Misinformation.

I'd like to talk about something.

Often times on the forums, we'll see someone post what looks like a helpful post full of dieting information. If the information is faulty, some people will reply with the intent to correct it in the hopes that too many people don't buy into the bad information.

Then a bunch of people will get upset with the guy or gal who is trying to correct the person, saying "Stop hating" or "Stop being so negative!". (Sometimes people do post rude replies but it seems like any disagreement is arbitrarily viewed as negative as of late).

Misinformation is bad.

I will give you a few examples to attempt to explain why:

Let's look at meal frequency, which would fall into the personal preference category. Does meal frequency matter?

It might matter for behavioral reasons and it might matter for performance reasons and if it leads to better gym performance it could minimally effect expenditure. But it DOES NOT effect metabolism and if someone says this gem:

"It's very important to eat every 3 hours so that your metabolism keeps burning. If you skip a meal your metabolism will slow down and your body will actually STORE FAT. So please make sure to eat every 3 hours". (<--- this claim is entirely false)

...this is problematic because people who DON'T currently eat frequently might think "Crap, I'm doing it wrong. I'm going to have to fix this". Now they're going to reschedule what could be an eating pattern that works very well for them based on the bad information that increasing their frequency will increase metabolic rate. Additionally, they'll have to eat smaller meals (because they would obviously keep kcals/macros constant) which would probably have a negative effect on adherence/satiety.

Is eating frequently arbitrarily bad? No. It's personal preference. But convincing someone that it's metabolically relevant is BAD, because this convinces them that they must follow this advice.

Lets look at a different example from a recent thread:

"You shouldn't combine carbs and fats in the same meal because it will cause your body to store fat!"

This was recently posted in a topic and not only is it completely bogus and not supported by anything, but the end result was (literally) that someone replied with:

"Thanks so much for this, I'm going to stop eating PB+J sandwiches".

So someone comes on here and posts something completely false and out of fear, another person eliminates something they enjoy from their diet. Now, for all we know someone else is reading that post and not replying, because they're in the kitchen stressed out over how they're going to re-arrange every meal in their day so that the carb sources aren't ever eaten with fat.


This is not a good thing.

There's a very small list of things that are necessary to lose weight.
There's a very large list of things that are personal preference for losing weight. (In this list I include medical reasons, moral reasons, individual intolerances).


Both of these are important, but focus on the necessities first and customize the personal preference aspects to give you the best adherence or most enjoyment possible out of your journey.


And don't confuse the two for yourself or others.

/end rant.

In my weight loss journey, I have found that it is like religon and politics. People learn something or get taught something, or have success doing something. What they know and think is the only way or the right way. Some people believe the only way to get healthy is eating "healthy foods". Who is to say what is healthy. I have gone on diets where I have eaten healthy for months and have lost a lot of weight, yet I could not maintain it because I wanted the foods that I used to eat. I would gain all the weight back plus some each time. I know many people on here do not buy in to calories in calories out and that not all calories are created equal. I eat the same foods I always ate, I have fast food every day like I always did, I eat pizza, hot wings, chinese food, whatever I want to eat. I also walk 8-10 miles a day. I will begin lifting weights in a couple months. In 7 weeks i have lost 38 pounds. I never lost that much weight eating 100% clean and mixing that with weight and cardio training.

I had a friend that got a juicer and was miserble with what he was eating. He wasn't loosing as much weight because he wasn't satisfied and would cheat. Now he has bought in to calories in and calories out and he is seeing results and he enjoys life. In the end, TO EACH HIS OWN!

The reason people reject calories in, calories out is because it is an over-simplification. It doesn't take into account how macro-nutrients affect hormones in each person's body differently.

I have established that no matter what type of foods I eat, a calorie is a calorie as far as my weight loss goes. However if I eat 2000 calories of junk food, I am starving all the time. If I eat 2000 calories of clean food, I am satisfied. So by that logic, which is the better diet? The one in which I feel healthier, more energized, and less hungry, even though both diets lead to the exact same weight loss. So that's why I never subscribe to the over-simplification of calories in, calories out. I think in terms of sustained weight loss efforts.

First what is a clean food? Secondly, you're using anecdotal evidence again, for example a study on the satiety of common foods found jelly beans to be quite filling. Find a diet you can adhere to, if it's Paleo or low carb or a diet of moderation, that is the best diet for you, however don't think any diet achieves weight loss through any magical thing another then a calorie deficit.

thank you. I miss my pbj but so worried about eating bread all the time lol