All calories may not be equal
Options
Replies
-
cgreen120288 wrote: »earthakin66 wrote: »Has anyone else read the book "Always Hungry"? It really explains everything that I have always felt intuitively. What if he is right about not all calories being equal? That different foods (and therefore calories) biologically impact us in different ways?
I highly recommend the book, here is the website: http://drdavidludwig.com
No counting calories, eat until satisfied, cut way down on refined carbohydrates and eat plenty of fat. Countless health benefits including weight loss and best of all, no hunger.
Anyone want to join me on a 6 month experiment? Send a friend request.
What if eating until satisfied entails eating in a 2000 calorie surplus?
I call BS
Yes!! Thank you! Some people (ME!!!) do not have an off switch. If I don't pay attention to my caloric intake, I will eat far beyond maintenance. And then some.
Same for me. I eat until the calories are gone. If I wasn't counting, I could probably eat double my current intake in a day.
Same. That's why I'm here. My intuition when it comes to food is more wishful thinking than intuition and every time I think I can stop counting, I end up back here.
4 -
This book just adds to the hype to complicate things when it comes to weight loss, and fulfills the need for us as human beings to find the magic solution.
A calorie is a calorie is a calorie, and our body does not distinguish between them when it comes to burning energy. There are no "fattening" foods, or foods that will make us gain or lose weight.
However, nutritionally wise, foods are very different. My body feels better if my diet consists of a majority of nutritionally dense foods, but this does not affect weight loss.10 -
Isabelle_1929 wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »earthakin66 wrote: »Actually we aren't talking about Dr. Lustig, but Dr. Ludwig.
I am going to go ahead and cut sugar, potatoes and processed foods out of my diet for 6 months anyway. I know a lot of you don't agree and to that I say- don't do it then! I spent two years off of sugar and flour and lost 79 pounds. So many people were bothered by this and convinced me that I should be able to eat anything I wanted in moderation. Of course I love sugar and flour and so I gave it a try- and gained back 50 pounds in the process. I am driven to overeat these things. Those of you who can't relate to this don't have that problem and I am happy for you because it really sucks. I know that I was more energetic and overall healthier when I wasn't consuming sugar and flour. Did I insist that everyone else did it? No! I didn't even make my children do that because everyone is allowed to make their own choices.
I posted this morning looking for likeminded individuals, not looking for reasons not to cut out refined sugars and flour. I found a couple, so thanks to them.
I'm not a newbie in any sense. I need support to go down the abstinence road because people are constantly telling me how stupid it is. It isn't easy but I know that it is right for me. And yes, eating 4000 calories a day won't end in weight loss.
You know, maybe if you didn't cut them out entirely and instead tried to get a healthy relationship with it you wouldn't have binged on it and wouldn't need a second try at losing weight.
Just a thought.
Last time I checked, there is not one method - NONE - including CICO, that will make people lose weight once and for good. How many people are (re-re-re-) re-starters, on this thread alone ?
I'm all for CICO, but gimme a break. I've lost weight, and gained back, and lost again.
Open mind and curiosity has never killed anyone. If OP want to try out something, why not? Good lord, he did not say he's going to eat cucumber and vinegar for 6 months straight !
I read the whole thread, and I find it extremely strange that people get borderline angry and aggressive about the way someone they don't even know decides to eat. No really.
Have a doughnut and chill a bit.
- A CICO-fan.
Wrong. CICO works for everyone. If you regained wait, that's on you, not on CICO.
My point exactly. So if OP regained, it's not necessarily because at some point he decided to eat this, or not to eat that.
And my second point is that there are very few persons here who can afford looking down on anyone, as regards weight and diet, and related psychology. And typically, those people won't have to resort to using a frigging app to monitor what they eat, so they would not be here, debating over CICO or no sugar or high protein or clean food and whatnot.1 -
The moral is that it works if it works for you. If you are meeting your weight and health goals by not counting calories and consuming lots of fat, than that works for you.
For me, it depends on the food. For a long time I had not been counting calories, and stuck mainly to a natural and somewhat high fat diet. My weight was fairly stable, but at some point I started gaining a lot. I think one culprit was adding whole cream to my coffee in the morning. I re-evaluated my diet and counted the calories I was consuming on a normal day. I was consuming way more calories than I expected.
I have since been logging my food and aiming for an overall daily calorie count. I still favor natural over overly-processed foods. I still have a high-fat breakfast in the form of scrambled eggs in butter. But I keep track of it and I avoid most liquid calories. In fact, on the days I have scrambled eggs, I end up consuming fewer calories overall (I'm guessing it's more the protein in the eggs). I'm not on a low carb diet- I do usually end my day with whole wheat pasta that I measure out on a scale. I have lost all my initial weight gain and have been steadily losing more.
My personal philosophy is count calories and stick to foods with high satiety per calorie. And you mostly learn that through experience (logging tools like MFP help).2 -
I was eating mostly whole foods, whole grain, organic when possible. I was eating too much of those foods. Tracking calories worked for me.5
-
Because so very many of us were just like you when it comes to trying to lose weight. Looking for that magical answer that's out there, reading a book and saying "Aha! So that's what is wrong with me, that's why I can't lose weight. This is what I need to do! I need to eat low carb or low fat, I need to eat healthy, I need to cut out refined sugars, or processed foods. I need some raspberry keytones, or I'll do the military diet. The problem is I have to calm down my fat cells, I need to jump start my metabolism.
I tried it all for twenty years. So did a lot of people on here. I tried Atkins, South Beach, Phen Phen, over the counter pills, I read books and magazine articles, some written by scientists and Dr's.
Please listen to the people on here, Calories in/ Calories out. That's what causes weight loss.
[/quote]
Oh my gosh, you look incredible! [/quote]
Thank you!!3 -
Earth, thanks for the link. I'm familiar with Dr Ludwig's books but not this one, I'm going to read it. This link gives
his explanation:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/rethinking-weight-loss-and-the-reasons-were-always-hungry/1 -
Isabelle_1929 wrote: »Isabelle_1929 wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »earthakin66 wrote: »Actually we aren't talking about Dr. Lustig, but Dr. Ludwig.
I am going to go ahead and cut sugar, potatoes and processed foods out of my diet for 6 months anyway. I know a lot of you don't agree and to that I say- don't do it then! I spent two years off of sugar and flour and lost 79 pounds. So many people were bothered by this and convinced me that I should be able to eat anything I wanted in moderation. Of course I love sugar and flour and so I gave it a try- and gained back 50 pounds in the process. I am driven to overeat these things. Those of you who can't relate to this don't have that problem and I am happy for you because it really sucks. I know that I was more energetic and overall healthier when I wasn't consuming sugar and flour. Did I insist that everyone else did it? No! I didn't even make my children do that because everyone is allowed to make their own choices.
I posted this morning looking for likeminded individuals, not looking for reasons not to cut out refined sugars and flour. I found a couple, so thanks to them.
I'm not a newbie in any sense. I need support to go down the abstinence road because people are constantly telling me how stupid it is. It isn't easy but I know that it is right for me. And yes, eating 4000 calories a day won't end in weight loss.
You know, maybe if you didn't cut them out entirely and instead tried to get a healthy relationship with it you wouldn't have binged on it and wouldn't need a second try at losing weight.
Just a thought.
Last time I checked, there is not one method - NONE - including CICO, that will make people lose weight once and for good. How many people are (re-re-re-) re-starters, on this thread alone ?
I'm all for CICO, but gimme a break. I've lost weight, and gained back, and lost again.
Open mind and curiosity has never killed anyone. If OP want to try out something, why not? Good lord, he did not say he's going to eat cucumber and vinegar for 6 months straight !
I read the whole thread, and I find it extremely strange that people get borderline angry and aggressive about the way someone they don't even know decides to eat. No really.
Have a doughnut and chill a bit.
- A CICO-fan.
Wrong. CICO works for everyone. If you regained wait, that's on you, not on CICO.
My point exactly. So if OP regained, it's not necessarily because at some point he decided to eat this, or not to eat that.
And my second point is that there are very few persons here who can afford looking down on anyone, as regards weight and diet, and related psychology. And typically, those people won't have to resort to using a frigging app to monitor what they eat, so they would not be here, debating over CICO or no sugar or high protein or clean food and whatnot.
To be fair, there are plenty of people who use MFP because they are training and need to make sure their macros on point, or are dealing with a health issue and need to keep track of specific nutrients or macros. There are also many users on the forum who are trainers or dietitians, as well as people who successfully lost weight by keeping the food log and now that they are maintaining (and sometimes not even counting anymore) they stick around the forums to help people find success like they did.5 -
xjessicaxrx wrote: »I think if a "Newbie" was to read this thread it would scare and put them off straight away! So many judgemental, rude, aggressive people getting their back up!!
I also noticed that a lot of people on here may have developed OCD with weighing and numbers, weighing a pre packaged yogurt haha come on REALLY!
I dont take a food scale out of the house and carry it around with with me, that is just sad.
I have and I am still losing weight just fine.
You may be pleasantly surprised if you weighed your prepackaged yogurt. My 150g tub of yogurt weighs 136g, my 130g yogurt weighs 111g.
These 2 are the ONLY pre packaged foods that i eat that actually weigh LESS than what it says on the label. My 72g per 2 slices bread weighs 85+g every time, I have yet to eat a Quest bar that actually weighs 60g, they always weigh more. I don't eat many prepackaged foods, but if i did and i weighed them all, I think i would off my chair if they actually weighed what is stated on the package!!
And i have never and will never take my food scale out of the house, guesstimates in these situations will have to suffice.7 -
xjessicaxrx wrote: »I think if a "Newbie" was to read this thread it would scare and put them off straight away! So many judgemental, rude, aggressive people getting their back up!!
I also noticed that a lot of people on here may have developed OCD with weighing and numbers, weighing a pre packaged yogurt haha come on REALLY!
I dont take a food scale out of the house and carry it around with with me, that is just sad.
I have and I am still losing weight just fine.
Wait a minute, now......
As to the bold statements: While you are pointing that finger out, there are three more pointing back at you. Rude judgemental and aggressive are all in the perception.
That said....
What is wrong with weighing pre-packaged food? The nutrition information on the package often does not match up with how much a food weighs. Weighing food is just one tool for personal accountability.
What is sad about carrying a scale around in your purse? It is just another tool for personal accountability.
Everybody has to do what works for them. I don't weigh my food when I eat out at a restaurant or at other people's houses, but but I have a scale I keep at work in case I want a small snack not on my plan.
The reason you are losing weight is because whatever you are doing is creating a calorie deficit. In fact, it does not matter what you do to eat less than you bun, what matter is you eat less than you burn because it's the only way to lose weight.
All this does not negate the fact that a calorie is a calorie.14 -
xjessicaxrx wrote: »I think if a "Newbie" was to read this thread it would scare and put them off straight away! So many judgemental, rude, aggressive people getting their back up!!
I also noticed that a lot of people on here may have developed OCD with weighing and numbers, weighing a pre packaged yogurt haha come on REALLY!
I dont take a food scale out of the house and carry it around with with me, that is just sad.
I have and I am still losing weight just fine.
So you point out that you think a bunch of people here are rude and then in the next sentence you laugh at people for weighing prepackaged foods, that by law can be up to 20% more than labeled? I have two words: Pot. Kettle.17 -
Wynterbourne wrote: »xjessicaxrx wrote: »I think if a "Newbie" was to read this thread it would scare and put them off straight away! So many judgemental, rude, aggressive people getting their back up!!
I also noticed that a lot of people on here may have developed OCD with weighing and numbers, weighing a pre packaged yogurt haha come on REALLY!
I dont take a food scale out of the house and carry it around with with me, that is just sad.
I have and I am still losing weight just fine.
So you point out that you think a bunch of people here are rude and then in the next sentence you laugh at people for weighing prepackaged foods, that by law can be up to 20% more than labeled? I have two words: Pot. Kettle.
Yup. I'm glad I weigh everything, especially when I was losing weight, because some stuff is way off the mark. I bought a package of nut bars and every single one was 50 calories more based on gram weight. Things like that add up, especially if you are working with a small deficit. Weighing food is part of what got me from 139 to 108 pounds. It's what kept me from ever making a "I'm doing everything right but can't lose weight" post like what we see here daily.8 -
As a newbie, I find the process of measuring and weighing everything to be tedious and very nearly overwhelming. IMO it's more important to make a habit of keeping track of what you eat. If measuring and weighing helps me to be more accurate when I keep track, that will be a good thing. But if it lengthens my prep time significantly, I'm probably not going to keep doing it. I'm not going to risk being late to work in the morning or play practice in the evening. I'm not willing to cut back on sleep, and I would certainly prefer not to cut back on what little exercise time I have.2
-
I wish we could just be completely honest with our wording when it comes to gaining weight.
There's a big difference between-
"I cut out carbs, lost weight, when I went back to eating carbs, I gained 50 lbs back!"
To...
"I cut out carbs, which increased my fat and protein intake. This ultimately lead me to eat less calories. When I started eating carbs again, I didn't monitor my calories, and gained 50 lbs back!"
Truth be told, It's calories, not carbs, that make us gain.
17 -
clicketykeys wrote: »As a newbie, I find the process of measuring and weighing everything to be tedious and very nearly overwhelming. IMO it's more important to make a habit of keeping track of what you eat. If measuring and weighing helps me to be more accurate when I keep track, that will be a good thing. But if it lengthens my prep time significantly, I'm probably not going to keep doing it. I'm not going to risk being late to work in the morning or play practice in the evening. I'm not willing to cut back on sleep, and I would certainly prefer not to cut back on what little exercise time I have.
There is no law that to lose weight you have to weigh everything, or anything. Millions of people lose weight without weighing a single gram. I didn't start using a food scale until 3mths in to dieting, mainly because i was curious if i was being accurate (I was not), and because I'm really bad at estimating correct portion sizes.
The only time i recommend food scales is in response to the dozens of "I'm not losing weight" threads that pop up here everyday. If someone is losing weight at their desired rate then there is absolutely no reason to weigh or measure their food.
ETA: I wish I could post a video of me in the kitchen weighing and preparing my food, I'm like an efficient well oiled machine now lol It doesn't take any extra time to put my bowl or plate on the scale and stop adding food once i reach the desired number.8 -
clicketykeys wrote: »As a newbie, I find the process of measuring and weighing everything to be tedious and very nearly overwhelming. IMO it's more important to make a habit of keeping track of what you eat. If measuring and weighing helps me to be more accurate when I keep track, that will be a good thing. But if it lengthens my prep time significantly, I'm probably not going to keep doing it. I'm not going to risk being late to work in the morning or play practice in the evening. I'm not willing to cut back on sleep, and I would certainly prefer not to cut back on what little exercise time I have.
You don't have to weigh and measure food, especially as long as you keep seeing progress, but I'll tell you now that weighing food doesn't take much time at all. Certainly not so much time that you'd have to be late to work, sacrifice sleep, or cut back on exercise. LOL.1 -
Well, I don't know if it's the weighing or the logging, but my previous post was just before I started making lunch for tomorrow, and I just finished logging it. So ~ 40 min, which is 2-3 times what it would take to just put things together.
Now, in fairness, next time I make those particular recipes I won't have to type them in. We'll see how it goes.0 -
Isabelle_1929 wrote: »Isabelle_1929 wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »earthakin66 wrote: »Actually we aren't talking about Dr. Lustig, but Dr. Ludwig.
I am going to go ahead and cut sugar, potatoes and processed foods out of my diet for 6 months anyway. I know a lot of you don't agree and to that I say- don't do it then! I spent two years off of sugar and flour and lost 79 pounds. So many people were bothered by this and convinced me that I should be able to eat anything I wanted in moderation. Of course I love sugar and flour and so I gave it a try- and gained back 50 pounds in the process. I am driven to overeat these things. Those of you who can't relate to this don't have that problem and I am happy for you because it really sucks. I know that I was more energetic and overall healthier when I wasn't consuming sugar and flour. Did I insist that everyone else did it? No! I didn't even make my children do that because everyone is allowed to make their own choices.
I posted this morning looking for likeminded individuals, not looking for reasons not to cut out refined sugars and flour. I found a couple, so thanks to them.
I'm not a newbie in any sense. I need support to go down the abstinence road because people are constantly telling me how stupid it is. It isn't easy but I know that it is right for me. And yes, eating 4000 calories a day won't end in weight loss.
You know, maybe if you didn't cut them out entirely and instead tried to get a healthy relationship with it you wouldn't have binged on it and wouldn't need a second try at losing weight.
Just a thought.
Last time I checked, there is not one method - NONE - including CICO, that will make people lose weight once and for good. How many people are (re-re-re-) re-starters, on this thread alone ?
I'm all for CICO, but gimme a break. I've lost weight, and gained back, and lost again.
Open mind and curiosity has never killed anyone. If OP want to try out something, why not? Good lord, he did not say he's going to eat cucumber and vinegar for 6 months straight !
I read the whole thread, and I find it extremely strange that people get borderline angry and aggressive about the way someone they don't even know decides to eat. No really.
Have a doughnut and chill a bit.
- A CICO-fan.
Wrong. CICO works for everyone. If you regained wait, that's on you, not on CICO.
My point exactly. So if OP regained, it's not necessarily because at some point he decided to eat this, or not to eat that.
And my second point is that there are very few persons here who can afford looking down on anyone, as regards weight and diet, and related psychology. And typically, those people won't have to resort to using a frigging app to monitor what they eat, so they would not be here, debating over CICO or no sugar or high protein or clean food and whatnot.
To be fair, there are plenty of people who use MFP because they are training and need to make sure their macros on point, or are dealing with a health issue and need to keep track of specific nutrients or macros. There are also many users on the forum who are trainers or dietitians, as well as people who successfully lost weight by keeping the food log and now that they are maintaining (and sometimes not even counting anymore) they stick around the forums to help people find success like they did.
Possibly true. But in such case Psychology 101 was obviously not part of their curriculum.0 -
Isabelle_1929 wrote: »Isabelle_1929 wrote: »Isabelle_1929 wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »earthakin66 wrote: »Actually we aren't talking about Dr. Lustig, but Dr. Ludwig.
I am going to go ahead and cut sugar, potatoes and processed foods out of my diet for 6 months anyway. I know a lot of you don't agree and to that I say- don't do it then! I spent two years off of sugar and flour and lost 79 pounds. So many people were bothered by this and convinced me that I should be able to eat anything I wanted in moderation. Of course I love sugar and flour and so I gave it a try- and gained back 50 pounds in the process. I am driven to overeat these things. Those of you who can't relate to this don't have that problem and I am happy for you because it really sucks. I know that I was more energetic and overall healthier when I wasn't consuming sugar and flour. Did I insist that everyone else did it? No! I didn't even make my children do that because everyone is allowed to make their own choices.
I posted this morning looking for likeminded individuals, not looking for reasons not to cut out refined sugars and flour. I found a couple, so thanks to them.
I'm not a newbie in any sense. I need support to go down the abstinence road because people are constantly telling me how stupid it is. It isn't easy but I know that it is right for me. And yes, eating 4000 calories a day won't end in weight loss.
You know, maybe if you didn't cut them out entirely and instead tried to get a healthy relationship with it you wouldn't have binged on it and wouldn't need a second try at losing weight.
Just a thought.
Last time I checked, there is not one method - NONE - including CICO, that will make people lose weight once and for good. How many people are (re-re-re-) re-starters, on this thread alone ?
I'm all for CICO, but gimme a break. I've lost weight, and gained back, and lost again.
Open mind and curiosity has never killed anyone. If OP want to try out something, why not? Good lord, he did not say he's going to eat cucumber and vinegar for 6 months straight !
I read the whole thread, and I find it extremely strange that people get borderline angry and aggressive about the way someone they don't even know decides to eat. No really.
Have a doughnut and chill a bit.
- A CICO-fan.
Wrong. CICO works for everyone. If you regained wait, that's on you, not on CICO.
My point exactly. So if OP regained, it's not necessarily because at some point he decided to eat this, or not to eat that.
And my second point is that there are very few persons here who can afford looking down on anyone, as regards weight and diet, and related psychology. And typically, those people won't have to resort to using a frigging app to monitor what they eat, so they would not be here, debating over CICO or no sugar or high protein or clean food and whatnot.
To be fair, there are plenty of people who use MFP because they are training and need to make sure their macros on point, or are dealing with a health issue and need to keep track of specific nutrients or macros. There are also many users on the forum who are trainers or dietitians, as well as people who successfully lost weight by keeping the food log and now that they are maintaining (and sometimes not even counting anymore) they stick around the forums to help people find success like they did.
Possibly true. But in such case Psychology 101 was obviously not part of their curriculum.
What does Psych 101 have do with this thread?0 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »i guess im a special snowflake then.
to think ive lost 80 some pounds in the past 2 years (and really, most of that was within the first year, this year ive not been focusing on it as much) all while eating the same things i always have, simply much LESS of it.
i still get drunk with my boyfriend (yup - definitely gotta make room for those cals), still eat chocolate, still eat out - and what i want to eat, not necessarily off the 'light' menu, still eat burgers and pizza and bread.
im special.
yup.
all that said, yes, in terms of weight loss, a calorie IS a calorie. In terms of nutrition, and satiety, they can definitely differ. I can eat 1400cals in chocolate and beer or 1400 cals in protein, veg, some fat and carbs, and one definitely is BETTER for me nutritionally, as well as keeping me fuller, longer.
You do realize that, irregardless of OP's point, nobody is suggesting that NOBODY can lose weight counting calories, right?
0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.6K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 916 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions