You guys have some really good advice!

healthychic

So here goes another question... this one may be a little confusing, but bear with me. Ok, say that you eat fruit and a granola bar for breakfast, mcdonalds for lunch, and jimmy johns for dinner. The lunch and dinner were bad stuff, but the breakfast was good. And you went to the gym for an hour and burned enough calories to keep you at your 1,400 a day. So you didn't go over, but you ate junk two times during the day, for two WHOLE meals.

Now say that you do something different the next day. Lets say that you have fruit and a granola bar for breakfast, a salad and fruit for lunch, and salmon, rice and veggies for dinner. And you exercised enough to keep you at 1,400 calories just like the day before.

Now i know obviously the second day is better for your body because of the healthy foods, but are you going to gain weight for eating all that junk the first day if you didn't go over your calorie intake for the day?

This has always confused me, because I have had sooo many family members on diets where they can't eat cake or cookies, but if you don't go over your calorie intake for the day, why does it matter if you eat cake, cookies and candy all in one day?

Or is it just because they know they can't stop eating those junkfoods if they start?

My boyfriend always tells me that a person can eat all the healthiest food in the world everyday for the rest of their life and be overweight, and that its simply how many calories you take in, and how many you don't burn off that causes you to gain weight.

Please let me know what you think on this topic!


Danielle

healthychic

So here goes another question... this one may be a little confusing, but bear with me. Ok, say that you eat fruit and a granola bar for breakfast, mcdonalds for lunch, and jimmy johns for dinner. The lunch and dinner were bad stuff, but the breakfast was good. And you went to the gym for an hour and burned enough calories to keep you at your 1,400 a day. So you didn't go over, but you ate junk two times during the day, for two WHOLE meals.

Now say that you do something different the next day. Lets say that you have fruit and a granola bar for breakfast, a salad and fruit for lunch, and salmon, rice and veggies for dinner. And you exercised enough to keep you at 1,400 calories just like the day before.

Now i know obviously the second day is better for your body because of the healthy foods, but are you going to gain weight for eating all that junk the first day if you didn't go over your calorie intake for the day?

This has always confused me, because I have had sooo many family members on diets where they can't eat cake or cookies, but if you don't go over your calorie intake for the day, why does it matter if you eat cake, cookies and candy all in one day?

Or is it just because they know they can't stop eating those junkfoods if they start?

My boyfriend always tells me that a person can eat all the healthiest food in the world everyday for the rest of their life and be overweight, and that its simply how many calories you take in, and how many you don't burn off that causes you to gain weight.

Please let me know what you think on this topic!


Danielle

lotusfromthemud

I really think it's calories in/calories out in the whole "losing weight" realm.

But. . .I know that if I eat crap, then that is what I feel like. . .crap. It boils down for me to the idea that real food is better for you than fake food/junk. For example, if you eat a piece of whole grain bread, you get the "bread" plus fibre, nutrition and satisfaction. If you eat a piece of wonder bread, you get none of the satisfaction or nutrition, but all of the calories. After a day-long junk binge recently, I was still starving. I said to my husband, "I'm still hungry, because there was no food in my food."

So, I don't think you should say that you can never eat junk again, but don't concentrate on it. You may not gain weight if you're still watching your calories, but it's simply not good for you.

:flowerforyou:

shorerider

Calories are important but so are fat, sodium, etc. What's in the junk food is simply not good for your body--it doesn't matter if you go over calories or not, you're still putting junk in your body. By eating that stuff, you're consuming incredible amounts of fat, carbs, and sodium that will do nothing by harm your body. Continue to eat them in abundance and even if you stick under your calories for the day, you are liable to develop other health problems--blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, etc. It's not just overweight people that have these issues you know.

Also factor in that it is simply hard to over eat on calories for the day if you eat "healthy." Vegis have almost no calories, for example, so you would have to eat huge amounts per day to over eat.

age1389

Yeah you can loose weight by eating junk and staying within your calories. But bottom line eating healthy is just plain good for you. You can be thin and still have a heart attack if you eat to much fatty foods.
Actually I've lost my weight by not eaitng all that healthy but recently decided to up my healthy food intake cause feel better not just look better
Hope this helped:happy:

banks1850

I'll tell you what my research has hinted at. This is an educated guess on my part, but most likely relatively accurate.

So the body doesn't have a set timeline on when food coming in is considered for the next day's calories, likewise, there is no storage tank for food.

So What happens is, as food comes in, the body processes it, so if you eat a meal consisting of lots of food that has little fiber and lots of simple carbs (like mcdonalds) your body will very quickly convert those calories, since you are most likely converting them faster then you can use them, at least some of those calories will be converted to fat (one form or another). the reason why mcdonalds is so much worse then say a burger on a whole wheat roll with steamed broccoli, isn't so much the calories (although having a lot of calories is also not a great thing in one sitting), but it is because the wheat roll and the broccoli both contain fiber and complex carbs, which take a lot longer and use more energy to convert to energy (component parts). Think of it like this. Eating at mcdonalds is the equivalent throwing leaves on a fire, burns up fast and strong. Eating that whole wheat burger and broccoli is more like throwing a log on a fire, maybe the same amount of energy is released, but the log burns slower, lasts longer, and is much more controllable.

Does this make more sense to you?

travelbug

I think it has to do with how your body processes bad foods such as white flour and sugar. Apparently your body stores it right away as garbage and you do not get any nutrients. Whole grains, fruit, veggies... keep your body functioning at a healthier level. I was always excited on weight watchers etc because you could eat anything you want as long as you stay within your points such as here, stay within your calories. But you will be a lot hungrier by the end of the day becausue you haven't eaten anything to give your body fuel to function. If you eat the proper health foods you will be more satisfied. Don't deny yourself treats but do not binge and you can find alternatives to your favourites. Everything in moderation.

yoginimary

It is calories in/calories out; however, there is some evidence that what you eat shows up in your body type. People on whole grain diets (as opposed to those with simple carbohydrates) have smaller waist lines. Healthy food can also improve the way you look in other ways - your skin looks better, you have more energy, etc.

kerrilucko

I think it's about the calories. But I look at it this way- usually if I'm eating healthier foods, I have to eat a lot more to get to my 1200 cals a day than I would via mcdonalds food. So I'm satisfied all day... that makes me less likely to splurge and go OVER my calories by adding extra snacks (and calories). Also it's much easier to keep you carb/fat/protein ratio in check when you're eating healthy foods :flowerforyou: