Do you eat whatever you want?

kingon8
kingon8 Posts: 200 Member
edited September 18 in Food and Nutrition
ok, I am just wondering, we dont have much groceries at our house right now and I cant get tot eh grocery store until tommorow, so the last few days my food chocies havent been very diverse, and I was wondering if it matters how you get your calories if you get them and dont go over on your fat carbs and protein? For example one day I had 4 saltine crackers w/ peanutbutter for breafast, then for lunch 9 pieces of deli sliced smoked turkey breast, and for dinner ramen noodles. I know no veggies or fruit, but when they tell us to get calories does it really matter the source as long as we dont go over??

Replies

  • kingon8
    kingon8 Posts: 200 Member
    ok, I am just wondering, we dont have much groceries at our house right now and I cant get tot eh grocery store until tommorow, so the last few days my food chocies havent been very diverse, and I was wondering if it matters how you get your calories if you get them and dont go over on your fat carbs and protein? For example one day I had 4 saltine crackers w/ peanutbutter for breafast, then for lunch 9 pieces of deli sliced smoked turkey breast, and for dinner ramen noodles. I know no veggies or fruit, but when they tell us to get calories does it really matter the source as long as we dont go over??
  • Healthier_Me
    Healthier_Me Posts: 5,600 Member
    If you can't get to the store until tomorrow, just eat what you have in your house.
    As long as you don't go over in anyting, you'll be fine.

    ~Joanna:flowerforyou:
  • nopogal
    nopogal Posts: 162
    I think variety matters as much as calories. Whole foods (such as veggies, fruits) that are unprocessed are so much more important to me than calories. Your digestive system will be the first to thank you. that being said, i've been caught in a similar situation...I wouldn't let it happen too often, but one day won't kill ya. Besides the fact that there are a lot of chemicals in those foods, there is also a lot of sodium, which is horrible for you. Happy grocery shopping!
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    Personally I feel that it's just about equal importance. It's important not to overeat, but it's also important that you give your body the right types of foods so it can work correctly. I.E. eat a very high carb diet and your likely to gain weight because the body will store more fat, eat a very low carb diet and your body will try to conserve fat because it thinks it doesn't have enough comming in. This goes for fat and protein and vitamins and minerals and fiber...etc as well. I.E. balance your diet as well as watching your total calories.
  • catlover
    catlover Posts: 389
    I just read another post and the person said her nutritionist said it doesn't matter if it's 1600 calories worth of candy or vegetables, (loosely quoted so read it for yourself for accuracy). For me, I can lose when I eat 2 grains a day and one fruit, along with lots of veggies and protein. But I can not lose with 6 grains and two fruits and some veggies and protein. My body tells me it matters, but I would choose eating over not eating, even if I ate more grains one day.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    I just read another post and the person said her nutritionist said it doesn't matter if it's 1600 calories worth of candy or vegetables, (loosely quoted so read it for yourself for accuracy). For me, I can lose when I eat 2 grains a day and one fruit, along with lots of veggies and protein. But I can not lose with 6 grains and two fruits and some veggies and protein. My body tells me it matters, but I would choose eating over not eating, even if I ate more grains one day.

    LOL wow, what an awful nutritionist. I wonder where they got their certification? Apparently they have absolutely no knowledge of insulin function and its anabolic properties, nor the serious effects of malnutrition (like, uh, death from vitamin B deficiency, that's an easy one to get if you're living off candy). I can't believe people like that even get jobs, it's very upsetting to me. :explode:
  • catlover
    catlover Posts: 389
    I just read another post and the person said her nutritionist said it doesn't matter if it's 1600 calories worth of candy or vegetables, (loosely quoted so read it for yourself for accuracy). For me, I can lose when I eat 2 grains a day and one fruit, along with lots of veggies and protein. But I can not lose with 6 grains and two fruits and some veggies and protein. My body tells me it matters, but I would choose eating over not eating, even if I ate more grains one day.

    LOL wow, what an awful nutritionist. I wonder where they got their certification? Apparently they have absolutely no knowledge of insulin function and its anabolic properties, nor the serious effects of malnutrition (like, uh, death from vitamin B deficiency, that's an easy one to get if you're living off candy). I can't believe people like that even get jobs, it's very upsetting to me. :explode:

    "Anyways........ I saw the nutiritionist this week and in response to my(our) questions she had this to say. First of all, she said we are doing fantastic because of the 5% of people who actually keep weight off after losing it, the successful ones are counting calories, not doing things like low-carb, or low-fat etc. so YAY FOR US!!! And thatif you are eating 1600 calories per day (my amount) then you can either have 1600 calories of M&M's or 1600 calories of good food, it really doesn't matter but you sure won't get very many M&M's for 1600 calories! "

    The part above, inside the quotation marks, is what I copied and pasted from another posting here, it's under motivation and support: good news and what questions do you have, or something like that. I know I cannot lose weight on 1600 calories worth of candy, or 1500, or 1400, or my allowed 1200. I just can't do it. I think the point may have been 1600 calories is 1600 calories, not that he or she is endorsing eating 1600 calories worth of candy for good health. It's like the whole which weighs more a pound of fat or a pound of muscle debate we had last month. I wouldn't want to take anything out of context and pass it on as fact. As a layperson and not an expert, I think eating something is better than eating nothing.
  • Tgeorge
    Tgeorge Posts: 49
    You might be okay for a short time, but you have to remember that processed and packaged foods carry so much salt and additives they are just not healthy.... You will eventually get frustrated because the salt will retain some water.

    Suggestion for the future... try keeping some frozen vegies around and maybe a couple of healthy homemade meals in the freezer. I try to cook a larger meal once a week so I can serve half for dinner and then freeze half for a month from now...Things that freeze well are:
    Pasta Dishes with whole wheat pasta, organic sauce with frozen vegies on the side and or mixed in..
    Chicken and Rice bakes, fish (prepared any way) I like mine with spinach, mushrooms and a little cheese on the top.

    I also think the nutritionist is not up on current thinking. Sugars, salts and additives do more than just calories in/out math.

    Good luck...
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member


    I also think the nutritionist is not up on current thinking. Sugars, salts and additives do more than just calories in/out math.


    Exactly. The body doesn't run on numbers. If that were the case, we could just eat '0' for a couple days and lose a lb of fat like clockwork. We run on hormones, and hormones are influenced by sleep, diet, and training, and in turn hormones regulate metabolism, lean body mass, and fat mass. A diet of 1600 calories worth of M&M's would result in hyperglycemia, probably type II diabetes or insulin resistance at best, extreme malnutrition, a poor lipid profile, and eventually death due to extreme deprivation of vitamins and minerals. It certainly *does* matter where your calories come from.
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