a lamborgini and use the cheapest gas there is? Or would you cherish it and use the premium gas and get oil changes every 3000 miles? Sure, the cheap gas works, but the premium is SO much better and it helps the longevity of the car

    Just a bad analogy. Who decides which calories are the premium gas, and which are the regular unleaded gas? Wouldn't you consider a pro level athlete more towards the Lambo end of cars, and they fuel themselves with much different food than the normal person? Wouldn't you use like a honda accord as an example, it runs the same off of all levels of gas, if you are putting the higher stuff in you are just wasting your money? Also a Lambo needs it's oil changed every 7500 miles.


    Chad Johnson/Ochocinco was, in his day, one of the elite NFL WRs. He ate McDonald's every day on his way to practice. The "cheap gas" seemed to work just fine for him.
    I agree, this is not a good analogy. Your body is more like a Mr. Fusion and runs on pretty much anything as long as the constituents it needs are there. Evolution rewarded that ability handsomely.

    Michael Phelps is an elite athlete, and this is what he eats:
    Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.

    Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.

    Dinner: One pound of pasta. An entire pizza. More energy drinks.

    That *kitten*.
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  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    well, im more of a ford excursion v-10... I run just as good with the cheap stuff... whether its premium or not, im still only getting 8 miles to the gallon...

    You actually get FEWER mpg with premium gasoline. Not a big difference, but it's measurable.
    It does depend on the vehicle. Modern turbo vehicles that can run on regular unleaded get better mileage on premium. I'd imagine it's because the car has to run so rich to cool the charge and retard ignition timing to prevent detonation with the lower octane gas.

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  • Quieau
    Quieau Posts: 428 Member
    There is still more we don't know about medical science than what we do know. I found out in my LATE 40S that fruits/veggies/nuts/whole grains are toxic to my body (hyperoxaluria) and that carbs/sugar are my medicine that make me feel great (porphyria) ... after decades of punishing my body and putting it through hell trying to conform to what the doctors said was best!

    That said, micronutrients and macronutrients are food; MSG and other additives are NOT food and do not belong in our diet. While they may not affect the caloric burn, they do affect many of the other issues around eating and weight, and are best avoided entirely if not minimized severely. (MSGTruth.org)

    There is no ONE formula for every body, for neither weight loss nor for "good health."
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    You should look up what MSG actually is. It is a food. Glutamate is an amino acid. MSG provides calories. Not a lot because there isn't that much in any food, but it is essentially protein.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Same weight loss, but you will lose more muscle mass eating just the junk
    Oh really? Do tell how this magical loss of muscle mass takes place if macros are held constant. Any how do you define "junk".
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    I believe everything I read on any domain name with the word "truth" in it.
  • paleojoe
    paleojoe Posts: 442 Member
    I believe everything I read on any domain name with the word "truth" in it.

    or "secret" for that matter...
  • misterwah
    misterwah Posts: 61 Member
    I believe a calorie is a calorie as far as weightloss goes, but in terms of wellbeing, energy and body composition, macros is where its at.
    Well said.
  • cathyg321
    cathyg321 Posts: 155 Member
    Do we know each other? :laugh: :laugh:

    Excluding the last sentence, this is MY story... how did you know?
    When I first lost weight I ate whatever I wanted with in my calorie means and I lost weight. Then I switched to eating more balanced. I felt better overall, I still lost weight, but not fast.

    The other thing I learned about myself is if I over exercised (I was training for a marathon) I NEVER lost weight or inches, no matter how many calories I burned or how I ate. Over exercising causes me to have a suppressed immune system making me sick.
  • erialcelyob
    erialcelyob Posts: 341 Member
    The difference I find is that when I eat clean I feel more spritely, better skin, regular bowels (yep I said that) and on the whole I am just happier and feel stronger :)
  • RaineyLaney
    RaineyLaney Posts: 605 Member
    My take on this:

    Yes, if you only ate either all healthy or all garbage foods, and even if you mix the two catagories up, it still would be 1500 calories and you would probably lose the same weight. (This is with "zero" exercising.

    Now if you ate the same as above, but added exercising, I would say the healthy eating would lose more, the mix, would lose the next and garbage, would probably not lose much at all. Why???

    Eating healthy gives you the nutrients / vitamins your body needs. Thus making you more energetic, ready to get up out of the chair and move. You want to dance, feel good about yourself etc. Your body would most likely not need as much sleep either.

    The mixing both catagories, would make you feel a bit energetic, so you may want to get up off the couch and go for a short walk and maybe a little more, but your energy would not be as strong willed as it would if eating nothing but healthy foods. You probably would sleep a little more than you should too.

    Now just eating garbage foods, You probably would not exercise, If forced yourself, you would get depressed, due to no energy and feeling, you just can not do this. You will feel sluggish, depressed because you feel sluggish etc, you would probably convert to eating more garbage foods and either playing computer games and / or watching TV. You also would most likely sleep more.


    So yes a calorie is a calorie, but food is not all the same in nutrients / vitamins.

    My own experience is, I do much better eating healthy. I have so much energy to burn. I find I want to get up and get moving. If I slack off and start to eat garbage foods, I get that sluggish feeling and find myself talking myself out of doing exercising. As soon as I start to eat lots of veggies and over all healthy. I again have energy to burn and with that energy comes better weight loss.

    By eating healthy for me, I "try" to at least eat 3 servings of veggies, 3 servings of fruits (slack here due to being diabetic some days), 1 serving of either bread or cereal, 2 servings of dairy (usually cottage cheese, yogurt, almond milk) and 5 servings of meat (3oz serving meat, cheese (count this as meat) eggs) and 1 fat a day if I desire (mayo, butter, oil etc).

    You said you had a hard time with just salad and green beans.. In my book that is just a fad diet, not healthy eating, It is not rounded out like in the food pyramid.

    I have an open food diary to all... take a peek to what I call "Healthy eating"
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
    Will a person lose weight at the same rate if you eat 1500 cals of bacon and donuts per day, as if you ate 1500 cals of healthy foods (veggies, lean proteins, grains, whatever you deem to be healthy)?

    People always say "calories in, calories out" but I wonder if it is really true. I know everyone has a theory, but does anyone have an actual personal experience where they changed from eating "whatever they wanted" to "eating clean" or "eating healthy," or changed in the reverse direction (possibly when starting to maintain?)
    The quality of your diet makes all the difference,and here are the factors as to why that is:
    1) Calorie density versus satiety. If you eat foods that give you tons of calories without any fiber or water, you will still be hungry.

    2) Efficiency. You body will burn more calories after fruit and vegetable meal, versus a fatty meal.

    3) Micro-nutrients. When you are eating fresh fruit and vegetables, you will be getting the micro nutrients that you need. If you are eating crap food, not only are you not getting near as many, but you are also using your nutrient reserves to process the crap food. Having nutrient deficiencies leads to hunger, among other things.

    4) Toxicity. Many of the "less than ideal" foods are toxic, or create toxic by-products in the body during digestion.

    Anyone who says something to the effect of "eating 100 calories of bacon or bread is the exact same thing as eating 100 calories of cantaloupe of romaine" is seriously deluding themselves.
  • colortheworld
    colortheworld Posts: 374 Member
    I eat whatever I want, if it fits in my daily calories. I naturally gravitate towards healthier foods, but that's what I was raised on and I have more energy when I eat veggies as opposed to doughnuts. I also eat more veggies simply because they're lower calorie so I can eat more of them. And personally more food is better. :flowerforyou:
  • colortheworld
    colortheworld Posts: 374 Member
    Will a person lose weight at the same rate if you eat 1500 cals of bacon and donuts per day, as if you ate 1500 cals of healthy foods (veggies, lean proteins, grains, whatever you deem to be healthy)?

    People always say "calories in, calories out" but I wonder if it is really true. I know everyone has a theory, but does anyone have an actual personal experience where they changed from eating "whatever they wanted" to "eating clean" or "eating healthy," or changed in the reverse direction (possibly when starting to maintain?)
    The quality of your diet makes all the difference,and here are the factors as to why that is:
    1) Calorie density versus satiety. If you eat foods that give you tons of calories without any fiber or water, you will still be hungry.

    2) Efficiency. You body will burn more calories after fruit and vegetable meal, versus a fatty meal.

    3) Micro-nutrients. When you are eating fresh fruit and vegetables, you will be getting the micro nutrients that you need. If you are eating crap food, not only are you not getting near as many, but you are also using your nutrient reserves to process the crap food. Having nutrient deficiencies leads to hunger, among other things.

    4) Toxicity. Many of the "less than ideal" foods are toxic, or create toxic by-products in the body during digestion.

    Anyone who says something to the effect of "eating 100 calories of bacon or bread is the exact same thing as eating 100 calories of cantaloupe of romaine" is seriously deluding themselves.

    Also, this.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    From various studies I've seen etc, it seems that exercise plays a good role in mitigating diet.

    So if you're not particularly fit, don't do much exercise, then yes it is important to not eat too many simple carbs etc.
    If you are reasonably fit and do regular exercise, it seems to be less of an issue - presumably your body is already working well.

    One problem in the 'health' community/industry is that there's an awful lot of data, but often that data may only relate to fairly narrow selections of people - however a lot take it as gospel for all.
  • Joanne_Moniz
    Joanne_Moniz Posts: 347 Member
    I believe that excessive sugar and fat are bad for you, however my question isn't about whether certain things are good/bad/stupid/healthy to eat, my question is just on basic biology/physiology etc.

    Question: (this is for the sake of argument, and I am not intending to try EITHER extremes of diet)

    Will a person lose weight at the same rate if you eat 1500 cals of bacon and donuts per day, as if you ate 1500 cals of healthy foods (veggies, lean proteins, grains, whatever you deem to be healthy)?

    People always say "calories in, calories out" but I wonder if it is really true. I know everyone has a theory, but does anyone have an actual personal experience where they changed from eating "whatever they wanted" to "eating clean" or "eating healthy," or changed in the reverse direction (possibly when starting to maintain?)

    I know everyone likes to quote "calories in, calories out," but I am interested in personal experience instead of ideas and theories and internet blogs. Anyone with personal experience in changing the QUALITY of their diet, please tell me: when you changed the QUALITY of your diet, in what way did you change your diet, how did it affect your weight loss, if at all?

    Just curious to what people's actual experiences have been with this.

    Thanks in advance!

    Voodoo Lady
  • Ibleedlipstick
    Ibleedlipstick Posts: 33 Member
    For me, calories in = calories out. I have lost weight eating nothing but healthy food, and I have lost weight by counting calories alone and eating tons of junk food, both with and without exercise. I have found that I am better able to maintain if I don't try to cut out all junk food, because I have a tendency to fall off the "perfect" bandwagon pretty easily.
  • Joanne_Moniz
    Joanne_Moniz Posts: 347 Member
    It is easy to see who the trolls are. They have thousands of posts. But sometimes they make new identities. The same person has many identities. MFP advises to report these people.

    There are many people who believe that it is possible that the food industry places people on these sites... food for thought.
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
    It is easy to see who the trolls are. They have thousands of posts. But sometimes they make new identities. The same person has many identities. MFP advises to report these people.

    There are many people who believe that it is possible that the food industry places people on these sites... food for thought.
    THIS!!!
  • mamadon
    mamadon Posts: 1,422 Member
    I eat whatever I want as long as it is in my calorie range. Someone of it is healthy, but I do eat fast food, pre packaged foods and "junk food" almost every day. Like so many others say over and over and over again, calories in- calories out.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    I've lost over 40 lbs eating whatever I wanted: ice cream, bacon, burgers, pizza...all in moderation. Unless you have a health condition, that's all you need for weight loss. Really.
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
    It is easy to see who the trolls are. They have thousands of posts. But sometimes they make new identities. The same person has many identities. MFP advises to report these people.

    There are many people who believe that it is possible that the food industry places people on these sites... food for thought.

    Food for the David Icke school of thought #justsayin
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Will a person lose weight at the same rate if you eat 1500 cals of bacon and donuts per day, as if you ate 1500 cals of healthy foods (veggies, lean proteins, grains, whatever you deem to be healthy)?

    Presuming minimum nutritional needs have been met in both diets and lack of medical conditions it will be the same.

    In reality though it's just a thought experiment.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,222 Member
    It is easy to see who the trolls are. They have thousands of posts. But sometimes they make new identities. The same person has many identities. MFP advises to report these people.

    There are many people who believe that it is possible that the food industry places people on these sites... food for thought.
    As well, this insidious group of people also use humans in their research, true story.
  • ElegantSlenderChic
    ElegantSlenderChic Posts: 41 Member
    Changing the quality of calories impacts my health and happiness.

    Changing the quantity of calories impacts my weight.

    Simplicity at its best.

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