Does caloric source make a difference?

I was thinking....you have to burn more calories than what you eat to lose weight...but what if, for example, you ate 900 calories in one day and burned 1500, but the 900 calories you consumed were all from bad foods such as cake or soda or chips, etc.? I'm sure it makes some sort of difference, but how much and in what way?

Well, if you are consuming all junk food with high sugar, high saturated fat & lots of cholesterol, triglyceroids (sp?) & sodium, it's going to clog up your arteries - that isn't affected by calories, as far as I know, just by eating bad stuff.  Junk like that can cause inflamation in the body which, in turn, affects the heart.  So theoretically, I suppose you could eat 900 calories per day in junk food & nothing else - but still set yourself up for a heart attack or a stroke.

As to what it does to your weight - I would think your body would feel very confused because it is getting high sugar from the cake, soda, etc but not getting any protein or other nutrients it needs to survive.  I don't know what type of impact it would have on the weight itself (Would you still lose weight?  Lose muscle, maybe?) but it would not be good for your body & your overall health.

Of course, I'm not a doctor or anything like that, this is just what seems logical to me.  It might be worth asking a doctor or nutritionalist to know for sure.

It definitely makes a difference in health, and even in weight loss.

Becasue if you ate 1500 calories of junk food, there would be little fiber, and your body does not get any calories from fiber, so you would end up with more calories absorbed by the end of the day, than if you ate 1500 calories of whole grains fruits and veggies, etc

You're not likely to get very full eating all that junk.  Fiber and protein lead to the feeling of satiety, and you're not likely to get much of that from junk food.   Simple sugars can actually make you hungrier.

On top of just being vitamin deprived, some nutrients actually effect your metabolism.

Yes, you could probably lose weight by eating less calories than you burn - regardless of what you eat - but good luck staying under calories when all the foods you eat are high in calories and low in substance.

Not to mention the myriad of health problems that could arrise from eating like that over an extended period of time: diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure, tooth decay, even scurvy...

Also, a 900 calorie diet is not reasonable.  It's called starvation and its borderline anerexia.  I don't know if you were just using it is an example, but I definitely don't want to condone eating disorders.   You should get at least 1,200 calories a day if you are female, 1,500 if you are male.

The best reason to pick a food is because it is low in calories and high in fiber.  Calorie dense foods (more grams of food per calories) are also good.  Vegetables and foods with a lot of water are often the most calorie dense.  Once you really get into your diet, you'll realize that the foods that nature gave us - that we were intended to eat - are almost always the best foods for us, in almost every possible way.

--J

I don't think it makes a difference where the calories come from. If you eat 900 calories of junk and your body burns 1500 then you will lose weight. You body used up 900 of that 1500 to burn off that 900 of junk food. and the other 600 came from your fat stores. You do that for 7 days you burned 7 * 600 = 4200 calories from your fat stores in one week and lost a little over a pound.

Now if you really are eating only junk then prepare to be one sick person. Just as everybody else says. You body will only give back to you what you put in it. You put in a bunch of junk you get back a bunch of junk feelings. This is why when people try to lose weight they often change their diet to healthier foods cause it's not just abouyt getting thinner or lighter it's also about being healthier.

Oh and by the way I know you were only using the 900/1500 as an example to ask your question cause we all know you are not eating only 900 calories a day. Just that a mod might think differently and delete your post. :)

good luck to you.

Original Post by whackoslovakian:

I was thinking....you have to burn more calories than what you eat to lose weight...but what if, for example, you ate 900 calories in one day and burned 1500, but the 900 calories you consumed were all from bad foods such as cake or soda or chips, etc.? I'm sure it makes some sort of difference, but how much and in what way?

Well, I'd rather drink juice than gasoline, though each are high calorie liquids.  In that instance a calorie is not a calorie - also - and this is even more to the point - some FOODS require more energy to process (net calories are less) - and some FOODS will more easily be used/stored as a readily used energy source while others are prone to conversion to bodyfat...

So from a very real perspective the old adage "a calorie is a calorie" is utter bunk.

Original Post by jaminv:

The best reason to pick a food is because it is low in calories and high in fiber.  Calorie dense foods (more grams of food per calories) are also good.  Vegetables and foods with a lot of water are often the most calorie dense.  Once you really get into your diet, you'll realize that the foods that nature gave us - that we were intended to eat - are almost always the best foods for us, in almost every possible way.

This is actually the opposite of what calorie dense means.  If a food is calorie dense means that it has a lot of calories for its mass.  That doesn't mean it isn't healthy.  Nuts are very calorie dense, but are quite healthy (in moderation).

In the end, yes, you can lose weight by eating cookies, chips, and soda, so long as you eat fewer calories than you burn.  HOWEVER, your health will most certainly suffer, and you'll be hungry all the time.  Plus, if you're not getting enough protein, some of that weight loss will definitely be from muscle.

As far as I'm concerned (and there are those that disagree with me), there's nothing wrong with eating a few unhealthy things if you really want them, but you have to eat them in addition to a healthy diet,  not instead of a healthy diet.

Excellent advice.