Do you know about the spectrum of health? Specifically, the Sickness, Wellness, Fitness Spectrum? This is something that nearly no MD talks about. If they do, You know they are up on their game or at least do CrossFit. Let’s start here: If we don't have measurable definitions for goals, we don't really have goals - not good ones at least. Ones that lend themselves to a plan. Goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. There is no working, widely accepted

I was fortunate enough to grow up with a physician in the house. Which also meant I could never play sick to get out of school. My dad stayed home anyway which was no fun even if you missed school. We were confined to our bedrooms. No watching TV when you were sick at home. But the good news is, I grew up with a good idea of when a true emergency was happening or not. Mostly, not. If fact very few things warrant going to the emergency room - even urgent care. More times than

In America, we have the gift of having some of the best healthcare available and the curse of the worse system to run it. Because most large government bureaucracies are run the same, it means people who make progress are not rewarded and people who make mistakes are fired and punished. This is literally the surest way to make sure no one sticks their neck out and does what needs to be done or have the balls to discover a new way of treatment. This is the most dangerous way t

Let me start out this article by saying caffeine affect people differently. That's why the research is split directly down the middle. Some people are fast metabolizers of caffeine. That are the people that benefit from it. And many of us are slow metabolizers of caffeine. But weather or not you are a fast or slow metabolizer doesn’t make a difference on how caffeine ultimately affects your hormones. Women in general are more sensitive to hormone stimulators. It make sense be

Considering that I am writing this in May, It may seem a bit out of season. But my best advice is to bookmark this is write it down to prep for nest winter. I come from sunny Los Angeles and lived for many years in cold and rainy Berlin. I know that Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing. It often gets worse with every winter. First, let me say that there is NOTHING wrong with you. Winter is a hard time for everyone. It is the energy and nature of the season. It is repre

One of the biggest health pirates in our diet is sugar. I’m sure you have all heard about how bad sugar is, but if you REALLY knew what regular consumption of sugar does to our bodies, I don't think you would need much more convincing. Sugar not only keeps us fat and wrecks havoc on our hormonal response to just about everything, it inhibits the work of white blood cells, causes migraines, stiffens arteries and impairs proper brain function. In fact, scientists are starting t

Let me just start by saying that if you are a person who loves to cook or someone who relishes in being hyper organized and planned ahead, then this article is probably not for you. For those of you who are busy and just trying to do better and feed you family healthier meal, this article is for you. Let’s talk about Meal Prep What it is Many people have a fantasy or have been wrongly told that they need to do meal prep in order to eat right and get in shape. Folks hear this

Cacao is, at it best, the raw and powered form of the Theobroma Cacao bean. It is the basic material that chocolate is derived from. Do not get CACAO confused with COCOA. Cocoa is the stuff you make hot chocolate from. Cacao (kah-Kaw) is the unprocessed form of this. Nutrient Information There is awesome news for those that are chocoholics: You can have chocolate and still be healthy. But it will not be in the form of the stuff you get at candy stores or even the fine chocola

Seems odd, but some of you really don't know how to be sick. This seems to be a lost art today. The truth is, if we knew how to treat ourselves when we got sick, we would likely get sick less often. Human are the only mammal on earth that get sick and keep going. Every other animal retreats to a cave to fast and hibernate for three days. Sickness is a sign that you need to rest. We are guilted into this fast paced world where you are expected to keep up with thing all the tim

I believe it was Marilyn Monroe who once said “True beauty is learned.” I have always believed that and taken in to heart when caring for myself. We live in a culture where, up until recently, women are have been told that only skinny, blonde and blue eyed was beautiful. And if you weren’t, then beauty came from within. What a crock. Beauty lies somewhere in between. Beauty is weird, it is unique, it is graceful and it is lingering. Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder -

You have moved past the beginner stage. You have gone to the gym for over 8 months, showing up at least 3 or 4 times a week CONSISTENTLY. For a real beginner, you can follow the same program for two years, only increasing the weights used, and you will most likely still see results. Once you are past this, past 6-12 month of consistent work, you can start to play with your program and incorporate other things. This is when we start playing with supersets, metcons and 1 RM. Ye

As a Los Angeles native, one of the things that gives me great joy is watching the modern health movement turn more towards natural remedies and preventative maintenance; formerly known as “Hippy Sh*t.” This is a great shift for us: for our health, for our planet and for our wallet. At their worst, most ayurvedic treatments do nothing and cost very little. At best, they actually help that is ailing you, produce less waste than single-use, overly packaged goods and give you ow

The reasons we can't sleep at night are usually the same reasons we don't truly live during the day. Michael Xavier Sleep research has been painfully scant through the last century. Outside of the “What Happens When We Sleep” physiology basics we learn in middle school, deeper knowledge about sleep is pretty sparse. I talk alot about sleep and recovery. Maybe because I have always been someone who requires more sleep than most. I try for eight to nine hours a night, happening

In an overstressed world, we need to talk a lot about recovery. In my last article, I talked about how important self-care and recovery is in a fitness program - if you want to effectively losing fat or gaining muscle and athleticism. I’d like to share with you one of my favorite methods of self care: a bath. Yes, some old-skool shit but a bath does wonders for mood, skin, muscles and nervous system. If you are trying to get the illusion of great skin through Kardashian conto

The more I learn about coaching and training, the more I end up telling people to take it easy. It seems butt-backwards in the pursuit of fitness to down-shift. I am shocked how frequently I tell people to do less, to set boundaries and to schedule an hour for themselves - yet it must be done. Our westen, christian society values Hard/Long Work. In America, Hard/Long Work - not deep work - has become our new god. Even in making ourselves happier and healthier, modern busynes

There are so many ways to feel the burn, it is easy to get overwhelmed when trying to decide what works best for your fitness. In the long and joyful journey of getting fit and losing weight we have a number of options to aide in changing our bodies. So the biggest question is when to strength training and when to do cardio? The good news is, your goals and preferences will best tell you what will work best to achieve that body you deserve. Let’s go through a couple of scenar