FITNESS MYTHS and EXCUSES YOU CAN'T STAND!!!

imchicbad

1.im big boned .......NO SUCH THING fat =fat unless your the elephant man or 7 feet tall.
2. Eating 1200 calories a day........ Don't get me started
3. Can't figure out why I'm not seeing results... With a candy bar for breakfast and McDonald's for lunch " but it's within my calorie range".......uuullkkk
4. I had a bad day today binge eating( its Monday) ill start over on Friday.-- every other week.
5. Weighing yourself every day and complaining about fluctuation in body weight. Rrrrrrr

Calliope610

I really hope your are just joking. If you are being serious then I have to tell you that this is one of the most idiotic things I have ever heard. Weight is a function of density. Would you say that gold weighs more than feathers? 1 pound of gold = 1 pound of feathers correct? So why then do we say that gold weighs more than feathers? For the same reason that muscle weighs more than fat. It takes less fat to equal 1 pound then it does fat just like it takes less gold to get to one pound then it does feathers. By your logic everything weighs the same because 1 pound of X will weigh the same as 1 pound of Y.

ETA: Um....a pound = a pound. The amount it takes to make the pound is irrelevant

Not when you're talking body image. If a lb of Fat took up 20 sq inches and a lb of muscle took up 8 sq inches. What would you rather have on your body?

I was responding to "By your logic everything weighs the same because 1 pound of X will weigh the same as 1 pound of Y."

A pound weighs a pound. 500 pounds weighs 500 pounds.

The amount of space they take up is density, not weight.

Using your skewed logic, every person of the same size would weigh the same because a 1 lb - 1lb.

And yet they don't. *boom* Mind blown.

Duhhh, because of DENSITY.

thisisme13

I really hate how people seem to think they aren't losing weight or gaining weight because they are building muscle from cardio or from lifting little barbie dumbells. I had a friend try to tell me her lifting 5lb weights caused her to gain 8 pounds of muscle in a month. When someone stalls in weight loss or gains a bit of weight everyone seems to just say oh it's because you are building muscle.

waldo56

There is such a thing as big boned.

But not in the way it is usually used by fat people.

My big bones make my muscle mass look small unfortunately. Big bones as in my arms are unusually long for my height, my chest bones are unusually big around for my height, etc....

Hezzietiger1

eating fat makes you fat
if a girl lifts she will bulk up
a calorie is just a calorie

JoRocka

ETA: As far as the excuses/myths, they exist because people need to believe they are true. A person has to be truly ready to make a lifestyle change, whether it be quitting smoking, getting healthier, etc. Until they get to that point, they will make excuses. Instead of blasting them for their excuses, how about realizing that they just aren't ready to change, and no amount of belittling or pushing will change their minds.

Yes! This is it exactly! I was extremely fit in my 20s, but having a series of miscarriages and then having three kids in less than three years really left me very overweight and out of shape. That may sound like excuses to some of you, but stress and emotional turmoil take a lot out of a person, and if you don't prioritize yourself, well, they can just keep taking. And they did. Then, of course, I had three kids under the age of three. That was a very busy time in my life, and my husband was working 12-16 hour days, and I literally had no time to myself. I could have ditched housework to exercise, but I didn't. I could have shipped my kids off to a babysitter, but I didn't. That's because of my priorities.

As my kids got older, I was still busy. I was working full-time (I'm self-employed) and home schooling. You want to talk busy? I was (and am) busy. My husband still works 12 hour days. Finally, though, I realized that *I* needed to make myself a priority. *I* needed to change for *me*. Once I made myself a priority, it became a lot easier to get that hour or so of exercise in everyday, and wow, do I feel good about myself. I'm still fat, but hey, I didn't gain weight overnight, and I'm sure as heck not going to lose it overnight.

You might all see those as excuses, but you see, I don't owe you excuses. I wasn't a priority in my own life. Now I am. It's really, truly just as simple as that. And once your friends, acquaintances or family members make themselves a priority, you're only going to hear "excuses." Maybe instead of judging you could try supporting them and letting them know how worthy they really are of being a priority.

explaining how you got to where you are today is different than excusing it.

Briko3

I can't stand "muscle weighs more than fat" Drives me nuts. 1 pound = 1 pound regardless of what it is made of. Muscle is denser than fat so 1 pound of muscle takes up less space than 1 pound of fat!

Biggest pet peeve in excuses? "I'm scared" WTF is there to be scared of? Being fit, being thin, living longer?

Muscle vs fat is like a glass being half full vs half empty. It's a matter of perspective. You look at it as a pound is a pound, and they look at it as 'for a given volume'.

karendee4

I get frustrated when people say they are too big to exercise. If I could do it at over 300 pounds so can they!

Also too busy excuse does not cut it. The President exercises and I bet he is more busy than I am. (Even if you don't like him he does workout and so does his wife. FIND TIME)

Squats were hard on my knees when I was larger but I still did them. I just did not squat as low.
I do love the comment about getting off the toilet and squatting. Awesome.


As far as the gaining weight and muscle. I hate it when I gain and people tell me it is just muscle. Like I gained a pound of muscle that quick. Doubtful.

anaquay

2) I actually heard this: "I can't squat because I have bad knees.... besides, it's not like i use that in my everyday life."

WHAAT?! No. You have bad knees BECAUSE you don't squat.

And if you don't think you use it in everyday life, i'd like to know how you get on and off the toilet. :huh:

I've just started a thread on this subject (yes - another one :bigsmile: ) as some of the time (when my knees were particularly bad) I couldn't actually get off the loo without help. A visit to the doctor and now I may actually start upping my water intake just so I can use the loo more often and enjoy using it without help :happy:

waldo56

The volume difference for muscle and fat is severaly overstated.

Both take up about as much space as water. Muscle a little less, fat a little more. All those pictures that are made showing a comparison are a ridiculous overexaggeration. 5 lb of muscle is slightly smaller than 5 lb of fat. 5 lb of water (5 pint glasses full of water) is a reasonably decent approximation for both.

Muscle weighs 1.06 g/mL
Water weighs 1.00 g/mL
Fat weighs 0.92 g/mL

The bigger difference is how they are depositied in the body. Muscle tends to be spread over a much larger area, whereas fat accumulates in big glops in relatively small areas.

likitisplit

Yes! This is it exactly! I was extremely fit in my 20s, but having a series of miscarriages and then having three kids in less than three years really left me very overweight and out of shape. That may sound like excuses to some of you, but stress and emotional turmoil take a lot out of a person, and if you don't prioritize yourself, well, they can just keep taking. And they did. Then, of course, I had three kids under the age of three. That was a very busy time in my life, and my husband was working 12-16 hour days, and I literally had no time to myself. I could have ditched housework to exercise, but I didn't. I could have shipped my kids off to a babysitter, but I didn't. That's because of my priorities.

As my kids got older, I was still busy. I was working full-time (I'm self-employed) and home schooling. You want to talk busy? I was (and am) busy. My husband still works 12 hour days. Finally, though, I realized that *I* needed to make myself a priority. *I* needed to change for *me*. Once I made myself a priority, it became a lot easier to get that hour or so of exercise in everyday, and wow, do I feel good about myself. I'm still fat, but hey, I didn't gain weight overnight, and I'm sure as heck not going to lose it overnight.

You might all see those as excuses, but you see, I don't owe you excuses. I wasn't a priority in my own life. Now I am. It's really, truly just as simple as that. And once your friends, acquaintances or family members make themselves a priority, you're only going to hear "excuses." Maybe instead of judging you could try supporting them and letting them know how worthy they really are of being a priority.

I had two kids in two years and have total empathy for where you are. There is WAY TOO MUCH mom-blaming about any single one of the choices we make or do not make as a parent and as a person. You can help somebody see that they are a priority. You can share your experience and help them understand how they can make do-able changes. But let's not judge them for not being able to tackle a task that seems overwhelming or scary to them.

waldo56

One big myth I can't stand is this nonsense that people dieting should start strength training because it will build muscle and raise their metabolism,

While there are a lot of good reasons to always strength train, it is a form of fitness every bit as important as cardio fitness, that sentence combines two myths, making it nonsensical. Yet so many people believe this and say this.

- Muscle is not built in a calorie deficit. I'm sorry, it is not. You are not a special snowflake. There might be some really minor gains when in a defict, but chances are, it is just water. Sorry. When your muscles firm up, that isn't a sign of building muscle, its just water. The water in muscles is not fat and hence is considered lean mass, however it is not metabolically active.

- The raise of your metabolism is slight. Very slight. Unless they keep very detailed records, even guys gaining several pounds of muscle per bulking cycle will not see a noticable increase in their metabolism. Muscle increases your metabolism at about 5 cal/lb, meaning it would take 20 lbs of muscle gain just to increase your metabolism 100 cal/day (which is a lot of blatantly obvious gain, 20 lbs of steak is quite a pile of meat). If you keep your calorie intake exactly the same, that 100 cal/day shift will have you gaining 0.2 lb/wk slower, or losing 0.2 lb/wk faster, a virtually imperceptable change at the scale.

The idea that you should strength train while losing weight to build muscle and increase your metabolism is a load of hooey.

You strenght train while losing to preserve your existing muscle mass so that most of your weight loss is fat loss, not muscle loss. If you are losing a lot of muscle as you lose weight, you aren't changing your body composition, which is the real goal for people, not weight loss.

sullus

The volume difference for muscle and fat is severaly overstated.

Both take up about as much space as water. Muscle a little less, fat a little more. All those pictures that are made showing a comparison are a ridiculous overexaggeration. 5 lb of muscle is slightly smaller than 5 lb of fat. 5 lb of water (5 pint glasses full of water) is a reasonably decent approximation for both.

Muscle weighs 1.06 g/mL
Water weighs 1.00 g/mL
Fat weighs 0.92 g/mL

The bigger difference is how they are depositied in the body. Muscle tends to be spread over a much larger area, whereas fat accumulates in big glops in relatively small areas.

15% is pretty significant. a 41.5" waist is 15% bigger than a 36" waist. Sure it looks small in g/ml, but it's still 15%

sullus

- Muscle is not built in a calorie deficit. I'm sorry, it is not. You are not a special snowflake. There might be some really minor gains when in a defict, but chances are, it is just water. Sorry. When your muscles firm up, that isn't a sign of building muscle, its just water. The water in muscles is not fat and hence is considered lean mass, however it is not metabolically active.

This is actually the myth. You sure as hell can build muscle while EATING a calorie deficit. The nice thing is, my body goes to fat to make up the deficit.

Skinny people can't build muscle while in a deficit. Fat people can.

waldo56

- Muscle is not built in a calorie deficit. I'm sorry, it is not. You are not a special snowflake. There might be some really minor gains when in a defict, but chances are, it is just water. Sorry. When your muscles firm up, that isn't a sign of building muscle, its just water. The water in muscles is not fat and hence is considered lean mass, however it is not metabolically active.

This is actually the myth. You sure as hell can build muscle while EATING a calorie deficit. The nice thing is, my body goes to fat to make up the deficit.

Skinny people can't build muscle while in a deficit. Fat people can.

Good luck with that.

JoRocka

One big myth I can't stand is this nonsense that people dieting should start strength training because it will build muscle and raise their metabolism,



The idea that you should strength train while losing weight to build muscle and increase your metabolism is a load of hooey.

no- it's true- you can lose fat and build muscle.

asnnbrg

ETA: As far as the excuses/myths, they exist because people need to believe they are true. A person has to be truly ready to make a lifestyle change, whether it be quitting smoking, getting healthier, etc. Until they get to that point, they will make excuses. Instead of blasting them for their excuses, how about realizing that they just aren't ready to change, and no amount of belittling or pushing will change their minds.

Yes! This is it exactly! I was extremely fit in my 20s, but having a series of miscarriages and then having three kids in less than three years really left me very overweight and out of shape. That may sound like excuses to some of you, but stress and emotional turmoil take a lot out of a person, and if you don't prioritize yourself, well, they can just keep taking. And they did. Then, of course, I had three kids under the age of three. That was a very busy time in my life, and my husband was working 12-16 hour days, and I literally had no time to myself. I could have ditched housework to exercise, but I didn't. I could have shipped my kids off to a babysitter, but I didn't. That's because of my priorities.

As my kids got older, I was still busy. I was working full-time (I'm self-employed) and home schooling. You want to talk busy? I was (and am) busy. My husband still works 12 hour days. Finally, though, I realized that *I* needed to make myself a priority. *I* needed to change for *me*. Once I made myself a priority, it became a lot easier to get that hour or so of exercise in everyday, and wow, do I feel good about myself. I'm still fat, but hey, I didn't gain weight overnight, and I'm sure as heck not going to lose it overnight.

You might all see those as excuses, but you see, I don't owe you excuses. I wasn't a priority in my own life. Now I am. It's really, truly just as simple as that. And once your friends, acquaintances or family members make themselves a priority, you're only going to hear "excuses." Maybe instead of judging you could try supporting them and letting them know how worthy they really are of being a priority.

explaining how you got to where you are today is different than excusing it.

The thing is, I don't HAVE to excuse it. No one owes an explanation for their fitness/dietary choices to anyone but their doctor; therefore, they don't have to make excuses. They may feel like they need to, but that doesn't mean they owe it. I can guarantee 5 years ago when I had three kids between 2 and 5 that I'd have laughed at one of you telling me I should be working out an hour or two a day. I truly didn't have the inclination to carve out that time -- what would I have skipped? Child care? House cleaning? My work? No. None of those things were things I could just gloss over and ignore just so I could "look good." It wasn't until I realized I needed to get in shape to also *feel* good about myself that it became a priority -- well, that and the fact that my kids are now 7 - 10 years old and I really do have a little more independent time.

What I'm mostly trying to say is that instead of judging people, take a step back, empathize with them (and I mean truly empathize that not everyone is at the same place in life) and then either help them find solutions and realize that they really are worth that extra effort, or just walk away.

sullus

- Muscle is not built in a calorie deficit. I'm sorry, it is not. You are not a special snowflake. There might be some really minor gains when in a defict, but chances are, it is just water. Sorry. When your muscles firm up, that isn't a sign of building muscle, its just water. The water in muscles is not fat and hence is considered lean mass, however it is not metabolically active.

This is actually the myth. You sure as hell can build muscle while EATING a calorie deficit. The nice thing is, my body goes to fat to make up the deficit.

Skinny people can't build muscle while in a deficit. Fat people can.

Good luck with that.

I've had excellent luck with it. I've put on 15 lbs of muscle in the last 16 months while eating a caloric deficit almost the entire time.

It takes 2 things to build muscle: protein and energy. After working the muscle, and making sure to have enough protein in my diet, all we need to add is enough energy (obtained from calories) to increase muscle. If my food does not provide enough calories, I'm not out of luck. I have loads of excess calories stored in fat. My body can go break down some fat to get energy, and use that energy to build the muscle.

As you get less and less fat, there are diminishing returns on this though.

The point you seem to be missing is that my body saved the caloric surplus over the years in my fat. so while I may be EATING a caloric deficit, there's plenty of calories found in body fat to more than adequately make up that deficit.

waldo56

The volume difference for muscle and fat is severaly overstated.

Both take up about as much space as water. Muscle a little less, fat a little more. All those pictures that are made showing a comparison are a ridiculous overexaggeration. 5 lb of muscle is slightly smaller than 5 lb of fat. 5 lb of water (5 pint glasses full of water) is a reasonably decent approximation for both.

Muscle weighs 1.06 g/mL
Water weighs 1.00 g/mL
Fat weighs 0.92 g/mL

The bigger difference is how they are depositied in the body. Muscle tends to be spread over a much larger area, whereas fat accumulates in big glops in relatively small areas.

15% is pretty significant. a 41.5" waist is 15% bigger than a 36" waist. Sure it looks small in g/ml, but it's still 15%

No. Volume =/= circumference.

Say for exple we have a 94 cubic inch sphere (muscle, 100*1/1.06) and a 108 cubic inch sphere (fat, 100*1/0.92).

The muscle sphere has a radius of 8.31 inches, the circumference of the sphere is 52.2"
The fat sphere has a radius of 9.00 inches, the circumference of the sphere is 56.5"

A 15% difference in spherical volume is only a 8.3% difference circular circumference.

sullus

The volume difference for muscle and fat is severaly overstated.

Both take up about as much space as water. Muscle a little less, fat a little more. All those pictures that are made showing a comparison are a ridiculous overexaggeration. 5 lb of muscle is slightly smaller than 5 lb of fat. 5 lb of water (5 pint glasses full of water) is a reasonably decent approximation for both.

Muscle weighs 1.06 g/mL
Water weighs 1.00 g/mL
Fat weighs 0.92 g/mL

The bigger difference is how they are depositied in the body. Muscle tends to be spread over a much larger area, whereas fat accumulates in big glops in relatively small areas.

15% is pretty significant. a 41.5" waist is 15% bigger than a 36" waist. Sure it looks small in g/ml, but it's still 15%

No. Volume =/= circumference.

Say for exple we have a 94 cubic inch sphere (muscle, 100*1/1.06) and a 108 cubic inch sphere (fat, 100*1/0.92).

The muscle sphere has a radius of 8.31 inches, the circumference of the sphere is 52.2"
The fat sphere has a radius of 9.00 inches, the circumference of the sphere is 56.5"

A 15% difference in spherical volume is only a 8.3% difference circular circumference.

Not claiming volume = circumference. demonstrating the significance of 15%. only that.

I'm just using an example that would resonate with most people. 1.06 g/ml v .92 g/ml is pretty meaningless to most people (gosh it's only like .16g), but 15% is 15%, and the waist size example puts 15% into terms that would really click with a lot of people here.