Health and Wellness Culture - Some Thoughts

On December 7th, the New York Times published “Is American Dietetics a White-Bread World? These Dietitians Think So”

A new generation of practitioners says the profession pays inadequate attention to different kinds of diets, body types and lives.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/dining/dietitian-diversity.html

It’s a great article - worth a read on its own, and stirred up a lot of concerns I’ve had about the fitness industry. The gist of the article is that the dietetics profession, through its institutionalized roadblocks and lack of diversity, is a largely insular group that either ignores or discredits myriad cultures and their relationships with food and body image. In other words, if you’re not eating kale, quinoa, and a piece of chicken breast the size of a deck of cards, you’re not gonna be a skinny white lady (which, of course is the goal). There are significant barriers to entry within the industry that make it difficult for people of diverse backgrounds to enter and be heard, which in turn further exacerbates the issue of homogeneity. This is a sadly common reality across many, many professions - particularly health and wellness - and is not at all unique to dietetics. Luckily, this doesn’t have to be the reality for all of us. 

Lack of access and diversity leads to homogeneity 

Without diverse voices, opinions, examples, and ideas, we end up with a very bland and limited scope of outcomes. Think about this in the context of a fitness regime, or even diet program; that whole quinoa and salmon diet might work for a bit, you’ll probably lose weight, but you’ll end up a statistic, yo-yoing up and down. If all you do at the gym is hit the elliptical, or alternatively, bench like a maniac and ignore everything else (guilty as charged), you’re going to be unbalanced. The same is true when it comes to the image we project in the health and wellness industry. A bunch of upbeat, skinny-toned white people in sterile looking studios conveys a very whitewashed, homogenous culture, one that is certainly unwelcoming to many. What good are we as an industry focused on health and improving the lives of others if we’re blind to the needs of those who don’t fit our narrow mold? 

One size fits all approach doesn’t work. 

Applying a one size fits all approach to health and wellness - or any problem for that matter - leaves much to be desired. I’ll be the first to admit that I know very little about a great many things. My lived experience is just that, mine. It differs from that of you the reader, just as yours differs from your neighbor’s. This means we have to approach problem solving with humility and an openness to a solution that we may not have at hand. What we are doing in our industry is solving problems for people. Someone comes to us with a problem, let’s say they are overweight and want to lose body fat and gain energy. There is a prevailing process for this; engage in a calorie deficit and move. It’s a simple fix, and yes, it may work just like that, but how many people are going to go off and be successful simply by being told to eat less and exercise? That’s the kind of nonsense we get from our doctors when we have an annual physical and get 5 minutes of face time. No shit you can lose weight by dieting and exercising. There wouldn’t be a multiple billion dollar fitness and weight loss industry if it was that simple. 

The reality is, there are so many factors that play into helping a client achieve their goals, it is impossible to bring a one size fits all approach to the problem. Each client is different. They bring a unique background, unique cultural experiences, family experiences, health history, and different goals. As Jessa Henschel mentioned in our post on mental health, there are certainly some clients for whom diet and exercise can be associated with binging and purging, and can lead to unhealthy outcomes. A client with certain mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder, may experience significant swings in performance, or even extremely unpleasant and dangerous triggers from exercise. A trainer may not understand these nuances, and may push a client in a way that is not healthy or helpful.

A lot of the fitness industry seems to be built around the notion that the trainer or instructor is the gatekeeper of fitness and wellbeing, which is just plain wrong. It is our job as a coach or care provider to listen and create an environment that fosters two way communication. If we aren’t listening, we aren’t going to be able to help the client. If we can’t relate to the needs and experience of the client we not only aren’t going to help, but we can cause even greater harm. It is crucial that if we do not have the tools to help the client, we must build and foster a network such that we can refer that client to someone who can. Just as a primary care doctor will refer his patient to a specialist, we must be open to the same. After all, health coaches, trainers, nutritionists, dietitians, physical therapists, yoga and meditation instructors, even fitness instructors are all a part of the client’s healthcare team. Just like healthcare professionals we should strive to do no harm.

What does homogeneity look like in fitness and wellness

I’ll preface things by saying the health and wellness industry has so many people who are well intentioned, deeply so, and who want to make your life better. It also has a lot of bullshit and misinformation, pushed forth by folks looking to make a quick buck. Obviously social media makes it worse and brands fuel the fire by “partnering” with influencers who peddle products. There is an image cultivated of the high energy, always upbeat, ALWAYS very thin and attractive, young, Boutique Group Fitness InstructorTM, commanding a 25k+ instagram following, with a paid partnership with a clothing, or energy drink company. We also have the “success bro” trope peddling inspirational quotes and taking instagram pics in front of luxury cars he doesn’t own, or shirtless on a beach somewhere talking about gratitude. The universe is also largely white, cis, and hetero. Alternatively, we have highly technical fitness experts who study human biomechanics as if we were formula one cars. If you only slide your right foot in by 1 inch and rotate it in 5% your deadlift will increase by 15%. None of this is great. The influencer/instructor game sucks and isn’t helping anyone, and the technical side of things is great if we’re all treating folks looking to become elite athletes, but that’s a much small percentage of the population. 

The situation would be almost laughable if it wasn’t so harmful. If you just change your mindset, you’ll be as upbeat and fit as I am! Wear these shorts, you’ll be able to hit that deep squat better! You can conquer that HIIT session like a champ if you eat this power bar. Be like me. You’re not good enough the way you are, but I can help. Buy my shit. It’s a veneer folks. What a lot of consumers in the industry don’t realize, and what you can’t see through Instagram is that your favorite instructor or fitness influencer probably doesn’t have health insurance, probably hasn’t been to a doctor in a while, and is definitely not some super human. Their life is hard and a struggle too. They are still human. Iconography in fitness out of control. Ego isn’t helping clients get healthy, and it’s certainly not helping people feel like this is a welcoming community. 

How do we combat homogeneity

If you’ve followed Nicely Fit Co at all, you’ll realize what’s described above is not us. Rob and I have guts (we’re working on it). And Jake is like the anti-Barry’s bootcamp instructor, all humility without the corresponding humble-brag instagram account. We think you’re great the way you are, but are happy to help if you’re looking for guidance and help getting healthy or improving your performance in sport. One thing we really want to improve is diversity within our ranks, and we hope to achieve this over time. We’re still in our infancy and don’t have a ton of resources to work with at the moment but we are well aware that we don’t want this place to just be run by a couple of goofy white dudes. We love that we have clients from different backgrounds, with different goals, interests, needs, body types, ethnicity, and orientations. It makes what we do more fun and more interesting, and we hope it makes for a more enjoyable environment. 

Part of the reason we use the format that we do is to foster an environment where we can have a productive two way dialogue between Nicely Fit Co. and our clients. Semi-private training is more financially accessible than 1:1 training while still providing for plenty of personalized discussions.We start with an assessment and book it for an hour because it is crucial for us and for our client’s success that we get to know your unique background and set goals together. 

I can speak from personal experience that the time and space to have a two way conversation and to really dig into a problem or dig into setting goals can make all the difference. For years I was dealing with a medical issue that just never was properly dealt with. You know the drill, you go to the doctor, you get maybe 5 minutes with them, and they order a diagnostic test or whatever. It then goes on and on without an answer. For me, after years of this, I found a doctor who actually took the time to discuss and understand my issue, and surprise surprise, the issue was handled. Even if we aren’t the most diverse team in the world, we will always bring in a diverse set of knowledge, and we regularly engage in healthy debate as a team as to how to treat our clients. 

All that said, I’m not here to say it’s ok to be unhealthy, or that we should strive for a definition of healthy that is watered down just to be accommodating. There are objective, scientific truths when it comes to health. Of course, we should be informed by the best science available and make decisions based on fact: Smoking is bad; drinking is not good for you either; sitting is a killer; moving, even if just for a walk is vital for cardiovascular health; strength training is massively beneficial; staying away from processed foods is important; eating a whole foods, veggie forward diet is likely to bring the most health benefits for the most people. There is a need for medication, and supplements, therapies and diagnostics. It’s not that it’s all bad. But we need to be conscious as consumers. We need to believe in our value as individuals and insist that our care providers value us enough to give thoughtful care. 

If you aren’t healthy, let’s say you are an unhealthy weight (as defined by medical consensus and empirical data points) and never exercise, you should be aware of the dangers of that lifestyle. But there’s not something fundamentally wrong with you as a person. We’re not better, or smarter, or superior to you. It is our job to understand the history and lifestyle choices that are leading to the unhealthy outcome. Not shame you for getting to that point. If someone is approaching health and wellness from a perspective of shame and superiority, that should be a red flag. When someone is acting like that and not taking the time to get to know your symptoms and your body, you’re not going to have great results. Like I’ve said, I've had instances where I’ve gone to a doctor or other medical professional complaining of an ailment and I walk out 5 minutes later with a prescription for some drug that ultimately doesn’t work. That is frankly one of the biggest issues in healthcare right now - there is not a lot of diversity of opinion, time or care taken to actually get to know a client, and healthcare has effectively become a volume commodity with point of care turned into an opportunity to sell something. We do the same crap in fitness and wellness with energy drinks, shakes, you name it, and it’s all nonsense. 

A shot across the bow and a call to action

I’m well aware this all might piss some people off, even folks who are our friends and folks we respect in the industry, but that is kind of the point. It’s not right to sit by and watch this unfold without speaking up, and we hope to inform consumers of healthcare, fitness, and wellness by speaking up. For those in the industry bothered by this, we invite an open two way dialogue. We’d like to help. It's not lost on us that much of the crappy elements of the influencer/instructor scene is driven by necessity - some studios and chains take advantage, many of us are freelancers, contractors, or self employed, and we are often completely without any kind of safety net. We do think, however, that there may be a way for us to work together as an industry to bring unique and diverse voices, opinions, and practices together to drive real positive change for our clients. We welcome your voices and we welcome any change friends. Comment and let us know what you’d like to see.