Biggest nutrition/weight loss/fitness pet peeves?

aimladuke

I cant stand when people come to MFP ( a calorie counting site) and claim that they are looking for advice about weightloss but don't want to count calories " because they feel that as long as they are making good food choices, then they should lose weight".

DrJenO

My pet peeve is someone saying "I just cant lose weigth!" Yes you can, you just don't have the will power to.

I believe you mean "I just cant loose weight!"

The whole "cheat day" thing is the WORST!

lemur_lady

People who are a similar weight to me but living off 1200 or less calories a day. Who are constantly moaning they are hungry/they are tired/ they are finding it hard but they need to stick to it or they will be fat forever. I try telling them they could be eating twice as much and STILL lose weight but they never listen.

sadiebea25

This is a recent annoyance, but someone put on a "I don't know why I'm not losing" post that she did not want to weigh her food on a scale because that seemed to "cumbersome and obsessive" ?? I didn't understand that. I think the scale is a huge source of knowledge on the "weight loss journey" (ha ha, I just had to throw that in. Now I too picuture nomads wandering accross barren lands towards their fitter selves when I hear that phrase)

terem00

Anything about detoxing or cleansing!!!
People I work with all the time rave on and on about doing detoxes and losing weight however they are still the same weight or bigger. Go figure.
Another pet peeve is when I eat at work...I get stupid comments from co-workers like "OMG are you eating"??
Of course I'm eating you idiot! or "You look great, how did you do it?" and when I proceed to tell them I watch what I eat and excersise they just ramble on with a list of excuses and say they will try that cleanse they saw on Dr Oz. :huh:

easjer

Actually I gained 80 lbs because my ex did just that...no I didn't have to stay, but it does happen

I am sorry that happened to you, and sorry that I was being glib in my original post, which should have specified that I was talking specifically about people who are not in that type of situation, but are whinging on about why they can never lose weight because food happened to be nearby or about their horrid co-workers who are sabotaging them by eating their own food or bringing office treats or what have you. In other words, I should have specified that my pet peeve is specific to instances where what is needed is a modicum of self-control and that people are refusing to take personal responsibility for their decisions.

I apologize for my poor wording and hope I didn't cause you pain by being flippant.

peleroja

I, for one, hate the word "skinny." I hate when girls on here say, "I just want to be skinny!" Why? There's nothing sexy about being skinny. There's nothing hot about a thigh gap. Fit is the new skinny! Being healthy is more important than looking like Jessica Alba.

These are just a bunch of words- "fit is the new skinny" is pretty much as meaningless and loaded with expectations about what you "should" look like, and equally difficult to attain. Those fitness model's bodies might be healthier than a model's (although that's no guarantee) but they are just as hard for the average woman to achieve. I believe that health is the goal, but just changing the ideal to a more muscular, equally low-body-fat look isn't really changing things. And many women and men would disagree that "there's nothing sexy about being skinny." Everyone has different tastes and many people DO find "skinny" attractive. It's not okay to disparage thin bodies any more than it is to do so for fat ones. Fat people can be sexy. Skinny people can be sexy. Many people are attracted to one of those shapes and it's okay.

I also hate when women say they don't want to do strength training because they don't want to be "muscular." What a huge misconception! Women don't have the testosterone needed to bulk up like men. On a similar note, I hate that age-old logic that you do heavy weights, low reps to bulk up and light weight, high reps to "tone." Not true. Men who lift heavy bulk up; women who lift heavy "tone up." Some women seem to think lifting for 30 minutes three times a week will make them into some bodybuilder. If only it were that easy, right guys?

This is all true, but again, not everyone has to do intense strength training to be healthy or attractive. It's okay not to lift weights if you don't want to. Honestly.

The myth of the 1200 calorie diet. Don't even get me started! If I see one more new thread about, "What do you eat on 1200 calories per day?" Not enough, that's what! Unless you're a tiny petite woman, you should be eating more than 1200 calories per day.

Most adults will need more than 1200/day, but lots of people who are not "tiny" can manage 1200/day just fine. Anecdotally, my TDEE is only about 1500 if I don't have time to exercise, so 1200/day is a very small weight loss deficit for me. And I'm average height, average weight...I just have a sedentary office job.

I also can't stand when people try to tell others on here that there's only one way to do things. The pretentious "my way or the highway" attitude. I say do what works for you, as long as you're doing it in a healthy way and not harming your body in the process! Examples of harming your body: Not eating enough, trying to attain a figure that does not exist, putting your vanity over your health.

Pot/kettle, etc.

What are your biggest pet peeves regarding nutrition, weight loss, and/or fitness? Any huge misconceptions that you're sick of? Feel free to rant about it here!

I mentioned a few of mine, but this Pinterest-fueled "fit is the new skinny" is probably the biggest. Obsessing over fitness isn't necessarily any healthier from a body-image perspective than obsessing over thinness (although, yeah, a healthy and strong body is a good thing and better than a weak and underfed one for your actual physical health.) In my books, an obsession with having abs for the sake of abs isn't really better for your mental health than an obsession with a thigh gap. Non-aesthetic goals like lifting a certain weight or being able to complete a certain task are a great thing to have, but that's separate from the rampant pursuit of fitness for solely your looks' sake.

6ftamazon

Actually I gained 80 lbs because my ex did just that...no I didn't have to stay, but it does happen

I am sorry that happened to you, and sorry that I was being glib in my original post, which should have specified that I was talking specifically about people who are not in that type of situation, but are whinging on about why they can never lose weight because food happened to be nearby or about their horrid co-workers who are sabotaging them by eating their own food or bringing office treats or what have you. In other words, I should have specified that my pet peeve is specific to instances where what is needed is a modicum of self-control and that people are refusing to take personal responsibility for their decisions.

I apologize for my poor wording and hope I didn't cause you pain by being flippant.

It's ok thank you . I'm sure you didn't mean anything by it at all, I was just saying that it's not always the case

Snap355

This thread is entertaining to say the least. One of my pet peeves is when you're try to help someone who doesn't understand macros and try to stir a debate with you. It's like a lose/lose situation.

malibu927

weight loss "miracles"
Dr Oz...see above
body shaming women who do lift
people posting the just can't eat up to 1200 calories because they are so full...then how did you get 80lbs overweight

and most of what others have posted....

Ugh, yes to Dr. Oz. His show was on one of the tvs at the gym yesterday and I just cringed at everything he talked about.

JuliRamone

What bothers me the most is people who do not accept different likes and preferences and just call everything "body shaming".
Body shaming is horrible, but I think saying "I like this style / body type / whatever more than this one" is not saying one of those opinions is bad.
There are a lot of threads where people promote muscular legs / bodies and just don't understand some people may prefer less muscle. (although I have to agree, I personally think muscular legs are freakin hot!)

kjo9692

MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE is people who try to say they are burning 1500 calories on the elliptical for 40 minutes of work, then eat back that false burn and then wonder why they did not lose any weight..DUH!!! Unless you weigh 900 lbs it is very unlikely you are putting up a burn like that...I mean, my blood pressure literally rises...

YESSS!!!! I'm going to say that for the most part, people probably burn less than half of what they claim to burn.

Thissss. My biggest pet peeve is people who log like 5 hours of "heavy cleaning" and eat back those calories. LOL!!!

Hornsby

Just thought of another one.

Any "how many calories am I burning while weight lifting" thread....the thread doesn't bother me but you always have numerous people that come and say "get a HRM, that's the only way to be sure". Ummm, no HRMs aren't accurate for that.

phyl303

ME: No thanks on that birthday cake (that I didn't build into my day.)
Random other person: "Oh, come on. It won't kill you to have one piece."

ME: Yay, Cake! (I've got room in my macro today)
chubby friend: "Oh, there goes your diet!"
ME under my breathe :Um, which one of us has lost weight? Yeah, me!

ME: I can't eat that much/at that restaurant/right now/etc.
usually supportive hubby: Aw, come on, just because you are on a diet....blah, blah, blah

then there is the awkward hostess apologizing for serving super awesome yummy CALORIES at her party.....Seriously? when I want to splurge, I want it to be good *kitten*.


I've grown to love the "What's your secret?" genre. I'll tell you my secret: THERE IS NO BLEEPING SECRET! Caloric deficit = math. more out than in. 250 calories or rabbit food = 250 calories of Cheetos. TDEE, BMR, take the stairs, move that *kitten*. Rinse and repeat.

p.s. happy one year of MFP to me tomorrow. 48 pounds gone, size 20-22 now 12-14, 2xl t-shirts now M. Yep, that's my secret: no secret.

Edit: because, Math.

kjo9692

p.s. happy one year of MFP to me tomorrow. 48 pounds gone, size 20-22 now 12-14, 2xl t-shirts now M. Yep, that's my secret: no secret.

Congrats!! :drinker:

IowaJen1979

No carb diets, clean eating, and kale!

bassclef19

haters - people that try to put you down for taking care of yourself. A lot of this comes from people who make no effort to be healthy

deprivers/gimmick diets - no carb diets, no fruit diets.. no dairy? - Why?

idolizing skinny celebrities/models.

Iknowsaur

I hate that food has calories in it.
/Thread

rybo

Threads like this are an interesting window into the weight loss/dieter psyche.

My biggest pet peeve is a closed mind.

KKishaA

EBD-Education by Documentary.
These "food" documentaries are making people really ignorant and almost cult-like

Hell yes, this. Culty and confused. Not that veganism doesn't work for some people but it is not the end all be all. And neither is Paleo!