Is A Calorie Really A Calorie?
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shadow2soul wrote: »
This big calculator thingie on one of the other posts. Something something flat belly something. I dunno.0 -
1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.
That.0 -
Or under.1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.
That.
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
Or under.1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.
That.
No way in hell. All the rice I was eating? I started logging and the amount I ate went from big plate to tiny bowl.
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Yes a calorie is a calorie sigh.....0
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shadow2soul wrote: »If you weren't logging during that period, you have no way of knowing how many calories you were eating. So the example is bad right from the beginning.
Except we went through and looked at what I was eating and it was over 2200 a day almost every day. That should have added up.
It just doesn't seem right that eating a 100 calorie snack pack over an avocado with lime juice on top is better for losing weight. I've lost 25lbs, but I lost more when I was allowing myself more calories per week and that just doesn't make sense.
Are you sure about that? Or were you guys just guessing at the amount you took in? Also, it's possible your maintenance is higher than 2200.
My maintenance should be 1825 give or a take a few. I had it written down in a google doc because I was (still am) obsessing over my belly. I was trying to avoid coming back to MFP because I start to obsess over EVERYTHING to the point where I can't go anywhere or do anything without my phone because I have to look up the calories over everything and check how long we've been walking and how fast and how many miles...etc. I'm trying to find a way around obsessing over this because he wants me to stop. He says it's unhealthy and I shouldn't feel bad for eating fruits and vegetables just because I didn't eat 3 packs of tofu first.
I understand what he's saying about 'unhealthy obsession'
If I can't go to my moms and have a coffee without measuring the cream myself......if I can't go to a restaurant with my best friend without tons of research first.....if I debate calling in sick to work because we are having a potluck lunch and learn ......then (as usual) I've crossed some line from healthy to obsessive and I need reeled back in.
If bf has noticed your tendency to obsess to the point of zapping the joy from your life, I might pay him some mind......reevaluate a bit.
Cheers.
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Then what's your explanation?DeguelloTex wrote: »
Or under.1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.
That.
No way in hell. All the rice I was eating? I started logging and the amount I ate went from big plate to tiny bowl.
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shadow2soul wrote: »
This big calculator thingie on one of the other posts. Something something flat belly something. I dunno.
Those are just a guide to start. Your supposed to start there and after a few weeks, adjust up or down as needed based on actual results. Those calculators give me a couple hundred under my maintenance unless I pick that I do more exercise than I do. For example, I'll use Scooby's Accurate Calorie Calculator:
3-5hrs a week of moderate exercise is about right for what I do
The calculator gives me 2117 for a TDEE
Based on 5lbs lost over the last 30 days:
30 Day average intake:1875
30 Day average deficit based on loss: 583.3333xxx
30 Day average TDEE = 2458
So right now my TDEE about 2458.
5-6 hrs a week of strenuous exercise on the calculator gives me: 2356
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
Then what's your explanation?DeguelloTex wrote: »
Or under.1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.
That.
No way in hell. All the rice I was eating? I started logging and the amount I ate went from big plate to tiny bowl.
If I had one I would have won the argument with him. lol0 -
1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.
That.
How did you determine activity level? Because that's a TDEE calculator. So on something like MFP, when you choose "sedentary" or "lightly active", you're talking about your activity outside of workouts. With a TDEE calculator, you're trying to account for ALL activity. And then there are also multiple formula options (in section 1). I get anything from 2200 and some to 2300 and some for maintenance, depending on the formula, if I select "moderately active" (which is my best guess at describing my total activity, combining lifestyle and exercise). Lightly active drops me below 2000 and sedentary drops me to close to 1700.
So guessing your activity incorrectly, from daily steps to your exercise, will throw off your estimation of your maintenance. And individuals differ -- your metabolism may work faster than a calculator estimates, just as some people's may work slower.
"I think I ate around 2200" for a month is pretty plausible maintenance, especially since you didn't weigh and log and wear a Fitbit and so on for the whole time, and since a month isn't that much time.
That said, your boyfriend is right, if you really are obsessing, that is not healthy. If you can't learn to log AND have a healthy relationship with food, you may want to try non-logging methods, or IIFYM (where you're looking at macros and thinking more about nutrition, but accomplishing the same thing).0 -
and Won't your maintenance number constantly change depending on what you are doing... were you more active that month? Holding more/less water weight, tom, etc..
A calorie is a calorie.... just like an inch is an inch..
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To answer your question, yes, a calorie is a calorie. However, what you eat depends on how the food effects your body. For example, in the documentary, Fed up, they used 160 calories of almonds and compared it to 160 calories of Coke. Yes, it's the same amount of calories but the coke produces a lot of sugar that turned into fat, while the almonds produced fiber. So, you can eat 3,000 calories of veggies and fruits and be fine compare to 3,000 calories of processed fatty foods. Calories are a form of measurement however.0
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Well, you've been given the answer, but you apparently don't like it.DeguelloTex wrote: »
Then what's your explanation?DeguelloTex wrote: »
Or under.1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.
That.
No way in hell. All the rice I was eating? I started logging and the amount I ate went from big plate to tiny bowl.
If I had one I would have won the argument with him. lol
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You only logged for a week?
The presumptions, arguments and conclusions you draw are just depressing. Enjoy your debate with your intelligent bf and I look forward to seeing his published paper.0 -
Sugar doesn't turn to fat. Excess calories are stored as fat.amwood1528 wrote: »To answer your question, yes, a calorie is a calorie. However, what you eat depends on how the food effects your body. For example, in the documentary, Fed up, they used 160 calories of almonds and compared it to 160 calories of Coke. Yes, it's the same amount of calories but the coke produces a lot of sugar that turned into fat, while the almonds produced fiber. So, you can eat 3,000 calories of veggies and fruits and be fine compare to 3,000 calories of processed fatty foods. Calories are a form of measurement however.
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1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.
That.
Alright so using that one:
(As a reminder, real world results say my TDEE is about 2458)
Moderate Active - 2105 to 2229
Very Active - 2343 to 2481
I average about 9,000 steps a day. Not exactly what I'd consider "Very Active", but my calculated TDEE is slightly higher than the Very Active one from the calculator.
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This specific calculator says I have a BMR of 1403shadow2soul wrote: »
My TDEE is 1684
I should eat 1347 calories a day.
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I am so confused. If avocado with lime provides you with more than 100 absorbable calories and chocolate covered chips provide you with only 100 absorbable calories, then avocado with lime provides you with more absorbable calories than chocolate covered chips. Where does "fair" enter into the equation?
About the only discussion you can have is whether all calories from a particular food eaten in combination with other foods are absorbable or not. And whether the thermic effect of food (the calories needed to process and absorb the nutrients from a particular kind of food) are more for one kind of food as opposed to another. And what kind of measurement errors the various databases and tables have when it comes to various foods.
In general, though, these discussions are definitely on the fringes of the 80/20 rule, because in general if you eat less calories than you spend you lose weight, and the opposite. And the effect of all these marginal discussion is probably smaller than that of a couple of tablespoons of mayo!
BTW your boyfriend SOUNDS like he is eating well north of 3,000Cal. Which at age 24 for an active male is far from impossible.
You may also want to ask yourself if your actual maintenance level is much higher than you think. perhaps based on more activity/vigorous activity when you eat more.
Whether you need to obsess over everything or not... really that does depend on your own weight loss/life history!0
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