One of the most damaging ideas we've created around fitness is that food has to be earned. People talk about needing to work out before Thanksgiving dinner, doing extra cardio because they ate dessert, or punishing themselves in the gym on Monday because they enjoyed themselves over the weekend. Somewhere along the way, exercise stopped being something we do to become healthier and stronger and became a way to pay a debt every time we eat something we think we shouldn't have.

Mention the word "protein," and you'll usually get one of two reactions. Some people think they're already eating plenty because they had eggs for breakfast or grilled chicken with dinner. Others immediately think of bodybuilders carrying gallon jugs of water and drinking protein shakes every few hours. The truth falls somewhere in the middle.

If there's one piece of advice I'd like to erase from the fitness industry, it's the idea that losing fat means eating as little as possible. Somewhere along the way, people started believing that being hungry all day is a sign they're doing things right. They skip meals, avoid carbohydrates, and spend their day trying to ignore their stomach growling because they think suffering is part of the process. The truth is much simpler.