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Fitness and diet myths that just won't go away
Replies
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You have to "eat clean" and "unprocessed" in order to lose weight correctly.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Water is essential for life. But you DON'T need a gallon of water a day unless you're sweating out that much. And the majority of people don't. Total broscience.Staying hydrated assists in balancing the calorie deficit. It’s essential, not a myth, backed by science and any M.D. you can find.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
This is dead wrong. Firstly I don’t count in gallons and no one should either unless you’re casually talking with random people about non fitness related things. 2 liters a day is essential for proper water maintenance and the universal disagreements to that on my comment is laughable. An additional 500ml to 1000ml is necessary to prevent dehydration when exercising. Yes, exercising in which case you should be sweating. The only people who aren’t going to be sweating so much are people who do not need to lose a significant amount of weight, are genetically predisposed non sweaters, or in what is most likely the case: not going far enough. Telling people drinking more than 2 liters is “broscience” is absolute nonsense and false.
I looked it up to be sure and 1 gallon is 3.78 liters. I never stated anywhere someone should be drinking past three liters. My original post is accurate and for those saying they don’t even drink 2 liters (approx 8 cups of water) per day...then there are serious issues that need to be addressed with their nutrition plan.
This comment seems to be based on the assumption that the water in foods is somehow not recognized by our bodies. Some days I am thirsty and want to drink more water. Other days I'm having lots of things like fruit and soup and I'm less thirsty. Virtually all days of the week I'm sweating a fair amount (I sweat a lot during exercise), but my urine is always indicating that I'm at about the same hydration level.
Pretending that the water found in food doesn't count is the nonsense.16 -
Water is essential for life. But you DON'T need a gallon of water a day unless you're sweating out that much. And the majority of people don't. Total broscience.Staying hydrated assists in balancing the calorie deficit. It’s essential, not a myth, backed by science and any M.D. you can find.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
This is dead wrong. Firstly I don’t count in gallons and no one should either unless you’re casually talking with random people about non fitness related things. 2 liters a day is essential for proper water maintenance and the universal disagreements to that on my comment is laughable. An additional 500ml to 1000ml is necessary to prevent dehydration when exercising. Yes, exercising in which case you should be sweating. The only people who aren’t going to be sweating so much are people who do not need to lose a significant amount of weight, are genetically predisposed non sweaters, or in what is most likely the case: not going far enough. Telling people drinking more than 2 liters is “broscience” is absolute nonsense and false.
I looked it up to be sure and 1 gallon is 3.78 liters. I never stated anywhere someone should be drinking past three liters. My original post is accurate and for those saying they don’t even drink 2 liters (approx 8 cups of water) per day...then there are serious issues that need to be addressed with their nutrition plan.
There's another one to add to the diet myths thread - if you aren't sweating your *kitten* off you aren't doing it right (or hard enough).19 -
But "breakfast" isn't used in that sense. Especially when you add lunch and dinner to the schedule. The whole motto was written by General Mills to sell more cereal. And many trainers and coaches INSIST that their participants should be eating a morning breakfast...................just because.
Maybe in your country and/or experience it means "whenever you first eat be it at 7am or 10pm at night" but here, breakfast is what you eat when you get up.
Lunch is still lunch and dinner is still dinner, even if it is the first food of the day to pass your lips.
It doesn't mean that in the US either. It's a literal parsing of break-fast, but the word breakfast generally means a morning meal, not the first meal of the day, whenever eaten (people who eat twice in the morning will joke about first and second breakfast), and if one eats for the first time at mid-day it's lunch (unless the biggest meal in some places, where the more archaic "dinner" for the largest meal is used) and if it's in the evening it is dinner. It also doesn't depend on food -- my morning meal would be breakfast even if salad (a former habit of mine) unless it's in place of breakfast and lunch and somewhat large and then it might be brunch.
Worth noting also that the translations for breakfast in other languages generally aren't literally "breakfast" or "first meal of the day" but their terms for the morning meal.
To circle back to your post that kicked this all off, you are right that when people claim that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, they are intending to say that eating in the morning is extra important. (And I agree with your point, it's not.)
Indeed - the myth I am referring to is the one that says you should eat when you get up to help keep your weight in check as it is "the most important meal of the day"
We call it "breakfast" and I had not realised there would be someone out there who had a broader definition of "breakfast", but its name is of course beside the point - I am talking about the message.
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"Eating healthy is just so expensive!"
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Water is essential for life. But you DON'T need a gallon of water a day unless you're sweating out that much. And the majority of people don't. Total broscience.Staying hydrated assists in balancing the calorie deficit. It’s essential, not a myth, backed by science and any M.D. you can find.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
This is dead wrong. Firstly I don’t count in gallons and no one should either unless you’re casually talking with random people about non fitness related things. 2 liters a day is essential for proper water maintenance and the universal disagreements to that on my comment is laughable. An additional 500ml to 1000ml is necessary to prevent dehydration when exercising. Yes, exercising in which case you should be sweating. The only people who aren’t going to be sweating so much are people who do not need to lose a significant amount of weight, are genetically predisposed non sweaters, or in what is most likely the case: not going far enough. Telling people drinking more than 2 liters is “broscience” is absolute nonsense and false.
I looked it up to be sure and 1 gallon is 3.78 liters. I never stated anywhere someone should be drinking past three liters. My original post is accurate and for those saying they don’t even drink 2 liters (approx 8 cups of water) per day...then there are serious issues that need to be addressed with their nutrition plan.
So...this is exactly what I'm talking about when I refer to black-and-white, one-size-fits-all "rules".
Telling every person, regardless of their body size, activity level, or amount of hydration they get through food and other drinks, that they MUST drink 2 liters of water in order to be hydrated.
Again, assuming we are thinking adults, we can learn how to spot signs of dehydration and address that as needed. We can reason that the hydration needs of a 250-pound, 6-foot tall, active man will be vastly different than the needs of a 100-pound, 5 foot tall sedentary woman. We can reason that the fruit we eat, the soup we had for lunch, and the mug of tea you're sipping on all hydrate you without having a sip of plain water.
And, if we understand the science of calories in relation to weight loss, we know that water does not have a direct effect on your fat gain/loss.15 -
I don't sweat much and I instruct a cardio kickboxing class 3 times a week. I have hella dry skin though, which is why moisturizing is important for me.
Water is essential for life. But you DON'T need a gallon of water a day unless you're sweating out that much. And the majority of people don't. Total broscience.Staying hydrated assists in balancing the calorie deficit. It’s essential, not a myth, backed by science and any M.D. you can find.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
This is dead wrong. Firstly I don’t count in gallons and no one should either unless you’re casually talking with random people about non fitness related things. 2 liters a day is essential for proper water maintenance and the universal disagreements to that on my comment is laughable. An additional 500ml to 1000ml is necessary to prevent dehydration when exercising. Yes, exercising in which case you should be sweating. The only people who aren’t going to be sweating so much are people who do not need to lose a significant amount of weight, are genetically predisposed non sweaters, or in what is most likely the case: not going far enough. Telling people drinking more than 2 liters is “broscience” is absolute nonsense and false.
I looked it up to be sure and 1 gallon is 3.78 liters. I never stated anywhere someone should be drinking past three liters. My original post is accurate and for those saying they don’t even drink 2 liters (approx 8 cups of water) per day...then there are serious issues that need to be addressed with their nutrition plan.
There's another one to add to the diet myths thread - if you aren't sweating your *kitten* off you aren't doing it right (or hard enough).
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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And also now pseudoscience:
"Your body is in acidic phase so you have to eat an alkaline diet"
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition 10 -
tacolover10231989 wrote: »I am big boned.
I once saw a test for this based on how far around your wrist you can wrap your fingers. You will be shocked to learn that the answer to that question fluctuates with weight.12 -
You have to workout in the "fat-burning zone" to burn fat.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition 6 -
snowflake954 wrote: »And let's not forget that you will lose weight faster if you add lemon juice or ACV to your water.
Do you know my colleague? He started skipping breakfast, and eating a salad (lots of vegs) for lunch. But attributes part of his weight loss to the lemon water he drinks in the morning.13 -
Somatotyping: ectomorph (skinny build), mesomorph (medium build), endomorph (heavy set build)
So strong in the broscience people. And most of them have no idea how it was originated.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition 8 -
Even better when you hear talking of "good carbs" and "bad carbs". Reality is is that if someone is meeting their nutritional RDA's (all food has a nutritional value) and macros counts correctly, it almost doesn't matter if the carbs are "good" or "bad". White rice and pasta are deemed "bad" carbs because it's "processed". And yet countries that consume them on a regular basis outside of US don't have the same weight issues.Drinking water helps with weight loss
Carbs are bad
Starvation mode
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I 100% agree.2 -
snowflake954 wrote: »And let's not forget that you will lose weight faster if you add lemon juice or ACV to your water.
Do you know my colleague? He started skipping breakfast, and eating a salad (lots of vegs) for lunch. But attributes part of his weight loss to the lemon water he drinks in the morning.
I attribute part of my weight loss to ACV...when I use it instead of a more calorific dressing on a salad.7 -
Somatotyping: ectomorph (skinny build), mesomorph (medium build), endomorph (heavy set build)
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Thoughts on this article? https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/ask-the-ripped-dude-magical-macronutrient-ratio-for-fat-loss.html I must admit that it helped me in thinking about and customizing my macros to me.
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Not buying it. When dude starting with SOMATO TYPING, I phased out because somatotyping is a myth. It was designed and developed by a psychiatrist based on observation of nude photos of people and their temperment.Somatotyping: ectomorph (skinny build), mesomorph (medium build), endomorph (heavy set build)
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Thoughts on this article? https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/ask-the-ripped-dude-magical-macronutrient-ratio-for-fat-loss.html I must admit that it helped me in thinking about and customizing my macros to me.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Ok, this is a reverse myth
In other words, it's a saying used to combat the "myth" that exercise leads to weight loss.
"Weight loss happens in the kitchen, fitness happens in the gym"
A calorie is a calorie. A calorie burned in the gym is equal to one not eaten from the kitchen.
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FitAgainBy55 wrote: »Ok, this is a reverse myth In other words, it's a saying used to combat the "myth" that exercise leads to weight loss.
"Weight loss happens in the kitchen, fitness happens in the gym"
A calorie is a calorie. A calorie burned in the gym is equal to one not eaten from the kitchen.
Of course a calorie burned is a calorie burned but the "myth" in my view is the idea that you burn a lot more calories through exercise than actually happens. Tell someone how far they have to walk to burn off a single chocolate bar and they will generally be astonished.
What is behind this myth, in my view, is the idea that people get fat because they are "lazy" rather than because they eat too much and that you can lose significant weight without changing eating habits (or at least not very much) if you just 'move' a bit more.
I quite enjoy the exercise I do, but my weight is a function of food, not my walks.10 -
I quite enjoy the exercise I do, but my weight is a function of food, not my walks.
Your weight loss is a function of CI - CO ... in math terms they are equal. I could lose weight eating burgers and fries every day as long as the equation holds true. This afternoon I will go for a 6 mile run and burn over 700 calories (excluding my BMR calories). That is my entire 1.5 lb per week deficit for the day. Math is math. CI and CO are not weighted differently, they are equal in the equation.
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