The Ultimate Guide to MFP.

As a long term resident and moderator of MFP, I thought I would leverage some of my observations to provide greater clarity into the what people say vs what is meant (commonly misunderstood by many new comers and some not new comers). More often than not, many arguments/debates start from misinterpretation of what others mean, combined with extreme examples to validate their claims (on both side of the equation). Also, to further use my mod powers for the good, I intend to make this an active running list as new phrases get brought up; feel free to PM me translations or post them for review.

For those who are new and don't know all the acronyms:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1069278/acronyms-and-terms-for-new-mfp-members-v-6/p1

Weight loss comes down to CICO

Weight management comes down to energy balance; if you have a net negative energy balance, you will lose weight; if you have a net energy surplus, you will gain weight; if you have a net 0 energy balance, you will maintain (meaning, you consume the equivalent amount of calories you burn on average). CICO refers to an energy balance equation. It’s components: Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) + Thermal Effect of Food (TEF) + Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) + Thermal Effect of Activity (TEA). Keep in mind, that CI and CO are both estimates. Real world feedback loops should be considered and utilized as necessary. A feedback loop is looking at calorie data over a 4-6 week period and making adjustments from there. Unfortunately, we can only estimate CI (and even with all the tools, we can be very inaccurate) and CO (you can get a rough average if you take average intake + average loss converted to calories = ~ maintenance calories). 1 lb = 3500 calories


CICO is all the matters for weight loss

Weight management (as noted above) is about overall energy balance. One should focus on a balanced diet to support health. This includes addressing any special dietary requirements for medical issues.


You can consume all foods in moderation

You should first address your nutritional requirements (which support health and your overall goals), but if it will help with dietary compliance, then incorporating a treat or junk food in your diet is ok. This does not mean that one should eat an entire diet of junk food because that would mean that you would not be addressing your nutritional requirements.

You should have a balanced diet
A balanced diet refers to eating in a manner that will address your nutritional requirements; this would mean eating a variety of foods to maximize micronutrient uptake (vitamins and minerals) and eating macronutrients (carbs/fats/protein) in the manner that will satiate you and support your goals (muscle development, cholesterol issues, controlling diabetes).


Diet is for weight management, Exercise is for fitness

For a large majority, it is much easier to restrict calories as a function to lose weight, than add additional exercise to help you lose weight. Exercise provides additional benefits outside of just burning calories, which can support your ultimate goal (i.e., running a marathon, body builder, or just lean and fit).

Cut “xx” out of your diet

I find that reducing this food has helped me reduce my intake and allowed me to achieve a deficit

All calories are the same or A calorie is a calorie or All calories are not created equal

A calorie is a unit of measure. When people talk about not all calories are equal, they are actually referencing the metabolic difference amongst macronutrients (carbs/fats/protein/alcohol). These arguments may or may not consider satiety. Proteins and fiber are largely tied to high satiation levels, fats and carbs are going to vary based on the person. It may require you to modify your food combinations to find the ideal profile for you.

You are majoring in the minors

This is a highly used MFP-ism. This means overly caught up in the minute differences between different dietary components; an easy example is the TEF of protein. A body will burn more calories digesting protein (20 to 25%), than it will carbs (5 to 6%) and fats (1 to 3%). So yes, eating more protein would be more calories, but for every 100 (25g) calorie increase in intake, you would see an increase in EE by 20 or 25 calories. In the context of a whole diet, you would be lucky if you saw an increase of 100 calories. Unfortunately, calories still have to be controlled before worrying about the effect of macronutrients.

http://vonblancofitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/The-Pyramid-Of-Nutritional-importance.png

Missing the forest for the trees

Looking at each dietary component without looking at the whole. The typical argument is a donut vs broccoli as it relates to health; the argument goes, what is more healthy, a diet that is all broccoli or a diet that is all dount. The answer is always neither. Extremes do not have any value or real life applicability to dieting or fitness. They do not support an answer. Both would be devoid of nutrients and probably kill you from nourishment. If you see this argument, run.


CICO did not work for me

On MFP, this could have many meanings. In many cases, when you get down to the nuts and bolts, "CICO didn't work for me", really means counting calories did not work for me. As noted, CICO is about energy balance. All diets are a based on CICO. Counting calories is a tool. There are many reasons why calorie counting may not work for someone but some of the most common reasons why counting calories fail is inconsistent logging and inaccurate logging. In many of those cases, food scales were not used, quick adds were used, incorrect entries (a medium banana vs 125g of banana). And if the OP was willing to correct that, in many cases they were successful. But one should note, there should still be a feedback loop. Log for 4 to 6 weeks, and adjust calories based on actual results (PM me if you have questions).

What is calorie counting
Calorie counting is a tool that will allow you to measure how many calories that you are consuming. This in turn can be utilized to enable you to reach your goal, whether that is weight loss, maintenance or gaining. Other tools can improve accuracy of calorie counting (a food scale) and maintaining your food diary can will help consistency. As previously noted, accuracy and consistency are the biggest reasons for why calorie counting hasn't worked.

Muscle weighs more than fat

Weight is the same (if you compare 5lbs vs 5lbs) but density is different. See picture below.

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5163bc02e4b0928e3b203980/t/5423e4a9e4b0dab08d8e5163/1411638441200/

I want to tone my body

Industry term for losing body fat while maintaining muscle mass.

Muscle burns fat

It is true, that the more muscle that you carry, the higher your metabolic rate and the greater your overall expenditure but gaining muscle is 1) not overly easy (requires progressive resistance, adequate calories/protein), 2) has limiting factors (training, nutrition, genetics and 3) is ideally done in a surplus or closer to maintenance (recomp). Having said that, even if you do gain muscle, your daily expenditure will only increase 5-6 calories per day.

Those pesky limiting factors in gaining muscle

In the event you would like to gain muscle, there are limitations that will occur and how much you can gain in a given month is small. I would highly recommend read Lyle's McDonalds general philosophy.. He has done a ton of research on this topic and very knowledgeable. But generally, with good/ideal conditions women can gain 1/4 lb per week, males 1/2 per week. This is assuming, you are not using drugs.

WTF, the scale is going up

There are a variety of things that can influence the scale and can cause people to freak the hell out. The body naturally will fluctuate, not only throughout the day, but also throughout the week/month/etc. That is why it is important to monitor progress over an extended period of time (i suggest 4-6 weeks). I recommend this because things like sodium levels, training, glycogen levels, the amount of food being digested and TOM can all influence it. So collect data, monitor over time and go from there. And most importantly, realize that weight loss is a non-linear thing. Some days/weeks will be up, some neutral and others will be down.

Do you need to exercise to lose weight?

It goes without saying, that you can lose weight without exercise, but there are plenty of reason to add exercise to your regime. Several studies would suggest that people are more likely to maintain weight loss if they continue to exercise. Part of this is because exercise improves caloric expenditure which allows you to eat more. Additionally, there are many other benefits of exercise depending on the type; cardio will improve cardiovascular/heart health and can improve stamina; resistance/weight training can help maintain muscle mass (which will help maintain metabolic functions), make you strong and less susceptible to injury, and provide overall better body composition.

Should you follow XX diet

Quite frequently in today's society, people will be told they should follow one diet or another, or that xx diet will protect you from this disease or that. The truth is, it's very complicated and no one diet is right for everyone (regardless of science behind those diets/lifestyles). Dietary compliance and potentially ethical views, largely influence which approach is ideal for you. And depending on your personality, lifestyle, fitness goals and home life, a particular diet may or may not be beneficial or supportive towards those. This is why I am a firm believer to trying a few different approaches to find what lifestyle works best.