100: Alex Allen: Why Walking Counts as Exercise (And Other Fitness Lies You've Been Told)
Why Walking Counts as Exercise (And Other Fitness Lies You've Been Told)
Is walking actually exercise? Alex Allen joins Tara to debunk fitness lies about walking, motivation, cycle syncing, reverse dieting, and why loving your body while changing it isn't contradictory.
Is walking actually exercise, or are we just lying to ourselves? This simple question has sparked heated debates across social media, but the truth might surprise you, and it could completely change how you approach your fitness journey.
For episode 100, Tara sat down with Alex Allen, strength coach, host of the Born to Thrive podcast, and someone who's not afraid to challenge popular fitness trends. They dive into the dangerous myth of motivation, why cycle syncing might be doing more harm than good for women, the controversial take on intuitive eating during deficits, and the truth about reverse dieting.
Whether you're team walking or team "that doesn't count," this conversation will make you rethink what you thought you knew about fitness.
Why Walking Is Actually Exercise (And Why That Matters)
Let's settle this once and for all: yes, walking absolutely counts as exercise.
Here's why this debate is so frustrating, it's rooted in the toxic idea that exercise only "counts" if you're drenched in sweat, out of breath, and completely wrecked afterward. But that's nonsense.
Exercise is any form of physical activity that moves your body. Walking burns calories, improves cardiovascular health, strengthens your legs and core, supports mental health, aids digestion, helps regulate blood sugar, and contributes to your overall daily energy expenditure. Those are real, measurable benefits.
The problem is that fitness culture has convinced us that if something doesn't feel punishing, it doesn't count. But walking 10,000 steps burns roughly 300-500 calories depending on your size and pace. Do that daily, and over a week, you've burned 2,100-3,500 calories, equivalent to one intense workout session or more.
Alex emphasizes that walking is particularly valuable for women who are stressed, under-recovered, or struggling with hormonal issues. Adding more high-intensity exercise to an already overtaxed system can backfire. Walking provides movement without additional stress on your nervous system.
So yes, walking counts. And anyone who tells you otherwise is stuck in an outdated, counterproductive mindset about what fitness should look like.
What Reverse Dieting Actually Is and Who Really Needs It
Let's clear up the confusion around reverse dieting, because there's a lot of misinformation floating around.
Reverse dieting is the process of gradually increasing your calories after a period of dieting, with the goal of restoring metabolic function and preventing rapid weight regain. The idea is to slowly add calories back in, usually 50-100 per week, so your body can adapt without immediately storing everything as fat.
Here's the thing: most people don't actually need to reverse diet.
Alex breaks it down: reverse dieting is primarily beneficial for people who've been in aggressive, prolonged deficits, think bodybuilders after a competition prep or someone who's been severely under-eating for months or years. For the average person coming off a moderate diet? You can usually just go back to maintenance calories without all the complicated reverse diet protocols.
The fitness industry has taken reverse dieting and turned it into this overcomplicated, necessary step for everyone, when in reality, most people just need to eat more food, prioritize protein, and let their body normalize. You don't need a 12-week reverse diet plan if you cut calories by 300 for two months.
The key is understanding your individual context: How long were you dieting? How aggressive was your deficit? What's your stress level? How's your training intensity? These factors determine whether you need a structured reverse or can simply transition back to maintenance.
Calories In vs. Calories Out (CICO) for Beginners
CICO, calories in, calories out, is one of the most debated topics in nutrition. And honestly, it shouldn't be.
Here's the truth: energy balance is real. To lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit. To gain weight, you need to be in a surplus. This is thermodynamics, not opinion.
But, and this is important, CICO is not the only thing that matters. Hormones, stress, sleep, food quality, protein intake, training stimulus, and metabolic adaptation all influence how your body responds to a given calorie intake.
Alex's take? For beginners, starting with basic calorie awareness is valuable. You don't need to track every single thing you eat for the rest of your life, but understanding portion sizes, what foods are calorie-dense, and roughly how much you're eating can be incredibly helpful.
The problem comes when people become obsessed with hitting exact numbers, ignore hunger cues entirely, or think that hitting their calorie target means they can eat garbage all day. CICO is a tool, not a religion. Use it to create awareness, then build sustainable habits that work for your life.
Why Cycle Syncing Is Problematic and Potentially Harmful
Okay, controversial take incoming: cycle syncing might be doing more harm than good.
For those unfamiliar, cycle syncing is the idea that you should adjust your training and nutrition based on where you are in your menstrual cycle, lighter training and more carbs in your luteal phase, harder training and fewer carbs in your follicular phase, etc.
On the surface, it sounds great. But Alex and Tara dig into why this approach is problematic for most women.
First, it assumes your cycle is perfectly regular and predictable, which, for many women, it's not. Stress, travel, diet changes, illness, and hormonal fluctuations can all throw off your cycle. So you're trying to follow this rigid protocol based on an assumption that might not even be accurate.
Second, it reinforces the idea that women are fragile and need to coddle themselves based on their cycle. The message becomes "you can't train hard during certain phases" or "you need to eat more because of your hormones," which can create unnecessary anxiety and limitation around training.
Third, it adds a massive layer of complexity to an already complicated process. Instead of just learning to listen to your body and adjust as needed, you're following elaborate protocols and second-guessing every decision based on what day of your cycle it is.
The reality? Most women can train consistently throughout their entire cycle. Sure, some days you might feel stronger or weaker, and that's fine, adjust your training based on how you feel, not based on what day it is. But creating rigid rules around cycle phases often does more harm than good.
How to Actually Fix Your Relationship with Food
Let's talk about fixing your relationship with food, because this is where a lot of women get stuck.
Alex's approach is refreshingly practical: you don't fix your relationship with food by avoiding structure or pretending calories don't matter. You fix it by removing the emotional charge from eating and learning to see food as fuel and enjoyment, not as morality.
Here's what that actually looks like in practice:
Stop labeling foods as good or bad. A cookie isn't "bad" and a salad isn't "good." They're just food with different nutritional profiles. Both can fit into a balanced diet.
Ditch the all-or-nothing mentality. You don't need to be perfect. You don't need to only eat "clean" foods. You just need to eat mostly nutritious foods most of the time, and allow flexibility for the rest.
Learn your hunger cues. Are you actually hungry, or are you bored, stressed, tired, or emotional? Start paying attention to the difference. Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're satisfied.
Practice eating challenging foods in normal portions. If you binge on ice cream every time it's in the house, the solution isn't to never have ice cream again. It's to practice buying a pint, having a reasonable serving, and moving on with your life. This takes practice, but it's a skill you can build.
Remove urgency. You don't need to eat everything right now because it might not be available later. Food will always be available. There's no scarcity. This mindset shift is huge.
Fixing your relationship with food isn't about intuitive eating while also trying to diet, it's about building sustainable habits, removing emotional reactions, and learning to trust yourself around all foods.
How to Love Your Body While Working on It
Here's a question that comes up constantly: how do you love your body while also wanting to change it? Isn't that contradictory?
Alex and Tara are clear on this: no, it's not contradictory. You can appreciate what your body does for you, how it carries you through life, allows you to move and experience things, and keeps you alive, while also having aesthetic goals or wanting to feel stronger.
Loving your body doesn't mean you have to love every physical aspect of it. It means respecting it enough to treat it well. That includes nourishing it properly, moving it regularly, resting when it needs rest, and not punishing it for not looking a certain way.
Working on your body from a place of love looks like training to feel strong and capable, eating to fuel performance and health, and making choices that support long-term wellbeing, not crash dieting, over-exercising, or engaging in disordered behaviors because you hate how you look.
The shift is internal: Am I doing this because I hate my body and want to fix it? Or am I doing this because I value my body and want to support it? The actions might look similar on the outside, but the motivation makes all the difference.
Why Motivation Is a Lie and What to Focus on Instead
Let's kill the motivation myth: motivation is not what makes you successful.
Motivation is fleeting. It comes and goes. You'll feel motivated some days and completely unmotivated others. If you rely on motivation to show up, you're screwed.
What actually works? Discipline, systems, and identity.
Discipline means doing the thing even when you don't feel like it. It's showing up to your workout when you're tired. It's prepping your meals on Sunday even though you'd rather binge Netflix. It's not sexy, but it works.
Systems mean creating an environment that makes the right choices easier. Gym bag packed and ready. Groceries already bought. Workout scheduled in your calendar like a non-negotiable appointment. Remove friction from the process.
Identity means seeing yourself as someone who does these things. You're not someone who's trying to work out more, you're someone who works out. You're not trying to eat better, you're someone who prioritizes nutrition. When these behaviors become part of your identity, you don't need motivation to do them.
This is the unsexy truth about fitness: it's not about getting pumped up and crushing it every day. It's about showing up consistently, even when it's boring, even when you don't feel like it, because you've built systems and an identity that support your goals.
Key Takeaways
Here's what you need to remember from this episode:
Walking absolutely counts as exercise and provides real health benefits
Most people don't need complicated reverse dieting protocols, just eat at maintenance
CICO is real, but it's not the only thing that matters for body composition
Cycle syncing can create unnecessary anxiety and limitation for most women
Fix your relationship with food by removing emotional charge and building sustainable habits
You can love your body while working on it, they're not contradictory
Motivation is a lie, discipline, systems, and identity are what create lasting change
Adjust training based on how you feel, not rigid rules about your cycle phase
Stop labeling foods as good or bad and practice eating all foods in normal portions
Ready to Build Sustainable Habits?
If you're tired of chasing motivation and ready to build systems that actually work, check out Broads 1:1 coaching. Work with a coach to get custom programming and nutritional guidance to finally reach your goals.
What's the biggest fitness lie you've been told? Share your thoughts on Instagram and tag @broads.podcast.
For more no-BS fitness content, follow @taralaferrara, and explore the full Broads podcast library for 100 episodes of honest conversations about fitness, nutrition, and strength.
