Monday 31 August 2015

7 Ways to Beat Sugar Cravings

Easy and Natural Ways to Beat Sugar Cravings 200x150

Easy and Natural Ways to Beat Sugar Cravings

Based on the number of candy bar commercials that exploit apparently insurmountable sugar cravings that can only be alleviated with the help of a candy bar… sugar cravings seem to be a big problem. After all, you aren’t yourself if you don’t eat a packaged candy bar. (sarcasm)

Sugar cravings can certainly be a problem, and many people struggle with them. With a modern lifestyle that often includes processed foods, irregular sleep schedules, artificial light and lack of movement, hormone imbalance is a growing problem and cravings are a growing symptom.

What Causes Sugar Cravings?

There are many reasons we crave sugar. Humans are somewhat wired to crave sugar and carbohydrates from birth for a good reason. Breastmilk is naturally sweet and has important carbohydrates that not only feed the baby, but feed the baby’s gut bacteria as well.

The carbohydrates in breast milk stimulate the release of serotonin, endorphins, and promote relaxation. These are all important reactions in babies and contribute to the bonding process between mother and child. Of course, breastmilk also contains necessary proteins and fats that baby needs for growth, but the sweet taste is prominent.

Later in life, this natural desire for sweet foods continues and the body still gets this physiological sense of reward from eating sweets. In times when food was scarce or immediate energy was needed, these cravings were life saving. Today, where there are 90 types of candy bars and 40 kinds of soda at every checkout counter, they can do more harm than good.

Habitual consumption of sugar and excess carbohydrates can perpetuate this craving cycle, and statistically, habitual sugar consumption is exactly what many of us do. The average American consumes 22 teaspoons of added sugars a day in the form of foods, drinks and sweets (according to the American Heart Association).

Of course, occasional indulgence in a high quality and nutrient dense treat, like homemade chocolate or coconut milk panna cotta, is  perfectly fine unless there is another health issue, but everyday sugar consumption and cravings are a big struggle for many people.

If you struggle with cravings, these are a few things that I’ve found helpful for beating sugar cravings naturally.

1. A Little L-Glutamine…

This was a tip I first encountered when reading Dr. Julia Ross’ book The Mood Cure. This book is a gold mine of information about neurotransmitters and amino acids, but I found her tips for avoiding sugar cravings especially interesting.

Her theory about intense sugar cravings is that due to stress, poor diet or environmental factors, some people are deficient in certain amino acids to the point that diet alone may not be enough to reverse the problems. As Food Renegade explains in depth, any of us with severe amino acid deficiencies and neurotransmitter imbalances can’t overcome sugar addiction with willpower alone.

Fortunately, her solution involves short term supplementation with the amino acid L-Glutamine. In fact, she claims that a few 500mg doses of L-Glutamine per day when sugar cravings occur is enough to rid a person of sugar cravings in only a month or two.

In hindsight, I noticed that when I was taking L-Glutamine as part of my protocol to improve my gut health and manage my autoimmune thyroid disease, I also lost all cravings for sugar. I hadn’t connected the two and just figured the absence of sugar cravings was due to the dietary changes, but I haven’t craved (or even wanted) sweet foods since then.

I personally took this L-Glutamine twice a day when I was working to reverse my leaky gut symptoms, but some people prefer the powdered version that can be added to drinks. As a side note, L-Glutamine is often used for building lean muscle mass in athletes and I noticed that I also had a faster recovery time from difficult workouts while taking L-Glutamine.

2. Protein and Good Fats

Sometimes, sugar cravings may be from something as simple as consuming too many processed carbohydrates on a regular basis and not getting enough protein and fats.

Carbohydrates provide a quick and easy source of energy for the body, and they certainly have their place, but when a person gets in a habit of carbohydrate consumption, the result can be blood sugar fluctuations that lead to cravings.

Proteins are made up of amino acids, which I already mentioned are vital for proper neurotransmitter production, an important component in balancing hormones and avoiding sugar cravings. Beneficial fats are a source of energy for the body and help increase satiety and ward off immature feelings of hunger.

Over the long-term, consuming enough beneficial fats and proteins (along with lots of vegetables) is an important step to providing the body the essential fatty acids, amino acids and micronutrients it needs to remain in balance and not crave foods unnecessarily.

3. Eat When Hungry

And plan before you are…

Times of intense hunger are not times to make level-headed decisions about the best foods to eat. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. In this case, that means planning (and even pre-making if needed) healthy meals so you’ll have them on hand when you get hungry.

Like I mentioned above, eating enough nutrient rich foods like proteins, healthy fats and vegetables will help stop extreme hunger and blood sugar swings. This makes it easier to choose healthy options as sugar cravings are more likely to occur when a person gets extremely hungry (especially when this hunger is combined with stress or lack of sleep).

4. Get Moving

Exercise releases some of the same endorphins that sugary foods release and can be a great substitute when done consistently.

You don’t have to go running or do anything incredibly intense to get the benefits. Even just a brisk walk or a few minutes of intervals with a jump rope or just your body weight can be enough to get the endorphins moving and dodge the sugar cravings.

My favorite exercise these days is a walk or jog with my dog, or a quick kickball game outside with the kids, but there are endless options. Planning exercise is also a great way to beat the sugar habit long term, especially if you can train your body to love the endorphins from exercise as much as those from sugar.

5. Get Some Sleep

It is no secret that sleep is important. Sleep deficiency has been linked to just about every chronic health problem and the list keeps growing. In fact, not getting enough sleep can:

  • Increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and cancer
  • And the risk of high blood pressure, kidney disease and diabetes
  • Increase the risk of obesity and hormone problems

From a sugar perspective, sleep is vital for balancing blood sugar and maintaining the correct levels of the hormones that manage insulin. In fact, just one night of impaired sleep can leave a person with the blood sugar levels of a pre-diabetic. Not the best idea for someone trying to master sugar cravings.

For this, and a million other reasons, make sleep a priority. It is one of the few silver bullets in health and it is totally free!

6. Chromium

A solution often recommended by doctors, and one I’d check with a doctor before using. Chromium is used in insulin regulation of blood glucose and is important for balancing blood sugar levels.

Some evidence shows that taking small doses of Chromium can help ward off blood sugar dips and spikes that lead to cravings. A doctor once recommended that I take 200 mcg of Chromium once a day in the morning to help balance blood sugar levels.

7. B-Vitamins

B-vitamins are said to help with carbohydrate metabolism and are also important for many other reactions in the body. B-vitamins are depleted by excess stress, carbohydrate consumption and environmental stressors. I found that I had much more energy when I took a fermented live-source b-vitamin complex.

Note on Sugar Substitutes

There are many sugar substitutes available now, but just switching out sugar for a sugar-substitute won’t address the underlying problem and may lead to more serious problems, depending on the sweetener. Two that I use on occasion are xylitol and stevia, and I avoid all others.

Ever had sugar cravings? What helped you?

7 Ways to Beat Sugar Cravings originally written by Wellness Mama.



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Sticky Yoga Mats Will Soon Be Made From Slimy Algae

Mmm…algae. Slimy, sticky, creepy algae. Believe it or not, it’s the newest ingredient in your yoga mat and not only is it extremely renewable, it is in abundance, sometimes annoyingly so. While algae isn’t always our friend, it does play an important role in aquatic eco-systems, and not just when it’s a spirulina add-on for […]

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Vegan Coconut Ice Cream |Roasted Peach, Fig + Pecan {VIDEO}

Peach Fig Ice Cream Vegan -- www.sweetpotatosoul.com

Do vegans eat ice cream? You better believe we do!! Our ice cream is just as creamy, rich, and delicious as the kind made from cow’s milk. It’s also a lot healthier, and requires no animals to be harmed in the making ❤️🐮 Horray!!

This summer my most requested recipe has been ice cream! I finally purchased an ice cream maker, and started thinking about all of the varieties I could make with it. Since I’m allergic to cashews, I knew I would use coconut milk for the base. And it had to be a creative ice cream using seasonal ingredients, yet easy to make. That’s how I landed on roasted peach and fig with toasted pecans!

Peach Fig Ice Cream Vegan -- www.sweetpotatosoul.com

Both peaches and figs are in season, adding all sorts of purpose and joy to my life! I’m probably spending more money on these two fruits than any other groceries right now. I munch on sliced peaches first thing in the morning, and snack on figs before I go to sleep at night. They’re both luscious and decadent, and so sweet! And their textures…I just can’t get enough!

I chose to roast the peaches for this ice cream in order to bring out even more of the richness of their flavor. The toasted pecans add crunch and that signature buttery nuttiness. I’m really patting myself on the back for this one!

What’s your favorite ice cream variety? Later today I’m going to attempt a melon sorbet, and later I want to try making salted banana pecan. Whoa, I’m already drooling 😜

Peach Fig Ice Cream Vegan -- www.sweetpotatosoul.com

 

Roasted Peach, Fig + Pecan Vegan Ice Cream
 
This vegan ice cream is best when made in an ice cream maker. The recipe requires that you let the coconut milk base of the ice cream cool at least 8 hours, and that the ice cream freezer container be fully frozen before use. Plan ahead :)
Cashew milk can be substituted for the full fat coconut milk.
Author:
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups full-fat coconut milk
  • ½ cup sugar
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 peaches, quartered
  • 5 fresh figs, stems removed & halved
  • ½ tbsp coconut oil
  • ½ cup toasted pecans
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°.
  2. In a sauce pan set the coconut milk, sugar, and salt to warm over medium heat until the liquid temperature reaches 160° (or just until it starts to simmer). Stir well to make sure the sugar dissolves.
  3. Remove from heat, and stir in the vanilla extract.
  4. Set in a container to chill for at least 8 hours.
  5. Toss the chopped peaches and figs with the coconut oil, then spread evenly over a baking dish.
  6. Roast for 20 minutes.
  7. Spread the pecans over another baking dish and toast for 6 minutes.
  8. Allow the peach and figs to cool completely, and chill along with the coconut base.
  9. Set the pecans aside for use later.
Making the ice cream
  1. When all of your contents are chill follow the ice cream makers instructions, but be sure to wait until the end to add the pecans (last 5 minutes of churning).
  2. Place the churned ice cream into a freezer safe container, and allow the ice cream to freeze and solidify for at least 2 hours.
  3. Enjoy!

 

The post Vegan Coconut Ice Cream |Roasted Peach, Fig + Pecan {VIDEO} appeared first on Sweet Potato Soul by Jenné Claiborne.



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The Roundup

Roundup

Blast from the Past

A new human trial conducted by the NIH provides very strong evidence that the carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis of obesity is incorrect. My friend Dr. Stephan Guyenet of Whole Health Source has written a great overview of the study itself, as well as the results, which found that weight loss was greater on a low-carbohydrate diet, yet body fat loss was greater on a low-fat diet.

While the study does not suggest that low-carb diets are not effective for weight loss, it does poke a pretty large hole in the ‘insulin causes obesity” theory. Ultimately, it seems that either a low-carb or low-fat diet can be effective for weight loss, depending on the individual’s needs and circumstances.

If you’d like to learn more about how a low-carb diet might affect your health, and whether it would be beneficial or detrimental, check out my free eBook The Low Down on Low Carb.

My hope is that after reading the eBook, you’ll be able to understand the many factors that play into how a person handles a low carbohydrate diet, and whether or not their health will improve on such a plan. Everyone is different in their ability to thrive on a low carbohydrate diet.

Research Report

  • A new study is recruiting participants for a trial of fecal microbiota transplant for IBD.
  • Not getting enough sleep can be deadly.
  • A review of 52 human studies suggests that dairy products are likely to be anti-inflammatory rather than pro-inflammatory.
  • Kids, not just adults, are becoming more sedentary and need more breaks for physical activity.
  • Many people get too little sleep, but too much sleep can also be an issue for some.
  • A new study shows Americans are drinking less 'full calorie' soda. Great - but what about fake sweeteners?
  • Researchers have created an all natural, herbally-enhanced cooking oil that can be safely used up to 80 times.

Worth A Look

For the Foodies



from Chris Kresser http://chriskresser.com/the-roundup-61/
via Holistic Clients

How to build a successful and rewarding career in fitness. A step-by-step guide for personal trainers & coaches.

Every year, thousands of people consider starting a career in fitness and health. But most have no idea how to make their dream a reality. This article—written for both new and experienced fitness professionals—outlines a new curriculum for building a successful career. 

If you’d rather listen to this article, you can download the audio here.

++

Change your body, change your… career?

Becoming passionate about health and fitness put the rest of my life into perspective.

I caught the fitness bug early. I started working out and reading articles about nutrition and fitness when I was in high school. By the time I was 21, I’d put on 30 pounds of muscle, felt awesome, and vanquished my skinny guy genetics.

Like many people who start living the “healthy lifestyle”, I quickly became the go-to fitness and nutrition expert for my friends and family, a position and responsibility I enjoyed and cherished.

My new-found love for exercising and eating healthy—coupled with the results I saw in the mirror and my ability to help others get in shape—made me feel like a brand new person.

Well, almost.

Because even though I looked and felt different, the rest of my life seemed tethered to the “old me”. I’d transformed my mind and body… but I was still doing the same old stuff.

Working the same unsatisfying job. Going through the motions at my local community college. Following the same routines.

Taking control of my own health and fitness had shown me how much potential I had to change things in my life. To become happier. To find meaning and purpose. To make a difference.

So why the hell was I doing all the boring stuff I was “supposed” to do when I could do something that actually mattered?

A crazy idea popped into my head: What if I became a personal trainer and tried helping others transform their bodies? What if that was my job?

As I thought about the possibilities, I got excited. And then reality slapped me in the face. The way I saw it, I had one huge problem:

I had no formal education, no certification, and worse… absolutely no idea where to start.

Dream job

How do you become successful in the fitness industry?

I wasn’t alone. And I’m still not.

There are thousands of people who are passionate about health and fitness and considering a career change. But like me back then, they don’t know where to start.

Should they go back to school for a new degree? Get certified as a personal trainer? Or maybe something else entirely?

I remember thinking through the positives and negatives of each before deciding on a course of action.

Option 1: Go back to school.

Positives:

  • Earn a degree.
  • Learn all about biochemistry, anatomy, and exercise physiology.

Negatives:

  • Takes at least two years to finish (and more likely, four to six years).
  • Costs tens of thousands of dollars and could leave me deep in debt.
  • Doesn’t prepare me for the day-to-day work of training real people (i.e. doesn’t show me how to write training programs or nutritional plans people will actually follow).
  • Delivers few (if any) classes or resources on change psychology or business development.

Option 2: Get certified as a personal trainer.

Positives:

  • Faster than going back to school (Usually self-study, so I could go at my own pace.)
  • Costs way less money.
  • Learn enough anatomy and physiology to feel semi-competent.
  • The certificate I earned after taking the test would make me seem more credible to potential clients.

Negatives:

  • Doesn’t seem as “credible” as a degree.
  • I don’t know which certification is “good” and which certification is “bad”.
  • Still doesn’t teach me much about change psychology or business development.

So what did I do?

I got a crappy personal training certification, sweet-talked my way into a job as a “fitness assistant” at a local gym, and started training clients. (I eventually earned a better certification.)

At times, I felt like I was on top of the world. I had gamed the system! Here I was working with people, building my business, reading nutrition and exercise text books, and attending seminars. I felt like I had a big head-start.

But at other times, I felt like a fraud. I worried that everyone would look at my lack of formal education and know I was unfit to work with people, even if I was a certified trainer.

I worried that because I didn’t follow any sort of “path”, my new career in fitness was a joke. It was debilitating and even a little depressing.

But as I would later learn, my lack of a formal fitness and nutrition education put me in good company.

Be a world-class strength coach in 3 easy steps

When people ask renowned strength coach Dan John what they should do to become a successful trainer or coach, here’s what he tells them:

Step 1: Get a degree in English, study Theology, score a job as a high school teacher.

Step 2: Spend evenings teaching an online religious studies course.

Step 3: Volunteer as a strength coach with your high school track team.

Voilá, just 25 years later, you’ll be a household name in strength and conditioning.

While Dan laughs when he says this, that’s exactly what he did. And his hint of sarcasm isn’t missed, largely because Dan knows something most people don’t:

Unlike in certain fields like law and medicine, there are no clear, predetermined paths in fitness.

In other words, there is no single—or obvious—path to becoming a successful health and fitness coach.

When I realized that, I felt a huge burden lift off me. I wasn’t a fraud. I was just a guy who wanted to help people get in good shape. And, like Dan, I had simply taken an “unconventional” path to get there.

What does that mean for you?

It means that you can find the path that suits you. The path that matches your experience, personality, character, and principles.

You can create your own unique path to the dream job you want.

But how?

Start here: The new fitness industry curriculum

Of course, even though there’s no single template, you can still follow and adapt some of the patterns of the top coaches. Here’s how.

1. Start coaching immediately.

You don’t have to do anything fancy from the start. You don’t need to get a degree, rent space in a gym, or start your own studio.

In other words, you don’t need permission from anyone to get started.

All you have to do is help someone get in shape and improve their life, one step at a time.

It doesn’t matter if that someone is a friend, family member, or a paying client. The only way to see if you actually enjoy working with people is to start working with people.

And if you’re not feeling confident enough to coach on your own, ask if you can “shadow” a personal trainer or another experienced coach for a day.

Remember: You don’t have to know everything about exercise and nutrition to help someone get in shape and improve their life. All you need is to know a little bit more about health and fitness than the person person you’re trying to help.

Becoming great at something (like coaching) is always about trial and error.

No matter how well prepared you think you are, no matter how many tests you pass, no matter how many internships you do, you will eventually have to try stuff and you will still have to make mistakes. On your own.

So start doing—and learning—now.

2. Get certified.

While you’re coaching, start earning your credentials.

Yes, we all know that a lot of certifications in the fitness industry are considered a joke. Many require a single weekend of “effort” (and I put that in quotations deliberately).

Most barely scratch the surface of what a trainer really needs to know to work effectively with a client.

But if you want to be viewed as a professional—and if you want insurance—you’ll need the paperwork. So get some kind of certification anyway.

Start with a basic certification like one of the following:

Once you’ve cleared the initial hurdle and have rounded out your skill set (see below), you can consider more advanced certifications and mentorships.

3. Become a “complete” fitness professional.

Once you get your basic personal training certification, it’s time to take it a step further and expand your education. We know that exercise alone won’t get your clients the kind of results they’re hiring you for.

And your clients will need more help than just the two or three sessions a week they have with you.

So what you should you do?

Nutrition education

First, learn more about nutrition, so you can feel more confident discussing food and diet with your clients.

Nutrition is where people 1) need the most help and 2) will see the greatest results.

In fact, including nutrition coaching with your training advice can increase your effectiveness as a trainer by at least five times.

In other words:

  • That could be 25 pounds lost, instead of 5.
  • That could be 20 points knocked off the blood pressure score, instead of 4.
  • That could be 5 inches off someone’s waist, not 1.

That could be at least five times more client commitment, confidence, motivation, retention, and satisfaction… with five times less effort from you.

Since a high-quality, real-world nutrition certification didn’t exist a few years ago, we set out to create one: The Precision Nutrition Certification. It’s quickly become the industry’s most respected nutrition certification, a fact we’re very proud of.

And if you’re already a student or graduate of the Level 1 program, we’ve got something for you too. Check out this Level 2 page where you can learn more about the Master Class.

Also, if you want more research on the different nutrition education options out there, check out this site. It compares and contrasts the best schools and online education platforms. That way you can make an educated decision on what’s best for you.

Movement education

After establishing your nutrition system, I recommend one more thing to round out your basic skill set: improving your ability to assess movement.

Most exercise programming assumes that clients move well to begin with. And that might be true, if you were training child circus performers, instead of office workers or athletes and manual laborers with years of repetitive stresses and strains.

As physical therapist Gray Cook says, you shouldn’t load dysfunctional movement patterns. Adding weight to a structure that can’t support it isn’t going to make that structure any better.

Your exercise programming can actually hurt your clients if you don’t first learn how to help them fix their dysfunctional movement patterns.

So, consider checking out one of the following education tracks for better understanding and programming movement.

4. Learn how to coach real people.

After you’ve spent some time learning about movement, nutrition, and exercise programing it’s time to learn how to coach your clients. 

That means understanding the deeper psychology at play and saying the right things in the right ways at the right times. It means really connecting with your clients and helping them through their body  transformations one step at a time.

You can have someone do all the squats and eat all the broccoli you want, but until you learn “change psychology” and the art of coaching, you’ll never be able to actually help your clients change their habits.

Where should you start?

Here are two must-read resources to check out:

Note: In the second article we share six books that will teach you the basics of change psychology. Use it as a jumping off point for digging deeper into this area.

And if you’ve done all that and you’re ready to level up, you might consider these courses:

5. Get some business training.

You’ve gotta keep the lights on, your financials in order, and clients coming in the door. But how?

If you’re considering opening your own personal training studio or gym—or if you work at a bigger gym and want to learn how to get more clients—you’ll need to get some business training.

I’m not talking about a MBA here. I’m talking about fitness-specific training taught by people who’ve actually had success in the field.

Here’s are some great options:

(And here’s a great article outlining the 5 key stages of a successful fitness business).

The better you get at marketing and running your business, the more people you can help, and the more money you can make.

6. A career of learning and development.

Once you’ve built a strong foundation of training, nutrition, movement, change, and business knowledge, it’s time to commit to a lifetime of learning and personal development.

Feel free to pick the books, courses, internships, and certifications that most resonate with you. Or will most help your clients.

Now is the time to geek out about advanced programming for different populations, nutrient timing, soft-tissue therapy, hormonal issues, advanced exercise and diet techniques, and more.

These internships and mentorships come highly recommended:

If you’re interested in different areas of nutrition:

If you’re interested in more athletic populations:

If you’re interested in high intensity and group training:

If you’re interested in special populations:

Personal trainer

Remember: There is no one “right” way to make it in the fitness industry

Fitness and nutrition is still a young industry. There is no one “right” path to success. In fact, there may never be.

And I kinda like it that way. It means that possibilities are infinite. 

The best trainers can come from anywhere: four-year colleges. Doctoral programs. Theology school. College drop-outs. Someone who found a gym flyer in the parking lot.

It doesn’t matter.

If you’ve got the energy, the drive, and the interest to do this work, you can eventually do it… no matter what you’re doing as a career now.

What to do

While there isn’t one “right” path, there are six things you can do to set yourself apart from 99% of other trainers out there:

  1. Start coaching now—even if it’s just family or friends.
  2. Get certified—even if it’s a basic entry-level certification.
  3. Become a “complete” fitness professional—someone who understands exercise, but also nutrition and quality movement.
  4. Learn how to coach real people—by focusing on change psychology and connections.
  5. Get business training—so you can take your fitness “pipe dream” and turn it into something meaningful and profitable.
  6. Commit to a career of learning and development—geek out on advanced programs and build your skills and specialties.

Take the next step

Regardless of which field you’re coming from, developing your skill set and becoming a great coach takes education and practice.

If you’d like to fast track the process, consider working with us.

Our next Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification group kicks off shortly and is designed to teach fitness, strength, nutrition, and rehab professionals how to be awesome coaches and help clients get in the best shape of their lives.

Since we only take a limited amount of students, and the program sells out every time, I strongly recommend you add your name to our presale list below.

When you do, you get the chance to sign up 24 hours before everyone else. Even better, you save $200 off the cost of the program.

[Of course, if you’re already a student or graduate of the Level 1 program, we’ve got something for you too. Check out this Level 2 page where you can learn more about the upcoming Master Class.]

The post How to build a successful and rewarding career in fitness. A step-by-step guide for personal trainers & coaches. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.



from Precision Nutrition » Blog http://www.precisionnutrition.com/career-in-fitness
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Banana Quinoa Porridge

Mix up your breakfast and make this delicious banana quinoa porridge for a vegan, gluten-free option that will keep you full all morning!

Mix up your breakfast and make this delicious banana quinoa porridge for a vegan, gluten-free option that will keep you full all morning! Linley and I have been spending a lot of time at her family’s river house on the St. Croix, which runs along the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is legit the...

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The post Banana Quinoa Porridge appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.



from Fit Foodie Finds http://fitfoodiefinds.com/2015/08/banana-quinoa-porridge/
via Holistic Clients

Sunday 30 August 2015

3 powerful ways to get more health and fitness clients. Plus Precision Nutrition’s “Tripod Marketing Formula” exposed.

Every day thousands of fitness and health people try to “get their name out there” in the hope that fame and celebrity will help them grow their business. But that rarely happens. If you want to get more health and fitness clients, focus on these 3 things instead.

++

A friend of mine—let’s call her Stacey—used to be one of the world’s top fitness models and figure competitors. She won many professional figure contests. Made the covers of the biggest health and fitness magazines. Appeared on network television shows.

But at the height of her fame, she was also living in her parent’s basement, barely making ends meet as a personal trainer.

Surprised? It’s a little-known fact that physique athletes make almost no money competing in fitness contests or doing photo shoots for magazines. Even network TV shows pay very poorly.

Stacey was a household name in fitness, but all that celebrity translated to very few dollars.

At least she could leverage her fame to get clients, right?

Not really.

Even with her fame, she wasn’t attracting many more clients than before she was recognizable. (Of course, she was so busy doing figure shows, photo shoots, and auditions, she didn’t have much time to develop her personal training business or even serve her existing clients.)

Now, don’t get me wrong. Stacey has done some really cool things. She’s worked extremely hard. She’s proud of her trophies, her fitness modeling successes, her network appearances, and her magazine covers.

However, there’s an important lesson here. Like many fitness professionals, Stacey assumed famous = rich. In fact, many professionals assume “getting exposure” or chasing fame will help them earn a good living. But it rarely does.

That’s why, if you want to get more health and fitness clients, I have a counterintuitive suggestion: Do the opposite.

The difference between celebrity and success

In my experience, coaches who achieve financial success and make a real impact in this industry rarely focus on themselves (i.e. personal fame).

Instead, they focus on their clients.

More specifically:

  • They focus on figuring out what their clients really need and want.
  • Then, they deliver it in an awesome way.

Sure, sometimes they do get famous. But they’re not out there chasing fame.

Rather, they’re focusing on doing the right work for the right people. They’re mastering their coaching craft. And they’re relentless about serving people well.

Personal accomplishments—like getting published in a magazine, or winning a competition—feel good. And they’re fun. But they’re not business opportunities.

They don’t make the rubber hit the proverbial road. They don’t attract people to you. They don’t help you expand your coaching practice or hone your coaching skills. And they don’t build your business in a real, practical, show-me-the-money, make-rent-on-time sense.

In fact, focusing too heavily on your own accomplishments will often distract you from the things that can actually help you achieve success and make a difference.

Fitness fame is for people who think a lot about themselves.

Fitness success is for people who think a lot about their potential and actual clients.

How do you do that?

Enter the Precision Nutrition “Tripod Marketing Formula”.

The Tripod Marketing Formula

Picture a tripod: All three legs equally spaced and perfectly balanced.

precision-nutrition-tripod

Take away one leg from the tripod, and it immediately collapses. A tripod needs all three legs to be complete.

Now apply that concept to marketing.

  • Leg #1: Know what your audience really wants.
  • Leg #2: Do something awesome to deliver that thing.
  • Leg #3: Tell everyone about it.

Think about your own business. Are you trying to balance your business on a tripod with only one or two legs?

You may know what your clients want… but do you know how to deliver it? And then tell everyone about it?

More likely: You think you know what your clients need and want. But you don’t really know. So what you give them may not match what they truly require.

I speak from personal experience.

What I learned from getting honest client feedback

At Precision Nutrition, we used to think people joined our coaching programs because they wanted to be healthy and fit.

Maybe they wanted to lose weight. Or maybe they wanted to gain muscle. Whatever their physical goal, we thought that as soon as they attained it, they’d be happy.

We were wrong.

Some years back, I read a review from a former client. Someone asked her if she would recommend our program. Here was the gist of her response:

I don’t recommend it. I lost some weight, but I never felt like I connected deeply with my coach. I didn’t really need much help from her.  But if I would have needed help, I’m not sure how much I’d have gotten. So no. I don’t recommend it.

This woman, by the way, lost over 50—yes, fifty—pounds working with us.

I was floored.

All this time, we expected women like her would be happy if they lost weight and kept it off. Especially if they’d tried and failed using other programs before. (Which she had.)

As it turned out, there was a completely different and legitimate reason why she couldn’t recommend us:

She didn’t feel like anyone cared.

She didn’t feel heard or understood.

Losing weight, while nice, wasn’t enough.

How to know what your clients want

As fitness professionals, we often assume we know what our clients want: to lose weight, to “look good naked”, to get better at their sport.

And while that’s likely part of why they hire us, it’s probably not the full story.

We assume. We guess. But we don’t know for sure.

The best way to find out what’s really important to your clients is to study them.

In PN’s case, I realized we needed to learn more, and learn better, about what our clients really wanted.

We spent months doing client interviews and exit surveys with people who left our coaching program. We wanted to figure out why they were leaving, even when they were getting great physical results.

This exercise—and the humbling yet powerful data and insight it yielded—was a turning point for Precision Nutrition.

When we learned for sure what our clients were seeking, business took off.

Clients felt better served and better connected.

This approach can do the same for you.

I encourage you to become an “anthropologist of your clients”.

Here are some ways you can get started:

  • Watch. Pay attention to what makes them light up and get excited. Notice their body language and self-expression. Look for small details that could tell you more about them and what they might be seeking.
  • Listen. Hear what they have to say and ask follow-up questions to make sure you understand. Wait a moment or two before jumping in to give advice.
  • Stop assuming. Start knowing for sure. Ask them directly what they like, what they want, what they need. They might not know right away, but working around “not sure” is way better than not asking at all and getting it completely wrong.
  • Observe. Where do your clients hang out online? What social media channels do they use, what kinds of things do they respond to, what kinds of content do they like and share?
  • Find out their story. Why did they come to see you, today? Why not six months ago, or six months from now? What series of events brought them through your door today?
  • Ask for feedback. Ask probing questions and create a safe environment for them to answer honestly. Yeah, it can be uncomfortable, but it’s incredibly valuable if you’re brave enough to step up and really absorb that input.

If you want to go deeper, try a method like Jobs-to-be-Done. (That’s what we use at Precision Nutrition and we highly recommend it.)

How to do something awesome to deliver that thing

We learned that everyone who hired us wanted the same thing:

They wanted personal attention. But they didn’t necessarily want a lot of it.

Another way to think about it: They wanted to be pleasantly surprised by personal attention. They wanted to feel cared for and acknowledged outside the context of a normal coaching interaction.

So it wasn’t enough to respond to their emails quickly and offer guidance when asked for. To give our clients what they truly needed, we needed to find strategic ways to show them we were paying attention—especially at times when they were least expecting it.

This didn’t have to be complicated.

For instance, we made small changes to our client “intake questionnaire” that made it much easier to deliver a personal touch.

Previously, when a new client joined our program, they’d fill out a comprehensive form that asked about everything from their previous exercise and nutrition experience to their personal goals and any injuries or illnesses they had.

But armed with our new insight (people want unexpected personal attention), we added a few more questions, including things like:

  • Do you have any pets? If so, what kind of animal and what’s their name?
  • How will you reward yourself if you achieve your goals? (Will you take a big trip somewhere? Try a new sport or hobby?)

We also ensured that coaches had this important information about their clients close at hand.

Every client soon had a “profile” and their coach could see things like:

  • Their clients’ exercise and nutrition history
  • Where they lived
  • The names of their family members and pets
  • Their hobbies and what they did for fun
  • Their goals and aspirations
  • How they planned on rewarding themselves once they accomplished their goals
  • And dozens of other data points.

Our coaches could now offer exercise and nutrition help and personalize their interaction with their client in small ways that had a big impact.

They started adding simple comments like:

Make sure to stay warm out there this week; looks like you have a hell of a snowstorm on the way.

Hey, I see it’s your birthday coming up. Do you have any plans?

My dog loves these sweet potato doggie treats; I hope you don’t mind, but I just sent you and Sparky a box. Let me know what he thinks!

It may not seem like much.

But when you’re working with an online client, any kind of personal connection—especially an unexpected sentence or two—is amplified and appreciated.

So. Think about your coaching practice.

How could you offer unexpected personal attention like this for your clients?

My favorite way is something popularized by Jon Goodman, creator of the Personal Training Development Center (the PTDC).

Here’s his strategy, in a nutshell:

Whenever there’s an opportunity to do something cool (and quick) for your client, take it.

For instance, let’s say during one of your training sessions, your client mentions he’s sick of eating the same thing for breakfast every morning.

You can try to give him some suggestions right then.

But there’s actually a more thoughtful and personal way to show you care.

After your session is over, you can make a note for yourself:

Bill hates eating oatmeal every day for breakfast.

Find a couple of recipes and send them his way.

Then, before your next session with Bill, prepare your gift. It could be a simple link to an article with breakfast ideas. It could be a list of your favorite breakfasts and how to make them. It could be a cookbook or even a Magic Bullet blender. If you like playing chef, maybe you even make him some simple homemade granola, pop it into a Mason jar, and include the recipe. (Very hipster.)

Whatever it is, the next time you have a session with Bill, hand him the gift and say:

Hey, I was thinking about you after our last session, and I thought you’d really like this.

Why is this simple act so powerful?

1. Bill doesn’t expect it.
Telling Bill that you’re going to get him a cookbook or write down your favorite breakfast meal is nice, but it’s also an explicit promise.

If you fulfill that promise, Bill feels good. But if you don’t fulfill that promise—if you forget to grab the cookbook or didn’t have time to write down your ideas—then Bill loses a little bit of trust in you.

By writing a note to yourself and surprising Bill with the gift the next time you see him, you’re calling attention to the fact that you listen and you care.

It’s unexpected personal attention.

2. It shows you don’t stop thinking about them once they’re out of the gym.
And that comes down to how you frame your gift-giving:

Hey, I was thinking about you after our last session, and I thought you’d really like this.

Who wants to be thought about and cared for, even if they’re not around?

Everyone.

How to tell everyone about it

Once we figured out what our clients wanted (unexpected personal attention) and simple ways to deliver it awesomely (small, strategic comments and better coaching intel) we wanted to tell everyone about it.

The goal quickly became clear: Find a way to tell our story to more people.

For an online business, that means getting more people to visit our website.

Of course, more website traffic means more people sign up for our coaching programs. When more people join our coaching programs, we make more money. More people get help. Plus, when we make more money, we can pay our team members well and help even more people!

The cycle continues in perpetuity.

(Illusion shattered: Precision Nutrition does not use its profits to pay for lavish parties, artisanal kale-and-caviar canapés, nor Dr. Berardi’s private invisible supersonic jet. All we earn goes back into serving more clients, better.)

But… how to get more people? Better yet, how to get the right people?

You’re probably wondering this yourself. There are so many options out there. And none of them are necessarily “right” or “wrong”.

For instance:

  • Do you write more blog posts and articles targeted specifically to the kinds of people who would be most likely to join your coaching programs?
  • Do you write guest articles for other blogs and get a link back to your website?
  • Do you improve your referral network and get more affiliates who can send you more website traffic?
  • Do you improve your website’s SEO (search engine optimization) and do more targeted ads?
  • Do you do strategic promoted posts on Facebook targeted to people who had friends who know about your business, and link them to helpful articles and free courses?
  • Or about a dozen other possible options?

Your coaching practice may not be exactly the same as ours, but business realities are the same: There’s only so much time, money, energy, and resources to go around.

You have to prioritize and focus. Pick a path. And have a solid, data-driven rationale for it.

We went with the option with the highest probability of paying off big for us: Promoted posts on Facebook, targeted to people who had friends familiar with Precision Nutrition.

We chose this for a few reasons:

  1. We already had many Facebook fans: just over 100,000 at the time. That meant millions of friends of friends we had the potential to reach.

  2. Through our interviews and research with clients, we realized one key factor: People were more likely to join our coaching program if a person they knew (a friend, family member, or acquaintance) had tried it and been successful.

  3. We were already getting roughly 10,000 website visits per week from Facebook; in other words, there was already an established connection with room to grow.

We spent the next few weeks coming up with a strategy and a budget for running promoted posts on Facebook and then rolled it out.

Ka-blam. In a few weeks, our weekly Facebook traffic went from around 10,000 visitors per week to just under 100,000 visitors per week. More people visited our website, more people heard about the awesome things we’re doing, and more people signed up for our programs.

Let’s be clear:

There’s no best diet, and there’s no magic marketing method.

The particular tactic that worked for us may not work for you.

(Plus, unless you’ve spent the time to deeply understand your clients and devoted resources to deliver something awesome, marketing doesn’t matter. Worry about making something valuable that people really want first, then figure out how to sell it.)

Focus on the one or two methods that best connect you to your audience. Look at your client data. What does it tell you about where and how people are finding you?

Choose the option that brings in the most qualified leads. In other words, the people most likely to buy your product or service and get benefit from it.

Sheer numbers don’t count. Anyone can print out a thousand flyers and plaster them all over the neighborhood.

Instead, ask yourself:

Where is my audience? And how can I reach them?

(By the way, if you aren’t sure who your specific audience is, go back to Tripod Leg #1: Know your audience.)

Gather the data. Look at your current client roster and ask yourself: How did these people find out about me?

You may quickly find a pattern (e.g. most of your clients heard about you from a friend or family member). Once you find a pattern, you can find ways to do more of that.

What to do next

Understand the difference between a personal accomplishment and a business strategy.

Think pragmatically.

Don’t confuse your personal awesomeness (abundant though it is) with real business strategies like interviewing customers, creating new services, and designing a marketing or referral plan.

Keep the lights on first.

Discover what your clients really want.

Brutal honesty: Clients don’t really care if you’re a superstar. They care about whether you can help them with their specific concerns.

We discovered our clients wanted more than improved health and fitness. They also wanted unexpected personal attention.

Make it your mission to understand your clients and figure out what they really want.

Start by paying closer attention. Become an anthropologist of your clients. Ask questions, watch and listen, take notes. Then, if you’re ready for client studies 2.0, consider trying a method like Jobs-to-be-Done.

Do something awesome to deliver that thing.

To give our clients more unexpected personal attention, we created a more in-depth questionnaire for new clients and gave our coaches more easily accessible intel. Then our coaches were able to strategically reach out to clients and offer value when they were least expecting it.

You can do something similar by following Jon Goodman’s rule: Whenever there’s an opportunity to do something cool (and quick) for your client, take it.

Don’t tell your client you’re going to do it. Don’t be predictable about it. Surprise them. Let them know you’re thinking about them.

Make a list of ways to tell people about it.

Remember, your resources are limited. Focus your efforts like a laser beam. Prioritize.

Use data. Find the pattern. Look at your current client roster and ask yourself: How did these people find out about me?

As soon as you identify a pattern, simply improve and amplify what’s already working.

Learn more business and coaching success from Precision Nutrition

Building a successful business and becoming a master coach is much more than knowing how to help people get in shape.

At Precision Nutrition, we’ve spent over a decade testing and perfecting our coaching methods, including strategies for increasing client success and retention.

And we teach it all in our Level 2 Certification Master Class.

Here’s what a few of our most recent L2 students discovered:

I feel like my coaching worldview has gone from a pinhole to a telescope in the last few weeks. I’m able to take in so much more information from clients now. Even though I’m hearing the same things from clients I always have, now I’m understanding and seeing more meaning behind those words. I’m getting better at asking deeper questions with the intention of bringing client awareness to their behaviors and what triggers them.  – Brandon Cole

I’ve realized that coaching is so much more complex than I thought. It’s almost like people, and coaching, are a puzzle. You have to figure search for the pieces (the info), and figure out how to put them together. – Abby Keyes

This course has made me aware of so many more things that are going on with clients, causing me to take a much broader view and be more client-centered. – Joe Currie

I’ve had a few nutritional breakthroughs and more clients making progress. They’re starting to buy into the strategies I’m discussing with them. We all want our clients to succeed. This course has made a big difference. I have more top quality tools in my toolbox now. I feel as motivated as my clients. Thank you! – Karen Burton

If the idea of this kind of success stokes your fire, consider the Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification Master Class. It’s an elite-level coaching program for fitness professionals who want to master the art and science of coaching.

Starting on , a limited number of students will get unprecedented access to our absolute best coaching research, strategies, tools, and technologies.

Since we only take a limited number of students, and since the program sells out every time, I strongly recommend you add your name to our presale list below.

When you do, you get the chance to sign up 24 hours before everyone else. Even better, you save over $1,300 off the cost of the program.

[Note: Our Level 2 Master Class is for students and graduates of our Level 1 Certification Program. So, if you haven’t yet participated in Level 1, that’s where you should begin.]

The post 3 powerful ways to get more health and fitness clients. Plus Precision Nutrition’s “Tripod Marketing Formula” exposed. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.



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The Best Vegan Mocha Granola Ever

Okay, maybe that post title is a little dramatic but the smell wafting out of my oven right now is unreal. Coffee, chocolate, almond, coconut, toasted oats, maple. Oh. my. word. Lavazza, you make my dreams come true. Actually, I take it back. The title isn’t dramatic, it’s 100% true. Oh man, this granola IS... Read More » The post The Best Vegan Mocha Granola Ever appeared first on Running on Real Food.

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Yoga In Kenya Is Different And Apparently Life-Saving

“Yoga saved my life” may sound like common hyperbole, until you hear the story of Walter Mugbe. Growing up in Kenya, his mother had little money to support her five children, so Mugbe took it upon himself to try and make a living. At 7 years old. Unfortunately, the fastest way to make a buck […]

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The Romanticism of a Cast Iron Skillet

The Romanticism of a Cast Iron Skillet | stupideasypaleo.com

Steph’s Note: My friend—talented story-teller, creative badass, and occasional butt-kicker—Dave Conrey of Fresh Rag, pitched me this story idea recently. While it’s a bit non-traditional for a mostly-recipe-and-info site, I immediately got drawn into the story and the nostalgia of it all. Since cooking is such an important part of many life stories, I was eager to have him share it with you. Take it away, Dave!

I remember a moment in my history when I went camping with a large group of family and friends in the Northern Sierra mountains. We’d spent a week hiking and fishing, and we all got together on the last morning before we headed back home. One of the dads manned a large Coleman camp stove, moving deftly between two iron skillets, one filled with bacon and sausage, the other topped up with scrambled eggs. He’d cook up a batch, toss the perfectly cooked proteins into an cooking tin for people to snatch up, and then repeat the process over again.

I don’t remember the cook ever eating any of his work, but I do remember the look on his face as he maneuvered the meats around the skillets like a professional. He was in his zone, and I believe this created a concert of good vibrations around everyone int eh camp. Between the buzz of the happy campers, and the swirling aromas, this felt like the perfect life experience. We all had a great time on this trip, and this final breakfast was the perfect topper to memory that would last me for decades.

Over the years, I’d been exposed to skillet cooking many times, but never embraced it myself. Whenever it did happen in my family, a warm appreciation came over me, taking me back to that moment in the camp. I remember one time talking with my uncle as he prepared to season his own well used skillet. Not understanding the nature of iron, I asked why he was oiling it up before putting it into the oven. He explained to me how you needed to season the pans every now and again to keep them in top condition, and maintain their slickness. I followed that up by asking why he didn’t just use an anti-stick pan.

“Because this cooks better.” He said, holding his large iron pan with unwavering conviction. Seeing the look on my face, he knew I didn’t quite get it, but figured I’d get it someday.

Several years later, probably after reading one of Stupid Easy Paleo’s many posts on cooking, I mentioned to my wife that I would love a cast iron skillet. This might have caught her as ridiculous, because I wasn’t doing much of the cooking at that time, but she agreed, and catalogued that thought for the future.

On Christmas Eve this past year, my family all sat around after dinner, to honor our family tradition of opening one present each. My wife moved around the tree, grabbing a gift for my son, my parents, and herself. Then she reached behind the tree and struggled to pull out a long and heavy box, setting it on my lap with a thud. I thought maybe this was one of those gifts where the person puts something heavy in the box to disguise it’s real contents, like a gift certificate. My wife wasn’t above such shenanigans, and I indulged her as I pulled back the wrapping.

Dismissing the paper wrapping to the side, I cracked open the box to reveal the yellow and black Lodge Iron Co. logo sitting center face in the most beautiful piece of metal I’d ever seen. My mom laughed incredulously, because she thought it was a weird gift. In her world, you don’t give people gifts like cooking equipment because it comes with some sort of expectation of doing work for others, like a buying your wife a vacuum cleaner. However, anyone who loves to cook knows that getting quality equipment to work with is the best gesture of love.

I held the 12-inches of shiny blackness in my hand, feeling the slight oily texture of the metal under my fingertips, and thinking about all the wonderful meals I planned on making with it. It was already late in the day, but I was determined to use this for Christmas morning breakfast. I wanted to season this puppy up right away, because that’s what you did, but realized this one came preseasoned, ready to rock the hell out of bacon and eggs.

Slightly disappointed, I resigned myself to waiting until morning to play with my new toy. I cleaned off any dust or lint that gathered, and then placed the skillet on the stove top in anticipation of Christmas morning. I didn’t need any other presents, because I was ready to make the most memorable holiday breakfast ever. I could almost taste the eggs, bacon and sausage goodness.

The truth is though, the first few times you use a cast iron skillet, it may not go quite as smooth as you might think. Sure, the pan comes seasoned, but it hasn’t built up the layers upon layers of seasoned oil to make it operate at maximum potential. It takes time to get the skillet to that point, and I struggled through a few meals before I finally got the hang of cooking with it. Now, my steaks come out as perfect as my bacon and eggs, and the skillet has become my tool of choice to cook with, but there’s a surprising byproduct that I never anticipated—cleaning.

Like many, I dislike doing dishes. It’s a necessary evil that I look at as the cost of doing business in the kitchen, but it’s never fun for me. I will put the dishes off just long enough to be an annoyance to my wife. However, the skillet is different. I used to look at the pools of grease, and bits of food crisps, and wonder if I would ever get it clean, but because I’ve done the proper work each time I use the skillet, cleaning has become less work and more craft.

Approaching the job like a journeyman, I wait for the pan to cool enough to pick up, and pour the excess grease into jar. With a paper towel, I wipe up the loose food bits and the excess oil, discarding the temporary rag into the trash. Straddling the skillet upon the sink’s edges, I put in a small bit of water, not enough to soak, but enough to help break the surface tension of the stickier bits. Using a $3 kitchen brush I bought specifically for the skillet, I run it around in a circular motion, and swirl the water like a miner looking for gold nuggets in the silt, dislodging any last food remnants, and dumping them into the sink.

Transferring the skillet back to the stove top, I use another towel to wipe clean any excess water, both above and below. Once complete dry, I pull out my can of diffused coconut oil, and give a light coat to all interior surfaces. One more paper towel, and I rub the oil in, pushing it into the nooks and crannies, and buffing it to a nice satin sheen.

All finished, I admire my handy work, checking for sticky spots, and rebuffing as needed. I may sound like a complete nerd, but this process makes me feel a little more manly than I started that day. Say what you will, but there’s definitely something cathartic to putting time and energy in something that helps me provide for my family.

Anytime you buy a tool, no matter what that tool is for, there’s this romantic moment that exists where you imagine all the wonderful things you will do with that tool. The romance soon dies off because your first attempts usually don’t end up quite the way you hoped. You hammer nails a little too crooked, cut wood a little too short, and cook food a little too long. It can be disheartening for awhile, but if you keep working at it, eventually you get better. You’ll hit that nail true, score that wood straight, and cook that marbled steak to perfection.

When I hit that moment with my first perfectly cooked skillet meal, this wave of understanding came through me. I knew that I had learned how to respect the skillet for being more than a hunk of iron, but a craftsman’s tool to be treated as such. Is it the most perfect culinary device? I cannot say, but it’s the most perfect one for me.

Now I personally cannot elaborate beyond that on the benefits of using cast iron skillets in your cooking, but I’m sure if you scan the annals of Stupid Easy Paleo, you’ll find a plethora of information on the subject. Read them, and then go buy yourself a Lodge. I recommend the 12-inch to start.

Connect with Dave at FreshRag.com and listen to his interview on Ep 9 of Harder to Kill Radio

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The Romanticism of a Cast Iron Skillet | stupideasypaleo.com

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Remembering Oliver Sacks

Oliver Sacks rehearsing onstage at TED

Beloved figure: Oliver Sacks rehearsing onstage at TED in 2009, in a behind-the-scenes snapshot taken by a crew member. Photo: Angela Cheng

Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks died on Sunday, August 30, at age 82. He’d announced in February that he was in the final stages of terminal cancer, and wrote a beautiful essay in the New York Times about what that meant to him:

Over the last few days, I have been able to see my life as from a great altitude, as a sort of landscape, and with a deepening sense of the connection of all its parts.

Sacks gave a talk in 2009 at TED about visual hallucinations that blind people see — including, it turns out, himself. He was a ceaseless self-experimenter, as our writer Shanna Carpenter found when she visited Sacks in his study, filled with mineral samples and photos and letters, where they talked for an hour about hallucinations, mental illness, and lemur colonies. Their talk was rich and fascinating; it’s worth reading in full. At one point, Shanna asks him:

It is very interesting, your attitude towards the things that are happening in your own body, because it’s one thing to make a case study of others’ lives, but you’ve also made one of your own, rather than getting scared.

No, I do get scared.

But this is how you deal with it?

It serves maybe to put a certain intellectual distance there. But still, I was absolutely terrified with this melanoma at first. I didn’t even know one could have ocular melanomas, let alone that they were much more benign than other sorts. When it was diagnosed, the surgeon brought out a model of an eye and he put in it something that looked like a little, shriveled, black cauliflower. And my immediate thought was that, in England, when a judge is going to pass a death sentence, he puts on a black cap and I saw this thing as the equivalent. I thought, “It’s my death sentence.”

But still, as a neurologist I can’t help that even in my own life, I am always on the lookout for information, for material. We all are. … I’m now surrounded by papers on MRIs and visual hallucinations. I’ve also had my own brain MRI’d.

Did you?

Twice. Once in regard to visual phenomena and once in regard to musical imagery and memory. You know, I have direct access to this brain. I don’t have direct access to anyone else’s mind.




from TED Blog http://blog.ted.com/remembering-oliver-sacks/
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Friday 28 August 2015

What Is Self-Realization?

by Ann Purcell This term “self-realization” is used and asked about quite often. I see no wrong answers to this question, however there are certainly different layers to its meaning and understanding. The term “self-realization” is often related to the concepts of self-actualization, self-discovery, self-reflection and self-exploration. In this article I will be expressing what […]

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Advice from a young TED speaker: Start a TED-Ed Club at your school

“We kids still dream about perfection. And that's a good thing, because in order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first,” said Adora Svitak on the TED stage in 2010, when she was 12. She’s now a TED-Ed intern, and wishes she’d had TED-Ed Clubs when she was high school to help her share ideas with her peers. Photo: James Duncan Davidson/TED

“We kids still dream about perfection. That’s a good thing, because in order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first,” said Adora Svitak on the TED stage in 2010, when she was 12. She’s now a TED-Ed intern, and wishes she’d had TED-Ed Clubs in high school to help her bat around ideas. Photo: James Duncan Davidson/TED

If you watch my TED Talk from 2010, you might see a confident 12-year-old, cracking jokes and striding around the stage in glasses that keep sliding down her nose. You won’t see me going home and crying, or starting every page in my journal with four words: “I feel sad today.”

I divided my life into two parts: my tear-stained journal versus my well-practiced speeches. A space to be vulnerable with others, for the larger purpose of sharing ideas? I didn’t have that in my high school.

When I was 12, TED-Ed Clubs didn’t exist — but today they provide students with a place to bat around ideas without judgment. Through a series of 13 meetings, TED-Ed Clubs support students in writing and giving short, TED-style talks. TED-Ed Clubs teach students presentation literacy — whether public speaking is something that comes naturally or outside their comfort zone.

If you asked me or my friends to sum up our high school experience in a word, we might have said “competitive.” While parents peered hawk-eyed at transcripts, students pulled all-nighters and posted on Facebook about acceptances to Ivy League colleges. In discussions in high school, there was a finite amount of time and thus a finite number of “points” to be earned for speaking up. This setup led to a desperate crush of raised hands among those who wanted A’s — and a silent half of the room, filled with kids who had given up on speaking up. We learned to write about “safe” topics in our essays and college applications, because the cost of taking risks seemed too high. In clubs like Model UN and Speech & Debate, we always tried to win — to beat somebody else.

TED-Ed Clubs aren’t about that. By exposing members to great talks on subjects of deep personal relevance, TED-Ed Clubs shine a light on old problems that need fresh perspectives. They create a strong, supportive community of students around the world, and truly celebrate student’s ideas.

Once a TED speaker, Adora Svitak is now a TED-Ed intern. As she watches TED-Ed Clubs talks, she feels a lot of empathy for students dealing with sadness, bullying and the weight of competition. Photo: Courtesy of Adora Svitak

Once a TED speaker, Adora Svitak is now a TED-Ed intern. As she watches TED-Ed Clubs talks, she feels a lot of empathy for students dealing with sadness, bullying and the weight of competition. Photo: Courtesy of Adora Svitak

As a TED-Ed summer intern, I’ve watched TED-Ed Club talks on everything from human-animal grafting to bullying. There’s a glimmer of recognition when I watch some of these videos. Whenever a student chooses to reveal a hidden part of themselves, I’m reminded of a moment at 15 when I finally chose to speak up about the two years of sadness chronicled in my journal. In the days, hours and minutes leading up to this talk, I found myself plagued with self-doubt. I considered backing out and giving a “safer” speech. But I realized that this was the talk I needed to give. It marked the first time I hugged a friend for moral support before darting on-stage, the first time I was scared to look into audience members’ faces as I spoke, the first time I cried because of a standing ovation.

Sometimes it’s easy to discount the value of a story. I was recently asked in an interview, “What achievement are you most proud of?”

I stumbled for a second as I tried to answer. I briefly wondered: is giving a talk really an achievement? But then I remembered Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s famous “Just Words” speech during his election campaign. He said in response to an opponent:

“Her dismissive point … is [that] all I have to offer is words. Just words. ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’ — just words. Just words. ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’ Just words. ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.’ Just words. ‘I have a dream.’ Just words.”

It took me years, both of speaking and of silence, to realize that the worth of my talks didn’t come from some line item on my resumé or flashy slides, but from the authenticity of my story. Start or join a TED-Ed Club, and you won’t have your achievements memorialized with plaques or monetary rewards. But you will most definitely get, and give, “just words” — the kinds of words that bare your soul and earn you unconditional acceptance from your audience. The kinds of words that give you the power to change someone’s mind, introduce a new idea and affect their life, as subtly as flowing water shapes stones.

Shouldn’t every teenager have that experience?

More than 10,000 students are now sharing their ideas in TED-Ed Clubs. Interested in starting one at your school? Find out more »




from TED Blog http://blog.ted.com/advice-from-a-young-ted-speaker-start-a-ted-ed-club-at-your-school/
via Sol Danmeri