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What commonly given MFP Forum advice do you personally disagree with?
Replies
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I don't agree with the simple assumption that "calories in vs. calories out" is directly related to gaining or losing weight. The direct and only metabolic mechanism for fat build-up is excess blood glucose and insulin as a result of excess carbs. Only by depleting blood glucose and therefore depleting insulin your body will start burning fat.
Yes, this can be achieved by (a lot of) cardiovascular excercise, but also and much easier by drastic reduction of carb intake. About half of the population is insulin resistant to some extent. This means that less glucose (energy) is transported to muscles and more to fat cells. Simply reducing calories will result in less energy, less excercise, and no significant weight loss. Medical scientists like Paul Mason, Stephen Phinney and Tim Noakes have treated obese patients with a low carb (ketogenic) diet with impressive results. Check YouTube.
I started keto for my mental health after watching a video of Jordan Peterson on his carnivore diet. His sleep, mood, and focus improved dramatically. As did mine. I used to sleep nine hours and couldn't wake up. Now I sleep six to seven hours and wake up rested and energetic. A life changer. As with Peterson, I lost weight and gained muscularity without a lot of excercise. For the first time in my life I'm starting to see my abs. A nice side effect.
I wonder how the heck I lost 40 Lbs then...I certainly didn't deplete blood glucose.15 -
That brings up an interesting point. I am a moderator, but that doesn't give me leave to feel morally superior to someone who is an abstainer. Alternately, my daily chocolate habit doesn't mean I'm weaker than someone who hasn't had a chocolate bar since Doc Martens were cool.
Doc Martens aren't cool anymore?
Ok ok, I take it back! Should have posted that in the unpopular opinions thread, I guess
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*jinx*3
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That brings up an interesting point. I am a moderator, but that doesn't give me leave to feel morally superior to someone who is an abstainer. Alternately, my daily chocolate habit doesn't mean I'm weaker than someone who hasn't had a chocolate bar since Doc Martens were cool.
Doc Martens aren't cool anymore?
Ok ok, I take it back! Should have posted that in the unpopular opinions thread, I guess
Or you could preface all of your posts with "Cynical kitteh sez:"6 -
MFP avatars have devolved into kittehs and mooscles.6
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quiksylver296 wrote: »_Pastafarian_ wrote: »That weight loss surgery doesn't work. It does. It has by far the best statistics for long term weight maintenance than any diet or exercise regime currently available.
Really?!? I'd always heard the opposite. Well, maybe not the opposite, but that it had a low success rate long term.
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No, quite the opposite. It has the best long term (>10 years) weight recidivism statistics of any treatment we have. I wish that it weren't so, but it's why I went with a sleeve after losing 3 lots of 50kg (your 100lbs, I think?) over my lifetime, each time regaining what I'd lost plus more. I was getting older, always hungry and trying desperately to lose the last 20kg, but was only gaining instead.
*Shrugs*. It worked for me, I would never have lost weight without it. Obesity is a complex, difficult to treat condition but maintenance of that loss is even harder.
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/12/7/16587316/bariatric-surgery-weight-loss-lap-band
https://asmbs.org/patients/bariatric-surgery-misconceptions
Not high quality links, sorry, but I'm off to the gym soon and just Googled quickly.3 -
I have occasionally read on here the suggestion to those who are not losing as quickly as they hoped, or are stalled that they "need to to eat more to lose weight". Huh? That one I don't understand, nor agree with.7
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walktalkdog wrote: »I have occasionally read on here the suggestion to those who are not losing as quickly as they hoped, or are stalled that they "need to to eat more to lose weight". Huh? That one I don't understand, nor agree with.
Well, there's an underlying kernel of truth to that statement under specific circumstances, but as general advice goes, it's not good to bandy about.
A scenario could play out wherein someone is over-restricting for a long period of time, their energy levels plummet, they become more lethargic, their exercise is less effective and burns less calories, they have less involuntary movement throughout the day, and their TDEE plummets. They may even struggle with compliance and have occasional binges.
In a scenario like that, eating more to the point where they're still in a deficit but properly fueling themselves so they have better energy, get their TDEE back up and start burning more calories, and are able to remain compliant with their diet? It's good advice to eat more.
Of course you can't fit all of that into a pithy statement.19 -
☝️ What she said!
My NEAT is apparently very sensitive to a steep calorie deficit. I call it 'slug mode.'13 -
cmriverside wrote: »MFP avatars have devolved into kittehs and mooscles.
I would like to state for the record that the original comment was relevant to the discussion at hand. But apparently people are defensive about their 90's footwear
I like my kitteh avatar. Anything else would require actual effort on my part, and that ain't happenin'!2 -
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cmriverside wrote: »MFP avatars have devolved into kittehs and mooscles.
Hey!8 -
cmriverside wrote: »MFP avatars have devolved into kittehs and mooscles.
I would like to state for the record that the original comment was relevant to the discussion at hand. But apparently people are defensive about their 90's footwear
I like my kitteh avatar. Anything else would require actual effort on my part, and that ain't happenin'!
I LOVE your avatar.
I do appreciate an orange and white kitty, though. And the face is perfect for MFP.3 -
cmriverside wrote: »MFP avatars have devolved into kittehs and mooscles.
I would like to state for the record that the original comment was relevant to the discussion at hand. But apparently people are defensive about their 90's footwear
I like my kitteh avatar. Anything else would require actual effort on my part, and that ain't happenin'!
I LOVE your avatar.
I do appreciate an orange and white kitty, though. And the face is perfect for MFP.
I chose him because his little face is the perfect MFP forum reading face
And I have two ginger fluffs of my own at home.
I would have never guessed looking at your avi that you like orange and whites 6 -
I don't agree with the simple assumption that "calories in vs. calories out" is directly related to gaining or losing weight. The direct and only metabolic mechanism for fat build-up is excess blood glucose and insulin as a result of excess carbs. Only by depleting blood glucose and therefore depleting insulin your body will start burning fat.
Yes, this can be achieved by (a lot of) cardiovascular excercise, but also and much easier by drastic reduction of carb intake. About half of the population is insulin resistant to some extent. This means that less glucose (energy) is transported to muscles and more to fat cells. Simply reducing calories will result in less energy, less excercise, and no significant weight loss. Medical scientists like Paul Mason, Stephen Phinney and Tim Noakes have treated obese patients with a low carb (ketogenic) diet with impressive results. Check YouTube.
I started keto for my mental health after watching a video of Jordan Peterson on his carnivore diet. His sleep, mood, and focus improved dramatically. As did mine. I used to sleep nine hours and couldn't wake up. Now I sleep six to seven hours and wake up rested and energetic. A life changer. As with Peterson, I lost weight and gained muscularity without a lot of excercise. For the first time in my life I'm starting to see my abs. A nice side effect.
Yeah. I'm a diabetic. I test my blood frequently and know my blood glucose level pretty well at any given moment. I never work out fasted; in fact, I always fuel before working out. And yet, somehow, I have managed to lose 125 lbs. Everything you have to say is horribly mistaken.
Incidentally - and this is relevant to almost no one, it's just sort of interesting - while insulin resistance tends to lead to high levels of insulin, which causes hunger, which leads to weight gain, if you are insulin resistant enough, you will lose weight, rapidly, despite eating plenty of calories, because your body will not be able to metabolize them. This is rare in type 2 diabetics but happened to me shortly before my diagnosis due to an ovarian torsion which was sending my cortisol levels (cortisol blocks the action of insulin) through the roof. I lost 25 lbs in one month while eating whole bags of candy because I felt like I was starving, which to be fair was because I was literally starving.
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I’d love to have somebody who believes this nonsense explain how I lost 75 pounds while averaging 200g of carbs per day and eating ice cream for dessert virtually every night.I don't agree with the simple assumption that "calories in vs. calories out" is directly related to gaining or losing weight. The direct and only metabolic mechanism for fat build-up is excess blood glucose and insulin as a result of excess carbs. Only by depleting blood glucose and therefore depleting insulin your body will start burning fat...
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Calories in, calories out ... a deficit will always result in weight loss. The human body has too many other variables to consider and not everyone is created alike.34
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Those variables influence the equation, sure. But that doesn't change the underlying principle that in order to lose weight, you need to take in less than you burn.8
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Lifting weights is better for your health then cardio5
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Mr_Healthy_Habits wrote: »Lifting weights is better for your health then cardio
I'm confused. Do you believe this or do you think this is bad advice?
Regardless, the part I don't get is why one or the other? I prefer cardio and enjoy going for a run, but I still lift 3 times a week.
Cardio is a better calorie burn but does not do enough to increase muscle mass. Lifting is better for maintaining or increasing muscle mass, but sucks as a calorie burn.
While personal preferences and goals come into play, I see no reason to not do both in some form.10 -
walktalkdog wrote: »I have occasionally read on here the suggestion to those who are not losing as quickly as they hoped, or are stalled that they "need to to eat more to lose weight". Huh? That one I don't understand, nor agree with.
this is the theory that eat to perform, renaissance performance and some others operate under - when i started with ETP i was averaging maybe 1400cal a day - they slowly stepped me up to 2800 over the course of 2 years and i stayed within 2-3lbs of my starting weight - but i have sooo much energy now and sleep so much better that its crazy
then when you do a fat loss cycle - instead of a continuous restrictive calorie - you do a short burst (28days) at a 1000-1500cal deficit from the runway you build (the higher you can get your calories the more effective these periods are) - and then you slowly ramp back up3 -
cmriverside wrote: »MFP avatars have devolved into kittehs and mooscles.
There I go again, failing to be one of the cool kids.4 -
That drinking (standard US commercial) ACV will rot your teeth, or burn your esophagus, assuming you're of normal health to start.
Good for teeth? No. But in the standardized-to-3%-acidity form, let alone further diluted, it's in the same acidity range as lots of other common foods/beverages, just super tart/harsh because it's not smoothed out with sweetener.
Still won't help with weight loss, though . . . unless via placebo effect.
Or it makes you lose your appetite because it tastes so nasty
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FireOpalCO wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »MFP avatars have devolved into kittehs and mooscles.
There I go again, failing to be one of the cool kids.
No one ever accused me of being a cool kid, so you're probably fine.1 -
I’d love to have somebody who believes this nonsense explain how I lost 75 pounds while averaging 200g of carbs per day and eating ice cream for dessert virtually every night.I don't agree with the simple assumption that "calories in vs. calories out" is directly related to gaining or losing weight. The direct and only metabolic mechanism for fat build-up is excess blood glucose and insulin as a result of excess carbs. Only by depleting blood glucose and therefore depleting insulin your body will start burning fat...
N+1, my story is similar, down 50# anywhere from 200-225g carbs/day on a diet that has gone from 2250 cal/day to just over 2025 cal/day and 203g carbs (plus eating back about 1/2 of my exercise calories as the calorie figure wasn't MFP assigned, but diabetes coach assigned)
Someone above said no fasted workouts. My approach is "it depends." If I wake with a blood glucose over 100 mg/dL, I don't eat before heading to the gym and test again when I get home. If I'm in the normal range, I have a banana or similar fruit before my workout.
For example, yesterday, I was 119 mg/dL @ 4:35am because we had Chinese the night before, and rice and the sauces seem to hang around a bit longer.
After 45 minutes of a spin class, and then hanging around with my class mates, etc, at 7:30 I again took my BG and it was 87 mg/dL.
So I had a nice 3 egg omelette breakfast with two slices of center cut bacon
One doesn't need to eat low carb to lose weight. However, one may need to limit their carbs on medical advice and monitor the BG.
My A1C went from 7.3% in Feb to 5.1 in August and as I seldom have a fast BG above 100mg/dL as long as I follow the above advice (I'm sure my Chinese food was more than the prescribe 60g carbs/meal) things work well.
And if I occasionally indulge, just resist eating until the values return to normal.
This seems to be working for me. For others YMMV, consult a doctor, not an internet forum for advice.2 -
Ironlady70 wrote: »Calories in, calories out ... a deficit will always result in weight loss. The human body has too many other variables to consider and not everyone is created alike.
What specific variable overrides CICO?10 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Mr_Healthy_Habits wrote: »Lifting weights is better for your health then cardio
I'm confused. Do you believe this or do you think this is bad advice?
Regardless, the part I don't get is why one or the other? I prefer cardio and enjoy going for a run, but I still lift 3 times a week.
Cardio is a better calorie burn but does not do enough to increase muscle mass. Lifting is better for maintaining or increasing muscle mass, but sucks as a calorie burn.
While personal preferences and goals come into play, I see no reason to not do both in some form.
I'm not saying one or the other, to the contrary I'm saying both play a roll...
But today I think cardio is undervalued compared to lifting because most just don't want to do it lol1
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