Unhelpful advice by experts

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kcd1961
kcd1961 Posts: 126 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Although my day job is as an "expert" (Occupational Therapist/Counsellor) - one of the things I've learned from my own weight loss/chronic disease management journey - is that a lot of stuff that seems accepted just doesn't work for me. I'll share my favourite bad advice and look forward to others experience. As I say to my clients, "If it works, keep doing it, if it doesn't, try something different".

The myth: Have a good breakfast, your brain needs carbs to function well, it will stop you getting hungry through the day and overeating - The reality I found that a good, healthy carb (low GI) loaded breakfast made my brain foggy and set me up for behavioural failure. I was hungry all day long. My brain works best on my fast days when all I have for breakfast is a home made cappuccino. Eating less in the day and having "left over" calories that I "have to eat" at the end of the day has prevented late night bingeing and has produced a much more workable system. (This breaks the "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper" myth - for me).
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Replies

  • obscuremusicreference
    obscuremusicreference Posts: 1,320 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I hate that saying! I truly loathe it. And "don't eat after 6 pm." I spent too much time and energy fighting nighttime binges. It turns out all I needed to do was acknowledge that preference and feed it accordingly.

    ETA: I eat all of my calories--except for coffee--between 4-10:30 pm. And I've lost 35 pounds mostly sticking to that plan.
  • 35in90
    35in90 Posts: 98 Member
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    I can't even look at food in the morning. Also "Eat a smaller meal every 3 hours to optimise your metabolism." Keeps me thinking about food all day (in a bad way).
  • ianblackburn
    ianblackburn Posts: 26 Member
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    "it's not rocket science, just eat less and exercise more" - maybe not from experts, but I see this often enough, and it makes my blood boil! My usual response is: "great idea, oh and by the way, if you want to be a billionaire here's a tip for you - it's not rocket science, just reduce your costs and increase revenue's - simple!"
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
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    I like a good breakfast, but I find by pushing it back 2 hours or so after I get up - so eating at 9am rather than 7am - it helps me better control my hunger and blood sugar all day. If I eat at 7am, I'm eating lunch by 11am, snacking by 3pm, and am an unholy amount of hungry by 5:30 so snack again before dinner. I also like to save calories for about 8-9pm if I can, as I always want something to nibble then. I think accounting for your individual habits in your plans is really important - no point trying to force yourself into a way of eating that is really unnatural, when just reducing calories or trying to make healthier choices over junk food can be tiring enough.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    The fact is you don't need an expert to lose weight: just eat less calories than you burn on a regular basis.

    "experts" make it complicated because they want to make money out of it. But the info is simple and available for free. Great tools (like mfp) are also available for free. All you have to supply is patience and sticking power...
  • reesrachel00
    reesrachel00 Posts: 104
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    Eat when hungry is the best way, I do like to eat breakfast or brunch now though as it works for me and controlling calories. We are unique for a reason, what works well for one doesn't for another, personal trial and error, I agree with OP
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    reesrachel00 wrote: »
    Eat when hungry is the best way, I do like to eat breakfast or brunch now though as it works for me and controlling calories. We are unique for a reason, what works well for one doesn't for another, personal trial and error, I agree with OP

    What works is a calorie deficit. How you achieve it on a regular basis is a matter of personal taste.
  • reesrachel00
    reesrachel00 Posts: 104
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    jimmmer wrote: »
    reesrachel00 wrote: »
    Eat when hungry is the best way, I do like to eat breakfast or brunch now though as it works for me and controlling calories. We are unique for a reason, what works well for one doesn't for another, personal trial and error, I agree with OP

    What works is a calorie deficit. How you achieve it on a regular basis is a matter of personal taste.

    yes I agree, eat less move more in whatever way suits the individual :)
  • flabassmcgee
    flabassmcgee Posts: 659 Member
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    herrspoons wrote: »
    jimmmer wrote: »
    reesrachel00 wrote: »
    Eat when hungry is the best way, I do like to eat breakfast or brunch now though as it works for me and controlling calories. We are unique for a reason, what works well for one doesn't for another, personal trial and error, I agree with OP

    What works is a calorie deficit. How you achieve it on a regular basis is a matter of personal taste.

    This.

    +2
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,136 Member
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    Food racism. What did white food ever do to hurt you so much?
    7142012231507Hklm7.gif
  • toofatnomore
    toofatnomore Posts: 206 Member
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    "it doesn't matter WHAT you eat as long as it fits in your macros and you are in a deficit." maybe true for some, but being diabetic, this plan for me doesn't work. The traditional food pyramid way of eating also fails me. If I am at 75 carbs a day or less, I feel great, don't want to snack, lose weight and turn in healthy blood work results. While extreme anything has down falls, I have gained and lost dozens of times over the years. I am finally reaching success staying away from flour and refined sugar and most starches.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    toofatnomore wrote: »
    "it doesn't matter WHAT you eat as long as it fits in your macros and you are in a deficit." maybe true for some, but being diabetic, this plan for me doesn't work. The traditional food pyramid way of eating also fails me. If I am at 75 carbs a day or less, I feel great, don't want to snack, lose weight and turn in healthy blood work results. While extreme anything has down falls, I have gained and lost dozens of times over the years. I am finally reaching success staying away from flour and refined sugar and most starches.

    Excepting medical conditions. Then you have to follow the advice of your healthcare professional.

    This should go without saying.

    It's like when someone starts a thread saying how much they love cheese. You always get one person who has to say: Not for me - I'm lactose intolerant. I mean, yeah...
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    toofatnomore wrote: »
    "it doesn't matter WHAT you eat as long as it fits in your macros and you are in a deficit." maybe true for some, but being diabetic, this plan for me doesn't work. The traditional food pyramid way of eating also fails me. If I am at 75 carbs a day or less, I feel great, don't want to snack, lose weight and turn in healthy blood work results. While extreme anything has down falls, I have gained and lost dozens of times over the years. I am finally reaching success staying away from flour and refined sugar and most starches.

    But if you need to eat 75 g carbs or less a day, exceeding that DOESN'T fit your macros. o:)
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    toofatnomore wrote: »
    "it doesn't matter WHAT you eat as long as it fits in your macros and you are in a deficit." maybe true for some, but being diabetic, this plan for me doesn't work. The traditional food pyramid way of eating also fails me. If I am at 75 carbs a day or less, I feel great, don't want to snack, lose weight and turn in healthy blood work results. While extreme anything has down falls, I have gained and lost dozens of times over the years. I am finally reaching success staying away from flour and refined sugar and most starches.

    But if you need to eat 75 g carbs or less a day, exceeding that DOESN'T fit your macros. o:)

    Lol!
  • spamarie
    spamarie Posts: 2,825 Member
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    I was told not to count calories as it leads to obsession, but to try and stick to about 1200 calories a day. How on earth do you stick to such a low number of calories without counting them? And this was from the same medical practitioner!
  • kendalslimmer
    kendalslimmer Posts: 579 Member
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    "5 fruits and 5 veg a day." If I actually did this I'd be eating nothing but fruit and veg all day long and I'd be blowing my sugar/carb intake completely.

    I've settled for 2 large servings of veg and 1 of fruit - and that seems to work out ok...

  • lisaw19855
    lisaw19855 Posts: 165 Member
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    Cut out carbs!

    Yeah great, I'll lose weight quickly but if I ever touch a carb again I'll balloon. I had one day where my carb intake was about 30g and I nearly passed out.
  • lisaw19855
    lisaw19855 Posts: 165 Member
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    lisaw19855 wrote: »
    Cut out carbs!

    Yeah great, I'll lose weight quickly but if I ever touch a carb again I'll balloon. I had one day where my carb intake was about 30g and I nearly passed out.

    Not necessary.

    And I'm pretty sure 30g of carbs in one day probably wasn't the reason you almost passed out. You're probably crash dieting. And no carbs won't make you balloon up, over eating will.

    Not crash dieting at all thanks, a pretty bold assumption. Minimum is around 1400 calories a day, I simply didn't fuel my body correctly for the activity I was doing which dropped my blood sugar too low.

  • Steff46
    Steff46 Posts: 516 Member
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    The myth: Have a good breakfast, your brain needs carbs to function well, it will stop you getting hungry through the day and overeating

    kcd1961 - Yes! Since trying Intermittent Fasting, I have come to realize that I don't need to eat breakfast first thing in the morning (I do have my coffee with unsweet almond milk). It was hard at first to skip breakfast. Everything I have read tells me that skipping breakfast will lead to obesity........wrong! So far I eat between the hours of 11am and 7pm. And it works for me. I've lost weight and body fat, oh and lowered my cholesterol! Yay! Never be afraid to step outside of the box >:)

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