Is A Calorie Really A Calorie?
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I got really frustrated on Monday because I fainted on the train due to low blood sugar, and to get it up I drank some juice and ate a banana, and to keep it level from there I had pepitas. We were on our way out for dinner though, and once I felt better I was starving but scared to eat anything because the juice, banana, and pepitas had cost me 400 calories.
That's sorta what sparked the argument with my bf in the first place.
So putting the debate aside (it makes my eyes bleed) I make the following observations.
1. Fainting isnt cool, it looks silly, it can be a pain if you knock your head against the ground. Its more importnat to avoid than anything you might achieve in the diet.
2. Perhaps you need to control your diet better and what you consume so your blood sugar levels are stable through the day rather thna the crashing, hence being careful with the junk and trying to get a stable supply of energy imo complex carbs are your friend or regular small snack eating as opposed to simple carbs. A breakfast of something like oats is a ood way of getting some sustained energy into you. Its not usual to faint, so maybe your calorie level is just too low overall or you arent hydrated.
3. Banana, juice and pepitas were all good choices. the bit about costing you calories an being scared to eat is wrong though, simply put eating for your health and in this situation has priority. You cna always make it up later by more exercise or better allocation of calories.
4. I havent seen you day you have a medical condition, but if you faint again then you should consider seeing your Dr. It may have been you were dehydrated or you arent eatung enough, it should be a minimum 1200.
5. You might wnat to get some friends with open diaries to see what they eat.
6. I cnat work out whther the fainting was a one off or blood sugars are your thing? Diabetics have to pay a lot of attention to blood sugar levels and theres ons of ood advice on these links about blood sugar levels, diet and exercise here. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/managing-your-diabetes/healthy-eating/
7. http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/nhs-diet-advice.html
8. Im not saying you are diabetic, but the same principles will apply for controlling blood sugar. It might be just eating regular , enough and complex cabs will sort it.
9. Get some friends to look at your diary and diet to make sure you are eating enough and that your plan is sustainable.
Hope that was a bit more constructive and you cna make some changes so you dont faint again and impornatly you change your diet so you are less hungry as hat can be a diet killer. On a calorie counting website, then people have proven that accurate calorie counting has been the key to their success. Good luck0 -
Ok folks. A calorie is:
cal·o·rie
ˈkal(ə)rē/
noun
either of two units of heat energy.
the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 °C (now usually defined as 4.1868 joules).
noun: small calorie; plural noun: small calories
the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water through 1 °C, equal to one thousand small calories and often used to measure the energy value of foods.
noun: large calorie; plural noun: large calories
So tell me, how can a UNIT OF ENERGY be anything other than a unit of energy?0 -
crazyjerseygirl wrote: »
So tell me, how can a UNIT OF ENERGY be anything other than a unit of energy?
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zachbonner_ wrote: »eating food to prevent yourself from fainting is more important than possibly going over your calories
I agree so much I'm going to repeat that.
Eating food to prevent yourself from fainting is more important than possibly going over your calories.0 -
shadow2soul wrote: »crazyjerseygirl wrote: »
So tell me, how can a UNIT OF ENERGY be anything other than a unit of energy?
Deepak, is that you?0 -
Someone already said it but repeating: the calculators only offer estimates. You figure out your actual maintenance calories by logging your intake and seeing what happens on the scale (over a few weeks). If you're eating 2200 and the number on the scale isn't budging, 2200 is your maintenance.0
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DeguelloTex wrote: »Is an inch really an inch?
Perfect answer.
That said: @MaiLinna, you lose weight by eating less calories than you burn no matter where the calories come from.
A calorie is definitely a calorie when it comes to weight loss.
The reason you lost weight is because you ate less overall.
I say this while I 100% endorse quality of food, but this has everything to do with nutritional balance and not weight loss.
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lol didn't we just have this thread?
now I'm starting to understand why most other forums are filled with people who yell "USE THE SEARCH FEATURE"
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My boyfriend and I were stating to debate the age old question: is a calorie really a calorie? In his argument, he used my body as an example. If a calorie were truly a calorie, I would have gained weight in the past month. I only logged for about a week, and prior to that I would eat whatever I wanted. It wasn't unhealthy except for the sweets, but otherwise I was eating far too many calories over maintenance.
However, because I was eating lots of fruits and vegetables and healthy fats, etc, I didn't gain weight. In fact, I was the same weight as I was before I got on the plane a month ago. (Except I probably weigh less now because when I weighed myself a day ago I was *excuse me* rather bloated, gassy, and hadn't used the restroom properly in 2 days so I was a bit backed up and may have had excess weight.)
He went on to explain that calories are energy produced when a substance is burned, and our bodies don't work quite the same way, but they are similar. He noted that my fear of calories restrains some of my healthier choices, like eating avocados or slamming down an extra banana and apple because my stomach's growling.
He believes in quality of food, not quantity. His food choices, however, are naturally pretty low in calories until he makes a stir fry. He loves sesame oil, and will easily throw down 3-4 tablespoons of the stuff. His normal day consists of: coffee with cream and sugar in the morning, a frozen burrito/samosa, a Starbucks Frapp during his work break, dinner either at home or out which will usually be a rice/asian pasta dish with vegetables and tofu, then he'll commonly have a second serving or if he's out order a couple sushi rolls, and during his after dinner 2 mile walk he'll get more Starbucks, then late at night he'll either have more dinner leftovers or cook up a plate full of rice. If he's still hungry, he'll slam half a bag of tortilla chips.
He is not the healthiest of eaters, and he always commends me on my healthy eating except for my sugar/chocolate addiction. He doesn't eat much during the day, but at night he slams it down. He's practically vegan because all he eats are rice and vegetables, but he always varies the vegetables and preaches about eating a rainbow and such.
I'm just not sure anymore. I tried to point out what he eats is normally low calorie but then he reminded me of all the junk he eats at night.
Sounds like he is a smart, informed and common sense guy when it comes to humans and calories.
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I am so confused. Did I get this right?
Two people eat different diets...One is obsessing over every little thing that crosses her lips, faints on a train, and won't eat dinner that night because she had a banana. The other is eating whatever he feels like and because he isn't gaining weight, assumes that means that he is exceeding maintenance levels and the quality of the food invalidates basic principles of CICO. Yet the food he's eating isn't exactly the "cleanest" of choices.
What exactly is the argument and/or question?
OP how about this....How about you and your boyfriend continue with exactly the same habits as today, only weighing and logging the food and accurately estimating your calorie burns for about 4 weeks, then come back and tell us what the results were.
And in the meantime see a GP about your fainting and a psychologist about your disordered eating tendencies.
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Not to false dichotomy, but there seem two possibilities
1. Professional nutrition scientists with advanced lab equipment testing humans in controlled labs are screwing up every time they do these controlled studies.
2. The majority of regular people have Dunning Kruger effect making them think they've observed a violation of the laws of thermodynamics.
Occam's razor points me at number 2 being the answer.0 -
However, because I was eating lots of fruits and vegetables and healthy fats, etc, I didn't gain weight. In fact, I was the same weight as I was before I got on the plane a month ago. (Except I probably weigh less now because when I weighed myself a day ago I was *excuse me* rather bloated, gassy, and hadn't used the restroom properly in 2 days so I was a bit backed up and may have had excess weight.)
He went on to explain that calories are energy produced when a substance is burned, and our bodies don't work quite the same way, but they are similar. He noted that my fear of calories restrains some of my healthier choices, like eating avocados or slamming down an extra banana and apple because my stomach's growling.
It sounds to me that your boyfriend is concerned about your fiber intake. He just doesn't know how to say it. An adult woman needs 21 to 25 grams of fiber everyday. If you've been logging your food, you should check to see how much fiber you're getting in your diet. In your MFP account, click on Reports. Under "Choose a report", click the down arrow and choose "Fiber". That will bring up a chart of how much fiber you've been eating every day. If you are getting all the fiber you need, you could show the chart to him.
Why should you eat fiber? This article from the Mayo Clinic explains all: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/fiber/art-20043983
If your fiber count is lower than 21 grams, an easy way for a sugar addict to get fiber is with Fiber One bars and brownies. There is even Fiber One cereal!
You shouldn't be afraid of eating fruits and veggies either. Many of them are low in calories, and work well with a CICO diet. For example: 2 cups of Earthbound Farms' Power Salad (Swiss chard, Kale, and Spinach) is only 20 calories!
If you don't like fruits or vegetables, you can start start acquiring the taste for them by switching out one of your snack packs with a fruit or vegetable based snack. Things like Apple Crisps, Veggie Straws, Trader Joe's Sweet Potato Chips, and even dried fruit are great "training wheels" foods.
I used to be like you when I was your age. I preferred junk food snack packs over healthy food. In my case, I hated fruits, veggies, and fiber until I discovered snack foods that are full of them. I used these snack foods as a way to train myself to get used to the taste of fruits/veggies and created positive memories associated with these foods. Now I can eat regular fruits and veggies without any problems.0 -
Regarding your boyfriend's love of sesame oil, it's a healthy oil with powerful antioxidants that prevents diseases and provides alot of health benefits. You can read more about it at the links below:
http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20030428/sesame-oil-benefits-blood-pressure
http://www.livestrong.com/article/17951-health-benefits-sesame-oil/
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/health-benefits-sesame-seed-oil-vs-olive-oil-6925.html
Yes, sesame oil is a fat and has calories. It also helps improve health, so it's worth spending some calories on it. It's nothing like those junky trans fats (aka hydrogenated oil and partially hydrogenated oil)0 -
DeguelloTex wrote: »
@DeguelloTex
I shall now log off from the internet as nothing can ever beat that phrase
:bigsmile:0 -
Thank Zod I used "it's" correctly, then.DeguelloTex wrote: »
@DeguelloTex
I shall now log off from the internet as nothing can ever beat that phrase
:bigsmile:
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
Inevitably, as "maintenance" means "the amount of food to stay the same weight"
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Apparently not inevitably, if you've read OP's boyfriend's thoughts on the matter.DeguelloTex wrote: »
Inevitably, as "maintenance" means "the amount of food to stay the same weight"
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
Apparently not inevitably, if you've read OP's boyfriend's thoughts on the matter.DeguelloTex wrote: »
Inevitably, as "maintenance" means "the amount of food to stay the same weight"
Definition of "maintenance" is key. If taken as a number off an estimator then you can eat more than that and not gain weight. If your actual maintenance calorie requirement then no.
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a calorie is just a calorie
Food and calories are synonyms. Not all calories swallowed are absorbed. Not all foods of same calories affect your body the same. Thinking nutritiion or weight control is 100% about calories is a gross over simplification.0 -
1. You may want to get off of MFP for a while - obsessing is only going to make things worse for you.
2. Why did you pass out? Was it because you really didn't want to eat calories at that time? You say you suffered from low blood sugar problems before. As someone who also suffers from low blood sugar at times, I have NEVER gone from fine to passing out within the matter of a minute. I have other signs first and make sure I eat something BEFORE it gets too serious. If you legitimately didn't know your sugar was dropping and then passed out that's one thing, but if you started feeling symptoms but ignored them because you didn't feel like eating because you're obsessing over calories that's a huge problem.
When I started on this journey it was hard because I think my body started to confuse wanting to eat with needing to eat, but even then, I never passed out from my blood sugar dropping. Once I started getting symptoms of clamminess, shaking, loss of concentration, I reached for anything to eat because, as someone else said, the calories were worth preventing me from getting worse. I didn't care if I went over at that point. And, if you know it's an issue and you're that worried about the calories, keep stuff on hand that you can WORK INTO you daily caloric goals - like nuts and fruit.0 -
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.
Lol, no.
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Every time I see this topic:
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
Please post a recipe0 -
A calorie is a calorie UNLESS your body did not process the entire food source and therefore did not "absorb" all the energy of that food. This happens most often with natural whole foods like almonds, fruits and veggies with thick skins and fibrous insides. So your boyfriend is right- quality has something to do with how your body uses the fuel you feed it.
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Of_Monsters_and_Meat wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
Please post a recipe
http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2012/04/unicorn-cookbook-found-at-the-british-library.htmlTaketh one unicorne...marinade in cloves and garlic, and then roast[] on a griddle.
"The cookbook's compiler, doubtless Geoffrey Fule himself, added pictures in its margins, depicting the unicorn being prepared and then served."
It doesn't say if it's organic unicorn, but in the 14th century I'd guess yes.
I understand that Edward III was really into organics, as well as warring on France.0
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