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What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?

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Replies

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    edited August 2017
    My unpopular opinion: most people who got fat as children/teens will never maintain a healthy weight, and the best we can hope for is yo yo dieting. The other option is accepting being fat for good. The existence of a few exceptions to this rule doesn't change my opinion. Statistically, it's an obvious fact.

    Yup, that's a pretty unpopular opinion. I know a lot of us here who plan on proving you wrong.

    I don't "hope" for yo-yo dieting. MFP has taught me how to control my weight properly. I know what to do to prevent the yo-yo cycle from happening.

    I didn't have that knowledge in the past. That's the big difference.

    But the post didn't say it can't be done. It said "most people...' A lot of people here plan on proving it wrong. But statistics suggest most of that lot will fail, and even if all succeeded it would still be a small majority of the whole.
  • curiouskate
    curiouskate Posts: 36 Member
    My unpopular opinion: most people who got fat as children/teens will never maintain a healthy weight, and the best we can hope for is yo yo dieting. The other option is accepting being fat for good. The existence of a few exceptions to this rule doesn't change my opinion. Statistically, it's an obvious fact.

    Yup, that's a pretty unpopular opinion. I know a lot of us here who plan on proving you wrong.

    I don't "hope" for yo-yo dieting. MFP has taught me how to control my weight properly. I know what to do to prevent the yo-yo cycle from happening.

    I didn't have that knowledge in the past. That's the big difference.

    But the post didn't say it can't be done. It said "post people...' A lot of people here plan on proving it wrong. But statistics suggest most of that lot will fail, and even if all succeeded it would still be a small majority of the whole.

    Exactly.

    Hey if it was just me, I'd probably just have decided I'm a personal failure at weight loss after gaining back 100 lb the second time (again, it took years to lose it, years of maintaining, then a few more years of gaining it back.) and I used to sound exactly like every person who believes this will not happen to them.

    But it wasn't just me. I can point to at least 20 people who used to do these WL forums with me ~10 years ago who were dedicated, motivated, smart, committed etc. and the same thing happened to all of them.

    I have to conclude based on the evidence that maintaining a large WL permanently is something *most* people will not be able to do.
  • curiouskate
    curiouskate Posts: 36 Member
    My unpopular opinion: most people who got fat as children/teens will never maintain a healthy weight, and the best we can hope for is yo yo dieting. The other option is accepting being fat for good. The existence of a few exceptions to this rule doesn't change my opinion. Statistically, it's an obvious fact.

    Yup, that's a pretty unpopular opinion. I know a lot of us here who plan on proving you wrong.

    I don't "hope" for yo-yo dieting. MFP has taught me how to control my weight properly. I know what to do to prevent the yo-yo cycle from happening.

    I didn't have that knowledge in the past. That's the big difference.

    But the post didn't say it can't be done. It said "post people...' A lot of people here plan on proving it wrong. But statistics suggest most of that lot will fail, and even if all succeeded it would still be a small majority of the whole.

    Exactly.

    Hey if it was just me, I'd probably just have decided I'm a personal failure at weight loss after gaining back 100 lb the second time (again, it took years to lose it, years of maintaining, then a few more years of gaining it back.) and I used to sound exactly like every person who believes this will not happen to them.

    But it wasn't just me. I can point to at least 20 people who used to do these WL forums with me ~10 years ago who were dedicated, motivated, smart, committed etc. and the same thing happened to all of them.

    I have to conclude based on the evidence that maintaining a large WL permanently is something *most* people will not be able to do.

    Most people won't. That is backed up by statistics. But I do agree with others that should not be seen as an excuse not to try and break that cycle. Some do it. The only way to join the minority is to never stop trying.

    Personally, I maintained a healthy weight for decades by yo-yo dieting. The difference was that I'd diet when I gain 10-15 lbs instead of 100. And then once I didn't. I let it get out of hand and had to lose more.

    But I fully expect yo-yoing is how I will maintain my weight now. In fact, since I originally lost the weight I've gained and lost 10 lbs twice. Maintaining an exact weight seems like a too much work to me.

    Well I'm here (again) aren't I? ;)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    My unpopular opinion: most people who got fat as children/teens will never maintain a healthy weight, and the best we can hope for is yo yo dieting. The other option is accepting being fat for good. The existence of a few exceptions to this rule doesn't change my opinion. Statistically, it's an obvious fact.

    Yup, that's a pretty unpopular opinion. I know a lot of us here who plan on proving you wrong.

    I don't "hope" for yo-yo dieting. MFP has taught me how to control my weight properly. I know what to do to prevent the yo-yo cycle from happening.

    I didn't have that knowledge in the past. That's the big difference.

    But the post didn't say it can't be done. It said "post people...' A lot of people here plan on proving it wrong. But statistics suggest most of that lot will fail, and even if all succeeded it would still be a small majority of the whole.

    Exactly.

    Hey if it was just me, I'd probably just have decided I'm a personal failure at weight loss after gaining back 100 lb the second time (again, it took years to lose it, years of maintaining, then a few more years of gaining it back.) and I used to sound exactly like every person who believes this will not happen to them.

    But it wasn't just me. I can point to at least 20 people who used to do these WL forums with me ~10 years ago who were dedicated, motivated, smart, committed etc. and the same thing happened to all of them.

    I have to conclude based on the evidence that maintaining a large WL permanently is something *most* people will not be able to do.

    Most people won't. That is backed up by statistics. But I do agree with others that should not be seen as an excuse not to try and break that cycle. Some do it. The only way to join the minority is to never stop trying.

    Yes, this.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    Unpopular opinion:

    Studies extrapolated to provide guidance to the general population w.r.t. body composition and fat loss may not be applicable to people who calorie track over the long term.

    We are a non-typical sub set.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Tuffaknee wrote: »
    One of my unpopular opinions: If you have not lost at least 50+ pounds and MAINTAINED that loss for 2+ years, I take everything you say about weight loss/maintenance with a grain of salt. Unless it's something indisputable like the science of CI/CO.

    50 pounds is an odd limit. I've lost 42 pounds and am just about at my two year anniversary for maintaining that loss. While I might not have insight into what it is like to lose larger amounts of weight, I think I could have really good advice for someone who wants to lose around 50 pounds. That's a good segment of the population.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    Tuffaknee wrote: »
    One of my unpopular opinions: If you have not lost at least 50+ pounds and MAINTAINED that loss for 2+ years, I take everything you say about weight loss/maintenance with a grain of salt. Unless it's something indisputable like the science of CI/CO.

    I have never been 50 lbs overweight, so obviously haven't experienced the process of losing 50. But I still think my experience of losing a much smaller amount by a methodical approach through MFP is still something I can use as advice or guidance for other people.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    My unpopular opinion: most people who got fat as children/teens will never maintain a healthy weight, and the best we can hope for is yo yo dieting. The other option is accepting being fat for good. The existence of a few exceptions to this rule doesn't change my opinion. Statistically, it's an obvious fact.

    Yup, that's a pretty unpopular opinion. I know a lot of us here who plan on proving you wrong.

    I don't "hope" for yo-yo dieting. MFP has taught me how to control my weight properly. I know what to do to prevent the yo-yo cycle from happening.

    I didn't have that knowledge in the past. That's the big difference.

    But the post didn't say it can't be done. It said "post people...' A lot of people here plan on proving it wrong. But statistics suggest most of that lot will fail, and even if all succeeded it would still be a small majority of the whole.

    Exactly.

    Hey if it was just me, I'd probably just have decided I'm a personal failure at weight loss after gaining back 100 lb the second time (again, it took years to lose it, years of maintaining, then a few more years of gaining it back.) and I used to sound exactly like every person who believes this will not happen to them.

    But it wasn't just me. I can point to at least 20 people who used to do these WL forums with me ~10 years ago who were dedicated, motivated, smart, committed etc. and the same thing happened to all of them.

    I have to conclude based on the evidence that maintaining a large WL permanently is something *most* people will not be able to do.

    Most people won't. That is backed up by statistics. But I do agree with others that should not be seen as an excuse not to try and break that cycle. Some do it. The only way to join the minority is to never stop trying.

    Yep. Most people with a diagnosis of cancer, even if the odds of survival longer term are fairly low, will do what is in their power to fight it.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    Tuffaknee wrote: »
    One of my unpopular opinions: If you have not lost at least 50+ pounds and MAINTAINED that loss for 2+ years, I take everything you say about weight loss/maintenance with a grain of salt. Unless it's something indisputable like the science of CI/CO.

    I have never been 50 lbs overweight, so obviously haven't experienced the process of losing 50. But I still think my experience of losing a much smaller amount by a methodical approach through MFP is still something I can use as advice or guidance for other people.

    For some yes, but probably not for many who need to lose 50 lbs or more. I have lost 36 lbs and maintained it m/l for 1.5 years. And I've lost 10-15 lbs many times in my life. But I read some posts of those struggling to lose large amounts and I know I can't relate.
  • curiouskate
    curiouskate Posts: 36 Member
    Tuffaknee wrote: »
    One of my unpopular opinions: If you have not lost at least 50+ pounds and MAINTAINED that loss for 2+ years, I take everything you say about weight loss/maintenance with a grain of salt. Unless it's something indisputable like the science of CI/CO.

    I can go along with this, but I would say I don't believe someone is going to maintain until they've kept it off for ~10 years. 2 is just the beginning.
  • mathjulz
    mathjulz Posts: 5,514 Member
    Tuffaknee wrote: »
    One of my unpopular opinions: If you have not lost at least 50+ pounds and MAINTAINED that loss for 2+ years, I take everything you say about weight loss/maintenance with a grain of salt. Unless it's something indisputable like the science of CI/CO.

    Well, darn. I've never had 50 pounds to lose. But on my sixty-and-a-half-inch frame, 20 pounds on me is far more significant than 20 pounds on someone who is 5'8" or 6' tall. So, do I have something meaningful to contribute or not ?(I lost about 15 pounds and maintained for quite a while before gaining; this last gain which I'm trying to get off was pregnancy weight, still no where near to 50 pounds)
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