Are all calories the same?

Well as you said 600 calories from something else might be more nutritious - and "healthier" food usually keeps you fuller longer so you're not as likely to eat more later, but yes you could eat nothing but Blizzards and as long as you're in a calorie deficit lose weight.

New research studies from multiple sources have indicated that calories are not created equal. In a New York Times article dated 5/9/14, Dr Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Boston Children;s Hospital states that a person can lose weight in the short term by counting calories but that all the high processed food wreck havoc on our metabolism and our behavior. Dr. Mozaffarian, assoc. prof. of medicine and epidemiology at Harvard Medical School, calories do burn the same energy in a lab but in the human body the foods influence metabolic rate, brain activity, blood sugar and hormones very differently. Its okay to treat yourself once in awhile but will your body be satisfied with what you are craving right now in thirty minutes.

The way your body will deal with 600 calories of processed junk, is totally different than clean and healthy; full of nutrients. It's probably full of saturated fat anyway. I mean if you must once in a while go ahead :grumble: but just don't make it a habit. Burning those 600 calories will take much more effort. They will do much more damage internally.

No, all calories are not the same, but it's close enough to pretend they are for weight loss since your measurements aren't exact anyway. So even though fat and protein take more energy to process than carbs and therefore have lower net calories and different foods can affect your metabolism, the variances are not great enough to make that much of a difference for calorie counting on a diet. Assuming all calories are equal works just fine for calorie deficit math.

Be prepared for a couple hundred posts on this from people who seem to be way over the top and polar opposites on why they aren't all the same and why they are. The funny thing is they're both correct based on their viewpoints.

Whether or not calories are equal is not what's important…

The point is that different macronutrients have different metabolic pathways. Calories are a measure of energy, and just because one eats 500 calories of a substance doesn’t mean the body gets 500 calories of usable energy from it. Fat and carbs are metabolized more efficiently- protein requires more effort, yielding less net energy. Some substances, such as cellulose, aren’t digestible at all. It’s also likely that the body isn’t able to digest the entirety of everything one consumes.

The different metabolic pathways mean the energy from different type of “calories” ends up in different forms in the body:

Carbs ----> fructose and glucose
Proteins

---

> amino acids and alpha-keto acids
Fats

---

> acetyl-CoA

How your body uses the end products, stores them, and deals with excessive/insufficient quantities of them is exceedingly important.

In terms of weight loss, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie- unless you have a medical condition like diabetes, insulin resistance, PCOS, Hashimoto's, etc. In terms of health, calories are not created equal.

for weight loss yes they are all the same otherwise I wouldn't have lost almost 50lbs eating chocolate, fast food, French fries, bread, fruitloops, butter, bacon, eggs, lean chicken, veggies, seafood, steak, lean pork etc.

So yes if I choose to have a blizzard for my dinner tonight vs steak, potatoes, carrots and I am under my calorie goals consistently yes I will lose more weight.

Suppose I skip 600 calories and opt for a DB Blizzard instead. Same amount of calories. Other than the obvious fact that I would lose out on any other nutritional value, do the calories count the same given that is what I am tracking?
I would assume calories from fat may be different than calories not from fat?

Just trying to get a handle on this!
Thanks

Yep, a calorie is a calorie when it comes to weight loss.

However, what's important is how you feel when eating certain foods. For me, the sugar in the Blizzard would send me into lethargic land, but for others it would energize. When it comes to type of foods, it's all about what you like or don't like.

This. The Blizzard would send me into eat all the food land. Especially if I had it early in the day. But if it doesn't bother others, great for them. Have at. And maybe take a multivitamin and eat some other foods that are high in other vitamins the multivitamin lacks, like potassium.

Check this article out. It made me think very differently about weight gain and loss .......
http://www.fatfiction.co.uk/home/