has anyone lost weight with eating mostly junk food

Bubblywendy
Bubblywendy Posts: 32 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just curious,
people say 1 calories is just 1 calorie no matter where its from, but on those 'bad' days where i eat only junk food like alot of wedges and chocolate (1200cals)and still stick under my daily calorie limit, I find it hard for me believe that I can still be losing... can someone clarify, perhaps with there own experiences as well.

Thanks
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Replies

  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    You can lose weight that way, so long as you stick to your deficit, but I would imagine you'd be hungry, lacking in essential nutrients, and it wouldn't be overly good for you in the long run. Probably won't feel too hot.

    I'm not saying cut all the junk (I just ate chocolate cake and ice cream, so. You know. YUM) but maybe figure out why you're having those days, address the issue, and focus on eating some actual food.
  • joshdann
    joshdann Posts: 618 Member
    for overall body weight, yes a calorie is a calorie. That said, if you want to preserve more lean mass and focus on losing the fat, you need to hit your macros. "Junk" food tends to be more calorie-dense, so you will probably feel more hungry on the same number of calories. That means you're more likely to take in more calories than you realize. It's usually higher in sodium, too. That can be bad for people (like me) with hypertension and it can also lead to more water retention than normal.

    Other than the macro/caloric density/sodium issues with "junk" food, there's also a mindset concern. Eating food like that can be a slippery slope for some folks. Not everyone of course, but for a true lifestyle change you might need to avoid the junk.
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
    Google the twinky diet.

    A calorie is a calorie, weight wise. Health wise, not so much.
  • BeccaBollons
    BeccaBollons Posts: 652 Member
    Well I wouldn't say I MOSTLY eat junk food, but I certainly haven't cut it out of my life, I still have weekly mcdonalds with the kids, a weekly visit to the chip shop and chocolate every day. And depending on your view of junk food, I still eat white bread, white rice and white pasta. Breaded chicken and plenty of cake.

    Gosh, its like I'm not even on a diet! Wait a minute...
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
    I could eat twice my daily calories at Pizza Hut in one sitting ...

    another issue with the junk food diet is that it is usually a bit high in sodium thus causing you to perhaps carry a bit more water.
  • Fitfully_me
    Fitfully_me Posts: 647 Member

    Gosh, its like I'm not even on a diet! Wait a minute...

    I think I :heart: you.
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
    funny thing, but I dont eat a lot of treats, but when i do, they taste so exquisitely good, that Im glad I have them only occasionally!
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    I've always eaten "junk" food. I still eat junk food and have been in maintenance for over 2 years. As long as it fits my budget I eat it and sometimes I go over my budget a bit because other days I'm under. Probably not the healthiest lifestyle but if I don't get my Tim Horton's Iced Capp everyday somebody better look out and the lady at the McD's drive thru knows to have my bacon cheeseburger ready for lunch!
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Gosh, its like I'm not even on a diet! Wait a minute...

    Hehe, this.

    I don't eat "mostly" junk food, but I still have tastykakes, ice cream, oreos, burgers, chocolate and more. I just work them into my calorie goal. That being said, if I ate all of that stuff all the time, I imagine I'd be very hungry, because there's not enough protein and fiber to keep you full very long. I went to Five Guys a few weeks ago, and while it was very yummy, I found that after the meal I didn't feel satisfied at all. It was such a huge contrast! So yeah, I don't cut anything out, but I eat much healthier now, and it all balances out
  • belgd
    belgd Posts: 26 Member
    I'm thinking yes.. but usually junk food is really high in cals. so you can eat little amounts of bad food and hit your calorie goal for the day quickly and are left pretty hungry.
  • PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot
    PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot Posts: 596 Member
    It can be done, but it's not the smartest use of calories. Eating complex carbs, protein, etc, are much higher quality calories and will keep you feeling more full for a longer period.
  • KateK8LoseW8
    KateK8LoseW8 Posts: 824 Member
    Yes, people have lost weight this way. As far as weight loss is concerned, as long as you are eating fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. But you'll probably be hungry, moody, your workouts won't be that great, and you will probably generally feel like crap.

    Some people do the whole "clean eating" thing, other's don't. I don't. I eat salads, fruit, chicken breast, steamed veggies, brown rice, all that jazz. But I also eat fudge bars, pudding, frozen pizza, the occasional fast food burger, and copious amounts of skippy peanut butter. You don't have to cut ALL the junk to lose weight. After all, how many normal weight people do you know that eat pizza sometimes? Or chips sometimes? Or donuts sometimes? Probably all of them. It's about moderation.
  • jumpyjavajawa
    jumpyjavajawa Posts: 36 Member
    There is a documentary called Fat Head where a man maintains a deficit, starts a mild exercise routine (Walking in the evenings) and eats only McDonalds. I think it was for a month?

    Basically it was to challenge what Supersize said about the average American. That they don't know how to think for themselves and that anytime they were asked to upsize the average dumb poor American would always say yes. Also noting the controversy of what's his face never releasing his food diary after everything and it being impossible to eat 5000 calories a day eating only McDonald's when he was only asked to Supersize a total of 9 times throughout the whole experiment.

    Now while both documentaries are obviously going to be biased to their own side of the story, this dude did loose weight and improve his health a bit.
  • JeepBaja
    JeepBaja Posts: 1,824 Member
    Yes. I have a horrible diet. Nothing has really worked for me in the past. My real issue has always been over-eating. Now I eat far less and I lose weight. I don't feel like I'm on a diet either... I do mix in healthy food with the bad food and I drink far less soda.

    I also fooled myself for some time after losing 30+lbs. and began to put weight back on... mainly old habits... I was losing weight during the week only to gain it back or even more on the weekend. It got frustrating when I think I could have been down another 20-30lbs. had I not blew it on weekends...

    SO without all the known issues about the unhealthy aspect of my diet, which I know of, I am sticking to what works right now. Like I said I do find myself going for the more healthy food over the junk food these days but it's by far from perfect.
  • youngcaseyr
    youngcaseyr Posts: 293 Member
    This is going to be horrible for some people to read, but here goes: When I lost weight it was actually from eating primarily junk foods and taking an antidepressant that greatly reduced my appetite. I went from 135 to 107 in a few months but I was eating a lot of chips, snickers bars, packaged snacks, diet drinks, and (for some reason I remember this very well) chocolate milk and hot cocoa. I wasn't eating a ton of calories, but I also wasn't getting any real nutrition unless what I ate happened to be fortified. Once in a while I might have been physically hungry after eating ONLY a snack-sized bag of Sunchips and drinking a brisk iced tea but I was satisfied and I didn't have much appetite to begin with.

    Once I "realized" what had happened I figured I might as well actually get in shape and work on my health, so I started eating healthier and working out.
  • BluejayNY
    BluejayNY Posts: 301 Member
    Yes. I became underweight when depressed by eating nothing more than 3 Krispy Kreme donuts a day and water. It was about 900-1,000 calories a day. I would not advise doing that.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    I eat quite a bit of what many folks would classify as "junk food". I love pizza, cereals, ice cream, pasta, etc. Eating such things has not hindered my ability to reach and even exceed my goals. I even eat far more than 1,200 calories. When I was losing the most fat I was consuming an average of 2,200 calories per day.
  • dawn_h_d
    dawn_h_d Posts: 184 Member
    Just finished a bowl of ice cream. LOL

    I think that having the "junk" has actually helped me stick with this. I log everything I eat and drink - the good and the bad. I mix it up and some days are better than others.

    I can't imagine JUST eating junk food though. I wasn't a big junkie before hand, I was eating large portions whether it was good or bad for me. So portion control has been my greatest contributor to where I am now, not so much WHAT I eat.
  • AdrianBry
    AdrianBry Posts: 138 Member
    not me but I have lost weight eating anything I want (nowlossDOTcom/diet) but most of what I eat is pretty clean anyways but I also don't freak out it I eat a resse cup (like I'm doing now)

    It's all about energy balance or how much total cals. you eat.

    Clean eating does not = weight loss and bad eating does not equal weight gain.

    you'll gain weight eating vegetables (although it'll be EXTREMELY hard to do) and you can lose weight eating ONE pack of M & M's per day
  • sloth3toes
    sloth3toes Posts: 2,212 Member
    There is a documentary called Fat Head where a man maintains a deficit, starts a mild exercise routine (Walking in the evenings) and eats only McDonalds. I think it was for a month?

    Basically it was to challenge what Supersize said about the average American. That they don't know how to think for themselves and that anytime they were asked to upsize the average dumb poor American would always say yes. Also noting the controversy of what's his face never releasing his food diary after everything and it being impossible to eat 5000 calories a day eating only McDonald's when he was only asked to Supersize a total of 9 times throughout the whole experiment.

    Now while both documentaries are obviously going to be biased to their own side of the story, this dude did loose weight and improve his health a bit.

    I found both movies entertaining. Fat Head wasn't quite as 'sensational' as Supersize Me, as someone suggested in another thread.... movies about people losing weight aren't as amusing as movies about people gaining weight.

    Tom Naughton, in Fathead, doesn't show himself chowing down on fast food repeatedly every day. He doesn't limit himself to McDondald's, and he doesn't go into a lot of detail about what, exactly, he's eating, in the documentary, if I recall. He does release a food log, however, which is here.... http://fathead-movie.com/content/MyFoodLog.htm and yes, he does eat all fast food.... but he certainly doesn't do it all willy nilly like Spurlock did.... he keeps his calories limited, he doesn't drink soda, and he tosses buns sometimes.... He also eats a fair amount of salad at these places.

    The guy did what he set out to do.... he lost weight eating at fast food places for a month.... and he wasn't starving himself, either.... but what he did, certainly didn't mimic the average 'hard core' fast food eater, I wouldn't think.
  • Bubblywendy
    Bubblywendy Posts: 32 Member
    I just watched fat head and now im watching supersize me
    There is a documentary called Fat Head where a man maintains a deficit, starts a mild exercise routine (Walking in the evenings) and eats only McDonalds. I think it was for a month?

    Basically it was to challenge what Supersize said about the average American. That they don't know how to think for themselves and that anytime they were asked to upsize the average dumb poor American would always say yes. Also noting the controversy of what's his face never releasing his food diary after everything and it being impossible to eat 5000 calories a day eating only McDonald's when he was only asked to Supersize a total of 9 times throughout the whole experiment.

    Now while both documentaries are obviously going to be biased to their own side of the story, this dude did loose weight and improve his health a bit.

    I found both movies entertaining. Fat Head wasn't quite as 'sensational' as Supersize Me, as someone suggested in another thread.... movies about people losing weight aren't as amusing as movies about people gaining weight.

    Tom Naughton, in Fathead, doesn't show himself chowing down on fast food repeatedly every day. He doesn't limit himself to McDondald's, and he doesn't go into a lot of detail about what, exactly, he's eating, in the documentary, if I recall. He does release a food log, however, which is here.... http://fathead-movie.com/content/MyFoodLog.htm and yes, he does eat all fast food.... but he certainly doesn't do it all willy nilly like Spurlock did.... he keeps his calories limited, he doesn't drink soda, and he tosses buns sometimes.... He also eats a fair amount of salad at these places.

    The guy did what he set out to do.... he lost weight eating at fast food places for a month.... and he wasn't starving himself, either.... but what he did, certainly didn't mimic the average 'hard core' fast food eater, I wouldn't think.
  • mamadon
    mamadon Posts: 1,422 Member
    I eat whatever I want as long as its ot my calorie budget. Pretty much every day, it is part junk and part healthy stuff.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    Why would you want to? Like really I could think of nothing worse than some of the food I used to eat as a 'normal' diet before starting eating better.


    Why on earth would you want to subject your body to that all the time?
  • AnexRavensong
    AnexRavensong Posts: 262 Member
    It really is calories in versus calories out, here's some extremes to show you. Of course I wouldn't go to that extreme, but I WILL let it be known I still eat junk, occasionally eat fast food etc and I'm losing weight and body fat while gaining muscle. It's about being reasonable. I also eat much LESS of those things than I used to.

    Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds:
    http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html

    I also read about a 60 something year old man who has been eating a Big mac everyday and in very good health (weight, cholesterol etc)
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
    Why would you want to? Like really I could think of nothing worse than some of the food I used to eat as a 'normal' diet before starting eating better.

    Why on earth would you want to subject your body to that all the time?

    I agree.

    While technically a calorie may be a calorie in terms of weight loss, if you care about anything other than weight loss, e.g. your body's overall health, then you'll want to make different choices at least some of the time.

    I think there is too much focus on calories per se with zero critical assessment for nutrients.

    It's ironic when people are criticised for "not eating enough" but when you look at their diary it's lean proteins, heaps of colourful vegetables, some fruit... but simply not calorie laden stuff, but folk get in a huff... Then someone "meets" their calorie goal with a load of white bread & nutella sandwiches and people post "great day!"... :huh:
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
    Neither of my parents are technically overweight, but they exist on a diet of nutrient-poor, processed foods. Cheap frozen pizzas, white bread, loads of cream cakes & chocolate...

    Their weight per se is fine, but both have high cholesterol and elevated blood sugar that they have to take tablets for.
  • Hildy_J
    Hildy_J Posts: 1,050 Member
    Yeah, I'm losing on a diet of coffee, Snickers, cereal and bacon sandwiches. Don't judge me! :sad: I could be eating in a far more nutritious way, and would like to, but I believe in only fighting one fire at a time. Weight loss is my priority, for now.

    For weight loss it's simply a case of eating less calories in a day than you use up.

    For nutrition set macros to carb 40, fat 30, protein 30, get all the vits & minerals and drink lots of water.

    And remember, food has no moral value. :wink:
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    Why would you want to? Like really I could think of nothing worse than some of the food I used to eat as a 'normal' diet before starting eating better.

    Why on earth would you want to subject your body to that all the time?

    I agree.

    While technically a calorie may be a calorie in terms of weight loss, if you care about anything other than weight loss, e.g. your body's overall health, then you'll want to make different choices at least some of the time.

    I think there is too much focus on calories per se with zero critical assessment for nutrients.

    It's ironic when people are criticised for "not eating enough" but when you look at their diary it's lean proteins, heaps of colourful vegetables, some fruit... but simply not calorie laden stuff, but folk get in a huff... Then someone "meets" their calorie goal with a load of white bread & nutella sandwiches and people post "great day!"... :huh:

    I know right? I could think of nothing worse than eating junk food over healthier options. I' rather be under calories & eating better than hitting goal & eating noting but crap.
  • ewilliams412
    ewilliams412 Posts: 2
    I have been struggling with the right diet for me. If I eat right and stay in within my caloric allowance a day, I find that I may loose for the first few days only to regain the weight back and then some afterwards. I begin walking 4 miles a day for 5 to 7 days a week last year. I lost a total of 12 lbs in 3 months. I had death in my family went to SC for 5 days and lived on buffets, junk food from vending machines, and no exercise. I returned home to find I lost 10 lbs in 5 days. So I decided to continue on the plan for a few more weeks to see if more progress would come from eating junk. I lost a total of 17 lbs in 3 weeks by eating out every meal without a concern for calories or fat content. So I maintained my wieght for 8 months until recently. I had my annual check up and my Dr. placed me on a low calorie diet and prescribed medication for hbp. I have gained 23 lbs back in 2 months. So last Monday, I once again went on my IDGAD (I don't give a d**n) diet and lost 7 lbs overnight. I am now a firm believer that my junk food diet works for me. My Dr. is lost for words and is totally confused by my results. This plan I must say is not healthy long term but it works for me to get to a healthy weight short term. I advise people who ask me how did I loose weight so rapidly, not to follow my plan but to consult and do what their Dr. advise.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    Yup. Check it out.

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