We made a post on Instagram a few days ago with what turned out to be a pretty polarizing idea. The post said, “It’s not fat. It’s not carbs. It’s not sugar. It’s not alcohol. If you’re not losing weight, it’s because you’re eating too many calories. Period.”

The post got nearly 8,000 likes and lots of positive feedback, but we also got slammed by a bunch of people. We got comments like, “this is false information,” “my thyroid says this is fake news,” and “this is very toxic and harmful information.”

First of all, science is not fake news. But let’s forget science for a second and talk about the beliefs that these people hold. Do these beliefs empower or imprison them? Is telling yourself that energy balance is “fake news” actually constructive towards your goals? Or is that belief actually holding you back from building the body and confidence that you deserve?

More broadly, do your beliefs about health and fitness empower or imprison you? Do you tell yourself that you’ll never be comfortable in your own skin? Do you tell yourself that you won’t ever be able to run a half marathon, deadlift your body weight, or complete some other athletic achievement that you would love to be able to do? Do you tell yourself that you aren’t fit enough to go to the gym? Do you tell yourself that you don’t have time to make healthy meals and move your body?

As Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”

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