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Sponsored by Microcosm Coaching and Fly Nutrition.

Happy New Year! It’s the season of crash diets and bad advice, so we’re here to cut through the noise with evidence-based answers to your nutrition questions.

In this episode, we’re covering:

• How to pick the best protein powder (and why Kylee has a lot of opinions).
• The secret to knowing if you’re eating enough without counting calories.
• Tips for finding the right gel without losing your mind.
• How to challenge bad diet advice when you hear it.
• Does compression therapy actually work, or is it a scam?
• How plant-based athletes can boost their ferritin levels.
• And more listener questions!

Start your year off with smarter fueling and real talk—no BS, no quick fixes, just sustainable solutions that work.

Join the Feisty Fueled Challenge!

Kylee and Zoë wade into the murky waters of "racing weight"—a concept that’s been messing with athletes’ heads since the early days of endurance sports. From ancient Greek wrestlers sweating it out in bathhouses to modern-day endurance athletes chewing gum to spit out extra grams (yes, that’s a thing), the obsession with weight and performance has a long, bizarre history.

We unpack the origins of this idea, critique the pseudoscience and harmful messaging it often comes with, and dig into why lighter doesn’t always mean faster. Along the way, we examine why weight has become such a fixation in endurance sports and how that obsession can derail not just your performance, but your overall health.

Whether you’ve been told you need to hit an “ideal weight” to perform your best, or you’re just curious about why athletes fixate on the scale, this episode is a deep dive into why chasing racing weight can do more harm than good. Spoiler alert: You’re more than your power-to-weight ratio.

Tune in for the history, the science, and the many reasons you don’t need a scale to measure your worth—or your speed. Plus, a surprising history lesson involving figs, bloodletting, and why we don’t recommend using Horny Goat Weed to prep for your next race.

Ask Kylee and Zoë Anything! We're looking for listener questions for an "Ask Us Anything" episode in the New Year!

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In this episode, Kylee and Zoë dive unpack the history of superfoods and why the term might have more to do with marketing than science (spoiler alert, I guess?). We debunk some popular superfood myths and examine the downsides of being hyper-reliant on any one food or ingredient when it comes to maximizing health and performance. Then, we walk through the foods with a strong base of evidence for improving athlete performance and adaptations.

Plus, some spicy takes about bananas. Checkmate, atheists!

Kylee and Zoë dive deep into the culture and science of biohacking, from cold plunges to Bulletproof coffee to see why we're all obsessed with the idea that "one weird trick" can have huge results. We unpack where the idea of biohacking came from, and how it has become a major factor in many athletes, especially men's diets. We'll look at some studies that show how the trend is feeding into many men's disordered relationships with food, and ask the question: is biohacking just another way for dudes to mask disordered eating under pseudoscience?

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This podcast is supported by Microcosm Coaching and Fly Nutrition.

Does tracking your sleep, steps, and nutrition actually make you healthier?

In this episode of Your Diet Sucks, Kylee and Zoë dive into the research on when activity trackers help and when they might hurt your health. Whether it's orthosomnia or jogging laps around the parking lot, we examine how the quest for optimization can undermine your well-being and how obsessively tracking your metrics and stats can actually lead to worse health outcomes - and even bad sex?!?

YDS is supported by Microcosm Coaching and Fly Nutrition.

How influential are influencers, anyway?

Studies show that the folks we interact with (or don’t!) virtually on social media can have a real impact on our mental and even physical health.

From ancient Roman gladiators shilling olive oil and wine to today’s #fitspo influencers shilling supplements and diet hacks, everyone has the capacity to be influenced. In this episode of Your Diet Sucks, Kylee and Zoë unpack why misinformation spreads so quickly online, who is the most susceptible to influence - and the potential harms that mindless scrolling through idealized and heavily doctored images can have on athletes.

References

National Research Council (US); Institute of Medicine (US); Woolf SH, Aron L, editors. U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2013. 4, Public Health and Medical Care Systems. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK154484/

Suciu, P. (2024, June 3). History of influencer marketing predates social media by centuries – but is there enough transparency in the 21st century?. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2020/12/07/history-of-influencer-marketing-predates-social-media-by-centuries--but-is-there-enough-transparency-in-the-21st-century/

Ivanka Prichard, Eliza Kavanagh, Kate E. Mulgrew, Megan S.C. Lim, Marika Tiggemann,

The effect of Instagram #fitspiration images on young women’s mood, body image, and exercise behaviour, Body Image, Volume 33, 2020, Pages 1-6, ISSN 1740-1445, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.02.002. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1740144519302578)

Lup K, Trub L, Rosenthal L. Instagram #instasad?: exploring associations among instagram use, depressive symptoms, negative social comparison, and strangers followed. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2015 May;18(5):247-52. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0560. PMID: 25965859.

Pilgrim, K., Bohnet-Joschko, S. Selling health and happiness how influencers communicate on Instagram about dieting and exercise: mixed methods research. BMC Public Health 19, 1054 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7387-8

Yu Wu, Jane Harford, Jasmine Petersen, Ivanka Prichard,

“Eat clean, train mean, get lean”: Body image and health behaviours of women who engage with fitspiration and clean eating imagery on Instagram, Body Image, Volume 42,

2022, Pages 25-31,ISSN 1740-1445, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.05.003. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1740144522000821)

Langin, K. (2018, March 8). Fake news spreads faster than true news on Twitter—thanks to people, not bots | science | AAAS. Science.org. https://www.science.org/content/article/fake-news-spreads-faster-true-news-twitter-thanks-people-not-bots

Tagliaferro, L. (2024, March 5). 50+ essential fitness statistics, facts and trends (2024). Future Fit. https://www.futurefit.co.uk/blog/fitness-statistics/#:~:text=Instagram%20and%20YouTube%20are%20among,326%2C863%20and%20on%20Instagram%20232%2C502.

YDS is supported by ⁠⁠Microcosm Coaching. ⁠

Kylee and Zoë dive into the Wild West of supplementation for athletes. We unpack the history of how athletes have been trying to gain an edge since the very first Olympics (with figs!) and how a lack of regulation makes it tough to know what substances are backed by evidence and what supplements belong in a gas station bathroom. We discuss what athletes should know about contamination and competition and what questions everyone should ask themselves if they're considering taking a supplement. Plus - the many uses of Horny Goat Weed!