Working out, eating well, and getting into the habit of prioritizing your health is challenging – there are thousands of workouts to explore, countless brands targeting your “wellness,” and an infinite amount of health and wellness influencers pushing content created to grab your attention, to use their discount codes, to preach their routines.
If you want to try working out for the first time, creating a healthier diet, or improving your relationship with food, navigating this space can be extremely challenging between the new science, the multibillion-dollar supplement industry, and conflicting information about what’s best for our bodies.
Keep reading below to the fold for our top five influencers worth your time when getting acquainted, or reacquainted, with your own health regiment – without the bullshit.
5. Corey Calliet
Famous in his own right as a celebrity trainer before the explosion of fitness influencers, Cory Calliet is perhaps best known for training Michael B. Jordan in the films Black Panther and Creed.
Calliet describes his fitness journey as stemming from a college classmate telling him that he “probably can’t get abs,” to which his response was, “Don’t you ever tell me what I can’t do.” Calliet’s content highlights meals, workouts, motivational posts, and, my personal favorite, something he calls the “Grown Man Era” – encouraging and teaching men between 30 and 50 years old how to age with grace and grit.
4. Laura Micetich
Calling herself “The Iron Giantess,” Laura Micetich once weighed 340 pounds and has since turned her life around to become a certified nutritionist, a certified personal trainer, a certified glute trainer, and a bodybuilding trainer.
What I enjoy the most about Laura’s posts is that she speaks directly from experience, and she has done the work to transform her body into what it is today. Her content ranges from before and after pictures of clients, fitness advice, pushing back against fitness norms, and the occasional healthy recipe.
3. Shana Minei Spence
Shana Spence, thenutritiontea on Instagram, is a registered dietitian nutritionist based in Brooklyn, New York. While Shana initially studied fashion merchandising, she switched paths that led her to one of public health and food policy.
Her Instagram is full of rich, healthy takes on our current diet culture, which has, historically, targeted consumers to feel shame about the choices they make when it comes to food. Shana doesn’t pull any punches when musing on the toxicity (and profitability) of the health and wellness culture, and her influence is a much-needed voice amongst brands and influencers who are wildly out of touch with food realities.
2. Ban Hass
Based in London, Ban Hass is a psychotherapist as well as a personal trainer – her entire approach to health and wellness is heavy on the de-influencing (her Instagram bio says “f*ck FITSPO”), which is refreshing in the age of toxic positivity.
Being that Hass is an advocate for mental and physical health – and has the pedigree to back it up – her social media is full of intelligent content relating to diet culture, dating culture, mental health, fitness, and deeply relatable memes that go against the grain when it comes to the mind, body, and spirit.
1. Daniel Rosenthal
My personal favorite health and wellness influencer is Daniel Rosenthal, a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach who, according to his website, was “an overweight chain-smoker… smoking 40 cigarettes a day,” surviving on “a diet of processed and fast food.”
While his target audience, per his Instagram bio, is moms over 40, I came across Daniel’s page because my former coach (current Navy officer, not yet 40, not a woman) reposted some of his content. What I love about the information Daniel shares is that he keeps his advice simple, consistent, and firm.
I can fully get behind and understand the toxicities surrounding our oppressive, thin-obsessed diet culture, and I love social media accounts that challenge that narrative. That said, I also need actual tips on how to feel good while staying healthy, and Daniel’s account is exactly that: no frills, no ads, no sponsored content.
Who are some of your favorite health and wellness influencers? What is it that you love about them? Share in the comments below!
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