can you eat 1200 calories in junk food a day?

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  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
    Can a person eat 1200 calories in chocolate bars a day and still lose the same amount of weight on the scale as the person who eats 1200 calories a day of "Clean Food"? and will they lose it at the same rate...

    Losing it at the same rate... Hmmm, I wouldn't think so, but that's just my opinion.

    1200 in chocolate bars and nothing else would give me a really big headache and feeling very sick. Not sure how long I could stick to that.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    The simple answer is yes, calories in vs. calories out. You would be starving the entire day as those 1200 calories would add up quickly and you certainly wouldn't be getting any healthier.

    ^^^^ this

    and your macros would me messed up, i.e. you'd be over on fat and carbs and under on protein. Being under on protein while losing weight is a very bad idea as it increases the likelihood of muscle loss along with fat loss. Even if you choose high protein junk food, like burgers and chicken nuggets, you'll be taking in a LOT of fat with them, so it would still be hard to get enough protein before you've gone over on fat and/or carbs. Additionally, you'd struggle to get enough micronutrients, and in the long term you'd be at risk of nutritional deficiencies, and it certainly would not lead to optimal health.

    But weight loss is calories in versus calories out, it doesn't matter (in terms of how much you weigh) what foods those calories come from. But healthy food = better body composition and good health. (you also need to do the right kinds of exercise to really change your body composition, but without sufficient protein, exercise won't do much for you)

    That said, you can eat junk food in moderation and still be healthy. My advice would be to make healthy food your staples, so your regular meals are all healthy, then fit whatever other food you want into your macros on top or as (for example) one or two meals a week. in order to fit junk in your macros, you will end up eating them in smaller quantities, otherwise you can't fit them in.

    My attitude is one that's much more "feed your body properly, then eat junk if you really want to" than "don't eat xyz foods because they're bad" - in order to feed my body properly, I choose healthy foods that I enjoy, and try to hit my macros (set at 40% carb, 30% protein 30% fat) and also try to get plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and healthy fat in the process. Then whatever "junk" food I can fit in on top of that, I eat and I enjoy it. In other words, I focus far more on what I *should* eat to meet my body's needs, than on foods that some say I shouldn't be eating. By the time I've eaten all of what I *should* eat, i don't have that many calories left for the "some people say i shouldn't" foods... but I do eat them. Especially chocolate.... 80% dark chocolate.... mmmmmmmmmmm... and I eat fast food sometimes. Even with fast food, being conscious of macros and what my body needs, I'm more likely to choose high protein fast foods and ditch empty carbs like french fries and pepsi. Incidentally I enjoy high protein fast food more and find it more filling than standard fast food meals.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Can a person eat 1200 calories in chocolate bars a day and still lose the same amount of weight on the scale as the person who eats 1200 calories a day of "Clean Food"? and will they lose it at the same rate...

    Losing it at the same rate... Hmmm, I wouldn't think so, but that's just my opinion.

    1200 in chocolate bars and nothing else would give me a really big headache and feeling very sick. Not sure how long I could stick to that.

    if you are getting insufficient protein due to eat nothing but chocolate bars, you'd lose a LOT of lean muscle and relatively less fat. IN fact if I recall correctly, scale weight would drop faster on a diet that is lacking in protein, because a pound of muscle is only 600 calories while a pound of fat is 3500 calories. So if you're burning pure fat you'll lose weight more slowly than if you're burning muscle as well as the fat. So the junk food diet would result in faster weight loss BUT worse health and worse body composition. You'd also pretty soon start to have other negative health effects from the lack of various other nutrients.

    This is why all these "cleanse" diets where you (for example) eat nothing but fruit or fruit juices for three days worry me, because the lack of protein + very low calories is a recipe for losing lean body mass. Your body needs a certain amount of protein to keep your internal organs in a state of good repair, and if it's not coming from the diet, it will come from the skeletal muscles. That can happen even if you're in calorie surplus if you're not eating enough protein for your body's most basic survival needs. If you're combining next to no protein with a very steep calorie deficit, you're asking your body to metabolise your skeletal muscle. This results in bigger drops in scale weight than losing pure fat does. Which is what happens on those cleanse type diets....(although a lot of what's lost is water weight, which happens before your body starts metabolising very much muscle...but if you're not eating protein, your body has to get it from somewhere...)
  • rose944
    rose944 Posts: 13 Member
    No! Stay away from junk food. The fat and carbs will add up and then you'll die in the hospital with diabetes.
  • Carmella9
    Carmella9 Posts: 171 Member
    more than likely yes, however because of the amount of fat they will be eating they are likely to still look flabby but be less of the scales in comparison to someone eating 1200 of healthy calories- they would look more lean and toned therefore looking slimmer :)
  • Casstevens133
    Casstevens133 Posts: 142 Member
    You could but you'd suffer from severe malnutrition, spots, bad skin, lethargy, and gawd knows what else !!
  • Carmella9
    Carmella9 Posts: 171 Member
    more than likely yes, however because of the amount of fat they will be eating they are likely to still look flabbier in comparison to someone eating 1200 of healthy calories and who is the same weight because they would look more lean and toned therefore looking slimmer :)
    The scales isnt everything when it comes to looking thinner!
  • pamwhite712
    pamwhite712 Posts: 193 Member
    Aye, lass, me sees scurvy in yer future, me does.
  • greenfalls107
    greenfalls107 Posts: 87 Member
    I believe yes, if you cut your daily calories down to 1200 no matter what you eat you will lose weight. However, you feel awful. If you live on snickers bar (5 a day = close to 1200 calories) I promise you will be hungrier and grumpier than someone who is eating a well balanced diet and maybe 1/2 a snickers a day. Your body will be trying to run on crap and within a few days I would be willing to be you would not feel too great eating nothing but junk food.

    My belief is if you like junk food (who doesn't?) find a way to keep it included in your diet but small portions or only after you have worked off the calories. I find I do not miss fast food chain food at all, however I love my sweets. Fudge, gourmet Marshmallows, etc. I just eat smaller portions - 1 inch cube of fudge is 100 calories. I can drag the 1 inch piece to last for 15 minutes eating it with a fork and savoring every bite.

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