I don't know what's up with me at the moment but I find Eddie Abbew* so triggering that I messaged a girl this week who shared his post to say he makes me want to pull my skin off

*If you're like WHO? Search for him on IG but prepare to spend at least 15 minutes scrolling + eye rolling)

(It could be due to the post ovulation rage, which is a fun new thing I get)

The thing is I stand by it, despite not normally replying directly to stories that wind me up

Now here's the thing

I don't actually disagree with everything he has to say

I'm a coach and a nutritionist. I've studied this shit. I wholeheartedly agree that we should be eating a diet predominantly based around whole foods, lean proteins, plenty of fruit/veg/grains blah blah blah (this is literally the work I do with clients)

We should be minimising our intake of crisps/biscuits/sweets

But his platform has grown because he totally demonises foods

Cereal? You're an idiot for eating it

Bagels? You're f***ing stupid

Calorie deficit? It's a lie (this is the big one that blows my mind)

He goes into supermarkets and slags off anything he can get his hand on, all for engagement

And this further confuses everyone and makes you fear foods that are absolutely FINE in moderation

And the real lol.. He does all this to sell his own e-book (huuuuuge red flag)

And has spent the majority of his life on a vast amount of steroids...

So this week I have spent more time than I care to admit, hate-watching his stories and getting lost in the comments section

The reason I get so riled up is because I speak to people every single day about the impact of shit diets and misinformation

Whether it's coaches giving their clients meal plans of chicken, rice + broccoli

Slimming world telling you that you can eat all the pasta you want

And herbalife encouraging you to eat dust for 2 meals

Or worse still, the new wave of "Doctors" spouting absolute horseshite on a certain well-known podcast

It is exhausting

And if I'm sick of it, I can only imagine how you feel...

This is why I will always aim to do better with my clients

I will walk them through dieting without over-restricting

I will educate them on the importance of a varied diet

I will help them build a nutritional profile that is strong for health, not just for physique change

A comment I got in the Collective8 group chat this week said "Harriet is one of the only coaches I trust on social media" and I nearly shed a tear

Because that is one of the greatest compliments to receive

My aim is that within the SWC, you learn what works for you and you learn how to block out the noise because people like this are almost just as damaging to society as the 90s diet culture messaging was

Yes for health we NEED to be doing certain things. But you're not going to die for eating a bagel every now and then

Any messaging extremes should wholeheartedly be avoided...