Does quality of food matter if you remain within calories?

Results: Compared with the baseline (usual) diet, we observed (a)significant reductionsin BP associated with improved arterial
distensibility (!3.1±2.9, P¼0.01 and þ0.19±0.23, P¼0.05);(b) significant reduction in plasma insulin vs time AUC, during
the OGTT (P¼0.006); and (c) large significant reductions in total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and triglycerides
(!0.8±0.6 (P¼0.007), !0.7±0.5 (P¼0.003) and !0.3±0.3 (P¼0.01) mmol/l respectively). In all these measured variables,
either eight or all nine participants had identical directional responses when switched to paleolithic type diet, that is, near
consistently improved status of circulatory, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism/physiology.
Conclusions: Even short-term consumption of a paleolithic type diet improves BP and glucose tolerance, decreases insulin
secretion, increases insulin sensitivity and improves lipid profiles without weight loss in healthy sedentary humans.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 11 February 2009; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2009.4

Well, today there was a social outing kind of thing and I unfortunately ate cookies, sweetened cinnamon bread, few chips, and a big bite of chocolate bundt cake. I also had a lot of (whole grain) ricecakes and some peanut butter today. Hate to say it but that is probably 700+ calories (a cookie is a killer in itself!)

However, I find that if I monitor well today, I can probably be within calorie limits.

Will eating "junk food" hinder my progress as long as I don't overeat my calories?

sorry to pop your "Calorie bubble" but FAT LOSS (not weight loss) and body COMPOSITION is NOT based on Calories in-calories out. this is a FLAWED system and has NEVER been truly proven in the medical literature, however, they HAVE done studies that show the exact OPPOSITE is true, out of 67,000 + people, split into 5 groups based on their daily calorie intake has shown that the MORE calories they ate, the LESS body fat they carried, and the LESS calories they ate, the MORE body fat they carried. this was done at Harvard BTW. also a recent finding even out on the news, over weight middle school children were shown to eat LESS food than their leaner counterparts. when I was in the Army, we all ate in the dining facility three meals a day, crap food pyramid food, men consumed roughly 4,000 cal/day and women about 3,000 if not more, yet EVERYONE got leaner, except a couple people who tried to "diet" by restricting carbs and calories etc, they kept most of their fat and never performed well like the rest of us. as Long as this Calorie MYTH is perpetuated by so-called "Fitness gurus", who have no actual knowledge of human biology or "negative feedback loops" and how they work in the body, then we will NEVER see an end to Obesity. sure, you can lose weight with calorie reduction, it "Works" short term at best however, 95% of you who "diet" this way, will hit a wall, then fall off this "Diet", and will gain ALL the fat lost plus about an extra 5 pounds of fat more than they started with per "diet cycle". you can ignore my words and what i have given you this day….or you can try something new….EAT LIKE AN ATHLETE TO LOOK LIKE ONE. Not ONE pro athlete or Olympic athlete eats a clean "Diet", they drink Monsters and red bulls and eat cereal and milk and eat like 8000 calories per day, yet they stay LEAN and MUSCULAR like an NFL wide receiver (have you ever seen how they eat?) think about it. there are little to no CrossFit Athletes that "Count Calories" (a practice in futility that is about 25% off anyway on all food labels), they eat maybe 70/30 "Clean" healthy Paleo type foods and some junk food. yet most have 6 packs. hmmmm. why is it that only those looking for fat loss "Diet" and Count Calories and Athletes who look for Performance Eat whatever they want yet get the results that the "fat loss Dieters" seek ? the body is WAY more complicated than "Calories in - Calories Out", sorry, its not something that you can "outsmart" or "fight" or "Force" to do what you want. you must know how the body responds to input so you can work WITH biology not against it.

Strong first post and a necromancer one at that!.

sorry to pop your "Calorie bubble" but FAT LOSS (not weight loss) and body COMPOSITION is NOT based on Calories in-calories out. this is a FLAWED system and has NEVER been truly proven in the medical literature, however, they HAVE done studies that show the exact OPPOSITE is true, out of 67,000 + people, split into 5 groups based on their daily calorie intake has shown that the MORE calories they ate, the LESS body fat they carried, and the LESS calories they ate, the MORE body fat they carried. this was done at Harvard BTW. also a recent finding even out on the news, over weight middle school children were shown to eat LESS food than their leaner counterparts. when I was in the Army, we all ate in the dining facility three meals a day, crap food pyramid food, men consumed roughly 4,000 cal/day and women about 3,000 if not more, yet EVERYONE got leaner, except a couple people who tried to "diet" by restricting carbs and calories etc, they kept most of their fat and never performed well like the rest of us. as Long as this Calorie MYTH is perpetuated by so-called "Fitness gurus", who have no actual knowledge of human biology or "negative feedback loops" and how they work in the body, then we will NEVER see an end to Obesity. sure, you can lose weight with calorie reduction, it "Works" short term at best however, 95% of you who "diet" this way, will hit a wall, then fall off this "Diet", and will gain ALL the fat lost plus about an extra 5 pounds of fat more than they started with per "diet cycle". you can ignore my words and what i have given you this day….or you can try something new….EAT LIKE AN ATHLETE TO LOOK LIKE ONE. Not ONE pro athlete or Olympic athlete eats a clean "Diet", they drink Monsters and red bulls and eat cereal and milk and eat like 8000 calories per day, yet they stay LEAN and MUSCULAR like an NFL wide receiver (have you ever seen how they eat?) think about it. there are little to no CrossFit Athletes that "Count Calories" (a practice in futility that is about 25% off anyway on all food labels), they eat maybe 70/30 "Clean" healthy Paleo type foods and some junk food. yet most have 6 packs. hmmmm. why is it that only those looking for fat loss "Diet" and Count Calories and Athletes who look for Performance Eat whatever they want yet get the results that the "fat loss Dieters" seek ? the body is WAY more complicated than "Calories in - Calories Out", sorry, its not something that you can "outsmart" or "fight" or "Force" to do what you want. you must know how the body responds to input so you can work WITH biology not against it.