Luke Hanna<\/a> has more insights into this nuance than most. Having studied sport and exercise science and worked as a coach for several years, he did a master\u2019s degree in obesity and clinical nutrition. Now, alongside his work as a coach and nutritionist, he uses peer-reviewed research to pick apart prevalent food and fat-loss myths for the benefit of his six-figure social media following. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is a lot of misinformation around nutrition out there,\u201d Hanna says. \u201cThings like the carnivore diet have gained traction because they\u2019re novel. But I think the things that are going to move the needle and actually improve people\u2019s health are the boring things.\u201d<\/p>\n Below, he shares six of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to fitness, fat loss and nutrition. <\/p>\n 1. Unrealistic goals <\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest mistakes I see new clients make is being overly ambitious,\u201d says Hanna. \u201cIf we set unachievable goals, it can be disheartening when we don\u2019t reach them. It\u2019s important to remember that even small, incremental improvements are very beneficial over time.\u201d<\/p>\n He advises looking at healthy behaviours you can add into your routine \u2013 a refreshing alternative to the food cull that comes with many restrictive diets. His go-to prescriptions are:<\/p>\n Incorporate oily fish into your diet twice per week to improve heart health Increase your fibre<\/a> intake by 10g per day to boost gut health and longevity Consume an extra 20g of protein each day to support tissue strength Aim for two weekly strength training workouts<\/a> to build a more resilient body Increase your daily step count<\/a> by 1,000-2,000 to increase calorie expenditure and improve heart health <\/p>\n \u201cThese wins will add up over time,\u201d he says. \u201cA lot of people I work with are trying to lose weight, and they might get disheartened if they don\u2019t see immediate results or because they\u2019re not doing more. But these habits, done regularly, will help them a lot in the long term. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you improve your overall diet quality by eating more protein or high-fibre foods such as vegetables, that also leads you to feel more full. A happy by-product of that is you will likely eat less of the other things that are less nutritious.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: I specialise in coaching people aged 40-plus \u2013 do these six things for immediate results<\/a><\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Increasing your daily fibre intake through foods such as beans, vegetables and chia seeds (pictured) can boost gut health (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n 2. Restrictive diets (which can be bad for your health) <\/p>\n Various restrictive diets have taken it in turns to hog the spotlight over the years. The current culprit is the carnivore diet, which predominantly comprises animal products such as meat, fish, seafood, eggs and some dairy. <\/p>\n The popularity of these diets is often fuelled by anecdotal evidence and personal success stories. But Hanna advises approaching them with scepticism. <\/p>\n \u201cThe carnivore diet is a recipe for disaster long-term,\u201d he says. \u201cIt can seriously impact people\u2019s health. <\/p>\n \u201cIf people go from a diet high in processed food and refined sugar to one focusing on whole foods, like the carnivore diet, it\u2019s not too much of a shock that they feel better initially. But there are also plenty of stories about people who have suffered really bad health effects.\u201d<\/p>\n There are some positive elements to the diet, Hanna says. It is straightforward, high in protein and centred around minimally processed foods. <\/p>\n However, he continues, \u201cdecades of studies\u201d have linked diets high in animal products to several negative health outcomes. For example, the high doses of saturated fat the carnivore diet delivers can contribute to preferential storage of visceral fat<\/a> \u2013 the fat that surrounds organs and can impact their function \u2013 as well as increased heart disease risk<\/a>.<\/p>\n The carnivore diet also omits ingredients such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, which contain vitamins, minerals and dietary compounds the body needs to be at its best. This is a problem consistent with most restrictive diets. <\/p>\n Instead of restrictive diets, his recipe for success is a balanced diet containing predominantly healthy, whole food ingredients in Goldilocks quantities \u2013 not too much, not too little. <\/p>\n Read more: Expert warns why this daily habit is shortening your life \u2013 even if you exercise<\/a><\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Restrictive diets can mean that people miss out on many essential vitamins and minerals (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n 3. Ignoring good advice because it\u2019s boring<\/p>\n To summarise the Goldilocks dietary approach above, Hanna says: \u201cMake sure you\u2019re getting fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fibre and protein sources that are lower in saturated fat, while minimising alcohol and refined sugars.\u201d<\/p>\n The NHS\u2019s EatWell Guide<\/a> does a good job of encompassing this approach. The problem lies in the fact that less than one per cent of Brits adhere to this advice, according to data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey<\/a>. This may be a result of our food environment, alongside several other factors. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople are bombarded with adverts and you see food everywhere,\u201d Hanna says. \u201cCompanies spend millions of pounds trying to get you to buy specific products, so it\u2019s not surprising that people are eating more.\u201d<\/p>\n To counter this, he believes awareness is key.<\/p>\n \u201cI normally get clients to keep an honest and accurate food diary for a week,\u201d Hanna says. \u201cIt\u2019s less about the technical aspect \u2013 looking at protein or calories or sugar \u2013 and more about identifying the biggest problems, then choosing one or two things to work on. <\/p>\n \u201cFor example, if you struggle with snacking or stress eating, you can identify when in your day that is happening. Once you know that, you can come up with some strategies to counter it \u2013 again, looking to include a new healthy habit rather than just removing something.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: Scientist recommends doing this if you struggle to walk 10,000 steps a day<\/a><\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Keeping an accurate food diary for a week can help you become more aware of the contents, quantities and timings that comprise your diet (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n 4. Seeing food as \u2018good\u2019 and \u2018bad\u2019 <\/p>\n \u201cI see this all the time: clients have a takeaway, grab an ice cream or go out for food, then they feel guilty because it wasn\u2019t the most nutritious thing they could have eaten,\u201d Hanna says. <\/p>\n \u201cBut people know that if they eat one nutritious meal, they won\u2019t suddenly be healthy. So why would you assume that having one pizza makes you unhealthy?\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, he says, it is the way you consistently eat that matters most for your long-term health. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not beneficial for people to feel guilty for enjoying food,\u201d Hanna continues. \u201cIf anything, labelling your food as \u2018good\u2019 and \u2018bad\u2019, or \u2018clean\u2019 and \u2018dirty\u2019, just worsens your relationship with it and creates binge-restrict cycles. If people stop assigning morality to food, they\u2019ll be better off because this \u2018good food-bad food\u2019 mindset will probably lead you to consume more of the latter over time.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s far better, he says, to adopt a mindset that allows you to enjoy all foods in moderation. But this can be difficult when less nutritious options are designed to be easy to consume. One strategy to counter this is to avoid keeping these less nutritious foods in the house, lowering temptation.<\/p>\n Read more: What foods nutrition experts really eat to stop chronic illness in old age (and always avoid)<\/a><\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Exercise is one of the most powerful tools we have for improving our health (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n 5. Prioritising fat loss over fitness <\/p>\n \u201cExcess body fat can increase your risk of chronic disease in the long term,\u201d Hanna says. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean your weight is the only thing that matters for your health.\u201d<\/p>\n One meta-analysis he cites from the British Journal of Sports Medicine<\/a> suggests that cardiorespiratory fitness is a strong predictor of heart disease and mortality, and higher fitness levels can reduce the risks associated with overweight and obesity. <\/p>\n For this reason, Hanna recommends prioritising increasing your fitness levels over lowering your body fat levels \u2013 the latter will likely come as a welcome byproduct of doing so. <\/p>\n \u201cAs we know, losing weight and keeping it off long-term is incredibly difficult,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople need to know that exercise is a fantastic option, regardless of whether it helps you lose weight or not. It is one of the biggest levers you can pull to improve your health.\u201d <\/p>\n Read more: I\u2019m a personal trainer \u2013 this is what I\u2019d tell a client who wants to lose belly fat<\/a><\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n A diet made up of predominantly whole foods is your best bet for better health (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n 6. Seeing all processed food as bad for you <\/p>\n Ultra-processed food<\/a> (UPF) can be described as food that contains ingredients you wouldn\u2019t expect to find in a traditional kitchen, such as emulsifiers and flavourings.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve known for a long time that a high intake of UPF is going to negatively impact your health,\u201d Hanna says. \u201cBut now anything remotely processed is being viewed as bad for you, which is not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Increasing](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/iStock-817718700.jpg\")
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