How TikTok’s Latest Fitness Trend Can Facilitate You Incorporate Hearty Habits into Your Day

One of TikTok’s latest health trends is “30-30-30” method. It involves eating 30g of protein within 30 minutes of waking up – shortly followed by 30 minutes of low-to-moderate intensity cardio.

Proponents of the 30-30-30 method claim that it helps you lose weight steadily and permanently while preserving muscle. But is that really true? Maybe so – although its biggest advantage is that it can lend a hand you implement healthier habits into your daily life.

Let’s first look at consuming 30g of protein within 30 minutes of waking up.

Protein is the building block of the body. We need to eat protein so that our cells have what they need. repair and recovery from the hardships of everyday life.

The amount of protein you need varies depending on how much you stress your body. If you exercise, your body needs more protein to lend a hand your muscles repair and recover – usually around 1.2-2g protein per kg of body weight. It may also be vital to eat more protein when trying to lose weight, as research shows that higher protein diets (consuming more than 2g protein per kg body weight) can lend a hand preserve muscle mass while losing weight.

For many people, breakfast is usually the lowest protein meal day – often consisting of toast, cereal, cookies or other carbohydrates.

Through food 30g protein within 30 minutes of waking up, the 30-30-30 method can lend a hand escalate your total daily protein intake right away. However, this alone doesn’t mean you’ll automatically hit your target daily protein intake. The other food choices you make throughout the day are also vital.

To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn during the day. Eating protein first thing in the morning won’t directly cause weight loss, but Protein is filling. This means it can lend a hand you feel fuller and eat fewer calories throughout the day. That’s one reason the diet encourages you to eat protein as soon as you wake up.

But the key word is “may.” Some people may not find protein satiating, may have high hunger levels, or may snack throughout the day simply because of it.

30 minutes of cardio

Now let’s look at the exercise component of the 30-30-30 method. There are three parts to the workout that we need to think about: its timing, its first thing in the morning, its consistent nature, and its 30-minute duration.

Some studies suggested that exercising right after waking up could lead to positive health effects, such as improved metabolic health, which could lower the risk of certain health conditions – including type 2 diabetes and obesity. However as many, if not more, studies suggesting that this is not true – and that exercise time has no bearing on health or fitness.

So we can’t say that exercising in the morning is inherently better. The best time of day to exercise is probably the one that is most convenient and enjoyable for you. This will escalate the likelihood exercises become a habitwhich is the key to consistency and achieving benefits from exercise.

The 30-30-30 method also says that the exercises you do first should be “steady state.” These are continuous exercises done at a low to moderate intensity—basically anything that gets your heart rate up, like a brisk walk or jog.

There has been much debate about what exercises are best for health and weight loss. World Health Organization guidelines recommend including cardio and strength training for good health.

But when we look at cardio exercise specifically, there is little evidence that steady-state training is any more beneficial for health or weight loss than other types of exercise. 2015 study compared steady-state cardio with high-intensity interval training. Both had similar effects on fitness levels in adolescent, inactive adults.

Like the time of day you exercise, the type of exercise that is best for you is the one you can stick with.

Finally, the 30-30-30 method recommends 30 minutes of exercise. While this may just be a catchy title, there may be some practicality to it.

It’s compact enough to be relatively achievable even on a busy day, and it’s not too strenuous. It’s also long enough to get you sweaty, burn some calories – and it’s also long enough to build cardiovascular benefits. In other words, a stronger and more resilient heart. But again, if you have less than 30 minutes or want to do more than 30 minutes, this can also be effective.

It’s worth noting, however, that more exercise won’t necessarily lend a hand you lose more weight. Although exercise requires energy (so it burns calories), this effect does not increase linearly the more you exercise during the day.

This happens because the body seems to compensate for the excess energy expended during exercise, reducing energy is used to perform other bodily functions. This effect seems to be more pronounced when we are on diet.

But while longer workouts may not mean a proportional escalate in calorie burn, exercise has many other benefits that are probably more valuable to your health than just weight loss. For example, it improves cardiovascular health and respiratory function – and it may also have a positive impact on cognitive functions.

Read more: Exercise and the brain: three ways physical activity changes its structure

The 30-30-30 method promotes habits that can work together to support health and weight loss. Focusing on these elements first thing in the morning can make it easier to build other robust habits for the rest of the day—but it’s by no means a perfect formula for weight loss.