Eating whatever you want but staying under calorie limit

Here's my dilemma. For my entire life, I've always eaten whatever I wanted, and never worked out. 4 weeks ago I started FocusT25. The 2nd week, I lost 4lbs and and inch in my waist. The 3rd week I missed my double day workout, and went out for dinner and drinks. I measured myself, and I hadn't gained or lost anything. This week will be my 4th week, I am finding it's super easy for me to workout, and I love to do it, and I hate that I missed my workouts last week. I always stay under or at my calorie limit. The big dilemma for me is eating healthy 100% of the time. So my question is, as long as I'm staying under or at my calorie limit, and workout 5 times a week, can I eat whatever i like and can I still lose weight and have good results as long as I work out and stay within my calories?

Of course you'll lose weight.
Think about healthy eating as something to work towards. Mainly because its good for you and when you are older it will matter more. ie. I have poor bone density because I didn't consider nutrition through my life.
Having said that don't put yourself under too much pressure to be perfect, that's how we fail.

I do not eat clean. Its totally impossible for me lol.An old doctor many years ago told me a 1000 calories are a thousand calories ,I know there are healthy calories and unhealthy but oh well . So if having a really unclean day And I want 1000 calories of chocolate so be it .

As silly as it seems, and maybe it comes from trying to teach a 3-year old about nutrition, but Cookie Monster had a song "A Cookie Is A Sometimes Food." Nutrition dense foods are "all the time foods." Silly and simple.

Yes, you can have the cookie, or the McDonald's or the pizza or whatever your cravings may be, but make sure that the majority of your diet is comprised of nutritious foods (doesn't need to be clean, boxed and packaged foods can be quite nutritious, and pizza is generally quite nutritious just a bit high in calories).

Just try to not work yourself up over it all.

I make it a priority to get a certain amount of dairy, protein and fruits and veggies per day. After that, every thing else is fair game as long as I'm under my calorie goal.

Enjoy.

Yes.

I don't eat clean. Sometimes I'll go a week without even eating something "healthy" (whatever that is). I eat lots of boxed foods. I try to hit my macros. The rest, I don't care.

Since you are still just starting out, get used to nailing your calories. Don't worry about what foods get you there. Once you have that down pat, start looking at your macros and manipulating your protein/fat/carbs to hit your goals.

Now, here's the catch on that. The days I eat a lot of packaged food, I tend to be a bit hungrier because it has a tendency to be calorie dense foods. You might find that eating fresher foods keep you fuller. However, for weight loss in and of itself, it doesn't matter.

^^^ This.

The main benefit of eating "clean" is that you're consuming nutrient dense foods, so you get more bang for your buck, usually fewer calories and higher macro- and micronutrients. If you compare processed chicken tenders to raw chicken breasts, you'll probably notice that they're higher in fat and lower in protein. Is this the end of the world? No. Is that in any way unhealthy? No.

IIFYM - If It Fits Your Macros. Totally agree that when you're just getting your feet wet, you should focus primarily on meeting your calorie goal. Once you're comfortable with how much you should be eating, proper portions, etc, then, you can focus more on your macros (carbs/fat/protein). The principle of IIFYM is that you eat whatever foods you want, so long as you're meeting your nutritional needs. Because that's all that really matters at the end of the day. Eat at a deficit, and you'll lose weight. The rest affects your overall health, performance, etc.

First, make sure you're eating at an appropriate calorie goal:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Some more reads that will help you:
http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/#nutrients
http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/#cleandirty
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/817188-iifym
http://iifym.com/eating-clean-vs-knowing-wtf-you-are-doing/
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/841305-corn-used-my-man-parts-as-a-speedbag
http://evidencemag.com/yoda-fat-loss/
http://evidencemag.com/flexible-dieting-steps/

Most importantly, don't feel like you're going to fail if you don't stick to a rigid plan of eating only what's "healthy" and exercising x days a week. If you stick around, you'll hear time and time again, this isn't a diet; it's a lifestyle change. You should be focusing on forming habits that you can sustain for the rest of your life. Don't swear off foods that you don't intend to give up for life. Don't beat yourself up if you don't have the time or motivation to work out as often as you set out to. Don't panic if you're going out with friends or celebrating a holiday. Some days you're going to go over. Some days you're not going to want to get out of bed to squeeze in that workout. ENJOY yourself. But be conscious of what and how much you eat and set attainable goals for yourself. You can lose weight, eating at a deficit, without exercise, though doing so will allow you to eat more and you'll be much happier with your final result, both in your appearance and your abilities.

Also, be patient. It sounds like you're already making progress, but don't be discouraged if you don't see results as quickly as you'd like. Don't let your success be determined by the number on the scale. That number's going to fluctuate. Often. Sometimes several pounds in a day. Measure your results over several weeks or months and pay attention to the trend. If you're accurate in your logging and maintain a deficit, you'll lose weight.

Thank you all for your input. I like the 80% good 20% maybe not so good. I was setting myself up for failure thinking I couldn't have alittle something good that I wanted everyday.

You will find there is a laaaaaaaarge number of people on this site that advocate for that "little something good," usually ice cream, pizza, bacon, fast food, etc. There is absolutely no reason you can't still have those things. They may be more "costly" calorie wise, but if you've eaten "healthy" nutrient dense foods the rest of the day, why can't you allow yourself to have what you may consider "treats" with what you have leftover? Or save up your calories to allow you to have something a little more indulgent?

That pizza, that cheeseburger, that ice cream, still has protein, iron, calcium, etc. The fact that they're higher in calories does not negate their nutritional benefit.

I eat whatever I want I just stay on my calories and I exercise and drink 115 and sometimes more ounces of water a day and I still lost 15 pounds my first week

Strive to be healthy! Not just thin

I feel that while this is true, its not always realistic, a lot of us start in places where at the time, excersize isnt an option (mostly due to an " i cant do it" mental block) for me, i couldnt ride 700m without vomiting from exertion, fast forward 3 months, i just rode my first 49km (on a MTB!) in one ride, 6 months ago, i was entirely too obese to even comprehend even getting on the bike, i had the same mental attitude to food, and thats how i spend 10 years of my life morbidly obese, life is a bunch of little steps, so if eating 1200 calories of cheeseburgers gets you to a place you can adopt a healthier lifestyle, and you find once you start doing any form of exersize your body wants the good stuff too, and yeh moving your *kitten* is critical for a healthy body

IMO, the most important aspect of any "diet" is sustainability. People can do anything for a short period of time, but what counts is what you can do forever. Eating "clean" 100% of the time is not sustainable for the majority of people. Most of us think cookies taste better than broccoli. Eat the "dirty" cookie, log the calories and don't worry about it.

I try to throw a few fruits and veggies in daily, but am often not sucessful lol. I don't worry about eating "clean" I pretty much eat whatever I want as long at I am within my calorie range.