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What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?
Replies
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Lgcoulter33 wrote: »If it's so useless why did it work for 6 years? Two when I was originally losing the weight and 4 after I plateaued?
Because the human body is not a static thing.3 -
I don't think CICO tells the whole story...gasp...not a popular opinion on MFP.
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middlehaitch wrote: »
Why?
CICO is the story...4 -
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CICO tells me absolutely nothing about whether we are in another housing bubble, thus it does not tell the whole story.
Slightly silly point being that most of the time when people say that, they mean that CICO doesn't tell you what foods will be satiating to you or what a nutritious diet is or if you specifically have any particular health problems or what the particular habits or psychological things will help you lose or make it harder. All that is, of course, true, it says nothing about those things. However, it is hardly unpopular -- no one claims it says anything on those things. I'd say that understanding CICO gives you a good starting point to figure out those things.
If the poster means you can gain weight (setting aside water weight, of course) in a deficit or lose weight in a surplus, well, I would disagree and say the position is not as unpopular as it should be, sadly.13 -
Every time someone says CICO isn't the whole story, I'd be willing to be that they've read or heard the words "a calorie isn't a calorie" somewhere.
Of course it's simplifying things to say that CICO is the whole story somewhat (obesity is a complex issue), but frankly, when it comes to losing weight, creating a calorie deficit is what matters.
Obfuscating and conflating that primary truth with bullet point issues which are secondary to it confuses people and does most dieters a disservice. I really don't understand why people cling to such a disorganized way of thinking about this.
There are ways of prioritizing the variables involved in this process without making meaningless statements about how the process works.15 -
I don't remember the poster even mentioning edema...so I wouldn't even add that to the mix.
She didn't.
I brought it up as a possible explanation to some of the weight gain. Especially with PCOS and other hormonal issues, it may be something to ask her physician about if it hasn't been addressed already. Water weight is one way to gain more weight without eating all the excess calories (because it's water, not fat, but it's sometimes hard to tell).
But if she doesn't have edema, or at least some water retention, then I would tend to agree that the tracking might not be 100% on for whatever reason.2 -
curiouskate wrote: »
Totally agree. But I think it makes more rational sense to be realistic. Know that if you are going to be in that small minority it is going to be a challenge forever. Never get complacent. And even if you believe you can do it, know that things are going to change in your life and you might not know now how you will handle it. And mostly I wish people had more compassion for ourselves and others. I keep saying this, but the people who were losing weight when I did, ~10 years ago, we were the "heros" and "success stories." It doesn't insulate you. The "success stories" of today may find themselves in my shoes 10 years from now. Statistics say most will,
This makes no sense. If a majority accept a defeatist attitude it is irrational to incorporate this attitude. This is a key and common failure in the application of statistics.
Weight is simply an output of behavior.5 -
This makes no sense. If a majority accept a defeatist attitude it is irrational to incorporate this attitude. This is a key and common failure in the application of statistics.
Weight is simply an output of behavior.
Right, and if there are life events that cause distress, food is not the solution.4 -
She didn't.
I brought it up as a possible explanation to some of the weight gain. Especially with PCOS and other hormonal issues, it may be something to ask her physician about if it hasn't been addressed already. Water weight is one way to gain more weight without eating all the excess calories (because it's water, not fat, but it's sometimes hard to tell).
But if she doesn't have edema, or at least some water retention, then I would tend to agree that the tracking might not be 100% on for whatever reason.
her details in two different threads are different I am not spending any further time on her "story".8 -
My details are different because of a typo i made in the other thread. Sorry I was in a hurry and hit the6 instead of the 4. I don't always state things as clear as they should be. So sorry I get my words mixed up. Just be glad we aren't talking in person. When recalling to the hospital psychiatrist what happened in the situation when my ex husband tried strangling me to death, I confused him because I had to keep going back and adding the facts of what happened.
Here are my facts: hw in 2010:369
Low weight in 2013: 210
Kept off for 3.5 years (sorry my math on years was off but I am only human)
I allowed myself 1 to 2 pops a week, on the weekend when I went to my parents house. A pop would usually last me all 3 days I went over there, so very rarely did I ever have 2. I maintained at 1400 calories a day for those 3.5 years.
I started regaining weight in November of last year, no change in eating habits, the only change was I was now walking everywhere and taking the bus instead of driving. And I had just gone off of depo.
I regained the majority of the weight back between January and March. I started researching weight loss surgery in February because I was back to 290 at that point. I had doctor appointments every month from January till this point. Checking hormone levels, my thyroid levels, everything. Going over my food journal. Going down from 1400 calories a day in increments of 50 a month beginning in May. Until July when I finally lost.
My other facts? When I was a teenager I struggled with anorexia and bulimia. Yes I was heavy, but I lost 75 pounds basically starving myself half of my 9th grade year and all 10th grade year and binging and purging when I got hungry. According to my doctor, that also has an impact on the way I lose weight. I have been "recovered" for 12 years now. I graduated 17 years ago, so you can see how long I struggled with it.
I had problems. I still have problems. I'm not perfect, I am willing to change my viewpoint on things, what I don't get is why you @SezxyStef are being so rude and so mean about things. I have no problem admitting that I was wrong about the measuring cup thing, but I'm stumped by why you have to call me out about a typo I made. It happens. People make mistakes. I own up to mine. I have an open mind to just about anything. Your comments over the past couple of days are the only ones that have hurt me to the point I just want to leave this site. And yes I admit you made me cry. You made me feel like complete and utter crap, and it has been a long time since anything has made me feel so utterly horrible about myself. I don't understand why you care so much about my choices or what I'm doing or how much I'm eating or how much I ate in the past. It's the past. It's over. I'm losing weight now. And for your information, I eat between 1200 and 1250 a day. It has been working staggering between the two every so often. 99.9 percent of the time It's1200 though. Some days 1180 or 1150, one day was 980 because I have hardly any food in the house until this Saturday. Last night it would have been 650 if I hadn't found the chicken hiding in the back of my freezer. The point is you don't need to worry about if I'm doing things correctly. I'm being monitored by a doctor, a personal trainer, a counselor, a psychiatrist and a nutritionist. I have a whole team of people working with me. Will I end up getting surgery? I don't know. It depends on how much I lose on my own before the six months are up. But if I do have it, It's because it's the best option for ME. It's not right for everyone, but if it comes down to it, I have no doubt that I will be successful and stay successful. Just like if I don't get it I will still beat this weight and be successful and stay successful. Because I know I will never go on depo again and I will never give up.
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@Lgcoulter33 - some people rub me the wrong way, too. You can click on SexxyStef's blue name and then click the green "Ignore" button, and it will put her on your "ignore list" - then you won't see anything she posts. Life is too short, right?9
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Thanks for that. I've tried so hard for so many years to just be and stay healthy. To always do the right thing. I've always struggled with this my entire life, and I while I wasn't at goal, i was happy because I could wear shirts from the juniors department and I could move easier and wasn't so clumsy. And when the weight started coming back I was so mad. I started working harder at my workouts and started doing more of a mix up than I had been.
The only other thing I can think of that may have been working against me along with the pcos is the amount of stress i was under through those months. I had people who led me to believe they were my friends staying in my two empty bedrooms. They were two couples. They were both supposed to be paying rent and supplying food in the house, but the one couple the woman was supposedly pregnant with twins and the guy wouldn't work and the other couple neither of them could hold down a job and they had a child and they fought all the time. Both couples sold their foodstamps on a monthly basis and I reported them every month. Nothing was ever done. I received a total of 15$ from one couple and $170 from the other couple the entire9 months they were here. I tried eviction and they fought it and got extension until March for the one couple and june for the other. My $194 a month in food stamps fed 6 people. There were days I didn't eat anything at all. There were no cups so I had nothing to drink. It was hard. I don't know if the combination of the things was just too much on my body or what. All I know is I'm losing right now and whatever the outcome, I'm never giving up.5 -
cmriverside wrote: »@Lgcoulter33 - some people rub me the wrong way, too. You can click on SexxyStef's blue name and then click the green "Ignore" button, and it will put her on your "ignore list" - then you won't see anything she posts. Life is too short, right?
The truth sometimes is difficult to read, but ignoring the message because the messenger is not up to your standards will not help you reach your goals.14 -
Lgcoulter33 wrote: »My details are different because of a typo i made in the other thread. Sorry I was in a hurry and hit the6 instead of the 4. I don't always state things as clear as they should be. So sorry I get my words mixed up. Just be glad we aren't talking in person. When recalling to the hospital psychiatrist what happened in the situation when my ex husband tried strangling me to death, I confused him because I had to keep going back and adding the facts of what happened.
Here are my facts: hw in 2010:369
Low weight in 2013: 210
Kept off for 3.5 years (sorry my math on years was off but I am only human)
I allowed myself 1 to 2 pops a week, on the weekend when I went to my parents house. A pop would usually last me all 3 days I went over there, so very rarely did I ever have 2. I maintained at 1400 calories a day for those 3.5 years.
I started regaining weight in November of last year, no change in eating habits, the only change was I was now walking everywhere and taking the bus instead of driving. And I had just gone off of depo.
I regained the majority of the weight back between January and March. I started researching weight loss surgery in February because I was back to 290 at that point. I had doctor appointments every month from January till this point. Checking hormone levels, my thyroid levels, everything. Going over my food journal. Going down from 1400 calories a day in increments of 50 a month beginning in May. Until July when I finally lost.
My other facts? When I was a teenager I struggled with anorexia and bulimia. Yes I was heavy, but I lost 75 pounds basically starving myself half of my 9th grade year and all 10th grade year and binging and purging when I got hungry. According to my doctor, that also has an impact on the way I lose weight. I have been "recovered" for 12 years now. I graduated 17 years ago, so you can see how long I struggled with it.
I had problems. I still have problems. I'm not perfect, I am willing to change my viewpoint on things, what I don't get is why you @SezxyStef are being so rude and so mean about things. I have no problem admitting that I was wrong about the measuring cup thing, but I'm stumped by why you have to call me out about a typo I made. It happens. People make mistakes. I own up to mine. I have an open mind to just about anything. Your comments over the past couple of days are the only ones that have hurt me to the point I just want to leave this site. And yes I admit you made me cry. You made me feel like complete and utter crap, and it has been a long time since anything has made me feel so utterly horrible about myself. I don't understand why you care so much about my choices or what I'm doing or how much I'm eating or how much I ate in the past. It's the past. It's over. I'm losing weight now. And for your information, I eat between 1200 and 1250 a day. It has been working staggering between the two every so often. 99.9 percent of the time It's1200 though. Some days 1180 or 1150, one day was 980 because I have hardly any food in the house until this Saturday. Last night it would have been 650 if I hadn't found the chicken hiding in the back of my freezer. The point is you don't need to worry about if I'm doing things correctly. I'm being monitored by a doctor, a personal trainer, a counselor, a psychiatrist and a nutritionist. I have a whole team of people working with me. Will I end up getting surgery? I don't know. It depends on how much I lose on my own before the six months are up. But if I do have it, It's because it's the best option for ME. It's not right for everyone, but if it comes down to it, I have no doubt that I will be successful and stay successful. Just like if I don't get it I will still beat this weight and be successful and stay successful. Because I know I will never go on depo again and I will never give up.
If it was one item I wouldn't have thought much about it...but it was more than that...it was amount of weight lost, calories being eaten was totally different (not a type O) and then the WLS research time didn't jive either...not jsut the time when the research began but I asked why research WLS if you had lost 140 or 160 lbs already...proof you could lose the weight...
not sure how that is mean or rude? changing viewpoint is one thing having different details and facts are another...
This whole discussion started because this poster insisted they gained 140lbs over 10 months eating 1400 calories and I called them out...but now they can lose on 1200...hmmm something doesn't add up here.12 -
Lgcoulter33 wrote: »My details are different because of a typo i made in the other thread. Sorry I was in a hurry and hit the6 instead of the 4. I don't always state things as clear as they should be. So sorry I get my words mixed up. Just be glad we aren't talking in person. When recalling to the hospital psychiatrist what happened in the situation when my ex husband tried strangling me to death, I confused him because I had to keep going back and adding the facts of what happened.
Here are my facts: hw in 2010:369
Low weight in 2013: 210
Kept off for 3.5 years (sorry my math on years was off but I am only human)
I allowed myself 1 to 2 pops a week, on the weekend when I went to my parents house. A pop would usually last me all 3 days I went over there, so very rarely did I ever have 2. I maintained at 1400 calories a day for those 3.5 years.
I started regaining weight in November of last year, no change in eating habits, the only change was I was now walking everywhere and taking the bus instead of driving. And I had just gone off of depo.
I regained the majority of the weight back between January and March. I started researching weight loss surgery in February because I was back to 290 at that point. I had doctor appointments every month from January till this point. Checking hormone levels, my thyroid levels, everything. Going over my food journal. Going down from 1400 calories a day in increments of 50 a month beginning in May. Until July when I finally lost.
My other facts? When I was a teenager I struggled with anorexia and bulimia. Yes I was heavy, but I lost 75 pounds basically starving myself half of my 9th grade year and all 10th grade year and binging and purging when I got hungry. According to my doctor, that also has an impact on the way I lose weight. I have been "recovered" for 12 years now. I graduated 17 years ago, so you can see how long I struggled with it.
I had problems. I still have problems. I'm not perfect, I am willing to change my viewpoint on things, what I don't get is why you @SezxyStef are being so rude and so mean about things. I have no problem admitting that I was wrong about the measuring cup thing, but I'm stumped by why you have to call me out about a typo I made. It happens. People make mistakes. I own up to mine. I have an open mind to just about anything. Your comments over the past couple of days are the only ones that have hurt me to the point I just want to leave this site. And yes I admit you made me cry. You made me feel like complete and utter crap, and it has been a long time since anything has made me feel so utterly horrible about myself. I don't understand why you care so much about my choices or what I'm doing or how much I'm eating or how much I ate in the past. It's the past. It's over. I'm losing weight now. And for your information, I eat between 1200 and 1250 a day. It has been working staggering between the two every so often. 99.9 percent of the time It's1200 though. Some days 1180 or 1150, one day was 980 because I have hardly any food in the house until this Saturday. Last night it would have been 650 if I hadn't found the chicken hiding in the back of my freezer. The point is you don't need to worry about if I'm doing things correctly. I'm being monitored by a doctor, a personal trainer, a counselor, a psychiatrist and a nutritionist. I have a whole team of people working with me. Will I end up getting surgery? I don't know. It depends on how much I lose on my own before the six months are up. But if I do have it, It's because it's the best option for ME. It's not right for everyone, but if it comes down to it, I have no doubt that I will be successful and stay successful. Just like if I don't get it I will still beat this weight and be successful and stay successful. Because I know I will never go on depo again and I will never give up.
Stef is one of the most knowledgeable people on this forum and her insights have helped a lot of people. This forum has a very large, diverse group of people and the back and forth interactions produce many great discussions. But, perhaps MFP isn't a good fit for you if it's causing you stress.
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The truth sometimes is difficult to read, but ignoring the message because the messenger is not up to your standards will not help you reach your goals.
I don't need her to help me reach my goal, i have a whole team of people I'm working with. She's done nothing but degrade me on two different threads for wanting wls and for a typo I made and over 50 calories. It's not right. She's also told me that I must have been eating 42000 extra calories a month to gain so much weight so fast. I never did and never have. My mfp food diary is still set up to my old goal. I use spark people to log my calories for the day. My goal there is 1200-1250. 99.9% of the time I'm at or below 1200.
Mfp doesn't stress me out, nor does heated discussion. I actually enjoy it. What I do not enjoy is being attacked or degraded. That is the first time I have ever placed anyone on ignore on here and I hope it's the last. Sorry, but I will not be placed into her little box of what she believes weight loss should be. It's different for everyone. No two people are the same. No two people lose weight the same or at the same rate. No two people react the same way to changes in their bodies. And no two people gain weight for the same reasons or even lose weight for the same reasons.10 -
Lgcoulter33 wrote: »... And no two people gain weight for the same reasons or even lose weight for the same reasons.
This part of your statement is absolutely incorrect - the ONLY reason that people lose weight is to eat fewer calories than they burn and the ONLY reason people gain weight is to eat more calories than they burn - this is a universal truth.19 -
I never said I gained140 over 10 months, it was120. The 140 is what I lost before. Why research wls when I did it before? Because I'm tired of fighting with pcos and metformin. Of having hypoglycemic attacks on the medicine, getting shaky and sweaty and not being able to do anything about it because I have no food in the house. I'm tired of looking at my old pictures and crying because I can't fit into any of my old clothes. I'm tired of taking a medication that causes severe migraine headaches and growing excess body hair and having dark skin all over my body. I'm tired of struggling with this disease every day and wondering when the other shoe is going to drop and the 1200 stops working. I'm tired of feeling like I failed because I'm almost back to where I started. And most of all, I'm just tired of being slave to a disease that has taken so much from me. I've had 6 miscarriages because of this disease. Yes I know I can do this on my own, I've done it before, but I was still on the metformin. Still dealing with the excess hair and dark skin patches. I'm on 3000 mg a day. Yes the 1200 is working when the 1400 wasn't, but a lot of factors have changed since then. I got rid of the majority of my stress in my life, i changed my workouts and I work harder. And I have an awesome support system. What really matters though is I have done my research. I started in February. Whether it's 7 months ago or 9 months ago I don't know, all I know is I've weighed the pros and cons and for me it's worth it. I may have taken some of the things you said in the wrong way too. I don't know. I don't always understand the tone of the way things are written. For what it's worth I'm sorry for anything rude I've said.5
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This part of your statement is absolutely incorrect - the ONLY reason that people lose weight is to eat fewer calories than they burn and the ONLY reason people gain weight is to eat more calories than they burn - this is a universal truth.
No actually, people who have type 2 diabetes often lose weight for no explainable reason before they are diagnosed. Also, people with some forms of cancer lose weight before they are diagnosed. A lot of mental health medications cause weight gain, as do steroids used for medical problems. As do some illnesses. Dehydration causes weight gain. Women's periods cause them to gain a few pounds a month. Water retention causes weight gain, congestive heart failure causes weight gain.
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Lgcoulter33 wrote: »
No actually, people who have type 2 diabetes often lose weight for no explainable reason before they are diagnosed. Also, people with some forms of cancer lose weight before they are diagnosed. A lot of mental health medications cause weight gain, as do steroids used for medical problems. As do some illnesses. Dehydration causes weight gain. Women's periods cause them to gain a few pounds a month. Water retention causes weight gain, congestive heart failure causes weight gain.
Half of the things you listed are equal to "putting on your clothes in the morning causes weight gain".15 -
Lgcoulter33 wrote: »
No actually, people who have type 2 diabetes often lose weight for no explainable reason before they are diagnosed. Also, people with some forms of cancer lose weight before they are diagnosed. A lot of mental health medications cause weight gain, as do steroids used for medical problems. As do some illnesses. Dehydration causes weight gain. Women's periods cause them to gain a few pounds a month. Water retention causes weight gain, congestive heart failure causes weight gain.
All of those weight gains come because the person ate more calories than they used. This does not mean that some of them cause water retention but that is a different issue altogether.
The conditions and medications mentioned CAN affect hunger signals and they CAN affect the CO portion of the equation. The weight gain happens because the person does not adjust their CI for the difference.14 -
Lgcoulter33 wrote: »She's also told me that I must have been eating 42000 extra calories a month to gain so much weight so fast. I never did and never have. My mfp food diary is still set up to my old goal. I use spark people to log my calories for the day. My goal there is 1200-1250. 99.9% of the time I'm at or below 1200.
I don't know why you are taking the 42000 extra calorie thing as an insult. It's just math. To gain a lb you must eat around 3500 calories over your maintenance, whatever the maintenance is. She's saying that to gain 12 lbs (assuming it's not water -- which would be a possibility, but your medical team presumably would have noticed that), you need to eat 42000 over maintenance. If you gained 12 in a month (I wasn't paying that much attention so do not recall the timing), then you ate 42000 over maintenance in a month.
That's true.
It doesn't say what you actually were eating -- you could calculate your maintenance based on results if you wanted and believe your logging is accurate.
It's also true that it makes no sense to be able to lose at 1200 (as seems normal and expected) and gain 12 lbs per month at 1400. It's just not really possible.
That said, I have no opinion on whether you should get WLS. That's between you and your doctors. But I do not believe WLS changes maintenance level. It helps people eat less or in some cases absorb less from what they do eat. (If I am wrong about this, I would be happy to be corrected and would read any credible source. I am interested in learning more about WLS, although I would tend to see it as an absolute last resort. I do not think anything negative about people who have it.
One thing I see in your posts is the idea that gaining weight because of eating more calories than you burn (which is just fact) seems to be taken by you as something bad, as if it is a bad thing or shameful to eat more than you burn, so you need to say that you did not, period. I think that's a common thing among some women, that the concept of eating more than needed seems unladylike or something so people claim they simply did not, but gained from eating too little. I think it's worth thinking about, as it can be part of a messed up idea about food that is ultimately counterproductive. All of us gained weight from eating more than we burn. Doesn't mean we were eating in a stereotypically fat person way or loads of calories daily or unhealthy diets (those stereotypes drive me crazy too), but there's nothing insulting about saying that to gain weight you have to have eaten more than you burn.
And, sure, what people burn varies -- that's why I said you can actually calculate (roughly) your maintenance based on current results, if logging is accurate. If I were sedentary I'd only burn about 1550 (I'm not, however), whereas an active bigger man could burn 4000.15 -
Lgcoulter33 wrote: »
No actually, people who have type 2 diabetes often lose weight for no explainable reason before they are diagnosed.
No, it's easily explicable. It's a result of extreme insulin resistance or the body being no longer able to manufacture insulin.
The other things you mention also are not inexplicable, especially those relating to water weight fluctuations.6 -
It's really, really easy to log without anything coming close to accuracy on Spark People.9
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The idea that Size 12 is the average sized woman , so that must make it ok. (As a former size 12-14) is something I disagree with. I am currently a size 8 and know that my weight for height is actually on the high end of the healthy weight range.7
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rebbylicious wrote: »The idea that Size 12 is the average sized woman , so that must make it ok. (As a former size 12-14) is something I disagree with. I am currently a size 8 and know that my weight for height is actually on the high end of the healthy weight range.
I'm not challenging what you're saying, your comment just makes me think of how ridiculous it is to measure someone by 'size X'. Not that I think you were doing this, but it also bugs me when people say size X is too big for a healthy person. Sorry, but body type, skeletal structure, and height go a long way towards size - not just how much fat a person happens to have.
I still have about 20ish (maybe 25) pounds to lose, but I can guarantee you that a size 12 will look much different on me at 5'7" than it will on someone who is 5'4" (for example). It will probably look much different on me at 5'7" than it would on someone with a more slender build who is also 5'7". I have wide shoulders and hip bones that balance out my proportions no matter what my size better than some women who have narrower body types. Size 'X' is meaningless as a comparative tool.
Size 12 may be the average woman in the US, and it's perfectly acceptable for many, many women. FWIW, even at a near normal BMI at my lowest weight, I was a size 12 in some things *shrug*.6 -
rebbylicious wrote: »The idea that Size 12 is the average sized woman , so that must make it ok. (As a former size 12-14) is something I disagree with. I am currently a size 8 and know that my weight for height is actually on the high end of the healthy weight range.
Same here. Went from a size 12 (US) to size 8 and still in the upper BMI range. I'm 5'6".
Considering the number of women who are overweight in the US the average weight or dress size should not automatically be considered desirable.2 -
does that take into account that over the years - clothing sizes have gotten more vain and what used to be a size 10 is now a size 4-6? (in the Navy, we make a joke about the fact that the women's uniforms haven't been re-designed/sized since the 1970's...in those I wear a size 14, in everything else I wear a 6-8)9
This discussion has been closed.
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