All calories ARE NOT created equal !!!

neanderthin

Calories in VS. Calories out is not TRUE! :noway: I was staying under calories (strictly) & working out hard (whats considered hard for me. lol.), but eating whatever I wanted. That didn't work. I was losing really slowly and weight would fluctuate like crazy. ie, gain few lbs, lose them back, then lose half a lb from where i started. It was crazy. I was also crazy hungry all the time. :explode: Ok, cut down a little on the carbs, now I am back on track. :drinker: I am not even working out as hard and still losing more weight :laugh: . Now that I have cut the carbs down to one carb- enriched meal per day, for the last week or so, the weight loss is more steady and consistent. Everyone's body is different. Some people do well eating lots of carbs, and still lose, as long as they stay under their calories. Not me! Some have Weight/ Bloating issues eating a lot of meat, protein, or consuming a lot of sodium.
Considering I am a controlled diabetic (I don't take meds b/c my blood sugar is regulated now that I have lost weight.) my body still does not like a lot of carbohydrates (sugar). It does not process and break them down well. Carbs turn straight to stored fat in our bodies. Our bodies burn a protein for fuel before it will chooses a carb for fuel. It will just store the carb as fat. Now I am consuming more protein. I am not on any low carb plan, I am just eating what for one meal per day, then the other meals are mainly, meat & low carb veggies.
So find out what your body's glitch is. If you are struggling with the scale and you seem to be doing everything right, do a process of elimination to your diet. Not cutting things out, but decreasing your consumption of that particular culprit, whether it be protein (meat), carbs (bread, pasta, rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, sweets, sugar, milk, peas), gassy veggies, etc.

A few things... You have no open diary, and if I'm willing to bet... its because you don't track accurately. Beyond that, I'm fairly certain the reason you're now seeing weightloss is because you created a larger deficit via the eliminations of carbs and not replacing those calories under other macros.

ding ding ding...we have a winner...

I would also add that since OP is diabetic he/she obviously has a medical condition that would make them sensitive carbs; hence, cutting back on carbs would make sense...

but at the end of the day, a calorie is a unit of energy.

Yes, that was the purpose of the subject. Not necessarily that a calorie is not a calorie. just that i don't process and burn calories the same as the next man would. My calories look different than your calories b/c of the way my body produces insulin, which by the way if an insulin sensitive person eats too much carb/sugar/glucose, their body will secret more insulin, which encourages fat storage!!!

No, insulin is there to drive nutrients to their respective compartments and only when you're in a caloric surplus and after glycogen is completely full will extra energy from those carbs be stored as adipose tissue. Your insulin resistant not insulin sensitive, and one fix for diabetes is to become for insulin sensitive and a good way to accomplish that is by reducing weight and exercising.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Calories in VS. Calories out is not TRUE! :noway: I was staying under calories (strictly) & working out hard (whats considered hard for me. lol.), but eating whatever I wanted. That didn't work. I was losing really slowly and weight would fluctuate like crazy. ie, gain few lbs, lose them back, then lose half a lb from where i started. It was crazy. I was also crazy hungry all the time. :explode: Ok, cut down a little on the carbs, now I am back on track. :drinker: I am not even working out as hard and still losing more weight :laugh: . Now that I have cut the carbs down to one carb- enriched meal per day, for the last week or so, the weight loss is more steady and consistent. Everyone's body is different. Some people do well eating lots of carbs, and still lose, as long as they stay under their calories. Not me! Some have Weight/ Bloating issues eating a lot of meat, protein, or consuming a lot of sodium.
Considering I am a controlled diabetic (I don't take meds b/c my blood sugar is regulated now that I have lost weight.) my body still does not like a lot of carbohydrates (sugar). It does not process and break them down well. Carbs turn straight to stored fat in our bodies. Our bodies burn a protein for fuel before it will chooses a carb for fuel. It will just store the carb as fat. Now I am consuming more protein. I am not on any low carb plan, I am just eating what for one meal per day, then the other meals are mainly, meat & low carb veggies.
So find out what your body's glitch is. If you are struggling with the scale and you seem to be doing everything right, do a process of elimination to your diet. Not cutting things out, but decreasing your consumption of that particular culprit, whether it be protein (meat), carbs (bread, pasta, rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, sweets, sugar, milk, peas), gassy veggies, etc.

A few things... You have no open diary, and if I'm willing to bet... its because you don't track accurately. Beyond that, I'm fairly certain the reason you're now seeing weightloss is because you created a larger deficit via the eliminations of carbs and not replacing those calories under other macros.

ding ding ding...we have a winner...

I would also add that since OP is diabetic he/she obviously has a medical condition that would make them sensitive carbs; hence, cutting back on carbs would make sense...

but at the end of the day, a calorie is a unit of energy.

Yes, that was the purpose of the subject. Not necessarily that a calorie is not a calorie. just that i don't process and burn calories the same as the next man would. My calories look different than your calories b/c of the way my body produces insulin, which by the way if an insulin sensitive person eats too much carb/sugar/glucose, their body will secret more insulin, which encourages fat storage!!!

You still don't understand the digestion process.

Holly_Roman_Empire

ok, to all of you debaters, I am not saying calories don't matter, everyone knows a calorie is a calorie. come on. It was a play on my own words. Calories do matter. gosh. but MY body does not respond well to in-taking half of my calories in carbs vs. protein. Really, come on, this was not to be taken Literally. I know what works for me 1200 cals of lower carb options Vs. 1200 cal of high carb. My goodness. 10+ pages wow, seems like some live to argue. ok it's ok. all of you are apparently right, in your own way. have a nice rest of your life losing weight :flowerforyou:

Actually that's exactly what you said knowing full well that people who know better would debate it.

Then that brings in others who agree with your "statement" to back you up and then the debate continues.

If you didn't want this you would have titled this thread "What worked for me" or "How I feel about carbs because of my issues"

There is no "sarcasm" font or "Please don't take this literally font" so you have to mean what you say and say what you mean otherwise people see what you type and take it that's what you meant.

btw my brother is a diabetic and has been for over 40 years and he eats his good amount of carbs and protien etc and guess what he's not fat...never has been so being a diabetic and not being able to eat carbs are not exclusive to each other...

Over eating carbs causes weight gain not carbs in diabetics.

+1

necee99

I love these threads... especially when we talk about 1200 calories of cookies and ice cream (delicious) vs broccoli (smelly), because everyone eats like that. I would suggest instead of putting blinders on and trying to correlate a portion of the diet to a cause of weight gain or causing a plateau, that we actually take a holistic view towards nutrition. How long have you tried a method? Is a food scale used? How are your calculating your total calorie need as well as your TDEE? And how do medical conditions effect your outcomes. It's well known that many diabetics have to watch carbs, as do women with PCOS (with insulin resistance) but because 10% of this community has medical issues (to include my wife who has Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome which comes with a gluten intolerance) does NOT mean you can apply that to a community at large. For 90% of us, macronutrient management is for performance and composition. Outside of that, we all follow the law of thermodynamics. The biggest issue is understanding where the starting point is (BMR) and maintenance calories are (TDEE); this is where it takes time (many months) of data to conclude.

I totally agree! I tried this method 2 years ago when I lost 70 lbs. (cutting down, Not cutting Out Carbs) I lost weight well. This was a life style change not a diet. Then a year later I figured I could eat what I wanted like everyone else as long as I exercised and stayed under calories, use a food scale, I would still lose. But that did not work. So when I finally saw that the amount of high carb intake, Not the amount of calories was my problem. Light bulbs went off. and i had my ta-da moment. I know others are going through what i am. so i am back to what works. now i know for sure i am different than those 90 percent who can eat 1200 calories of what-ever vs. my 1200 of controlled protein 60% carb 40% ratio.

jonnythan

I totally agree! I tried this method 2 years ago when I lost 70 lbs. (cutting down, Not cutting Out Carbs) I lost weight well. This was a life style change not a diet. Then a year later I figured I could eat what I wanted like everyone else as long as I exercised and stayed under calories, use a food scale, I would still lose. But that did not work. So when I finally saw that the amount of high carb intake, Not the amount of calories was my problem. Light bulbs went off. and i had my ta-da moment. I know others are going through what i am. so i am back to what works. now i know for sure i am different than those 90 percent who can eat 1200 calories of what-ever vs. my 1200 of controlled protein 60% carb 40% ratio.

If you failed to lose weight, it's not because your macro ratios were off.

psuLemon

I love these threads... especially when we talk about 1200 calories of cookies and ice cream (delicious) vs broccoli (smelly), because everyone eats like that. I would suggest instead of putting blinders on and trying to correlate a portion of the diet to a cause of weight gain or causing a plateau, that we actually take a holistic view towards nutrition. How long have you tried a method? Is a food scale used? How are your calculating your total calorie need as well as your TDEE? And how do medical conditions effect your outcomes. It's well known that many diabetics have to watch carbs, as do women with PCOS (with insulin resistance) but because 10% of this community has medical issues (to include my wife who has Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome which comes with a gluten intolerance) does NOT mean you can apply that to a community at large. For 90% of us, macronutrient management is for performance and composition. Outside of that, we all follow the law of thermodynamics. The biggest issue is understanding where the starting point is (BMR) and maintenance calories are (TDEE); this is where it takes time (many months) of data to conclude.

I totally agree! I tried this method 2 years ago when I lost 70 lbs. (cutting down, Not cutting Out Carbs) I lost weight well. This was a life style change not a diet. Then a year later I figured I could eat what I wanted like everyone else as long as I exercised and stayed under calories, use a food scale, I would still lose. But that did not work. So when I finally saw that the amount of high carb intake, Not the amount of calories was my problem. Light bulbs went off. and i had my ta-da moment. I know others are going through what i am. so i am back to what works. now i know for sure i am different than those 90 percent who can eat 1200 calories of what-ever vs. my 1200 of controlled protein 60% carb 40% ratio.

If you are eating 40% of your calories from carbs, you align to the majority of our members. While your grams would be lower due to the lower calorie value, the ratio is the same. I eat 40% of my calories carbs but I eat 2400+ calories.

fruttibiscotti

I love these threads... especially when we talk about 1200 calories of cookies and ice cream (delicious) vs broccoli (smelly), because everyone eats like that. I would suggest instead of putting blinders on and trying to correlate a portion of the diet to a cause of weight gain or causing a plateau, that we actually take a holistic view towards nutrition. How long have you tried a method? Is a food scale used? How are your calculating your total calorie need as well as your TDEE? And how do medical conditions effect your outcomes. It's well known that many diabetics have to watch carbs, as do women with PCOS (with insulin resistance) but because 10% of this community has medical issues (to include my wife who has Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome which comes with a gluten intolerance) does NOT mean you can apply that to a community at large. For 90% of us, macronutrient management is for performance and composition. Outside of that, we all follow the law of thermodynamics. The biggest issue is understanding where the starting point is (BMR) and maintenance calories are (TDEE); this is where it takes time (many months) of data to conclude.

I totally agree! I tried this method 2 years ago when I lost 70 lbs. (cutting down, Not cutting Out Carbs) I lost weight well. This was a life style change not a diet. Then a year later I figured I could eat what I wanted like everyone else as long as I exercised and stayed under calories, use a food scale, I would still lose. But that did not work. So when I finally saw that the amount of high carb intake, Not the amount of calories was my problem. Light bulbs went off. and i had my ta-da moment. I know others are going through what i am. so i am back to what works. now i know for sure i am different than those 90 percent who can eat 1200 calories of what-ever vs. my 1200 of controlled protein 60% carb 40% ratio.

If you are eating 40% of your calories from carbs, you align to the majority of our members. While your grams would be lower due to the lower calorie value, the ratio is the same. I eat 40% of my calories carbs but I eat 2400+ calories.

Psulemon, can you provide the link to the source that supports your statement? I'd like to see this data. Thanks for your help.

psuLemon

I love these threads... especially when we talk about 1200 calories of cookies and ice cream (delicious) vs broccoli (smelly), because everyone eats like that. I would suggest instead of putting blinders on and trying to correlate a portion of the diet to a cause of weight gain or causing a plateau, that we actually take a holistic view towards nutrition. How long have you tried a method? Is a food scale used? How are your calculating your total calorie need as well as your TDEE? And how do medical conditions effect your outcomes. It's well known that many diabetics have to watch carbs, as do women with PCOS (with insulin resistance) but because 10% of this community has medical issues (to include my wife who has Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome which comes with a gluten intolerance) does NOT mean you can apply that to a community at large. For 90% of us, macronutrient management is for performance and composition. Outside of that, we all follow the law of thermodynamics. The biggest issue is understanding where the starting point is (BMR) and maintenance calories are (TDEE); this is where it takes time (many months) of data to conclude.

I totally agree! I tried this method 2 years ago when I lost 70 lbs. (cutting down, Not cutting Out Carbs) I lost weight well. This was a life style change not a diet. Then a year later I figured I could eat what I wanted like everyone else as long as I exercised and stayed under calories, use a food scale, I would still lose. But that did not work. So when I finally saw that the amount of high carb intake, Not the amount of calories was my problem. Light bulbs went off. and i had my ta-da moment. I know others are going through what i am. so i am back to what works. now i know for sure i am different than those 90 percent who can eat 1200 calories of what-ever vs. my 1200 of controlled protein 60% carb 40% ratio.

If you are eating 40% of your calories from carbs, you align to the majority of our members. While your grams would be lower due to the lower calorie value, the ratio is the same. I eat 40% of my calories carbs but I eat 2400+ calories.

Psulemon, can you provide the link to the source that supports your statement? I'd like to see this data. Thanks for your help.

I would suggest starting a thread asking everyone's macro and developing a spreadsheet (or if you like, I can create the thread and you can follow???). Because the majority of threads I am in, there is a common theme with macro (40/30/30 or 30/40/30). And as you can see, I am quite a post *kitten* on this forum. :laugh:

If you like, I can change the previous statement to " you align to the majority of members from my experience", if it will make you happier? Because this wasn't a science based statement, this was an observation.. just like the majority of women I know eat 1700-2100 calories to lose weight. And then I say, see below.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/506349-women-who-eat-more-than-1800-calories-a-day

ILoveBreakfast671

So 60% protein 40% carbs.

Why is there no room for fat.

jonnythan

So 60% protein 40% carbs.

Why is there no room for fat.

Because FAT.

Duh.

missomgitsica

A calorie is a calorie, your issue is with carbs. Seriously, most pointless rant I've ever read, MFP or otherwise.

jkwolly

What the hell does 1,200 calories of broccoli look like? :noway:

:noway:

heybales

What the hell does 1,200 calories of broccoli look like? :noway:

:noway:

Vile weed!

I_Atent_Dead

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever done a study with two groups of humans where both groups stick to their calories/macros and the only difference is the food choices? For example, group 1 eats completely paleo (while still hitting their calories/macros) and group 2 just eats whatever food fits their calories/macros.

Seems like this would save a lot of time in debates..

To the OP: Your post is damaging because it is confusing people. Even if what you're saying is true for you specifically, it isn't true for the majority of people. The constant barrage of misinformation is really horrible.. You could cause people to waste YEARS yo-yo dieting.

tigersword

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever done a study with two groups of humans where both groups stick to their calories/macros and the only difference is the food choices? For example, group 1 eats completely paleo (while still hitting their calories/macros) and group 2 just eats whatever food fits their calories/macros.

Seems like this would save a lot of time in debates..

To the OP: Your post is damaging because it is confusing people. Even if what you're saying is true for you specifically, it isn't true for the majority of people. The constant barrage of misinformation is really horrible.. You could cause people to waste YEARS yo-yo dieting.

There have been several studies like that. They all show that individual diets are irrelevant, as weight loss is statistically similar, no matter what the macro ratio is, provided protein and calories are constant.

Sabine_Stroehm

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever done a study with two groups of humans where both groups stick to their calories/macros and the only difference is the food choices? For example, group 1 eats completely paleo (while still hitting their calories/macros) and group 2 just eats whatever food fits their calories/macros.

Seems like this would save a lot of time in debates..

To the OP: Your post is damaging because it is confusing people. Even if what you're saying is true for you specifically, it isn't true for the majority of people. The constant barrage of misinformation is really horrible.. You could cause people to waste YEARS yo-yo dieting.

There have been several studies like that. They all show that individual diets are irrelevant, as weight loss is statistically similar, no matter what the macro ratio is, provided protein and calories are constant.

Protein? Which studies?

Sabine_Stroehm

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever done a study with two groups of humans where both groups stick to their calories/macros and the only difference is the food choices? For example, group 1 eats completely paleo (while still hitting their calories/macros) and group 2 just eats whatever food fits their calories/macros.

Seems like this would save a lot of time in debates..

To the OP: Your post is damaging because it is confusing people. Even if what you're saying is true for you specifically, it isn't true for the majority of people. The constant barrage of misinformation is really horrible.. You could cause people to waste YEARS yo-yo dieting.

Hyperbole much?

jonnythan

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever done a study with two groups of humans where both groups stick to their calories/macros and the only difference is the food choices? For example, group 1 eats completely paleo (while still hitting their calories/macros) and group 2 just eats whatever food fits their calories/macros.

Seems like this would save a lot of time in debates..

To the OP: Your post is damaging because it is confusing people. Even if what you're saying is true for you specifically, it isn't true for the majority of people. The constant barrage of misinformation is really horrible.. You could cause people to waste YEARS yo-yo dieting.

Hyperbole much?

No, not hyperbole at all. I literally see people who have failed because they believed stuff like the OP every single day.

People who believe that there are good calories and bad calories, good foods and bad foods, good carbs and bad carbs. People who are, as a result of those like you and the OP, convinced that they must give up foods they love to succeed.

Sabine_Stroehm

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever done a study with two groups of humans where both groups stick to their calories/macros and the only difference is the food choices? For example, group 1 eats completely paleo (while still hitting their calories/macros) and group 2 just eats whatever food fits their calories/macros.

Seems like this would save a lot of time in debates..

To the OP: Your post is damaging because it is confusing people. Even if what you're saying is true for you specifically, it isn't true for the majority of people. The constant barrage of misinformation is really horrible.. You could cause people to waste YEARS yo-yo dieting.

Hyperbole much?

No, not hyperbole at all. I literally see people who have failed because they believed stuff like the OP every single day.

People who believe that there are good calories and bad calories, good foods and bad foods, good carbs and bad carbs. People who are, as a result of those like you and the OP, convinced that they must give up foods they love to succeed.

Ridiculous. The OP is not responsible for legions of people yo-yo dieting.
I know SOME folks believe every word they post is gospel. But please.

jonnythan

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever done a study with two groups of humans where both groups stick to their calories/macros and the only difference is the food choices? For example, group 1 eats completely paleo (while still hitting their calories/macros) and group 2 just eats whatever food fits their calories/macros.

Seems like this would save a lot of time in debates..

To the OP: Your post is damaging because it is confusing people. Even if what you're saying is true for you specifically, it isn't true for the majority of people. The constant barrage of misinformation is really horrible.. You could cause people to waste YEARS yo-yo dieting.

Hyperbole much?

No, not hyperbole at all. I literally see people who have failed because they believed stuff like the OP every single day.

People who believe that there are good calories and bad calories, good foods and bad foods, good carbs and bad carbs. People who are, as a result of those like you and the OP, convinced that they must give up foods they love to succeed.

Ridiculous. The OP is not responsible for legions of people yo-yo dieting.
I know SOME folks believe every word they post is gospel. But please.

The hyperbole is coming from you. No one said the OP is personally responsible for "legions" of people yo-yo dieting.

The misinformation in the OP is what is damaging, and having one more person repeat it on the forums is damaging because it contributes to the problem.