Question concerning "Calorie in, calorie out."

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24

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  • skruttan44
    skruttan44 Posts: 86 Member
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    thank you, I had been wondering about that for some time :smile:
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Eating nothing but fruits, veggies and chicken all day every day is not a realistic thing for me. It's just not and it never will. I'm too accustomed to processed foods.

    IMO, eat what makes you happy; it's none of my business, but since you asked here...

    I don't think the issue is "eating nothing but." It's eating more nutrient dense foods along with the stuff you feel like you can't give up. And you certainly don't have to eat only chicken. I eat lots of kinds of meat--plenty of meat is pretty low calorie for how filling it is. Maybe not so much so as chicken, but enough so that it easily fit into my calorie limit even when I was doing 1250 regularly.

    You can add veggies and even fruit and keep most of what you are currently eating. Veggies in particular have few calories. If you are interested, just add them in and maybe change the portions of the other stuff more. Same with fruit, except it does have more calories (although some fruit is pretty low calorie).
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    The only deal with not eating "too much" fat, whatever that is to you, is that it has more calories per gram. But if you stay within your calorie limit, no reason to eat less fat. A lot of people (including me) find that having a decent amount of fat (I aim for 30%) tends to make them feel more full, so actually makes it easier to stay within calorie limits. Also, there are benefits to having a particular amount of protein and many active people especially feel better with more carbs, so you have to figure out what balance works for you.
  • skruttan44
    skruttan44 Posts: 86 Member
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    The only deal with not eating "too much" fat, whatever that is to you, is that it has more calories per gram. But if you stay within your calorie limit, no reason to eat less fat. A lot of people (including me) find that having a decent amount of fat (I aim for 30%) tends to make them feel more full, so actually makes it easier to stay within calorie limits. Also, there are benefits to having a particular amount of protein and many active people especially feel better with more carbs, so you have to figure out what balance works for you.

    When I mentioned "fat", I meant the recommended amount recommended on MFP.
  • chunt87
    chunt87 Posts: 161 Member
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    As long as im taking in less calories than I'm burning per day I'll lose weight right?

    My daily diet looks something like this:

    Breatkfast = cinnamon oatmeal + coke zero (no calories)

    lunch = salad or sometimes ill get a turkey and cheese sandwhich with some chips and a water

    dinner = like 10 pizza rolls and a coke

    With all of this combined I still have about 20 calories left over. Mind you, this is with "Lightly Active" highlighted as well, and I work in a fast paced retail envrionment getting cardio so i don't need to go to the gym really. And I don't always eat like that either, my breakfast is always oatmeal and water or some 0 calorie drink. Lunch is often healthy too, usually a salad or something nutritious, but my dinner is always something that satisfies any cravings i might have which helps me stay on track.

    Thoughts?

    I would suggest changing up the kinds of foods you eat
    like instead of the cinnamon oatmeal, try some nonfat greek yogurt and mix in a tbsp of honey and maybe some sliced almonds

    Lunch looks good but you could try maybe eating one you make from home and weigh your ingredients to get accurate nutrition facts, salads and sandwiches can be a slippery slope. That sandwich you get from a deli or resturant can easily pack 600-1000 calories, same thing with some salads.

    Dinner, 10 pizza rolls is about 350 calories, you could replace that with something like a chicken breast and some green veggies, or some tasty homemade tacos

    I know you dont like the m word from a previous post, but its important to make sure you get enough quality nutrients to fuel your body and activities.It could also help starve off those late day cravings you mentioned.

    To help figure out where your calories should be you could try a fitbit or a jawbone up or something like that to see how lightly active you are because the opposite side of the spectrum could be true too where you could be eating far too little. Please make sure you are sleeping enough too.

    You also mentioned that you eat many processed foods, like any change it is going to be hard because nothing that is easy is ever worth it
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    Sorry but I gotta eat more manly-er foods than that. Hence pastas, cheeses meats etc.

    Well enjoy that manly-er heart attack.
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
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    Yes you will lose weight, but keep in mind that 1 pound is 3500 calories, and sometimes it takes a while to get there. Depending how you set up MFP they have calculated your calorie consumption to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.

    I am not to certain if the 10 pizza rolls are helping, but if you stay within your calorie goal the weight should still come off.
  • yungibear
    yungibear Posts: 138 Member
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    I like my pasta, my beer, cheese.
    Me too, which is why I still eat them, and I still lose weight. You don't have to eat nothing but fruits & veggies, in fact I'd never survive on that. Like you, just eating a salad leaves me hungry in a short amount of time - unless it's a salad topped with meat and some good healthy fats.

    Don't get bent when someone points out where you can improve - is that not why you're here asking questions? If you don't know what a macro is (I didn't either a couple of years ago), ask, or open a new tab on your browser and Google it! Learn new stuff - it's awesome!

    As for your former weight loss success on 900 calories a day - duuuuude! You're a dude - you NEED more than 900 calories a day. I'm a 46 year old chick, and I lose eating 1800-2000+ cals a day! And like I said, I still eat pasta, beer and cheese, along with burgers, pizza, ice cream, candy bars, etc - they fit into my calories (and my macros! :tongue: ). I don't eat only those things, but alongside healthier choices, like lean meats, veggies, fruits, nuts and healthy fats.

    It's about eating the PROPER number of calories for your stats - you don't want to over eat, but you sure don't want to under eat either. You might lose some weight, but it's not sustainable, and it really sucks to eat so little when you could be eating more and still be successful. Plus you can kiss lean muscle goodbye along with any fat that comes off with a super low cal diet, and you end up with a slimmer, but still squishy version of your former self rather than a fit, lean, healthy strong version.

    Eat your calories, find healthy foods that you like and eat them along side your pizza rolls and diet Coke. Or eat fewer pizza rolls and more healthy stuff - find the balance. Lose it and keep it off this time around, and still enjoy life and the foods you love!
    +1! It would be wise to that this person's advice, OP! Like he said, we're not here to make fun of you or criticize you. We have no motive to bring you down. The MFP community is here to help you with any questions you have, whether it's something you want to hear or not.
  • lisaabenjamin
    lisaabenjamin Posts: 665 Member
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    Reevaluate your goals. Eating like that might allow you to n lose weight but that doesn't make it a good idea. You have no fruits, no vegetables and you obviously don't put thought into macronutrients. 10 pizza rolls and coke is not a dinner. You are not 5 years old and it's time to start eating like an adult.

    The OP took offense to this, and I can kinda see why. Maybe there was a "nicer" way of getting the point across....but....actually I agree. The truth can hurt and sometimes you gotta take a little tough love!

    At 30 years old you are way into adulthood (like it or not) and as an adult, who is on MFP because he wants to lose weight and become healthier, can't you see that drinking coke for breakfast and pizza rolls for dinner is not very healthy? If you want to lose weight, then yes, sure, as long as you're eating at a calorie deficit, you will lose weight no matter what you eat. But will you be healthy? Nuh-uh.

    And saying you're just "too used" to processed foods to make a change, well sorry, that's just an excuse. If you're not prepared to make a change, then you're not prepared to change. That said, don't try to change too much at once because that will be unsustainable. Make small changes to your lifestyle gradually. As someone said, instead of eating 10 pizza rolls, why not have 2 or 3 and replace the rest with vegetables? Snack on fruit instead of chips, or choose lower calorie chips. make your own pasta salads that have less creamy/mayonnaisey dressing and more protein like tuna or chicken.

    No-one's saying you gotta eat salad all the time, but to be *healthy* you do need to make some adult decisions and work out what is good for your body. I suggest doing some reading up on the subject of nutrition - perhaps some nice person will post the sexypants link to help this guy out. I really sympathise with you because it's hard when you're starting out and you don't really know what you're doing, but (for the most part) the people in these forums are here to help and encourage.

    Good luck!
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    I had to quit reading. I am sorry but you are eating like crap. I am not trying to be mean either. We all know that if you eat at a deficit mathmaticly you should lose weight. The make up of the foods you do eat not only make progress harder but lack common sense nutrition. Do what you want but I recommend trying to strike a balence of nutrition and exercise. I was eating "decent" food prior to my weight loss journey. Now I eat some really good nutritional foods and feel great. Do me a favor and replace just one bad meal a good nutritional meal. I am a breakfast guy, switch to oatmeal and some fruit and nuts. Give it a month and see what happens. Than pick another meal. start small and build. Best of luck to you.
  • NerdyAdventurer
    NerdyAdventurer Posts: 166 Member
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    Whats the point in losing all that weight if you're still unhealthy?

    Doesn't make sense to me, but tha'ts just my opinion.
  • whovian67
    whovian67 Posts: 608 Member
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    Your body will think it's starving and burn your glycogen.... reserving your fat......
  • Muzica1959
    Muzica1959 Posts: 206 Member
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    Yes, it is about calories in/calories out but it is so much more. It is about fuel and what "grade" of fuel you use. My views on food have changed so much since starting this. Yes, I still have the things I like but in moderation. I want to fill my fuel tank with something that is going to give my body the nutrients it needs. It's kind of like a car...you wouldn't put oil in the gas tank nor would you put water in the oil tank. Too much fat and carbs will not give you the nutrients you need for your body to operate at full potential. Eating poorly can also cause us to get sick. Our body needs nutrition to fight off everything from colds to cancer. It's your body. How do you want to fuel it?
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    Your body will think it's starving and burn your glycogen.... reserving your fat......
    What?

    I think what she meant is that if you're inactive and you under-eat, it's more efficient for your body to canabolize (spelling?) muscle tissue because it's not being under-used than it is to use fat tissue that your body may have to tap into in a state of starvation.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    There is nothing wrong with pizza rolls (or anything else for that matter), but your body will not thank you if nutrient poor food is all you have. Why not balance things out by having your pizza roll or whatever you like to indulge in as a snack, or just an occasional dinner? Ask yourself: why are you trying to lose weight?

    Is it for health? What you are eating is the exact opposite of healthy.
    Is it for looks? What you are doing will leave you looking skinny fat, just a smaller version of your current self.

    Increase your protein and vegetables, and have a bigger variety of food trying out different recipes every now and then. Eating the same food every day means you are not getting the full spectrum of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    The only deal with not eating "too much" fat, whatever that is to you, is that it has more calories per gram. But if you stay within your calorie limit, no reason to eat less fat. A lot of people (including me) find that having a decent amount of fat (I aim for 30%) tends to make them feel more full, so actually makes it easier to stay within calorie limits. Also, there are benefits to having a particular amount of protein and many active people especially feel better with more carbs, so you have to figure out what balance works for you.

    When I mentioned "fat", I meant the recommended amount recommended on MFP.

    That's what I assumed you meant. The recommended percentages of the various macros is a pretty flexible thing, however--there are a wide variety that would be considered fine. I think MFP provides goals to try and help people have a balanced diet, but you can set custom goals and a lot of people think that the protein and fat goals are too low (or can be too low depending on you and on the number of calories you eat).

    One thing is that it's kind of weird to do it by percentage vs. total grams. Clearly 20% protein is a much smaller number of total protein at 1200 calories than 2000 calories, and yet someone dieting doesn't need less protein--probably the opposite. And the lower fat number MFP gives probably has more to do with the 50% (if memory serves) carb number than with avoiding fat. Lots of people think it's best to treat the protein and fat numbers as minimums with the carbs number as more whatever is left over within your calories after you at least make the minimums of the others. And others change MFP's goals to alternative quite acceptable macro goals that works better for me. I like 40-30-30, since 30% protein means that I will eat as much as I think is good for me even at the lowest calories I might eat in a day (no exercise calories to eat back that day), and because I do better on lower carbs than MFP recommends (though 40% is obviously not low carb), unless I'm working out a lot that day, and then I use my exercise calories more for healthy carbs.

    Point is that there's no magic to the MFP macro goals that make them best for weight loss. People are sometimes scared of fat, and other than the fact that it has higher calories there's no reason to be. Especially when stuff like egg yolks are good for you.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    Your body will think it's starving and burn your glycogen.... reserving your fat......
    What?

    I think what she meant is that if you're inactive and you under-eat, it's more efficient for your body to canabolize (spelling?) muscle tissue because it's not being under-used than it is to use fat tissue that your body may have to tap into in a state of starvation.
    Your body will still burn fat. Starvation is a very very long way away. And the truth is almost no one here will see that point. If the person is sedentary and protein intake is to low then you will see some atrophy but your body will not just start storing fat and burning muscle.

    That is true, but if muscles are not being used and adequate protein is not being consumed more catabolism of muscle tissue will be experienced. Here's an interesting excerpt I grabbed from a published study. In-short, you should definitely "mind" your macros during a "diet" if you want to preserve as much muscle as possible.

    Caloric restriction is one of the most efficient ways to promote weight loss and is known to activate protective
    metabolic pathways. Frequently reported with weight loss is the undesirable consequence of fat free (lean muscle)
    mass loss. Weight loss diets with increased dietary protein intake are popular and may provide additional benefits
    through preservation of fat free mass compared to a standard protein, high carbohydrate diet. However, the precise
    mechanism by which a high protein diet may mitigate dietary weight loss induced reductions in fat free mass has
    not been fully elucidated. Maintenance of fat free mass is dependent upon nutrient stimulation of protein synthesis
    via the mTOR complex, although during caloric restriction a decrease (atrophy) in skeletal muscle may be driven by
    a homeostatic shift favouring protein catabolism. This review evaluates the relationship between the macronutrient
    composition of calorie restricted diets and weight loss using metabolic indicators. Specifically we evaluate the effect
    of increased dietary protein intake and caloric restricted diets on gene expression in skeletal muscle

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