Why can't I eat 1200 calories of junk food??

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  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
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    I don't eat pure junk, but I don't eat the healthiest...I fit what I love in to my daily goals but in moderation. I don't go get breakfast at perkins every day with the pancakes and sausage and all that (and if I do, I split it into 2 or 3 smaller meals). I have lost 20 lbs so far. I do notice when I eat cleaner, it comes off faster, but it is perfectly sustainable if you don't mind the slower weight loss.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    Simple:

    Aside from calories, your body also needs:


    Biotin
    Folate
    Vitamin A
    Vitamin B1
    Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
    Vitamin B3 (niacin)
    Vitamin B5 (patothenic acid)
    Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
    Vitamin B12 (cobalamine)
    Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
    Vitamin D (cholecalciferol)
    Vitamin E (tocopherol)
    Vitamin K
    Boron
    Calcium
    Chlorine
    Chromium
    Copper
    Fluorine
    Iodine
    Iron
    Magnesium
    Manganese
    Molybdenum
    Nickel
    Phosphorus
    Potassium
    Selenium
    Sodium
    Vanadium and
    Zinc

    If you eat mostly "junk," you won't get most, if not all, of these vitamins and minerals. Your body needs all of these in order to function properly. Miss enough of one, and you get sick. Simple.
  • VeganZombie13
    VeganZombie13 Posts: 297
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    woww lol
    http://www.nowloss.com/eat-anything-you-want.htm
  • tldust
    tldust Posts: 103 Member
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    You would lose weight, but feel like crap. There was a professor who lost weight only eating twinkies.

    http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/06/health/la-he-fitness-twinkie-diet-20101206
  • heykatieben
    heykatieben Posts: 398 Member
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    I think the catch is also that this is really hard to do to start off with. The more of my 1200 calories I use up eating junk food, the hungrier I am - I think I'd be starving on 1200 calories of chips and soda.
  • boggsmroz
    boggsmroz Posts: 20
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    Sugar is pure carbs. Carbs are the only thing that you don't *need* to eat, you body will produce glucose for itself out of protein and to a lesser extent fat. So if you are eating pure sugar, your body will have to cannibalize itself to get it's protein requirements. When you eat sugar (carbs) your body produces lots of insulin, whose job it is to get the sugar into the blood so it can be used for energy. One of insulins other jobs is to STORE excess energy as fat. So eating 1200 calories of pure sugar a day will spike your insulin and cause what can't be used immediately to be stored as fat, limiting weight loss.

    I don't believe that you wouldn't lose weight, though. It all boils down to calories in vs. calories out, even if all calories are not created equal. Even if it were just muscle loss, you would still notice weight loss on the scale.

    Brain also needs a constant supply of sugar/carbs for it to function properly. Jus saying...

    Personally as well, I have noticed whenever I dont take carbs in the meals (explicitly), I get headaches. :(

    Brain needs very little carbs. One would get plenty by just eating servings of fruits and vegetables.

    This.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
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    You should find better things to read

    Useful. Thanks.

    You will lose weight. What you've been reading is nonsense.

    Better?
  • cjc166
    cjc166 Posts: 222
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    If you're at a caloric deficit, you'll lose weight, however the methods are not all equal.

    There are things called angiogenisis inhibitor, contained in plant foods, especially mushrooms and onion which actually inhibit the growth of blood vessels to places where you shouldn't have them (like your fat), and it will actually stop those vessels from growing and starve the fat, helping you to lose fat more quickly. So that is one benfit to having a fair amount of healthy food in your diet. Also, eating pure sugar will effect your insulin in a bad way, which will inhibit fat loss.

    You will lose muscle mass eating only sugar, because there will be zero protein to repair your tissues.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    You most definitely can. It's not good for your body, though. You need vitamins and nutrients to function well, not just sodium and sugar. Mmm. I want a snack cake.
  • tubaman58
    tubaman58 Posts: 151
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    With junk food you will find it very hard to stay at 1200 calories

    They contain lots of what WW calls "triggers" that tend to produce cravings......
  • romach79
    romach79 Posts: 277 Member
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    The answer to your question is that (depending on your weight) you will lose weight eating junk food - but a couple of things will happen - none of them good.
    1) You will constantly be hungry - carbs are metabolised very quickly by your body because they cause blood glucose levels to rise which your body releases insulin to keep your blood glucose within normal levels.
    2) Insulin in the blood stream inhibits fat burning, so the weight you will be losing will be coming from the protein stores in your body - mainly your muscles.
    3) As there is very little calcium in that kind of food, you risk long term health effects from osteoporosis and your body needs calcium for many metabolic processes and will steal it from bones and teeth.
    4) You will feel crappy as you will experience "sugar highs" and subsequent crashes constantly.

    Hope that helps. Oh - and 1200 calories (in general) is too low unless you are very tiny to begin with. You should check with your doctor and a certified dietician to get the best advice.
  • Natster_uk
    Natster_uk Posts: 13 Member
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    Yes, thanks guys. I was trying to separate the weight loss argument from the vitamin / mineral / nutrient argument. Clearly you need all of the listed vitamins but my question was purely about the weight loss element to eating 1200 calories of junk, not about nutrition.

    Thanks
  • AmberJslimsAWAY
    AmberJslimsAWAY Posts: 2,468 Member
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    I don't eat that well. Bust I stay within my calories... I still lose weight.
  • ecw3780
    ecw3780 Posts: 608 Member
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    1200 calories is 1200 calories...but you would feel like poo and probably become a diabetic, not to mention all the other health problems. That being said, if you occasionally want to swap out a meal for a 500 calorie ice cream sundae, go for it! You will still loose weight.
  • runnergurl1
    runnergurl1 Posts: 1
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    I lost 60 lbs a while back and went from size 16 to 4 just staying at about 1200 calories without worrying about the quality of my diet. I figured I just wanted to get the weight off, and in my opinion at the time, I felt that being overweight was as unhealthy as eating junk food if not worse.

    I basically decided to lose weight first, and then think about quality. I ate fast food, chocolate, and whatever I felt like as long as I was in my daily calorie range. This also included a ton of low calorie, artificially sweetened treats like Skinny Cow, for example.

    Fast forward 10 years, and now I have had gastrointestinal issues that were very unpleasant to say the very least, and I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. I am now focused on pretty much eliminating processed foods from my life, especially all the low calorie stuff.

    It does work to stay at 1200 no matter what you're eating, unlike what people sometimes claim about some foods making you lose weight faster. It might be true that some foods are more satisfying, but really it comes down to how much you exercise and the calories. But it could have consequences down the road.
  • RHSheetz
    RHSheetz Posts: 268 Member
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    For me, 1200 calories of Junk, I would not be able to stop at 1200 calories.

    Some of this might be baecause I am addicted to sugar (I think), but also, by eating the junk, your blood sugar spikes and valleys, and when your blood sugar valleys, your body wants more food to level out the blood sugar. I now find that when i do not eat a lot of processed sugar, I need to "put my foot down" to keep from indulging again.
  • Penfoldsplace
    Penfoldsplace Posts: 159
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    A calorie deficit is a calorie deficit, the person would still lose weight. They would just be very hungry as they would be eating less volume of food. Health would likely suffer after a period of time, such as bad skin, hair, and they might have an increased chance of certain diseases over a longer period of time but everyone's different. I mean you get 90 year olds who smoke all their life and don't get complications like cancer or emphesema but it rare and not worth taking the risk really.
  • nitepagan
    nitepagan Posts: 205 Member
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    Saltines, butter, mayonnaise, peanut butter and lets not forget potato chips, would be the backbone of my diet. An occasional slab of bacon thrown in for good measure. I think I got most of the food groups covered. I need to cover the fruit group, an occasional banana for good measure. Stop the Presses, we have a new Diet, Don't Ask Don't Tell Diet, DADT for short.
  • careyannal
    careyannal Posts: 161
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    There was a point in time my diet literally only consisted of sugars (ice cream, cookies, little debbies) and I was at my lowest weight (I was "skinny fat" and looked like ****.) So, it is possible. Healthy, NO.
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
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    you can.

    you'll just hate what you'll look like after awhile and you'll feel like sht and your hair and skin will be disgusting and your teeth and nails wont be benefiting from anything and you wont have a healthy glow to your skin or a good immune system and sexy you definitely will not be.

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