Comments on: The Straw Man

By: Armi Legge

Armi Legge — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 02:53:42 +0000

Major fist bump

By: Armi Legge

Armi Legge — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 02:52:29 +0000

Jodi, I’m sorry it seems like we’re “ripping each other off,” but really we’re all trying to spread the same information. Amber brought a unique perspective on the same (accurate) information, which is exactly what all good authors do. I hope you still got something out of it, I did.

– Armi

By: Go Kaleo

Go Kaleo — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 03:55:40 +0000

Armi (the guy who runs impruvism) is a friend, we tend to cover a lot of the same topics. In fact, I linked to his podcast on the subject there at the end of the post.

By: Jodi

Jodi — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 03:48:52 +0000

Seems like these blogs just keep ripping each other off…i read this almost exact article on impruvism a while back :/

By: Go Kaleo

Go Kaleo — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 14:48:27 +0000

I make a distinction between ‘most doctors’ and actual scientific evidence. My doctor saved my life and health by telling me to eat less processed food and start exercising, after decades of following diet book authors’ and fad diet gurus’ advice. Advice that made me fat and sick. From my perspective, it’s science, and doctors who stay on top of current science, that is trustworthy. Diet gurus are in it for the money.

So you see, we have different perspectives. And we both have science to back up our perspectives. I find the science that the Harvard School of Public health, the WHO and yes, even my doctor, present far more compelling than the cherry picked outliers that the diet gurus base their propaganda on.

It was a doctor and science that saved my life and my health. Not a fad diet. I will continue to promote critical thinking and examination of both the evidence and people’s arguments on my blog.

Your contributions to the discussion are always welcome, Dick! Reasoned debate is valuable, and examining others’ perspectives is an important aspect of critical thought.

By: Dick Talens

Dick Talens — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 07:16:21 +0000

This is probably the only article from gokaleo that I’ve ever vehemently disagreed with. And that’s saying a lot, given that I usually agree with anything from gokaleo 90% of the time.

Let’s start here:

“Straw Man: “Public health scientists claim exercise helps you lose weight by creating a calorie deficit. Exercise doesn’t help you lose weight, because it makes you hungry and you eat more, negating the calorie deficit exercise produces!””

I don’t think anyone has seen more data on what “Average Joe” thinks about exercise with regards to weight loss in the last 3 years than myself and my team have. The notion that exercise is the solution to obesity – as noted by the Average Joe – is ridiculously prevalent.

Furthermore, the statement ” And this Straw Man ignores free will: a person can still maintain a calorie deficit through diet manipulation even if they exercise.” is ridiculously flawed. As it turns out, free will/self control/willpower is very much a misunderstood construct, hth. Good luck telling an obese person to exercise via using free will to “eat less, move more..”

Yeah, usually a fan of gokaleo, but this very much turned me off.

Also, most doctors recommend bullshit re: nutrition (and if they don’t, their methods of trying to create habit change are on par with J.J Abrams trying to create good shows) and people like Dr. Spencer are in the very very minority. hth.

p.s. I don’t mean to be one of those negative nancies who post one criticism despite 100 would-be compliments. This site is a very good resource and I promote it as much to our ~1.5 million members as I can. This one piece is just wayyyy too “off” for my liking.

By: Go Kaleo

Go Kaleo — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 04:34:30 +0000

Thanks!

By: Go Kaleo

Go Kaleo — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 04:20:57 +0000

I agree and certainly wasn’t suggesting either of these diets are necessary for optimal health…quite the opposite, all too often these diets lead to disordered eating.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 02:23:14 +0000

Love the article!

I have a quick comment about your first two straw men (paleo/factory farming, and vegan/monoculture). Of course lots of people in both groups understand the issues. However, when you suggest that these diet methodologies are necessary for optimum health/environmental recovery, and thus that a large majority of the population should adopt them (which is impossible without these adaptations), you really are neglecting to address the issues. It’s just not possible for the world to be paleo without factory farming (or hell, even with it), or to be vegan without highly productive monoculture crops.

By: Go Kaleo

Go Kaleo — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 23:57:25 +0000

Posted accidentally before it was done, still working on it.