The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Tatsumasa]

Sorry if this has been asked before, I did a Search. But didn't read every topic.

I was just wondering about the Optional Snack suggestions for Celery ( 3 stalks ),

I always thought there wasn't anything wrong with eating as much celery as you want on a diet. Because it makes your body burn more calories than you get out of it making it negative calories.

Is it the Carbs I wonder then.

I dunno just seeing what the concensus is.

[Mike]

The reality of it is... you are correct. It does take more calories to eat and digest it then it contains. The issue with eating alot of it is the fact that... well, you would be eating alot.
The program (not diet) that you are following is teaching you to read your body and recognize that head hunger and body hunger are different things. We need to teach ourselves that we don't always need to have something in our stomachs... it needs to rest.

So, its not so much the limit of having it, its the limit that we shouldn't be eating all of the time. Your 6 meals during the day and one snack should be plenty. If you think you are hungry, drink a no or low calories drink like water or tea, diet soday, crystal lite, infuser, etc.

Hope this helps.

[Tatsumasa]

Yeah I usually don't have a problem with being hungry. I haven't found the need to snack yet. And acually thought I was eating alot for my lean and green meal.

But I talked about it and found out it probably wasn't good to scale anything back. But I could divide it up into somewhat seperate meals making part of it kind of a snack in itself.

I just have to remember when I try it, to make sure I am getting all the proper proportions still. So my body doesn't think it's starving and stop burning the excess fat.

Thanks for the informed response. I like to do my research and it does make alot of sence looking at it from a habbit point of view to understand some of the guidelines.

I am following the plan as close as I can while staying pretty busy worst so far is I've prob gone like 4 hours between some meals. I don't know if thats bad, oh yeah I ate 2 blackberries when we were pulling out a bunch. I didn't catch myself till I got home to eat one of my meals.

nobodys perfect...

[nickieluv]

Yes, you can split your L&G but you are exactly right, keep the proportions correct. Which means you have to split both the L and the G, and not just have your L at one time and your G at another. It sounds like you are doing really well - keep it up!

Very interesting about the celery. Thanks for asking the question.

[DogMa]

I actually just read that that's a myth, about celery containing fewer calories than it takes to eat it. But it IS pretty much zero.

And Mike's right. That said, though, if you're starving and really need to eat something, it's not going to kill you (or derail your weight loss or screw you up for maintenance) if you eat an extra piece of celery.

[Mike]

So, Robins statement made me rethink about celery so I went on a hunt. This is what I found... and I love the last statement regarding the peanut butter and ranch dressing.

It may seem like wishful thinking to believe that such a "negative calorie" food exists, but in the case of celery, it appears to be true. According to several sources we found with a search on "celery burn calories," an 8-inch stalk of celery contains approximately 6 calories. But the mere act of digesting said stalk burns more than 6 calories, resulting in a negative caloric intake.

One of our favorite and most-trusted resources, Urban Legends Reference Pages, does an admirable job of summing up the true urban legend. Contrary to popular belief, chewing and swallowing the celery does not burn the calories, rather it is the act of digesting the tough cellulose that accounts for the energy expended. The same can be said of drinking a cold, low-calorie drink -- the body burns more calories warming the liquid to body temperature than are typically consumed.

As good as this may sound, "In a world where it takes 3,500 calories to work off a single pound of fat, feasting on celery would make only the merest difference."

Celery is not the only so-called negative-calorie food out there. If properly prepared, digesting cauliflower, cucumbers, spinach, and many others can cause your body to burn more calories than you ingest. But before you embark on any crash diet, just remember that your body needs a certain amount of calories per day to function. Eating some of these "negative-calorie" fruits and vegetables may help you control cravings and lose weight but should be only part of a balanced diet coupled with exercise.

And for the record, celery with peanut butter or ranch dressing does not count as a negative-calorie food!