for the experts out there

TrishJimenez

why are not all calories created equal? I recently started seeing and hearing this lately and it is different from what I was always told.

Also for something weird. Here is something that always happens to me over the years. When I gain a little weight with out really noticing then I will work on cutting back, going to the gym, cutting calories watching what I eat etc. The lbs will stubbornly cling on and I will loose weight very slowly and it is hard. Life will then get in the way and I quit my mission. Then with out even noticing or trying in the next few weeks to a month I will loose like 10 lbs. Why does this happen? I usually stabalize there for awhile a year or so as I am usually pretty good at maintaining a weight. This 20 lbs I am trying to loose is from a period of time when I became very social and was going out and drinking and eating out a lot.

Mamapengu

Some people eat less when they are stressed. sounds like you are a social eater, and eat more when you are happier than when you are stressed or depressed.

chevy88grl

Well. Let's face it eating 220 calories of Snicker's candy bars is different than eating 220 calories of protein or complex carbs. That is where the "all calories aren't equal" comes from. In the end, it comes down to calories in vs calories out - but, healthy food calories are better than unhealthy food calories.

As for the weight loss thing - When you aren't obsessing, stressing, etc about losing weight your body relaxes and let's you lose it. Stress is one factor in weight loss. The more stressed you are - the less likely you are to lose weight. When you stop worrying about losing weight is usually when you'll lose more. That doesn't mean you throw out good eating habits or working out - but when you aren't climbing on the scale and obsessing over that number all the time - you relax. When you relax - your body relaxes.

TrishJimenez

Well. Let's face it eating 220 calories of Snicker's candy bars is different than eating 220 calories of protein or complex carbs. That is where the "all calories aren't equal" comes from. In the end, it comes down to calories in vs calories out - but, healthy food calories are better than unhealthy food calories.

As for the weight loss thing - When you aren't obsessing, stressing, etc about losing weight your body relaxes and let's you lose it. Stress is one factor in weight loss. The more stressed you are - the less likely you are to lose weight. When you stop worrying about losing weight is usually when you'll lose more. That doesn't mean you throw out good eating habits or working out - but when you aren't climbing on the scale and obsessing over that number all the time - you relax. When you relax - your body relaxes.

ok, that makes sense maybe even though I stop going to the gym my healthier eating habits dont generally drop by the way side, and like you said i relax and it just kind of drops off. I never used to really diet very much bcuz well if I gained a few lbs usually I would loose it eventually just with "life" but well now i am 35 and had stayed at the same weight for more then a year. And well there is the wedding coming up in November and I want to look great for those pictures and I admit to feeling a little bit of stage fright over it. It is a big wedding, I hate being the center of attention. Am more introverted and only outgoing in small groups but my FMIL wants the big wedding.

PixelTreason

From this site (interesting and informative article, in my non-expert opinion): http://www.naturalchampion.net/articles/article/2410291/51175.htm


"Let's take a pure food example," says Anne-Marie Nocton, MS, MPH, RD. "If someone were to eat all of her daily caloric requirement as fried onion rings, would the body respond the same way as if all of the calories came from raw spinach? No, because caloric absorption is affected by the composition of the food itself and by the amount of energy it takes the body to process that food. In this example, the body doesn't need to expend many calories to digest and store fat (in the onion rings) because the digestion and storage process isn't very complex. But the spinach contains fiber, and the structure of a fibrous food means that some of the calories will be 'lost' because the body cannot break it all down."


TL;DR - It's easier for your body to digest crap! Make your body work for its food.

chevy88grl

From this site (interesting and informative article, in my non-expert opinion): http://www.naturalchampion.net/articles/article/2410291/51175.htm


"Let's take a pure food example," says Anne-Marie Nocton, MS, MPH, RD. "If someone were to eat all of her daily caloric requirement as fried onion rings, would the body respond the same way as if all of the calories came from raw spinach? No, because caloric absorption is affected by the composition of the food itself and by the amount of energy it takes the body to process that food. In this example, the body doesn't need to expend many calories to digest and store fat (in the onion rings) because the digestion and storage process isn't very complex. But the spinach contains fiber, and the structure of a fibrous food means that some of the calories will be 'lost' because the body cannot break it all down."


TL;DR - It's easier for your body to digest crap! Make your body work for its food.

There. Explained far better than *I* explained it!

TrishJimenez

From this site (interesting and informative article, in my non-expert opinion): http://www.naturalchampion.net/articles/article/2410291/51175.htm


"Let's take a pure food example," says Anne-Marie Nocton, MS, MPH, RD. "If someone were to eat all of her daily caloric requirement as fried onion rings, would the body respond the same way as if all of the calories came from raw spinach? No, because caloric absorption is affected by the composition of the food itself and by the amount of energy it takes the body to process that food. In this example, the body doesn't need to expend many calories to digest and store fat (in the onion rings) because the digestion and storage process isn't very complex. But the spinach contains fiber, and the structure of a fibrous food means that some of the calories will be 'lost' because the body cannot break it all down."


TL;DR - It's easier for your body to digest crap! Make your body work for its food.

There. Explained far better than *I* explained it!

oooohhhhhh! ok now I understand completely for the first time thanks!