YouTube: Whether you use it to shamelessly watch (and rewatch) old music videos, or you regularly fall into hours-long black holes of obscure DIYs, you probably associate this hodgepodge of a website with guilty pleasures and mindlessness. But what if we told you that you could turn YouTubing into a productive pastime? Regardless of how you tube (ha ha), we have some recs that will spruce up your subscription page.
1. Your new gym buddy. Still can’t convince your friends to go to the gym with you? Whitney Simmons can fill that role so you can finally stop being the nag of your group chats. She posts workout videos from full at-home workouts to intense HIIT that’ll have you questioning your body’s sweat production. She also makes healthy eating so much easier with meal inspiration, grocery hauls and healthy eating hacks.
2. Momspiration. Health isn’t just about exercise and food -- it’s about a healthy lifestyle. Chriselle Lim somehow manages to do it all, from running a successful fashion blog to being an attentive mother, all while prioritizing her health and wellness. Check out her channel and gain an inside view on her life with conversational, relatable (maybe even too-honest) videos that make you feel like you could be doing it all, too.
3. Cooking gains. Kevin Curry’s message is simple: “Our bodies are built in the kitchen, Sculpted in the gym.” Fit Men Cook is a channel for men and women of all athletic abilities with a focus on getting your health journey started in the kitchen. Because Kevin sees fitness as a lifetime journey, he’s determined to make healthy eating everything but boring -- and that’s a message we can totally get behind.
4. PhD in fitness goals. Want more than just “hacks” to health? Check out Stephanie Buttermore, who breaks down the science of all things health and fitness. She takes complex concepts and turns them into layman's terms, so you can leave a video not just knowing how to make your butt burn, but knowing exactly why your butt will burn. Your dinner table conversations are about to get a lot more technical.
5. Balancing it all. You’re probably convinced that you’re the busiest person you know. And while everyone claims that a healthy lifestyle is attainable, you may feel like the exception -- you just have far too many priorities. Check out Kristee Vetter, who vlogs her life as a grad student and intern who still somehow finds time to incorporate fitness and healthy eating in the most relatable way. If you’re looking for someone to inspire you, but maybe are daunted by the typical fitness influencer, check out Kristee for some non-intimidating inspo.
6. Meal prep maven. If you think the idea of “eating clean” sounds just about as arbitrary as “mystery meat”, you’re not alone. With so many conflicting information about nutrition out there, it can be easy to feel lost in your healthy eating endeavors. That’s why we turn to Mind Over Munch to simplify eating. Alyssia’s meal prep videos take all the guesswork out of clean eating and allow you to stop spending so much time thinking about your next meal.
7. Spin instructor turned best friend. Ever leave a spin class wondering if your instructor is even like, a real person? How does someone have all that energy, not only to keep themselves riding but to hype up a full room of spinners? Tori Sterling gives you a behind-the-scenes look into the life of a spin instructor, with healthy tips ranging from how to be a morning person to what she eats in a day to keep her fueled for her workouts. Her casual vlogs take down that wall between you and the enigmatic cycling instructor and make you feel like you’re part of her life. Oh, and did we mention she’s a 20-year-old business owner? Talk about gr8ness.
