eating maintenance calories worth of junk food

[T-800]

alright, i'm not going to be specific here....i just want to talk about a concept...

a lot of people say to not eat junk food. well as far as gaining weight, what's the difference if you ate maintenance calories worth of potatoes or maintenance calories worth of candy bars? if the amount of calories for the day is the same, and you're eating maintenance calories, how could you get fatter eating one or the other?

i've always wondered this for this reason: when i'm trying to gain weight, i make sure i eat the right amount of protein, but why would i care about the other calories as long as my protein and total # of calories are correct?????

 

[Cobin]

Cause the sugar and simple carbs in the junk food turns to fat.

If you eat cleanly, mostly complex carbs, good fats and protein you fat gains will be less, if you eat cake, brownies, cookies and icecream for 6 meals a day, your gonna get fat. Calories add mass, look at any fat person and they are massive people, if they ate cleaner food and worked out, their mass wouldn't be all fat.


Edit: I wrote this ^ out from the bulking perpective of the see food diet.

But I do believe if you do matience with bad food all day long, you will get fat. You can have junk food every once and awhile, give yourself one junk food meal a week and do some extra cardio for it. Remember, its ok to have in Moderation.

 

[Haz]

I disagree Cobin, by definition maitenance means getting just enough calories to stay at the same weight. So if you only eat junkfood, but keep the calories and macronutrient ratios the same, you shouldn't gain any weight. But i've never actually tried, so maybe its not that simple.

T-800, if you do decide to go the junkfood route, keep us posted. I'd be interested in the results. I'm getting sick of tuna, oatmeal and flax, and wouldn't mind doing a short period on a junkfood diet.

 

[iced earth]

Cause the sugar and simple carbs in the junk food turns to fat.

Exactly!!! I wish I could do a junk food diet. That would be awesome, too bad it won't work.

 

[SteelWeaver]

There was a very, very interesting discussion about this last year. Some of the board's real heavyweights weighed in with some great info. The thread poster was blood_drinker and MS and Mr X both posted on there. I can't remember the thread title and just don't feel like searching for it now, but have a look if you have time. Maybe I'll go on a little search later wehn I have some more energy

 

[FarBeyondDriven]

So if you only eat junkfood, but keep the calories and macronutrient ratios the same, you shouldn't gain any weight. But i've never actually tried, so maybe its not that simple.

It is that simple, ever read the nutrition profile of a Snickers bar? nada, zip, sugar. Junk food has high calories, is not very filling and will only temporarily relieve hunger.

Hey, but if someone can do it I am sure Hersheys would love to start their own "Jared" type ad series. He lost 85# eating twinkies 5 times a day. And this is Mike the janitor, Jared's friend, he lost 74# only eating devil cakes. Come join the revolution!

 

[=w=]

Many have recently suggested that if you satisfy a few basic criterea (Sufficient protein, adequate EFA's) the rest of the diet is a moot point and is more just a way to help control the energy balance. As FBD suggested junk food tends to not be very filling due to blood sugar fluctuations, etc. leading to less satiety and increased caloric consumption. However, if one were to monitor calories, not go above what they know to be their maintanance level (not just based on a formula), and satisfy the above criteria then theoretically they should be fine. I (like Haz) have yet to try this, though I am getting closer and closer to trying it, just gotta get over this damn psychological block .

 

[Hk45USP]

Example McDonald's Diet

What if your "junkfood" diet looked like this :

First Meal - Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese (530 Calories, 28 grms of Protein, 38 grms of Carbs, 30gms of fat)

Second Meal - Dymatize Supreme Whey Shake (153 calories,31 grms of Protein, 4 grams of Carbs, 1gm of fat)

Third Meal - Big Mac (590 calories + 24 grms of Protein + 47 grms of Carbs, 34gms of fat)

Fourth Meal - Dymatize Supreme Whey Shake (153 calories + 31 grms of Protein + 4 grms of Carbs, 1gm of fat)

Fifth Meal - Big n Tasty w/ cheese (590 calories + 27 gms of Protein + 40 grms of carbs, 37 grams of fat)

Sixth and Final Meal - Dymatize Supreme Whey Shake (153 calories + 31 gms of Protein + 4 grms of Carbs, 1 gm of fat)

Total Calories = 2169
Total Protein = 172 grams of Proteins
Total Carbs = 137 grams of Carbs
Total Fat = 104 grams of Fat

Now let's just say you weigh 165 pounds and your maintenence calorie level is around 2300 - 2500 calories. Would this diet work to maintain or even lose fat? Reasons :

1) You are technically eating below your calorie level intake

2) You are getting the standard 1gram per bodyweight protein intake.

If this statement is true :

"It's all about calories in, calories out."

Then this diet will work.

Now this is to say that you exclude the fries and soda!!

Think about this :

Add a medium fries order (450 calories) and a medium coke (210 calories) to each meal. That's 660 calories added to each meal!! That would bring an additional 1980 calories to the whole diet which grand totals to 4149 calories!! That's a big difference!

Obviously everyone who buys a meal at Mcdonald's will get the fries and soda, what's a burger without fries right?? Could this be the reason why fast food is so bad??


Could eating the above meal without fries and soda actually help you maintain or lose weight??

The nutritional information was taken from www.mcdonalds.com

 

[JJFigure]

IMO, yes I think you probably would lose weight for a while; you'd just be very constipated and hungry while doing so. One of the benefits of a clean diet is you get to eat more quantity and more foods with a high thermogenic breakdown. This helps stave off the extreme hunger you'd get from a calorie restricted junkfood diet. Although, your diet was pretty high in fat, which would hold down the hunger pangs better than a diet high in sugar.

 

[Burning_Inside]

then you have to take into consideration that whole thing about eating too many fats and carbs together in the same emal, because your body doesnt like , or can't, or whatever, take the energy from both, just the main source, and the rest will get stored away.