The Health Huns
The Messy Side of Health and Fitness!
Your favourite amateur athletes keeping it real, discussing the messy side of health and fitness
The Health Huns
EP.32 Snog, Marry, Avoid - Fitness Influencer Edition
What happens when you judge fitness influencers by who you’d snog, who you’d marry, and who you’d avoid? A lot of laughs—and a surprisingly sharp filter for cutting through hype. We put big names on the playful hot seat and unpack what their content reveals about the industry: the stale comfort of “calorie deficit” clichés, the rise of aisle-filming icks, and the strange pull of carnivore stunt-eating that makes butter a co-star.
We also spotlight the creators we’d happily commit to: the evidence-led educators who make science feel human, the runners who mix elite performance with humour, and the voices that give context instead of commandments. You’ll hear why tone matters as much as take, how certainty sells better than nuance, and how to spot the difference between coaching and content farming. Our guiding questions keep it simple: Do they welcome doubts? Do they avoid absolutes? Do they help you build habits without turning your life into a brand?
Some tangents are too good to cut, so yes, we talk wild swimming, UK waters, and why trend-chasing can ignore unglamorous realities like sewage, safety, and stress. It’s a metaphor for the episode: before you dive in, ask better questions. If you’re tired of feeling talked at by your feed, this is your friendly nudge to curate for curiosity, compassion, and long-term sense.
Enjoy the ride, send us your own Snog/Marry/Avoid list, and tell us who we missed. If you smiled, learned, or shouted back at your headphones, tap follow, share with a friend, and leave a quick review—it helps more curious listeners find us.
James Smith PT
Eddie Abbew
Joe Wicks
Courtney Black
Ben Carpenter
Hugo Fry
El Mint
Steak and Butter Gal
Lucy Under Strong-woman
Josh Hills Nutrition
Thank you for listening!
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Hello and welcome to the Health Huns, the podcast where we talk about the messy side of health and fitness. I am your host, Ree Riley Tims. I'm also your host, Amber Green. And we are your favourite amateur athletes.
SPEAKER_02:We actually are, it's official.
SPEAKER_01:I've heard actually amateur athletes of the year award is coming our way.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, um, there's gonna be an awards ceremony, we're gonna get a trophy. It's exciting. Next up, MBE. Yeah, for our services to the world, to the fitness community, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. Amber, how's your week been?
SPEAKER_02:Oh god, my week. I'm really tired. I saw you this morning for PT, and I I mean I look a bit better now because I've got some makeup on, but I'm a shell of a person. I'm tired, I don't feel great, I haven't been eating very well, like I'm just it's been a one, um maybe it's been a three out of ten. Wow, it's not been quite as bad as expected, but it's just my busiest week of the year. I've still got loads of things to do for Christmas, I'm working late, roll on Christmas Eve where I can go for a big fat roast at huggers and finally relax.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you you looked rough this morning when you turned up. I really did. How's your week been? Uh my week's been good. My week has been pretty good. About like an eight or a nine out of ten. Oh wow! Yeah, I've been productive. Um do you know what? I've been having a laugh recently. I've just stopped, I don't care anymore. Like I'm just feeling free, and things are making like I'm finding fun in life, and I'm just sick of obviously I love a bit of a complaining, a gossip, and a bitch, but on a whole I um yeah, I'm having a good time looking forward to Christmas. Yeah, about a nine, eight, eight, nine out of ten. That is amazing! Thanks, yeah. Yeah, I'm proud of you. Thank you. Anyway, we have our biggest fan of the week. He didn't ask for it, but we're giving it to him anyway because he interacts with us a lot and engages with our content.
SPEAKER_02:The one, the only Scott King. Who I have never met, but he sounds fun. Scott King is one of my oldest friends back from Lower Stoft. Wow. Um The end. Yeah, that's that's it really. He is uh I mean Scott is interesting, he um likes to argue with me a lot. Uh we can have a good debate, but ultimately we do agree on a lot of things, so yeah. Big out, big out, big shout out. We're gonna see now if he actually listens to the pod, because if he doesn't listen to the pod, he's not gonna know about a shout out.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, that would be embarrassing for us and for him. Yes, it would. Uh, our biggest fan of the week doesn't actually listen to the podcast. Okay, right. So we have a fun one, fun one for the Christmas. It's not festive at all, but it's just a fun one. We are doing snog marry avoid. We were gonna say kill, but we thought bloody hell, bit much. So snog, marry, avoid our favourite and I guess least favourite fitness influencers. So, how it's gonna work is you've got a few that we've come up with each. Am I gonna just say individually if we would snog, marry, or avoid each one and the reasons behind our decision? Okay, okay. So let's get into it. Oh, but before we get into it, right now, pause the podcast, share it to your social media, your stories, tag us in it, and whilst you're doing that, review us, subscribe, follow on whatever platform you are on. Thank you. Anyway, Amber. I nearly called you Jasmine then. Is it because I look like Princess Jasmine? That must be it, because I don't know many jasmines. Hi, Tan. Okay. Let's go. What's your first one? Who's your first one?
SPEAKER_02:Lucy Unders strong woman.
SPEAKER_01:Now I would avoid.
SPEAKER_02:Ooh, controversial.
SPEAKER_01:And I'm gonna tell you for why.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:It would hurt my ego too much to be to marry her or to shag her because she is so incredibly strong, it'd make me feel less than. Okay. So it's purely ego-driven that decision.
SPEAKER_02:Well, when you said like I've got opinions on her, I was like, oh god, is there some like gossip or something that I don't know about?
SPEAKER_01:No, that was I don't really know much about her apart from I've watched her and think fucking her. Strong. Guess who's at my back door?
SPEAKER_02:Maurice.
SPEAKER_00:Fuck!
SPEAKER_02:Of course it's him.
SPEAKER_01:Apologies. Is it back now? He's inside, yeah. What would you do? Snog Mario Void, Lucy. I'd probably snog her. Like, I've got no oh, is it snog or shag? I thought we were going for snog. Let's snog, because I think shag's just a bit it's too much for me.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I'd probably snog her. Like, I don't need to avoid her, and I wouldn't want to marry her, so yeah.
SPEAKER_01:There we go. Okay, right. My first one is James Smith PT.
SPEAKER_02:I would avoid him because he is a toxic man.
SPEAKER_01:It's a shame. Because when I first got into PT, he was one of the PTs that I followed. And at the beginning, I think, of his career, he had a good thing going. But there's only so many times you can talk about calorie deficit. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. I do think he's just got that white man privilege about him, I think.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. He's got less move more vibes, which is the fitness world of live, love, love. Is that what his thing is now? Well, I mean, pretty much. So what did he say? He's got the like eat less, move more. Yeah, and he's also really like in this. Lives love of fitness.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and he does BJJ Resilient Jiu-Jitsu. Oh, that's such a man thing. And he's like into all those testosterone things now.
SPEAKER_02:And I just think didn't he create like some sort of drink that is neutronic?
SPEAKER_01:I want to try that. Um, but yeah, I think I'd avoid him just because I think he's just not my type of person.
SPEAKER_02:No. Does he live in Dubai or something now?
SPEAKER_01:I think he's an Australian guy. Like he lives in Australia now.
SPEAKER_02:I know everything about him. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01:What would you what would you be doing? Avoiding him?
SPEAKER_02:Avoiding him, definitely. Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So my next person is Steak and Butter Gal.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, I'm gonna try and pop pictures up when I edit this. So let me just have a look at steak and butter gal. Where is she? I have watched a few of her videos, unfortunately, they've cropped up into my feed. Um, so give me the kind of rundown of who she is, Amber. So steak and butter gal is a uh woman who has let me just get her up.
SPEAKER_02:She is um a well, she does the carnivore diet basically. She's an ex-vegan, now carnivore for seven years, and um she talks about her journey from being vegan to being carnivore, and she quite often posts videos of her eating blocks of butter.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and if you look on her Instagram, it is just steak and butter gal. That is her Instagram handle. A lot of her thumbnails are half topless pictures of her holding up a tray of meat and butter. Yeah. So obviously.
SPEAKER_02:The first time I saw her, it came off as like a reel on like my Explore page, and she was on a plane, and I genuinely thought it was satire because she was on a plane and she's like, I bought my own snacks, I don't want any of these, and she was eating a block of butter, and I was like, This is not real.
SPEAKER_01:And what would you do? Snugger, marry her, avoid her? I would avoid her like the plague. I'd also avoid her because I bet her farts and breath are stanky. Yeah. Because there's no fibre and also like all that butter.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. You could be well weighted down there. Oh, no, no.
SPEAKER_01:Three oh, you snorked Lucy under Strong Woman, didn't you? So we're avoiding steak and butter gal. Yeah. Next on my list, I have Eddie Abu. Abu, is that how you say his name? Abu, Abu Abu, if I butchered that, apologies, that is not right, regardless of whether I want to do him or not. Okay, so I personally do you know what?
SPEAKER_02:I would marry him.
SPEAKER_01:I I reckon he's actually quite a nice, kind guy. But obviously, if you find something that works on social media, you double down on that. And obviously, he's done that and it makes him lots of money. But I do think some of the things he says are actually not too bad, especially in the beginning of his like social media stuff. But I think some of the stuff he says can be really toxic and just unhelpful, like really, really unhelpful. I would avoid him because I don't want to be going doing the big shop with him, and he's like, oh, just film me talking about the cocoa box, you know.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, well, exactly. So that is why I would also avoid him because that would give me the ick. Like, I just want to go and do my shop, and I don't want to see that, I don't want to be part of that. So yeah, he's in a void because he's embarrassing.
SPEAKER_01:Which is a shame because he is a handsome looking man.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, he's not my type, but yeah, I can see I can see that, but no, he is an ick. Okay, who's your next one then? My next one is Hugo Fry. So Hugo Frye is a quite young British posh athlete. He's really he's very good at running. He like wins loads of things. Um he's hilarious, and for that reason, I'd marry him. He might be young enough to probably be my son, but I just think he's ridiculous. And I love a funny man.
SPEAKER_01:Well, there we go. I don't have many opinions on him because I didn't know who he was until you chose him. I'm looking at his Instagram now, and yeah, I'd probably give him a snog. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:And that, yeah. You need to watch some of his videos because he is funny.
SPEAKER_01:But maybe I could just marry him and not snog him. Yeah. Because I don't want to avoid him because he looks fine, like you know, and I'm gonna take your word for it. Um, but he's on the good list.
SPEAKER_02:Regardless.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well done, Hugo Fry.
SPEAKER_01:And we will link all of these in the little show notes so you can have a a wee little look for yourself and let us know who you'd be snogging and stuff.
SPEAKER_02:Who's next on your list? Uh Joe Wicks. I'd I mean, I'd snog Joe Wicks. I'd marry him for the money. Oh, yeah, that's a good point, actually. He is rich. And he's probably just off doing his own thing, so you probably wouldn't have to see him very much. He could probably just give you a credit card. That really is my ideal life. Yeah, I'm rethinking my choices here.
SPEAKER_01:If anyone is looking for a lesbian wife, is that called a lavender marriage when like a straight person marries? I think a lavender marriage when they're both queer and they're trying to be heteronormative. Like, I believe. Who knows? Joe Wicks might be in the closet.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know. I mean, that wouldn't be surprising to be honest. Um, I'd I'm gonna stick with I'd snog him. Yeah, he's fine, definitely. I don't need to avoid him. I don't really want to be married to him because he might be rich, but he is annoying. And also you'd then have to be like, yeah, I'm married to Joe Wicks. Yeah, it's not good for your street cred.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but how funny if I turned up with Joe Wicks as his wife. I mean, to be fair, he's more feminine than you, so exactly. It probably worked really well, actually. I think my people can talk to his people, we see how that's gonna go. Um, not that we're both married. Oh well. Life happens. Um, who's your next one?
SPEAKER_02:My next one is someone that we talk about a lot on the pod, Joshua Hills.
SPEAKER_00:Marry would you? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:What would you do? I think I'd I'd snog him. I don't think I'd marry him.
SPEAKER_01:I think this is actually more of an issue of your commitment rather than because who are you gonna lock down? Hugo Fry, I said I'd marry him! Yeah, yeah. The young one. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I like Joshua Hills, I think he has good ethics and morals, he has great thighs, but I think he would probably be a bit too preachy, and I just I think I'd I just need someone a bit more fun and lighthearted, so I'd definitely snog him, probably more than once, but I would not marry him. But I don't need to avoid him either.
SPEAKER_01:One night's down of Joshua Hills, yeah. In and out, get the job done. Yeah, okay. My next one is Courtney Black. Oh, I don't know who she is. Now Courtney Black is what I believe is one of the OG um I actually thought Courtney Black was a drag queen, so I do think there is a drag queen who has a play on word, like I I know what you mean. But she is one of the OG influencers, wellness people, female, fitness person. She looks young. Adam. He looks really young. Yeah, no, she's she's been around for a long time, I think.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah, I guess if you actually look at her, she doesn't look that young, but sorry, Courtney Black.
SPEAKER_01:We're not tearing down other women, we're just intrigued about her. She kind of looks ageless, doesn't she?
SPEAKER_02:Well, you know, she looks 50, and some she looks 18.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and you know what? Love that chameleon vibes. But I would probably avoid her.
SPEAKER_02:Would you?
SPEAKER_01:Even after seeing this video of her, yeah, because I want someone who could dance as well as I can, and she's just not it, you know what I mean. Um, why would I avoid her? I mean I just think we'd be doing a lot of cardio. And I don't think the fun kind. I think it'd be a lot of let's go for a walk, let's go for a walk, let's go to the gym, and I'd be like, oh, can I just lay down?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think I would avoid her because she just looks too enthusiastic about life.
SPEAKER_01:And one thing you need to know about me is I like a girl that looks a bit rough around the edges. Not that my wife Meg is rough around the edges. She's good girl Meg does not listen to this podcast. She's a beautiful, well-put-together woman, and I love her so much. But I want a girl that can let her hair down, and I don't see her having much fun here.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, did you not just see her dancing?
SPEAKER_01:My point exactly.
SPEAKER_02:Um she looks like she'd make you like get your phone out and start filming her doing things, a bit like Eddie Abu.
SPEAKER_01:And there can't be two stars in a relationship. So the other reason why I'd be avoiding her. Yeah. I think with butt heads.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Puddham. British. Yeah. I thought she was American. Like, just no, I just thought she was American. She's she's got that like, hey, I'm from LA shiny, sunny kind of. And I say that with love because one of my clients is from LA and she actually is a ray of sunshine, but she looks like annoying happy.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Let me find out how old she is. Isn't it funny how we didn't care how old the other people were, but we care how old she is?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:We are the problem. Courtney back age.
SPEAKER_00:Oh!
SPEAKER_01:29! What? She can't be an OG if she's 29. What a thing she is. You've got to think like 10 years ago, she started 10-11 years ago, that's kind of only 2016. Oh, I guess. I guess.
SPEAKER_02:I guess fitness wasn't really much of a thing before then.
SPEAKER_01:No, gyms are actually really relatively new concepts.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. It wasn't until it became popular on Instagram that actually fitness became a thing. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Right, who is your last one? Elle Mint. I would marry her.
SPEAKER_02:Why?
SPEAKER_01:Because I like her where she stands, her viewpoints, and I think she just looks like a nice person.
SPEAKER_02:Same. I would also marry her. I think she looks happy and fun. She has a good balanced view on life. She looks like a nice person.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And I don't to me she doesn't come across as like really preachy and in your face that you have to believe and do this kind of stuff. It is just a person doing fitness.
SPEAKER_02:The only thing that could make me want to divorce her is if she tried to make me go swimming outside in the winter. That would be enough.
SPEAKER_01:No, I don't like wild swimming. Guys, I just need to say something about wild swimming while we're on the subject. Especially if you live in the UK, what are you doing?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:The sea is full of sewage. The river is also full of sewage. And dead bodies. Do you know? I mean, God rest everyone's soul.
SPEAKER_02:Do you have this fear of the dead bodies? Yes. Me too. And people think I'm mad. No. I listened to a podcast once, and there was a pond, like a lake, and there was the man was putting the dead bodies in there.
SPEAKER_01:Also, unfortunately, where we live, it's almost a weekly occurrence that they find bodies in the rivers, which is really sad. But I don't want to be swimming, and you know, one bubbles up to the surface, and I'm corpse. People think I'm mad for this. We're just sensible.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'm glad we're on the same page.
SPEAKER_01:And also, like worse than the dead bodies, like all that rubbish, the trolleys, oh the creepy things that live in water.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I could imagine a reed like touching my leg and I'd have a panic attack. Vial's disease. You'd probably yeah, it's not for me. No way, no way. I don't like dirt and the river and the sea, it's very dirty. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:So maybe like Elmin, if you didn't do wild swimming, we'd both went off on a tangent. Yeah, we did.
SPEAKER_02:As long as you know if you expect me to go wild swimming with her, then sure, we can get married.
SPEAKER_01:Lovely. Um oh my god, look at us in a thrapper. That'd be so cute. So my last one is Ben Carpenter.
SPEAKER_02:Let me just check he is the one I think he is. Um is he moved to America recently?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and he married another. He married, what is her name? So he? I think I'm I've fucked that name, and I'm really bad at names. But she's so he fit on Instagram. Very research-based, very neutral, don't speak in absolute, a really positive, um positive voice in the in the industry, I believe. Ben. Ben. It's the name BDC Carpenter.
SPEAKER_02:Um so I would I'd probably snog him. I would give him a peck on the cheek. No, that's not an option.
SPEAKER_01:Snog, marry, avoid. To be fair, I think maybe I'd marry him. Would you? Yeah, because I just feel like he looks too innocent to give a snog, like just snog him.
SPEAKER_02:I'd want to be his friend. There'd be a slight bloodline. We'd have a snog for about one second and then we'd be like, no, we're friends.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, so the snog is like just mere kind of have to do it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's not like passion. Yeah. Unless you want it to be, then it can be. Unless you're up for it, then they're sure.
SPEAKER_01:Um, yeah, but I really recommend following him because I like it.
SPEAKER_02:I think he was one of the first people that I really kind of like like found and followed on social media that was like a fitnessy person that wasn't a dickhead. Not that I was following the dickheads, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Came across.
SPEAKER_01:Oh that's our snog marry avoid list.
SPEAKER_02:I'm getting married twice, having one snog and doing two. Oh no, two snogs. I'm only avoiding, oh, I'm only going through my people. I can't even remember who yours was. I can't even remember.
SPEAKER_01:I'm um we're we're not when we're not too picky. I think it's the we just like nice, funny people. Who, yeah, unless they like wild for me.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, there are some caveats with El Mint. Yeah. Um if you have greatly about this.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, shall we listening? I know. If you have any other fitness influencers or just people around in and around the health and fitness world who you would like us to rate, tag or like message us or something, put it in the comments on under the podcast, and we'll maybe go through some more in another episode next year. That would be fun. That would be fun. Uh we're finished with that, I think. I think we are. Come to an end, and Maurice only interrupted once. Well done, Maurice.
SPEAKER_02:We love you, Maurice. I think he is gonna get a medal for being the most annoying guest on the podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, he is our most returned guest. He can't stay away. Okay, it's been a pleasure. Merry Christmas if you celebrate, and if you don't celebrate, happy December.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, have a great day, whatever you do.
SPEAKER_01:We love you. We see you back soon. We are missing next week because it's Christmas. Yeah, but we'll be back the following week and every week for the rest of 2026.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, so please, if you've got anything you want us to discuss, if you want a shout out, um yeah. Yeah, just just let us know. Literally anything you want, we will do. I promise that I will be back in better form after this week.
SPEAKER_01:Good, yes, so you should be right, peace and love. Merry Christmas, bye.