10 Things That Transformed My Health… And Life

Discovering the 5 Pillars of Health

When I was 36 years old my health came to a screeching halt because I was trying to live like I was still in my teens and twenties - working out as hard as possible, eating and drinking whatever I wanted, staying up late, not taking supplements, pulling 16 hour work days etc…

BOOM - Out of nowhere I got hit with anxiety, depression and insomnia. Within 3 months it worsened and I had zero energy, belly fat, poor focus, weak muscles and felt the worst I ever had.

My wife said I was having a mid-life crisis and while she was somewhat right, the physiological explanation was that my resilience to stress was broken. Stress that I once had no problem dealing with…

To fix myself, I tried the only approach I ever knew - the approach that almost everyone takes into their adult lives (which we learn when we were in our 20’s)...

That approach was to get serious about my training and to implement some mainstream nutritional tweak like lowering my carbs or to decrease alcohol.

It didn’t work…

What I really needed was a 360 holistic approach…

Unfortunately it took me years to figure that out. Years of pain and frustration… My default mode was still to live like I was 25 years old. But the playing field was way different - I was older, married with kids and working crazy hours starting a small business.

It wasn’t until I focused on ALL the 5 Pillars of health that I was able to start putting myself back together and get back into great shape - mentally and physically.

The ‘5 Pillars’ of Health

1. Mindset and motivation
2. Nutrition and digestion
3. Movement and activity
4. Stress and the nervous system
5. Sleep, rest and recovery

  Over the course of 5 years I tried hundreds of things to fix my health but it was these 10 things - 2 for each pillar of health are what made all the difference in my life. These 10 things, if you put them into practice can be game changers for your health too!

1) Mindset 

• Discover Your WHY
  
  
• Your WHY is the reason you get out of bed each day. It is your guiding star that motivates you to do hard things. Your WHY should not be a goal like to lose 20lbs or to earn more money but rather the reason WHY you want to make those things happen. For example if your goal is to get fit then your WHY is how being fit changes your life? What will it allow you to do that you can not do right now and who will it have a positive impact on?
  
  
• Once I discovered my WHY I had a greater purpose in life which was beyond any fitness goal or financial status I wanted to reach. It gave me the energy to persist beyond will power and self discipline and it was aligned with my future identity and values.
   
• Do What You Love
  
  
• The ‘grind’ is not only hard on your head and body but it is hard on your heart… And when you are in that mode it is easy to forget about the love and passion you once had for life and doing the things that make you happy. This could be hobbies, spending time with friends or doing anything that gives you joy. Neglecting these things is an energy killer but sprinkling them into your life will charge you so that you can tackle that ‘grind’.
  
  
• For 8 years I put aside my hobby of graffiti art and hanging out with friends. When I was at my lowest, an old friend invited me to a Hip Hop jam where I would be part of a graffiti mural. The vibe lifted my spirit massively - the breakdancing, DJ’s, artists and old friends that I neglected gave me strength and I realized that this needs to be a part of my life once again.
  
  

2) Movement

• Walking
  
  
• Walking is not only exercise but a time to create space from the clutter and busyness of life. We all heard of 10,000 steps a day and for good reason - walking decreases stress, burns fat calories, manages blood sugar, keeps your heart, muscles and body functional and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
  
  
• For decades, I relied solely on workouts and sports, but as an adult, I discovered that adding walking to my routine made my body feel better and more energized. Rather than going straight to the computer screen upon waking (which I did for years), I started going outside for a 15 minute walk. I started to incorporate more walks into my day as breaks to get away from the chaos. Walking allowed me to clear my mind and come up with new ideas. Walking is also how I keep fat from piling up on my waistline.
  
  
• Tailor Workout Intensity Based on Your Nervous System
  
  
• It blows me away to see how so many ‘stressed’ people workout so hard at the gym following the ‘no pain no gain’ mentality. What people don’t realize is that working out is a stress on the body. If your life is stressful outside of the gym and you pile more stress on with hard training you are ‘smashing’ your nervous system. This can lead to decreased energy, sleep problems, poor muscle recovery and lack of progress towards your fitness goals. Understanding how your nervous system works by tracking something like HRV (heart rate variability) is one of the smartest ways to tailor your training program to your stress levels AND still get results.
  
  
• When my daughter was born and I was managing a fitness club in West Vancouver I was under a lot of stress. I still had this mentality of going hard in workouts. I remember working out hard with clients at 7pm (end of my day) and feeling awful in the workout. However it was not until 5 years later (when I hit the wall) that I realized this was the wrong way to train. One practice I began that helped my nervous system for working out was to create a transition time between life and the workout. This is a time to relax before a workout such as sitting in the sun, sauna, meditating or stretching. This has helped to regulate my nervous system and prepare it better for a workout.
  
  

3) Nutrition

• Eat Food The Way Your Parents Taught You
  
  
• Growing up, you probably have been told things like eat breakfast, chew slowly, sit at the dinner table when eating, eat your veggies etc. But as life gets busy in our 20s we throw it all away. We skip breakfast, skip meals, decrease calories, eat on the go, eat in front of computers, inhale our food to get back on with the day and scroll on phones without any regard to the food in our mouth. All of this creates stress on the body. Stress from being malnourished (low calories, low protein, low carbs, not digesting well from not chewing etc) and a disconnect between our body and the fuel we need to perform our best.
  
  
• I was like this too. I even remember a time when I was annoyed having to eat when all I wanted to do was work. And when I did eat I wolfed it down. On top of that I was cutting carbs - little did I know that carbs were the very energy my body required. As a very active individual under a lot of work and family stress, eating low carb and low calorie was more stress on my body. Once I began eating like a human being, instead of a machine - by sitting down to eat, chewing slowly and eating in a low stress environment away from work, food began to work better for me. It gave me the energy I needed to focus and perform my best in all areas of my life.

• Eliminate Inflammatory Foods
  
  
• If you get punched in the face it will become inflamed. If you eat inflammatory foods the same thing happens in your body. The problem with inflammatory foods is that unless you are severely ill after (ie: celiac person eating bread) the inflammation is low and you do not feel it. Wheat/gluten, dairy, sugar, corn, soy and processed vegetable oils are common inflammatory foods that most people consume every day. As a result, most people are in this state of chronic inflammation and it is one of the major reasons why they are stuck in their pursuit of good health. You cannot optimize your health, drop body fat or avoid illness if you are in this state.
  
  
• I used to eat pizza, beer, cheese, yogurt, soy milk, tofu, fried food, cookies, chips, you name it each week. I can not tell you how much better I feel having eliminated 95% of this from my diet. I once had constant phlegm, hives, allergies at my parents house and felt bloated after most meals. Now it is all gone. Removing these foods from my diet was one of the best decisions I ever made. Sure I still have pizza once in a while… But it is going to be the most expensive, best quality pizza in town once… Once every 3 to 6 months, not every week.. (these days, you couldn't pay me enough to eat a cheap pizza like a McCain Deep n Delicious! 

4) Stress

• Magnesium
  
  
• Magnesium is vital for over 300 body functions, including energy production and muscle health. Stress depletes magnesium quickly - that includes work, injuries, alcohol, poor sleep, tight muscles etc. On top of that, most of us are eating a diet high in processed food and/or low in healthy calories which compounds the magnesium deficiency.
  
  
• Magnesium has been a saving supplement for me. It has improved my sleep, calmed my nervous system, helped recovery after workouts and even helps me stay regular. Next to vitamin D, magnesium has been one of the best supplements I have introduced and is a regular part of my routine each day.
  
  
• Nature
  
  
• Sometimes all you need in order to clear your head and release tension is to get into nature. This is a free resource available to everyone yet few of us take advantage of it. Our DNA thrives on fresh air, sunlight, and the natural sensory experiences that come with being outdoors. In addition to stress release, nature will increase energy, boost immune function, decrease blood pressure, improve mood, sleep and happiness.
   
• There was a place in my town where I would go every Friday for a walk in the forest. Like making my workouts part of the weekly routine, going for this particular forest walk each week was something I ritualized because it was the very peace I needed away from hardcore workouts and ‘grinding’ at work. As a bit of a spin off to this, I even began growing my own vegetables. Spending time in nature and making an effort to be in physical contact with trees, water and soil was a huge part in my healing process.

5) Recovery

• Sleep Hygiene
  
  
• This means having a system around your sleep, whether it is a pre bed-time ritual, sticking to a specific lights out and wake time or adjusting things like light, sound and temperature when sleeping. Good sleep has a massive ROI on your health - fat loss, cognition, detoxification, mood, mental and physical performance… The list goes on!
  
  
• I realized that my current sleep habits were formed from my years as a teen and during my 20’s. And let’s be honest, those sleep habits don’t work for a lot of men over 35. Sleep was one of the things that got bad for me and if I was going to improve it I needed to follow a better system. I created a schedule that I stuck to for example not staying up past 10pm. I incorporated other tricks like earplugs, lowering the temperature and not sleeping with a cell phone near my head. Sleep for me has been a tough one to master as I find it is highly influenced by everything else going on in life too - hence why I am such a firm believer in a holistic approach.
  
  
• Early Morning Sun
  
  
• We are ‘heliotropic’ beings, meaning we are drawn to light. Light has a huge influence on our health - energy being one of them. Exposure to early morning sun is important because when the light hits the retina of our eyes, it tells our body that it is day and to create energy. If you want to improve your energy, get more natural sunlight on your eyes first thing in the morning as this sets your circadian rhythm and your circadian rhythm drives your energy levels each day.
  
  
• Being on a screen and working in doors living in the northern hemisphere, it is easy to skip the sun. Plus I was always one who wore sunglasses. I began to make it a priority to get sun on my face and eyes as early as possible in the day. Not only did the warmth make me feel better, my energy levels were better in the day and it was easier for me to then fall asleep at the end of the day.

There you have it, 10 things that made a dramatic change to my health when I hit my ‘mid-life crisis’. My goal at the time was just to be healthy and get myself out of ‘the deep end’...

The crazy thing is, that now at age 46 I am not only past the struggles that I was trying to solve but I have more energy, am stronger, more fit and accomplish more in a day than I did in my 20’s and 30’s.

And this is why I do what I do in life - health coaching and holistic transformations based around the ‘5 Pillars’. Whatever you are struggling with, looking at your life from a 360 perspective is the key to solving the problem.

Even if you are healthy, a focus on the ‘5 Pillars’ is going to catapult your health and performance into the stratosphere like you never imagined.Trust me, I’ve been there and have taken many people on the same journey. 

If you want to explore any of these 10 concepts or how the ‘5 Pillars’ can be improved in your life email me Josh@NovaHealthClub.com