2666: Eight Fitness & Diet Lies That Will Make You Fat & Unhealthy (Listener Live Coaching)

Summary

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

Episode 2666 — Eight Fitness & Diet Lies That Will Make You Fat & Unhealthy (Listener Live Coaching)

Hosts: Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, Justin Andrews, Doug Egge
Date: August 20, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the Mind Pump crew dives deep into the eight most pervasive and damaging fitness and diet myths that can actually make people fatter and unhealthier. Drawing on decades of experience, the hosts debunk commonly accepted “truths,” explain the science (and lack thereof) behind these ideas, and empower listeners with practical, evidence-based advice. The tone is direct, conversational, and often humorous, punctuated with real client stories and strong opinions.

The episode is structured as both a myth-busting roundtable and a live listener coaching session, with the team unpacking each myth, discussing its origins, impact, and offering better alternatives. The focus is on helping people avoid pitfalls and achieve sustainable health and fitness improvements.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Myth: Plant-Based Diets Are Inherently Healthier

Timestamp: 03:08–09:50

• Overview:
  A cultural narrative asserts that “plant-based is best,” but the hosts dismantle this blanket assertion.
• Quote:

  "Plant-based is not healthier. That's a false statement. Potato chips and Oreo cookies are plant-based."
  — Sal Di Stefano [05:18]

• Why This Myth Persisted:
  The panel discusses the media and big-money push for veganism/plant-based eating. Adam notes no other diet has received as much documentary attention [04:21].
• The Science:
  Many cited studies compare plant-based eaters (who are already health-conscious) to average Americans who "don't even think about what [they] eat"—a self-selection bias. When comparing health-conscious omnivores vs. plant-based eaters, animal products emerge as highly nutrient-dense and often superior for overall health.
• Risks of Pure Plant-Based Diets:
  • Higher risk of nutrient deficiencies (B12, iron, certain amino acids)
  • Requires careful supplementation and planning
  • Average people cut out the only whole foods in their diets (meat, eggs, dairy) and replace them with ultra-processed vegan analogs
• Balanced View:
  One can be healthy as a vegan, but it’s challenging and not inherently healthier. Carnivore/only-meat diets are similarly extreme and not advisable, but easier to avoid deficiencies.
• Quote:

  "If you were to pick one food that you could only eat for the rest of your life and not die, it would have to be meat. There isn't a single plant, you could get away with just eating that one thing."
  — Sal Di Stefano [07:00]

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2. Myth: "Just Eat Less" is the Best Way to Lose Weight

Timestamp: 09:50–13:08

• Overview:
  The oversimplified advice to “just eat less” often backfires, leading to muscle loss, slowed metabolism, and rebound weight gain.
• Why It's Flawed:
  • Just reducing calories (without changing nutrition quality or exercising) often results in significant muscle loss.
  • People often maintain their processed food-heavy diet, just at lower quantities, which keeps cravings and nutrient deficiencies high.
  • “Just eat less” usually isn’t sustainable.
• Quote:

  “If all you care about is seeing the scale go down 10 pounds and you don’t care of the quality of tissue that you have or don’t have or what you lose, then yeah, that will work. Unfortunately, that is not a smart strategy long-term.”
  — Adam Schafer [11:18]

• Quality vs. Quantity:
  Focusing on improving food quality and balancing macronutrients naturally brings calories down in a healthier way.
• Surprising Fact:
  Being slightly overweight but fit confers better longevity than being underweight and unfit. [12:30]
• Quote:

  "You're actually better off being 15% overweight than you are being 15% underweight...If you just eat less and you don't do anything for exercise, you don't improve your fitness, for a lot of people this may actually result in worse health."
  — Sal Di Stefano [12:30]

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3. Myth: GLP-1 Medications Alone Are the Answer

Timestamp: 13:08–15:48

• Overview:
  GLP-1 agonists (like Ozempic) are being hailed as “miracle” weight-loss drugs, but using them without lifestyle change is a recipe for frailty.
• Key Point:
  These meds suppress appetite, causing people to eat less—leading to muscle and metabolic losses if not combined with resistance training and a protein-sufficient diet.
• Quote:

  "You end up losing muscle because the body tries to match the lower caloric intake by reducing its metabolic rate. And so you end up skinnier but weaker, skinnier with less muscle. And this is not a good long-term approach by itself."
  — Sal Di Stefano [14:18]

• Proper Use:
  These drugs are best used in conjunction with expert coaching (for strength training and nutrition).
• Comparative Outcomes:
  Obese people are often under-muscled (sarcopenia). Swapping obesity for under-muscled frailty does not improve health outcomes.
• Quote:

  "Without a coach, I don't see this as being a great solution at all. And the data will support it."
  — Sal Di Stefano [15:48]

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4. Myth: "Your Hormones Are Fine" (When You Feel Off)

Timestamp: 15:48–20:46

• Overview:
  Many people are told by their general practitioners that their hormones are “within range"—even while feeling clearly unwell.
• The Problem:
  GPs often look at broad “normal” lab reference ranges, ignoring symptoms and optimal (individualized) values. Functional hormone specialists consider symptoms and optimal ranges, often making a huge difference in quality of life with HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy).
• Quote:

  "Oftentimes one doctor who's not a specialist will say, 'looks like you're OK.' You go to a real specialist, they'll say, but you have all these symptoms and your testosterone is near the bottom. Hormone replacement therapy is probably going to dramatically improve the quality of your life, and it does."
  — Sal Di Stefano [17:40]

• Client Stories:
  Both Adam and Sal recount clients/family who entirely restored their vitality and fitness after seeking out real hormone interventions, often after years of being dismissed.
• Quote:

  "Changed my life. Then later on as a trainer, I knew to say that aspect. One of my clients would tell me these symptoms and say, 'Yo, my doctor said I'm fine.' I'm like, you know what, I want you to go see so and so..."
  — Adam Schafer [19:13]

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5. Myth: "Just Go Run" To Get Fit

Timestamp: 20:46–23:50

• Overview:
  The advice to simply take up running for health and weight loss is outdated and problematic, especially for untrained adults.
• Why It’s a Bad Fit for Most Beginners:
  • Running is a skill people lose after childhood.
  • Jumping into running as an adult (with poor technique and conditioning) dramatically increases injury risk.
  • For people already low on protein and not doing resistance training, running accelerates muscle loss.
• Quote:

  "This is a high skill thing that you just don't have. And you're going to go do it to fatigue. This is why the injury rate in running is...near the top."
  — Sal Di Stefano [21:53]

• Metabolic Impact:
  For the “average” sedentary person, running (with a bad diet) = rapid weight loss via muscle loss.
• Simplicity Trap:
  People pick running because it feels like the quickest, easiest way to burn calories, but it’s unsustainable and risky.
• Better Advice:
  Resistance training is safer and more effective as a starting point for metabolic health and long-term results.

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6. Myth: The Glycemic Index is Hugely Important

Timestamp: Begins at 23:50

• Note: The conversation on this myth is started but not fully developed in the provided transcript. The hosts begin to explain why glycemic index is misunderstood and overemphasized.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Plant-Based Push:

  “There was a lot of money and effort put into that. There was a lot of big push for going away from meat...”
  — Justin Andrews [04:08]

• On Dietary Extremism:

  “I don’t understand why we promote these extreme diets so much. I mean, that’s the same as the carnivore diet. It’s extreme."
  — Justin Andrews [09:04]

• On the Perception of Progress:

  "If all you care about is seeing the scale go down ... that will work. Unfortunately, that is not a smart strategy long-term."
  — Adam Schafer [11:18]

• On Hormonal Health:

  "This is a lie that a lot of women have heard where they go to the doctor and they're like, 'I don't know what's going on. ... My body doesn't feel like it's mine anymore.' 'It's normal, you're fine.' ... And then they end up working with someone who's forward thinking, who does appropriate hormone therapy. They're like, 'You gave me my life back.'"
  — Sal Di Stefano [17:40] / [18:21]

• On GLP-1:

  "Without a coach, not necessarily a great option."
  — Sal Di Stefano [15:48]

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Timestamps to Key Segments

• Myth 1: Plant-Based is Healthier: 03:08–09:50
• Myth 2: Just Eat Less: 09:50–13:08
• Myth 3: GLP-1 Meds Alone: 13:08–15:48
• Myth 4: 'You're Fine' with Hormones: 15:48–20:46
• Myth 5: Just Go Run: 20:46–23:50
• Intro to Glycemic Index Myth: 23:50

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Final Thoughts

Through hard truth and humor, the Mind Pump hosts rip into common misconceptions, calling out simplistic solutions and advocating for balanced, science-driven approaches. Their core message: context and individuality matter. Avoid extreme, “one-size-fits-all” answers, and don’t be afraid to question conventional wisdom—especially when it comes from poorly informed influencers, traditional medicine, or the latest fitness fad.

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For more, follow the hosts on Instagram (@mindpumpmedia, @mindpumpsal, @mindpumpadam, @mindpumpjustin, @mindpumpdoug) or at mindpumppodcast.com.

Transcript

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[Sal DeStefano]

If you want to pump your body, your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind Pump. Mind Pump. With your hosts Sal Destefano, Adam Schaefer and Justin Andrews, you just found the most downloaded fitness, health and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. In today's episode, people called in. We got to coach them on air. But this was after the intro. Today's intro was 60 minutes long. In the intro we talk about muscle building, fat loss, health, longevity, current events. It's a great time. By the way, if you want to be on an episode like this one where we can coach you, send us your question. Email [e-mail] now. This episode is brought to you by some sponsors. The first one is eight Sleep. This is an advanced sleep technology. It goes on your bed and it warms or cools your bed to maximize your sleep quality. By the way, it adjusts itself throughout the night for you as an individual, it's pretty rad. If you go to eightsleep.com mindpump Use the code mindpump. You can get $350 off your Pod 5 Ultra. By the way, they ship to many countries worldwide. This episode is also brought to you by Organifi. Today we talked about their horny stack. This is the Happy Drops and Shilajit Gummies. Combine them together, watch what happens. It's a good time. That's what Justin said. Go to organifi.com mindpump Use the code mindpump. Get 20% off. We also have a sale on a workout program. Maps 15 minutes. It's 15 minutes a day of strength training, perfectly programmed to build muscle and burn body fat. It's 50% off. Head over to maps 1.5minutes.com. Use the code Muscle50 for the 50% off discount. Here comes the show.

[Adam Schafer]

T shirt time.

[Sal DeStefano]

And it's T shirt time.

[Adam Schafer]

Ah shit, Doug, you know it's My favorite time of the week got two winners this week.

[Sal DeStefano]

One for Apple Podcasts, one for Facebook. The Apple podcast winner is Kaylin Barger. And for Facebook, we have Tony Barker. If I just read your name, please send that over with your shirt size and your shipping address and we'll get.

[Justin Andrews]

That shirt right out to you.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, we gotta send that to itunesindpumpmedia.com it's one thing if you don't eat right and you don't exercise and you're fat and unhealthy, that's expected. But it's really bad when you follow commonly told or sold advice things that a lot of people believe are true. And then you get worse, you get fatter, you get sicker, nothing's working. That's because it's a lie. There's actually some commonly believed lies that people think make you healthier, but they don't. We're gonna talk about eight of the worst ones in fitness and diet. Don't listen to these. Let's go.

[Adam Schafer]

Ooh, these are good lies.

[Sal DeStefano]

I'll start with the, with the first one, by the way. This was like our mission statement when we started the podcast was to dispel the commonly believed lies. And there's still a lot that are out there and they're terrible because they're promoted as being truthful. So they're not just, you know, like I said, everybody knows if you don't exercise, if you eat garbage, you eat, you know, junk food, you're expected. You, at least you expect the outcome to be what it's going to be, but it's really crappy when you follow the commonly believed advice out there and then you, you, it's like, what's going on here? That's the worst. So I'll start with the first one. The first. This one really annoys me and that is that plant based is healthier. Plant based diets are healthier. This is so often promoted that if I were to take 100 everyday people and polled them and I said, what is a healthier diet? And I put plant based in there, I bet you 90% of them would say plant based is healthier.

[Justin Andrews]

There was a lot of money and effort put into that. There was a lot of big push for going away from meat. And so, I mean, that's the last decade, I would say, is like, we're battling a lot of that information. I agree.

[Adam Schafer]

I think that this is the example of, I mean, when was the last time you saw any diet get that much television in series? Like, how many, how Come documentary news has a diet made. Think about that.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

We've been in this for, you know, two and a half decades. And I do remember the Atkins diet got a lot of pub way back in the days because it was so radical back then, but nowhere near what the vegan diet got in the last decade. And it, I mean there was how many, there was countless documentaries made about it.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

And the worst part about it is it's promoted by oftentimes by sources that would be considered authorities. So now I want to be very clear. Plants are not unhealthy. Okay. So I'm not saying, we're not gonna say plants are unhealthy.

[Adam Schafer]

Also be clear. You could follow a vegan diet and be very healthy.

[Sal DeStefano]

You could.

[Adam Schafer]

It's not saying you're not, but plant.

[Sal DeStefano]

Based is not healthier. That's a false statement. And first off, I'll just say this. Potato chips and Oreo cookies are plant based. So it's just this broad ridiculous statement. Also, when they cite studies that show that plant based is healthier, what they're comparing are plant based thoughtful diets versus the standard American I don't even think about what I eat type of diet. Anything that puts that you have a little bit of thought put into it is probably better than the typical eat whatever you want going on. And you have what's called a self selection bias. Self selection bias of people who are trying to improve their health compared to everybody else who isn't even trying. That's what you end up seeing with these studies. But when you control for those things, when you look at a meat based diet or omnivore diet versus plant based or vegan and you compare them with both sides of people actually who value health, what you find oftentimes most of the time is that meat is not just good for you, it's better for you to have some meat in your diet. It's actually incredibly nutrient dense. Here's what you get with, here's some of the risks you get with to being too plant based nutrient deficiencies. Nutrient deficiencies are much higher because meat.

[Justin Andrews]

Is, is the most nutrient supplementation has to be part of that protocol.

[Sal DeStefano]

100% meat is the most nutrient dense food on the planet. Now what's funny is if you google nutrient dense foods, you're going to get a bunch of plants. It's just not true. If you were to pick one food that you could only eat for the rest of your life and, and not die, it would have to be meat. There isn't a Single plant, you could get away with just eating that one thing.

[Justin Andrews]

You gotta weigh out the bioavailability. Like if your body's actually gonna be able to synthesize it right away.

[Sal DeStefano]

And meat contains certain nutrients that plants either don't contain or they contain in ways that are not very bioavailable. So a healthy diet is healthy. And for most people this includes a decent amount of animal products, which include meat, organ meats, whole fat, dairy, all of those can be very, very healthy when they're part of a good diet. And getting simply. Here's the problem I have. The average person hears this message, really doesn't understand what's going on. So what they do is they take their diet and they just cut meat out.

[Justin Andrews]

That's exactly what they do.

[Sal DeStefano]

So they're eating a crappy diet and then they took out the most nutrient dense thing that they ate. Or maybe the only whole natural food. Like if you look at the typical American diet, it's 80% heavily processed. What's that? 20%, what are those 20% of whole natural foods? It's probably eggs, milk and meat.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, or meat.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's probably the only thing that they're eating that's whole and natural is eggs, meat and milk. And then what they end up doing is cutting those out and typically replacing them with a plant based alternative, like a plant based patty or some kind of a cashew milk, a vegan milk or something like that, which is ridiculously processed. And what ends up happening is you get worse health, they get more nutrient deficiencies. So no, don't believe this lie. It's totally false.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, I had a, you know, had a little over a handful of family and close friends that were influenced by those documentaries and it's exactly what they did. Like they just literally cut out the meat and replaced it with the processed version of that thing. That was the extent of whatever.

[Sal DeStefano]

Worse.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, no, totally it was. And again, I know there's people, I have, I have friends that actually are very, very successful vegan dieters that do take the time to balance it out. Been doing it long before it was popular and it works for them. But in my experience, training clients, it's one of the hardest diets to have a client follow and, and keep them healthy and hitting their nutrient. I mean, it's just so difficult to do that without.

[Justin Andrews]

I don't understand why we promote these extreme diets so much. I mean, that's the same as the carnivore diet. It's extreme.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, I'm glad you said that, yeah, just eating meat also happen to balance.

[Justin Andrews]

And being rational, you know, it's like we get so far away.

[Sal DeStefano]

But again, I'll compare. I'll compare two extreme diets. We'll go vegan versus carnivore. Neither one is ideal. One of them requires a lot more planning. Yep. It's not carnivore.

[Adam Schafer]

Well, what one of them. You can literally eat one thing all.

[Sal DeStefano]

The time, and you're probably not. Here's the deal. You're probably not.

[Justin Andrews]

You can survive.

[Sal DeStefano]

The odds that you're going to get a nutrient deficiency if you just ate meat, and a lot of meat are actually quite low. I'm not saying it's healthy, but it's actually quite low. The odds that you're gonna get a nutrient deficiency if all you eat are plants and you don't use multivitamins and vitamins and nutrients, supplemental nutrients. The odds of a nutrient deficiency are relatively high.

[Justin Andrews]

Pretty high.

[Sal DeStefano]

And it require, again, it requires an incredible amount of planning. And it doesn't exist in. It wouldn't exist in nature. A vegan human without modern grocery stores is dead. You just. Because of all the stuff we're talking about. So anyway, it's not healthier. The next big lie is just eat less. You know, oh, you want to lose weight, you want to improve your health, just eat less. That's. Not only is it oversimplified, but what ends up happening when people do this? Well, there's a few things that happen. Either one, just eating less results in some weight loss, but also results in a significant amount of muscle loss. So they get rid of the. This protective metabolically active tissue. So they lose mobility, they lose strength, their hormone profile tends to go worse. And just eating less, if you don't change what you eat and you just eat less, this almost always results in rebound because of the strong appetite signals that come. And because you're eating. And again, nutrient deficiency, you're eating a lot of heavily processed foods, so then you just eat less. But it's still a lot of processed foods. The appetite signal is so high with those foods that it's impossible to follow. So this is just this really oversimplified message. And I think a lot of people. I think a lot of people realize this. I think they realize it's not just. Just eat less. I know. I think a lot of people would say that there's more to it than just doing that.

[Adam Schafer]

At the root of every single popular diet that was successful, this is it.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

So insert diet that you've heard of that somebody had success and the reason why they did was because it just put parameters around what they were eating before or cut things out that we were eating before and naturally or yeah, created a calorie deficit. And if all you care about is seeing the scale go down £10 and you don't care of the quality of tissue that you have or don't have or what you lose, then yeah, that will work. Unfortunately, that is not a smart strategy long term in the initial, yeah, okay, you could lose 10 pounds that way, but your metabolism is going to slow down, you're going to lose muscle, you're going to be weaker, like not a good place to be and not sustainable. And so all in all, it is a terrible strategy even for weight loss. And that sounds counterintuitive because anybody who's listening who is, you know, grossly overweight thinks, okay, I, I eat. But unfortunately what happens is they eat too much of all the wrong foods and they don't eat enough of all the right foods. And really what they need to do more importantly than eating less, is balance out what they're eating. And that also naturally will reduce calories, but then it'll actually give them what they, they need in order to build their met.

[Sal DeStefano]

Here's some interesting. I mean, the numbers might be a little off, but if you look at the data on longevity, you're actually better off being 15% overweight than you are being 15% underweight. Okay? A lot of people don't know this, being underweight, actually the longevity on that's terrible. And you're better off being fit and overweight than you are being unfit and underweight. Now why am I saying that? Because if you just eat less and you don't do anything for exercise, you don't improve your fitness. For a lot of people this may actually result in worse health, definitely in many cases a lowered quality of life. So exercise has to be a big.

[Justin Andrews]

Part of this big factor.

[Sal DeStefano]

Next up, this is a new lie that's come out because what we have now for the first time in history is a truly effective medical intervention for obesity. Like truly effective. We've had interventions in the past and I'm talking about non surgical ones that have shown some promise, but they don't even come close to this new one, which are these GLP1 medications. And GLP1 medications have promise in combination with the correct application of exercise and management of diet. But the lie is this. A GLP one by itself is the way to go. You just go into GLP1 and you're going to, it's going to solve a lot of these or all of your problems for you. And that's just not the case. We have an obesity epidemic but we also have this other epidemic nobody talks about, which is this under muscled or weakness epidemic. I've cited this statistic before but the average college age male today has the grip strength of a 65 year old man in 1983 or something like that. So we're just weak. And so what happens when you go on a GLP1 without strength training, without trying to hit protein? You're just eating less. You end up losing muscle because the body tries to match the lower caloric intake by reducing its metabolic rate. And so you end up skinnier but weaker, skinnier with less muscle. And this is not a good long term approach by itself. You have to apply proper exercise.

[Justin Andrews]

If you don't get ahead of it and put these parameters in place like, and you're just listening to your body signals at this point and you're not motivated really to consume as much calories as you were before. You're not motivated to seek out protein, you're not getting those building blocks to maintain and preserve the muscle mass you have. So inevitably you shrink down. But now you're under muscled and you're frail.

[Adam Schafer]

Well, your previous point proves this one.

[Sal DeStefano]

That's right.

[Adam Schafer]

I mean that this is the point of, you know, you starting off with just eat less is a terrible piece of advice. That's all the GLP1 is predominantly doing. There's other factors, what it's doing on a neurological level and what it helps with people with addiction and so forth, which is what's promising and, and, and why it still can be used. And we still help people that use this because it can be a tool. Unfortunately the main mechanism in which it gives people results is the just eating less. And so, so many people that think still that that's the strategy go, oh this is great because nothing's ever made me eat this little before and be satisfied. And okay, so this, that's the most dangerous part. And this is what we've been talking about for a while that we're concerned about with the GLP1s is yeah, it's going to be an incredible tool for a lot of people, but it's also going to hurt a lot of people that don't know how to actually manage the nutrients.

[Sal DeStefano]

I think it's an amazing tool for fitness and health coaches. I think it's not a great, very helpful, yeah, it is not a great Tool for general for the average person. If you combine it with a good coach who will will do appropriate strength training with you because there's appropriate is what's going to give you is what you want. Right. Don't overdo it and all that. Right. So appropriate strength training with also appropriate dietary coaching because you're going to want to hit protein which may be difficult. It's already difficult to do that anyway. But on GOP want to be more difficult. But if you do this with a coach, you've got yourself. In my 100% opinion, strong opinion, this is the best medical intervention or tool I've ever seen. Without a coach. I don't see this as being a great solution at all. And the data will support it. Is it better than being morbidly obese? Yeah. But you know, here's the other part of it. The morbidly obese are also under muscled. I remember decades ago that study came out that totally went against the myth that being overweight also meant you probably had a lot of muscle. No, sarcopenia is more common in the obese. So you're going to get even worse when it comes to muscle strength and muscle loss just by going to GLP1. So work with a coach with it. And then it's amazing without a coach, not necessarily a great option. Next up, this one you see all the time in just with your general practitioner doctor or whatever. And that's. You go to the doctor, you know something's off and they're like, no, your hormones are fine. Hormones look good. You're fine, you're within range. That's a lie for a lot of people and I know that a lot of people feel that on the inside. They go, this can't be right. Something's not right. I know they said that my, I mean I'm within range, but God, I feel so off or just so, so not good. The only time you'll get a really good or oftentimes where you'll get the best answer with this is with a hormone specialist who's forward thinking because they don't just base hormone levels off of a, you know, here's the top, here's the bottom general population. They'll also base it off of your symptoms. And oftentimes one doctor who's not a specialist will say, looks like you're okay. You go to a real specialist, they'll say, but you have all these symptoms and your testosterone is near the bottom. Hormone replacement therapy is probably going to dramatically improve the quality of your life and it does this is a lie that a lot of women have heard where they go to the doctor and they're like, I don't know what's going on. I've never stored body fat on my belly before. My body doesn't feel like it's mine anymore. I feel like I'm going crazy. What's happening? It's normal, you're fine.

[Justin Andrews]

Here, take some antidepressants, right?

[Sal DeStefano]

And then they end up working with someone who's forward thinking, who does appropriate hormone therapy. They're like, you gave me my life back. But this is a tough one, right? This is a tough one because it's oftentimes your doctor who tells you this.

[Adam Schafer]

I love that you picked this one. Because when I think back to all the clients that I trained, one of the greatest challenges I ever had was this was a client that was told by the general practitioner that they are fine or they're okay. Yet my client was complaining of all these symptoms. We couldn't lose body fat, we weren't building muscle. It was just like I was so perplexed by what was happening. And it wasn't until I had clients later on, because early on it was not popular to go see a hormone specialist or a functional practitioner. Like that is really the last decade has that really now they've been around forever, but it's not.

[Sal DeStefano]

You had to go to Beverly Hills.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Expensive.

[Adam Schafer]

It wasn't mainstream, it wasn't talked about a lot. And so it was later in my career that I started to see these clients that, oh yeah, my GP said I was fine. But then I went and saw the specialist and they put me on this and put me on that and oh my God, changed my life. Then later on as a trainer, I knew to say that aspect. One of my clients would tell me these symptoms and say, yo, my doctor said I'm fine. I'm like, you know what, I want you to go see so and so and have them do your work and then come and boy, it made a huge difference. And I, so I still think this is a very, very common one that a lot of people have. No, I just had this conversation with my brother in law who's turning 40 this year and you know, I, you know, I'm fine. I think, you know, I'm just like, you should go get your, your blood work done by a specialist and have them talk to you. It because I'm willing to bet that there's some areas that we could totally improve that you have no idea about.

[Sal DeStefano]

I have a family Friend who she was a D1 athlete, swimmer. Competitive fitness was always something that came easy to her. Very consistent. And as she started getting older, she's like, this doesn't feel like my body. I'm storing body fat in weird places. It doesn't look the same. When I wake up in the morning, I feel like I got hit by a truck. My libido's not great. I'm getting anxiety. I'm not an anxious person. And finally went and talked to a specialist on this. Got on hormone replacement therapy. She's in her 40s and she's just like, this is crazy. She's like, I almost got on World of Difference. Yeah. She's like, this is just life changing. All right, here's another big lie. Just go run. You want to get fit, Just go run. Terrible advice.

[Adam Schafer]

Still common.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's not because running like old school coach advice. Running is great.

[Adam Schafer]

I mean, it's kind of. It's kind of bad.

[Sal DeStefano]

No, it's not.

[Adam Schafer]

It's kind of bad.

[Sal DeStefano]

Well, here's why it's. Here's why it's not great advice. I'll get clear, right? There are a few things that the human body does well physically. When it's. When the body is in peak condition and you can do these things well or whatever, you have good, good skill with it. Running is one of them. We actually humans can outrun almost any animal. We have this incredible stamina, Big knee joints, big glutes. We're on two legs. The problem is it's a skill that we forget because we stop running when we're kids. And then when we're in our 30s, we want to get back into shape. So we buy some running shoes and then we go run. And it's like you don't have that skill anymore. And it's a terrible. This is a high skill thing that you just don't have. And you're going to go do it to fatigue. This is why running, the injury rate and running is. It's near the top, is because you lose the skill, you go do it to fatigue. And it's a terrible way to exercise because it's not appropriate for you. So for the vast majority of people who are starting to exercise later, in their late 20s, 30s and beyond, don't just go run.

[Adam Schafer]

It's not just that. It's also since most people struggle with hitting like the previous points you made about hitting protein and getting the nutrients they need. And then if you take that person, which is the average person, okay, not getting the nutrients they need overeating the stuff they don't need to not getting enough protein. And then they don't strength train. Putting that person right there on a running routine is the fastest way to lose muscle.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

So I mean, and if we know how important and protective muscle is and how beneficial it is to your metabolism, then. And that's the recipe for losing even more faster. It's a terrible idea. That's why it's such a bad idea. Aside from what you. I mean, because you're. You're right. It's a skill and most people suck at it. And then it causes all these aches and pains and issues. That's for sure, Paul. But I don't even list that as my number one. Number one to me is what it does metabolically to the average person, as most people don't get what their body needs. And then putting that person running is the fastest way for them to lose muscle.

[Justin Andrews]

And it still exists mainly because it's the most simplistic thought process towards being able to alter your body's composition. It's like I can just get up and go run. And it's like, it doesn't require a lot of like, planning and steps and configuring actual like resistance training program.

[Adam Schafer]

You're right. I mean, you pair that with GLP1 or eating less and it is the fastest way for you to lose weight on the scale. Terrible, though. Terrible strategy for overall health, but yet still very calm. To your point, Justin, because it is the simplest way paired with eating less. To see that number go down on the scale, which is what people tend to obsess over, is just that, oh my God, I'm £100 or £50 or say the number overweight and if I just cut my calories dramatically and get.

[Justin Andrews]

Moving more than I quickest path that they see.

[Adam Schafer]

I'm gonna, I'm gonna. But it's, it's. It's unsus. It's unsustainable, it's unhealthy. It's a terrible strategy. Yet we still see it.

[Sal DeStefano]

Now, I would switch that to just go lift. Yeah. And at least strength training, even people still do it. Totally wrong. But at least strength training people have this general idea that there's some skill and technique involved when it comes to running. People are like, oh, I just go run. I just go run until I'm tired. Oh, no, don't do that because you don't know how to run anymore. Next up, the glycemic index. It's super important. It's actually not important at all. It's not important because for a few now, the glycemic index is real, meaning some foods will impact blood sugar more than others, generally speaking. But why it's not important is because they're almost never these foods are.