Does it matter what you spend your calories on?

Unknown
Unknown
in Food and Nutrition
I'm worried I'm spending too much on desserts. My main weakness is chocolate so to satiate my cravings I choose to spend a portion of my calories on low calorie desserts. Sometimes I can go through three Skinny Cow triple chocs in a night (450) and one more in the arvo. I never have lunch and have a yogurt for breakfast. Dinner is incredibly healthy: Lean meat, fish or chicken with veggies or salad. I log EVERYTHING, I'm never over 1500 cals and I'm very active. It's just I DO tend to waste a lot on treats. Will this effect weight loss?

Replies

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Is dessert putting you into a calorie surplus? If yes, then you need to scale it back or eat less of other foods to make up for dessert. If you are in a deficit then you will lose weight.

    What matters is hitting your calories/micros/macros…

    I have ice cream every night and I am losing a pound per week and my blood work comes back nearly perfect every year..
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    You can still lose weight eating nothing but ice cream. You'll probably feel better and be healthier if you have a more well rounded diet.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    No, definitely no calorie surplus and I log EVERYTHING and use a food scale etc. The only thing I estimate on is very low calorie thing - broccoli, unsweetened peas and corn etc and even with that I tend to drastically overestimate. For everything else I weigh and log.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    It matters to an extent - at the end of last year I was cutting back calories but because I was still eating pretty badly my cholesterol was still going up (confirmed by blood test) even though I was losing weight. But IMO a few skinny cow treats after a lean meal should be fine :) I was eating pretty badly, so I wouldn't worry about my anecdote - it's just an example about how cutting calories can still impact your health.

    In short, don't eat fast food and you'll be okay. So go wild!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    qstneverything wrote: »
    It matters to an extent - at the end of last year I was cutting back calories but because I was still eating pretty badly my cholesterol was still going up (confirmed by blood test) even though I was losing weight. But IMO a few skinny cow treats after a lean meal should be fine :) I was eating pretty badly, so I wouldn't worry about my anecdote - it's just an example about how cutting calories can still impact your health.

    In short, don't eat fast food and you'll be okay. So go wild!

    You can eat fast food sometimes and be okay, too.

    OP, if you're still within your goals, and you're doing a decent job at macros, there's no reason not to enjoy your chocolate.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    For weight loss, it does not matter. I could eat my calories in pizza every day and lose weight.

    For health, it matters. My insides wouldn't be happy if I only ate pizza every day.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    I read some good advice on these forums: aim for 80% of your calories in healthy food and 20% treats. That way you get a well-rounded diet plus you know that you can still have your treats.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    It does not matter what you spend your calories on. :)
    Think of budgeting calories like you budget money. Once the main bills are covered you can afford to go to the movies.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Meh. I can hit my macros in my first 1200 calories of the day if needed. You will often find 400 calories of dessert in my diary :)
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Its not great to get ur calories from those type of foods because the quality of the macros r not the greatest.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    gonebeast wrote: »
    Its not great to get ur calories from those type of foods because the quality of the macros r not the greatest.

    The quality of the macros?

    And who is to say OP has not already met macros for the day? You don't get extra credit.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    I think it depends on your goals. If you work out a lot, I would think that you should eat something that is better fuel for your body. Abs are a lot of clean ezting, so if a flat tummy is what you are after I would cut the chocolate down to 2 times a week. If I eat sweets I always want more. Sugar cravings are never satisfied.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    arditarose wrote: »
    gonebeast wrote: »
    Its not great to get ur calories from those type of foods because the quality of the macros r not the greatest.

    The quality of the macros?

    And who is to say OP has not already met macros for the day? You don't get extra credit.

    Yes the quality of macros matter when it comes to fueling your body.

    We're not talking about whether OP met her macros or not. She asked if it was okay to have chocolate, I think its fine once a week but it doesn't have great quality macros for fuel.
    @arditarose

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