Is this true? Calories don't matter?

bellamusica89

For the most part, what this person is saying is absolutely correct. Calories are a terrible way to analyze what you're eating. You should know that something is bad for you by the way it looks. Restricting fat or carbs will not make your eating healthier. Cook all your own meals, avoid processed foods and chain restaurants, and get regular exercise. Having a beer doesn't make you fat. Having a piece of cake doesn't make you fat. Eating pre-packaged foods and not knowing how/not having the time to cook nutritious meals makes people fat.

Here is where you are right to doubt: portions do matter. This person sounds like he/she has never been obese before. For a fat person, portion sizes are usually out of control. I know I ate far too much of many poor quality foods when I was younger. That's what made me obese. Also, I didn't exercise.

If you can keep regular exercise (with strength or weight training and cardio), you are already successful. I did not use diet plans, and I lost over 80 pounds. It can happen.

jjrichard83

That is incorrect. Calories are the only thing that matters in weight loss. They can say, "watch your portions", "eat low carb,", "do the zone diet ratios" whatever... it's trick to make you eat less calories.

All these posts on this thread are full of half truths. Calories are the easiest way. Vegans really don't need to worry b/c it's hard as hell to eat your calorie intake on veggies. However there are many people that can get away with 1/2 their recommended calorie intake if they eat nutrient dense foods.

Some people eat for pleasure, when others make sure that every ounce of food is purpose driven.

For all of our sakes, the simplest and easiest way is to at least know calorie counting. Carbs are not horrible- in fact all these new studies coming out saying proteins are bad... WHo knows? maybe 20 years from now they will have it together, but right now we can only use the info we have, and sift through all the BS (just b/c we don't understand or agree doesn't mean it's BS).

shinkalork

they do but i think you need to check more your sugar,fat and carbs ....

Guines9

STUDIES HAVE SHOWN, WHEN COMPARING ALL DIETS OUT THERE, THAT THE ATKINS DIET TO BE THE BEST FOR IMMEDIATE WEIGHT LOST. YES, IT IS LOADED WITH LOTS OF GOOD FATS, BUT PRIMARILY IT IS VERY HIGH IN PROTEIN, VERY VERY LOW IN CARBS, LOW IN SUGARS, SALTS, AND CALORIES. IT IS WORTH THE INVESTMENT TO SEE THE RESULTS. AND YES, THE LOWER THE CALORIES IN YOUR BRACKET FOR AGE, SIZE, ETC.... THE BETTER. JUST KEEP DOING WHAT WORKS!

vanguardfitness

Calories count.

Period. There is no debating over this.

mjhedgehog

bump

EvaD12

Maybe they were trying to say make sure the food you eat is quality food not just diet food with no nutritional value?? Which is fine but calories still come into it!! So maybe they are just talking crap.

Who know but all I can say is calorie counting works for me so far

jjrichard83

STUDIES HAVE SHOWN, WHEN COMPARING ALL DIETS OUT THERE, THAT THE ATKINS DIET TO BE THE BEST FOR IMMEDIATE WEIGHT LOST. YES, IT IS LOADED WITH LOTS OF GOOD FATS, BUT PRIMARILY IT IS VERY HIGH IN PROTEIN, VERY VERY LOW IN CARBS, LOW IN SUGARS, SALTS, AND CALORIES. IT IS WORTH THE INVESTMENT TO SEE THE RESULTS. AND YES, THE LOWER THE CALORIES IN YOUR BRACKET FOR AGE, SIZE, ETC.... THE BETTER. JUST KEEP DOING WHAT WORKS!

There is no concret evidence that any one diet is better than others- Atkins diet is also unhealthy due to the amount of meat & fats. It is not a good long term diet, but it is a fast solution.

Stay away from highly processed foods and create life changes. We want longterm health, not just short term gains

TheFitnessTutor

ANYBODY that tries to sell you on anything dietary by vilifying insulin and saying that it causes inflammation is a moron and deserves to be ignored forever. I don't care what they do, how many trophies they have, how many buildings they have, how many letters than have beside their name, or anything else.

Everyone and there dog knows too much sugar is bad for them. Hell dietary sugar is not needed by the body at all for any reason.

This is part of the problem with the industry. Someone can help someone lose weight and now they are a guru on all things nutritional. Kick rocks. Inbox me this guys/gal's name so I can check them out.

beautifulbrat

I don't get why people feel the need to make this **** so complicated.

Body needs energy. You give it energy. You give it too much, it will store some. You give it less than it needs, it uses the stores.

^ agree

oxnina

I agree with both sides. I believe when you are trying to lose weight, counting calories and portion sizing in necessary. But also exercise is key. With full fat products and products that aren't loaded with fake sugars, yeah they may be high in calories, but your body will treat it differently. I think if you were to eat full fat things, but exercise and portion control, you'd get the same results as someone who were portion sizing and eating chemically altered foods along with exercise. The only difference is the person with the full fat food will have more nutrients and overall be a healthier person.
So all in all, portion control and exercise are key, i don't necessarily think calorie counting is necessary. But to each their own. If it works for you, go for it. I also don't think its right that the girl was forcing her opinion down your throat. Its your body, your choices.


p.s i know for personal experience that eating full fat yogurt instead of the chemically altered or low fat, fake sugared stuff curbs my hunger longer. I'm obsessed with some greek yogurts just because i don't feel the need to eat every hour. It really helps to eat full fat sometimes. Avacados are another food that curbs hunger and makes you feel full

sweetchildomine

lol I can't believe he said calories are meaningless. That is silly lol. I mean, I get that calories aren't EVERYTHING and the type of foods you eat are very important but if you eat too many calories, you gain weight. PERIOD. It doesn't matter if it's fruit and veggies...if you eat too much....YOU GAIN WEIGHT. That guy needs to get slapped with a fish.

elisa123gal

I did low carb ...i stayed the same weight for five weeks. It didn't work for me because i only had 20 pounds to lose. It works on super fat people...because they are restricting calories for their size by omitting all other foods. simple as that. As they lose..they have to count calories as well. I know because i was on the low carb forum..and many there do that.

Fr3dd13

This is pointless. This guy is a marketer, marketing that book. I know, I used to do some internet marketing, and this is spot on. Don't pay any attention to it, the marketer himself don't even believe the book.

Keep doing what you are doing. Obviously it works as you already lost weight with MFP.

wmoomoo

For the most part, what this person is saying is absolutely correct. Calories are a terrible way to analyze what you're eating. You should know that something is bad for you by the way it looks. Restricting fat or carbs will not make your eating healthier. Cook all your own meals, avoid processed foods and chain restaurants, and get regular exercise. Having a beer doesn't make you fat. Having a piece of cake doesn't make you fat. Eating pre-packaged foods and not knowing how/not having the time to cook nutritious meals makes people fat.

Here is where you are right to doubt: portions do matter. This person sounds like he/she has never been obese before. For a fat person, portion sizes are usually out of control. I know I ate far too much of many poor quality foods when I was younger. That's what made me obese. Also, I didn't exercise.

If you can keep regular exercise (with strength or weight training and cardio), you are already successful. I did not use diet plans, and I lost over 80 pounds. It can happen.

Mmmm..... I don't get this. Doesn't portions control also means calories control? Are you saying that 3oz of chicken has the same calories as 6oz of chicken?

jacksonsfatdad

My two cents is just try and eat whole foods, stay away from anything that might have been processed too much and just eat healthy, Some people over think things too much and it gets confusing making dieting much harder than it has to be. take my meals for example.. very easy to follow and i end up with everything i need. its boring but its simple i dont screw myself over at the end of the day bc i ate too much bc everyday i eat roughly the same things.. something calorie based a piece of chicken, fish, pork chop, anything lean and meat those are my three go-tos then i pick a green veggie, green beans, snap peas, reg peas, just something green and then to fill in for calories and to keep myself feeling full for longer i'll add up to a full cup of dried beans for lunch i eat a tuna sandwich with pickles and very very little mayo and for a snack i eat an apple after my workout ill eat celery and peanut butter. oh breakfast is usually yogurt an apple and some oatmeal its simple and it works just follow your intake carefully so you're not below 1200 in a day these foods are very low in calories which is why the beans are there you dont want to go into starvation mode. i lost 5 lbs before i even started working out due to this change in diet.

jacksonsfatdad

also as to the point of this thing everyones arguement is the same calories, portion sizes, eating this and not that, it all comes down to calorie intake vs calorie burn. everything has a caloric value and if you ignore that and eat more than youre out put youre going to gain weight its that simple 3500 calories = 1 lb so no you may not notice it right away but if you keep having more of an intake than burn over time you'll be gaining weight. if you want to ignore calories and say the don't matter thats fine but its all the same thing in the end. if everyday i eat a cheese burger for dinner and mcd's for lunch im going to gain weight not bc of what i ate but bc of the caloric value of them mcd's and a cheeseburger without anything else is easily going to be over 1000 calories add fries or whatever im close to 1500 now add the fact that the food doesnt have anything good in it im going to be hungry again so ill probably snack inbetween.. guess who just ate way more calories in one day than i should and gained 3 lbs that week. everyone here has a valid point but the problem is they're assuming only one side is right when in fact they're both right. eat whole foods, they fill you up longer they usually have a much lower calorie value and its healthy but just make sure its the right stuff and dont a whole lot of anything that can be dyed white, rice, bread, etc that last part is just my opinion btw the rest is pretty much common sense

Quin_Kirk_K

Calories do matter!!! I actually found an article earlier today about this exact topic and I found it to be pretty interesting. http://tucsoncitizen.com/living-thin/2010/06/05/myth-buster-3500-calories-in-a-pound-are-all-calories-created-equally/

A calorie is a calorie its a unit it doesn't change based on if its a calorie of protein, fat, or alcohol. But that said 1200 calories of potato chips isn't going to fill you up like 1200 calories of celery would.

This idea of nutrient and energy dense food is touched on at the end of the article. You can eat a lot of food that isn't very energy dense and it'll fill you up, such as eating green beans vs doughnuts. If you need 300 calories and want to fill up you can eat a lot more green beans to get to 300 calories than you can in doughnuts. Personally if I wanted to feel full I'd pick the thing i could eat more of for less calories.

Hope that helps!

jenilla1

For me, calories are what matters. I have ALWAYS eaten healthy, nutritious foods. To lose and maintain weight, the ONLY changes I've made is in the AMOUNT I eat. It's the calories, baby. :drinker:

neanderthin

Well if someone has gained weight, then they've eaten more calories then they need. Does it explain why people overeat, not really, it just states the obvious. Losing weight is easy, keeping it off is the hard part and until some people figure this out, they will not have lifetime success at lowering their weight, and in this context, imo, calories don't matter.