What's wrong with us?

 Once upon a time in a galaxy far away, I used to write a monthly magazine column designed to tell readers they're wrong about everything. The editor must have really liked me, because the accepted practice is to do quite the opposite; people like to read things and think “Yes, I agree with that, that's my experience.” But somehow I didn't get fired and it kept me gainfully employed for years...

Now, in another universe, I find myself helping a lot of people with their health, fitness and nutrition, and I promise that I don't in real life tell them they're wrong all the time. 'Cos I need the money. The trouble is, there's too much information out there at your fingertips, and while it may mostly be correct in a very literal sense, it's not always really helpful. And everyone is pushing their unique agenda in the hope that it makes sense and you buy in.

Here are some awkward facts. 

BMI is nonsense. Apparently I'm overweight, but I'm 13% body fat and I can see my abs in the mirror.

10000 steps a day is a nice goal, but 5000 decent steps is a better one. If you're not getting your heart-rate up, getting a bit out of breath, you aren't really achieving the cardiovascular benefits that the step-count fans are raving about. 

You may think you know how many calories you're imbibing, or how many you're burning, but you probably don't. It's really hard to measure, so if you used some simple online calculator or app, you could well be miles away from the truth. If you have a wrist based device, that's probably wrong too. In one meta-study of 65 different articles, for energy expenditure, the mean average percentage error was >30% for all the brands, showing poor accuracy across devices. That's awful.

It's 90% nutrition and 10% about the exercise. You can't outrun a bad diet. But that doesn't mean you can 'not do the exercise.'

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