Eating what you want and losing weight

gdortiz

Totally true, you can lose weight with any type of food as long as you have a caloric deficit. But, weight is not the only aspect of health.

Right ... in the end junk is real bad for you, so why even entertain it?

Vercell

This is funny. I have been formulating thoughts around explaining the addictive nature of junk food, and how my 4 year journey has finally gotten me to a place where I no longer desire it at all, in fact, quite the opposite; I am repulsed by most of it, and completely indifferent to the rest. I crave natural wholesome food now and make those choices every time when offered either or. But, it takes some explaining. This little Preamble doesn't really do it justice.

Sidesteal

Totally true, you can lose weight with any type of food as long as you have a caloric deficit. But, weight is not the only aspect of health.

Right ... in the end junk is real bad for you, so why even entertain it?

It's a matter of dosage and context. Junk food is not "real bad for you" under all circumstances. If you can eat "some" junk food without any ill effects, why wouldn't you?

tasiamere

I completely agree. I have lost about 30 pounds so far with portion control and moderation. This is the only thing that would work for me. Otherwise I wouldn't be successful for long at all.

Same here. I'm gradually making changes to WHAT I eat. The initial changes were HOW MUCH I ate. A little more salad here a little less chips there. Cutting it all out completely I would've fell off before I blinked.

panzerhaus

Every morning I wake up and I smoke a cigarette. And for breakfast I eat five strips of bacon. And for lunch a bacon sandwich. And for a mid day snack...BACON. A WHOLE DAMN PLATE. and I usually drink my dinner. Now according to all those flat belly experts, I shoulda took a dirt nap 30 years ago! Just goes to show ya.

hahahahahaha Grumpy Old Men Love it!!!

daisy2555

Eating what you want and still lose weight? Reel me in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

downinaggieland98

I've read countless amounts of crap from people on this forum that just doesn't make sense, for example in order to lose weight you need to eat wholesome foods and NO junk food, to lose weight. But the truth is, you can eat what you want and lose weight - no, it's not ideal, you obviously need X amount of vitamins, protein etc, however anyone can lose weight eating what they want, as long as it's within their calorie allowance.

There is an interesting read on the link below, a scientist eats nothing but Twinkies and junk food for two months and, would you believe it, lost weight. He took tablets for his vitamins and what not, but it just goes to show that these "only eat wholesome to lose weight" preachers are people who fell off a bandwagon somewhere along the way.

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

Moral of the story? You CAN eat junk food (although it should be in moderation IMO) and lose weight - please do not listen to these ney sayers who claim eating junk food will result in not losing weight.

MaverickUK2K,

While it may be true that you can eat whatever you want as long as you are expending more calories that you are taking in, you will never have a fit, healthy, good looking body if you do that. And I think you're chastising without realizing the reality of these forums and the people on them.

Most people equate losing weight with getting the body they want. They equate losing with getting healthy and getting fit and trim. You're upset because you think in literal terms only and you don't see what most people see.

The FACT is that HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE WEIGHT LOSS can only be done eating healthy, wholesome foods. And even your twinkie-eating scientist has to admit to that one.

Oh btw, if all I ate was twinkies...even if it was only 1200 calories...I would blow up like a balloon. So perhaps they should have used a wide range of people for their little scientific test so it would be a real test and not a total, non-scientific, absolute fail. What that scientist did proved only that HE could lose weight eating that way. It proved NOTHING about the majority of the population.

This!!

iLoveMyPitbull1225

I just do not feel that you will be as healthy from eating 1200 calories of mcdonalds as you would be from eating 1200 calories of fresh, homemade, healthy food. There is no way its the same

lizzybethclaire

I have to agree with some of the other posters. When I want to be a piggy, I crave real food (like extra chicken or pancakes) not junk.

Acg67

Totally true, you can lose weight with any type of food as long as you have a caloric deficit. But, weight is not the only aspect of health.

Right ... in the end junk is real bad for you, so why even entertain it?

Define "junk food" and how much is real bad, 1 calorie, 1 bite, what exactly?

Nailrep

I have always followed this concept. It's all about the calories.

Vercell

For each its own but today I craved squash, because I took junk out my diet and when I do try something it does not taste the same and I have stomach problems later, but like I said everyone is different. I believe you only crave what you are use to, if you never ate junk food you would never crave it. I choose not to eat it because how is it I can eat a bag of chips but I could never eat a bag of carrots. cause junk is empty calories.

LoraF83

I've read countless amounts of crap from people on this forum that just doesn't make sense, for example in order to lose weight you need to eat wholesome foods and NO junk food, to lose weight. But the truth is, you can eat what you want and lose weight - no, it's not ideal, you obviously need X amount of vitamins, protein etc, however anyone can lose weight eating what they want, as long as it's within their calorie allowance.

There is an interesting read on the link below, a scientist eats nothing but Twinkies and junk food for two months and, would you believe it, lost weight. He took tablets for his vitamins and what not, but it just goes to show that these "only eat wholesome to lose weight" preachers are people who fell off a bandwagon somewhere along the way.

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

Moral of the story? You CAN eat junk food (although it should be in moderation IMO) and lose weight - please do not listen to these ney sayers who claim eating junk food will result in not losing weight.

You can lose weight eating anything. But to stay healthy and live long you need to eat right. You can't eat twinkies 3Xday for life and expect that you'll live to be an active 80.

The crappy food catches up to you with high cholesterol, diabetes and heart attacks. These problems have been falsely attributed to obesity as the only cause. The truth is, a crappy lifestyle causes the problem.

^This. Losing weight lowers your risk for those diseases, but doesn't eliminate them.

I like to think of calories like money......I bring home a paycheck every two weeks. I use most of that paycheck for things I need (house, car, food, utilities, etc). Then, there's usually some money left over that I can use for things I want (to go see a movie, buy a new outfit, etc). I take care of my needs first, then I can induldge in my wants.

Calories are the same way - nutrition first, cravings second. I try to spend most of my calories on the foods I need to be healhty (and no, I don't always succeed) and then I spend a smaller amount of calories on the things I want because I crave them/they taste good/etc.

It's all about moderation.

BuffyEat2Live

Yep, everything in moderation.... but some of us have issues with eating the junk in moderation, so we have to keep it out of the house!

MessyLittlePanda

Of course you can lose weight on a rubbish diet!

Alcoholics frequently lose weight on a diet containing mostly alcohol, but few people would agree that's healthy.

I'm a celiac. Pre diagnosis, I was overweight. It wasn't picked up because I was overweight. Celiac disease leads to malnutrition, which must automatically mean people will be underweight, right? Nope. A lot of undiagnosed celiacs are overweight, because their bodies react differently to the lack of nutrients. Some people's systems respond by retaining everything, so you get a lot of celiacs who have a lot of water weight, are constipated (sorry TMI) and are overweight, because their bodies are trying to hang on for dear life to whatever they can get. With other people, their bodies just eliminate everything and they do become very thin and look malnourished. I sure as hell didn't look malnourished, but I was anaemic and deficient in just about everything. Within a couple of months of a gluten free diet alone (wasn't well enough to contemplate exercise) half a stone of that extra weight had gone, but I was told that most people who go gluten free gain weight. One size doesn't fit all when it comes to how our bodies react to what is put into them.

anna0478

I'm one of those that eat what I want (within reason), and work really hard to get that deficit going. This is easier to sustain for me.

I suppose if I ate like a bird I wouldn't have to work as hard, but then again, I did that once, and gained back every bit of the 30 pounds I lost!

MMoriarty2012

My goal is a healthy lifestyle change, one reason being so it doesn't all come back in 4 years!



http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/09/harvard-serves-up-its-own-plate/?utm_content

Nutrition1st

I think the key missing ingredient here is proper exercise (resistance and cardio). If you eat junk food, and exercise properly, you may still lose healthy weight. If you were to come behind the trainer counter at my gym, your jaw would drop when you see all of the junk food we have back there. And if you ever saw us out on the town at night, you might be surprised too. I take that opportunity to educate people. I only eat junk food before or immediately after a workout. Those calories don't have time to be stored as fat b/c they are burned for energy. If I splurge on the junk food, then I kill it in the gym to make sure those cals are burned. At the end of the day, your body is going to convert Protein to Amino Acids, Carbs (simple or complex) to Glucose, and Fat to Fatty Acids. My muscles are going to uptake it all. Speaking for myself only, after dropping 100+ lbs gave me the confidence to eat what I want as long as it's in my calorie goal. What made me start eliminating junk food and fried food was dropping my cholesterol from 450+ to mid 100's. I could care less about looking healthy. I know that I have removed myself from several fatal risk factors such as diabetes and having a stroke.

half_moon

This is very simple.
For mere weight loss with no concern for optimal health, eat whatever but create a deficit.
For peak fitness and to look good, feel great and live well, clean eating is best.
And that's lean meats, low fat dairy, nuts, whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies.
It's not rocket science.
I eat clean 75% of the time. That's as good as it gets, and it's a work in progress.
Life is to be lived :drinker:

I like this guy!! I agree with him.

MaverickUK2K

I've read countless amounts of crap from people on this forum that just doesn't make sense, for example in order to lose weight you need to eat wholesome foods and NO junk food, to lose weight. But the truth is, you can eat what you want and lose weight - no, it's not ideal, you obviously need X amount of vitamins, protein etc, however anyone can lose weight eating what they want, as long as it's within their calorie allowance.

There is an interesting read on the link below, a scientist eats nothing but Twinkies and junk food for two months and, would you believe it, lost weight. He took tablets for his vitamins and what not, but it just goes to show that these "only eat wholesome to lose weight" preachers are people who fell off a bandwagon somewhere along the way.

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

Moral of the story? You CAN eat junk food (although it should be in moderation IMO) and lose weight - please do not listen to these ney sayers who claim eating junk food will result in not losing weight.

Congrats on selling type two diabetes... That's the moral of your story.

EDITED BY STAFF At no point did i say to eat nothing but junk food, clearly you a) didn't read the article and b) read my post properly, had you done both you would of came to the conclusion EDITED BY STAFF .


***POST EDITED BY STAFF for violation of guideline number 1 ****
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines

Evarell

So why would you go all troll mode on me and make a dumb post like that?

Jeez, some of the people on this forum really are mind-blowingly arrogant. Comes with the territory i suppose.

Ignore the trolls! Anyone with half a brain who actually read your post can see what you were really saying. :flowerforyou:

johnlevelsup

While I agree that you cant eat what you want but in moderation and still lose weight, for some of us it just doesn't work.

When I started losing weight in January, I started eating more vegetables and fruit but still had processed food. Over the course of the next few months I started cutting back the processed and junk food (I put them separate, because I had a lot of the overly-processed fat-free and low-fat products, which aren't necessarily junk food like full-fat cookies and stuff), and now I mainly eat wholesome food, and try to stay away from overly-processed junk. It's not exact, but I've noticed now that I can actually TASTE fruits and veggies, more than before.

For example, I HATED peaches when I started losing weight. Thought they were the most vile fruit on earth. But a few weeks ago I tried them again, by themselves (not in a dessert or anything) and now I love them. One of the tastiest fruits I've eaten. I also haven't had a whole lot of fast food, and about week ago I had some because it sounded really good. I could hardly finish it because it was THAT disgusting and had no taste. My stomach didn't like it either and revolted.

While I sometimes still crave fast food, I remember what happened that one time and my craving is gone. I don't eat fast food at all anymore, and most of the food I do eat is minimally-processed. Most of the groceries are fresh ingredients as well.

fatmom51

I've read countless amounts of crap from people on this forum that just doesn't make sense, for example in order to lose weight you need to eat wholesome foods and NO junk food, to lose weight. But the truth is, you can eat what you want and lose weight - no, it's not ideal, you obviously need X amount of vitamins, protein etc, however anyone can lose weight eating what they want, as long as it's within their calorie allowance.

There is an interesting read on the link below, a scientist eats nothing but Twinkies and junk food for two months and, would you believe it, lost weight. He took tablets for his vitamins and what not, but it just goes to show that these "only eat wholesome to lose weight" preachers are people who fell off a bandwagon somewhere along the way.

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

Moral of the story? You CAN eat junk food (although it should be in moderation IMO) and lose weight - please do not listen to these ney sayers who claim eating junk food will result in not losing weight.

You can lose weight eating anything. But to stay healthy and live long you need to eat right. You can't eat twinkies 3Xday for life and expect that you'll live to be an active 80.

The crappy food catches up to you with high cholesterol, diabetes and heart attacks. These problems have been falsely attributed to obesity as the only cause. The truth is, a crappy lifestyle causes the problem.

^This. Losing weight lowers your risk for those diseases, but doesn't eliminate them.

I like to think of calories like money......I bring home a paycheck every two weeks. I use most of that paycheck for things I need (house, car, food, utilities, etc). Then, there's usually some money left over that I can use for things I want (to go see a movie, buy a new outfit, etc). I take care of my needs first, then I can induldge in my wants.

Calories are the same way - nutrition first, cravings second. I try to spend most of my calories on the foods I need to be healhty (and no, I don't always succeed) and then I spend a smaller amount of calories on the things I want because I crave them/they taste good/etc.

It's all about moderation.

This is one of the most sensible posts about this topic that I've seen. Yes. Eating healthy and relatively "clean," is important, but incorporating occasional treats when they're within your calorie "surplus" is OK if it doesn't cause you to binge and/or get completely off-track or tempted or crave more or go overboard. This eating plan is for the rest of our lives. It's not a short-term "diet."

tjpipes

Every morning I wake up and I smoke a cigarette. And for breakfast I eat five strips of bacon. And for lunch a bacon sandwich. And for a mid day snack...BACON. A WHOLE DAMN PLATE. and I usually drink my dinner. Now according to all those flat belly experts, I shoulda took a dirt nap 30 years ago! Just goes to show ya.

" PALEO ROCKS " I know this diet!!

AliciaStinger

I tried to lose weight by eating all the good, healthy foods all the time. Did it work? Well, for a short time, yes. The weight DID come off, but while losing weight I gained a lot of resentment and evil thoughts towards the world.

...

What I'm doing works for ME and that is what counts!

I'm with you on this. I tried eating clean for a while...depressing. Then I had a burger -- just a greasy, fast food burger, with all the stuff on it -- and I felt SO good. It reminded me of so many things I love, from movies and music, to the day I got braces and my dad took me out to make me feel better. I don't eat burgers often (I don't eat a lot of meat in general), and I may tell myself that I can't have a burger because I'm close to my calorie limit or I haven't been working out enough...but when I really want one, I'm not going to deny myself. (Better yet, I'll make myself work out for it.)

Good for you for finding a path that works -- even if it does include a daily dose of M&Ms!!

chrisdavey

why is IIFYM not common knowledge around here?

giveMEbeauty

Bump

messpark36

I lost 43 lbs. 3 years ago with exercising 6 days a week and using portion control with any food. I still ate McDonalds, pizza, etc. just not as much as I was eating. I ate healthy most of the time, but I agree with some other responses, sometimes you just gotta have that burger!

This time I'm loosing weight from being pregnant. I am basically doing the same but I cannot exercise as much with 2 small kids, so the weight is not coming off as fast!

clarkeje1

I think it depends on the person. I struggle with binging so if I eat some junk foods I will be more likely to binge on them. I'm in the process of building clean eating habits so I am trying to stay away from those kinds of foods. After I get some healthy habits established I think I can allow myself to have some treats in moderation but for now I think minimizing those things are best for me.

gypy

You can eat whatever you like & lose weight, as long as it fits your macros.

Obviously, the more you indulge in less nutritional foods, the more macros you use. As I love eating, I keep my food pretty clean, so I can eat lots of it.