All Calories are not created equal!

Wrenranae · October 2017

Hello again!

Today I want to go through some words of wisdom I received from a very smart Weight and Fitness coach. “It is NOT how many "calories" you eat, but what they are made up of.
All calories are not created equal.
You have calories your body uses almost totally. These are your healthy proteins, fish, chicken, tofu, eggs to name a few. Your fruits such as any citrus are very healthy and low carb and calorie, and your vegetables especially green ones and non-starchy. Your body uses these to live and build immune systems.
Fast carbs such as breads, (white especially), white rice, pastas, potatoes, all are high in carbohydrates and turn into fat easiest as your body does not use them unless you are a runner or heavy exercise person then it converts to energy as you work out. That is why marathon runners carb-load.
Most of us however are not in this category so all the high calorie carbohydrates in our diet stop us from losing weight.
I do eat the carbohydrates but in very minimal portions of no more than 35 carbs per meal. I also limit the eating of high carbs to two days a week, usually one meal per day.
By focusing on the high proteins which for 3-4 ounces are usually less than 150 calories and around 25-30 proteins with 0 carbohydrates, I fill up totally and it takes my body a few hours to digest it and therefore I am not hungry again so fast. By planning high proteins and low carbs I eat three very satisfying meals of a very good quantity and low calories.
Following this I have lost an additional 16 pounds this year to add to my prior 140 pound loss from 2010-2015 year end.
So my rule of thumb: It is not HOW MANY calories you consume per day BUT what they consist of.
Be blessed and be a blessing!

Christine_72 · October 2017

@Wrenranae I hope you're ready for an upcoming clusterkitten of a debate

BradsRedemption · October 2017

So what you're saying is eating in a caloric deficit made you lose weight?

Alatariel75 · October 2017

livingleanlivingclean · October 2017

Sorry, but that's all bunk. A calorie is a calorie. Some foods are more calorie dense than others.

To lose weight, you need to consistently eat less calories than you burn. I could eat excess calories of "healthy" food and it would result in weight gain. I could eat "unhealthy" food in a deficit and I'd lose weight.

The healthiness, or nutritional quality, of a food is not related to the number of calories it contains.

rileysowner · October 2017

Like all inches are not created equal.

Alatariel75 · October 2017

Aren't you the same person espousing 800 cals a day? No matter what you eat, you're going to lose on 800 cals a day. Eat 800 calories of twinkies if you want. It doesn't make it healthy.

If it's not how many calories you eat, but what you eat, why starve yourself at 800 calories per day? Why not eat whatever you want of the "good" calories and lose away?

Also, by the logic that if you eat the good ones you will lose, how come people who don't need to lose and only eat the "good" calories don't slowly starve to death? Or do they have to add some "bad" to maintain?

ariceroni · October 2017

Mr_Knight · October 2017

Honestly, what's the point even?

kimny72 · October 2017

But I lost weight and have been maintaining for some time and I eat all the carbs. Fast carbs, slow carbs, tall carbs, short carbs, fat carbs, thin carbs, even the extra-evil sugar carbs. If carbs converted more easily to fat, I'd be in big trouble.

Different people find different macro combinations satiating. It's great that you found what works for you, but what you describe is just not how it works. You store fat if you eat a surplus of calories, regardless of what those calories come from. And vice versa.

ladyhusker39 · October 2017

Fair enough. So how about we put your theory to the test?

Create a thread that all of us can follow where you document day by day your results following your formula. Eat 500 calories a day over your maintenance of only the "good" calories as you describe them above.

Open your diary so we can see exactly what you're doing and commit to honestly and accurately logging.

Do a daily weigh in first thing in the morning, before you eat or drink anything but after you go to the bathroom.

Post your weight daily in the thread and any observations you might like to make.

Do this for 1 month and let's see what you're results are at the end.

I'd be very interested in seeing how it turns out.

Best of luck to you.

JustRobby1 · October 2017

Sorry, but you are most assuredly barking up the wrong tree here at the MFP forums if you think for one second you are going to get away with that one. Even most people here who actually and foolishly still believe this have learned from experience of repeated humiliation to keep quiet.

For the most part, and thanks in no small part to many experienced and educated contributors, these forums almost always gravitate towards accepted scientific consensus on any given issue. People that try to float lunacy might succeed in making for a long and protracted thread (which trolls may get off on), but they eventually give up. It almost always goes down in a similar manner.

If nonsense views are your jam, there are plenty of places online which cater to fringe views and which you are far less likely to be called on them.

mamadon · October 2017

If what you are saying is the truth, then please explain to me how on earth I lost 118 pounds over three years ago, while not paying any attention in the least to my carb count? I love my breads and rice and potatoes and ate plenty of them. Still do. How was I then successful? How are the other hundreds, maybe thousands on here also successful if we simply eat at a caloric deficit??? There nothing wrong going low carb, if that is your preference, but for losing weight, it still comes down to that deficit.

AnvilHead · October 2017

No.

VintageFeline · October 2017

*Sets up camp with all the popcorn, chips and donuts I can get my hands on whilst projecting my 63lbs lost ticker on the wall and waits for the shitshow*

But also. You're wrong about carbs. Couldn't be any more wrong.