Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.
We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
So. What's the worst weight loss myth?
Replies
-
stephanne13 wrote: »
When I read "sprinkle this stuff on your food" I immediately thought of this powder the vet gave us once to put on our dog's food so that the cat poop in the litter box wouldn't taste good to him any more. Apparently, they're like gourmet tootsie rolls to labs.
whoah! there's a powder for that? my dog NEEDS that. or maybe i NEED my dog to have that.1 -
I was recently told that eating any more than 100g of protein a day would automatically turn to fat even while in a deficit.1
-
-
The one you believe!7
-
ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »
No kidding.0 -
I tried to find the eye color diet as I want to know what I should eat as a green-eyed person, but was unsuccessful. Did find a bunch about how if you eat the right diet you can change the color of your eyes which is just, well, my new submission here!3
-
ladyreva78 wrote: »
A friend of mine actually stopped eating GF-treats made by others because more often than not, they were NOT fully GF. She also avoids gluten-free store-bought treats for the same reason. She spent far too much time at the ER to want to continue risking her health and people just don't seem to get it. Celiacs in her case means absolutely no gluten and not lifestyle-GF where a bit of gluten never hurt anyone...
So true. I've been "glutened" by contaminated sugar bowls before. Right at Xmas too. Blah.
1 -
Inedia (Latin for "fasting") or breatharianism /brɛθˈɛəriənɪzəm/ is the belief that it is possible for a person to live without consuming food. Breatharians claim that food, and in some cases water, are not necessary for survival, and that humans can be sustained solely by prana, the vital life force in Hinduism. According to Ayurveda, sunlight is one of the main sources of prana, and some practitioners believe that it is possible for a person to survive on sunlight alone. The terms breatharianism or inedia may also refer to this philosophy when it is practiced as a lifestyle in place of the usual diet.
One Practitioner:
Wiley Brooks is the founder of the Breatharian Institute of America. He was first introduced to the public in 1980 when appearing on the TV show That's Incredible!.[33] Brooks stopped teaching recently[when?] to "devote 100% of his time on solving the problem as to why he needed to eat some type of food to keep his physical body alive and allow his light body to manifest completely."[34] Brooks claims to have found "four major deterrents" which prevented him from living without food: "people pollution", "food pollution", "air pollution" and "electro pollution".[34]
In 1983 he was reportedly observed leaving a Santa Cruz 7-Eleven with a Slurpee, a hot dog, and Twinkies.[35] He told Colors magazine in 2003 that he periodically breaks his fasting with a cheeseburger and a cola, explaining that when he's surrounded by junk culture and junk food, consuming them adds balance.[36]
Wiley Brooks later claimed that Diet Coke and McDonald's cheeseburgers have special 5D properties. The idea of separate but interconnected 5D and 3D worlds is a major part of Wiley Brook's ideology, and Wiley Brooks encourages his followers to only eat these special 5D foods, as well as meditate on a set of magical 5D words.[37]
Brooks's institute has charged varying fees to prospective clients who wished to learn how to live without food, which have ranged from US$100,000 with an initial deposit of $10,000[38] to one billion dollars, to be paid via bank wire transfer with a preliminary deposit of $100,000, for a session called "Immortality workshop".[39] A payment plan was also offered.[40] These charges have typically been presented as limited time offers exclusively for billionaires.[41][42]
I WIN!13 -
Weight loss is simple be at a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories per week to lose one pound a week. That requires knowing your tdee though and any calculator online will serve and you find the actual amount through trial and error. And the guy that said cardio doesn't burn fat. The oxidative system is based on science and happens at rest and low to moderate excerise such as light boggling. The primary fuel for those workout are atp from fatty acids and glucose (carbs). Cardio does infact burnt fat but at low intesity for long periods of time.1
-
Jogging not boggling my apologies.0
-
berrios96sean wrote: »Weight loss is simple be at a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories per week to lose one pound a week. That requires knowing your tdee though and any calculator online will serve and you find the actual amount through trial and error. And the guy that said cardio doesn't burn fat. The oxidative system is based on science and happens at rest and low to moderate excerise such as light boggling. The primary fuel for those workout are atp from fatty acids and glucose (carbs). Cardio does infact burnt fat but at low intesity for long periods of time.
Well not knowing your tdee doesn't disprove or make 3500 calories is a deficit wrong or a myth. It just means you need to run calories to get actual data and adjust based on that. You can even start with a calculator. Hell, i know i maintain at 3000 calories and when i average 2500 a day, I lose 1 lb per week.4 -
Well not knowing your tdee doesn't disprove or make 3500 calories is a deficit wrong or a myth. It just means you need to run calories to get actual data and adjust based on that. You can even start with a calculator. Hell, i know i maintain at 3000 calories and when i average 2500 a day, I lose 1 lb per week.
Pretty much this. Just because one does not know their TDEE exactly doesn't make the 3500 calories a pound a myth. It just makes it slightly more difficult to figure out. Having said that, but for a few outliers, the vast majority of people will be reasonably close to the TDEE number (assuming their input of their stats was correct) that they will see a loss using even the calculators out there.2 -
rileysowner wrote: »
Pretty much this. Just because one does not know their TDEE exactly doesn't make the 3500 calories a pound a myth. It just makes it slightly more difficult to figure out. Having said that, but for a few outliers, the vast majority of people will be reasonably close to the TDEE number (assuming their input of their stats was correct) that they will see a loss using even the calculators out there.
That is what i found, too. Even though calculators general underestimate me by about 300 calories. But that could be that my daily life is more active than i expected.0 -
Blood type diets and other gimmicky weight loss programs.1
-
SpongemomScrappants wrote: »Blood type diets and other gimmicky weight loss programs.
I have a photo of me somewhere that looks exactly like your profile photo
I'm suspended over Auckland in mine. 2 -
psulemon wrote:Well not knowing your tdee doesn't disprove or make 3500 calories is a deficit wrong or a myth. It just means you need to run calories to get actual data and adjust based on that. You can even start with a calculator. Hell, i know i maintain at 3000 calories and when i average 2500 a day, I lose 1 lb per week.
If you look at my message I never stated it was a myth I was giving advice. You restated everything I originally said.
1 -
berrios96sean wrote: »
If you look at my message I never stated it was a myth I was giving advice. You restated everything I originally said.
So you basically posted something you believed to be true in answer to "what is the worst weight loss myth." And then you complain when people call you out on it. Seems legit.6 -
Anything to do with "waist trainers".1
-
berrios96sean wrote: »
If you look at my message I never stated it was a myth I was giving advice. You restated everything I originally said.
I'm sorry berrios, I don't like to pick on people's grammar, but I have to come to pselemon's defense. Your post is difficult to understand. I reread it just now, and still don't understand what you're trying to say.0 -
annaskiski wrote: »
I'm sorry berrios, I don't like to pick on people's grammar, but I have to come to pselemon's defense. Your post is difficult to understand. I reread it just now, and still don't understand what you're trying to say.
I think it's more a reading comprehension issue on his part...I don't think he read/understood the title of the thread, nor the fact that this is the debate section.
1 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »My vote is starvation mode. But there are so many good myths out there that are a hinderance to healthy weight loss that it might be fun to put them all in one place, argue about them and decide which is the worst of all.
Since this IS the debate section, let me jump in with a different view on the discussion opener. IMO, if a poster is eating so little that they wonder if starvation mode is a factor in why the scales aren't moving, they mostly likely ARE eating too little to be healthy and shouldn't be advised to eat less.
I'm in no way trying to argue that eating less will cause you to put on fat or muscle but when people stress their bodies by undereating and/or overexercising water retention/edema can follow.
0 -
NeuronsNeuronsNeurons wrote: »Carb and sugar addictions are real, trigger foods are real, eating disorders are real. Dietary religions are not.
When I first read this I thought the poster meant that eating disorders are a myth (which would be offensive). But on rereading, it looks like he/she meant it without sarcasm, and that my attention should be focussed on "Dietary religions are not (real)".
Agreed. It's interesting how emotionally attached we can get to our dietary beliefs, myself included.
0 -
goldthistime wrote: »
Since this IS the debate section, let me jump in with a different view on the discussion opener. IMO, if a poster is eating so little that they wonder if starvation mode is a factor in why the scales aren't moving, they mostly likely ARE eating too little to be healthy and shouldn't be advised to eat less.
I'm in no way trying to argue that eating less will cause you to put on fat or muscle but when people stress their bodies by undereating and/or overexercising water retention/edema can follow.
Or their tracking sucks. Ockham's Razor to the rescue.4 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
Or their tracking sucks. Ockham's Razor to the rescue.
Right. We can only guess which problem they are having. But if we're looking for the simpler solution, I'd say that if they feel like they're starving, they're probably undereating.
0 -
goldthistime wrote: »
Right. We can only guess which problem they are having. But if we're looking for the simpler solution, I'd say that if they feel like they're starving, they're probably undereating.
As someone who has run both moderate cuts and vlcd hellcuts: nope. I didn't even know what real hunger was until three weeks of cutting at 700 kcals/day as a 177 lbs. male.
Most overweight people have godawful hunger signaling.2 -
If having had experience with vlcds personally gives us expert status, I'm up there with you. At 5'6" I made it to down to 98lbs once. Maybe that explains my own prejudice coming into the discussion. I'm more concerned about telling people who are worried that they are in starvation mode to eat less, than I am about telling someone who is eating at maintenance to ignore the scales and don't drop their calories any further. Most especially the young women who are looking to lose vanity pounds.1
-
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
As someone who has run both moderate cuts and vlcd hellcuts: nope. I didn't even know what real hunger was until three weeks of cutting at 700 kcals/day as a 177 lbs. male.
Most overweight people have godawful hunger signaling.
True that!2 -
rileysowner wrote: »
You will if you are in a calorie deficit. If I skip meals it is the first meal of the day since I usually don't like eating in the morning. If a person simply skips a meal with no thought about overall calories, they usually make it up with other meals or snacks.
That might be true if there are tracking. But if they aren't tracking and do it everyday, it actually slow down your metabolism which makes it harder to lose weight.1 -
Nadine_A_Saad wrote: »
That might be true if there are tracking. But if they aren't tracking and do it everyday, it actually slow down your metabolism which makes it harder to lose weight.
^ There's another good myth! That skipping meals slows your metabolism down and makes it harder to lose weight.
No.10 -
^ There's another good myth! That skipping meals slows your metabolism down and makes it harder to lose weight.
No.
Exactly. When I was keto cutting the first time, I only ate once per day. Dropped 45 lbs. in 5 months (195-150) at 16-1700/day. It's almost like the body actually has mechanisms to keep functioning properly in the face of all kinds of dietary shenanigans.5
LOL) but there are so many people who are doing a half-assed version of GF that it isn't taken that seriously anymore. KWIM? I had so many instances of well meaning friends telling me tales of the "glutenous" food one of their GF friends ate because it was a treat or it wasn't a lot. That part isn't helpful to celiacs...
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 394.6K Introduce Yourself
- 44K Getting Started
- 260.5K Health and Weight Loss
- 176.1K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.7K Fitness and Exercise
- 444 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 4.1K MyFitnessPal Information
- 16 News and Announcements
- 1.3K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.8K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions