Calories are calories but...

Man made rubbish vs naturally occuring food??
Banana every time.

You should choose the one that feels worse.

Because the path to success is build on a foundation of masochism.

Master Shifu told me so.

Lol

I would choose the banana every time. For the natural nutrients it provides plus I find it has a more lasting fullness effect.

Wait.. maybe I'm confused because "granola" isn't a term we hear much in this country, but I thought it was made of oats, nuts, honey and so on? No "natural" nutrients?

Wait.. maybe I'm confused because "granola" isn't a term we hear much in this country, but I thought it was made of oats, nuts, honey and so on? No "natural" nutrients?

Yes, they are natural but also included some high processed ingredients (corn syrup) as well as additves and "natural flavours" whatever that is!!

Banana ingredient list - Banana.

a calorie is a calorie no buts...

Yes buts!!!!

Person 1 eats 2000 calories of chocloate and McDoanld's each day and Person 2 eats 2000 calories of meat, fuit and vegetables each day. Lets assume the net calories are the same each day.

What do you think the end result will be?

Sorry, but a calorie is not a calorie!

*sneaks in before the poo storm...with popcorn* I think I may have seen this show already but I do usually enjoy it.

Large Bananas will spike insulin high (high glycemic index), I'd not eat either of the 2 choices for snack... I advise keeping insulin levels down until post workouts and or night. Natural levels of insulin rise during workouts, and at night/sleep until about 2hrs after wake. Good luck

*sneaks in before the poo storm...with popcorn* I think I may have seen this show already but I do usually enjoy it.

*sits down with M&Ms*

Yes, but granola bars are full of chemicals. Well, most of them. They usually add a ton of processed sugar too.
Although, there is organic granola as a cereal, which is SO HARD to find!!

If you think granola bars of full of chemicals, I'd hate for you to find out how many chemicals are in a banana (a couple thousand.)

A calorie is a calorie. Always. No buts, not even one. I don't care how you feel about someone eating McDonald's or eating "clean," it doesn't change the facts. Sure, you'll probably feel better eating more whole, fresh foods, but if you log it, go for it. A deficit is what you need to lose weight, every time, always.

And I'd eat the granola bar (because I eat bananas for breakfast), knowing that this is the chemical makeup of the typical American granola bar:

550 mg of Malic acid, 16 mg of citric acid, 500 ug of oxalic acid, 310 ug of salicylic acid and 3 mg of purines, 85.3 grams of water, 0.3 grams of protein, 0.4 grams of lipids, 11.8 grams of carbohydrates, 0.6 grams of organic acids and 2.3 grams of fiber. 3 milligrams(mg) of sodium, 145 mg of potassium, 6 mg of magnesium, 7 mg of calcium, 65 micrograms(ug) of manganese, 480 ug of iron, 100 ug of copper, 120 ug of zinc, 12 mg of phosphorus, 2 mg of chloride, 7 ug of fluoride, 2 ug of iodine and 1-6 ug of selenium, 45 ug of carotene, 490 ug of vitamin E, 0-5 ug of vitamin K, 35 ug of vitamin B1, 30 ug of vitamin B2, 300 ug of nicotinamide, 100 ug of pantothenic acid, 45 ug of vitamin B6, 1-8 ug of biotin, 7 ug of frolic acid and 12 mg of vitamin C, 16 mg of Leucine, 15 mg Lysine, 12 mg of Valine and 10 mg of Isoleucine. 2210 mg of glucose, 6040 mg of fructose, 2470 of sucrose, 600 mg of starch, 510 mg of sorbit. Its lipids are 50 mg of palmitic acid, 10 mg of stearic acid, 20 mg of oleic acid, 100 mg of linolic acid, 20 mg of linoleic acid.

Oh, wait. That's the makeup of an apple. Oops. All those scary-looking chemical names, I figured it would be something so super dangerous for me to eat.

Also, it shouldn't matter to YOU that I had a 250 calorie snack wrap from McDonald's (that had less fat and less sodium than my homemade sandwich) twice last month and then had a huge salad and a half slice of pie at Perkins over this last weekend. I'm losing weight because I'm at a calorie deficit. I'm not telling you to eat the two snack wraps or the salad and pie, so to attempt to dictate my diet by saying we "shouldn't" eat certain foods or we should all eat a certain way when I haven't even tried to impose my habits on you is rude and unnecessary. I just had bloodwork done in December; I have a clean bill of health, my cholesterol is better than my doctor's.

Your example of the person eating 1200 calories of chocolate & McDonald's vs. the person eating 1200 calories of "clean" foods is ridiculous. They both lose the same amount as long as they're at a deficit. You're confusing "amount of calories" with "quality of calories" and that's a different subject. 1200 calories of "good" quality foods vs. 1200 calories of "bad" quality foods looks the same for the deficit. If I tell you one person ate 1200 calories and lost 50 pounds and then told you a second person did the same thing, you would not know, by those numbers alone, if one person ate "good" quality foods and the other ate and mix of "good" and "bad" quality foods, would you? No, you wouldn't.

Go over to the success forum and tell them calories are different depending on what you eat and that "junk"/fast/processed food hinders progress, that should be fun considering a lot of them ate those "bad" foods in smaller portions and managed to lose a massive amount of weight.

I love how the topic was "calories are calories but..." and then immediately followed by "a calorie is not always a calorie, because some foods are better for you!"

i wouldnt choose either. i'd get a boiled egg from the salad bar are and some fresh berries.

both the granola and banana option are probably going to be too sweet tasting to me . i prefer savory or tart snacks

I'm hardly an expert but I would think if you ate at a deficit, regardless of what you actually ate, you would lose weight. Just as if you ate at a maintenance level, you would maintain your weight.

But I'm pretty sure the person who ate all their calories as crap would be less healthy (on the inside, anyway) than the person who ate natural, unprocessed calories.

Just my personal opinion (which is always open to change).