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So. What's the worst weight loss myth?

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  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    aelunyu wrote: »
    I'm not sure if "starvation mode" is the correct phrasing of the condition. Even more, I'm reluctant to categorize the lack of weight loss due to moderate calorie restriction as starvation mode by which the metabolism naturally seeks energy equilibrium.

    As far as I understand, starvation mode is some kind of scape-goat term thrown around weight loss communities to validate the absence of weight loss in the presence of a supposed caloric deficit without understanding that the baseline metabolic requirements of a lighter and healthier body has decreased. This is not starvation mode, but an attempt to rationalize a stoppage in progress.

    True starvation mode as I've witnessed occurs in people with eating disorders, and (mostly) female bodybuilders and physique athletes trying to surpass a biological boundary in which the body decides that enough is enough and it refuses to relinquish more weight for the sake of preservation. To eat less than that critical level is to starve, and possibly suffer long term health risks. Many women stop having periods before they stop losing weight, and no amount of cardio or keto, or restriction will allow them to lose more. That phenomenon is VERY REAL, but only occurs if you're extremely low on bodyfat (<8-10% for females).

    I'm not sure when the general weight loss community of overweight individuals adopted the concept of starvation mode as a component of their own experiences but I assure you it has something to do with the desire to eat more.

    A woman in the <8-10% range would have cut well into essential bodyfat levels, and would be pretty close to being dead before hitting that point. Given their rapid increase in potential for bone fracturing and spinal atrophy at that point, this is not something that even the most insane of contest prepping would result in.

    That being said, some traditional bodyfat measurements can have enough play in the formula to make one appear to be there on paper.
  • aelunyu
    aelunyu Posts: 486 Member
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    aelunyu wrote: »
    I'm not sure if "starvation mode" is the correct phrasing of the condition. Even more, I'm reluctant to categorize the lack of weight loss due to moderate calorie restriction as starvation mode by which the metabolism naturally seeks energy equilibrium.

    As far as I understand, starvation mode is some kind of scape-goat term thrown around weight loss communities to validate the absence of weight loss in the presence of a supposed caloric deficit without understanding that the baseline metabolic requirements of a lighter and healthier body has decreased. This is not starvation mode, but an attempt to rationalize a stoppage in progress.

    True starvation mode as I've witnessed occurs in people with eating disorders, and (mostly) female bodybuilders and physique athletes trying to surpass a biological boundary in which the body decides that enough is enough and it refuses to relinquish more weight for the sake of preservation. To eat less than that critical level is to starve, and possibly suffer long term health risks. Many women stop having periods before they stop losing weight, and no amount of cardio or keto, or restriction will allow them to lose more. That phenomenon is VERY REAL, but only occurs if you're extremely low on bodyfat (<8-10% for females).

    I'm not sure when the general weight loss community of overweight individuals adopted the concept of starvation mode as a component of their own experiences but I assure you it has something to do with the desire to eat more.

    A woman in the <8-10% range would have cut well into essential bodyfat levels, and would be pretty close to being dead before hitting that point. Given their rapid increase in potential for bone fracturing and spinal atrophy at that point, this is not something that even the most insane of contest prepping would result in.

    That being said, some traditional bodyfat measurements can have enough play in the formula to make one appear to be there on paper.

    I think that's my point exactly. Starvation mode is literally....starving...to death. The body's last ditch effort to tell you to stop. How does it apply to the average person looking to lose 10 pounds? Zero application, but not a myth.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Not sure where to put this, so I'm dropping it here. Not really myth related.
    soda_sugar_comparisons.png
  • LiftingRiot
    LiftingRiot Posts: 6,946 Member
    Sit-ups will reduce belly fat
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,133 Member
    Nadine_A_Saad wrote: »
    rileysowner wrote: »
    Nadine_A_Saad wrote: »
    Skip dinner. I hate how people say if you skip a meal you will lose weight. You won't.

    You will if you are in a calorie deficit. If I skip meals it is the first meal of the day since I usually don't like eating in the morning. If a person simply skips a meal with no thought about overall calories, they usually make it up with other meals or snacks.

    That might be true if there are tracking. But if they aren't tracking and do it everyday, it actually slow down your metabolism which makes it harder to lose weight.

    That's one of those myths we're talking about.
    Your metabolism doesn't slow down because you skipped a meal, even if you do it everyday.
  • plhartless
    plhartless Posts: 5 Member
    Back to the thread, I think that both of these are problematic diet myths:
    1-You must exercise a lot to lose weight. (Yes, you should exercise for your health, and it is easier with exercise, but for weight loss, CICO no matter how you do it...)
    AND its converse, which has been making the rounds in clickbait articles:
    2-Exercise doesn't help you to lose weight. (Well, sure, if you run a mile and then eat a family sized bag of Doritos. But again, CICO!--much easier to get a deficit with exercise, and it has appetite-suppressant effects to a point as well.)
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Haven't heard it in a while, but I always like:

    Humans aren't meant to eat meat. And that milk makes you fat because milk is for baby cows and baby cows get big.

    Ah, yes. That Skinny *kitten* book. Someone at work lent it to me to read. So much eye-rolling as I read that.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Haven't heard it in a while, but I always like:

    Humans aren't meant to eat meat. And that milk makes you fat because milk is for baby cows and baby cows get big.

    Ah, yes. That Skinny *kitten* book. Someone at work lent it to me to read. So much eye-rolling as I read that.

    I also liked their assertion that coffee would destroy your organs because of acidity.
  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Haven't heard it in a while, but I always like:

    Humans aren't meant to eat meat. And that milk makes you fat because milk is for baby cows and baby cows get big.

    Ah, yes. That Skinny *kitten* book. Someone at work lent it to me to read. So much eye-rolling as I read that.

    I also liked their assertion that coffee would destroy your organs because of acidity.

    I'm doing my part to dissolve my organs right now.

    Thanks, Dunkin' Donuts Hazelnut K-Cups!
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Haven't heard it in a while, but I always like:

    Humans aren't meant to eat meat. And that milk makes you fat because milk is for baby cows and baby cows get big.

    Ah, yes. That Skinny *kitten* book. Someone at work lent it to me to read. So much eye-rolling as I read that.

    Oh man, I remember that book. It was like an espresso of stupidity, so much concentrated woo.

    They spent pages railing against sugar and processed food and when you looked at their product recommendations in the back of the book, it was just organic and "natural" versions of . . . sweet processed food. Like substituting Newman-Os for Oreos.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited February 2017
    French_Peasant wrote: »
    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    French_Peasant wrote: »
    Almost exactly like following common sense, long-term weight/fitness control techniques instead of running from Cabbage Soup Diet to ACV Diet to whatever the woo of the day is.
    Got asked the other day if I was eating cabbage soup. "Oh God now" I quickly replied to a religious person. Ooops.

    Anyway, it was an awesome wicked thai soup I had made.

    "Dear Lord in Heaven, preserve us" may have been more appropriate. Or "Satan, begone!"

    I spent the weekend arguing diet woo with my beloved brother and his wife. Coincidentally, I am also now the proud owner of a Himalayan pink salt lamp and an essential oil diffuser since it was our (very late) Christmas get-together. :) So now my air is cleansed of its (bad) positive ions and diffused with the disease-preventing power of Thieve's Oil. Yay!

    Positive... ion... i.e. proton... i.e. in the nucleus of all atoms (matter)... which must also have neutrons and electrons else it may become unstable... ... I just... science... but...
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Haven't heard it in a while, but I always like:

    Humans aren't meant to eat meat. And that milk makes you fat because milk is for baby cows and baby cows get big.

    Ah, yes. That Skinny *kitten* book. Someone at work lent it to me to read. So much eye-rolling as I read that.

    I also liked their assertion that coffee would destroy your organs because of acidity.

    I'm doing my part to dissolve my organs right now.

    Thanks, Dunkin' Donuts Hazelnut K-Cups!

    Me, too! Coconut Mocha Donut Shop K-Cups, here!
  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Haven't heard it in a while, but I always like:

    Humans aren't meant to eat meat. And that milk makes you fat because milk is for baby cows and baby cows get big.

    Ah, yes. That Skinny *kitten* book. Someone at work lent it to me to read. So much eye-rolling as I read that.

    I also liked their assertion that coffee would destroy your organs because of acidity.

    I'm doing my part to dissolve my organs right now.

    Thanks, Dunkin' Donuts Hazelnut K-Cups!

    Me, too! Coconut Mocha Donut Shop K-Cups, here!

    Those are my favorite. :love:
  • JennyRATL
    JennyRATL Posts: 199 Member
    I heart this thread.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Haven't heard it in a while, but I always like:

    Humans aren't meant to eat meat. And that milk makes you fat because milk is for baby cows and baby cows get big.

    Ah, yes. That Skinny *kitten* book. Someone at work lent it to me to read. So much eye-rolling as I read that.

    I also liked their assertion that coffee would destroy your organs because of acidity.

    I'm doing my part to dissolve my organs right now.

    Thanks, Dunkin' Donuts Hazelnut K-Cups!

    Me, too! Coconut Mocha Donut Shop K-Cups, here!

    Those are my favorite. :love:

    Have you tried the Green Mountain brown sugar crumble donut?!? YUM!
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    NoxDineen wrote: »
    That early hominids ate like the paleo diet claims they did.

    Which Paleo diet? Even the various authors of the various aspects can't agree on what qualities as "paleo".
  • sumrdream
    sumrdream Posts: 25 Member
    Fat makes you fat. Fat does NOT make you fat! Look at eating paleo/primal low carb diet..... :)
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,459 MFP Moderator
    sumrdream wrote: »
    Fat makes you fat. Fat does NOT make you fat! Look at eating paleo/primal low carb diet..... :)

    Paleo and Primal aren't necessarily low carb... there are variants like that, but they didn't really start out that way. And I can guarantee you, that I can easily gain on those diets.. But I do agree that fat doesn't make you fat... calories do.
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