Coach. Podcaster. COACHCASTER.

Are you one of the millions affected by hypothyroidism? Have you ever been diagnosed or misdiagnosed? Do you experience the myriad of symptoms related such as fatigue, brain fog, excess and uncontrollable weight-gain, cracking skin, etc.? In this week's episode, we talk with Elle Russ from The Primal Blueprint and Mark's Daily Apple (Mark Sisson, the founder of the paleo Primal Blueprint diet, lifestyle and other products and services).

After suffering for years under the above symptoms and diagnoses, Elle took control of her own life by becoming the health expert she needed. In her book, The Paleo Thyroid Solution, she dives deep into not only what the symptoms look and feel like, but what she did and demanded of her health care professionals to ensure she stayed empowered over her own body. If you or anyone you know has suffered from or is potentially hypothyroid, YOU NEED THIS BOOK! Everything is explained in ways that are very easy to understand so that you can find the foods you need, take the labs your doctor needs to see, and other dietary and lifestyle habits to better suit your wellness.

Elle is also the host of Mark Sisson's The Primal Blueprint Podcast and more of her information can be found on her website here - Elle Russ

And if you have not done so already, please be sure to leave the podcast some love via a five star rating and/or review!

Rich homies unite! Travis S is one of the hungriest (literally) guys in the game when it comes to YouTube personalities. An accountant by day and avid weight lifter by night... and food challenger extraordinaire everywhere in between.

But Travis' story unfolded more as how he was able to take his fear of public speaking and being a natural introvert to a natural in front of the camera and putting himself out there to the world. On top of that, Travis lost his mother to cancer during college. Losing this foundational person in his life was hands-down his most trying time, but he came out even stronger on the other side and shows us how he lives a life ever forward in her honor.

We learn here how to best apply new platforms to our lives that not only help us grow professionally but also show us ways we in which we can get over our own shortcomings. You can watch Travis S on his YouTube channel lifting weights, eating insane amounts of food and conquering his fears of public speaking on a regular basis.

Drug addict. Alcoholic. Powerlifter. Entrepreneur. And doughnut connoisseur! Krissy Mae Cagney has overcome nearly a decade of alcohol and substance abuse by diving head first into her own form of recovery that involves more barbells than a twelve step program. She has accomplished so much in such a short period of time all the while battling her own addiction demons. Living clean, sober and strong is her forte these days with her husband and dogs either in the gym or the great outdoors.

"I do not know wha the future will hold, but I am passionate about all my endeavors" is a quote from Krissy's bio on her website, Krissy Mae Cagney. This is such a powerful connection to the ever forward life, in that while we may not know what certainties we have in life we do know the power in our application of our passion.

Please follow Krissy on all social media platforms @krissymaecagney or if you find yourself in Reno, NV be sure to stop by her Black Iron Gym and join the "misfits"!

How do we account for success in life? In the gym we measure it by adding weights to the barbell or increasing our speed on the treadmill, but life doesn't always make it that easy elsewhere. Pushing past our perceived limitations and pursuing our dreams, our true passions to stand confidently on the other side is what so many of us strive for. Or at least want to.

Accountant by day, bodybuilder by night - enter Brian DeCosta! He is someone who has taken a passion of pushing past physical limitations in the gym and put himself on one of the world's largest fitness platforms. This excelled him further than he ever imagined. This week we learn how Brian took his training, mentality and entire life to the next level through the 2017 BodyBuilding.com spokesmodel search. Taking second place has helped push Brian's online fitness personna to new levels and is continuing to do BIG things alongside his female fitness counterpart and girlfriend Amanda Bucci.

Joining me this week are two of the co-founders of Nudge Health Tracker and Nudge Coach, the smartphone app and online health coaching platform changing the way healthcare professionals interact with their clients. By having users track, actively or passively, their activity, diet, sleep, etc. their coaches are able to monitor the data and better guide them along their wellness journey. "Our mobile app empowers clients to stay mindful of their health, accountable to their plan, and connected to your brand", as stated on their website. 

The Nudge Health Tracker app is a great tool for those looking to learn more about their daily habits, with or without it connected to a coach. The Nudge Coach platform allows coaches to pool one or one hundred of their clients' data points to help them make more or less of certain behaviors. Integrating with other great tools such as Jawbone, Fitbit and basic smartphone health trackers (steps, distance) Nudge really is a streamlined process, a one-stop shop for data collection and analysis for healthcare professionals, coaches and trainers alike.

Find Nudge Health Tracker in the iTunes App Store, Google Play and Nudge Coach online at www.nudgecoach.com. Also, Phil and Mac's "Scale Well" podcast is in iTunes and Google Play Music.

NWB IN THE HOUSE!!! I had the pleasure of reconnecting with my old friend, Nick Wright. Nick has lived, eaten and breathed YouTube fitness over the past five plus years. His story is one that always comes to my mind when I think of someone truly applying passion to purpose. A native Rhode Islander, I had the privilege of getting to know Nick for his year in Richmond, VA. We crushed countless workouts and even more Chipotle meals together with my younger brother (Maxx Chewning, whom Nick references in the interview) and our other gym rat friends.

Being one of the firsts in the industry, he has had the unique perspective of watching his profession grow exponentially while helping usher in a new era of content creators. He always stays true to himself and has an admirable "no bullshit" policy when it comes to conveying his story through his videos, whether in the gym, smoking his favorite cigar or spending quality time with his longtime girlfriend Arianna. 

Nick's YouTube channel can be found here (no, we won't kidding about Scondore) at www.youtube.com/scondore and on Instagram and Twitter @nickwrightnwb.

Have you, or someone you know, ever struggled with finding the right diet? Has it evolved into disordered eating or even an eating disorder (yes, there is a difference)? This week's guest, Josie Mai, has experienced this same struggle and is here to tell you her story and that there is hope.

In today's world, we cannot scroll through our Instagram feed without seeing some sort of "#fitspo" or "#iifym", or watch a workout video on YouTube without their My Fitness Pal account popping up showing us exactly how much they have eaten in each macronutrient category. The problem is that this information is relative to THAT person only, and any people fall victim to applying the same or similar approaches to diet and exercise without first doing our due diligence on our own bodies. Every BODY is different, literally.

For those of you with whom this episode resonates or if you have any questions I encourage you to reach out to Josie. Her story can be seen on YouTube at Josie V Mai and on Instagram at Josie V Mai.

Being a health coach, I cross paths with some amazing and incredibly smart professionals who also help others live their best life. In this case with AIRROSTI rehab provider Dr. Justin Bryant, I share walls! He is a doctor of chiropractic by trade but has spent the last several years working exclusively on weekend warriors, Crossfit junkies, stay-at-home moms and even professional athletes. His technique now? Myofascial release.

Here, AIRROSTI explains what exactly they do: "The reason we’re able to get the remarkable and consistent results we do is because of our emphasis on finding all the components of your injury and delivering a very specific treatment to the soft tissues. These are the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and connective tissue throughout the body and around the joints. When our bodies experience repetitive stress or trauma, this tissue is often injured. This leads to pain, numbness, weakness, and restricted range of motion. Our focus at Airrosti is fixing the connective tissue and manually repairing it to its normal state. By doing so, we are able to very effectively increase strength, function and range of motion, while dramatically decreasing pain and allowing our patients to return to normal activity — whether that means running a marathon, doing CrossFit, gardening, playing with the kids, or simply being more productive and pain free at work."

AIRROSTI providers near you can be found online at www.airrosti.com, or please contact Dr. Bryant directly if you are in the DC/Northern Virginia area by phone at 1-800-404-6050.

This is, to date, my longest and perhaps most hard-hitting interview on improving the SELF. In this episode, we discuss how our own limiting beliefs are usually the root of our limitations. How the ego masks itself in various ways that form unwanted habits, how to bring awareness into your life to allow these to surface and the action required to improve upon them so we can truly step into our own greatness.

I had the privilege of sitting down with one of my fellow VCU alum and colleague Yedda (yes, it's just YEDDA). Her wealth of experience in entrepreneurship, wellness, coaching and self-help have always left a lasting impression with me. Yedda currently resides in Richmond, VA and serves her community in a variety of ways; health coaching, personal training, executive coaching and all things wellness. She can be found at www.yeddas.com.

Jake Ducey is a guy following his heart's calling by living the life he makes for himself. He has traveled the world, faced near-death, acted upon (seemingly) outlandish goals that have set him for success and life of true happiness - all by the age of 25! 

Drawing on some of his most recent works, we discuss his book The Purpose Principles and how we can learn to draw more meaning into our life. Early in this book I was hit hard with hid words of "The first place to focus our attention is vision: knowing what you want." We may not always know what we want, but knowing what we DO NOT want can be just as important. In this interview, Jake walks us through what it was that set him on his path of enlightenment, success and healthy habits and how we can do the same.

Aika is many things; an entrepreneur, a designer, a mentor and a phenomenal hostess to an out-of-towner like myself! I had the privilege of being escorted around the VIP tents and watching shows backstage all thanks to Aika and her amazing team of empowered women during Austin City Limits in 2016.

After getting to know her and learn of her start from a battered women's shelter to self-made woman, designer and operator of her own company knew I had to get more of her story on record! Aika's story shows us that sometimes beautiful things can come out of tragic events or surroundings. And if they don't, simply design them yourself! Learn how to design the life you love from her impacting story.

I had the privilege if attending Shawn's live recording of his podcast "The Model Health Show" here in DC last month. He opened up the floor to questions from the audience and I jumped at the opportunity to connect with this wellness and entrepreneurship mastermind!

I encourage you all to first listen to episode three, "The Power of Taking Action", and then revisiting this episode. Just as important as it is to pursue your dreams it is equally vital to know how and when to do so. 

Shawn and his co-host Jade provided me with some excellent insight from their journey. I go back and listen to his words of wisdom multiple times a week! I hope you all get some sort of takeaway from his advice for your own endeavors and daily living.