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If a calorie is a calorie, why do we see this?

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Replies

  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    Sometimes an inch is the same as a meter, and sometimes a pound is five years.

    No, not really. An inch is an inch, a year is a year, and a calorie is a calorie.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,958 Member
    Mellouk89 wrote: »
    I was 200lbs 6 months ago, I lost 45lbs eating 75% junk food. Right now i'm maintaining my weight eating 40-50% junk food, so I guess in terms of weight management a calorie is a calorie.

    This is true. The only caveat being, generally speaking, junk food is typically not as satiating as whole foods which could lead to over-eating. That said, I also suspect there is variability among individuals.
  • saintor1
    saintor1 Posts: 376 Member
    Mellouk89 wrote: »
    I was 200lbs 6 months ago, I lost 45lbs eating 75% junk food. Right now i'm maintaining my weight eating 40-50% junk food, so I guess in terms of weight management a calorie is a calorie.

    Terrible conclusion. I guess that you didn't read anything, Those major studies show that if you eat most of your calories early in the days, you will lose weight quicker no matter the root cause. I gather that your experience has nothing to do with that.
  • eek711
    eek711 Posts: 6 Member
    pretty unscientific test. No control, and 4 out of 7 days are self reported? Lots of room for cheating, and it would be way more tempting to cheat on a small breakfast.
  • tony56pr
    tony56pr Posts: 141 Member
    All the comments about that they should have lost more weight need to realize everyone's metabolism is NOT the same. Age, activity level, muscle mass, etc. make this study very difficult to authenticate let alone compare to you or whoever's journey.

    If BF group had a history of training or physically demanding jobs and had more muscle than the other group this could account for difference as well. Even if height and weight is the same chances of finding 2 men or women with same physical makeup would be hard let alone 30 or 60. If you had more woman with higher muscle mass (higher metabolism=greater calorie burn and more weight loss) in BF group then this would make group average weight loss higher.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,717 Member
    tony56pr wrote: »
    All the comments about that they should have lost more weight need to realize everyone's metabolism is NOT the same. Age, activity level, muscle mass, etc. make this study very difficult to authenticate let alone compare to you or whoever's journey.

    If BF group had a history of training or physically demanding jobs and had more muscle than the other group this could account for difference as well. Even if height and weight is the same chances of finding 2 men or women with same physical makeup would be hard let alone 30 or 60. If you had more woman with higher muscle mass (higher metabolism=greater calorie burn and more weight loss) in BF group then this would make group average weight loss higher.

    Different metabolisms don't mean a dramatically different number of calories in a pound, per better-controlled research (possible slightly different activity-level adaptation to NEAT expenditures, but that effect is small).

    Occam's razor suggests compliance accuracy problems, given the studies' designs.
  • scwhitenewb
    scwhitenewb Posts: 5 Member
    Its not that there shouldnt be any studies as much as the results between people is seldom apples to apples. Calories in and burned just is too different between people. This study tells me that it might be worth comparing b,l & d high to low or low to high for myself only and see if one produces better results. I'm lucky if I stick to 3 meals all 400 calories or less and dont snack I lose weight just fine but for those that dont this study shows another possibility.
  • saintor1
    saintor1 Posts: 376 Member
    edited May 2020
    Here is a different view on the same subject. The young man is a good presenter and his personal experience is also a good testimony, although all his cited references were already mentioned above. More on this starting at 4:00m, but the thermogenesis part earlier in his video is also interesting.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCyECbA3pUw