Curiosity-- How do you know about nutrition?
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I decided to learn about it around age 30 (when I also decided to get serious about learning to cook) when I realized that my old "can eat anything and it doesn't really matter" metabolism was a thing of the past (being less active was probably more of the issue), and when I also realized that I had somehow managed to reach that ripe old age as a woman and yet have no idea at all or experience in how to diet. (I consider this a blessing, actually.)
So I did lots of research, discovered all the interesting debates and theories and changes of mind (low carb, low fat, etc.), and how losing weight worked and more significantly discovered some of the basic things about health and nutrition that seemed to be widely agreed upon, some which I applied, some which I did not. I've remained interested as an academic matter since then, even during the period when I gained a bunch of weight and didn't apply much of anything related to weight loss or maintenance.
Also, having grown up in a family that I'd describe as "meat and potatoes Midwestern" (although that always included vegetables too), I find it interesting that you connect that to your husband's lack of knowledge, since one thing that I discovered was that the food habits I'd grown up with were pretty healthy and pretty easy to return to. (My bigger problem was that I hadn't gotten more experimental with food through cooking, but through going out/ordering a lot, something my job paid for, while expecting me to work very late instead of going home for dinner.)
I also do remember learning a bit in school about the four food groups and all that, but I didn't really retain anything from that.
On the other hand, I did grow up with various decent exercise habits/being encouraged to be active, although looking back I wish I'd been more encouraged to stick with the sports I tried. Ah, well, I probably wouldn't have agreed at the time.
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Through poking around online, like this site, and bodybuilding.com, and similar. Then I decided I loved it and made dietetics my major. So traditional schooling plays a big role, now.0
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I became interested in it a few years ago and did lot's of research. My sister has a medical degree and volunteered her A&P textbook from college. I can't say that I remember it all but I did manage to read the entire textbook. In some ways it was a bit frightening to realize how complex it all is and that it actually works.0
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I learned about it from school and my own research. It's just something I've been interested in for a while.0
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I have absolutely no idea. I can't remember actually learning it. I guess I just learned as I grew up and always pretty much knew what was 'healthy' and what wasn't. .. I just didn't care
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I'm majoring in Health and Human Physiology. I'm only in my 2nd year though, so I'm not an expert. I hope to be pretty knowledgeable by the time I get my degree. Also, the internet is also an invaluable tool if you know how to use it.0
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cwolfman13 wrote: »lots of research and self study. Most people don't know or understand nutrition or calories, etc because it's not a particularly valued piece of knowledge. I think there was one semester in high school in an elective class that touched on the subject...maybe.
Most people just eat...a lot of what is consumed also comes with particular cultures and values of that culture beyond any understanding of nutritional quality or lack there of.
When people want to lose weight and get in shape, they turn to the diet and fitness industry which doesn't really teach anything about proper nutrition or fitness...rather, the industry preys on the desperate and ill informed and is generally only out to make a buck...which confuses these issues even further.
Everything he just said
Same here...
Yeah, pretty much this.
And listening to the "meanies" on MFP who have been at this for a while has been pretty enlightening.
^^^This here^^^
It is amazing how much I have had to relearn since I came here. It is also amazing to me how many people still stick to the old science instead of looking at newer information.
Same with me. Started doing all the stuff I heard from the bro's and guru's. Came here and got educated pretty quickly. Mean people told me I was wrong and backed it up with credible sources.
After I got over the initial butthurt I read their info and had my eyes opened.
Thank you MFP meanies for caring enough to correct my ignorance.0 -
I retained most of my knowledge through research & talking to a nutritionist myself. I became interested in nutrition & how the body works a few years ago, so reading up on all the information I can find was very interesting for me. By no means do I think I know everything I need to know, though. I just started my masters in health & nutrition, so I am currently getting all of my new knowledge from my classes & hands on experiences. I think once you get past wanting to be lose weight just for purpose of a better physical appearance & really want to educate yourself on what you're putting into your body & why, learning about health & nutrition unintentionally becomes an on-going "hobby."0
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I was raised on bologna, white bread, twinkles and coke as my nearly daily lunch. My mother didn't really cook, she heated. The only thing I was told about "nutrition" was don't eat yogurt because it has bacteria and you have to cook pork chops until they are hockey pucks because you don't want to "catch" salmonella.
When I started my journey (and it has been) I did a TON of my own research. I'd never tried to lose weight before, didn't cook, and knew nothing. I was in my mid 30s then. So I read, and read and read some more. I pieced things together as they made sense. And I tweaked things as I learned more.
It's worked fairly well so far (13 years). Over time I became quite interested. I still read a lot on nutrition. As I'm venturing through menopause my reading has shifted a bit, but is still nutrition and health based.
My experience was the same with fitness. I was raised in a family that disdained exercise. My behavior was aberrant. It still is. I joined sports in school, took fitness classes in college, and worked with a personal trainer in my 20s and again in my 30s. I've always exercised in some way, shape or form.0 -
My first degree was in biopsychology/neuroscience so I had to take courses in microbiology and biochemistry. I took a class in nutrition as well as some PE classes. It's a fascinating field but it gets muddied a lot by the gurus and hucksters that sell snake oil.0
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lemurcat12 wrote: »I decided to learn about it around age 30 (when I also decided to get serious about learning to cook) when I realized that my old "can eat anything and it doesn't really matter" metabolism was a thing of the past (being less active was probably more of the issue), and when I also realized that I had somehow managed to reach that ripe old age as a woman and yet have no idea at all or experience in how to diet. (I consider this a blessing, actually.)
So I did lots of research, discovered all the interesting debates and theories and changes of mind (low carb, low fat, etc.), and how losing weight worked and more significantly discovered some of the basic things about health and nutrition that seemed to be widely agreed upon, some which I applied, some which I did not. I've remained interested as an academic matter since then, even during the period when I gained a bunch of weight and didn't apply much of anything related to weight loss or maintenance.
Also, having grown up in a family that I'd describe as "meat and potatoes Midwestern" (although that always included vegetables too), I find it interesting that you connect that to your husband's lack of knowledge, since one thing that I discovered was that the food habits I'd grown up with were pretty healthy and pretty easy to return to. (My bigger problem was that I hadn't gotten more experimental with food through cooking, but through going out/ordering a lot, something my job paid for, while expecting me to work very late instead of going home for dinner.)
I also do remember learning a bit in school about the four food groups and all that, but I didn't really retain anything from that.
On the other hand, I did grow up with various decent exercise habits/being encouraged to be active, although looking back I wish I'd been more encouraged to stick with the sports I tried. Ah, well, I probably wouldn't have agreed at the time.
Here's an example of my husband's meals at home (and the way my MIL still cooks for Sunday dinners). Fried steak ( like chicken fried steak), mashed potatoes with butter, macaroni and cheese, and fruit salad (fruit salad=canned pineapple, mandarin oranges with whipped cream and vanilla pudding mix). Unless you count the mashed potatoes, not a vegetable in sight! This next part is completely literal- my husband had never even tried a salad until we started dating five years ago. I have slowly broadened his food horizon, but there are still less than 10 vegetables that he will eat. He had also never tried broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes.. I could go on.
I think in his situation the blame is not necessarily completely on the "meat and potatoes" diet, but the fact that he was never offered or made to try any new foods. I do actually think that his mom might have had a salad or some vegetable with her meal, but he never did.
Additionally, I'm from the South, so a basic southern meal doesn't generally contain fresh vegetables. Occasionally side salads will be served, but you're more likely to see creamed spinach, corn with butter, or green beans with bacon and marinated in grease!
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cwolfman13 wrote: »lots of research and self study. Most people don't know or understand nutrition or calories, etc because it's not a particularly valued piece of knowledge. I think there was one semester in high school in an elective class that touched on the subject...maybe.
Most people just eat...a lot of what is consumed also comes with particular cultures and values of that culture beyond any understanding of nutritional quality or lack there of.
When people want to lose weight and get in shape, they turn to the diet and fitness industry which doesn't really teach anything about proper nutrition or fitness...rather, the industry preys on the desperate and ill informed and is generally only out to make a buck...which confuses these issues even further.
Everything he just said
Bingo.
Plus, I'm a researcher by trade and by temperament. Even if I'd had decent nutritional education earlier, I'd have ended up on PubMed looking up and critiquing sources sooner or later.0 -
I've learnt everything I do know from my friends on MFP and the discussions in the forums here. I'm sure I still have more to learn though...
I'm not really the type of person who would read a diet book (not when I could be reading a romance novel instead!).
Oh, I did see an anti-sugar documentary the other day which was really good. I can't remember what it was called though.0 -
I went to college for both Culinary Management and then later for Food and Nutrition Management and worked in food service/nutrition field for over 10 years. So, I have a LOT of knowledge. Did it stop me from becoming overweight? NOPE. Unfortunately, just because you know something is unhealthy, does not always stop you from doing it. I had the tools but I did not use them on myself. I would create healthy meal plans for seniors (retirement home) and then go home and eat a pizza. Funny how that works. I also have know many dieticians who are either very over/underweight. It all starts with self-awareness.0
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In order for me to succeed at something (whether it be knitting, soap making, weight loss, whatever I've wanted to learn) I've always had to be well informed. As someone who has had on and off weight issues over the years I've spent many, many hours learning all I can about nutrition. Years ago I went to the library and devoured books, today I spend a lot of time on the internet learning as much as I possibly can. I'm a firm believer in "you are what you eat" and it's crucial (for me, anyway) to be as informed as possible. Knowledge is power!
I just finished up a WW at Work session and it amazed me how many people really are so clueless about nutrition. Like you, I'm not putting anyone down, just stating a fact.0 -
I grew up eating garbage but have worked out most of my life in some way or another.
I learned about nutrition the same way I learn about everything: I read the popular magazines, books, or blogs, then I read the source materials (usually peer-reviewed journals - I work in a library so I have access to a lot of databases others may not).
The main thing to look for if you do this is the methodology. Most people read the abstract or summary and take the "study" at face value. But the methodology will tell you whether the data gathered is useful or useless. (Unfortunately an awful lot of nutrition data is failry useless, because it tends to be self-reported and studies are difficult to reproduce with larger populations.)
In some cases (like the China Study, which was NOT peer-reviewed and is the basis for the absolutely fake "documentary" Forks Over Knives) the researchers will try hard to cover up the fact that their data doesn't support their conclusions AT ALL, and that's often difficult to spot unless you dig deep into the data. That's why it's important not to rely too much on any single study, and to pay more attention to patterns over multiple studies. Reading critiques of studies can also be very useful because, let's face it, digging through source data is BOOOORING.0 -
So, here's my question--- if you know a lot about nutrition, calories, weight loss, etc., how did you gain this knowledge? Was it through sheer research? Did you grow up in the environment? Did you take a class? If you also consider yourself "under informed", why do you think this is so? Were you presented the information when you were younger, but forgot how it all works? Were you just never given the opportunity? Have you learned, but found it hard to grasp/confusing?
I'm just very curious about this. If you're up to it, feel free to share your answer below.
I had a class in high-school on basic nutrition and it was interesting to me that I could actually learn how to manage my weight through proper nutrition, go figure right? I continued to self-educate over the years and then about 5 years ago I hired John Meadows of Mountain-Dog Training.Com to help me lose 10lbs. Not only did I lose the weight but I gained one hell of an education on managing one's nutrition. I read a lot from Dr. John Berardi and last year I went to school to pursue my Masters in Health Promotion & Exercise Science. Though this program I've had physiology, kiniesiology, advanced nutrition, and a host of classes related to wellness and of course exercise implementation.
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Pretty much what Sabine said. I was just ignorant and didnt know anything before I tried to lose weight. This was my first ever attempt to do so. I did a lot of research on my own and got pretty interested and now I read and watch everything I can get my hands on as well as trying to experiment on myself to figure out what really works0
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Here's an example of my husband's meals at home (and the way my MIL still cooks for Sunday dinners). Fried steak ( like chicken fried steak), mashed potatoes with butter, macaroni and cheese, and fruit salad (fruit salad=canned pineapple, mandarin oranges with whipped cream and vanilla pudding mix). Unless you count the mashed potatoes, not a vegetable in sight! This next part is completely literal- my husband had never even tried a salad until we started dating five years ago. I have slowly broadened his food horizon, but there are still less than 10 vegetables that he will eat. He had also never tried broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes.. I could go on.
I think in his situation the blame is not necessarily completely on the "meat and potatoes" diet, but the fact that he was never offered or made to try any new foods. I do actually think that his mom might have had a salad or some vegetable with her meal, but he never did.
Additionally, I'm from the South, so a basic southern meal doesn't generally contain fresh vegetables. Occasionally side salads will be served, but you're more likely to see creamed spinach, corn with butter, or green beans with bacon and marinated in grease!
I've known a few people that also grew up like this. From one friend, apparently his mother "got a deal" on Spaghettios... and bought an entire CASE of them when he was a kid. So the family ate Spaghettios regularly for dinner for two years (turning my friend off from Spaghettios forever). When I met him, he didn't know how to identify most vegetables. He also never had a salad before. Thankfully, introducing him to vegetables, he actually does like quite a few of them even if he's never had them before. But he still doesn't eat right at all. He's getting older gaining a lot of weight and is almost 300 lbs now with a BMI of over 35. I'm hoping he'll realize what he's doing and make a change soon. He's the kind of person that won't listen to anyone else until he comes to his own conclusions.
I can't believe how important it is for parents to teach their kids how to eat. Being a parent is a tough job. I'm so grateful my mother has done well giving me a fairly healthy diet, even if she let me have sweets a little bit too often! My dad was a good influence, too... he wanted to be a chef when I was growing up, but just became a fabulous home cook instead.
I learned what I know about nutrition from grade school (though now everything is different!) and from college biology classes (BS in Biology as well), and doing my own research. I don't think I'm an expert or even close to being really well informed about nutrition, but I also don't think that eating healthy is as much of a rocket science as people make it out to be. People have been eating since the dawn of our species, and doing it well. I think food science and manipulative marketing tends to make everything more complicated and difficult for people that really could just follow their common sense and be fine; and the fact that we can't rely on common sense anymore is a sign that our culture is failing us.
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