more to weight-loss than just calories?

something that's been bugging me for awhile, but i was afraid if I asked i'd sound stupid. I don't care anymore,though. I just want to know the answer!

There is more to weightloss than jsut calories, right? I mean, someone told me that there's 3500 calories in a pound. So if you ate 3500 more calories than you burned, but it was all..carrots, would you really gain a pound? because carrots have virtually no fat in them. :S

Wow, I wonder what 3500 calories' worth of carrots would look like, and how long it would take you to eat them?  And, no, you wouldn't gain a pound by eating 3500 calories' worth of carrots, you'd have to eat your daily maintenance calories PLUS 3500 calories' worth of carrots in ONE DAY, to gain that pound. (And, frankly, until you pooped out all those carrots, you'd probably gain a lot more than a pound -- temporarily -- because that's probably 50 pounds of carrots!)

Yes, there is more to weight loss than "just calories."  NUTRITION COUNTS!!! That's right, how much fiber you get ... counts. How much sodium you ingest ... counts.  What your percentage of protein, fats and carbs comes to ... counts.  If you ate nothing but carrots, you'd eventually die ... because your body needs protein and it needs fats and it needs calcium and iron and amino acids, etc.

So what's the big deal with dieting and "fats?" Several things. First, there are healthy fats and there are unhealthy fats. They have the same calories, but the unhealthy ones clog up your arteries and can create risks for heart attack, stroke, cardiovascular disease, etc. (This would be bad ... which is why you should avoid trans fats and saturated fats and hydrogenated oils whenever possible.)  But healthy fats (from nuts, fish, avocadoes, olives) are actually very good for you.

So why do dieting people often tend to minimize their calories from fats? Because fat is pretty calorie-dense, and you can get a lot more food if you don't overload your diet with too many fats. If you're really hungry, would you rather have 100 calories of butter or a plateful of steamed broccoli with garlic and parmesan cheese on top? (Both are 100 calories!)  So, to stretch their "calorie budget", many people choose to eat reduced fat or fat free items.... sometimes.... and it's why they often choose to eat leaner proteins (like skinless chicken rather than bacon ... you can get a lot more chicken than bacon, and your arteries will be happier!)

=^..^= MOLLY

Sumo wrestlers eat very low fat diets, and they're huge! It is all calories in and calories out. your body holds onto everything, ANY excess calories are turned into energy storage. First in the form of glycogen (an easily broken down store of sugar chains in your muscles), then the rest in fat stores. Even a hershey kiss amount of extra calories is stored if it is not used. So yes, 3500 calories extra in even carrots will cause you to store it. extra fat is stored, extra sugar is stored, extra protein is stored-and unless you just ran a marathon it's being mostly stored as fat. I dunno about the 3500 calories equaling a pound, but your body is very efficient at storing extra energy for times of famine. it's just unfortunate non of us americans are ever in one. :)

im canadian:)

and thank you..but its wierd, that the two replies i got to this post differ so much.

I mean, someone told me that there's 3500 calories in a pound. So if you ate 3500 more calories than you burned, but it was all..carrots, would you really gain a pound? because carrots have virtually no fat in them. :S

 

If you drink 16 oz. of water you'll also be a pound heavier, but it's not fat weight.  3500 calories doesn't necessarily = a gained pould of fat just like 2500 calories (calories in a pound of muscle) doesn't = a gained pound of muscle.   

It's not just as easy as a calorie in and a calorie out.  Your body will utilize macronutrients differently, and it also comes down to how you use your body.

will you be eating them cooked or raw?  because if you eat them raw, you will burn alot of calories chewing on them  :D

good luck & happy new year!

For me, it is exercise.  Everytime I have stopped exercising, I have gained weight.  As soon as I start exercising again, it comes off again. 

a calorie is a calorie no matter ehere it comes from.

youll still gain

Original Post by snowfence:

will you be eating them cooked or raw? because if you eat them raw, you will burn alot of calories chewing on them :D

good luck & happy new year!

 lol

jeez with that many carrots you probably would poison yourself with a vitamin A overload, and you wold be orange too lol. 

but in wiki has a pretty good explanation of the science

Human fat tissue contains about 87% lipids, so that 1 kg of body-fat tissue has roughly the caloric energy of 870 g of pure fat, or 7800 kcal. In principle one has to create a 7800 kcal deficit or surplus between energy intake and use to lose or gain 1 kg of body-fat, respectively, or 3500 kcal per pound. [1] However, if one eats 7800 kcal more than the body needs, one won't necessarily gain 1 kg of fat, since muscle and other tissues may be built. In the same way, if one eats 7800 kcal less than their maintenance level, they may not lose 1 kg of fat, since muscle and sugars may be metabolized to generate energy.

 

Nutrients do affect how we build muscle and how fast our metabolism is, but at the end of the day its simple physics.  A calorie is a unit of energy. when you eat more energy then you need your body stores it.  How much you as an individual is going to vary based on your rate of energy use etc, but at the end of the day you can gain weight eating anything be it carrots or bananas or whatever, so long as you eat the number of caloires at which your body is going to start storing that energy as fat.  For the average individual that could be 3500 calories from 140 medium carrots or 23 twinkies.  Although as someone noted, you will probably burn more calores eating a carrot rather than for example a twinkie.

 "Obesity results from an imbalance between caloric intake and energy expenditure" 

So many people confuse these simple principles with nonsense about nutrition and metabolism.  Energy expenditure is increased through ACTIVITY, not the CONSUMPTION of foods.  Nutrients do not effect the building of muscle, exercise does.  Plain and simple, if you want to lose weight, intake fewer calories than you expend. 

It can seem very simple and very complicated. You'll find a lot of great advice and support here at CC. There are no stupid questions, we're all here to learn :D

It looks like what I wanted to say has been said so I'll just give ya a link to a page with great diet and weight loss information. It has charts and food recommendations. I hope this helps.

Energy expenditure is increased through ACTIVITY, not the CONSUMPTION of foods.

Sure it is.  Simple carbs are digested rapidly so it doesn't require a lot of energy.  Protein on the other hand takes longer to digest therefore requiring more energy.  A majority of expenditure may be from activity but food plays a role as well...not only the type of food you eat but also how often you eat can effect metabolism.

Nutrients do not effect the building of muscle, exercise does.

Sure they do.  If you don't get the proper amount of nutrients you won't effectively build muscle no matter how much exercise you do.

Simple carbs are digested rapidly so it doesn't require a lot of energy.  Protein on the other hand takes longer to digest therefore requiring more energy.  A majority of expenditure may be from activity but food plays a role as well...not only the type of food you eat but also how often you eat can effect metabolism.

Ten percent of the food goes toward the thermic effect of food (TEF) - it does not matter what you eat when you eat it or how often you eat, the TEF is always 10%.  If you eat 2000 cals, 200 go toward (TEF) - 6000 cals, 600 toward TEF.  So any claim that food enhances energy expenditure is misleading.  The more cals you eat, the more cals will be expended in metabolizing that food - not what or when you eat.  Activity increases energy expenditure - consumption does not.

Ten percent of the food goes toward the thermic effect of food (TEF) - it does not matter what you eat when you eat it or how often you eat, the TEF is always 10%.

This is not true.  As I said before protein is harder to digest which requires more energy, some suggest the thermic effect for protein can be 20-30%. The simple carb TEF can be between 2-3%, so the TEF is not always 10%, this is a common number used but not absolute.

If a person eats once a day (every 24 hours) then they will at some point hit starvation mode.  Some say it can take as little as 6 hours others up to 16 hours.  Either way this is going to shut down your metabolism and have your body hold on to all the energy it can.  What will reverse this effect? Eating.  What and when we eat has an effect on energy expenditure...Happy New Year!