Two Sides of “Together”

Part of the reason it’s hard to change your diet is that food in our culture (and most others, for that matter!) is such a communal activity. Sunday dinners with grandma. Christmas dinner with the whole extended family. Your first date at an Italian restaurant. Even at the office, people tend to congregate… that’s why we have something called “the lunchroom.”

All of which is fantastic! It’s a pillar of tradition, of how we do life together.

But when you’re making big dietary changes and no one else around has made that decision for themselves, it can be difficult not to stand out. Not to have them look at you a little funny. Not to have them question what you’re doing.

Another big part of this difficulty draws directly from human nature. When we see one person making a big life change in our group, our natural response is, first and foremost, suspicion. People tend to look at their own habits and get a little defensive.

Like, “Who are you to say that there’s something wrong with the way I’m living my life, including the food I’m eating?”

As humans, we want change. But, we also want that change on our own terms. And when someone within the group makes a change, it can be seen as a direct criticism of the group itself.

It’s a natural response. A human response.

And here’s the thing…

It’s going to happen.

Preparation is key

That’s the first thing to know when you’re making a big change. You are, one hundred percent of the time, going to get some degree of blowback from your friends, family, or co-workers.

Going into those situations with your mind in the right place will allow you to stick to your plan and also diffuse most of the conflict that might arise.

The other side of the coin, though, is that you can’t get healthy alone. You need a supportive community around you, pushing you forward, living through the journey with you.

Find a community that has your best interest in mind, people who can guide you. It’s key to your success.

The post How to Handle Resistance When You’re Making Positive Changes appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

The Why

For example, a lot of what we eat doesn’t come from a place of nutrition. Instead, what we eat tends to have a lot to do with how we feel.

When we’re happy, we eat a brownie.

When we’re sad, we reach for the whole tray of brownies.

It doesn’t matter if we’re hungry or not. We eat. And a lot of people (and I used to be this way, so don’t accuse me of getting preachy on you) just eat out of simple boredom.

A brownie, for most of us, is often legitimately just something to do.

Being mindful about WHY you eat, on the other hand, puts the nutritional factorial back into the equation. If you are upset and start reaching into the snack cabinet, take a breath, and ask yourself: why?

The Power of Habit

Eating mindfully is one of those habits that can make a big difference very quickly. Honestly, most of our program members come in never having given a second of thought as to WHY they eat what they eat. And once those roots are uncovered, you can see the revelation almost visibly on their faces.

And this principle is never so powerful than during times when you’ve fallen off the wagon. If you go to a party and eat something you shouldn’t, ask yourself, “Why?” Why did you eat that? Did you intend on eating that thing the whole time on the drive there? Or did something specific trigger the urge to break your diet? How much of it had to do with who you with? Or was it for another reason?

Whatever that reason is, use the little failures as bricks, one by one, to build your huge successes. Again, it gets back to one of life’s most important lessons…

It’s never about perfection.

No, it’s always about progress.

And you can’t have progress without little hiccups on the way. When you’ve fallen off, take a moment to find the reason behind the fall, dust yourself off, and then climb right back onto that wagon.

After all, you have an amazing journey ahead of you!

The post Why Falling Off the Wagon Can Actually be a Good Thing appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

1. Ask your existing friends

Often the best place for starting your search for a community is within the social circles you already revolve inside. For some people, this is incredibly easy. For others, it may not be.

But if you seek out friends and ask for their support and tell them, “Hey, I’m starting to take back my health and I’d love if you could support me,” very few true friends are going to turn you down. The key is to be open, honest, and to let them know “why” you’re taking these steps.

Another tack is to invite them to join you. Accountability groups can be an effective way to grow as a community and also replace those bad habits with good ones. Plus, it’s easier to move ahead as a group, helping and supporting each other, than it is to go it all by your lonesome.

2. Facebook groups

Now that a significant amount of our communication happens online, Facebook groups have come to be convenient ways to find niche communities. This holds for groups dedicated to plant-based nutritional support as well. While certainly not as intimate as meeting in real life, for many people who can’t find a supportive community around them, Facebook groups might be a good option.

There are two key points to keep in mind here.

First, make sure the group is truly focused on holistic, plant-based nutrition. If the group appears to promote one or a number of fad diets, keep searching. Same thing for any group that seems to be peddling certain products or that tries to get you to sign up to sell things yourself. You’re smart, so do your due diligence.

The second key is to find one that is truly supportive. Nutrition is one thing. A very important thing. But there are a number of other elements that are key to your health, and toxicity isn’t one of them.

3. Join our program

Want a guarantee that you’ll be surrounded by people who care about and support you, while also providing a nutritional and wellness plan that fits your unique needs and lifestyle?

If so, then our Healthful Evolutions program may be just the place for you.

We provide a plan and process that takes you from wherever you are now in your health journey and move you, step-by-step, towards ever-increasing levels of health.

The simple truth is this…

We know what works. We know what steps to take to get you healthy and live your best life. And we surround you with a caring team of staff and members who are taking the same journey you are.

Also, our program is designed to work within your current life. No retreats, no weekends spent somewhere outside your home. It’s all about habits, and those new healthy habits need to happen within the scope of your day-to-day existence. And, again, it also needs to happen within a supportive community.

So, no matter how you find your community, I hope this at least gives you a good start. The key, of course, is to find a community that loves and supports you in your journey forward toward complete wellness and true happiness!

The post 3 Ways to Develop a Supportive Community to Help You Get Healthy appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

So, WHAT does the Wellness Training Institute do? Hard question. The best way I can describe it is by telling you WHO we are.

One of the things I hear the most often from both our program members and those who attend our Wellness Dinner Seminars is that they’re startled at how happy everyone is.

Which, is great!

It’s also true!

Our members are happy. So, the next question is: Why?

There are two main reasons.

First, our team is happy. They’re fantastic at their jobs and living into their purpose. Each of us loves helping others reach their health goals. We love guiding people out of sickness and disease all the way to health. We love seeing the transformations that happen on a daily basis within our community. And why? Because we’ve all been there.

Second, and maybe more important, is that our programs work.

After all, it’s hard to be happy when you’re sick, depressed, and on a laundry list of prescription meds. Feeling terrible is no fun.

It’s a sad fact that a lot of program members, past and present, didn’t even know they felt terrible when they first stepped through our doors. Before the program, they just thought being sick, broken, and exhausted were the norm. They thought it was their fate. They thought that feeling terrible was just what happens as you age.

But as they begin to build habits that promote life and happiness, they soon realize what “good” really feels like… even what great is. Your body, when you give it what it needs, naturally begins to repair itself. Knowing what to eat—and why—gives you peace of mind. You’re able to confidently create the life you want. You’re no longer a slave to all the things that are slowly killing you.

And once you know not just what it feels like to feel good but also why you feel that way, happiness just naturally follows. Our members understand that the work they put into taking back their health serves a higher purpose than themselves. It might be so that they’re around for their kids or grandkids. It might be because they want to travel. It might be because they want to volunteer.

That higher purpose is different for everyone. But our members are happy because they understand what it means to them.

Happiness is kind of weird. We think of it as a destination, but it’s usually actually found in the process of working your way to where you want to be. What our program offers, maybe above everything else, is a map for that journey. Everyone’s path forward is going to look different, but what we’re great at is charting the way to that destination.

There’s also something to be said for how our expectations shape our happiness. If you come to us looking to lose 50 pounds by next week or want a magic bullet solution to your health issues, you’re going to leave disappointed. We’re in the sustainability business. Changing the trajectory of your health—and your life—is a long process. It’s simple, but it’s not easy. It requires that higher purpose to help drive you through the tough parts. If you’re overweight, have type 2 diabetes, and rarely leave your spot on the couch, that didn’t happen overnight.

Likewise, reversing those issues doesn’t happen with the snap of your fingers.

It takes work. It takes time. It takes a community. It takes building new habits that push out the old, bad ones.

But I can make you a promise. In that journey, you’ll find happiness. You just have to start… and then stick with it.

And we’d love to guide you along the way!

The post Why We Have So Many Happy People in Our Programs appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

January 3, 2018

Is this simple habit missing from your health?

 Welcome to Part 4 of our Health Kickstart series. Watch or Read Part 1: Frame Your Day here, Part 2: Speed Up here, or Part 3: Slow Down here.

This series is designed for people who want to get healthy… but just can’t seem to get any traction. Sometimes getting started is the hardest part. So, the goal here is to give you a step by step plan to do just that. Each part of the series will give you a small and easy action to take each day. Before long, if you stick with it, the steps within this plan will make a big impact on your long-term health.

Watch Part 5 Now!

Or, read more below…

Health doesn’t happen in a vacuum. In my experience, in fact, it’s hard to get healthy alone. You need support. You need love and encouragement.

You need others.

You need a community.

So, in this phase of the plan, we’re going to CONNECT.

Choose one of the following and spend five meaningful minutes on it each day this week.

1. Tell Three People You Love Them Today

This seems simple, but it can be a powerful exercise.

Pro tip: Maybe make sure the people you tell are people that you actually know. Strangers’ responses may vary. 🙂

Happy people are social people. Reach out and give some love today.

2. Call a Friend or Family Member

Ring someone up and just express how much they mean to you.

If that feels like something that might be hard for you to do (calling out of the blue might seem a little daunting for some), then just be mindful about doing it the next time you talk to someone you know. Let them know you appreciate them. People love to be loved and appreciated. Building this habit can go a long way in creating a happy life.

3. Pay It Forward

This exercise can be as grand—or as small—as you’d like. The next time you’re going through a toll booth, for example, pay for the car behind you. Or, buy a coffee for the person behind you in line at Starbucks.

Or, just look for an opportunity to do a random act of kindness. The thing about looking for these opportunities is that I can guarantee you’ll find them. You just have to look.

The key here, no matter which one you choose, is to be intentional about it. Look for opportunities to better someone else’s life. Even if it’s just a smile for a stranger, sometimes something small can go a long way.

[Want to learn more about how to build a support system that will propel you through your health journey? Download our FREE guide right here, right now!]

Listen to Part 4 here:

The post Health KickStart Series #4: Connect appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

October 10, 2017

The most important question you can ask for your health is a very simple one…

“Energy,” especially when it comes to the body, is one of those topics that get pretty hippy-dippy pretty quickly, depending on who’s explaining it to you.

But take a step back for a moment and think. What causes you to move throughout the day? How does your brain communicate things to the rest of your body? How do your muscles move?

The answer? Energy. Electrical energy, in fact.

Are you ready to lose weight… FOR GOOD? Register for our FREE Wellness Dinner Seminar and learn how here.

If you remember back to seventh-grade science, energy exists in two states. Potential energy is the energy that’s stored up. It’s not doing much of anything except sitting there. Kinetic energy, however, is the energy that is in motion. It’s the life force that powers everything from the miraculous microbes in your gut to the distant stars growing in strength and brightness by the moment.

THE MEANING OF LIFE

Philosophers have been at work for centuries attempting to figure out the meaning of life. And while that’s still an open question, I’m convinced that energy factors into it. Namely, we’re supposed to tap into our kinetic energy and, well, move.

If you take a look at the diabetes and obesity epidemics in our country, you see a lot of potential energy. A lot of stagnation, and very little growth and change (apart from our waistlines, which, c’mon, that doesn’t count.)

Growth is one of the six basic human needs (along with, according to Tony Robbins, Certainty, Variety, Significance, Love and Connection, and Contribution.)

And growth is just another example of kinetic energy.

We are designed to change. To grow. To become wiser, healthier, better.

We’re not designed just to sit back and let the world happen to us. That’s a recipe, quite literally, for disease. For death.

So, you have a choice. We all have a choice. We can continue to commit slow suicide by eating the junk we’ve always eaten, spend our time avoiding the problems that come standard with each human life, to exist in toxic relationships with those around us, and keep remaining in a state of potential energy.

It’s Newton’s first law of motion. Whatever state of motion (or lack thereof) you’re in will continue until something pushes it in a different direction.

And honestly, I see the consequences of remaining in this state of stagnation every single day. It doesn’t end well.

But, again, Newton gives us the key. Allow that other force to move you towards growth and change, and you’ll find health and happiness.

What’s Your “Why”?

And what’s that other force? What’s your “why” for getting healthy and staying that way?

For some, it’s knowing that your loved ones need you. For others it’s waking up one morning and deciding that enough is enough and it’s time to live. For some that “why” reveals itself when they catch a clear, terrifying vision of the future if they continue to stay the same.

Any of these reasons are perfectly valid for deciding to change your life and seize happiness.

Watch a video on choosing life each moment of every day below!

Or listen here…

The post Kinetic Energy and the Meaning of Life appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

October 6, 2017

The simple truth is this: Happiness is a choice. And your health depends on how you choose. [Watch the video version of this post right here!]

Very few people set out in their lives to be miserable. There are exceptions to every rule, but in general, people would choose to be happy over being unhappy.

So, it’s surprising that so many people in this world are just so miserable. It’s amazing. I’m fairly confident that you could walk into any random fast food restaurant anywhere, and find no small percentage of people currently there actively hating their lives.

I’m not talking about real tragedies. There’s real pain in the world, and I’m not being dismissive of that in any way.

Are you ready to lose weight… FOR GOOD? Register for our FREE Wellness Dinner Seminar and learn how here.

I’m talking about the difference between miserable, toxic grumps and people that just radiate with a love of life that attracts others toward them. Because you could be either one.

Here are five habits to build to put—and keep—you on the positive, happy side of the equation.

It’s a Choice

Happiness isn’t some state of being. It’s also not something that you just have or don’t have.

Instead, it’s all about perspectives.

For example: Let’s say someone cuts you off in morning traffic, causing you to crash into a ditch. You have a choice between two equal but opposite reactions to that situation once the adrenaline dies down. You can spend the rest of the day fixating on the jerk who caused the accident. On how you’re now going to be without a vehicle for the next week. On how you’d like to give him a piece of your mind because your insurance rates are going to skyrocket now, all thanks to that little so-and-so who needs to go back to driving school…

Or, you can look around, take a deep breath, and be thankful that a ditch stopped your forward momentum instead of, say, a 100-foot drop or a group of kindergarteners.

Same event, two very different responses. It’s your choice.

Gratitude

Being thankful for things makes you healthier. Psychologically, sure. But also, physically. Science says so.

The best way to build a habit of gratitude is starting one of these.

Being grateful makes you happier. Why? There are a lot of theories, but most distill it into the fact that when you feel thankful for something, you understand on a molecular level that you weren’t the first cause. It was something or someone who provided that for you.

So, you feel a little bit of psychic debt. Not in a bad way, of course, but it takes your eyes and pulls it away from your own naval and shifts your gaze—your attention—out into the world. Away from yourself. Toward the rest of the universe. And, for whatever reason, that makes us feel small, but also amazingly vital. And safe. And that’s the nature of happiness, I think. Knowing who you are, understanding your limits, but also understanding that you are part of something way bigger than yourself. Something amazing. Something that pulls you closer to every past, present, and future soul on earth.

Surround Yourself With Positive People

I’ve mentioned this in earlier blogs, but it still holds true. Your mom was right: Be careful who you befriend.

The science is clear on this: Positivity and negativity are contagious.

Hang out with a bunch of angry bums, and you’ll assimilate. Hang out with people who are positive, supportive, and who love life, and you’re more likely than not to catch a serious case of the smiles.

Happy people don’t hang out with unhappy people. At least not by choice. And even then, not for long.

Don’t Live Your Life Out of Fear

This one is a hard for some people. I realize that. It’s easier for some of us to maintain a defensive stance toward life, to react to what comes at us and pivot where needed after the attack has come.

But, I will say that you can learn to shed the fear and move instead toward a braver, more proactive attitude towards the challenges of life.

When I first opened my cardiology practice, I’ll admit that most of the decisions I made were in response to the image of my lawyer sitting on my shoulder shaking his head and admonishing me to make sure I didn’t get sued. That was my main fear at the time. Sure, I wanted to help people. But if you get sued for a trillion dollars, not only is that a bad thing for you as doctor personally, it’s also bad for your current or prospective clients.

It took some time, but as I kind of let go a little and trusted my knowledge and experience—along with my heart of hearts—I was able to shift that focus from fear of losing my practice to digging in and proactively working to help my patients, no matter what that might involve.

And, oh yeah: I was tons happier for it.

There’s Enough Happiness for Everyone

Happiness is not a zero-sum game. Meaning that your happiness never has to interfere with someone else’s ability to be happy. (And if it doesn’t, I would question if what you’re pursuing is happiness at all and not something more destructive.) This idea is even more important now, I think, given the current political and social climate.

Happiness, because it’s a chosen state of being, never infringes. Everyone can potentially be happy, and no one would be left out in the dark.

GETTING STARTED

These are five great places to start. Again, all of it starts with the first one. Happiness isn’t something you achieve. It’s not the other thing on the other side of a winning lotto ticket. It doesn’t live solely in the world of your next job promotion. No, it’s the journey itself. It’s something you choose. It’s a lens you use to view the world. Happiness is a choice.

Sure, bad things happen. But that should just make the great stuff all that much better.

So, you have a choice today—and every day forward. What’s it going to be?

Watch more…

Watch this next…

Or listen below!

The post 5 Habits for Happiness appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

August 17, 2017

Here’s a simple recipe for lasting happiness.

Life can be hard. We deal with a wide range of emotions each day. Some days are better than others, but that doesn’t mean we have to be miserable.

Just the opposite, in fact!

Happiness is a choice. Even if your day is going horribly wrong, you can still shift your focus and remain positive.

Here are a few ideas for how you can get your mind headed in the right direction.

1. Spend 5 minutes with a favorite memory.

Find a few quiet minutes and think about a favorite memory.

Maybe it’s from your childhood. Or maybe it’s a time you spent with someone you love. Or maybe it’s the time you unexpectedly discovered something beautiful and inspirational.

Whatever it is, immerse yourself in it. What does the air smell like? What does the light look like? What else is going on around you? How did you feel right then? Consider how it felt to be you in that moment.

Relish it. Hold it in your hands like a smooth stone.

2. Text a friend something encouraging

It’s a scientific fact that doing things for others is the quickest and easiest way to make yourself happy.
So, take a moment and text something nice to a friend. Maybe she needs some encouragement. Or, maybe, she just needs to know that she’s not alone.
Whatever the friend, whatever the situation, whip out your phone and send some love.

3. Be Someone’s Superhero

Another surefire way to get a jolt of happiness is to look around and find someone who needs some help.
This doesn’t have to be a grand gesture. Donating a kidney to a co-worker, for instance, is probably going overboard.
Just look around and you’re pretty much guaranteed to find at least someone who could use a hand. Namely, yours.

To be happy, you need to be healthy. Download our free step-by-step guide to getting healthy… and staying that way! Click here to download The 7 Habits of Highly Healthful People NOW!

4. Ring ‘Em Up

In our busy lives, it’s pretty easy to let a few relationships sort of fall between the cracks. So, let’s remedy that.
Think of a friend you haven’t chatted with for a while, and give her a call.
A good chunk of our happiness quotient is dependent upon how we approach our relationships with others.
And ringing up an old pal is a great way to boost your mood.

5. Gametime

Next time you’re around little kids, watch them play. They play with their whole selves. And they’re happy for it.
When you’re a kid, fun is king. So even when something isn’t fun, they make a game out of it.
Bored in church? Then build something out of the hymnals. Stuck inside on a rainy day without television? No problem: Just take out all the pots and pans from that drawer under the oven and hide in there until someone finds you!

The possibilities for what kids will come up with to defeat boredom is spectacular. It’s cosmic, even.

But we as adults lose a lot of that. Daily pressures, responsibilities, hectic schedules…. the world saps the child out of us over time.

But, here’s the thing…

It doesn’t have to!

Try thinking like a kid for an afternoon and see how your outlook changes.

Even if you’ve lost some of your imaginative capacity, I guarantee you’ll feel better just by trying to remember what it was like to be a kid.

It’s Your Choice

There are hundreds of other little tricks you can use to get your positivity back. I’m sure you could come up with an even better list than this one. But, the moral here is simple: Misery is chosen. Grumpy people, by and large, have decided to be that way. Again, bad stuff happens. It’s part of life. A necessary part, in fact. (The world renown monk Thich Nhat Hanh titled one of his books “No Mud, No Lotus,” which pretty much sums up everything that comes after.)

But you choose your happiness. It’s your life, and you can make it as enjoyable as you want.

The post A Recipe for Happiness appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

August 1, 2017

Want to make sure that you’ll never, ever be happy?
Here are three proven techniques for getting miserable… and staying that way!

1. Compare Yourself to Others

Social media platforms like Facebook are great in a lot of ways. You can keep in contact with friends and family members, no matter where in the world you are. You can get advice, or help, or just dig into what other people are doing.
But, there’s a danger in sites like Facebook. Namely, it’s the idea that what people post is actually TRUE.

Because in a lot of ways, it’s not.

People tend to put their best selves forward on social media. They tend to portray their lives as sunnier, livelier, and overwhelmingly BETTER than they actually are.

So, it’s very easy to spend hours upon hours in your social feed and come away with the perception that the lives of your friends and family members are much healthier, happier, and just plain better than yours.

This happens outside of Facebook as well, of course, but as an example, it’s a potent one.

One of the reasons this need to compare ourselves to others is such a powerful drive is because, as Americans, being the “best” at something is sort of built right into the foundation of our culture. It’s a cornerstone of the “American Dream.”

But as far as causing yourself untold misery, comparing yourself to others is one of the simplest, most effective tools you’ll ever get your hands on.

To be happy, you need to be healthy. Download our free step-by-step guide to getting healthy… and staying that way! Click to download The 7 Habits of Highly Healthful People NOW!

2. Isolate Yourself

Another great way to cement your status as an eternal curmudgeon is to spend most of your time alone.
And thanks to the technological advances over the last few decades in our culture, doing so has become increasingly easy to do.
In 1985, only 10% of the population reported that they had no social support—no one to confide in, lean on, go to for support.

By 2010, that percentage had jumped to 25%.

Meaning: A quarter of the population has absolutely zero social support.

Which, of course, is a big problem. Because as humans, we’re wired to be a member of a tribe. Our ancestors spent most of their lives together—hunting, gathering, and generally living lives built on cooperation.

So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when you take that support away, people are going to experience some serious negative consequences.

Listen now… How to view your diet for a life of true happiness!

3. Get Bitter

Disappointment abounds in our lives. We experience it every day. It’s just part of what it means to be human.
But, one of the best ways to be unhappy is to take all those small disappointments, gather them inside yourself, and let them harden into an ever-growing pile of bitterness.
Because, here’s the deal with bitterness…

It’s a cycle. And it’s also a habit. A self-perpetuating habit, in fact.

Because one little pocket of bitterness in your soul is going to get lonely. So, when that next small disappointment comes along, it’s going to attract more and more negativity like a magnet.

If gratitude is one of the key secrets to happiness, then bitterness is its polar opposite.

And it doesn’t need much to get started. We just need to decide to hold on to a few minor grievances, and nature will take it from there.

WATCH NOW: Here’s how to lose weight… and keep it off! 

The post 3 Ways to Guarantee You’ll be Unhappy for Your Entire, Miserable Life appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

September 30, 2016

“For he who has health has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.”– Owen Arthur

The hardest part about getting healthy is, for a lot of people, knowing where to start.

And the hardest part of knowing where to start is the fact that every time you look into some health tip, you find a countering opinion. You have so much information at your finger tips— Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Youtube, Pintrest— but what is true? What will work? So, you start researching, hoping that you’ll find the right information to get you started.

But instead of finding a solution, all you find is information.

And there is A LOT of it. Much of which contradicts itself.

For example: Bananas are good. Also, they are bad.

Or: An apple a day keeps the doctor away… or does it?

Or: Grains are good. But they are also the opposite of good.

Or: Fats make you fat. And… they make you thin.

It’s enough to make your head explode.

And that’s just the beginning of the pain a solo journey down the path toward wellness is going to bring you.

Not to add to your confusion unnecessarily, but here are a number of other obstacles you are probably going to encounter in just trying to figure out where to even begin.

Want more great information about the foundations of a healthy life? Download the first installment of our NEW 7-part eBook series The 7 Habits of Highly Healthful People for FREE right now, right HERE!

Labels

Labels are hard to read. (And that’s not by mistake.) So, even if you’re attempting to begin eating better by choosing low-fat or reduced-sodium processed foods (don’t do this, btw), you’re still fighting an uphill battle with information.

For example, look at this label for cornmeal:

All of that seems pretty okay, right? You have corn, the word “whole grain” (which is supposed to be good, right?), a little plant oil, some salt, and then… what is this TBHQ business?

Well, the answer to that question is this: TBHQ (or Tertiary Butylhydroquinone) is a petroleum-based preservative. It’s there to lengthen the shelf life of the cornmeal. It also increases your risk of cancer. It’s also a neurotoxin. And, oh yeah, consuming more than five grams of it at one time may possibly kill you outright.

And that’s just one example. Figuring out what you’re actually eating when you choose processed foods—even the ones that claim they’re good for you!—is almost impossible without at least a doctorate in biochemical engineering.

Marketing

When was the last time you saw a commercial for a vegetable?

Probably never.

And there’s a very simple reason for that: Vegetables aren’t good business in the same way that soft drinks or breakfast cereal are. The reason why is because vegetables can’t sit on a shelf for months at a time in the market, don’t offer very good margins for the corporations themselves, and aren’t filled with addictive substances designed specifically to get you to buy more and more (and more) of them.

Advertisers know this. And so, they aren’t going to waste their time trying to get you to consume them.

Which is why it’s so hard to try to eat healthy. You are constantly bombarded with messaging telling you to eat things that will eventually kill you. And even if you know this, it’s still so hard to fight against that level of psychological warfare.

When you’re a single target, it’s hard to keep from getting shot up with arrows at every turn.

Everyone Else is Eating Junk

This is probably one of the most powerful adversaries you have when attempting to fly solo on your health journey. By nature, humans are communal when it comes to food. Sunday dinners with grandma. First dates out at an Italian bistro. Thanksgiving dinner.

We eat together.

So, when you drive past a McDonalds at noon on a Tuesday and the parking lot is filled beyond capacity, it’s easy to sort of make up your mind that yeah, McDonalds is terrible for you, but still… everyone else is doing it.

In working with our members at the Wellness Training Institute, this issue of community is far and away the biggest hurdle we have to tackle. So many of our members come into the program attempting to get healthy, but have little to no support back home with their friends and family. Misery loves company, and that applies to food as much as it does to anything else.

For all the reasons I gave above why getting healthy alone is such a hard—if not impossible—task, this one is probably the most revealing why.

I’ve had countless members come to me, right before they graduate, and say how they never would’ve accomplished their wellness goals if it hadn’t been for the community they found in our Healthful Evolutions program. They found the necessary support with the other members of the program—people with similar goals, encouraging and celebrating with each other—that they didn’t have back in their regular lives.

That’s really the moral of the story. You can’t go it alone. If you want to get healthy, you have to surround yourself with others who want the same thing—both for themselves and, just as importantly, for you.

So… where are you on your health journey? What are your goals? What are your struggles? Share them below in the comments!

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