No white flour?

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srodriguez416
srodriguez416 Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Is this really a thing? I have been on my weight loss journey for the last three years and have lost 40 pounds. It's taken me a long time to get here and I still have a long way to go but I will get there. I have made many positive changes over this time period but a lot of the time, I end up eating closer to maintenance rather than a deficit. When I am in a deficit, however, I lose. I try to eat everything in moderation and don't follow any diets. I find this to be much more sustainable. So, a friend told me today that I need to stop eating white flour. I'm not really even sure what this means but apparently she lost 10 pounds doing so (and also referenced Dr. Oz *insert eye roll*). I told her that it was probably due to being in a calorie deficit or losing water weight. She claims that she was not eating less and there was no way she was carrying that much water. Is this even possible? I have no intention of doing this. I guess I'm just curious if there is any science behind this...
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Replies

  • __freckles__
    __freckles__ Posts: 1,238 Member
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    Nope. You're right. Your friend is wrong.

    Keep on truckin'. :flowerforyou:
  • Mikkimeow
    Mikkimeow Posts: 1,282 Member
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    I would say your friend doesn't know what she is talking about. There really isn't anything you have to just stop eating. Eat at a deficit and you will lose.
  • oxers
    oxers Posts: 259 Member
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    The science is basically that items made with white flour (breads, pastries, pastas) tend to be calorically dense. and because they're carbs, most folks can eat a lot of them. That's it. I know I can EASILY overeat on donuts and toast and pasta no problem, but it's a hell of a lot harder on brown rice and quinoa.

    If someone has a legitimate gluten intolerance - Celiac's, for example - yeah, it's best to avoid white flour above all else, but most people can process the stuff just fine. It's calories in to calories out.
  • AyaRowan
    AyaRowan Posts: 80 Member
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    Yeah...she obviously doesn't know much about the science side of weight loss. Deficits are what matter most. That said, I usually stick with whole grain options 80% or so of the time just because I have a strong history of diabetes in my family.

    The only way switching to whole wheat products could make you lose weight without a deficit would be if you were unusually "stopped up" due to lack of fiber. Tons of people out there have digestion issues because they eat far too few fruits and veggies and mostly refined grains. You don't have to go with whole wheat things as long as you're getting fiber from other sources.
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
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    I don't know why, but people love to give unsolicited advice when you mention that you're losing weight.

    Do what works for you and you're correct in your assumption that you don't need to cut anything out to be successful. Portion control, honesty, consistency, success.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Nope. You're right. Your friend is wrong.

    Keep on truckin'. :flowerforyou:
    This.

    Dr. Oz is a flake.
  • TX_Rhon
    TX_Rhon Posts: 1,549 Member
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    You eyerolled at Dr. Oz. I like you :flowerforyou:

    Agreed with others, your friend is wrong. Keep on going!!!
  • srodriguez416
    srodriguez416 Posts: 10 Member
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    Thanks everyone!!:flowerforyou:
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    Your friend is extremely ignorant. There is nothing wrong with white flour.
  • srodriguez416
    srodriguez416 Posts: 10 Member
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    I don't know why, but people love to give unsolicited advice when you mention that you're losing weight.

    Do what works for you and you're correct in your assumption that you don't need to cut anything out to be successful. Portion control, honesty, consistency, success.

    Funny you should say that....I simply mentioned that I needed to "get back on track." She took this opportunity to give me advice on what would work better than what I'm doing. Do you find it easier not to not tell people about your weight loss journey to avoid unsolicited advice?
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
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    I don't know why, but people love to give unsolicited advice when you mention that you're losing weight.

    Do what works for you and you're correct in your assumption that you don't need to cut anything out to be successful. Portion control, honesty, consistency, success.

    Funny you should say that....I simply mentioned that I needed to "get back on track." She took this opportunity to give me advice on what would work better than what I'm doing. Do you find it easier not to not tell people about your weight loss journey to avoid unsolicited advice?

    In the beginning I got it all from family, friends and coworkers: "You can't eat that," and "weight lifting will make you bulky," and "you're drinking BEER??" and "you need to rev your metabolism, have you tried X." Once it was apparent that I was successful and it was pretty obvious that "can't eat" isn't in my vocabulary about any food it died down. My goals have changed a lot, and I eat considerably more now than I did when I first started so now I'm getting asked more questions about what I'm doing than I am being advised by anyone. It's cool, but they never want to take the advice I give because it's just "eat less, move more" and that isn't a magic fix.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    The science is basically that items made with white flour (breads, pastries, pastas) tend to be calorically dense. and because they're carbs, most folks can eat a lot of them. That's it. I know I can EASILY overeat on donuts and toast and pasta no problem, but it's a hell of a lot harder on brown rice and quinoa.

    If someone has a legitimate gluten intolerance - Celiac's, for example - yeah, it's best to avoid white flour above all else, but most people can process the stuff just fine. It's calories in to calories out.
    Items made with white flour are not necessarily more calorically dense then those made with other flours. In fact 1 cup of white flour has about 450 calories while 1 cup of whole wheat flour has 400. Not a huge difference at all. A 2 slices of wonder bread classic white have 140 caloiries. 2 slices of wonder bread whole wheat have 120, again the difference is small. The same is true of white vs. brown rice, and whole wheat vs conventional pasta. The calories of all the "white" versions are very similar to the whole wheat counterparts.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    The science is basically that items made with white flour (breads, pastries, pastas) tend to be calorically dense. and because they're carbs, most folks can eat a lot of them. That's it. I know I can EASILY overeat on donuts and toast and pasta no problem, but it's a hell of a lot harder on brown rice and quinoa.

    If someone has a legitimate gluten intolerance - Celiac's, for example - yeah, it's best to avoid white flour above all else, but most people can process the stuff just fine. It's calories in to calories out.
    Items made with white flour are not necessarily more calorically dense then those made with other flours. In fact 1 cup of white flour has about 450 calories while 1 cup of whole wheat flour has 400. Not a huge difference at all. A 2 slices of wonder bread classic white have 140 caloiries. 2 slices of wonder bread whole wheat have 120, again the difference is small. The same is true of white vs. brown rice, and whole wheat vs conventional pasta. The calories of all the "white" versions are very similar to the whole wheat counterparts.
    Truer words could not have been spoken.
  • OnlyHuman55417
    OnlyHuman55417 Posts: 14 Member
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    I am going to mildly disagree with the others. I stopped eating anything processed years ago (like 15 years ago) I went from a size 18 to a size 14 with very little effort. Then I started working out and I went to a size 4.

    I still don't eat processed food. I gained 30 pounds on medical steroids that did my illness no good. Without the processed foods my fat size is a size 12 and my normal size is a 4. With processed foods my fat size was a size 18 and my normal size was a 14.

    That's just my two cents.

    People will disagree with me, but process carbs and foods makes me crave more food. Unprocessed foods cut the cravings. So maybe I was eating more with processed foods? I completely dropped sugar. I don't even care to have it unless I start eating it again. When I am normal, I'll eat really dark chocolate on occasion and I won't crave more.

    BUT BUT BUT...calories in calories out and deficits is what makes one lose weight.
  • slomo22
    slomo22 Posts: 125 Member
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    She might have lost weight simply because she became conscious about what she was eating. Some of that junk food/fast she was eating probably had white flower! So ya you're right and she's wrong.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    Is this really a thing? I have been on my weight loss journey for the last three years and have lost 40 pounds. It's taken me a long time to get here and I still have a long way to go but I will get there. I have made many positive changes over this time period but a lot of the time, I end up eating closer to maintenance rather than a deficit. When I am in a deficit, however, I lose. I try to eat everything in moderation and don't follow any diets. I find this to be much more sustainable. So, a friend told me today that I need to stop eating white flour. I'm not really even sure what this means but apparently she lost 10 pounds doing so (and also referenced Dr. Oz *insert eye roll*). I told her that it was probably due to being in a calorie deficit or losing water weight. She claims that she was not eating less and there was no way she was carrying that much water. Is this even possible? I have no intention of doing this. I guess I'm just curious if there is any science behind this...

    Well, yes, it's a thing you might try...if you're T2 Diabetic, though some manage quite well without cutting out white flour.
    Meh. :laugh:

    I personally don't eat it (you guessed it, T2D) but I do all right. If you've found something that works for you, let your friend have her say. You know how people like to give advice when they've recently lost weight or found God :tongue: they gotta tell everybody!!
  • srodriguez416
    srodriguez416 Posts: 10 Member
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    Thank you all for the replies and encouragement!! She brings this up quite often and I usually dismiss it, but I was a little more annoyed with it today for some reason. I tried to google it, but it literally came up with pages and pages of Dr. Oz ads and similar fear mongering... which annoyed me even more :laugh: Thanks again!
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    I told her that it was probably due to being in a calorie deficit or losing water weight. She claims that she was not eating less and there was no way she was carrying that much water.

    Weight loss without a calorie deficiency. Really? LMAO!

    Now it's white flour to blame.

    When will the madness stop?

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