James Smith is the sweary and strict personal trainer who’s not afraid to tell people they’re fat
HE is the new bad boy of the health and fitness world who makes no apology for firing off F-words – including referring to people as FAT.
With his constant swearing and verbal attacks on fellow health bloggers including Joe Wicks, social media sensation James Smith is the rock ’n’ roll poster boy of healthy living.
The personal trainer, 30, has some typically no-nonsense advice for his rapidly growing army of followers: “F***ing stop moaning and just eat less.”
His uncensored, expletive-filled rants about everything he thinks is wrong with the fitness world are going down a bomb — or perhaps one should say F-bomb.
His risky approach has seen him dubbed “the Gordon Ramsay of fitness” after the foul-mouthed TV chef — and while some clean-living types are shocked and appalled by his sweary videos, his 500,000 followers online are hanging on his every F-word.
Out next week, James’s Not A Diet Book mercilessly takes down every fad diet, workout and health drink you have been sold and instead explains his mission to make understanding weight-loss as easy as two words — calorie deficit.
James says: “Look, I’m not trying to be a c***, I’m just trying to be the voice of reason in an industry that’s gone mad trying to make money from you.
“I just think, ‘What the f*** is a spin class? Get on a bike and cycle outside, you moron’.
“Why the f*** would you get up at 5am to go to the gym for an hour but then stand on an escalator?
“I’m not trying to be popular, I’m honestly trying to help people by telling them the truth that a lot of other people are scared to tell.
“If you are offended by my language, fine. Joe Wicks is f***ing waiting for you with his £149 plan.
“He’s the one who had a party in Soho, turned up late and had a Diet Coke. If you are a boring b*llbag that orders a Diet Coke when all your friends are drinking beer, he’s the guy for you.
“If not, welcome to the James Smith club, and let’s have a beer and not stress out about it.”
James, who grew up in Ascot, Berks, with his “corporate warrior” dad, hairdresser mum and one older sister, has always been a bit of a bad boy.
He hated school and was regularly sent to the head’s office for bad behaviour.
He dropped out of a university degree in sports science because he “played rugby instead and partied too hard”. And after later landing a well-paid job in recruitment in Australia, he got bored and quit to “get p***ed in Asia”, until his money ran out.
But delve back a little further and it is James’s early childhood that tugs at the heart strings.
He says: “I was a fat kid at primary school. I wanted to play football but was too slow.
“I remember asking the dinner ladies which foods would make me fat, but they didn’t know what to say.
“I asked my parents the same question and they didn’t know either.
“I was lost. I was ten years old and couldn’t get an answer from any adults on how to not be fat. It’s why I have a chip on my shoulder now.
“Why aren’t we all more educated about the simple answers when it comes to weight loss?” When you picture James’s chubby, blonde ten-year-old self desperately wanting school dinner ladies to help him diet, you cannot help but see a soft side to this fitness rebel.
After hating his corporate job, he decided to become a personal trainer because he “saw friends were doing it and was jealous”.
But he admits he fell into all the traps he now rants against. He says: “I did the Insanity workouts and I cut out carbs because that’s what everyone told me was ‘the best thing’ for staying in shape.
“I hated that type of exercise and missed having a slice of bloody bread, so eventually I realised this couldn’t be right.
“Being healthy and in shape doesn’t have to mean being miserable.”
He decided in 2014 to start writing blogs and posting videos online, and after a couple of years of daily posts, his popularity skyrocketed. He says: “It really just went nuts. At first, I didn’t understand why it was happening all of a sudden. But I think it was just everyone getting sick of the sudden rise in ‘wellness’ — they wanted to follow someone who was slagging off all the matcha soups and weight-loss saunas.
“I was the guy telling them to eat regular chips rather than sweet-potato fries and they felt relieved.
“I’m not saying everyone needs to lose weight — but for those who want to, it’s as simple as calories in and calories out, and not spending a fortune on expensive plans or swanky gym memberships.”
James’s guide is really simple. If you eat more calories than you use, you gain weight. If you use more than you eat, you lose weight.
SIMPLE GUIDE
He says: “No matter what diet you are being sold, or the fitness regime you are paying hundreds of pounds to follow, it all boils down to the same thing — making you eat fewer calories than you use. I honestly don’t care if you want to do the 5:2 method, cut out carbs or go to the gym for three hours a day.
“That’s absolutely your choice and if it works for you, that’s fantastic.
“What I do care about is businesses telling you their method is the only way, or selling you fake science about their products that just isn’t true.
“It’s just another way to get you to eat fewer calories than you use.
“A lot of my clients who are fat — and I use the word fat, I’m not afraid of that — will say to me, ‘James, I’m putting on weight but I’m not eating much’. I say to them, ‘Weekends’.
“You might hit your 1,700-calorie target in the week but if you consume 4,000 on a Saturday night, that’s a surplus you need to equal out across the week. To clients who say, ‘I’m overweight but barely eat anything’, I will say, ‘Yeah, during the week mate — but unless there is a scientific process going on that converts air to calories, you are overeating’.
“You have to stick to a certain amount of calories to lose or not gain weight. You can do that through diet alone. But you also have the toolbelt with MOVEMENT, HYDRATION and SLEEP in it.Increasing these can help you create a calorie deficit more easily.
“Everyone has a slightly different daily calorie allowance and the best way to find out yours is to use a calorie calculator online. I have one on my website that’s free to use, jamessmith academy.com/macrocalculator.”
But if you think James is just a personal trainer pushing one message about calories again and again, with a few swearwords thrown in, you would be wrong.
He lobbied Men’s Health magazine to publish pictures of more achievable physiques on its cover, and he gave a motivational TED talk about women’s menstrual cycles affecting their weight and motivation.
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
If you want to get scientific, he can also go on about gluconeogenesis (don’t ask) for hours.
Maybe this straight-talking bloke is just what our overweight population really needs. He says: “I want to make people’s quality of life better.
“I want to educate them about basic habits they can learn to become more active and less sedentary, and make them think about food in a more simple way.”
- Not a Diet Book: Lose Fat. Gain Confidence. Transform Your Life, £16.99, HarperCollins -
Bread is OK
ALONG with a month’s free access to the James Smith Academy – see below – the fitness trainer has some simple advice for readers: “Bread, escalators, sleep – just not at the same time.” Here is what he has to say about each . . .
BREAD: You have probably been you can’t have this if you want to lose weight. But scientific data shows those who keep bread in their diet are more likely to stick to their daily calorie goals. Don’t demonise a food you love. Just count the calories and make sure you eat fewer than your daily allowance if you want to lose weight.
ESCALATORS: We burn way more calories outside the gym than in. Not many people who work at gyms will tell you this. Evidence shows that when we start dieting, we are way more likely to choose to stand on an escalator rather than walk up the steps – probably because we think we deserve the rest.If you are dieting, you should be thinking about the positive effect more movement is going to have on your weight loss – whether that be walking more or taking the stairs.
SLEEP: This is an important part of our wellbeing. Less sleep means you are more tired, more likely to reach for sweets and less likely to be motivated to move more. Sleep is also really important for muscle gain and recovery. NAnd his final tip? “Eat fewer calories than you use up, and you lose weight. Eat more calories than you use up, you gain weight. Simple.”
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