Advice from those who have done it > those who haven't

AllTehBeers

Just so I can set my expectations, which side of the grain debate are you? They are evil and will consume your very soul, will endanger everything you hold dear and true, and are likely the cause of every known disease or illness? Or they are a gift directly from God above and should be cherished as a gift from God should be and we should eat at least 17 serving every day and find creative ways to add them to foods that otherwise would not have them...(and I mean, *whole* grains, of course)?

Ok, but pepper your angus. There may be a shytstorm ensuing after this post, since that's what usually happens:

I believe that there isn't nearly enough evidence to suggest that grains should be arbitrarily eliminated without first considering whether or not the individual has any sort of intolerance to said grains.

I believe that arbitrary food elimination without necessary cause is a bad thing regardless of whether or not the micronutrients present in said food item are found elsewhere.

Lastly, if you've got an intolerance to grains or an intolerance to ANY food item, you should eliminate it (celiac disease, non celiac gluten sensitivity, etc). Telling everyone to avoid grains would be similar to telling everyone to avoid shrimp because of shellfish allergy.

*shrugs* makes sense to me.

Except for sugar. No one should eat it and fruit is the cause of the zombie apocolypse.

Rocbola

I consistently see people who are at the very beginning of their journey giving advice as if it were Gospel fact and often in direct contradiction to those who have actually accomplished their goal. While I don't really have a solution to this, and I'm not saying that only those who have succeeded should have a voice here, but I would ask those who are just setting out on their journey to hesitate just a moment before sharing what they are absolutely convinced they think is true if they haven't actually seen it through to the end yet to really know if what they *think* works actually *does* work.

Agreed. Whenever i see somebody with a lot of weight lost on their ticker at the bottom of their post, i usually take a good look at what they are saying, even if i disagree with it, because i figure they are doing something right, even if it's from a different approach than i would do.

quill16

I have reached my goal, but I certainly am not an expert and still am a work in progress as far as maintaining. If others want to know "How I did it?" , I will tell them, but everyone is different and what worked for me may not work for someone else. I went to a nutrtionist and doctor to get personel advice and made lifestlye changes that were suited for me.

erikkasusann

I just don't pay any attention to advice from people who have their heads up their butt. Lots of folks have that affliction, I'd say it's a more pressing issue than even grains. Oh, and I totally thought you were a horrible person before I saw that smiley.

DeanneLea

I think it's a valid point.

Even though logically, I know that those who have lost quite a bit may have done it the wrong way and there are those that regained but lost the first time the right way. It's just hard to look at it objectively, especially when I see some absolute diehard "don't do this, do this" comments from those that show 0 lbs lost on their ticker. I'll admit, my first reaction is...what do you know?

happythermia

Thank goodness for that smiley! I was about to rip you a new one!! ;-)

boldtsmith

But my opinions are always stongest before I have any of the facts. What fun is posting if I have to know what I'm talking about? I should probably switch to a political message board. They don't seem to expect you to know anything at all before you post.
:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

mcarter99

How does anyone here know anyone's level of expertise? Their ticker? It's meaningless. You asked (OP) what your's said about you to me? Nothing. Anyone can post anything they want. A ticker can be misleading. A photo can be misleading. What they say can be 100% baloney.

I posted this on another thread but read about how an overweight nobody convinced diet forum readers to send her millions for her (terrible) diet advice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimkins

Because of the issue of "authority" people should take their advice from scholarly research and respected authorities (in the real world, not some 'net forum). Anything else (practically) can be total B.S.

LesterBlackstone

Just so I can set my expectations, which side of the grain debate are you? They are evil and will consume your very soul, will endanger everything you hold dear and true, and are likely the cause of every known disease or illness? Or they are a gift directly from God above and should be cherished as a gift from God should be and we should eat at least 17 serving every day and find creative ways to add them to foods that otherwise would not have them...(and I mean, *whole* grains, of course)?

Ok, but pepper your angus. There may be a shytstorm ensuing after this post, since that's what usually happens:

I believe that there isn't nearly enough evidence to suggest that grains should be arbitrarily eliminated without first considering whether or not the individual has any sort of intolerance to said grains.

I believe that arbitrary food elimination without necessary cause is a bad thing regardless of whether or not the micronutrients present in said food item are found elsewhere.

Lastly, if you've got an intolerance to grains or an intolerance to ANY food item, you should eliminate it (celiac disease, non celiac gluten sensitivity, etc). Telling everyone to avoid grains would be similar to telling everyone to avoid shrimp because of shellfish allergy.

*shrugs* makes sense to me.

Except for sugar. No one should eat it and fruit is the cause of the zombie apocolypse.

I thought it was caused by bath salts.

Yanicka1

Woa a civil discussion here. Love it.

I think it come in waves. January first group then the oh **** summer is around the corner group and so on and so forth

But I have to say that I love newbies with their contagious energy and their willingness to change. Those that are hard to deal with are those that are at months 3-4 that get depressed because what was working before is not working anymore, they like try everything at the same time

boldtsmith

Woa a civil discussion here. Love it.

I think it come in waves. January first group then the oh **** summer is around the corner group and so on and so forth

But I have to say that I love newbies with their contagious energy and their willingness to change. Those that are hard to deal with are those that are at months 3-4 that get depressed because what was working before is not working anymore, they like try everything at the same time

We newbies thank you :flowerforyou:

BrettPGH

I agree with what you said and I think you put it so delicately that anyone who's offended is really just looking for a reason to be.

My take on it is that I think it's best that anyone new be very willing to listen. If you think you know everything already why bother anyway?

A poor girl deactivated the other day because she refused to believe that what she read in a few books could possibly be wrong. She was unwilling to listen to the advice of longtime, successful and intelligent users here. She had just started but thought she knew everything. And by deleting her account she only hurt her own chances.

Sometimes people here ask me my secret since I've done alright. It's no secret. It's MFP. Just look around the forums and be willing to take some advice.

EvanKeel

Given the internet's ability to allow some people to mislead other people about their identities, I have trouble putting a lot of faith in someone else's personal experiences without some additional reasoning and evidence backing them up.

And really, even if I knew for a fact that they were telling the truth, I need a sufficient reason to believe that what they're saying works for the reasons they say it works and that it would work for me. I think it's probably important not to gloss over those assumptions.

"Clearly so and so must be right because they're doing really well."

"Well, that's one possibility, yes. There are others."

Danielle_2013

WHAT!? This free site and all the opinions expressed therein are not the weight loss/fitness/lifing/nutrition gospel?

I agree with you OP. I think I know stuff, but at the end of the day I still have 85 pounds to lose. Am NOT expert - clearly! I can only say what may or may not have worked for me, but I think generally is best for me to sit back and listen still. Everything is subjective and personal anyway.

I've actually wondered how many pictures of the beautiful male 6 packs out there are actually fakes..

jofjltncb6

Just so I can set my expectations, which side of the grain debate are you? They are evil and will consume your very soul, will endanger everything you hold dear and true, and are likely the cause of every known disease or illness? Or they are a gift directly from God above and should be cherished as a gift from God should be and we should eat at least 17 serving every day and find creative ways to add them to foods that otherwise would not have them...(and I mean, *whole* grains, of course)?

Ok, but pepper your angus. There may be a shytstorm ensuing after this post, since that's what usually happens:

I believe that there isn't nearly enough evidence to suggest that grains should be arbitrarily eliminated without first considering whether or not the individual has any sort of intolerance to said grains.

I believe that arbitrary food elimination without necessary cause is a bad thing regardless of whether or not the micronutrients present in said food item are found elsewhere.

Lastly, if you've got an intolerance to grains or an intolerance to ANY food item, you should eliminate it (celiac disease, non celiac gluten sensitivity, etc). Telling everyone to avoid grains would be similar to telling everyone to avoid shrimp because of shellfish allergy.

I'm more of the "try eliminating all grains for 30 days and see how you feel". At worst, they feel no differently and can go back to eating grains all willy-nilly (or higglety-pigglety for my friends north of the border). At best, they found something that makes them feel better and it's something that seems reasonably safe to do since I don't think anyone has died yet from a grain deficiency. In fact, I would propose that, if someone doesn't feel great (or even if you're not sure if you really feel great), then they should try eliminating a likely-problematic food entirely for some period of time to see how they feel. I believe there are a number of allergies and sensitivities to food out there and people don't realize it because the foods are so pervasive and they have adjusted their definition of "normal" to fit how they feel. I also believe that grains (and sugars) are addictive and intentionally designed (or at least exploited for the ability) for us to be hungry and crave more of the same food a short time later...(and no tinfoil hat will protect us from this particular evil conspiracy).

(In fact, despite my absolute love of eggs and their pervasiveness in my own diet, I plan to do this myself to see if I have any issues with them...one of these days...when I gather the courage and conviction to go an entire day without them. *shudder*)

jofjltncb6

I have reached my goal, but I certainly am not an expert and still am a work in progress as far as maintaining. If others want to know "How I did it?" , I will tell them, but everyone is different and what worked for me may not work for someone else. I went to a nutrtionist and doctor to get personel advice and made lifestlye changes that were suited for me.

Wow, impressive.

And I'm glad that you found something that worked for you.

jofjltncb6

Woa a civil discussion here. Love it.

I think it come in waves. January first group then the oh **** summer is around the corner group and so on and so forth

But I have to say that I love newbies with their contagious energy and their willingness to change. Those that are hard to deal with are those that are at months 3-4 that get depressed because what was working before is not working anymore, they like try everything at the same time

Don't get too comfortable with this civil discussion. I've seen these things turn like a....well, a thing that turns really really fast.

Ironically, it seems like the posts that start off completely innocently are the ones that are more likely to get nasty. This one started off just a little bit edgy, which seems to keep it from building negative momentum...at least for a while.

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

What a great thread with insightful and humorous posts

I am a newbie to the site however not to the struggle with weight loss. I have done this a few times before but this time there is a significant difference.....this time I want to lead a healthy lifestyle not just "diet" to lose weight.

I don't track anything on the site....I do mine the old fashion way with a pen and paper (yes, a few notebooks are full!) but now that I'm getting closer to my goal, I may have to start using the site to track calories. The reason I joined was for this.....the forums. And let me tell you, those first few days I read everything......omg I was addicted to reading, researching and learning and reading, researching and learning.

I will now give my story, or what has worked for me and I hope that doesn't ever hinder someone but I know how challenging this can be and sometimes the different opinions can give others different ideas and perspectives.....it's then their call if they choose to take advice or research it. I don't know everything but I think that I can offer up some good ideas or suggestions....just the same as if I have a question, I pose it to the MFP community as well

jofjltncb6

WHAT!? This free site and all the opinions expressed therein are not the weight loss/fitness/lifing/nutrition gospel?

I agree with you OP. I think I know stuff, but at the end of the day I still have 85 pounds to lose. Am NOT expert - clearly! I can only say what may or may not have worked for me, but I think generally is best for me to sit back and listen still. Everything is subjective and personal anyway.

I've actually wondered how many pictures of the beautiful male 6 packs out there are actually fakes..

If you find any of me with a six pack taken after 1990, it's a fake. I'm not exactly sporting a keg, and the cans aren't far below the surface, but they aren't photographable...yet.

(Dagnabbit...now I want to stop this ridiculous gain thing I've been doing all year and lose the fat layer...the only thing stopping me is, when I did this at the end of last year, the muscles I uncovered were...how you say?...not massive. It was like a six pack, but of those tiny little cans that look cute, but are pretty much useless...)

(Yeah, I know...cutting in the winter and bulking in the summer...not exactly an einsteinian decision there...)

jofjltncb6

What a great thread with insightful and humorous posts

I am a newbie to the site however not to the struggle with weight loss. I have done this a few times before but this time there is a significant difference.....this time I want to lead a healthy lifestyle not just "diet" to lose weight.

I don't track anything on the site....I do mine the old fashion way with a pen and paper (yes, a few notebooks are full!) but now that I'm getting closer to my goal, I may have to start using the site to track calories. The reason I joined was for this.....the forums. And let me tell you, those first few days I read everything......omg I was addicted to reading, researching and learning and reading, researching and learning.

I will now give my story, or what has worked for me and I hope that doesn't ever hinder someone but I know how challenging this can be and sometimes the different opinions can give others different ideas and perspectives.....it's then their call if they choose to take advice or research it. I don't know everything but I think that I can offer up some good ideas or suggestions....just the same as if I have a question, I pose it to the MFP community as well

First, welcome...and here, have another smiley: (You'll probably need that eventually.)

Wait. You joined MFP for the forums, but not the tracking feature? I don't want to say that you're doing it wrong, but...

...well, you're doing it wrong. The MFP forums are disturbingly awful, in my opinion. Maybe it's that *all* nutrition/weight-loss sites are like this (or...*shudder*...the others are even worse), but I have to believe that there is something better out there. Eh, maybe not. Personally, I didn't feel like I needed the advice of random people on the internet, so that particular feature didn't dissuade me at all...I just liked the tracking ability, especially with the iphone app. I haven't really even looked at the forums much...and every time I did, what I found made me rethink my decision to look at them.

Eh, different strokes I suppose...

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

What a great thread with insightful and humorous posts

I am a newbie to the site however not to the struggle with weight loss. I have done this a few times before but this time there is a significant difference.....this time I want to lead a healthy lifestyle not just "diet" to lose weight.

I don't track anything on the site....I do mine the old fashion way with a pen and paper (yes, a few notebooks are full!) but now that I'm getting closer to my goal, I may have to start using the site to track calories. The reason I joined was for this.....the forums. And let me tell you, those first few days I read everything......omg I was addicted to reading, researching and learning and reading, researching and learning.

I will now give my story, or what has worked for me and I hope that doesn't ever hinder someone but I know how challenging this can be and sometimes the different opinions can give others different ideas and perspectives.....it's then their call if they choose to take advice or research it. I don't know everything but I think that I can offer up some good ideas or suggestions....just the same as if I have a question, I pose it to the MFP community as well

First, welcome...and here, have another smiley: (You'll probably need that eventually.)

Wait. You joined MFP for the forums, but not the tracking feature? I don't want to say that you're doing it wrong, but...

...well, you're doing it wrong. The MFP forums are disturbingly awful, in my opinion. Maybe it's that *all* nutrition/weight-loss sites are like this (or...*shudder*...the others are even worse), but I have to believe that there is something better out there. Eh, maybe not. Personally, I didn't feel like I needed the advice of random people on the internet, so that particular feature didn't dissuade me at all...I just liked the tracking ability, especially with the iphone app. I haven't really even looked at the forums much...and every time I did, what I found made me rethink my decision to look at them.

Eh, different strokes I suppose...

lol shockingly, other sites out there have far worse forums than this!

I am the type of person who enjoys learning about different perspectives, different strategies, and being exposed to things that maybe I wouldn't come across IRL and quite frankly the people in my real life aren't as committed to this healthy lifestyle as I am so I wanted to have the opportunity to communicate with people that are. Granted, there is a lot of crap in here and a lot of meaningless, useless information/conversation, but every so often you come across something really good, IMO. What really gets me is when someone asks a genuine question but gets no answers and then someone asks something just ridiculous and all of a sudden has 478 replies. Maybe that has happened to me :sad:

:laugh: just kidding, I don't get that worked up over a forum!

Edit to add: Also, I don't see it as doing it "wrong" I'm down 59lbs and countess inches, so I think I'm doing it pretty "right"

nurserae7

Great observation and tactfully stated. I'm fairly new and usually just read/listen/look around. I know that is how to glean the most from others who have been successful. And no...you are not a jerk. Thanks for the post.

jofjltncb6

Congratulations, fellow MFPers, for making it four pages in a potentially contentious forum post without things deteriorating into complete chaos or it being mod-nuked.

Oh so very slowly, you are restoring my faith in (MFP) humanity...

...oh so very slowly.

(Counting my old dance recital recap write-up, this is two topics in a row for me that stayed above the fray... )

J

Krazy_Kat

I'm newbie. I find it very hard to shut up and not offer suggestions when I haven't got the results to back it up yet. But there is a chance my idea doesn't totally suck. Just because I'm new doesn't mean i'm feeble minded or unobservant. I'm not having a go at you, and if I should shut up until I've reached my goal, I will.

jofjltncb6

I'm newbie. I find it very hard to shut up and not offer suggestions when I haven't got the results to back it up yet. But there is a chance my idea doesn't totally suck. Just because I'm new doesn't mean i'm feeble minded or unobservant. I'm not having a go at you, and if I should shut up until I've reached my goal, I will.

Oh, don't change your behavior just because of my post. (In fact, don't let any one random person on the internet do that.)

However, I would encourage you that, when you hear advice that is different than what you currently think, process it with an open mind. Don't blindly accept advice from anyone, (yourself included). Accept that what you *think* you know right now to be true may not be...and that's ok. Few people get it absolutely right the first time (and this is true regardless of the general topic). And meanwhile, try not to preach it as gospel based only on what you expect will be the outcome.

And all of the above applies to everyone, myself included, regardless of past success or lack of success. I sometimes type up these responses to try to convince myself as much as others. =P