What terms/phrases wind you up about losing weight?
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nosebag1212 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Lately, "the fat burning zone".
I don't so much get annoyed at the people deceived by it as I am at the 'gurus' who ought to know better espousing it and at the ding-dong\s that came up with that terminology in the first place.
It wouldn't have taken a crystal ball to foresee how it would be misinterpreted. I am thankful that it's at least not encouraging anything harmful.
And people doing HIIT 7 days a week for an hour...
The whole love affair the fitness industry seems to have with HIIT drives me nuts.
I think it's just an example of a much larger tendency: Taking a concept or term from an advanced level (of athletic training in this case, but it happens with other fields, too); misunderstanding or at least mis-framing the term/concept; then popularizing the resulting nonsense (often for profit). That way, everyone can do the same things the cool kids do. (In this case, the cool kids are more advanced athletes, obviously.)
For some athletic goals, high-intensity work is an essential training element. It's gonna be done as intervals, because it can't be done as a long, continuous workout, by definition, right? And it certainly isn't done (for any sport I'm aware of) as one's sole, main everyday workout, by people at that athletic level. But some fitness celeb can trumpet it as a secret of the elites, now available to you.
Same basic deal with "fat burning zone". For some athletic goals, it can be important to know your main fuel source(s) at particular intensities, for training or performance reasons. But mis-framing that into a concern for people who simply want to lose fat . . . that's nonsense.
You see people do this with Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, when they apply it to macro-scale events in ways that have little to do with physics, to suggest just one non-fitness example.
Don't get me wrong: I don't think actual HIIT has zero value for regular people, nor do I think Susie weight-loser is intentionally trying to pose as a cool kid by doing "HIIT" for an hour every day . . . but I think someone in the diffuse lineage preceding Susie was probably a poser, an ignoramus, or both.8 -
I just restrained myself on another thread. A food is not "yuck". It happens to be a food I like. Everybody else on the thread does too. Plus, what are you a toddler!
I don't like olives. If olives come up, I will either say nothing or if I can answer the olive-related question I will do so but remark that I do not care for olives.3 -
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MsHarryWinston wrote: »- Loose/lose, it just annoys the heck out of me.
- What the heck is up with the "fat burn zone"? I just don't understand it.
- When people say "I'm only on 1,200 calories a day but I'm not losing any weight. Oh and I don't use scales I just eyeball my portions but I know my tracking is perfect." Ummmm... doooooubtful.
- Or "I've hit a plateau! The scale hasn't moved for 3 days! Should I eat more??"
- OR "Oh my god i ate 100 calories over my goal last night and I gained 5 pounds! By the way it's my TOM. Oh and I ate a ton of carbs and soy sauce yesterday. Oh and I worked out and my muscles or sore. Oh, and I haven't pooped in 3 days..." Oh my god, dude, it's freakin water weight and waste just chiiiiiiiill.
- Omg and if I see one more thread asking if cheat days are ok. Do a freakin search! Soooo many people have given really thoughtful responses to that question time and time again.
I try to just mind my own business but when the first two pages are like, 6 threads with the SAME questions that the most cursory of searches would answer... Aaaaarg!
Simply put, it's being in the aerobic zone where the body burns more fat than glycogen, which is an important zone for training for endurance athletes. Any women's magazine talk beyond that is balderdash.5 -
JessicaMcB wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »Nicholas_39 wrote: »"Starvation mode"
Also when people claim cardio is bad for aesthetics so you should be doing weight lifting instead.
Cardio is bad for aesthetics... compare a marathoner to a judoka or gymnast
Not to pick on you @stanmann571, I agree that resistance training is important, but here is what irritates me about MFP at times- people stating their opinions like they are hard and fast facts. Aesthetics are highly subjective don't you think? In my opinion cardio isn't bad for aesthetics anymore than gymnastics is- they just develop different physiques.
Personally I'd rather look like Shalane Flanagan (marathon runner) than Jordyn Wieber (gymnast). I also think Hal Koerner (ultra runner) looks a far sight better than Asley Gonsalez (judoka). Not because either can be empirically proven to be better looking than the other, they are all incredibly fit people, but because Flanagan and Koerner are my preferred aesthetic for myself. If I wanted to look like Wieber or Misty Copeland or whatever then yeah, high volume long distance running would be counter-productive to that goal, but I don't. If someone else would rather look like them they aren't more or less right in their preferences than I am.
People should train for the physiques they want to attain. I'm a runner, I identify with runner aesthetic and therefore am training for that aesthetic. You want to look like a gymnast or a dancer then train like one. But no one fitness or physique goal is superior to all the others (to my mind anyway). Much like how no one way of eating is the one "to rule them all"
*slow claps of approval*9 -
My personal #1 is "How do I find motivation?" or anything along those lines...7
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Lately, "the fat burning zone".
I don't so much get annoyed at the people deceived by it as I am at the 'gurus' who ought to know better espousing it and at the ding-dong\s that came up with that terminology in the first place.
It wouldn't have taken a crystal ball to foresee how it would be misinterpreted. I am thankful that it's at least not encouraging anything harmful.
Isn't it funny how far we've come in understanding of what's true vs. what's just BS? Like, I'm thinking back to when I was a kid.. my mom was all about the low fat diet. Nothing else matters, because fat is what makes you fat. The list goes on. Not eating after a certain time, eating lots of small meals, can't eat certain foods, heavy lifting makes you bulkty (women), etc.
Makes me even more grateful I found MFP and learned what it really takes.2 -
I was thinking the same thing.nutmegoreo wrote: »I have a couple thoughts about why people won't tell you. 1) They have done it in an unhealthy or less accepted way, and they don't want to be judged for it. 2) They have done it through something like calorie counting and have found that when they tell people their eyes will glaze over and be given a bunch of excuses, so feel it isn't worth the time and effort. 3) They have an illness that they don't wish to discuss.
People get different reactions based on the methodologies used.
Saying you had surgery instead of doing the work earns you less respect from me, but at least you admitted that you had surgery instead of acting like you worked as hard as everyone else.
You don't know how weight loss surgery works. Nobody I know who has had it is having a nice easy time losing their weight and keeping it off.
Btw, one of my pet peeves.6 -
"the fat burning zone".
Makes me even more grateful I found MFP and learned what it really takes.
I asked about this one on the fitness board because I totally didn't know what the heck they meant. I knew my Fitbit shows my activity as either out of zone, fat-burning, cardio, and peak. I figured that HAD to mean something with respect to my weight loss...I mean, why else show it? It even tags it with how many calories per minute you are burning at the various levels. I have a very low heart rate - resting is about 50 bpm and I have a hard time getting it higher. I don't know if it's my medication or what, but I can be sweating my behind off and out of breath and really, not able to work any harder, and it'll get to cardio or peak for a hot second and then back down. I have a lot of "out of zone" time.
I'm also really grateful to MFP. You don't know if you don't ask.0 -
stanmann571 wrote: »PaulaWallaDingDong wrote: »Things like "per say" and "walla" really set my teeth on edge, but that's not only generic, but also elitist of me, so I never mention it. ("Walla" in constructs like "I started weighing food and - walla! - I finally started losing weight.)
So glad you clarified. I was worried that my first middle name was problematic somehow.
It's spelled Voila'
I know. Not sure why you quoted me.1 -
LadyLilion wrote: »"the fat burning zone".
Makes me even more grateful I found MFP and learned what it really takes.
I asked about this one on the fitness board because I totally didn't know what the heck they meant. I knew my Fitbit shows my activity as either out of zone, fat-burning, cardio, and peak. I figured that HAD to mean something with respect to my weight loss...I mean, why else show it? It even tags it with how many calories per minute you are burning at the various levels. I have a very low heart rate - resting is about 50 bpm and I have a hard time getting it higher. I don't know if it's my medication or what, but I can be sweating my behind off and out of breath and really, not able to work any harder, and it'll get to cardio or peak for a hot second and then back down. I have a lot of "out of zone" time.
I'm also really grateful to MFP. You don't know if you don't ask.
No judgement
I wasn't singling anyone out or any particular piece of advice, it was more of an ah ha moment realizing how much information has changed in a relatively short amount of time. I will never criticize or judge someone for seeking out knowledge/information. Especially pertaining to healthy.
I also always thought you could spot reduce. It was some what of a sad day when I found research proving that false.
I'd be shocked if someone on here could say they never believed in one of the, now proven false, ideas about losing weight.
edit: format fix3 -
"Starvation mode"3
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LadyLilion wrote: »
I asked about this one on the fitness board because I totally didn't know what the heck they meant. I knew my Fitbit shows my activity as either out of zone, fat-burning, cardio, and peak. I figured that HAD to mean something with respect to my weight loss...I mean, why else show it? It even tags it with how many calories per minute you are burning at the various levels. I have a very low heart rate - resting is about 50 bpm and I have a hard time getting it higher. I don't know if it's my medication or what, but I can be sweating my behind off and out of breath and really, not able to work any harder, and it'll get to cardio or peak for a hot second and then back down. I have a lot of "out of zone" time.
I'm also really grateful to MFP. You don't know if you don't ask.
People don't think that it might be a performance/training thing, because most aren't using a Fitbit or similar for that purpose. I think it would be nicer if they used the training heart rate zone descriptors instead: Recovery (Zone 1), Endurance (Zone 2), Stamina (Zone 3), Economy (Zone 4), Speed (Zone 5). Yes, still not the most clear and obvious, but at least it's linked to performance and not weight loss.
BTW - have you ever tested for your max HR? You may be someone for whom 220-age is really off on the high end (predicted max HR is too high) and the estimated zones are completely wrong for you.
I test the other way (and also have a low resting HR). For me, the estimated zones based on my age are way too low. If I used those, I'd be fluctuating between zones 2 and 3 strolling around the mall.
ETA: Futzing around with quote tags0 -
PaulaWallaDingDong wrote: »
I was thinking the same thing.nutmegoreo wrote: »I have a couple thoughts about why people won't tell you. 1) They have done it in an unhealthy or less accepted way, and they don't want to be judged for it. 2) They have done it through something like calorie counting and have found that when they tell people their eyes will glaze over and be given a bunch of excuses, so feel it isn't worth the time and effort. 3) They have an illness that they don't wish to discuss.
People get different reactions based on the methodologies used.
Saying you had surgery instead of doing the work earns you less respect from me, but at least you admitted that you had surgery instead of acting like you worked as hard as everyone else.
You don't know how weight loss surgery works. Nobody I know who has had it is having a nice easy time losing their weight and keeping it off.
Btw, one of my pet peeves.
I have had WLS and like any other method of losing weight, it isn't easy and you still have to do the work and make lifestyle changes. The people that have the hardest time with success after surgery are the people who don't realize that, and think surgery in and of itself is the answer. It's just a tool like many other things. I guess a pet peeve of mine is being judged for my decision and being told I took the easy way out.11 -
People don't think that it might be a performance/training thing, because most aren't using a Fitbit or similar for that purpose. I think it would be nicer if they used the training heart rate zone descriptors instead: Recovery (Zone 1), Endurance (Zone 2), Stamina (Zone 3), Economy (Zone 4), Speed (Zone 5). Yes, still not the most clear and obvious, but at least it's linked to performance and not weight loss.
BTW - have you ever tested for your max HR? You may be someone for whom 220-age is really off on the high end (predicted max HR is too high) and the estimated zones are completely wrong for you.
I test the other way (and also have a low resting HR). For me, the estimated zones based on my age are way too low. If I used those, I'd be fluctuating between zones 2 and 3 strolling around the mall.
I have a heart arrhythmia - I skip beats - and am on 3 - that's right - 3 blood pressure meds. The arrhythmia isn't noticeable to me, but it gives nurses quite a start when they try to take my pulse. I never tell them in advance, just to watch their faces.
It's not dangerous. I had a stress test a few years ago and the cardiologist was please to see it actually goes away with exercise - it's the ones that get worse that you have to watch. But sometimes it takes some serious effort to raise it.
Basically, I think it makes the HR monitor a bit useless.
I've never had it tested...but it kind of freaks me out to think of raising it to the max...so I'm not sure I'd ever want to. At least not until I'm more fit than I am now.0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »My personal #1 is "How do I find motivation?" or anything along those lines...
don't you have to distill it from unicorn tears harvested on the 3rd full moon of a leap year?11 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »My personal #1 is "How do I find motivation?" or anything along those lines...
Ugh this.
I don't understand what people want. No one can give you motivation, you have to find it for yourself.
Motivation is overrated anyway. It's good to get you started, but can fade quickly. Commitment and consistency even when you don't feel like it is where success lives.
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amusedmonkey wrote: »MsHarryWinston wrote: »- Loose/lose, it just annoys the heck out of me.
- What the heck is up with the "fat burn zone"? I just don't understand it.
- When people say "I'm only on 1,200 calories a day but I'm not losing any weight. Oh and I don't use scales I just eyeball my portions but I know my tracking is perfect." Ummmm... doooooubtful.
- Or "I've hit a plateau! The scale hasn't moved for 3 days! Should I eat more??"
- OR "Oh my god i ate 100 calories over my goal last night and I gained 5 pounds! By the way it's my TOM. Oh and I ate a ton of carbs and soy sauce yesterday. Oh and I worked out and my muscles or sore. Oh, and I haven't pooped in 3 days..." Oh my god, dude, it's freakin water weight and waste just chiiiiiiiill.
- Omg and if I see one more thread asking if cheat days are ok. Do a freakin search! Soooo many people have given really thoughtful responses to that question time and time again.
I try to just mind my own business but when the first two pages are like, 6 threads with the SAME questions that the most cursory of searches would answer... Aaaaarg!
Simply put, it's being in the aerobic zone where the body burns more fat than glycogen, which is an important zone for training for endurance athletes. Any women's magazine talk beyond that is balderdash.
Sorry I totally meant my comment to be about the women's mag style use of the word. "Are you wasting your workout by not being in the fat burn zone? Don't let all your hard work go to waste!" Etc etc.
Just no.
Work out, burn calories + eating proper amount of calories for your weight loss goal -> CICO -> oh look you're losing weight now.
On the other hand yes, professional athletes benefit much more from knowledge of their different heart rate zones when working out.0 -
LadyLilion wrote: »"the fat burning zone".
Makes me even more grateful I found MFP and learned what it really takes.
I asked about this one on the fitness board because I totally didn't know what the heck they meant. I knew my Fitbit shows my activity as either out of zone, fat-burning, cardio, and peak. I figured that HAD to mean something with respect to my weight loss...I mean, why else show it? It even tags it with how many calories per minute you are burning at the various levels. I have a very low heart rate - resting is about 50 bpm and I have a hard time getting it higher. I don't know if it's my medication or what, but I can be sweating my behind off and out of breath and really, not able to work any harder, and it'll get to cardio or peak for a hot second and then back down. I have a lot of "out of zone" time.
I'm also really grateful to MFP. You don't know if you don't ask.
No judgement I wasn't singling anyone out or any particular piece of advice, it was more of an ah ha moment realizing how much information has changed in a relatively short amount of time. I will never criticize or judge someone for seeking out knowledge/information. Especially pertaining to healthy.
I also always thought you could spot reduce. It was some what of a sad day when I found research proving that false.
I'd be shocked if someone on here could say they never believed in one of the, now proven false, ideas about losing weight.
edit: format fix
I totally get this. I always wanted a 6-pack and my mom would say "you don't have to lose weight, your stomach muscles are just too soft. Do some crunches and you'll be fine."
Ha! Now I know that my body fat percentage was way too high for a 6-pack! Targeted abdominal exercises have always shown results for me, more defined waist or smoother stomach but I was never going to get abs without losing a good 30lb.
It took me ages to learn that all those celebrities saying they got their rock hard abs from doing 200 crunches a day were dirty filthy liars. I'm looking at you Janet Jackson!8 -
SingRunTing wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »My personal #1 is "How do I find motivation?" or anything along those lines...
Ugh this.
I don't understand what people want. No one can give you motivation, you have to find it for yourself.
Motivation is overrated anyway. It's good to get you started, but can fade quickly. Commitment and consistency even when you don't feel like it is where success lives.
Exactly! Dedication, not motivation!2
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