Can I eat anything as long as I keep within my target?

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sastrodder
sastrodder Posts: 61 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Aaargh! I'm having one of those days today. You know the kind when only a kit kat will do?

I've calculated my calories for the rest of the day and I will still net 1200 cals but I feel bad that I've succumbed to chocolate when I am trying to hard to lose weight for my holiday!!

So, if I have not gone over my calorie allowance when I get to the end of the week, can I still expect a loss regardless of whether the calories I consumed were from clean food or whether there were a few naughty bits and pieces in there too?

Replies

  • verptwerp
    verptwerp Posts: 3,659 Member
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    I have some dark chocolate each day ...... I figure it into my daily numbers ......

    If you're worried about it, then go for a extra walk or run to "burn" it off :drinker:
  • Hexahedra
    Hexahedra Posts: 894 Member
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    Yes, you will still lose weight.

    Obligatory twinkie diet link: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    Yes. Eat whatever you like.

    The only thing I would suggest is to aim for 1g protein per pound of lean body mass i.e. if you are 150 lbs and 30% body fat, you aim for around 100g daily. This will help retain lean mass while you're in a deficit. Other than that, eat what you like.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    Technically, yes. Over the long haul, not so much. A steady diet of Kit-Kats instead of a more balanced diet, if kept at a low calorie level, will result in weight loss however you would be sick as a dog. Your visceral fat (the fat around/in your organs, the kind of fat that will kill you) is likely to stay high even as your subcutaneous fat reduces.
  • sastrodder
    sastrodder Posts: 61 Member
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    Yes, you will still lose weight.

    Obligatory twinkie diet link: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html

    Oh my goodness. I could quite easily do this but substitute twinkles for either Cadbury fruit and nut or toblerone!!!!!!!
  • sastrodder
    sastrodder Posts: 61 Member
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    Thank you, I don't feel so guilty now!!
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Technically, yes. Over the long haul, not so much. A steady diet of Kit-Kats instead of a more balanced diet, if kept at a low calorie level, will result in weight loss however you would be sick as a dog. Your visceral fat (the fat around/in your organs, the kind of fat that will kill you) is likely to stay high even as your subcutaneous fat reduces.

    If you were to eat kit kats everyday, you'd get "sick as a dog"? regardless of total caloric intake?
  • nspink22
    nspink22 Posts: 83 Member
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    Don't feel guilty. As long as you stay within your calories, you'll be fine. Beating yourself up over it will only make you feel worse and could set you back. So enjoy that Kit Kat. I know that for me personally, if I try to completely rule out any certain foods, it just makes me want them more and I end up eventually binging.
  • Hexahedra
    Hexahedra Posts: 894 Member
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    Yes, you will still lose weight.

    Obligatory twinkie diet link: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html

    Oh my goodness. I could quite easily do this but substitute twinkles for either Cadbury fruit and nut or toblerone!!!!!!!
    Mind you, I don't recommend filling your diet with nothing but sugary treats. What he did was a bit extreme, but it serves to prove that a calorie is a calorie. The occasional chocolate bar or cake is not going to stop your weight loss, as long as you maintain a deficit.
  • Rachlmale
    Rachlmale Posts: 640 Member
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    Today I had KFC for dinner :-) I don't plan on cutting anything out!
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    Meet your macros, hit your calorie target, get a healthy amount of vegetables and fruit, and beyond that eat what you want.
  • caly_man
    caly_man Posts: 281 Member
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    where this gets tricky is when you start eating foods that dont have a proper calorie label. What ends up happening is you start estimating how much you think it is and if you are off, suddenly you could be eating at maintenance without realizing it.

    example: there's this awesome artisan carrot cake at vons, in the bakery section, it comes as a 10 oz slice and the barcode says it's 300 cals per slice, but there's no way that could be true, I think its really like over 1000 cals for the slice, but I just don't know. A couple of weeks later I bought it again, and this time the barcode said 280 kcals per slice, how to interpret that? who knows.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    IIFYM
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    Technically, yes. Over the long haul, not so much. A steady diet of Kit-Kats instead of a more balanced diet, if kept at a low calorie level, will result in weight loss however you would be sick as a dog. Your visceral fat (the fat around/in your organs, the kind of fat that will kill you) is likely to stay high even as your subcutaneous fat reduces.

    If you were to eat kit kats everyday, you'd get "sick as a dog"? regardless of total caloric intake?

    When I said, "a steady diet of Kit-Kats instead," I meant to imply that the diet would be heavy on the Kit-Kats and lighter on other foods. So, sure, have a Kit-Kat every day if you want but not a daily handful of Kit-Kats while eliminating 'most anything else. Kit-Kats, of themselves, do not a healthy diet comprise.

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