Does it matter what you eat?
Replies
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Ideally, you'd eat a healthy diet. But for mathematical purposes, no - you'd lose as long as you kept a deficit.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/0 -
For losing weight as long as you are at a deficit in calories at the end of the day you will lose, but if you want to feel good, a healthy well balanced diet is the way to go - I feel better when I eat more fruit, veg and multigrain/whole wheat foods than I do if I say eat a fast food burger.0
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I tend to believe that while there are plenty of discussions out there about a calorie being a calories, that whole, healthy foods are what you should be choosing most of the time. Clean eating is easier for our body to digest...and it provides the most nutritional bang for your buck. For instance, a 500-calorie bowl of pasta doesn't do the same thing that 500 calories of veggies, fruit and lean meats do. Yes, you may lose weight by cutting back calories and eating processed food, but there's so much more to health than simply a low weight.
eh, you can get fat eating clean too ....there was an article around here about it somewhere the other day ...
anyway, why can't I have the pasta and the veggies...or make a chicken/pasta/veggie dish?
Agree with this - it's a matter of choice but I would rather have a chicken/pasta/veggie dish than a Big Mac Meal.0 -
who knows.
\m/ 0 -
I'm oddly impressed with the number of intelligent replies. It's like... MFP is all growns up today!!!
*warm fuzzies for everyone*0 -
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I posed that exact question to my diabetes educator. I said, what if I chuck my healthy lunch and instead use up all my calories & carbs on a McDonald's cone. She said it was perfectly fine to do it once in a while. She insisted that all the body knows is the calories, nutrients and carbs you take in, not where it came from. But of course she warned me about the dangers of malnutrition if I did it too much.0
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I'm oddly impressed with the number of intelligent replies. It's like... MFP is all growns up today!!!
*warm fuzzies for everyone*
LOL - you're So Rightf! ....this could still go down hill :-)0 -
I'm oddly impressed with the number of intelligent replies. It's like... MFP is all growns up today!!!
*warm fuzzies for everyone*
Well now you've jinxed it.0 -
I'm oddly impressed with the number of intelligent replies. It's like... MFP is all growns up today!!!
*warm fuzzies for everyone*
FRIENDS!0 -
Short answer...yes it does.
Long answer...if you want long term results then you need to be responsible about your food. If you want to lose weight and don't care if you gain it back, well, then eat whatever you want. It's all about how you fuel your body.
Yrur body works better with better fuel. Your body feels like crap if you live on crap food. Think about the person at work who eats garbage their whole life and when they go to the bathroom and you are already in the next stall, you don't want to be in there becasue you know they are going to blow it up with their stinky poops.
Sorry, that just came to me but it's pretty accurate.0 -
I tend to believe that while there are plenty of discussions out there about a calorie being a calories, that whole, healthy foods are what you should be choosing most of the time. Clean eating is easier for our body to digest...and it provides the most nutritional bang for your buck. For instance, a 500-calorie bowl of pasta doesn't do the same thing that 500 calories of veggies, fruit and lean meats do. Yes, you may lose weight by cutting back calories and eating processed food, but there's so much more to health than simply a low weight.
eh, you can get fat eating clean too ....there was an article around here about it somewhere the other day ...
anyway, why can't I have the pasta and the veggies...or make a chicken/pasta/veggie dish?
Agree with this - it's a matter of choice but I would rather have a chicken/pasta/veggie dish than a Big Mac Meal.
I would have either...0 -
I'm oddly impressed with the number of intelligent replies. It's like... MFP is all growns up today!!!
*warm fuzzies for everyone*
Yep. It's a virtual love fest of good info up in here.
But I say that we wait for the first person to say "No chips! They're processed with kemikulz!" and pounce on them like rabid wolves.
Great. Now I want chips.
OP, I agree with pretty much everyone else on here. It doesn't matter if your only goal is to lose weight. It matters a lot if your goal is overall health and good body composition.
As for free range, happy chicken farms, meh. I don't care if my chicken comes from Tyson or the neighbor's farm. It is all good.0 -
I'm oddly impressed with the number of intelligent replies. It's like... MFP is all growns up today!!!
*warm fuzzies for everyone*
Well now you've jinxed it.
I know. Damnit LOL What's wrong with me?
Don't answer that.0 -
In my experience, no. It's good to get in a lot of veg, fruit, lean meats etc from a nutritional point of view. But I have ice cream every day, and fit plenty of other treats into my week and it hasn't affected my weight loss. I try to eat "healthy" foods because that means I can eat more and I do feel better because of it, but as long as you're under your calorie goal you should be losing weight.
She wasn't specific about eating veggies and good food. She asked does it matter what you eat as long as you stay under calorie goal.
My interpretation of her question was that she is not eating many of those things.
Look, we all know people who only eat chinese takeout, pizza, sausage mcmuffins (YUM!!!), and Drake's cakes. For all I know, she could be one of those people. I'm not saying she is, but I'm assuming she is not eating a balanced diet so I answered accordingly.
To the question poster.....are you eating healthy foods? Becasue if you are, then of course you can have some "unhealthy" foods sometimes, sparingly. Just not all the time, especially when you are starting out. Then you balance it out and you can enjoy your food/fuel without wondering if you "binged" or if you have somehow failed.0 -
Short answer...yes it does.
Long answer...if you want long term results then you need to be responsible about your food. If you want to lose weight and don't care if you gain it back, well, then eat whatever you want. It's all about how you fuel your body.
Yrur body works better with better fuel. Your body feels like crap if you live on crap food. Think about the person at work who eats garbage their whole life and when they go to the bathroom and you are already in the next stall, you don't want to be in there becasue you know they are going to blow it up with their stinky poops.
Sorry, that just came to me but it's pretty accurate.
and there goes the thread...0 -
I mean im not gonna eat junk all day but if i eat a small bag of chips for a quick snack is it going to hurt my diet?
Of course not. Have those darn chips and enjoy them. If you are eating balanced then go for it.
BTW, lose the word "diet." It's a bad word. Mouths should be washed with soap for saying "diet." haha. But seriously....0 -
Short answer...yes it does.
Long answer...if you want long term results then you need to be responsible about your food. If you want to lose weight and don't care if you gain it back, well, then eat whatever you want. It's all about how you fuel your body.
Yrur body works better with better fuel. Your body feels like crap if you live on crap food. Think about the person at work who eats garbage their whole life and when they go to the bathroom and you are already in the next stall, you don't want to be in there becasue you know they are going to blow it up with their stinky poops.
Sorry, that just came to me but it's pretty accurate.
How dare you.0 -
Short answer...yes it does.
Long answer...if you want long term results then you need to be responsible about your food. If you want to lose weight and don't care if you gain it back, well, then eat whatever you want. It's all about how you fuel your body.
Yrur body works better with better fuel. Your body feels like crap if you live on crap food. Think about the person at work who eats garbage their whole life and when they go to the bathroom and you are already in the next stall, you don't want to be in there becasue you know they are going to blow it up with their stinky poops.
Sorry, that just came to me but it's pretty accurate.
and there goes the thread...
Sorry, should I not have mentioned "poop?"0 -
Short answer...yes it does.
Long answer...if you want long term results then you need to be responsible about your food. If you want to lose weight and don't care if you gain it back, well, then eat whatever you want. It's all about how you fuel your body.
Yrur body works better with better fuel. Your body feels like crap if you live on crap food. Think about the person at work who eats garbage their whole life and when they go to the bathroom and you are already in the next stall, you don't want to be in there becasue you know they are going to blow it up with their stinky poops.
Sorry, that just came to me but it's pretty accurate.
How dare you.
HAHAHA!
0 -
I tend to believe that while there are plenty of discussions out there about a calorie being a calories, that whole, healthy foods are what you should be choosing most of the time. Clean eating is easier for our body to digest...and it provides the most nutritional bang for your buck. For instance, a 500-calorie bowl of pasta doesn't do the same thing that 500 calories of veggies, fruit and lean meats do. Yes, you may lose weight by cutting back calories and eating processed food, but there's so much more to health than simply a low weight.
eh, you can get fat eating clean too ....there was an article around here about it somewhere the other day ...
anyway, why can't I have the pasta and the veggies...or make a chicken/pasta/veggie dish?
I lost ~20 pounds in the last half of 2011 eating a remarkably "unclean" diet.
I gained ~22 pounds in 2012 eating a remarkably "clean" paleo diet.
I maintained throughout most of 2013 eating remarkably "unclean" too. I also bulked and have/am cutting on the same "unclean" diet.
All were intentional and accomplished by carefully measuring calories in/out. Oh, and my "health" was unchanged during these years.0 -
Yes...but the extent to which it matters will be infinitely debated for as long as the interwebs exists0
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My friend is a clean eater...I've never been with her when she's pooped obviously...but she has the nastiest smelling gas I have ever smelled. So there goes that analogy.0
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My friend is a clean eater...I've never been with her when she's pooped obviously...but she has the nastiest smelling gas I have ever smelled. So there goes that analogy.
hahahaha. if's funny how good veggies make you produce stinky f@rts.0 -
Short answer...yes it does.
Long answer...if you want long term results then you need to be responsible about your food. If you want to lose weight and don't care if you gain it back, well, then eat whatever you want. It's all about how you fuel your body.
Yrur body works better with better fuel. Your body feels like crap if you live on crap food. Think about the person at work who eats garbage their whole life and when they go to the bathroom and you are already in the next stall, you don't want to be in there becasue you know they are going to blow it up with their stinky poops.
Sorry, that just came to me but it's pretty accurate.
LOLwhat?
I don't want to get too graphic, but my ability to clear a room...bath or otherwise...was greatly enhanced in 2012 when I was eating the healthiest health food that ever did health.
And I don't know anyone who eats crap. If I did, I would probably contact mental health services...because that's horribly wrong. I know some people who eat food that others have deemed to be unacceptable for various (many ridiculous) reasons, but not crap.0 -
Yes it matters. If you care about health it matters a lot. If you only want to lose weight it still matters but not nearly as much.
For health you want not only a certain amount of calories but also a certain amount of nutrition from your food and you only get that if you eat the right foods.
For weight loss only different macronutrients (Protein/Carbs/Fat) have different thermogenic costs for digestion. In simple terms if you eat 100 calories of pure sugar you will get that full 100 calroies out of it in one quick burst. If you instead eat 100 calories of lean protein you will only get 80 calories out of it due to digestive costs and it will be stretched out over a longer period of time.
Why should you care? Well to lose weight you don't want to be hungry all the time and you want to keep your calories low so it makes sense to eat more harder to digest foods that will give you calories over longer periods of time and in lower amounts.
If you doubt this eat your calories as almost all simple carbs and see how you feel (buzzed then crashing then starving) versus a day where you eat your calories as almost all protein (satiated, harder to eat enough to reach your calorie goal).
A site on thermogenic cost breakdown:
http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/EnergyBalance.html0 -
Normally it doesn't but in some cases it can. I have an insulin resistance and can't easily lose weight from exercise and calorie cutting alone. I'm been reducing the carbs which has helped my weight loss immensely. If you don't have any health issues, then the calorie deficit is all you need but I also agree with everyone else that your health will be strongly affected by what you eat.0
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People have different opinions on this.
As far as I've seen, it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you stay within your range.
This is true but it will be MUCH MUCH easier for you to stay in that range and not be starving if you eat the right foods.0 -
Replying to OP
Of course it matters what you eat. Poison is not good for you. Malnutrition is not good for you.
Does it matter to weight loss?
Yes, although not as much. There is some evidence that calories from different foods are processed differently... but that's probably minor in comparison to the fact that it's much easier and more likely that you'll eat too many calories of some foods than others. You can lose weight on the Twinkie diet, but when you eat food that is calorie dense and nutrition poor, you're more likely to feel hungry and crave more food. When you eat a healthy diet that meets your nutritional needs and is high in whole foods (whole grains, entire fruits and vegetables, etc.) you are more likely to feel energetic, to exercise, to stay healthy, and to stop eating when you should and lose weight.0 -
People have different opinions on this.
As far as I've seen, it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you stay within your range.
This is true but it will be MUCH MUCH easier for you to stay in that range and not be starving if you eat the right foods.
the right food being the foods you enjoy?0
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