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NO. It doesnt just come down to calories. There is more to it than that. You need a "harmony" of calorie restriction, resistance training and cardio training. This "harmony" of the major three things will be based on what your goals are.
Also, despite what some people will say, when it comes to improving your health/fitness/weight, a calorie is NOT just a calorie. 350 calories of Hostess Twinkie or Dunkin Doughnut is not the same as 350 calories of broccoli or cottage cheese.
You are on the right track here, but what are you doing in that 20-30 minutes of exercise? If you are just "working in the garden" or "brisk walking" you are not going to hit your goals.
A calorie is a calorie. The nutrition of the calorie is what varies. Obviously you want your calories to come from nutrient dense foods.
We are all going to give you different views, so its really up to YOU as to what works. Just make sure whatever way you choose to eat is something you can live with in the long run and that includes situations where you do not have total control of the food. Felxibility and adaptability are huge when it comes to long term success.
Remember, brain consumes far more calories than its size would suggest. Any calorie deficient diet will trigger weight loss.
BUT. A high fat, low carb diet will provide plenty of brain food to keep brain fed and happy.
Happy brain, happy you.
Hungry brain, crazed, binging, hungry you.
Opposite actually.
Brain runs predominantly on glycogen which is sugar. No glycogen, brain death, dead you. Fortunately the body can synthesize limited quantities of glycogen from non-carbohydrate sources. It can also partially switch to an alternate fuel. While lipids (fat) cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, they can be oxidized and synthesize ketone bodies (where is where the ketogenic diet gets its name) that can. Brain still needs glycogen but we can synthesize enough of it from non-carbohydrate sources to make due which is why we don't just die within a few days of not eating.
Does that mean happy brain = glycogen deprived brain? Not really. There's very limited information that suggests diseased brain (Parkinson's/Alzheimer's may do better) when glycogen deprived, although mostly that's limited to mice rather than humans. Also it's somewhat useful in controlling seizures although pharmaceuticals are much better. That's not to say healthy brains are happier or function better or make you feel better.
For optimal weight loss you need to eat less and move more. you can technically eat less and lose but ultimately you will hit a wall. So yes, it's about calorie restriction regardless of diet. You can't continue eating the same number of calories throughout your weight loss journey.
I didn't follow any formal diet plan other than reducing caloric intake and exercising. I've lost 60 lbs and I haven't had to eat specific things or abstain from anything. When you hit a plateau, you need to either eat a little less, burn a little more (via exercise) or do a combination of both. It took a solid week of hard physical labor to finally break the plateau and I went on to lose the final 15 lbs. I'm not saying that you should do that, but it may be beneficial for you to increase your exercise to burn more. If you are not doing resistance training, I strongly encourage you to do so.
Wrong colonel Sanders. You go get your calories from Krispy Kreme and McDonalds and I'll go get the exact same amount of calories from veggies and we'll see who comes out on top.
Stop putting incorrect and/or misleading info out there for others to read. A person's daily intake of calories should come from healthy foods, not horrible foods.
Wrong colonel Sanders. You go get your calories from Krispy Kreme and McDonalds and I'll go get the exact same amount of calories from veggies and we'll see who comes out on top.
Stop putting incorrect and/or misleading info out there for others to read. A person's daily intake of calories should come from healthy foods, not horrible foods.
Me putting incorrect info? A calorie is a unit - it is a constant. The nutrition in that calorie is what differs.
AND if you have actually been reading my through my posts instead of being apoplectic at the calorie comment you would see that I said the EXACT same thing as you.
A calorie is ONE of the things I count on a daily basis. As tikyul noted though, it isn't the only one. I have personal goals for min/max of a couple things. I am not on a LCHF or Keto diet but I do monitor my net carbs.
I can eat pretty much whatever I want - as long as I hit my goals for the macronutrient levels that I know make me feel the best. 1200-1500 calories/day of chips or chocolate or cheese or meat or any single one of these isn't going to supply that. It requires a mix of protein, veggies and fruits, whole grains and a bit of an allowance for an occasional splurge.
I think most of us can agree that on a basic level, yes, you can lose weight eating twinkies and non-nutritive stuff as long as there is a caloric deficit. And of course, we can agree that this isn't the best diet and probably isn't feasible in the long term other than to prove a point. And of course, much of your diet should come from nutritious foods rather than "empty calories".
Personally, I don't really pay attention to macros and whatnot. Too much trouble for me, to be honest. I just eat the foods that give me the best bang for my caloric buck while splurging on something not particularly nutritive as well. Hey, I'm human. Everything doesn't have to be healthy, but I do account for it. My meals often consist of a carb, protein, and fat and I am good to go for hours.
I appreciate everyone's input. I'm trying to understand BMR now. So if I calculated via an online calculator plugging in my information, height, weight, age, etc. and it says my BMR is 2000 without doing any exercises and I work a desk job and I want to lose 2 lbs per week as my goal, so my calorie intake for the day should be 1000, right? Or we can do the opposite and say that I'm exercising 5-6 days a week, 20-30 minutes a day and the BMR calculator states my burn is 3000 a day and I want to create a calorie deficit and lose 2 lbs per day off that, so my calorie intake should be 2000, right?
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