What have you learned are myths, since joining MyFitnessPal?
Replies
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I have learned that there are people who read/research a lot and give useful information to those of us who want it.
I have learned that body shaming is prevelant...for those that are overweight as well as fit and Muscled...
I have learned the most useful thing tho...that I can eat what I want (the good the bad the ugly)and still lose weight. (having a hard time getting past the myth of "everything should be "Low Fat")
My thoughts about lifting were confirmed and I don't feel bad now about hating cardio....
And I have learned that when all else fails attack grammer, spelling and age to prove your point that the other person has no idea what they are talking about...as well that there needs to be a special font for sarcasm...otherwise most people miss it.0 -
I have learned that fat doesn't make you fat. A calorie is a calorie but not all are created equal. I have learned that starvation mode is a myth.0
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That what works for ONE will work for ALL. It won't. period.0
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My biggest myth that I believed is that you can out train a bad diet.
This, too...THAT was an eye opener...LOL0 -
You can't speed up or slow down your own metabolism except by gaining or losing muscle or fat: you can't 'damage' your metabolism by dieting.
Your Metabolism is determined by how energy expensive it is to pump blood around your body, run the blood cleaning filters and the gut and the intestine and respiration.
You cannot change this. Of course at very low weights essential services will shut down and heart muscle will be used to fuel the body, leading to death by organ failure - but ultimately you cannot "Slow" your metabolism. It's just the rent you pay on your size body.
Incorrect0 -
That you have to starve yourself to lose weight. For me, it was all about portioning and eating a realistic amount of food. Started weighing and measuring my food and got a much better idea of what an actual serving is.0
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I've learned that excuses don't cut it. I used to be the queen of excuses, and I no doubt would have used some here. Before I did, however, I saw other people using the same excuses I would have and how those excuses were accepted (as in they weren't) by other posters. At first I thought everyone was being a bit mean, but then I realized that they were actually right. I gave up on the excuses and I started making real changes.
I learned breakfast isn't absolutely necessary and that the time of day you eat isn't all that important.
A big one for me is that aspartame isn't the root of all evil. I had a doctor tell me this one years ago. I can't eat it for some reason as it irritates my stomach, so I had no real reason to even question whether it was horrible or not. Silly me. I need to remember to question everything and learn for myself.
Oh, and eating less isn't always better. I used to think you practically had to starve yourself in order to lose.0 -
This!Losing weight and being healthy are not the same thing.0 -
Losing weight and being healthy are not the same thing.
Definitely!0 -
1200cal is not the magic weight-loss number; it's better to calculate your own BMR and suffer the maths!0
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dont eat carbs
carbs make you fat
dont eat after a certain time in the evening, it will turn into fat
you have to cut out certain foods if you want to lose weight
santa claus isnt real
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How is it an insult? I didn't say ALL PEOPLE. Ask many people what a peer reviewed clinical study is and probably most wouldn't know unless they googled it. There are lots of people that follow lots of broscience and unsupported methods because they read it in a fitness magazine or watched it on the BL or saw it on Dr. Oz, etc. That's not research, that's just following the crowd which many dieters do (which is why they are still dieting and not just changing their actual lifestyle).
Some people DON'T know how to research (using pseudoscience and blogs are references) and if doing "what works for them" isn't always correct either.Screw *most of everything people say on the boards ( there are a lot of know it all's in here), do your own research and just "do what works for you"!
There's lots to learn from people on here who are "in the know". You just have to find the right ones who don't just spout a bunch of BS.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
That's kind of an insult to the intelligence of the people on this site. People DO know how to research, and there IS a lot of false information on here from people who think their way of losing weight is the ONLY way. It's very aggravating.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
How is it an insult? I didn't say ALL PEOPLE. Ask many people what a peer reviewed clinical study is and probably most wouldn't know unless they googled it. There are lots of people that follow lots of broscience and unsupported methods because they read it in a fitness magazine or watched it on the BL or saw it on Dr. Oz, etc. That's not research, that's just following the crowd which many dieters do (which is why they are still dieting and not just changing their actual lifestyle).
Some people DON'T know how to research (using pseudoscience and blogs are references) and if doing "what works for them" isn't always correct either.Screw *most of everything people say on the boards ( there are a lot of know it all's in here), do your own research and just "do what works for you"!
There's lots to learn from people on here who are "in the know". You just have to find the right ones who don't just spout a bunch of BS.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
That's kind of an insult to the intelligence of the people on this site. People DO know how to research, and there IS a lot of false information on here from people who think their way of losing weight is the ONLY way. It's very aggravating.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I agree with you, I believe a number of people on this board do not know what a peer reviewed study means however you can send them to google scholar to research and read the abstracts.0 -
Amen!0
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How is it an insult? I didn't say ALL PEOPLE. Ask many people what a peer reviewed clinical study is and probably most wouldn't know unless they googled it. There are lots of people that follow lots of broscience and unsupported methods because they read it in a fitness magazine or watched it on the BL or saw it on Dr. Oz, etc. That's not research, that's just following the crowd which many dieters do (which is why they are still dieting and not just changing their actual lifestyle).
Some people DON'T know how to research (using pseudoscience and blogs are references) and if doing "what works for them" isn't always correct either.Screw *most of everything people say on the boards ( there are a lot of know it all's in here), do your own research and just "do what works for you"!
There's lots to learn from people on here who are "in the know". You just have to find the right ones who don't just spout a bunch of BS.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
That's kind of an insult to the intelligence of the people on this site. People DO know how to research, and there IS a lot of false information on here from people who think their way of losing weight is the ONLY way. It's very aggravating.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
If I'm 21 years old and I know what a peer reviewed clinical study is, I imagine most people on this site, who are much older than me, would know or be able to figure it out. I do agree with you that a lot of people use things like reality TV and wack jobs like Dr. Oz to get their information, and that has to stop. I'm just saying people on this site aren't stupid and they CAN research if they set their minds to it. And that research, and figuring out what works for THEM, is probably better than listening to people on this site who think they know everything because they follow one specific plan.0 -
Myth: I thought if I joined MFP I would be able to extract fact from fiction when it comes to losing weight and nutrition.
Reality: Accountability is where I am at. I can't even begin to know what I am doing wrong, if I don't even know what I am doing.
I wish to learn more facts, keeping in mind everyone is completely unique. I will still be me no matter what size I am.0 -
I've only just started. It took me 20 days to lose 6 1/2 lbs. The things that I have learnt are that fats and carbs like pasta are hideously high in calories. How could I have been eating so much of it before? lean meat, fish, fruit, veges are amazingly low. Yesterday I went back over my diary and saved all the meals I enjoyed to the meals menu. They were all meat fruit and veges. Guess the cave girl in me knows what it's about.0
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I agree, with FitFabFlirty9 in that good science means good cures. The weight loss and medical industry has attracted all kinds of profiteers and charlatans.
On the topic of the unscientifically trained being able to judge cures from snake oil, they shouldn't have to. If writers, journalists and presenters held to the ethical standards they are supposed to, the information they disseminate would not be snake oil. Here's an example of very, very bad medical journalism.
http://fitzhenrymac.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/should-i-sell-my-soul-thoughts-inspired-by-anne-surma/
I used to suffer from fibromyalgia and restless legs like you wouldn't believe. These are common in obese women my age. Checked out the commercial sites, nothing useful except ways to spend money. Then I started reading recent research papers. I'm studying so can access full copies through my uni (even though I'm only studying writing). There I found a paper by 3 Indian researchers in which they were investigating multi B with folate to find out what was the key molecule in it that seemed to be helping Fibromyalgia (the association was found in a very large epidemiological study). As I had some sitting unused in my drawer, and because I was in such pain and having difficulty sleeping, I decided to try it. For once, something actually worked within 2 days. Not just for the fibro but also the restless legs. Now I see more researchers are looking at those vitamins. It worked the first time and after a few weeks I stopped taking them. Recently the fibromyalgia came back - it worked the second time too.
Of course the pharmaceutical industry are livid, just like they were when it was found that a patent free drug was the cure for ulcers (Heliobacter pylori)0 -
Screw *most of everything people say on the boards ( there are a lot of know it all's in here), do your own research and just "do what works for you"!
^^^this!!0 -
Well it's partially true. Let's say one is 300lbs and can't do a pushup. Drops 50lbs and now can do 1 push up. Loses another 50lbs and now can do 10 pushups at 200lbs. Does that necessarily mean the got stronger, or did the weight loss make it easier to do a push up? Also (unless you change the leverage) how does one get stronger just using the same resistance? You can increase muscular endurance (higher reps or even just isometric holds) but one won't get stronger unless they overload the muscle being targeted.Myth 2: If you use bodyweight exercises to gain strength you will eventually get to a plateau where you will have to start using weights to continue gaining strength.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
While there is lots of advice that's given by people from anecdotal evidence, as the thread mentioned, there are still lots of myths that people truly believe because it's been believed for so long. Even with lots of people in the fitness industry, there are lots of broscience claims that they will emphatically stick even with science debunking it. So as I mentioned most people will google something like aspartame, read all the "bad" about it from blogs, articles, media,etc. then take that information and believe it, but not read what peer reviewed clinical studies will say about them because for some reason, it doesn't pop up on the search engine unless specifically asked for. So learning how to research does count.
How is it an insult? I didn't say ALL PEOPLE. Ask many people what a peer reviewed clinical study is and probably most wouldn't know unless they googled it. There are lots of people that follow lots of broscience and unsupported methods because they read it in a fitness magazine or watched it on the BL or saw it on Dr. Oz, etc. That's not research, that's just following the crowd which many dieters do (which is why they are still dieting and not just changing their actual lifestyle).
Some people DON'T know how to research (using pseudoscience and blogs are references) and if doing "what works for them" isn't always correct either.Screw *most of everything people say on the boards ( there are a lot of know it all's in here), do your own research and just "do what works for you"!
There's lots to learn from people on here who are "in the know". You just have to find the right ones who don't just spout a bunch of BS.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
That's kind of an insult to the intelligence of the people on this site. People DO know how to research, and there IS a lot of false information on here from people who think their way of losing weight is the ONLY way. It's very aggravating.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
If I'm 21 years old and I know what a peer reviewed clinical study is, I imagine most people on this site, who are much older than me, would know or be able to figure it out. I do agree with you that a lot of people use things like reality TV and wack jobs like Dr. Oz to get their information, and that has to stop. I'm just saying people on this site aren't stupid and they CAN research if they set their minds to it. And that research, and figuring out what works for THEM, is probably better than listening to people on this site who think they know everything because they follow one specific plan.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
You can lose weight while eating junk food. While there are more nutritious options, a calorie is just a calorie. Really.
This!0 -
That eating small frequent meals will boost my metabolism.
That skipping meals will slow down my metabolism.
That breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
That I should eat more when I hit a plateau.
And most importantly, healthy food doesn't mean low calories!
The first 3 of these, for me. My doctor made it sound like I would go into starvation mode if I didn't eat first thing in the morning.While there is lots of advice that's given by people from anecdotal evidence, as the thread mentioned, there are still lots of myths that people truly believe because it's been believed for so long. Even with lots of people in the fitness industry, there are lots of broscience claims that they will emphatically stick even with science debunking it. So as I mentioned most people will google something like aspartame, read all the "bad" about it from blogs, articles, media,etc. then take that information and believe it, but not read what peer reviewed clinical studies will say about them because for some reason, it doesn't pop up on the search engine unless specifically asked for. So learning how to research does count.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I was one of those people who believed what they read, until I really learned how to research properly.0 -
Myth: That doing lots of reps with very light weights is the right way for women to build strong, lean, not "bulky" muscles.
Myth: That wearing a heart rate monitor all day long will tell you how many calories you really burned in a day.
Myth: That "you can't outrun your fork." And, conversely, that tons of cardio will make up for a really crappy diet.
Myth: That the fitness models in Runner's World got those figures purely by running, or by doing the little 5-minute exercise-band routines they're demonstrating.
And the biggest myth I've unlearned: That it's "too late" to get in shape and I'll never be able to do those things I'd like to do.0 -
Actually you can build muscle on a calorie deficit IF you have a lot of weight to lose. If you are lean - no. If you are morbidly obese - yes. I know there will be those who disagree- but I am fairly certain as I have done it and seen others do it too.I've learned that eating more often doesn't boost your metabolism, that breakfast isn't necessary (although I actually have breakfast now, never used to), that what you eat doesn't really matter that much, that you can't build muscle on a calorie deficit, and that pretty much everything has more calories than you think.0 -
And most importantly, healthy food doesn't mean low calories!
AMEN!!! I went to make me a "healthy" fruit smoothie the other day and abandoned it once I was up to 400 calories and hadn't even added in the calories for my almond milk!!! :huh:0
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