My Top 5 Healthy Living Youtubers

I have been living on YouTube since the pandemic hit.

With all this free time at home, I’ve found solace in YouTubers who have found ways to continue to entertain through what is likely the hardest time in their life. Imagine being stuck at home and still finding ways to entertain your subscribers?! It’s not an easy task, and for that, I give YouTubers big props!

I’ve had the time to cycle through many YouTubers and have realized I always came back to the same ones over and over again. Today, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite Healthy Living YouTubers with you. These YouTubers are not necessarily Personal Trainers, nor are they coaches, or Nutritionists or even working in the Health and Fitness field. I found these influencers based off of my needs: I wanted to get inspired by regular, everyday 9-5’ers who live a healthy lifestyle and who thrive off of balance.

Let’s jump right into it! Here are 5 of my favorite Healthy Living influencers on YouTube.

Linda Sun

This 20-year-old Canadian influencer is more than just her workouts. She endorses healthy and balanced eating on her channel. Her channel features fitness, fashion, and lifestyle vlogs, but my favorite part has to be the food.

Because of her Chinese background, she is featured eating a lot of traditional meals, as well as placing a large emphasis on intuitive eating. She also features her family a lot in her videos and her parents and brother working out is what I live for!

She’s extremely motivational, talks about body acceptance, and you can tell she truly enjoys the things she does. I have noticed this mostly in her eating videos and her workout videos. If you want a mix of all of that, watch the video below, which is basically 24 minutes of her encouraging her viewers, giving you a reminder to exercise, eat, rest, and hydrate. And of course, to accept how your body will fluctuate, especially if it changed over the pandemic.

Who it’s for: This channel is great for those who have been stuck in diet culture for a long time or those who feel they aren’t worthy of treats or delicious foods. If you need an encouraging push, need workout ideas, want some fashion advice, or just want to have something playing in the background, her videos are super easy to watch. They’re great for the younger or more mature crowd!

Who it isn’t for: Because I have an addictive personality, I did notice that Linda works out pretty much daily. Her workouts are very intense, even when they include no weights. I do not believe you need to workout to that extent to be able to eat the foods you want and still achieve the body you desire. 

If you have a history of body-image issues, she may not be the girl for you. If you feel you workout to burn all the food you eat and can’t actually enjoy your meals, you may want to give her intuitive eating videos a pass.

Keltie O’Connor

Keltie is a ball of energy. With a Bachelor of science and Marketing Major, this Keltie has it all. Not only does she have the brains, but she is also a former Canadian College athlete. Not only does she encourage a balanced lifestyle (which includes lots of sugar and alcohol), but she also backs up her talk wit hlots of scientific research.

Because she lived in Toronto for a period of time, I can relate to a lot of the restaurants and gyms she talks about, which is a nice addition, but she has also lived in Vancouver and Halifax. 

I started following Keltie based off her Fitness Challenge videos, Testing Different Diets videos, and Trying Different Celebrity Workouts. Below is an example of her trying out Kylie Jenner’s diet and workout for a week.

Her tagline is: “Don’t forget to pet a dog”. It’s so random, but I never get sick of it!

Who it’s for: Anyone who needs a boost in energy or needs encouragement to get off the couch! This girl’s energy resonates off her and I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like her personality, her awful puns, and her obsession with tequila. Ok, maybe it’s just me that finds the tequila obsession entertaining. I mean, she calls it her post-workout recovery!

Who it isn’t for: If you’re more of an introvert and don’t like the in-you-face style of video, you may want to skip her videos entirely. She’s pretty outspoken, speaks quickly, and gets down to the science of things, and I think that’s super entertaining and captivating, but I can understand how others may enjoy more of a sit-down video with less theatrics.

Maddyrfitness

Still in her humble beginnings, Maddy is a 23-year-old YouTuber who lives in the UK. She is fairly new to YouTube with a smaller following, but I think influencers like this have a lot more to say than some who have millions of followers. 

What I really love about people like Maddy is that they do their research and are able to call people and companies out on their BS. She has called out GymShark for not being inclusive enough, as well as many female fitness influencers who give their followers unrealistic expectations through their workouts and diets.

Although she doesn’t have many videos uploaded, I think this is the kind of athelete who practices what she preaches. I also envy YouTubers who don’t have a set schedule when it comes to uploading videos and simply enjoy uploading content for fun. If I wasn’t so camera shy, it’s definitely something I would have loved to pursue!

Who it’s for: Those who want to support a smaller YouTuber who has lots of potential! As a personal trainer myself, it’s a relief to hear this kind of content from someone else in the fitness industry. Many of the fitness influencers online ted to promise 6-pack abs in 15 minutes or tell you to eat a specific food to burn fat, but it’s just not that simple.

Who it isn’t for: If you’re looking for glam and in-your-face, you’ve come to the wrong place. Maddy is as humble and down to earth as they come. Most of her videos are a sit-down format, fairly short and easy to watch, but you need to sit down and actually listen to catch some of the information she’s throwing at you.

Stephanie Buttermore

I need to preface with saying I’ve followed Stephanie Buttermore for years now. I actually stopped a few years ago because I didn’t like the direction her channel took. Of course, I realize that we all complex human beings. In my hiatus from watching her videos, I realized she went “all in” and that’s when I began to pick up her videos again and enjoy watching her content, but for completely different reasons.

Stephanie has her PhD in Biomedical Sciences and wrote her doctoral dissertation on the early detection screening markers & molecular mechanisms driving ovarian cancer!

She doesn’t back away from food, and actually encourages going all in, especially if you come from a place of yo-yo dieting or having to maintain a certain body due to social media or your job. I can certainly relate, because as a trainer, I often feel like I need to look a certain way in order for my clients to trust I know what I’m doing.

Who it’s for: Stephanie offers a lot more than just workouts and food videos. She has her own merch, tailored Training Programs, and she’s one of the only Healthy Lifestyle YouTubers I’ve seen completely evolve and show their journey through the ups and downs online. If you’re into science-based fitness and nutrition, you should definitely Subscribe.

Who it isn’t for: If you have trouble watching someone eat foods that may be triggering for you, stear clear. Other than her unique dietary needs, I didn’t have an issue watching her content. If you’re interested in the Body Building world, or the science of fitness, you may want to check out her boyfriend, Jeff Nipard’s channel.

Erin Rutherford

She’s a more recent find, and I can’t get enough. Coming from a long bout of disordered eating, it’s taken a while to get out of the yoyo-dieting world and enter intuitive eating. This is where Erin comes in. She isn’t the one who got me thinking into it initially, but she is certainly one of the YouTubers I look up to when it comes to eating guilt-free and simply trying to find joy in learning to cook for myself. That means trying out new flavors, new recipes, and not letting my meals become monotonous and boring. 

She’s fairly new on YouTube, and I can’t find much information about her other than her Instagram, but so far, the video titles are pulling me in: “BAKING MYSELF A CAKE BECAUSE I DESERVE IT”, “the desserts i eat EVERYDAY- low key healthy and game changing”, and “SWAPPING DIETS WITH MY DAD”. 

She’s quite funny, has a great sense of style, and she makes vegan and vegetarian food look divine. For someone who’s YouTube career started in December 2019, I’m just upset I didn’t find her channel sooner, because it would have helped me pass the time during the pandemic.

Who it’s for: If you’re recovering from any kind of disordered eating, Erin is amazing to follow. She finds healthy ways to cook and bake so that she can enjoy the foods she loves. She doesn’t demonize gluten (or any food, to be honest), and some of her staple ingredients are sourdough bread, avocado, and homemade cookies and cakes. Watching her eat is also weirdly relaxing?! Give it a try and see for yourself.

Who it isn’t for: In typical millenial fashion (I don’t mean to stereotype), Erin does include some edits that are not everyone’s cup of tea, such as changing her voice (so that it’s higher or lower), lots of jump cuts, J/L cuts (when there’s a voice over in another scene), etc. This kind of thing doesn’t bug me, but I can see this being tough for some to follow. With all the editing, she still manages to make her videos pretty raw, in that you see her mess things up, and most of the time she will find a product around her house to replace the intended kitchen utensil (for example: she tries to use a razor to zest an orange!).

Conclusion

These 5 Healthy Living YouTubers practice what they preach! They all live very different lifestyles, but their main message is pretty clear: Eat an appetizing and exciting diet, make sure you move, and make time for the things and those who are most important in your life. 

I enjoy following these YouTubers because they remind me that balance is the key to happiness. We may not always feel like it’s possible, but we can strive to find the little bits of beauty throughout the day. 

Have you been watching any YouTube videos lately? If so, what kinds do you enjoy and why? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the 5 YouTubers I’ve chosen and if you’ve given their videos a watch!