Does it matter where calories come from?

For weight loss, no. For nutritional needs, yes.

No, it doesn't.

Open diary and more information about you (i.e. height, weight, what type of workouts you do) would help. Is 1200 your NET intake, or your total intake?

Oh, thought my diary was open. Thanks for letting me know! Must change that.
I am severely overweight with a BMI of 33. 1200 is the total intake.

Your overall macro intake looks OK. Decent levels of protein and fats. Some days your carbs are quite low, so feel free to eat more of those to make up extra calories.

1200 calories seems a little low, but unless you've put that in as a custom goal yourself, it should be OK provided you keep an eye on your weight loss. If you're exercising, you should be eating at least half of the calories you've burnt doing it.

Yes, it does matter.

Depends on what your goals are. Just weight loss? Interested in overall health? Athletic performance? Satiation? On the latter, trust me you're going to get a lot more satisfied with 1,000 calories of bananas, for example, versus a 1,000 calories of Reeses cups.

Nobody can really answer this question without knowing your goals.

When you're eating a minimal amount of food, you are more likely to end up with a vitamin or mineral deficiency. So as long as you are taking care of those needs it should not matter. If you end up with a deficiency it will matter to your health.

Also, be aware that many people can get away with a big deficit at first but then a few weeks later start to feel the effects (low energy, weakness, dizziness, irritable, trouble concentrating, hair falling out, among other things) so keep an eye out and know that you might need to make tweaks to keep things sustainable in the long term.

(Your body fat can only supply so much energy at a time and if your deficit gets too big then that extra energy starts coming out of more useful things like muscle tissue, which defeats the purpose of eating at a deficit to lower body fat and get healthier.)

Yes, it does matter.

For heath or weight loss? Can you elaborate on how it matters?

I say it matters for both.

For the weight loss aspect, sure you can lose weight on 1200 calories a day of cookies or McDonald's, people do it all the time. But this is simply *weight* loss, not fat loss. You may lose muscle mass as well as fat, and the body you obtain in the end will be skinny.. but not necessarily fit. It all depends on what your goals are and what you wish to get out of this.

That being said, hitting your macros exactly every day is not that critical.. as long as you are eating fairly healthy and still gaining nutrition with what you do eat. And going over on protein is not bad either, in fact most macro calculators say you need way more protein than MFP usually suggests you do. Glanced at your diary, and I think you are doing fine! Although, I would eat back your exercise calories and your NET should be around 1200. Netting at 900-1000 does not allow your body to obtain all of the nutrients it needs to stay alive, yet alone survive a workout! =]

I suggest to go to http://iifym.com/ and calculate your TDEE based on how much you exercise, and use their macro calculator to get a better idea of what percentage of proteins/fats/carbs you should aim for.

Happystack - off topic, sorry, - your ticker looks like the Brecon Beacons...

nope

For weight loss, no. For nutritional needs, yes.

^^THIS^^
(unless you have a medical condition that requires you to monitor protein or carbs)

wow, not far off, I thought it Llyn Cwm Llwch looking down from Pen y Fan! Thanks for letting me know!

You're welcome. Llyn Cwm Llwch is more of an ovular lake

Thanks! 1200 is what MFP recommended when I put in a 1kg. weekly weight loss goal. Sticking to this plan while it´s giving good results

Since you seem to only have 11kg to lose, I would recommend setting your weekly loss at 0.5kg (equivalent to 1lb, basically... 2.2lbs = 1kg). You'll not only have a few more calories to play with, but you might even find that weight loss accelerates for a couple of weeks.

When you're trying to lose about 20-ish lbs it's best to make up your deficit through exercise, in my opinion. It helps preserve lean mass and helps more towards reaching your goal and not being "skinny fat" when you get there.

I´m aiming for 1200 calories a day and sometimes I also eat back my exercise calories. Does it matter much where these calories come from? Today I went over in proteins but also in fat and sugar, but stayed under in carbs.

It absolutely matters where your calories come from. I'll share this audio file with you from an expert - Dr. Ina Novek.
http://www.isagenixhealth.net/the-perfect-plan-30-day-cleansing-and-fat-burning-system/

No it doesn't....not for weight loss.

It only matters if you are after more than just weight loss...
If you want to lose mainly fat than yes what you eat matters along with what exercise you do...

Weight loss is about a calorie deficit. Barring a medical condition, it doesn't matter what you're eating in order to get that calorie deficit. I've lost almost 60lbs and I did it while continuing to eat the foods I liked (and was familiar with). That meant still eating fast food, 'processed' foods, cookies, chips etc etc. But, I started watching portion sizes and started eating at a calorie deficit. I lost the weight and I got healthier (blood work proved this, including no longer having glucose numbers in the pre-diabetic range). Also, I didn't exercise while actively losing weight either and just focused on calories.

Calorie deficit-equals weight loss-equals being healthier (and looking good in skinny jeans) :happy: