1500 cal burn then eat crap???

rockerbabyy

So what u r saying is as long as someone is creating a deficit of 3500 cals a week they can eat whatever....and they will still lose a lb a week...I think not;(

its pretty much true. you hear about the professor that did the twinkie diet? he pretty much only ate things you could find at a gas station..the majority of his diet was twinkies. he counted calories and created a deficit and lost like 30 lbs. his blood work improved and all that too. google it

CuteAndCurvy83

When I was actively losing, instead of maintaining (I'm pregnant) I'd allow myself one cheat day, this was they day I'd allow myself usually one meal and dessert or snacks that weren't the best and usually made me go over my calories, however it was only by a couple hundred for the day. For me it's a big mental game, because I can tell myself "you can have that cupcake on Saturday" or "you can get the blizzard from DQ On Saturday" most of the time the want of that item would pass, but if It didn't I didn't feel like I could never have those things. Everyone does what they do for their own reasons, and for some having that 1 day a week of "cheating" helps them get through the week of making good choices. But I also don't work out that day. I did notice that after doing this for a while, my "cheat" day became more of a normal day with a special "treat", because I simply didn't desire the other stuff. You've gotta do whats best for you, and leave all the rest behind.

JessWolf1002

On Thursday I ate about 2,000 calories worth of Panda Express... And the scale was down another pound the next day. Every one is different... Some people's body's can handle a cheat day. For my weight loss, I have to shock my body every once in a while by eating a high fat, high carb meal every so often. For me, this actually speeds up my weight loss and has gotten me over a plateau.

rockerbabyy

When I was actively losing, instead of maintaining (I'm pregnant) I'd allow myself one cheat day, this was they day I'd allow myself usually one meal and dessert or snacks that weren't the best and usually made me go over my calories, however it was only by a couple hundred for the day. For me it's a big mental game, because I can tell myself "you can have that cupcake on Saturday" or "you can get the blizzard from DQ On Saturday" most of the time the want of that item would pass, but if It didn't I didn't feel like I could never have those things. Everyone does what they do for their own reasons, and for some having that 1 day a week of "cheating" helps them get through the week of making good choices. But I also don't work out that day. I did notice that after doing this for a while, my "cheat" day became more of a normal day with a special "treat", because I simply didn't desire the other stuff. You've gotta do whats best for you, and leave all the rest behind.

im find myself in the same boat. recently my "cheat days" have been either like the rest of the week, or just a little dessert or something. i used to have cheat days where id go over by 1000..i was still under/at maintenance, and it never slowed my weight loss and it kept me on track the rest of the week. i had lots of times where id weigh after a cheat day and be down 1-4 lbs

hirensthenameliftinsthegame

No, don't get me wrong. There is a differnce in eating "junk" and eating "pure junk". A bar of chocolate aint going to hurt anything, thats still less than 400 cals, i don't eat that stuff so i don't know the calories it has in it but to eat 1500+ calories of pure junk is stupid to me.... even 800 cals of junk is stupid to me. I don't want to piss anybody off here but thats just how i see it.

Again, why? Why is it stupid?

No one's pissed off, just looking for your reasoning.

The high sugar and fat from junk food affects your workout by interfering with your body's ability to maximize the use of energy or calories from food. Fat takes a bit longer for your body to process. This reduces readily available energy, while increasing longer term energy release. Because your body is efficient at getting nutrients to cells and then storage, your body can process simple sugars quicker than you can use that energy. This can deprive you of much needed energy during an intense workout and promote fat storage.

Look at my logs...i eat a piece or 2 of tiramisu for breakfast lol or i just had 6 eclairs with my dinner tonight(which i have to say were somewhat bad due to 2g of transfat i just ingested). But your body can't tell the difference between sugar from soda or sugar from chocolate covered almonds. On a bigger scale though the kind of sugar does matter as not all sugars are processed the same and don't all go to the same areas of the body(example fructose doesn't replenish muscle glycogen). I believe you can still eat a little bit of junk here and there, but you just have to structure the meal so that it causes you to feel more satiated.

Btw what your referring to is insulin release...which happens regardless of what you eat, even protein causes it to happen. If you eat anywhere over 10-20 calories of any macro nutrient, there goes a small spike of insulin. Its a storage hormone so it stops fat burning, more or less blunts it alot.

1a1a

Burning between 600 and 1000 somedays for a while there and eating almost all of it back in treats (ice coffee, donuts, savoury pastries), I lost 10 kilos doing that :-D (still in a deficit so what I ate didn't seem to make a huge difference).

Virginia90

For the majority of people, a calorie deficit alone will cause weight loss. Do I try to eat healthy? Of course. Do I deprive myself? Heck no. I had TWO Triple chocolate Ice cream bars today, and they were glorious. Absolutely glorious. I'll probably eat the last two tomorrow too. Are they good for me? Nope, but now I generally eat healthy otherwise, especially compared to how I was eating just a few weeks ago! I ate a lot of Ramen noodles, cereal, toast, carbs, etc., but when I started MFP, I realized healthy food has a lot less calories in it and it makes me feel better, so that is what I eat now. I've lost 8 pounds since I've started, and if you look in my diary, I'm sure there is something every day that you could scoff at. It's working for me though, and when my goals change, my eating habits might change - I wouldn't try to tone up and eat junk at the same time, but since I'm just here to lose some weight right now, if I want some junk calories, I'll workout then eat them.

tigersword

So what u r saying is as long as someone is creating a deficit of 3500 cals a week they can eat whatever....and they will still lose a lb a week...I think not;(

It takes a 3500 calorie deficit to burn a pound of fat in a week. The actual food you eat is irelevant. As long as you reach your nutritional goals, and have an appropriate deficit to burn fat, then you can eat anything you want. It's really not complicated.

petreebird

I think the one thing that everyone is missing here is that if you burn high calories and simply eat "junk" to reach you caloric goals then yes, you will lose weight. The problem with this theory is, when you go into maintenance and maybe slack a bit on the exercise or what not, by not having learned the tools to eat better, the cycle of gaining will continue.

Once in maintenance it's easier to say, "Well I've lost my 50 pounds so now I don't have to be quite as careful." But if your not used to eating clean or at least cleaner, that junk you ingest when your not watching every calorie so carefully will begin to pack the pounds right back on. It may take a while because during your lose process you've gained muscle and increased your metabolism, but it will happen.
MFP is not about a diet. It's about changing the way you're doing things because they are obviously not working for you up to this point. I know believe me. I've restricted, exercised and gotten down to below my goal weight. Then I got sloppy and because I never learned how to keep my body where it was, the weight crept back on.

But believe me, I do cheat. But it is with a meal, not a day and it is still somewhat sensible. Look at my diary. You will see that Subway is my big cheat. But it doesn't make me go over my maintenance calories which are about 1640 a day, my cheats rarely do go over maintenance. Over my daily goals, yes, but not maintenance.

JMHO

micls

So what u r saying is as long as someone is creating a deficit of 3500 cals a week they can eat whatever....and they will still lose a lb a week...I think not;(

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

However eating ALL your calories in junk is obviously not healthy, you won't hit your macros and will lead to other health issues. But you would lose the weight.

micls

I think the one thing that everyone is missing here is that if you burn high calories and simply eat "junk" to reach you caloric goals then yes, you will lose weight. The problem with this theory is, when you go into maintenance and maybe slack a bit on the exercise or what not, by not having learned the tools to eat better, the cycle of gaining will continue.

Again though, this depends on the person. Which is why we all have different individual goals and they won't always make sense from the outside looking in.

petreebird

I think the one thing that everyone is missing here is that if you burn high calories and simply eat "junk" to reach you caloric goals then yes, you will lose weight. The problem with this theory is, when you go into maintenance and maybe slack a bit on the exercise or what not, by not having learned the tools to eat better, the cycle of gaining will continue.

Again though, this depends on the person. Which is why we all have different individual goals and they won't always make sense from the outside looking in.

Ok, this is a fair statement. I won't presume to know what everyone's individual goals are. But losing weight and maintaining the lose seems like a fair assumption, but again, I won't assume that.

MHunte

If you exchange junk food for low glycemic foods, such as vegetables, fruit and lean meats, you will have more energy before, during and after a workout by maintaining your blood sugar levels. Cutting out unnecessary calories and adding more protein to your diet allows you to lose weight and build lean muscle. The food you consume can make or break your exercise routine. According to Jillian Michaels, you should "just say no thank you to the unhealthy fare." Junk food has little or no nutritional value, containing high levels of cholesterol, saturated fat, salt and sugar.

micls

Ok, this is a fair statement. I won't presume to know what everyone's individual goals are. But losing weight and maintaining the lose seems like a fair assumption, but again, I won't assume that.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Obviously that is the goal. What I'm saying is it will depend on the person if they will struggle with maintenance or not. It's not a given that if you're not eating clean you will slip into old habits/slack off while on maintenance.

micls

If you exchange junk food for low glycemic foods, such as vegetables, fruit and lean meats, you will have more energy before, during and after a workout by maintaining your blood sugar levels. Cutting out unnecessary calories and adding more protein to your diet allows you to lose weight and build lean muscle. The food you consume can make or break your exercise routine. According to Jillian Michaels, you should "just say no thank you to the unhealthy fare." Junk food has little or no nutritional value, containing high levels of cholesterol, saturated fat, salt and sugar.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you.

However, I know all of this, and I have no intention of giving up junk food completely. I enjoy eating it, and I'm not going to spend the rest of my life not doing so.

I'm aware this may make exercise/dieting more difficult and I think it's worth it. It's up to everyone to make that call individually.

Obviously I've cut down, and improved my diet in order to maintain my deficit, and try to hit my macros most of the time. But I've no intention of giving up things I like completely. I try to eat in moderation and fit it into my calories etc. That's working for me so far.

petreebird

If you exchange junk food for low glycemic foods, such as vegetables, fruit and lean meats, you will have more energy before, during and after a workout by maintaining your blood sugar levels. Cutting out unnecessary calories and adding more protein to your diet allows you to lose weight and build lean muscle. The food you consume can make or break your exercise routine. According to Jillian Michaels, you should "just say no thank you to the unhealthy fare." Junk food has little or no nutritional value, containing high levels of cholesterol, saturated fat, salt and sugar.

This is true, but...if you eat too much protein you can put your body into a ketogenic state and can harm your kidneys because they kick into high gear trying to rid your body of the toxic ketones. This can lead to dehydration, bone and muscle lose, and heart problems. So you can get too much protein. You just have to balance, that's the key. Your body needs protein, but it also needs carbs and fats. Its the ratio that needs to be right.

petreebird

If you exchange junk food for low glycemic foods, such as vegetables, fruit and lean meats, you will have more energy before, during and after a workout by maintaining your blood sugar levels. Cutting out unnecessary calories and adding more protein to your diet allows you to lose weight and build lean muscle. The food you consume can make or break your exercise routine. According to Jillian Michaels, you should "just say no thank you to the unhealthy fare." Junk food has little or no nutritional value, containing high levels of cholesterol, saturated fat, salt and sugar.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you.

However, I know all of this, and I have no intention of giving up junk food completely. I enjoy eating it, and I'm not going to spend the rest of my life not doing so.

I'm aware this may make exercise/dieting more difficult and I think it's worth it. It's up to everyone to make that call individually.

Obviously I've cut down, and improved my diet in order to maintain my deficit, and try to hit my macros most of the time. But I've no intention of giving up things I like completely. I try to eat in moderation and fit it into my calories etc. That's working for me so far.

I agree with this completely. Most trainer would even say cheating, in moderation, is encouraged. It helps to keep you on the right track for the majority of the time.

MHunte

If you exchange junk food for low glycemic foods, such as vegetables, fruit and lean meats, you will have more energy before, during and after a workout by maintaining your blood sugar levels. Cutting out unnecessary calories and adding more protein to your diet allows you to lose weight and build lean muscle. The food you consume can make or break your exercise routine. According to Jillian Michaels, you should "just say no thank you to the unhealthy fare." Junk food has little or no nutritional value, containing high levels of cholesterol, saturated fat, salt and sugar.

This is true, but...if you eat too much protein you can put your body into a ketogenic state and can harm your kidneys because they kick into high gear trying to rid your body of the toxic ketones. This can lead to dehydration, bone and muscle lose, and heart problems. So you can get too much protein. You just have to balance, that's the key. Your body needs protein, but it also needs carbs and fats. Its the ratio that needs to be right.

That's true ,I agree 100%

blueandigo

Bentley2718

Wow, this thread combines (and confounds) the two most common threads I've seen on MFP "should I eat exercise calories" and "does it matter what I eat if I'm within my macros." Kudos to the OP, but next time, maybe try the search feature, or just browse a little.