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What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?
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ForecasterJason wrote: »Counting calories each day for a few years is one thing. But for those that do it, do you really envision doing it for 25+ years to come?
I can easily see doing this for the next 25 years. It takes less effort than the yo-yo dieting I was doing for the 20 years before I started counting calories.10 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »Counting calories each day for a few years is one thing. But for those that do it, do you really envision doing it for 25+ years to come?
I'm on year ten. God willing, I'll likely still be doing it in year 25. I am 63 though, so there's that.
It takes five minutes and it keeps me in check. Why wouldn't I?
I also go to the dentist every four months. In between I brush and floss.18 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »Counting calories each day for a few years is one thing. But for those that do it, do you really envision doing it for 25+ years to come?
Yes, I do. As far as I'm concerned it's like managing any other chronic condition. I'm more relaxed about it than I used to be, for sure, but I think the framework will hold.4 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »Counting calories each day for a few years is one thing. But for those that do it, do you really envision doing it for 25+ years to come?
The people who are counting calories aren't your typical demographic. We are either concerned with maintaining or losing weight - or in some cases bulking for size/strength... as long as we are concerned with any of those 3 things then counting calories is seems reasonable. I'd rather know than trust my body. My body hasn't been all that reliable in what it has told me in the past. lol9 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »Counting calories each day for a few years is one thing. But for those that do it, do you really envision doing it for 25+ years to come?
I may or may not be counting calories in 25 years (priorities may change, I may be abducted by aliens for a brain transplant that would result in me losing interest in food...etc), I don't know. For the foreseeable future, though, counting calories feels like a way more attractive and easier option than being overly cautious with my food choices.5 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »Counting calories each day for a few years is one thing. But for those that do it, do you really envision doing it for 25+ years to come?
If you can brush your teeth every day for 25+ years you can count calories for that long if you want to.18 -
Because of the way the body's bicarbonate buffer system works, the acidity that dairy causes can cause bone loss. I don't think it's a big issue for people who do weight training but if you look up the statistics for the countries with the highest dairy consumption they also lead with bone loss. BUT it's big business like many things are and so the push toward less toxic milks has been done mostly by the fitness community and is why almond, soy, and rice milk is much more available now. Animal protein is just hard on the body all together especially the kidneys and increases the risk of cancer for the same reason "acidity".
Well, this is more than an "unpopular opinion", it's not true. I will leave it to someone else to get into the science details, but your assertions fly in the face of almost all currently accepted, peer-reviewed research. If you're going to push a plant-based diet, you need to come up with more valid reasons for doing so.
First of all, the discussion question is "What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?" and I don't "push a plant based diet" unless your talking about me pushing it upon myself. I stated that I eat dairy in moderation. Second, you state it's not true and don't back it up so your argument is just as good as mine. I am pretty sure I could completely validate my belief about dairy and animal protein because my studies of it have not been based entirely on U.S. studies alone many of which are bought and paid for. I didn't post my opinion for analysis otherwise I would have found a debate thread. If your going to tell someone their opinion is garbage, back it up with something other than your own opinion.6 -
janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »exercising to lose weight is dumb. Especially spending time on a treadmill to justify a candy bar.
I'm a very short older woman. If I didn't exercise on my treadmill, I'd have the paltry caloric allowance of 1200 calories to create a 150 calorie deficit since my maintenance for being sedentary is 1,350 calories.
I don't want to eat like a toddler.
Can't say enough how awesomely true for me this is.
My (maybe) unpopular opinion:
Maybe you can eat crap food (hamburgers, soda, ice cream (weep a little), candy bars, milk shakes) and make it all fit into your calories for the day, but food is fuel for me, and my body doesn't function properly when I feed it garbage. Good for you if you can make it work. But I actually doubt even you (whoever you are) can make that work for a lifetime of health.
A hamburger is bread, meat, and maybe some toppings. A body can easily use bread and meat as fuel. It's carbohydrates, protein, and fat -- three things I'm eating every day anyway. Also consider the micronutrients it contains like iron, B12, potassium, and B6 and I'm confused as to why anyone would think a hamburger is "garbage."
I'd call hamburgers from McDonald's "garbage" in that their taste is vastly inferior to the burgers I make myself or get at local, non chain restaurants.
In the context of that post, it didn't seem to be about taste. The statement was made that the individual's body wouldn't function properly on hamburgers. Given that everybody has different tastes, I think blanket statements about whole types of food being "garbage" don't make much sense. A McDonald's hamburger isn't for me or for you, that's fine. But many people do genuinely enjoy them.
Interestingly, my OH, who eats fast food all the time, considers burgers as a whole to be junk food while I reserve my disdain for burgers that taste inferior to me.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »exercising to lose weight is dumb. Especially spending time on a treadmill to justify a candy bar.
I'm a very short older woman. If I didn't exercise on my treadmill, I'd have the paltry caloric allowance of 1200 calories to create a 150 calorie deficit since my maintenance for being sedentary is 1,350 calories.
I don't want to eat like a toddler.
Can't say enough how awesomely true for me this is.
My (maybe) unpopular opinion:
Maybe you can eat crap food (hamburgers, soda, ice cream (weep a little), candy bars, milk shakes) and make it all fit into your calories for the day, but food is fuel for me, and my body doesn't function properly when I feed it garbage. Good for you if you can make it work. But I actually doubt even you (whoever you are) can make that work for a lifetime of health.
A hamburger is bread, meat, and maybe some toppings. A body can easily use bread and meat as fuel. It's carbohydrates, protein, and fat -- three things I'm eating every day anyway. Also consider the micronutrients it contains like iron, B12, potassium, and B6 and I'm confused as to why anyone would think a hamburger is "garbage."
I'd call hamburgers from McDonald's "garbage" in that their taste is vastly inferior to the burgers I make myself or get at local, non chain restaurants.
In the context of that post, it didn't seem to be about taste. The statement was made that the individual's body wouldn't function properly on hamburgers. Given that everybody has different tastes, I think blanket statements about whole types of food being "garbage" don't make much sense. A McDonald's hamburger isn't for me or for you, that's fine. But many people do genuinely enjoy them.
Interestingly, my OH, who eats fast food all the time, considers burgers as a whole to be junk food while I reserve my disdain for burgers that taste inferior to me.
Just goes to show what an interesting term "junk food" is. Two people can use it and mean very different things.4 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »Counting calories each day for a few years is one thing. But for those that do it, do you really envision doing it for 25+ years to come?
I do. Properly balancing my nutrition will actually become even more critical as I get older and more vulnerable to losing muscle and bone density and facing the medical challenges of the elderly.
I liken calorie counting to balancing my checkbook (for those of us who were around before internet banking). Even though I gained competence in managing my finances for years, would I really feel confident enough to stop balancing my accounts and just winging it?4 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »My unpopular opinion is that calorie counting is a temporary learning tool, not a "lifestyle." It's like training wheels on a bike...they can get you comfortable, but eventually one should just be able to ride.
I agree with this, and our bodies are equipped with ALL the right things to allow us to just ride and feel our hunger. But I think it takes a lot to really be able to listen to your body in that aspect at this point in human life for many different lifestyle reasons, which makes it a little unrealistic for most people now.
I think awareness and mindfulness of what you're doing is important and calorie counting taught me how to be better with this. I haven't logged anything in over 4 years now, but I'm still mindful of what I'm doing. I also have "rules" that I live by and make exceptions to those rules from time to time, just not most of the time. My diet is also heavily whole foods based and I'm pretty active which makes it somewhat difficult to overeat.
I know a lot of people say they will track forever, and there are probably a few who will, but I don't think logging into perpetuity is something the vast majority of people can or will do...I certainly couldn't envision spending the next 40-50 years keeping a detailed food diary. A mere 9 months of it made my head a bit squirrely as it was.4 -
janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »exercising to lose weight is dumb. Especially spending time on a treadmill to justify a candy bar.
I'm a very short older woman. If I didn't exercise on my treadmill, I'd have the paltry caloric allowance of 1200 calories to create a 150 calorie deficit since my maintenance for being sedentary is 1,350 calories.
I don't want to eat like a toddler.
Can't say enough how awesomely true for me this is.
My (maybe) unpopular opinion:
Maybe you can eat crap food (hamburgers, soda, ice cream (weep a little), candy bars, milk shakes) and make it all fit into your calories for the day, but food is fuel for me, and my body doesn't function properly when I feed it garbage. Good for you if you can make it work. But I actually doubt even you (whoever you are) can make that work for a lifetime of health.
A hamburger is bread, meat, and maybe some toppings. A body can easily use bread and meat as fuel. It's carbohydrates, protein, and fat -- three things I'm eating every day anyway. Also consider the micronutrients it contains like iron, B12, potassium, and B6 and I'm confused as to why anyone would think a hamburger is "garbage."
I'd call hamburgers from McDonald's "garbage" in that their taste is vastly inferior to the burgers I make myself or get at local, non chain restaurants.
In the context of that post, it didn't seem to be about taste. The statement was made that the individual's body wouldn't function properly on hamburgers. Given that everybody has different tastes, I think blanket statements about whole types of food being "garbage" don't make much sense. A McDonald's hamburger isn't for me or for you, that's fine. But many people do genuinely enjoy them.
Interestingly, my OH, who eats fast food all the time, considers burgers as a whole to be junk food while I reserve my disdain for burgers that taste inferior to me.
Just goes to show what an interesting term "junk food" is. Two people can use it and mean very different things.
It's very interesting. You need to deconstruct the burger ingredients, form them into a "proper" meal, then call it a fancy name. It stops being junk food right away, and may even be called "healthy" and "high protein".10 -
janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »exercising to lose weight is dumb. Especially spending time on a treadmill to justify a candy bar.
I'm a very short older woman. If I didn't exercise on my treadmill, I'd have the paltry caloric allowance of 1200 calories to create a 150 calorie deficit since my maintenance for being sedentary is 1,350 calories.
I don't want to eat like a toddler.
Can't say enough how awesomely true for me this is.
My (maybe) unpopular opinion:
Maybe you can eat crap food (hamburgers, soda, ice cream (weep a little), candy bars, milk shakes) and make it all fit into your calories for the day, but food is fuel for me, and my body doesn't function properly when I feed it garbage. Good for you if you can make it work. But I actually doubt even you (whoever you are) can make that work for a lifetime of health.
A hamburger is bread, meat, and maybe some toppings. A body can easily use bread and meat as fuel. It's carbohydrates, protein, and fat -- three things I'm eating every day anyway. Also consider the micronutrients it contains like iron, B12, potassium, and B6 and I'm confused as to why anyone would think a hamburger is "garbage."
I'd call hamburgers from McDonald's "garbage" in that their taste is vastly inferior to the burgers I make myself or get at local, non chain restaurants.
In the context of that post, it didn't seem to be about taste. The statement was made that the individual's body wouldn't function properly on hamburgers. Given that everybody has different tastes, I think blanket statements about whole types of food being "garbage" don't make much sense. A McDonald's hamburger isn't for me or for you, that's fine. But many people do genuinely enjoy them.
Interestingly, my OH, who eats fast food all the time, considers burgers as a whole to be junk food while I reserve my disdain for burgers that taste inferior to me.
Just goes to show what an interesting term "junk food" is. Two people can use it and mean very different things.
I would be less kind and replace the word "interesting" with "useless."14 -
janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »exercising to lose weight is dumb. Especially spending time on a treadmill to justify a candy bar.
I'm a very short older woman. If I didn't exercise on my treadmill, I'd have the paltry caloric allowance of 1200 calories to create a 150 calorie deficit since my maintenance for being sedentary is 1,350 calories.
I don't want to eat like a toddler.
Can't say enough how awesomely true for me this is.
My (maybe) unpopular opinion:
Maybe you can eat crap food (hamburgers, soda, ice cream (weep a little), candy bars, milk shakes) and make it all fit into your calories for the day, but food is fuel for me, and my body doesn't function properly when I feed it garbage. Good for you if you can make it work. But I actually doubt even you (whoever you are) can make that work for a lifetime of health.
A hamburger is bread, meat, and maybe some toppings. A body can easily use bread and meat as fuel. It's carbohydrates, protein, and fat -- three things I'm eating every day anyway. Also consider the micronutrients it contains like iron, B12, potassium, and B6 and I'm confused as to why anyone would think a hamburger is "garbage."
I'd call hamburgers from McDonald's "garbage" in that their taste is vastly inferior to the burgers I make myself or get at local, non chain restaurants.
In the context of that post, it didn't seem to be about taste. The statement was made that the individual's body wouldn't function properly on hamburgers. Given that everybody has different tastes, I think blanket statements about whole types of food being "garbage" don't make much sense. A McDonald's hamburger isn't for me or for you, that's fine. But many people do genuinely enjoy them.
Interestingly, my OH, who eats fast food all the time, considers burgers as a whole to be junk food while I reserve my disdain for burgers that taste inferior to me.
Just goes to show what an interesting term "junk food" is. Two people can use it and mean very different things.
I would be less kind and replace the word "interesting" with "useless."
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amusedmonkey wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »exercising to lose weight is dumb. Especially spending time on a treadmill to justify a candy bar.
I'm a very short older woman. If I didn't exercise on my treadmill, I'd have the paltry caloric allowance of 1200 calories to create a 150 calorie deficit since my maintenance for being sedentary is 1,350 calories.
I don't want to eat like a toddler.
Can't say enough how awesomely true for me this is.
My (maybe) unpopular opinion:
Maybe you can eat crap food (hamburgers, soda, ice cream (weep a little), candy bars, milk shakes) and make it all fit into your calories for the day, but food is fuel for me, and my body doesn't function properly when I feed it garbage. Good for you if you can make it work. But I actually doubt even you (whoever you are) can make that work for a lifetime of health.
A hamburger is bread, meat, and maybe some toppings. A body can easily use bread and meat as fuel. It's carbohydrates, protein, and fat -- three things I'm eating every day anyway. Also consider the micronutrients it contains like iron, B12, potassium, and B6 and I'm confused as to why anyone would think a hamburger is "garbage."
I'd call hamburgers from McDonald's "garbage" in that their taste is vastly inferior to the burgers I make myself or get at local, non chain restaurants.
In the context of that post, it didn't seem to be about taste. The statement was made that the individual's body wouldn't function properly on hamburgers. Given that everybody has different tastes, I think blanket statements about whole types of food being "garbage" don't make much sense. A McDonald's hamburger isn't for me or for you, that's fine. But many people do genuinely enjoy them.
Interestingly, my OH, who eats fast food all the time, considers burgers as a whole to be junk food while I reserve my disdain for burgers that taste inferior to me.
Just goes to show what an interesting term "junk food" is. Two people can use it and mean very different things.
It's very interesting. You need to deconstruct the burger ingredients, form them into a "proper" meal, then call it a fancy name. It stops being junk food right away, and may even be called "healthy" and "high protein".
Yeah, if I told you that I was making a hand-formed freshly-ground beef patty served on an artisan roll with aioli, local greens, heirloom tomatoes, bacon from a heritage pig, and small-batch cheese, most people probably wouldn't call that junk food . . . even if the macros were pretty much the same as another, less fancy, hamburger. Or maybe people would. I can't even guess anymore.13 -
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Ya'll will slaughter me here but I believe there is more to CICO than meets the eye. Human body is not a car engine, it is much more complex. There are multiple variables that can throw the math off. Heck even the calorie intake and burn measurements are often extremely imprecise. Until they invent some sort of an implant that measures exactly how much is consumed and burned, I will remain skeptical. That being said, I still log calories, since it is a working method, albeit imperfect.9
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veronikamellon wrote: »Ya'll will slaughter me here but I believe there is more to CICO than meets the eye. Human body is not a car engine, it is much more complex. There are multiple variables that can throw the math off. Heck even the calorie intake and burn measurements are often extremely imprecise. Until they invent some sort of an implant that measures exactly how much is consumed and burned, I will remain skeptical. That being said, I still log calories, since it is a working method, albeit imperfect.
It's still cico at the end of the day no matter how difficult it is to figure out the in or out.13 -
veronikamellon wrote: »Ya'll will slaughter me here but I believe there is more to CICO than meets the eye. Human body is not a car engine, it is much more complex. There are multiple variables that can throw the math off. Heck even the calorie intake and burn measurements are often extremely imprecise. Until they invent some sort of an implant that measures exactly how much is consumed and burned, I will remain skeptical. That being said, I still log calories, since it is a working method, albeit imperfect.
Variables don't invalidate the equation though...the problem I think is that a lot of people take the number some calculator spits out at them and they take it for gospel. That number is only intended really to be a reasonably good starting point...once you have your own data, you can pretty well dial things in.
When I was logging, I was precise enough with calories in and out...but I didn't simply rely on the data base (especially for expenditure)...I verified entries myself and used numerous other sources to help validate my exercise expenditure.8 -
WinoGelato wrote: »Late to the party but... I will try to hit one that hasn't already been stated I don't think.
Convenience foods (frozen meals, skillet meals, ready rice, even <gasp> Hamburger Helper) can taste good AND be a part of a healthy, nutritious overall diet?
Does this mean I eat only convenience foods? Nope.
Does this mean I can't cook? Nope.
Do I have a damaged palate? Nope.
Do I ignore nutrition? Nope.
Do I think the ingredients are going to have a negative impact on my health in the short or long term? Nope.
Does it mean that I'm a busy working mom who prefers sometimes to rely on a frozen breakfast bowl (Egg whites, turkey sausage, breakfast potatoes and cheese) microwaved for 3 minutes for 240 cals and 22 g of protein rather than cooking something similar myself (which I could, but would take much longer to prepare)? Yep.
I've mostly cooked from scratch over the last almost 20 years. I've lately surrendered when it comes to brownies, something my OH likes on hand for a bedtime snack. He was paying $5 for five brownies, which I thought was way too much, so when I moved in I started making brownies. I couldn't get them to come out the way I had in mind for look and texture, and after trying recipes from the JOC, ATC, the Cuisinart food processor cookbook, I finally thought that what I had in mind may have come from a box, and sure enough, it was the Dunkin Hines and/or Betty Crocker mixes. (Ghirardelli mix also failed.)
For a special occasion like someone's birthday, I would still use the JOC recipe, but oh boy is it a pain - chop the baker's chocolate, heat the chocolate (carefully), cool the chocolate (but not too much), more dishes, more expense.
With Dunkin Hines it's ready to go in the over by the time the oven comes to temperature. And it's cheaper, with less cleanup. But since it doesn't taste quite right to me, probably due to artificial vanilla, I don't overindulge, which I was doing with the other brownie recipes.
So now I'm wondering what other convenience food I can add to my repertoire and am reminded that I used to like Zatarain's.2
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