Calories

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anasvitlii
anasvitlii Posts: 267 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I'm not completely sure how calories work. For example, if I eat 100 calories and then burn 100, is that like I didn't eat them at all?

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  • mom2kpr
    mom2kpr Posts: 348 Member
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    Pretty much. But remember your body needs a certain amount of calories to take care of basic functions. So if your calories goal is net 1400 and your burn 250 calories exercising, you should eat 1650 calories. However, if you are using MFP's exercise burn calories, I would only eat back 50% - 75% of what it tells you.
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
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    Yes, you are correct.
  • anasvitlii
    anasvitlii Posts: 267 Member
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    Yes, that's what I'm confused about, eating that much carbs is not the same as eating the same amount of proteins, right?
    Thank you all.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited June 2015
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    anasvitlii wrote: »
    Yes, that's what I'm confused about, eating that much carbs is not the same as eating the same amount of proteins, right?
    Thank you all.
    For nutrition, they are different.

    For weight loss, a calorie is a calorie. If you eat more calories than your body uses, you'll gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than your body uses, you'll lose weight.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited June 2015
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    BILLBRYTAN wrote: »
    seska422 wrote: »
    anasvitlii wrote: »
    Yes, that's what I'm confused about, eating that much carbs is not the same as eating the same amount of proteins, right?
    Thank you all.
    For nutrition, they are different.

    For weight loss, a calorie is a calorie. If you eat more calories than your body uses in a day, you'll gain weight. If you eat fewer calories in a day than your body uses, you'll lose weight.
    Again, it is more complicated than that. When you eat 100 calories of protein, 25 of those calories are used up just to metabolize the protein. So you are left with a net of 75 calories. The same applies to carbs but only 10% and fats 5%. Also some foods speed your metabolism while others slow it down. Some foods fill you up and others leave you hungry. There is no simple answer in nutrition because there are so many factors to consider. That is why I dislike CICO; it is true to a point but is too simplistic and therefore deceptive.
    Thus the "uses" part of my statement (the CO part of CICO) and the distinction between nutrition and weight loss.

    You can lose weight eating only pizza. How much pizza you can eat depends upon how your body uses that food. If you eat fewer calories than your body uses (whether those calories come from pizza or Twinkies or veggies) then you will lose weight.

    For body composition and health, nutrition is quite important. However, any combination of food will get you weight loss if you are eating fewer calories than your body burns.
  • HaibaneReki
    HaibaneReki Posts: 373 Member
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    BILLBRYTAN wrote: »
    Yes, each body uses calories slightly differently; so calorie counting at best, is generalization and guesswork. I prefer just to pay attention to what I eat and make sure it is healthy. That, in turn, will reduce my need to count calories in the first place.

    that's assuming that You have healthy attitude towards food, and only have to change what You're eating - if however You tend to overeat for various reasons You will gain weight eating healthy..
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    BILLBRYTAN wrote: »
    seska422 wrote: »
    anasvitlii wrote: »
    Yes, that's what I'm confused about, eating that much carbs is not the same as eating the same amount of proteins, right?
    Thank you all.
    For nutrition, they are different.

    For weight loss, a calorie is a calorie. If you eat more calories than your body uses in a day, you'll gain weight. If you eat fewer calories in a day than your body uses, you'll lose weight.
    Again, it is more complicated than that. When you eat 100 calories of protein, 25 of those calories are used up just to metabolize the protein. So you are left with a net of 75 calories. The same applies to carbs but only 10% and fats 5%. Also some foods speed your metabolism while others slow it down. Some foods fill you up and others leave you hungry. There is no simple answer in nutrition because there are so many factors to consider. That is why I dislike CICO; it is true to a point but is too simplistic and therefore deceptive.

    http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/5/899S.full

    No difference between carbs and fat, substituting 300 carb calories for protein burned 21 calories more.
    You're blowing stuff out of proportion.

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