All or Something Podcast

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What are we getting wrong about mental health?

Mental health is talked about more openly than ever, but more conversation doesn't necessarily mean better understanding.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Mike Banna to unpack some of the biggest misconceptions around mental health, mental illness, lifestyle, and modern medicine.

We discuss where the line is between normal emotions like sadness, stress and anxiety and a diagnosable mental health disorder. We talk about the warning signs that someone may not be coping as well as they think, how to approach someone you're worried about, and whether efforts to “remove the stigma” can sometimes blur the distinction between struggling with life and having a mental illness.

We also explore the role of lifestyle.

How much can sleep, exercise and nutrition actually influence mental health? When can lifestyle changes genuinely help and when do they become an inadequate substitute for professional treatment?
Mike also opens up about losing roughly a third of his body weight and how experiencing that transformation himself changed the way he thinks about health, prevention and the advice he gives to patients.

And we challenge some common criticisms of modern medicine:
- Do doctors focus too much on treating disease rather than preventing it?
- Is the idea that doctors simply “push pills” fair?
- How much do doctors actually learn about nutrition and lifestyle?
- What are legitimate criticisms of the medical system?
- And can we really trust social media for health and fitness information?

This isn't an argument that lifestyle changes can replace therapy or medication, or that modern medicine has all the answers. It's a conversation about understanding the difference between them and being more careful about how we talk about mental health in the first place.

If you've ever struggled with your own mental health, worried about someone close to you, or wondered where lifestyle fits into the bigger picture, this episode is for you.

P.S., If you want to support us and would like monthly lifting workouts, you can join the Momentum by Sohee fitness app. http://momentumbysohee.com

If you are interested in fat loss science, you can purchase Ben's best-selling comprehensive fat loss book, Everything Fat Loss. http://geni.us/EverythingFatLoss

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Intermittent fasting was supposed to change the way we think about eating. For years, fasting was one of the biggest trends in nutrition and health. 

The idea was simple, when you eat might be as important or more important than what you eat. Timing your meals properly could help you lose weight, improve your metabolic health, reduce your risk of disease, and perhaps even live longer.

16:8 became a household term. The 5:2 diet exploded in popularity. Alternate-day fasting attracted serious scientific attention. Books, podcasts and social media turned intermittent fasting into one of the most talked-about approaches to nutrition.

But over time, this hype seems to have started dying down. Intermittent fasting (and time restricted feeding) are still very popular, but they don't seem as dominant as they once were.

In this episode of the All or Something Podcast, we take a step back and look at the rise and fall of intermittent fasting. 
- Why did fasting become so popular in the first place? 
- What did the early research actually show? 
- How much of the excitement was supported by good evidence?

We break down the different forms of intermittent fasting, including time-restricted eating, 16:8, the 5:2 diet and alternate-day fasting, and explain how they actually compare with conventional calorie restriction.

We also look at one of the biggest questions surrounding fasting: does fasting have unique benefits, or does most of the benefit come from the fact that people simply end up eating fewer calories?

As always, people misinterpret these videos as us saying intermittent fasting doesn't work, but that isn't what we are saying at all. We are saying that maybe it doesn't work as well as what many people claimed, and maybe it works for a different reason as well.
P.S., If you want to support us and would like monthly lifting workouts, you can join the Momentum by Sohee fitness app. http://momentumbysohee.com

If you are interested in fat loss science, you can purchase Ben's best-selling comprehensive fat loss book, Everything Fat Loss. http://geni.us/EverythingFatLoss

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In this episode, Sohee opens up about something she hasn’t talked about publicly before (or privately, really). This is her experience with postpartum depression and the mental health challenges she has faced since becoming a mum.
We talk honestly about what postpartum depression can actually look and feel like, why it doesn’t always look like the stereotypical picture of depression, and the feelings that can be difficult to admit.
We also discuss postpartum rage, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, the enormous transition into parenthood, and why new mothers can struggle even when they desperately love their baby.
This is a deeply personal conversation, but it’s also an important one. If you’re a new parent, know someone who is, or simply want to understand more about postpartum mental health, we hope this episode helps you feel a little less alone.
If you’re struggling with your mental health after having a baby, please speak to someone you trust and seek professional support. You do not have to deal with it alone.
P.S., If you want to support us and would like monthly lifting workouts, you can join the Momentum by Sohee fitness app. http://momentumbysohee.com
If you are interested in fat loss science, you can purchase Ben's best-selling comprehensive fat loss book, Everything Fat Loss. http://geni.us/EverythingFatLoss

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Cheat meals are one of the most common strategies in the fitness and dieting world. The idea is simple: eat “clean” all week, stick to your diet, and then give yourself permission to eat whatever you want for one meal—or even an entire day.

But do cheat meals actually help with fat loss? Do they boost your metabolism, prevent metabolic adaptation, make dieting easier to stick to, or provide some other physiological benefit? Or are we giving them far more credit than the evidence deserves?

In this episode, we take a closer look at the science behind cheat meals and the claims that have made them so popular. We discuss what research tells us about planned indulgences, calorie restriction, adherence, hunger, and overeating.

But we also think there's a bigger issue worth discussing: why do we call certain foods a “cheat” in the first place?

For some people, a cheat meal approach to eating can be completely harmless. But for others, the concept of cheat meals can reinforce a cycle of restriction, food rules, guilt, overeating, and compensation. 

When you spend the week being “good” and then feel like you've earned the right to eat everything you've been restricting, is that really helping you build a healthier relationship with food?

We talk about where we think the line can start to blur between dieting behaviours that resemble disordered eating and why eating a pizza or having dessert doesn't need to be considered cheating.

In this episode, we discuss:

- Where the idea of cheat meals came from
- Whether cheat meals actually provide any metabolic advantage
- Whether they improve adherence to a diet
- The difference between a planned indulgence and a binge
- Why labeling foods as “good,” “bad,” or “cheats” can be problematic
- Restriction, overeating, guilt, and compensatory behaviors
- Whether cheat days are different from cheat meals
- What the science actually says—and what comes from fitness culture rather than research

Obviously, we don't think there's anything wrong with eating foods that you enjoy. That is not the question at all. The question is whether calling them a “cheat” actually makes your relationship with food worse.

If you've ever wondered whether cheat meals are a useful dieting strategy or just another fitness industry rule we accepted without questioning, this episode is for you.

P.S., If you want to support us and would like monthly lifting workouts, you can join the Momentum by Sohee fitness app. http://momentumbysohee.com

If you are interested in fat loss science, you can purchase Ben's best-selling comprehensive fat loss book, Everything Fat Loss. http://geni.us/EverythingFatLoss

Send us Fan Mail
How should you actually train if your goal is to build muscle and get stronger?

In this episode, we break down the latest American College Sports Medicine (ACSM) resistance training guidelines and turn them into practical advice you can actually use in the gym.

Also, how do the new guidelines compare to what we thought was true before? Many of our beliefs have changed, especially if we rewind to when we first started in the fitness industry (over 20 years ago for Ben).

- How many sets should you do?
- How often should you train each muscle?
- How many reps should you perform?
- Do you need to train to failure?
- How important is exercise selection?
- Does the order of your exercises matter?
- How much volume is actually necessary for muscle growth?
- And how much flexibility do you really have when designing your workout program?

Which common resistance training rules are genuinely useful, which are oversimplifications and which ones should be thrown in the fire?

The good news is that effective resistance training doesn't have to be complicated, so here we tell you the most important things you need to know, and also tell you what you have more flexibility on.

P.S., If you want to support us and would like monthly lifting workouts, you can join the Momentum by Sohee fitness app. http://momentumbysohee.com

If you are interested in fat loss science, you can purchase Ben's best-selling comprehensive fat loss book, Everything Fat Loss. http://geni.us/EverythingFatLoss