Certain views I held in the past were factually incorrect. While others were “correct,” but turned out to be ineffective and unhelpful.<\/span><\/p>\n As I continue my 15th year of Nerd Fitness, I wanted to revisit 5 viewpoints or philosophies I\u2019ve changed my mind on.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m hoping this might give you permission and 20 Seconds of Courage to update your personal philosophy when presented with new facts or experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n (Steve\u2019s Note: if any of these give you a viscerally negative reaction, take this as a learning experience! Reflect on why! More on this in the conclusion.)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n 5 core fitness beliefs I no longer have:<\/span><\/p>\n As a naive 25-year old single dude, this was probably the most cringe-worthy philosophy I held. I <\/span>loved<\/span><\/i> productivity\/hustle culture.<\/span><\/p>\n I believed everybody had the same amount of time, everybody had the same opportunities, and successful, fit, organized people were simply those who were more disciplined and managed their time better than the rest of us.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, as I approach forty, I realize just how naive and unhelpful this perspective was.<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, a 25-year old single dude, a 45-year old mom working two jobs, and a person with chronic pain caring for an elderly parent technically \u201chave the same 24 hours in the day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Of course<\/span><\/i> single moms working two jobs, or people who also have to be full-time caregivers, don\u2019t have the same opportunities or time to dedicate to themselves every day as a single 25 year old dude. There\u2019s unbelievable privilege that comes with that perspective, and it\u2019s really unhelpful to the majority of people these days.<\/span><\/p>\n I failed to recognize how instrumental<\/span> \u200b<\/span>luck and privilege have been for me<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n Rather than telling people it’s their fault for not being more disciplined, a far better starting point is acknowledging and accepting the truth: people have different starting points and different life situations.<\/span><\/p>\n We can then do our best to find a path through this broken system, as flawed humans, to carve out a tiny bit of progress and fulfillment each day.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2009, I wrote <\/span>the<\/span><\/i> article on<\/span> \u200b<\/span>The Paleo Diet<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n It was read by tens of millions of people. I was invited to speak at Paleo Conferences. I got to be part of the cool kid club who eschewed conventional wisdom about nutrition. I found <\/span>the<\/span><\/i> answer to all of modern society\u2019s health problems.<\/span><\/p>\n The problem was that<\/span> I was wrong<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n Many years ago, I read Marion Nestle\u2019s<\/span> \u200b<\/span>Why Calories Count<\/span><\/i>\u200b<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/i>I<\/span> learned about Metabolic Chambers. I discovered properly funded, properly tracked<\/span> \u200b<\/span>studies about carbs and fat<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>, which revealed the following:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cStrong data indicate that <\/span>energy balance is not materially changed<\/span><\/p>\n during isocaloric substitution of dietary fats for carbohydrates.<\/span><\/p>\n Results from a number of sources <\/span>refute both the theory and effectiveness of the carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis<\/span>. Instead, risk for obesity is primarily determined by total calorie intake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In other words, it\u2019s not the \u201c<\/span>\u200b<\/span>carb-insulin hypothesis<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>.\u201d It\u2019s the fact that we\u2019re eating too many calories without realizing it.<\/span><\/p>\n (This is why<\/span> \u200b<\/span>intermittent fasting<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a> can feel like effortless weight loss for some. It works, but not because of some fancy physiological adaptation or magic fat-burning protocol. It\u2019s because it removes some of our daily opportunities to unconsciously overeat).<\/span><\/p>\n My nuanced take on nutrition in 2024:<\/b><\/p>\n A calorie IS a calorie, just like a mile is a mile or a pound is a pound. It\u2019s a unit of measure. At the same time, what we eat can affect how much we eat, how full we feel, how much energy we have to complete our workouts, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n This is why so many people have found success on so many different types of diets. Because they found a set of guidelines that helped them maintain a caloric deficit, not because there was any magic in that specific protocol.<\/span><\/p>\n Personally,<\/span> \u200b<\/span>I got as lean as possible<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a> while eating a proportionally large amount of carbs and low fat. Here\u2019s how I did it: I was meticulous with my calorie tracking, ensuring I consumed enough protein and was in a caloric deficit.<\/span><\/p>\n I bring all of this up to make a point:<\/span><\/p>\n By all means, feel free to go low carb! Or low fat! Some people will feel differently on a low carb diet or a low fat diet. It\u2019s unique to each person and their particular situation. If you<\/span> \u200b<\/span>eat enough protein<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a> and consume the right calories for your goal,<\/span> \u200b<\/span>either can work for weight loss<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Just remember weight loss comes down to behavior change, compliance, consistency, and math.<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re wondering, here\u2019s the most consistent way we’ve found to do so: <\/b>Eating less processed foods that are easy to overconsume, prioritizing nutrient-dense whole foods, and balancing your total energy intake. We cover all this in our<\/span> \u200b<\/span>guide to “healthy” eating<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m a huge fan of free weights, and I used to say \u201cweight machines are bad compared to free weights.\u201d It made me feel old-school and primal, and fit into the narrative of \u201cmodern society is terrible compared to old school\u201d (aka Paleo + strength training).<\/span><\/p>\n There was a big problem with this perspective:<\/span><\/p>\n I was acting like a fitness gatekeeper:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou aren\u2019t training correctly unless you do it <\/span>this way.<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This is how I feel about that perspective now:<\/span><\/p>\n I never reflected on the idea of how demotivating it would feel to hear a specific type of exercise isn\u2019t good enough. Ugh. My job isn\u2019t to give you the BEST or ONLY way to work out. It\u2019s to help you overcome any hurdle, internal or external, that\u2019s keeping you from exercise.<\/span><\/p>\n Luckily, I updated this perspective years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n As far as I\u2019m concerned,<\/span> \u200b<\/span>any exercise is good exercise<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>. In fact: an exercise is only as good as its relevance towards any specific goal. Which means, for some goals (rehab, aesthetics, and even some strength training) there are times when machines are SUPERIOR to free weights.<\/span><\/p>\n Specific types of exercise can help for certain physique goals, but gatekeeping around what types of exercise is best isn\u2019t helpful, especially when my job is to inspire beginners to get started!<\/span><\/p>\n I personally believe everybody, no matter their shape, gender, age, size, will improve their life by strength training. And for that reason, ANY kind of strength training is okay in my book.<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re<\/span> \u200b<\/span>new to a gym<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>, use wherever you feel most comfortable with – machines or free weights. Over time, you can try all of the different options out and see what floats your boat.<\/span><\/p>\n Strength training of any variety teaches your muscles how they should be getting stronger, and it gets you moving and building confidence.<\/span><\/p>\n As part of my Paleo past, I would have told you that non-calorie sweetened beverages were scientific monstrosities and bad for you.<\/b><\/p>\n Here\u2019s really what happens when you drink a diet soda instead of its full-calorie alternative:<\/span><\/p>\n You consume fewer calories. That\u2019s about it.<\/span><\/p>\n As this<\/span> \u200b<\/span>study points out<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere were no statistically significant associations of reported diet soda and NAS consumption with fasting insulin, fasting glucose, or incident diabetes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As this<\/span> \u200b<\/span>researched article<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a> from Precision Nutrition points out:<\/span><\/p>\n Your perspective on whatever governmental body might influence how you feel about diet soda, so by all means, make your personal decision on this. You\u2019re an adult, and you can choose what to eat and drink.<\/span><\/p>\n But here\u2019s some zero-calorie food for thought:<\/b><\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with some light cognitive dissonance: If you\u2019re reading this and thinking, \u201cthings from nature are good, unnatural things are BAD!\u201d I get it. I felt similarly.<\/span><\/p>\n There are major industries built around these \u201c<\/span>\u200b<\/span>Naturalistic fallacies<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>\u201d and \u201c<\/span>\u200b<\/span>appeals to nature<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>:\u201d modern life is bad, nature is good. <\/span>(Weirdly, these people who appeal to nature often have processed \u201cnatural\u201d supplements to sell us!)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n What\u2019s the actual science say? <\/b>Everything is made from chemicals. Just because something is \u201cnatural\u201d doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s automatically healthy (hellooooo, hemlock!). And just because something is modern or \u201ccreated\u201d doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s automatically unhealthy.<\/span><\/p>\n We can be smarter than this, and evaluate things with facts instead of our feelings.<\/span><\/p>\n Which can include diet soda.<\/span><\/p>\n And I do believe this requires nuance too.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
#1: “We all have the same 24 hours in the day.”<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
#2: “Going low carb is crucial for weight loss.”<\/b><\/h2>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
#3: \u201cFree weights are superior to weight machines.\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
#4: \u201cDiet Coke is bad for you.\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n
\n
\n