# Weighty Issues. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 11, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834 "2005-04-11T19:00:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/1 "2005-04-11T19:00:42Z")
I was going to make this a GD but I thought it might get emotional and sink to the Pit in due course. May as well save the mods the trouble of moving it here. In this [recent thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=311313) started by \*\*Ink A Dink \*\* and locked by **SkipMagic** , issue was taken by the mod with (I suppose) the safety of advice/opinion being shared. Specifically, advice was solicited on rapid weight loss and (I’m only guessing) some of the subsequent recommendations were deemed unsafe. Which go me thinking… Backwayback, **Scylla** asked for advice on straightening his barn wall. High tension chain and ratcheting devices were soon being lashed and tensioned throughout the thread. Limbs were at risk of detachment, to say nothing of decapitation and worse yet, an entire structural collapse. More recently, and more often, all kinds of advice on exercise and workout routines has been liberally dispensed on various forums without so much as a blink from the mods. But dare someone bring up a desire to lose extra weight rapidly (even if unrealisticly so) and all kind of alarms sound with mods, and would-be-mods chiming in on the suject as if someone inquired about instructions on how to build a bomb. So why the concern for personal health and safety when it comes to weight loss, and an apparent lack of same (at least to the same extent) when it comes to other personal health/safety issues? The answer may very well be: “Weight is a hot button issue for many people here, so suck it up and live with it.” or “We’re now a more visible message board and we have to take some precautions as far as the kinds of advice we allow to be dispensed.” So I just thought I’d throw it out there and let people respond. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/2 "2005-04-11T19:25:52Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > But dare someone bring up a desire to lose extra weight rapidly (even if unrealisticly so) and all kind of alarms sound with mods, and would-be-mods chiming in on the suject as if someone inquired about instructions on how to build a bomb. > > So why the concern for personal health and safety when it comes to weight loss, and an apparent lack of same (at least to the same extent) when it comes to other personal health/safety issues? It is as if someone inquired about instructions on how to build a bomb. Asking how to lose weight rapidly is akin to asking on how I should damage my body and put my health at risk. In your example of the barn wall stabilizing the wall is the goal of the action and the possible loss of limb is merely a minimal danger. On the other hand the direct result of advice on how to lose weight rapidly is a damaged body and poor health. In this case I think the mod should have left the thread open becuase people were giving constructive advice. I did not see anyone post advice on how to lose the weight rapidly and if they did they were in the vast minority. ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/3 "2005-04-11T19:30:09Z")
> [@treis](#): > > It is as if someone inquired about instructions on how to build a bomb. Asking how to lose weight rapidly is akin to asking on how I should damage my body and put my health at risk. In your example of the barn wall stabilizing the wall is the goal of the action and the possible loss of limb is merely a minimal danger. On the other hand the direct result of advice on how to lose weight rapidly is a damaged body and poor health. One, some would disagree regarding the rapid weight loss issue (I would, depending on what one means by “rapid”). Two, taking your statement as a given, so what? It’s not harming anyone else, it’s not illegal, it would seem to me to be the decision of the person getting the advice whether to follow through with it. Are we to disallow advice to high school wrestlers, who as I understand it have to go through fairly grotesque contortions with weight and food to “make weight” and then get as big as possible in short periods of time? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/4 "2005-04-11T19:34:03Z")
I think if the OP in the linked thread had asked, “How do I lose 10 pounds?” it wouldn’t have been a problem. Instead she asked, “How do I lose 10 pounds in a week?” ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/5 "2005-04-11T19:54:01Z")
Maybe because more people are likely to try the diet thing, where as stabilizing a barn wall is not on everyones list. I can see your point though. It’s just that there are too many imbeciles that can’t take responsibility for themselves, and somehow feel the need to sue if somehow losing rapid weight causes them to get ill, just by using a suggestion from a member on the boards. That leaves the SDMB, the Reader, and posters possibly liable. Which I think is crap, but that’s how it is. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/6 "2005-04-11T19:56:15Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > I think if the OP in the linked thread had asked, “How do I lose 10 pounds?” it wouldn’t have been a problem. Instead she asked, “How do I lose 10 pounds in a week?” Still don’t see the problem mate. The advice may work, or not. The advice can be taken or not. A successfully constructed bomb stands a very high probability of damaging someone’s health. A restricted diet, even for a week, stands a much smaller chance of hurting one’s health. IIRC, I don’t believe anyone recommended outright starvation. 'Cept maybe the rubber suits… which treaded the fetish territory, IMHO. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/7 "2005-04-11T19:57:59Z")
I recently watched a television show where one of the participants had to lose 20 lbs in 24 hours, then fight (physically batter an opponent) for a chance to win a contract. I can’t see how losing 10 lbs in a week would be so bad for you, so long as you didn’t have some underlying physical ailment that would be aggravated by not eating. ---
**Author:** ![zetafunction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/57b2e6/32.png) [@zetafunction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zetafunction)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/8 "2005-04-11T20:01:15Z")
That thread is depressing. If only people who spend hours a day doing exercise would spend an hour or two doing some research, they would save themselves a lot of grief. ---
**Author:** ![zetafunction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/57b2e6/32.png) [@zetafunction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zetafunction)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/9 "2005-04-11T20:02:35Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > I recently watched a television show where one of the participants had to lose 20 lbs in 24 hours, then fight (physically batter an opponent) for a chance to win a contract. > > I can’t see how losing 10 lbs in a week would be so bad for you, so long as you didn’t have some underlying physical ailment that would be aggravated by not eating. If the person did it once in his or her life, it wouldn’t be a huge deal. But you must understand that the people who do these crash diets don’t just do them once. Over time, it can really fuck people up. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/10 "2005-04-11T20:03:44Z")
> [@zetafunction](#): > > That thread is depressing. If only people who spend hours a day doing exercise would spend an hour or two doing some research, they would save themselves a lot of grief. Do tell… I spend 1.5 - 3 hours a day working out… what do I need to know? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/11 "2005-04-11T20:05:57Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Still don’t see the problem mate. > > The advice may work, or not. The advice can be taken or not. For someone who weights 138 pounds, losing 10 pounds in a week is highly dangerous. If she got sick and/or died from advice she got in that thread, the Reader could be sued. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/12 "2005-04-11T20:09:36Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > For someone who weights 138 pounds, losing 10 pounds in a week is highly dangerous. If she got sick and/or died from advice she got in that thread, the Reader could be sued. Okay, I’m training to a triathlon. The training guide says I need to put in 12-15 hours per week on training. As a result I collapse on a hot summer day from dehydration, over-exersion, whatever… Do I sue the writer of the training guide? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/13 "2005-04-11T20:13:25Z")
Maybe it’s something as simple as someone reporting the weight loss thread (I don’t know that’s the case, but I have a feeling it is) and no one flagging other threads that carry potentially (yet less blatantly) dangerous requests and advice? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/14 "2005-04-11T20:17:26Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Okay, I’m training to a triathlon. The training guide says I need to put in 12-15 hours per week on training. As a result I collapse on a hot summer day from dehydration, over-exersion, whatever… Do I sue the writer of the training guide? I didn’t say they would have a good case, I just said they might get sued. You think that if the Reader gets sued for a post on the SDMB that this board will be around much longer? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/15 "2005-04-11T20:21:38Z")
I forgot to mention that a lot of threads asking for medical advice - not just weight ones - get shut down pretty quick. If the OP is asking for advice about some specific, current medical issue, it seems to me the thread almost always gets locked down with the standard “Seek a professional, don’t listen to medical advice you get from the board.” ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/16 "2005-04-11T20:21:38Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > For someone who weights 138 pounds, losing 10 pounds in a week is highly dangerous. If she got sick and/or died from advice she got in that thread, the Reader could be sued. Cite? Let’s get real here. I’d like to see \*any \* evidence that losing a single 10 lbs in a single week (as opposed to 10 lbs every week over a long haul) would be “highly dangerous” to anyone over, say, 110 lbs and under 5’4". And no single cases, please. I want evidence, not stories about a friend of a friend. Rapid weight loss, or repeated weight loss can lead to gall stones. Beyond that and the potential for lack of nutrition, can someone give me evidence that rapid weight loss is _dangerous_, assuming the person doesn’t drop beneath their healthy weight? Gall stones are not terrific, but I would hesitate to call them dangerous. SImilarly, I understand that rapid weight loss is not the healthiest way to live. But there’s a lot of miles between not-so-healthy and dangerous. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not advocating lightening-quick (pardon the pun) weight loss here. I just would like to understand on what the panic is based. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/17 "2005-04-11T20:21:58Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > I didn’t say they would have a good case, I just said they might get sued. You think that if the Reader gets sued for a post on the SDMB that this board will be around much longer? So in your opinion, it’s a CYA decision that is arbitrarily applied by various mods? 'Cuz I’m okay with that… well, actually I’m not… but I can _understand_, if I try real hard. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/18 "2005-04-11T20:22:54Z")
> [@Oy!](#): > > Cite? Let’s get real here. I’d like to see \*any \* evidence that losing a single 10 lbs in a single week (as opposed to 10 lbs every week over a long haul) would be “highly dangerous” to anyone over, say, 110 lbs and under 5’4". And no single cases, please. I want evidence, not stories about a friend of a friend. > > Rapid weight loss, or repeated weight loss can lead to gall stones. Beyond that and the potential for lack of nutrition, can someone give me evidence that rapid weight loss is _dangerous_, assuming the person doesn’t drop beneath their healthy weight? Gall stones are not terrific, but I would hesitate to call them dangerous. SImilarly, I understand that rapid weight loss is not the healthiest way to live. But there’s a lot of miles between not-so-healthy and dangerous. > > Don’t get me wrong; I’m not advocating lightening-quick (pardon the pun) weight loss here. I just would like to understand on what the panic is based. As Muad’Dib said in another thread, I’m not going to give you a cite for the bleeding obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/19 "2005-04-11T20:24:18Z")
Any easy way to say you don’t have any. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834/20 "2005-04-11T20:25:34Z")
I was squicked out by that thread not because someone was soliciting weight loss advice, but rather because she–and her boyfriend apparently–felt that an extra 8 pounds on a 140 pound woman were soooooo incredibly important that the state of the relationship was balanced on them. It’s creepy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weighty-issues/298834.md?page=2)