Type of food

Hi,

In all the forums I read about how many calories people should eat a day, and I asked myself the question : As long as I stick to my 1500 calories diet, does it matter what type of food I eat ?

Let's say I have a big ice cream, or cookies as a snack ? Or let's say I eat Mcdonald's for lunch and then have an apple for dinner .. but anyways never go over my 1500 cals, will I still be losing weight ?

Thanks for helping.

Yas

You'll probably get a couple different answers.

Some people think that as long as your calorie intake is less than you burn, you'll lose weight. Others say that the composition of the food (fat, protein, carb ratio; whole grains vs. processed, refined vs. natural sugars) will affect your weight loss.

But here's the bottom line: If your 1500 calories is made up of ice cream, cookies, and McDonald's, you will be hungry all the time and malnourished. You will be very, very cranky and you probably won't stick to your "diet" for very long. With only 1500 calories you need to get enough fiber and vitamins to fuel your body, which is impossible if you're just eating junk food. That being said, I think it's important to work treats into your daily allotment. If you have enough calories for ice cream or cookies, as long as you don't overdo it and you're also getting a variety of other nutritious foods, go ahead!

while this is true and even on the CC front page it says:

Diet Your Way Calorie Count doesn't prescribe a particular diet. Eat any foods you want as long as you burn calories. you will lose weight no matter what you eat as long as you are eating less than your body burns up. Now the problem with this is health. You can eat fatty foods all you want and stay within you limit and lose weight but how healthy will that make you? Not very I would say.

If you eat large portions of cookies or McDonalds, you will not be full.  It just doesn't take that much to add up to a large portion of your calories (a burger, fries and soda at McDonalds could pretty well eat your calories for the day).  And your nutrition will suffer.

Yes, you can have these things, but you have to partake wisely and budget them in.

What I've found is that I started continuing to eat the junk food... but there is something about those simple sugars that makes you not want to stop. It is so hard to just eat one serving of ice cream, for example (only half a cup!) that I usually go over my calories with something like that. So then I learn not to eat those foods in order to keep my calories at 1500. If you eat low calorie foods, you can eat MORE food in a day and feel more full.

That said, I don't really deny myself things. I might have half a hamburger or half a brownie. The best way to do it is to know how many calories is in something before you eat it. That way you know how to limit yourself.

Original Post by kimothyschma:

What I've found is that I started continuing to eat the junk food... but there is something about those simple sugars that makes you not want to stop. It is so hard to just eat one serving of ice cream, for example (only half a cup!) that I usually go over my calories with something like that. So then I learn not to eat those foods in order to keep my calories at 1500. If you eat low calorie foods, you can eat MORE food in a day and feel more full.

That said, I don't really deny myself things. I might have half a hamburger or half a brownie. The best way to do it is to know how many calories is in something before you eat it. That way you know how to limit yourself.

 Actually, from what I have heard, high sugar, high fat and high salt food ALL have this effect - they make you want to eat.  There was a bit on NPR's Science Friday about it.

There have  been numerous studies now that show that calorie reduction is the only thing that leads to weight loss, but I am personally quite convinced that food composition can alter HOW and WHERE you lose the weight... People who eat low-fiber, high-fat/high-sugar diets always seem to have more belly fat than those who eat more healthily.

I believe you can absolutely lose weight as long as you have a calorie deficit, regardless of how you get to that deficit.

But, I think it is much, much harder to maintain a calorie deficit if you "waste" too many calories on low nutrition foods like chips, cookies, candies, etc.  Both because these manufactured food-like items are very calorific, and because they are not in fact very satisfying, so one tends to either eat a lot of them, or some of them and then as much "real" food as usual.

I also think that once the weight is lost, it is very easy to gain back if one hasn't learned how to enjoy appropriate quantities of good, wholesome food.

So, a calorie deficit is necessary to lose weight, but to maintain weight loss and general health it is necessary to have a good, balanced diet made up of whole, highly nutritious foods.  Why not start as one means to go on?

Thanks a lot for all the replies.

I've actually already done the balanced diet several times, lost lot of weight several times, but every single time when I reach my weight goal, I start eating all the things I've missed so much, and gain back in a week or two, what took me months to lose =(

Which is why this time I wanted to try it different, and once a week (or maybe twice), use my calories to eat whatever I want, not veggies and fruits and oat meal ...

 

Original Post by yassou16:

Thanks a lot for all the replies.

I've actually already done the balanced diet several times, lost lot of weight several times, but every single time when I reach my weight goal, I start eating all the things I've missed so much, and gain back in a week or two, what took me months to lose =(

Which is why this time I wanted to try it different, and once a week (or maybe twice), use my calories to eat whatever I want, not veggies and fruits and oat meal ...

 

 That's the beauty of counting calories - you can have a little treat every once in a while.  Definitely DO NOT deprive yourself of things you enjoy, just eat them "in moderation"  Any diet that restricts you is not going to be sustainable - remember you are in this healthy lifestyle FOR LIFE.  That means you have to find acceptable substitutes for these foods, or manage to eat a bit of them every once in a while.

If ice cream is a big thing to you (I personally find myself craving less of it these days), look for something like the skinny cow ice cream sandwiches, which only have 140 calories and even a bit of fiber, and are quite large and satisfying.

What I do on days where I have a really nice dinner or a really nice snack after dinner is eat an incredibly small breakfast and lunch and have no snacks (lunch will be filled with steamed veggies and some tofu usually on those days) and then I can eat what I like for dinner :)

I'm not sure about that but I been trying to lose weight by eating low calories but consist mainly of junk food.. Recently, most of my meals is jelly,puddings and instant noodles..(i made my own soup most of the time with squids and vege and salted bean curd)

the thing is, eating junk food made me feel a lot fuller than bread and much more able to control my calories intakes..

the jelly and puddings I often eat(before sleep and for meal) are VERY VERY feelings.. You can have one packet of jellies and drink some water than POOF!! Your stomach bulged big and when you have two packets of jelly,you would wish you didn't it that cause then, it would be so full,it hurts .

1 pack of jelly has 250 of sugar,carrageanen moss,and malic acid.

serving size is 22 caloreis/30g.

the total is around 200 calories..

thats why i love it..

The problem with that approach is that since the jelly's basically just sugar, you'll only be full for an hour or so then hungry again.  To feel full longterm, you need to consume fibre, protein and fat.  For the same calories, you could have had 100 g of chicken and 1-2 cups of veggies stir fried in 1 tsp. oil.  That'll leave you full much longer than the jelly ever could.