Social media and influencers have made information on health and nutrition abundant. Nowadays it is nearly impossible to scroll through a social media platform and not see an ad for a new workout supplement, workout routine, or diet trend, many mainly aimed towards women. All of these things can be overwhelming, and frankly, it is difficult to know who is actually a credible source or not. To sift through all of this and more, the Royal Purple sat down with UW-Whitewater Registered Dietician Rachael Omdall for some insight.

“I feel like any fad diet is directed more at women just because they are typically the ones that are more outspoken about wanting to lose weight. Then society tells everyone ‘Oh you’ve had three kids, well you still need to look like a fitness model still,’ so I think there’s a lot of that. And from my experience, most men are not very open about it, even if they do want to make changes and stuff, but they are like, ‘I’m not gonna hop on a fad diet’ which is a good thing, but they are definitely directed more at women. Especially with keto, no carb and all these things that don’t need to be the actual focus,” said Omdall.

These trends like keto and fasting can be effective in some ways but can be especially difficult for college students to hop onto with less financial options. That is why, when attempting any strategy to help improve your health, the most important things are what works for your body, and whether you are able to strictly follow your plan under whatever guidelines you have set that work best for you. Preventing yourself from falling out of routine and knowing your body is important, and it is different for women and men.

“The biggest difference between female nutrition versus for men is honestly just the portion size. When calories are determined, we have to take into account height, age, current weight, then if you’re male or female that adds like 160ish calories. Then comes the activity level of each person, I’m gonna tell yah of course everyone should be eating fruits and vegetables everyday and try to focus on more whole foods. If we think back to many years ago before technology was here, people had to grow their own food and hunt for it. So that kept them physically active, and they didn’t have all these additives and prepackaged stuff so everything was made from scratch. What I try to teach people is not to go into a field and hunt for your food, but to try to cook more from scratch and at home,” said Omdall.

So, despite the smell of a Culver’s burger being so tempting, it is important to make an effort to build your meals at home with fresh ingredients. If this is overwhelming, just start by reading the ingredients on the packaging of food you buy to at least have a better understanding of what you are fueling your body with. In the end, everyone’s body responds well to different dietary choices, and everyone needs to do what is best for yourself and your lifestyle.

For further questions regarding your diet or nutrition in general, you can reach out to Rachael Omdall at [email protected].