Can I eat whatever I want as long as I stay under my calorie

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  • Wilmingtonbelle
    Wilmingtonbelle Posts: 255 Member
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    Yes. By virtue of registering with this web site, you have asserted that your are at least 18 years of age. Which if you are in the United States, you are legally an adult. No one can compel you to eat a particular food.

    So what ever foods are able to legally obtain, feel free to eat.

    As far as your health goes, the quality of your food does have an impact on your health and performance. Just as the quality of the petrol you put in your vehicle has an impact on how it performs.

    Love it!!!:flowerforyou:

    Sláinte
  • mem50
    mem50 Posts: 1,384 Member
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    pretty much. just keep in mind that 1300 calories of fruits/veggies/healthy choices will fill you up and keep you feeling better than 1300 calories of fast food. if you want pizza or burgers sometime, thats fine.. i dont think id make it an every day thing though
    almost anything....no stray cats or dogs for example
    there go my dinner plans :/

    I agree with the good food/bad food and.......... sorry 'bout your dinner plans! Almost hit the floor LMAO on that one... Totally unexpected!
  • bbbbb33333
    bbbbb33333 Posts: 1,107 Member
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    Yes, but..... if you eat high calorie quickly digested food you will be starving all day. Take this a an opportunity to try new things, especially healthy things.

    take sugar snap peas and dip them in red pepper hummus.
  • Sepa
    Sepa Posts: 243 Member
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    Yes. Although you will be "skinny fat" if you are eating 1300 calories of mcdonalds. Ie you will still be as unhealthy as a over weight person
  • kvanbenthem
    kvanbenthem Posts: 13
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    Good for you for breaking that cycle!! Don't worry about changing others... just start with yourself! I think you've gotten lots of good advice here on how you can start with some small things. Good luck!
  • PoohAA
    PoohAA Posts: 12 Member
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    Nope! That's like asking if the only thing that really matters is calories.

    I'd say there's a lot more at stake than just calories.
    It's best to consider what kinds of calories they are, and the other contents of the food, such as cholesterol, fiber, vitamins and minerals, etc.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Yes. Although you will be "skinny fat" if you are eating 1300 calories of mcdonalds. Ie you will still be as unhealthy as a over weight person

    what if she got lots of grilled chicken sandwiches was consuming adequate protein for her size and engaging in resistance training, would she still end up skinny fat?
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Nope! That's like asking if the only thing that really matters is calories.

    I'd say there's a lot more at stake than just calories.
    It's best to consider what kinds of calories they are, and the other contents of the food, such as cholesterol, fiber, vitamins and minerals, etc.

    you are confusing weight loss and health.
  • Lizchan
    Lizchan Posts: 60 Member
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    Oh, trust me... I try. It's a little tiring when they yell no way, don't fill our fridge up with crap we don't eat. s:
    I guess they enjoy being unhealthy.

    This is exactly why I suggested going to the market a couple times a week like I do, then you just get what you need for a couple of days and don't take up a ton of space in the fridge.

    If you have to, go on craigslist or freecycle and see if you can find a free or cheap mini-fridge. Put it in your room and buy your own foods. Then they can't say you're taking up space in their fridge!

    Good luck to you. I know it's hard when you have someone sabotaging you at every turn. I was married to someone who would bring me milkshakes when he knew I was dieting, and if I said "No, thank you, I can't eat that", he'd get mad at me and not speak to me for 3 days. So I usually ate it just to keep the peace. Now that he's out of my life and it's just me and my kids, I've lost 26 pounds in just over two months!

    Wow... that is a lot of weight in 2 months! Great job.
  • HonkyTonks
    HonkyTonks Posts: 1,193 Member
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    Can I eat whatever I want and still lose weight as long as I stay under my calorie goal? (I want to eat about 1,200 - 1,300 calories daily.)

    Calories are calories but I have noticed that if I eat too much sugar etc. I get hungrier more often which makes it harder to stay under my calorie target. If I eat things that are nutritional and lots of protein I find that I am less hungry.
  • debussyschild
    debussyschild Posts: 804 Member
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    Sure... but that's only if you LIKE the effects of a diet lacking in essential vitamins and minerals...

    Eating 1,200-1,300 calories in the form of sweets, fried foods, alcohol, food loaded with saturated fats (anything from McDonalds, pretty much), will probably result in weight loss, but you're derriere won't look any better unless you eat the right stuff!!!

    Not to mention it's incredibly unhealthy to eat just whatever as long as you're staying under your calorie goal. In comes the term "skinny fat", which is the condition of being lighter in weight but lacking in muscle tone. This comes from eating less but also not exercising very much. Eating "whatever" i.e. foods that are generally bad for you, can result in you storing much more visceral fat, which means fatty organs. *****High amounts of visceral fat in seemingly fit individuals is a big contributor to type II diabetes.*****
  • debussyschild
    debussyschild Posts: 804 Member
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    Can I eat whatever I want and still lose weight as long as I stay under my calorie goal? (I want to eat about 1,200 - 1,300 calories daily.)

    Calories are calories but I have noticed that if I eat too much sugar etc. I get hungrier more often which makes it harder to stay under my calorie target. If I eat things that are nutritional and lots of protein I find that I am less hungry.

    "Calories are calories" is a big fat myth. Not all calories are created equal. You mentioned sugar, so take beer or liquor for example (alcohol is a sugar). High in calories per serving. One 12 oz beer can range from 100-200 calories. One 1 oz shot of liquor can range from 100-150 calories, maybe higher. Sure you can easily drink 500 calories in one mixed drink, but is it nutritive or in any way healthy for your body? Not really... Eating sugar in lieu of complex carbohydrates spikes your insulin, which results in a huge drop after the spike. During this drop, you start craving sugar again. Eating complex carbohydrates causes your body to gradually release insulin to regulate your blood glucose levels so that you don't experience a spike in insulin levels and the subsequent drop.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Sure... but that's only if you LIKE the effects of a diet lacking in essential vitamins and minerals...

    Eating 1,200-1,300 calories in the form of sweets, fried foods, alcohol, food loaded with saturated fats (anything from McDonalds, pretty much), will probably result in weight loss, but you're derriere won't look any better unless you eat the right stuff!!!

    Not to mention it's incredibly unhealthy to eat just whatever as long as you're staying under your calorie goal. In comes the term "skinny fat", which is the condition of being lighter in weight but lacking in muscle tone. This comes from eating less but also not exercising very much. Eating "whatever" i.e. foods that are generally bad for you, can result in you storing much more visceral fat, which means fatty organs. *****High amounts of visceral fat in seemingly fit individuals is a big contributor to type II diabetes.*****

    eating in a caloric deficit will result in weight loss

    and skinny fat is from eating less and not exercising enough? so no one would get skinny fat from lots of running and large deficits since they are exercising a great deal
  • debussyschild
    debussyschild Posts: 804 Member
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    I asked because it is VERY HARD to get in proper food in this crappy place I live in.
    I live with my family right now. It's crappy because they only have bad foods here.
    Like TV dinners, they bring fast food home for most meals, they don't even have canned foods.
    Oh..and they have A LOT of ramen noodles. There ARE some things like protein shakes, but I don't know if they will be good.
    I will drink the protein shakes anyway, though. 'cus I will get used to them.

    That being the case, it sounds like it is time to volunteer to go shopping with them. Make suggestions to have some reasonable modifications to the menus. Then volunteer to do some of the cooking. Don't expect them to buy into a wholesale change. But you may steer things in a better direction.

    This is a very good suggestion. From the sound of it, your parents aren't in the habit of buying healthy foods or foods that you can cook easily but are also healthy. If money is an issue, there's no shame in dressing up Top Ramen. Cooking up some chicken, then dicing and tossing it into the noodles with some frozen (make sure you cook them first, works better that way) veggies can turn a 59 cent bag of Top Ramen into a fairly nutritious and filling meal. You can try adding browned and drained ground beef and veggies to a beef flavored Top Ramen, too. I live on a very tight budget, but with a cook book and some basic cooking skills and ingenuity, my husband and I hardly ever eat out or eat food that is unnecessarily bad for us.
  • debussyschild
    debussyschild Posts: 804 Member
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    Sure... but that's only if you LIKE the effects of a diet lacking in essential vitamins and minerals...

    Eating 1,200-1,300 calories in the form of sweets, fried foods, alcohol, food loaded with saturated fats (anything from McDonalds, pretty much), will probably result in weight loss, but you're derriere won't look any better unless you eat the right stuff!!!

    Not to mention it's incredibly unhealthy to eat just whatever as long as you're staying under your calorie goal. In comes the term "skinny fat", which is the condition of being lighter in weight but lacking in muscle tone. This comes from eating less but also not exercising very much. Eating "whatever" i.e. foods that are generally bad for you, can result in you storing much more visceral fat, which means fatty organs. *****High amounts of visceral fat in seemingly fit individuals is a big contributor to type II diabetes.*****

    eating in a caloric deficit will result in weight loss

    and skinny fat is from eating less and not exercising enough? so no one would get skinny fat from lots of running and large deficits since they are exercising a great deal

    I believe I mentioned that lack of exercise contributes to being skinny fat. Yes, you can lose weight if you are in a proper caloric deficit, but you will be far from healthy. Women's Health Magazine has a very informative article on just what this means:

    http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/type-2-diabetes
  • lthomas42
    lthomas42 Posts: 73 Member
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    Yes with a but. You'll lose weight, but you wont be any healthier if you eat garbage. Plus, you'll get more actual food out of low cal, healthy foods like veggies and lean meats than you will out of fast food and other not so good for you stuff.
  • garlic7girl
    garlic7girl Posts: 2,236 Member
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    Okay to answer, "yes you can" but why? Think of turning yourself insideout...we could see your organ systems. Don't you want your insides to be as healthy? Treats are good but eat the veggies and fruit and whole grains bc they make the insides beautiful. Happy journey!!!!!!
  • annacataldo
    annacataldo Posts: 872 Member
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    yes; but you need to get in the mentality that "ok, this snickers bar is 400 calories; but..what else could i ahve instead" you could eat an entire meal that would stuff you full for hours for 400 calories, or you can have a snack that leaves you hungry, sugar crashing, etc until you eat the full meal you shoudlve had in the first place. not to mention that "whatever" foods can raise your blood pressure, give you diabetes, cause heart attacks, and such. im definetly not perfect in my eating but i just stick to under my calories; try to eat as healthy as i can; and only sometimes, as a treat in a moment of weakness, exchange some calories for "bad" items. but the 1200 calories of pizza at dinner doesnt fill me for the entire day, so why would i want to do that?
  • Nomomush
    Nomomush Posts: 582 Member
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    Depends on your goal. If it's just to lose weight, then yes. Expend more calories than you intake. Otherwise, no, your nutritional macros matter.
  • dat5053
    dat5053 Posts: 13 Member
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    You can eat whatever you want and still loose weight, but it's a better idea to try and eat healthier. It makes the weight loss so much easier, and I've also found that you stay full much longer when you eat healthier things than you do eating anything else. In the long run it will be easier for you to maintain your weight having learned healthier eating habits. Plus you will not just be thin, you will also be healthy.

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