The myth of "Go hard or go home."
One of the common mistakes is believing the myth that doing extreme amounts of exercise and eating less will make you healthy. Nike has done countless damage by their popular slogan: “Go hard or go home”; and sayings such as “You can do anything if you just try hard enough” have also brainwashed people into self-deprivation of essential health practices such as sleep, quality nutrition, etc.
Research shows that over-taxation and under-nourishment give signals to the system that demands are high and fuel is low, and the system responds by going on alert and into stress mode or "fight or flight". As a result hormones are altered which stimulate biological responses to slow the metabolism and conserve as much energy thus increasing fat stores.
If this cycle continues over a long period of time the stress-induced results can be quite serious including anxiety, consistent weight gain, pre-diabetes, chronic fatigue, etc. Consistent moderate exercise and a whole foods nutritionally dense diet is the key towards healthy hormones, which in turn stimulates optimal functioning of the biological system.
I