I still remember the first Monday after I quit my office job. I was going to be doing this nutrition gig full time and it filled me with a mix of excitement and dread.

Even in this very early stage, one thing that I was sure of was that making nutrition a success wasn’t just about nutrition knowledge. It took knowledge of running a business and everything that this encompassed.

So I started reading about marketing, specifically Internet marketing. As is common with these things you start getting on more people’s lists and reading their blogs and their emails.

Being a rank beginner I became a sponge to this stuff. I wanted to find out more and more about the different tools and strategies that could help get me in front of more people and ultimately help me increase my clients.

The problem was as complete beginner, I really had no filter for what of this information was helpful and what of it was just nonsense. There was so much hype and noise that it was easy to feel overwhelmed with where to start.

There was also this constant feeling that everyone was doing it better than me. When all you see are stories about people who’ve “quit their job and were earning six figures in six months” or that they “did their first webinar and made five figures” you start to think that this is the norm.

When everyone was talking about “easy passive income” while I was struggling to pay the rent, it felt like I was doing something wrong.

Fast-forward to today and I have a very different opinion on this stuff. I realise how much of it is a total scam. That there are no short cuts and there is absolutely nothing you can do except but put in the work, create good content and be patient.

And while I now ignore about 95% of the advice I hear from the “Internet marketing industry” there is still valuable information that I get out of it. To completely turn my back on it would be a mistake. I’m more selective and listen to the people at the saner and hype-free end of the spectrum but I have to give credit where it’s due and say that this stuff does help me.

My experience with Internet marketing is similar to many people’s experience with dieting and nutrition. Maybe you can relate.

At some point in your life you decided to go on a diet and the most likely reason is that you wanted to lose some weight.

It started out in a very simple manner. You had one book or one diet plan and you followed it. This was all you knew so you just put it into practice.

But with time, this “knowledge” expanded. You read more books and blogs and found yourself on an increasing number of mailing lists and regularly doing “21 day challenges” (or something similar).

What started out as a simple goal in your mind, over time got ratcheted up because the hype made it sound doable. Your eyes were opened to the possibility of what’s “achievable” from all the before and after photos and testimonials. Now instead of wanting to make some minor changes, the goal became about drastic changes, despite feeling like it’s totally normal.

At some point after multiple rounds of failed diets and with an increasing number of books and blog posts read, it starts to dawn on you that maybe this isn’t true. Maybe this idea that cutting carbs or doing intermittent fasting or another juice fast isn’t going to deliver the goods like you hoped.

So you start to break away from the food rules. You start to put foods back on the table that were previously on the banned list. You start to eat what you want, when you want. You start to rebel against the whole notion of dieting.

And this is a good thing and should be part of the process. But where you want to end up is in the middle ground, not at the complete other end of the spectrum.

It’s too easy for people coming from a dieting history to disregard all health and nutrition advice. Like following any advice is going back to dieting. And because so much of the health information is terrible advise, reformed dieters often paint everyone with the same brush.

Unfortunately this leads people with genuine health issues to actively avoid doing anything food related to help because it feels too similar to following a diet.

And I totally get it. I deal with these clients all the time. I know what they’ve been through and understand why they are wary and sceptical.

But true health lies in finding the middle grown, not retreating to the extremes. Yes 95% of the information is complete nonsense but the remaining fraction can be incredibly helpful and make a real difference.

You’re probably not going to agree with everything that an individual says and nor should you. But if you can find individuals or companies who are putting out information that you mostly agree with, then take the bits you like and disregard the rest.

See health advice not in absolutes, but as a guide. Things you can apply and see if it works. Not in a rigid, all-or-nothing way, but in a relaxed but curious manner.

And as part of this process recognise the difference between dieting and following healthy habits, even when they feel similar. Having structure, being organised, following some food ideas – these may be facets of diets, but they can also be facets of healthy eating. Disregarding them because they feel “diet-like” is going to cause it’s own problems.

There is a saying that “the opposite of crazy is still crazy”. The way to get over dieting, which sits at one end of the spectrum, is not to completely disregard all health advice and decide there should be no thoughts or planning around food ever. This is just moving to the other end of the spectrum, which also happens to lie smack bang in middle of crazy town.

Make peace with food. Make peace with your body. And find the sane health advice that can help you do this while adding to your longevity and minimising your chance (or severity) of chronic disease. This will serve you better than the extremes.

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