All calories are not created equally!

Whole Foods usually help me loose weight quicker and fill me up more. Then food that are high in fat and are higher in calories. Most of my food i try to get from protien and complex carbs.

whole fresh foods - lower sodium - high protein, high fiber.

Yes, because the physiological food fuel nimbers are different from the physical ones! Long argument based on the efficiency with which the body can extract kcals from different food stuffs.

Some carbs are very easy for the body to extract kcals from some proteins very hard, so more energy is wasted in processing some foods, lost through heat. It's the phsyiological effect of the Thermal Effect of Feeding - you really want to be inefficient and waste some of those kcals through heat!

Fruits and vegetables make me lose weight and feel better than any other category of food.

Yes I eat mostly fruit and veg at the moment and feel amazing, although people tell me I'll put weight on eating 8 bananas a day, but the weight is still coming off so I'm going to keep doing what is working for me.

a calorie is a calorie...but be careful!! eating a high quanity of high potassium foods (such as a banana), daily, MAY be harmful to you in other ways! Be sure to have your electrolytes checked at the Doctor's office, to see if you have a sensitivity to Potassium....that would be good to know if you truly do eat 8 bananas every day!

Had a nutritionist at my derby training tonight.
He gave us the scientific reason WHY a cal is not a cal.
Although at the end of the day you may get the same amount of energy from it, the way the body processes it is different.

For a general rule proteins and complex carbs take 3-4 hours to break down and if not used will turn to fat. High GI things like sugary fruits, soft drink, sports drinks ect take 1-2 hours. Saturated fats take longest while unsaturated are easier to break down.
So anything you are planning to 'burn off' needs to be taken into consideration when you eat it and when you plan to burn it off. So a donut before bed will end up in your butt while one for lunch and a gym session after work will burn it. Or fruit for breakfast will end up stored as fat if you don't work out until the night time if it isn't used up.

High protein diets or low/no carb diets will burn fat quickly but you will generally hit a plateau at some point and wont be able to move it. Your body NEEDS 40-50% of carbs to function normally and your metabolism will be better if you are eating them evenly through the day. Your blood sugar is directly effected by carbs so if you try and keep it stable or work out when it would be at it's peak (1-2 hours after high GI and 3-4 after low GI) and have 30-50gm or carbs and 15gm of protein after your body will be a machine that works at it's complete peak all day. It might not shift weight quickly but it's easier to maintain as a lifestyle choice and you'll just function better.

Fats and proteins do not effect blood sugar in the same way that carbs do (hence why they are painted as BAD for everyone instead of people who have medical reasons) so this is the reason why a calorie is not and will never be an equivalent calorie.
Health is optimum for correct weightloss and body function, if you abuse that you'll gain weight back quickly among other things....

A calorie is a calorie. 1 calorie of protein is equal to 1 calorie of carbohydrate is equal to 1 calorie of fat. Calories are measurements of energy. So whether you've ingested or burned 100 calories from protein, carbs or fat, the energy value is the same from each macronutrient.
How the body utilizes each macronutrient and the hormonal/chemical response involved is where is differs. Everything in our body is a chemical response (including thought), so how your intake is proportioned will dictate how your body responds. Some people are carb sensitive, while others aren't.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

For a general rule proteins and complex carbs take 3-4 hours to break down and if not used will turn to fat. High GI things like sugary fruits, soft drink, sports drinks ect take 1-2 hours. Saturated fats take longest while unsaturated are easier to break down.
So anything you are planning to 'burn off' needs to be taken into consideration when you eat it and when you plan to burn it off. So a donut before bed will end up in your butt while one for lunch and a gym session after work will burn it. Or fruit for breakfast will end up stored as fat if you don't work out until the night time if it isn't used up.

You are thinking short term. If you have an overall calorie deficit for the day/week whatever the net result is a decrease in weight. Total macronutrients intaken is FAR more important than the timing of those macronutrients.

Possibly but I'm also eating to fuel my body for sport and mental performance at work. Not specifically for weightloss.
But this is also true for the people who ask why they aren't losing as quick as they should or putting on weight some weeks. Your body will burn off the fuel in your blood before the fat stores are used so depending on what you have eaten prior to a workout (if it's not optimum most of the time) weightloss will be slower.

But this is also true for the people who ask why they aren't losing as quick as they should or putting on weight some weeks. Your body will burn off the fuel in your blood before the fat stores are used so depending on what you have eaten prior to a workout (if it's not optimum most of the time) weightloss will be slower.

Weight loss isn't linear as much as we'd like it to be. There are so many factors involved that influence scale numbers (hence scales only is a terrible idea to measure progress).

EXACTLY! If it was just 'output>input not matter what input actually is' weightloss wouldn't be agonising. We wouldn't have the word 'fad diet' because it would all work. Unfortunately we are not evolved past the process of the body storing nutrients that it is programmed to need. Maybe in a few thousand years our bodies will cotton on to the fact that food is plentiful and it doesn't need to hold onto things... but not yet.

"All calories are not created equally" is a ploy to throw you off your game. I don't eat fried foods, and I love black beans, edamame, stir fry veggies, and lean meats. I'm sleek, super fit, teach aerobics, and can run like the wind. I've noticed over the last two years, since the government is starting to force calories to be placed on menus, that we're hearing this "All calories are not created equal" nonsense. A person struggling with counting calories will end up not counting after hearing this, because they'll think it doesn't work. What does it matter if eating whole foods allows you to lose weight faster than eating process foods? It doesn't matter if you're in the game for life. When you reach your goal, you log to maintain. Do not allow that proteins work this way, fats works this way, carbs work this way nonsense to throw you off your game. You'll lose weight, be fit, and have a trim figure as long as you're counting, and staying within your allotted daily calories.

Noone is saying you wont lose weight or keep it off by logging and staying within the alloted amount. However, weight loss will not be as quick or as close to linear as some would like if your diet is terrible.
The health benefits of eating properly should go hand in hand with weightloss as being thin doesn't automatically mean you are healthy.
Personally I need to know how things will effect me as I'm eating for performance over weightloss. If I just ate crud all day I'd lose weight and lose my fitness goals that I cannot possibly acheive unless I'm eating properly.

Do you find that you lose weight more easily when you eat a certain type of food even if you keep the calorie count exactly the same? I'd be really interested to hear your response.

Clean will always be better than processed. Your body has to sift through less garbage to get to it's nourishment when it's clean.

I've found that I have to eat cleanly to lose weight. I eat between 1,200-1,300 calories and if those calories come from better sources, I don't get hungry throughout the day. If I tried to fit in doritos and cookies... I would be starving haha.

Do you find that you lose weight more easily when you eat a certain type of food even if you keep the calorie count exactly the same? I'd be really interested to hear your response.

Clean will always be better than processed. Your body has to sift through less garbage to get to it's nourishment when it's clean.

Not really. Body is very efficient at "sifting" through once food and drink are broken down.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

A calorie is a calorie. 1 calorie of protein is equal to 1 calorie of carbohydrate is equal to 1 calorie of fat. Calories are measurements of energy. So whether you've ingested or burned 100 calories from protein, carbs or fat, the energy value is the same from each macronutrient.
How the body utilizes each macronutrient and the hormonal/chemical response involved is where is differs. Everything in our body is a chemical response (including thought), so how your intake is proportioned will dictate how your body responds. Some people are carb sensitive, while others aren't.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Yay! I get to agree with you today! :happy:
:smokin: