Google’s 2019 Year In Search Reveals Top Trending Diet & Workouts Searches

Think about all the things you Googled in 2019. What is perineum sunning? Is CBD legit? How bad is vaping, really? It seems that every other day there’s a new and trendy diet or workout or nutrient to learn about. Well, Google has been keeping tabs on all those searches, and now they've released their 2019 Year In Search lists — and they reveal the top trending searches for diet and workout plans this year.

These were just the top trending searching — not the terms that were searched most often overall. And while trending searches may not say much about the best eating plans or exercises out there, they do reveal the stuff that caught our attention over the past year.

The data is, as always, interesting. The lists are full of hot-for-a-minute trends — but also stacked with some of the oldie-but-goodies that we hear about year after year. Here’s our guide to Google’s Year In Search wellness trends that made the lists in 2019.

File this one under: The future is now. It looks like a full-length mirror, until you turn it on. Then it projects a trainer onto the screen who will lead you through anything from boxing to barre workouts. In a previous review, Refinery29 called Mirror “something that Cher Horowitz would dream up if she were around in 2018 and into boutique fitness.” 

This one blew up when YouTuber Tyler Oliveira spend 100 days working out like Saitama from an anime series called One Punch Man. The workout consists of doing 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10k-run every day (this is the method Saitama allegedly uses to develop his superhuman strength). We’re not going to lie: Oliveira got great results. But his method was a little extreme. 

This is a company that claims to tone, strengthen your muscles using just 15 minutes of Manduu electrical muscle stimulation (EMS). EMS works by essentially “shocking” your muscles using electrode pads that micic the signal your brain sends to make muscles contract. But... EMS isn’t enough to actually have the same effect on your bod as exercising would, Refinery29 previously reported. The EMS technique is actually more commonly used among physical therapy patients. 

These 20-minute workout broken down into five routines that include do-able dance moves. You can stream the videos and do them at home or at your gym. They bring some lightheartedness to the concept of getting a sweat session in. 

These workouts were created by fitness guru Kayla Itsines, and have started a global movement. The program is part of Itsines's Sweat app, and consists of 28-minute workouts you do three days a week. Devotees love it for its effectiveness, its simplicity... and the powerful community of Sweat fans that Itsines has built up.

People all over the U.S. tried out bungee fitness this year. This is as fun as it sounds, and involves diving, squatting, and lunging onto the floor, all with a bungee cord wrapped securely around your waist to deliver some extra resistance (and fun bounce-back action). 

Plantar fasciitis is a common condition which occurs when there’s inflamed fascia in your foot,  Jackie Sutera, DPM, a Vionic Innovation Lab member, previously told Refinery29. Luckily, it’s treatable, and one way to do so is by doing specific stretches — all of which can easily be found with a quick Google search.

Can we make 2020 the year that we cancel the whole idea of a "flat stomach"? If you've got a six-pack, amazing! If you don't, amazing! All stomachs are good stomachs.

Planking has its benefits, especially when it comes to working your core and your upper arms. But not all planks are created equal, and you can target different muscles by taking slight variations like side planking and incline planks. Check out our 30-day plank challenge for more tips. 

You may have first been introduced to these torture devices — er, exercise tools — in elementary school gym. They're still here, and they're super-useful. They come in different sizes, and can be used dozens of ways, including to improve upper arm strength or make Russian twists a little tougher. For more tips on how to do these workouts, check out our ten minute arm workout guide. 

This diet definitely blew up this year, but whether it’s a good idea for your long-term health is still under debate. It involves fasting for a specific amount of hours each day. You might fast for 16 hours, then eat for the other eight hours. "I would not recommend this approach to my clients as I don't think it's sustainable for the long term," Kelly Pritchett, PhD, RD, assistant professor in nutrition and exercise science at Central Washington University, previously told Refinery29. "You have to ask yourself: Do I want to follow this plan for the rest of my life? If the answer is no, then it's not a sustainable approach to weight loss or healthy eating." 

This is a plant-based diet that’s “very restrictive, with a very short list of approved foods,” says Hillary Cecere, RDN, including some vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and herbs. You can’t eat any animal byproducts, so it’s basically going vegan with a few additional restrictions, Healthline explains. Sound intense? “There is also no real science to back up the claims,” Cecere adds. Moving along...

You’ve probably seen the Noom ads on TV at home or on the TVs at your gym. Basically, it’s a weight-loss app uses a "proven psychology-based approach" to help you be healthier by working with you to track things like your meals and blood pressure.  It connects you with a health coach, and even prompts you with quizzes on making more nutritious choices. 

“I like the behavioural change focus which is important for creating lifelong healthy habits,” Cecere says. “It just irks me that the health coaches are not registered dietitians.” 

It is what it sounds like. You limit yourself to 1,200 calories from food per day. Medical News Today points out that this is too low for some people, depending on their body type and health, and can even lead to malnourishment. 

Cecere's opinion on this one is short and sweet: “Keto plus weight-loss supplements? No way."

This one takes a whole food approach, which is more than you can say for all diets. But it also asks you to manage your insulin and hormone levels through supplements. Healthline points out that research is on its benefits is limited. It’s also expensive. 

This is a reduced carbohydrate diet that weaves in intermittent fasting. There’s a book about it, but Amazon reviewers weren’t impressed, saying it was “a lot of fluff” and not a lot of original advice. 

This one was created by two celeb nutritionists who claim that their plan can ignite your “skinny gene.” There’s a lot wrong with that statement. And while the diet encourages you to increase your intake of healthy foods like citrus and turmeric, it also starts off with a week-long phase in which you eat just 1,000 calories a day. Eek.

This is exactly what it sounds like. But as Cecere points out, for most people, that's not sustainable long-term.