Calories are NOT equal

fitcolette
fitcolette Posts: 67
in Food and Nutrition
I have been surprised to find so many people staying under their calorie goal, yet when you see what they eat is shocks me. Yes, they stayed under, BUT they ate crap! Fast food, processed foods, white breads, and soda.

This site is great for calorie counting and nutrition data, but it doesn't teach how to eat to fuel your body the best way possible. You body is not going to burn/use those crap calories the same way healthy foods will. When you eat healthy, your body burns it fast and uses pretty much every bit of that food, but when you eat processed, high sodium and fat foods, you will more then likely store some of that food into fat. Proof? Give a person the same number of calories but one eats all the healthy/clean foods while the other eats the junk. Whose body looks better? Also, it's not just weight gain that's affected, it's your hair and skin health too.

When you eat healthy, you feel healthy :)

What do YOU think?
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Replies

  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    I think to lose weight all that you have to do is eat less than you burn. To keep losing weight and maintain the lose you have to enjoy what you eat. If it's not sustainable for a person why do it?
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
    I doubt my body cares if my protein came from grilled organic chicken or a cheeseburger, but maybe that's just me.
  • iamihobo
    iamihobo Posts: 232 Member
    Proof? Give a person the same number of calories but one eats all the healthy/clean foods while the other eats the junk. Whose body looks better?

    not factual.
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  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    fitcolette, I'm afraid you are swimming upstream in these waters. Like you, I'm surprised the number of folks who give short shrift to the idea that WHAT one eats makes a difference in your health. Yes, snazzyjazzy21, your body does care because the nutrients are quite different. Although recent research is moving away from the idea that dietary cholesterol isn't responsible for serum cholesterol, the mix of fats and proteins of the two is quite different.

    There is ample nutritional information available from reliable sources online. A very good one is the Harvard School of Public Health's Nutrition Source at http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    I think I'd like to know your info sources.
  • Pixi_Rex
    Pixi_Rex Posts: 1,676 Member
    Proof? Give a person the same number of calories but one eats all the healthy/clean foods while the other eats the junk. Whose body looks better? Also, it's not just weight gain that's affected, it's your hair and skin health too.

    The one who works the hardest....
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    Twinkie diet.

    That aside, yes, this site odes help teach us how to eat better, which is why there are macro goals in addition to calorie goals.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    Well, some of us believe that meeting your macronutrient requirements is good enough. That generally requires effort paid to eating nutrient-dense foods most of the time and spending some of our calories on things that probably do not have your blessing. I feel great and I'm losing weight at a rate that I know is healthy for me, so I couldn't give two rats' patoots what approach other people are using. And as far as what they think when they look at my diary, well, other people's opinions of me are none of my business.:flowerforyou:

    edited to fix typos-- clearly I am up too late again! :yawn:
  • doIlhands
    doIlhands Posts: 349 Member
    tumblr_m1l3f7STdd1ro8g4uo1_500.jpg

    A calorie is a calorie. Eat whatever you want and hit your macros.
  • WestCoastPhoenix
    WestCoastPhoenix Posts: 802 Member
    With regards to weight loss, a calorie is a calorie, in my opinion. With regards to nutrition and over all wellness, all calories are NOT equal.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    tumblr_m1l3f7STdd1ro8g4uo1_500.jpg

    A calorie is a calorie. Eat whatever you want and hit your macros.

    I want to use this exact picture at least thrice daily on the fourms. :flowerforyou:
  • baptiste565
    baptiste565 Posts: 590 Member
    a calorie is a calorie
    calorie is just a measure of energy something has. but what ur body has to due to convert that energy to a form the body can use is what is important.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Proof? Give a person the same number of calories but one eats all the healthy/clean foods while the other eats the junk. Whose body looks better?

    not factual.

    Have you met DavPul, Sarauk, Sidesteel, ChrisDavey, Magerum, Codergal, FiveThreeOne, and Chief_Rocka (to name a few)?

    I think they are proof that what you are saying is wrong..Oh. So. Very. Wrong.
  • infamousdrew76
    infamousdrew76 Posts: 176 Member
    I Think You're Full Of ****, and you have no idea what you're talking about!
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  • tallgrl212
    tallgrl212 Posts: 14
    Well its true not all calories are equal, but the basic formula for weight loss is eat less move more. Calories are just units of energy. There was an experiment where a man ate diet of 60% junk food (the "Twinkie diet") on a calorie deficit but still quite a bit of weight. The body is like a car, and food is like the gas you put in it . Healthy nutritious foods are akin to putting premium gas in this car, and processed junk foods are like putting low quality gas into the tank. They both fuels the car but one of them will help keep the car well maintained in the long run.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    If you are worried about healthy skin, then what is wrong with high fat diets (existing medical conditions notwithstanding)?

    You do realize that the best thing that an overweight person can do to improve health markers, in the main, is to lose weight. Sometimes people need some 'junk' to be able to do that.
  • PippiNe
    PippiNe Posts: 283 Member
    Well its true not all calories are equal, but the basic formula for weight loss is eat less move more. Calories are just units of energy. There was an experiment where a man ate diet of 60% junk food (the "Twinkie diet") on a calorie deficit but still quite a bit of weight. The body is like a car, and food is like the gas you put in it . Healthy nutritious foods are akin to putting premium gas in this car, and processed junk foods are like putting low quality gas into the tank. They both fuels the car but one of them will help keep the car well maintained in the long run.

    Well put :o)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    When you eat healthy, your body burns it fast and uses pretty much every bit of that food, but when you eat processed, high sodium and fat foods, you will more then likely store some of that food into fat. Proof?

    Not correct.

    When you eat healthy, you feel healthy :)

    Quite possibly, however, it depends on your definition of 'healthy'.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member

    When you eat healthy, you feel healthy :)

    Quite possibly, however, it depends on your definition of 'healthy'.

    I agree. I think a lot of that tends to be a state of mind.
  • Ximana
    Ximana Posts: 26
    People process foods differently but I do think your right

    For instance I feel better on a high carb low fat and low protein low dairy diet

    But some people excel on higher protein diets

    But health is health and by far more important than just a little weight loss
  • MatthewLewis81
    MatthewLewis81 Posts: 59 Member
    This debate seems fairly ridiculous when you consider that the following two statements are pretty much universally agreed to be true:

    1.) Calories in versus calories out is what determines *weight* (not necessarily *fat*) gain or loss.
    2.) Eating a variety of fresh, real, "whole" foods will do much better at providing the nutrients one needs for overall health and vitality than eating garbage.

    Can anyone actually argue with those points?

    If not, then why are we fighting about it? ;)
  • leslturn8
    leslturn8 Posts: 505 Member
    Remember this in a year so I can prove you wrong lol.

    I have been working hard at my fitness, I WILL NEVER CUT WHITE BREAD, :angry: I dont care how many people say its bad for you, people need good carbs and like my white bad carbs, its fuel, I eat it, it tastes yum and I dont feel like its a chore I need to eat for example brown/multigrain or cruskets.

    :heart: Potatoe
    :heart: White bread
    :heart: coke and pepsi max......:drinker: but i have only been drinking water......I know what I can and cant sacrifice for my journey. But i wont eliminate my favorite foods for no one. id rather spend 3 hours a day killing myself working out then eating food that doesn't satisfy me.

    People posting facts should post links, I like to research when I am bored, but I don't go out of my way to be hated. Theres a do and a dont about myfitnesspal. Dont be a hater, pick on someones journey, tell them what to eat or mention anything about a quick fix. Be a supporter, a mentor and living proof that the real hard work pays off......everyone works hard differently. Things work differently for different people.
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
    I eat pretty much what I want, when I want
  • Thomasm198
    Thomasm198 Posts: 3,189 Member
    I have been surprised to find so many people staying under their calorie goal, yet when you see what they eat is shocks me. Yes, they stayed under, BUT they ate crap! Fast food, processed foods, white breads, and soda.

    This site is great for calorie counting and nutrition data, but it doesn't teach how to eat to fuel your body the best way possible. You body is not going to burn/use those crap calories the same way healthy foods will. When you eat healthy, your body burns it fast and uses pretty much every bit of that food, but when you eat processed, high sodium and fat foods, you will more then likely store some of that food into fat. Proof? Give a person the same number of calories but one eats all the healthy/clean foods while the other eats the junk. Whose body looks better? Also, it's not just weight gain that's affected, it's your hair and skin health too.

    When you eat healthy, you feel healthy :)

    What do YOU think?
    What do I think? I think people should mind their own business and just worry about what they put in their own mouth and stop trying to dictate what everybody else should eat.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    This debate seems fairly ridiculous when you consider that the following two statements are pretty much universally agreed to be true:

    1.) Calories in versus calories out is what determines *weight* (not necessarily *fat*) gain or loss.
    2.) Eating a variety of fresh, real, "whole" foods will do much better at providing the nutrients one needs for overall health and vitality than eating garbage.

    Can anyone actually argue with those points?

    If not, then why are we fighting about it? ;)

    I hope no one is eating garbage..if by garbage you mean the stuff you tend to throw out in the dumpster.
  • ryry_
    ryry_ Posts: 4,966 Member
    "An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it."

    Gandhi
  • baptiste565
    baptiste565 Posts: 590 Member
    This debate seems fairly ridiculous when you consider that the following two statements are pretty much universally agreed to be true:

    1.) Calories in versus calories out is what determines *weight* (not necessarily *fat*) gain or loss.
    2.) Eating a variety of fresh, real, "whole" foods will do much better at providing the nutrients one needs for overall health and vitality than eating garbage.

    Can anyone actually argue with those points?

    If not, then why are we fighting about it? ;)
    captain crunch with crunch berries is processed like HELL but very nutritious. and tasty!
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    With regards to weight loss, a calorie is a calorie, in my opinion. With regards to nutrition and over all wellness, all calories are NOT equal.

    Agreed. :drinker:

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