Does it really matter what you eat?
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omg did you have to say nutella?
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I can eat the whole jar, by myself, in under a week. Using just a spoon.2
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Depends on what your goal is. If its only to loose weight you can eat Mc Donalds everyday at a deficit, if its to get healthy along with losing weight then you are better off with fruits and veggies.0
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Yes and no. To lose weight you need to eat at a calorie deficit. But you also need to make sure you get the nutrients you need to be healthy. And some foods are more satiating than others. I can eat a donut for breakfast and stay at my calorie goal, or I can eat eggs and fruit and yogurt and stay at my goal and stay full until lunchtime. Usually I chose the eggs, but if I really want the donut then I have it. I don't worry about eating clean, whatever that means. I often eat out and I eat processed foods because they are convenient. I stay at my calorie goal and I have lost weight and I'm 6 pounds from my goal. So for the most part it doesn't matter what you eat. But I do find that some foods help me to stay satisfied better than others and that makes it easier to stick to my goal.4
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Thanks for the feedback everyone! This information is helpful.1
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There are other issues than CICO to consider. If you eat a lot of refined carbs and find yourself with hunger and/or cravings at various points during the day, you might want to cut down on the refined carbs and exchange them with complex carbs or protein. If you're not getting enough fiber, you're going to get constipated (and low fiber diets aren't great from a cancer perspective). If you're eating 4-5 donuts a day and that's it, you're not getting the protein you need (as well as asking for a serious case of constipation, and not getting the vitamins you need from your food).1
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some calories are more packed with nutrition than others. so some cals are healthier cals....my body always reflects the diff. if I eat junk my skin Is dull and I bloat etc etc.1
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Yes and no. You could lose weight eating nothing but donuts and fritos, so long as you ate fewer total calories. You would ultimately get skinnier. However, you'd feel like crap and the damage you would do to your body with a terrible diet would counter many, if not all, of the benefits of weight loss.
I don't 'eat clean,' but I eat healthy most of the time. And a side bonus of eating more fruits and veggies is that you can eat more food, period. Once you make a habit of it, it's not difficult to sustain. It is a little spendier in the short term, but you'll thank yourself in the long term.3 -
CICO is the governing law, and enjoyment of your diet is going to be the key to adherence. There's no need to eliminate your favorite treats if you're going to be really sad not eating them and you can fit them in your calorie goals. There's also no need to be ravenous because you're not eating enough nutrient-dense, satiating food. Find a balance that works for you.3
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I'm just beginning my journey. I was curious, does it really matter what kinds of foods you eat? Is weight lost sustained or easier when you eat certain types of food? I've heard it's only about calories in vs. Calories out. I've also heard eating clean (whatever that means) is best. Those that have reached success, can you share how you ate with me?
"Clean" foods have calories too...and calories are what counts. You can still overeat whilst eating "clean"...weight management is simply energy (calorie) management regardless of the source...a calorie is a calorie is a calorie...it's a unit of energy.
That said, weight management is much easier IMO when your diet consists largely of whole foods and meals prepared using scratch, whole ingredients and minimally processed foods (things like canned tomatoes and whatnot for sauces, etc). I mean really, it would be pretty easy for me to scarf down a couple thousand calories worth of potato chips...I'd be hard pressed to do the same with an actual baked potato or something.
Also, certain foods are going to have a higher thermal effect than others...meaning you actually burn more calories consuming them...your body has to work harder to break down fibrous foods and protein and thus you burn a handful more calories eating these things. These same types of food also tend to be more satiating...again, a bunch of potato chips isn't going to keep me full very long...a nice baked potato with the skin is going to keep me satiated much longer for less calories.
Beyond that, you obviously have to consider the nutritional aspect of things.
Personally, I eat a diet consisting largely of lots of veg, a couple servings of fruit, plenty of whole grains and legumes, lean sourced protein, and healthy fats from things like avocados and nuts and good cooking oils...my diet consists largely of whole foods and meals prepared with scratch, whole ingredients...but I also enjoy taking my kids and wife out to eat once in awhile...I enjoy having pizza now and then...sometimes I just like a good deli sandwich, etc. You don't need to get all wrapped up in everything being "clean" and not every morsel that goes into your mouth has to be the epitome of healthy...having a little ice cream for desert tonight isn't going to undo all of the awesome nutrition I otherwise took in today.
Look at the bigger picture and look at your diet as a whole rather than the individual parts...if your diet on the whole is good, you are good.6 -
Depends on what your goal is. If its only to loose weight you can eat Mc Donalds everyday at a deficit, if its to get healthy along with losing weight then you are better off with fruits and veggies.
What if I eat fruits, veggies, lean protein, whole grains, dairy AND McDonalds and still stay in my deficit...
Why does everything always have to be extremes one way or another?6 -
Yes and no. You could lose weight eating nothing but donuts and fritos, so long as you ate fewer total calories. You would ultimately get skinnier. However, you'd feel like crap and the damage you would do to your body with a terrible diet would counter many, if not all, of the benefits of weight loss.
I don't 'eat clean,' but I eat healthy most of the time. And a side bonus of eating more fruits and veggies is that you can eat more food, period. Once you make a habit of it, it's not difficult to sustain. It is a little spendier in the short term, but you'll thank yourself in the long term.
Did the OP say she was considering a diet of nothing but donuts and fritos? I'm not sure why people always bring up these extreme examples.5 -
Your overall diet matters for nutrition & health of course. Individual items within your overall diet have minimal impact. Satiety, happiness, adherence are all big success factors that are impacted by the choices you make.
But those choices are very personal.
Exclusion or moderation of foods you have self-control problems with is also very personal but I believe moderation is a better long term approach for the majority. In the end weight loss or maintenance comes down to calories but the tools you use to control your calories are many and varied.
Eating clean seems to have a million and one definitions some of which are comical, scientifically or logically unsound and/or puritanical. I don't believe something that can't be defined can be best!
The "best" diets (i.e. healthiest populations) from around the world are incredibly varied.
My experience - I found an eating pattern (5:2 diet) that suited my high determination / low boredom threshold personality. I found it easy to adhere to and allowed me to eat the foods I like in the correct quantities over the course of a week. I also include a very high exercise routine as I enjoy both food and exercise, a marriage made in heaven. Overall it's probably not a method that would suit most people.
cosign ...1 -
happygalah wrote: »It's all about the cico but for me I could spend my entire days calories on one fast food meal so not much fun there. Junk food is full of chemicals and not much nutrition so to get the vitamins and minerals you need fresh fruits and vegetables etc are going to fill you up with more nutrition and less calories.
all food is "full of chemicals"...2 -
I just had a McDonald's cheeseburger and Medium Fries, and I'm losing, soo.......3
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WinoGelato wrote: »Depends on what your goal is. If its only to loose weight you can eat Mc Donalds everyday at a deficit, if its to get healthy along with losing weight then you are better off with fruits and veggies.
What if I eat fruits, veggies, lean protein, whole grains, dairy AND McDonalds and still stay in my deficit...
Why does everything always have to be extremes one way or another?
^^I agree wholeheartedly. My experience, I have been on MFP for over 4 years, over 2-1/2 on maintenance, is, that to have the best chance of maintaining for a lifetime is to make it as sustainable as possible. Limiting yourself to only certain foods increases your chance of giving up over time. The statistics are that over 80% of the people that lose weight, gain it all back within 5 years. Some gaining even more weight than they lost. Just my opinion for what it is worth, probably not much to most here, but I intend to keep the weight off. For me, that means sensible choices with nothing really off limits. So far it is working for me.
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Crap already commented. Sorry!0
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This is the hardest part about fitness. We are all our own highschool science project. Each person's body is different and wired different. What works for me, does work for the next guy, but works for him.
The biggest thing is try things out for at least 3-4 weeks. Take a step back and evaluate. BE SELF-AWARE AND DON'T BULLS*** yourself!
I learned that the hard way. I started fitness with the whole, eat clean and F*** you bad foods. Well this lead to some massive binge eating problems for 3-4 years, with little to no results in the gym. However, the problem was I told myself eating clean was sustainable, blah, blah.
Truth is, I hated it! I hate meal prepping, I hate cooking, I hate not having freedom to enjoy food, etc.
Thus I picked up IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros). For me it works. I enjoy it. I haven't binged in a year.
Try new things and learn:) If something isn't working or you hate it. Stop doing it. Life is too short to do crap you hate!4
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