In the wonderful age of information, we have been blessed with more knowledge than we will ever know what to do with. This has lead to the amazing ability to learn and apply almost anything in mere minutes. This also has created a problem for a lot of people including myself. We are inundated with an abundance of options and information that end up confusing and halting our progress.

I have trained many people who thought they knew how to live a healthy life but had read some social media posts that contradicted there belief and stopped them in their tracks. They read some articles about how celery smoothies cure everything and eating animal products causes cancer. To make it worse, once you weed through all of the lies and deceit, you are left to listen to the academic community bicker back and forth over small details that mean nothing to the general public.

This causes a symptom to know as paralysis by analysis. I have fallen into this state many times. This is when you are taking in so much contradicting information that you decide to do nothing instead. That is why I have adopted a minimalist approach to my own wellness and coaching.

“It is Vain to do with more what can be done with less.” – William of Occam

In exercise alone the contradicting advice is unfathomable. So what do we know? We know that there are 7 basic movement patterns for human beings. Squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull, rotate, and gait. Pick exercises that use one or more of these patterns and do them a few days per week. If your goal is strength, lift heavy.

Now nutrition. The most controversial topic in the news other than religion and politics. Keep it simple as well. Eat a good amount of protein in every meal with a pile of vegetables. Keep your intake of highly processed foods and alcohol to a minimum. Obviously do not eat anything that you don’t enjoy or are allergic or intolerant to. Life is to short to do that.

This approach allows you to start. That simple. You will start to build general strength and eat better than most. You can work out the finer detail later if you want. Otherwise, keep it minimal and prevent over analyzing it.