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Fitness and diet myths that just won't go away
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snowflake954 wrote: »amorfati601070 wrote: »concordancia wrote: »amorfati601070 wrote: »Protein as a supplement is a waste of money. Yeah, prolly gonna get smashed for this one lol
Is this the myth or did you skip straight to the debunking?
The myth is that protein powder actually offers benefits. For majority, not really. So yeah..debunking it. Was poorly worded.
I actually encouraged my husband to start using protein powder. He's 67, pescatarian, thin, and doesn't eat a great deal. I've seen older men who lose muscle mass and are stringy looking.
He's been using it for 5 yrs and has a great body. His arms are hard and strong, as is his chest. He looks a great deal younger. He has a desk job, and we go jogging 45 min in the park every morning, and he does a great deal of postural exercises, yoga, Tai Chi, and walking. Our gym and pool has been closed for 5 months.
He just told me today that the protein powder makes all the difference for him.
My husband is much younger, but struggles to keep weight on and needs *something*. For a few years it was protein powder kept at his desk at work. Then it was nuts kept on his desk at work as something he didn't need to prepare and clean up. He recently got invisalign braces and can't snack at his desk, so he is adding copious amounts of whole grain bread at meals. He has maintained for over a month with no noticeable changes to his body, proving that for him it was never the protein, just the calories.3 -
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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.
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
For me, I sort of ignored the bro-science and took away that the right macro mix varies by person, maybe even by point in time for each person and that you should experiment to see what macros work best for you. For me, that take away was very good even if the article included the bro-science.
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The two myths that I personally had to overcome to reach my goal weight were:
“That you have to suffer to lose weight.” This includes fasting for days, consuming yucky flavored concoctions, only eating foods you don’t enjoy, depriving yourself of enjoying food on special occasions or holidays, exercising for hours in ways you don’t enjoy, pushing yourself until you are in terrible pain, follow horrible fad diets, etc... if you weren’t putting yourself through the grinder and truly suffering then you weren’t going to get any meaningful/lasting results.
And “That you need to spend money to lose weight.” I used to believe that you had to buy weight loss products like pills, shakes, detox teas, purchase books/magazines/dvds, bodybuilding powders, exercise equipment, pay for gastric bypass surgery, invest in a gym membership, spend money to join weight loss programs, buy expensive specialty foods, etc. Clearly the more expensive the better, right?
Back when I worked in an office a group of us were constantly trying to lose excess pounds for at least 12 years. It’s the kind of office that always has heavy calorie/low nutrition food available in the breakroom at all times so that didn’t help our waistlines! We tried all the fads and most of the myths above and failed every time. I have since had to unlearn all these myths and just went back to basics: the math doesn’t lie, CICO, I just had to eat less, move more and be patient. After losing 17 lbs on my own I reached a plateau and a new coworker mentioned MFP and we all joined the free version. I continued eating less and moving more but now the MFP app made it easier to be more precise and I continued to lose weight until I lost a total of 43 lbs and reached my goal weight. For some reason or other my fellow coworkers (except for the one who introduced us to MFP) did not stick with the app and all went back to the fads/myths. They continued to be frustrated and not reach their goals. After quitting MFP one lady continued to try fasting and would be very disappointed and beat herself up when she naturally got hungry and caved, she’d exclaim “How can I EVER lose weight when I can’t even fast for a whole day, let alone 3?!” Another one talked incessantly about trying to get her insurance to pay for gastric bypass when she was overweight but not obese enough to warrant such a drastic measure, she just thought it wouldn’t require her to have to put any effort into losing weight at all. One lady was paying for Weight Watchers but hated to go to the meetings and also paid for gym memberships at 2 different gyms for years on end and never went more than a few days every January. Others would decline going for a walk on our lunch hour because “that’s not enough of a workout for me to lose weight” then desperately work themselves out to the point of exhaustion on the weekend, injure themselves then not be able to do any exercise again for months, feel guilty then go all out again only to reinjure themselves. Another would swear by cutting food up it made it have less calories. She’d cut pastries in half and would exclaim “only half the calories!” then she’d eat both halves, one immediately after the other, she was morbidly obese. Others dabbled in pills. They’d talk about how the “little purple pills” made them not want to eat at all but they were expensive and made them have heart palpitations (among other side effects) so they could only take them once in awhile. These pills might not have been legal, I don’t know, but I do know that they didn’t work long term because they always gained the weight back within a short time after they stopped taking them. Another coworker would try every fad diet (ACV, cayenne pepper and lemon juice, cabbage soup diet, etc) eventually fail and loudly proclaim “I’ll do ANYTHING to lose weight!!!” except they wouldn’t stick to counting calories because they wanted instant gratification and wanted the weight to magically disappear in a day or two. I quietly and patiently just stuck to counting calories.
It took me 10 months to lose 43 lbs and I have maintained for 7+ years. I didn’t suffer terribly nor spend money on anything special to do it, I didn’t even own a food scale at the time, I simply estimated calories as best I could and ate less of the foods I’d normally eat and allowed myself some leeway for special occasions and to go over once in awhile. No gym membership or exercise equipment, I started with simply walking then later progressed to hiking. In maintenance I’ve become a runner, trail running has become my true passion and no equipment needed, I don’t even wear shoes (for other reasons) but no need to spend money on an exercise that I enjoy doing and that keeps me fit, I’m extremely happy with the way it’s shaped my body after weightloss. I was mildly uncomfortable at times but nothing extreme. I had to relearn what my real hunger cues were and stop eating simply out of habit or boredom but I never starved myself. I’m a distance runner (not a sprinter) so I pushed myself to improve my running stamina and practice the techniques needed for running trails up and down hills and mountains (my favorite part is running downhill!) I’ve had some mild discomforts along the way but I never pushed myself to the point of great pain and eventually learned what my body is actually capable of and it’s a lot more than I ever imagined in my previously sedentary life. I don’t work in that office anymore but have stayed in touch with a lot of coworkers online and occasionally been in to visit. The coworkers who preferred fads/myths to calorie counting have stayed overweight or gained even more weight. I remember how much personal suffering they put themselves through and how much money they spent on ineffective methods (we all lived and worked in one of the most economically challenged areas and discussed this all the time) As I’ve maintained, they sometimes still ask me what my “secret” is but when I mention “counting calories” or “eat less move more” their eyes glaze over and they are not interested in continuing the conversation, they’ll usually follow it with “well I’m trying X diet now!” It’s almost like they enjoy the process of trying novel weightloss fads, like a strange hobby they like to perpetually discuss amongst themselves... not judging, but I saw so much of this over the years it’s bizarre and puzzling behavior, I’m glad I hauled myself out of that mindset. The coworker who introduced me to MFP and myself have maintained our goal weights over the years. Go figure.20 -
amorfati601070 wrote: »Protein as a supplement is a waste of money. Yeah, prolly gonna get smashed for this one lol
Please, cite your clinical studies that validate this statement. I pore over research, double blind clinical studies and data derived from trainers that have worked with thousands of clients, who have FACTS that differ from your conclusion. Please, show us some.1 -
amorfati601070 wrote: »Protein as a supplement is a waste of money. Yeah, prolly gonna get smashed for this one lol
Please, cite your clinical studies that validate this statement. I pore over research, double blind clinical studies and data derived from trainers that have worked with thousands of clients, who have FACTS that differ from your conclusion. Please, show us some.
Also would like to add that protein powder is just protein in another form. It's a convenient way to get more protein if you need it--no magic. So I don't get how this is myth busting.9 -
This might have already been said but...”lifting makes women bulky”.
I work blooming hard and I want these bulky gains everyone has threatened me with 😡16 -
claireychn074 wrote: »This might have already been said but...”lifting makes women bulky”.
I work blooming hard and I want these bulky gains everyone has threatened me with 😡
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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claireychn074 wrote: »This might have already been said but...”lifting makes women bulky”.
I work blooming hard and I want these bulky gains everyone has threatened me with 😡
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
That, and the myth that if someone gets stronger, it inherently means they gained muscle mass.
That plus the water retention? People thinking they're instantly growing mass, and ready to argue about it. Bonus myth points of their BIA scale says their muscle was up 0.2% this morning.
(Mass gain definitely not required for strength gain in relative beginners.)7 -
claireychn074 wrote: »This might have already been said but...”lifting makes women bulky”.
I work blooming hard and I want these bulky gains everyone has threatened me with 😡
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
That, and the myth that if someone gets stronger, it inherently means they gained muscle mass.
That plus the water retention? People thinking they're instantly growing mass, and ready to argue about it. Bonus myth points of their BIA scale says their muscle was up 0.2% this morning.
(Mass gain definitely not required for strength gain in relative beginners.)
I don't know if my husband just grew up listening to things his older sisters said or if he looks things up online to try to be supportive, but I once complained about not losing weight over a few weeks despite doing everything right and he suggested I might have put on muscle. Oh, boo, if only!3 -
"I gained big muscle in a diet - because I increased my weight on the (usually) squat or deadlift by X pounds while I lost X pounds - so I must have"
Huhhh - you actually maintained the weight you are lifting off the floor (if X really matches).
I actually recall the first claim like that, he actually put less weight back on the bar than he lost off his body - not realizing he lost muscle mass with his extreme diet where he thought lifting was going to save him.
One of the few people to come back to a thread to report his success at an extreme diet many warned him would cause some undesired effects. Wanted to show us how wrong we were.1 -
youngmomtaz wrote: »Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »Skinny people just have faster metabolisms.
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 so wish that calorie counting pill was available to us all! I hate counting!
I'm pretty sure it's called doubly labeled water, if requires two mass spectrometer tests plus the water itself is quite expensive. It's also used to measure the metabolism of animals.2 -
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amorfati601070 wrote: »Protein as a supplement is a waste of money. Yeah, prolly gonna get smashed for this one lol
Please, cite your clinical studies that validate this statement. I pore over research, double blind clinical studies and data derived from trainers that have worked with thousands of clients, who have FACTS that differ from your conclusion. Please, show us some.
I dont see how "protein powders are a waste of money" could possibly be proven or disproven by any clinical studies or FACTS.
Since it is a subjective statement and entirely a personal decision.
Anything - be it protein powder, shoes, bags, jewellery, coffee etc etc - is worth it to some people and not others.
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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.
Gosh that would be me.
Most days I drink about 500mls to 1 litre of actual water - I also drink weak coffee and sometimes other drinks.
Of course if I am playing sport or walking through the outback on a hot day, I drink more - because you know ,life varies.
But that isnt most days.
Serious issues with my nutrition plan?? - oh dearie me.
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That you have to 'go hard' at weightloss.
No.
no you don't and most people probably should not, at least not when you start. Not if you intend to keep that weight off.
CHILL OUT. Get a foundation going to build on.
(Also re: Exercise: Amazingly most people find it more fun and appealing when less heavy. so. While that's a good thing to get in there, maybe after some eating habits are established and weight is down a bit).6 -
That you should lose weight before starting to exercise, as some kind of general rule. I don't know how common this myth is, but I do see people here assert that. And I'm not just talking about someone who's clearly making a personal priority choice to work on one thing at a time . . . I'm talking about some people seeming to have the belief that fat people can't or shouldn't exercise until they're lighter.
Personally, I was started getting routinely active while still obese, and was very active for over a decade while staying obese. I would've been better to lose weight, too, but just getting active was hugely beneficial. For sure, it was better to be fat and active than fat and inactive, both from a health standpoint, and (for me) for enjoyment.
There's some potential for high bodyweight to increase risk in some types of exercise, but there are lots of activities where that's not a significant issue. It's just a choice. If overweight and inactive, the best idea for health is to fix both of those things, either at the same time, or in whatever order seems most practical and desirable. But improving either one is better than improving neither, when it comes to health.6 -
That you should lose weight before starting to exercise, as some kind of general rule. I don't know how common this myth is, but I do see people here assert that. And I'm not just talking about someone who's clearly making a personal priority choice to work on one thing at a time . . . I'm talking about some people seeming to have the belief that fat people can't or shouldn't exercise until they're lighter.
Personally, I was started getting routinely active while still obese, and was very active for over a decade while staying obese. I would've been better to lose weight, too, but just getting active was hugely beneficial. For sure, it was better to be fat and active than fat and inactive, both from a health standpoint, and (for me) for enjoyment.
There's some potential for high bodyweight to increase risk in some types of exercise, but there are lots of activities where that's not a significant issue. It's just a choice. If overweight and inactive, the best idea for health is to fix both of those things, either at the same time, or in whatever order seems most practical and desirable. But improving either one is better than improving neither, when it comes to health.
Yes. To be clear i've been competing in high impact sports for years while obese.
But I do think a lot of people think that in order to lose weight they have to change something radically. Take up running, join a gym and go 5 times a week or some nonsense. I don't think you should force that. i think it works the same as dietary changes and weight loss. small changes you can build upon, and things you enjoy staying in your life.
Not 'don't exercise when heavy' but that you might, just might, find it enjoyable when you're lighter even if the idea feels like torture or punishment now.2 -
I read a lot of weight loss articles on Google for inspiration and ideas and everyone's diet secret is either a big bowl of soup or glass of milk at night. That's it. And these people end up losing 25 kgs in 5 months. It really makes me doubt myself coz despite eating healthy and working out regularly my weight is not dropping. I know i will not be able to sustain it so it prevents me from trying such methods and I have a terrible fear of passing out!1
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Overexercising.!
My dad's a diabetic-since the past 25 years- and in Feb 2020 he went to a doctor who claimed to completely cure people of diabetes and promised to get them off meds/insulin. He was put on a high protein low carb diet and my dad lost 20 kgs by sept 2020 but the amount of overexercising my dad did was crazy and he used to force me to do the same but I only used to feel light headed and hungry so for me I thought it was defeating the purpose coz I used to overeat 😢3
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