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What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?

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Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    edited June 2017
    dybbukgirl wrote: »
    Idk what the big issue is with macros. When I first calculated what all I was eating, it was like 90% carbs and a marginal amount of protein and fat. I think a lot of poor folk who just eat ramen (me in the past) would benefit more from a focus on education regarding macros instead of the general "Eat at a deficit and you'll magically lose weight!" If you eat 2 packs of ramen a day instead of 3, has your diet really changed for the better?

    Plus, tons of people who are diabetic, insulin resistant, or who have hypothyroidism or PCOS won't benefit just from a calorie deficit if they aren't monitoring their carb intake. When they go out and try the whole "eat at a deficit and you'll magically lose weight!" thing, and it doesn't work, then they give up. Figuring out your macros isn't hard, there's tons of handy calculators all over the internet, it's not like it's difficult to plug in your stats. Checking the nutrition of a product/recipe is a habit that'll only bring you good things.

    What is wrong ramen? Add vegetables and maybe some protein, it is filling. I've eaten a lot of ramen in my day and it has not hurt me none.
  • MJ2victory
    MJ2victory Posts: 97 Member
    DamieBird wrote: »
    MJ2victory wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    MJ2victory wrote: »
    jseams1234 wrote: »
    MJ2victory wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    MJ2victory wrote: »
    Macy9336 wrote: »
    MJ2victory wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    MJ2victory wrote: »
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    MJ2victory wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    MJ2victory wrote: »
    ok I'm ready to weigh in on this (hahaha I crack myself up). Here are my unpopular opinions:

    1. Weighing daily is unhealthy. (not to say it isn't tempting)
    2. Weight loss should not be your objective. It's a side affect of making healthier choices.
    3. Mental health is just as important as physical health (if not more).
    4. If you lose weight bc you hate yourself, you will still hate yourself at your goal weight and you WILL gain it back.

    Sometimes, losing weight (in and of itself) is the best thing a person can do for their health.

    not if they're going to immediately gain it back because they didn't deal with their relationship with food and the emotional baggage that may have caused them to gain the weight.

    Who says they didn't deal with those issues as a means to the goal of losing weight?

    like I said in my original post: my opinion is that weight loss should be a byproduct, not the goal. The goal is to feel better, be more physically able, not eat emotionally, love yourself, etc. Weight is just your relationship with gravity. If you make lifestyle changes, you may lose weight, but it's about the weakest measurement of health.

    Obesity is detrimental to physical health. It's hardly a weak measurement of health. If a person is obese and they have an unhealthy relationship with food, then yes they need to deal with that unhealthy relationship in order to achieve the goal of overcoming obesity because obesity kills.

    What a ridiculous oversimplification. There is a correlation between obesity and some illnesses. And do you remember what was talked about in high school about the dangers of assuming causation vs correlation?

    No, obesity has been proven to CAUSE deaths. In 2015 four MILLION people died worldwide due to excess body weight. You'd really tout a high school lecture on correlation vs. causation as the authority trumping thousands of scientists and doctors worldwide? The science is very clear that obesity kills. You're deluded if you just think "weight is your relationship with gravity" and nothing more.

    you can think my argument is stupid or disagree with me but no scientist is going to say that obesity causes death. Show me that article. They all say it's linked or it can lead to a cause of death. Your weight is the result of over eating and/or a sedentary lifestyle. Overeating and/or a sedentary lifestyle? leads to excess weight. leads to several causes of death. Obesity doesn't literally kill you.

    Any scientist would disagree with you. Being too large for your organs and primary systems to sustain life fulfills all the criteria of a repeatable and provable fact.

    Per NIH obesity and overweight together are the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.

    Where did The National Institute of Health print that? All I can find in a website claiming they said that but no proof.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/behindtheheadlines/news/2016-07-14-obesity-now-a-leading-cause-of-death-especially-in-men/

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12230315

    https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-finds-extreme-obesity-may-shorten-life-expectancy-14-years

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1790820/

    1. correlation study
    2. says "linked" not causes death
    3. says "may shorten" and is once again correlation
    4. says it is a "risk factor" not causes death

    You are playing a semantic game to support an unreasonable position. Obesity is not a disease, but a physical state, as such is not singularly tracked. Perhaps you need to further study the semantic use of "linked", "correlation", "causation", and "risk" in these reports.

    This is akin to stating that no one starves to death, but their organs eventually fail and that lack of nutrients poses a higher risk factor to those starving. The end point is still premature death, regardless of your semantics.

    Curious - if so adamant with the notion that being obese is perfectly healthy then why did you join MFP?

    So perhaps what we're learning is that my most unpopular opinion is that words matter.

    I never said that being obese is "perfectly healthy" but I do think that fixation on weight is unhealthy.

    I joined MFP to be more conscientious of what I'm eating to avoid instances of overeating. Because although overeating makes me sick, it is pleasant in the moment and can be a mindless habit. I've decided that I deserve to feel well and want to take steps to do so. As I've stated before, weight loss may end up being a byproduct of making more sensible choices but is not my aim.

    It's great that you've decided to take charge of your own diet/eating and your own health. It's even fine that weight loss is not your goal, just as it's fine that you feel that obesity is not necessarily unhealthy for many people and that people should love themselves, no matter what body they happen to inhabit.

    Just because these ideas support your view of the world and work well for you does not mean that they are indeed based in fact or that they are a good idea for other people. I agree that a fixation on weight isn't optimally healthy, but in previous comments you seemed to imply that anyone who wants to lose weight for the sake of losing weight (in and of itself) is somehow unhealthy. It seems like you make a lot of judgments about others based on what works for you, and that's why you're getting so much push back.

    Do what works for you and in all sincerity, I hope that you have great success with whatever your goals are! Just remember that what works for YOU is not necessarily what anyone else needs/wants.

    Thank you! I am already feeling a lot better and able to learn from past mistakes.

    Saw a pic today from 5 years ago from when I was about (oh lort) 70 lbs thinner and remember feeling so awful and fat and like such a failure. I ate junk, tbh. Very small amounts of it - CICO does work but you might be messed up about it if you do it how I did. And, as previously stated, I had horrible ideas like that bc I had gotten myself fat, I deserved to feel physically and mentally horrible. I thought my life would be better when I got thinner and it wasn't bc my focus was wrong. I would have never been thin enough or attractive enough. I see people in these forums (and irl) make statements that sound a lot how I was feeling back then and it's slightly heartbreaking. Maybe I've seemed like a harpy in here but really I'm a big old softie.

    I share these opinions, in a debate forum, bc I think they are true for many many people who haven't been able to admit it or haven't realized that there's another option. I want someone to read it and maybe be able to miss out on a little bit of the anguish I put myself through.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    dybbukgirl wrote: »
    Idk what the big issue is with macros. When I first calculated what all I was eating, it was like 90% carbs and a marginal amount of protein and fat. I think a lot of poor folk who just eat ramen (me in the past) would benefit more from a focus on education regarding macros instead of the general "Eat at a deficit and you'll magically lose weight!" If you eat 2 packs of ramen a day instead of 3, has your diet really changed for the better?

    Plus, tons of people who are diabetic, insulin resistant, or who have hypothyroidism or PCOS won't benefit just from a calorie deficit if they aren't monitoring their carb intake. When they go out and try the whole "eat at a deficit and you'll magically lose weight!" thing, and it doesn't work, then they give up. Figuring out your macros isn't hard, there's tons of handy calculators all over the internet, it's not like it's difficult to plug in your stats. Checking the nutrition of a product/recipe is a habit that'll only bring you good things.

    You seem to be making a lot of judgments about other people based upon assuming that they do what you do.

    Most people, I assume, know you're supposed to eat protein and vegetables. That you didn't and assume most people don't is telling.

    I don't know, don't they teach this any more in shcools? I learned about balanced meals when I was in school.

    I homeschool my children and as a parent, taught them about balanced meals from when they were little.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    dybbukgirl wrote: »
    Idk what the big issue is with macros. When I first calculated what all I was eating, it was like 90% carbs and a marginal amount of protein and fat. I think a lot of poor folk who just eat ramen (me in the past) would benefit more from a focus on education regarding macros instead of the general "Eat at a deficit and you'll magically lose weight!" If you eat 2 packs of ramen a day instead of 3, has your diet really changed for the better?

    Plus, tons of people who are diabetic, insulin resistant, or who have hypothyroidism or PCOS won't benefit just from a calorie deficit if they aren't monitoring their carb intake. When they go out and try the whole "eat at a deficit and you'll magically lose weight!" thing, and it doesn't work, then they give up. Figuring out your macros isn't hard, there's tons of handy calculators all over the internet, it's not like it's difficult to plug in your stats. Checking the nutrition of a product/recipe is a habit that'll only bring you good things.

    The average person on the SAD, with all of its flaws, eats something like 50% carbs, 15% protein, 35% fat. So not any kind of weird mostly carbs diet. I suspect the percentage of people (other than vegans who aren't that informed about nutrition) eat extreme high carb diets that lack adequate fat or protein.

    If someone is, someone is eating a nutritionally poor diet anyway, and fixing that would necessarily solve the macro issue.

    (And of course if someone cares about health one shouldn't eat a completely nutritionally poor diet, or 90% carbs, but people know that already.)
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,895 Member
    dybbukgirl wrote: »
    Idk what the big issue is with macros. When I first calculated what all I was eating, it was like 90% carbs and a marginal amount of protein and fat. I think a lot of poor folk who just eat ramen (me in the past) would benefit more from a focus on education regarding macros instead of the general "Eat at a deficit and you'll magically lose weight!" If you eat 2 packs of ramen a day instead of 3, has your diet really changed for the better?

    Plus, tons of people who are diabetic, insulin resistant, or who have hypothyroidism or PCOS won't benefit just from a calorie deficit if they aren't monitoring their carb intake. When they go out and try the whole "eat at a deficit and you'll magically lose weight!" thing, and it doesn't work, then they give up. Figuring out your macros isn't hard, there's tons of handy calculators all over the internet, it's not like it's difficult to plug in your stats. Checking the nutrition of a product/recipe is a habit that'll only bring you good things.
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    You seem to be making a lot of judgments about other people based upon assuming that they do what you do.

    Most people, I assume, know you're supposed to eat protein and vegetables. That you didn't and assume most people don't is telling.

    I don't know, don't they teach this any more in shcools? I learned about balanced meals when I was in school.

    I homeschool my children and as a parent, taught them about balanced meals from when they were little.

    She was referring to herself and others who skip the protein and veggies because they are poor.

  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    dybbukgirl wrote: »
    Idk what the big issue is with macros. When I first calculated what all I was eating, it was like 90% carbs and a marginal amount of protein and fat. I think a lot of poor folk who just eat ramen (me in the past) would benefit more from a focus on education regarding macros instead of the general "Eat at a deficit and you'll magically lose weight!" If you eat 2 packs of ramen a day instead of 3, has your diet really changed for the better?

    Plus, tons of people who are diabetic, insulin resistant, or who have hypothyroidism or PCOS won't benefit just from a calorie deficit if they aren't monitoring their carb intake. When they go out and try the whole "eat at a deficit and you'll magically lose weight!" thing, and it doesn't work, then they give up. Figuring out your macros isn't hard, there's tons of handy calculators all over the internet, it's not like it's difficult to plug in your stats. Checking the nutrition of a product/recipe is a habit that'll only bring you good things.
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    You seem to be making a lot of judgments about other people based upon assuming that they do what you do.

    Most people, I assume, know you're supposed to eat protein and vegetables. That you didn't and assume most people don't is telling.

    I don't know, don't they teach this any more in shcools? I learned about balanced meals when I was in school.

    I homeschool my children and as a parent, taught them about balanced meals from when they were little.

    She was referring to herself and others who skip the protein and veggies because they are poor.

    I think that poor people know they should be eating better even if they can't afford it.

    I've been poor and have subsisted on spaghetti alone.

    I knew it wasn't the optimal diet.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    I take your Fruit Gums and raise you Fruit Pastilles. And milk bottles (I think you have to be proper British to know what those are).

    i would just do a straight trade. unless it's the blackcurrant-only ones. if that then forget it. they're MINE.

    mostly though i settle for the pastilles just because for some reason the only store that even does this for me usually has those . . . but the gums are seriously hit-and-miss. i just don't get it, but as a consolation: they sell jelly tots too \o/
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    stevencloser wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    stevencloser wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    stanmann571 wrote: »
    stevencloser wrote: »
    MJ2victory wrote: »
    stevencloser wrote: »
    MJ2victory wrote: »
    Dazzler21 wrote: »
    Big is beautiful...(when said about obese people)

    No it's not... It's heart disease, liver disease and many other illnesses breeding inside you because you can't control your cravings.

    This isn't a dig it's a fact.

    Those that are on here that are obese I would assume are here to improve themselves and to them I say I salute you.

    To those that choose to continue without change, I am disturbed by you and your lack of love for the only body you'll ever have.

    a.) plenty of fat ppl don't get those issues and plenty of thin people do... you know that. Why oversimplify?
    b.) you can be disturbed all you want but I agree with you that the habits and behaviors that got them/us fat probably have to do with a lack of self love. Ergo, step 1 is finding yourself beautiful and lovable and step 2 is deciding that that means you're worth the work it takes to food prep, the work it takes to say no to excess food, it's all hard work. And if you don't first believe you're worth it... how do you ever love yourself enough to do it??? Sure, some people get stuck on step 1 and that may be a problem for them and possible others... but that doesn't mean it's not an important step.

    Plenty smokers never get lung cancer.

    is that perhaps why you don't see people *kitten* on smokers the way they do on fat people?

    You haven't been around many smokers then. Or haven't seen any cigarette packages in the past years.

    Honestly, as a nonsmoker, I think that there's a fair amount of overreach... and it's one of the reasons I'm so vigorous about resisting the idea that the solution is more labelling.

    The label could say "Hey moron, smoking is bad for you, you could get cancer or emphysema."

    Instead, they now say "If you smoke another cigarette, you'll die tomorrow" or some comparable woo that makes the warning label less than useless.

    It's been a while since I've seen one (quit smoking a long time ago). Did they change them to make them more dramatic? The ones I remember were like "Quitting smoking greatly reduces your health risk" or something like that. And another one about smoking being associated with low birth weight for infants.

    Clearly they made a huge impression on me. :smiley:

    Ours now have very graphic illustrations on them accompanying the health warnings.

    Here too.

    I'll put a link, so people have the option of looking:

    https://www.google.ca/search?q=Canada+cigarette+warning+labels&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjP2Nvt7OPUAhUq7IMKHeebDHEQ_AUICigB&biw=1280&bih=611

    those seem pretty tame compared to a few I've seen here. Like a smoker's lung, a foot with a missing toe and stuff like that.

    There in there. Scroll down further!
  • Macy9336
    Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    Macy9336 wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    Macy9336 wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    Macy9336 wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    This whole argument ties into my belief that there are two kinds of people in the world. Victims and Just-Get-On-With-It types.

    We see it all the time on these forums and I know we all see it a hundred times a day IRL too.

    The former hangs on to the past (past hurts/past events/past perceived injustices) and the latter looks to the next thing and how they can contribute in a meaningful, helpful way.

    You can live in fear or live in faith - pick a side carefully.

    Some people truly are victims though and deserve care and therapy to put the pieces of their lives back together. Even if they tried to just get on with it, they'd end up mentally ill through repressing and failing to deal with their past traumas. I think your opinion is too dismissive of trauma and doesn't recognise the impact it can have on a person's physical and mental health.

    Everyone has (PAST) trauma.

    Would you care to play, "My trauma is worse than your trauma?" I'm pretty sure I could hold my own in that.

    My point is that the world goes forward, not backward. It's okay to have moments of sadness and grief and fear, but to then make that your life-view is tragic and a slap in the face to the rest of us who do deal with our pasts and do move on.

    A tragic/scary/horrible event does not have to define anyone's life. Sure, they will continue to get triggered every now and then, but to give into those fears gives the PAST power. There is no power in the past. It is an illusion.

    Hmmm I honestly don't think you could "hold your own" because it is clear you have zero understanding of trauma and absolutely no empathy for sufferers of PTSD. "Moments of sadness, grief and fear" indeed!

    I am not going to go toe-to-toe with you about my trauma vs anyone else's. I have empathy, but there is a way out. I hope you find it.

    Then why make the offer? Did I call you on a bluff? Lol. Poor you. You are too funny.

    ha. You first. List your trauma(s).


    C'mon, this isn't the place to have a therapy session. There are many sites for anxiety/depression/PTSD whatever you want to call it. There is plenty of help out there, but the healing comes from within. There is no reason to live in the past. None.

    I stand by my point that rehashing past stuff ad infinitum and using it as an excuse for remaining a victim is the weak approach. Personal power is found in hope, overcoming, faith, and joy.

    Me first? When you are the one that suggested this ridiculous thing in the first place. How about I say one trauma for your one equal trauma and we go until the other one runs out. Please note I am ex-military and served in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan so you may want to reconsider before hearing my war stories.

    But before we even get to that, I survived an IRA terrorist bomb at age 7. Your turn.

    Too I never said I was all poor me and such. I said "people with PTSD" and how they need time to pick up the pieces of their life and deserve empathy and u serstanding while they do that. I bet you've never mopped up the brains of one of your soldiers whose shot himself in the toliet rather than face another tour....but wait now I've told you two traumas. Darn it. Anyway your turn.
  • kristikitter
    kristikitter Posts: 602 Member
    - I think assuming parents of obese kids are bad parents is wrong and hurtful because you have no idea what kind of growth issues are going on (example - my best friend growing up stopped getting taller and started getting wider, and has to manage the issue with meds. She has never got taller than 4' 11" or so. She was one half of twins, the other twin had absolutely no issues at all.)

    - I think if people take a weigh-in class (Slimming World, whatever), I don't think they should take food in and eat it after weighing in - food isn't something to withhold and then pig out on once you see a number on the scale for that week. If you are doing this, you have learned nothing about how to eat.

    - I think gym memberships are a waste of time for about 90% of people

    - I think C25k has leaps in in that are FAR too big for genuine couch potatoes

    - I think enforced PE at school is TOTALLY pointless - half-hearted basketball for 50 minutes accomplishes nothing, and no, I don't think it's "better than nothing". Kids can eat back those calories in a breaktime snack.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    kristikitter wrote: »
    - I think assuming parents of obese kids are bad parents is wrong and hurtful because you have no idea what kind of growth issues are going on (example - my best friend growing up stopped getting taller and started getting wider, and has to manage the issue with meds. She has never got taller than 4' 11" or so. She was one half of twins, the other twin had absolutely no issues at all.)

    - I think if people take a weigh-in class (Slimming World, whatever), I don't think they should take food in and eat it after weighing in - food isn't something to withhold and then pig out on once you see a number on the scale for that week. If you are doing this, you have learned nothing about how to eat.

    - I think gym memberships are a waste of time for about 90% of people

    - I think C25k has leaps in in that are FAR too big for genuine couch potatoes

    - I think enforced PE at school is TOTALLY pointless - half-hearted basketball for 50 minutes accomplishes nothing, and no, I don't think it's "better than nothing". Kids can eat back those calories in a breaktime snack.

    I totally agree with this one. I had to look for an alternative program and would have been too frustrated and quit if I kept attempting to do it.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    kristikitter wrote: »

    - I think enforced PE at school is TOTALLY pointless - half-hearted basketball for 50 minutes accomplishes nothing, and no, I don't think it's "better than nothing". Kids can eat back those calories in a breaktime snack.

    That is (IMHO) a really god point that you rarely see expressed. I'm very into health and fitness and use the gym regularly as well as many physical activities and pastimes (reluctant to call them sports) outside the gym - But as a child and early teen I hated PE at school, which for a British boy in the late 70s/early 80s consisted of Football, Rugby, Cricket, and Athletics. All, of which I was pretty hopeless at.

    Luckily, I was into cycling (as a form of transport and freedom) and martial arts (as a sport and self defence) and so they were my activities.


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