We live in a digital age, and our information often comes from videos or podcasts rather than reading books. While this method of gaining information is easier and faster for a large amount of people (including myself), there are a few drawbacks. Primarily, the biggest issue that I have encountered is questioning the credibility of the information that I am receiving, as well as the intentions of the content creator. I found myself looking online for lists of credible YouTubers or Instagram fitness influencers that I could trust to not try and sell me products for their own benefits, and give me sound advice on my health journey. I wished that I could have a concise list of media creators that could give useful nutritional and fitness advice. Having found those creators for myself, I decided to share them with other lost souls. So, here are my top five influencers, YouTubers and nutritionists, from whom I draw inspiration from to this day.
- Natacha Oceane
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With a focus mainly on functional fitness and intuitive exercise and eating, Natacha’s channel was where my personal fitness journey started. The British fit girl has a contagious, sunny personality and a dazzling physique to match. Plus, she takes you on her healing journey with her. She has plenty of videos of herself showing how bloating affects her throughout the day (just like normal people!), doing different fitness challenges, showing what she eats in a day, and giving advice on muscle gain and fat loss. I really admire her determination to pass on the benefits of intuitive eating and functional fitness. She shows her workouts, which are filled with unique movements that will work muscles that you never knew you had! As a cherry on top, Natacha often posts do-anywhere HIIT workouts that you can do in a pinch if you’re on the road, short on time, or just don’t feel like hitting the gym today.
- Feeding the Frasers
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While this is not a YouTube channel, I still think it’s a wonderful source of inspiration for healthy and fun recipes. This Instagram page originated when Sammy Moniz, the girlfriend of the 4 time Crossfit Games winner Mathew Fraser, was documented making a normal meal for herself and Fraser. Mat’s fans urged her to post more recipes, and she enthusiastically agreed, proceeding to create an Instagram page with easy to follow picture recipes. All of Moniz’s recipes are nutritious, and simple enough that other families and athletes can enjoy them, too! It doesn’t hurt that the photos of the food are extremely aesthetically pleasing.
- Mattdoesfitness
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Matt is a gymshark athlete and a bodybuilder with a positive attitude and an adorable son featured regularly on his growing channel. Matt makes fitness seem fun and not nearly as elitist as the media often makes it seem. He also puts social media into perspective with videos exposing how multiple fitness influencers edit their photos to make their results seem more impressive and impossible to their audiences.
- Stephanie Buttermore
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Stephanie has a quickly growing YouTube channel that has recently switched gears from bodybuilding to a more healthy living and mindset direction. She has a PhD in pathology and cell biology, so you can trust that her advice comes from years of research and personal experience. After years of bodybuilding, Stephanie realized that her bodybuilding career has damaged her body and her relationship with food, and how quickly it changed her track by when she went “all-in.” She now promotes healthy living rather than a lean and sculpted lifestyle, and has multiple videos with interviews and quality information about the harm that such a low body fat caused her body. Even before starting to gain weight and healing herself, Stephanie’s channel featured sound advice and nutrition for bodybuilding, as well as some fun cheat day videos. So for those of you who would like to pursue bodybuilding, her older videos are still a great resource!
- Abbey Sharpe
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A registered dietician, Abbey evaluates other fitness YouTubers’ diets and puts them into a realistic perspective. I especially appreciate her channel because she is a big critic of the diet culture that has engulfed our society, and she promotes intuitive, nutritious eating while being conscious of your body’s needs. She backs all of her statements with facts and research, and never targets a specific individual for multiple videos in a row. Abbey’s content is educational rather than insulting, and I think we can all learn a small lesson from her.
As a final note, I would like to mention that this is in no way an exhaustive list, and it’s highly subjective. There are plenty of other fitness gurus and influencers that I have not heard of or who might just not fit my goals. Following this logic, not every person on this list will fit your goals and educational needs. My recommendation would be to use this list as a base or a starting point. Feel free to look every person up, and branch out from there and find the online figures that suit your needs!