A calorie is a calorie is a calorie?

I'm 18 months out and have hit my goal and am now learning to live in maintenance. My question is related to times when I eat off plan, like vacation. If, in a day, I eat 1200 calories of refined carbs (cookies, popcorn or whatever) will my body treat it differently than 1200 calories of protein? (1200 is my daily calorie budget) So, still within my caloric limits but not my normal low-carb foods. Does the body only gain weight based on calories or on types of food, too? I'm still doing my regular daily exercise and getting in necessary water and when at home I'm strictly back on plan.

I'm curious if it's just math to the body or if content counts, too.

I'm not in maintenance but I'm thinking that how I'm eating now will be the same in maintenance even on vacation, with a few adjustments. I eat a protein forward diet & the body has to work at digesting protein more so than digesting carbs. Carbs is easily digested by the body & is considered quick energy. So if you go back to a carb heavy lifestyle, even on vacation, you'll be likely to eat more because you won't get that full feeling anymore. Carbs usually leave you craving for more carbs. The calorie counting should be more of a guideline, not a swap. What you eat counts more than the actual calorie count of a food item.

Now you know refined carbs are the devils candy, but sometimes you need a break, its vacation, but don't go crazy on refined carbs, it's a real pain in the ass detoxing from that carb overload.

MissNexxie:

I totally agree with this reply. A calorie is NOT a calorie, is NOT a calorie. The body turns carbs to sugar (energy) much faster than protein, especially simple carbs, as opposed to complex carbs. Unless you are doing a lot of physical activity after eating, the energy will be stored as fat.

You should be able to have a little fun on vacation, but you might want to choose food items that are lower on the glycemic index, and stay active.

All the best, Mark

There are those that swear that all calories are not the same. In my case, they are, because I track very closely. There are a couple of infamous examples:

A nutrition professor had a complete junk food diet and lost a bunch of weight: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/

And a high school science teacher lost 60 pounds eating nothing but McDonald's for 3 months. http://abc7.com/health/teacher-loses-60-pounds-while-eating- nothing-but-mcdonalds/705916/

If you restrict calories, you'll lose weight. it's not rocket science. But it is really, really hard to do.

Having said that, the more crap you eat, the more you crave, and the more you WILL eat. Sticking to the dense protein plan is what makes this work in the long run.

Thanks for the reply. I religiously track everything that goes in mouth, good, bad or ugly. I also eat a high protein and pretty low carb menu 90% of the time. I respect and fear my carb addiction and limit my exposure to them. I was curious though for times when I make an allowance to have those carbs but stay within my calorie budget, does the body distinguish where those calories come from vs the total calories? Does 500 calories of bread get treated differently than 500 Cals of chicken? I do, however, know I have to plan always. The new normal.

I was following Dr. Atkins long before many of you were born. He told us to lose weight by eating protein and eliminating sugar and carbs. Back in 1965 that was a really radical thing to advocate.

One of the things that Dr. Atkins recommended was if you totally burned out on the high protein diet, then go to a high carb diet. Now that was not bread and potatoes, it was fruit.

The catch was that you ate fruit again, but stopped protein. He believed you had to always maintain control and not just go off and start eating everything.

I lost about 10 pounds eating fruit for a month when I was about 18 months out. The reason any of this works is because we just end up eating fewer calories and he also told us that is why his diet works.

I do my best on a protein forward diet. I lose weight when I cut calories. For me it does not matter if the calorie is carb or protein, it is the amount of calories I eat.

For me, carbs (and I'm speaking of refined flour and sugar here, mostly) have two negatives. First, they create cravings that set me up for eating more and more, and are EXTREMELY difficult to get over. Second, they are inflammatory, meaning they cause water weight gain, and the inflammatory conditions in the body aren't healthy in the long run. The water retention goes away if and when I'm able to get off the crack and back on track. But for me it's better not to start, even on vacation. There will be the exception here and there during vacation, but generally I stick to my plan.

I believe the answer is a fairly complex one. Books have been written on the subject.

Technically, energy is energy. In science class elementary school kids learn that energy can change forms. It's a fundamental of science we teach students in third grade. So yes, a kcal of energy is a kcal of energy. Where the kcal of energy comes from is rather immaterial. A kcal (or large calorie/food calorie) is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of a kg of water at sea level one degree centigrade. How this exactly translates into food energy, I am unclear.

To me the issue is not the calorie but how the body deals with the form of energy it is given. How a body deals with the food it is given will vary from individual to individual.

Some foods take a very short time to be converted to energy that the body can use. These foods are simple carbohydrates that raise glucose levels quickly. Simple carbs provide quick energy. However, along with the quick rise in blood glucose, comes a rise in insulin production shortly thereafter. Heavy insulin production has been shown to promote fat storage. If you are a carb sensitive or insulin resistant individual, your fat storage system works overtime.

Refined carbs in some bodies promote inflammation. Inflammation causes water retention and can cause a quick weight gain.

Another issue with simple or refined carbs is that in people with faulty leptin responses eating these types of foods actually tricks the brain into thinking your body still needs food. Rather than feeling satisfied the brain tells the body it is still hungry. That faulty response can make it much harder to stop eating those foods after a normal portion and far easier to over eat them.

Based on a lot of my reading, I have changed my opinion that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie because of the way a body can react to different types of food. I can eat true whole grains and dairy carbs with no ill effects. If I eat the same number of carbs in a refined state (think sugar and white flour) my body reacts incredibly differently. High sugar foods are far worse for me than foods made with white flour. Put the two together in one food and it's a real whammy for me.

There are several anecdotal studies that illustrate that one can lose weight on "crap food" diets. As long as the calorie intake is less than what a body needs to function, the body will lose weight. The body being very efficient can get the extra protein an calcium it needs from itself - muscle tissue and bone. One of my coworkers eats very little and has always had a nice figure, but she eats very little food that has any nutritional value. Though she's thin, she's still "fat" in the sense that her body fat percentage is high compared to her lean mass. She's what some people call skinny fat. Her body doesn't get a lot of protein and her lack of muscle tone is apparent.

So, all that said.....

No, I doubt that you'll gain real weight eating 1200 calories of high carb foods on vacation. I think it's reasonable to expect that you'll gain a bit of water weight, but not much more than that. But the fact is that you're on vacation. There is a time to enjoy "off plan" foods. As long as enjoying those foods doesn't cause you any long term damage, I certainly do not see the need to worry.

Your question is "kind of" a trap..... I think I know what your getting at.

Let's say your/I'm on vacation...... and eating off plan (cause I have)...... a couple drinks, a few cookies, popcorn, dessert.....whatever else.

And your sticking to 1200cals for reals.... you/me..... pretty much don't have any calorie budget left over for food.

I travel a lot for both work and vacations, I guess I'm lucky because my travel work always feels like vacation and all my eating strategy are the same work or vacation..... probably much worse for work because my package always includes a $250 a day per diem which is basically 3 meals a day and most lunches are catered and there is always a table full of "craft services", which means snack foods..... or crap foods, or as I call it now "Crap Services".(the muffins are the most tempting for me.... frickin carb/fat bombs)

I believe, if your talking about the "occasional" holiday or vacation....... a calorie is a calorie is a calorie and if you truly stick to honest 1200cal days..... you can't get hurt. And you immediately resume "on plan" eating you should be all good.

Just remember the fat days when we went on the diets and lost some weight..... and it was a vacation, holiday or event that started the vicious cycle back to weight gain because the wheels fell off the wagon!!!! Same thing can happen post WLS.

Hope this helps !

frisco

Thanks everyone for your insightful responses. Lots of good information provided. I am carb sensitive so I do have to be very aware when I choose those trigger foods and after thinking about it, I do get puffy and inflamed when I eat them, even within my calorie budget.

It really is a lifelong change and when I plan for those off plan foods I have to remember to factor in the bloating and other responses along with calories. Thanks for the reminder.

Living with the sleeve and all the planning required really is a part time job.