The Model Health Show

Morning routine versus an evening routine… which one is more important?

Experts all over the world have been touting the benefits of having a strong morning routine if you want to be successful. The early bird get the worm, right?!

So, whether you’re into eating worms or not (I did see a kid do it when I was in elementary school) I think you’ll discover today that success isn’t about what you do in the morning, it’s really about what you do the night before.

You’re about to discover some mind-blowing science that links a consistent, smart evening routine with improved heart health, better brain function, protection against unwanted weight gain, and an overall better quality of life.

Some of the things you’ll learn today will stick with you for a lifetime. I’m sure of it. And the best news is that taking advantage of these benefits does not require you to makeover your entire life (let me hear all of my night owls let out a collective, “Whooo Whooo!”). It’s simply the small things that you can add in or adjust that can generate some big changes. So, click play, enjoy, and take advantage of the tips that speak to you!

In this episode you'll discover:

  • The dangers and benefits of taking a melatonin supplement.
  • Why sleep is like a crap-shoot for many people every night.
  • What the science says about evening routines and children’s sleep.
  • Why practice does not make perfect.
  • What happens in our brains when we do something consistently.
  • What the 4 stages of learning are.
  • How processes become automated in our brains and bodies.
  • The part of the brain responsible for habit formation.
  • How to create a habit loop.
  • The part of creating a “positive habit” that many people leave out.
  • What it means to have social jet lag.
  • Why it’s critical to understand our biological rhythms.
  • How staying up later on the weekends can affect your body weight.
  • How melatonin and cortisol compete to shape your body.
  • What short-term sleep deprivation can do to your testosterone.
  • How daylight savings time influences heart attacks (this is nuts!).
  • What an optimal evening routine looks like.
  • The problems that tech devices create with our sleep (and how to overcome them).
  • How to use specific bodywork to wind down and improve sleep quality.
  • Which mineral helps to optimize sleep cycles and naturally boost melatonin.

Items mentioned in this episode include:

Download The Transcript

Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Model Health Show. If you haven’t done so already, please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts by clicking on the link below. It will help us to keep delivering life-changing information for you every week!

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I thought that it was too late for me. I thought that too much time had passed…

For two and a half years I was in pain as my spine was essentially falling apart. Two herniated discs, advanced degeneration, and a disease prognosis that gave me no hope of recovery.

Leading up to the day that I finally decided to make some changes and do something about it, this profound sense of hopelessness came over me. I thought to myself, “Too much time has passed. If my body was going to get any better it would’ve happened by now.” I was giving myself an out before I even started. But, fortunately I woke up and gave my body a chance.

The funny thing was actually witnessing how quickly my body turned things around. My body was wanting all along to restore vibrant health, but I was fighting against it. All I needed to do was give my body the right conditions to do what it already knows how to do. Our bodies are designed to heal. Our bodies are designed to thrive.

But what about the case of an autoimmune disease? Isn’t your body fighting against you this time? Well, not exactly. In the case of many autoimmune diseases, your body thinks that it’s actually helping you by attacking your tissues. It’s friendly fire. But, why in the world would it do that?

That’s what Dr. Terry Wahls was struggling to understand when multiple sclerosis left her wheelchair-bound and slowly watching her life slip away. Years went by for her as well. But, fortunately, she didn’t give up. And her story, which you’re going to hear today, is absolutely incredible!

Dr. Wahls' protocol has enabled tens of thousands of people all over the world to put their MS or autoimmune diseases into remission. The principles in how she was able to make this happen are bundled up for you right here, and I’m beyond grateful to be able to share it with you.

As you may know from my story, I had a complete reversal of the spinal and bone disease, and better health than I could’ve ever imagined. But there are countless stories of transformations like this, and Dr. Wahls' is one of them. I want you to know that no matter how long you’ve been struggling in your health, there is always an opportunity for you to turn things around. Hopefully Dr. Wahls' protocol will provide you with some tools and inspiration to help make it happen. Enjoy!

In this episode you'll discover:

  • How magnesium deeply impacts sleep quality.
  • How multiple sclerosis (MS) invaded Dr. Wahls’ life leaving her debilitated and struggling with chronic pain.
  • What enabled Dr. Wahls to go from wheelchair bound to full, energetic function (she can now go on an 18 mile bike ride just for fun!)
  • How to enable hope to reemerge in your life.
  • What the underlying cause behind MS is.
  • The severe problems with the way conventional medicine treats MS.
  • What roles genetics plays in developing MS.
  • How myelin is related to MS and the important function it plays for overall health.
  • How to improve the performance of myelin through exercise.
  • Which essential nutrients are crucial for creating and supporting myelin.
  • How cholesterol lowering drugs can contribute to complications with MS.
  • Which key hormones your body creates through the modification of cholesterol.
  • How sun exposure is intimately related to MS.
  • The shocking number of genes that are influenced by vitamin D.
  • Why sunscreen might be more problematic than beneficial.
  • The incredible way that our microbiome and gut health influence MS.
  • Why Dr. Wahls had affordability and simplicity in mind when she created her cookbook.
  • How stress and unresolved conflict can wreak havoc on your health.
  • Whether or not The Wahls Protocol can be effective in treating other autoimmune diseases besides MS.

Items mentioned in this episode include:

Download The Transcript

Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Model Health Show. If you haven’t done so already, please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts by clicking on the link below. It will help us to keep delivering life-changing information for you every week!

Click Here to Subscribe via Apple Podcasts

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Are your food choices really determined by you?

In a way, yes. You are the one that has full responsibility of driving that body of yours around. But in another way, no. If you look a little closer, you’ll see that the roads you have been driving on were set up in a way that makes your decisions less conscious… robotic even. Your vehicle (that amazing body of yours) has been wired to eat in a certain way. And you’re probably not the one who did the initial wiring.

If this brings to mind the scene in The Matrix where Neo wakes up all covered in goo, and hooked to wires that have been draining his life-force, then good. That was such an awesome scene. I’m not talking about that kind of wiring though.

I’m talking about the internal wiring. How your brain and nervous system are wired up to automate behaviors. Believe it or not, you don’t come here with a lot of advanced programming set up. Sure, you have all the basics: eating, crying, laughing, pooping (oh, how many diapers I’ve changed!). You don’t have to work very hard to do those things. But, and this is a big but, what you are fed, what you cry about, what you laugh about, and what you are pooping out can be very different depending on how you’re programmed. And that’s where your wake up call is going to begin.

Recently we are realizing far more that it’s not so much that diseases are inherited. Sure, we can carry genes for an array of chronic illnesses from our parents. However, research is finding that over 80% percent of those genes are largely under our control (specifically under the control of our lifestyle choices). So, again, it’s not so much that diseases are inherited, but our family’s cookbooks and eating habits are inherited. And that’s how we initially get wired to eat.

Today New York Times bestselling author (and modern day superhero) Robb Wolf is on the show to talk about some of this internal wiring. Most importantly, he’s got the tools, insights, and strategies to reprogram yourself to make the food decisions that really serve you. Plus, he’s going to show you how the variety and enjoyment from food in your life can be personalized. This is vital stuff, so click play, climb out of the mental goo, and enjoy!

In this episode you'll discover:

  • Which unique foods are proven to enhance stem cell genesis.
  • What enabled Robb to go from chronic illness (and potential removal of part of his intestines) to remarkable health and fitness in just a matter of months.
  • How Robb opened up the very first Crossfit Affiliate gym in the country.
  • Why your environment matters just as much as your diet.
  • The chronic family health issue that inspired Robb to test out a Paleo-type diet.
  • What neuroregulation of appetite is.
  • Why some people are better off eating a cookie than a banana (wait, what?).
  • How professional eating competitors hack their appetite.
  • What vanishing calories and hyperpalatable foods are.
  • Why gut bacteria needs to be considered with our food choices.
  • What personalized nutrition is and why it’s important.
  • How to intelligently alter meals so that everyone in the family eats what’s best for them.
  • Surprising insights about kid’s eating habits for parents who want their kids to eat healthy.
  • The vast benefits and potential pitfalls with a ketogenic diet.
  • How community and relationships play a powerful role in health and wellness.

Items mentioned in this episode include:

Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Model Health Show. If you haven’t done so already, please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts by clicking on the link below. It will help us to keep delivering life-changing information for you every week!

Click Here to Subscribe via Apple Podcasts

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Direct download: 214-Hijacking_Our_Appetite_And_Being_Wired_To_Eat_-_With_Robb_Wolf.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:29pm PDT

Before you have a physical transformation, you must first have a mental transformation.

All change begins in our mind. So, change your mind and change your life. It sounds pretty simple, right? But trying to change your mind can be like an American Ninja Warrior obstacle course. There are barriers, pitfalls, and outlandish obstacles scattered throughout the process. Real change, lasting change, is really about being prepared to navigate these obstacles. In fact, there may be nothing more important on your path to success than becoming skilled at moving past the curveballs that life throws at you.

In this episode we’re going to detail the 4 barriers to breakthrough when changing your body and your life. Often times these barriers can be hiding in plain sight, sabotaging your progress. Today we’re going to bring these things to light and, most importantly, provide you with tools and insights to blast through these barriers with a vengeance.

In this episode you'll discover:

  • Why your gut microbiome is very much like a rain forest.
  • Why knowing what to do to be healthy doesn’t matter very much.
  • How putting things off can slow down huge progress in your life.
  • How Lil Jon helped Jade overcome her hesitation (yeaaaaah!).
  • Why our survival needs and lethargy are intimately connected.
  • When you can get a permission slip for laziness.
  • Why it’s important to link your movement and exercise to something bigger.
  • Why time management is a misnomer.
  • How our devices can separate us from someone important.
  • How social media creates a hormonal soup in your brain.
  • The difficult thing that all successful people face (but they consistently defeat it).
  • How our self-esteem controls our performance.
  • 5 vital tips to overcome self-doubt.

Items mentioned in this episode include:

Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Model Health Show. If you haven’t done so already, please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts by clicking on the link below. It will help us to keep delivering life-changing information for you every week!

Click Here to Subscribe via Apple Podcasts

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I remember playing the hot potato game when I was a little kid. The music plays, and the “hot potato” (usually a tiny beanbag) is passed around by kids in a circle. When the music stops, if you’re the unlucky one holding the potato, you’re out! The potato makes you lose.

Well, maybe that silly (and fun!) kids game was onto something. According to our guest today, if you get caught with the potato in your hand (specifically a sweet potato) then you will lose yet again… but this time the loss is in body fat.

Michael Morelli is an absolute superstar in the fitness space. With over 4 million followers and fans on his social media platforms, he’s one of the strongest voices in the health movement today. This guy is super fit, and he’s helped thousands of other people get super fit. One of the tools of the trade: The Sweet Potato Diet. It’s a real food, intelligent carb-cycling approach that just flat-out gets results.

As you’ll discover today, carb-cycling is a valuable tool that’s heavily underutilized because major media hasn’t been talking enough about it. In truth, it’s a way of eating that we’ve evolved with in many ways. Naturally we’d have periods of overfeeding, underfeeding, and basic maintenance. It would be a shift in calories and in food type. Our ratios of macronutrients (the carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) would shift much more frequently than the cookie-cutter, same-old-same-old way we tend to eat today. To tap into a way of eating that encourages a shift in your metabolism, and a way that your genes actually expect you to eat, just click play and find out the benefits of The Sweet Potato Diet!

In this episode you'll discover:

  • How fitness superstar Michael Morelli hit rock bottom and ended up in his mom’s basement.
  • What carb cycling is and why it’s valuable to know about.
  • Why low-carb or ketogenic diets can be challenging for some people.
  • The impact that small, healthy amounts of sweet potatoes can have on blood sugar long-term.
  • Which culture the highest percentage of people 100+ years old who use sweet potato as a staple in their diet.
  • Whether or not it’s a good idea for most people to count their calories.
  • Which concentrated sweet potato nutrient is correlated with a longer lifespan.
  • Whether or not you’re eating a yam or a true sweet potato.
  • Why food choices for most people are not logical.
  • How the sweet potato can radically upgrade most of your favorite indulgences.
  • Why strict diets tend to be in opposition of human psychology.
  • How to carb cycle in combination with exercise during your week.
  • What your body will do to provide glucose for your brain if glucose is too low.
  • Important mental shifts you need to make when working to change your body.

Items mentioned in this episode include:

Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Model Health Show. If you haven’t done so already, please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts by clicking on the link below. It will help us to keep delivering life-changing information for you every week!

Click Here to Subscribe via Apple Podcasts

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If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard a professor, a trainer, a coach, a well-meaning gym buddy, a special news report, or a random passerby say that you need to do more cardio to burn more fat, I’d have Scrooge McDuck level cash in my account.

If so many people say it, then it must be true, right? Scratch that… if so many intelligent and well-meaning people say it, then it must be true, right?

And therein lies one of the problems…

If you take really smart, well-meaning people and teach them the wrong thing, they can become world-class at doing the wrong thing. So good at doing the wrong thing, in fact, that they create compelling arguments as to why they should continue doing it (even if it’s not working).

When it comes to doing hours of cardio each week, and still not seeing the weight budge, we can justify and say… “Ah, I just need to sneak another hour in each week.” Or “I just need to cut back on the calories even more.” Or “I’m just not good at this.” Or, and this is the worst, “I’m obviously not trying hard enough.”

So, we try to beat our metabolism into submission. Or, we develop a condition of learned helplessness… where we believe that no matter how much dieting and cardio we do, we’ll never be able to change.

But, what if all along it was the tactics, and not the ability of the person, that was not working to begin with? Cardio being the ideal form of exercise for fat loss was something that was largely just assumed and not proven. Sort of like when people believed that the earth was flat (this was even taught in universities!), until the assumption was finally disproved.

That busted myth took centuries to happen. The Great Cardio Myth is getting busted in just one episode of The Model Health Show.

In this episode you'll discover:

  • Why cardio machines are lying to us.
  • The impact that conventional cardio exercise has on appetite.
  • How basic dieting compares to doing hours of cardio.
  • Where the idea of doing more aerobic exercise for better health originated.
  • How low-fat, high-carb diets got advocated along with conventional cardio.
  • Whether or not you can outrun a pizza.
  • The truth about how overuse injuries occur.
  • Why the treadmill creates abnormal walking and running movements.
  • The shocking influence that conventional cardio can have on heart health.
  • How high intensity interval training compares to strict cardio in clinical trials.
  • What to do if you’ve only got 3 days a week (and less than 30 minutes) to exercise each week.
  • How to train if you want to build muscle mass and if you DON’T want to build muscle mass.
  • The real reason so many people gravitate towards cardio for exercise (truth bomb!).

Items mentioned in this episode include:

Download The Transcript

Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Model Health Show. If you haven’t done so already, please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts by clicking on the link below. It will help us to keep delivering life-changing information for you every week!

Click Here to Subscribe via Apple Podcasts

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Direct download: 211-The_Great_Cardio_Myth_-_With_Craig_Ballantyne.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:01pm PDT

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