Can you really eat anything and lose?

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bberg0521
bberg0521 Posts: 49 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Just out of curiosity…have any of you lost weight eating anything you wanted but staying with in your calorie limit???
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Replies

  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
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    Yes, this is how it works.
  • painauxraisin
    painauxraisin Posts: 299 Member
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    I'd like to know the answer to this too!
  • wrinju
    wrinju Posts: 93 Member
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    Let's say you have 1700 calories a day. I don't think you can eat 1700 calories worth of Jelly donuts and lose weight. I might be wrong but I think you can have a jelly donut now an then. Everything in moderation.
  • FitFabFlirty92
    FitFabFlirty92 Posts: 384 Member
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    Yes! :) I lost 20 pounds eating more or less anything I wanted. If it fits into your calorie goal and you're not overeating, you can eat or drink ANYTHING and lose. For your health, it's obviously better to fill up some or most of those required calories with healthy food (which I'm trying to do now) but it terms of actual weight loss, the type of food doesn't matter. It's calories in, calories out. Plain and simple.
  • VariousPoses
    VariousPoses Posts: 7
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    I have done that in the past. It has worked on a weight perspective only, because since fruits and veg are less calorific, you can eat more and stay in your limit. Bottom line, I find healthy foods keep me on track since I feel fuller, more energized and healthy.
  • 126siany
    126siany Posts: 1,386 Member
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    I don't do it, but when I was here last year I had a few people on my friends list who ate nothing but garbage and still lost.

    Although it is possible to eat nothing but crap and still lose weight, I don't recommend it because:

    -You'll be malnourished
    -You'll likely be hungrier than if you ate foods with a better nutrient profile
    -You'll probably lose more lean mass than was necessary
    -Your odds of maintaining the loss are very low
  • wildcata77
    wildcata77 Posts: 660
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    Let's say you have 1700 calories a day. I don't think you can eat 1700 calories worth of Jelly donuts and lose weight. I might be wrong but I think you can have a jelly donut now an then. Everything in moderation.

    This, LOL.

    I still have cheat days and cheat meals, but the majority of the time I try to pay attention to what I have left and what I can eat.

    I'm sure I could eat fast food every day and still lose weight, but I would be miserable (and hungry) and not have enough energy to work out and get stronger b/c my portions would be so small and I'd get no nutrients.
  • louiesa55
    louiesa55 Posts: 35 Member
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    i find it hard to eat anything that i want and still lose weight because i eat more than i should and don't stay within my calories. but thats just me
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    I eat whatever I want and still lose weight.

    Eating more fruits, veggies, lean protein, healthy fats, and whole grains has a lot of benefits, but is not necessary for losing weight.

    Try to use quite a few of your calories for the foods you need, then use some of them for the foods you want.

    You have to learn to eat in moderation so you will be successful long term.
  • iwork4pepsi
    iwork4pepsi Posts: 44
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    I have eaten whatever food that I have wanted to eat since I began MFP in May. I have taken small steps to lean towards a healthier lifestyle, which doesn't include a lot of junk food. I am slowly ridding my diet of processed foods, for health reasons only. A calorie of deep fried ice cream, is the same as a calorie of broccoli. If you are a volume eater, I would suggest eating healthier things though. :)
  • Penfoldsplace
    Penfoldsplace Posts: 159
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    Let's say you have 1700 calories a day. I don't think you can eat 1700 calories worth of Jelly donuts and lose weight. I might be wrong but I think you can have a jelly donut now an then. Everything in moderation.

    Technically you could eat jelly donuts and lose weight, it wouldn't be healthy obviously. There was a guy that demonstrated this with the Twinkie diet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkie#Twinkie_diet
  • petechiae
    petechiae Posts: 147 Member
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    The thing is... let's say you have a 2k calories limit, like me.
    I like to eat pizza hut's chicken ceasar pizza. Each slice is ~390 calories. If I eat 3 of them, that puts me at 1170 cals. I have 830 calories remaining.
    And that's one meal.
    You're supposed to have 3 meals in a day, with a few snacks here and there.
    You're probably not going to feel that full too after those 3 slices of pizza. And if you do, it won't be long before you're hungry again.
    My point is that you can eat whatever you want, and you will still lose weight, but this is not a sustainable option. Eating junk makes you want to crave more. If you start eating healthy stuff, there are mainly 3 benefits:

    a) You feel full because it is full of nutrients.
    b) You can (almost) eat as much as you want.
    c) Once you get used to it, you will not crave junk food anymore.

    Believe me, I eat healthy as much as possible now and I'm having trouble filling those 2k calories. I'm not hungry.
    Of course, you can always treat yourself once in a while. I can't live without chocolate, and I like to have unhealthy food too once in a while. :) I'm still human!
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    You definitely can in the short term. Theoretically you could do it in the long term too, but that's much more difficult. Eventually your motivation to count calories will wane. If you don't change the way you eat, then eventually you'll probably gain the weight back.
  • loztredders
    loztredders Posts: 142
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    Yea I lost weight this way. No matter what you eat, as long as you have a calorie deficit you will lose weight. Simple fact.
    However, I know that I can eat more healthy food for my calories and will feel less hungry later so I try and make good choices, unless I'm really craving, like today when I substituted a healthy lunch for a giant piece of carrot cake!
  • linz1125
    linz1125 Posts: 441 Member
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    I eat anything I want. I just changed what I wanted :-)
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
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    I don't live on garbage, but my day to day does include cookies, ice cream, burgers, and such. I just watch my portions and keep to my net calories.

    My diary is open for all to see.
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
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    Let's say you have 1700 calories a day. I don't think you can eat 1700 calories worth of Jelly donuts and lose weight. I might be wrong but I think you can have a jelly donut now an then. Everything in moderation.

    Sure you can. Why couldn't you? You're not necessarily going to feel good nor be healthy. But you would lose weight if you're in a deficit.
  • autumnk921
    autumnk921 Posts: 1,376 Member
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    IIFIYM (If It Fits In Your Macros) - Go for it!!! This is what I go by!! :bigsmile:
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
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    yes.

    I look at it in levels.. and the level most people are at is due to their nutritional education.

    level 0 would be people that "eat healthy" but have no clue. they're the ones ordering their 2300cal subway sandwich on wheat.
    1 would be people that count their calories only.
    2 would be people that do calories and watch their macros.
    and 3 would be people that do calories, watch their macros and keep an eye on their micros.


    i always try to start people down level 1 and work up from there... just jumping someone to level 3 does nothing but confuse and/or infuriate them... then they give up.
  • aqm22
    aqm22 Posts: 153 Member
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    Yes. You'll probably be malnutritous and more likely to binge because depending on what you're eating you probably won't be full staying within the calorie limits.

    I heard that there''s a guy that lived on twinkies but limiting calories and lost weight. Not really sure, but so, it's possible.

    I pretty much eat whatever I want too but I count calories. I've been losing weight steadily so it's working so far. =)

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