What's the worst diet/fitness advice you've received?

135

Replies

  • iluvsparkles
    iluvsparkles Posts: 1,730 Member

    "seriously, just smoke and your appetite goes away."
    (overheard behind two young teenage girls at the Starbucks...so sad)

    "Whenever I get hungry, I just take a percocet and go to sleep"
    (overheard while in the restroom in the dance department at a conservatory I was working at)

    Wow, Viv. You have heard some doozies. UNREAL!
  • gdunn55
    gdunn55 Posts: 363
    "just workout everyday, and then you can eat anything you want to."
    ("friend" who was overweight and had never worked out)
    My all time favorite when I was working in NC and I'd bring my lunch, one guy constantly told me this.
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
    DOG food builds muscle BTW i didnt try it:noway:

    ROFL
  • AwMyLoLo
    AwMyLoLo Posts: 1,571 Member
    When I was like 18 my sister borrowed this book from someone called The Six Day Diet, or something along that line. You went through and figured out what "type" you were and it gave you a meal plan. It was basically a clean diet with lean proteins, limited carbs, pretty low calorie. BUT! YOU ONLY HAD TO DO IT FOR 6 DAYS WOOHOO!! :wink: On day 2 we both went La Paloma and got large Sopapillas and scarfed them DOWN!! :laugh: :laugh: I ended up finishing the 6 day diet and lost some water weight but, yeah. 6 days of clean eating doesn't do much for you in the long run.

    I'm almost wondering if they meant "Six Day Diet", as in...eat healthy for six days a week, then have a cheat day. Then you go back on the diet for six days. Not six days only.

    I'm pretty sure the book was just about doing this diet for six days to "lose up to 20 lbs in a week" or something like that. Either way, I was 18, didn't have any weight to lose, and went back to eating sopapillas & chinese food on day 7 :laugh: . It wasn't until I hit 20 that I started gaining a weight and eventually started trying to do things right by exercising. Exercising wasn't getting me anywhere, which landed me here at MFP and changed my life as far as nutrition and fitness. :heart:
  • RGPargy
    RGPargy Posts: 285 Member
    "Here you are Miss RGP, take these [now banned in the UK] slimming tablets and come back in 3 months. I must warn you, they have serious side effects, including sleeplessness, shaking and suicidal thoughts".

    Errrr, right. Cheers doc! :huh: :huh: :huh:
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    that too much protein is bad for your kidneys........like they clog it up or something.....ll

    Actually, there is some truth in this.

    There sure is!
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member

    The interesting part was this: both girls were evaluated for mental health beforehand, to try to ensure they didn't already have body image problems or wouldn't develop them while doing the study. Both started out pretty healthy, mentally. One girl did ok (she was on some of the less-crazy diets). The other (who did the lemon thing, the extreme cal restriction, etc)... Well, they pulled her from the study early because she ended up developing the beginning symptoms of bulimia (binge/purged a couple of times and used laxatives in an unhealthy way, outside the scope of the diets.) Aside from the awful physical effects, these diets actually CAUSED an eating disorder. Yikes.

    Semistarvation neurosis. Why do people never learn? Why?

    Anyway, one of the worst pieces of advice I was given was "don't eat carbs. They make you fat."

    Errrrrr, no. Over eating any nutrient will do that, Yes, even protein...
  • amicklin
    amicklin Posts: 452
    "just workout everyday, and then you can eat anything you want to."
    ("friend" who was overweight and had never worked out)

    My Mother-in-Law has told me this on MANY different occassions. She is also 5'4" and 100 lbs., early fifties...
  • lookinggreat
    lookinggreat Posts: 43
    Back in college I was sharing an apartment with 3 other girls and we decided to do the pinapple diet -- another detox fad. 5 days eating only pineapple for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and I know some were cheating). We've all had diarrhea like never before (and we had only one bathroom for 4!!!) I remember I could feel the entire lower part of my bowels. Geez!
    Never again! That taught me about fad diets once and for all.
  • gdunn55
    gdunn55 Posts: 363
    that too much protein is bad for your kidneys........like they clog it up or something.....ll

    Actually, there is some truth in this.

    There sure is!

    Really? I thought I read where it wasn't bad on the kidneys.
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
    It's a tie between:

    Don't eat fruit, it has too much sugar

    and

    Avoid carbohydrates and eat super high protein.

    :drinker:

    Yep, those would be at the top of my list, too.
  • 135sb
    135sb Posts: 24
    I was dumbfounded when a woman, who has dieted all her life, told me you can he whatever you want because your body will convert it into what it needs...the example she used was "twinkies". Yes, those little cakes are just loaded with vit/min and fiber. dah
  • Zabarilla
    Zabarilla Posts: 16 Member
    "Oh it's just baby fat! Eat whatever you want it will come off eventually."

    Uh huh...
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    that too much protein is bad for your kidneys........like they clog it up or something.....ll

    Actually, there is some truth in this.

    There sure is!

    Really? I thought I read where it wasn't bad on the kidneys.

    Someone else already explained it, but very high levels can hurt the organ over a long period of time. If a person were to have other Kidney problems, it can cause problems quickly. Your body can only handle so much protein at one time and usually excretes the rest as waste via urination.
  • iamkelskels
    iamkelskels Posts: 81
    My favorite is the "Carbonation" diet. I was in high school, some girl said she and her mother were on it, and I remember asking "So you're not drinking soda?" and she said "No, tons of foods have carbonation in it."

    Uh.. what?
  • kjensen15
    kjensen15 Posts: 398 Member
    I once got told that to just switch everything to fat free and the weight would come off.

    Eating food that says fat free this or fat free that usually have more carbohydrates to make up for the taste. Not good.

    I did that in the 90s when it was all the rage. I shudder to think how much sugar I ate in a day.

    Sugar and Sodium!
  • nicholasnam
    nicholasnam Posts: 4 Member
    Low weight and high reps for long, lean muscles. LOL!
  • MercuryBlue
    MercuryBlue Posts: 886 Member
    "Cleanses are a healthy and easy way to lose ten pounds."

    Yeah, but ten pounds of what?
  • kjensen15
    kjensen15 Posts: 398 Member
    Low weight and high reps for long, lean muscles. LOL!

    Yep especially for women b/c women don't want to "bulk up"!

    This one drives me crazy! To build muscle you have to challenge the muscles AND women aren't genetically made to get HUGE like men.
  • jackpotclown
    jackpotclown Posts: 3,275 Member
    that too much protein is bad for your kidneys........like they clog it up or something.....ll

    Actually, there is some truth in this.

    There sure is!

    Really? I thought I read where it wasn't bad on the kidneys.

    Someone else already explained it, but very high levels can hurt the organ over a long period of time. If a person were to have other Kidney problems, it can cause problems quickly. Your body can only handle so much protein at one time and usually excretes the rest as waste via urination.
    right, but the way it's told that makes the difference.....no such thing as an absolute yes or no it will or will not mess up your kidneys....it's called a balance, and that's why I don't care for "absolute" advice
  • kaymd
    kaymd Posts: 470 Member
    Not sure about the truth in this but if you microwave an egg it takes out all the calories and was asked why I take the yolk out of the egg because the farmers way back then didn't and they lived long lives (I'm not a farmer!!!)
    Also, why get a membership to a gym it's a waste of money! I don't have a membership because I can't afford one not because it's a total waste of money. If I didn't use the membership yes it would be a waste.
  • littlelioness
    littlelioness Posts: 57
    The "zero diet" where you eat anything you want as long as it's under 500 calories. To this day, I have not overcome the urge to eat as such. Can I wear a zero? Yeah. Am I happy? No.
  • azlady7
    azlady7 Posts: 471 Member
    Eat only rice. yes my mother, when i was 9, put me on an all rice diet for over a week. PUKE :P
  • binary_jester
    binary_jester Posts: 3,311 Member
    Take this pill and your wiener gets bigger. Oh wait, you said exercise advice. I had a helpful souls at the gym tell me I was doing an exercise incorrectly. He then proceeded to do the exercise with TERRIBLE form.
  • AnnaPixie
    AnnaPixie Posts: 7,439 Member
    fad diets, atkins etc...

    Sorry to correct you, but Atkins is not a fad. It is a lifestyle changing plan.

    The worst advise I have ever received from a doctor was to go on a low fat, high carb eating plan that was 1,000 calories.

    We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. I just can't endorse any Atkins kind of plan. I'm afraid I'm with her on this one.
    To each, their own.
    :drinker:

    Totally agree. Cutting out any kind of natural macronutrient is just a fad! That goes for high carb, low carb, high fat, low fat, high protein, low protein. Atkins, Paleo, blood diet............etc

    I believe balance is the key to life!

    But yeah, each to their own :bigsmile:
  • sexygenius
    sexygenius Posts: 1,078 Member
    My favorite is the "Carbonation" diet. I was in high school, some girl said she and her mother were on it, and I remember asking "So you're not drinking soda?" and she said "No, tons of foods have carbonation in it."

    Uh.. what?

    ROTFLMAO!!!!! haha i think she ment carbohydrates..lol

    oh and my worst was drink this 280 cal nasty meal replacement shake instead of just eating a healthy meal...slim fast *puke*
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    fad diets, atkins etc...

    Sorry to correct you, but Atkins is not a fad. It is a lifestyle changing plan.

    The worst advise I have ever received from a doctor was to go on a low fat, high carb eating plan that was 1,000 calories.

    We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. I just can't endorse any Atkins kind of plan. I'm afraid I'm with her on this one.
    To each, their own.
    :drinker:

    Totally agree. Cutting out any kind of natural macronutrient is just a fad! That goes for high carb, low carb, high fat, low fat, high protein, low protein. Atkins, Paleo, blood diet............etc

    I believe balance is the key to life!

    But yeah, each to their own :bigsmile:

    Paleo doesn't cut any natural macro nutrients. The point of Paleo is that the human genome has not had nearly enough time to evolve to deal with the foods, the extreme processing of them, and chemical load, the agricultural revolution brought to the table. Paleo pretty much places the blame for Syndrome X on the agricultural revolution. So some foods don't truly exist except in cheat form, which is allowed.
  • Kcham817
    Kcham817 Posts: 106 Member
    "Oh it's just baby fat! Eat whatever you want it will come off eventually."

    Uh huh...
    I was told that too for years!! I'm not a baby anymore but the you know what is still here lol
  • irishgal44
    irishgal44 Posts: 1,141 Member
    "Your achilles tendons hurt? So do mine. Just keep running through the pain. It will go away!" Eventually I did go to a doctor and I found out that I damaged them even more, ended up with weeks of physical therapy and some permanant damage. Bad advise!!

    Or there's this one..."if you aren't showing a loss on the scale, take a laxitive". Umm...no.
  • lucybp
    lucybp Posts: 193
    An employee at the gym I go to said to drop my calories down to 800. I told her straight to her face she was insane for saying that.

    Cardio,lifting weights, and eating enough calories is the way to go. I eat between 1200-1500 depending on my work outs.
    I Work out 4-5 days doing both cardio (30mins-45mins) as well as the circuit or free weights and I drink lots of water :)

    800!!!
    speechless!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories