We've all heard them, and we've probably all said them at some point. All truth, some truth or flat out untrue, what do they mean, why do we say them and accpet them (if we do at all)?

Answers to the question "why am I not losing/why am I gaining?"

~ You're probably in "Starvation Mode"
~ Since you're lifting, it's probably muscle because "Muscle weighs more than fat"
~ It's probably just "Water weight"
~ You may be intaking "Too much sodium"
~ You're in the "dead range under 1200 calories"
~ You stop buring fat after 90 minutes so "No more than 90 minutes of cardio straight"
~ If you want to burn calories from fat you have to be in "The heart rate zone"
~ "You can lose inches and not pounds" that's why the scale's not moving
~ You've just hit a "plataeu"
~ You're "working out too much"
~ It's probably that you're "not getting enough fiber"
~ You've simply got to "drink more water"
~ You're body has acclimated "change up your workout routine"
~ You're body has acclimated to the calories you're eating "zig zag your calorie intake"
...and the list could probably go on!

Obviously there is at least some truth to most if not all of these, but how true are they? Do we just say them and hear them and accept them so we feel better? Is there a different problem and we're just in denial about it? Or are they all valid reasons??? I've very curious what all you lovely chicks think!

I think to a certain extent they CAN be true, but at the same time i think they are also used as a scapegoat.

Awesome question!!! I've heard and said those things to myself SO many times. There must be truth to at least some of them...

I agree. I think they all have validity to them. Our bodies to get used to the same workouts, our metabolisms do slow, salt makes us retain water, etc. However we end up using these as excuses. I use the salt one alot

i think they are valid (or most of them) but as with most other sayings they have become cliche's. i would think that most cliche's become just that because they are the truth - said over and over again as there is no other way to describe it.

i do agree that some of them are used as excuses to make us feel better. why wouldn't you?

Yeah, while there certianly is truth to all of them, they mainly need to be said so that we don't get completely devastated after dieting and exercising for weeks with no results. It's better to trust in a standard line than give up!

seeing those all together in a list makes me feel silly for using them as excuses for not losing weight...

For a couple of the statements, though, testing your body fat in addition to weighing yourself could prove whether it's true that you're gaining muscle (despite not losing pounds). As I get closer to my goal weight and I add in more weight training, my weight loss has slowed to about a pound every 10 days - but my body fat percentage is dropping faster.

You've just hit a "plateau"

I like this one the best because it keeps me feeling good even when I didn't lose the weight I expected to lose in a certain time frame.

Is it true or not?
I tend to think there is validity to the plateau statement.

I think there is a lot of validity to a few and none or little for most of those statements. I definitely believe weight can plateu and I know your body adapts to exercise. However, that muscle weighs more than fat thing really irritates me! A pound of something is a pound, of course I'd rather have a compact pound of muscle than a jiggly pound of fat. I've been guilty of using the sodium excuse even though realisticaly I know you can only be so bloated. You're right though, a lot of those (and others) are used as excuses/coping mechanisms when we're not as successful as we'd like to be at weight loss....

I think some of these things can apply to some situations (although I do find some of them a little silly) but they can still be irrelevant at other times. We don't always get the whole picture. And as happydaisy pointed out, sure, sodium can make you retain water, but only "so much!" lol And you can only gain so much muscle mass in a certain period of time

The bottom line is: losing weight (or being healthy in general) is all about being consistant, being conscious of our actions every day, and most of all being honest with ourselves about what we do (or do not do). It's not rocket science, it's not magic, it's not luck. If that advice can motivate people not to give up then it can't. It might encourage them to take a good look at what they are doing and fiddle with things until they find what works for them. That "super cool most amazing diet evah" that made one person lose a ton of weight might drive someone mad with frustration because it simply doesn't appeal to them enough to stick with it. Doesn't mean they are doomed to fatdom for all eternity. Everyone just needs to find their own groove and then stick with it.

My main one is "muscle is more than fat" I don't say weighs more, because that's simply not true, but I mean that I might have lost fat, but I've put on muscle and therefore my weight stayed the same.

A quick comment on the "muscle weighs more than fat" thing...no, a pound of muscle does not weight more than a pound of fat--obviously, they both weigh a pound What is meant by the statement is that the same SIZE mass of each weigh differently. 6 cubic inches of muscles does weigh more than 6 cubic inches of fat because the muscle is so much more dense, so yes, muscle does weigh more than fat when you take the same size portion of each. If you've got 20 pounds of muscle on your body, it's going to look like a lot less than 20 pounds of fat--if you had enough muscle to take up the same amount of space as those 20 pounds of fat, it would be WAY more than just 20 pounds of muscle! So sometimes, it's just your interpretation that makes a statement invalid, not the actual statement. Make sense?

The one thing on the list that really gets to me is "starvation mode." I think that this is a very true phenomenon--it has been medically/scientifically proven to exist. HOWEVER, I don't think anyone who has just hit a plateau can blame "starvation mode," for along with it comes extreme malnutrition, hair loss, brittle/yellow nails, and many other symptoms and often illnesses. "Starvation mode" exists--there's no doubt in my mind--but I think that about 99% of the time that term gets tossed around in weight loss discussions, it's not accurate.