Talk around a gym almost invariably leads to eating and weight loss. It's a natural topic: people are there for health reasons, to get in shape, and hopefully stay there. Eating is an essential part of the equation. New clients are particularly interested in what works and what doesn't and most are surprised to hear that what they've traditionally thought or heard about eating and nutrition are actually wrong. What dawned on me last week when a client adamantly stated: "They say oatmeal is good for you!" was: Where does this information come from and who exactly are 'They?'

People take recommendations from many sources for many different reasons: where to invest money, what school to send their children to, the best new restaurant, vacation spot, or movie. When it comes to health, nutrition, and exercise, there is no shortage of recommendations and everyone's an expert! I personally do not like the word 'Expert' and most people who do possess comprehensive and authoritative knowledge or skills in a particular area rarely call themselves experts. They let the facts or performance do the talking for them.

Conventional Wisdom

In the area of health there have been generally accepted theories or beliefs, (about eating in particular), which are held by most people, including doctors, that are passed down to the general public and accepted as definitive truth. This body of knowledge has been coined Conventional Wisdom. There are a lot of problems with accepting tips that can radically alter your health mostly because no one really knows where the information is coming from and who the source is! Some advice is surely science-based and qualified but most of it seems to trickle down via the Internet, magazines, tv, product labels, with Dr. Oz and Oprah in tow.

BUT, what we do know is that most, almost all, of the nutrition and exercise recommendations currently being handed down, prescribed, and recommended are blatantly wrong! All you have to do is look around a water park and airport to see what the information being handed down is yielding. This is not to say all Conventional Wisdom is bad. Smoking is always frowned upon, and the once fantastic hydrogenated margarine has been shelved.

The purpose of my website has always focused in on these areas: Effective Exercise, Eating Strategies, Dispelling Common Myth, and Tools to Get Lean, always relying on research, the facts, and science to back it up. Objective over Subjective...Fact over Opinion.

So, back to the gym talk. When talking to clients particularly about effective eating strategies, I almost always hear, They Say...to which you will most likely hear from me: 'Where did you hear that?' So, with that said, here are a few top and most frequently overheard 'They Say's' from out and about.

1) They Say oatmeal is good for you

2) They Say jogging is the best way to burn fat

3) They Say organic cane sugar is better than regular sugar

4) They Say you need to get fiber from whole grains

5) They Say lifting weights will make a woman bulk up

6) They Say fat is bad and you need to eat more carbs

7) They Say milk is a great source of protein

8) They Say beans are an excellent source of protein and fiber

9) They Say Dips are a great exercise to work your Triceps

10) They Say Cholesterol is bad