17 Home Truths Every Health Freak Needs to Hear
Every once in a while you just have to vent. I had to get the following off my chest;
You can't spot reduce. If you could, people who chewed gum would have skinny faces and Jillian Michaels wouldn't have "kankles".- Stop telling us that all fat isn't bad like you just discovered penicillin.
- Calories matter: They always have, they still do and they always will.
- Creatine is still the best performance supplement on the market. The "next creatine" is still creatine.
- Dear gym guy: Please stop doing the following;
- Bicep curls in the squat rack
- Any exercise other than the bench press on the bench press
- Resting for 8 minutes between sets and not letting others "work in"
- Leaving your weights all over the floor
- The "secret" to fat loss is good nutrition and hard work. That's it.
- Don't ask me about intermittent fasting, macro-patterning, cyclical ketogenic diets or meal replacements if you aren't eating enough vegetables.
- Learn to prioritize... if you can do 45 hard minutes on the elliptical while still easily belting out every song on your iPod but crumple under the weight of mauve-colored dumbbells - focus more on weight.
- If you can bench press 350lbs (or could in high school) but can't walk up a flight of stairs without coughing up radial snow tires - mix in a bike ride or a hike in place of your 4th "chest day" of the week.
- If you can put your knees in your ears - quit stretching and build some strength and stability.
- If you are "bench press guy" from above and have posture that would make Quasimodo cringe, add some mobility and postural work.
- (Sorry to pick on bench press guy again but...) if you can bench press small buildings but can't deadlift your birth weight - try deadlifting.
- You won't likely be able to out-exercise a poor diet.
- If you are losing weight by diet alone - you will look like a different kind of crap.
- Your way isn't the "best way" it just may be the best way for you.
- You can live a very healthy life eating both vegetarian and Atkins and most things in between provided you are eating healthy, mostly un/minimally processed foods that provide adequate nutrients.
- The most likely reason you aren't getting results: Trying to "fix" something that requires a lifestyle makeover that starts with changing habits.
Have a beef about health trends? Rant away!
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Couldn't agree more with the points made above - and like your writing style. Thanks a lot. Gonna approach my (admittedly poor) eating and (pretty good) range of exercise choices with a better sense of humour.
Reply1. You don't have to go to the gym to get in a good workout, and
2. Just because you go to the gym, it doesn't mean that you're getting a good workout.
Oh, and love #13: You can't out-exercise a poor diet.
ReplyGreat post. Quite snarky. However, this...
Nullifies this...
Maybe diet alone is the best way for someone. I've seen a lot of people become quite healthy by diet alone and not look like "a different kind of crap".I take the 80/20 approach: 80% of my weight loss is through diet, 20% is through low-impact exercise (walking 4 miles a day, light weight lifting three times a week, etc).
I actually began achieving weight reduction results because I focused mostly my diet and not on the Cult Of Exercise.
Sure, I use to run 3-4 miles a day...pounding my knee joints into dust along the way, but when I began viewing exercise as "fitness" and not a major component of sustainable weight loss, I lost weight, and kept it off.
YMVI
=^.^=
Reply3-4 miles a day? And your knees survived? *rolls eyes* regardless of research that runners have lower incidence of osteoarthritis later in life than nonrunners and the fact that it is NOT at all bad for your knees when approached properly (proper shoes, not suddenly increasing, etc)
ReplyCult of Exercise? hehe, good one.
ReplyI am not sure but Mike might have been referring to how weights can change the look of the body. I have done the just cardio & eat better stuff but weights have really helped me transform my body & for example, make my waist appear smaller than it is by broadening the shoulder & upper back area.
ReplyDoes sound like you have found what works for you & what you are comfortable with.
Mike I plead guilty to abusing the bench press.
I hook my legs under the back of the bench press and do glute ham raises.
Works great!
ReplyAlso, I think we could start an entirely new discussion on what constitutes a "good diet".
And fat loss doesn't require one.
My post workout meal today will be whey and a pint of fro yo.
But, I'll also eat lots of veggies and fruit throughout the day.
I focus on making sure I eat healthy things rather than making sure I don't eat so called un-healthy things.
Replynot anything new, but:
doing 20 mins of cardio does not give you license to scarf down fries, a cheeseburger deluxe, and a pint of ben & jerry's.
ReplyI like that one -- though it is a corrollary to #13.
ReplyNumber 16 is incorrect about Atkins. It is not healthy. I've studied this diet as part of a Nutritional Sciences course.
ReplyHahhaa "nutritional science course". You know more then Dr. Atkins, right.
Replylook up the macronutrient distribution range for carbohydrates: 65% usually. look it up from a credible source
ReplyA good macro-nutrient breakdown for carbs is highly context dependent. The ideal range isn't always the same as it is for two different people living two different lifestyles. I don't agree with the line of thought that the carb range is usually around 65%.
ReplyI always get really stunned when someone refutes a nutritional standard developed from extensive scientific research and trials and provides no scientific evidence to explain or back it up. people are so willing to make drastic changes based on their 'feelings' of what is right and completely disregard what we have learned from years of deligent research, trials and studies.
Replybaffling!
What's more stunning to me is the one-size-fits-all mentality that people like you seem to have adopted. First of all, my opinion IS in fact based on scientific research. If you truly want the links, then send me an e-mail and I'll send them to you. Second of all, you yourself have provided absolutely no scientific research to back up your assertions either. If you do an online search, you can find studies that support a 65% carb range, a 20% carb range, an 80% carb range, etc. Don't think you're the only one who has got science on their side.
ReplyMisty has a point. Atkins is not a healthy diet. I think you would be hard pressed to find a certified dietitian who has an education up to national standards that would think Atkins is a healthy diet.
Reply"certified dieticians" can take a hike promoting the standard American diet high in carbs. They're part of the problem, not the solution.
Replyyou're an idiot arrowsmith
Replyplease spare me the cheesy cliches!
ReplyI'll just cease the cliches and eat the cheese!
ReplyThank you! This list is awesome, I found myself yelling "YES! EXACTLY!" several times while reading it.
I'm going to email it to everyone I know.
The best one (for me) was #15. It's hard to explain to some people that yes, their plan sounds fine, but no, I don't think it will work for me, based on trying the same or similar in the past with poor results. *sigh*
ReplyI think I have said most of these through time & still doing it! I love them all! #15 is so true too. A person needs to find what is best for them.
I hate all that leaving the weights everywhere. Really ticks me off. If you can put 6 45 pound weight plates on each side of the leg press than you damn well can take the friggin things off there. And why can't a person put back 8 or 10 pound dumbbells where they belong!
Also, just because you like to talk in between your 8 minute rests, does not mean that I wan to talk to you. I am working out!
ReplyIt also used to bug the heck out of me. I used to complain at my gym cause it was such a pain in the butt.
ReplyI changed my attitude though, I figure these slobs are just giving me extra opportunities to move more heavier weight around and burn more calories.
I see a lot of self righteousness in the OP and the following comments. Too much for my taste.
ReplyYou've come to a diet/nutrition/fitness site and you're complaining about the self-righteousness of the posters? Is this your first day on teh interwebz?
ReplyGreat post! I definitely agree with #13 and #15...everyone's going to have a different thing that works for them, but like Mike pointed out in #3: calories matter and they always have mattered. Even if you're a great athlete, you still have to watch what you eat if you want to maintain your weight.
I have a few of my own: workout equipment is for working out...the treadmill is not meant for you to stroll on while you chat with your friend on the other machine.
Also: "Oh, I don't like veggies, so I take vitamins". First off, grow the hell up...veggies aren't "gross"; you are not 2 years old anymore. Second, vitamins don't replace the phytocompounds that you get in veggies. So if you think a multi will replace a nice spinach and tomato salad, think again.
ReplyStill what is with the rudeness and the nasty tone? Who are you getting back at exactly?
ReplyI don't think its nasty or rudeness directed at getting back at someone. I think its just like minded people venting their frustrations. It sort of feels like the readers/ppl posting understand and can relate.
I have actually told a former workout buddy the same thing. Except he was convinced he didn't have to eat fruits and veggies b/c he supplemented with "greens" products. Not because he took a multivitamin.
ReplyI still don't see the need to lash out at your former workout partner for poor nutrition. It's not as though that person harms you. I think it behooves those of us who know what right things are to point them out in a respectful tone.
ReplyRight...because you never lash out at anyone online.
ReplyHehe, busted!
ReplyI thought that post was very funny. Lol for me! :) Great fun, thanks!
Replyo thank you! reality check so needed for so many people! this gave me a great chuckle. Thanks! :)
o and i think this should be added:
-I see you in the gym doing the same workout you did 4 months ago with the same weight. You look the same too! Change up your routine!
and
-All the guys who lift way too much weight and have terrible form should really learn how to do the exercises correctly with half the weight. They would get better results faster. Not to mention no injuries!!!
ReplyIt's a combination of stupidity and out of control macho.
ReplyAll the guys who lift way too much weight and have terrible form should really learn how to do the exercises correctly with half the weight. They would get better results faster. Not to mention no injuries!!!
Oh my goodness. I've always been a tiny bit paranoid at the gym, wondering if someone was looking at me going "Wow, she's really doing that exercise wrong" (even though I only do ones that I know how to do properly). Then one day I saw a guy who was using freeweights that were obviously WAY too heavy for him, he had to swing them to get momentum before he could curl his bicep, and he was only doing like three or four reps before switching to even heavier ones. And then he would switch exercises randomly every couple of reps, none of which he knew how to do properly. I seriously wanted to stop him and say "Dude, you're going. To. Hurt. Yourself." After that I stopped worrying, because no matter what I do I won't look as clueless as that guy.
ReplyO I just though of another reality check...you know that chic who always hoses herself down with perfume right before she works out or right after? You enter the change room and are so taken aback by the heavy scent you can barely breath?
ReplyMy gym has a post that says "use effective deoderant" I don't think that gives you guys and gals permission to take a shower in asthma attack inducing scents.
How about:
If your diet is working, don't listen to people who tell you "it isn't working" or "it can't work" or "don't do it that way". If your diet does NOT work, don't listen to people who tell you it does; find one that actually works.
And another one:
Professional athletes are not generally trying to lose weight. Don't eat like them if you are trying to lose weight. And gatorade is not a diet drink.
And:
It's normal and healthy and good to want to look good. Don't apologize for trying.
ReplyOne more:
Stop blaming food companies or society or anyone else for your physical condition. They can't solve your problems for you. Be responsible for yourself.
ReplyI do have several gym peeves:
* the uber-macho dude who drops the olympic barbell instead of putting it down gently causing a big crashing sound, disrupting my focus
* the idiot who sprays the handles next to me on the elliptical WHILE the fan is blowing the chemical straight into my face, talk about lack of consideration!
* people carrying on conversations instead of working out to the max, it just disrupts my focus. I def like working out around people who are as focused as I am.
ReplyWhen people say: "If I had been working out for as long as you have I'd be way bigger." They don't understand how much hard work goes into building muscle and how long it takes.
Or,as an excuse for being small and skinny: "I don't want to look muscular." You don't have to be Ronnie Coleman, but weight lifting is extremely beneficial to health.
Also: "Its bad for you to run so far." Well its bad for you to drink soda, and watch tv all day.
Loved #5: Waiting 8 minutes in between exercises. Hate that!! Just do the work already, do you see me standing around? Gyms aren't Starbucks, you don't just hang around and talk
I could go on all day!
Reply