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What commonly given MFP Forum advice do you personally disagree with?
Replies
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I disagree that you have to weigh yourself every day or you won't understand fluctuations or see your real progress. Some people are pretty fired up about getting tons of data.
You can weigh yourself daily if you want that information but you don't really have to monitor that much to ensure you are losing weight if you are tracking calories reasonably accurately.
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Telling people who are seriously /dangerously underweight, and /or apparently have body image issues, that they need to get on a heavy lifting programme, when they're barely eating enough to stay alive10
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I guess something is that I don't think counting calories is the only way. There are lots of people that are able to lose or maintain a desired weight without counting calories, but here there are some people who act like counting calories is the ONLY thing that works. (Yes we all agree that calories matter, but you don't necessarily have to count them to get yourself into a deficit)15
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Not a specific piece of advice, but offering advice without understanding fully the issue at hand is a common problem. Where the person is in the process, what their bodyfat % is, etc. are all critical pieces of information, which leads to much of the misinformation and really bad advice at times.6
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Tacklewasher wrote: »maureenkhilde wrote: »Copper_Boom wrote: »Nutrition/fitness/weight loss.
I can truly understand why to someone who is new to posting on the forum, that some replies or statements come across as very harsh or disbelieving. Some but not all of the seasoned posters come across pretty heavy handed, which can turn people off. Their answers still can be rock solid, but it is often how something may come across.
But some of the questions about certain diets or way to do things are asked over and over just by different people.
What I see the most is people who are not willing to consider other peoples ideas may have value.
I know some come across as harsh, but what I've noticed more here at MFP then any other forum I've participated on is that many posters don't try to search and don't read the stickies. I know it is policy here that this is okay, but I know anytime I've joined a forum I've read around first to get a feel for things. And I read through most of the stickies before posting all but my first post. It just seems to be a different crowd of people who join here and jump in with both feet.
So yeah, the latest question about detox tea might get some short answers from those who have answered it dozens of times before. I know I've had to refrain from posting responses sometimes.
As to the other peoples ideas may have value. I guess it depends on what the topic is. If I say that I don't like cauliflower, that is a personal preference and has value. If I say that this particular tea will work for detox, then I'm going to be asked to support that opinion. 2 very different matters and leaving the detox tea unanswered is doing a detriment to the forum and other posters who may be curious. Explaining (in what can be viewed as a harsh manner) that detox is a scam and, outside of your liver you don't need to worry about it is a big part of what I like here.
The fact that you don't like cauliflower has absolutely no value to me
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Not a specific piece of advice, but offering advice without understanding fully the issue at hand is a common problem. Where the person is in the process, what their bodyfat % is, etc. are all critical pieces of information, which leads to much of the misinformation and really bad advice at times.
On the flip side, sometimes it's VERY difficult to drag that information out of the question-asker.20 -
cmriverside wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »Copper_Boom wrote: »Nutrition/fitness/weight loss.
I think you're supposed to answer first.
I see a lot of people staunchly defending certain things as 'the one true way of eating that works for everyone' (TM). I think that most long-timers would agree that each of us need to find what works for us in regards to eating schedule, macro breakdown, etc. Not being too rigid, or trying to change your diet and lifestyle to the point that it's unsustainable. It's funny how heated some of these discussions can get around diet and exercise.
I've never seen moderation become such a hotly contested topic in any other setting than this.
Yeah.
Taking the chance of starting WWIII, but I agree with this...
Some people are moderators with some foods and some just aren't.
If you are - well, good for you.
Maybe step out of the discussions with people who aren't.
Not everyone is the same on this.
I also think the moderator/abstainer thing may be overstated (even Gretchen Rubin has a more complex breakdown she likes now).
Very likely many or most people are moderators on some things or at some times and abstainers on others.
Sometimes people may not be moderators under some circumstances (i.e., can't have it at home, or can't eat it out of a large package), but could be about others -- I'll have it on holiday, I'll have it outside the house.
At one time I thought I could not moderate certain foods and had to have a restrictive diet or regularly overeat. I eventually realized that if I put structure around it I could moderate more broadly (although with some things it's easier to just abstain). I would say that exploring the specific experiences and nuance can be helpful.14 -
SuzySunshine99 wrote: »I guess the only commonly given advice that I "sort of" disagree with comes up in the threads where people ask "I'm going out to dinner, how do I limit my calories?".
Many long-time posters say "It's only one meal, just enjoy yourself."
While, yes, that's true, in the long run one meal won't make or break you...I think it might set some people up for failure.
If you don't eat out much and/or it's a special occasion, sure, order what you like. But some people eat out multiple times a week. I know that if I did that and "just enjoyed myself" each time, it would be a struggle to control my weight.
As someone who eats out 3-4 times a week- I can relate!!6 -
There's not a lot that I see as routinely given (there used to be more).
I guess I don't think there's any particular reason to limit weight loss goal to .5 lb if close to goal, unless one is struggling, really lean, or going very low on calories. I think sometimes 1 lb (but then more room to be looser with logging) is easier.
I think if someone is struggling with a change at first that doesn't mean it's not working. Many changes take some time. In particular, if you change your way of eating and are suffering from cravings or hunger, but are eating well and not too few calories, it could just be waiting it out if you can (or eating some low cal veg if you really want to eat -- when I first cut out snacking I'd eat carrots and cukes and celery, and it went ). If you try it for a while and continue to struggle, of course change, and of course you should be aware you don't have to do it that way, there are other options.
For myself, I don't totally agree with the advice that you should never eat when not hungry (not sure if this is commonly given here, however). I typically am hungry at mealtimes and don't force myself to eat, but I don't wait until I am aware of hunger before I eat, I do better eating to (loose) schedule. Similarly, I usually don't see perceived hunger as a reason not to wait until my next planned meal to eat (although if this were a regular thing I'd fix it).
I don't think everyone needs to use a food scale, although I love mine. I also don't think it's important to weigh packaged things that are single serving or easy to portion and never do, and I commonly eyeball portions of an overall recipe (log 1/4 of the ingredients vs. weighing the whole and my share). I think typically these suugestions about how to be more precise are only given to those struggling, however.10 -
Not a specific piece of advice, but offering advice without understanding fully the issue at hand is a common problem. Where the person is in the process, what their bodyfat % is, etc. are all critical pieces of information, which leads to much of the misinformation and really bad advice at times.
On the flip side, sometimes it's VERY difficult to drag that information out of the question-asker.
Often the person doesn't know what questions to ask and gets frustrated when they don't get an answer, so it ends up in mutual frustration.5 -
Not a specific piece of advice, but offering advice without understanding fully the issue at hand is a common problem. Where the person is in the process, what their bodyfat % is, etc. are all critical pieces of information, which leads to much of the misinformation and really bad advice at times.
On the flip side, sometimes it's VERY difficult to drag that information out of the question-asker.
Often the person doesn't know what questions to ask and gets frustrated when they don't get an answer, so it ends up in mutual frustration.
The thread I was reading right before this had someone ask the OP for their stats, followed by the OP asking what they mean by stats. Frustrating for everyone, that's the MFP way!5 -
Not a specific piece of advice, but offering advice without understanding fully the issue at hand is a common problem. Where the person is in the process, what their bodyfat % is, etc. are all critical pieces of information, which leads to much of the misinformation and really bad advice at times.
On the flip side, sometimes it's VERY difficult to drag that information out of the question-asker.
Often the person doesn't know what questions to ask and gets frustrated when they don't get an answer, so it ends up in mutual frustration.
The thread I was reading right before this had someone ask the OP for their stats, followed by the OP asking what they mean by stats. Frustrating for everyone, that's the MFP way!
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Not a specific piece of advice, but offering advice without understanding fully the issue at hand is a common problem. Where the person is in the process, what their bodyfat % is, etc. are all critical pieces of information, which leads to much of the misinformation and really bad advice at times.
The one that is kinda getting to me lately is offering advice to raise/lower calories based on the MFP numbers without asking how their weight loss is going. So if someone says they are eating 1200, kinda more important to see if they are losing as expected then determine if they need to eat more.10 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Not a specific piece of advice, but offering advice without understanding fully the issue at hand is a common problem. Where the person is in the process, what their bodyfat % is, etc. are all critical pieces of information, which leads to much of the misinformation and really bad advice at times.
The one that is kinda getting to me lately is offering advice to raise/lower calories based on the MFP numbers without asking how their weight loss is going. So if someone says they are eating 1200, kinda more important to see if they are losing as expected then determine if they need to eat more.
Actually, it's more important to first see if they're even tracking/logging accurately in the first place. Most people who think they're eating 1200 calories and not losing aren't eating anywhere near 1200 calories.17 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Not a specific piece of advice, but offering advice without understanding fully the issue at hand is a common problem. Where the person is in the process, what their bodyfat % is, etc. are all critical pieces of information, which leads to much of the misinformation and really bad advice at times.
The one that is kinda getting to me lately is offering advice to raise/lower calories based on the MFP numbers without asking how their weight loss is going. So if someone says they are eating 1200, kinda more important to see if they are losing as expected then determine if they need to eat more.
Actually, it's more important to first see if they're even tracking/logging accurately in the first place. Most people who think they're eating 1200 calories and not losing aren't eating anywhere near 1200 calories.
My point is that we don't know if they are losing or not. It's different if they come asking why they are not losing, but I've seen a bunch where they don't say if they are or aren't, and it turns out they are losing fine.4 -
What comes to mind is a new poster 2 weeks ago who wrote in that he couldn't believe people on MFP were "starving themselves" with 1200 calories a day. It was satisfying to see him get his comeuppance from several petite women who manage just fine on 1200 calories. I'm not petite, but if I want to lose 2-3 pounds in a week, then I need to be close to the 1200 calorie mark myself.16
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nutmegoreo wrote: »
Probably, but then I would have been woo'd into oblivion for mine!
I personally think calorie counting can go too far sometimes. It's silly to advise someone to weigh their banana at home, bring it to work and eat it, and then bring the banana peel back home to weigh it. Weighing the banana and just making a reasonable estimate of the peel weight based on previous bananas makes more sense to me. 17 -
Copper_Boom wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »
Probably, but then I would have been woo'd into oblivion for mine! I personally think calorie counting can go too far sometimes. It's silly to advise someone to weigh their banana at home, bring it to work and eat it, and then bring the banana peel back home to weigh it. Weighing the banana and just making a reasonable estimate of the peel weight based on previous bananas makes more sense to me.
I get it for small people with a very limited calorie deficit, but in general I agree with you. I have a banana for breakfast. That's how I log it. Same with my lunch snap peas and carrots. I log a damn serving. These are not the items I have issues with and I'm close enough.10 -
"You have to lift heavy if you don't want to look like a skinnyfat noodle person."
I'm just an n=1, but personally, my legs and butt look a million times better now that I'm just running and cycling than they ever did when I was trying a squat/deadlift type program. I have the quads and glutes I always wanted and was never able to achieve before. Strong Curves had nothing on my cycle commute. Even my abs are better now than when I followed a lifting program.
If people want to lift weights I think that's great (my husband does it exclusively and thinks cardio is evil, and he looks very fit and can certainly lift stuff I can't, even if he can't run a couple miles to save his life), but constantly crapping all over people who like cardio is kinda sucky and trying to deter people from running or whatever in favour of lifting is nonsensical to me. I like to run, I like to bike, and I get the results I want from it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Exercise is important and I think there's a place for strength training AND cardio, and the best workout routine is one you enjoy and will stick to.
As a corollary to this, I'll add that I sort of disagree with the idea that the only effective type of lifting is "heavy" lifting.
I should add the caveat that I *can't* lift heavy due to exertion induced migraines, but I can train with progressive overload by adding reps and sets to moderate weights and still get results.
Furthermore, the larger point is that not everyone has goals that can only be met by lifting heavy. Many people have goals that can be met with other sorts of resistance training.
I do have to say that I think the advice to lift heavy has cooled down a bit from where it used to be. I just wish there were more balanced advice offered in general to give people who don't want to or can't lift heavy other options. Or at least that such advice was given more often. I have to say I have seen it given more often than it used to be.19 -
cmriverside wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »Copper_Boom wrote: »Nutrition/fitness/weight loss.
I think you're supposed to answer first.
I see a lot of people staunchly defending certain things as 'the one true way of eating that works for everyone' (TM). I think that most long-timers would agree that each of us need to find what works for us in regards to eating schedule, macro breakdown, etc. Not being too rigid, or trying to change your diet and lifestyle to the point that it's unsustainable. It's funny how heated some of these discussions can get around diet and exercise.
I've never seen moderation become such a hotly contested topic in any other setting than this.
Yeah.
Taking the chance of starting WWIII, but I agree with this...
Some people are moderators with some foods and some just aren't.
If you are - well, good for you.
Maybe step out of the discussions with people who aren't.
Not everyone is the same on this.
I also think the moderator/abstainer thing may be overstated (even Gretchen Rubin has a more complex breakdown she likes now).
Very likely many or most people are moderators on some things or at some times and abstainers on others.
Sometimes people may not be moderators under some circumstances (i.e., can't have it at home, or can't eat it out of a large package), but could be about others -- I'll have it on holiday, I'll have it outside the house.
At one time I thought I could not moderate certain foods and had to have a restrictive diet or regularly overeat. I eventually realized that if I put structure around it I could moderate more broadly (although with some things it's easier to just abstain). I would say that exploring the specific experiences and nuance can be helpful.
I definitely agree that it is much more nuanced. It's not black/white that you're either a moderator or abstainer. There are plenty of shades of gray. I am most definitely gray.3
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