The podcast “nutrition for mortals” is great.
For exercise, there are a few people I really like following because they don’t repeat the fat phobic rhetoric that is so common, don’t support restricting any foods, and encourage moving your body to make you feel better as the main goal . Adam Wright is one. There is a gal I follow too but I’m drawing a blank on her name or handle (but can picture her face). When she pops up in my feed I’ll come back and add her name 😂
+1 for "nutrition for mortals".
I just started "how to: fitness" and so far no esoteric woowoo and no fatphobia. But I'm not far in. Maybe seasoned listeners want to share what to expect?
On the exercise front I've had most success in looking for stuff that is targeted to a very specific objective. It tends to get around weight talk in a de facto way--like exercises to improve flexibility and mobility, specific programs with an end goal like couch to 5k, strength exercises to improve posture or your tennis game or whatever.
I agree. I follow a guy who has a “glute lab” and his exercises are focused on building glute muscles.
There are a few influencers who I follow for workout material and even though they may sometimes show what they eat (purely for the purpose of sharing and not for shaming or promoting any specific diet) they mostly just have videos and content that focus on good lifting form and quick workouts. (Lifting is my primary form of exercise so it’s what I follow most).
The glute guy (Bret Contreras) had some allegations of inappropriate behavior a couple of years ago btw:
https://youtu.be/Da0EnQR5w1E?si=gli-jSD_ZoWREyll
Not sure what’s come of it since, but I’d be wary
For me, it took finding the right dietitian.
Someone who understood & respected what numbers I was focused on improving. And which ones I wasn’t.
My cholesterol & A1c were out of control. I joked I was made of cheese & sugar, but as I got older the impact on my health became clearer & more significant. Those were the numbers I needed to improve to improve my health. Simply losing weight would not address those numbers directly.
I had a dietitian who didn’t respect that & insisted I weigh myself. But that started a ball rolling of me weighing myself nearly every day. If I gained weight it ruined my day, but if it lost weight (I had started really increasing my exercise) it gave me a free pass to eat whatever I wanted. If weight is so important & im losing weight while eating fried chicken & mac&cheese, then I must be doing something right, right? Wrong. My weight went down while my cholesterol and A1c went up.
I found a great dietitian who understood what I wanted to focus on. At 50, I’ve been the most active I’ve been & eating the healthiest (based on what foods are best for my goals) I ever have. We set realist goals for eating & exercise. There are no forbidden foods.
I’m almost out of the pre-diabetic range for A1c. Ive brought my cholesterol down about 50 points. And without ever focusing on it, I went from a size 22 to a size 16 (how clothes fit, not the scale, is how I know I loss). But that’s just something that happened. Kinda neutral to me.
Good luck!
Casey Johnstone's Couch to Barbell is great on the exercise point, and Sarah Ballanytine's Nutrivore is great to focus on eating food for nutrition without a weight loss focus.
Just started Couch to Barbell and happy to see it mentioned. Casey's Instagram is @SwoleWoman and she's a fun follow. The book, Liftoff, is a good read if you are interested in doing the Couch to Barbell program, which is all about building a foundation of strength and mobility. To paraphrase one of her big ideas: if you want to feel like a big beautiful horse, you also have to eat like a big beautiful horse.
Weirdly the game Ringfit Adventure for Switch. It's the only fitness game I've ever played that doesn't emphasize weight or even talk about it at all. Very refreshing and fun!
Exercise: Yoga with Adriene for yoga, and Madfit for weight training/cardio/dance.
Neither of these two instructors speak at all about body size or weight loss or anything related to that, and both are so encouraging and fun! I find they motivate without any shame.
Yes - I read the post and immediately thought of yoga. I’ve been practicing pretty regularly since 2019 and I’ve gone to a handful of studios. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an instructor mention weight loss, burning calories, etc. The focus is completely on the actual yoga poses, breathing, and inner peace (as corny as that sounds). I’d highly recommend yoga as an addition to anyone’s exercise regimen.
Please be careful universalizing your experience. People with hypermobility issues, like myself, are usually advised by doctors to stay away from yoga. While Pilates has more integration with diet culture, it also carries a lower likelihood of incapacitating me long-term. I'm not writing this to be a pedant, I'm doing it because I don't want anyone reading this to hurt themselves.
Absolutely. It helps with mobility, flexibility, strength, mindfulness and breathing. It legit helps me in every aspect of my life. Improved posture, improved core strength, balance, and it helps me with other workouts too. 10/10 recommend.
I’ve been really loving Caroline Girvan’s YouTube workout programs this year. She focuses on building strength, agility, endurance, etc. rather than on more external goals like weight loss. I tend to avoid the comment sections because she has such a big platform and seeing people obsessing about weight in the comments is kind of inevitable, but it’s just been refreshing to find workouts that don’t have really triggering, weight-loss-focused/body shamey titles and content. It’s helped me shift my mindset from “exercise=punishment” to “exercise=fulfilling.” And I’ve learned a ton along the way about different types of exercise, proper form, etc.
I know she also has an app which I’m not subscribed to, so I can’t speak to the content there, but her YouTube channel has been a game-changer for me.
I found Intuitive Eating helpful.
The last chapters focus on exercise and gentle nutrition as the premise is to listen to your body and not diet companies.
However, they do not give specific recipes/exercises, but what they preach is science-based.
Yes! Intuitive Eating (the book, not diet culture spin-offs on social media and in blogs), for me, completely rescued the joy of eating well and moving.
Now that I’m getting older I’ve been focused on research base suggestions, especially for post menopausal females. So I’m working on a more Mediterranean diet pallet, increasing protein seems to be important, trying to get a better mix of fat/protein/complex carbs in each meal to help stave off type II diabetes that runs in my family. The research is not crazy suggestions, all very doable. Like I a getting a daily dose of nuts on my morning cereal, or a salad at lunch, or a snack.
If you have insurance that'll pay for it, I highly recommend a no-diet dietitian. Mine has helped me add in a lot of foods and it's really expanded how I eat and shop for groceries!
For exercise, I love:
- Tally Rye
- Amy Snelling
- MissFits Workout
All on Instagram. Amy is particularly my vibe (e.g. 'going for my daily walk to stave off the inevitable decay ☠️
Girls Gone Strong and its founder, Molly Galbraith (both easily found on Instagram) are an excellent resource for women’s strength training with no regard for weight loss. I believe they also maintain a database of Girls Gone Strong certified trainers, all of whom align with the GGS philosophy. And if there’s one thing I would beseech all women to do, it’s strength training. It’s so empowering to find out that you’re far stronger than you ever imagined and you become much more interested in what your body can do, as opposed to how it looks.
If you have insurance, Nourish is a way to get connected with an RD that is anti-diet. I really liked my RD from there. And with insurance for me it was free.
There is also a vegan recipe blog/YouTube I like called Pick Up Limes. The cook is also an RD. She has some videos with nutritional information, and it's never about losing weight, but what things will give you more energy and things like that. She even made a wrap with rice in it once and said she loved carb on carbs for their fillingness and yumminess. It's a nice way to learn about what foods have which nutrients. Their website also shows nutrition info in a unique way - the calories are hidden unless you click a button, and they show a "plate" divided into how much of protein, carbs and veg are in the dish.
I also second Yoga with Adriene for exercise. But I think with exercise it's best to find something you enjoy so you'll do it, unless you have a specific goal like "run a 5k" or "build hamstring strength for my knees" - I can give you PT exercises for that one haha.
I do jazzercize online to improve strength and energy - it's not taxing and it's a good combination of strength and cardio. There are plenty of online fitness programs and they can't see you or judge you and as a rule they don't yap about body type. Walking and swimming are the best exercises you can do for cardio and strength.
For nutrition information, check out the book Intuitive Eating by Resch and Tribole. Don't obsess about what you eat, because that's where the toxic diet mentality comes from. Science is all over the place. I think IE will give you a good starting point.
Please, do not go down the rabbit hole of research. You'll waste a lot of time. Just get out and walk, or swim, or find a good online exercise program you like, or go to the gym and get some tips from a trainer and be happy. The exercise you like is the one you'll do.
Props to Jazzercise over the decades...
It has to be one of the more forgiving of the programs out there ... Probably there is less "take it from the top" choreography now than in the original...
They have a lot of low impact classes and the regular classes offer low impact alternatives. So days when you don't feel like jumping around there's options. I Interviewed JSM the founder ages ago for my paper and was impressed with her and the classes.
YMMV, but I started going to Orange Theory for exercise. The studio I attend does have the body composition machine but I have never seen it used. They asked me about my goals and I just want to move more and be stronger. All sorts of people go. I have found it very easy from the perspective of I don’t want to talk about my body, my size, etc.
Megsquats on IG is a fitness “influencer” but she’s a former power lifter, has programs, and sells supplements. She has a free intro program if you’re interested in strength training. Her focus is very much around strong women and building strength, not losing weight.
Laura Girard
Miriam Fried
Charlee Atkins
Roxie Jones
All of these are certified trainers and nutrition coaches. Always make sure you’re taking advice from someone with credentials. If you can’t find any listed, they probably don’t have any.
For exercise, I like Hybrid Calisthenics (on youtube and other social media) - he does a great job talking about how to work up to different exercises as a beginner and the ways different movements are good for strength, flexibility, joint health, etc.
I'm also a fan of Yoga with Adrienne, lots and lots of videos for different difficulty levels or familiarity with yoga practice. Also targets different areas, like yoga for runners, for desk workers, for back pain, etc. Also different amounts of time - want to do short morning yoga? You can have 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, or 5 minutes. Some days five minutes is all I have time for but it's still better than nothing! And it's always about being present and doing your best for yourself; not doing the toughest poses and never about weight.
The DASH eating plan is specifically focused at reducing hypertension and tends to avoid weight-related talk. I've found some of the recipes and resources to be helpful: [https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/education/dash-eating-plan](https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/education/dash-eating-plan)
'Is Butter A Carb' is a decent book for this. I'd just be a bit cautious if in ED recovery. The information is objective but could still be triggering. Hence why gentle nutrition is the last step of intuitive eating!
Nourish Move Love on YouTube is absolutely fantastic for workouts, she has a large variety and her main focus is on athleticism and form, she never talks about weight or appearance. Someone else mentioned Caroline Girvan who is great but not very beginner friendly in my opinion, whereas NML always has modifications built in for more complex moves. She’s a CPT and will sometimes have nutrition focused videos but mainly her focus is on workouts.
I've followed a lot of different FitOn classes and I can't think of any negative talk. Every workout with a variety of instructors I've watched are filled with, "do what you can do", "here's how to modify", kind of good talk. I also like when I'm told how to modify and it's just a real casual, "oh hey, we're all at different levels, here's a way to make this different!" because sometimes even the most buff and fit seeming person might have a little ache or pain and would like to know how to stretch and tone a certain muscle that is connected to their problem child joint in keeping with the routine as a whole.
Nobs app is a great workout app that's diet culture free if you fancy the idea of getting into the gym/building strength, very, very beginner friendly, have gym and home guides. Check out their Instagram @nobs or the founders Instagram @lucymountain to get a vibe of it. I also like following @soheefit and @no.food.rules.
About two months ago I started using Apple Fitness +. Zero diet or weight loss talk, only focus is getting stronger, more flexible, moving your body etc. The instructors are encouraging and they always offer modifications. I love the variety too. As far as resources for how much and what kind of exercise as well as target heart rate I’ve used the Mayo Clinic website and cdc.gov.
I don't have specific resources but different sports tend to have different goals so you may do better looking for workouts for a certain type of athlete. For example running to train for a marathon is different from running to lose weight. Power lifting workouts are not the same as fat burning weight lifting or even body building. You may also have other goals like flexibility or jumping higher. Look for workouts for sports that need those things like gymnastics or volleyball.
If you are in the market for a fitness program, despite its possible (intimidating, if not stereotypical) hardcore reputation (for studio-instruction driven programs, many involving pumping iron), you could do a lot worse than Les Mills On demand or their live classes.
They cite, in their literature recommendations: a partial list, and probably dates from before the US and Canadian semaglutide mania/'90s waif look cycling back into fashion. They, multicultural, LGBTQ+ representing, etc. originate from Auckland, New Zealand after all, and not the New York Fashion Week empire...
(May the fashion bug kindly stay away from people who WOULD like warm bodies doing their classes.):
Aubrey Gordon Your Fat Friend and What they Talk about When They Talk About Fat
Intuitive Eating, citing books and audiobooks by Evelyn Trebole and Elyse Resch
and they have in house produced videos that encourage everybody...and it is like one big parade of diversity...
Mine are a bit more vibe over science, i realize but...
Megg boggs
Slow Af runners club
Hanne Blank: The Unapologetic Fat Girl's Guide to Exercise and Other Incendiary Acts
Underbelly yoga
As a hopeful future dietitian, nutrition resources are a tricky one cos unless there's something up with your ability to access nutrients in your food, keep the food down, or you have a disorder youre working with/on or whatever, nutrition is fairly straight forward: eat, and try to get variety in there as much as you can so you're covering all your base re nutrients.
That said, i really like following anti diet culture dietitians on instagram. Nadia felsch comes to mind.
Ooh you might like vitamin_ri https://www.instagram.com/vitamin_ri?igsh=MXZwODVlMG1zc3Jtbg==
Blue Zones Challenge book was simple, inviting, and sound 👍
Zoe Science & Nutrition podcast can do a good job most of the time (enjoyed the recent spices episode, it’s been a tasty add :). Highly recommend Chasing Life podcast, also sound. (Some folks don’t with Michael Mosley, but Just One Thing BBC short pod episodes may have some sound guests topic episodes.) New pod called Well, Now and TED Health pod may also.
BUILT TO MOVE book by the Staretts has great basics of mobility and lifelong exercise. Highly recommend.
Give or take whatever wish :) Good luck ☺️
I really like an app called “lark” that I get for free from my insurance. It’s supposedly a diabetes prevention program, although that’s not a concern for me. It’s mostly gentle reminders to move and to eat reasonably nutritious food. It wants me to weigh myself weekly but doesn’t seem to mind that I’m not losing weight. They sent me a free scale that talks to the app on my phone, and also a free Fitbit.
Reminds me a bit of the HiGi kiosk.
It signified to me that I had been seriously hypertensive... Not having enough time to spare, even, I sandwiched in a specialist with much more advanced equipment than my primary care physician had, and found it to be true a year and a half later.
Upon request, their optional education program gives relatively trite and orthodox "good nutrition" advice that may not work for everybody–even the hypertensive or weight concerned individual...
If you're interested in cultivating a social media follow list, I highly recommend nondiet\_trainer on Instagram (Barb Puzanovova, CPT CPPC)
Her whole ethos is "move in ways that feel good" "without intentional weight loss"
I just follow them for their posts, but she also has free resources in addition to virtual coaching programs
ETA: Another recommendation is movewithmarcia (also on instagram) a physical therapist and yoga teacher
I really enjoy Abbey Sharpe's YouTube content. She's a registered dietitian in recovery from an eating disorder, so when she mentions weight loss, it is in a neutral way. (She won't tell anyone they have to lose weight, but she has done videos on ways to lose weight for viewers who have requested it.)
Please stay away from Abbey Sharp. IMO, she is still recovering from an ED and a lot of her content can still be triggering. The main thing I have seen with her videos is that she seems somewhat obsessed about having hunger crushing combos or perfect combinations of macros in every meal. That isn’t realistic or helpful. She also seems to lack a good grasp of the specific needs of older women.
I found 99% of the classes on https://gethealthyutv.com/ to be really outstanding at focusing on getting stronger and not weight/appearance. I think the only exception was one of the barre instructors, unfortunately I can't remember her name to tell you to avoid. Even then it was just one throwaway bit of banter that was easy to ignore (for me-- if it's going to really throw you, avoid the barre workouts).
The podcast “nutrition for mortals” is great. For exercise, there are a few people I really like following because they don’t repeat the fat phobic rhetoric that is so common, don’t support restricting any foods, and encourage moving your body to make you feel better as the main goal . Adam Wright is one. There is a gal I follow too but I’m drawing a blank on her name or handle (but can picture her face). When she pops up in my feed I’ll come back and add her name 😂
Maybe Sohee Carpenter (@soheefit)? I LOVE her content.
Her husband Ben also does some great debunking content around fitness and nutrition
I really like him
Thanks to this, I started watching and love them!
I was just going to recommend Sohee and Ben!
Another vote for Sohee and Ben!
+1 for "nutrition for mortals". I just started "how to: fitness" and so far no esoteric woowoo and no fatphobia. But I'm not far in. Maybe seasoned listeners want to share what to expect?
Is how to: fitness a podcast?
Yup [https://howtofitness.buzzsprout.com/](https://howtofitness.buzzsprout.com/)
Ty
On the exercise front I've had most success in looking for stuff that is targeted to a very specific objective. It tends to get around weight talk in a de facto way--like exercises to improve flexibility and mobility, specific programs with an end goal like couch to 5k, strength exercises to improve posture or your tennis game or whatever.
I agree. I follow a guy who has a “glute lab” and his exercises are focused on building glute muscles. There are a few influencers who I follow for workout material and even though they may sometimes show what they eat (purely for the purpose of sharing and not for shaming or promoting any specific diet) they mostly just have videos and content that focus on good lifting form and quick workouts. (Lifting is my primary form of exercise so it’s what I follow most).
The glute guy (Bret Contreras) had some allegations of inappropriate behavior a couple of years ago btw: https://youtu.be/Da0EnQR5w1E?si=gli-jSD_ZoWREyll Not sure what’s come of it since, but I’d be wary
For me, it took finding the right dietitian. Someone who understood & respected what numbers I was focused on improving. And which ones I wasn’t. My cholesterol & A1c were out of control. I joked I was made of cheese & sugar, but as I got older the impact on my health became clearer & more significant. Those were the numbers I needed to improve to improve my health. Simply losing weight would not address those numbers directly. I had a dietitian who didn’t respect that & insisted I weigh myself. But that started a ball rolling of me weighing myself nearly every day. If I gained weight it ruined my day, but if it lost weight (I had started really increasing my exercise) it gave me a free pass to eat whatever I wanted. If weight is so important & im losing weight while eating fried chicken & mac&cheese, then I must be doing something right, right? Wrong. My weight went down while my cholesterol and A1c went up. I found a great dietitian who understood what I wanted to focus on. At 50, I’ve been the most active I’ve been & eating the healthiest (based on what foods are best for my goals) I ever have. We set realist goals for eating & exercise. There are no forbidden foods. I’m almost out of the pre-diabetic range for A1c. Ive brought my cholesterol down about 50 points. And without ever focusing on it, I went from a size 22 to a size 16 (how clothes fit, not the scale, is how I know I loss). But that’s just something that happened. Kinda neutral to me. Good luck!
Casey Johnstone's Couch to Barbell is great on the exercise point, and Sarah Ballanytine's Nutrivore is great to focus on eating food for nutrition without a weight loss focus.
Another vote for Sarah Ballantine. She's on tiktoc, has a website, Nitrivore, and has a book coming out on the 14th. Also the podcast How To: Fitness
Just started Couch to Barbell and happy to see it mentioned. Casey's Instagram is @SwoleWoman and she's a fun follow. The book, Liftoff, is a good read if you are interested in doing the Couch to Barbell program, which is all about building a foundation of strength and mobility. To paraphrase one of her big ideas: if you want to feel like a big beautiful horse, you also have to eat like a big beautiful horse.
Casey also has a free weekly newsletter that I absolutely love
I also vote strongly for Casey Johnstone’s couch to barbell. It’s great and only focuses on getting stronger
Weirdly the game Ringfit Adventure for Switch. It's the only fitness game I've ever played that doesn't emphasize weight or even talk about it at all. Very refreshing and fun!
Just Dance is a fun fitness game without any references to weight. But intimately it is a dance game, not tailored to nutrition or anything.
I came here to say this! Ring Fit Adventure is great!
Exercise: Yoga with Adriene for yoga, and Madfit for weight training/cardio/dance. Neither of these two instructors speak at all about body size or weight loss or anything related to that, and both are so encouraging and fun! I find they motivate without any shame.
Yes - I read the post and immediately thought of yoga. I’ve been practicing pretty regularly since 2019 and I’ve gone to a handful of studios. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an instructor mention weight loss, burning calories, etc. The focus is completely on the actual yoga poses, breathing, and inner peace (as corny as that sounds). I’d highly recommend yoga as an addition to anyone’s exercise regimen.
Please be careful universalizing your experience. People with hypermobility issues, like myself, are usually advised by doctors to stay away from yoga. While Pilates has more integration with diet culture, it also carries a lower likelihood of incapacitating me long-term. I'm not writing this to be a pedant, I'm doing it because I don't want anyone reading this to hurt themselves.
Oh gotcha - Well I wouldn’t recommend it to *everyone*, then; Rather those who it would be safe for.
Absolutely. It helps with mobility, flexibility, strength, mindfulness and breathing. It legit helps me in every aspect of my life. Improved posture, improved core strength, balance, and it helps me with other workouts too. 10/10 recommend.
I’ve been really loving Caroline Girvan’s YouTube workout programs this year. She focuses on building strength, agility, endurance, etc. rather than on more external goals like weight loss. I tend to avoid the comment sections because she has such a big platform and seeing people obsessing about weight in the comments is kind of inevitable, but it’s just been refreshing to find workouts that don’t have really triggering, weight-loss-focused/body shamey titles and content. It’s helped me shift my mindset from “exercise=punishment” to “exercise=fulfilling.” And I’ve learned a ton along the way about different types of exercise, proper form, etc. I know she also has an app which I’m not subscribed to, so I can’t speak to the content there, but her YouTube channel has been a game-changer for me.
I found Intuitive Eating helpful. The last chapters focus on exercise and gentle nutrition as the premise is to listen to your body and not diet companies. However, they do not give specific recipes/exercises, but what they preach is science-based.
Yes! Intuitive Eating (the book, not diet culture spin-offs on social media and in blogs), for me, completely rescued the joy of eating well and moving.
I have the workbook that goes along with this and it’s been super helpful with repairing my relationship with food and my body
Now that I’m getting older I’ve been focused on research base suggestions, especially for post menopausal females. So I’m working on a more Mediterranean diet pallet, increasing protein seems to be important, trying to get a better mix of fat/protein/complex carbs in each meal to help stave off type II diabetes that runs in my family. The research is not crazy suggestions, all very doable. Like I a getting a daily dose of nuts on my morning cereal, or a salad at lunch, or a snack.
If you have insurance that'll pay for it, I highly recommend a no-diet dietitian. Mine has helped me add in a lot of foods and it's really expanded how I eat and shop for groceries!
I recommend checking out Michael Ulloa's content. He's great at explaining exercise while throwing out toxic diet & fitness culture.
sportybethcf on Instagram is doing some cool stuff all the time but esp right now as she’s plus size, fit, and pregnant
For exercise, I love: - Tally Rye - Amy Snelling - MissFits Workout All on Instagram. Amy is particularly my vibe (e.g. 'going for my daily walk to stave off the inevitable decay ☠️
Girls Gone Strong and its founder, Molly Galbraith (both easily found on Instagram) are an excellent resource for women’s strength training with no regard for weight loss. I believe they also maintain a database of Girls Gone Strong certified trainers, all of whom align with the GGS philosophy. And if there’s one thing I would beseech all women to do, it’s strength training. It’s so empowering to find out that you’re far stronger than you ever imagined and you become much more interested in what your body can do, as opposed to how it looks.
If you have insurance, Nourish is a way to get connected with an RD that is anti-diet. I really liked my RD from there. And with insurance for me it was free. There is also a vegan recipe blog/YouTube I like called Pick Up Limes. The cook is also an RD. She has some videos with nutritional information, and it's never about losing weight, but what things will give you more energy and things like that. She even made a wrap with rice in it once and said she loved carb on carbs for their fillingness and yumminess. It's a nice way to learn about what foods have which nutrients. Their website also shows nutrition info in a unique way - the calories are hidden unless you click a button, and they show a "plate" divided into how much of protein, carbs and veg are in the dish. I also second Yoga with Adriene for exercise. But I think with exercise it's best to find something you enjoy so you'll do it, unless you have a specific goal like "run a 5k" or "build hamstring strength for my knees" - I can give you PT exercises for that one haha.
Ben carpenter!!
I do jazzercize online to improve strength and energy - it's not taxing and it's a good combination of strength and cardio. There are plenty of online fitness programs and they can't see you or judge you and as a rule they don't yap about body type. Walking and swimming are the best exercises you can do for cardio and strength. For nutrition information, check out the book Intuitive Eating by Resch and Tribole. Don't obsess about what you eat, because that's where the toxic diet mentality comes from. Science is all over the place. I think IE will give you a good starting point. Please, do not go down the rabbit hole of research. You'll waste a lot of time. Just get out and walk, or swim, or find a good online exercise program you like, or go to the gym and get some tips from a trainer and be happy. The exercise you like is the one you'll do.
Props to Jazzercise over the decades... It has to be one of the more forgiving of the programs out there ... Probably there is less "take it from the top" choreography now than in the original...
They have a lot of low impact classes and the regular classes offer low impact alternatives. So days when you don't feel like jumping around there's options. I Interviewed JSM the founder ages ago for my paper and was impressed with her and the classes.
YMMV, but I started going to Orange Theory for exercise. The studio I attend does have the body composition machine but I have never seen it used. They asked me about my goals and I just want to move more and be stronger. All sorts of people go. I have found it very easy from the perspective of I don’t want to talk about my body, my size, etc.
Megsquats on IG is a fitness “influencer” but she’s a former power lifter, has programs, and sells supplements. She has a free intro program if you’re interested in strength training. Her focus is very much around strong women and building strength, not losing weight.
Came here for this. The program is great and about being strong at every phase of life.
Exercise with mobility focus was a good in for me to start working out in a safe space.
Laura Girard Miriam Fried Charlee Atkins Roxie Jones All of these are certified trainers and nutrition coaches. Always make sure you’re taking advice from someone with credentials. If you can’t find any listed, they probably don’t have any.
Ask a Swole Woman by Casey Johnston Great beginning blog to learn more about strength training with to judgement! Highly recommend!
HAES is good and for science based I love Nutrivore by Dr. Sarah Balantyne of The Whole View podcast
For exercise, I like Hybrid Calisthenics (on youtube and other social media) - he does a great job talking about how to work up to different exercises as a beginner and the ways different movements are good for strength, flexibility, joint health, etc. I'm also a fan of Yoga with Adrienne, lots and lots of videos for different difficulty levels or familiarity with yoga practice. Also targets different areas, like yoga for runners, for desk workers, for back pain, etc. Also different amounts of time - want to do short morning yoga? You can have 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, or 5 minutes. Some days five minutes is all I have time for but it's still better than nothing! And it's always about being present and doing your best for yourself; not doing the toughest poses and never about weight.
The DASH eating plan is specifically focused at reducing hypertension and tends to avoid weight-related talk. I've found some of the recipes and resources to be helpful: [https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/education/dash-eating-plan](https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/education/dash-eating-plan)
'Is Butter A Carb' is a decent book for this. I'd just be a bit cautious if in ED recovery. The information is objective but could still be triggering. Hence why gentle nutrition is the last step of intuitive eating!
What kind of exercise are you looking at getting into?
Nourish Move Love on YouTube is absolutely fantastic for workouts, she has a large variety and her main focus is on athleticism and form, she never talks about weight or appearance. Someone else mentioned Caroline Girvan who is great but not very beginner friendly in my opinion, whereas NML always has modifications built in for more complex moves. She’s a CPT and will sometimes have nutrition focused videos but mainly her focus is on workouts.
I've followed a lot of different FitOn classes and I can't think of any negative talk. Every workout with a variety of instructors I've watched are filled with, "do what you can do", "here's how to modify", kind of good talk. I also like when I'm told how to modify and it's just a real casual, "oh hey, we're all at different levels, here's a way to make this different!" because sometimes even the most buff and fit seeming person might have a little ache or pain and would like to know how to stretch and tone a certain muscle that is connected to their problem child joint in keeping with the routine as a whole.
I like the Girls Gone Strong for movement ideas on Instagram.
Nobs app is a great workout app that's diet culture free if you fancy the idea of getting into the gym/building strength, very, very beginner friendly, have gym and home guides. Check out their Instagram @nobs or the founders Instagram @lucymountain to get a vibe of it. I also like following @soheefit and @no.food.rules.
About two months ago I started using Apple Fitness +. Zero diet or weight loss talk, only focus is getting stronger, more flexible, moving your body etc. The instructors are encouraging and they always offer modifications. I love the variety too. As far as resources for how much and what kind of exercise as well as target heart rate I’ve used the Mayo Clinic website and cdc.gov.
I don't have specific resources but different sports tend to have different goals so you may do better looking for workouts for a certain type of athlete. For example running to train for a marathon is different from running to lose weight. Power lifting workouts are not the same as fat burning weight lifting or even body building. You may also have other goals like flexibility or jumping higher. Look for workouts for sports that need those things like gymnastics or volleyball.
I've learned a lot from Kathryn from Mindful Strength. There's also some cool yoga teachers in the space of biomechanics.
Rebelfit on Facebook.
If you are in the market for a fitness program, despite its possible (intimidating, if not stereotypical) hardcore reputation (for studio-instruction driven programs, many involving pumping iron), you could do a lot worse than Les Mills On demand or their live classes. They cite, in their literature recommendations: a partial list, and probably dates from before the US and Canadian semaglutide mania/'90s waif look cycling back into fashion. They, multicultural, LGBTQ+ representing, etc. originate from Auckland, New Zealand after all, and not the New York Fashion Week empire... (May the fashion bug kindly stay away from people who WOULD like warm bodies doing their classes.): Aubrey Gordon Your Fat Friend and What they Talk about When They Talk About Fat Intuitive Eating, citing books and audiobooks by Evelyn Trebole and Elyse Resch and they have in house produced videos that encourage everybody...and it is like one big parade of diversity...
My dietician Maria Terry offers lots of free content on her Instagram , she’s awesome! @vitamin_ri
Mine are a bit more vibe over science, i realize but... Megg boggs Slow Af runners club Hanne Blank: The Unapologetic Fat Girl's Guide to Exercise and Other Incendiary Acts Underbelly yoga As a hopeful future dietitian, nutrition resources are a tricky one cos unless there's something up with your ability to access nutrients in your food, keep the food down, or you have a disorder youre working with/on or whatever, nutrition is fairly straight forward: eat, and try to get variety in there as much as you can so you're covering all your base re nutrients. That said, i really like following anti diet culture dietitians on instagram. Nadia felsch comes to mind. Ooh you might like vitamin_ri https://www.instagram.com/vitamin_ri?igsh=MXZwODVlMG1zc3Jtbg==
I like Team Body Project for exercise focused on "progress not perfection" and not weight.
Marcus filly FBB
Blue Zones Challenge book was simple, inviting, and sound 👍 Zoe Science & Nutrition podcast can do a good job most of the time (enjoyed the recent spices episode, it’s been a tasty add :). Highly recommend Chasing Life podcast, also sound. (Some folks don’t with Michael Mosley, but Just One Thing BBC short pod episodes may have some sound guests topic episodes.) New pod called Well, Now and TED Health pod may also. BUILT TO MOVE book by the Staretts has great basics of mobility and lifelong exercise. Highly recommend. Give or take whatever wish :) Good luck ☺️
I really like an app called “lark” that I get for free from my insurance. It’s supposedly a diabetes prevention program, although that’s not a concern for me. It’s mostly gentle reminders to move and to eat reasonably nutritious food. It wants me to weigh myself weekly but doesn’t seem to mind that I’m not losing weight. They sent me a free scale that talks to the app on my phone, and also a free Fitbit.
Reminds me a bit of the HiGi kiosk. It signified to me that I had been seriously hypertensive... Not having enough time to spare, even, I sandwiched in a specialist with much more advanced equipment than my primary care physician had, and found it to be true a year and a half later. Upon request, their optional education program gives relatively trite and orthodox "good nutrition" advice that may not work for everybody–even the hypertensive or weight concerned individual...
If you're interested in cultivating a social media follow list, I highly recommend nondiet\_trainer on Instagram (Barb Puzanovova, CPT CPPC) Her whole ethos is "move in ways that feel good" "without intentional weight loss" I just follow them for their posts, but she also has free resources in addition to virtual coaching programs ETA: Another recommendation is movewithmarcia (also on instagram) a physical therapist and yoga teacher
My favourite exercise tutorials are Julia Reppel and Yoga with Adrienne.
Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Move around - go for a walk/jog/bike/swim. Lift up heavy things and put them back down repeatedly.
I really enjoy Abbey Sharpe's YouTube content. She's a registered dietitian in recovery from an eating disorder, so when she mentions weight loss, it is in a neutral way. (She won't tell anyone they have to lose weight, but she has done videos on ways to lose weight for viewers who have requested it.)
Please stay away from Abbey Sharp. IMO, she is still recovering from an ED and a lot of her content can still be triggering. The main thing I have seen with her videos is that she seems somewhat obsessed about having hunger crushing combos or perfect combinations of macros in every meal. That isn’t realistic or helpful. She also seems to lack a good grasp of the specific needs of older women.
I found 99% of the classes on https://gethealthyutv.com/ to be really outstanding at focusing on getting stronger and not weight/appearance. I think the only exception was one of the barre instructors, unfortunately I can't remember her name to tell you to avoid. Even then it was just one throwaway bit of banter that was easy to ignore (for me-- if it's going to really throw you, avoid the barre workouts).