"You can eat whaver you want, as long as you eat at a deficit" is true, but it's garbage advice.

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  • dfwesq
    dfwesq Posts: 592 Member
    edited March 2017
    Quick comment for @dfwesq Like you, I've moderated board elsewhere. But there is a different "feel" here when it comes to new posters. Anywhere else I've posted, people who come to a board lurk first to get a feel for what the board is like, and that simply doesn't happen here. I've no idea why or maybe the boards I participate in are different and this is the norm. For example, given the number of new people who come in asking about ACV without doing a single search first, is astounding. Now they all come here after seeing it somewhere (Facebook it seems), buying it, starting to drink it and then come looking for people who are doing the same. A quick search will very quickly tell them how useless it is, and how it is not taken seriously here. But they don't even do that basic search. I admit it astounds me. But, as per the rules here, that is acceptable. And it is considered mean to ask them to do a search.

    Now, when I started, I lurked. For a fair bit. Fortunately, what I saw was people posting to research, challenging those who were expressing an unfounded opinion as fact and generally trying to be reasoned and rational in their approach (talking most veterans here). I saw Dr. Oz essentially ridiculed and most diet fads called just that. In other words, I knew I would fit in just fine and started learning, then posting.

    How, or why was it different for your?
    I did look through the boards quite a bit, and read through long series of posts without posting. I guess basically it's different for me than for veterans because I am currently a newbie here, so I know the effect that posts have on new people who are reading them. I'm just giving that perspective. Several other relatively new members have made similar comments to mine (ETA: I just reviewed the discussion and I count at least 5), so I know I'm not the only one. I'm genuinely trying to be helpful and give a perspective that people may not have thought about since they haven't been in our shoes for a while. I hope that answers the question and is helpful.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    dfwesq wrote: »
    dfwesq wrote: »
    They need to change what they eat - not just how much - and to some extent they need to change their lifestyle too, to make it sustainable. So "eat whatever you want" isn't really helpful advice for those people.

    Respectfully the bolded is kinda incomplete advice as well isn't it? What changes do I need to make? What foods should I eat? Can I eat nothing but Kale? See what I'm saying?
    Not really, because it's not advice. There's a difference between my saying that a group of people needs to change their eating habits and me replying to someone who's asking a question about whether they need to eat less fast food. The person who asked a question was asking for guidance, and got it, which sounds a lot more like advice. That is why I gave the example I did, to give an example of one situation where that advice is sometimes given.

    Okay, so help us out then. A newbie starts a thread and says "I really need to lose weight, but I really love carbs so I'm stuck! Help!!!" My response would be - Hey OP, you don't HAVE to go low carb, you just need to hit your calorie goal, you can eat whatever food you want!" This I guess is garbage incomplete advice. So could you please tell me what we are supposed to say, and keep in mind there are HUNDREDS of threads started every day.
    lizery wrote: »
    Well, you know - you don't *have* to respond, but if you do then it's helpful to qualify your answers with something like 'you don't have to not eat anything made of carbohydrates ... losing weight depends on making sure you consume less energy than you expend even if a some of those calories come from simple and complex carbs (sugars. fruits, veggies,breads, rice etc). Are you wanting to restrict carbs because you know you tend to overeat with this kind of food? If so, can you identify why ... and would to rather limit your intake of *donuts/biscuits/whatever the kitten here* than cut it out? ... because you can still enjoy these things if you're willing and able to incorporate them in to a calorie controlled plan'

    Or something.

    Giving a short, vague, incomplete answer is often less helpful than not *helping* at all.

    Agreed, especially with the bolded.

    And Hey OP, you don't HAVE to go low carb, you just need to hit your calorie goal, you can eat whatever food you want would be, "garbage incomplete" advice for someone like me, when what I want to eat is 1500 calories of pizza or ice cream. Or pizza AND ice cream. It has taken a tremendous amount of work for me to get down to 480 calories of pizza or 300 calories of ice cream a serving. And these are not foods I can eat every week.

    So saying "you can eat whatever food you want" without qualifying that this will likely not be in the amount and/or frequency you want, is indeed an incomplete answer.

    Like dianethegeek, I keep a word doc for my answers to questions people ask all the time, and I appreciate posters like @lemurcat12 and @WinoGelato (and too many to mention) who take the time to give complete, nuanced, thoughtful answers to questions we hear over and over again.
  • AntoinetteAngus
    AntoinetteAngus Posts: 58 Member
    pinuplove wrote: »
    pinuplove wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Thumbs up on the Snorlax picture, I love Pokemon.

    I do think that a lot of the cheerful talk about how "you can eat ANYTHING and lose weight!" needs a footnote: "You can eat anything, but if it's high in calories you can only have a tiny bit."

    Now personally, if I order a pizza I don't want to eat just one slice, hold the breadsticks. Sure, cold pizza is a great snack the next morning, but there's something especially delightful about a piping hot pizza with the cheese still gooey (and breadsticks on the side.)

    What I do is I have days where I eat over my "normal" calories without worrying about it, and then I eat under the normal calories the next day. (This works best if the pig-out meal was dinner, since you usually still feel pretty full the next morning.) I don't consider that to be "a cheat day". It's not cheating, it's just moving the calories around so I can get what satisfies me--tons of pizza. :)

    To the bolded... don't you think that sort of caution is unnecessary (and maybe presumes ignorance) on a site where people are logging and tracking calories? A person who is entering the foods they eat in their diary would know that 2 pieces of Dominos chicken, spinach and roasted red pepper pizza (my latest go to on pizza night) is 560 calories and 4 pieces of Parmesan bites are 150 which leaves me 190 calories to keep this meal under 800 which is what I aim for for splurge dinners. So another piece of pizza, or a salad, or some dessert or a glass of wine.

    Caveating every post with information that posters should already know or be able to figure out themselves, seems redundant and insulting to me. I feel the same way about you the disclaimer, , even though I and many others do explicitly state, "but nutrition is also important"when someone asks if calories are all that matter for weight loss. My 5 year old knows that nutrition is important. Do I really have to add that to every post for grown adults so that my comments are not misinterpreted by people like the OP?

    YES...you should add this to every post. Anyone new to this forum would believe... based on the abundance of ridiculous comments that you can just eat whatever you want as long as it fits in your calorie goals. This is irresponsible and I've actually taken the liberty to look at people's diary's who advocate this and alot of them are actually eating healthy! So why advocate to others that you can eat whatever you want instead of promoting a healthy, balanced lifestyle with moderated indulgences. The fact that you have an issue with someone throwing nutrition in the mix is absolutely ridiculous. A reminder about nutrition is definitely needed on a forum such as this one.

    Why would you assume "Eat whatever you want" means "Eat nothing but junk food"?

    Again, for all the threads criticizing this advice, I have NEVER seen someone post that they actually did take this advice to mean "Go ahead and eat all junk food" and now are struggling or failing because they're full of Twinkies and Big Macs by noon and have no calories left. Yet I see time and time again people respond by saying, "You mean I can have a treat every once and awhile and still lose weight? Thank goodness!".

    And again again, for every post that just says, "You can eat whatever you want" there are two that follow that say "You can eat whatever you want to lose weight, but obviously you want to eat enough nutritious food for your health". And then someone will chime in to make sure you get enough fiber and protein. And then someone will post that if you eat Keto you'll never get hungry and your skin will glow. And then another will say that cutting out processed food was the only way they could lose weight.

    I seriously wonder if there is an alternate MFP universe with all of these threads where newbies are given no info but to stuff their pieholes with poptarts to lose weight and I am just too dense to find it. :confused:

    WHATEVER implies whatever. People are not providing enough context to that statement and are not being responsible. I have posted several times on various forums and have been met with angry comments...well I eat pizza everyday, or I eat Macdonald's everyday nobody can tell me otherwise! I completely advocate treats from time to time...we're human and what would life be without them...but people tend not to display their true story. I would like to re-highlight the fact that I mentioned previously in this thread that I have taken the liberty of looking at peoples diaries that advocate that you can eat WHATEVER you want and they actually eat a fairly decent diet so why not clarify that I eat healthy most of the time but I indulge as well instead of implying I eat WHATEVER I want. This is all that I am saying...

    Maybe because eating 'whatever' they want includes a wide variety of foods, including both 'good' and 'bad' (if you want to think of it that way) so by saying they eat whatever they want, they aren't misrepresenting anything. Obviously these people have open diaries, and everyone is welcome to do as you did and see for themselves what these self-proclaimed 'eat whatever you want!' people are, in fact, actually eating. And maybe they're just tired of qualifying every.single.statement they make here. My diary is open, and I eat whatever I want. Some days are better than others, but I log them all.

    'Maybe because eating 'whatever' they want includes a wide variety of foods, including both 'good' and 'bad'

    If this is the case then people should SAY THAT. This is my point...The word WHATEVER does not provide people with adequate information. It is misleading.

    Oh sweet kittens! This thread is making my head hurt :tired_face: There is a plethora, an absolute cornucopia, an OVERABUNDANCE, of information about what people here do, don't, sometimes, always, never, only on the full moon, eat. They're under no obligation to list it in every post.

    They are obligated to speak truth and stop insinuating WHATEVER...it doesn't have to be a list...
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »
    I just want a triple whopper with bacon and cheese but I saw that video where it sat on a shelf for a long time without spoiling and the fries lasted a year without changing at all.
    Yes, if you let something dehydrate it often will look the same, at least on camera.
  • geneticsteacher
    geneticsteacher Posts: 623 Member
    savithny wrote: »

    Preservatives are chemicals to make your food last longer. This is not natural. Food should spoil when it spoils. You should not be injecting it with stuff to make it last longer.

    So glad you clarified the following because most people tend to leave it at 'you can eat WHATEVER you want' - 'telling someone they can eat what they want and still lose does not mean that they should eat nothing but junk food'

    So your definition of bad is "anything non-natural"?

    Because the question is how do preservatives make food "bad" -- if the argument is that the non-natural is bad, what is the justification for that?

    And does this apply just to food or to everything else in our lives as well?

    The most common, oldest food preservative? Is just plain salt.

    Also, the oldest form of food preservation? Is controlled spoilage. Using salt.

    (says the person with the basement full of all-natural, organic veggies being carefully curated while they selectively spoil in jars full of saltwater. I love pickling things).

    Yep, pickling, salting, drying, freezing, fermenting -- all ways to preserve food. All are non-natural (well--fermentation happens in nature, but we do a more controlled version).

    Using "non-natural" as an argument that something is bad doesn't make sense to me.

    what? Wow.

    I take it you disagree, but these are all human innovations to make food last longer, something you said above wasn't natural.

    Food should spoil when it spoils, right?

    Food preservation techniques are nearly as old as humans. It is only in our present modern society that we can go to the store and buy nothing but fresh foods if we so desire. And I don't. I prefer to buy local, in-season produce and canned/frozen if not in season.

    Food preservation techniques work by inactivating the enzymes naturally found in food, thus slowing down degradation of the food. This is done by chemical (salt, vinegar, other chemical preservatives) or mechanical (freezing, canning, drying) means. It does NOT change the original chemical makeup of the food other than extracting water and, in some cases, degradation of water-soluble vitamins.

    Simply not true...I think in the beginning of time we used to use natural forms of preservation but one only needs to look at their pantry to find an abundance of chemical ones.

    Harmful effect of preservatives; There are certain harmful
    effects of using chemicals for preservation such as ;Sulfites are
    common preservatives used in various fruits,may have side
    effects in form of headaches, palpitations, allergies, and even
    cancer.

    Nitrates and Nitrites: These additives are used as curing
    agents in meat products.it gets converted into nitrous acid when
    consumed and is suspected of causing stomach cancer

    Benzoates are used in foods as antimicrobial preservatives,
    and have been suspected to cause allergies, asthma and skin
    rashes.

    Sorbates/sorbic acid are added to foods as antimicrobial
    preservatives. Reactions to sorbates are rare, but have included
    reports of urticaria and contact dermatitis [7].

    http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0415/ijsrp-p4014.pdf

    Okay, some people may have rare side effects to preservatives. Does this mean none of us should eat them? The only preservative proven to have carcinogenic effects is nitrates/nitrites. It is advised that these be eaten in moderation.

    Most preserved (canned, frozen, dehydrated, pickled, sugared) have none of the additives you cited.
  • AntoinetteAngus
    AntoinetteAngus Posts: 58 Member
    pinuplove wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Thumbs up on the Snorlax picture, I love Pokemon.

    I do think that a lot of the cheerful talk about how "you can eat ANYTHING and lose weight!" needs a footnote: "You can eat anything, but if it's high in calories you can only have a tiny bit."

    Now personally, if I order a pizza I don't want to eat just one slice, hold the breadsticks. Sure, cold pizza is a great snack the next morning, but there's something especially delightful about a piping hot pizza with the cheese still gooey (and breadsticks on the side.)

    What I do is I have days where I eat over my "normal" calories without worrying about it, and then I eat under the normal calories the next day. (This works best if the pig-out meal was dinner, since you usually still feel pretty full the next morning.) I don't consider that to be "a cheat day". It's not cheating, it's just moving the calories around so I can get what satisfies me--tons of pizza. :)

    To the bolded... don't you think that sort of caution is unnecessary (and maybe presumes ignorance) on a site where people are logging and tracking calories? A person who is entering the foods they eat in their diary would know that 2 pieces of Dominos chicken, spinach and roasted red pepper pizza (my latest go to on pizza night) is 560 calories and 4 pieces of Parmesan bites are 150 which leaves me 190 calories to keep this meal under 800 which is what I aim for for splurge dinners. So another piece of pizza, or a salad, or some dessert or a glass of wine.

    Caveating every post with information that posters should already know or be able to figure out themselves, seems redundant and insulting to me. I feel the same way about you the disclaimer, , even though I and many others do explicitly state, "but nutrition is also important"when someone asks if calories are all that matter for weight loss. My 5 year old knows that nutrition is important. Do I really have to add that to every post for grown adults so that my comments are not misinterpreted by people like the OP?

    YES...you should add this to every post. Anyone new to this forum would believe... based on the abundance of ridiculous comments that you can just eat whatever you want as long as it fits in your calorie goals. This is irresponsible and I've actually taken the liberty to look at people's diary's who advocate this and alot of them are actually eating healthy! So why advocate to others that you can eat whatever you want instead of promoting a healthy, balanced lifestyle with moderated indulgences. The fact that you have an issue with someone throwing nutrition in the mix is absolutely ridiculous. A reminder about nutrition is definitely needed on a forum such as this one.

    Why would you assume "Eat whatever you want" means "Eat nothing but junk food"?

    Again, for all the threads criticizing this advice, I have NEVER seen someone post that they actually did take this advice to mean "Go ahead and eat all junk food" and now are struggling or failing because they're full of Twinkies and Big Macs by noon and have no calories left. Yet I see time and time again people respond by saying, "You mean I can have a treat every once and awhile and still lose weight? Thank goodness!".

    And again again, for every post that just says, "You can eat whatever you want" there are two that follow that say "You can eat whatever you want to lose weight, but obviously you want to eat enough nutritious food for your health". And then someone will chime in to make sure you get enough fiber and protein. And then someone will post that if you eat Keto you'll never get hungry and your skin will glow. And then another will say that cutting out processed food was the only way they could lose weight.

    I seriously wonder if there is an alternate MFP universe with all of these threads where newbies are given no info but to stuff their pieholes with poptarts to lose weight and I am just too dense to find it. :confused:

    WHATEVER implies whatever. People are not providing enough context to that statement and are not being responsible. I have posted several times on various forums and have been met with angry comments...well I eat pizza everyday, or I eat Macdonald's everyday nobody can tell me otherwise! I completely advocate treats from time to time...we're human and what would life be without them...but people tend not to display their true story. I would like to re-highlight the fact that I mentioned previously in this thread that I have taken the liberty of looking at peoples diaries that advocate that you can eat WHATEVER you want and they actually eat a fairly decent diet so why not clarify that I eat healthy most of the time but I indulge as well instead of implying I eat WHATEVER I want. This is all that I am saying...

    Maybe because eating 'whatever' they want includes a wide variety of foods, including both 'good' and 'bad' (if you want to think of it that way) so by saying they eat whatever they want, they aren't misrepresenting anything. Obviously these people have open diaries, and everyone is welcome to do as you did and see for themselves what these self-proclaimed 'eat whatever you want!' people are, in fact, actually eating. And maybe they're just tired of qualifying every.single.statement they make here. My diary is open, and I eat whatever I want. Some days are better than others, but I log them all.

    'Maybe because eating 'whatever' they want includes a wide variety of foods, including both 'good' and 'bad'

    If this is the case then people should SAY THAT. This is my point...The word WHATEVER does not provide people with adequate information. It is misleading.

    Why is it so important to you to control how others speak of their own experiences?

    It's not about control it's about being responsible and not blankly using the word 'WHATEVER.'
  • MontyMuttland
    MontyMuttland Posts: 68 Member
    "For things to change, you have to change." (Jim Rohn, 1930-2009).
    This is a fundamental truth and it applies to anyone trying to lose weight and keep it off every bit as much as the formula stating that to lose weight you must burn more calories every day than you consume.
    I was obese for most of my adult life, a serial yo-yo dieter who would try this and that diet, lose some weight and then put it back on again plus more.
    The reason I kept failing is actually very simple. I didn't change. I just did what the diets said I had to do, but they didn't teach me anything. I didn't learn any new eating habits.
    And this is what the OP is getting at with his post.
    If you tell an obese person they can eat what they want providing they stay under their daily calorie allocation, you are just sugar-coating the truth to make it easier to swallow.
    The simple truth is, if you eat nutritionally poor foods as part of a calorie controlled eating plan, then the weight you lose won't just be fat. Sure, you will lose some fat, but some of the weight you will lose is going to be the good part of your body (your muscle tissue, your organs, your skeleton, etc).
    That is the price you pay for eating nutritionally poor foods. They don't contain enough good stuff to maintain the important parts of your body.
    If you are already eating less food to stay under your calorie allocation, then it's even more important than ever that the food you eat had high nutritional value - what the hell else is your body going to use to sustain itself?
    So here is the real deal: if you want to lose weight and keep it off, better start learning some new eating habits.
    New eating habits means making food choices that are nutrient rich.
    Does it mean you can never eat another burger? Of course not, but you'd do far better learning how to make a decent burger yourself rather than eating the total non-food they serve at fast food outlets.
    "For things to change, you have to change."
    Embrace it, do it.
    During 2016 I lost 9 stone (126lb) and now I'm happily maintaining my weight under 11stone.
    I did that by changing my relationship with food and learning new eating habits.
    I don't eat pizza anymore. Why? Because it's nutritionally poor food.
    But I make a mean burger meal, a steak meal and a spaghetti bolognese meal all for less than 500 calories each.
    I learned how to eat well whilst consuming less.
    That's what this is about, and the rest can be summed up like this:
    "Suck it up or stay fat!".
  • Z_I_L_L_A
    Z_I_L_L_A Posts: 2,399 Member
    I'm have salad with raw squash, tomatoes, with a tiny tear drop of BV dressing only so I can eat bad later.
  • slim1156
    slim1156 Posts: 31 Member
    "You can lose weight eating the foods you enjoy as long as you're in a calorie deficit" this is absolutely true. this statement makes no reference to health or anything else other than losing weight. if you want to eat your daily allowance of calories in hot fudge sundaes every day, you will lose weight. if you choose to eat nothing, ever, other than bacon, you will lose weight. will you be healthy? probably not so much. will you be happy? unlikely. will you lose weight? ABSOLUTELY!!!! as far as weight loss goes, it is all about calorie deficit.
  • geneticsteacher
    geneticsteacher Posts: 623 Member
    slim1156 wrote: »
    "You can lose weight eating the foods you enjoy as long as you're in a calorie deficit" this is absolutely true. this statement makes no reference to health or anything else other than losing weight. if you want to eat your daily allowance of calories in hot fudge sundaes every day, you will lose weight. if you choose to eat nothing, ever, other than bacon, you will lose weight. will you be healthy? probably not so much. will you be happy? unlikely. will you lose weight? ABSOLUTELY!!!! as far as weight loss goes, it is all about calorie deficit.

    This is so true, but I am finding out more and more that a lot of people have a lot of misconceptions about nutrition and diet.
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