I was sitting in the back of the room at a business summit when it happened. The room was packed with about 1,000 note-taking listeners struggling to keep focused at the end of a long day. That’s when I received a message from Chris and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. His question was both genuine and hysterically out of the blue. His question completely caught me off guard. His question…was about my Mormon underwear.

Never mind the fact that the speaker was in the middle of their talk. Never mind the fact that I was surrounded by people trying to hang on every word. I laughed. Hard. And definitely distracted everyone around me.

But what else can you do when a friend has a legitimate and out-of-the-blue question about your underwear?

“Yo, I just found out there are Mormon undies! Yay or nay? Are you wearing them now?”

It’s true, certain members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (read: Mormons) wear a specific type of undergarment. Maybe you’ve heard about it. Or maybe you’re like Chris, just now finding out about “Mormon undies.” Don’t hop over to Google and search it just yet. I’ll quickly explain what they are and why I wear them in a jiffy.

But first, you need to the full backstory of Chris and his random question.

Why Chris Asked Me About My Mormon Underwear

I met up with Chris later that night. Naturally, I had to ask what sparked the seemingly off-the-wall question.

It really wasn’t random at all. Not for him, at least. Turns out that he and a couple other of our friends stumbled upon a list of Mormon beliefs on the internet.

My immediate thought when I heard that? “Uh oh.”

You see, the internet can be awesome and insightful. But it can also be woefully incorrect—just dead wrong. And depending on the source of this list, it could have all kinds of strange misconception, misinformation, and misrepresentation.

As an aside: Here’s a quick (and accurate) list that includes 13 foundational beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

But these guys are smart. They understand that sometimes the internet needs to be consumed with a grain of salt. A lot of the time, that means a massive grain of rock salt.

There are a lot of weird, blatantly false rumors about my church on the interwebs. Slander and libel aren’t uncommon. And even though this list seemed relatively tame, they went to a credible source—me—instead of a search bar with their questions.

“Phew.” I let out an internal sigh of relief.

The initially strange question led to a great conversation as Chris, Joey, John, and I talked that night—about my underwear of all things. In the off chance that you, like Chris, want to know more about my undies, I’ll quickly tell you what I told him…

Quick and Clean Details About Mormon Underwear

Yes, there are “Mormon undies.” Members of the church that have made certain promises to God in our temples wear these specific undergarments.

They’re not magical or secret, they’re spiritual and sacred.

As such, they’re not something we openly talk about with a ton of depth or detail. In fact, that’s the case with most temple-related beliefs and practices. We’re not hiding anything, we’re simply showing reverence and respect to God.

Much like the kippah, or yamaka, in Judaism and cassocks in Catholicism, we also have religious clothing that’s representative of our relationship with and dedication to our Heavenly Father. Instead of something outward and external, our religious clothing serves as a personal reminder of the promises and covenants we’ve made with God.

It’s that simple.

But I’m not writing this to tell you about my Mormon underwear, my church, or my beliefs. There’s actually a really valuable lesson at the core of this story.

Why You Need to Care About Chris, His Question, and My Mormon Underwear

You simply can’t believe everything you see on the internet. Deep down, we know that’s true. But for whatever reason, most people give undue credit to things they find online.

It’s everywhere. The worlds of religion, politics, news, anything, and everything are all skewed by misinformation found online.

An old college professor refers to these so-called facts as internet truths. They’re things you see so often (online) that you accept them as fact. I mean, they must be true. Right? They’re everywhere.

Welp, not necessarily.

No matter how many times you see it, you can’t believe everything on the internet.

One of Dr. Tucker’s favorite internet truths is starvation mode. Odds are you’ve heard of it. Shoot, everyone has. As I’m sure you know, your body goes into “starvation mode” when you skip a meal. Because it doesn’t know when there might be food again, your body proceeds to hang onto everything and store extra fat. Because, you know, starvation or whatever.

But starvation mode isn’t a thing.

Even still, it’s widely accepted as fact. Fear of starvation mode causes some people to eat even if they aren’t hungry (which is ridiculous, bt-dubs).

Starvation mode: It’s an internet truth. One of many in the world of fitness.

Internet Truths About Fitness Are Out of Control

Here’s the thing: It’s possible—even probable—that a lot of what you consider to be fitness facts are nothing more than internet truths. And amidst the noise of countless fitness enthusiasts online, it’s almost impossible to parse out what’s actually true.

Ever hear that skipping breakfast is major taboo if you’re trying to lose weight? What about needing to eat several small meals throughout the day to stoke your metabolism?

…that low weight and high reps are the key to looking lean and toned?

…that you need to eat clean to lose fat?

…that lifting weights will make you bulky?

…that eating after 7:00 pm makes you gain fat?

…that cardio is the best way to burn fat?

These are all internet truths. You’ve probably seen them countless times. You’ve probably heard these from friends and from that jacked guy or super-fit girl at the gym. And you’ve probably thought of most of these as fitness fact—maybe even all of them. They aren’t.

People Often Succeed In Spite of What They Do, Not Because of It

Sure, at the core of any misconception is a kernel of truth. For example, some studies show a correlation between better health/fitness and eating breakfast. But correlation isn’t causation. And yes, Ryan Reynolds got super fit while his plan included no eating after 7:00 pm. But it’s not like that one thing was a magic bullet or secret trick.

Usually, people succeed in spite of these internet truths, not because of them.

Truth is, fitness secrets don’t exist. Everything can work. The trick is finding what’s going to work best for you. You need credible, individualized help, not what worked for some random person pontificating online. But most people look to Google when they have questions.

We need a paradigm shift.

You don’t have to browse the web, hoping to find the fitness strategies that’ll actually (and finally) work for you. There’s a better way.

Use Expertise, Not Search Engines

Chris nailed it. He saw something online, had questions, and asked someone that’d know the real answer: a card-carrying member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that wears Mormon underwear daily. He used expertise to cut through the noise and nonsense that’s online.

Be like Chris. #beachris

Noise and internet truths can be found about any subject on the world wide web. (That means literally everything.) When it comes to fitness, there’s even more noise, even more misinformation, and even more confusion.

You need a reliable source that can help you weed out the internet truths and find the facts. That way, you can use the right strategies and real truths to get unreal results.

Don’t look to a search engine. Instead, look to an expert.

Let me be your expert…