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What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

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Re: What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

#161

Whenever I see a thread like this pop up on HN, I feel a need to reply and dispel some myths. I'm going to do my best to provide a quick, yet thorough summary. I hope this helps. Who am I? I'm a techie and a fitness nut. I've played high level basketball, amateur football, rugby, aussie rules football. I've done some triathlons (not my forte), a couple ultra races (hate them, learned a lot about myself). My current a…

Interesting. Could you provide a link to your website or book? Also, what do you think of "slow" exercises/arts like yoga, taichi etc in general? Obviously you don't do this (as you are in to HIIT), just curious to know your thoughts though.

Re: What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

#162

Whenever I see a thread like this pop up on HN, I feel a need to reply and dispel some myths. I'm going to do my best to provide a quick, yet thorough summary. I hope this helps. Who am I? I'm a techie and a fitness nut. I've played high level basketball, amateur football, rugby, aussie rules football. I've done some triathlons (not my forte), a couple ultra races (hate them, learned a lot about myself). My current a…

Thank you for this, fingerprinter. I follow something similar to what you say and can attest that it has been working for me for over a year, with slight variations and tailoring it to my day-to-day life, since I am first and foremost a runner. However, I still weight train (heavy weights), so going back and forth from the "runner's world" to a "weight-trainer's world" are two different beasts, but I am too stubborn…

Thought you would like this backstory a bit.

My co-author for my book on gaining muscle is a runner (and trainer etc). Loves running, marathons, ragnar, the whole lot etc.

Before we started writing, I finally convinced him to give the program a shot, eat the way I recommended and workout with weights the way I recommended. He put on over 10 pounds of muscle and never felt better. His marathon time dropped, his 5k/10k was faster and he has 6-pack abs. He's a convert.

Now, he still runs but he works with weights with equal intensity and he runs much, much less than he did previously. And since his diet changed, he is able to maintain the muscle and leanness.

Re: What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

#163
post #161

Whenever I see a thread like this pop up on HN, I feel a need to reply and dispel some myths. I'm going to do my best to provide a quick, yet thorough summary. I hope this helps. Who am I? I'm a techie and a fitness nut. I've played high level basketball, amateur football, rugby, aussie rules football. I've done some triathlons (not my forte), a couple ultra races (hate them, learned a lot about myself). My current a…

Interesting. Could you provide a link to your website or book? Also, what do you think of "slow" exercises/arts like yoga, taichi etc in general? Obviously you don't do this (as you are in to HIIT), just curious to know your thoughts though.

I do Yoga. Love it. Feel much better weight lifting being flexible!

Re: What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

#164
post #151

This page says: Brown Sugar 53 grams = 200 Calories Splenda Artifical Sweetener 50 grams = 200 Calories I don't understand?

Both numbers are totally wrong. Because both should be closer to a quarter million, and not 200. Even one gram of sugar already has over 4000 calories. But besides that, and this is probably your question: you only need a tiny amount of artificial sweetener, to get the same sweetness that you would get with sugar. For example Aspartam is about 200x as sweet as sugar, but it contains a very similar amount of energy. S…

To your first point: 1 Calorie = 1 Kilo-calorie = 4184 Joules

so 200Calories actually _is_ close to a quarter-million calories (small c)

Re: What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

#165
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People think bagels are healthy? They're just a big, dense (delicious) ring of simple carbs.

In relation to a custard filled donut, they probably are pretty healthy. They definitely fall on the 'health food' end of the breakfast breads/pastries/etc.

True, relative to those things. I guess I was setting the "healthy" bar at things like eggs, oatmeal, whole wheat toast, lower-fat deli meats and completely forgetting about the fact that people eat donuts and other pastries for breakfast.

Re: What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

#166
post #140
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, a spoonful of refined white sugar contains 100% calories. It does not contain any minerals, vitamins, protein, essential fatty acids, micronutrients or antioxidants, which in the context of this discussion, is what is meant by saying it has no nutrients.

There are only 4 macronutrients (foods metabolism can run on): carbs, fat, protein, & ethanol. So if you believe protein & fat are nutrients, then you must believe carbs are as well.

'Macronutrients' are not diet 'nutrients'. Nutrients are chemicals the body needs an external supply of. Building blocks for cells and structures. They have nothing to do with metabolism.

Re: What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

#167
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the explanation from an expert - http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-we-get-fat.htm... "Carbohydrates are rarely converted to fat (a process called de novo lipogenesis) under normal dietary conditions. There are exceptions when this occurs. One is with massive chronic overfeeding of carbs. I’m talking 700-900 grams of carbs per day for multiple days. Under those conditions, carbs max out glycogen sto…

A basic text on biochemistry will educate you more than this "expert". You really should educate yourself properly instead of following random web sites that confirm your own biases. Carbohydrates ARE converted to fat under normal dietary conditions, via insulin. If this metabolic process was "rare" as he states, then diabetics that require insulin injections wouldn't need them often. I don't know where this "expert"…

Insulin does not cause the body to convert glucose into fat. That process is known as 'de novo lipogenesis', and Lyle is correct that it is very rare.

From a high level perspective, I agree that insulin causes the body to burn blood glucose for fuel. The extra "carbs" don't get magically converted to fat though - they're used to replenish muscle glycogen and perform other actions. It is the dietary fat ingested alongside carbohydrates that gets stored as fat in the body.

Here's a quick summary: http://examine.com/faq/how-are-carbohydrates-converted-into-....

Note: I am not an advocate of ketogenic or otherwise low carb diets. I think a calorie deficit and adequate protein intake is all that you need to lose fat. No diet can work without some sort of calorie deficit, either explicitly or indirectly induced.

Re: What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

#168
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are only 4 macronutrients (foods metabolism can run on): carbs, fat, protein, & ethanol. So if you believe protein & fat are nutrients, then you must believe carbs are as well.

Even at a basic level, that's not true. Despite popular myth, the body can derive 1.5/2 cal/g of fiber as well. > While there is still some debate in the area, researchers have assigned a caloric value to fiber of 1.5-2 cal/gram (depending on the specific type). Source: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/fiber-its-natures...

Ah yes, but then those are fat calories, not "fibre" calories.

Re: What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

#170
post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cutting calories is the only way to lose weight. Cutting carbs typically means people end up eating less calories, because protein is more satiating. "Eating the same diet, just a lot less carbs" If you're eating less carbs, that's 4 calories less for every grab of carbs you've cut out. If previously you were eating around 200g of carbs everyday (probably on the low end, honestly) you've now removed around 800 calori…

I hope you aren't suggesting that the only ways to lose weight are by lowering intake of calories below your daily usage, or increasing your daily usage of them above your daily intake through some form of additional calorie burning activity... (cause you'll never sell a best-selling book like that )

I don't think I can give your comment enough upvotes. Sometimes people just don't like the simple answer.....
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