​Mike Matthews is a virtual fitness coach and bestselling author of several books. His flagship books and programs are Bigger Leaner Stronger (or ’BLS’) for men and Thinner Leaner Stronger (or ‘TLS’) for women. To explain the purpose of these books and his mission as a coach, he states, “I’m Mike and I believe that every person can achieve the body of their dreams. My mission is to give everyone that opportunity by providing time-proven, evidence-based advice on how to build muscle, lose fat, and get and stay healthy.”1 He also has a popular podcast, Muscle for Life, and is the founder and CEO of his supplement company, Legion Athletics.
 
Mike works to give the coaching advice that he wished he had when he started working towards his health and fitness goals. He also backs up all of his advice with scientific reasoning. For instance, in BLS and TLS, he cites over 500 different resources that are mainly scientific articles.
 
For Mike’s advice on weightlifting, he mainly focuses on progressive overload. This term is used to express that you are loading your muscles enough when you work out that you consistently see progress in reps and weight you’re adding to the bar. He also focuses on “The Big Three” lifts: the barbell squat, barbell deadlift, and barbell bench press and working in the 4-6 rep range (with 1-2 left in the tank) for those lifts and in the 8-12 rep range for most other exercises.
 
For his advice on nutrition, his main focus is on your caloric intake: making sure you are in a caloric surplus when you are trying to bulk up and in a caloric deficit when you are trying to cut weight. He also states that you cannot ignore the quality of food you eat and suggests eating 1-2 servings of fruit and 2-3 servings (cups) of fibrous vegetables each day.2
 
Mike does a great job at breaking everything down so that anyone could get started on one of his programs. His programs vary between 3-5 workout sessions each week to accommodate those who cannot find time to go to the gym every day. He also has workbooks that go along with the BLS and TLS programs, more advanced books to follow, and even a cookbook, The Shredded Chef. Last but definitely not least, The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation is a book that he wrote to give advice on motivation and success to assist you further in making goals for yourself and crushing them. As you can see, Mike has been creating great content for a while and he continues to do so.

1. Bigger Leaner Stronger, p. 31
​2. Bigger Leaner Stronger, p. 206
​3. Bigger Leaner Stronger, p. 38
​4. Bigger Leaner Stronger, p. 102
5. Bigger Leaner Stronger, p. 163
6. Bigger Leaner Stronger, p. 70
7. Bigger Leaner Stronger, p. 216
8. Muscle For Life - "Ru Anderson on How to Master Your Habits"

​Ben has so many titles, both current and former, that if I tried to list them out, I know I would miss a few. Today, mainly he is a coach to high-performing CEOs and athletes, CEO of his own supplement company, Kion, a top-rated blogger and podcaster through Ben Greenfield Fitness, and a world-renowned speaker on health, fitness, and productivity. To explain some of his past work, he has written over a dozen books on all different subjects from his experiences of being a personal trainer, bodybuilder, and top-performing triathlete.
 
During a live conference he spoke at for Mindvalley Talks, Ben stated that his main goal through his work is to, “empower people to live a more adventurous, joyful, and fulfilling life.”1  He strives to give people quality advice on performing their best, whether it is in the gym or in the office, while maintaining a full and happy life. Many know Ben as a “biohacker” because he talks of improvements you can get by means of things like saunas, cold thermogenesis, and stem cells.
 
Ben has also been a strong advocate of being on a high-fat diet, or at least saving the most of your carbohydrates for the end of the day. Outside of an increase in performance and just anecdotally feeling better, Ben states that a high-fat diets also improve metabolic efficiency and flexibility2 as well as recovery3 and reduced risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes and even cancer.4
 
Some of Ben’s highest-praised and most recent books include Beyond Training and Boundless. His past books speak more to specific topics like bodybuilding or triathlete training while these books speak more to a general audience who wants to improve their lives and increase longevity.

1. Mindvalley Talks: "Can You Hack Your Biological Age? - Ben Greenfield" 
2. Beyond Training: p. 318-319
3. BenGreenfieldFitness.com Article: "Rewriting the Fat Burning Textbook - Part 1: Why You've Been Lied to About Carbs And How To Turn Yourself Into A Fat Burning Machine"
4. BenGreenfieldFitness.com Article: "10 Ways To Do A Low Carbohydrate Diet The Right Way"
5. Beyond Training: p. 207
6. The Mindbodygreen Podcast : "Ben Greenfield, Professional Biohacker, On Daily Hacks Everyone Can Try"
7. Beyond Training: p. 115
8. Beyond Training: p. 127

I wanted to break up the content and do something different so here it is!!

Here is a special interview with an old friend of mine, Dell, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes about a year ago. In this discussion, we mainly talk about the misconceptions that people have about diabetes but you also get to see how this has affected his outlook on things, how it affects his daily life, the equipment he uses to track his blood sugar levels, and we also learn why it's so important to specify between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.

Dell has been sharing great content on Facebook so I wanted to talk to him to get more information and to help him inform a larger audience. This discussion is not only valuable for individuals who just want to learn more on the topic but also coaches who work with clients daily so they know what people with diabetes deal with regularly. 

In the interview, he also mentions the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), a great organization working on research to discover the causes of Type 1 Diabetes as well as assisting those with the disease. If you would like to go check them out or go donate, you can do that either by going to Dell's donation page or by going to their website by clicking these links:

• Dell's Donation Page to JDRF
• JDRF.org

Anyways, I hope that you all enjoy the interview! Comments, likes, and shares on the video go a long way so please and thank you.

I appreciate all of you. If you would like to subscribe to my blog and receive two free PDF guides (Your Guide to Nutrition & Fitness and Your Guide on How to Get & Stay Inspired), go to my Contact Page now and simply provide your email! You will also get news about my upcoming book, news on the website, and updated when I have new posts.

Dr. Steven Gundry has an incredible story of how he made the switch from being a talented heart surgeon to becoming a best-selling author and one of today’s well-known nutrition experts. Gundry graduated cum laude at Yale University in the early 1970s and has been heavily involved in medicine (mainly in the fields of cardiology and immunology) ever since.  As a cardiac surgeon, he patented multiple tools still used in heart surgery and was known for keeping hearts beating for extensive periods outside the body.
 
In the early 2000s, Dr. Gundry had a patient who he calls “Big Ed” that threw a curveball in his career path. Big Ed was a special case who had seen multiple doctors about his clogged arteries and had been continuously told that nothing can be done to help him. After Dr. Gundry had said the same thing, Big Ed explained that he lost forty-five pounds in the past six months and had been taking a number of supplements. Gundry congratulated him on the weight loss and said something along the lines of, “Good for you, but that isn’t going to help your heart.” Big Ed insisted that a new video be taken of his heart and Dr. Gundry was astounded to find that half of Ed’s artery troubles had been wiped away!
 
Thanks to this moment, Dr. Gundry started helping people that he would perform surgeries on to then adjust their diets and start taking supplements so they never had to have the same operation again. He also stated that he had performed multiple surgeries on the same patient several times. In one instance, he operated on someone NINE times. About a year after meeting Big Ed and when Dr. Gundry realized his methods were working, he decided he should be helping people before they ever need surgery so he started his own restorative medicine practice at the International Heart and Lung Institute in Palm Springs, California.1
 
From there, Gundry started to study his own patients more enough to write multiple books. His first book, Dr. Gundry’s Diet Evolution, was published in 2009. It focuses on weight loss and shows his root principles. His following book is what really sparked his popularity – The Plant Paradox. In both of these books, Dr. Gundry shows his interest in longevity by helping us achieve “dying young at a ripe old age” through adopting a healthy, sustainable diet that eliminates processed foods and strengthens our guts.
 
Most recently, he released a new book, The Longevity Paradox. Other than reading his books, you can also visit his website at gundrymd.com, watch videos from him on his YouTube channel, or listen to him on The Doctor Gundry Podcast or on one of his dozens of podcast interviews.

Here are some of the tips and quotes from Dr. Gundry that I’ve found most valuable:
​

• “I love cardiac surgery. But giving people the tools to heal themselves transcends just about anything I can do with a knife, needle, and thread.”2

 

• “Calories merely tell us how much energy is contained in a food, not how much energy your body can derive from it.”3  Dr. Gundry explains that for longevity purposes, it is more about the quality of the food you eat than the quantity.

 

• “Research has shown that it takes at least six weeks of continuous practice to instill a new habit.”4

 

• “My research has shown that if you can work your way up to consuming the equivalent of one bag of dark green leaves (lettuce, spinach, or other greens) daily, your life will change dramatically for the better.”5

  ​

• More than 80% of Dr. Gundry’s patients are deficient in Vitamin D3 and “anyone in my practice with leaky gut or an autoimmune disease has low levels.” Dr. Gundry states that this essential vitamin prevents leaky gut as well as bone degeneration. He also relates a lack of Vitamin D to prostate cancer and obesity.6 Take at least 5,000 IUs per day and if you have an autoimmune disease, take 10,000 IUs per day.7

1. Muscle Intelligence Podcast: Dr. Steven Gundry, Rethinking Everything You Knew About a "Healthy Diet."
2. Dr. Gundry's Diet Evolution - p. 131
3. Dr. Gundry's Diet Evolution - p. 24
​4. Dr. Gundry's Diet Evolution - p. 47
​5. Dr. Gundry's Diet Evolution - p. 132
6. The Plant Paradox - p. 113-114
7. The Plant Paradox - p. 275

From here on, any new subscribers will receive both Your Guide to Nutrition & Fitness as well as my brand new guide - Your Guide on How to Get & Stay Inspired! I split these up since I figure some of you are here for the nutrition/fitness tips, some just like the motivation, and some want both!

Whether you’re looking for a little bit of motivation, unsure what areas in your lifestyle you need to improve most, or if you are just starting your self-improvement journey, this guide will be a great help to you.

​If you are a subscriber, I would greatly appreciate any feedback you have on this guide. Did you find it helpful? Is there additional information that you wish would be included? The good, the bad, the ugly, I want to hear it all. I plan to update this document periodically as I learn new information and gather feedback.

You can either email me at [email protected] or comment on this post!

Shawn Stevenson is a general fitness and nutrition expert who has influenced hundreds of thousands over the past 10+ years through his book, Sleep Smarter, his fitness program, The Fat Loss Code, as well as his insanely popular podcast, The Model Health Show.

​It all started when Shawn was in high school. Shawn was on-track to be a star athlete but this came to a quick halt when he broke his hip while simply running a 200m time trial in practice. He dealt with constant pain and four years later was diagnosed with a degenerative bone disease and degenerative disc disease. When he got this diagnosis, he recalls asking his doctor, “Does this have anything to do with what I am eating.” His doctor looked at him like he was crazy and replied, “This has nothing to do with what you’re eating. Just carry on as you are because this is something that just happens. I’m sorry that this happened to you but it’s just something you’re going to have to deal with; this is incurable.” 
 
For the following two years, he followed the doctor’s orders of remaining inactive and using medications for his pain. This, along with what he called his “TUF” (Typical University Food) diet, he gained over 40 pounds and wasn’t seeing his situation getting any better. Eventually, Shawn said, “Enough is enough,” and decided to take matters into his own hands. He started small: working out on the exercise bike, changing his eating habits, and sleeping better. After six weeks, he lost 20 pounds and within nine months, he reversed the damage done to his bones, healed his ruptured discs, and amazed his doctors that weren’t able to make progress by consultations, medications, and surgeries.1
 
After taking these steps to get his health on track, Shawn kept on improving what he calls, “the three pillars of health that changed everything for me: right nutrition, right exercise, and right sleep.”2 He changed his college courses to learn as much on health as he could, got certified as a strength and conditioning coach, and started assisting students and professors at his university.3

Soon enough, Shawn started to realize his passion for helping others through podcasting, writing, and speaking at events. He also realized after years working with clients one-on-one, how many people needed help with their sleep more than anything so he put his best efforts into his book, Sleep Smarter​, which was published in 2016.

Nowadays, the heart of Shawn's content is found at www.TheModelHealthShow.com, where you will find blog posts, upcoming speaking events, podcast episode information, as well as information on Sleep Smarter, The Fat Loss Code, and his upcoming book, Eat Smarter scheduled for release at the very end of 2020. Shawn's content has a strong focus on how our hormones are influenced by our fitness, nutrition, and sleep habits and how they effect our overall health.

Here are just some of the tips and quotes from Shawn Stevenson that I've found most valuable:
​

• ​Many people say that eight hours is the perfect amount. Shawn does not agree with this for multiple reasons. Mainly, everyone is a bit different: some people may be fine with eight but others might need up to ten hours each night. You also have many lifestyle factors that affect your sleep and certain times are also more valuable than others. According to Shawn, “It’s been shown that human beings get the most beneficial hormonal secretions and recovery by sleeping during the hours of 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. This is what I call money time.”4

​

• “Sleep cycles typically last for 90 minutes each and repeat four to six times per night. So, six normal 90-minute sleep cycles would equal 9 total hours of sleep… To make your mornings better and more energetic, start setting your alarm so that it goes off in accordance with these sleep cycles instead of the standard “8 hours of sleep.” For example, if you go to sleep at 10:00 p.m., set your alarm for 5:30 a.m. (for a total of 7 ½ hours of sleep), and you’ll likely find that you feel more refreshed when you wake up than if you set the alarm for 6:00 a.m. and interrupted another sleep cycle.”5 A couple suggestions Shawn has to optimize your sleep are that we should schedule our sleep around our ideal number of hours and to aim for a minimum of bare minimum of four sleep cycles (or about six hours) each night.6,7 

​

• ​Two things that can seriously impair your sleep are caffeine and alcohol. According to Shawn, you should set a caffeine curfew of around 2:00 p.m. the latest and avoid alcohol three hours before bedtime.8,9 Caffeine is harmful to your sleep because it causes your body to create adrenaline and cortisol and the half-life is between five and eight hours. To show how detrimental this is, he states that consuming caffeine six hours before bed causes one hour of lost sleep.10 When it comes to alcohol, Shawn explains how it is harmful because of how it and disrupts your REM sleep so your body and brain cannot recover properly and your memory also suffers.11

​

• Shawn explains that daily exercise is not an option. “If you’re really serious about being the healthiest person you can be, you’ll set your personal exercise appointment and sleep time first, then schedule everything else around them.”12 Many people believe running is the best way to burn fat but Shawn states that running is not the best because it can burn away your muscle if you run too much. Rather, on an interview with The Ultimate Health Podcast, he states that his suggested exercise plan is to lift heavy 2-3 times per week and to walk for 20-30 minutes each day, minimum.13

 

• “Strive to eat organic, locally grown, unprocessed foods for the bulk of your diet.”14 According to Shawn, this is the best way to get the nutrients your body needs. He always suggests natural forms of vitamins and minerals over supplements.

 

• “If you were to ask me… your relationships are the biggest governing force over all of it because that is the most influential thing on the decisions you make with your sleep, the decisions you make with the food that you eat, the decisions you make on whether or not you’re exercising or when or how you do it.”15

Over the next couple months, I will be providing short summaries of each of the experts to be featured in my upcoming book, Twelve Paths to Health & Fitness (Part 1)​ (this is a working title). To see a breakdown of the research I have done on each expert, go to my About Twelve Paths Page. Some of these experts focus on strength and conditioning, some focus nutrition, and others focus on physical therapy and these biographies show how they built their platform along with all of the tips and tricks that I've learned from them.

Whether you are a beginner on your own self-improvement journey, an intermediate lifter who wants to make tweaks to their nutrition or fitness program, or a coach who wants to learn what other coaches with enormous platforms have learned form their experiences, I guarantee you will be amazed by all of the helpful information in this book.

Each biography in the book is about 20-30 pages long, whereas the profiles in this series will be quick summaries with some of my favorite quotes and tips so you can get a taste of what the book will be like.

As I create each Expert Profile, I will provide the link to the profile below:

• Expert Profile #1 - Shawn Stevenson

This weeks' post is a quick one but I hope you find it valuable. Through my research, I always hear recommendations of other books, websites, etc. to check out and there are a couple websites I feel everyone should know...

One of the keys to living healthy is eating fresh foods. By buying our food locally, we are not only benefitting our health but our community as well. LocalHarvest.org is a fantastic resource for finding local farms, CSAs, farmers markets, and stands near you and seeing what they offer if you live anywhere in the United States. I live in a relatively remote area but it's amazing how many local resources there are around me that I would have never known about without this website. 

Whether you're looking for fresh eggs, meat, vegetables, honey, meat, maple syrup, you name it - you should be able to find a local resource if not multiple options through this site. If you are looking for a farm/CSA to get food from regularly, many farms provide information on when you can tour their land so you really know where the food is coming from and how the animals there are treated.

I highly suggest checking it out. You'd be doing your community service by supporting local farmers and yourself a service by getting fresh, organic foods. You can also easily find grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork, free range chicken and eggs, and other high quality foods through this resource.

Thank you, Ben Greenfield, for showing me this website. I believe I first discovered it in his book, Beyond Training. 

Another key to having good health is obviously water. According to Shawn Stevenson, here are the best sources of water in order:

1. Natural spring water
2. Well water
3. Spring or well water bottled in glass
4. Reverse osmosis ("structured") water

FindASpring.com is a resource that can be used all around the world (especially in North America or Europe) to find a natural spring near you. I just discovered this resource recently - I've used it near where I live and when I've traveled but have not a had a spring near me yet. But when I do, I will report back.

Thank you, Shawn Stevenson, for letting me know about this website and I look forward to using it.

Check out those resources and let me know what you think in the comments. If you end up using one of them to get fresh food or water, definitely share your experience!

This is an unusual post - normally I cover specific topics on nutrition, fitness, or inspiration to help others on their self-improvement journeys. If this is the first post you read, I encourage you to look at one of my other recent posts:
​

• How to Deal With Stress in 2020: 7 Stress Management Tips with April Shwe-Paul
• The Carbohydrate Conundrum
• New Addition: Free Nutrition & Fitness Guide for Subscribers!

If you enjoyed it enough to subscribe so that you get notified of new posts or news about the blog, head over to my Contact Page! Thank you for reading!

I'm April Shwe-Paul, a Success Mindset & Purpose Coach from Auckland, New Zealand. I help ambitious people find clarity on what true success looks like and help them in achieving their goals. My YouTube Channel is all about self-development, where I share knowledge and expertise specifically in the area of mindset so that I can improve the quality of your life. 
 
We are currently in uncertain times and the next few years will certainly bring more challenges and curveballs our way. While we can't control what happens in the world and external forces that affect us, we have control over how we react to it. 

Here is a brief summary of my top 7 tips on how to manage stress given in the video above...

​Getting out of your head and into your body is a great way to manage your state in stressful situations. Walking, hiking or getting out in nature will have a profound and positive impact on your mental state. 

​Meditation allows you to be more present and live in the moment instead of worrying about future scenarios. This trains your brain to be more patient, learn to stay in the present, and to focus on what you can control.
 
Meditation also help you be more relaxed. So the more stressed out you are, the longer you should meditate.

Having a perspective change is really helpful to look at situations more objectively. I always think about the big picture when I encounter a stressful situation and ask myself questions that help me snap out of the downward spiral.

For instance, I'll ask myself questions like: “If you were given a month left to live, is this really that big of a problem in your life?” Questions like this help bring perspective and center my thoughts on what is really important.

​Do a brain dump into your journal to help you manage stressful situations. Getting your thoughts on paper can help you realize how irrational some of your thoughts are. More importantly, journaling gives you an opportunity to address some of those issues. Once you’re able to prioritize your problems to resolve, you can create a step-by-step action plan to address them. 

​Look after your overall well-being. It's easy to neglect our health when we feel stressed but in order to overcome obstacles in our lives, we must be in a good state to tackle them. Having a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, and drinking enough water are all keys to taking care of yourself.

​There's scientific proof that hugs help you manage stress. Oxytocin is produced when you hug someone. Oxytocin is a hormone that has been shown to reduce blood pressure and it also counters norepinephrine (the stress hormone). So embracing someone can boost both your mental and physical health.
 
On top of all that, talking to someone you trust who has an outside perspective can help you have a better perspective on your situation. 

Don't just focus on the outcome. Make sure to also focus on what you can control in the moment. Look at things as a learning experience rather than looking at it from an outcome perspective.
​
Asking yourself questions focused on empowering solutions can help with this. For instance, ask questions like:

• What can I learn from this?
•  What is something positive that can come from this?
• What can I do to grow from this?

I decided to reach out to April because I found her content valuable and thought you would as well! April provides great information in creative ways through her Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Channel.

​Follow her content if you enjoyed this post and let her know your thoughts in the comments below!

​The main reason that nutrition is so confusing nowadays is the variety of diets based on opposing ideas. The biggest argument of all – carbohydrates. There are many different forms of diets based around the idea that carbohydrates should be as low as humanly possible if you want to lose weight. And then there are those that focus on a lower-fat, calorie-counting approach?
 
So, which is right? What is the key to weight loss? Low-carbohydrate, low-fat, or calorie counting? 

​Before proceeding, please know that I am no expert. I feel that I can have an open discussion about this topic because I have experimented with both diets enough to have a good understanding of what works for me and have researched multiple experts on both sides of the coin.

​The experts that mainly focus on longevity like Dr. Cate Shanahan, Dr. Steven Gundry, and Ben Greenfield state that low-carbohydrate diets are what matters. The statements they make against carbohydrates are along the lines of, “Carbohydrates are just complex sugars and end up being equivalent to simple sugars after being broken down as glucose in the body.” They explain how crucial healthy fats are in your diet and that cholesterol is wrongly accused of heart problems and instead label processed foods, vegetable oils, and sugars as the culprits.
​
The experts that mainly focus on muscle-building like Mike Matthews and Greg Nuckols state that calories are what matters when it comes to weight loss/gain. They do not disagree with the importance of eating natural foods and state that if you go to the gym, it is even more important to eat natural foods. Outside of your total calorie count, they explain the importance of eating enough protein and prescribe a more balanced diet between carbohydrates, fats, and protein. For instance, Mike Matthews prescribes 45%, 25%, and 30% respectively (this specifically is for maintaining muscle), while also suggesting 80% of your diet comes from fresh, natural foods at a minimum.

​Personally, I enjoy using a low-carbohydrate diet when I need to cut weight. I aim to eat less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day and 90% of the time can hit that goal. I do not think there’s any solid proof that this is any better than a low-fat diet but for me, I like it because it essentially forces me to mainly eat natural foods and fat is much more satiating so I really never feel hungry, even if I decide to fast for most of the day.
 
When I need to build muscle, I eat more carbohydrates and I don’t worry about it. As long as I hit my goals for calories and protein and am still eating natural foods for the most part, I feel I am on the right track. I’m progressing in my workouts, adding weight, and feel great overall.

​At the end of the day, you need to find the diet that works best for you. Find a diet you’re interested in and buy a couple cookbooks to make sure it is something you will enjoy. The best diet (and exercise program) is the one that you will adhere to and implement consistently.

​If a diet (or exercise program) has worked for hundreds of thousands of people, it obviously works for some. Ultimately, you should never take a diet or exercise program as gospel. Experiment and make tweaks so that you enjoy it but are still making progress.
​
Side Note: I do not mean to discount any experts. I respect all experts I have done deep research on; they've done great work to influence hundreds of thousands of people, have taught me a ton, and have made an enormous positive impact on my life.
 
You are more than welcome to add to the discussion or ask questions in the comments below!