[Monk21]

Hello!

nice to find you here and I hope we can all reach our goals! To my question now, that is troubling me for years and I think it is getting in the way of me understanding how to diet properly.

* My calorie intake should be at around 2000 calories in order to lose weight.


A) I drink all day ONLY orange juice. NOTHING else. 20 glasses of it = 2400 calories

B) I eat 19 salmon fillets. NOTHING else. = 2400 calories

C) I eat 6 double cheeseburgers from McDonalds = 2400 calories

Will I gain weight in all 3 situations? PLEASE HELP!

[yoyoma]

The answer isn't simple. Different macronutrients are digested, stored, and metabolized with different levels of efficiency. Also, although macronutrients differ from each other in their efficiency, each really represents a range for the foods that fall in that class. On top of that, there are differences in individuals as well as the particular populations of gut bacteria. In addition, individuals vary in terms of the resting metabolic rate, so the number you are starting with (2000) is suspect.

I hope you aren't really considering diet A, B, or C. Can you tell us more about what why you want to know about these diets?

[Monk21]

Originally Posted by yoyoma

The answer isn't simple. Different macronutrients are digested, stored, and metabolized with different levels of efficiency. Also, although macronutrients differ from each other in their efficiency, each really represents a range for the foods that fall in that class. On top of that, there are differences in individuals as well as the particular populations of gut bacteria. In addition, individuals vary in terms of the resting metabolic rate, so the number you are starting with (2000) is suspect.

I hope you aren't really considering diet A, B, or C. Can you tell us more about what why you want to know about these diets?

I am not following any of these specific diets. What I do is eating healthy. vegetables, fruits, sushi, beans etc with no sweets, no junk etc etc.

If I am not allowed to enjoy tastes I like, I need to keep myself busy by other means. I drink a lot of juice (pure juice, no added sugars), many 0 calorie drinks, eat dozens of fruits and veggies etc.

But then I go and see that in order to enjoy 2 glasses of orange juice I will need to get 240 calories, something which I could get by eating a nice burgers. It can't be the same!

[Koshka]

If you eat more calories than you burn then you will gain weight.

Some foods in being digested in the body burn a few more calories. This is the thermic effect of food:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermic_effect_of_food

Basically processing of protein burns slightly more calories than does processing of fat or carbs. So if you ate X amount of fat and it was more than the calories your normally burn then you would gain wait. If you ate the X amount of protein, then you might gain a little less since you would burn some extra calories eating the protein.

And yes you can gain weight drinking juice. Fruit juice in particular is known to be high calorie and can contribute to weight gain for that very reason.

[Monk21]

Originally Posted by Koshka

If you eat more calories than you burn then you will gain weight.

Some foods in being digested in the body burn a few more calories. This is the thermic effect of food:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermic_effect_of_food

Basically processing of protein burns slightly more calories than does processing of fat or carbs. So if you ate X amount of fat and it was more than the calories your normally burn then you would gain wait. If you ate the X amount of protein, then you might gain a little less since you would burn some extra calories eating the protein.

And yes you can gain weight drinking juice. Fruit juice in particular is known to be high calorie and can contribute to weight gain for that very reason.

So we are seriously saying that if I eat/drink 2400 of oranges, apples, cabbage, lemons, tomatoes etc a day I will keep gaining weight

[yoyoma]

If you eat/drink more calories than you need from fruit and veggies you will gain weight. Whole fruits & veggies are less easy and fast to digest than cooked/juiced veggies. Most people probably couldn't manage to eat too many calories from whole fruits (except maybe bananas/plantains/avacados/etc). If that is all you eat, you will probably be deficient in some essential nutrients.

Many people choose to count calories because they like the freedom to eat whatever they want as long as they stay within their calorie budget. Other people feel they are better off avoiding certain foods and/or limiting some macro nutrients (in some cases to avoid triggers/cravings). Calories are not the whole story. Nutrition and individual food interactions are also important.

[shcirerf]

Hmm.

With A, you will gain and you will most likely have a sore backside from all from the acid. Nutritionally lacking. Not a good plan.

B, while I like Salmon, and it is healthy, I can also see boredom and digestive upset. No fiber, possible constipation. Nutritionally lacking. Not a good plan.

C, is just plain stupid.

The low down dirty truth is! You have to eat at a calorie deficit, and keep in mind a balanced and varied plan to lose. And then the hard part, is finding the sweet spot to maintain the loss long term.

It differs for all of us, depending on our individual bodies. But if you really want to do it, it's a life time commitment, that you have to be mindful of.

There fore, we can choose to make it a struggle and a punishment, or we can embrace it, and take on the challenges, and make it a happy place!

[Palestrina]

None of those diets is sustainable, why even consider them? If you follow plan A you will be hungry all day long, on a sugar high, and will develop acid reflux.

It sounds like your diet is full of juices and fruits. Again, not sustainable and will cause a bit of an upset stomach at the least.

If you're going by calories then most people feel it's not worth wasting any calories at all on beverages.

Your post is pretty bizarre. You're either a spammer OR you have no idea how to put together a reasonably balanced meal. If you are indeed completely inexperienced in how to eat a balanced meal then I suggest that you first start thinking of food as nutrition and skip the calories for now, I don't think it's a good first step - not when you're considering eating cheeseburgers all day long!

Instead, follow the plate rule. One quarter of your plate should be filled with a healthy protein (grilled chicken breast, salmon filet, slice of meatloaf, a small steak, a pile of grilled shrimp, a can of tuna). One quarter should be filled with a healthy starch (a cup of rice, quinoa, mashed potatoes, baked potato, pasta). The rest of the plate, which is half the plate, should be filled with vegetables (salad, spinach, grilled veggies etc). Here is a better explanation of the plate rule, and a diagram to help you visualize http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritio...-usda-myplate/

Once you get used to eating these combinations of food then you can start to tackle the portion sizes and the calorie counts. It's a process, but it does not begin with eating as many cheeseburgers as possible.

[Koshka]

Originally Posted by Monk21

So we are seriously saying that if I eat/drink 2400 of oranges, apples, cabbage, lemons, tomatoes etc a day I will keep gaining weight

If you burn less than 2400 calories a day and eat 2400 calories of day of fruits and vegetables you will gain weight. It also will not provide you the nutrition you need.

You seem to think that if you eat foods that are "good for you" such as fruits and veggies that those calories won't cause you to gain weight. That is not correct.