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What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?

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  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    J72FIT wrote: »
    On that note, here's my unpopular opinion.

    The North American diet, that gets so maligned in the press, is really not too bad. Most people eat a decent assortment of food, just too much of it.

    And also get not nearly enough exercise...

    Bingo!
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    Unpopular Opinion 1: BMI is a great measurement for most people. Although muscular people would get a high reading, I think most people overestimate how muscular they are and if they dropped weight would be in the normal range.

    Unpopular Opinion 2: People look best in the BMI 19-22 range. At BMI 23-24 I still think most people look overweight and are carrying around a lot of extra weight. Mostly women, less so with men.
  • jdlobb
    jdlobb Posts: 1,232 Member
    edited October 2017
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    leggup wrote: »
    Unpopular Opinion 1: BMI is a great measurement for most people. Although muscular people would get a high reading, I think most people overestimate how muscular they are and if they dropped weight would be in the normal range.

    Unpopular Opinion 2: People look best in the BMI 19-22 range. At BMI 23-24 I still think most people look overweight and are carrying around a lot of extra weight. Mostly women, less so with men.

    this is so, so, so true.

    I always thought that I was "muscular", when really I was just fat. I was a firefighter for 8 years, I put on a lot of muscle mass, most people would consider me of above average build. But if I had the same LBM I do now and under 20% BF, I would have a "normal" BMI

    I would have to add another good 5-10 pounds of muscle mass to be "overweight" at 20% BF
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    leggup wrote: »
    Unpopular Opinion 1: BMI is a great measurement for most people. Although muscular people would get a high reading, I think most people overestimate how muscular they are and if they dropped weight would be in the normal range.

    Unpopular Opinion 2: People look best in the BMI 19-22 range. At BMI 23-24 I still think most people look overweight and are carrying around a lot of extra weight. Mostly women, less so with men.

    1 for sure.

    2 eh...my bmi floats between 23 and 24 and I wear a size 4 so not sure how I look overweight at 148lbs with abs starting to show (can see oblique line and two pack up top)

    As well my husband would disagree as well...

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    leggup wrote: »
    Unpopular Opinion 1: BMI is a great measurement for most people. Although muscular people would get a high reading, I think most people overestimate how muscular they are and if they dropped weight would be in the normal range.

    Unpopular Opinion 2: People look best in the BMI 19-22 range. At BMI 23-24 I still think most people look overweight and are carrying around a lot of extra weight. Mostly women, less so with men.

    Agree with #1

    As for #2. A person with a BMI of 23-24 is not overweight so they will not look overweight. Perhaps you meant over-fat? Though that is harder to judge simply by looking, especially if the person is clothed.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
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    Yeah I'm side eyeing, the 23-24 BMI thing especially depending on body composition. For a woman my height, the difference between BMI numbers is a handful of pounds that doesn't really show up when I'm clothed. Heck, I'm so short, the range of healthy weights for my height isn't even that great. I think it's only about 30 pounds.

  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    leggup wrote: »
    Unpopular Opinion 1: BMI is a great measurement for most people. Although muscular people would get a high reading, I think most people overestimate how muscular they are and if they dropped weight would be in the normal range.

    Unpopular Opinion 2: People look best in the BMI 19-22 range. At BMI 23-24 I still think most people look overweight and are carrying around a lot of extra weight. Mostly women, less so with men.

    Agree with #1

    As for #2. A person with a BMI of 23-24 is not overweight so they will not look overweight. Perhaps you meant over-fat? Though that is harder to judge simply by looking, especially if the person is clothed.

    Normal body fat for women is up to 31%. Some women can be higher than that at a normal weight, but it's not very common. Do they have higher body fat than leaner women? Sure, but I wouldn't call the majority overweight or overfat, just not exceptionally lean which seems to be her preference.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    leggup wrote: »
    Unpopular Opinion 1: BMI is a great measurement for most people. Although muscular people would get a high reading, I think most people overestimate how muscular they are and if they dropped weight would be in the normal range.

    Unpopular Opinion 2: People look best in the BMI 19-22 range. At BMI 23-24 I still think most people look overweight and are carrying around a lot of extra weight. Mostly women, less so with men.

    Agree with #1

    As for #2. A person with a BMI of 23-24 is not overweight so they will not look overweight. Perhaps you meant over-fat? Though that is harder to judge simply by looking, especially if the person is clothed.

    Normal body fat for women is up to 31%. Some women can be higher than that at a normal weight, but it's not very common. Do they have higher body fat than leaner women? Sure, but I wouldn't call the majority overweight or overfat, just not exceptionally lean which seems to be her preference.

    I wouldn't call them overfat either. My point was that only an overweight person can look overweight.
  • morehealthymatt
    morehealthymatt Posts: 208 Member
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    You can eat anything if you're trying to lose weight. Anything. Just do it in moderation and take into account what you eat the rest of the day if you're going to eat crap at some point. And don't eat crap everyday.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
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    On that note, here's my unpopular opinion.

    The North American diet, that gets so maligned in the press, is really not too bad. Most people eat a decent assortment of food, just too much of it.

    Not sure about that. Only 10% of US adults get the recommended amount of fruits and veggies. Not something to be proud of

    https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Packerjohn wrote: »
    On that note, here's my unpopular opinion.

    The North American diet, that gets so maligned in the press, is really not too bad. Most people eat a decent assortment of food, just too much of it.

    Not sure about that. Only 10% of US adults get the recommended amount of fruits and veggies. Not something to be proud of

    https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc-701213.html

    odd in Canada it's 50% of woman do and 37% of men...hard to believe the US is that far behind us
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    leggup wrote: »
    Unpopular Opinion 1: BMI is a great measurement for most people. Although muscular people would get a high reading, I think most people overestimate how muscular they are and if they dropped weight would be in the normal range.

    Unpopular Opinion 2: People look best in the BMI 19-22 range. At BMI 23-24 I still think most people look overweight and are carrying around a lot of extra weight. Mostly women, less so with men.

    Currently sitting at a BMI of 23. I can assure you I don't look remotely overweight.

    That's why I used boldface on the word Opinion. My current BMI is 22.7, but I've seen myself at a BMI of 19.4 and I've seen myself at 29.2 in the recent 4 years. I still think that me at 22.7 is carrying extra weight in a way that is aesthetically unattractive to me. Personal taste. I think the thin physique looks best with more muscle exposure/definition. The cutoff of 24.9 for Normal and 25.0 for Overweight is somewhat arbitrary. In Hong Kong, overweight is BMI 23+, for example. The threshold for overweight used to be BMI >27.8. These standards evolve and change.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    leggup wrote: »
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    leggup wrote: »
    Unpopular Opinion 1: BMI is a great measurement for most people. Although muscular people would get a high reading, I think most people overestimate how muscular they are and if they dropped weight would be in the normal range.

    Unpopular Opinion 2: People look best in the BMI 19-22 range. At BMI 23-24 I still think most people look overweight and are carrying around a lot of extra weight. Mostly women, less so with men.

    Currently sitting at a BMI of 23. I can assure you I don't look remotely overweight.

    That's why I used boldface on the word Opinion. My current BMI is 22.7, but I've seen myself at a BMI of 19.4 and I've seen myself at 29.2 in the recent 4 years. I still think that me at 22.7 is carrying extra weight in a way that is aesthetically unattractive to me. Personal taste. I think the thin physique looks best with more muscle exposure/definition. The cutoff of 24.9 for Normal and 25.0 for Overweight is somewhat arbitrary. In Hong Kong, overweight is BMI 23+, for example. The threshold for overweight used to be BMI >27.8. These standards evolve and change.

    Might have to do with how it was worded, but in my mind "opinion" is not the same as "preference". Opinion is deeper rooted and often has a reason and a rationale behind it, while preference is mellow and just is, you like something or you don't. Opinion can be debated, while preference can only be shared and discussed.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    leggup wrote: »
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    leggup wrote: »
    Unpopular Opinion 1: BMI is a great measurement for most people. Although muscular people would get a high reading, I think most people overestimate how muscular they are and if they dropped weight would be in the normal range.

    Unpopular Opinion 2: People look best in the BMI 19-22 range. At BMI 23-24 I still think most people look overweight and are carrying around a lot of extra weight. Mostly women, less so with men.

    Currently sitting at a BMI of 23. I can assure you I don't look remotely overweight.

    That's why I used boldface on the word Opinion. My current BMI is 22.7, but I've seen myself at a BMI of 19.4 and I've seen myself at 29.2 in the recent 4 years. I still think that me at 22.7 is carrying extra weight in a way that is aesthetically unattractive to me. Personal taste. I think the thin physique looks best with more muscle exposure/definition. The cutoff of 24.9 for Normal and 25.0 for Overweight is somewhat arbitrary. In Hong Kong, overweight is BMI 23+, for example. The threshold for overweight used to be BMI >27.8. These standards evolve and change.

    okay so what does an opinion about physical attractiveness have to do with health and fitness?
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    leggup wrote: »
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    leggup wrote: »
    Unpopular Opinion 1: BMI is a great measurement for most people. Although muscular people would get a high reading, I think most people overestimate how muscular they are and if they dropped weight would be in the normal range.

    Unpopular Opinion 2: People look best in the BMI 19-22 range. At BMI 23-24 I still think most people look overweight and are carrying around a lot of extra weight. Mostly women, less so with men.

    Currently sitting at a BMI of 23. I can assure you I don't look remotely overweight.

    That's why I used boldface on the word Opinion. My current BMI is 22.7, but I've seen myself at a BMI of 19.4 and I've seen myself at 29.2 in the recent 4 years. I still think that me at 22.7 is carrying extra weight in a way that is aesthetically unattractive to me. Personal taste. I think the thin physique looks best with more muscle exposure/definition. The cutoff of 24.9 for Normal and 25.0 for Overweight is somewhat arbitrary. In Hong Kong, overweight is BMI 23+, for example. The threshold for overweight used to be BMI >27.8. These standards evolve and change.

    The same BMI is going to look quite different on different people, without even resorting to outliers of muscle mass. Broad-shouldered men will look different at the same weight/height than men of a more narrow build. Women with a wide pelvic span or large breasts will look different from women with a narrow pelvis and small breasts. That's why BMI is a range in the first place.

    At BMI 19-20, I look fine, IMO my best. But I know others who'd look utterly skeletal, even at a similar height.

    Yup. I have a very narrow build with very little difference between my hips and my waist. Right now my BMI is 19.5 and not only do my ribs not show but I still have fat slopping over my waist and into my abdomen. I didn't look much different at a BMI of 21 or 22, and I wouldn't look much different at 18.5, just a little thicker or thinner around the middle.
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