Just a quick update on what's happening with this podcast and what's going on at fitnessdrifter.com
We all start a new diet with good intentions - wanting to make a positive change to our health, wellness and physical fitness.
But it is common for dieting to lead down the road towards emotional relationships with food and eating disorders. By some estimates, as few as 5% of people who lose weight by dieting are able to keep it off, and as many as 25% of people who start a diet can end up with an eating disorder.
Let's take a look at how that can happen and what we can do instead of dieting.
You can find the blog post for this episode here.
Resources
Other Sources
Let's talk about intuitive eating for men.
It's one of the best known tools that dietitian use when helping people improve their relationship with food is often an important part of recovering from an eating disorder.
But if you look online, a lot of the content around intuitive eating is more geared towards women. Not that there is anything wrong with that - eating disorders tend to affect women much more than men overall.
But I wanted to talk a little bit about intuitive eating for men as well and that's what we're up to in this episode.
You can find the accompanying blog post here.
Other sources
Anorexia Nervosa is possibly the best-known eating disorder and it is the one a lot of people think of when they hear the term "eating disorder". It is almost always seen as affecting women, but anorexia in men does happen too. By some estimates, up to 25% of anorexia cases are in fact men.
I couldn't find a lot of reliable stats on that - just some estimates - but anorexia does indeed affect men and I wanted to run through what this eating disorder is, how to recognise signs and symptoms, its health impact, and some treatment options.
The corresponding blog post for this episode is here: https://fitnessdrifter.com/anorexia-in-men
Sources:
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/anorexia/overview/
https://eating-disorders.org.uk/information/eating-disorders-in-males/
https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/media-centre/eating-disorder-statistics/
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/statistics-research-eating-disorders
https://www.verywellmind.com/diagnostic-criteria-for-anorexia-nervosa-1138312#citation-9
Resources:
Helplines and support:
As summer turns to winter, and the weather turns colder and darker, it is common to end up with bouts of low mood, depression, and feelings of lethargy.
It's actually quite common to experience this and in some cases, will come under the term Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
It's something I deal with like clockwork, every September-October and then again in January and I have gotten used to figuring out how to adapt.
So I'm coming at you this week with some of my best tips for dealing with seasonal affective disorder.
You can find a transcript of this episode here: https://fitnessdrifter.com/tips-for-dealing-with-seasonal-affective-disorder
And you can get in touch with me with any questions on Instagram, Twitter, or Tiktok.
Following on from the last episode is the second part of my breakdown of some of the most common myths in men's fitness - although to be fair a lot of them are common to all fitness. Just search engines and algorithms make it easier to show up when you go super specific.
Anyway, we've got another few tasty myths to break down this time - is eating small meals throughout the day better than bigger meals? How good (or bad) is walking actually for your health? And can you be healthy if you don't have abs?
All covered in this episode!
The transcript and accompanying blog post for this episode can be found here.
You can also get in touch:
Change of pace this week as life has gotten in the way of me doing some deep dives into topics. But this is part 1 of a two-parter talking about common men's fitness myths and the truth behind them.
I've got 12 myths for you in this episode including the truth about toning up, why sit-ups won't flatten your stomach, what kind of workouts actually are bad workouts and more.
The transcript and accompanying blog post for this episode can be found here.
You can also get in touch:
One of the most overlooked aspects of men's health is the gut.
It plays a huge role not just in digestive health but in every part of both our mental and physical wellbeing. It's where pretty much all of the nutrition our body gets is extracted from the food we eat.
So it's pretty darn important.
We're going to look at common gut health issues, the impact of gut health on weight, how to improve your gut health, and why it is so important to your all-around health and wellbeing.
And a few things you can do to help improve your gut.
The full blog post for this episode is available here.
The Fitness Drifter Youtube channel is here.
Other resources and references used for this episode:
https://www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/gut-bacteria
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-help-make-us-fat-and-thin/
https://gutscharity.org.uk/advice-and-information/health-and-lifestyle/
We're talking about eating disorders again this week. Bulimia nervosa and a little bit specifically on bulimia in men.
We'll cover the history behind this eating disorder, what it is, what impact it has, signs, symptoms, what recovery is like and I also added some guidance on how to help someone else if you think they are dealing with bulimia or any eating disorder for that matter.
Other support resources:
The blog post for this episode is available here.
References used in this episode:
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/bulimia/overview/
https://archive.org/details/diagnosticstatis0005unse/page/345
https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/media-centre/eating-disorder-statistics/
https://www.waldeneatingdisorders.com/blog/four-things-you-might-not-know-about-men-and-bulimia/
https://pagesix.com/2012/02/09/lady-gaga-reveals-struggle-with-bulimia/
Orthorexia Nervosa, or orthorexia for short, is in simple terms an eating disorder where the sufferer becomes obsessed with "pure" or "healthy" foods.
And what is deemed pure or healthy will vary from person to person.
It's not a commonly recognised eating disorder and a lot of the time we will just tell ourselves we are being healthy and doing ourselves some good.
But there is a fine line between healthy eating and looking after yourself, and genuinely disruptive or disordered behaviour.
In this episode we'll talk about the basics of this eating disorder, where the term came from, some of the symptoms, how to recognise if you have it, and treatment options.
The blog post and transcript of this episode are available here: https://fitnessdrifter.com/orthorexia-in-men-healthy-eating-obsession/
Other references:
https://www.healthsadvisor.com/en/guest/qs/orthorexie-test-de-bratman/
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/by-eating-disorder/other/orthorexia
Fitness goals can be great - they help give you purpose, find new challenges and maybe even surprise yourself with what you're mentally and physically capable of.
But it's really important to set the right goals, and from the right mental space. And having realistic expectations is key as well.
When you set goals around aesthetics or body shape, it can do a bit of damage to your mental wellbeing - you end up focusing on things that you believe are flaws in yourself.
So let's look at how to set goals that allow us to develop and grow without wrecking our self esteem in the process.
The transcript and blog post for this episode can be found here: https://fitnessdrifter.com/male-body-image-and-fitness-goals/
We all can be a bit self-conscious about our bodies and appearance from time to time.
But sometimes we can end up fixating on our own perceived flaws to the extent that they almost feel debilitating. That is common with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) or body dysmorphia as it is also referred to.
And it is a genuine mental health condition that can cause a massive amount of distress for sufferers, and something you should seek out professional help for.
Body positivity encourages embracing your body as it is, perceived flaws and all.
While it is not there to be a magic fix or a cure for BDD, changing your approach to how you view your body can at least help you address some of the emotions that BDD can cause you to feel.
So in this episode I am taking a look at body dysmoprhic disorder, body positivity, my own slightly twisted experience with each, and how you can use body positivity to help with body dysmorphia.
The transcript and corresponding blog post for this episode are here. And the NHS guidance on body dysmorphic disorder can be found here.
One of the most misunderstood (or maybe misrepresented) concepts in body positivity and in health and fitness more generally is the Health At Every Size (HAES) movement.
It's common to assume that it promotes unhealthy lifestyles and ignoring weight in the context of health.
That is definitely not true - it is saying that people should feel empowered to pursue health regardless of their weight and acknowledges that while weight is one crucial health marker, it is not the only important one.
So I am going to talk about the critical principles of HAES, why it is important, my experience with it as someone trying to lose weight and as a personal trainer, and how it applies to men.
A written version of this episode is available here.
Other key references:
Fatphobia is the discrimination or maybe even hatred of larger bodies that are carrying a higher body fat percentage.
It's a form of harassment, bullying and body shaming and it is widely known and regularly called out (rightfully so) for women.
It is something that seems a lot more widespread and prominent for women.
But male fat shaming is also a thing and men can experience fatphobia too.
Here are a few thoughts on fat shaming and fatphobia from a man's perspective.
You can find the corresponding blog article for this episode, including the transcript here.
We're all feeling it at the moment. On top of just the normal everyday stress that life throws at us, we're all - and with good reason - having to deal with a lot more.
We're in the middle of a cost of living crisis, we're still in a pandemic, new political controversies across the world every day, climate change, high inflation.
These are things that affect all of us and it has been weighing on my mind and affecting my mindset a lot.
So I am stepping away from my planned and scheduled content plan here and just sharing my thoughts on why all of this is burning us out, how to protect your energy and a bit of self-care.
There is honestly not much structure to this episode - just a few loosely gathered thoughts, but it's a reflection of how my mindset has been these last few weeks.
The written version of this episode is available here: https://fitnessdrifter.com/burnout-recovery-slow-down/
Stepping into the gym for the first time... or a new gym... or a new area of the same gym... or a new gym class...
They can all feel scary, and intimidating and give you a slightly nauseated feeling in the pit of your stomach.
I went through that when I started my fitness journey, and when I kept re-starting my fitness journey.
In fact, I even wanted to lose 40 pounds before I started at the gym.
Gym intimidation is very real, and it can get in the way of you doing something that can have a dramatic positive impact on both your mental and physical health.
So let's take a look at how to deal with gym intimidation so you don't let it hold you back from achieving your fitness goals.
The written version of this episode is available here: https://fitnessdrifter.com/how-to-get-over-gym-intimidation/
From my heaviest to my lightest, there is about a 140 pound (or 63kg) weight difference in my body. As someone who has been on that journey and is nearly half the weight he was at his heaviest, I do get a lot of questions - how long did it take, what diet did I follow, what exercises did I do, how did it happen, what made you get to that weight in the first place, how am I keeping it off...
So please forgive me a bit of self indulgence as I walk you through the longest and often most challenging journey of my life.
Transcript: https://fitnessdrifter.com/how-does-extreme-weight-loss-feel/
Binge eating disorder in men is much more common than a lot of people think. It is actually the most common eating disorder in men and by some estimates, it is thought to make up around 40% of cases. So let's take a closer look at binge eating disorder, more about what it actually feels like (and no, it's not just a case of saying to yourself to stop eating), some of the common myths, and how I got my binge eating disorder under control.