Three of the most common New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight, exercise more and eat healthier. The goals are all good ones and reflect a desire to live a healthier lifestyle. Exercising regularly can improve your mood, and consuming a healthier diet filled with more fruits and vegetables can boost your energy levels. Due to all of the benefits, it makes sense why these goals are such common New Year’s resolutions. However, with the slew of misinformation on the internet and the toxicity that often surrounds diet culture, it also makes sense why these goals are so rarely attained. A quick Google search returns hundreds of results related to weight loss, dieting and exercising. Various YouTubers and other influencers claim that going keto, vegan, gluten-free or paleo are the golden tickets to eternal thinness.
False health gurus coin entire macronutrient groups such as carbohydrates and fats as the villains preventing you from finally losing those last pesky pounds. And some fitness junkies encourage you to jog each morning, even if you despise that form of exercise.
Luckily, not every source on the internet includes incorrect or harmful information. There are still people who can provide you with the positive motivation you need to live a healthier lifestyle if your goals for 2021 are to exercise more, eat healthier or even lose weight. Coming from someone who has struggled with my body image, relationship with food and understanding of what it means to live a “healthy lifestyle,” here are the four YouTubers who have helped me find a positive source of motivation.
1. Abbey Sharp
It’s vital that I begin a list like this with a YouTuber who is also a registered dietitian. I was able to take a nutrition course as an elective through my college, and being able to learn factual dietary information from a textbook instead of relying on the half-truths about health that are scattered all over the internet helped me rebuild a healthier relationship with food. Since not everyone has the ability to take an entire course on nutrition, Abbey Sharp is the next best thing.
On her channel, Sharp reviews “What I Eat in a Day” videos posted by other YouTubers. She dispels any diet-related myths that are present in the videos, using her registered dietitian lens to inform her viewers with facts. Sharp also does a fantastic job at providing trigger warnings on her videos which might harm individuals with disordered eating, so you have the ability to stop watching her videos if you don’t think the content will be healthy for you to watch.
2. FrumpyFit
FrumpyFit is the perfect YouTube channel to visit if your goal for the new year is to lose weight in a healthy way. The face of FrumpyFit, Layna, is an online fitness and weight loss coach. On her website, she explained, “It’s not about making fitness your lifestyle. It’s about making fitness fit into your lifestyle.” That is exactly the philosophy she brings into each and every one of her YouTube videos.
In one of the most beneficial series on her channel, she reacts to bad diet advice on TikTok. Like Sharp, Layna dispels popular myths most people believe about dieting and weight loss with the hopes that she can help her viewers break the cycles of fad diets and overexercising. These videos are worth checking out to get a feel for which diet advice you should ditch in 2021.
3. SusieJTodd
Unlike the other YouTubers on this list, SusieJTodd’s content doesn’t just revolve around fitness and health. However, her fitness challenge videos are some of the most viewed series on her channel. Susie has posted about herself completing a number of different fitness goals, including Chloe Ting’s challenge, Alexis Ren’s ab and butt test, the 7-day jump rope workout and plenty more.
I recommend Susie’s channel to anyone getting into fitness for the first time in 2021. Susie’s bubbly personality is contagious, and her fitness videos are always a great mix of motivational content and entertainment.
While fitness challenges aren’t the key to a sustainable online fitness routine, it sure can be fun to watch someone complete them on a computer screen. Plus, it can be nice to see a candid video of someone struggling with entering their fitness journey, just like you might be.
4. Beatrice Caruso
Beatrice Caruso is one of the most relatable YouTubers on this list. She’s funny, not shy about sharing her struggles with her followers and she’s on a 100-pound weight loss journey. Her videos consist of what she eats, what exercises she does and information about her mental and physical health.
Her videos are raw and vulnerable, but they’re also hilarious and entertaining. Caruso is a great person to watch for weight loss motivation because she doesn’t post any “get fit fast” content. Therefore, her goal to lose 100 pounds will happen gradually and take a considerable amount of time to complete. As a result, she’s losing weight in a healthy and sustainable way, and if you struggle with the motivation to eat healthily and exercise in the long-run, her videos can be a source of aid.
Caruso’s weight fluctuates, and she openly admits to falling off track multiple times over the last few months. But she always tries again, and that source of optimism is admirable and could be helpful to see if you struggle with maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Each of these YouTubers offers different but valuable content regarding weight loss, fitness and living healthy lifestyles. If your goals for the new year are to eat healthier or exercise more, it’s worth checking out any of the YouTubers on this list to get positive motivation and factual information. It’s easy to get swept up in fad diets or get discouraged when you don’t lose weight quickly, but hopefully one of these YouTubers can help you persevere on your healthy lifestyle journey.
