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Fitness and diet myths that just won't go away

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Replies

  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Protein as a supplement is a waste of money. Yeah, prolly gonna get smashed for this one lol

    Is this the myth or did you skip straight to the debunking?

    The myth is that protein powder actually offers benefits. For majority, not really. So yeah..debunking it. Was poorly worded.

    I actually encouraged my husband to start using protein powder. He's 67, pescatarian, thin, and doesn't eat a great deal. I've seen older men who lose muscle mass and are stringy looking.

    He's been using it for 5 yrs and has a great body. His arms are hard and strong, as is his chest. He looks a great deal younger. He has a desk job, and we go jogging 45 min in the park every morning, and he does a great deal of postural exercises, yoga, Tai Chi, and walking. Our gym and pool has been closed for 5 months.

    He just told me today that the protein powder makes all the difference for him.

    My husband is much younger, but struggles to keep weight on and needs *something*. For a few years it was protein powder kept at his desk at work. Then it was nuts kept on his desk at work as something he didn't need to prepare and clean up. He recently got invisalign braces and can't snack at his desk, so he is adding copious amounts of whole grain bread at meals. He has maintained for over a month with no noticeable changes to his body, proving that for him it was never the protein, just the calories.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,027 Member
    "To burn fat with weights, do high reps".

    Can't tell you how many times I've heard this from inexperienced or new trainers.

    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

    9285851.png

  • stljam
    stljam Posts: 512 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Not buying it. When dude starting with SOMATO TYPING, I phased out because somatotyping is a myth. It was designed and developed by a psychiatrist based on observation of nude photos of people and their temperment.

    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

    9285851.png

    For me, I sort of ignored the bro-science and took away that the right macro mix varies by person, maybe even by point in time for each person and that you should experiment to see what macros work best for you. For me, that take away was very good even if the article included the bro-science.
  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
    Protein as a supplement is a waste of money. Yeah, prolly gonna get smashed for this one lol

    Please, cite your clinical studies that validate this statement. I pore over research, double blind clinical studies and data derived from trainers that have worked with thousands of clients, who have FACTS that differ from your conclusion. Please, show us some.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    This might have already been said but...”lifting makes women bulky”.

    I work blooming hard and I want these bulky gains everyone has threatened me with 😡
    Crazy right? I've replied to threads where some claim they gained 2lbs of muscle in a week. Their clothes got tighter after restarting working out again.

    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

    9285851.png


    That, and the myth that if someone gets stronger, it inherently means they gained muscle mass.

    That plus the water retention? People thinking they're instantly growing mass, and ready to argue about it. Bonus myth points of their BIA scale says their muscle was up 0.2% this morning.

    (Mass gain definitely not required for strength gain in relative beginners.)

    I don't know if my husband just grew up listening to things his older sisters said or if he looks things up online to try to be supportive, but I once complained about not losing weight over a few weeks despite doing everything right and he suggested I might have put on muscle. Oh, boo, if only!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    "I gained big muscle in a diet - because I increased my weight on the (usually) squat or deadlift by X pounds while I lost X pounds - so I must have"


    Huhhh - you actually maintained the weight you are lifting off the floor (if X really matches).

    I actually recall the first claim like that, he actually put less weight back on the bar than he lost off his body - not realizing he lost muscle mass with his extreme diet where he thought lifting was going to save him.
    One of the few people to come back to a thread to report his success at an extreme diet many warned him would cause some undesired effects. Wanted to show us how wrong we were.
  • threewins
    threewins Posts: 1,455 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Skinny people just have faster metabolisms.
    Yeah, they aren't around skinny people enough to see HOW MUCH they actually eat. There was a documentary on BBC once where 2 roomates (one lean the other obese) were asked to participate in a study and both took a pill that could read how much they ate in a day. The obese one kept saying that the lean one at so much and all the time and was consigned to the fact that her roomate had a higher metabolism. When the test was done, the obese on had a higher metabolic rate, and she came to find out her lean friend ate only about a 1/3 of what she thought she was eating calorie wise. Goes to show that people make errors all the time when estimating.


    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

    9285851.png

    I so wish that calorie counting pill was available to us all! I hate counting!

    I'm pretty sure it's called doubly labeled water, if requires two mass spectrometer tests plus the water itself is quite expensive. It's also used to measure the metabolism of animals.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,027 Member
    Detox foot pads are proven to work.

    Lol on infomercials.


    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

    9285851.png
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    That you should lose weight before starting to exercise, as some kind of general rule. I don't know how common this myth is, but I do see people here assert that. And I'm not just talking about someone who's clearly making a personal priority choice to work on one thing at a time . . . I'm talking about some people seeming to have the belief that fat people can't or shouldn't exercise until they're lighter.

    Personally, I was started getting routinely active while still obese, and was very active for over a decade while staying obese. I would've been better to lose weight, too, but just getting active was hugely beneficial. For sure, it was better to be fat and active than fat and inactive, both from a health standpoint, and (for me) for enjoyment.

    There's some potential for high bodyweight to increase risk in some types of exercise, but there are lots of activities where that's not a significant issue. It's just a choice. If overweight and inactive, the best idea for health is to fix both of those things, either at the same time, or in whatever order seems most practical and desirable. But improving either one is better than improving neither, when it comes to health.


    Yes. To be clear i've been competing in high impact sports for years while obese.

    But I do think a lot of people think that in order to lose weight they have to change something radically. Take up running, join a gym and go 5 times a week or some nonsense. I don't think you should force that. i think it works the same as dietary changes and weight loss. small changes you can build upon, and things you enjoy staying in your life.

    Not 'don't exercise when heavy' but that you might, just might, find it enjoyable when you're lighter even if the idea feels like torture or punishment now.
  • Mangoperson88
    Mangoperson88 Posts: 339 Member
    I read a lot of weight loss articles on Google for inspiration and ideas and everyone's diet secret is either a big bowl of soup or glass of milk at night. That's it. And these people end up losing 25 kgs in 5 months. It really makes me doubt myself coz despite eating healthy and working out regularly my weight is not dropping. I know i will not be able to sustain it so it prevents me from trying such methods and I have a terrible fear of passing out!
  • Mangoperson88
    Mangoperson88 Posts: 339 Member
    Overexercising.!
    My dad's a diabetic-since the past 25 years- and in Feb 2020 he went to a doctor who claimed to completely cure people of diabetes and promised to get them off meds/insulin. He was put on a high protein low carb diet and my dad lost 20 kgs by sept 2020 but the amount of overexercising my dad did was crazy and he used to force me to do the same but I only used to feel light headed and hungry so for me I thought it was defeating the purpose coz I used to overeat 😢
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I read a lot of weight loss articles on Google for inspiration and ideas and everyone's diet secret is either a big bowl of soup or glass of milk at night. That's it. And these people end up losing 25 kgs in 5 months. It really makes me doubt myself coz despite eating healthy and working out regularly my weight is not dropping. I know i will not be able to sustain it so it prevents me from trying such methods and I have a terrible fear of passing out!

    If it makes you feel better, nobody is actually losing weight simply because they're drinking a big bowl of soup or glass of milk at night. If doing one of those things results in an individual consistently eating fewer calories than they body is using, they will experience weight loss. In that sense, they may feel like it's their weight loss "secret." But there are many people who could do this and still wind up not creating a calorie deficit. I personally have soup several times a week and I only lose weight when I also create a calorie deficit.
  • Mangoperson88
    Mangoperson88 Posts: 339 Member
    I read a lot of weight loss articles on Google for inspiration and ideas and everyone's diet secret is either a big bowl of soup or glass of milk at night. That's it. And these people end up losing 25 kgs in 5 months. It really makes me doubt myself coz despite eating healthy and working out regularly my weight is not dropping. I know i will not be able to sustain it so it prevents me from trying such methods and I have a terrible fear of passing out!



    I guess having a big bowl of soup instead of a calorie high dinner could well help people lose weight.

    However if you yourself are not dropping weight and it has been a decent length of time with no progress - start a separate thread and people can help you.


    Eating healthy and working out is great - but quite possible to do that and not be in a calorie deficit hence not lose weight.

    I'm not disagreeing that you can't lose weight on a bowl of soup for dinner. I subscribe to my local paper online so they publish these people's diets which are clearly less than 1000 calories. I just wanna know how are they not passing out by eating sprouts for breakfast, piece of chicken for lunch, nuts for tea and just plain water after a vigorous workout and then just lentils or soup for dinner. Maybe I am wrong...
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,009 Member
    tuckerrj wrote: »
    Protein as a supplement is a waste of money. Yeah, prolly gonna get smashed for this one lol

    Please, cite your clinical studies that validate this statement. I pore over research, double blind clinical studies and data derived from trainers that have worked with thousands of clients, who have FACTS that differ from your conclusion. Please, show us some.


    I dont see how "protein powders are a waste of money" could possibly be proven or disproven by any clinical studies or FACTS.

    Since it is a subjective statement and entirely a personal decision.

    Anything - be it protein powder, shoes, bags, jewellery, coffee etc etc - is worth it to some people and not others.



    Yeah to say they are not needed is a far cry from a waste of money. If you can get all your protein from food they are not needed. If you are super busy and a daily shake helps you hit your protein goal then they are clearly not a waste...
  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member
    Carbs are bad.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,304 Member
    I read a lot of weight loss articles on Google for inspiration and ideas and everyone's diet secret is either a big bowl of soup or glass of milk at night. That's it. And these people end up losing 25 kgs in 5 months. It really makes me doubt myself coz despite eating healthy and working out regularly my weight is not dropping. I know i will not be able to sustain it so it prevents me from trying such methods and I have a terrible fear of passing out!



    I guess having a big bowl of soup instead of a calorie high dinner could well help people lose weight.

    However if you yourself are not dropping weight and it has been a decent length of time with no progress - start a separate thread and people can help you.


    Eating healthy and working out is great - but quite possible to do that and not be in a calorie deficit hence not lose weight.

    I'm not disagreeing that you can't lose weight on a bowl of soup for dinner. I subscribe to my local paper online so they publish these people's diets which are clearly less than 1000 calories. I just wanna know how are they not passing out by eating sprouts for breakfast, piece of chicken for lunch, nuts for tea and just plain water after a vigorous workout and then just lentils or soup for dinner. Maybe I am wrong...


    Well, maybe they don't eat to their plan every day or they do it short term or who knows...