Moderation

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Replies

  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    kgeyser wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    kgeyser wrote: »
    I just read the article blog some random person wrote, and frankly, I'm think it's completely off on the definition of moderation. Moderation is the absence of extremes, but I think it is more appropriately applied in the same context as "eating within your macros" or "having a calorie deficit" - it's a concept that can be applied to all different ways of eating, whereas this author tries to make moderation into a labeled diet where specific foods are included. The author basically defines it as "eating mostly whole foods with treats." Um, what? That's not any definition of "eating in moderation" that I've ever heard, that's someone trying to co-op the term to make their preferred type of food intake into something they think everyone else needs to adhere to for success.

    The most ridiculous part is the author states that things like eating 100% paleo, or going sugar-free, or only eating organic are considered "extreme," but then goes on to contradict herself by saying "The specifics will look different for everyone, because everyone has different preferences and tastes." Wouldn't eating a paleo diet or vegetarian diet or a no added sugar diet fall into the category of personal preferences and tastes? And who determines what is or is not a treat or indulgence in someone else's diet?

    To me, moderation has to do with portion size and/or frequency of consumption, not any specific type of food. The author also goes on to talk about food restriction and binging - for some people, yes, this can be a very real concern. For others, restricting or eliminating a food is their path to success. The author admits to having feelings of guilt around long-term restricting/binging and foods - that's her personal psychological issue, it's not endemic to all people who restrict foods. Others find that just eliminating the food reduces or eliminates issues around foods, because they no longer endure the psychological stress of trying to moderate those foods and failing.

    TL;DR: I'm glad she found something that works for her, but as far as the author's definition of moderation

    you-keep-using-that-word.gif

    the author uses the webster definition of moderation, not sure why you think it is some made up definition …

    Just because she quoted the definition does not mean she used the word properly in context. Here's what she initially says (hat tip to the cherry-picking manner in which she choose to present only one definition for the word and completely left out the definition of the idiom "in moderation" which means "without excess; moderately; temperately")
    mod·er·a·tion

    ˌmädəˈrāSH(ə)n/
    noun
    1. the avoidance of excess or extremes, especially in one’s behavior or political opinions.
    Eating 100% strict paleo is not moderation, it is extreme.

    Yet later in the article she states:
    So what does moderation look like in the real world?

    It looks like eating a MOSTLY whole foods diet with plenty of nutrients from fruits, vegetables, lean meats, healthy fats, etc. The specifics will look different for everyone, because everyone has different preferences and tastes. It also leaves room for regular treats and indulgences that feed our soul and give us pleasure.

    The application she describes is quite different from the definition she presented, and a 100% paleo diet would easily fit the criteria of a "mostly whole foods diet with plenty of nutrients from fruits, vegetable, lean meats, healthy fats, etc;" the choice to eat a paleo diet would be supported by her statement that "the specifics will look different for everyone, because everyone has different preferences and tastes; and things like paleo desserts would certainly fit into the category of "regular treats and indulgences that feed our soul and give us pleasure."

    Therefore, a paleo diet meets the criteria for "what moderation looks like in the real world," which contradicts her previous statement about a paleo diet. The author is applying the same definition inconsistently. In the first instance, she defines moderation by the types of food consumed/behavior of eliminating certain foods from one's diet, and in the second, she defines moderation by the amount/frequency of types of foods consumed and the behavior of exercising that practice.

    My post clarified is that her use in the first instance is inaccurate and that the second instance is the correct usage when discussing diet and food consumption, which makes moderation apply across ways of eating. Her use of both instances as acceptable under that one specific definition is glaringly contradictory - which also supports what some other users have said about the definition of moderation being unclear to some people. The author's own words support that position.

    No because a paleo diet includes extra structures that are not in that definition. A paleo person can't have a snickers because "not paleo brah, how about some honey?". A person practicing moderation may have no personal interest in a snickers, but will not say they cannot have it because moderation forbids it.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    Kalikel wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    "I've been eating clean and I'm gaining weight!"

    "I've been eating in moderation and I'm gaining weight!"

    I'm going to need more. It doesn't really explain how they're actually eating.

    True, but the difference is that I've never seen the former.
    If someone asks about how to eat treats "in moderation", there will be 20 different ways to do it.

    Because people are different, and "in moderation" really just means "not to excess" in this context.

    And IMO, moderation does not describe a way of eating. It describes an approach.
    If I say, "I eat treats in moderation," what does that mean? So we know if that means once or twice a year? Every day? With every meal? Do we know if it's a time thing or an amount one? Doe we know if it's always the same thing or various things?

    We don't. We don't know what it means except that the person who said it believes they're eating "in moderation."

    Actually it means having a treat every time you an MFP warning - moderator warning, moderation. No one told you? Jail bars means you get to go to the make your own sunday bar.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
    I missed this post pre-moderation, but some things have certainly become more clear.

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Not eating everything in moderation is often a healthy and valid choice for some people. I'm better off with some restrictions.

    Yes, this is true. I don't think anyone is saying everyone should eat in moderation.

    On the 100% paleo thing, I think it's worth noting that most of the paleo "gurus" tend not to demand 100% compliance. I think if someone enjoys the paleo style of eating that can be a version of moderation, but freaking out if you slip and eat some bread or cheese would not be. Or giving up beans if you like them and have no reason you can identify for not eating them, same.

    Most vegans/vegetarians have reasons for their choices, so they fit specific goals (or tastes or ethical principles, really).

    I didn't see the article as saying that eating local or organic was problematic, but that claiming one must do that would be.

    IMO, a low carb diet that limits veg and includes tons of sat fat is clearly not "moderate," but if someone enjoys that, it could be a fine choice, none of my business. It only bugs me when people eat a diet that far from typical recommendations and go on to claim everyone else is unhealthy.
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    md3j7ar3mmri.jpg

    I think this pretty well exemplifies this entire thread.

    I'm not even trying to take sides in this one.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I'm completely confused as to what the argument even is.

    As the author of the link in the OP said, the issue is that people claim "moderation" is an excuse to eat poorly or 100% fast food or Twinkies or the like, and that's obviously not consistent with the moderate approach nor what anyone recommends.

    No one claimed everyone had to do moderation or that moderation is a "way of eating" from which it was possible to determine the exact amount of "treats" you eat per day. Those are strawmen.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I'm completely confused as to what the argument even is.

    As the author of the link in the OP said, the issue is that people claim "moderation" is an excuse to eat poorly or 100% fast food or Twinkies or the like, and that's obviously not consistent with the moderate approach nor what anyone recommends.

    No one claimed everyone had to do moderation or that moderation is a "way of eating" from which it was possible to determine the exact amount of "treats" you eat per day. Those are strawmen.
    It's not a straw man. Someone brought up a past post of mine in which I put forth a few of the many, many definitions of "moderation" I've read on these boards. I wouldn't have compiled the list unless people had adamantly argued that everyone defines it the same way and nobody deviates from that definition.

    Many people have deviated from that definition, even more since that thread.

    Until a person describes how they eat "in moderation" nobody else can know how they eat. Everyone seems to be in agreement that it's carried out in many different ways. So, really, we are in agreement.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    This thread is an absolute study in obtuse posturing for effect
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited October 2015
    It's typical MFP misunderstandings and hijinks, that's all.

    Maybe this example will help illustrate how a word that everyone understands like "moderation" can be slippery in its application in the real world, where people use it to mean different things:

    "I'm a moderate drinker", said by two people who sincerely believe it's true of themselves.

    Person 1 is a regular pubgoer, hangs out with hardcore daily drinkers in a drinking culture: "Only about three pints a night. I stay in Sundays"

    Person 2 is a homebody who only drinks socially: "Once or twice a month, I'll have a glass of wine or two"

    Moderation, in practice, has to refer to an objective standard to mean anything. There is no official, objective standard of either the central mean or extremes, so when people say they're "moderate" it's usually in relation to their own (subjective) personal habits and cultural milieu, which differs not only from country to country but across subcultures.

    (E.g. there's every country's guidance on alcohol, but that differs country to country. Same for the food guides, which everyone says are political.)

    It's exactly the same fuzziness issue as with clean eating, except with "moderation", the fuzziness is about amounts, rather than content.

    Although it's also, implicitly, in the popular understanding, about food type, no matter what people say. As reflected in the OP and picked up by @kgeyser . People do still think about treats vs. "healthy" foods. If they were really convinced by the moderation argument, they would only be talking about amounts. And as I said, the goalposts still change with that from person to person.

    ***

    Another example: the level of risk of environmental pollutants. That's not a scientific definition, in application. It's decided by a (political) consensus on what an acceptable amount of exposure to pollutant X might be. That changes over time.

    Same for X-rays, the amount of radiation that was formerly tolerated would never be allowed now, though they were considered only "moderately" risk in the past.

    Or the amount of estrogen in birth control pills in the 60s (LOTS; "moderately risky") vs now (as little as possible).
  • MondayJune22nd2015
    MondayJune22nd2015 Posts: 876 Member
    tomatoey wrote: »
    It's typical MFP misunderstandings and hijinks, that's all.

    Maybe this example will help illustrate how a word that everyone understands like "moderation" can be slippery in its application in the real world, where people use it to mean different things:

    "I'm a moderate drinker", said by two people who sincerely believe it's true of themselves.

    Person 1 is a regular pubgoer, hangs out with hardcore daily drinkers in a drinking culture: "Only about three pints a night. I stay in Sundays"

    Person 2 is a homebody who only drinks socially: "Once or twice a month, I'll have a glass of wine or two"

    Moderation, in practice, has to refer to an objective standard to mean anything. There is no official, objective standard of either the central mean or extremes, so when people say they're "moderate" it's usually in relation to their own (subjective) personal habits and cultural milieu, which differs not only from country to country but across subcultures.

    (E.g. there's every country's guidance on alcohol, but that differs country to country. Same for the food guides, which everyone says are political.)

    It's exactly the same fuzziness issue as with clean eating, except with "moderation", the fuzziness is about amounts, rather than content.

    Although it's also, implicitly, in the popular understanding, about food type, no matter what people say. As reflected in the OP and picked up by @kgeyser . People do still think about treats vs. "healthy" foods. If they were really convinced by the moderation argument, they would only be talking about amounts. And as I said, the goalposts still change with that from person to person.

    ***

    Another example: the level of risk of environmental pollutants. That's not a scientific definition, in application. It's decided by a (political) consensus on what an acceptable amount of exposure to pollutant X might be. That changes over time.

    Same for X-rays, the amount of radiation that was formerly tolerated would never be allowed now, though they were considered only "moderately" risk in the past.

    Or the amount of estrogen in birth control pills in the 60s (LOTS; "moderately risky") vs now (as little as possible).

    This is exactly what I mean!
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    edited October 2015
    The definitions don't define levels of what moderation and/or clean are, so those levels; will always be opinions.

    This is damned near painful to read, because the intellectual twisting you have to do to actually think that just boggles.

    Please tell me you're not serious here.

    Level of... moderate? or clean? Seriously?

    What's your feeling on the definition of the word "is"?

    This was my earlier explanation to someone else's confusion, about that post:

    "I am just implying that there's no definitive rules, concerning the levels/percentage of application and/or even the method of application itself of these specific definitions; I don't understand how that's incomprehensible."

    Again, you are one who is confusing a philosophy with its application. That's why this is painful to read.

    Just because terms can be relative in their application does not been that their philosophy is murky.

    The thing is some terms ARE absolute. Clean? It's absolute. Moderate? Its very definition defines it as the absence of an absolute, so... yes, there are different ways to be moderate. It doesn't mean it's murky or hard to understand.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    edited October 2015
    If moderation is defined by what it isn't and applies to a wide population of people who are by nature different and employ different diets... there can be no objective standard.

    It simply means the absence of extremes or absolutes of choice. I can't understand why thinking of what something isn't instead of what something is seems to be such a difficult concept to grasp.

    This is not a slap against people who chose to do the extreme or absolute and restrict themselves to only this or that. If that works for you? Hey, have at it, and enjoy!

    Someone who practices moderation doesn't do what you do, that's all.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    The point is, no matter how words are twisted for some weird personal agenda, I don't actually care how you choose to eat, unless what I read is unhealthy or unnecessarily restrictive because people are so poorly educated by all the hype about dieting

    Sometimes I react to the tone of self-punishment in posts or the absolute ridiculous beliefs in good foods and bad or people spouting fads as facts

    This happens with "extremes" and you don't get that from moderation

  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    It just occurred to me that perhaps this discussion would be more fruitful if the word extreme, which can be construed to be judgmental, were to be replaced with absolute. That sounds more neutral to me.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited October 2015
    It just occurred to me that perhaps this discussion would be more fruitful if the word extreme, which can be construed to be judgmental, were to be replaced with absolute. That sounds more neutral to me.

    It's not even that "extreme" is judgemental, it's that it's arbitrary and subjective.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    If moderation is defined by what it isn't and applies to a wide population of people who are by nature different and employ different diets... there can be no objective standard.

    Correct.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited October 2015
    tomatoey wrote: »
    It just occurred to me that perhaps this discussion would be more fruitful if the word extreme, which can be construed to be judgmental, were to be replaced with absolute. That sounds more neutral to me.

    It's not even that "extreme" is judgemental, it's that it's arbitrary and subjective.

    Black box theory strikes again

    I find it to be neither ..just descriptive of something that is not a moderation approach

    Extreme / absolute = I can't eat that
    Moderate = I can eat some of that ...the scale may be amount or time or within the nutritional make up of overall diet

    Extreme / absolute = that is junk must not eat
    moderate = not the most highly nutritional, should not base food intake around it
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    The definitions don't define levels of what moderation and/or clean are, so those levels; will always be opinions.

    This is damned near painful to read, because the intellectual twisting you have to do to actually think that just boggles.

    Please tell me you're not serious here.

    Level of... moderate? or clean? Seriously?

    What's your feeling on the definition of the word "is"?

    This was my earlier explanation to someone else's confusion, about that post:

    "I am just implying that there's no definitive rules, concerning the levels/percentage of application and/or even the method of application itself of these specific definitions; I don't understand how that's incomprehensible."

    Again, you are one who is confusing a philosophy with its application. That's why this is painful to read.

    Just because terms can be relative in their application does not been that their philosophy is murky.

    The thing is some terms ARE absolute. Clean? It's absolute. Moderate? Its very definition defines it as the absence of an absolute, so... yes, there are different ways to be moderate. It doesn't mean it's murky or hard to understand.

    It means that people are doing different things with the concept. In the same way that people do different things with the concept of "clean".

    Of course the word "moderation" itself isn't hard to understand, no one said it was.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited October 2015
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    It just occurred to me that perhaps this discussion would be more fruitful if the word extreme, which can be construed to be judgmental, were to be replaced with absolute. That sounds more neutral to me.

    It's not even that "extreme" is judgemental, it's that it's arbitrary and subjective.

    Black box theory strikes again

    I find it to be neither ..just descriptive of something that is not a moderation approach

    Extreme / absolute = I can't eat that
    Moderate = I can eat some of that ...the scale may be amount or time or within the nutritional make up of overall diet

    Extreme / absolute = that is junk must not eat
    moderate = not the most highly nutritional, should not base food intake around it

    Ok, but how much is "some"?

    Extreme = drinking 3 pints a day 5 days a week, for some, even though other people call it moderate
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    That's not a moderate reaction to the term moderation, it's an extreme semantic argument

    But it's fine

    It's clearly how the black box in your brain works...but not how mine does...with the same input signals we get markedly different output

    Is it going to affect either of us that we can't agree?...nope

    Are we going to be equally successful in our health and fitness goals? ...quite possibly

    I appreciate this is a non sequitur ...but I don't hold out much hope that either side will be swayed

    Though I admit to being surprised there is actually another side to what seemed blatantly clear to me

    H'oh well...such is the way of folk
  • Gianfranco_R
    Gianfranco_R Posts: 1,297 Member
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    maidentl wrote: »
    Oh, I like this one! There are some folks that think that moderation "can mean anything" but this article nails it down. It is the absence of extremes. Nice. Thanks for sharing it!
    I would be the person who argued that. It's because it's true.

    When I first started reading on MFP, I was trying very hard to figure out what the heck people meant when they said "clean" or "in moderation" because one person would say this was clean and another would say that was clean, while one person saying moderation was this and another was saying moderation was that.

    You can argue that both terms have definitions, but are carried out differently. That really doesn't help the person who is trying to figure out exactly what it means.

    The fact of the matter is that saying "clean" or "in moderation" just isn't specific. It has no meaning that anyone could pinpoint and say "Everyone who says they eat this way does X."

    I don't mind people using the words "clean" or "in moderation." I get what they mean in a general sense. But when they use those words, I don't know exactly how they are defining them. Most of the time, the general sense works just fine. Occasionally, though, I need a little more.

    "I've been eating clean and I'm gaining weight!"

    "I've been eating in moderation and I'm gaining weight!"

    I'm going to need more. It doesn't really explain how they're actually eating.

    If someone asks about how to eat treats "in moderation", there will be 20 different ways to do it.

    As many posters have many meanings for each term, specifics will be required.

    I have the same issue with both terms - "clean" and "in moderation" and am not slamming either group or trying to make fun of either group or have a fight.

    I never suggested that anyone should stop using those terms! It's just that they aren't really clearly describing a way of eating.

    The difference is that there's a specific definition to 'moderation'. Good luck finding one for 'clean eating'.
    The problem is that lots of people have defined it, but they've all defined it ver differently.

    Maybe the group of people in this thread will agree upon a definition and then people would know what you all meant, but not everyone who uses the term is using it the way you do.

    Clean eaters could say that "clean" has a definition, but it is carried out differently by different people and some people are using it wrong. It still doesn't allow me to know what the person who says, "I'm eating clean" actually means.

    Saying, "This word has a definition, but is carried out differently by different people and some people are using the word wrong" - that doesn't help the person who reads it to know what it means.

    You're confusing a philosophy with its context/application.

    They're two separate issues.

    Moderation for a dieter with a TDEE of 3800 calories who's an ominivore is going to look different than moderation for a dieter with a TDEE of 1800 calories who's a vegetarian. They can both still practice moderation, but the specifics of how it's applied will look different.

    as a vegetarian, do you eat meat 'in moderation'?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited October 2015
    Nm
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    moderation is very specific, moderate your food choices to the ones that you like. Plain, simple, easy.

    Clean eating however has about a million different definitions and a million different variants.

    I do not understand why this is so hard for some to understand.

    Well your definition "moderate your food choices to the ones that you like" could result in someone eating just fast food, presumably in moderate quantity and that wouldn't fit the articles "definition".

    Can vegetarians do moderation ? Vegans ?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    edited October 2015
    ndj1979 wrote: »

    the author uses the webster definition of moderation, not sure why you think it is some made up definition …

    the author used one definition from a dictionary, prefixed with the number 1, which tells me there are others. They then applied it to eating.

    The phrase "the avoidance of excess or extremes," is precise enough, but after that everything is subjective as one persons extreme might be another's norm. The median consumption of soda in some populations is zero, does that make 50% of them extreme ? or the other 50% consuming to excess ?
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    maidentl wrote: »
    Oh, I like this one! There are some folks that think that moderation "can mean anything" but this article nails it down. It is the absence of extremes. Nice. Thanks for sharing it!
    I would be the person who argued that. It's because it's true.

    When I first started reading on MFP, I was trying very hard to figure out what the heck people meant when they said "clean" or "in moderation" because one person would say this was clean and another would say that was clean, while one person saying moderation was this and another was saying moderation was that.

    You can argue that both terms have definitions, but are carried out differently. That really doesn't help the person who is trying to figure out exactly what it means.

    The fact of the matter is that saying "clean" or "in moderation" just isn't specific. It has no meaning that anyone could pinpoint and say "Everyone who says they eat this way does X."

    I don't mind people using the words "clean" or "in moderation." I get what they mean in a general sense. But when they use those words, I don't know exactly how they are defining them. Most of the time, the general sense works just fine. Occasionally, though, I need a little more.

    "I've been eating clean and I'm gaining weight!"

    "I've been eating in moderation and I'm gaining weight!"

    I'm going to need more. It doesn't really explain how they're actually eating.

    If someone asks about how to eat treats "in moderation", there will be 20 different ways to do it.

    As many posters have many meanings for each term, specifics will be required.

    I have the same issue with both terms - "clean" and "in moderation" and am not slamming either group or trying to make fun of either group or have a fight.

    I never suggested that anyone should stop using those terms! It's just that they aren't really clearly describing a way of eating.

    The difference is that there's a specific definition to 'moderation'. Good luck finding one for 'clean eating'.
    The problem is that lots of people have defined it, but they've all defined it ver differently.

    Maybe the group of people in this thread will agree upon a definition and then people would know what you all meant, but not everyone who uses the term is using it the way you do.

    Clean eaters could say that "clean" has a definition, but it is carried out differently by different people and some people are using it wrong. It still doesn't allow me to know what the person who says, "I'm eating clean" actually means.

    Saying, "This word has a definition, but is carried out differently by different people and some people are using the word wrong" - that doesn't help the person who reads it to know what it means.

    You're confusing a philosophy with its context/application.

    They're two separate issues.

    Moderation for a dieter with a TDEE of 3800 calories who's an ominivore is going to look different than moderation for a dieter with a TDEE of 1800 calories who's a vegetarian. They can both still practice moderation, but the specifics of how it's applied will look different.

    as a vegetarian, do you eat meat 'in moderation'?

    Is this supposed to be a trap saying that because a vegetarian doesn't eat meat there's an absolute?

    I don't eat beets either, is this a problem too? I don't eat foods I don't like. Most people don't. I don't think this kicks me out of club moderation.
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  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    Here's the full definition:
    1moderate
    adjective mod·er·ate \ˈmä-d(ə-)rət\
    : average in size or amount : neither too much nor too little

    : neither very good nor very bad

    : not expensive : not too high in price

    Full Definition of MODERATE

    1
    a : avoiding extremes of behavior or expression : observing reasonable limits <a moderate drinker>
    b : calm, temperate
    2
    a : tending toward the mean or average amount or dimension
    b : having average or less than average quality : mediocre
    3
    : professing or characterized by political or social beliefs that are not extreme
    4
    : limited in scope or effect
    5
    : not expensive : reasonable or low in price
    6
    of a color : of medium lightness and medium chroma
    — mod·er·ate·ly adverb
    — mod·er·ate·ness noun

    Examples of MODERATE

    Her doctor recommended moderate exercise.
    There were moderate levels of chemicals in the lake.
    drinking moderate amounts of coffee
    Most of these medicines relieve mild to moderate pain.
    a family of moderate income
    a book of moderate length
    The group met with only moderate success.
    a writer of moderate talent
    The hotel offers comfortable rooms at moderate prices.
    Both moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans can agree on this new law.

    I... don't think this really changes anything.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member

    as a vegetarian, do you eat meat 'in moderation'?

    Is this supposed to be a trap saying that because a vegetarian doesn't eat meat there's an absolute?

    I don't eat beets either, is this a problem too? I don't eat foods I don't like. Most people don't. I don't think this kicks me out of club moderation.

    Not eating meat is "eliminating an entire food group" which is the sort of thing dietitians regard as not moderate behaviour. I view it as an extreme, eating a bit of meat would be moderation, but refusing all meat is an extreme position.
  • Gianfranco_R
    Gianfranco_R Posts: 1,297 Member
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    maidentl wrote: »
    Oh, I like this one! There are some folks that think that moderation "can mean anything" but this article nails it down. It is the absence of extremes. Nice. Thanks for sharing it!
    I would be the person who argued that. It's because it's true.

    When I first started reading on MFP, I was trying very hard to figure out what the heck people meant when they said "clean" or "in moderation" because one person would say this was clean and another would say that was clean, while one person saying moderation was this and another was saying moderation was that.

    You can argue that both terms have definitions, but are carried out differently. That really doesn't help the person who is trying to figure out exactly what it means.

    The fact of the matter is that saying "clean" or "in moderation" just isn't specific. It has no meaning that anyone could pinpoint and say "Everyone who says they eat this way does X."

    I don't mind people using the words "clean" or "in moderation." I get what they mean in a general sense. But when they use those words, I don't know exactly how they are defining them. Most of the time, the general sense works just fine. Occasionally, though, I need a little more.

    "I've been eating clean and I'm gaining weight!"

    "I've been eating in moderation and I'm gaining weight!"

    I'm going to need more. It doesn't really explain how they're actually eating.

    If someone asks about how to eat treats "in moderation", there will be 20 different ways to do it.

    As many posters have many meanings for each term, specifics will be required.

    I have the same issue with both terms - "clean" and "in moderation" and am not slamming either group or trying to make fun of either group or have a fight.

    I never suggested that anyone should stop using those terms! It's just that they aren't really clearly describing a way of eating.

    The difference is that there's a specific definition to 'moderation'. Good luck finding one for 'clean eating'.
    The problem is that lots of people have defined it, but they've all defined it ver differently.

    Maybe the group of people in this thread will agree upon a definition and then people would know what you all meant, but not everyone who uses the term is using it the way you do.

    Clean eaters could say that "clean" has a definition, but it is carried out differently by different people and some people are using it wrong. It still doesn't allow me to know what the person who says, "I'm eating clean" actually means.

    Saying, "This word has a definition, but is carried out differently by different people and some people are using the word wrong" - that doesn't help the person who reads it to know what it means.

    You're confusing a philosophy with its context/application.

    They're two separate issues.

    Moderation for a dieter with a TDEE of 3800 calories who's an ominivore is going to look different than moderation for a dieter with a TDEE of 1800 calories who's a vegetarian. They can both still practice moderation, but the specifics of how it's applied will look different.

    as a vegetarian, do you eat meat 'in moderation'?

    Is this supposed to be a trap saying that because a vegetarian doesn't eat meat there's an absolute?

    I don't eat beets either, is this a problem too? I don't eat foods I don't like. Most people don't. I don't think this kicks me out of club moderation.

    it was more a maieutic question. Anyway, never mind.

  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    edited October 2015
    I think there's a disconnect here in that some people are thinking that moderation is a diet plan. Is this how sad things have become in the need to be to have some named diet? I know a person who eats paleo most of the time simply because she likes food along those lines, but every now and then, she has some Trader Joe's gluten free chocolate chip cookies or sourdough bread. That's her version of moderation, because she doesn't deny herself foods she loves in the name of a diet plan.

    I'm a vegetarian, I incorporate moderate amounts of all the foods I love into my life. I practice moderation.

    The idea behind moderation is not to say you HAVE to have things. The idea of moderation is simply avoiding denying yourself if you don't want to. If you're happy avoiding things? Go for it.

    I don't want meat in my life, so I don't include it. No biggie. I want cookies in my life, so they're there.
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