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Fitness and diet myths that just won't go away
Replies
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That's what always amazes me when I hear how many professional athletes, especially tennis players for some reason, have their SO as their coach. Man, the pressures that must place on the home life, to consider being intimate with somebody who just an hour ago was yelling at you about the mistakes you made.
My husband is an independent contractor, and my company sometimes hires him to do a job.
When he works for us, I'm his supervisor and I need to tell him what to do and let him know if he's doing something wrong.
It's funny because we have never had any issues with it, but for some reason, everyone around us gets all uncomfortable and nervous when there's any sort of "spirited discussion" about the way something should be done. We're both respectful professionals so if you heard our work conversations, you wouldn't know we were married.
I can imagine it being different in an emotionally charged situation like professional athletes face, though.2 -
Personally I'm GLAD I don't train a bunch of personal friends. I don't even train my wife. I've found that if you feel they aren't working hard enough to achieve, that sometimes they take that personally. And that's just one more thing I don't need to worry about on my job. I do have one friend that I do train, but he's on the up and up when I tell him how to improve and takes the critique to heart.penguinmama87 wrote: »YellowD0gs wrote: »penguinmama87 wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »Myth: HIIT is a productive way to exercise for health.
Truth: adaptations from HIIT are extremely short lived. Your body responds to the extreme but controlled stress by doing things like increasing blood plasma volume to carry more oxygen to the working muscles. That goes back to normal within a week.
I have a group of friends who want to support another friend who's starting out as a personal trainer. It sounded like a nice idea to me, but I looked into some of her marketing materials and it's all HIIT-type stuff (maybe there's really something there, but it all came off as a little woo to me knowing what I do now from reading these here forums). Trying to look for a graceful way to bow out now without offending everybody, to do more conventional strength training instead.
It's funny because I'm one of the first people to say that there are clear differences between male and female bodies, but how exercise and fitness is marketed to ladies is really bonkers.
If your friend is worth a whit as a trainer, they'll train you to help you reach you goals, not theirs.
But you probably knew that already.
It helps to be reminded, so thank you!
I did decide to reach out to specifically ask. I actually don't know her personally but we know a lot of the same people. There's some group thing being organized so the specifics for that group may have a narrower scope than if I were to seek out something one-on-one. I could have been too hasty to judge based on promo materials. Her target audience isn't people who spend a bunch of downtime on MFP, after all.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Definitely very wise.
In the early years of my marriage my husband did Tae Kwon Do and golf with me.
Now, I have zero talent at Tae Kwon Do. I did the stretches, and up to yellow belt OK. But I am just too uncoordinated to have gotten anywhere near my husband’s level.
Golf? Maybe I had a chance. But he got bored with my inexperience and started walking ahead of me.
Until I accidentally hit him in the kitten with a decent shot…. And he never golfed with me again. Probably just as well. 🤣
We hiked and fished and did a bunch of other stuff together. But not the two things that were always nearest and dearest to his athletic heart.0 -
There are a lot of unfairly demonized foods. A lot of people still think potatoes have "no nutrition" and will rant about it when I mention my potato dishes.13
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Just remembered one my SO's daughter shared back when she was in her early 20s: people who are happy gain weight. I guess if life is good you have more of an appetite or enjoy food more or something?
I assume this is why she herself gained about 60 lbs following her marriage. It had nothing to do with the dinner parties or the nightly bottle of wine or the takeout pizzas. It was because she was happy.7 -
Just remembered one my SO's daughter shared back when she was in her early 20s: people who are happy gain weight. I guess if life is good you have more of an appetite or enjoy food more or something?
I assume this is why she herself gained about 60 lbs following her marriage. It had nothing to do with the dinner parties or the nightly bottle of wine or the takeout pizzas. It was because she was happy.
I wonder if this one is related to the idea that when people are stressed they quit eating. I think that's definitely true for some people, but it's not a universal as is sometimes assumed - I would imagine a fair few of us here have dealt with the opposite problem! (I know I have!)
There's also a really yucky assumption in there that the only reason one would try to stay in shape is because they fear a breakup or divorce.
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There are a lot of unfairly demonized foods. A lot of people still think potatoes have "no nutrition" and will rant about it when I mention my potato dishes.
Which is wild because potatoes are nutritionally complete, or nearly so.Just remembered one my SO's daughter shared back when she was in her early 20s: people who are happy gain weight. I guess if life is good you have more of an appetite or enjoy food more or something?
I assume this is why she herself gained about 60 lbs following her marriage. It had nothing to do with the dinner parties or the nightly bottle of wine or the takeout pizzas. It was because she was happy.
I'd like a word with your SO's daughter. I've been clinically depressed AND fat as hell since elementary school, so...11 -
Today at work, one of the guys was telling everyone how you will burn more fat if first thing in the morning, you eat a half banana and then do your cardio. He claimed your body will then be forced to burn stored fat during your workout. According to him, working out later in the day meant only burning the foods you'd eaten so far that day and not really burning any of your stored fat until you'd exhausted your daily food intake.
Someone please confirm or debunk this one.1 -
Today at work, one of the guys was telling everyone how you will burn more fat if first thing in the morning, you eat a half banana and then do your cardio. He claimed your body will then be forced to burn stored fat during your workout. According to him, working out later in the day meant only burning the foods you'd eaten so far that day and not really burning any of your stored fat until you'd exhausted your daily food intake.
Someone please confirm or debunk this one.
There is a great answer to this on Physqnomics, but the short answer is, yes you will burn more fat to fuel the exercise, but in the long run, fasted training has no significant difference.to fed training on long term body fat loss.3 -
Today at work, one of the guys was telling everyone how you will burn more fat if first thing in the morning, you eat a half banana and then do your cardio. He claimed your body will then be forced to burn stored fat during your workout. According to him, working out later in the day meant only burning the foods you'd eaten so far that day and not really burning any of your stored fat until you'd exhausted your daily food intake.
Someone please confirm or debunk this one.
In addition to the prior, the intensity of the workout for you is going to indicate the energy source used.
And how fast after the meal your insulin has dropped back down to decide where that energy source comes from.
If intense you are going to having higher ratio of glucose than fat, if you just ate and glucose is higher then there you go, you'll use what just ate and some of what is stored already.
Fat will be what was eaten too. If not much fat eaten - glucose will be used even more.
Insulin will drop sooner - and your source will be stored fat and glucose at same ratio for intensity of workout done.
If you actually do the math with numbers even potentially possible - you are talking minutes of time.
Because frankly someone that just ate a huge meal of carbs and insulin that hasn't stored those already - is not likely to be doing something intense.
Not even sure how he gets a shot of carbs forces fat burn during workout.
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I haven't a clue about any of the chemistry. IS there any additional benefit to the 'when' of a workout as far as fat loss goes?0
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Not sure about any of the chemistry. IS there any additional benefit to the 'when' of a workout as far as fat loss goes?
Not enough to outweigh personal preferences or practicalities, in any decent study I've seen. Maybe zero.
Ditto for exercising fueled or fasted.
If there is a difference, it's numerically trivial.
On subjects like this, listen to @Heybales.
Oversimplifying, I believe, only slightly:
Immediate fuel source during exercise varies primarily based on exercise intensity, and secondarily based on what fuel type was recently consumed, thus readily bioavailable.
Overall, in the long run, total overall calorie deficit (shortfall) gets made up by burning stored body fat. *When* that happens doesn't much matter, for weight management goals. It can matter for endurance athletes' performance.
Just my understanding.0 -
I haven't a clue about any of the chemistry. IS there any additional benefit to the 'when' of a workout as far as fat loss goes?
As several have mentioned - no.
In addition - no because the fat loss occurs because of keeping a calorie deficit long term, not because of the exercise done by itself.
Some people could do a badly timed workout with food eaten and it makes it really really hard for them to adhere to their diet plan that day.
That would be the change to "when" for YOU personally so the exercise doesn't make it difficult to adhere to your diet plan.
Like maybe you do an intense early morning workout, so no food eaten or you'd puke it up.
But then you have low blood sugar when finished, snarf a donut, get high blood sugar, insulin overreaction, now low blood sugar again - and end up feeling even more hungry even though the donut provided more calories than the workout provided. So you eat another.
And now even though the workout allowed you to eat more, you have a challenge to your normal daily diet having consumed so much more.
Frankly that effect happens to people without the workout too, so.....
It's all about testing what helps YOU.
Nothing special or magical that is meaningful compared to the different ways YOU might react differently.3 -
"Eating late will make you fatter!"
No, eating more calories than your recommended amount will. You don't gain more weight based on the time of day.6 -
Drinking a protein supplement after a workout helps repair muscle right away.
Well yes and no. While some studies show this happening with elite athletes, there really aren't any that confirm it does the same for the average person who just works out hard. At best, you're just supplying more protein to your diet. At worst, you're just consuming more calories that could be used for something that you may really like to eat instead. Don't buy into the hype.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition 2 -
Oh and drinking a gallon of water a day for weight loss.
Lol, I see lots of people today lugging around gigantic water jugs in the gym. Most of them, their bodies haven't changed for the better in months.
When asked how much I drink my answer is usually "don't really know cause I don't track it". Why? Because there's water in just about everything I drink anyway.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition 7 -
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
According to cereal companies. ALL MEALS are the most important meal of the day. Personally I don't eat traditional morning breakfast.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
According to cereal companies. ALL MEALS are the most important meal of the day. Personally I don't eat traditional morning breakfast.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Well, since “breakfast” literally means breaking your fast…. It is the most important meal. Because if you don’t break your fast you don’t last very long.
Breathairians aren’t real.
But ya. That ad line sure does sell a lot of cereal.3 -
Yes the literal term applies if that's the case, but in the good old USA (and likely some other countries) breakfast is associated with MORNING eating. Heck they even combined with with late am eating by calling in BRUNCH since it's so close to lunch.MargaretYakoda wrote: »Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
According to cereal companies. ALL MEALS are the most important meal of the day. Personally I don't eat traditional morning breakfast.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Well, since “breakfast” literally means breaking your fast…. It is the most important meal. Because if you don’t break your fast you don’t last very long.
Breathairians aren’t real.
But ya. That ad line sure does sell a lot of cereal.
I don't eat breakfast. I eat lunch.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Have any of you worked customer service?
You know how many times you hear "must be free" when something doesn't ring up, and you kind of force polite laughter because you've heard it 9000 times by now and are just over it?
That's me with 'breakfast' means 'to break a fast'.
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"Weighing every day isn't good for weight loss"
My friend said this to me the other day. I told her it's how I keep myself in check. I've lost 80+lbs since 2018, and have maintained it within a few pounds for the last six months/ish, tracking daily via Libra since the first day(900+ days of weight logged). I still have ~25 to lose, but I have found weighing daily to be helpful, to me, even when I am not focused on losing. When I am losing, it definitely helps me manage my process if I find myself losing too quickly. It stops me for slipping too much. For some, it can truly be unhelpful, but it works for me. It's definitely not a one-size-fits-all, but it's definitely not a bad thing either.
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wunderkindking wrote: »Have any of you worked customer service?
You know how many times you hear "must be free" when something doesn't ring up, and you kind of force polite laughter because you've heard it 9000 times by now and are just over it?
That's me with 'breakfast' means 'to break a fast'.
Yeah, I think it's just said by people so they can point out that they are smart enough to know the origin of a word.
If someone says, "I don't eat breakfast.", we all know what they mean. It doesn't mean they never eat.
Over time, the modern meaning of a word can evolve, regardless of its origin.11 -
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
According to cereal companies. ALL MEALS are the most important meal of the day. Personally I don't eat traditional morning breakfast.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Amen. I haven't been able to eat breakfast since puberty, when some strange alignment of hormones started making me very nauseous for the first three or four waking hours. Yet despite skipping the morning meal for the past 45ish years, I've enjoyed above-average health.
I also work out first thing in the morning because I have more energy and motivation, even in a fasted state, than I do in the evenings.7 -
Drinking a protein supplement after a workout helps repair muscle right away.
Well yes and no. While some studies show this happening with elite athletes, there really aren't any that confirm it does the same for the average person who just works out hard. At best, you're just supplying more protein to your diet. At worst, you're just consuming more calories that could be used for something that you may really like to eat instead. Don't buy into the hype.
I don't buy into the hype, haven't noticed any significant changes whether I have a protein shake following a workout or hours later. For me, I just get hungry after a workout, so if it's gonna be a bit before my next meal, a protein shake makes a good snack to tide me over.3 -
cmhubbard92 wrote: »"Weighing every day isn't good for weight loss"
My friend said this to me the other day. I told her it's how I keep myself in check. I've lost 80+lbs since 2018, and have maintained it within a few pounds for the last six months/ish, tracking daily via Libra since the first day(900+ days of weight logged). I still have ~25 to lose, but I have found weighing daily to be helpful, to me, even when I am not focused on losing. When I am losing, it definitely helps me manage my process if I find myself losing too quickly. It stops me for slipping too much. For some, it can truly be unhelpful, but it works for me. It's definitely not a one-size-fits-all, but it's definitely not a bad thing either.
I go through this as well. It's funny to me because the people who think I am weird for weighing myself every morning are either...
1. Never had to watch their weight, or...
2. Are overweight and out of shape...5 -
wunderkindking wrote: »Have any of you worked customer service?
You know how many times you hear "must be free" when something doesn't ring up, and you kind of force polite laughter because you've heard it 9000 times by now and are just over it?
That's me with 'breakfast' means 'to break a fast'.
At the grocery store yesterday, the lady ahead of me needed to argue about the piece of seemingly everything she bought. This should be X, that should be Y. I could see the checker was getting exasperated. So when it was finally my turn, I started with "those are free," "you guys are gonna pay me $100 to accept that" etc. It was absurd enough that I got her to smile.11 -
wunderkindking wrote: »Have any of you worked customer service?
You know how many times you hear "must be free" when something doesn't ring up, and you kind of force polite laughter because you've heard it 9000 times by now and are just over it?
That's me with 'breakfast' means 'to break a fast'.
No no no no…. You’re right. My bad.
For what it’s worth, I eat so slowly that I have basically one meal a day, all day, with periods of nibbling stuff and periods of eating things that were served hot but now aren’t.5 -
cmhubbard92 wrote: »"Weighing every day isn't good for weight loss"
My friend said this to me the other day. I told her it's how I keep myself in check. I've lost 80+lbs since 2018, and have maintained it within a few pounds for the last six months/ish, tracking daily via Libra since the first day(900+ days of weight logged). I still have ~25 to lose, but I have found weighing daily to be helpful, to me, even when I am not focused on losing. When I am losing, it definitely helps me manage my process if I find myself losing too quickly. It stops me for slipping too much. For some, it can truly be unhelpful, but it works for me. It's definitely not a one-size-fits-all, but it's definitely not a bad thing either.
I go through this as well. It's funny to me because the people who think I am weird for weighing myself every morning are either...
1. Never had to watch their weight, or...
2. Are overweight and out of shape...
Absolutely!
I also found out that some people find it weird that I weigh and log my food... Meanwhile, they're willing to hand out 100s to spam ads about melting body fat away, even after asking how I lost the weight. I don't have money to throw around for a "miracle pill", and I trust myself, now, to make the right choices to get to where I need and want to be.7 -
That there is some abstract amount of exercise that is universally "too much exercise" or "too much exercise unless someone is a professional athlete". By "amount", I mean to consider both time and objective intensity (such as pace).
No. There is some amount of exercise that is excessive for a particular person at a particular level of fitness. There is some amount of exercise that will not fit into a particular person's life without ruining their life balance (i.e., it will prevent having enough time and energy for other things important to/for that person).
Or, that there is some abstract amount of exercise that is universally "the right amount of exercise".
There probably really is some amount of exercise that's "too little exercise" - like less than that standard 150 minutes a week of cardio and 2 days of strength training beloved by various national health-promotion authorities? - though that's somewhat individual and situational, too.
Also, slightly different myth, that "exercise" has a different effect on the body than the same activity done for reasons other than just intentional exercise. Honest, I've seen people propose that, essentially: That if you walk 5 miles at X pace on the job, that's somehow going to have a different fitness or calorie (or something) effect than walking 5 miles at X pace just in order to get the exercise. Activity calories matter, even if the activity is paid, produces a useful end product besides calorie burn, etc. (Most people realize this. A few seem not to.)9 -
P.S. I just re-read through a big chunk of this thread. Two reactions:
1. It's a fun thread: Thank you for it, @ninerbuff. (That's why I kept going once I started re-reading.)
2. It's completely hilarious how many times a sequence like this has been repeated in the thread:
"Myth: breakfast is the most important meal"
"it is the most important, because you can't literally skip breakfast: you break your fast the first time you eat in the day, no matter what time or foods you eat"
"no, everyone knows that breakfast refers to the meal that happens first thing in the morning, who cares about word origins".5 -
P.S. I just re-read through a big chunk of this thread. Two reactions:
1. It's a fun thread: Thank you for it, @ninerbuff. (That's why I kept going once I started re-reading.)
2. It's completely hilarious how many times a sequence like this has been repeated in the thread:
"Myth: breakfast is the most important meal"
"it is the most important, because you can't literally skip breakfast: you break your fast the first time you eat in the day, no matter what time or foods you eat"
"no, everyone knows that breakfast refers to the meal that happens first thing in the morning, who cares about word origins".
*Breathairians are still scam artists, tho….
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