Calorie math
mandybullock2015
Posts: 19 Member
So there is 3500 calories in a lb/pound to my understanding so.....
- If all I ate was (not literally but for arguments sake) 1500 calories of salad a day then wouldn't I lose the exact same amount over a month if all I ate was 1500 calories of chocolate a day over a month?
Obviously salad has basically no fat and chocolate is full of fat but I can't get my head around it if the same sound of calories are consumed
- If all I ate was (not literally but for arguments sake) 1500 calories of salad a day then wouldn't I lose the exact same amount over a month if all I ate was 1500 calories of chocolate a day over a month?
Obviously salad has basically no fat and chocolate is full of fat but I can't get my head around it if the same sound of calories are consumed
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Replies
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Yes, because a calorie is a unit of energy8
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Yes, calories are calories.1
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mandybullock2015 wrote: »So there is 3500 calories in a lb/pound to my understanding so.....
- If all I ate was (not literally but for arguments sake) 1500 calories of salad a day then wouldn't I lose the exact same amount over a month if all I ate was 1500 calories of chocolate a day over a month?
Obviously salad has basically no fat and chocolate is full of fat but I can't get my head around it if the same sound of calories are consumed
Yes, calories are calories regardless if their macros
And fat doesn't make you fat.3 -
Calories are just a way to measure energy. They don't let us know how much fat or protein or carbohydrate is in a food.
So if you ate 1,500 calories of anything, it would be the same in calories as 1,500 calories of something else.
Weight loss is created by a calorie deficit. When we're choosing what to eat, we can consider the calories as well as our macro- and micronutrient needs, how filling we find various foods, and what we like to eat. When you find a balance between all these, life feels pretty awesome!2 -
And now we wait for someone to come along and argue that not all calories have the same effect on an individual's body. They're slow today.7
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You'd lose more eating the vegetables because it takes more energy to digest the carbs than it does the fat in the chocolate, but outside of that the weight loss will be similar.
Also its 3500 calories/lb of fat specifically, not just weight. To build 1lb of muscle its roughly 2,600 calories.7 -
I got hung up on this in the beginning. I had to separate healthy from losing weight. For instance, I would eat healthy foods in abundance - i.e. nuts/avocados and wasn't losing weight, and that's because I was taking in more than what I was burning. You can gain weight eating healthy foods, and lose weight eating foods that aren't that healthy. To lose weight you need a deficit.3
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »And now we wait for someone to come along and argue that not all calories have the same effect on an individual's body. They're slow today.
They don't. Different macronutrients react very differently in the body. Eating 4,000 calories of protein and eating 4,000 calories of fat would have drastically different effects on the body and the amount of weight loss. The difference in calories could be up to a 800 calorie difference in the two (yes very dramatic) situations I gave above.16 -
RAD_Fitness wrote: »JeromeBarry1 wrote: »And now we wait for someone to come along and argue that not all calories have the same effect on an individual's body. They're slow today.
They don't. Different macronutrients react very differently in the body. Eating 4,000 calories of protein and eating 4,000 calories of fat would have drastically different effects on the body and the amount of weight loss. The difference in calories could be up to a 800 calorie difference in the two (yes very dramatic) situations I gave above.
Even if this were true (which it is not for any noobs reading this) How great do you suppose this difference would be on 1500 calories once you hit adequate protein and fats... what do you have like 400 cals to play with? lol
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mandybullock2015 wrote: »So there is 3500 calories in a lb/pound to my understanding so.....
- If all I ate was (not literally but for arguments sake) 1500 calories of salad a day then wouldn't I lose the exact same amount over a month if all I ate was 1500 calories of chocolate a day over a month?
Obviously salad has basically no fat and chocolate is full of fat but I can't get my head around it if the same sound of calories are consumed
Fairly close, weight-wise. There's probably a tiny difference in TEF - basically, the body processing it takes to digest & use the energy in those two specific foods - but it's pretty inconsequential. (The difference might be bigger if one of the foods were high protein, but it's still a fraction of the total.)
The larger point is that both of those would be a *baby-feline* way to eat for a month, even though you may think one is a "good" food and the other a "bad" one. Good and bad, healthy and unhealthy - those are mostly relevant to a total way of eating, not just a single food.
Calories are key for weight loss. Nutrition is key for health (along with healthy weight, among other things). Eat enough protein, eat enough healthy fats, get plenty of nice fruits'n'veggies for micronutrients and fiber, hit close to the right calorie level to achieve/maintain a healthy weight, have the occasional indulgent treat for joy when it fits in, get some fun exercise regularly to become/stay physically fit, and you'll be fine.
No stress, no drama.
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A lot of people get hung up on this OP - as evidenced by threads we have on these boards day in and day out asking if CICO is really all that matters, if all calories are equal, if you can still lose weight eating (insert xyz junk food of choice). Spend some time searching and reading through the forums and you'll find this topic discussed ad nauseum.
Since you started your own thread, I'll give you my two cents.
I don't believe a person on the planet intends to eat a diet that consists of nothing but chocolate, or nothing but salad. You said yourself, it's an extreme example. I don't find that helpful - since it is so extreme.
That said, for weight loss purposes, calories are just a unit of measurement (energy, specifically) and so yes, 1500 calories of nothing but chicken, broccoli and quinoa (maybe a little more realistic than just salad) and 1500 cals of just mac n cheese, hot dogs and oreos (not just chocolate) would yield the same results from a weight management perspective. If 1500 calories is a deficit of 500 cals from your maintenance TDEE, then you'd lose 1 lb/week regardless of what you choose to eat (aside from normal weight fluctuations).
Now, what's really important is that weight loss is just part of the picture - obviously getting adequate nutrition is important. So trying to fill that 1500 calories with foods that provide nutrition (macro and micro nutrients) is key. Feeling satiated is also important when eating at a deficit - so you also need to find a balance of foods that fill you up (some people do better eating less refined carbs and more fat and protein. Others don't find fat satiating at all.) This is largely personal - so you have to figure out what works for you. Lastly, it's important to eat foods that you enjoy as part of this as well - if you feel too restricted, it may be difficult to stick with it if you cut out all the things you love. So fitting in a little bit of chocolate, or having pizza occasionally, or whatever it is that you really enjoy, as often as your calories will allow it after addressing the nutrition and satiety question first - is what many of us have found to be a long term sustainable approach for weight loss AND maintenance.
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Thankyou to every single persons reply (: my question has been answered (: all very informative and interesting! Thanks!2
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mrsnattybulking wrote: »RAD_Fitness wrote: »JeromeBarry1 wrote: »And now we wait for someone to come along and argue that not all calories have the same effect on an individual's body. They're slow today.
They don't. Different macronutrients react very differently in the body. Eating 4,000 calories of protein and eating 4,000 calories of fat would have drastically different effects on the body and the amount of weight loss. The difference in calories could be up to a 800 calorie difference in the two (yes very dramatic) situations I gave above.
Even if this were true (which it is not for any noobs reading this) How great do you suppose this difference would be on 1500 calories once you hit adequate protein and fats... what do you have like 400 cals to play with? lol
You're both mathematically wrong. The TEF for protein is 30%, so 4000 calories of protein delivers as much energy to the body for storage as 2800 calories of fat. That's a 1200 calorie difference.
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mandybullock2015 wrote: »So there is 3500 calories in a lb/pound to my understanding so.....
- If all I ate was (not literally but for arguments sake) 1500 calories of salad a day then wouldn't I lose the exact same amount over a month if all I ate was 1500 calories of chocolate a day over a month?
Obviously salad has basically no fat and chocolate is full of fat but I can't get my head around it if the same sound of calories are consumed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7mMyv3mCJc
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@JeromeBarry1, do you happen to know what the TEF is for the other macros?
I'm not Jerome, but:
It's not exact per real-world macro anyway. Various factors count (types of carbs, types of fats, etc.), and they're all mixed up in whole foods. I can't give you exact details, though, having already decided that worry about this in real life isn't worth the brainshare. I just try to get solid protein, and lots of fiber-containing one-ingredient foods, for best odds on decent TEF within more important nutritional and calorie goals.
YMMV, and others will argue. 1 -
JeromeBarry1 wrote: »mrsnattybulking wrote: »RAD_Fitness wrote: »JeromeBarry1 wrote: »And now we wait for someone to come along and argue that not all calories have the same effect on an individual's body. They're slow today.
They don't. Different macronutrients react very differently in the body. Eating 4,000 calories of protein and eating 4,000 calories of fat would have drastically different effects on the body and the amount of weight loss. The difference in calories could be up to a 800 calorie difference in the two (yes very dramatic) situations I gave above.
Even if this were true (which it is not for any noobs reading this) How great do you suppose this difference would be on 1500 calories once you hit adequate protein and fats... what do you have like 400 cals to play with? lol
You're both mathematically wrong. The TEF for protein is 30%, so 4000 calories of protein delivers as much energy to the body for storage as 2800 calories of fat. That's a 1200 calorie difference.
Well fat has a thermic effect too. Which would be 5-15%. Call it 10%, which makes it 3600-2800= would you look at that, 800.0
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