My Health Coaching Journey

My Health Coaching Journey

I was lucky enough to have grown up during a period when playing outdoors was THE primary leisure activity. My penchant for play was so pronounced that I was constantly reminded that I could not ring anyone’s doorbell before 9:00 AM. My favorite school subject was gym and I took up running in high school just because it seemed like a fun thing to do. If I wanted to win races though, I had to watch what I ate.  Too much fat and fiber in my stomach during a race was a recipe for disaster.  This fostered my interest in Diet and Nutrition and was certainly a compelling factor in my decision to choose Food Science as a major in college.  It also helped that the professor who taught the Introductory Food Science course was a runner (and juggler).

Although it sounds a little pedestrian, Food Science is far from that.  Food Science is the Biology, Chemistry and Engineering of food.  It proved to be a rigorous curriculum where many students drop out once they learn that it is more science than they bargained for.  For me, this course of study provided a fundamental appreciation of the molecular interactions within foods.  Unlike many of my class mates who went on to work for Campbell Soup or Kraft foods, I somehow landed my first job in the Pharmaceutical industry developing drugs for the treatment of cancer and AIDS.  The allure of drug development (and the compensation) were so strong that I ended up staying in the industry for the next 28-years.  …and somehow managed to earn a MS and PhD in Food Science along the way.

It wasn’t until sometime in 2013 that I came to the conclusion that searching for the next billion dollar molecule for the treatment of 21^st century diseases was a losing proposition.  However, I also noticed that all of the diseases that I was working on had an underlying solution related to diet and lifestyle.  It was then that I decided to pull my expertise in Food Science and medicine together to craft a new career where I could coach and inspire people to stay healthy to prevent them from getting sick in the first place.

My journey started with attendance at an Integrative Healthcare conference in NYC.  While vetting a variety of Alternative Healthcare companies I met someone who had graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN), a school that provides certification in Health Coaching.  My new friend seemed well-versed in the field and described a career that was exactly what I was looking for.  Once I got home I did a little deep dive on IIN and attended the online introductory webinar.  It seemed a little Amway-ish and hokey but I trusted this person’s judgement and registered for the program.

I have no regrets.  IIN provided me with all of the tools that I needed to teach people how to live peacefully and how to eat mindfully.  I learned how to communicate with those who are overwhelmed by the challenges of healthy living.  Most importantly, I learned how to build a Health Coaching practice that meets my vision of bringing health and wellness to the masses.  In just one year from my departure from Corporate America, I am now the proud owner of a Brick-and-Mortar Integrative Healthcare practice, EGGLRock Nutrition, providing dietary and lifestyle intervention strategy for disease prevention and health maintenance.  This achievement could not have been made possible without the skills that I acquired at IIN. 

Going Paleo

Pros and Cons of the Paleo Diet

The Paleo diet has been gaining quite a bit of traction in the past few years.  It reminds me of the Atkins diet with its emphasis on protein but its focus on animal products makes this diet unattainable for Vegans and Vegetarians.  This diet is largely based on the consumption of meat and seafood, eggs, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds.  It excludes grains, legumes, dairy and refined foods.  On the surface, it does not seem well-balanced but its focus on whole foods makes perfect sense.  Despite the relative good health enjoyed by many non-meat eaters our bodies have been perfectly designed to consume and digest animal products.  We have all of the tools to metabolize animal protein and saturated fat and put those macronutrients to good use.  And surely, there is no down-side to the consumption of nutrient rich fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

 

All well and good but it is critical to find the highest quality, unadulterated animal products possible.  Grass-fed meats, non-farmed fish and Organic produce are the key to making this diet a healthy option.  Proteins consist of nine essential amino acids, five non-essential amino acids and six conditionally essential amino acids.  Essential amino acids can only be obtained from your diet while non-essential amino acids are readily made by you.  People with certain metabolic disorders may be deficient in the conditionally essential amino acids and so must obtain them from their diet as well.  Animal proteins are complete, so provide the full repertoire of amino acids.  A deficiency of just one will rob you of your muscle building capacity since your body will end up wasting protein looking for the one (or more) missing amino acid.  Soy is the only plant protein that is complete which limits a non-meat eater’s protein source.  Animal proteins are also the ONLY dietary source of vitamin B12, a micronutrient critical for cellular development.

 

Despite the recent vilification of grains I still feel that a whole grain with its bran and germ layers are a critical dietary source of fiber and other micronutrients (see http://egglrock.blogspot.com/2015/03/are-you-sensitive-to-gluten.html).  While I abhor consumption of any processed grain, I fully endorse the consumption of unadulterated, whole grains.  Grains are removed from the Paleo diet to avoid consumption of gluten, phytic acid and lectin.  No need to belabor why we should avoid gluten (Celiac disease, gluten intolerance, yada, yada, yada).  Phytic acid, found in both grains and legumes, limits nutrient absorption.  Lectins are another kind of protein that will soon take the place of gluten as the bad-boy of proteins.  Without getting too scientific, lectins have the capacity to stimulate chemical mediators of inflammation culpable in the etiology of rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease), asthma, chronic fatigue syndrome and depression.

 

Consumption of legumes in the Paleo diet is more of a gray area. They are excluded largely because of their phytic acid content and because they are difficult to digest.  Soybeans, in addition to being a genetically modified crop, contain genestein, a phytoestrogen that may cause hormonal dysregulation in men and women.  This is a particular concern for those who follow a soy-based diet using modified soy products. Occasional consumption of beans such as green beans is allowed since this is a vegetable typically eaten in small amounts and consumption of the pod will dilute the adverse components in the bean.

 

The top of most food pyramids represents consumption of fats and oils.  Any health enthusiast should be well-educated on the difference between good fats and bad fats.  The Standard American Diet (SAD) is flush with Omega-6 fatty acids found in sunflower oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, corn oil and margarine, to name a few sources.  Not only are these oils prone to oxidation but they also have pro-inflammatory properties that contribute to many new-world illnesses.  Instead, the Paleo diet endorses consumption of saturated fat containing products such as coconut oil, butter and ghee, and monounsaturated fatty acids such as Olive oil and avocados.  Most people are well acquainted with the health benefits of Olive oil and avocados but I was not aware of the fact that the medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil are the easiest fats to digest or that the conjugated linoleic acids found in butter and ghee have anti-cancer properties.

 

Finally, while dairy is excluded from the Paleo diet, the consumption of full-fat, grass-fed dairy is acceptable for those who do not suffer dairy intolerance (owing to an inability to digest lactose, whey or casein). 

 

Further details on a Paleo diet can be found at these sites:

http://www.thepaleomom.com/paleo-diet

http://paleoleap.com/

Fitness Trackers

My Favorite Wearable Device

So, my assessment of Fitness Trackers was consistent with the opinion of the experts. After a thorough evaluation, for a presentation at the YMCA, my top pick was the Misfit Shine.  This device can be worn like a watch or pendant and is battery-powered so does not need to be charged every 3-4 days.  I lost so much data with trackers that need to be regularly charged, and the devices without a secure clasp would fall off in the middle of the night, anyway. Best part for me?  The Misfit is water proof so the three-axis accelerometer can track my pool workouts along with just about any other activity you can think of (not true for other devices). Other perks-It functions like a real watch, and the LED lights on the face reflect your daily activity goals.  It helps that the wrist band comes in a variety of attractive colors but I am disappointed that it does not track heart rate. For the truly committed you'll be happy to know that it is compatible with just about every Smart phone and computer and syncs with fitness apps such as Myfitnesspal.