What matters more, eating less, or eating healthy?

[Angelsoft717]

I.E maybe eating something unhealthy, but less of it. As compared to eating a healthy alternative. Obviously eating healthy would be better, but I'm not in the best financial situation and eating healthy can take a toll on your wallet. So does eating less work as well?

[Wood973]

I.E maybe eating something unhealthy, but less of it. As compared to eating a healthy alternative. Obviously eating healthy would be better, but I'm not in the best financial situation and eating healthy can take a toll on your wallet. So does eating less work as well?

Well first you need to tell us what your goal is. It doesn't matter if you eat 5000 calories of broccoli, brown rice and tofu, or cheeseburgers you will gain weight regardless. To lose weight (if that is indeed your intention) you need to take in less calories than you burn in a day. But that's not the whole story, you need to do this WHILE hitting your macros to ensure you are getting enough protein and fats in your diet.
Think you should spend a but of time reading through the stickies at the top of this forum.

[dmacdonal9]

I think once you're eating the right amount of calories for your goal, meeting your macro targets within that calorie limit, and getting sufficient micronutrients, it's hard to say what's "unhealthy". The value of going further than that, and micromanaging food selection for whatever reason, is very questionable to my mind.

[Angelsoft717]

My goal isn't necessarily a specific weight. The lowest I've ever been while a teen/adult was 250, and I was running a mile or so everyday 6 days a week for 6 or 7 months(Track). That's not really happening now so my weight has obviously climbed a bit. I just want to drop in specific areas( inner thighs, abs, the hard places) but it's hard to lose in certain spaces because you can't weight train on them. Otherwise I'm fine.

[Bhigs23]

Less, period

[Wood973]

My goal isn't necessarily a specific weight. The lowest I've ever been while a teen/adult was 250, and I was running a mile or so everyday 6 days a week for 6 or 7 months(Track). That's not really happening now so my weight has obviously climbed a bit. I just want to drop in specific areas( inner thighs, abs, the hard places) but it's hard to lose in certain spaces because you can't weight train on them. Otherwise I'm fine.

Got some bad news, you can't spot reduce. You can build areas up so when you lose weight the muscle will show through but that's all you can do.

[Angelsoft717]

Got some bad news, you can't spot reduce. You can build areas up so when you lose weight the muscle will show through but that's all you can do.

Maybe I said it wrong but I know you can't. Those are the spaces where I want to lose but because it takes general weight loss the food question was posed. If my workout is 2 hours long, I spend 1 hour of that doing cardio usually. So the missing piece in the equation here is the food. I've had days where I haven't ate at all, and the next day I lose 4 lbs(literally happened 2 weeks ago). In the long run however I'd gain more weight just fasting so I really don't want to do it.

[Horizon92]

I think once you're eating the right amount of calories for your goal, meeting your macro targets within that calorie limit, and getting sufficient micronutrients, it's hard to say what's "unhealthy". The value of going further than that, and micromanaging food selection for whatever reason, is very questionable to my mind.

Seconded. Just prioritize in that exact order and you are good.

[AngelKing1992]

In your case, you should probably just eat less. Just start anywhere, and go from there. I lost a good amount of weight a few months back by eating less, but not healthy. After said weight loss, I became motivated to work out and eat healthy.

[Wood973]

Maybe I said it wrong but I know you can't. Those are the spaces where I want to lose but because it takes general weight loss the food question was posed. If my workout is 2 hours long, I spend 1 hour of that doing cardio usually. So the missing piece in the equation here is the food. I've had days where I haven't ate at all, and the next day I lose 4 lbs(literally happened 2 weeks ago). In the long run however I'd gain more weight just fasting so I really don't want to do it.

You lost 4 pounds of water and yes you are correct it's not the path you want to go down it will just result in binging. Calculate your TDEE using the IIFYM website and choose a 20% deficit. These are just ball park figures remember, you need to track your weight loss and adjust your calories accordingly. Get 0.8gram/1lb body weight of protein and 0.45 gram/lb body weight of fat, make up the rest of your deficit with whatever macros you want. Weigh and track everything that goes past your lips.