I started Nerd Fitness on January 1st, 2009.
Since then, I’ve spent every day studying behavioral psychology, nutrition, and exercise.
My focus has been helping unsure nerds like me (hey, that’s you!) cut through the crap, avoid the mistakes I’ve made, and get the advice they need to live a leveled up life.
At the same time, the world has changed a lot in 15 years!
It’s no longer just googling to get the right answer, but also youtube videos and podcasts and viral social media content.
We’ve seen an explosion of information, which is both amazing and awful at the same time.
More Information is a Double Edged Sword
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and print and TV media, are all primarily optimized around one goal:
Keeping your attention for as long as possible.
Your eyeballs = ad revenue.
With so many people vying for your attention, everybody is trying to stand out.
This introduces a incentive system that’s out of whack:
- The best way to stand out is to say something that’s never been said before.
- The best way to do that in Health & Wellness is to say something incorrect.
- Fear travels faster and hits more viscerally than boring, scientifically accurate content.
- The incentive isn’t to be right, it’s to stand out. The more controversy, the better.
This means companies are incentivized to optimize for the outrageous. The provocative. The rage-inducing.
This is how we end up with dudes saying they built their physique by eating animal organs and “living ancestrally”, and NOT the $12,000 worth of steroids they take each month.
(This is a real story, by the way).
It’s also how we end up with celebrities and influencers who promote things like cleanses, detoxes, hormone “resets,” and even people who literally stick coffee up their…ahem…for ‘health reasons.’
(This is also real. Sigh).
Sure, some of these things are harmless. But many of the followers of these influencers ignore basic, fundamental health markers, in favor of doing some really dangerous, harmful strategies instead.
Unfortunately, these dangerous practices can be promoted with almost no fear of repercussion.
These influencers have no problem selling problematic solutions to desperate people because business is GOOD.
Evidence, science, and scruples be damned. Let’s take a quick look at the multi-billion dollar cleanse/detox industry, for example.
As explained in Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?:
….The idea of detoxing is faulty on so many levels that it borders on the absurd.
First, the human body has organs, including the kidneys, liver, skin, and colon, that take care of the detoxification process.
When you pee, you are detoxifying. Toxins don’t build up, waiting to be cleansed by supplements and special foods. (And, just in case you are wondering, you don’t reabsorb toxins by not having your regular bowel movement. Sigh.)
There is no evidence that the products and diets sold by the cleansing industry—whether juices, supplements, or specific diet regimens—do anything to help clear toxins, parasites, or bad karma in a manner beneficial to our health.
There does not appear to be even a single scientific study to back up the theory behind this massive industry.
There are thousands of stories like this across all sorts of conditions (detoxes, cleanses, adrenal resets, hormone rebalancing, metabolism resets, etc.)
If it sounds like it’s made up, it probably is!
For example, “adrenal fatigue” is a condition created by opportunistic influencers ready to sell you a solution, while “adrenal insufficiency” is a very real condition that should be treated by an Endocrinologist!
If you want to upgrade your Instagram feed, here are 4 great follows:
- This is Mallory, who uncovers and details all of the scams in the wellness industry!
- Dr. Karl Nadolsky, a board certified endocrinologist sharing facts.
- Andy Does Healthy, an evidence based dietitan who cuts through toxic diet culture practices.
- TheNutritionTea, where Shana shares a delightfully positive, weight inclusive perspective as a dietitian.
How to Stay Sane on the Internet
We’re drowning in more even noise, articles, and conflicting information than ever before.
Because I like you, I put together a quick 5-steps strategy to navigating the internet when it comes to your health and wellness:
Step 1: We have scientific consensus and evidence around the basics: we should be eating mostly plants, whole grains, and lean protein. A calorie deficit is required for weight loss, strength training is pretty helpful, cardio is good for lung and heart health.
Step 2: “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” In other words, anybody can say anything on the internet, it’s on THEM to prove it, not on you to disprove it. Take extraordinary claims you read/listen/see with a grain of salt. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Step 3: Unfollow anybody who tells you to avoid certain foods or certain ingredients. This is fear-mongering and promotes disordered eating. I also bet this person will soon promote a questionable supplement as the solution.
Step 4: Unfollow people who make you feel bad about yourself. You become what you focus on, so choose wisely! The good news: you get to pick and choose who you give your attention to.
Step 5: If you need to deal with specific medical issues, please seek out real medical professionals!
My promise to the Rebellion!
My hope with Nerd Fitness – and this newsletter – is to be a light in the darkness when it comes to the Wellness Industry.
I’m gonna do my best to share fun, enjoyable, evidence-based information that helps you learn exactly what you need to know to get actual results, and confidently ignore everything else.
My hope is that you never have to wonder where you should put your limited time, energy, and effort. I respect you too much for that.
This is the stuff that will get you where you want to go:
- Eat the number of calories for your target weight.
- Practice kindness and self-compassion.
- Eat vegetables and lean protein.
- Try to move daily.
- Prioritize sleep.
- Get stronger.
My goal is that Nerd Fitness not only provides you with the support and education you need to level up your life, but it also gives you the confidence you CAN do this!
I want you to be able to ignore the next fad diet, and not feel badly when that next harmless ingredient gets vilified.
I want you to be able to nod your head politely when your coworker tells you about the latest viral trend she saw on TikTok, and then get back to living your leveled up life.
I want to answer your tough questions and support you on your journey.
I want you to know you’re not alone.
I’ve been writing helpful articles for the past 15 years, and I plan on continuing this for the next 15 years too.
If this article resonated with you, or if it provoked a question, let me know. I’d love to hear from you!
I can’t promise I can reply to every email that comes in, but I can promise that I will read all of them.
For the Rebellion!
-Steve
