Which makes you fat: What you eat or how much you eat?

Question

For example, can you eat some junk food through out the day with out gaining weight, if you don't go over your daily calories? Or do you have to eat healthy in order to not get fat?

Answer 1

The most important thing is how much you eat. If you eat more calories than your body needs, your body stores that as fat.

However, you can be thin and unhealthy. Eat junk, and your body doesn't get the nutrients it needs, and you won't feel well.

It's also hard to eat junk food all day and be thin, because junk food tends to be calorically dense; it doesn't take a lot of junk food to make a lot of calories.

Answer 2

Calories are not all the same. 100 calories from ice cream will go towards fat while 100 calories from an apple will feed your body some vitamins and nutrients it needs to function well. The nutritional value of the food you are eating is very important. It can affect everything from the mood you are in, to your immediate health ( as in diabetics ), to what your body looks like or how healthy it really is no matter what your body looks like. There is so much more to being healthy than just how big your body is. A person who is 20 pounds overweight could look and be healthier than a person who is proper weight or a little underweight, especially if he/she works out. The type of food you eat has a lot to do with your metabolism as well. Eating more junkfood will decrease your metabolism, while eating the same number of cal in say, whole grain items will give your metabolism a boost. It makes a huge difference.

Answer 3

if you eat a lot of junk food then you are not going to get all the nutrients your body needs just beacuse you haven't went over your daily calories don't mean your not going to gain weight most junk food has a high fat content and high in sugar both of which will make you gain weight. eating a proper diet from the basic food groups is the way to go that way your body is getting all the nutrients it needs! eating healthy and not skipping meals (eat 3 meals a day. breakfast lunch and dinner), and exercise will keep you from not getting fat!

Answer 4

It is a combonation of both the types of food eaten and the amount of food that one consumes along with the daily activities they get involed with. As far as fat goes, anything that contains simple carbohydrates will turn into fat quicker then complex carbohydrates, but the complex carbs will get storred into you fat untill they are needed. If you are the type of person who goes on a crash diet, then starts to eat like you did before the crash diet, your body will automatically store more carbs to prepare for the next time it experiences a malnutrion. So over all its not about weight, as much as it is about body fat percent. If you can get a low body fat percent (18-21% for women) is the most important part. As a general rule eat what you want to eat, just keep track of amounts and calories, and carbs (espically simple) then make sure you work out. I gueantee that within a month after you start a light weight work out plan with 20 mins. of cardio you will notice a huge different in your body, but possible not on the scale.

Answer 5

Both play a part.

For instance, if you have a diet with a good amount of sugar in it (simple carbs), the intake will spike your blood sugar, which raises your insulin levels, which has the following negative effects when weight loss is concerned. 1) when the insulin clears the sugar, it creates a big drop in the glucose level, which creates a feeling of hunger (is why you eat candy and you feel hungry after the sugar rush ends) and 2) the insulin spike to get rid of the high sugar levels actually primes your system for fat storage and inhibits the enzymes that break down fat.

So getting your carbs from higher quality sources (complex carbs) and less from sources that have sugar is better. Keeping your simple carbs to 1/3 or lower of your total carb intake is a good goal to shoot for.

How much you eat is important too. If you take in too many cals than you burn throughout the day, you'll gain weight. If you take in too little, your body will go into starvation mode and your metabolism will slow, again promoting fat retention.

Answer 6

It's all about energy in, energy out.
You can eat junk all day and so long as you don't exceed the calory limit, you won't get fat. BUT you may get sick. Watch the movie "Supersize me" sometime to see what happens if all you eat is junk for a month.
It's not the smart thing to do, but yeah, if you want to have a slice of pizza or a burger every now and then, it's okay. One big burger = 750 cals. Is it worth it? You decide :-)

Answer 7

It is a matter of calorie intake vs calorie expenditure. Junk food is filled with lots of fat and sugar, contributors of empty calories. So in an otherwise healthy diet, junk food is permissible, just not as the sole source of calories.

Answer 8

I believe in some cases it can depend on a number of different factors. I don't eat a lot but I do drink pop (soda to others), eat candy, etc... When I don't do the pop but eat everything else I tend to drop some of the weight. I have, in the past ate nothing but junk food but was very physically active and lost weight. However, if you had check my cholesterol level it wasn't good. I know people who eat anything and everything don't gain a bit of weight and still in very good health. So, as I said, it can depend on a number of factors

Answer 9

Well it is wise, not to eat junk food (candy, chips ect.) but if you have to do it, then small quantity's. I'm not saying Junk food won't make u gain weight, but u need not eat alot, if you ate a candy bar, you might just eat half, it's all about the quantity, anything you eat should be no bigger then the fist you make with your hand!

Answer 10

it's about moderation and calorie consumption. Look at this way. You could eat a lot of bananas because they're healthy for you, but eating more than one or two isn't necessary. You will eventually gain weight even eating healthy if over consumed.