Is a calorie a calorie?

If at the end of the day I have 200 calories left over, would I lose more weight eating 200 calories of say cucumber than 200 calories worth of chocolate, or would it be the same?

Just wondering because I've found I've been having 100 - 200 calories left over and was wondering about buying some mini chocolate bars to fill that up

Personally, I'd go for the chocolate.  But it is mostly carbs and fat, whereas the cucmber is mostly water, some carbs, sugar, and a tiny bit of fat. 200 calories of cucumber is a lot of cucumbers.  But I get your point.

 As I said, assuming I've eaten balanced foods throughout the day, I'd splurge and have some chocolate. Yesterday I ended the day with a half cup (110 calories) of Turtle Mountain's Awesome Chocolate fake ice cream. It's a really good soy ice cream substitute. Somedays, I'll end the day with a Ghirardelli raspberry filled chocolate square, 70 calories, but oh so good!

I'd go for the chocolate, because every diet needs to have room for treats.  However, always remember that you can have your chocolate, and eat cucumbers, too.  :)

Technically a calorie is a calorie but they aren't created equal.

You should always have room in your day to day diet plan to include some treats and desserts. Just make sure you get all the important macronutrients: protein, carbs, vitamins etc. as well.

If you ate sensibly the whole day, there's no reason you can't have chocolate or whatever else. The idea is to make this a life long habit, not a temporary diet. And I sure as heck don't plan to skip chocolate for the rest of my life!

A calorie is a calorie, but everything you eat has a lot more than just calories... there's the fat content, the carbs, etc. as mentioned above.

Another important number to measure is the fat content of the different foods you eat - remember, you can easily burn off carbs by exercising and building muscle mass, but the fat in the food goes straight to adding to that fat you're trying to get rid of. Thus, make sure that you're not constantly filling up those last 200 calories of your day with a slice of cheesecake which may be only 200 calories, but has 10x your daily fat allocation. 

 That being said, I think there should always be room for treats in a diet. So once in a while, I'd say go ahead and have your chocolate... it's good for you! :)

Nope a calorie isnt a caloire, created equal.

Your cucumber will take your body more energy to digest it than the **** will supply, therefore its actually negative calories. A 1/4 cucumber has about 40cals but your body will use about 50cals chewing, digesting and passing it through the body. This is true of many watery vegetables, such as tomatoes, celery, lettuce etc

Chocolate on the other hand has a lot more calories per 100g but it tastes so good, its almost worth the extra cals

technically, a calorie IS a calorie.

just because your body burns off the calories contained in celery but not the chocolate (entirely) doesn't change the fact that 1 calorie = 1 calorie. 

There's nothing wrong with having dessert if it fits into your calorie budget and you've had enough of the important stuff earlier in the day. I'd go for the chocolate every time... my favourite dessert is an Edy's slow-churned reduced-fat chocolate-coated icecream bar - 160 calories of deliciousness.

If you are trying to heat 1 g of water 1 degree centigrade at atmospheric pressure, then yes a calorie is a calorie.

If you are trying to provide your body with adequate fuel and nutrients, then some choices are better than others.

If you eat the 200 cals of chocolate, you'll be flooding your body with sugar, which will prompt the release of insulin, which is key in opening up fat cells for food storage.  So, while you're fine to indulge in a treat now and then, most of the time, you would be better off to have an apple with some peanut butter or something.

:)

i have a question about the sugar and fat cells thing. I understand how it works, but I was wondering if it works the same if I eat a lot of fruit?, because i do. I know i don't really need to worry about it too much... but i'm more curious. also, not trying to hijack this thread.