Tired of all the "real dieters"

areufnkiddingme

Hi everyone , this is my first day on MFP.. let me see if I get it wright we are suppose to eat up to 1200 calories a day and be active like work out , but only eat that many calories and no more and thats how you loose the wieght?

To address your question: No, that's not right. MFP will total calories for you but you have to be CERTAIN that you are logging your every day activities as well. If you are not logging your calories burned then this can happen:

Eat 1200 calories! (this is usually enough to make you lose weight and not do anything else- no exercise or anything).
Work out and burn 450 calories! Well, this is actually coming out of that 1200 you ate that day.

Uh oh, by the time you get to bed, you've actually only consumed 750 cals This is very bad- this puts your body into starvation mode, saving every last calorie it can because it isn't getting enough to even lie in bed all day. It will begin to eat muscle at this rate. Your blood sugar levels will vary dramatically, making you cranky, mean, depressed, exhausted and unmotivated to keep going.

Your goal is to NET 1200 calories a day. So, if you plan to eat 1200, and end up working out and burning an extra 300, make sure you're putting those 300 back in somewhere. Post-workout snacks are great for making sure you're getting the right amount in a day, and they are easy to skip if you overdo it.

half_moon

If you are so tired of seeing people like this, you have a choice to not look at/ignore/delete/avoid them.
Everyone learns what is good for them after a whole lot of trials and errors. Most people are at different stages of finding out what works for them.
Please don't be judgemental of people that don't follow YOUR plan.

Yeah, pretty much this. (I'm not directing this at the OP, just people in general who think this way.) Stop trying to justify eating a lot by complaining when people don't. Let them do what they want. What you are doing is working for you. They are not paying you to be their nutritionist. How about you guys just leave it alone?

Maybe they are doing 1200 and plan to slowly increase their intake as they get closer to their goal, like I have. maybe they are trying something new. Stop judging. I, for example, am intaking around 1300 - 1400 a day until I get a HRM (in the mail!) so that I know exactly how many calories I am burning. Eating 1500 calories a day and then eating back every one of the exercise calories based on MFP's guesses is not a good idea, IMO. Also, there is no magic number.

Need2bfit918

personally i think if your living your life in a way that requires calorie counting, its going to be very hard to sustain over a period of time. its great to get you started but not very sustainable. Does any other species have to consciously control their food intake?

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

I, personally, don't need to justify to anyone how much I eat. I know how weight loss works and I know the impact of severe calorie restriction. I just hope that those who don't know can make an informed decision. If everyone kept to themselves then how woul anyone learn?

NorthWoodsLee

No, no I'm not. I'm tired of people thinking they are gods gift as they've had little success. Heck, I get in comp shape 2-3 times a year, coach people into that shape too but you'll never find me posting a thread like this. They usually are at the start of their journey and will learn in time what to do. Its just part of the process. Stop being so judgmental. Help, not hinder!

Great post!

half_moon

I, personally, don't need to justify to anyone how much I eat. I know how weight loss works and I know the impact of severe calorie restriction. I just hope that those who don't know can make an informed decision. If everyone kept to themselves then how woul anyone learn?

This is true! I guess I mean the type to add a 1200-er and then comment all the time passionately about their errors. I guess as long as the good info is out there, people who want to find it will. I've never been into correcting people (which is funny, because my profession is an editor! LOL) but rather by leading by example. I also, personally, don't find 1200 cals to be evil. After workout days, I up it by 200ish calories. once I get my HRM, this will be more controlled.

LorinaLynn

Yeah, pretty much this. (I'm not directing this at the OP, just people in general who think this way.) Stop trying to justify eating a lot by complaining when people don't. Let them do what they want. What you are doing is working for you. They are not paying you to be their nutritionist. How about you guys just leave it alone?

Why do you think anyone posts something like this to "justify" their eating habits?

I won't just "leave it alone," though, because I care about other people and hate seeing people making the same mistakes I made.

I'm the youngest of six kids. Four older brothers and an older sister. I was able to avoid a lot of mistakes in life because I learned from their mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes of my own, though, so I'd like to pass that torch along and help others avoid some of the mistakes I made.

Like I said before, if someone is 100% happy with their progress, ignore everything I say and keep doing what you're doing. If you're not, just know that there's another way.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

No, no I'm not. I'm tired of people thinking they are gods gift as they've had little success. Heck, I get in comp shape 2-3 times a year, coach people into that shape too but you'll never find me posting a thread like this. They usually are at the start of their journey and will learn in time what to do. Its just part of the process. Stop being so judgmental. Help, not hinder!

Great post!

And just how does someone help if they are sitting idly waiting for the person to figure it out on their own? That's my helping. A parent doesn't watch their child drop an electrical device into a pool of water...that'd be dumb. The kid would figure out that they should never do that again buy that's only if they survived...but why watch them do it if you can prevent them from making that mistake. A parent doesn't watch their child drink and drive--same thing. There can be dire consequences of over exercising and undereating--yeah you MIGHT find people who learn eventually but how is it in their best interest to watch them do it if you know better? If a young girl (or boy) comes here ad develops an eating disorder it's likely to be with her, in some capacity, forever. I rather TRY to prevent that because you know...they deserve guidance. I'm not going to hold my tongue because people think everyone should mind their own business--how compassionate is that?

half_moon

I won't just "leave it alone," though, because I care about other people and hate seeing people making the same mistakes I made.

IDK. IMO, diets are a personal thing. A personal choice. I hate it when co-workers or family try to shove THEIR diets down my throat because this, this, and this. Same for missionary work. Leave people alone, imo! Put good information out there, set an example, explain, try to help if it is asked, lead by EXAMPLE. Really, though, just leave them alone. If they are on MFP, they are adults and not your God-given responsibility to correct and point to the "correct" path. There are hundreds of paths, and each must find their own. [/budda speak]

A parent doesn't watch their child drop an electrical device into a pool of water...that'd be dumb.

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love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

I won't just "leave it alone," though, because I care about other people and hate seeing people making the same mistakes I made.

IDK. IMO, diets are a personal thing. A personal choice. I hate it when co-workers or family try to shove THEIR diets down my throat because this, this, and this. Same for missionary work. Leave people alone, imo! Put good information out there, set an example, explain, try to help if it is asked, lead by EXAMPLE. Really, though, just leave them alone. If they are on MFP, they are adults and not your God-given responsibility to correct and point to the "correct" path. There are hundreds of paths, and each must find their own. [/budda speak]

A parent doesn't watch their child drop an electrical device into a pool of water...that'd be dumb.

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You're assuming everyone here is an adult--that's far from the truth. There are so many young people using his site and they are much more impressionable than most adults. I'm not going to watch them make choices that COULD lead to disordered eating. Sorry if that upsets you. Eating disorders kill people. It's not something I take lightly so I'm going to try to put the information out there because it's all I can do.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Here are some facts about eating disorders..I'll say that many eating disorders result from attempts to "Diet" and lose weight. Now, what is the impact of someone developing an eating disorder...some might find this interesting, others might not care but I do. I tried erasing some of the less relevant statistics but there are still a lot so my apologies for the length.

Eating Disorders Statistics

General:
• Almost 50% of people with eating disorders meet the criteria for depression.1
• Only 1 in 10 men and women with eating disorders receive treatment. Only 35% of people that receive treatment for eating disorders get treatment at a specialized facility for eating disorders.2
• Up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder) in the U.S.3
• Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.4

Students:
• 91% of women surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting. 22% dieted “often” or “always.”5
• 86% report onset of eating disorder by age 20; 43% report onset between ages of 16 and 20.6
• Anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents.7
• 95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.8
• 25% of college-aged women engage in bingeing and purging as a weight-management technique.3
• The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate associated with all causes of death for females 15-24 years old.4
• Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives.17
• In a survey of 185 female students on a college campus, 58% felt pressure to be a certain weight, and of the 83% that dieted for weight loss, 44% were of normal weight.16

Men:
• An estimated 10-15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are male.9
• Men are less likely to seek treatment for eating disorders because of the perception that they are “woman’s diseases.”10
• Among gay men, nearly 14% appeared to suffer from bulimia and over 20% appeared to be anorexic.11

Media, Perception, Dieting:
• 95% of all dieters will regain their lost weight within 5 years.3
• 35% of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders.5
• The body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females.3
• 47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures.12
• 69% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape.13
• 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner (Collins, 1991).
• 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat (Mellin et al., 1991).

Collins, M.E. (1991). Body figure perceptions and preferences among pre-adolescent children. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 199-208.

Mellin, L., McNutt, S., Hu, Y., Schreiber, G.B., Crawford, P., & Obarzanek, E. (1991). A longitudinal study of the dietary practices of black and white girls 9 and 10 years old at enrollment: The NHLBI growth and health study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 23-37.

For Women:
• An estimated 0.5 to 3.7 percent of women suffer from anorexia nervosa in their lifetime.14 Research suggests that about 1 percent of female adolescents have anorexia.15
• 20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems.18

Mortality Rates:
Although eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder, the mortality rates reported on those who suffer from eating disorders can vary considerably between studies and sources. Part of the reason why there is a large variance in the reported number of deaths caused by eating disorders is because those who suffer from an eating disorder may ultimately die of heart failure, organ failure, malnutrition or suicide. Often, the medical complications of death are reported instead of the eating disorder that compromised a person’s health.

According to a study done by colleagues at the American Journal of Psychiatry (2009), crude mortality rates were:

• 4% for anorexia nervosa

• 3.9% for bulimia nervosa

• 5.2% for eating disorder not otherwise specified

Crow, S.J., Peterson, C.B., Swanson, S.A., Raymond, N.C., Specker, S., Eckert, E.D., Mitchell, J.E. (2009) Increased mortality in bulimia nervosa and other eating disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 166, 1342-1346.

from: http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/

LorinaLynn

Also, I'm not creeping on anyone's profile and/or diary and saying to them, "HEY, DUMBASS! Yer doing it wrong!"

I will state my opinion in advice thread if someone seems to be undereating, overtraining, not getting good nutrition, or any other obvious pitfalls I see. I also post about my progress in success stories, blogs and motivation and support threads. I explain when asked what's worked for me and why it's worked. I participate in threads like this one.

To me, that IS leading by example, putting the information out there, and NOT pushing it down anyone's throat.

Someone telling me I shouldn't do those things is kind of pushing THEIR opinions down my throat, though.

Treece68

Who has time to work out 3 hours a day. I get off work work out about an hour and a half then it's dinner time after that it's 8 and almost bedtime

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Who has time to work out 3 hours a day. I get off work work out about an hour and a half then it's dinner time after that it's 8 and almost bedtime

you'd be surprised. people do it.

supahstar71

I trust that your intentions are coming from a good place, but the delivery sounds more critical than helpful (especially the 'so tired' part...like you're completely exasperated by all the dolts that don't know better). It might be more helpful to talk about your own success in Success Stories and provide info on how you did it rather than have an attitude that to not do it like you is wrong.

ShaneOSX

I would just not worry about what other people are doing. The only time I look at other people's diaries is for food inspiration. I don't care about their calories, they can do whatever they want, it's their life.

Truth is that the 1200 number is completely arbitrary. It's just a convenient guideline for people that don't want to do significant research to go by. Similarly, the equation for calculating BMR is fundamentally broken as the test used to derive it was flawed to begin with. Your RMR gives you a more accurate number, but the math for that is also mostly inaccurate.

It's true that there are a lot of people on here not eating enough, but there's no black and white truth to the fact that someone eating below 1200 calories is always in the wrong.

http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html

bonniekrose

Well I sure wish someone would help me out here. When I put my info into MFP it set my goal at 1200 calories?

opuntia

And your initial thought was 1000% correct. That thread was transmitting a message that I think can further result in the unsustainable efforts to lose weight.

I definitely agree there. Although I got the feeling most people were taking that thread with a pinch of salt, and weren't going to change their eating habits as a result of some random person being tired of them!

I guess the reason I care is not as much for the adults who are consciously choosing this way but for the young girls who are impressionable and desperate. I've seen the impact of girls in their early teens following the lead of women eating 1200 calories and exercising like crazy and it scares me to leave it unaddressed. Soooo many people don't know that they don't have to starve and if I can bring this point to light then why not? It's tough to help these people once they are so far along that they're afraid of eating more--food quickly becomes the enemy. I've been there sadly enough (a long time ago).

So you did want people to listen to you? It wasn't simply a parody? I completely understand caring about others, and wanting to help vulnerable people - but then as I said earlier, in order for people to take you seriously, it's good for them to know a bit about you and your credentials. Maybe a difficulty with this thread is that it was intended both as a parody and as a serious message, and that didn't come over so well because not everyone knew what you were parodying, and so to them it just looks like you're declaring you're tired of a certain sort of person, rather than that you actually want to help that sort of person.

lmroessler

I wish some girl who wasn't 23 years old and only has 4 pounds to lose would not be so critical and judgmental of other people.

deksgrl

Well I sure wish someone would help me out here. When I put my info into MFP it set my goal at 1200 calories?

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12