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What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?

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Replies

  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    BabyBear76 wrote: »
    I wouldn't ever hire a personal trainer, that looks like they need a personal trainer.

    There are many coaches who are amazing coaches, but would never do well at whatever they're coaching.

    Perhaps the pt has spent many years educating themselves and pt-ing to get experience, and lacks time to put the effort in to themselves?

    one of the most renown swim coaches in Australia (trained multiple Olympians) - couldn't swim to save his life...
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    BabyBear76 wrote: »
    I wouldn't ever hire a personal trainer, that looks like they need a personal trainer.

    There are many coaches who are amazing coaches, but would never do well at whatever they're coaching.

    Perhaps the pt has spent many years educating themselves and pt-ing to get experience, and lacks time to put the effort in to themselves?

    one of the most renown swim coaches in Australia (trained multiple Olympians) - couldn't swim to save his life...

    LOL. Reminds me of the old adage: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."
  • WakkoW
    WakkoW Posts: 567 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    JerSchmare wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Eh, I think what you eat matters (I mean overall diet, of course), and I never thought that particular opinion of mine was an unpopular one. Seems to me to be shared by most.

    The problem with you statement is that it's not specific enough. It depends on your goals.

    The statement is not true, per se. If my goal is to lose weight, I can do that eating McDonalds everyday.

    So, for weight loss, what you eat does not matter. How much of it you eat matters a lot.

    I would say what you eat matters for some purpose, namely health, perhaps how you feel and satiety. Agreed not for weight loss, if you control calories in some other way and don't eat a diet that makes you feel bad, which is why I did not say "what you eat matters for weight loss."

    Whether you care about those things does not mean they don't matter. Just that they aren't concerns/goals of yours. I totally agree that plenty of people don't care to concern themselves with nutrition.

    Similarly, I would say that eating calories over one's TDEE matters (or makes a difference, if you prefer). Some people may not care if they gain weight, or gain a little weight in the short term, or may want to or need to gain weight -- that's their goal. Fact remains that eating calories over TDEE makes a difference (matters). Same for "what you eat."

    I'd also say that at the calories the average person eats in the US and with the variety of foods available and common supplementation, most people are unlikely to have nutrient deficiencies. I just don't think that's the end-all of why nutrition matters.

    Given the lack of fruits and vegetables in the average US diet, not sure if the highlighted is a true statement.

    Only about one in every 10 Americans eats enough fruits and vegetables, a new government report shows.
    Just 13 percent of U.S. residents consume one and a half to two cups of fruit every day as recommended by federal dietary guidelines, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. The news on the vegetable front was even worse. Less than 9 percent of Americans eat two to three cups of vegetables every day as recommended, the report showed.
    [/i]

    http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2015/07/09/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc

    It is true, regardless of their fruit and vegetable intake. The sheer amount of calories many people consume makes sure they're okay on nutrients. Nutrient poor foods are not devoid of nutrients. I did this test a while back where I used cronometer to track one deliberately "junky" day. I was expecting it to look horrible, but it didn't look half as bad as I thought it would.

    Menu:
    Breakfast: Sandwich
    Lunch: instant noodles with canned wieners and chickpeas
    Dinner: Mcdonald's cheeseburger and fries
    Snacks: peanut butter and jam, milk (many people drink milk), and some fruits (yes, I cheated a little because going without vegetables was bad enough I couldn't also go without fruits and very few people go completely without any nutrient dense foods)

    Total calories: 2113

    r8p8huoz3qpi.png

    Where is that screenshot with all your micronutrients from?

    Cronometer. If you eat more packaged foods than you would be bothered to add manually it can be tedious. For chain restaurants and whole foods it's great, except it doesn't have a multi-add like MFP which I use a lot for foods I eat often.

    Yeah, cronometer is awesome for giving very detailed breakdowns, but it's also very tedious to use for any length of time.

    I switched to cronometer a few months back and don't find it at all tedious. I like that I don't have to double check entires for accuracy like I did when using MFP.

    The reason I switched was for the database accuracy but it's fun to see the micros.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    WakkoW wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    JerSchmare wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Eh, I think what you eat matters (I mean overall diet, of course), and I never thought that particular opinion of mine was an unpopular one. Seems to me to be shared by most.

    The problem with you statement is that it's not specific enough. It depends on your goals.

    The statement is not true, per se. If my goal is to lose weight, I can do that eating McDonalds everyday.

    So, for weight loss, what you eat does not matter. How much of it you eat matters a lot.

    I would say what you eat matters for some purpose, namely health, perhaps how you feel and satiety. Agreed not for weight loss, if you control calories in some other way and don't eat a diet that makes you feel bad, which is why I did not say "what you eat matters for weight loss."

    Whether you care about those things does not mean they don't matter. Just that they aren't concerns/goals of yours. I totally agree that plenty of people don't care to concern themselves with nutrition.

    Similarly, I would say that eating calories over one's TDEE matters (or makes a difference, if you prefer). Some people may not care if they gain weight, or gain a little weight in the short term, or may want to or need to gain weight -- that's their goal. Fact remains that eating calories over TDEE makes a difference (matters). Same for "what you eat."

    I'd also say that at the calories the average person eats in the US and with the variety of foods available and common supplementation, most people are unlikely to have nutrient deficiencies. I just don't think that's the end-all of why nutrition matters.

    Given the lack of fruits and vegetables in the average US diet, not sure if the highlighted is a true statement.

    Only about one in every 10 Americans eats enough fruits and vegetables, a new government report shows.
    Just 13 percent of U.S. residents consume one and a half to two cups of fruit every day as recommended by federal dietary guidelines, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. The news on the vegetable front was even worse. Less than 9 percent of Americans eat two to three cups of vegetables every day as recommended, the report showed.
    [/i]

    http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2015/07/09/only-1-in-10-americans-eats-enough-fruits-and-veggies-cdc

    It is true, regardless of their fruit and vegetable intake. The sheer amount of calories many people consume makes sure they're okay on nutrients. Nutrient poor foods are not devoid of nutrients. I did this test a while back where I used cronometer to track one deliberately "junky" day. I was expecting it to look horrible, but it didn't look half as bad as I thought it would.

    Menu:
    Breakfast: Sandwich
    Lunch: instant noodles with canned wieners and chickpeas
    Dinner: Mcdonald's cheeseburger and fries
    Snacks: peanut butter and jam, milk (many people drink milk), and some fruits (yes, I cheated a little because going without vegetables was bad enough I couldn't also go without fruits and very few people go completely without any nutrient dense foods)

    Total calories: 2113

    r8p8huoz3qpi.png

    Where is that screenshot with all your micronutrients from?

    Cronometer. If you eat more packaged foods than you would be bothered to add manually it can be tedious. For chain restaurants and whole foods it's great, except it doesn't have a multi-add like MFP which I use a lot for foods I eat often.

    Yeah, cronometer is awesome for giving very detailed breakdowns, but it's also very tedious to use for any length of time.

    I switched to cronometer a few months back and don't find it at all tedious. I like that I don't have to double check entires for accuracy like I did when using MFP.

    The reason I switched was for the database accuracy but it's fun to see the micros.

    I go back and forth. I get frustrated with the database here, I run to cronometer. I get frustrated with the tediousness of cronometer (no multi add, no convenient recent foods, I need to enter everything manually, odd fitbit calorie calculations...etc) I bounce back here. I'm perpetually going back and forth. I wish the two would merge into one app with a trustworthy database and user friendly functionality.
  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
    edited August 2017
    BabyBear76 wrote: »
    I wouldn't ever hire a personal trainer, that looks like they need a personal trainer.

    There are many coaches who are amazing coaches, but would never do well at whatever they're coaching.

    Perhaps the pt has spent many years educating themselves and pt-ing to get experience, and lacks time to put the effort in to themselves?

    I know, one of my gym rat buddie's dad is a cardiovascular surgeon that smokes a pack and a half a day, he's still a great surgeon and extremely knowledgeable. That's why it's an unpopular opinion. I just have a hard time trusting someone with my body when they don't take care of thier own. Kinda like hiring a psychiatrist with mental issues. It has more to do with my trust issues.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    Yeah, never, ever take weightlifting advice from a guy who looks like this

    18k1sq4hgm9xfjpg.jpg

    (sarcasm font in full effect in this post)

    Well played.

    ETA: for those who don't know, that's Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength and one of the most successful trainers out there.

    Is it just me or does Ripp look a little like an overweight Tim Allen with a bad haircut? :D

    YES! I couldn't make the connection.
  • mathjulz
    mathjulz Posts: 5,514 Member
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    My unpopular opinion? I can eat totally healthy, 1400 calories or less a day drink nothing but water except for a pop once a week and exercise and still gain weight. Case in point? The last 10 months. That's how I lived and gained 120 pounds. I had lost 140 pounds previously and kept it off for years. The culprit for my weight gain? My pcos was retriggered by the depo shot for birth control that my obgyn put me on again saying it would be different this time and better for me. I've spent the last 9 months trying to get it under control again and I'm going as a candidate for weight loss surgery to put it into permanent remission and relose all the weight I originally lost plus the final 70 pounds I had to goal. Also I'm on a low dose of topamax for weight loss. As I see it, It's not cheating as I've lowered calorie intake to 1200 a day and dropped the pop once a week. I've lost 12 pounds so far. My bmi is 56. I'm 327 pounds as of yesterday, was 339.9. Wls is not cheating if you have conditions that it can cure and you know that it's something you're willing to commit to for the rest of your life.

    this isn't unpopular it is against the science of weight loss...

    sorry you might be logging 1400 but you sure as hell aren't eating 1400.

    I don't know how much if affects the calories (or how correctly she is logging), but I do know that PCOS and other IR issues can mess with the CO part of CI/CO. And it's a Catch-22 situation: losing weight is one of the best ways to deal with the medical situation, but the condition makes it a lot harder. If the 1200 calories a day plus medication is working, it sounds like she may be doing things well enough.

    And, especially in cases like this WLS may be the best option in the long run, provided the work is there as well to keep it off.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Metabolisms do vary, although not as much as some think, and in particular some people ARE hard gainers, who naturally compensate with increased NEAT when they increase calories.

    But on the other end there's a limit to how low metabolism can be and the idea that one operates as normal with a huge decrease in metabolism (no decrease in NEAT, no low energy) doesn't make a lot of sense.

    Also, how WLS works is making it easier to eat less, isn't it? So you are still going to be eating 1000 or whatever, which you can do without WLS if it's really needed (although I am skeptical about whether it would be).

    I would love to read an article showing that metabolism can be as low as 1000 with exercise, however, especially absent a thyroid problem which could be medicated. (I'm genuine here -- that would be very interesting, as it goes against my understanding of how the body works.)

    On the other hand, people way miscalculating what they eat is common (see, e.g., Secret Eaters).
  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Metabolisms do vary, although not as much as some think, and in particular some people ARE hard gainers, who naturally compensate with increased NEAT when they increase calories.

    I'm one of those on the opposite end of that spectrum. My TDEE is about 10% lower than any online calculator says it should. Why? Who the hell knows. The difference is all of the calories of 12 ounces of whole milk, or a Klondike bar, a day.
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