Does it matter what the calories are?

[PumpkinP]

I don't want to be lectured about healthy eating as I've got a huge amount of weigh t to lose and I'm just trying what I can go get it down. I have a set calories amount of 1500 (though I try to stay abi t under so 1300-1400) does it matter what the calories are? So for example I've had a whole pizza for dinner (just a supermarket cheese one) but it's 600 calories and fits within my allowance,so my question is does it matter what the calories are? As long as it's under your allowance will I still lose weight?

I have chocolate everyday aswell.

It matters to me. I find protein rich and healthy carbs (vegetables) satisfy me far more than junk. I eat plenty of eggs, yogurt (not Muller light crap), fish, some cheese as snacks. I have butter rather than Marge (but tiny amounts). Breakfast bars and pizza would leave me feeling unhealthy and rubbish.

If you're serious about losing weight you're going to have to change your diet and most likely eat a lower amount of calories forever. Science shows that being overweight for a long time alters your metabolism meaning you need fewer calories than someone else your size and weight who hasn't been fat

I have 1200 with MFP. Occasionally had a whole pizza and long as in limit although I generally skip brekkie and have lunch and dinner as this works for me best.

A calorie IS a calorie. You will lose weight if you're in calorie deficit, even if you're eating 1500 calories of pizza alone.

However, a few things - where have you got 1500 from? Have you actually worked out your TDEE and BMR and followed some knowledgeable advice?

Secondly, you will not change your mindset if you eat snacky, diety things just with the goal of losing weight. At your weight you should be able to lose very easily with a good breakfast, lunch and dinner, which can be balanced, delicious and include carbs.

I don't calorie count. I'm overweight (4.5 stone!) and am losing weight by having a good breakfast of whole meal toast or porridge and fruit, lunch which is leftovers or a hearty meal with plenty of carbs but low in fat and same for dinner. If I stick to that I don't have to count calories but I lose.

Good luck! The first couple of weeks are the hardest. I actually look forward to my salad for lunch and my stir fry dinner now. Negligible calories so I can add quiche, jacket, chicken, prawns etc as I wish. The worst bit is the getting home from work and not raiding the fridge but it's got easier. Don't let yourself get to starving point because you will reach for the crisps and before you know it all 6 packs will be gone. But yes, a calorie is a calorie as far as I'm concerned. I use more than I eat so expect to lose weight.

No it doesnt really matter. You can slim on junk food if you keep to within your calorie range, but youll probably find that most junk food is bad value in terms of calories vs satiety.
If the entire pizza is 600 calories then thats not too bad for a treat meal tbh. Just doesnt leave you loads for your other meals

A lot of rubbish here. Calories in V calories out OP. 3500 calorie deficit a week = 1lb fat loss.

I'd advise eating a decent amount of protein to maintain your muscle mass but that's up to you!

*As in, doesn't matter what you eat for fat loss as long as you're in a deficit.

A calorie IS a calorie. You will lose weight if you're in calorie deficit, even if you're eating 1500 calories of pizza alone.

1. You do not have enough energy for basic body maintenance if you only ever eat 1500 calories. You will start to see the body cut corners on things, for example keeping warm, brain function

1. The way your body processes calories from different sources varies massively. For example high glycemic food (carbs) require insulin to be produced to remove the sugar from the bloodstream. This is not the case when you eat some butter or protein. Calories are not equal in how they are dealt with, it depends on the source. If you are all calories in pizza you would find you would most likely have continuously raised insulin (this does depend if you are all the calories in one sitting or grazed all day - the second being worse) and you will not lose much weight if your insulin is high all day

Overall, it does matter what you eat. Even if calories are all equal in terms of weight loss. If you are scared to give up or reduce your comfort foods and you base all your diet on those, long lasting weight loss and maintenance will just not happen. It’s only my opinion based on what happened to me and the fact that so many diets fail.

Changing everything all at once will probably also fail - small sustainable changes are the way to go - a few extra weeks at size 20 and losing weight slowly is better for you than dropping a lot of weight quickly. So eating half the pizza with loads of salad on the side. That sort of thing.

I understand how hard this is but I don’t think there is any getting away from it.

It does matter what you eat overall, but pizza is not that bad. Its no different to eating a couple of cheese and tomato sandwiches.
If you ate 3 or 4 mars bars a day and nothing else youd lose weight but youd feel shit and likely eventually suffer health issues.

you do not have enough energy for basic body maintenance if you only ever eat 1500 calories. You will start to see the body cut corners on things, for example keeping warm, brain function

but if you ate more than that how would you ever lose weight?

I'm not being goady i am interested because i am also trying to lose weight!

As other PPs have said you do need balance for long term weight loss/ maintenance.

Also you have your little ones to run around after so it's important you have lots of energy.

It sounds like something such as slimming world might work for you where you get to eat lots and it overhauls you're food choices too.

If your children see you eating well and enjoying food you will pass on good food habits to them too which is important.

Long term just having a breakfast bar, picky bits and a pizza won't give you the crucial energy you need, you must feel exhausted all the time. Switch the pizza for a bit of baked cod/ chicken with steamed veg and a jacket potato.

I totally appreciate how hard it is to get the motivation to shift weight or pre plan meals when you are busy but you will feel better in the long term.

I've been a yoyo dieter all my adult life, and when we're talking of weigh loss I'm talking about 5 - 7 stone on and off !
Yes you could eat breakfast bars and pizza and be within your daily goal of calories but is that healthy eating - no .
We have gained weight because we eat more than our body needs and we are not using up those calories by burning them off .
Can I ask what stops you having something like porridge with some blueberries, or perhaps a couple of Wheatabix for breakfast . Your evening meal could be a chicken fillet with lots of vegetables or something similar ?
Your food sounds very beige and boring tbh , and sorry for saying this but lazy eating . Open packet , eat bars and shove ready made pizza in oven.
You have decided to lose weight, which is a positive , caring thing you are doing for yourself but try to take that forward by caring what you put in your body.

Can I ask what stops you having something like porridge with some blueberries, or perhaps a couple of Wheatabix for breakfast . Your evening meal could be a chicken fillet with lots of vegetables or something similar ?
Your food sounds very beige and boring tbh , and sorry for saying this but lazy eating . Open packet , eat bars and shove ready made pizza in oven

this makes me laugh. maybe op doesnt like any of those things? maybe she's busy!

tbh chicken and vegetables for dinner would make me depressed.

If you can eat pizza and lose weight i'd say you're winning tbh!

(i am trying to lose weight and still eating what i want just less of it!)

Babytigerr
I was making general suggestions for meals that contain fibre, fruit,vegetables, and protein. Basically a healthy diet ! What those are is entirely up to her. My point was to eat healthy to lose weight .
I agree eating a pizza under xxx calories a day will take off weight but healthy long term - fuck no !

I am trying to lose weight and still eating what i want just less of it!

That's my aim really. I eat breakfast bars for convenience and I like knowing exactly how many calories they are without having to faff around weighing everything. I like something I can have on the go. I've lost 20lbs since the end of January but I've only had the pizza recently when I realised it was the same amount of calories as my usual dinner.

yeah, i know what a "healthy diet" is - but maybe the op doesnt eat that because its sounds massively unappealing and boring.

eating a pizza (because op hasnt said she eats one every day) doesnt make OP unhealthy long term.

Everything in moderation, no?

Eating chicken and veg every day is a recipe for falling off the wagon imo.

It is clear from your posts that you see ‘weight’ as the problem. But it is merely a symptom, a consequence.

You think “if only I was 3 stone lighter, everything will change”. But it won’t, sorry. Until you start seeing the real issue, you are going to get nowhere.

You need to get to the bottom why and how your weight happened.

For me, I realised I was insulin resistant and this was the reason I couldn’t keep the pounds off, as long as I ate “like a normal person”. I then worked to modify my diet to help my body reduce a production of insulin day to day. The ways to do that included bigger breaks between meals to let insulin drop, no snacks between meals. Plenty of healthy fats as they are insulin-neutral. Enough protein and as little carbs as possible, preferably from high-fibre foods. Absolutely no sugar.

I started to feel better and better following these steps and weight started to drop off naturally. I didn’t torture myself, starve myself or punish myself. It is a way of taking care of my health, showing self-love.

If you continue eating foods which are bad for you, you may lose weight, but it won’t last. And you will feel lousy in the process.

Weight is not an issue, it is only a symptom. Fix the real problem and you are sorted.

A calorie is not a calorie

It is.

You won’t lose weight long term eating junky carbs whatever your calorie intake happens to (occasionally) be

Of course you will. If OP eats only a 600 calorie pizza each day, she'll lose weight. Trust me. It's a massively unhealthy way to go but ….. she'd lose weight.

100 calories of carbs will have a significant impact on your blood sugar levels - unlike 100 calories of protein, which will have a limited impact and fat which will have none.

So all calories are not equal. You'll find it harder to lose weight if your calories are predominantly carbohydrate. And especially if they're overly processed carbs, like the ones you're eating.

Sorry - but you need to put some effort into how you feed yourself if you really want to tackle the weight.

However, a few things - where have you got 1500 from? Have you actually worked out your TDEE and BMR and followed some knowledgeable advice?

According to MFP it should b e 1550 but that seems very high to me so I aim for 1300-1400

I think the people criticising your diet and saying you need to eat more fruit/veg, less carbs/sugar etc are technically not wrong, but they are failing to acknowledge the enormous positive change you are already making simply by losing weight, which is the amongst the best things you can possibly do for your health (alongside not smoking and reducing alcohol) - if you have found a way to do that that works for you and your life, great! It is 100% better to lose weight by eating pizza and feeling happy with your diet, than to confine yourself to chicken and vegetables only if that isn't sustainable. Contrary to the opinion of some, pizza is not the devil/poison and of course it is possible to lose weight eating 1500 cals of white carb/sugar only, have none of you ever seen the horrible sight of a stick thin/wasting away alcoholic or junkie, they get virtually all their calories from booze (sugar) and junk food and certainly do lose a LOT of weight (not that I am recommending you to become a junkie of course however effective it is ). I also don't understand the comment that you can't lose weight on 1500 calories because your body will 'shut down' and lose essential functions - 1500 is pretty much exactly my TDEE (ie maintenance calorie requirement) and I am not exactly unusual, just a small middle aged woman who is lightly active, it would go down to even less if I was sedentary, and so to lose weight I'd definitely need to eat significantly less than that and I can promise you my body isn't 'shutting down' (it might be falling to pieces but I think that is part and parcel of being old ). To go into 'starvation mode' or lose bodily functions would require serious calorie deprivation over a long period of time unless by that you mean getting the tummy rumbles or occasional mild lightheadedness or headaches before eating which is a normal side effect of weight loss IMO and nearly entirely harmless...

OP, I would keep going as you are, if you do want to be more healthy I would try making small incremental changes. E.g. if you can find some fruit/veg you enjoy, adding a small portion at a time in per day would be great. Continue to use convenience foods if you like them but perhaps also do a home-cooked meal (using some cheats such as pre-prepared ingredients) once per week as well? Add in some short bursts of exercise if you can fit it in somewhere? All of this will generally make you feel better and help your weight loss journey as well as being good for your body in the long run?

Good luck and above all keep going, do not let the quest for perfection stop you taking the small steps to improvement!

Of course, this is not

Sorry ignore random last line!