I have worked with many people with chronic health issues that have had a huge impact on their life in a negative way.  Their illness, disease, lack of function has meant that they have had to miss out on their life in some way or meant they could not participate in life in the way that they wanted to.  From being in chronic pain and unable to sit at a desk to work, to having chronic fatigue and being unable to get through the day. Many of them will tell me that they do not know who they are...

We’re going a bit off the topic of myths this week, because so many of you have been asking me, in terms of fitness, health and recovery, what is the long way home?  What does that really mean?  And I get that, because a goal needs to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely otherwise it's just this obscure, arbitrary, vast unattainable thing way out in some time in the future, maybe never. My guest today, Amy Kate Bowe is a Strength and Conditioning Coach who was once like...

Today we are talking all about supplements.  The good the bad and the ugly.  I will often see clients who have seen many people before me and some will come with a container of supplements that they have been prescribed or they have looked up on the internet and are taking for this and the other.  So, are they really doing anything?  Is it as simple as just looking at your blood test and saying, you’re low in vitamin X so take supplement X?  Are you just wasting your money? Today, my guest...

Skincare has to be one of the biggest industries, turning over multi millions, billions, trillions of dollars per year.  I would also say that it is one of the industries that is full of the most BS and preys on the vulnerabilities of both women and men and often I find clients are doing more harm than good with their skincare regimen.  Be it an aging issue, or a condition like eczema, rosacea, melasma, pigmentation and the like.  To me the skin is one of the biggest messengers in our body. ...

So once upon a time, Type 1 diabetes was known as something you were  born with or developed as an infant or young child and Type 2 diabetes was known as being the one you developed from being overweight and living the high fat, high sugar, processed food and sedentary lifestyle.  But I am seeing more and more that these are not the norms anymore.  I have clients who don’t eat “bad food” and are pre-diabetic and I have clients with chronic blood sugar handling issues that have a myriad of...

At the World Congress of Back Pain, it was said that nine in 10 people will have back pain at some point in their life.  Of course that will occur in varying degrees.  What I have seen a lot in my work, working with injuries as a CHEK practitioner, is that many people who have back injuries are given such a glass ceiling with their diagnosis and treatment options.  So if nine in 10 of us are going to experience back pain, what can we do about it?  For those who have it severely, what hope do...

I’m sorry to say that you guys have been asking for this episode for ages and it has taken Tommo and I this long to get to it.  So I apologize.  There really is not enough great info out there about menopause, but that is slowly changing and I hope Tommo’s amazing wealth of knowledge really helps you today. For those of you who don’t know, Keith Littlewood aka Tommo, is a friend and mentor of mine and has fast become our resident hormonal expert.  He is currently doing his Phd in...

I think the biggest myth in Personal Training or the exercise field is if I just turn up and sweat and do something that is exhausting, I will get the result of getting fitter, leaner, stronger, whatever it is that you desire.  Another one would be that if I just get my heart rate up I am going to be healthier and that people who do so are fit.   I am finding all too often now, when I'm working with clients who suffer from thyroid, adrenal, metabolic issues or even clients with injuries,...

I feel like we have spent a lot of time on the show, talking about women’s physiology and general physiology and how the body never lies about health, but I wanted to dedicate and episode for men specifically.   Can men really tolerate stress more than women - physiological speaking? Is fasting more suitable for them? Why do men get man boobs?  Why can’t some men put on muscle mass? Is there really such a thing as Andropause?  Are fish oils going to save men from neurodegenerative disease...

So what if you exercise and you have a negative side effect to exercise?  You might experience fatigue post workout, odema, trouble sleeping, night sweats or even DOMS for days.  Or you might just not be able to put on muscle or lose weight no matter how much you exercise. Well, this is something I have seen in my work for 19 years but has been recently been coined “exercise intolerance” in the pro-metabolic community and along with it has stemmed a whole further list of myths like “cardio...

Liver health is a big focus in the holistic health world.  Yet, I am seeing more and more that "healthy people" who eat "whole foods" are suffering from issues such as Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Diabetes, Thyroid Issues etc. I am also seeing that a lot of people are doing liver detoxes to boost their immunity for the current health issue of our time and that these programs involve cutting out food groups and/or significant supplementation.  So why is this and does it even work? Do...

Fertility and pregnancy, birthing and mothering are high energy demanding processes.  I think we really take for granted just how much our body needs to make and recover from having babies.   There are so many myths around this area of a woman’s life and I think a lot of them leave women fraught with emotions, guilt, shame, disempowerments and to be honest, long term health issues.   My wish is for women to learn about their bodies more to have empowered lives and so I really wanted to...

There was something that I put off for years and years.  My body was telling me it was out of balance, but I ignored it until I got really motivated about it.  I had a super tight pelvic floor.  It needed manual therapy to release it and retraining on my part to get it functional again and it wasn’t until I wanted to have a baby without any intervention, to protect my precious parts and my future in all the lifting I like to do, that I did something about it.  It was a bit like an accountant...

Getting diagnosed with PCOS and/or Endometriosis can feel like a life sentence for some.  I’ve seen two kinds of camps.  One where women have been having issues with their cycle or periods and getting diagnosed and feeling like it was a really deflating, non solution answer and others who really struggle with the debilitating symptoms of either condition with repetitive surgery and medications. There are of course many band-aid approaches, like the pill and lots of dietary recommendations...

Ok, so what is healthy fat? We moved away from trans fats like margarine and cooking oils, but just because a fat is not a trans fat, does not mean it is healthy.   Someone who has moved deep into the study of fats, especially PolyUnsaturated Fats or PUFAs, is Matt Blackburn.  Matt is a health and longevity researcher and founder of the CLF Protocol, looking at what he believes to be the root cause of disease, calcification, lipofuscin and fibrosis.  One of the huge things his program deals...

So we have touched on sustainable weight loss with Kitty and Craig last episode, but now I want to get into the nitty gritty of body composition.  So, say you are training consistently and you’re at a relatively acceptable weight, but you have a certain look you want to achieve.  You want that toned and defined look and in your head it equates to eating less and training more.  But does it in reality?  And how does that work in the athletic space when we need to perform well at a particular...

Now I think most of my audience and followers know Kitty Blomfield.  She’s my no BS metabolic bestie who rants on and on about getting off the restrictive diet hamster wheel, so you can build a body you love.  Well, Kitty and her super duper business partner and life partner, Craigh McDonald, have coached hundreds of people through their win at life program.   Now if you listened to my interview with nutritionist, Kira Sutherland and how to apply nutrition research into practice, you will...