does it matter what I eat?
jannellex
Posts: 14 Member
I have a calorie deficit of 1500 per day. I never go over and usually have 100-200 left over. I heard that it doesn't matter what you eat, as long as you don't go go over your daily calories you will still lose weight. Am I hurting my progress by eating junk food even though i stay under my calorie goal?
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Nope not one bit!
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Of course not. One of the examples I like is the riddle "Which one is heavier, 100 g of bricks or 100 g of feathers?". That is to say, 100 calories of an apple is the same as 100 calories of pizza.
That's talking from a weight loss point of view, which stands on the rule of CICO. For fitness in general, it's not the same at all.
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I have a calorie deficit of 1500 per day. I never go over and usually have 100-200 left over. I heard that it doesn't matter what you eat, as long as you don't go go over your daily calories you will still lose weight. Am I hurting my progress by eating junk food even though i stay under my calorie goal?
Eat foods that you like in portion sizes that fit your goals.
Get plenty of fats & protein for health and satiety.
Get plenty of fruits & veggies for the micronutrients.
Fill in the rest of your calories with carbs, sweets, and treats as you see fit.
Calories are king for weight loss. Getting enough vitamins, fat, etc can be important for general health, but including a few treats won't negate those :flowerforyou:6 -
Not at all feel free to add me 0
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I have a calorie deficit of 1500 per day. I never go over and usually have 100-200 left over. I heard that it doesn't matter what you eat, as long as you don't go go over your daily calories you will still lose weight. Am I hurting my progress by eating junk food even though i stay under my calorie goal?
Wait. You have a calorie deficit of 1500 or your daily calorie goal is 1500?0 -
Yes. Sodium with make you hold water. Eating a lot of gluten, dairy products or over processed food will cause your intestines to inflame. Anyone who eats unhealthy has this problem, its common. What they don't know is most of your immune system is located in your intestines. And if they are inflamed because of poor diet your body will not be able to cleanse itself naturally and focuse on reducing the inflamation. Causing less weightloss productivity and furthering bad habits. Remember its not a diet, its a life choice to be healthy. Water and a healthy diet are very benefictial. Grains and dairy are not bad, just focuse more on lite protein foods (fish, poultry,nuts), fruits and veggies. Processed foods cause a lack of nutrion. Though your feeding your body, its getting little from what your eating. Hope this helps.
Wow! A whole lotta nope! Calorie deficit to lose weight and macros are a personal choice. If you have celiac's disease then gluten will be a prblem.5 -
As long as you get the nutrition you need, Can make you lose more simply by having more energy. I always have some left to snack at night like i love
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Just try to eat as few house plants and as little notebook paper as possible.7
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85Cardinals wrote: »Just try to eat as few house plants and as little notebook paper as possible.
Don't worry OP, common mistakes1 -
I think the trick to long term success is finding a way to eat in moderation things you really like, while remembering food has a purpose beyond tasting good: food should nourish you. Technically any combination of a CICO that creates a deficit should work, but psychologically some eating patterns are easier and healthier to sustain over a long period of time than others. Strive for a balance between fun and function that works for you!2
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For weight loss, no.
For nutrition, it can matter. You need to get adequate vitamins and minerals, plus sufficient protein and essential fats. That said, as long as you eat a diet with a lot of variety you're likely to be fine.2 -
Not in the least as far as weight loss is concerned. For overall health of course3
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Just because you can lose weight eating junk food doesn't mean it should make up the bulk of your diet.
Health matters too, make sure you're hitting your macros and vitamins/minerals aswell.2 -
Thanks for the input everyone. Much appreciated. I do eat healthy but can't stay away from my sweets!
18 pounds and counting. Feel free to add me! 2 -
No. Eat what you want. You will eventually want some vegetables. Just stay within 1,500 calories. You'll lose weight. I am focused on health now, but when I started I just ate.0
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I have a calorie deficit of 1500 per day. I never go over and usually have 100-200 left over. I heard that it doesn't matter what you eat, as long as you don't go go over your daily calories you will still lose weight. Am I hurting my progress by eating junk food even though i stay under my calorie goal?
Wait. You have a calorie deficit of 1500 or your daily calorie goal is 1500?
Wow, good catch! That's a good question.0 -
In a way yes. For basic weight loss no but if your goal is to get lean especially for prep etc. then I suggest wholesome foods. I once ate whatever I wanted on a calorie deficit which led to skinny-fat. I still eat at a calorie deficit now except mostly nutrient dense foods. I feel more energized especially before and during my workouts and I leaned out and gained mass (and retained). Am still slim except a lot more solid.1
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I have a calorie deficit of 1500 per day. I never go over and usually have 100-200 left over. I heard that it doesn't matter what you eat, as long as you don't go go over your daily calories you will still lose weight. Am I hurting my progress by eating junk food even though i stay under my calorie goal?
What you eat does not matter as to weight loss, but it does for nutrition.
How much you eat does matter as to nutrition, but not when it comes to weight loss.
You are not hurting your weight loss as all as long as you are sure you're staying within your weight loss calorie goals and the scale and/or how your clothes fit confirms this.
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Only if your calorie goal is under your calorie requirement. If you only need 1200 calories a day and you're eating 1300 to 1500 then you will GAIN weight even if it's all "healthy" foods.2
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Seems to be everyone agreeing. I have always wondered this too. I think you just feel better/clearer/more healthy eating real food, as opposed to processed rubbish like Maccas/KFC etc etc. I would much rather a nice healthy Subway... unless I have had a few drinks, then its dirty junk food time!
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I have a calorie deficit of 1500 per day. I never go over and usually have 100-200 left over. I heard that it doesn't matter what you eat, as long as you don't go go over your daily calories you will still lose weight. Am I hurting my progress by eating junk food even though i stay under my calorie goal?
What you eat does not matter as to weight loss, but it does for nutrition.
How much you eat does matter as to weight loss, but It does not when it comes to nutriton.
You are not hurting your weight loss as all as long as you are sure you're staying within your weight loss calorie goals and the scale and/or how your clothes fit confirms this.
Oh brother....that's what I meant in the first place.2 -
I will reiterate its not what you eat but how much. As long as you follow the CICO rule you will do just fine. However things may change, this happened to me before (10 years ago) and now on my new journey. As I have progressed and lost weight I have looked into my macros and what I am eating. If however you are just starting out I would say focus on CICO first 0
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Is your deficit 1500, or is that your intake? Anyway, losing and maintaining weight is all about CICO. However, what you eat will - to a varying degree, this is individual - determine how you feel: satiety, energy, mood. If you feel fine, it will be easier to stick to your allotted calories, than if you feel miserable. You can push through, but it will be hard, and you're most likely doomed to fail. So indirectly, diet is important for weight management. But only indirectly. In theory, you can eat nothing but donuts and lose weight. In reality, a diet like that would make you hungry, ill and lethargic. A diet consisting only of grilled chicken breast and broccoli will make you feel miserable as well. So it's important that your diet (=what you eat) is portion controlled, and nutritious, and tasty.0
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Mavrick_RN wrote: »Only if your calorie goal is under your calorie requirement. If you only need 1200 calories a day and you're eating 1300 to 1500 then you will GAIN weight even if it's all "healthy" foods.
Depends what you mean by "need 1200 cals a day". If you mean a TDEE of 1200 (which is highly unlikely to be that low) then yes, eating above your TDEE (whatever it actually is) would likely result in weight gain over time no matter what foods you are eating. However if 1200 is the calorie goal provided by MFP, then it likely has a deficit built in based on the rate of loss selected originally. If a person selects to lose 1 lb/week or even 2 lb/week, they would have a 500 or 1000 cal deficit built into that number, so exceeding by a couple hundred cals would still be a deficit.
I'm not sure I understood if you were just using a hypothetical 1200 cals but given that is so often the deficit goal provided by MFP I wanted to clarify.0 -
1500 is a pretty big deficit unless someone is 100+ lbs overweight. Did your doctor give you this deficit? Or did you decide on your own 3 lbs/week sounded good?
MFP does not typically give a higher deficit to anyone than 1000, so I'm just curious where you got this number.0 -
1500 is a pretty big deficit unless someone is 100+ lbs overweight. Did your doctor give you this deficit? Or did you decide on your own 3 lbs/week sounded good?
MFP does not typically give a higher deficit to anyone than 1000, so I'm just curious where you got this number.
I think OP meant their calorie goal at deficit was 1500, but she hasn't confirmed that.2 -
assuming you mean you can eat 1500 and you have a couple hundred left over after all meals are eaten...
for weight loss no it doesn't matter what you eat.
I typically have a treat every night.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »Mavrick_RN wrote: »Only if your calorie goal is under your calorie requirement. If you only need 1200 calories a day and you're eating 1300 to 1500 then you will GAIN weight even if it's all "healthy" foods.
Depends what you mean by "need 1200 cals a day". If you mean a TDEE of 1200 (which is highly unlikely to be that low) then yes, eating above your TDEE (whatever it actually is) would likely result in weight gain over time no matter what foods you are eating. However if 1200 is the calorie goal provided by MFP, then it likely has a deficit built in based on the rate of loss selected originally. If a person selects to lose 1 lb/week or even 2 lb/week, they would have a 500 or 1000 cal deficit built into that number, so exceeding by a couple hundred cals would still be a deficit.
I'm not sure I understood if you were just using a hypothetical 1200 cals but given that is so often the deficit goal provided by MFP I wanted to clarify.
Yes, 1200 was just an example of what a person needs to function on a daily basis (TDEE). Maybe a better example would be, if it takes 1200 calories to maintain your current weight then consistently eating 1300-1500 calories will cause you to slowly gain weight. I was trying to pick a number where 1300 -1500 (the number of calories the OP is eating) would actually be too much.
Better said by another, "It's not what you eat it's how much"
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Mavrick_RN wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »Mavrick_RN wrote: »Only if your calorie goal is under your calorie requirement. If you only need 1200 calories a day and you're eating 1300 to 1500 then you will GAIN weight even if it's all "healthy" foods.
Depends what you mean by "need 1200 cals a day". If you mean a TDEE of 1200 (which is highly unlikely to be that low) then yes, eating above your TDEE (whatever it actually is) would likely result in weight gain over time no matter what foods you are eating. However if 1200 is the calorie goal provided by MFP, then it likely has a deficit built in based on the rate of loss selected originally. If a person selects to lose 1 lb/week or even 2 lb/week, they would have a 500 or 1000 cal deficit built into that number, so exceeding by a couple hundred cals would still be a deficit.
I'm not sure I understood if you were just using a hypothetical 1200 cals but given that is so often the deficit goal provided by MFP I wanted to clarify.
Yes, 1200 was just an example of what a person needs to function on a daily basis (TDEE). Maybe a better example would be, if it takes 1200 calories to maintain your current weight then consistently eating 1300-1500 calories will cause you to slowly gain weight. I was trying to pick a number where 1300 -1500 (the number of calories the OP is eating) would actually be too much.
Better said by another, "It's not what you eat it's how much"
Right but since no one's TDEE is likely that low, it would probably be a better example to use 1800 as the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight, with eating 2000 cals of healthy food to demonstrate how you would still gain.
I was just concerned that people would fixate on the 1200 cal level since that is so often the default recommendation from MFP based on the goal rate of loss selected and think that you meant eating above your goal would cause you to gain weight.0
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