Just for fun

What's the stupidest bit of weight loss advice you've been given by somebody who 'just doesn't understand'?

A few years ago a guy I knew told me I should learn to play chess because it would teach me the mental discipline I needed to lose weight.

He was an odd guy. He used the word discipline a lot in conversation - I never wanted to know why!

Anyway, I told him chess is the most boring game in creation and I'd rather watch paint dry. (Apologies to any avid chess players out there.)

I didn't dare to say, but agree with NMJG.. it's not the butter or full fat cream that makes us fat, it's all the processed food and sugars etc. It is the combination of high fat and high sugar processed foods, most of us used to be addicted to, that made us fat. There is a lot of research out there proving that a natural fat as long as not accompanying it with lots of carbs are ok.

"Real butter and heavy cream do not make you fat!" -- my mother, with contributions from all the diet specialists out there who have obviously not figured it out.....

Actually, new research plus old research that was buried for many years says your mom is right. It's the carbs, not the fat. Take a look at Gary Taub's books Good Carbs Bad Carbs or Why We Get Fat. Journalistic discovery of all the research and studies over the years that did not agree with the low fat bandwagon. Nations around the world (like Sweden) are revising their nutritional guidelines as we speak.

I was low fat for decades, did nothing to keep me from gaining weight. Now I eat all the heavy cream and butter I want but keep my carbs very low and I maintain my weight very easily. Not to sound preachy, but the world is a-changing and everything we took for granted about nutrition since the 60's is being turned on its head.

I have Crohn's disease and 10 years of being on and off prednisone, along with eating tons of crap got me to post sleeve, but a year ago my gasto states to me " do you know you have gained 90 pounds in the past 9 years, to which I stated back " are you looking at how many times I've been on prednisone?" Of course I gained 50 more pounds after that meeting

I am constantly told to just walk away from the table and don't eat anything! The less I eat the more I'll lose! I wish! Tried that too and it didn't work. All discipline and willpower that's all I need.

Exactly. I was told the obvious. If I didn't eat I would lose weight. Duh! I'd lose half my organs too from shutting down, most my hair from lack of protien and the muscle mass and who knows what other complications from simply "not eating".

I think my sleeve is a very great tool for me personally because my problem, personally... was not eating chocolates, cakes, pies, candies, doughnuts (well ok, I could polish off a bag of hostess chocolate covered dougnuts for desert but I do digress...) etc. My problem was going to the Papa John's and picking up two pizzas. One for the family and one for me. I'd tell myself it served a noble purpose by not subjecting my poor family to my pepperoni, onion, jalapeno mess but in reality I just wanted to eat a whole pizza by myself. I just tried a thin crust pizza after my 90 days and was lucky to get two of the smaller slices eaten.

For some of us who know WLS was the only answer and in the last 3 months I've now done what I've failed to do in the last 23 years since I got out of the Army and that is a fact.

So yeah, dumbest thing I was ever told was to simply not eat till I got to my ideal weight.

I hear this a lot...oh the surgery you did, I know a lot of people who have done the surgery and gained the weight all back. So it doesn't work...I am thinking are you serious? And I would ask what kind of surgery did they do and what do they eat, oh I don't know but they gained it all back. So annoying to hear that!

I had a friend who had her own diet. The Mountain Dew diet. It included 2L of regular mountain dew a day.

I remember getting magazines from Singapore that had all kinds of weird ultra low calorie diets.

i love my friend who gets up at 5:30 am and jogs. and drinks green smoothies for breakfast. but before i had my surgery she watched the movie "fat, sick and nearly dead." (about juicing) she was all over that sh*t. "you should do a 40 day juice fast! if this guy can lose 90 pounds juicing you can too!" i was like... "um, if i could live on vegetable juice for 40 days, i wouldnt be 100 pounds overweight dear!" btw, her husband did it, lost 42 pounds and gained it all back in 5 months.

I was told by a Dr. I went to for help to "Just exercise some will power". He then put me on a high carb-low fat diet. I gained twenty pounds. Went back with my food diary ( I had stuck like super glue to his food plan) and was told that I was obviously lying. Last visit with him! I was later diagnosed with PCOS. Eating high carbs is the worst thing for me to do.

Arg... Remember when that was what diets were all about....high carb/low fat. Felt awful and hungry all the time..... Thank goodness that's passé now!

I've gotten a couple stupid pieces of advice:

A friend recently, who is hypothyroid, mentioned she might take more than the usual dose of levothyroxine to speed up her metabolism, and I warned her not to do that as it could actually cause more issues with the thyroid (I'd actually rate this under the "dangerous" category, if there was one).

The VA MOVE program told us to "eat less, exercise more" (because we've never heard this before, anywhere) and to "take the stairs at work" (look, if you're pushing 300 lbs and you take the stairs once or twice a day, it won't help, sorry. What might help is 30+ minutes per day, 4+ days per week on stairs, at your target heart rate, and not a minute less).

Well there is some benefit to pushing your tsh to the euthyroid level i.e close to zero versus just being "in range" but that's something a physician should do.

Well there is some benefit to pushing your tsh to the euthyroid level i.e close to zero versus just being "in range" but that's something a physician should do.

I do this and feel so much better...I didn't know it had a name! On the other hand, just doubling your meds is very dangerous!

Well there is some benefit to pushing your tsh to the euthyroid level i.e close to zero versus just being "in range" but that's something a physician should do.

I do this and feel so much better...I didn't know it had a name! On the other hand, just doubling your meds is very dangerous!

Without a Dr's supervision (and blood test to monitor) it certainly is.

Also, I'd forgotten about Water and soda.

Some sources will say if you cut out regular soda it might be the answer to all diet things. Well....it is good, but not enough. My husband cut out regular soda several years ago (only drinks diet) and just tipped the scales recently at the highest weight of his life, over 270 lbs.

And then there's the "drink more water, it will fill you up". In my experience, it's a good supplement to a meal and will hydrate, but if I just sit around drinking lots of water, my stomach starts growling and it leads inevitably to more hunger....

Well there is some benefit to pushing your tsh to the euthyroid level i.e close to zero versus just being "in range" but that's something a physician should do.

I do this and feel so much better...I didn't know it had a name! On the other hand, just doubling your meds is very dangerous!

Without a Dr's supervision (and blood test to monitor) it certainly is.

Also, I'd forgotten about Water and soda.

Some sources will say if you cut out regular soda it might be the answer to all diet things. Well....it is good, but not enough. My husband cut out regular soda several years ago (only drinks diet) and just tipped the scales recently at the highest weight of his life, over 270 lbs.

And then there's the "drink more water, it will fill you up". In my experience, it's a good supplement to a meal and will hydrate, but if I just sit around drinking lots of water, my stomach starts growling and it leads inevitably to more hunger....

I cut out soda (regular and diet) several years ago. It didn't do a thing for me. (I was doubtful it would, considering I was already severely overweight).

I cut out soda (regular and diet) several years ago. It didn't do a thing for me. (I was doubtful it would, considering I was already severely overweight).

my husband cut out soda pop and lost 17 pounds. but he's a guy. (and not seriously overweight)

@moonlitestarbrite ...same here...my husband has cut out his carbonated beverages, along with me, and lost 20 pounds without even trying!!! He has/had a bit of a tummy, but not overweight... life is so unfair sometimes

Increasing your thyroid med is very dangerous -- one side effect of hyperthyroidism (which is what you're putting your body into) is heart damage... Being hyperthyroid puts a lot of stress on the heart.