Is calories the most important statistic?

alung2k3

Hello,

For dinner today I had a few egg mayonaise sandwiches and noticed I had gone over my target for fat. In this case I have had to throw away an extra sandwich to keep within target. However my calories target is nearly 1000 below right now. What should I do? Is it OK to go over? Im eating plenty of fruit each day.

Also when talking about weightloss, is it only calories that directly influence your weight?

deathstarclock

Make your diary public so that the community will be able to better assist you. 1000 negative calorie balance is not good...

Indy_Mario

Well, in my particular case, my nutritionist is more worried about my carb intake than anything else.
Yes, she's told me that the calories consumed are important, but I should worry about my carbs first, calories 2nd and fat third. Depending on you individual situation, and if you have any medical conditions (like high blood pressure, or elevated triglycerides) you might want to watch your fat intake more closely or even your sodium. I have such a protein rich set-up, that I can barely get enough sometimes.

azzledazzle

I would say the main thing is to stay within the calorie limit, I occasionally go over the others but im still losing weight.

Obviously you should aim to stay within the limit.

The saturated fat in your food is what u want to keep an eye on, But if you are active and eat well i dont think it should be too much of a problem. Unless you start to go over the limit every day.

EDIT: And lots of protein is great , and as for the egg mayo sandwiches, try to use low fat mayo or no mayo at all (although that would not taste good lol.

jbudge1

My personal opinion is yes, calories are the most important thing to watch. The bottom line is calories in vs calories out. For me I could eat nothing but candy bars as long as I stayed under my calorie goal and still lose weight. Each person is different but I eat anything I want (and no I don't eat candy bars) and just monitor calories. I have lost over 70 lbs doing this.

daves160

Many people think calories in = calories out. There is a huge difference in the type of calories you are eating.
Carbs will metabolize very easily, so your body does not have to work to burn them - less calories used metabolizing.
Fat calories ar almost the same as carb calories.
Protein calories metabolize much slower, so it taks your body much more calories to metabolize.

so, the leaner/less carbs in your diet, and the more protein, the harder your system must work to metabolize your food, thus burning more calories in the process.

holzjw1482

Just had a nutritionist tell me last night that it's all about calories. Energy in, energy out.

melsinct

I just watch calories and have lost almost 30 pounds. I often go over in fat, though most of the time it is healthy fat from nuts.

chris1529

Carbs play a BIG role in weight loss! Calories are very important as well. Carbs turn into sugar!! When I had gestational diabetes, the nutritionist told me that fiber is awesome in absorbing some of the carbs you eat! Good carbs are really good for you though and you shouldn't skimp on them....... fruits and whole grains. I paid attention to my calories AND carbs and only gained 2 lbs during that pregnancy. I was overweight to begin with and my baby came out 7 lbs 2 oz. I have to also add that I stopped drinking soda and only drank water. That helped A LOT too!

marika33

Weight loss is simply the matter of numbers. Think of it as a check book balance. Is it good if your bank account is overdrawn by a thousand dollars? Nope. Depending on the body type some people lose weight faster with low carbohydrate or low fat diets, but in all reality weight loss will happen if you are under your daily calorie goal, regardless of the fat, carbohydrate or protein ratio. If you know you travel a 100 miles a day and only put gas in there for 90 you will soon try to hitchhike to get to your destination. Same with your body. If you eat less than you need to maintain your current weight, your body will start to use its own "savings account" to maintain its present condition. On the long run, however, it does matter what you eat. How much fat or lean protein is in your diet, the amount of sugar, fruits etc..to keep your organs healthy and your veins and arteries clean of plaques. It also helps if you think in weekly calories not only daily allowance. This way you can chip off some calories here and there to balance your check book to make up for that overdrawn 1000 calories. If you need let's say 15000 calories a week to maintain your current weight but you eat 3500 calories less, you will lose one pound. Good luck, and don't beat yourself up! Weight loss is about trial and error and learning, failures and victories!

marika33

One smart nutritionist! I agree completely. I'm not a nutritionist, but work in healthcare as a nurse and I had the same experience and view on this and every doctor I've talked to about it. Pretty much tried and studied almost every diet on the market, you name it. Short term high result one is the Atkins by far, along with is modified version The Maker's Diet. Typically, people with type A structure (big belly) tend to lose weight FASTER, not more, on restricted carbohydrate diets. In a one year period all the approaches yield the same amount of weight loss.

HMonsterX

Everything else is a means to an end.

Good cals, bad cals, carbs, etc....they all end up coming down to have you made a calorie deficit? If so, you will lose weight. You made a calorie excess? You will not lose weight. Well, you will not lose fat at least.

The only things i monitor is my calories and my protein. Protein so i can try to minimise my muscle loss, but yeah, calories are the thing that will cause weight loss.

marika33

chris1529 First let me congratulate on your "gestational diabetes, Chris! lol just kidding! Anyhow, about the sugar. You said carbohydrates turn into sugar. Everything we eat turns into sugar, simple glucose, in our body in order to be able to use it as cellular energy in a form of ATP (AdenosineTriPhosphate).

Sidesteal

Energy balance (calories) trump all macronutrients, absolutely. That being said, you should still hit your daily targets for each macronutrient to the best of your ability.

In a caloric deficit, you will still lose weight even if you go over on carbs.

Sidesteal

in all reality weight loss will happen if you are under your daily calorie goal, regardless of the fat, carbohydrate or protein ratio

^ THIS.

skinimin

it's calories in calories out, you will lose weight if you burn more calories than you consume.

the other things are important and usually dictate the shape of your body. too much sodium leads to bloating. protein can turn into fat if you're not exercising at all. too much fat is bad for your organs. too many carbs will also make you bloated.

BUT IT'S STILL CALORIES IN CALORIES OUT. so you probably didn't need to throw that egg sandwich away... ah well.

marika33

Energy balance (calories) trump all macronutrients, absolutely. That being said, you should still hit your daily targets for each macronutrient to the best of your ability.

In a caloric deficit, you will still lose weight even if you go over on carbs.

Correct. To lose weight you have to watch energy balance. To be healthy as I stated you do have to watch what you eat. It is easier at first to just watch the calories and lose weight and then fine tune eating habits in my opinion. It can be overwhelming to be a pro all at once in every aspect of nutrition.

marika33

Hello,

For dinner today I had a few egg mayonaise sandwiches and noticed I had gone over my target for fat. In this case I have had to throw away an extra sandwich to keep within target. However my calories target is nearly 1000 below right now. What should I do? Is it OK to go over? Im eating plenty of fruit each day.

Also when talking about weightloss, is it only calories that directly influence your weight?

To answer your question try this: If you use 2-3 eggs for the sandwich, take out two yolks and leave one and use light mayonnaise. One egg pretty much covers the daily suggested cholesterol intake, which is 300 mg and one egg yolk has 230 if I'm not mistaken.

RAFValentina

Just my opinion, but I don't think one day of going over your fat limit is that bad. There will be days when you're under, and days in the other nutrients where you're over/under. I'd stick with the calories and just be careful you're not regularly going over and that it's balanced near enough at the end of the week.

Val x

alung2k3

Thank you all for the replies. Generally im bang on my targets for my food intake. Today was the first time I went over on fat.

On average I eat about:

2 bananas, 2 handfuls of grapes and maybe an apple throughout the day, plus the other meals later in the day. It was just those damn sandwiches that did it and messed my goals up.

Got some great information from you guys though. I'll just keep hitting my calorie targets and try to keep as close to the others as possible.

chris1529

chris1529 First let me congratulate on your "gestational diabetes, Chris! lol just kidding! Anyhow, about the sugar. You said carbohydrates turn into sugar. Everything we eat turns into sugar, simple glucose, in our body in order to be able to use it as cellular energy in a form of ATP (AdenosineTriPhosphate).

Ummm... ok. That must of went over my head cause I didn't get that joke! Congrats on "gestational diabetes"..... what's that about?! Sorry.... I just don't think diabetes, whether it be gestational (during pregnancy) or permanent, is anything to kid about. Maybe I'm just taking it the wrong way...... AND if I am, then I'm sorry.

tigersword

Many people think calories in = calories out. There is a huge difference in the type of calories you are eating.
Carbs will metabolize very easily, so your body does not have to work to burn them - less calories used metabolizing.
Fat calories ar almost the same as carb calories.
Protein calories metabolize much slower, so it taks your body much more calories to metabolize.

so, the leaner/less carbs in your diet, and the more protein, the harder your system must work to metabolize your food, thus burning more calories in the process.

While technically true, the difference is mostly negligible. Especially because the thermogenic effect changes based on the combinations of foods you eat. All food is digested together, there aren't separate compartments in the stomach that digest these food individually. This means carbs may have a higher thermogenic effect and protein might have a slightly lower thermogenic effect as the body digests it all together. Also, the thermogenic effect is calculated as part of your BMR, and is really irrelevant for overall eating and meal planning purposes. You're talking about a difference of maybe 50 calories a day.

Calories in vs calories out is really all that matters, as long as you don't have any underlying metabolic condition.

marika33

What I meant by that is that you seem to be a male..hard to acquire pregnancy related diabetes. Of course diabetes is not funny..all my family members died of complications of diabetes. Meant no harm.

marika33

chris1529 First let me congratulate on your "gestational diabetes, Chris! lol just kidding! Anyhow, about the sugar. You said carbohydrates turn into sugar. Everything we eat turns into sugar, simple glucose, in our body in order to be able to use it as cellular energy in a form of ATP (AdenosineTriPhosphate).

Ummm... ok. That must of went over my head cause I didn't get that joke! Congrats on "gestational diabetes"..... what's that about?! Sorry.... I just don't think diabetes, whether it be gestational (during pregnancy) or permanent, is anything to kid about. Maybe I'm just taking it the wrong way...... AND if I am, then I'm sorry.

What I meant by that is that you seem to be a male..hard to acquire pregnancy related diabetes. Of course diabetes is not funny..all my family members died of complications of diabetes. Meant no harm.

marika33

Many people think calories in = calories out. There is a huge difference in the type of calories you are eating.
Carbs will metabolize very easily, so your body does not have to work to burn them - less calories used metabolizing.
Fat calories ar almost the same as carb calories.
Protein calories metabolize much slower, so it taks your body much more calories to metabolize.

so, the leaner/less carbs in your diet, and the more protein, the harder your system must work to metabolize your food, thus burning more calories in the process.

While technically true, the difference is mostly negligible. Especially because the thermogenic effect changes based on the combinations of foods you eat. All food is digested together, there aren't separate compartments in the stomach that digest these food individually. This means carbs may have a higher thermogenic effect and protein might have a slightly lower thermogenic effect as the body digests it all together. Also, the thermogenic effect is calculated as part of your BMR, and is really irrelevant for overall eating and meal planning purposes. You're talking about a difference of maybe 50 calories a day.

Calories in vs calories out is really all that matters, as long as you don't have any underlying metabolic condition.

Well said. I've heard once that protein burns by the fire of carbohydrates.

chris1529

@ Marika, Oh. I'm a female. Diabetes runs really strong in my family as well.