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What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?
Replies
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Except for me! Lollivingleanlivingclean wrote: »
Nobody preaches food is food. People say to not label foods good or bad, with the added disclaimer I mentioned earlier. Completely different.
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livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
Nobody preaches food is food. People say to not label foods good or bad, with the added disclaimer I mentioned earlier. Completely different.
i guess u read EVERY posting in every thread from day one.0 -
u claim that u read every post?
I've been here awhile, there are lots of very knowledgeable people here and some that don't know what they are talking about. So yea, the knowledgeable here would never say go drink beers all day then hit the gym.8 -
Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »
I've been here awhile, there are lots of very knowledgeable people here and some that don't know what they are talking about. So yea, the knowledgeable here would never say go drink beers all day then hit the gym.
i m sorry but i dont think.u read my post correctly because thats not what it said but have a good night.
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i m sorry but i dont think.u read my post correctly because thats not what it said but have a good night.
You need to write clearer then.16 -
i guess u read EVERY posting in every thread from day one.
Nope, but I don't think I've ever read a thread where the importance of nutrient density in a diet wasn't mentioned by those highlighting that calories was the main factor in weight loss12 -
i m sorry but i dont think.u read my post correctly because thats not what it said but have a good night.
Good night.3 -
i said the people who preach food is food should do that
Here's the thing, and the link will no doubt be posted soon... It's possible to fuel effective progressive overload with "junk food"... someone on MFP with an open diary did it... for 90+ days with photos and detailed logs.
SO it's pretty well settled... FOOD is food.. calories are calories.7 -
stanmann571 wrote: »
Here's the thing, and the link will no doubt be posted soon... It's possible to fuel effective progressive overload with "junk food"... someone on MFP with an open diary did it... for 90+ days with photos and detailed logs.
SO it's pretty well settled... FOOD is food.. calories are calories.
Check what NFL, NBA, Olympic athletes use to fuel their training. Sure there is some junk food, but most of it is nutrient dense.3 -
There is scientific basis though. It's NOT disputed that person carry more weight than they need to, INCREASES risk for health issues not to mention the wear and tear on joints and cartilage. As one ages, this risk increases if the weight stays the same. Whitney Thore of "My Big Fat Fabulous Life" has always claimed to that although she's obese, she's "healthy". Well, she got hospitalized after trying to hold a dancethon and now still thinks it was just a bad episode day for her.waybetter2 wrote: »"To be fair, going into a debate thread that specifically states itself to be about unpopular opinions is not the best way to gauge a community as a whole..."
Fair enough. Like I started out saying, I think I jumped into the wrong conversation. Somehow I thought it would be a discussion about unpopular opinions about health and fitness like which diets are most effective and how to get the most out of your exercise plan and not necessarily slide into the judgment and intolerance of those who aren't healthy or fit. And, seriously, there are still people who think it's impossible to be overweight and healthy. That's not an unpopular opinion, that's a judgment with no scientific basis. That's the kind of thing I'm bothered by. It's OK though. I'm a big girl and if I didn't know how to let this stuff roll, I'd have a whole different life.
I've dealt with a lot of people in denial, so it's not a "judgement" for me. I base it on experience in the field and Journals of Medicine and Science.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Food is just food. Some are more nutrient dense than others. The body doesn't distinguish if you're eating a steak with bread or a hamburger on a bun. They are BOTH digested the same exact way. Broken down to their simplest components and absorbed. Both steak and hamburger will be broken down to amino acids. Both bread and bun will be broken down to simplest carb. Nutrient factor will be the difference and that's about it.i hear this being preach to newbies so often,
"food is food, theres no junk food"
In terms of energy, this is true since a calorie is a measurement of energy."calorie is calorie, it makes no difference to the body"
Lol, you're going well beyond what's actually being "preached". It's statements like this where people don't actually get it when it's said "a calorie is a calorie". No one hear just advocates eating/drinking non nutritional items and expecting results.
I want to see these people who preach that just drink beers all day long n then go lift with progressive overload in the gym n video tape it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Packerjohn wrote: »
Check what NFL, NBA, Olympic athletes use to fuel their training. Sure there is some junk food, but most of it is nutrient dense.
You definitely shouldn't base what your diet and training should look like based on what genetic outliers do.8 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
Measure once, cut twice.
Measure with a micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with an ax.10 -
CipherZero wrote: »
You definitely shouldn't base what your diet and training should look like based on what genetic outliers do.
They are the elite 1%, but genetically they are not freakish mutants by and large. Some may have genetic features that are more pronounced (naturally fast muscle twitch, abnormally high spatial actuity or extremely tall or short, for example) present through genetics.
Competitive athletes (depending on the sport) will definitely indulge in "junk food". A friend of mine who does long-distance running loves his apres-run Quarter Pounder...sometimes two. He's skinny as a rail and actually does really need those calories. He doesn't eat that way all the time and definitely not before running (greasy food before run is a bad idea).1 -
AlabasterVerve wrote: »
This, this and this too for me. Also, what you eat matters - there's good foods and bad foods.
When people label foods as "good" or "bad." They're inanimate objects, they have no behaviors to cause them to be "good" or "bad." Nutritional content varies greatly from food to food, but this why a varied diet is generally recommended.9 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
I don't tend to think people lazy for choosing convenience foods except for cases where I know it's true. But I do think they are often using lack of time as an excuse to eat convenience foods instead of something that might be a little healthier. It doesn't take any longer to bake frozen fish and precut broccoli in the oven than it does a frozen pizza. It doesn't take any longer to make an omelet or stir fry using precut vegetables than it does to make Hamburger Helper.
I'm not suggesting anyone shouldn't eat whatever they want, just saying I rarely buy the "I don't have time" excuse.
How about those of us with chronic illnesses that physically or cognitively impair ones ability to cook. Even sometimes things you can throw in the oven. I forget and burn things. Not yet burned my flat down but that's because I know when not to cook.
I don't use frozen meals but here in the UK we have massive choice of fresh meals from the fridge. My nutrition and macros are fine.
Here's the ingredients of a few of those awful convenience foods.
This is chilli and rice:
Cooked Rice (Water, Long Grain Rice), Red Pepper (18%), British Beef (17%), Onion, Red Kidney Beans (11%), Tomato (6%), Beef Stock (Beef Juices, Tomato Paste, Onion, Carrot), Tomato Purée, Cornflour, Garlic Purée, Rapeseed Oil, Coriander Leaf, Cumin, Salt, Smoked Paprika, Molasses, Chilli Powder, Oregano, Coriander, Black Pepper.
Tomato and basil chicken:
Baby Potato (42%), Tomato (25%), British Chicken (20%), Onion, Water, Rapeseed Oil, Sundried Tomato, Garlic Purée, Tomato Purée, Sugar, Cornflour, Olive Oil, Sunflower Oil, Rosemary, Basil, Salt, Potato Starch, White Wine Vinegar, Oregano, Black Pepper, Lemon Juice from Concentrate, Garlic Extract, Basil Extract.
But yeah, totally nutritionally deficient and full of preservatives. Carry on judging me.15 -
WayTooHonest wrote: »
You REALLY have no idea what women's hormones do to our bodies, do you love? Decreased estrogen, slower metabolism, affects our ability to metabolize sugars, bone density declines, and SO MUCH MORE...all medical facts.
From the Mayo Clinic:
"The hormonal changes of menopause make you more likely to gain weight around your abdomen than around your hips and thighs."
But apparently both my GP and my OB/GYN don't know what they are talking about, either. It's not as simple as CICO once you cross 40. It's so much more complicated now that our hormones are shutting down. That's science, friend.
Fun Fact: Men have the same problem, they are now starting to call it MANopause. Just wait.
The Mayo Clinic quote says you're more likely to gain weight in one location than another on your body. It doesn't say you WILL gain weight.
Hormones are crazy, but they don't negate CICO.
Lost ~115 pounds post-40 without the benefit of my girlie equipment. In effect, early menopause at 38. Also hypothyroid. I got the whole package! Well, technically, I'm missing most of it.
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Depends. I'm NOWHERE near the ability of the lowest Pro athlete on the bench, but can get away with eating junk food 3 times a week.CipherZero wrote: »
You definitely shouldn't base what your diet and training should look like based on what genetic outliers do.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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SeriousCat wrote: »
Really unpopular opinion, but also alcohol. No, you do not have a disease. No, you are not powerless over your problem. You are personally responsible for the CHOICES you make, so choosing to stop making bad ones.
I strongly disagree with the alcohol piece. It is a diagnosable disease and withdrawal brings on severe physical symptoms.
You not considering it a disease doesn't change the fact that it is.10 -
PED's are a personal choice IMO...if you want to pump your body full of those things go ahead...but they are just as dangerous when abused used as any other drug...including alcohol...again not that unpopular just those who want to use them vs those who don't are sure they are right.
Fixed it!2 -
Over here in the U.S., I'm pretty sure those same foods would be laced with preservatives, particularly when it comes to cheaper brands.VintageFeline wrote: »
How about those of us with chronic illnesses that physically or cognitively impair ones ability to cook. Even sometimes things you can throw in the oven. I forget and burn things. Not yet burned my flat down but that's because I know when not to cook.
I don't use frozen meals but here in the UK we have massive choice of fresh meals from the fridge. My nutrition and macros are fine.
Here's the ingredients of a few of those awful convenience foods.
This is chilli and rice:
Cooked Rice (Water, Long Grain Rice), Red Pepper (18%), British Beef (17%), Onion, Red Kidney Beans (11%), Tomato (6%), Beef Stock (Beef Juices, Tomato Paste, Onion, Carrot), Tomato Purée, Cornflour, Garlic Purée, Rapeseed Oil, Coriander Leaf, Cumin, Salt, Smoked Paprika, Molasses, Chilli Powder, Oregano, Coriander, Black Pepper.
Tomato and basil chicken:
Baby Potato (42%), Tomato (25%), British Chicken (20%), Onion, Water, Rapeseed Oil, Sundried Tomato, Garlic Purée, Tomato Purée, Sugar, Cornflour, Olive Oil, Sunflower Oil, Rosemary, Basil, Salt, Potato Starch, White Wine Vinegar, Oregano, Black Pepper, Lemon Juice from Concentrate, Garlic Extract, Basil Extract.
But yeah, totally nutritionally deficient and full of preservatives. Carry on judging me.
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ForecasterJason wrote: »Over here in the U.S., I'm pretty sure those same foods would be laced with preservatives, particularly when it comes to cheaper brands.
Just for fairness, I have looked up some basic frozen meals too. A lot of them do have additives, the questionability of them I don't know because a lot of them are just convoluted names for things like salt or perfectly normal thickeners etc. So I have purposely looked for those with recognisable to the layman ingredients, budget ranges. Easy to take a quick look at the back to filter should you so wish when shopping.
Chicken Tikka Masala & rice (£1.50):
INGREDIENTS: Pilau Rice (45%) (Water, Basmati Rice, Sunflower Oil, Cumin Seed, Turmeric, Cardamom Pod, Clove), Tikka Marinated Chicken Breast (15%) (Chicken Breast, Marinade (Water, Tomato Paste, Ginger Purée, Yogurt Powder (Cows' Milk ), Garlic Purée, Palm Oil, Cornflour, Salt, Green Chilli, Chilli Powder, Colour: Paprika Extract; Garam Masala (Coriander, Cumin, Ginger, Cinnamon, Black Pepper, Mace, Chilli Powder, Star Anise, Turmeric, Basil))), Onion, Water, Single Cream (Cows' Milk), Low Fat Yogurt (Cows' Milk), Tomato Purée, Rapeseed Oil, Minced Chicken, Sugar, Garlic Purée, Ginger Purée, Cornflour, Molasses, Coriander Leaf, Salt, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Red Chilli, Palm Oil, Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, Tandoori Masala (Paprika, Salt, Coriander, Turmeric, Chilli Powder, Cumin, Cinnamon, Clove, Citric Acid, Lemon Oil, Black Pepper, Bay Leaf, Colour: Paprika Extract), Cumin Seed, Garam Masala (Coriander, Cinnamon, Black Pepper, Ginger, Fennel, Chilli Powder, Paprika, Cardamom, Clove, Cumin, Bay Leaf, Spices, Turmeric), Whey Protein Concentrate (Cows' Milk), Turmeric, Fenugreek Leaf.
Lasagne from the absolute cheapest "Basics" range (£1.00):
INGREDIENTS:Water, Beef (15%), Lasagne Sheet (Durum Wheat Semolina, Water), Tomato (8%), Onion, Cows' Milk, Tomato Purée (3%), Cornflour, Cheddar Cheese (from Cows' Milk) (2.5%), Carrot, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Cream (Cows' Milk), Palm Oil, Sugar, Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, Fortified Wheat Flour ( Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Salt, Whey Protein Concentrate (Cows' Milk), Garlic Purée, Yeast Extract, Basil, Maltodextrin, Onion Powder, Oregano, Black Pepper, Mushroom Extract, White Pepper, Nutmeg, Turmeric.
I did have a look at some frozen meals in the US and the ingredients lists are longer, whether any of those things are terrible I don't know enough to say.
But MFP is a worldwide site, I often qualify things with my location and try to determine where people are when making suggestions. I sadly don't see this very often from others.4 -
When people label foods as "good" or "bad." They're inanimate objects, they have no behaviors to cause them to be "good" or "bad." Nutritional content varies greatly from food to food, but this why a varied diet is generally recommended.
A varied diet made up of good foods, of course. No one recommends a varied diet of bad food.
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Some more opinions:
I think it's fine to call foods good and bad, if that doesn't trigger you to feel guilt about what you eat in an unhelpful, problematic way or to be overly obsessive (I have tendencies toward being overly obsessive, but using those terms doesn't particular affect it). However, I think always implied is good (for me) and bad (for me) and using those terms as if good (for you) and bad (for you) applied more generally is rude and obnoxious.
I think generalizing about what "others" do to contrast it to yourself tends to almost always be a negative thing, and to involve rather unfair assumptions. Moralizing about why other people don't exercise or are overweight or don't eat a healthful diet or don't cook much or don't eat vegetables is generally a bad thing to do. Talking in an interested way with people who are willing to discuss those things can be useful.
I think "junk food" is a fine term that most people don't moralize or obsess about, but use in a slangy/non serious way without thinking the food is literally "junk." However, when using it you should be aware that it has no clear meaning.
I think 99.9% of people who claim to cut out "processed foods" continue to eat lots and lots of processed foods, often are merely switching from a diet based largely on the less nutrient dense types of processed foods (excessive fast food without including the vegetable options, the less healthful packaged stuff you can buy, lots of packaged treats or the like) and I tend to therefore assume (and I admit this violates my own rules about generalizing about what others do) that someone claiming to cut out "processed food" doesn't know much about actual nutrition and doesn't have much knowledge about food or experience cooking or eating a healthful diet yet is putting themselves on a pedestal and looking down on others who often eat quite healthful diets without making absurd and unnecessary claims (like that they won't eat processed foods).
I think low carbing can be a good approach for many people who struggle with hunger or for whom it fits their preferences or who have issues like T2D, and if you are interested it's worth a try (same with any other eating pattern beyond ridiculous fad diets) but that it should not be sold as right for everyone or even a majority of people, that macro breakdown has nothing much to do with health, and that the current fad of eating super low carb (20 g and below) could be right for a few people but not for most and is contrary to the amount of plant foods that most should be including in their diets.
I think if one can exercise, one should, it's important for health.
I think it's incredibly frustrating and actually rude that people claim that saying "CICO is what matters for weight loss" or "a calorie is a calorie" means that you also are saying that all foods are nutritionally equal or that it does not matter for health if one eats a nutritious diet. Virtually everyone on MFP who makes the first two claims of course believes that one's diet matters (to some extent) for health and that there's such a thing as a poor diet.
I think some people seem to assume that calling foods "bad" makes their diet better (or better than people who do not) independent of anything else they do. I don't, of course, think that applies to everyone who does so.
I think people who think nutrition is determined by "cutting out bad foods" or "eating clean" almost always have very little understanding of what a healthful diet actually is. However, I think there can be lots of sensible reasons for cutting out specific foods if you are the type of person who benefits from that.
In the part of the US I live in (meaning more subculture than location) I think the idea that fat is being promoted or that thin is looked down on is completely ridiculous and not in touch with reality (and it's not something I've ever heard expressed from anyone I know offline).9 -
CipherZero wrote: »
You definitely shouldn't base what your diet and training should look like based on what genetic outliers do.
My favorite story is when Usain Bolt beat the 100m world record he was basically living off McDonalds the whole time because he didn't recognize most of the other available foods. It can be done by regular people, it can be done by elites and I see no reason why it couldn't be done by you and me.
This reminds me of an unpopular opinion myself.
Whenever someone claims they eat no junk/processed foods and everyone else is going to be sick and fat because they do or whatever I check their diary. 100% of the time they eat junk/processed foods of some kind. I roll my eyes. I go back to my day.16 -
Did you know that it's also impossible to accurately calculate gas mileage, because there is much more to it than meets the eye? There are multiple variables that can throw the math off (acceleration, road surface, air temperature/density, altitude, speed, grades, wind drag factor, etc.). The burn measurements are often extremely imprecise, yet the vast majority of people are perfectly capable of filling their cars up with fuel before they run out of gas.
Perfect analogy3 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »
I don't know, on recovery days I walk leisurely listening to audiobooks (I do sweat because I'm prone to sweating in the summer during even the lightest activities). 2 hours of that a day gives me 500 extra calories, is very beneficial for my health without stressing joints, and keeps my walking endurance up for hikes. To me, any sort of activity for any length of time is good, as long as you're not delusional about what it is you are doing and how much you are burning doing it (you are NOT burning 1000 calories doing 30 minutes of bootcamp no matter how hellish it feels).
I always find it so interesting how some people sweat a lot and others just don't. At the gym most people I see doing cardio don't sweat at all but I am DRIPPING. SO much that I have to change my clothes halfway through they are so wet. I am so self conscious of it and its the reason I hate going to the gym with anyone lol.1 -
Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »
I always find it so interesting how some people sweat a lot and others just don't. At the gym most people I see doing cardio don't sweat at all but I am DRIPPING. SO much that I have to change my clothes halfway through they are so wet. I am so self conscious of it and its the reason I hate going to the gym with anyone lol.
Yup. I sweat though not really overly much, where as my sister sweats a ton. She has always sweat about 2-3x as much as me. I also cool down really quickly. *shrug*
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Another one. People don't know how to vet sources. Google is a great source of information if you know which of the links will lead you to actual knowledge and not some random person trying to convince you of their pet theories.
When someone makes a claim and you can prove it wrong via an official source within 1 minute from one google search on page 1 of the results, what the hell have those people been doing to get to think that thing is true?14 -
There is plenty of protein to be had in actual food. Resorting to powdered protein seems like a waste of yummy real food. So expensive, too.
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