Dealing with health elitism

Ashtoretet
Ashtoretet Posts: 378 Member
edited November 28 in Motivation and Support
So I just had an extremely unpleasant conversation with a power tripping mod in a particular weight loss questions chat. Apparently me asking for particular information and not just blindly accepting "CICO is God" as my answer makes me look like a troll.

I was trying to get specific information about weight loss rates with hypothyroidism and me asking if age affected anything apparently sent this person over the edge. These things are not common knowledge. Most of fitness questions aren't common knowledge, since common knowledge is whatever Dr. Oz is peddling that day.

My question for you all is: How many times did you encounter elitist shaming while on your fitness journey? Did it set you back? How do you deal with being the only healthy person you know? I pretty much have no one to talk to about my fitness at this point.

Replies

  • Nachise
    Nachise Posts: 395 Member
    edited January 2016
    I have no idea what "CICO is God" means, so I must not be a power tripping health moderator.

    Age may affect weight loss because metabolism can slow down. Having hypothyroidism can affect weight loss as well. My advice: find a good nutritionist who is familiar with hypothyroidism.
  • CalorieCountChocula
    CalorieCountChocula Posts: 239 Member
    The elitism will be almost constant. There is a serious vibe that you have not reached success until you a ripped and have a six pack (probably more so with men but you see this with somen too). I don't think there's really as much "shaming" going on though as most people think there is. Most people trying to get fit are pretty focused on themselves (I don't mean this in a bad way) and I don't think they typically go out of their way to shame anyone usually, though I suppose it does happen. The main thing to do no matter what is keep on going in the direction you want to head. Time will pass either way right?
  • Ashtoretet
    Ashtoretet Posts: 378 Member
    edited January 2016
    Nachise wrote: »
    I have no idea what "CICO is God" means, so I must not be a power tripping health moderator.

    Age may affect weight loss because metabolism can slow down. Having hypothyroidism can affect weight loss as well. My advice: find a good nutritionist who is familiar with hypothyroidism.

    The thing is I was asking these questions to combat my FIL's faulty logic regarding his condition. His girlfriend takes him to non-Western doctors who put him on all of these absurdly restrictive diets. He's 60 and on synthroid but still believes he's insulin resistant and that it foils all his attempts at weight loss. I've told him before that calories are what matters but it didn't faze him, hence why I wanted some more in-depth answer that specifically says neither of these things matter. But apparently it was too much to ask.
    CalorieCountChocula wrote: »
    The elitism will be almost constant. There is a serious vibe that you have not reached success until you a ripped and have a six pack (probably more so with men but you see this with somen too). I don't think there's really as much "shaming" going on though as most people think there is. Most people trying to get fit are pretty focused on themselves (I don't mean this in a bad way) and I don't think they typically go out of their way to shame anyone usually, though I suppose it does happen. The main thing to do no matter what is keep on going in the direction you want to head. Time will pass either way right?

    I'm doing just fine on my own goals and will continue this lifestyle until the end, I'm not lacking in conviction with that. What I wanted was peers, all I'm getting is elitists online and real life acquaintances who don't even believe in BMIs.
  • lilmisstata
    lilmisstata Posts: 12 Member
    I'm not new to weight loss or MFP but I am new to posting here. I usually just use the MFP app and don't bother with the message boards, but I too have Hypothyroidism. Along with PCOS. I have a REALLY hard time losing any weight and I keep getting stricter and stricter with my weighing and measuring of food, my exercise, my food choices, etc and I thought I would come here to get some support.

    But so far....all I have received is similar to what you are mentioning....some know it all elitism. But the truth is....these people aren't doctors. They aren't even dieticians. They are just people, somewhat anonymously pontificating based on their own experience and opinions. Keep that in mind.

    My suggestion is to ask if anyone has "experience with weight loss with Hypothyroidsim, and if so what were their rates?" If they don't have the experience, or a Degree, they are just people giving you an opinion. Even if they are a moderator with a big ego.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,029 Member
    edited January 2016
    Not a mod from here right? I searched replies and didn't see any conversations you may have had about hypothyroidism and weight loss discussion. If there is, point me to it.
    My thoughts: my wife has hypothyroidism. Is on Synthroid (though I don't know what her dosage is). She had half her thyroid removed. She got up to 165lbs at 5'4" and decided to do something about it before turning 40. As of today, she hovers right around 125lbs and lost most of her weight doing ballroom dancing (for competition) and just watching her calories.
    I've had many clients who had hypothyroidism and it takes more effort for them to lose, however it still does boil down to CICO. Some are good at finding the "groove" that works for them, while others struggled to find consistency. Because each individual lives differently than someone else, there are so many variables that can affect how weight loss happens with hypothyroidism, but there is ALWAYS a way for it to happen. It may come down to how one exercises to burn calories as well as what deficit they may need to be at. Many times it's a trial and error shot. I've sometimes had to try 2-3 approaches to find out what may work best for a client.

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  • Ashtoretet
    Ashtoretet Posts: 378 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Not a mod from here right? I searched replies and didn't see any conversations you may have had about hypothyroidism and weight loss discussion. If there is, point me to it.
    My thoughts: my wife has hypothyroidism. Is on Synthroid (though I don't know what her dosage is). She had half her thyroid removed. She got up to 165lbs at 5'4" and decided to do something about it before turning 40. As of today, she hovers right around 125lbs and lost most of her weight doing ballroom dancing (for competition) and just watching her calories.
    I've had many clients who had hypothyroidism and it takes more effort for them to lose, however it still does boil down to CICO. Some are good at finding the "groove" that works for them, while others struggled to find consistency. Because each individual lives differently than someone else, there are so many variables that can affect how weight loss happens with hypothyroidism, but there is ALWAYS a way for it to happen. It may come down to how one exercises to burn calories as well as what deficit they may need to be at. Many times it's a trial and error shot. I've sometimes had to try 2-3 approaches to find out what may work best for a client.

    Accounts are being hacked. They take your profile picture and your name to create a new FB account. Then they ask your friends to add. Your friends think it's you and accept. From that moment , they can write whatever they want under your name!!! Please DO NOT accept a 2nd invitation from me!!! Copy this on your wall so your friends can see & be warned.

    No it definitely wasn't here. I've only had good experiences here, personally. That's why I felt like I could get some human replies to this.

    Your wife sounds pretty similar to my FIL, he's overweight but not obese and has had half his thyroid removed. I'll just stick to my guns, then, next time this gets brought up, thank you!
  • TraceyKakes
    TraceyKakes Posts: 37 Member
    I have that all the time. Every time someone sees me tracking my food or losing weight they give me their two cents on what works and what to do. Even though I have something that's working for me I smile and listen to them with an open mind because you can always learn something. It can be annoying but there's no harm in hearing someone out, then not following their advice anyways.
  • lilmisstata
    lilmisstata Posts: 12 Member
    Ashtoretet wrote: »
    Nachise wrote: »

    The thing is I was asking these questions to combat my FIL's faulty logic regarding his condition. His girlfriend takes him to non-Western doctors who put him on all of these absurdly restrictive diets. He's 60 and on synthroid but still believes he's insulin resistant and that it foils all his attempts at weight loss. I've told him before that calories are what matters but it didn't faze him, hence why I wanted some more in-depth answer that specifically says neither of these things matter. But apparently it was too much to ask.

    I am insulin resistant AND I have Hypothyroidism. It doesn't mean it's impossible to lose weight, but it is twice as hard. The fact that he is 60 also means that his metabolism has naturally slowed down due to age + the hypothyroidism.

    I am embarrassed to say that this isn't my first time losing weight. I I had lost 67 lbs and kept it off for about 5-6 years. Then I got too busy...and stopped going to the gym and started eating a lot of foods out of convenience rather than health because I was too tired or busy to cook. There were many other excuses along the way along with a pregnancy that I never lost weight after. But the point is that...gradually the weight came back. For the last 4 years I have been the same weight so the weight gain had stopped but I could NOT lose it. WOW has it been hard!

    I will tell you that I did Weight Watchers, and wrote down everything and counted points and did not lose any weight. It's like as if the only way I lose weight is to drop my calories down to 1000 -1200 AND work out with high intensity. That's pretty much how I lost it last time. I had to run 5 miles every other day, weigh and measure my ALL my food, cut out all high carb and processed foods and keep my calories below 1200, it not easy and I was 33 and not 60. That is MY EXPERIENCE. Take it with a grain of salt.

    But it's because of this that I felt completely defeated and had given up trying to lose weight for the last 4 years. I had resigned myself to just being fat and trying to accept it. But I realized that I couldn't give up.

    My suggestions to your FIL is to start by walking. The more exercise he does, the better his insulin.

  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
    CICO isn't god. It's the law.

    The challenge comes in when there are aggravating conditions that alter what your normal calorie burn rate is. If you have PCOS, hypothyroidism, some forms of arthritis, etc, you'll burn calories slower than normal. This means your CO part of CICO is going to be out of whack. What may be a projected 500 calorie deficit (1500 calories in, 2000 calories out) may only be a 300 calorie deficit (1500 calories in, 1800 calories out).

    If someone wants to use a crutch for why they can't lose weight, that's fine. My wife has all of those conditions above, and still loses weight. Not as fast as she would like, and not as fast as the normal predictions say she should, but with her burn rate being lower than average, that's to be expected.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
    edited January 2016
    Some people tend to take what works for them as something that EVERYONE should do because it TOTALLY worked for them and should work for you too!!

    Trying to find serious data and research on losing weight is a minefield, and there's remarkably little out there that hasn't been misquoted or cherry-picked to support a person's point of view. About the only hard fact we know is that you have to consume less calories than you burn to lose weight. Everything after that is blurred and biased on the person talking about it. Including me. About the only thing I can do is give advice that worked for me and tell someone to do what works for them.
  • lilmisstata
    lilmisstata Posts: 12 Member
    6502programmer wrote: »
    CICO isn't god. It's the law.

    The challenge comes in when there are aggravating conditions that alter what your normal calorie burn rate is. If you have PCOS, hypothyroidism, some forms of arthritis, etc, you'll burn calories slower than normal. This means your CO part of CICO is going to be out of whack. What may be a projected 500 calorie deficit (1500 calories in, 2000 calories out) may only be a 300 calorie deficit (1500 calories in, 1800 calories out).

    If someone wants to use a crutch for why they can't lose weight, that's fine. My wife has all of those conditions above, and still loses weight. Not as fast as she would like, and not as fast as the normal predictions say she should, but with her burn rate being lower than average, that's to be expected.

    Is it the CI or the CO part?. Usually, if MFP tells me I should be eating 1600 calories, and I eat 1600 calories, I don't lose weight...therefore causing me to believe I can't lose weight. But really....I can....but at a much lower calorie intake, of like 1200.
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