Funniest/Most Useless weight loss myth you've heard

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123457

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  • llabbott77
    llabbott77 Posts: 24
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    My all time favorite, "organic food is healthier and more nutritious"! Seriously, people an apple is an apple same calories, same nutrients. Not using fertilizer and pesticides did not reduce it's calories or give it more vitamins and minerals.
  • ctpeace
    ctpeace Posts: 327 Member
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    My all time favorite, "organic food is healthier and more nutritious"! Seriously, people an apple is an apple same calories, same nutrients. Not using fertilizer and pesticides did not reduce it's calories or give it more vitamins and minerals.

    Due to reduced soil quality and over-farming/single crop farming, many fruits and veggies are "less nutritious" than they used to be. Macros are the same, but they can't really absorb all of those minerals if the soil's depleted. But you are correct, this has nothing to do with being organic per se, good farming practices do, however, often lead to better quality soil, and therefore more minerals in the food produced there. Another example of "myth with some twisted truth behind it". I think people are looking to not think, so they come up with these short statements that end up being false when all factors are taken into account. Really looking into the food industry and how different practices have helped or harmed the general population is very time consuming, as is researching the best diet and exercise plan. Lesson: stoned chick at farmers market shouldn't be your only source of info, but she might not have killed every brain cell yet either.
  • ChristiH4000
    ChristiH4000 Posts: 531 Member
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    Brawndo: It's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes!
  • Dreamyriver
    Dreamyriver Posts: 91 Member
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    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1OQX8ocLAToX98pztfDAU5X1DoCBJ-mV1y9kp_xB9kf3pkoNz


    i wonder what his bf% is?

    You know his abs aren't real, don't you?

    He's involved in a company that will surgically insert 'abs' into your body.

    http://famousplastic.net/2011/08/24/darryn-lyons-has-no-shame-over-bizarre-fake-abs/

    Oh how we all laughed at him.
  • llabbott77
    llabbott77 Posts: 24
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    Due to reduced soil quality and over-farming/single crop farming, many fruits and veggies are "less nutritious" than they used to be. Macros are the same, but they can't really absorb all of those minerals if the soil's depleted.

    That's another good myth. Completely devoid of any factual basis, and more ridiculous today than when published in "diet for a small planet" in the sixties. The facts are that with modern farming methods, more and higher quality food is produced today on less land than at anytime in history. Man's diet has never been more diverse or nutritious.

    Furthermore, the organic label is deceptive and misleading. Organic means carbon based, clinically speaking all vegetables, fruits, and meats should be organic.

    Sorry about the rant, I'm a little cranky because I'm hungry, because I've been on this diet for the last two months, because I'm fat, because of too much cheap high caloric food readily available.
  • EleneSaM
    EleneSaM Posts: 45
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    Exercise 20 min. or less doesn't count, 'cause your body doesn't start to burn calories before you have exercised for 20 min.

    Doesn't make any sense at all!
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    Breakfast stokes your metabolic fire.

    Morbidly obese people 4 days into calorie restriction are in "starvation mode."

    Don't eat at night.

    Don't eat carbs at night.

    Eating foods with a lower glycemic index enhances weight loss. And other various attempts to manipulate insulin for weight loss.

    Negative calorie foods.

    Anything involving cutting out vast swaths of perfectly healthful food. E.g.:
    Low carb
    Low fat
    Avoiding dairy unless you have a relevant medical condition.
    Avoiding wheat unless you have a relevant medical condition.
    Also veganism and vegetarianism are in this category, if the diet is followed for some purported weight loss benefit.
  • onwarddownward
    onwarddownward Posts: 1,683 Member
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    Exercise 20 min. or less doesn't count, 'cause your body doesn't start to burn calories before you have exercised for 20 min.

    Doesn't make any sense at all!

    THIS is the destroyer of ambition. I had forgotten this myth.
  • ctpeace
    ctpeace Posts: 327 Member
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    Due to reduced soil quality and over-farming/single crop farming, many fruits and veggies are "less nutritious" than they used to be. Macros are the same, but they can't really absorb all of those minerals if the soil's depleted.

    That's another good myth. Completely devoid of any factual basis, and more ridiculous today than when published in "diet for a small planet" in the sixties. The facts are that with modern farming methods, more and higher quality food is produced today on less land than at anytime in history. Man's diet has never been more diverse or nutritious.

    Furthermore, the organic label is deceptive and misleading. Organic means carbon based, clinically speaking all vegetables, fruits, and meats should be organic.

    Sorry about the rant, I'm a little cranky because I'm hungry, because I've been on this diet for the last two months, because I'm fat, because of too much cheap high caloric food readily available.

    I'm with you on the "organic" thing, no real basis, but I really am speaking from knowledge of scientific papers on the first point. I'm not one of those people to get in a tizzy about this, and we can agree to disagree, but my professors at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health disagree with you too. Our diet is more diverse but that is because of shipping not the diversity within each plant species we eat (that has greatly reduced), but the green pepper you buy at the store today is generally not as nutrient-rich as the one your great great grandma grew in her garden. Sorry about the name-dropping, but the class was really convincing and involved a lot of very current peer-reviewed journal articles (read: factual basis, certainly SOME). Nutrition is not the area of public health I'm practicing in, but I find it very interesting and try to stay up-to date. I don't have the articles at my fingertips right now, and I have no farmers-market agenda, but since you're calling myth, I thought I'd give a rebuttal.
  • squiggyflop
    squiggyflop Posts: 148 Member
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    You cannot get stronger while on a calorie deficit. I eat 1200-1500 calories a day and ive grown so much stronger in the last month that I can no longer tell what I can lift and what I cannot. Out in the garden today I looked at a big heavy planter and since I have never been able to lift it I assumed it was still very heavy. I prepared to sort of tip it and scoot it into place. When I attempted to lift one side, I overestimated the effort I would need to use and i ended up instantly lifting it chest high with just one hand. I weigh my food, and I have been steadily losing 1-2lbs a week. Doesn't weight loss mean that im in a calorie deficit? So clearly you can get stronger even when you are losing weight.
  • llabbott77
    llabbott77 Posts: 24
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    I'm sure it was a great class, but since calorie was first defined in 1824. And nutritional values of foods not measured until the mid 20th century, it is factually impossible to prove. 100 years from now we will be able to compare the nutritional values of a particular food in 1980, 1990, 2000..... but right now there is insufficient data to make such a claim empirically. I believe what your professor was describing (please keep in mind I wasn't there and you forgot to drop his name :) ) is the practice of selecting varieties of produce for aesthetics rather than nutritional content to grow commercially. For example that variety of green bell pepper in the supermarket was chosen because it is more uniform in shape and color and larger (which is more appealing to the consumer and can demand a higher price) than for it's vitamin and nutrient levels. Your grandmother choose her variety of green pepper to plant in her garden for different reasons such as germination, or quantity, or taste.

    A great example of the nutritional differences in variety of species is corn. The sweet corn you buy in a can or freezer is not nearly as nutritious as the corn used in cornmeal or fed to livestock, but it tastes much better. My family has been raising corn, soybeans, and cattle in Nebraska for three generations. The corn on the cob my family sells to supermarkets is different than what is fed to livestock, which is different than what we sell to the ethanol plant, and we sell a different variety which is used to produce corn syrup. Just a little name dropping of my own.

    Little known fact most of todays modern farmers have degrees in subjects such as veterinary medicine, agronomics, chemistry, or computer science.
  • meaningful99
    meaningful99 Posts: 174
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    The newest one I keep hearing, that totally cracks me up, is that weight gain is caused by "inflammation." They never say exactly what is inflamed or how they know you have inflammation without the benefit of an endoscope.
  • ctpeace
    ctpeace Posts: 327 Member
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    Yes, I'm not suggesting that the farmer's at fault! And I'm well aware there are multiple types of corn. Having lived in the andes, I wonder if you know we've lost a huge percentage of potato diversity globally? Biodiversity in food (because of that standardization in the market) IS, however, down globally, which as a farmer, you must know. Biodiversity on your farm =/= biodiversity everywhere. Also, defining "calorie" has nothing to do with identifying minerals, and comparisons between current commercially-farmed land and "traditionally"-farmed land is a fairly good analog to comparing commercial farming to the accepted method years ago. I'm not trying to knock your farm, please don't take it personally, I'm just saying this doesn't fall into the "funniest myth" category.

    Edit: Soil quality and food quality correlation at different sites also heavily discussed in class.
  • shadowkat57
    shadowkat57 Posts: 151 Member
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    I have pretty bloody strong abs, and I'm still a fatty boombalada, so I'm on the sceprical side of "crunches give you a flat stomach."
    In fact, if you do a billion crunches and still eat lard, you'll probably have a more sticky-out tummy because you'll have a double layer of muscles + fat, instead of just fat :)
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    Sauna belt – This is sold as "the easiest way to lose belly fat". :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :noway:

    lol this one is terrible ...shaking head at sauna belt
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    Gatorade will "replenish electrolytes" after hard workouts. Says the Gatorade marketing department. All those tailored pre- and post-workout grocery items are totally unnecessary, expensive, and wasteful (in terms of packaging). Need quick energy? Eat peanut butter, honey, and fruit. Need hydration? Try water. Sheesh.

    I ran 25 miles yesterday. I needed the electrolytes to put the fluid into my muscles and organs for replenishing my body. Water would just slosh around in my stomach and possibly cause dilutional hyponatremia. (If i drink too much-but thats rare) I cant eat peanut butter or fruit during a run so Gatorade is great for that l. And actually during very hot weather it is essential and water not as effective.
    But i get your point water and the real thing is good! - You can make your own electrolyte solution but its yukky!!

    i use electrolytes to water my plants....
  • greyoutside
    greyoutside Posts: 98
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    That you are supposed to drink 8 glasses of water a day.

    You get most of your necessary water from the food that you eat, and need nowhere near 8 glasses on top of that to stay hydrated unless you are sweating A LOT.

    Also I don't care what Gatorade does for your electrolytes - that stuff is mostly sugar and does way more harm than good.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    You cannot get stronger while on a calorie deficit. I eat 1200-1500 calories a day and ive grown so much stronger in the last month that I can no longer tell what I can lift and what I cannot. Out in the garden today I looked at a big heavy planter and since I have never been able to lift it I assumed it was still very heavy. I prepared to sort of tip it and scoot it into place. When I attempted to lift one side, I overestimated the effort I would need to use and i ended up instantly lifting it chest high with just one hand. I weigh my food, and I have been steadily losing 1-2lbs a week. Doesn't weight loss mean that im in a calorie deficit? So clearly you can get stronger even when you are losing weight.

    i dont see what pulling a plant out of the ground has to do with muscle gain ....

    terrible example...
  • lsjd2000
    lsjd2000 Posts: 287 Member
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    You cannot get stronger while on a calorie deficit. I eat 1200-1500 calories a day and ive grown so much stronger in the last month that I can no longer tell what I can lift and what I cannot. Out in the garden today I looked at a big heavy planter and since I have never been able to lift it I assumed it was still very heavy. I prepared to sort of tip it and scoot it into place. When I attempted to lift one side, I overestimated the effort I would need to use and i ended up instantly lifting it chest high with just one hand. I weigh my food, and I have been steadily losing 1-2lbs a week. Doesn't weight loss mean that im in a calorie deficit? So clearly you can get stronger even when you are losing weight.

    i dont see what pulling a plant out of the ground has to do with muscle gain ....

    terrible example...

    I think the OP was referring to a Planter - like a large pot that you plant the plants in - not a plant that is in the ground.

    I think the worst I hear and its daily - is "I can't eat ...such & such... because I'm on a diet" --insert cookie, cupcake, pizza, chocolate, etc....
    I always end up replying with a comment that you can it just has to be in moderation etc... with a comment of what I have lost so far - one girl didn't believe me till I printed out my food diary and showed her lol
  • MAYONNAISESANDWICH
    MAYONNAISESANDWICH Posts: 33
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    I'm sure it was a great class, but since calorie was first defined in 1824. And nutritional values of foods not measured until the mid 20th century, it is factually impossible to prove. 100 years from now we will be able to compare the nutritional values of a particular food in 1980, 1990, 2000..... but right now there is insufficient data to make such a claim empirically. I believe what your professor was describing (please keep in mind I wasn't there and you forgot to drop his name :) ) is the practice of selecting varieties of produce for aesthetics rather than nutritional content to grow commercially. For example that variety of green bell pepper in the supermarket was chosen because it is more uniform in shape and color and larger (which is more appealing to the consumer and can demand a higher price) than for it's vitamin and nutrient levels. Your grandmother choose her variety of green pepper to plant in her garden for different reasons such as germination, or quantity, or taste.

    A great example of the nutritional differences in variety of species is corn. The sweet corn you buy in a can or freezer is not nearly as nutritious as the corn used in cornmeal or fed to livestock, but it tastes much better. My family has been raising corn, soybeans, and cattle in Nebraska for three generations. The corn on the cob my family sells to supermarkets is different than what is fed to livestock, which is different than what we sell to the ethanol plant, and we sell a different variety which is used to produce corn syrup. Just a little name dropping of my own.

    Little known fact most of todays modern farmers have degrees in subjects such as veterinary medicine, agronomics, chemistry, or computer science.

    Calories ARE calories, nutrients are nutrients but are you actually siding with GMO? Just to prove your argument about calories? YOu have GOT to be kidding me.

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