whats more important

javid0

People say you can eat whatever you like as long as your in a deficit you will lose weight, so if i ate 4 snickers bars and stayed in a deficit i would lose weight? so what about the high amounts of sugar and fat? the snickers bar has 20g sugar , and 15g fat , and its 260 calories, so if i ate 4 witch would be 1040 calories, and my deficit calories are 2000 , that means i have 960 calories left to eat anything? so the question is , why doesn't the high amounts of fat and sugar matter ? so i can eat foods in high sugar and fat (unhealthy foods) and still lose weight ? so the calories is all i should count? so why dont people just eat unhealthy but stay in a deficit their still going to lose weight?

WBB55

If all you care about is losing weight on a scale, then yes, calories are all that matter.

If you want to be healthy, live an active life, be in a good mood, have healthy skin and hair, live past 45, then maybe it matters what those calories are.

cwolfman13

People say you can eat whatever you like as long as your in a deficit you will lose weight, so if i ate 4 snickers bars and stayed in a deficit i would lose weight? so what about the high amounts of sugar and fat? the snickers bar has 20g sugar , and 15g fat , and its 260 calories, so if i ate 4 witch would be 1040 calories, and my deficit calories are 2000 , that means i have 960 calories left to eat anything? so the question is , why doesn't the high amounts of fat and sugar matter ? so i can eat foods in high sugar and fat (unhealthy foods) and still lose weight ? so the calories is all i should count? so why dont people just eat unhealthy but stay in a deficit their still going to lose weight?

sugar and fat don't make you fat. over consumption of energy (calories) causes that energy to be stored for later use...your fat stores are energy stores.

people don't just eat snickers bars and nothing else because that would be pretty frackin' stupid don't you think? I mean just from a basic understanding of general nutrition that would be stupid. also, it wouldn't be exactly satisfying/satiating and likely one would have substantial difficulty with dietary adherence.

I'm not sure if you're actually asking a serious question or just being a *kitten*...it's hard to tell these days on MFP. In case you are actually being serious and have zero understanding of even basic nutritional needs I will tell you to eat a balanced diet that is rich in nutrient dense whole foods...plenty of fruit and veg, lean proteins, and healthy fats from things like nuts, avocados, olives and olive oils, coconut oil, etc...all the while taking some time to enjoy a slice of pizza here and there or some ice cream once your nutritional needs have been met. You don't get extra credit for more broccoli once those needs have been met.

Ninkyou

Ever heard of the Twinkie diet?

Yes, you could just eat junk, stay in your deficit and lose weight.

But that's not very healthy. Your body still needs it's other macronutrients, especially Protein (to preserve lean muscle mass), Carbs (for energy), fat, etc.

This is why we say everything in moderation. There's no reason you can't have a snickers bar, as long as you are giving your body the proper nutrition it needs.

I have ice cream every night. But you can be sure that I'm having lean proteins, vegetables, whole grains, dairy etc during the rest of the day.

twixlepennie

Here you go, this will keep you busy for a while :laugh:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1195023-a-calorie-is-not-just-a-calorie

wheird

People say you can eat whatever you like as long as your in a deficit you will lose weight, so if i ate 4 snickers bars and stayed in a deficit i would lose weight? so what about the high amounts of sugar and fat? the snickers bar has 20g sugar , and 15g fat , and its 260 calories, so if i ate 4 witch would be 1040 calories, and my deficit calories are 2000 , that means i have 960 calories left to eat anything? so the question is , why doesn't the high amounts of fat and sugar matter ? so i can eat foods in high sugar and fat (unhealthy foods) and still lose weight ? so the calories is all i should count? so why dont people just eat unhealthy but stay in a deficit their still going to lose weight?

Yes you can. The high fat doesn't matter because your body will utilize it as energy. Same with the sugar.

silenceinspace

so why dont people just eat unhealthy but stay in a deficit their still going to lose weight?

I think the rest has been pretty well addressed, except for this. Unhealthy food tends to be fairly high in calories and yet not high in volume. Think candy bars, donuts, sweets, etc. For this reason, it's easy to eat a lot of them and still feel hungry. Notice how Snickers bars push in advertising that they have protein from the peanuts? It's because it takes protein and fiber, generally speaking, to make people feel full.

TL;DR: If high calorie content food is not satisfying, it'll be harder to stay satiated and maybe harder to stick to eating that way.

zealey77

My understanding is that calories are just calories, so yes, you could just eat Snickers bars and still lose weight so long as you were eating at a deficit, however other factors then come into play - the body needs a certain amount of carbs, protein, fat, sugars, etc to function well in the long term. A snickers bar is basically just sweet dog sh1t so after a while you'd become ill. Plus the sugar wouldn't let you feel full for long so you'd constantly be in hell trying to not binge and feel full.

DamePiglet

Here you go, this will keep you busy for a while :laugh:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1195023-a-calorie-is-not-just-a-calorie

QFT!

SamanthaD1218

I'm just amused by the Three Musketeers candy bar ad on this page. Heh.

jonnythan

so if i ate 4 snickers bars and stayed in a deficit i would lose weight?

Yes.

so what about the high amounts of sugar and fat?

the snickers bar has 20g sugar , and 15g fat , and its 260 calories, so if i ate 4 witch would be 1040 calories, and my deficit calories are 2000 , that means i have 960 calories left to eat anything?

Correct.

[/quote]
so the question is , why doesn't the high amounts of fat and sugar matter ? so i can eat foods in high sugar and fat (unhealthy foods) and still lose weight ? so the calories is all i should count?

They don't matter [for weight loss] because your body runs on calories. Calories are fuel. If you don't give your body enough fuel (ie, you are in a calorie deficit) then it will break down some of its own tissue (such as fat and muscle) to make up for the rest of the fuel it needs. Thus, you will lose weight.

Now, macro intake matters for things other than weight loss. You need large amounts of protein, which the Snickers doesn't have, to preserve lean mass and make sure that the body is breaking down mostly fat instead of muscle. You need enough fat, which the Snickers does have, for proper hormone and brain function. You need fiber, which the Snickers doesn't have, for digestive and cardiovascular health. You need vitamins and minerals and other micronutrients as well, which you mostly get from fruits and veggies.

So while you would lose weight eating a macro breakdown of about 50% fat, 50% carbs, 0% protein, this is not a healthy diet.

so why dont people just eat unhealthy but stay in a deficit their still going to lose weight?

Because there's more than weight to think about. There is health, performance, appearance, strength, muscle mass, bone density, cholesterol, blood pressure.

LaSuiza

I'm just passing by to say that the OP already posted a thread with the exact same question and got lots of good explainations and advice there....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1182739-makes-no-sence

So, why don't you just listen to the nice people on here and enjoy your snickers? :flowerforyou: