Beware the Hack!

Whenever I read about, or see on social media, the latest dietary or fitness ‘hack’, including detoxes, a little red flag is raised.

Our bodies are amazing pieces of kit, which work very hard to keep us alive. These brilliant things do this work day in and day out, and do so tirelessly and constantly, with thousands of small actions consistently taking place.

It is in these constant small actions that the magic happens, whether that is our bodies working to be the best we can be or us working to be fitter, leaner, stronger and/or healthier.

With that in mind, there are no quick fixes or hacks when it comes to our health and fitness, no matter what is currently being sold through whatever media channel you view. This, despite the best promises of “Abs in six weeks” or “Drop a dress size in four days” or as is very popular at this time of year after the excesses of the festive season, “Detox diets” or “Juice Cleanses”. 

Detox diets. Abs in six weeks. Drop a dress size in four days. Juice cleanses. 

Seriously?

Please don’t fall for the hype.

Please remember that everyone selling a quick fix, hack, detox or cleanse does not have your best interests at heart. They are only after your money.

Sure there may be strange, long words bandied about in the glossy advertising, so it sounds ‘scientific’ and thus genuine. At best the science will be iffy with no real benefits. At worst these quick fixes can be downright dangerous.

Remember this: It takes time for meaningful change to happen.

And that meaningful change can be negative as well as positive (think back to the eating a packet of crisps a day analogy in the previous newsletter). 

If your body did actually accumulate ‘toxins’ that you needed a product to detoxify or cleanse you, you would be seriously ill. It would mean that your liver, kidneys, lungs, skin and other organs had stopped working properly, and you would require hospitalisation to try to solve the issue.

Why do we fall for these ‘hacks’?

We are human.

We want to believe that other humans are capable of having the best intentions for us, and also are capable of producing some miracle fix for our problems.

Sadly, most of the time, this is not true. Especially when it comes to our health and fitness.

The adage that “Slow and steady wins the race” is very true, especially in relation to our bodies and what they can and can not do.

It took a number of years for the waistline to expand, the fitness and strength to decline and for various age related maladies to creep up. And yet you can have visible abs in six weeks or be able to drop a dress size in a week or clear your body of all its maladies by drinking some juice?

And while you’ll never miraculously get rid of toxins by drinking some juice, you may be able to gain visible abs or drop a dress size in a short time frame. But are the actions needed to achieve these things healthy or sustainable? The answer is no, neither healthy nor sustainable.

And if you do manage to lose a lot of weight in a very short time frame, then what? Will you feel a sense of zen-like Nirvana? Or will you feel starved, deprived and never wanting to do THAT again?

Surely it is better to think longer term; take things slowly, build in recovery time and allow the body to adjust to what is now being asked of it. 

Start small and build when the foundations are strong enough to handle further changes.

So whether you’d like to be fitter or leaner or stronger or healthier or any combination of these, please beware the hack and take your time. 

And if you’d like a sensible conversation about your health and fitness please click the gold button below and book a chat with me.