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What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?
Replies
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »jamesakrobinson wrote: »So with all this talk about logging exercise and food accurately I have a question. (yes I realize that that makes this off topic but the topic is what triggers the question)
I was using Fat Secret for a few years, and I think I still prefer it... but MFP actually shares information with Nokia Health Mate, Google Fit, and some other apps I use...
Observations:
FS allows you to enter everything in grams or milliliters but MFP has some "1 piece" or imperial only, which is awkward when I use a scale or measuring cup for almost everything.
FS has calorie counts for almost any activity you can imagine, even sex. I only log actual exercise, and it does not change my caloric budget for the day. (I prefer this because it's easier to stick with roughly the same macros regardless of whether I lift or not on any particular day)
MFP lists tons of exercises, and allows me to even enter sets, reps, and weight... but has no calorie value for any of them?
MFP DOES pull the most useless value from Google Fit... steps. It gives this a calorie value and wants to add to my budget for the day but an hour and a half of pounding the heaviest weights I can manage with good form doesn't count??
Ultimately I am now logging in 2 apps and entering my training in Google Fit... this completely defeats the purpose of automation!
The question (finally)...
Is there a way to enter my lifting in MFP that would make sense?
I would be perfectly happy with a generic "intense weight training" and the length of the session giving me a rough calorie estimate. That's what FS, Google Fit, and LG Health all do. (but MFP only pulls "steps")
Again, I don't want it to change my calorie budget, but I would like to have the information available to see if I'm running a deficit, surplus, or maintenance.
"Strength training (weight lifting, weight training)" is an entry in the MFP "cardio" exercise database, and has a (low) calorie burn estimate attached.
I track my strength training calories with my HRM and it generally gives me a calorie burn of 3-4 calories per minute, which is ballpark what the tables estimate. My unpopular opinion is that HRMs provide reasonable calorie burn estimates, even for non-steady state exercises.
That's the gross calorie burn, which includes your BMR. Mine does the same.
I've logged strength training using MFP's data base, and I really have no problem trusting my Fitbit in exercise mode for strength training. I get a reasonably small burn and adjustment.
I lifted this afternoon and just ran some numbers, figuring out the net burn I'd get from Fitbit vs. what I'd get by logging on MFP. There's a whopping 6 calorie difference.
Yep, I've used my HRM from day one for all of my exercise (apart from yoga or stretching) and have always eaten all of those calorie adjustments. Always accurate. People just have to apply common sense with these things ie. test your own results over time.3 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »
okay then let me ask you a couple of questions then.
how many people log their food accurately? (guesstimate)
Do you need physical activity to lose weight?
was is done to improve your health and/or fitness? (if yes then it's exercise)
If all are answered no or none..then there is why I make the distinction, because that activity is moot when it comes down to it and in the larger scheme of things that one activity is not going to make or break your weight loss but if you log them all that could break it.
To me it makes sense to you maybe not...
I do
No
Anything I do that is not sitting on my backside helps my fitness. Yes, even spading and tilling our extremely heavy clay soil.
I only log what is out of the norm. All other household/living activity gets added in to my steps so yes, I get extra calories.
It neither makes or breaks my weight loss because I pay attention to both calories in and calories out and make adjustments as needed. Working very well so far.
I think my point is being missed on purpose...
No one is 100% accurate in logging...we can't be, we can do what we can but in the long run it's all just a guesstimate and usually people are on the wrong side of it
No you don't need exercise to lose weight
and the question was "was it done to improve your health and/or fitness" and you don't till for that you till to have a garden, to mix the soil etc...it might help it a bit but it wasn't done for that sole purpose which is what exercise is...done for the sole purpose of increasing health and/or fitness.
anyway I won't be changing people's minds they have their own way which is fine, great even...
the difference here is I can say I see why people see it the other way...I don't agree but I can see why...
So to fix this logging inaccuracy you advocate deliberately making your logging even less accurate by randomly excluding calorie burning activities because they may have been done for other reasons than fitness. Or even fitness plus other reasons?
What a peculiar way to calorie count or estimate.
Excluding data doesn't improve accuracy - that's basic mathematics.
you can't fix the inaccuracies. I use a food scale and even then I know mine is not perfect. Partially because I cook most of my meals (yes I use the recipe builder but it is still not 100%) then if you do eat out that is up for debate on accuracy and then to top it all off exercise...
I recommend exclusion of those calories because it isn't exercise yes...but there are other reasons such as it's a slippery slope because it's being done to get more food...which often leads to weight gain eventually hence why doing those activities while you were fat and stayed fat shouldn't be logged now that you decided not to be fat.
excluding anomalies in stats is encouraged under the following circumstances
It is incorrect data
no impact
if it creates a significant association
the only time it is included is when it impacts both results and assumptions.
that is basic stats.Tacklewasher wrote: »So to fix this logging inaccuracy you advocate deliberately making your logging even less accurate by randomly excluding calorie burning activities because they may have been done for other reasons than fitness. Or even fitness plus other reasons?
What a peculiar way to calorie count or estimate.
Excluding data doesn't improve accuracy - that's basic mathematics.
I don't know. If it works for her, it works. We all know we are not 100% accurate and need to adjust based on the actual weight gain/loss, so if she is losing or maintaining or gaining according to plan, then it is fine.
I won't do it that way and would never recommend it, but to each their own.
and thank you I appreciate this....no you don't agree but I think you get why I say what I do.5 -
French_Peasant wrote: »I think the "don't log it" perspective is an important and valuable perspective for people to hear and consider. How many of us have people on our feeds who regularly log 20 minutes of light cleaning, and then complain that they don't lose weight?
In thinking about this, I have my maintenance calories set at 1380 when they should be somewhat higher; I tend to be sloppy on a lot of my logging and this buffer accommodates for the sloppiness, as well as the gardening days where I am, say, spending too much time working on a knot or repairing some netting or staking tomatoes instead of digging the potatoes or some such. I guess we all have our work-arounds.
This is exactly why I think most people should not. I had one person in my feed that would log light cleaning, shopping and walking the dog for 10 minutes. After 6 years they had lost 20 lbs and complained constantly about how hard it was to lose. They had to go.
Something vigorous and or sustained, I can see it. But a little weeding the front flower bed? Not so much.
My view is that it's a matter of degree and significance to an individual.
My 15 minute walk or 5 minute cycle to my local station is a regular and normal part of my life. When I choose to do a 4 mile round trip to the next station I figure that just compensates for days I work from home.
But when the trains are out of service and I cycle a 36 round trip to work because if I don't turn up for work I don't get paid that's significant. It's not for fitness but my body doesn't know that.
Same I apply to my gardening - regular maintenance is part of life and not logged but if I spend hours cutting down a tree and logging/shredding it then that's significant.
For me I work on roughly 10% of my base casame lories as being significant. Which is a fair amount for me on a high calorie allowance but not a lot of calories for the infamous 1200 cals a day crew.
It might even motivate people to be more active which is only a good thing.
Yup, we're on the same page.
I agree with the premise that some rare activities should be logged as well...
I am talking about things like taking the dog around the block so it poops..
I am talking about weeding the flowers in the spring
I am talking about tilling the garden with a tiller...not breaking new ground for a garden of a decent size but tilling your exisiting garden.
But cleaning because you are sweating? no....
Cleaning a bathroom for 45min no
moving furniture to clean no
"deep cleaning" anything no
even the 3.5 hours of volunteering for the animal shelter clean up...no I wouldn't log it...
but those are the things that people are logging and saying that others should too..."in the other thread".
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Jonesuna64 wrote: »What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?
Eat Less
Exercise
BURN THE WITCH!9 -
French_Peasant wrote: »I think the "don't log it" perspective is an important and valuable perspective for people to hear and consider. How many of us have people on our feeds who regularly log 20 minutes of light cleaning, and then complain that they don't lose weight?
In thinking about this, I have my maintenance calories set at 1380 when they should be somewhat higher; I tend to be sloppy on a lot of my logging and this buffer accommodates for the sloppiness, as well as the gardening days where I am, say, spending too much time working on a knot or repairing some netting or staking tomatoes instead of digging the potatoes or some such. I guess we all have our work-arounds.
This is exactly why I think most people should not. I had one person in my feed that would log light cleaning, shopping and walking the dog for 10 minutes. After 6 years they had lost 20 lbs and complained constantly about how hard it was to lose. They had to go.
Something vigorous and or sustained, I can see it. But a little weeding the front flower bed? Not so much.
My view is that it's a matter of degree and significance to an individual.
My 15 minute walk or 5 minute cycle to my local station is a regular and normal part of my life. When I choose to do a 4 mile round trip to the next station I figure that just compensates for days I work from home.
But when the trains are out of service and I cycle a 36 round trip to work because if I don't turn up for work I don't get paid that's significant. It's not for fitness but my body doesn't know that.
Same I apply to my gardening - regular maintenance is part of life and not logged but if I spend hours cutting down a tree and logging/shredding it then that's significant.
For me I work on roughly 10% of my base casame lories as being significant. Which is a fair amount for me on a high calorie allowance but not a lot of calories for the infamous 1200 cals a day crew.
It might even motivate people to be more active which is only a good thing.
Yup, we're on the same page.
I agree with the premise that some rare activities should be logged as well...
I am talking about things like taking the dog around the block so it poops..
I am talking about weeding the flowers in the spring
I am talking about tilling the garden with a tiller...not breaking new ground for a garden of a decent size but tilling your exisiting garden.
But cleaning because you are sweating? no....
Cleaning a bathroom for 45min no
moving furniture to clean no
"deep cleaning" anything no
even the 3.5 hours of volunteering for the animal shelter clean up...no I wouldn't log it...
but those are the things that people are logging and saying that others should too..."in the other thread".
But that was exactly what the OP of the thread was talking about!
3.5hrs of rare heavy duty cleaning activity, not cleaning her own bathroom.
She even said "I don't do this every day & don't log my hour walk or anything else I do at home."
SMH8 -
French_Peasant wrote: »I think the "don't log it" perspective is an important and valuable perspective for people to hear and consider. How many of us have people on our feeds who regularly log 20 minutes of light cleaning, and then complain that they don't lose weight?
In thinking about this, I have my maintenance calories set at 1380 when they should be somewhat higher; I tend to be sloppy on a lot of my logging and this buffer accommodates for the sloppiness, as well as the gardening days where I am, say, spending too much time working on a knot or repairing some netting or staking tomatoes instead of digging the potatoes or some such. I guess we all have our work-arounds.
This is exactly why I think most people should not. I had one person in my feed that would log light cleaning, shopping and walking the dog for 10 minutes. After 6 years they had lost 20 lbs and complained constantly about how hard it was to lose. They had to go.
Something vigorous and or sustained, I can see it. But a little weeding the front flower bed? Not so much.
My view is that it's a matter of degree and significance to an individual.
My 15 minute walk or 5 minute cycle to my local station is a regular and normal part of my life. When I choose to do a 4 mile round trip to the next station I figure that just compensates for days I work from home.
But when the trains are out of service and I cycle a 36 round trip to work because if I don't turn up for work I don't get paid that's significant. It's not for fitness but my body doesn't know that.
Same I apply to my gardening - regular maintenance is part of life and not logged but if I spend hours cutting down a tree and logging/shredding it then that's significant.
For me I work on roughly 10% of my base casame lories as being significant. Which is a fair amount for me on a high calorie allowance but not a lot of calories for the infamous 1200 cals a day crew.
It might even motivate people to be more active which is only a good thing.
Yup, we're on the same page.
I agree with the premise that some rare activities should be logged as well...
I am talking about things like taking the dog around the block so it poops..
I am talking about weeding the flowers in the spring
I am talking about tilling the garden with a tiller...not breaking new ground for a garden of a decent size but tilling your exisiting garden.
But cleaning because you are sweating? no....
Cleaning a bathroom for 45min no
moving furniture to clean no
"deep cleaning" anything no
even the 3.5 hours of volunteering for the animal shelter clean up...no I wouldn't log it...
but those are the things that people are logging and saying that others should too..."in the other thread".
But that was exactly what the OP of the thread was talking about!
3.5hrs of rare heavy duty cleaning activity, not cleaning her own bathroom.
She even said "I don't do this every day & don't log my hour walk or anything else I do at home."
SMH
SMH? at what? did you misread what I wrote or were you reading to respond?
exact quote..
"even the 3.5 hours of volunteering for the animal shelter clean up...no I wouldn't log it...."
There are somethings that are rare yes that should be logged.
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French_Peasant wrote: »I think the "don't log it" perspective is an important and valuable perspective for people to hear and consider. How many of us have people on our feeds who regularly log 20 minutes of light cleaning, and then complain that they don't lose weight?
In thinking about this, I have my maintenance calories set at 1380 when they should be somewhat higher; I tend to be sloppy on a lot of my logging and this buffer accommodates for the sloppiness, as well as the gardening days where I am, say, spending too much time working on a knot or repairing some netting or staking tomatoes instead of digging the potatoes or some such. I guess we all have our work-arounds.
This is exactly why I think most people should not. I had one person in my feed that would log light cleaning, shopping and walking the dog for 10 minutes. After 6 years they had lost 20 lbs and complained constantly about how hard it was to lose. They had to go.
Something vigorous and or sustained, I can see it. But a little weeding the front flower bed? Not so much.
My view is that it's a matter of degree and significance to an individual.
My 15 minute walk or 5 minute cycle to my local station is a regular and normal part of my life. When I choose to do a 4 mile round trip to the next station I figure that just compensates for days I work from home.
But when the trains are out of service and I cycle a 36 round trip to work because if I don't turn up for work I don't get paid that's significant. It's not for fitness but my body doesn't know that.
Same I apply to my gardening - regular maintenance is part of life and not logged but if I spend hours cutting down a tree and logging/shredding it then that's significant.
For me I work on roughly 10% of my base casame lories as being significant. Which is a fair amount for me on a high calorie allowance but not a lot of calories for the infamous 1200 cals a day crew.
It might even motivate people to be more active which is only a good thing.
Yup, we're on the same page.
I agree with the premise that some rare activities should be logged as well...
I am talking about things like taking the dog around the block so it poops..
I am talking about weeding the flowers in the spring
I am talking about tilling the garden with a tiller...not breaking new ground for a garden of a decent size but tilling your exisiting garden.
But cleaning because you are sweating? no....
Cleaning a bathroom for 45min no
moving furniture to clean no
"deep cleaning" anything no
even the 3.5 hours of volunteering for the animal shelter clean up...no I wouldn't log it...
but those are the things that people are logging and saying that others should too..."in the other thread".
1 -
French_Peasant wrote: »I think the "don't log it" perspective is an important and valuable perspective for people to hear and consider. How many of us have people on our feeds who regularly log 20 minutes of light cleaning, and then complain that they don't lose weight?
In thinking about this, I have my maintenance calories set at 1380 when they should be somewhat higher; I tend to be sloppy on a lot of my logging and this buffer accommodates for the sloppiness, as well as the gardening days where I am, say, spending too much time working on a knot or repairing some netting or staking tomatoes instead of digging the potatoes or some such. I guess we all have our work-arounds.
This is exactly why I think most people should not. I had one person in my feed that would log light cleaning, shopping and walking the dog for 10 minutes. After 6 years they had lost 20 lbs and complained constantly about how hard it was to lose. They had to go.
Something vigorous and or sustained, I can see it. But a little weeding the front flower bed? Not so much.
My view is that it's a matter of degree and significance to an individual.
My 15 minute walk or 5 minute cycle to my local station is a regular and normal part of my life. When I choose to do a 4 mile round trip to the next station I figure that just compensates for days I work from home.
But when the trains are out of service and I cycle a 36 round trip to work because if I don't turn up for work I don't get paid that's significant. It's not for fitness but my body doesn't know that.
Same I apply to my gardening - regular maintenance is part of life and not logged but if I spend hours cutting down a tree and logging/shredding it then that's significant.
For me I work on roughly 10% of my base casame lories as being significant. Which is a fair amount for me on a high calorie allowance but not a lot of calories for the infamous 1200 cals a day crew.
It might even motivate people to be more active which is only a good thing.
Yup, we're on the same page.
I agree with the premise that some rare activities should be logged as well...
I am talking about things like taking the dog around the block so it poops..
I am talking about weeding the flowers in the spring
I am talking about tilling the garden with a tiller...not breaking new ground for a garden of a decent size but tilling your exisiting garden.
But cleaning because you are sweating? no....
Cleaning a bathroom for 45min no
moving furniture to clean no
"deep cleaning" anything no
even the 3.5 hours of volunteering for the animal shelter clean up...no I wouldn't log it...
but those are the things that people are logging and saying that others should too..."in the other thread".
Kind of why I use TDEE and watch the scale some.
In my case (I don't have a HRM) I'm usually building/repairing something on the weekends, but that's only maybe 9 months out of the year.
Like this past Sunday. Spent 6 hours working on repair the deck. Loaded the lumber, hauled it to the back. Cut, hammer, nail or bolt into place, crawling around under and on top of the deck. Didn't log it as I have no idea how many extra calories I burned. But I did figure it gained me 2 extra Miller Lites
And I'll get another 2 extra Miller Lites this coming weekend when I start rebuilding the retaining wall next to the patio.2 -
piperdown44 wrote: »French_Peasant wrote: »I think the "don't log it" perspective is an important and valuable perspective for people to hear and consider. How many of us have people on our feeds who regularly log 20 minutes of light cleaning, and then complain that they don't lose weight?
In thinking about this, I have my maintenance calories set at 1380 when they should be somewhat higher; I tend to be sloppy on a lot of my logging and this buffer accommodates for the sloppiness, as well as the gardening days where I am, say, spending too much time working on a knot or repairing some netting or staking tomatoes instead of digging the potatoes or some such. I guess we all have our work-arounds.
This is exactly why I think most people should not. I had one person in my feed that would log light cleaning, shopping and walking the dog for 10 minutes. After 6 years they had lost 20 lbs and complained constantly about how hard it was to lose. They had to go.
Something vigorous and or sustained, I can see it. But a little weeding the front flower bed? Not so much.
My view is that it's a matter of degree and significance to an individual.
My 15 minute walk or 5 minute cycle to my local station is a regular and normal part of my life. When I choose to do a 4 mile round trip to the next station I figure that just compensates for days I work from home.
But when the trains are out of service and I cycle a 36 round trip to work because if I don't turn up for work I don't get paid that's significant. It's not for fitness but my body doesn't know that.
Same I apply to my gardening - regular maintenance is part of life and not logged but if I spend hours cutting down a tree and logging/shredding it then that's significant.
For me I work on roughly 10% of my base casame lories as being significant. Which is a fair amount for me on a high calorie allowance but not a lot of calories for the infamous 1200 cals a day crew.
It might even motivate people to be more active which is only a good thing.
Yup, we're on the same page.
I agree with the premise that some rare activities should be logged as well...
I am talking about things like taking the dog around the block so it poops..
I am talking about weeding the flowers in the spring
I am talking about tilling the garden with a tiller...not breaking new ground for a garden of a decent size but tilling your exisiting garden.
But cleaning because you are sweating? no....
Cleaning a bathroom for 45min no
moving furniture to clean no
"deep cleaning" anything no
even the 3.5 hours of volunteering for the animal shelter clean up...no I wouldn't log it...
but those are the things that people are logging and saying that others should too..."in the other thread".
Kind of why I use TDEE and watch the scale some.
In my case (I don't have a HRM) I'm usually building/repairing something on the weekends, but that's only maybe 9 months out of the year.
Like this past Sunday. Spent 6 hours working on repair the deck. Loaded the lumber, hauled it to the back. Cut, hammer, nail or bolt into place, crawling around under and on top of the deck. Didn't log it as I have no idea how many extra calories I burned. But I did figure it gained me 2 extra Miller Lites
And I'll get another 2 extra Miller Lites this coming weekend when I start rebuilding the retaining wall next to the patio.
See, the issue with this is thinking "Miller Lite" is beer. I do renovations for Guinness.
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My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
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Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
I agree with this one. My husband does not. He's always trying to force me to eat stuff so it won't be 'wasted'. If the chickens won't eat it and it can't be composted I just throw it over the hill and say I'm feeding the wildlife.6 -
Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
Do you not own a freezer?
I hate waste, it's a bug bare of mine.1 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
Do you not own a freezer?
I hate waste, it's a bug bare of mine.
Some things simply don't freeze or reheat well, though. There are also times - if eating out before a movie, for instance - that the leftovers may sit in a hot car for a couple of hours. Or maybe there's just a couple of bites, to where it might be more wasteful to dirty a to-go container. There are a number of other possible reasons, but like he said - sometimes it isn't practical to save the leftovers.7 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
Do you not own a freezer?
I hate waste, it's a bug bare of mine.
Some things simply don't freeze or reheat well, though. There are also times - if eating out before a movie, for instance - that the leftovers may sit in a hot car for a couple of hours. Or maybe there's just a couple of bites, to where it might be more wasteful to dirty a to-go container. There are a number of other possible reasons, but like he said - sometimes it isn't practical to save the leftovers.
My wife can't stand to waste. So she wraps up every little leftover and puts it in the fridge. Once a week, I go though and throw away the stuff that is now unsafe and/ or growing mold. It's like our little ritual.17 -
Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
/agree and this was probably my biggest mental hurdle to overcome. Raised by two depression era parents, growing up working poor, and being boot camped I have issues not cleaning my plate.
Think my wife and I both have done a good job overcoming this and teaching our kids to stop when full.2 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
Do you not own a freezer?
I hate waste, it's a bug bare of mine.
Some things simply don't freeze or reheat well, though. There are also times - if eating out before a movie, for instance - that the leftovers may sit in a hot car for a couple of hours. Or maybe there's just a couple of bites, to where it might be more wasteful to dirty a to-go container. There are a number of other possible reasons, but like he said - sometimes it isn't practical to save the leftovers.
My wife can't stand to waste. So she wraps up every little leftover and puts it in the fridge. Once a week, I go though and throw away the stuff that is now unsafe and/ or growing mold. It's like our little ritual.
Here too. Every Thursday night before Friday trash day.2 -
Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
What a timely post.
We had a party last weekend, are leaving for a 3 week holiday tomorrow, and SO has been working away all week- I have been desperately trying to empty the fridge into myself all week.
It's not as bad as it sounds, mainly cold cuts, steak, and lots and lots of fruit and veg, but a girl can only eat so much.
The gobbler (compost) is going to get a treat later today.
it took me a long time to learn I don't have to clean my plate, (post WWII working class poverty) and I do well most times, but a fridge half full of perishables threw me.
Cheers, h.6 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
Do you not own a freezer?
I hate waste, it's a bug bare of mine.
So if I go to dinner on the way to a kids sporting event and my kids waste half of their dinners, do I scrape it into a to-go container and let it sit in a hot car for a few hours?2 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
Do you not own a freezer?
I hate waste, it's a bug bare of mine.
Some things simply don't freeze or reheat well, though. There are also times - if eating out before a movie, for instance - that the leftovers may sit in a hot car for a couple of hours. Or maybe there's just a couple of bites, to where it might be more wasteful to dirty a to-go container. There are a number of other possible reasons, but like he said - sometimes it isn't practical to save the leftovers.
My wife can't stand to waste. So she wraps up every little leftover and puts it in the fridge. Once a week, I go though and throw away the stuff that is now unsafe and/ or growing mold. It's like our little ritual.
That's kind of sweet.8 -
Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I had to teach myself this position, but I agree.
No one else is affected if I waste food, and me eating food I don't want (whether because it's not worth the calories to me or I'm not hungry) is not helping anyone else and is hurting me.
I go to a lot of plays and concerts and we often get a meal before, and I can't really bring my leftovers, so I often don't get the takehome box. I just let it go. For a while I felt like I was hurting someone's feelings by leaving (sometimes) lots of food and not taking it home, but I got over that.2 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I had to teach myself this position, but I agree.
No one else is affected if I waste food, and me eating food I don't want (whether because it's not worth the calories to me or I'm not hungry) is not helping anyone else and is hurting me.
I go to a lot of plays and concerts and we often get a meal before, and I can't really bring my leftovers, so I often don't get the takehome box. I just let it go. For a while I felt like I was hurting someone's feelings by leaving (sometimes) lots of food and not taking it home, but I got over that.
It took me a lot of years to fully realize this, but I'm of the opinion that eating food that I don't need and don't want just to avoid "wasting" it is just as wasteful as throwing it away. It doesn't help world hunger for me to carry around excess body weight.13 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
Do you not own a freezer?
I hate waste, it's a bug bare of mine.
Some things simply don't freeze or reheat well, though. There are also times - if eating out before a movie, for instance - that the leftovers may sit in a hot car for a couple of hours. Or maybe there's just a couple of bites, to where it might be more wasteful to dirty a to-go container. There are a number of other possible reasons, but like he said - sometimes it isn't practical to save the leftovers.
My wife can't stand to waste. So she wraps up every little leftover and puts it in the fridge. Once a week, I go though and throw away the stuff that is now unsafe and/ or growing mold. It's like our little ritual.
Extended storage causes the guilt to wear off from the food. Really. Has the same effect as waiting several months before regifting a present from a friend, to a 3rd party they don't know.12 -
janejellyroll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I had to teach myself this position, but I agree.
No one else is affected if I waste food, and me eating food I don't want (whether because it's not worth the calories to me or I'm not hungry) is not helping anyone else and is hurting me.
I go to a lot of plays and concerts and we often get a meal before, and I can't really bring my leftovers, so I often don't get the takehome box. I just let it go. For a while I felt like I was hurting someone's feelings by leaving (sometimes) lots of food and not taking it home, but I got over that.
It took me a lot of years to fully realize this, but I'm of the opinion that eating food that I don't need and don't want just to avoid "wasting" it is just as wasteful as throwing it away. It doesn't help world hunger for me to carry around excess body weight.
Yes, that's exactly how I convinced myself on the matter! It's wasted either way.1 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
Do you not own a freezer?
I hate waste, it's a bug bare of mine.
Some things simply don't freeze or reheat well, though. There are also times - if eating out before a movie, for instance - that the leftovers may sit in a hot car for a couple of hours. Or maybe there's just a couple of bites, to where it might be more wasteful to dirty a to-go container. There are a number of other possible reasons, but like he said - sometimes it isn't practical to save the leftovers.
My wife can't stand to waste. So she wraps up every little leftover and puts it in the fridge. Once a week, I go though and throw away the stuff that is now unsafe and/ or growing mold. It's like our little ritual.
You're married to my husband's soul mate. He's the same way. I'm ruthlessly realistic about the possibility of food getting eaten and know when it's useless to save it.3 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
Do you not own a freezer?
I hate waste, it's a bug bare of mine.
Some things simply don't freeze or reheat well, though. There are also times - if eating out before a movie, for instance - that the leftovers may sit in a hot car for a couple of hours. Or maybe there's just a couple of bites, to where it might be more wasteful to dirty a to-go container. There are a number of other possible reasons, but like he said - sometimes it isn't practical to save the leftovers.
My wife can't stand to waste. So she wraps up every little leftover and puts it in the fridge. Once a week, I go though and throw away the stuff that is now unsafe and/ or growing mold. It's like our little ritual.
You're married to my husband's soul mate. He's the same way. I'm ruthlessly realistic about the possibility of food getting eaten and know when it's useless to save it.
I'd argue that successful relationships are based on complementary neuroses and compulsions, not matching ones.
(Arguably an unpopular opinion, but not about health or fitness. Oops. ).14 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I know there are babies with distended bellies in Africa who are starving to death, my mom told me that consistently throughout my childhood, and my parents always made us completely clean our plates or suffer the Depression Era guilt that was inflicted upon them by their parents. I try to avoid waste, but sometimes it just happens and I’m not stuffing myself if I have reached my limits.
Do you not own a freezer?
I hate waste, it's a bug bare of mine.
Some things simply don't freeze or reheat well, though. There are also times - if eating out before a movie, for instance - that the leftovers may sit in a hot car for a couple of hours. Or maybe there's just a couple of bites, to where it might be more wasteful to dirty a to-go container. There are a number of other possible reasons, but like he said - sometimes it isn't practical to save the leftovers.
My wife can't stand to waste. So she wraps up every little leftover and puts it in the fridge. Once a week, I go though and throw away the stuff that is now unsafe and/ or growing mold. It's like our little ritual.
You're married to my husband's soul mate. He's the same way. I'm ruthlessly realistic about the possibility of food getting eaten and know when it's useless to save it.
I'd argue that successful relationships are based on complementary neuroses and compulsions, not matching ones.
(Arguably an unpopular opinion, but not about health or fitness. Oops. ).
To a point. His need to keep "stuff" is a constant source of good-natured marital friction that isn't as easily solved as the food dilemma. Fortunately, we're both easy going people.5 -
janejellyroll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I had to teach myself this position, but I agree.
No one else is affected if I waste food, and me eating food I don't want (whether because it's not worth the calories to me or I'm not hungry) is not helping anyone else and is hurting me.
I go to a lot of plays and concerts and we often get a meal before, and I can't really bring my leftovers, so I often don't get the takehome box. I just let it go. For a while I felt like I was hurting someone's feelings by leaving (sometimes) lots of food and not taking it home, but I got over that.
It took me a lot of years to fully realize this, but I'm of the opinion that eating food that I don't need and don't want just to avoid "wasting" it is just as wasteful as throwing it away. It doesn't help world hunger for me to carry around excess body weight.
This is the conclusion I came to as well. Either I waste it by throwing it in the bin, or I waist it, then waste it by flushing it.7 -
VintageFeline wrote: »GemstoneofHeart wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »GemstoneofHeart wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »shinedowness1 wrote: »What I do is basically have women's multivitamin pills, oatmeal, protein, and bananas in the morning. That usually stops me from eating things that cause me to overindulge throughout the day. My snacks, lunches, and dinners consist of a mixture of foods. That way I am not eating repetitively so much. Foods high in vitamins, minerals, and protein are what I scavenge for. I try to have foods that are not genetically modified, processed so much, and doesn't have too much sugar, fat, etc. to insure my body.
don't have a varied diet do you then if that is one of the conditions...
You don't have to have Cheeto's, pop, etc to have a varied diet.
Someone who avoids processed food is going to be eliminating a lot more than Cheetos and soda, especially if they are also eliminating foods that are higher in sugar and fat as well.
This represents one of my unpopular opinions. Someone who mentioned they are trying to limit processed foods, extra sugar, fat etc from their diet gets a lot of static on their choices on this forum. Yet someone who eats a bunch of questionable foods (i.e. junk foods) drinks alcohol on a daily basis etc, as long as it "fits their macros" and calories gets virtual high fives.
Seems strange for a health and fitness site.
Exactly. These people who are mfp "vets" really seem to attack those who put down processed foods. Over and over again.
This is why I stand by my first unpopular opinion pages ago...this is NOT a health and fitness site. It's a weight loss site.
Yet even the most cursory perusal of the forums clearly shows that there are a staggering number of healthy, fit, athletic members on MFP.
What crazy talk! People can't possible be healthy and fit while also eating processed foods. It's impossible! Cosmo told me so! /s
That's the reason people who incorporate the things they love into their diet get "cheered". The sheer amount of "You can't eat this and be healthy!!!!!" BS that's around.
So let me ask y'all a question. I've been around on MFP since 2010, albeit a different username, and have repeatedly been challenged over what seems to be semantics. I say the words "processed foods" to mean boxed foods, I.e. Hamburger helper, fast food (no not a salad from McDonald's), hungry man meals, stuff with tons of preservatives etc. I am not referring to frozen veggies, GMOs, etc. WHAT should I (we, cause I'm not the only one) be saying to avoid these conundrums??? Do you want us to say "Whole Foods"? "Nutritionally dense foods?" "Cooked at home", Something else?
I ask with all due respect because when I see someone, including myself, trying to encourage people on these forums to eat more "nutritionally sense" foods, we get attacked on what seems to be nomenclature.
I want to know what additives make boxed foods terrible. What are they doing to the body/your health if someone consumes them even semi-regularly? That's my personal beef, no-one has ever named them and their negative effects.
As I replied above though, I call them convenience foods personally. But I do also understand when people use processed as a blanket term for those foods.
Previously the answer would probably be trans fats. Now that trans fats have been removed from the vast majority of packaged foods the many studies that referenced processed foods or convenience foods or any grouping of foods that once upon a time contained trans fats and now don't, are no longer valid. Negative association lingers I guess.
But there's also possibly excessive sodium, omega 6 fats, and the fact that many of those foods have been engineered so as to be dangerously desirable to your average Jane/Joe as well as not satiating (low fibre and low protein).
Beyond that, I'd say there is some suspicion of "What will future studies show about various ingredients in processed foods? How do we know there won't be another trans fat type discovery at a later date?"
Btw, I try not to, but I still eat a fair bit of convenience foods. I'm hoping there won't be another trans fat type discovery.7 -
janejellyroll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »Bry_Lander wrote: »My unpopular opinion (probably depends on the generation) is that if you are full and it isn’t practical to save leftovers, then it is okay to throw food away. I think that the avoidance of food-wasting guilt causes people to overeat.
Yes, I had to teach myself this position, but I agree.
No one else is affected if I waste food, and me eating food I don't want (whether because it's not worth the calories to me or I'm not hungry) is not helping anyone else and is hurting me.
I go to a lot of plays and concerts and we often get a meal before, and I can't really bring my leftovers, so I often don't get the takehome box. I just let it go. For a while I felt like I was hurting someone's feelings by leaving (sometimes) lots of food and not taking it home, but I got over that.
It took me a lot of years to fully realize this, but I'm of the opinion that eating food that I don't need and don't want just to avoid "wasting" it is just as wasteful as throwing it away. It doesn't help world hunger for me to carry around excess body weight.
This is essentially my argument, as well. Overeating, especially when one is uncomfortable because of it (I mean, physically here, but I guess emotionally could fit as well) is no less wasting food than throwing it out is.
"better it go to waste than to my waist"8 -
goldthistime wrote: »Previously the answer would probably be trans fats. Now that trans fats have been removed from the vast majority of packaged foods the many studies that referenced processed foods or convenience foods or any grouping of foods that once upon a time contained trans fats and now don't, are no longer valid. Negative association lingers I guess.
But there's also possibly excessive sodium, omega 6 fats, and the fact that many of those foods have been engineered so as to be dangerously desirable to your average Jane/Joe as well as not satiating (low fibre and low protein).
But obviously if one is concerned about these things one can avoid foods that don't contain them in excessive amounts/pose an issue. Once again, the ingredients vary quite a lot. I continue to not understand the point of generalizing.
As for the "engineering," I think we should be clear what we are talking about. Are these foods somehow more delicious and hard to resist than those from a good (high quality ingredients, good chef) restaurant? Or homemade by a good cook? No. Will a home cook or restaurant chef trying to increase flavor also use similar ingredients (butter, butter, butter, salt, sugar in the right dishes, etc.)? Absolutely.
So what is the deal with this SUBSET of processed foods that is being focused on? Increasing knowledge/skill at using cheap ingredients to better mimic the taste/satisfaction of home cooked indulgences in a product that is also shelf stable and affordable. So ultimately it comes down not to the foods being dramatically different or harder to resist (I just don't believe that store-bought cakes and cookies and pies are harder to stop eating than homemade versions, same with chips, fries, frozen pizza, fast food, etc.). It's super available and cheap compared to the alternative (which involves some time commitment and knowing how to cook and so isn't as likely to be snacked on all day or impulse purchased for "I'm tired and had a bad day" kinds of reasons). I think when we try to pretend it's about some bad effect of the processing we miss this (or pretend it's not about our choices and what we can and cannot control but "the food caused it.")8
This discussion has been closed.
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