Weight loss while eating badly

kuger4119

There's always a lot of talk about how you have to avoid certain foods if you want to lose weight and people love to chastise other MFP members for eating pizza and the like. The last two weeks have shown me that you can have moments of weakness and still come out ahead even when your diet isn't perfect as long as the overall trends are right and you are working out to compensate.

In the past two weeks, I've had McDonalds quarter pounder with cheese, Dominos pizza, a few beers, half of a giant tub of movie popcorn, ice cream, birthday cake, Taco Bell and the like. In that same time frame, I've lost four pounds.

To do that, I've worked out at least a half hour six days a week and tried to keep the rest of my daily calories under control. Long story short, it is possible to cheat some and lose weight as long as you put in the work the rest of the time. I've lost 7 lbs this month after gaining 3 lbs while on vacation the week after Memorial Day. I don't know if I inadvertently did a metabolic reset by eating on vacation and having the other bad foods, but it's working for me and I'm happy with that. For the others here that worry about the negative effects of food on a bad day........just make sure that you are putting in the work overall and it will work out in the long run.

I'll finish by saying that there are sacrifices to be made if you want to lose weight, but unless you are obsessing about having washboard abs, make sure to enjoy the trip along the way as much as you can while you try to stay within your calorie goals.

Rilke

Long term health / longevity / freedom from disease > weight loss.

A heavily processed diet is not good for anyone, ever.

kuger4119

I will say that in general, I've tried to reduce my fast food intake and eat better.

The common person doesn't need to obsess about perfection and that was the primary point of my post. If someone thinks that they can eat that kind of stuff all the time and stay ahead.....they'll be disappointed. A few bad days hasn't hurt me one bit and I'd bet the same goes for most people as long as they put in the work overall.

ahamm002

Everyone knows that you can lose weight in the short term by eating anything, even Twinkies and donuts. The problem is that once the motivation runs out, if you keep eating those types of foods you'll be more likely to gain the weight back.

EDIT: I'm not recommending that anyone should cut out all junk food. Cheat meals are fine. But snacking regularly on junk, or eating mainly fast food will eventually lead to failure for most people. And you also have to wonder what those foods are doing for your internal health as well.

Mrsbrandnewmeslimandtrim

Bump

josiereside

I don't consider any meals cheat meals, whether the good, the bad, or the ugly... I eat healthy and clean probably 80% of the time and I don't ban any foods... I have been successful doing this. The only time I am not successful is if I over eat or am not being accountable for my diet.

mdsjmom98

I had a deluxe pizza with my son last night. I would say I probably ate about 8 squares and a breadstick, which totalled over 800 cals. I knew I would probably have pizza for dinner, so I adjust breakfast and lunch accordingly. I had a small breakfast, and only a smart ones for lunch, so I had the calories to spare. After we ate, we walked for almost an hour, then I did a little wii fit. I ended up in the positive by 70 calories or so.

I believe in moderation, and limiting your splurges. It is possible to eat the things you love and enjoy them and still lose weight. I'm proof of that.

ndmain1977

I'm gonna have to go ahead and beg to differ with a lot of you.

Take a look at this:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html

That's a Nutrition professor that did this experiment.

Gotta stop listening to the pseudo scientists, and the people trying to sell you stuff folks.

FAKE EDIT: Go ahead, I know plenty of you are going to flame me, or tell me how it's bs, but I think I'll go ahead and believe a guy who has made it his life to study the effects of food on the human body.

Rilke

I'm gonna have to go ahead and beg to differ with all of you.

Take a look at this:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html

That's a Nutrition professor that did this experiment.

Gotta stop listening to the pseudo scientists, and the people trying to sell you stuff folks.

FAKE EDIT: Go ahead, I know plenty of you are going to flame me, or tell me how it's bs, but I think I'll go ahead and believe a guy who has made it his life to study the effects of food on the human body.

If you would like to eat a diet based on Twinkies to prove you can lose weight on it, please, repeat the experiment. But keep it going for years. Healthy and sustainable, right?

Report back on how it's worked for you.

ndmain1977

A junk food diet would be the most sustainable diet in the world.

The point of the "Twinkie diet" is that despite all the talk to the contrary, it actually does come down to calories in / calories out.

Rilke

A junk food diet would be the most sustainable diet in the world.

The point of the "Twinkie diet" is that despite all the talk to the contrary, it actually does come down to calories in / calories out.

Weight loss comes down to calories in / calories out. But health most certainly does not.

josiereside

Hmmmm, I used to love Twinkies... have not had one in years... Thanks for putting this in my head!

ndmain1977

Did you even read the article? In addition to the weight loss, his health improved.

Josie_lifting_cats

I eat something naughty nearly every day.

Wine.
Fun dip.
Pioneer Woman's iced coffee with evaporated milk *droooooooooollllll*

Sure, if I was eating out 3 meals a day 5-7 times a week, I'd worry. But I eat Taco Bell or Subway (I honestly hold them in the same regard as far as "crap food" is concerned) probably twice a week. I don't worry about it too much. And it didn't hinder my goals - but I eat different things than I used to to stay under calories. And honestly, my protein/fat/sugars are usually pretty close to my goals still.

Rilke

Did you even read the article? In addition to the weight loss, his health improved.

Yes, I have read that article and others on his experiment. But he did this for a very short time -- ten weeks. That is not a long enough time period to study any kind of long term effects.

Again, if you truly believe in this, I invite you to sustain that diet for a year or more and see what your health looks like.

VanessaGS

Everyone knows that you can lose weight in the short term by eating anything, even Twinkies and donuts. The problem is that once the motivation runs out, if you keep eating those types of foods you'll be more likely to gain the weight back.

EDIT: I'm not recommending that anyone should cut out all junk food. Cheat meals are fine. But snacking regularly on junk, or eating mainly fast food will eventually lead to failure for most people. And you also have to wonder what those foods are doing for your internal health as well.

I agree. Most fast food restaurants contain partially dehydrated soy bean oil which can cause lots of problems down the line. Do the research? I'm not going to lie, I do squeeze in some fast food every once in a while, but I have to say I've had fast food maybe twice this month. We are human and can't cut it out completely but it's better to make your food at home. If you want french fries try making some with fresh potatoes in the george forman grill. Tastes good and no grease Same goes for burgers. YUMMMM!

kmeekhof

Did you even read the article? In addition to the weight loss, his health improved.

I'm sure his health "improved" because of the weight loss. Anybodys health is going to improve a little bit from losing 27 lbs.

ndmain1977

My biggest issue with a lot of people that are in the diet community is how they come down on people that aren't eating "clean" or whatever you want to call it. Also, how people on here even, will give someone else that's losing weight grief because they're eating processed foods, and it just isn't up to their standards. It basically comes down to one person trying to tell the other person that "I'm better than you, because I'm losing weight by eating healthy, and you're not."

It's as bad as baptists, that have no problem coming up to a complete stranger, and saying "You're going to hell, because you don't live you're life the same as me.", instead it's "You're gonna stay fat, because you're not eating the same as me.".

Basically, if you want to work something into your diet that someone else tries to tell you is bad for you, don't listen to them. If it's working for you, and you're losing weight, go with it.

LeenaRuns

[Weight loss comes down to calories in / calories out. But health most certainly does not.

This.

Helloitsdan

IIFYM

Weight loss comes down to calories in / calories out. But health most certainly does not.

Somewhat......
Hormones up vs hormones down for some ppl.
Most ppl sub optimal body fat cals in vs cals out just doesnt work.

ahamm002

A junk food diet would be the most sustainable diet in the world.

The point of the "Twinkie diet" is that despite all the talk to the contrary, it actually does come down to calories in / calories out.

Who are you responding to? Nobody said you couldn't lose weight by eating junk. The problem is maintaining that weight loss. Eventually the motivation will start to run out, and you wake up next to an empty donut box. Rinse/repeat, you just gained all your weight back.