Weight loss with junk food

tigersword

I know I'm being very dumb here...but I'm just a little confused and interested about nutrition. (Before I ask this don't think I'm saying I WANT to eat junk..I eat very clean and love it..I'm never even tempted to eat a big mac or anything.)
Anyway as an experiment I added onto MFP that all I ate today was KFC and Mcdonalds but put it so that I was still under my daily calorie goal by about 300cals. With this day of junk, it still said I was eating "too few calories" and would have lost a significant amount by january..that's where I'm confused. If I entered for the entire day a craaaaap load of fruit veggies and fish and went OVER my limit by 300cals..it would tell me I'm eating too many and would gain weight. Realistically..would one lose weight through eating junk if it was under their calorie limit?? Or is this where MFP isn't totally reliable?

Have you ever heard of the Twinkie Diet that a professor did to test this out. Not only did he lose weight, but his cholesterol, BP and all other health indicators improved.

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

tigersword

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

This article is just insane! I can't wrap my head around it. It really makes you think if the only thing making people unhealthy is just that we cram too much food in our mouths.

That IS the only thing making people unhealthy. 60 years ago people ate foods that some people would consider extremely unhealthy by today's standards (TV dinners were new and extremely popular, processed foods were everywhere, bread for every meal, etc,) and yet the obesity rate was pretty close to nonexistent. Nowadays, instead of doing hard manual labor all day every day, most of us work behind a desk. So not only do we eat more total calories today than we did back then, we burn a lot less calories today than we did back then. Hence, obesity epidemic.

LMick1986

Yep! Many people have done this experiment. Starbucks Diet, Chipotle Diet, McDonalds Diet, Snickers Diet, etc. It can be done, but it's not necessarily fulfilling. Calories out > calories in. Stay in the deficit range, you'll lose the weight. And I'm using "you" as a general term....I know you said that YOU don't do that.

JanaCanada

Regarding the Twinkie diet article, two things really jumped out at me:

"Two-thirds of his total intake came from junk food. He also took a multivitamin pill and drank a protein shake daily. And he ate vegetables, typically a can of green beans or three to four celery stalks."

So obviously, this nutrition professor was smart enough to supplement his junk food diet with vitamins, protein and veggies - the point being that you cannot live on junk food alone.


"Before jumping on the Ding Dong bandwagon, Blatner warned of health concerns. "There are things we can't measure," said Blatner, questioning how the lack of fruits and vegetables could affect long-term health. "How much does that affect the risk for cancer? We can't measure how diet changes affect our health."

Exactly! While the man obviously lost weight - and because he did, his BP & cholesterol naturally improved - the jury's still out on whether his junk food diet damaged vital organs, blood, and muscles, and if this diet - if done permanetly - would lower his life expectancy by putting him at risk for a fatal disease.

rml_16

Regarding the Twinkie diet article, two things really jumped out at me:

"Two-thirds of his total intake came from junk food. He also took a multivitamin pill and drank a protein shake daily. And he ate vegetables, typically a can of green beans or three to four celery stalks."

So obviously, this nutrition professor was smart enough to supplement his junk food diet with vitamins, protein and veggies - the point being that you cannot live on junk food alone.


"Before jumping on the Ding Dong bandwagon, Blatner warned of health concerns. "There are things we can't measure," said Blatner, questioning how the lack of fruits and vegetables could affect long-term health. "How much does that affect the risk for cancer? We can't measure how diet changes affect our health."

Exactly! While the man obviously lost weight - and because he did, his BP & cholesterol naturally improved - the jury's still out on whether his junk food diet damaged vital organs, blood, and muscles, and if this diet - if done permanetly - would lower his life expectancy by putting him at risk for a fatal disease.

No one is saying it's an ideal diet. We're just saying, in terms of losing weight, it doesn't matter what you eat, just how much.

Believe me, I have NO INTENTION of going on a junk food diet. I feel better overall and can eat more in terms of volume on healthy food and I like that. Healthy food can be prepared to taste super yummy. Honestly, after years of eating super healthy I find I don't even like the taste of most (not all) junk food anymore.

Though the bleu cheese chips and oinion rings I had on Sunday were quite yummy. :-)

JanaCanada

Regarding the Twinkie diet article, two things really jumped out at me:

"Two-thirds of his total intake came from junk food. He also took a multivitamin pill and drank a protein shake daily. And he ate vegetables, typically a can of green beans or three to four celery stalks."

So obviously, this nutrition professor was smart enough to supplement his junk food diet with vitamins, protein and veggies - the point being that you cannot live on junk food alone.


"Before jumping on the Ding Dong bandwagon, Blatner warned of health concerns. "There are things we can't measure," said Blatner, questioning how the lack of fruits and vegetables could affect long-term health. "How much does that affect the risk for cancer? We can't measure how diet changes affect our health."

Exactly! While the man obviously lost weight - and because he did, his BP & cholesterol naturally improved - the jury's still out on whether his junk food diet damaged vital organs, blood, and muscles, and if this diet - if done permanetly - would lower his life expectancy by putting him at risk for a fatal disease.

No one is saying it's an ideal diet. We're just saying, in terms of losing weight, it doesn't matter what you eat, just how much.

True, and no one is disputing that fact. You will lose weight on junk if it's under your daily calorie allowance. You can lose weight grazing on a pasture, too, but even cows need to supplement that diet. :laugh:

AnvilHead

...I am not a fan of cutting out any food group or saying that anything is off limits though. The most successful people I know seem to understand the concept of moderation. You can have anything, you just can't have all of it all the time.

Perfectly stated. Too many people exhibit polarized "all or nothing" thinking when discussing this topic. There is plenty of gray area between being orthorexic and being a junk food junkie. IMO, a flexible diet is a sustainable diet.

beckajw

I know I'm being very dumb here...but I'm just a little confused and interested about nutrition. (Before I ask this don't think I'm saying I WANT to eat junk..I eat very clean and love it..I'm never even tempted to eat a big mac or anything.)
Anyway as an experiment I added onto MFP that all I ate today was KFC and Mcdonalds but put it so that I was still under my daily calorie goal by about 300cals. With this day of junk, it still said I was eating "too few calories" and would have lost a significant amount by january..that's where I'm confused. If I entered for the entire day a craaaaap load of fruit veggies and fish and went OVER my limit by 300cals..it would tell me I'm eating too many and would gain weight. Realistically..would one lose weight through eating junk if it was under their calorie limit?? Or is this where MFP isn't totally reliable?

You absolutely can lose weight eating only junk food. Search google for the Twinkie diet.

However, you'll probably be hungry and tired.

TheCaren

Calories are calories. I lost 30 pounds on weight watchers eating garbage. If you eat at a deficit, your body doesn't care what it is, you'll lose.

Now, having said that, let me add that nutritionally, I was a train wreck on my weight watchers weight loss plan. So while a calorie is a calorie, wasting it on all junk food is not prudent nutritionally.

GomesDavid

Choosing a diet plan to lose weight can seem complicated, but cutting out junk food can be a simple and effective approach for cutting your calories. Choose low-calorie, nutritious foods instead of high-calorie junk foods to lose weight and develop healthy eating habits to maintain your weight loss. Eat a balanced diet to get the nutrients you need as you lose weight.

Jynus

You can certainly lose weight eating 1200 calories of KFC and McDonald's. But you will be severely unhealthy with all of the fat/sodium that is used to make those foods. It may get you losing weight but to much fat and sodium will leave you with high cholesterol and high blood pressure among other things.

no it will not. fit your macros and exercise and your bloodwork will improve. As show by the hundreds of blogs and docs where people do exactly this. fast food gets a very bad rap for no good reason. excess food and no exercise is the killer. moderate intake and exercise is more than fine.

Exactly! While the man obviously lost weight - and because he did, his BP & cholesterol naturally improved - the jury's still out on whether his junk food diet damaged vital organs, blood, and muscles, and if this diet - if done permanetly - would lower his life expectancy by putting him at risk for a fatal disease.

He would be far more at risk being overweight and not exercising... As for damaging organs and such, I could just as arbitrarly say juries still out at how much damage eating lots of veggies every day causes too. It's fear mongering at it's worst with zero basis in substance.

mogletdeluxe

Eeeeeh, the old calories in - calories out debate. I can kind of understand it, but in my experience (I emphasise that point!), when I've eaten rubbish consistently I've a) felt like said rubbish and b) either hit a plateau or gained (even if it's 'just' sodium or water retention).

I'm not a saint by any stretch of the imagination - I love pizza, beer, Chinese food, wine, Dairy Milk, chocolate Hob Nobs, a cheeky Big Mac, blah blah blah.

And I also don't subscribe to "don't reward yourself with food - you're not a dog". I sometimes wish I could think like that, but speak to me on a Friday after zumba and circuits when my beer's in the fridge and my pizza's in the oven.

I AM a believe in everything in moderation. Daily fast or junk food? Not good. I know our bodies aren't cars, but when I eat well and fuel properly I can feel the difference. Exercise feels easier, energy is improved. My skin and hair reflect good eats - and they reflect bad ones, too.

And then, as others have said before me, it's much more than just the weight loss - you may be in the green calorie-wise, but what about elements like blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar levels?

I believe that life's too short not to indulge sometimes. But I emphasise that last word!