Calorie top ups?

Hi Everyone,

I've been a huge lurker on these boards while trying to shift some weight, and now I'm maintaining I'm so so scared of putting any weight back on, It's all I think about.
But my question is, if after I've had my 3healthy meals a day I'm still under my calorie allowance can I top it up with some 'junk' food? Like a chocolate or a few biscuits. Or will I just end up putting weight back on :/ I hope I'm not repeating a question thats been asked too many times.
I'm 22 and female, I also exercise 3-4 times a week.

Thanks in advance for your help! x

Food is food is food....   there are no bad foods, only bad diets.  Calories from chocolate are the same as calories from broccoli.   If 80-90% of what you eat are nutritious 'neck down' foods, it's OK to make the remaining 10-20% 'neck up', fun foods.

Balance is what you're aiming for.

Yep.

In fact, if you already eat healthy servings of food groups (like veggies, dairy, protein, fats), it's necessary to sometimes eat some fun foods to meet your calorie goal! For example, I have AT LEAST 2 servings of dessert foods a day, sometimes up to four! But, I'm already eating many servings of veggies, fruits, grains, protein, dairy, and healthy fats. It wouldn't be feasable or fun for me to get my calories up just through more vegetables. And I NEED those calories to maintain my weight.

I started adding stuff like "healthy" peanut butter to my oatmeal

and ground flaxseed.  Tasty, Calorie dense, AND healthy.

I'm not sure I buy the all calories are created equal concept. 

I'm in the minority when it comes to calories are calories.  For example, if one is 900 calories short of his/her daily maintenance calorie needs, it would be healthier to eat 900 calories of fruits and vegetables or 900 calories of fish or lean meat than it would be to eat a 900 calorie stick of salted butter.  Also, as I have tried to argue before, much to the derision of many other CC posters, if one is doing some weight-lifting as part of his/her daily exercise regimen, then eating the 900 calories of protein instead of the 900 calories of butter will be processed differently and converted differently and stored differently by the body.  So calories are calories except that calories are not calories.

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Having stated that brilliant observation about my minority view concerning calories, in no way will you need to be worried about weight gain, as long as you stay in your general calorie maintenance window.

Original Post by pilgrimdude:

I'm in the minority when it comes to calories are calories.  For example, if one is 900 calories short of his/her daily maintenance calorie needs, it would be healthier to eat 900 calories of fruits and vegetables or 900 calories of fish or lean meat than it would be to eat a 900 calorie stick of salted butter.  Also, as I have tried to argue before, much to the derision of many other CC posters, if one is doing some weight-lifting as part of his/her daily exercise regimen, then eating the 900 calories of protein instead of the 900 calories of butter will be processed differently and converted differently and stored differently by the body.  So calories are calories except that calories are not calories.

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Having stated that brilliant observation about my minority view concerning calories, in no way will you need to be worried about weight gain, as long as you stay in your general calorie maintenance window

I agree and don't think its really a minority view outside of this thread.

There are also factors like glycemic (sp?) index, antioxidants, trans-fats, etc..   There is nothing wrong with occasional indulgence but once you have those 100 calorie packs of junk food in your house can you really just eat one (I can't).  For me those sugar, fat, salt combinations are addictive. 

All calories are the same...  A calorie is a unit of energy and like all other measurement units is consistent.   All kilos are the same.  All metres are the same.  The differences you're describing are to do with 'nutrition' and 'physical reaction'.   There is a world of difference in the nutrition and physical reaction to 100 cals of broccoli than there is to 100 cals of ice-cream.  But in energy terms they are identical.

Thanks all for your help! x

Original Post by pilgrimdude:

I'm in the minority when it comes to calories are calories.  For example, if one is 900 calories short of his/her daily maintenance calorie needs, it would be healthier to eat 900 calories of fruits and vegetables or 900 calories of fish or lean meat than it would be to eat a 900 calorie stick of salted butter.  Also, as I have tried to argue before, much to the derision of many other CC posters, if one is doing some weight-lifting as part of his/her daily exercise regimen, then eating the 900 calories of protein instead of the 900 calories of butter will be processed differently and converted differently and stored differently by the body.  So calories are calories except that calories are not calories.

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Having stated that brilliant observation about my minority view concerning calories, in no way will you need to be worried about weight gain, as long as you stay in your general calorie maintenance window.

 If you're eating mostly healthy I don't think it would matter to get that many cals in some *treat* foods. Though that would be one hell of deficit of 900 if you already had your meals. I believe it would be easier to get cals out of a slice of chocolate cake, then about a pound of fruit. Heh...you would be less bloated as well.......With fruits and vegetables, yes they are essential, but they can also fill you up really easily too so it would be almost impossible to eat that much fruit or vegetables to get your cals up..you could, but you would be in major agony. Ha Ha. I believe a calorie is a calorie as well. No matter where you get it from as long you got most of your nutrients for the day to stay in top health then I just say have your damn cake and eat it too!

Yes, all calories are the same in the same way that all pounds are the same.  So if a person eats a pound of lard (good luck getting it down and keeping it down), a pound of apples (easy), a pound of chocolate (I could handle this one), or a pound of celery (doable, too), he/she has consumed one pound; and upon immediately weighing-in after the consumption of each one pound eating endeavor, he/she would have gained a pound.  But the fact that a pound is a pound is really rather meaningless.  The same is often true with saying that a calorie is a calorie. 

For people who are interested in losing or maintaining, it is of little value to simply tell them that.  What they really need to know is how calories from protein, fat, and carbs transfer into weight--gain and/or loss,and, more importantly, how calories transfer into healthy living.  So all this hoopla and pooplu about a person's diet needing to be X amount of calories and not explaining that it is important from where the calories come is just that--poopla and hooplu.  If someone who is on a diet of 2000 calories is told, "Just get your 2000 calories in a day--since a calorie is a calorie," then daily eating and drinking a diet that is composed of regular Coke, chocolate pie, buttered popcorn, and french fries--but which totals 2000 calories--is a very harmful diet.  Even if the body consumes the 2000 calories and the person's weight remains the same, it would still be a harmful diet.

Therefore, although a calorie is a calorie, a calorie is not a calorie in terms of healthy eating.

I'm sorry to be pedantic...   A calorie is always a calorie.   But different foods are different foods and some are better than others... that's self-evident.  Only idiots that confuse the concept of 'calories' with 'foods' will struggle with that.

Ah, go ahead and be pedantic.  I like your use of the word "idiot."  Why don't you follow me around all the threads and always post such brilliant replies.