Calories are calories, but ...

CallmeSbo

How much am i jeopardising my diet? I am a bit of a carb junkie. I eat lots of vegetables and 3servings of fruit daily. But i have to have my 70 to 100calories of wine gums or jelly tots everyday. How will this affect my weightloss? For now it has not. I am guaranteed of 0.7kg weightloss everyweek. This is my 10th week on MFP.I know i cant continue this way forever. I still have already lost 16kg altogether.

harebearva

It's better to give in to a few cheats than to risk over eating from cravings where you deny yourself a little treat. As long as you count it and hit your daily mark of calories, your OK. No particular food, including sugar is an enemy, it's too much of certain foods that cause the trouble so don't over do it and don't worry. Some experts believe that constant or to much stress can lead to an over-abundance of cortisol which increases glucose production which can increase fat storage. Simply put... Don't sweat it! Enjoy the litte things. Your doing great keep it up! Hope this helps

jessica7368

I'm actually running into this problem now. I've lost 31lbs and I too LOVE carbs and need sugar almost every day but now I'm at a plateau and I'm thinking its the carbs that are doing it because my work outs are still consistently 6 days a week and I also change up my work outs. I'm going to try to cut down on my carbs/sugar this week and see how it goes. Obviously you aren't having any issues now, so I say go with it for as long as you can...I went almost 4 months with no issues, but now here I am, stuck! And I still have 20lbs to loose

10acity

It's better to give in to a few cheats than to risk over eating from cravings where you deny yourself a little treat. As long as you count it and hit your daily mark of calories, your OK. No particular food, including sugar is an enemy, it's too much of certain foods that cause the trouble so don't over do it and don't worry. Some experts believe that constant or to much stress can lead to an over-abundance of cortisol which increases glucose production which can increase fat storage. Simply put... Don't sweat it! Enjoy the litte things. Your doing great keep it up! Hope this helps

^ Yes. Calories are calories.. there is no "but." Some foods are healthy, some not so healthy, but a calorie is a calorie, plain & simple. It doesn't take any longer to burn off 300 calories of donut than it does 300 calories of lettuce (though that'd be a hell of a lot of lettuce...).

CallmeSbo

It's better to give in to a few cheats than to risk over eating from cravings where you deny yourself a little treat. As long as you count it and hit your daily mark of calories, your OK. No particular food, including sugar is an enemy, it's too much of certain foods that cause the trouble so don't over do it and don't worry. Some experts believe that constant or to much stress can lead to an over-abundance of cortisol which increases glucose production which can increase fat storage. Simply put... Don't sweat it! Enjoy the litte things. Your doing great keep it up! Hope this helps

**sigh** now i feel so much better. Yes, i make sure i budget 100calories and spread them through out the day for my sugar fix.

grinch031

100 calories of junk carbs is nothing.

Anyways you can eat junk carbs just fine as long as they don't cause you to overeat past your limits. But for many of us we have to greatly restrict them to keep the cravings down.

hottottie11

If energy expenditure is higher than the energy (calories) consumed, a high carbohydrate diet will still result in weight loss just like any other diet.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11320614
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0804748
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/293/1/43.short

I would suggest you make sure you get adequate protein and fats

Protein: 1 gram per 1 lb LEAN body mass
Fat: 0.35-0.45 grams per 1 lb BODY weight

And I treat these as minimums.

Samerah12

It's better to give in to a few cheats than to risk over eating from cravings where you deny yourself a little treat. As long as you count it and hit your daily mark of calories, your OK. No particular food, including sugar is an enemy, it's too much of certain foods that cause the trouble so don't over do it and don't worry. Some experts believe that constant or to much stress can lead to an over-abundance of cortisol which increases glucose production which can increase fat storage. Simply put... Don't sweat it! Enjoy the litte things. Your doing great keep it up! Hope this helps

^exactly!

jessicajenson

Not all calories are created equals...100 calories of broccoli is not the same as 100 calories of sugar. Different types of food send different messages to our body. Sugar should be avoided as much as possible. Maybe you should try to eat your sugary treats only once a week or so, so pretty soon you will not feel the need to eat sugar anymore.

Rae6503

When it comes to weight loss: Calories are calories. No buts.

elsalily

I agree with the posts above. The only opinion I could give you is to try to have your sugar before 5pm.
You're supposed to burn it more that way (this recommandation comes from my fitness teacher, the same goes for fat apparently, you should try to have most of your fat intake before 5pm).
Hope this helps

hottottie11

I agree with the posts above. The only opinion I could give you is to try to have your sugar before 5pm.
You're supposed to burn it more that way (this recommandation comes from my fitness teacher, the same goes for fat apparently, you should try to have most of your fat intake before 5pm).
Hope this helps

It actually makes no difference. Your body doesn't stop the ability to process foods (carbs, fats or whatever) once the clock strike 5 pm.

kittyneutron

In the end you know you best. If you are asking opinions-completely objectively from my point of view, I can't imagine trying to lose weight while eating candy every day, even if it was measured amounts.

If you have found a way of losing weight that will work for you long term, then do it. If you are solely weight oriented, than calories may just be calories, but if you are wanting to eat healthier, then I do think it matters where the calories come from. Sugar from candy as opposed to sugar from fruit are two different things. Eating a potato and eating a potato chip are also two different things. In the end, I believe strongly in listening to our bodies. We are all different, what works for one person might not work for another.

tigersword

I agree with the posts above. The only opinion I could give you is to try to have your sugar before 5pm.
You're supposed to burn it more that way (this recommandation comes from my fitness teacher, the same goes for fat apparently, you should try to have most of your fat intake before 5pm).
Hope this helps

100% myth. Your body doesn't know, or care, what time you eat anything. It burns calories based on a 24 hour time frame, when you eat anything in those 24 hours is irrelevant.

taso42

As long as you're getting sufficient protein and fat, you're in the clear for anything else you want to eat.

SCUBAMomofTwo

I agree with those who said as long as the sugar intake does not stimulate your cravings, you are ok with a small amount even every day.

However, for some of us that small amount sets us up to crave more and more and more.....so it's best for us to steer clear.

stuffinmuffin

Personally I try to cut out processed sugar wherever possible as it leaves me feeling like cr*p and craving more a while afterwards. I'll have fruit instead and a dessert about every fortnight-month. Mind you, I've never had too much of a sweet tooth.

If you factor it into your daily cals then it shouldn't affect your weight loss! x

elsalily

I'm just going to complete, and try to clarify my answer, the 5pm thing comes from the principles of chrono-nutrition, and is also applicable more for those of us who work out in the morning, not late afternoon - night time.

It's just stemming from the fact that if your activity is going to decrease at night you should eat less at night. (and your metabolism does decrease while you're sleeping, even if just a little- and before that as I said it depends on your level of activity, and whether it varies from the rest of the day).
Of course your body can process food the same all day long but apparently you tend to store more fat depending on what you eat starting late afternoon.
Again this coming from my teacher, your dinner should only represent 25-30% of your daily calorie intake.
But eveyone finds their own ways of losing weight, and what works for some might not work for others.

Nopedotjpeg

When it comes to weight loss: Calories are calories. No buts.

HOWEVER, people generally lose weight for reasons beyond a number on a scale, and eating healthful foods is going probably help with their fitness goals and body composition goals more than eating a deficit consisting of 0 fruits and vegetables and all simple carbohydrates. Not saying people won't lose weight on it and not saying it should be cut from the diet (I eat it semi-often), but it obviously shouldn't compromise the entire caloric allowance.

Mongoose7

I agree with the elsalilys post, that's what iv always believed true. good statement

ahinski

If you're worried about it, then try changing it. Basically what most people said is very true--calories are calories. However, it sounds to me like you are questioning whether or not you might get better results by eating more healthily as well as watching your caloric intake, so why not give it a try?

As someone else stated, no one food or food group is the enemy. I go over my recommended amount of carbohydrates and sugar almost every day because I eat so many fruits and veggies. I also, however, go over in protein even though I'm a vegetarian. I've had successful weight loss nonetheless.

If you're concerned about those little snacks you enjoy every day, try weening yourself off them. If you are miserable without them, by all means allow yourself those treats!

My motto is "Enjoy treats, but not cheats." Treats are foods you both enjoy and can afford because you have calculated them into your day (or week, as I tend to save them up for once or twice a week). However, cheats are things that make you go over your caloric goal when you did not intend to do so that day. When you go to a birthday party, you know you want to celebrate and have cake, and thus, you calculate that "treat" into your day/week so that you can have it and enjoy it. However, when you show up to work on a Tuesday to find that someone put leftover cake in the break room and you take a slice on a whim despite the fact that you have already met your caloric goal... that's a cheat. Generally, if you feel guilty about it--it's a cheat, not a treat, because you're only cheating yourself.

In the end, you have to decide what you want out of your weight loss journey... is it the ability to eat delicious foods every day and not gain weight or is to be strict about every morsel you put in your mouth and only eat highly nutritious foods? For me, it's somewhere in the middle.