Monday 31 December 2018

PF Changs Lettuce Wraps Recipe

I don't think I've met a single person who didn't like PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps Recipe. These homemade PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps are THE perfect way to start a meal or heck, to be the main meal. They are low-carb, protein-packed, and full of flavor. Bonus- they double as Copycat Pei Wei Lettuce Wraps, too!I don’t think I’ve met a single person who didn’t like the PF Changs Lettuce Wraps recipe. These homemade PF Changs Chicken Lettuce Wraps are the perfect way to start a meal or, because why not, to be the main meal. They are low-carb, protein-packed, and full of flavor. Bonus- they double as Copycat ...

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Instant Pot Pulled Pork Carnitas

Is there anything better than fall off the bone pork carnitas tacos? Learn how to make the most delicious and juicy Instant Pot Carnitas recipe with a few simple ingredients.Is there anything better than fall off the bone pork carnitas tacos? Learn how to make the most delicious and juicy Instant Pot Pulled Pork Carnitas recipe with a few simple ingredients. Instant Pot Week Day 1 Welcome to the first day of Instant Pot Week! I feel like we’ve ...

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Why I Don’t Make New Year’s Resolutions & What I Do Instead

I’m going to share a little secret… I’m really competitive. (Like, really.) My husband is the same way. So you’d think we’d be great at New Year’s resolutions, right? Not so much! Let me explain why… New Year’s Resolutions: Yay or Nay? Of course I’m not against the idea of self-improvement (far from it) and...

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Ideas into action: Highlights from our year-end newsletter, in partnership with Brightline Initiative

As this calendar year draws to a close, many of us are making resolutions about personal growth and change. It’s a great time, too, for making changes in our working lives. Most of us spend a good portion of our days doing some kind of work — learning or teaching, making or planning, following or leading — and it’s worth thinking deeply on how to use our working time. Over the past month, we’ve been collecting essays about exactly that.

In partnership with the Brightline Initiative, we’ve pulled together a series of talks to inspire you and help you think about what you might explore at work in 2019.

You can read the whole archive of talks and essays here. Below, find some key excerpts. May they inspire you to a brighter New Year!

Time flies at supersonic speed
Ricardo Viana Vargas, Executive Director, Brightline Initiative

As we near the end of 2018, you may recall this same time last year with a mixture of disbelief and panic. One more year is over; it’s time to plan what’s next.

We tend to think a lot, and as a result we have many great ideas. But transforming them into reality is a tough job. Did the ideas you put on your to-do list last year become reality this year?

Brightline has partnered with TED on this series of curated talk recommendations to help you think about what you’ll bring to life in 2019. To kick-off this aspiration, I want to recommend one of my favorite TED Talks: “Inside the mind of the master procrastinator” presented by Tim Urban. In this powerful and fun talk, Tim goes through our everlasting battle with procrastination — trying to balance instant gratification and the rising panic of trying to get through daily life with the need to reach our goals and deadlines.

Procrastination is in the DNA of human beings, but to get things done, we need to understand that we’re in the driver’s seat of our own lives. Transforming your ideas into reality is what will make your life bright and fulfilled. I always tell people: “What feeds people is food. Not the grocery list.”

My wish for you is that the ideas you include in your to-do list become reality in the coming year.

Just one second can focus your day — and center your life
Yasmin Belkhyr, Editorial team, TED

Everyone touts the transformative benefits of mindfulness. Intrigued, I’ve tried meditation apps — but instead of clarity and peace, I felt mostly distracted and restless. That is until I watched Cesar Kuriyama’s TED Talk, “One second every day.”

For Cesar, exhaustion from work made time seem to blur and blend. So he started recording one second of his day, every day, to document how he spends his life (which eventually resulted in an app, as things do).

Though Cesar doesn’t speak directly to the concept of mindfulness, his philosophy inspired me to use technology to live more immediately in my day, without fear of forgetting or losing time. After watching his talk, I downloaded his app and started recording. Though it only took a few moments, making the time to document a snippet of my day helps me focus and reflect.

Just that one second of video really is enough to bring back memories I’m sure I would have forgotten otherwise. These videos act as a highly concentrated collage of my life — both the good and the not-so-good — which helps me remember all of my year, not just the Instagram-ready parts.

“Record just a small snippet of your life every day,” Kuriyama says at the end of his talk. “So you can never forget that that day you lived.”

Transforming courage into capital
Ama Y Adi-Dako, TED TV team

One of my big dreams is to create financial tools and educational resources that help women realize their power and potential across Africa. Chetna Gala Sinha’s TED Talk, which is focused on rural India, renews my faith in the power of economic freedom to help attain gender equality, safety and dignity for women.

“[Women] continue to inspire me, teach me, guide me in my journey of my life,” she says. “Incredible women [who] never had an opportunity to go to school … no degrees, no travel, no exposure. Ordinary women who did extraordinary things with the greatest of their courage, wisdom and humility. These are my teachers.”

I am revitalized by Chetna’s story of opening a bank of her own — the first ever for and by women in her country — after she was denied a loan. It’s a story of grit and perseverance, and it jostles me out of my self-doubt. What’s possible when we stop assuming we know what’s best for those who are less privileged? Everything.

As Chetna says: “Courage is my capital. And if you want, it can be yours also.”

Building teamwork on the fly
Murat Bicak, Senior Vice President, Strategy at Project Management Institute (PMI)

I want to recommend one of my favorite TED Talks: “How to turn a group of strangers into a team” by Amy Edmondson.

Amy researches “teaming,” which she defines as teamwork on the fly. It’s what happens when we coordinate and collaborate with people across boundaries of all kinds to get work done.

I would expect that we’ve all experienced how difficult it is to work with strangers, and that’s why I believe we should pay attention to Amy’s talk. Because more and more, work is being completed via project teams that don’t know each other.

Amy lists three must-haves for a workplace: situational humility, curiosity and psychological safety. If these characteristics exist, she says, then teaming might work — but a perspective shift is also required for success. Amy suggests that the mindset we need to build a sustainable future requires us to recognize that we can’t do it alone, that we need each other.

I hope you can work with new teams to test these ideas. And I hope that you can create an environment for teams where situational humility, curiosity and psychological safety coexist and support delivering results.

The path to becoming better people
Helen Walters, Head of curation, TED

Right after I watched Dolly Chugh’s extraordinary talk, I had a moment. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say, it did not make me look or feel like a good person. Essentially, I misread a situation, handled it poorly, and then, a few minutes later when I realized that I’d handled it poorly, I was flooded with bad feelings.

“Wow, did I mess up!”

“Coo, I’m some kind of terrible.”

Etc., etc.

All need for a good therapist aside, if this had happened before Dolly’s talk, it might well have been where I’d left it. I’d have languished for a little while and then moved on, never quite shaking that feeling of messing up, of not being good enough.

But because I had just seen Dolly’s talk, I now had a new technique at my disposal — and the knowledge that my attachment to being a “good” person could be holding me back from actually becoming a better person. That meant that as soon as I realized that I’d messed up, and when I got an opportunity to come clean and confess my mess … I took it. I didn’t hem or haw or try to justify myself. I just apologized, made a mental note not to repeat said error — you know, ever again — and then moved on with a clear head and heart.

Honestly. It was weird. It was also life-changing.

I’m so, so grateful to get to experiment with this new technique for the rest of time. Because, as Dolly says, “The path to being better people just begins with letting go of being a good person.”

Revelatory.

Business insights from Brightline

Interpersonal relationships

People form the links of everything, especially the links between ideas and action. And relationships are essential for people to form such links. We build relationships with family, with neighbors, with friends, with teams and people in our organizations. Growth of relationships is a key success factor of one’s life. When cultivating relationships, don’t forget to look outside! Look for people who are outside of your usual social circles, who have a different set of skills or talents than you or your friends. In the business setting, be sure to look outside of your own organization and understand the needs of competitors, customers and the market landscape. Advantage in the market flows to those who excel at gaining new insights from an ever-changing business environment and quickly responding with the right decisions and adjustments to new ideas and actions.

Learn more about the Brightline Initiative



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218: Happy New Year: 21 Tiny Habits That Can Drastically Change Your Life This Year

Happy New Year to you! Hopefully we are all enjoying a little down time today with the family, so this episode will be short and sweet but I hope you’ll join me in thinking ahead to next year… I don’t mean this in the sense of typical New Year’s resolutions — those lofty goals that we...

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Sunday 30 December 2018

Make Ahead Breakfast Burritos

These make ahead breakfast burritos are the perfect grab-n-go breakfast choice for your busy mornings. They are packed with veggies and protein to keep your energy up all day. Make a double batch of these freezer breakfast burritos for an easy, healthy meal-prep breakfast you can enjoy all week long. I ...

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The Best Green Smoothie Recipes

We love green smoothie recipes because you can drink your breakfast smoothie and get a serving of greens all in the same sitting. Don’t be intimidated by the color, I promise there are many green smoothie recipes out there that hide the bitter taste of power greens but give you ...

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Chicken with Pepperoni-Marinara Sauce + Weekly Menu

Keto Chicken Fajita Meal Prep Recipe

Keto Chicken Meal PrepIn search of delicious keto chicken recipes? This Keto Chicken Meal Prep Recipe is delicious as it is nutritious. Complete with keto chicken, sautéed peppers, cauliflower rice and avocado spread, this is the keto chicken recipe of all keto chicken recipes — and can be meal-prepped for lunches all week ...

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Saturday 29 December 2018

5 Healthy Habits to Adopt This Year

We are nearing the time of year when we make lists of all the things we have resolved to change (and which two-thirds of us will fizzle out on within the first month). The problem with resolutions is that often we make multiple major and life-altering changes and expect them to happen overnight. Then, frustration hits...

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Friday 28 December 2018

Chicken Cacciatore Recipe (Over Veggie Noodles)

I’m a big fan of fast and easy meal ideas, especially ones made from all natural ingredients. My husband is a fan of pastas and Italian food, and this recipe is a winner with both of us! The main part of this recipe can be prepared in a slow cooker early in the day and...

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Best of 2018: 8 MUST-MAKE Healthy Dinners Ready in 30 Minutes or Less!

I’ve been doing some research about blogs and podcasts and what makes them successful. Much of my research points to being in a very specific niche. I’m not ready to commit to a niche just yet, but in looking back at 2018…it has simply been a BUSY year. As a mom of 2 little girls, working full-time, and trying to maintain my personal identity/sanity (blog, hockey, tennis, book club, etc), keeping healthy food on the table…and passing through my kiddo’s lips is an ever-evolving challenge.

Because I know so many of my readers are busy people who are trying to keep a healthful diet, I figured it would be fun to recap 2018’s blog posts by featuring my 8 favorite MUST-MAKE healthy dinner recipes that are ready in 30 minutes or less! So without further adieu…

#1: Mexican Chicken, Sweet Potato, and Black Bean Skillet – With a sweet potato shortcut, this colorful meal is not short on flavor or fiber!

#2 – Deconstructed Philly Cheesesteaks – Add bread, or not. This sheet pan meal is full of flavor, lean beef, and vegetables.

#3 – Lemony Lentil Soup – Who doesn’t need more legumes in their life? Very few of us. This creamy soup is comforting and filling. The fresh “pop” of lemon and the hint of curry make it a unique blend of flavors.

#4 – Sweet Pepper Sausage with Pasta – My kids don’t (always) reject those cute lil mini bell peppers and they never reject sausage. This simple pasta meal is an all-in-one meal that uses fresh basil and red wine vinegar to create big taste.

#5 – Cashew Chicken Sheet Pan Meal – Who isn’t a sucker for a good sheet pan meal? Keep it super easy by serving this meal with frozen rice. Easy peasy!

#6 – Basil Ricotta Toast with Garlicky Charred Tomatoes and Squash – When summer returns to us (which I pray is sooner rather than later!), this recipe is a must-make. Using summer’s best vegetables and a bunch of garlic, this light and fresh meal is a gem. Serve with a salad or as is – it will NOT disappoint!

#7 – Tex Mex Chicken and Zucchini Skillet – Loaded with vegetables and packed with flavor, this flavorful one skillet meal is a kid-tested and mother-approved keeper!

#8 – Chicken and Cheese Tortilla Pie – There’s nothing not to love about a cheesy tortilla pie with lean chicken and fajita vegetables piled in. Serve with your favorite toppings: salsa, Greek yogurt, avocado, etc!

Wishing you and yours a healthy and happy 2019! Cheers!

Be well,



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Bringing in 2019 Workout

Last week we did the 12 Days of Christmas Workout, this week we’re bringing in 2019 with 2019 reps of fun! Yes, 2019 reps! This is a super fun, super sweaty workout that’s an awesome way to finish up the year. Let’s go! How to do this Workout There’s not much you need to know... Read More The post Bringing in 2019 Workout appeared first on Running on Real Food.

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How a Technology Addiction Can Hurt Your Health

People with a technology addiction may feel compelled to check their smartphone wherever they are, including while waiting for the subway, like this group of people.

Why would these tech titans stop their children from using the products they helped create and promote? Because they knew the grim truth: Technology addiction is a very real problem. Not only are innovations such as smartphones, social media, and the internet addictive by their very nature, but they’re also specifically engineered to take advantage of human vulnerabilities and our hardwired basic needs. These tech pros, who also were parents, knew that—as with any addiction—there are serious consequences of being dependent on devices, including risks from disrupted sleep to depression. And of course, it’s not just the youngest users who need to be protected from these pitfalls. It’s all of us.

In this article, you’ll learn the symptoms of technology addiction along with the science behind it. If you’re hooked more than you’d like to be, make sure to read all the way to the end for seven ways to reduce your use … and then promptly turn off your computer or phone and head out for a hike or other tech-free adventure.

Do you need help stepping away from your smartphone? Check out this article for more information on technology addiction, and get seven tips on how to cut back on your screen time. #healthylifestyle #chriskresser

These Five Short Stats Are Worth a Long Look

Before I do a deep dive into what technology addiction looks like, let these facts on screen time sink in:

  • Americans now look at their smartphones an average of 52 times a day, more often than ever before. (1)
  • We can’t even put them down on vacation. In fact, a 2018 poll found that we actually check our phones more while enjoying some R&R: roughly 80 times per day. (2)
  • Researchers found that college students spend nearly nine hours daily on their phones, texting, gaming, scrolling through social media, etc. (3)
  • We check work email at home constantly, from the bed, dinner table, and bathroom, even looking at our inbox during face-to-face conversations. (4)
  • By age 21, the average gamer will have logged 10,000 hours of playing time. (5, 6)

It’s clear that we have a problem. But are we addicted?

The Basis of Addiction—and What the Science Says about Tech

While the concept of addiction has historically been associated with substance abuse, behavioral addictions like gambling and now technology are becoming increasingly widespread and recognized. Though tech addiction isn’t currently in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed.), psychologists say we’re headed in that direction, and just this year, the World Health Organization added “gaming disorder” to its International Classification of Diseases. (7, 8, 9)

Behavioral addictions arise when a person can’t resist an action that, despite addressing a deep psychological need in the short term, produces significant harm in the long run.

Every addiction, no matter its lure, pulls us out of the present moment—away from important real-world activities—and technology is no different. Each time we check our inbox or social media account, there’s a chance something will be there for us, something that reinforces an aspect of who we think we are and releases a hit of that “feel-good” neurotransmitter dopamine. I’d need another entire article to go into it in detail, but trust me on this: tech designers pull from a deep bag of tricks to trigger dopamine and manipulate our brains in order to maximize the time we spend on our devices.

Any time the reward centers of the brain are engaged, there’s the potential for addictive behavior. Technology use activates the same regions of the brain and is fueled by the same basic human needs as drugs and alcohol: social engagement and support, mental stimulation, and a sense of effectiveness. It also shares the same key characteristics of substance-abuse disorders, meeting clinical criteria such as excessive use, tolerance, withdrawal, and negative repercussions. (10, 11)

  • Several neuroimaging studies have shown that heavy gamers and internet users experience abnormal changes in brain matter similar to those with substance addictions. (12, 13)
  • Nearly 80 percent of online gamers suffer a loss in at least one area of their lives as a result of excessive use, whether work, education, friendships, family, or romantic relationships. (14)
  • Researchers have found that when heavy internet users go offline, they suffer withdrawal symptoms, such as dramatic mood shifts, like those experienced by drug users. (15)

How a Technology Addiction Hurts Your Health

Unfortunately, these stats are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the myriad ways in which technology addiction can negatively impact your well-being. Although many factors can affect physical and mental health, the following outcomes could be symptoms of a dangerous tech fixation.

It May Lead to Anxiety and Depression

A large body of scientific evidence has linked tech addiction—especially smartphone dependency, problematic internet use, and gaming—with anxiety and depression. (16, 17, 18, 19) Most distressing, some studies suggest teenagers are especially prone to developing these disorders as a result of tech overuse, and that tech dependence could even be contributing to adolescent suicide rates, perhaps driven by extreme cyberbullying, public shaming, and other emotionally abusive social behaviors that have been well documented. (20, 21)

It Makes You Distracted—Really Distracted

In one systematic review of previously published research, 100 percent of included studies reported a correlation between problematic internet use and symptoms of ADHD. (22) In another, internet addiction was associated with more severe ADHD symptoms than control groups. (23) We’re living in an ADHD culture, yet the ability to ignore distractions and control where our attention is directed is crucial to health and happiness.

It Saps Your Sleep

Not only can the anxiety and depression brought on by tech addition result in sleep problems, but the artificial “blue” light emitted by computer screens and cell phones is known to suppress the production of melatonin, resulting in sleeplessness. (24)

And That’s Not All

Excessive screen time is also linked to: (25)

  • Obesity
  • Eye problems, including eyestrain and dry eye
  • Hearing damage
  • Musculoskeletal symptoms like “text neck”
  • Injuries and accidents

I believe technology use is very likely associated with other health impacts as well, though the links aren’t as clearly established yet in the literature.

Using smartphones appears to stimulate the fight-or-flight response and decrease the rest-and-digest response. These changes to the nervous system and associated stress hormones are connected with virtually all chronic diseases.

Seven Ways to Reduce Your Smartphone and Technology Use

Whether you have a full-fledged tech addiction or not, your mind and body will thank you for reducing your reliance on devices. Here are seven steps for doing just that.

Step #1: Assess Your Current Usage

Start by taking this Smartphone Compulsion Test to get an idea of where your tech habit currently stands. You can also use these two apps help you track your usage: Moment on iOS and BreakFree for Android. They track how many times you pick up your phone and how many hours you use it, and they compare those metrics with your goals. Both also have features that reduce usage. (And you may not even need to download an app. Recent updates of iOS, for instance, include a “screen time” widget that tracks nearly every aspect of your phone usage.)

Step #2: Cultivate Awareness

If we aren’t aware of our behavior, it’s impossible to change it. Consider beginning a meditation or mindfulness practice to train your attention so you’re less likely to get distracted by technology and are more able to catch yourself sooner when you do. Apps such as Headspace and Calm and wearables such as HeartMath and Muse are good options.

Step #3: Turn Off All Nonessential Notifications

Notifications are interruptions. Allowing them essentially gives your phone permission to interrupt you at any time, under any circumstance. I suggest turning off all notifications except phone calls and, if you want, text messages and calendar updates. If your work requires you to respond promptly to some emails, consider using an email app that allows you to assign VIP status to certain people so that you’ll only receive notifications from them.

Step #4: Uninstall Social Media Apps Entirely

If they aren’t on your phone, you’re far less likely to use them. Don’t worry: you can still check social media using a web browser, and uninstalling apps doesn’t have to be permanent, but it can be very helpful early on when you’re trying to reduce your usage. I also recommend “batching” your social media and email use, meaning checking your email and social accounts just two or three times daily. As a bonus, batching often provides a boost to your productivity.

Step #5: Create Phone-Free Areas in Your Home

Most importantly, never bring your phone into your bedroom. The bedroom should be for sleep and sex only, to foster good sleep hygiene. The dinner table is another important one; it’s where conversation and connection happen. As part of this step, you may want to rethink where you charge your phone. I recommend a spot near the front door or somewhere else out of sight—not your nightstand.

Step #6: Schedule a Regular Tech Time-Out

This is a period of time when you don’t interact with your phone, computer, tablets, or any screens. We do this every Sunday in our house. (Weekends are ideal if you follow a Monday–Friday work week.) It allows us to spend quality time together and makes space for reading, time in nature, and other activities. I always feel rejuvenated and refreshed afterward. If one full day sounds intimidating at first, start with half a day.

Step #7: Do Digital Detoxes

Longer than tech time-outs, digital detoxes give you the opportunity to experience yourself in the world around you unmediated by technology’s influence. I do three- to four-day digital detoxes quarterly and one or two 10-day digital detoxes per year. I look forward to these times when I can deeply relax, connect with myself and my family, and enter the mindset in which creativity and innovation occur. For more on the importance of digital detoxes and how to do them right, check out my podcast.

If you have a serious dependence on technology, I encourage you to seek help and to consider working with a health coach. Many health coaches, as well as therapists and counselors, already specialize in treating technology addictions. Know that technology dependence isn’t a personal failing. Human beings are biologically designed to seek new information and be distracted, and every app, online service, website, and so forth is geared to take advantage of this bias. The circumstances of this digital age are more conducive to addiction than any other time or place in human history.

It’s up to you to decide what you want from technology, not the other way around! You can take control of how you focus your attention and spend your time, and if you have kids—who are growing up with more technology each day—you can set a healthy example starting now.

What are your thoughts on technology addictions? Have you tried to reduce your (or your family’s) tech use in the past, or are you planning to cut down on your screen time? Tell me below in the comments!

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Thursday 27 December 2018

Meal Prep Kitchen Essentials to Make Food Prep a Breeze

A collage of images that are meal prep essentialsMeal prep saves the day when you have a busy week ahead or if you are trying to eat healthy throughout the week. Meal prep can be easy if you are equipped with all of the best meal prep essentials. We put together a list of our favorite meal prep ...

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What Are the Safest Cookware Options? (Updated for 2019)

Oh cookware… it is something most of us use daily but one of the toughest categories to determine safety. And the safest brands have their fair share of convenience problems. In this in-depth post, our team evaluated the top types and brands of cookware and ranked them based on safety and convenience. The bad news…...

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217: Do Saunas Work? Understanding the Benefits With Sunlighten Founder Connie Zack

You all already know Heather and I love to record podcasts in my sauna, and because of that we get so many great questions from you all about what type of sauna to use, what the benefits are, and whether they’re worth the investment. Today Connie Zack, the founder of Sunlighten saunas, will fully “enlighten”...

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Wednesday 26 December 2018

Spicy Pasta Arrabbiata

Reasons to Create Family Time Traditions (+ Ideas)

I’m realizing that the old saying seems to be true… time does go faster as you get older. My kids are growing so fast, and my mom-brain has started to realize that time before my oldest ones leave home is growing much shorter. For this reason, I’ve really been trying to start some family traditions and spend...

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Estrogen in Men: Why You Need to Balance Your Hormones as You Age

Men need estrogen too. Taking time to meditate, like this man is doing, can help manage stress and keep estrogen levels in check.

Read on to learn about how estrogen relates to men’s health, why estrogen might go out of balance, and what to do if your levels aren’t in line.

Estrogen in Men: You Need Balance

Though estrogen is largely associated with women’s health, this sex hormone regulates many essential aspects of men’s health, too. The importance of maintaining balanced estrogen begins in the womb and extends across a man’s lifetime. (1) Estrogen influences sperm production, male brain development, male libido, and much more. (2)

Estrogen balance is important for women … and men. Find out why you need to make sure you have enough of this hormone, especially as you age. #functionalmedicine #wellness #chriskresser

In a process called “aromatization,” the enzyme aromatase synthesizes estrogens from testosterone and other male sex hormones, known as androgens. Estrogen receptors are present in almost all tissues of the body. (3) In women, estrogens are synthesized mainly in the ovaries and other reproductive tissues. In men, the testes produce 20 percent of total estrogens. (4) Bone, blood vessels, brain tissue, and fatty tissue also produce estrogen.

As men start to age, their testosterone levels steadily decline. By age 35 to 40, they fall, on average, one to two percent per year in a phenomenon often referred to as “andropause,” or so-called male menopause. (Some have even called it “manopause.”) (5)

As testosterone levels drop, estrogen tends to be affected as well. Estrogen levels that are too low—or too high—can become a big problem.

The Risks: Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and More

In a study of over 3,000 older men (ranging in age from 69 to 80), low levels of estrogens were associated with increased risk of mortality in a four-and-a-half-year follow-up, compared to men with adequate levels of estrogen. In men with low levels of both estrogen and testosterone, the risk of death nearly doubled. (6)

Imbalanced estrogen levels have also been linked to:

How Your Estrogen Can Fall out of Balance

Hormone imbalance is one of eight core pathologies that I believe underlie all chronic disease. Here are the most common causes of estrogen imbalance in aging men. In many cases, more than one cause may be present—so it’s important to address all that apply if you want to regain your health.

You Could Have Chronic Inflammation

Estrogens exhibit both pro- and anti-inflammatory properties, depending on what triggers the body’s immune response, the organ or organ systems involved, and other health factors. Estrogens suppress inflammation in many animal models of chronic diseases, but they can also be pro-inflammatory in chronic autoimmune diseases. (18)

Inflammation itself is not a bad thing. As part of the body’s immune response, it initiates healing after a harmful stimulus. Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, causes damage over time. It’s an underlying cause for some of the most prevalent chronic diseases, including:

In a study of men over age 50, researchers tested participants for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in the blood, a reliable marker for inflammation. Serum hs-CRP correlated with estrogen levels, suggesting that inflammation and excess estrogen go hand in hand. (19) Other research has confirmed associations between estrogen and inflammatory pathways. (20, 21)

Your Gut Isn’t Healthy

Scientists have confirmed the gut’s role in hormone metabolism and its influences on the rest of the body. If your gut’s microbiome is unhealthy, it can impact how much estrogen circulates in your body.

The process starts with the liver. Your liver processes estrogen, so it can be excreted in the bile, urine, and feces. Along the way, certain gut bacteria can interrupt that process and allow estrogen and estrogen-like molecules to re-enter circulation. (22)

Gut dysbiosis can affect which estrogen byproducts, or metabolites, are reintroduced to the body. Some bacterial species generate metabolites that are potentially pro-cancerous, while others produce protective metabolites. (23) Estrogen imbalance from gut dysbiosis has been linked with breast cancer development in women and prostate cancer in men. (24, 25, 26, 27)

You’re Experiencing Chronic Stress

The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis controls the body’s response to stress and also helps regulate the immune system, digestion, metabolism, hormone production, and more. High cortisol production from chronic stress can lead to hormone resistance. This resistance in turn depresses pituitary function, and as a result, testosterone and sperm count can decrease. When testosterone levels are low, a man’s estrogen levels can often be low, too.

Chronic stress from sleep restriction is a good example of how stress can influence hormone levels. In an experimental study, restricting sleep to only five hours per night decreased testosterone levels by 10 to 15 percent in young men. (28) Sleep apnea yields similar results. (29)

You Have Insulin Resistance

Estrogen is involved in glucose metabolism, and healthy levels may help protect against excessive fat storage and insulin resistance, both of which can contribute to chronic inflammation. (30, 31)

The relationship between insulin and estrogen is somewhat complex. Insulin helps your body synthesize estrogen from testosterone. (32) Since estrogen plays a role in glucose metabolism, low levels of the hormone can lead to or worsen insulin resistance. Researchers have witnessed this phenomenon in people with a genetic mutation that deactivates the aromatase enzyme, which causes undetectable levels of estrogen. (33, 34, 35) By a similar mechanism in women, insulin resistance and obesity often follow the decline in estrogen that occurs in menopause. On the other hand, high estrogen levels can also cause insulin resistance, again indicating the need for balance. (36)

In both men and women, high levels of insulin can upregulate aromatase, which increases the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. In men, this can cause enlarged breast tissue and abdominal fat accumulation. In women, it can cause or contribute to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

You’re Dealing with a Toxic Burden

Estrogens are predominantly metabolized in the liver. (37) If your liver’s ability to detox your body is compromised, it may only be able to partially metabolize hormones like estrogen. Certain amino acids like glycine, and antioxidants like glutathione, are required for proper detoxification. If your toxic burden—the amount of environmental toxins your body is trying to process and clear—is already high, you might need help to detox safely. I recommend speaking to a Functional Medicine practitioner to help you with this process.

Seven Ways to Balance Your Estrogen

We have to be cautious when we want to make a connection between disease and serum estrogen levels. One caveat is that serum levels don’t necessarily reflect estrogen concentration in a particular tissue. For example, in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, the cancerous tissue itself can have a high concentration of estrogen while serum levels remain low. (38)

However, serum hormone levels still provide a lot of information, especially about what is occurring systemically. Saliva tests are generally much cheaper but can only measure “free” hormones, those which are not yet bound to a specific receptor. Blood tests measure both free (active) and protein-bound (inactive) hormones.

In conventional medicine, a doctor treats a hormonal imbalance using the “replacement model.” For instance, if testosterone is low, then a doctor might prescribe a testosterone cream. I’m extremely cautious about this method. These testosterone creams contain the free form of testosterone, which means that the body has no control over how much testosterone enters tissues as it normally would. Excess testosterone cream could also increase estrogen levels excessively if not properly monitored. Over time, the hormone receptors become somewhat resistant to the constant influx of testosterone, meaning you would eventually need an increased dosage. If you’ve been using the cream for an extended period of time, you need to be slowly weaned off—and that process can be difficult.

A Functional Medicine approach requires a lot of upfront testing to paint the best picture of your overall health. In the case of hormonal imbalance, several underlying issues might be responsible.

Depending on your specific needs, the following strategies can help balance estrogen and other hormone levels.

1. Reduce Your Stress

Chronic stress can disrupt the HPA axis and contribute to chronic inflammation and hormonal imbalances, but managing your stress can help. Meditation and getting enough sleep are good places to start. You can also try some herbal remedies like ginseng, rhodiola, ashwagandha, and eleutherococcus. These botanicals increase cortisol when it’s low and decrease it when it’s too high.

2. Stabilize Your Blood Sugar

Magnesium, green tea extract, and alpha lipoic acid may help fight insulin resistance and level out your blood sugar. Make sure you’re eating quality carbohydrates, not refined carbs. Proper sleep is also important for glucose control.

3. Cut Inflammatory Foods Out of Your Diet

Eliminate inflammatory foods like industrial seed oils and refined sugars. You should also avoid soy, which is a phytoestrogen (a plant-derived estrogen). Make sure your diet includes dietary cholesterol, which is a precursor to all hormones.

4. Detox

To ensure proper hormone metabolism, liver detox support is crucial. One supplement I suggest is Pure Encapsulations DIM Detox. DIM, or diindolylmethane, in particular promotes healthy estrogen metabolism. Milk thistle extract, another ingredient, also helps metabolism estrogen. (39)

5. Heal Your Gut

Maintaining a healthy gut with a rich, biodiverse microbiota will support proper estrogen metabolism. Reducing gut inflammation and fixing a leaky gut are other important steps.

6. Avoid Endocrine Disruptors

Toxins that disrupt your endocrine system should be avoided at all costs. This includes BPA and BPA-free plastics, phthalates, soy, and more.

7. Fix Over-Aromatization

In the case of low testosterone and high estrogen in men, if other sources of phytoestrogen are absent, over-aromatization may be the culprit. That means the enzyme aromatase is synthesizing too much estrogen. The most important way to fix excess aromatization is by first fixing insulin resistance (see the section on insulin resistance above). If that isn’t enough, DIM (see above, under “Detox”) and the herb chrysin, under the supervision of a medical professional, can both sometimes help.

Now I’d like to hear from you. Have you experienced any estrogen imbalance with age? What steps have you taken to get back in balance? Let me know in the comments!

The post Estrogen in Men: Why You Need to Balance Your Hormones as You Age appeared first on Chris Kresser.



from Chris Kresser https://chriskresser.com/estrogen-in-men-why-you-need-to-balance-your-hormones-as-you-age/
via Holistic Clients

Monday 24 December 2018

Precision Nutrition Coaching Grand Prize Winners: January 2019. We just surprised our latest winners with more than $125,000 in prizes!

Jen and Nathaniel spent the past 12 months transforming their eating habits, health, bodies, and lives with personal help from a PN coach. And now? They’re our latest Grand Prize winners. See how we surprised them with $25,000 each, and meet the rest of our January 2019 Precision Nutrition Coaching winners.

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Every six months, in our Precision Nutrition Coaching program, we give away more than $125,000 to the men and women who have the most incredible, inspiring body transformations.

Yep, that’s more than $250,000 a year.

And today, you’ll meet our latest amazing winners.

These folks started working with us in January 2018 and—over the course of the past year—completely transformed how they eat, move, look, and feel.

They lost weight, gained strength, boosted their health, and inspired their friends and families.

What’s more, they did all of this without extreme diets or crazy workout routines. There were no meal plans or off-limit foods. No unbreakable rules. No deprivation. And perhaps best of all, no guilt.

Each person simply committed to making a change, stayed consistent, and used the accountability and support of one of our dedicated coaches.

$25,000 Grand Prize Winner: Jen

Lost 54 lbs and 43 total inches!

Age: 42 years
Weight Lost: 54 lbs (from 182 lbs to 128 lbs)
Total Inches Lost: 43 inches (from 234 inches to 191 inches)

Nobody could ever accuse Jen Kruczek of being a couch potato.

She plays softball. Flag football. Indoor soccer.

She loves boxing. Tennis. Swimming. Yoga. Running.

“I hate having to choose,” she laughs. “I want to do it all!”

Jen’s athleticism had always been key to her identity. There was just one little problem: By the time she turned 40, her performance just wasn’t what it used to be.

Her joints felt stiffer. She tired more easily. She couldn’t always follow through on her softball coach’s suggestions.

And a series of five hamstring injuries in a year and a half didn’t help.

Nothing in Jen’s life had given her the same pleasure and sense of fulfillment as movement. And now, movement was becoming… complicated.

Was this the start of a downward spiral?

The prospect of losing mobility and strength was so upsetting that it forced Jen to ask herself a difficult question.

Could her struggles in the gym and on the field be traced to the 40 or 50 extra pounds she was carrying?

Weight had always been an issue for Jen. She’d try a diet, lose fifteen or twenty pounds, go off the diet, and quickly regain. It was demoralizing. She was tired of living that way.

Even worse was the frustration she felt. She wasn’t ignorant. She understood the basics of healthy eating.

She knew what she was supposed to do. So why was it so hard to make the change?

Jen knew she needed a true game changer. Reading about Precision Nutrition Coaching’s daily lessons appealed to her orderly, organized side. It seemed like the kind of program that could help her trade less healthy habits for better ones… for good.

With her coach and fellow clients providing support and accountability, Jen put down the cheese curls. Stopped going for takeout every day after the gym. Learned how to make mindful choices in the break room at work when the aroma of homemade donuts or bagels enticed her.

Slowly but surely, she started losing weight. Still, she didn’t realize how well the program was working until her ninth month, when she signed up for a half marathon.

Jen had run about a dozen half marathons in the past. But each successive run had seemed just a little bit tougher. In fact, she’d made her best time on her very first race back when she was 30.

Looking ahead, she didn’t think she’d ever be able to top that.

Imagine her surprise when, at the age of 42, she finished a full ten minutes ahead of her previous record. “When I started this program, I just wanted to avoid injuring myself so much,” she says.

Now, she’s not only injury-free, but she’s also performing at a higher level.

“That extra weight was dragging me down. Now it’s gone.”

Jen lives on Cape Cod. On the beach, she’s seen older people who can barely walk in the heavy sand or who struggle to stand up once they’ve settled themselves on a beach towel.

“Thinking about my future, I didn’t want to end up that way,” she says. Instead, she wanted to be like the vibrant 70-year-old who plays on her softball team. Or the women in their sixties who still play soccer with her.

“I want to become that active older person.” Precision Nutrition gave her the tools to make her dream a reality.

Her advice for anyone chasing their own transformation dream?

“Give yourself a year,” she says. “And trust the process.”

Want to get results like Jen? Learn more about the Precision Nutrition Coaching Program for Women.

$25,000 Grand Prize Winner: Nathaniel

Lost 54 lbs and 42 total inches!

Age: 36 years
Weight Lost: 54 lbs (from 289 lbs to 235 lbs)
Total Inches Lost: 42 inches (from 295 inches to 253 inches)

At 35, Nathaniel knew he had a weight problem.

Indeed, he’d had a weight problem for most of his life.

In 4th grade, he already weighed in at 140 pounds. By high school graduation, he was over 275. And in his early thirties, he’d really let himself go.

Still, he figured he was healthy. He was young, and he’d always been active.

Then, he suddenly found himself in an emergency room waiting for a heart catheterization test. His blood pressure medication wasn’t working. “I failed a stress test,” he recalls. “They had to stop it partway through.”

Hang on, he thought.

“If I don’t make a change, I could die soon.”

Nathaniel credits a friend for guiding him toward Precision Nutrition. “He was a finalist himself a few years back. He knew the company was reliable.”

With his friend’s recommendation, Nathaniel committed himself to the program.

Right from the start, he treated it like a second job. He completed every lesson. Showed up for every workout. Put himself on the line by telling almost everybody he knew about his weight loss plan.

He even promised his kids that if he won, he’d take them to Disneyland. “When a 6-year-old is depending on you, that’s a lot of pressure,” he laughs.

The process wasn’t always easy.

While his family and friends supported him, they didn’t share his goal, so sometimes they’d be eating his favorite foods while he opted for a Tupperware container filled with something lighter.

Even on family vacations, he planned ahead of time and sometimes even brought along his own food to ensure he would have healthy options to choose from.

“They thought I was crazy,” he remembers.

And while he looked forward to exercising most days, there were inevitably some afternoons when he just didn’t feel like going to the gym. On top of that, he had to find ways to work around significant injuries at two different points during the program.

First, he tore his plantar fascia, the connective tissue that spans the bottom of the foot. This confined him to a walking boot and temporarily put an end to any running.

Since running was out of the question, he turned to rowing for aerobic conditioning. But rowing turned out to be a physical and mental trial.

When he started, he could barely squeeze out 11 minutes on the machine. That wasn’t exactly encouraging.

Still, there’d been signs of improvement, and those small progressions were enough to spark his hope and keep him going.

Take his hypertension, for example. About four months into coaching, around the time of that first injury, he started experiencing some weird symptoms again.

Turns out, his blood pressure wasn’t spiking. Instead, it was bottoming out! He’d improved so much that his doctors had to reduce his medications.

And by Nathaniel’s eleventh month—when he tore his biceps tendon playing touch football—eleven minutes of rowing was just a warm up for the two hours he could now sustain.

Not only that, but he’d also been off all blood pressure medications for six months.

Changing the way he ate and moved was only the start.

“I learned to see setbacks as challenges, not excuses,” he explains.

As Nathaniel’s health improved and his mindset shifted, his whole family took note. The changes in his mentality rubbed off.

Today, his wife is taking steps to pursue an important dream of her own.

His older daughter works out with him at the gym.

And his younger daughter’s getting ready to pack for Disneyland.

“I look like a different person now,” Nathaniel reflects. “But the outward changes are nothing compared to the inner changes. I’ve strengthened my mind even more than my body.”

Best of all, he’s healthy.

“At the beginning, this goal seemed so lofty, so unattainable,” he says. Now, he’s eager to tackle new challenges in every facet of his life.

After all, why settle for peak fitness?

Want to get results like Nathaniel? Learn more about the Precision Nutrition Coaching Program for Men.

Meet our other Women’s winners:

$10,000 Women's Winner:|Anne

Anne

$10,000 Women's Winner:

Age: 67 years

Weight Lost: 57 lbs (204 lbs to 147 lbs)

Total inches lost: 37" (249" to 212")

The secret to my transformation lies in the PN method. Very small changes in food choices, which, when combined with other very doable lifestyle habits, have convinced me I can live like this for the rest of my life. My progress was steady and surprisingly easy.

- Anne

$10,000 Women's Winner:|Hanna

Hanna

$10,000 Women's Winner:

Age: 38 years

Weight Lost: 40 lbs (183 lbs to 143 lbs)

Total inches lost: 33" (227" to 194")

PN Coaching has taught me to listen to my body and make decisions about nutrition, exercise, and rest based on what makes me feel best physically and emotionally. I wasn't sure about sharing my photos, but this year really helped me a lot, and I hope that they might inspire and encourage others to join.

- Hanna

$2,500 Women's Winner:|Sheila

Sheila

$2,500 Women's Winner:

Age: 49 years

Weight Lost: 52 lbs (201 lbs to 149 lbs)

Total inches lost: 44" (262" to 218")

I joined PN because I was tired of being invisible in my own life. Slowly, this program instilled in me a sense of empowerment and confidence in my own abilities. I never wanted to be ‘skinny’—I wanted to be strong. I’ve learned so much about what my body is capable of. It hasn’t been a perfect year, but it’s been amazing. I am not invisible anymore.

- Sheila

$2,500 Women's Winner:|Annette

Annette

$2,500 Women's Winner:

Age: 45 years

Weight Lost: 37 lbs (189 lbs to 152 lbs)

Total inches lost: 28" (238 " to 210")

This past year, I learned self-acceptance and how to stop trying to be perfect. I found peace. Food no longer controls me. PN truly gave me my life back.

- Annette

$2,500 Women's Winner:|Shelley

Shelley

$2,500 Women's Winner:

Age: 60 years

Weight Lost: 32 lbs (148 lbs to 116 lbs)

Total inches lost: 26" (217" to 191")

I have transformed into a more confident person. A person who stands up taller with self-pride. A person who has learned what is important in life. A person who I like.

- Shelley

$2,500 Women's Winner:|Jodi

Jodi

$2,500 Women's Winner:

Age: 38 years

Weight Lost: 17 lbs (141 lbs to 124 lbs)

Total inches lost: 24" (206" to 182")

PN has constantly pushed me a little further, sometimes out of my comfort zone, past the limits I've set for myself. But man, have I come far. I can finally say it's my time to shine!

- Jodi

$1,000 Women's Winner:|Trish

Trish

$1,000 Women's Winner:

Age: 48 years

Weight Lost: 41 lbs (229 lbs to 188 lbs)

Total inches lost: 48" (265" to 217")

Before PN, I was not sure if I would ever be able to move like I did before my car accident. Now I’m not only moving better, but I’m also stronger than I have ever been! It’s been a true life transformation. PN not only gave me my life back, but a stronger, happier, and healthier version of myself. I’m so grateful!

- Trish

$1,000 Women's Winner:|Krista

Krista

$1,000 Women's Winner:

Age: 62 years

Weight Lost: 15 lbs (142 lbs to 127 lbs)

Total inches lost: 18" (218" to 200")

At first, PN Coaching was all about losing the excess weight I’d been carrying around for the last ten years. But as my year progressed, my journey became much more than that. Through the lessons, which were eerily timely to exactly what I was going through or thinking, I regained my old self: a person with healthy self-esteem, confidence, pride, a positive outlook, good relationships, and LOTS of energy. I now look forward to working out, sweating and—ahem—flexing my muscles. I wake up happy every morning, and I know this is due to the results I've achieved. I practically bounce out of bed feeling great about myself and looking forward to another new day and a chance to be active.

- Krista

$1,000 Women's Winner:|Olivia

Olivia

$1,000 Women's Winner:

Age: 26 years

Weight Lost: 22 lbs (163 lbs to 141 lbs)

Total inches lost: 19" (223" to 204")

Over the past year, I feel like I've rediscovered a part of myself that was missing. Thanks to my experience with PN Coaching, I have the self-knowledge and empowerment to sustainably care for myself and to boldly pursue my goals long-term.

- Olivia

$1,000 Women's Winner:|Alana

Alana

$1,000 Women's Winner:

Age: 54 years

Weight Lost: 32 lbs (224 lbs to 192 lbs)

Total inches lost: 31" (260" to 229")

I've gone from someone in pain and barely able to move to someone who does lunges and squats while cleaning the house. I can run two flights of stairs when I forget the laundry in the basement, and I didn't mind a two-kilometer backtrack in the mountains this summer to avoid a grizzly bear and her cubs. I am proud of my body and what it’s able to do. Oh, and there was that Spartan race I did—and more I plan to do. My whole life has changed. I'm back in school, pursuing a life-long dream, and I'm excited about my life.

- Alana

$1,000 Women's Winner:|Nivi

Nivi

$1,000 Women's Winner:

Age: 37 years

Weight Lost: 16 lbs (121 lbs to 105 lbs)

Total inches lost: 25" (207" to 182")

Precision Nutrition took the fearful, insomniac, crabby, insulin-resistant, coffee/chocolate/wine hound at 34 percent body fat version of me, and transformed it into a happy, healthy social entrepreneur and wellness coach! In short, just when the caterpillar thought the end of the world had come... it turned into a butterfly. That, in a nutshell, is the impact of PN on one year of my life (and continuing!).

- Nivi

$1,000 Women's Winner:|Brandy

Brandy

$1,000 Women's Winner:

Age: 70 years

Weight Lost: 29 lbs (164 lbs to 135 lbs)

Total inches lost: 27" (230" to 203")

Precision Nutrition, for me, was never a ‘diet.’ PN just gently, persistently, consistently, and compassionately guided me into a new paradigm. One of health, strength, endurance, flexibility, and confidence—all amazing ‘gains!’ And along the way, I managed to shed pounds, inches, clothing sizes, and above all, a negative self-image.

- Brandy

$1,000 Women's Winner:|Jennifer

Jennifer

$1,000 Women's Winner:

Age: 34 years

Weight Lost: 37 lbs (171 lbs to 134 lbs)

Total inches lost: 33" (240" to 207")

PN YEAR = BEST YEAR OF MY LIFE! Just a few habits that stick with me daily include: self-compassion, noticing my accomplishments, perseverance, surviving setbacks, and creating a pattern of striving to be or do just 1 percent better each day. The greatest part of all of this for me is that I can now passionately share these lessons with others!

- Jennifer

$1,000 Women's Winner:|Tracie

Tracie

$1,000 Women's Winner:

Age: 62 years

Weight Lost: 24 lbs (141 lbs to 117 lbs)

Total inches lost: 19" (209" to 190")

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to handle the incredible sense of POSSIBILITY and ABILITY I've gained through PN Coaching. As my physical body gets leaner and smaller, everything else—confidence, body awareness, and the sense of what is possible—not just in terms of fitness and nutrition, but in life, has expanded.

- Tracie

Meet our other Men’s winners:

$10,000 men's Winner:|Warren

Warren

$10,000 men's Winner:

Age: 44 years

Weight Lost: 58 lbs (225 lbs to 167 lbs)

Total inches lost: 45" (261" to 216")

Before Precision Nutrition Coaching, I was a yo-yo exerciser and a chronic dieter. I would follow a plan for three months, take maybe 6 months off, and then go back on for a month. On and on it went. I was 225 pounds, and I had back problems and severe vertigo from Meniere's disease, which had me bedridden multiple times a month. But, I decided to commit to 12 months of coaching, and I put my trust in the program. The lessons and exercises were easy to follow, and helped me form habits that will continue well after the program has finished. Fast forward to today: My back (as well as the rest of my body) is stronger, and the pain has disappeared. My last vertigo episode was almost a year ago. I’m the lightest and fittest I’ve been in over 20 years, I have more energy, and I’m more engaged with my work and with my family. I cannot thank the PN program and coaches enough. They’ve helped me achieve so much.

- Warren

$10,000 men's Winner:|Regan

Regan

$10,000 men's Winner:

Age: 29 years

Weight Lost: 43 lbs (191 lbs to 148 lbs)

Total inches lost: 26" (237" to 211")

Precision Nutrition freed me from the 'paralysis by analysis'... when you overthink nutrition and exercise to the point that you’re left not knowing what to do… so you don’t do anything at all. When I finally allowed myself to let go of the minutia and just trust the program, things started to shift. I’m amazed at how much success I achieved. PN helped me build a foundation free of nutrition and fitness BS.

- Regan

$2,500 men's Winner:|Scott

Scott

$2,500 men's Winner:

Age: 43 years

Weight Lost: 64 lbs (272 lbs to 208 lbs)

Total inches lost: 37" (276" to 239")

Precision Nutrition Coaching has helped me reconnect with my health and fitness. I used to be very passive about my health, but now I've become an active participant. I've learned how my body responds to different foods, exercise, and stressors, and now I know how to support myself with nutrition, fitness, and the right mindset so I can achieve my goals. The program brought me to a better nutritional, physical, and mental state.

- Scott

$2,500 men's Winner:|Kevin

Kevin

$2,500 men's Winner:

Age: 44 years

Weight Lost: 36 lbs (166 lbs to 130 lbs)

Total inches lost: 31" (232" to 201")

Precision Nutrition Coaching has been the best investment in my health that I’ve ever made. Not only is my body fat lower, and my energy, endurance and strength better, but my problem solving skills and choices are healthier, too. The lessons, habits, and coaching tear down unhealthy thinking and build up wise, creative thinking that leads to improving physical wellbeing.

- Kevin

$2,500 men's Winner:|Michael

Michael

$2,500 men's Winner:

Age: 54 years

Weight Lost: 32 lbs (186 lbs to 154 lbs)

Total inches lost: 24" (234" to 210")

My Precision Nutrition Coaching experience has been awesome. It has been a year of learning and understanding my body and how it relates to food. I have finally learned how to eat according to my body’s cues. Not only did I lose weight, but I’m also now the leanest and strongest I’ve ever been.

- Michael

$2,500 men's Winner:|Tony

Tony

$2,500 men's Winner:

Age: 48 years

Weight Lost: 45 lbs (259 lbs to 214 lbs)

Total inches lost: 25" (270" to 245")

Precision Nutrition Coaching guided me through a total transformation, extending beyond pounds and inches lost. With PN’s guidance, I learned how to think, eat, and act in a way that promotes and sustains health and well-being as a lifestyle.

- Tony

$1,000 men's Winner:|Vincent

Vincent

$1,000 men's Winner:

Age: 60 years

Weight Lost: 14 lbs (200 lbs to 186 lbs)

Total inches lost: 5" (246" to 241")

My Precision Nutrition experience brought me so much more than weight loss. I’ve lost weight dozens of times over the years, but this time I discovered a lot about myself and developed a new relationship with food. I will carry this with me for the rest of my life. Precision Nutrition doesn’t tell you what to do. It showed me the path so I could decide what works best for me and my lifestyle. PN helped me stay accountable while still being human. PN allows for and even expects mistakes, setbacks, and failure. We all fail at times and that’s ok. It’s accepting failure and moving on that leads to success. I’ve learned the value of sleep, rest, stress reduction, and nutrition. Thanks to Precision Nutrition, the weight is lost forever. My cholesterol, blood pressure, and lab tests have all improved significantly, too. I move better, my inflammation is dramatically reduced, and for the first time in decades am relatively pain-free.

- Vincent

$1,000 men's Winner:|Rodney

Rodney

$1,000 men's Winner:

Age: 49 years

Weight Lost: 54 lbs (271 lbs to 217 lbs)

Total inches lost: 29" (244" to 215")

Trying to put my experience this year into words is difficult for me. I look back to when I started and how I thought and felt about exercising and eating, and I realize why I couldn’t ever achieve consistency in my health before. I used to think I was lazy, that I had no motivation, that I wasn’t an athlete, and that exercising was a chore to get done. Food was something to limit and control, and certain foods were just off limits. I didn’t see how food could be a tool, and that I had the opportunity to choose things to benefit my health. This year has been this slow, gradual change that has transformed the way I view health and life. So many eating and exercising programs use a “copy and paste” approach: “Do this exactly like I did and you will see these results.” Precision Nutrition Coaching is instead a process of self discovery. It helps you create a life of health that works for you, whatever stage you’re at. The habits and principles PN teaches are flexible and adaptable to anyone’s life. I joined PN because I wanted to lose some weight, but I quickly discovered that PN was so much more than a weight loss program: It was a complete shift in my approach to health. I’ve lost lots of weight, but most importantly, I’ve learned to see myself and my life in a different way. And I learned the consistency I needed in order to accomplish my goals.

- Rodney

$1,000 men's Winner:|Dan

Dan

$1,000 men's Winner:

Age: 42 years

Weight Lost: 36 lbs (217 lbs to 181 lbs)

Total inches lost: 21" (241" to 220")

For years, I've struggled with the mental, physical, and emotional roller coaster of weight loss and gain. That’s because I was focusing on the wrong goals and purpose. With the help of Precision Nutrition Coaching, I’ve finally found the true purpose and value of my health and fitness. It’s the glue my life has been missing.

- Dan

$1,000 men's Winner:|Ryan

Ryan

$1,000 men's Winner:

Age: 26 years

Weight Lost: 65 lbs (264 lbs to 199 lbs)

Total inches lost: 42" (269" to 227")

Precision Nutrition Coaching has given me the knowledge and foundation to pursue an active and healthy lifestyle. The coaches and the program have helped me regain my self confidence, improve my mobility, and lose more weight than I thought was possible.

- Ryan

$1,000 men's Winner:|Brad

Brad

$1,000 men's Winner:

Age: 47 years

Weight Lost: 22 lbs (193 lbs to 171 lbs)

Total inches lost: 13" (235" to 222")

I have learned that through changing behaviors steadily over time, the process of getting in better shape takes care of itself. Precision Nutrition gave me the tools I needed to succeed, and habits I can sustain for a lifetime.

- Brad

$1,000 men's Winner:|Alisdair

Alisdair

$1,000 men's Winner:

Age: 47 years

Weight Lost: 46 lbs (229 lbs to 183 lbs)

Total inches lost: 23" (246" to 223")

Like most people, I knew what to eat. What I had forgotten was how to eat. Over this past year, Precision Nutrition Coaching helped me realize this, and it taught me good habits so I could develop a better relationship with food. It also empowered me to take responsibility for my health. This results in the holy grail of sustainable change.

- Alisdair

$1,000 men's Winner:|Jonas

Jonas

$1,000 men's Winner:

Age: 32 years

Weight Lost: 52 lbs (225 lbs to 173 lbs)

Total inches lost: 34" (253" to 219")

The most important thing that I’ve learned from Precision Nutrition Coaching is that I am not tied to any of the past struggles I’ve had with fitness. I’ve changed my mindset. I now know that every second of every day is an opportunity to make choices that lead to a better life. Being able to stay present in the moment has helped me take steps to remain consistent and develop good habits that have stuck with me and will continue to do so.

- Jonas

$1,000 men's Winner:|Marc

Marc

$1,000 men's Winner:

Age: 50 years

Weight Lost: 28 lbs (208 lbs to 180 lbs)

Total inches lost: 5" (235" to 230")

This last year with Precision Nutrition has been one of balance. Finding balance at the gym, in nutrition, and in life have been lessons that have been at the forefront of my PN education. From balancing my family life, my professional life, and my nutritional education, to balancing my go-to, “all or nothing” attitude in the gym, PN has taught me how to keep my life in perspective. It’s allowed me to develop a healthy lifestyle at work and at home, and it’s taught me the principles of healthy eating that I now incorporate into my everyday routine.

- Marc

Meet a few hundred more Precision Nutrition clients.

To view all the men’s and women’s finalists from the January 2019 Coaching Program, click the links below.

To view all the men’s and women’s finalists from all of our Precision Nutrition Coaching programs, click one of the links below.

Of course, if you’re interested in working toward a body or health transformation of your own, consider joining our next Precision Nutrition Coaching group. We’re opening up a few spots in the coming weeks.

Want to transform your body too?

As you probably know, you won’t overhaul your body this dramatically by counting calories, logging time on a treadmill, or reading health tips on Twitter. 

Awesome, lasting, wow-what-happened-to-you transformations usually require personal attention from an expert coach.

And here’s the good news: Precision Nutrition Coaching will be accepting new clients very soon, at our lowest, most accessible price ever.

If you’re interested and want to find out more, I’d encourage you to join our presale list.

Being on the presale list gives you two special advantages.

  • You’ll pay less than everyone else. At Precision Nutrition we like to reward the most interested and motivated people because they always make the best clients. Join the presale list and you’ll save up to 54% off the general public price, which is the lowest price we’ve ever offered.
  • You’re more likely to get a spot. To give clients the personal care and attention they deserve, we only open up the program twice a year. Last time we opened registration, we sold out within minutes. By joining the presale list you’ll get the opportunity to register 24 hours before everyone else, increasing your chances of getting in.

[Note: If your health and fitness are already sorted out, but you’re interested in helping others, check out our Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification program].

If you’re ready to change your body, and your life, with help from the world’s best coaches, this is your chance.

The post Precision Nutrition Coaching Grand Prize Winners: January 2019. We just surprised our latest winners with more than $125,000 in prizes! appeared first on Precision Nutrition.



from Blog – Precision Nutrition https://www.precisionnutrition.com/winners-january-2019
via Holistic Clients