How to filter the click bait fads out of your diet
It’s up to us as fit pros to seek out and filter the latest science for effective results for our clients. If we don’t we are really doing our industry a disservice and losing relevance as front line health and wellness providers. Which I would argue we are.
- Ericka Thomas
Transcript
How to filter the click bait fads out of your diet..
The fitness industry is notorious for fads. Fad equipment, Fad formats and especially fad diets and supplements. Each one with claims that this will finally be the thing that will give you the results you have been searching for. Even if nothing you’ve tried has worked before, THIS will. Every few years there’s new science, new understanding, new technology, new supplements and it can be as overwhelming for fitness professionals as it is for our clients. So how do we filter and curate that information in meaningful ways and stay within our scope of practice.
That’s our Work IN today. And we’re going to start with the diet piece.
One of the first things I learned when I got “certified” to teach cardio kickboxing way back in the day was that that certification was woefully inadequate. And here’s why. When you stand in front of a room to teach any kind of fitness, the people there expect you to be some kind of an expert no matter what the format. But they don’t really care about how to kick and punch, or alignment or heart rate. Yes those things are important but they are really there because they want to feel different and eventually they are going to realize 1 hour with you 2-3 times a week isn’t going to cut it. And that’s when you’re going to get the nutrition questions, the stress questions, the recovery questions, the weight loss questions.
For me I started getting those questions from day one and that’s where my continuing education pursuits began. Because I realized I needed to be able to stay current on the most current recommendations and science in exercise and fitness.
I didn’t realize how challenging that was going to be. As a certified fit pro of any kind, group fit, personal trainer, health coach, whatever you are, you're taught mostly what to teach physically maybe some behavior change, almost no communication skills and that anything outside of that is outside of your scope. But we know that most of what makes people healthy or unhealthy happens outside of their time with us. For most certifications when it comes to nutrition, unless you are a registered/licensed dietitian, all you are allowed to do is share the government's dietary guidelines. We all know that government guidelines are not known for having your best interest at heart. In fact if you just look at the historical progression of the food pyramid you’ll see that. It’s no wonder, knowing what we know now that we have an epidemic of obesity, metabolic disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease not to mention the mental health crisis in this country. Add to that they only sort of update them every 5 years and you can see how NOT up to date they really are. So it’s up to us as fit pros to seek out and filter the latest science for effective results for our clients. If we don’t we are really doing our industry a disservice and losing relevance as front line health and wellness providers. Which I would argue we are.
I was chatting the other day with a group of my cycling team about what we were eating and drinking and the subject of beer came up as a recovery drink. We had just finished several days of riding and were about to do several more. I just mentioned that alcohol was actually poison and the calories can only be metabolized in the liver. And that fructose was exactly the same and that was why people were getting nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, because they drink liquid sugar and 50% is fructose. I was absolutely shocked to learn one of my teammates had been diagnosed with this. And the only thing his doctor had to offer him was to lose weight. No mention of the mechanism behind the disease or how diet and nutrition changes can reduce or reverse that. It seems to me that information should fall within the scope of a medical professional's practice.But apparently not. What kind of health care is that?
Now the fitness industry is constantly studying the human body. The physical mechanisms as well as the mind body connections to physiologic responses including the placebo effect. Out of these studies we have learned so much and along the way we’ve gotten all kinds of “fads”.
You might remember the grapefruit diet. That’s the oldest one I remember because my mom did it when I was a kid. It’s based in science. There’s a compound in grapefruit that suppresses appetite. But no one today would recommend anyone only eat grapefruit because it isn’t complete nutrition. Things like this are a great example of how science can be twisted and misinterpreted. And it’s also an example of how badly we are seeking that magic pill. That one thing that’s going to work.
Another thing that comes straight out of a lab is “a calorie is a calorie”. I used to think this and say this. And technically it’s true. It basically means it doesn’t matter what you eat, if you eat fewer calories than you burn you will lose weight and if you eat more, then you’ll gain weight. And that happens in a lab. As we know, weight isn’t an accurate measure of health. And in a human body there are a lot more variables that can affect your outcome. Your hydration level for one. Your hormone balance for another. Your insulin sensitivity for another. Your gut health for another. And of course there’s the type of activity you do or don’t do.
When people start making changes to their health and fitness they aren’t starting from a clean system. The human body is an adaptation machine that wants more than anything else to keep you alive, not necessarily in the best shape of your life, just alive. That means you may have lots of systems on high alert that can be working against your goals but for you.
So as a fitness professional how do you help clients filter out all the fad diets and find the nutrition plan that’s going to support them for the rest of their life?
For me this has always meant being my own guinea pig when it comes to my plate. I don’t feel like I’m special, I’m really just a regular person so I feel like I can be objective when it comes to the results I see and then I can give an honest evaluation of the things I’ve tried. I try to limit my recommendations to things that I have direct experience with.
I’ve spoken before about some of the diets I’ve tried. Starting with high carb, standard american diet, Low fat calorie counting, Atkins (for like 3 hours), The Clean diet, The whole 30, Paleo, Vegetarian, Keto, intermittent fasting.
And in the course of time I’ve kept the things about each of these and let go of the rest. In other words I’ve applied a filter.
So here’s what I have learned and what I share with clients.
What and when you eat and drink affects everything from your nervous system and body composition to your mental health and hormones.
Supporting your gut health means eating things that you might not like but that make it easier for your body to do. It only takes 28 days to reset your microbiome and it’s worth it.
Grow up. Green leafy vegetables and cruciferous vegetables are the fiber and prebiotics your gut needs to heal itself. Find a way to eat them.
Carbohydrates aren’t essential, protein is (think essential amino acids) and if you don’t have enough of it it triggers a survival response.
Dehydration will stall any results you hope for and it’s much easier to get dehydrated than you think.
How you eat is like your religion. Nobody wants to change it. What you think and believe about what you eat matters. Small changes here can lead to big changes on your plate.
You have plenty of energy. You DON'T need to have something in your stomach every 2 hours. If you are feeling a crash it’s because your insulin and blood sugar are out of whack. Cut back on the sugar and carbs.
Your gut needs to rest. Fasting overnight is natural and your brain needs an empty stomach overnight in order to completely recover. The 8 hour window for IF was based on a lab tech schedule; it's not for everyone. You can play with the time and find something that works for you. Being a little hungry is ok.
Highly restrictive diets aren’t sustainable long term but you can use them to cycle. Remember the adaptability of the human body. Keto and the whole 30 are very restrictive. Use them as tools. We all need variety.
You are the expert in your own body. There are a lot of ways to get results that you’re looking for. They don’t have to be the same as anyone else. You can experiment. If something doesn’t work for you, try something else but don’t quit. You’re worth the time and attention it takes to figure out how to be comfortable, healthy, strong and balanced in your own skin.
These are the things I share with clients when they come to me asking about what's the best diet for this, that or the other. I share my experiences and most importantly my failures. That’s where you really learn. And I believe fit pros can and should lead by example for their clients. We are no different. We just stand at the front of the room.
And as far as the fad nature of things that come and go in the fitness industry, my rule of thumb is that I never want to be the first to drink the kool aid but I definitely don’t want to be the last. So that’s what we’ll discuss next time on the Work IN. Supplements what works and what doesn’t and staying within your scope in a tempting area of fitness.
Thanks for listening today, if you like what you heard today and you want a little bit more I have lots of free resources for you over on Savagegracecoaching.com. If you’re a fit pro and are curious about co regulation for coaches you can find my free guide to holding space there as well. And if you would be so kind, be sure to follow like share and give me a 5 start review so others can find The Work IN.
Hey there!
I’m your host Ericka Thomas. I'm a resilience coach and fit-preneur offering an authentic, actionable realistic approach to personal and professional balance for coaches in any format.
Savage Grace Coaching is all about bringing resilience and burnout recovery. Especially for overwhelmed entrepreneurs, creators and coaches in the fitness industry.
Schedule a free consultation call to see if my brand of actionable accountability is right for you and your business.