Can I eat anything as long as I in a calorie deficit and lose weight?

[Willthiswork78]

Within reason! Generally I eat very healthily and calorie count but I limit myself so much I then end up getting fed and eating "bad" food.

Today I've had breakfast - fruit and yoghurt
Lunch - poached eggs on wholemeal toast
Dinner - cod with cous cous, peas, broccoli and courgetti.

A very good day really, came in at 1100 calories.

I've now just had a cornetto which was 150 calories so I'm still well within my 1600 limit and it's a balanced day.

I know there's no such thing as bad food, good food really but I need something that will work for me. Because what I've tried for years doesn't work. I always feel I have to be all or nothing and I'm wondering if this might be a more sustainable way of shifting the weight without having massive binges.

I quite like things like sweet snak a jaks, but are these OK to have? I always worry about sweeteners.

I have 18lb to lose and I'm 45, also peri menopausal.

Title meant to say can I eat anything I like.

I think so. I'm trying to prolong the time to my first meal and then trying not to eat past a certain time, and I'm letting myself eat anything. Seems to be working

Nowt wrong with a cornetto on a summer's day! It sounds like you're eating healthy balanced meals. The less processed food the better (calories aside)

Thank you, yep I don't eat nmuch processed food really but if the odd chocolate bar or bag of crisps is going to help me stick to it long term then I'm willing to try it!! Just got to track it.

Yes it’s fine to include ‘treats’ as part of daily diet but also important not to just eat those if you know what I mean - healthy diet generally with a curly wurly or an iced lolly at night is how I roll

So you weight and body fat composition obviously are 2 different things.
Your weight will naturally fluctuate 2kg regarding water, inflammation and hormones. You should weight daily at the same time and track on an app and see it as an avarage of the week and as long as it's trending down then you're fine.

If you kill yourself at the gym you may weigh more due to inflammation, if you eat veg it stays in your body longer as does red meat so they weigh more initially as do carbs as they hold water.

Calorie decefoit over time will reduce your weight on the trend, over time.

Don't they say madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?
I restrict myself, cut out sugar, tried keto, etc etc. I can only ever manage it for a week or two.
So I thought this approach might be worth a shot!

Yes, thats exactly what I mean. Thank you.

Thank you. That's helpful.
I go to the gym, go to classes and walk the dog

Yes.

But sugary or high carby products are likely to get you craving foods/feeling hungry and mean its harder to stick to your food routine.

I find this anyway.

You could lose weight in a calorie deficit eating nothing but curly wurlys. But you would feel starving hungry I suspect and obviously not getting the proper nutrition you need. So you wouldnt stick to it.

Yes, so long as you're in calorie deficit you'll lose weight.

You could eat 1,600 calories of Mars Bars, and presuming you use more than 1,600 calories per day, you'll lose weight.

Yep.

i had a mate at uni lost a shit ton of weight eating a mars bar for lunch and a pot noodle for dinner.

still in a calorie deficit, so the weight dropped very quickly.

You could eat pizza and chips all day, every day- if you are in a calorie deficit with it, you will lose weight. That is basic science and can’t be argued with. The rest though, losing muscle instead of fat, feeling awful, cravings etc, are all determined by what you eat so the pizza and chips isn’t recommended. But a balance of things you love is really important and can be hard to get right - so many people go all or nothing or get scared eating “bad food”.

Exactly!

I once lost weight on a school trip eating nothing but Areos.

Not recommended.

I lost 2.5st in 2years doing very light exercise and eating 1400 a day. I would eat whatever foods I wanted (crisp, chocolate, sweets etc) aslong as they fitted into my calories.

Yeh that's exactly what I'm not going to do!
I will eat reasonably healthily and then hsve the odd treat.

What do you mean there is no such thing as good food/bad food? I'm sure spinach is much 'gooder' than a cornetto! 😄

Personally, treats tip me over the edge. They mean you never wean yourself off the bad shit, that is typically full of bad fat and calorie dense, so continue to have cravings.

Cornetto calories =
600 g of strawberries
2 small bananas
1 medium baked potato

But if you can hold that line then go for it.

Well normally if I say there's good and bad food I get told there's no such thing and just have everything in moderation!!

Yes, I think it is better to do this as well as it is more sustainable in the long term i.e. you are still enjoying a treat and eating healthy balanced meals. This is what I am doing as well, I have a bit of nice chocolate every day, ice cream at the weekend and really eat whatever I like but have lost a stone in a month eating between 1800 - 2000 calories a day.

I think it sounds sustainable, yes. I mean, if you tried just eating 1,600 calories of biscuits you might lose weight but you'd be STARVING and would feel pretty poorly quite quickly! So as long as the majority of your calories are 'real' food then crack on

A friend of mine lost a stone just vibrating half of everything she usually ate. If she had a sandwich, she'd only eat half, etc-so not was basically just cutting portion sizes. I'm a bit of a wine glutton at times and as soon as I quit that, I'll lose a bit.

@abracadabra1980 What is this vibrating diet you speak of? I have a cream cake I could give a shake to?

I don't personally think it's true there's no good or bad food. Ultra processed food in moderation is still bad for you surely?

Yes I agree.
So there is good and bad food!