Something that bothers me a bit.

Heather75

I'm no fitness expert, but i did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

This is funny.

Rworthy

There's a lot of people "pretending" to be experts. I take it as my duty to correct these people when they're wrong. That's all. I have learned a lot on this journey and MFP has helped me, so I will help others in the process. People disagree all the time, but I'm always right!

Oishii

Well I believe I'm an expert at Fitness and have worked with numerous types of people to do it, including one armed and legged clients, people with MS, people with RA, obese, underweight, eating disordered, stroke, rehab. So dammit, believe me when I talk about fitness!

The thing is that experts, more than anyone, disagree. I enjoy many of the threads you start, but I am also aware of counter-claims by other experts.

I don't assume experts are right (or wrong) but I do assume they believe they are right, and so they should, or they would be complete charlatans.

alex215

eat less + move more = weight loss

its a proven fact, the math can't be wrong!

dmpizza

I am an expert at knowing you are correct.

KimmyEB

WARNING: I am going to complain. If you don't want to hear complaining, or if you are just going to read in order to pick a fight, please move along

One thing that bothers me is that some people seem to forget that no one on this website (well, at least very few I imagine) are fitness experts. Don't get me wrong, giving advice that has worked for you in the past or linking to an article can be very helpful; I ask for people's opinions all the time! I'm just tired of seeing "Actually, it's a proven fact that blah blah blah..." if one person is giving advice to another person, it is (or at least should be) a given that any information passed from one person to another should be taken with a grain of salt. If we were all experts, we wouldn't be here trying to lose weight, would we? What I'm getting at here is A. you shouldn't take people's advice and opinions as facts. While it may have worked for them, it might not work for you. and B. You are not an expert! Don't pretend like you are, and if you are, why the hell are you here?
EDIT: as one lovely lady made clear to me, I would like to clarify: this is mostly referring to the ones that talk as though they're an expert, but then tell other people their opinions are wrong and etc. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and free to live happily in their delusions, but if you're making others feel stupid or telling others what worked for them is wrong, I'll be glad to burst your bubble :P

Whining is over

This comes to mind every time I read a thread about gaining/losing weight while on birth control, haha.

TrainingWithTonya

Okay, I fall into the "expert" category because I've been a certified personal trainer for 15 years, a certified sports nutritionist for 8 years, have an associates in allied health/sports medicine, and am in my final semester for my bachelor of science in exercise physiology with a minor in nutrition. But I'm not anywhere near finished with learning about the human body or how one can differ from another. That's why I plan on going on for my masters and doctorate. ;-) And I agree with you 100% that people who aren't educated in the field other then their own personal experience need to preface their advice with a "this is what worked for me statement" because the "experts" (meaning the people who know much more about it then I currently do) will tell you that there is no one perfect way to eat, exercise, etc. to achieve everyone's goals because everyone is different. (Gee, that sounds familiar. Maybe because I just posted a blog about it the other day. LOL)

As for why there would be "experts" on here, I can't speak for the other trainers and such that are on MFP, but I can tell you my reasoning. I actually started using MFP because a client asked me to check it out for her. I've tried several sites for tracking things besides MFP (Daily Plate, Live Strong, Calorie King, Fitocracy, etc.) so that I am an informed trainer to be able to recommend the right tool for my clients needs. (And I've recommended MFP numerous times to my clients who are looking to track their eating and exercise.) I've actually tracked my exercise and nutrition for years (over a decade) and have a ton of spiral notebooks that I've used to do it manually in the past but love the convenience of tracking on my phone with MFP instead of having to carry a notebook. There are a myriad of reasons why a trainer would track their eating and exercise, not just weight loss. Most of the time, mine actually has more to do with meeting my strength goals then weight loss. Recently, I've been focused on the scale because of the doctors requirement for BMI to do a kidney donation. Normally, I'm not worried about weight because I'm only 19% body fat and know that the extra weight on the scale is lean mass from years of heavy lifting. But even when I'm not focused on the scale, I know I need to eat a certain amount in order to fuel the activities I do and I'm suppose to eat certain percentages due to health issues in my personal and family history. So, once I'm through with the kidney donation, I'll still track on MFP not because I'm focused on weight loss but because I'm focused on fueling my body for my needs. As for why I'm on the message boards, I'm here because of the same reason I've been working in the fitness industry for the last 15 years, because I want to help others. I know that there are thousands (if not millions) of people in the world who need the help of a professional to achieve their fitness and nutrition goals but don't have access for whatever reason, be it financial or geographical or whatever prevents them from being able to hire a trainer, nutritionist, dietitian, etc. So, I get on here whenever I have a few free minutes to try and help to some of those people because I think my number one responsibility as a human being is to use the knowledge I've been blessed to obtain to help others. Like I said, I can't say if that is why other trainers and nutrition professionals are on here, but that is why I am on here. :happy:

tigersword

If we were all experts, we wouldn't be here trying to lose weight, would we? What I'm getting at here is A. you shouldn't take people's advice and opinions as facts. While it may have worked for them, it might not work for you. and B. You are not an expert! Don't pretend like you are, and if you are, why the hell are you here?

I just want to point out, this is a fitness site, not a weight loss site. For every person on here looking to lose weight, there's another person on here that's looking to gain weight and bulk up, or just tracking maintenance to keep them on the right track. There are several experts on here, and they visit the forums for the same reason everyone else does, to give advice and help people.

ninerbuff

The thing is that experts, more than anyone, disagree. I enjoy many of the threads you start, but I am also aware of counter-claims by other experts.

I don't assume experts are right (or wrong) but I do assume they believe they are right, and so they should, or they would be complete charlatans.

Maybe on my "eating" philosophy, but I haven't run into countering opinions on actual fitness and exercise.

kapeluza

I'm an expert at eating donuts hence why I am here now.