Are all calories created equal

First, what is a calorie?

Just based on the thread title, you're in for a lot of people screaming at each other (and not answering your question). Unless you want to read a ton of MFP drama, you might want to ask the mods to delete this thread and post a new one with a different title.

That said, your macros look fine. You need protein, fat and carbs -- they all do good (and different) things for your body. As long as you come up with a macro split that works for you and keeps you full, and as long as you're within your target calorie goal, you'll be fine.

Calories are units of energy, that's all. They come packaged with other nutrients, and you should get calories from a wide range of sources so that you are getting a wide range of nutrients, but a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Your body doesn't care if you get a calorie from one place or another. However, your body does care that you get Vitamin C on occasion, for example, so when choosing calories it's good to look at the nutrition that comes with them, but those two things are separate issues.

AliceDark wrote: »

Just based on the thread title, you're in for a lot of people screaming at each other (and not answering your question). Unless you want to read a ton of MFP drama, you might want to ask the mods to delete this thread and post a new one with a different title.

That said, your macros look fine. You need protein, fat and carbs -- they all do good (and different) things for your body. As long as you come up with a macro split that works for you and keeps you full, and as long as you're within your target calorie goal, you'll be fine.

Calories are units of energy, that's all. They come packaged with other nutrients, and you should get calories from a wide range of sources so that you are getting a wide range of nutrients, but a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Your body doesn't care if you get a calorie from one place or another. However, your body does care that you get Vitamin C on occasion, for example, so when choosing calories it's good to look at the nutrition that comes with them, but those two things are separate issues.

^^^
This

I don't think the question you are asking, are calories equal? Will get you the answer you are looking for.

Yes, calories are equal, but macronutrients protein, carbs, fat are different and micronutrients will be present in different amounts in different foods. The link I posted has some info on how to set your macros.

maoribadger wrote: »

Does this matter? Are all calories really created equal? I cant help thinking of the old adage about eating low fat that was so popular (think Rosemary Conley). Im enjoying how I eat at the moment so would you say those numbers look ok.

I think the question is whether you will gain weight or lose less, despite being in a deficit, because your fat often comes in around 35% of total calories. If so, not at all. In fact, one of the few things that you'd probably find a majority at MFP agreeing upon (not everyone, of course, but the others are wrong) ;-) is that eating fat doesn't make you fat. I don't know who Rosemary Conley is, but she sounds like a Susan Powter, who was a diet guru in the US in the '90s and would scream "fat makes you fat." No, it doesn't. Eating too many calories for your size and activity level (and metabolism) makes you fat.

Many think that eating more fat, like you are, helps with satiation and thus tends to help people maintain a calorie deficit better than eating higher levels of, say, carbs. Not because carbs make you gain weight, but because being satiated on fewer calories makes maintaining a deficit easier. IMO, this is simply something that varies from person to person. I tend to do well eating 30-35% fat, personally, especially when that's combined with a similar amount of protein (and I also tend to prefer many forms of protein that come with some fat, like whole eggs and various cuts of meat that aren't the very leanest.

So to me it sounds like you are doing fine!

Edit: oh, also, unless you are trying for some really precise diet for athletic reasons or to lose that last bit of fat, I tend to think that 33-33-33 is certainly close enough to 40-30-30 macros anyway. I have the same goals and get the same slightly off results all the time, and since I think of my main goal as getting my protein and don't care that much about the ratio of fat and carbs so long as I have energy and they aren't way off that something must be going on with my diet as compared with normal, I consider it consistent with my goals.

"Calorie" is just a word we use to describe a certain amount of energy. So, in that sense, they're all equal.

Carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram.
Proteins have 4 calories per gram.
Fats have 9 calories per gram.

Different foods, obviously have different things in them and will be good or bad for you, accordingly. Google "trans fats" alone and you'll read for days, lol. Healthy food makes a healthy you, but it can't be judged just on carbs, fat and protein.

If you want to eat healthy (and not everyone does and that's a choice everyone makes for themselves!), this is a good, easy start: http://www.fitness.gov/eat-healthy/how-to-eat-healthy/

maoribadger wrote: »

Have been trying to up my protein and have really noticed I am much fuller and less hungry between meals. But though I have been using a lot of turkey and chicken I've noticed the things I really like that are protein rich like eggs, cheese, seeds, nuts, nut butter are all higher in fat.

So my aim was 40-30-30 carbs-protein-fat but am coming in about 33-33-34 and sometimes the fat is more like 35.

Does this matter? Are all calories really created equal? I cant help thinking of the old adage about eating low fat that was so popular (think Rosemary Conley). Im enjoying how I eat at the moment so would you say those numbers look ok.

And if not where can I make changes. Thanks MFP gods x

Your most important comment is "I'm enjoying how I eat..." So many people get all hung up on the smallest of details. There is NO perfect One fits all Macro-nutrient ratio.