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What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?

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Replies

  • jamesakrobinson
    jamesakrobinson Posts: 2,149 Member
    edited August 2017
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    jdlobb wrote: »
    I attribute failure more to people just being weak willed. I think it's silly to believe somebody who can't follow diet that tells them exactly what to eat and when would somehow how more success just being told "eat fewer calories." Maybe a minority of them can, but there's always a minority that can achieve something the majority can't.

    Most people who need to lose weight, like me, got into that situation because our natural food decisions are incredibly poor.

    Structure is important. But maybe I just believe that because I was in the military, like everybody else in my family for the last 300 years.

    I think structure is important, but I think success is related to learning to create structure and to make good food decisions, not being dependent on some set diet.

    I actually think a diet like low carb/LCHF/keto or paleo CAN be a tool for creating structure and learning what works for you, even though I personally think the distinctive things about paleo (no legumes, dairy, or grains) are not based on good science. IMO, low carb (including keto) can be a way of eating that for some people is easier to stick to, makes them feel more satisfied (and I don't think it means you can never have a cookie).

    What I don't think is a tool for learning is following a set diet that tells you what to eat. For me, a meal plan that detailed or that doesn't involve figuring out what works best for you and understanding nutrition more over time is basically infantilizing, and that's what I find kind of icky about it. Plus, no one will want to eat a set eating plan forever.

    In my mind, structure is more like: I do better eating 3 meals (or however many) and not snacking (or having 2 set snacks), and I structure my meals around protein, vegetables, and a starch, with fat used in cooking, most of the time. (Or whatever, although I personally think that focusing on adequate protein and lots of vegetables are, on average, helpful for people.)

    On the other hand, I got fat eating nutritious meals for the most part, so what was ALSO important for me was understanding where my extra calories come from. I think when people look at that and fix it, it can become easy.

    I do think a lack of structure is a problem for a lot of people starting out, though. Those posts "over my goal by lunch, what should I do about dinner" used to puzzle me until I realized people were not planning or imposing any structure.

    Well said.
    Use all the tools in your toolbox that are appropriate to the situation.
    LOL even when I am in ketosis (I am not right now) I will have a few low carb beers, or if I'm getting close to my self imposed carb limit a mixed drink with diet pop or diet lemonade... Yup alcohol is 7 calories per gram and you should track that too but it's not a carb ;-)
    I actually have a Sleeman Clear in my other hand right now. :-D
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,937 Member
    -I think keto/paleo/etc. are unsustainable fad diets.

    -You're not going to keel over if you enjoy fast food responsibly.

    -Ditto with pop/soda (diet and regular).

    -There are good carbs and bad carbs, good fats and bad fats.

    -Treat is treat, regardless of keto/paleo/low-fat/sugar-free/etc, some are just "less bad" than others. Halo Top is still ice cream ;)

    -Protein shakes and snacks (soy or whey based) are pointless and a waste of money. Not even my friend who lifts competitively will touch the stuff, her protein for building and maintaining muscle mass and strength comes from actual food.

    -Also, fruit smoothies are not as healthy as actually eating a piece of fruit.

    -You only need vitamins if you are truly deficient; if you eat a healthy balanced diet and have no medical conditions, you'll get all your body needs.

    -Slow metabolism? Then boost it naturally with good food, good sleep, and good exercise. (Certain medical conditions are different.)

    -Drink water when you're thirsty.

    -I have trust issues with anyone who says a fruit or vegetable is "bad" (potatoes, carrots, bananas, seriously???).

    Whew! Glad to get this all off my chest :D

    I was so with you on the first three, then it went down hill from there.

    Same here!! :p
  • jdlobb
    jdlobb Posts: 1,232 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    jdlobb wrote: »
    jdlobb wrote: »
    My UO: fad diets are helpful because at a minimum they make people be more aware of their food and conscious about what they put in their bodies. The human body is massively adaptable, if you feed it a steady Paleo, South Beach, Vegan, Keto, or whatever diet it'll adapt to use it most efficiently. People don't pay enough attention to what they eat, so I'm not giving anybody *kitten* for paying attention, even if their ideas about why are total hokum.

    I think it's more about the sustainability of those diets that causes the issue rather than the awareness. People know when they are fat. For many reasons, people can't stick to them. So they rebound on their weight and are back to square one and lost time. They wouldn't be so successful if they actually worked, therefore they don't help anyone because if they did we'd all be at a healthy weight.

    I attribute failure more to people just being weak willed. I think it's silly to believe somebody who can't follow diet that tells them exactly what to eat and when would somehow how more success just being told "eat fewer calories." Maybe a minority of them can, but there's always a minority that can achieve something the majority can't.

    Most people who need to lose weight, like me, got into that situation because our natural food decisions are incredibly poor.

    Structure is important. But maybe I just believe that because I was in the military, like everybody else in my family for the last 300 years.

    Weak willed? Seriously? Kind of judgmental wouldn't you say. Let's hope you are a success in your efforts and your own words and judgement don't come back and bit you on the *kitten*.

    I think your viewpoint is really ill informed, naive' and unnecessarily harsh.

    I'm extremely weak willed when it comes to dieting, I admit that freely. It takes a ton of effort and assistance for me to stick to a healthy diet for any period of time.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    OMG I'm never going to get to the end of this thread! I's taken me weeks, and i am now at the end of page 133 :weary:

    I just wanted to quickly weigh in on the counting every little activity as exercise thing.

    I have a fitbit, and the days i do heavy cleaning, gardening whatever, these activities have not even made a blip on my overall calorie count/award for the day. So therefore I'm in the camp of only counting actual exercise as exercise.

    If you're going to reply to this please give me a month to get to the end of the thread until I'm able to read it and reply...

    and I guess this is part of my point by saying to the question "should I log this" as "no"...

    and then there is this part.

    Per this article
    1) <5000 steps.d (sedentary);
    2) 5000-7499 steps.d (low active);
    3) 7500-9999 steps.d (somewhat active);
    4) > or =10,000-12,499 steps.d (active); and
    5) > or =12,500 steps.d (highly active)
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14715035

    Per this...people are still considered sedentary pre 5k steps a day...and if at some point people are doing "extra life activity" if it doesn't bring them over the threshold of sedentary or even low active it should not be logged.


    I see the quoted all the time but this is not the standard MFP uses. It starts at 2500 for sedentary and goes up in 2500 increments. I know this because I am (in combination with my tracker missing lots of pottering round the flat steps because i'm not exactly striding in a 1 bed flat) and after about 2500 I start getting extra calories.

    Yep, and I think that's a recent change for MFP, because my cals per MFP and Fitbit used to match up. Now they don't and it's fecking annoying. MFP is basically giving me an extra 100 cals a day over Fitbit.

    ETA: just checked back over the last few days, and it seems to be doing that sorting itself out at midnight thing, which I was sure I'd solved somehow. Still annoying.

    Is it? That's annoying. I'm glad I pretty much do a TDEE method with how I have things set up and just eat a consistent caloric level. I look at my adjustment, but don't pay too much attention to it.

    I was doing that, and maybe that's why I didn't 'notice' the adjustment inconsistency, but my activity level and cal burn is a bit all over the place atm, so my daily intake is also all over the place!
  • jamesakrobinson
    jamesakrobinson Posts: 2,149 Member
    My unpopular opinion: the more people I see throwing around DEXA numbers, the more I am convinced they unjustifiably have an unearned "gold standard" reputatation and likely have a pretty significant margin of error. At least enough margin of error to account for some of the fat gains/losses which people attribute to diet/fitness regimens.

    I don't know that it was so obvious before so many people had them so frequently.

    I also use a Skulpt device daily, and it's usually within 1 or 2 percent of the Dexa. Calipers really depend on the person doing the pinching but for comparison they give me an even lower reading than the other two methods.
    Impedance measurements are definitely a joke. I can be up or down 8 to 10 percent in the same day depending on hydration... LOL I can make those things read 3% if I don't pee and slam a Gatorade, or 16% if I intentionally drop all the water I possibly can...
    I have never had an opportunity to try a bod pod or underwater weighing but I would certainly be game if it were available.
    All body fat measuring techniques are best used to track changes.
    Personally if I can continue to keep my Dexa numbers below 9% I am happy... Next spring I may challenge myself to see if I can hit 7 but it would be very temporary. Just a challenge to see if I can muster the self discipline. (would probably lose muscle mass to get that low though)
  • MySweetLavinia
    MySweetLavinia Posts: 90 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    In most cases, fad diets don't facilitate this experimentation and learning process. Some folks can enjoy keto, or paleo, or whatever, forever - but many can't. Perhaps a minority will enjoy gutting it out through sheer steely willpower forever, and more power to them. But I'm too lazy, and too much of a pleasure seeker.

    I suspect that's fairly common. ;)

    It's inaccurate to suppose that it's a matter of "sheer steely willpower" for everyone, and also that these diets are incompatible with pleasure seeking. Depending on one's food preferences, losing/maintaining while eating low carb (or any other specialized diet) can actually be easier. But I enjoy protein and have little interest in starches or sweets, so it works for me. For someone who's my opposite, I doubt it would suit them at all. I don't require willpower to stick to my way of eating because I genuinely love it. I think everyone should find the way of eating that they can actually enjoy while staying healthy.

    I agree that the #1 important thing in losing and maintaining is sustainability. What really counts as sustainable varies wildly with the individual, though. For example, I could never stay on the wagon eating vegetarian or vegan, but many lovely people do and get just as good results as I have going the opposite way.

  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    My unpopular opinion: the more people I see throwing around DEXA numbers, the more I am convinced they unjustifiably have an unearned "gold standard" reputatation and likely have a pretty significant margin of error. At least enough margin of error to account for some of the fat gains/losses which people attribute to diet/fitness regimens.

    I don't know that it was so obvious before so many people had them so frequently.

    I agree.

    And I'm lazy but that's not unpopular so I'm not quoting the person I'm responding to but a difference of 2 or 3 percent isn't really proof of anything and within the margins of error of any of the methods.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,724 Member
    Dnarules wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    NEOHgirl wrote: »
    Regarding leftovers, I tend to keep a small cooler in my car in the summer and throw some reusable ice packs in before we head out. If I forget the ice packs, I will ask for a to-go container with ice in it. Sometimes the server might look at you funny, but when you explain why you need it, they get it. The practice has prevented a great deal of food waste, and saved me money over the years (because yay, two or three meals now for the price of one). I have also handed restaurant leftovers to homeless people instead of taking them home or back to the hotel, even when I've had the cooler ready.

    And I am on team "I don't care what other people think of the way I eat". They aren't the ones that have to pay my medical bills if I go back to being obese and eventually start dealing with obesity-related illnesses. I don't ask for their opinions and they don't have any rights to opinions about what I eat unless I DO ask. That doesn't prevent them from making comments sometimes (mostly coworkers spotting my healthy lunch while chowing down on fast food), but I call them out on it if they do.

    And I also don't believe in cheat days, simply because I don't consider it as cheating. I will occasionally eat differently than my standard plan, but usually it's a special event and it IS planned for in advance. Or I go over my daily calorie target but not by enough to erase all of the deficit. If I want fudge, I have it. Thankfully I only want it once or twice a year. But it's not cheating, because nothing is off limits.

    Edited to correct a typo.

    I live in a country where medical is free so guess what I do pay...and sometimes even in the US the tax payers do pay too...medicad I believe it's called and the AHCA (afforable health care act...aka obamacare) isn't that tax payer funded as well?

    IMO that still gives no one the right to care about what I eat.

    There are many paths to the tragedy of the commons. ;)
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