Is what you eat really important??

Yes what you eat is very important. Fats and suggars add to a saggy belly and other limbs post-weight loss. Complex carbs and lots of lean protein aid in great weight loss! Sodium will keep water in your system and you will always have a layer of fat/water between your skin and muscles. Drink at least 8 C water to rid of excess fat in your system.

You have to work out too not just eat healthy or you will end up saggy and thin not lean and thin.

It is, to an extent. If all your calories come from processed, lower nutrition foods, it will be hard to maintain long-term. However, there is no reason to cut out all treats. I think 80/20 is a good guideline for most people. 80% healthy, whole foods 20% whatever floats your boat and helps keep you on track. I count flavored coffee creamer in my 20% as well as pasta, pizza, most candy, any bread or baked good that isn't whole grain, etc. I count 1 oz or less of Dark Chocolate in with my healthy 80% as it has health benefits. I've lost 5lbs since joining MFP and I certainly have treats and don't feel guilty as long as it is just that, a treat, not a pattern of crappy eating.

Lack of protein?
Another myth, we don't need as much protein as we think. I lowered my protein amount greatly, no loss in muscle mass.

You surely didn't gain any, which most people actually TRY to do.

Clearly your workouts, if doing any at all, aren't very strenuous. Try doing crossfit or some really hard core high intensity interval training while eating a trashy diet. You will gas out and your body will not be fueled well enough to sustain a prolonged period of intense physical activity.

Food is essentially fuel for your body. You eat like crap, you may not gain weight, but you will surely lower the performance in which you can perform physically.

The comments so far are ridiculous.

I ate nothing but junk food and posted my diary daily to prove a point. It's all about calories. You know the results? Lost 12lbs and no loss in LBM(Lean body mass)

An issue that can arise is when you eat high sugary foods, you will want more. I say "sugar feeds sugar" if you can stick to your limit eating the junk you mentioned, then do it. People talk about "health."

People eat health and get cancer sometimes, sometimes people eat junk all their lives and live long. Some drink and get liver disease, some drink and live a long life. The oldest women in the world stopped smoking at 101yrs old. How is that for health? Health is mostly genetic. One of the oldest men in the world accredited his long life to drinking bourbon.

Lack of protein?
Another myth, we don't need as much protein as we think. I lowered my protein amount greatly, no loss in muscle mass.

And how long did this expirement last? How did you measure you're LBM before and after the expirement? Did you test yourself for nutritional deficiencies before and after said expirement?

Healthy foods DO make a difference. You may still be losing weight due to a calorie deficit but I can guarantee you're not feeling as healthy, satiated, and energised as the person who is losing weight with healthier options. While you still may lose weight due to a calorie deficit you will be lacking in micronutrients due to a lack of veg in your diet. As for protien, the AMOUNT of protein varies from study to study BUT protein consistently shows to AID weight loss for a number of reasons.

1 )Protein ingestion stimulates thermogenisis (so a significant portion of calories are given off as heat)
2) Protein helps to maintain LBM which is especially important while on a calorie deficit
3) Protein is the most effective nutrient for "switching off hunger signals" so it helps people from overeating.

My experimenting hasn't been months at a time, but I have had more of a loss eating clean for 2 weeks than eating whatever I wanted for 2 weeks and keeping under my calorie goal. The difference in amount wasn't that significant, no, the small difference could make a lot of difference for some people. Also, I see that if I up my protein intake I see the scale move a bit more. Again - I'm NOT an expert, just my two cents.

i think a really useful way to think about healthy foods vs junk foods is that you generally get more food to eat when you eat healthier!
i was looking at salads yesterday and one with a salad cream included was almost 200 cal and the other without dressing was 15 cal!
so same with junk! a Mc Donalds will probably be your entire days allowance one meal, whereas with healthier foods those calories go a long way.
So i generally eat healthy foods, but a few small chocolates along the way to sate my sweet tooth

The amount of protein people need is highly over rated. I know vegans who have good size. Yes protein is the highest thermionic food. It has a thermogenic effect of 30%. So if you eat 100 calories of it, you burn 30 calories. Your better off not eating those 100 calories in the first place.

So why don't you just not eat anything and lose a lot more weight? Vegans can still eat protein and a tonne of it. You're forgetting there are vegetarian sources of protein aren't you?

Can't believe there's someone out there that defends junk food and is slating protein.

Also, about your lettuce vs protein thing, you'll digest that lettuce pretty quickly, pee most of the most out, then be hungry again.

It's healthier to be "thin" and eat junk food, than it is to be over weight and eat "healthy food."

It's also healthier to be thin from whole food that thin from processed junk

A lot of this stuff is inconclusive. Says that there are things that can't be measured and that the professor himself isn't completely convinced.

Also, he's been having vegetables and protein shakes. PROTEIN shakes, not MCDONALD'S shakes. Seems like your war against protein isn't support by the twinkie challenge, I'm calling it a challenge and not an experiment because nobody in their right minds should be doing it.

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

The amount of protein people need is highly over rated. I know vegans who have good size. Yes protein is the highest thermionic food. It has a thermogenic effect of 30%. So if you eat 100 calories of it, you burn 30 calories. Your better off not eating those 100 calories in the first place.

So why don't you just not eat anything and lose a lot more weight? Vegans can still eat protein and a tonne of it. You're forgetting there are vegetarian sources of protein aren't you?

Can't believe there's someone out there that defends junk food and is slating protein.

Also, about your lettuce vs protein thing, you'll digest that lettuce pretty quickly, pee most of the most out, then be hungry again.

Yes the Person who is certified in NASM CPT(National Academy Of Sports Medicine) and majoring in biochemistry and lost 119lbs stated: That moderate to high levels of protein accelerate aging, and one of the biggest indicators of health is weight.

Yes there are vegan sources of protein, but 95% of vegans don't even come close to the recommendations of 1.0-1.5g of protein per LBM.

BTW my LBM(Lean body mass) is 202lbs, higher than average.

I think you're missing my point, do i recommend eating junk food 100% of the time? No. As I said above you probably won't feel good. Think of someone who is just starting out in weight loss. They think "i have to eliminate all junk food" this is a drastic change. That's like waking up one morning and saying "I am going to run a marathon" without proper training. It doesn't work. You ever eat that donuts or junk food and feel all guilty even if you're under your calories? A lot of people do.
Why? It's a psychological game. I am saying be moderate about things, don't be neo-nazi about your diet.

No, the most memorable thing you said was "I ate nothing but junk food and posted my diary daily to prove a point. It's all about calories. You know the results? Lost 12lbs and no loss in LBM(Lean body mass) " NOTHING BUT JUNK FOOD, NOTHING. Also, just because you're certified doesn't mean you're the encyclopaedia on it. It means you know an adequate amount to pass the threshold, likewise with what you're majoring. You've not even completed it and you think you know enough to advocate junk food.

Someone, I think Socrates, said "that the best wisdom is to know that you know nothing". Not a direct quote, just what I can recall. Another great quote is from Harvey Specter from Suit, "I enjoy a single malt, doesn't mean I pretend I know how to make one."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/10/alzheimers-junk-food-catastrophic-effect

"There is evidence that poor diet is one cause of Alzheimer's. If ever there was a case for the precautionary principle, this is it ...
The association between Alzheimer's and type 2 diabetes is long-established: type 2 sufferers are two to three times more likely to be struck by this form of dementia than the general population. There are also associations between Alzheimer's and obesity and Alzheimer's and metabolic syndrome (a complex of diet-related pathologies).

Researchers first proposed that Alzheimer's was another form of diabetes in 2005. The authors of the original paper investigated the brains of 54 corpses, 28 of which belonged to people who had died of the disease. They found that the levels of both insulin and insulin-like growth factors in the brains of Alzheimer's patients were much lower than those in the brains of people who had died of other causes. Levels were lowest in the parts of the brain most affected by the disease.

Their work led them to conclude that insulin and insulin-like growth factor are produced not only in the pancreas but also in the brain. Insulin in the brain has a host of functions: as well as glucose metabolism, it helps to regulate the transmission of signals from one nerve cell to another, and affects their growth, plasticity and survival....

Plenty of research still needs to be done. But, if the current indications are correct, Alzheimer's disease could be another catastrophic impact of the junk food industry, and the worst discovered so far. "


(Just in case you want an opinion based on something other than anecdotes from people who have lost weight and feel fine by counting calories in/calories out... The article is worth reading in its entirety. There have been a lot of reputable articles about this over the past month.)

The issue is not junk food=weight gain. The articles are out there if people want to take the time to read up on the science - including "Big Fat Lies" (Taubes) etc.

No one here is out to prove *you* right or wrong. - In fact, I really doubt many here are seriously looking to you as an authority or expert.

You are what you eat

As you can see this is a topic that causes a lot of debate. If you're new to this, then start with the calories. Then once you have the calories under control start swapping less healthy foods for healthier alternatives. You will probably find, as I did, that healthier foods leave you fuller longer, but that doesn't mean you have to completely cut out all the things you enjoy.

I think a well-balanced diet is really the best way to go. And that can include a bit of junk food, as long as you limit yourself to only a small amount of it ,or just as an occasional treat. I do think that if we cut out our favorite foods completely, that's when we feel deprived and finally end up giving up on healthy diets, so it's better to have a little now and then than to end up giving in at a weak moment and binging. Otherwise, try to get plenty of fruits and veggies each day, as well as enough protein and carbohydrates. Try to start with the healthy foods that you like the most, and it will become easier to change your habits as you start to realize that eating healthy can still mean eating foods that you'll enjoy.

I fully agree with this. Try to eat mostly healthy to give your body the nutrients you need, and have the occasional/small treat so you won't feel deprived. That way you have the best of both worlds