Does it make a difference?

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invisiblelo
invisiblelo Posts: 98 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
If you eat fast food for your allotted 1400 calories versus eating clean for 1400. Will this make a difference to weight loss? Surely you should still loose weight as you will still be eating your allotted calories, will the weight loss be slower?

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  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,067 Member
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    If you are logging accurately the weight loss will be the same.

    If you are eating a variety of fast food including fruit, veg, meat etc it could even be a balanced healthy diet. ( I'm not sure what you are including in the term 'fast food' )
  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,216 MFP Moderator
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    Yes, you will still lose weight, but you'll likely be starving. 1400 calories of McD's is less likely to fill you up than 1400 calories of fruits, veggies and meats. Why not have the fruits, veggies and lean meats most of the time (to keep yourself satisfied) while fitting in the cheeseburgers and french fries occassionally? You're less likely to fall off the wagon and 'binge' (HATE that word) that way.
  • jessilee119
    jessilee119 Posts: 444 Member
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    If you are logging accurately the weight loss will be the same.

    This. Strictly talking weight loss, though. Depending on what you eat for "fast food" you might not feel satiated for long since burgers, fries, and shakes add up to 1400 calories quickly. But as the above poster mentioned, if you're including fruits and veggies it can still be satisfying. The dollar/value menus are nice too. The portions are smaller and it's cheaper so it's a win win!
  • spinochy
    spinochy Posts: 1 Member
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    Yeah the weight loss should be roughly the same. You'd feel terrible on a junk food diet and would have no energy though so you mightn't move around as much as you would on a healthy diet, and so you mightn't burn as many calories.
  • invisiblelo
    invisiblelo Posts: 98 Member
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    Thanks for the replies, I'm not actually doing this, it was purely for hypothetical purposes wondering if the weight loss would be affected by eating the same amount if calories in fast food (fried, fat).
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Yes, you will still lose weight, but you'll likely be starving. 1400 calories of McD's is less likely to fill you up than 1400 calories of fruits, veggies and meats. Why not have the fruits, veggies and lean meats most of the time (to keep yourself satisfied) while fitting in the cheeseburgers and french fries occassionally? You're less likely to fall off the wagon and 'binge' (HATE that word) that way.
    This^
  • thecrushinator
    thecrushinator Posts: 76 Member
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    Some people will lose weight that way. Others will not. Personally McD's, BK, tacobell mess with my digestion to the point that it's just not worth it. Better to just eat clean and not have to function with a tummy ache.
  • ExRelaySprinter
    ExRelaySprinter Posts: 874 Member
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    Yes, you will still lose weight, but you'll likely be starving. 1400 calories of McD's is less likely to fill you up than 1400 calories of fruits, veggies and meats.

    I agree.
    I could easily eat 1400 cals of Mc Ds in one sitting! :ohwell:
    I highly doubt if i could eat the same amount of calories of healthier foods in just one Meal.
    I save fast food for the weekend and just do a little more exercise to make up for it.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcdonalds-diet-iowa-teacher-loses-37-pounds-but-is-it-healthy/

    This guy did it. Sounds like he had a good balance of the healthy and not so healthy choices. He was also excercising to add to the calorie deficit so I'm sure that helped things along.

    In my experience, it's not so much that I'd feel horrible but I wouldn't be satisfied. I used to love their cheeseburgers but once I started really paying attention to how foods made me feel, I realized they just didn't cut it. I can make a sandwich at home and add in an apple and even a few baby dills for the same amount of calories and it'll stick with me much longer.
  • Jibby1017
    Jibby1017 Posts: 8 Member
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    Since this is purely hypothetical :-), I think due to the sodium intake in fast food your weight loss would be slower or you could actually gain weight from water retention. But, overall, I don't believe a calorie = calorie in terms of usage and storage by our bodies. I don't need a scientific study to know that my body does not treat 130 calories from a brownie the same as 130 calories from spinach. And, I totally agree with everyone who made comments about how fast food makes one feel vs eating a more whole food, lower sugar/sodium diet.
  • independant2406
    independant2406 Posts: 447 Member
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    Yes, you will still lose weight, but you'll likely be starving. 1400 calories of McD's is less likely to fill you up than 1400 calories of fruits, veggies and meats. Why not have the fruits, veggies and lean meats most of the time (to keep yourself satisfied) while fitting in the cheeseburgers and french fries occassionally? You're less likely to fall off the wagon and 'binge' (HATE that word) that way.

    ^^^ this is very true for me.

    Do an experiment. Eat a meal out and time how long it takes you to get hungry again. Then eat a meal with the same number of calories but made up of lean protein, veggies and healthy home cooked foods. Then watch the clock and see how long that lasts before you get hungry.

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