Finding Truth Amidst the Grift: Wellness Culture and Capitalism

This year more than ever I've been thinking about the prevalence of "New Year, New Me" rhetoric flooding our social media channels, and wondering how obvious the influencer grift culture is those that aren't working in the fitness or wellness space.

There's so much added weight to the notion of a fresh start with the cultural chaos of digital voices screaming on top of one another how you should live your life and how you should look. The multi-trillion dollar wellness industry is thriving, and as we pair that with influencer culture and peak capitalism, we are rapidly losing the point of wellness.

"Drop the ab routine!" dominates the comment section on women with (naturally or not) very low body fat percentages, while we STILL don't realize that even adding a million sit ups won't give us that look. Some folks are endorsing eating only beef, bites of cold butter, and the occasional kiwi. We're supplementing and injecting and constantly hoping for magic solutions to every little thing we criticize about ourselves, every little fear we have about our health, and half of this advice is coming from internet voices with literally no education in the subject in which they're giving "expert advice".

Yes, you're absolutely allowed to lean into your own "new me" goals, but as we clean house for the new year (literally and metaphorically), where and how do we come up with the list of things we'd like to change about ourselves and what strategies we'll utilize for that change?

In this sea of digital talking points, I want to ask you two questions.

1) Who profits off of your insecurities?

2) What are their credentials?

Who profits off of your insecurities?

At the Lab, our biggest demographic is 35-55 year old women, and boy have we been done dirty. I remember childhood grocery store check outs where every propaganda magazine was about the grapefruit diet and "how to lose 20 pounds by spring" (not coincidentally I remember Dr. Oz on the cover of many of these...) and shelves were brimming with variety on variety of the hundred calorie pack.

While I am THRILLED that it's now cool to strength train, and that we've made some progress on body positivity and adjudicating self worth outside of size, somehow "90s skinny/heroin chic" is back (with the reemergence of low rise jeans AND Dr Oz, go figure) along with an influx of bad information to help achieve it. We're used to putting our size, wrinkles, body hair, etc under the self-judgment microscope, but the internet has unlocked the performance-to-sales magic formula to weaponize not just outward appearance, but also our health concerns and the very notion of longevity.

What does this mean?

The wellness content on the internet is so focused on selling, that your health is considered a thing that can be profited off of—the "advice" isn't free. Fears the internet has created are now an outlet for that same internet to profit from.

With the rise in everyone needing to vlog their entire lives, and content becoming more and more professional in appearance, it's easy to mistake production value or constant posting and speaking with authority for expertise.

Speaking to the camera-style reels are one-sided, not a conversation, and we seldom fact-check to the depth that's necessary. The well-lit influencer that's empathetic and relating to you re: peri-menopause and hormonal or metabolic health isn't a medical professional or a dietitian or a trainer, they've just learned how to market what they're selling in a way that appeals to our anxieties. The advice almost always comes with an affiliate link to supplements that promise magic, or a training plan that sells a body that was partially achieved by genetics.

This new-found validation is getting us to panic about what's "wrong". If we feel like the traditional medical establishment hasn't listened, here's someone (a random internet stranger with no credentials) that empathizes and wants to help.

If you have even the tiniest degree of interest in your body and wellness habits you're probably getting drowned in "helpful" advice that will point to links in bios, the TikTok shop, affiliate codes, special first time client discounts, juice cleanses and powders and peptides and magic fixes and cures with every swipe. The point here is that we're so quick to suss out what might be "wrong" with our bodies, that every internet talking point that creates a smidge of fear about our health is immediately granted some sort of internal stature and often given more weight.

I can't solve any of this, and fear it's only getting worse, but my biggest hope is that we remember critical thinking.

What are the influencers credentials?

Here's a work-in-progress list that I try to work through when I'm sussing out motive behind information sharing:

• Do you know the education and background of the influencer that's spouting the one-liners that resonate with you?

• What is the bulk of the influencer's work? Is the trainer actually educated in the modality they're training? Are they still training clients? Is the doctor still actively practicing medicine? Are the injectables folks doctors or nurses or pharmacists or anything remotely close?

• Does the person giving advice know anything about YOU and your health?

• Does the "free" advice try to sell you something?

• Is there an affiliate link?

There are a lot of trainers and medical practitioners that I really do respect and patronize. What I've noticed is a few unifying trends shared by those that I respect—what they're offering is always within their scope of practice, they're willing to admit what they don't know, and they don't live a lifestyle contradictory to what they advise.

If you've made it through this rant, here's the plot twist...

You ARE WORTH revisiting healthy habits and making some resolutions. Let's pursue longevity through strength training, mobility work, and simple common sense diet and lifestyle habits.

Here are your non-negotiables:

• You need abundant water, protein, fiber, sleep, and movement to thrive.

• Every human body needs carbs.

• Adults shouldn't be eating a toddler's calorie goal (even if you're trying to cut).

• Hours spent in the gym doing cardio won't efficiently create a smaller body.

• You need thoughtful heavy strength training for longevity and function. You need cardio for cardiovascular health. When you combine the two with no rhyme or reason, you often lose the point of both.

• No modality creates "lean muscle", and there's no such thing as toning (verb).

• Alcohol sucks for gains and overall health.

• Supplements aren't regulated.

  
  

Want to be proactive about your health:

• Commit to a 3-6 month cycle of basic habits re: sleep, movement, hydration, fiber, protein, no booze, breathwork.

• Get some in depth bloodwork done if you're curious about the internal status quo. Don't freak out if it's not perfect.

• Bookending a cycle of meticulously executed above basics with before & after bloodwork can be especially interesting.

• Make a list of what hurts and isn't functioning well in your body, address it!

• Get yourself a team with a PCP that listens, a physical therapist that is proactive and willing, and a personal trainer that matches your vibe. A therapist would also be a huge asset.

I'm right there with you, wishing change wasn't hard, but I'm also unwilling to accept straight up propaganda from an internet that's just trying to make money off of my insecurities and fears. We've got enough to worry about in the midst of a country on fire. Find some joy, acknowledge and dismiss the topical and irrational stressors, and go drink a glass of water.

If you've made it to the end, take a little movement break please and thanks.