I just read that there are around 50,000 "fitness influencers" on Instagram.
How do you know who to follow?
Honestly, your best bet is probably "none of them."
They can say anything, whether backed by science or not.
They can slyly sell you junk products without you even realizing it.
They can claim that XYZ made them lean and muscular, even though it's just their golden genetics.
Heck, they can outright lie to you!
It isn't just Instagram, either - even podcasters who sound like they know their stuff, authors who have sold books, personal trainers who have a successful career getting celebrities ready for superhero movies - any one of them can think up some outrageous "quick fix" that will change your life/body/nutrition and market it.
But the things that work for your health genuinely haven't changed:
be active every day in a form that gets your heart rate elevated at least a bit
add resistance training a few days per week
eat like you already know you should 80% of the time
get enough sleep to wake up feeling refreshed
do it all consistently
And I'm sure you already know all those things; the problem is trying to get your life to allow you to incorporate them.
The problem is time for daily exercise, time to prepare healthy meals, the willpower to order a salad instead of a cheeseburger & fries, or toddlers that let you sleep - the list goes on.
But shortcuts are not going to replace the basics.
You don't need shortcuts. It would be best to have habits or lifestyle changes that allow you to incorporate the basics over time consistently.
What can you say NO to free up some time?
What can you change to prioritize healthy habits?
How can you tweak your mindset to prefer the salad?
What CAN'T you change right now, and what do you have to accept?
I must say, I don't think a 30-year-old fitness influencer with stellar genetics can answer those questions for you.
Even at NSS, we can't tell you what to do. We CAN help you with examples that work for others, and we can help you ask the right questions to see where you can make a change, but we can't say, "You should do XYZ and here's exactly how to do it."
Only YOU can tackle those for YOUR life and decide what's important enough to change right now.
And it can be tricky sometimes; some of you have significant hurdles preventing the basics from being doable each day - a demanding job, a sick family member, a chronic illness, etc. - and some jacked gym bro saying, "We all have the same 24 hours" is just not going to help.
Start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can.
And ignore anything that doesn't help you with that process.
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