question.......

Does it matter what types of food I eat as long as I stay within my calorie range? Hypothetically, if I eat fast food all day every day...as long as I am within my calorie range for each day shouldn't I still lose weight? Not that I am going to do that :blushing: , but I am trying to keep myself from all the guilt trips I lay on myself when I indulge a little here and there.

From experience and opinion it definately matters what type of food you put into your body..calories are just one element into the whole eating right routine. It would suck to get thin and find out your cholesterol and sugars are through the roof..or you have a fatty liver ...I really dont think anyone who is eating 1200 worth of "McDonalds" is going to lose weight because that is 1-2 meals a day....Now thats what I would call starvation mode...just my opinion..but when I was not eating right I would eat once or twice a day 1400 calorie and high fat ..I never lost a pound in fact I gained...now I eat more and way more often and lose pounds. Its the food choices....high fiber ,protein,vitamin rich foods is the way to go..:drinker:

Does it matter what types of food I eat as long as I stay within my calorie range? Hypothetically, if I eat fast food all day every day...as long as I am within my calorie range for each day shouldn't I still lose weight? Not that I am going to do that :blushing: , but I am trying to keep myself from all the guilt trips I lay on myself when I indulge a little here and there.

From experience and opinion it definately matters what type of food you put into your body..calories are just one element into the whole eating right routine. It would suck to get thin and find out your cholesterol and sugars are through the roof..or you have a fatty liver ...I really dont think anyone who is eating 1200 worth of "McDonalds" is going to lose weight because that is 1-2 meals a day....Now thats what I would call starvation mode...just my opinion..but when I was not eating right I would eat once or twice a day 1400 calorie and high fat ..I never lost a pound in fact I gained...now I eat more and way more often and lose pounds. Its the food choices....high fiber ,protein,vitamin rich foods is the way to go..:drinker:

i just have to ask: when you ate 1400 cals w/high fat every day, were you exercising at all?

i think this is where it gets interesting...i think metabolism is key: my brother eats like a pig and has nothing but fast/junk food EVERY DAY...i think he said the last time he ate a whole day of good food was two years ago, and he's RIPPED because he runs 20 miles a week, lifts four days, does cardio three days for only 30 min, and all of this is done in an enjoyable fashion with no real intensity. he's been eating like this his whole life.

i, on the other hand, look at a poptart and gain half a pound...or at least i feel like it. i eat clean, stay within my calorie range, and exercise MORE than regularly with EXTREME intensity, as i did in the past...granted, i FEEL better on a clean diet, but now i'm barely even budging on the scale.

at one point in time when i got super thin, 45% of my calories were fats (good fats), 50% carbs, and 5% protein...i lost weight like it was nobodys business...and when i went OVER on my fats, i had even BETTER results...

i honestly wish i could hit the guy that invented the calorie, b/c it's done nothing more than confuse and beguile folks...

sorry, went on a tangent...but i think we need to start thinking MACROnutrition instead of caloriescaloriescalories....

Does it matter what types of food I eat as long as I stay within my calorie range? Hypothetically, if I eat fast food all day every day...as long as I am within my calorie range for each day shouldn't I still lose weight? Not that I am going to do that :blushing: , but I am trying to keep myself from all the guilt trips I lay on myself when I indulge a little here and there.

From experience and opinion it definately matters what type of food you put into your body..calories are just one element into the whole eating right routine. It would suck to get thin and find out your cholesterol and sugars are through the roof..or you have a fatty liver ...I really dont think anyone who is eating 1200 worth of "McDonalds" is going to lose weight because that is 1-2 meals a day....Now thats what I would call starvation mode...just my opinion..but when I was not eating right I would eat once or twice a day 1400 calorie and high fat ..I never lost a pound in fact I gained...now I eat more and way more often and lose pounds. Its the food choices....high fiber ,protein,vitamin rich foods is the way to go..:drinker:

i just have to ask: when you ate 1400 cals w/high fat every day, were you exercising at all?

i think this is where it gets interesting...i think metabolism is key: my brother eats like a pig and has nothing but fast/junk food EVERY DAY...i think he said the last time he ate a whole day of good food was two years ago, and he's RIPPED because he runs 20 miles a week, lifts four days, does cardio three days for only 30 min, and all of this is done in an enjoyable fashion with no real intensity. he's been eating like this his whole life.

i, on the other hand, look at a poptart and gain half a pound...or at least i feel like it. i eat clean, stay within my calorie range, and exercise MORE than regularly with EXTREME intensity, as i did in the past...granted, i FEEL better on a clean diet, but now i'm barely even budging on the scale.

at one point in time when i got super thin, 45% of my calories were fats (good fats), 50% carbs, and 5% protein...i lost weight like it was nobodys business...and when i went OVER on my fats, i had even BETTER results...

i honestly wish i could hit the guy that invented the calorie, b/c it's done nothing more than confuse and beguile folks...

sorry, went on a tangent...but i think we need to start thinking MACROnutrition instead of caloriescaloriescalories....

So, yes to your question........I am exercising at LEAST 5 days a week. Cardio on most days, but some strength training too.

I don't eat fast food all the time every day, but most of my food choices tend to be on the less healthy side. I have good intentions just not good follow thru. It doesn't help that I have a husband who can eat 2 large pizzas and then lose 5 lbs because of it. I also have two little girls who keep me constantly on the go, and it is really hard for me to plan out meals. So fast is the key word in fast food.

But every time I eat, I feel awful about myself because of all the posts I read. Everyone is always talking about how great they eat, and here I am struggling to find the time to breathe most days let alone plan out all my healthy meals each week! I am stressed.

A calorie is a calorie - in terms of weight, it doesn't matter what type.
But, you're probably going to be hungry if you use up all your calories on fast food.

It's better to fit your junky food into your calorie count than fight against your craving for junky food and then give in, going over your calorie count - or even, going over your calorie count on not-junky food, which is what often happens to me. (Should I have eaten 5 apples - 500 calories - or just given in to the 2 Hershey kisses, 50 calories? Yes, I am capable of eating 5 apples in one sitting)

I lost weight by fitting my junky food in. I had one rule - count it and fit it in.
But make sure you get an accurate count!

I think people are not being entirely straight forward with their answers around here.

The math doesn't add up. If you need a deficit of a certain amount of calories to lose, that's all you need. it shouldn't matter if the calories you do eat are coming from fast food or healthy food, you should still lose if the math is correct.

You won't feel good. You probably won't last long, but in theory it shouldn't matter if you have a diet of strictly junk food as long as you stay within your calorie range for the day you theoretically should still lose.

I think people are not being entirely straight forward with their answers around here.

The math doesn't add up. If you need a deficit of a certain amount of calories to lose, that's all you need. it shouldn't matter if the calories you do eat are coming from fast food or healthy food, you should still lose if the math is correct.

You won't feel good. You probably won't last long, but in theory it shouldn't matter if you have a diet of strictly junk food as long as you stay within your calorie range for the day you theoretically should still lose.

again I disagree. The body is far more complicated then calories in vs calories out. If, in general you satisfy most of your macro nutritional requirements, then yes, calories in vs calories out is generally true (assuming you are within a reasonable range). But there are far more things to consider then just the fuel content of a calorie. I.E. are you providing your body with the macro and micro nutrients to properly function. If you aren't, I.E. eating mostly junk, then what processes are being hampered or slowed down (or sped up in the case of lots of sugar and chemicals) because of it. Also, what chemicals are building up in your system.

So my point is, a calorie is a calorie In that it's still has the same thermic affect (energy produced) no matter what you eat, but the food we eat influences not only how much fat we store, but also how our body reacts to the food being eaten, eating calories with very little nutritional value will, over time, slow down our body, pack on fat, and reduce muscle tone, and therefore the TYPE of calorie DOES in fact, affect if and how we lose weight.

Dude, this is so contradictory when compared with any other weight loss information a person reads. Way to shake things up!

Eating calories with little nutritional value will allow one to lose weight initially though, I'm sure you don't deny that. Long term it probably won't work out (which I said in my comment), but short term the weight will come off.

So I think we do agree since I'm speaking short term and you're speaking long term.