Far 2 Fabulous

Why would I pay for a coach when I can just use ChatGPT or YouTube?

• Julie Clark & Catherine Chapman • Episode 88

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Episode 88

Ever wondered if you could replace your wellness coach with ChatGPT or just follow along with YouTube videos? In this eye-opening episode, we tackle the provocative question: "Why should I use fitness, wellbeing, and nutritional professionals when I have AI and social media?"

Through candid conversation and revealing personal anecdotes, we explore the limitations of technology in the wellness space. We share stories of AI making potentially dangerous health recommendations—like misreading high iron levels as low and suggesting supplements that could damage the liver. The truth is, while technology offers convenient access to information, it lacks the human intuition, personalised approach, and emotional connection that make real transformation possible.

What happens when the real issue isn't what you think it is? As professionals, we often discover that clients come to us with one concern (like weight loss), only to uncover that the root cause lies elsewhere entirely. Technology can't connect these dots or read your body language, notice when you're dancing around the truth, or adapt recommendations based on your unique circumstances and emotional state.

The accountability factor also proves irreplaceable—that text message when you miss a class, the celebration of your wins, the adjustments to your plan when life throws curveballs. These human touchpoints create the foundation for lasting change that algorithms simply cannot replicate. While we embrace technology as a helpful tool (we both use AI for certain tasks!), we've seen firsthand why the wellness journey fundamentally requires human guidance.

Have you had any interesting—or disastrous—experiences with AI or YouTube wellness advice? Share your stories in our Far Too Fabulous Facebook group! We'd love to continue this conversation and hear your perspective on balancing technology with human expertise in your wellness journey.

Got a question or comment? Send us a text message here!

Thank you for listening.

You can continue the conversation with us in the Far 2 Fabulous Facebook group. Come and connect with other women on a journey to empowered health.

For more information about Julie Clark Nutrition, click HERE
For more information about Catherine Chapman, click HERE

We look forward to you joining us on the next episode.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Far Too Fabulous hosted by Julie and.

Speaker 2:

Catherine, join us on a mission to embrace your fabulousness and redefine wellness. Get ready for some feistiness, inspiration, candid chats and humour as we journey together towards empowered wellbeing. Let's dive in. Hello, hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Far Too Fabulous podcast that was as much newsreader as you're getting from me.

Speaker 1:

I was going to say that was very low key for you. There wasn't any singing or anything, and yet we were singing before we come on to do this.

Speaker 2:

I'm literally. It's going rounds and rounds in my head. I'm looking forward to this one. It's going round and round in my head, I'm looking forward to this one. We're being a little bit facetious, we're being a little bit tongue in cheek here with this title of this episode. I just thought it was really topical. Basically, what we are talking about is why should I use fitness, well-being and nutritional professionals when I have AI and YouTube or social media?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's quite a good question to ask and it is coming up actually quite frequently. I have had some people contact me and say I've had some tests done and I've run them through AI and it's given me a plan to follow and it's almost like I'm being replaced as a nutritionist that writes plans but that, as we will find out during this discussion, it's not always as good as it seems no, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

I mean, it's great we get to use these things as a tool like we've talked about lots of things, as long as we don't completely rely on it yeah, it's not very trustworthy.

Speaker 1:

I was telling you that I'm often telling mine off, so I will I was laughing when you were doing that. I will use ai. I use ai a lot now because it is really helpful for mostly for formatting plans or emails that I'm writing, and I will ask it to just write it in a better way sometimes. Yeah, but based on what I've said.

Speaker 2:

But you've given it all the like the details, haven't you? You're just asking it to resent it in a nice way for you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but I've done it. I've done things where I've played devil's advocate and I've acted as if I don't know anything.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And I've put stuff into the generator to see what it will come out with, and then it makes so many mistakes and because I've got all that experience as a nutritionist and know this stuff, I end up telling it off. I would literally say, you've got that completely wrong and and I will, and I will tell it you. You often make mistakes. Yeah, at what point are you going to start improving this? And it's so hilarious.

Speaker 1:

What does it say to you back? So if I ask it that, it will often say that it is um, that it has limitations and it's very sorry. It's very sorry, I have limitations and you know it's going to improve over time. It says it's hilarious but it will get major things wrong. Yeah, like if I run a blood test through it, for example, it will come back and say, oh, this person's iron is really low, you need to look at this. And I look and I go actually, that iron is really high, oh interesting you've made a mistake there and then it got oh yes, sorry, I have made.

Speaker 1:

I will correct that. It's just yeah, things like that. It makes mistakes all the time that's really interesting.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so it's based on so, for with ai it's based on averages, isn't it? It can't be individual when you're asking it questions yeah, it really can't.

Speaker 1:

And this is so, so key because when we work with with our clients, we're tailoring those recommendations. It's a very personalized approach, especially if when I'm working with someone and I'm running tests and things, it is such a personalized thing and it is taking the person's lifestyle, their schedules, their emotions into account and it just can't do that.

Speaker 2:

No, I, you're so right with their emotions and things like that. Definitely, and especially with things when I am looking at somebody and we're we're doing movement and we're looking at the emotional ways of why they are not looking after themselves or there's injuries, and an AI or a YouTube video absolutely cannot do that. Like, a youtube video can't get their hands on somebody, especially with pilates, and just do that tiny, tiny little move and you'll suddenly you'll see the person go oh no, I was doing that wrong. I get it now because it's much, much harder. What is good?

Speaker 2:

Actually, on zoom, I can make those adjustments, or I, or I can cue those adjustments for people. I can see that they're doing them wrong. Obviously, I can't put my hands physically through the screen and move the pelvis, but I can instruct people to do that, so that works really well. But no, you are absolutely right, the personalisation and bringing, like bringing all of the tools together, like with you. You're again I'm gonna choose my words really carefully you're not just a nutritionist. You know, you've got your breath work, you've got all your subconscious training.

Speaker 1:

There's so much more that you bring to your clients than than just your it's not just using the facts, of course, yeah, yeah, you know, when you are looking at something like nutrition, you've got to look at the science. Yeah, and, and there are. You know, there are some, you can't dispute them facts and certain things.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, you're quite right, we're complex, us humans, aren't we? And we have to bring in all the other things and work out what is going to be right for that person yeah, I was having a conversation actually with my sister the other week about all of the paperwork that is involved.

Speaker 2:

She's a midwife, I used to be a nurse and all the paperwork that was involved in it, and lots of it, almost takes away your intuition, because it's a bit of a tick box exercise, especially when you're so. We were talking about the I think they're called muse now which is basically like it's all your blood pressure and all of that stuff, but you score it and if it's within a certain score, then you've got to alert somebody of that, which is which is great, and I think it it's. It does it to protect people. But it takes away that intuition. When you're looking at somebody and it's something's not right, regardless of what the paperwork said, regardless of what the machines all say, you're like they're just not right and you can't get that with any kind of artificial intelligence or video yeah, it's so true.

Speaker 1:

I've got an example of this. So a couple of years ago, around christmas time, I was having a blood test. So every year I always run a blood test on myself to check everything out. Very comprehensive.

Speaker 2:

You need to sort out your Christmas presents to yourself, julie, yeah.

Speaker 1:

And it just coincides with that time of year and I was I'd scheduled to have my blood draw done because I was doing it privately and I had a cold come in, which turned out to be a really hideous cold, and I had a temperature when my blood draw was being done. So I knew that certain markers on my blood CRP were going to be raised, etc. So I'd had this blood draw done. I wasn't feeling too bad or anything and I'd got the. The results come through the next day. In fact it was Christmas I think it was Christmas Eve that the results came through. So it's very close to Christmas. I was having this done. Yeah, I need to. I need to sort out what.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's so funny now saying that, but anyway, on Christmas Eve I got a phone call from a doctor to say I needed to go to A&E straight away and at the time I was getting ready to go out and watch the pantomime. Yeah, and so this is where the you're only looking at the, the facts on that piece of paper at that point, yeah, and I just said to the doctor no, it's funny. Said your CRP levels are really high, you need to go to the. You need to go to A&E straight away and I said it's okay. I had a temperature. I was obviously had some viral thing going on and so I said I'm I'm okay, I'm perfectly fine, I'm just about to go out, and this doctor was so, but the CRP level is really high. I was like, honestly, I ended up reassuring the doctor honestly, I'm fine. When I had the blood drawdown, I had a temperature, I'm absolutely fine.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the numbers can lie every now and again, but that's so funny. And so the next thing is the accountability and support that you will get from an actual human being. My example for this I was actually joking. Well, no, I'm not joking, actually, it's completely true is that when somebody says to me, right, I'm coming to this class, and they don't come to a class, generally right at the beginning of the class I'm messaging them going.

Speaker 1:

uh, where are?

Speaker 2:

you and I'll check. They're okay. And once I know they haven't broken anything or they're still alive, then I'm like, why are you not at the class? And then they know that they know I know they haven't broken anything or they're still alive, then I'm like, why are you not at the class? And then they know, like they know I'm going to do this and it means that any of the the weaker excuses I'm going to go for I'll let you off if you've broken your leg.

Speaker 1:

But but other than that, you can still turn up and do your arms right.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, oh my god, you know me so well. But any of those, like those mind monkeys that give you all of the reasons that you don't have to go and do your class, are going to be a little bit more quiet if they know that I'm going to be texting you going where are you what you're doing? And you definitely don't get that from an ai or a youtube video. No, you don't, and you definitely don't get that from an AI or a YouTube video?

Speaker 1:

No, you don't and you just cannot. Maybe that's a plus point for some people. That might be a plus point. I think the support side of things is so huge the support and the accountability and having someone that knows those struggles, the obstacles that you're going to come up against and helps you get around them, is so important?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, definitely. I mean joking aside the fact that I can look at somebody holistically and if they are consistently not turning up to a class or they're consistently not doing something for themselves, I can then go and apply subconscious transformation information to it.

Speaker 1:

I don't have to just work in like one stream of thought exactly, and I think I've said to you many a times sometimes, when I've seen clients, we haven't even spoken about food. Yes, yeah, haven't even because we're not ready for that. Yeah, yeah, we got to deal with something else first and that, yeah, you cannot ai and youtube is not going to be able to do that. Do you know what that?

Speaker 2:

so that point is really interesting, because when clients come to us, they come to us thinking they have one. I'm going to say the word problem challenge Yep, often that is not the challenge. So if you plugged into AI, I'm suffering with da-da-da, let's, I mean, let's go for the obvious one, let's go for weight loss. Yep, I want to lose weight. And you plug that into it and it gives you this amazing program and then you're like I'm still not losing weight. That's because that's not the problem. You need to go back like two, three, four more steps and that's why you need somebody that's got all these different strings to their bow and is actually sat in front of you talking to you another human being yeah and and looking at that complete history as well, because the issue that you've got now was actually created months, even years, ago.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you can look at that and do the timeline side of things and go look at what this trigger really was. Yeah, and you can home in on that together and yeah, you're just not going to get that.

Speaker 2:

No, and unless you've, unless you've got an awareness of where it started from, you can't put that into your ai and get the individual help?

Speaker 1:

no, because most people can't connect the dots for themselves, and that's what we do as professionals often is connect all the dots, isn't it?

Speaker 2:

I'm just thinking. Do you think that, uh, the ai is going to read this transcript and then it's not going to share this with anybody?

Speaker 1:

that would be interesting. I don't think it could, even it couldn't even filter that out, because it it can't do that, it it's not human well, until they take over the world, not seeing terminator yes, I have.

Speaker 1:

I think one of the issues that you can, if you are going down the route of using ai, youtube, whatever is that you cannot be honest with yourself. Like you can hide stuff, can't you? Yeah, but when you see someone face to face or even on zoom because I do a lot of zoom calls and that person's, you know, asking you things in a certain way, drawing out that information, there's no hiding from it, is there?

Speaker 2:

no, absolutely. You're so right and you're as you're speaking to somebody. It's almost like we know what the answer is and they're dancing around it. Yeah, yeah and absolutely yeah. No artificial intelligence would pick that up.

Speaker 1:

No, and we are also reading into the body language. Yeah, and just those little things, the way that someone looks or the way that they say something, or the emotions that come into it. Yeah, it's, you can't get that from the computer no, you're absolutely, absolutely right.

Speaker 2:

So when you're thinking about youtube I think I did a video on this the other day you could get completely overwhelmed, unless you know specifically what you are looking for. There is so much out there and there's no filter. Anybody, literally anybody could put an exercise video, a fitness video, give out nutritional advice, give out subconscious advice anybody, and they don't have to be qualified in the slightest. And it's dangerous, really, actually scary, thinking about it and you, you people, just hear it and believe it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and there's so much conflicting information I don't really know how AI filters out. We're conflicting information. Again, I will often question it if I'm working with it and say something like don't you think that view is outdated now, or have you seen the work by such and such? They've totally disputed what you've just said.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I'll do that with AI. That's quite interesting.

Speaker 2:

It's like that low fat study that we've've talked about quite often. If it uses things like that, if it doesn't, if it doesn't realize that it has been shown to be a big pile of poo the big fat lie remember the big fat lie? Yes, exactly, it could easily use that because it's a piece of research yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I don't know how it filters a lot of these things out, but I do know that it doesn't really know you, it doesn't know all the emotional side behind what you're doing and it just makes so many mistakes.

Speaker 1:

I mean, I'm talking about AI here. I mean, youtube's a bit different, isn't it? Because you're literally going into the search and saying I want to watch a video on whatever it is and, like you said, you get so many, so many things come up and the ones at the top they're not necessarily the best or the most accurate, they're just the ones that were good at their marketing or able to get the most views, or whatever.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they've sensationalized it in some way. It's not that it's full of the right information.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

I think the really obvious one is that you get that human interaction. There is literally nothing like it, and that's I mean that's coming from somebody that has an online membership. And I do a lot of my work on zoom and actually I think zoom works pretty well with being able to have that human on human interaction and be able to have that read people's signals and body language and things like that. But I do spend a lot of time creating in-person events and experiences because there is just nothing like it.

Speaker 1:

No, no, that is so important that, in that connection again, I think you can get it from from zoom. You can definitely get it from your class because you can see the other people and you're all doing the same thing and, yeah, I think sweating and gasping, yeah, yeah, and I think whenever we work with anybody, we just want them to succeed.

Speaker 1:

So you get that, and I know that my clients love to share a win with me because they know that I'm going to be pleased for them, and then we're having a nice moment together. And then, you know, this week I think it was yesterday actually I got a whatsapp came up and it just was images and I thought what, what's that? When I clicked on, it was pictures of a lady that I helped last year. Well, actually, I was helping her for a little, for a little while, because she had fertility issues and she'd had her baby, and I knew that she'd had a baby, but she'd sent me some updates, yeah, and she'd had a like a family photo shoot and she sent me some photos through and just said, oh, we're doing really well, blah, blah, and it was so lovely to get those photos, yeah, so because we are totally invested in your wins and yeah, and likewise you get to kind of show them off and go look yeah, I mean you're not going to send your photos to ai and say thanks for helping me out last year.

Speaker 1:

I've now got a baby, are you?

Speaker 2:

it's absolutely true. Also, the human interaction with other people as well, because I mean just asking your ai or just doing youtube or social media or whatever, it's very lonely, isn't it Really lonely? And the importance of doing these things with a tribe, doing it with a group of people that have got a common goal. I certainly know with the community. The Facebook community that we've got within Vitality Rooms is somewhere where we hold each other accountable. We also share. We share silly things, we share wins and we get to see that other people are going through the same things as we are. We get to celebrate other people and it's yeah much like your, your clients sending those pictures, which is so cool.

Speaker 1:

I love that it's really nice. It's one of the best ones actually from working with someone. The two main ones that I absolutely love is fertility, when the end result has been a baby, because it's so huge, or when you've got somebody that is so unwell that it's impacting their day-to-day life. Like I said about the lady with the digestive issue who couldn't go on holiday yeah, and he's now able to go on holiday. Yeah, things like that are just so incredible.

Speaker 2:

I don't know about you but most women want to feel like they're doing on their own, like they can do this themselves, and that's great. However, asking for help again is there's nothing wrong with that, and collaborating with people and working with somebody to achieve a common goal is far better. It's a better outcome and it's a better experience and a better feeling.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, really, really powerful. And then the other thing I often think about is that when you're working with someone, you have to tweak the plan. You change based on what they're doing All the time, and it's a progress, isn't it? Yeah, it's not a fixed thing, it's not. You change based on what they're doing all the time, and you're and it's a progress, isn't it? Yeah, it's not a fixed thing, it's not a one-size-fits-all. You're moving things all the time and you just can't get that from typing into.

Speaker 2:

no, that's true you'd have to be like updating it all of the time. And if you don't have like a paid version, it doesn't remember what you've said beforehand and I think you've kind of touched on it that it could give you wrong information. But things like if you haven't put all the information into it and it gives you answers, things like if I'm training somebody, a really obvious thing is if they've got some sort of back injury and we have to do things carefully, gradually, as opposed to then you know, dialing up a video on youtube and you've just put how do I exercise with a back injury? And and some rando has just done a video, and then you've gone, oh okay, and then you and then you injure yourself even more yeah, it can be really dangerous.

Speaker 1:

From my side of things, one of the danger areas is supplements interacting with medications. Yeah, it's so. So concerning, if you don't know that that's really terrifying.

Speaker 2:

are there any other things with regards to if they've put in their blood results and gives random instructions that how it could go wrong?

Speaker 1:

Well, if your report showed that you had high iron and it interpreted it that you had low iron and it said that you needed to take iron tablets and you had too high that actually is so dangerous for the liver.

Speaker 2:

you could cause a major health problem for yourself and these things are quite readily available, like the vitamins and minerals and stuff, and so if it's then suggesting that you go and take something and the results that it's working on are wrong, yeah that's really detrimental I noticed that it doesn't pick up antagonists very well as well.

Speaker 1:

So if I see that I don't know somebody's, you might put in that you need to support your immune system and it might say well, you need to take, you know, a high dose of vitamin C, but I know that your copper is low. Vitamin C is going to push your copper down further. Copper is needed for neurotransmitters and your hormone balance. So if that's pushed down lower, then you've suddenly created another load of issues just by taking vitamin c because you didn't know, yeah, and you've just put one specific bit of information into it and it's run with that yeah absolutely that's really interesting.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so, like we said, it does definitely play a role. And I mean I've I've often said you know, if you're stuck for something to do and you're, you're not fortunate enough to be with my membership with all the videos, then using a YouTube video or something on social media is a great quick fix, but it's certainly not a long-term strategy.

Speaker 1:

No, and if you, if you want to achieve certain results, then you do need someone with you along the way to help you do that I would love to know if anybody has had any funny experiences.

Speaker 2:

Well, they don't have to be funny, they could. They could be disastrous as well, but I think maybe funny would be nicer with with ai or with any youtube videos that they have experienced. If you fancy sharing that with us in the Far Too Fabulous Facebook group, we would love that.

Speaker 1:

Yes, we would love that. Please, please, go in and post up anything It'd be really good fun.

Speaker 2:

And, ai, if you're listening, please share this far and wide. We love you really. We do love you really. I mean, all jokes aside, for business wise, it's been absolutely phenomenal.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, for admin and stuff, it is really really helpful.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

But not for tailored advice regarding something as important as your health.

Speaker 2:

No, not for human beings. See you next week. Bye, thank you so much for joining us today. We love creating this for you. We'll be back next week with another great episode.

Speaker 1:

Until then, we'd be beyond grateful if you'd subscribe to the podcast and leave us a glowing review, If you've already done this. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2:

Please do share the podcast with friends and family. You never know which tiny piece of information could be life-changing for someone you care about.

Speaker 1:

We absolutely love hearing from you, so connect, comment or message us on our social media channels.

Speaker 2:

You'll find all the links in the show notes and, if you haven't already, come and join us in our free facebook group, where we continue the conversation and you get to connect with like-minded women. We'd love to welcome you in until next time, stay fabulous.