I can eat whatever I want...

I lost 35 pounds just staying in my calorie limits, so I had the same experience.

Funny enough, I didn't find these boards until that time because I had plateaued about five pounds away from my goal and was searching for answers. The MFP forum came up in my google search (I'd been a member of MFP for months but had only ever used it on my phone).

I read all this info about watching macros, raising protein levels, eating cleanly, eating back all of your exercise calories, etc. So I thought I'd found my glorious answer to reaching my goal and making it happen. Now I'm back to only caring about my calories and nothing else in order to re-lose the 20 pounds that I've put back on while eating cleanly and watching my macros. And I'm losing the weight again.

You can lose weight eating anything if you eat small enough amounts. Calories are calories, regardless of good or bad ingredients. You may find your weight loss to be more effective when you eat less junk (maybe not) and you'll almost certainly feel better and healthier. Realize that if you stop counting your calories and are still eating junk food, you may likely gain the weight back because those calories can add up very quickly.

Remember that it's not just about the number on the scale, you want to be healthy, too, right?

I eat super clean and avoid processed carb and all grains.

I do it for the same reason you eat junk food.

It helps me eat less.

There are so many variables. There should be only one rule, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Since I've been logging for the last seven months, I've come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as "junk" food.

I aim to make at least 80% of my food choices healthy ones, but I still have room for some of my favorite sweets, fast food, and other junk each week.

For me, this is a huge part of making my diet sustainable. I have a lot of weight to lose, and in the past I've always tried to be "perfect" with my eating and never touch any sugar or fast food. And then I would fail, binge on the items I had restricted myself from eating, and give up on my diet. My life occasionally includes pizza and Girl Scout cookies, and that's OK with me, as long as I keep my portions smaller than I would have before I changed my habits.

My weight loss journey is probably going to take me two years, so the most important thing is that I keep going and don't give up.

as long as I hit 1500 cals or less. Im kind of shocked by this with all the success stories about low carb, clean eating, etc I have found the opposite to be true for me in terms of weight loss: I actually lose weight eating some junk food, sugar, etc.

I am eatting single servings of eggo waffles, candy, doritos sometimes as snacks/dessert sometimes instead of healthy alternatives (mostly bc I like that I know the exact calories from the package and also bc it feels like a splurge and keeps me on track) and as long as I stay at or below my cals for the day I seem to still lose weight. Obviously I eat protein and veggies too, but I still eat processed foods and "junk" everyday.
Does anyone else share my experience?

Yup. At the end of the day, weight loss is calories in - calories out. Other people may consider the food I eat to be "dirty" or unhealthy, but I get 1g/lb of LBM of protein, hit my calorie goals, and lose weight.

Yup! I eat candy and chocolate EVERY SINGLY DAY! I just stay at deficit by making smarter choices throughout the day and I'm golden. :bigsmile:

I'm all for having "junk" every once in a while, and you can lose weight eating whatever you want as long as you have a calorie deficit, it's just how the body works. However, I don't think having junk/processed foods everyday is the best for your body's health and nutrition-wise, you could be eating something much better for you in place of that nutrient deficient food. If it helps you to lose weight initially to continue eating those things I think it's fine, but I think everyone's overall goal should be to be healthier. Just my opinion :flowerforyou:

My theory on why you are losing, and I could be completely wrong, but generally those who go on a clean diet cut out a lot of fat and proteins from their diet. Like dairy and butter. They arent supplying the body with essential nutrients and as such the body slows down a bit to conserve. I know there are going to be people who say oh no I eat tons of nuts and avocados and I only eat lean raised organic unicorns with the occasional organic baby Pegasus steak.

However, I bet if you look at what you were eating when you were "clean" a majority of it is pretty low in fat.

Besides isn't it more fun to be a dirty junk food eating girl?

That's normal. It probably works for you because you don't feel like you're limiting yourself. Unfortunately, that kind of diet will only help your weight. It's not otherwise healthy.

You'd probably be surprised. All my markers of health (LDL, HDL, triglycerides, blood pressure, aerobic ability, strength, energy levels, flexibility, skin tone, amount of time spent sick) markedly improved after I went from 210 to 165 lbs eating what most people would consider unhealthy food. Then there's the guy who ate nothing but twinkies and the occasional vegetable while losing 27 pounds and experienced the same thing.

Weight is really the most important thing by far, and calorie control is the key to weight management. If more people focused on that one single thing, and forgot about all the rest, fewer people would be obese.

I've been lectured by 'experts'' so many times for my love of kiddies cereals (cookie crisp, cheerios, cocopops etc) but they've NEVER hindered my weightloss. ''Refined sugars blah blah''

My argument always is, ''It's MY breakfast, it makes me happy'', Id of never of lost the weight without my sugary cereals, because I just wouldn't have been happy eating ''porridge with linseed'' every morning.

I still get my fruit and veggies too!

I DO however make sure I weigh out a correct portion.
Moderation is the key

agreed. I feel great when I eat sugary cereal. I crave SUGAR in the morning. Ive tried the whole grain bread with the egg and veggies and I was starving and felt awful. I think different bodies react differently bc I do not feel unhealthy when I eat "junk" and I dont feel more hungry when I eat sugar/starch. In fact its when i remove these foods that I starve. I need a little treat to feel satsified

I agree with this. While I don't necessarily think that sugar cereals are the way to go it's totally true that different bodies need/react differently to different things. It's interesting that you crave sugar in the morning and if you have an egg on whole grain bread you feel terrible. I am exactly the opposite!! If I have more than like 5 grams of sugar for breakfast I feel horrible by 10:30am and it just sets my whole day out of whack. I don't even like to eat fruit for breakfast because of it. I am totally good with sugar after lunch though.

Funny these bodies of ours.

A guy did a study where he lost weight eating twinkies.

It's all about calories in vs. calories out. Unless someone has a condition, certain foods won't make them gain weight or even lose, weight. It just happens that healthier food is less calorie dense and curbs hunger more than junk food.

My eldest daughter is in college and she told me her Bio Prof was talking about this study. Soooo, it really is calz in calz out! BUT, for health, you need proper nutrients to fortify your body.

as long as I hit 1500 cals or less. Im kind of shocked by this with all the success stories about low carb, clean eating, etc I have found the opposite to be true for me in terms of weight loss: I actually lose weight eating some junk food, sugar, etc.

I am eatting single servings of eggo waffles, candy, doritos sometimes as snacks/dessert sometimes instead of healthy alternatives (mostly bc I like that I know the exact calories from the package and also bc it feels like a splurge and keeps me on track) and as long as I stay at or below my cals for the day I seem to still lose weight. Obviously I eat protein and veggies too, but I still eat processed foods and "junk" everyday.
Does anyone else share my experience?

Your body needs nutrition. If large chunk of your daily calories is taken up by nutritionally devoid foods, there is very little left for foods with high nutritional content.

Sure, I love almond croissants. But I try not to have one more than once a week because if I am only consuming 1,300 calories a day, I can't afford 1/3 of them being empty. So even though a croissant keeps me fuller than an equivalent in calories breakfast of yogurt, nuts and fruit, I have to opt for the latter more often.