“I just bought a new BPA-free tupperware set.” This comment, coming from my friend Anna, caught me off guard. Anna’s a highly competent law professional. She’s a critical thinker and she fights in the heavyweight division when it comes to cutting through BS. But the Anna I knew was falling into some painful traps that…

Reviewed by Helen Kollias, PhD and Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD At some point in my mid-40s, the scale started climbing. A pound or two turned into five, then 10, then 20. It seemed as if I was doing all the right things: Eating less, moving more, rinse, repeat. Yet, the harder I worked, the…

Reviewed by Denise Asafu-Adjei, M.D., MPH A few years back, PN co-founder John Berardi, PhD, posted a shirtless photo of himself on his 47th birthday. He called it his “anti-regress pic” and thanked 30 years of squats, deadlifts, presses, and chin-ups—among other exercises—for his chiseled six-pack, pumped chest, and bulging biceps. The question many commenters…

Everyone needs a team. As a health coach, you can become an expert in multiple areas: nutrition, behavior change psychology, fitness and athletic performance, stress management and recovery, and more. However, no matter how many certifications you earn, you’ll invariably encounter clients with progress-blocking problems you don’t have the skills, training, expertise, or legal right…

I was 13 when I went on my first diet. I had been struggling with my weight for about six years, and my obsession with how I looked was starting to dominate my life. I only had two to three shirts that I felt comfortable in. The only thing that mattered was that they didn’t…

There’s been a growing shift in the fitness, health, and wellness industry. The promise of “immediate results” will probably never lose its sparkle. But, as a good portion of our population (hi, Boomers!) moves into their “silver” years, conversations around optimizing lifespan (how long you live) and healthspan (how long you live with a high…

If you live in a larger body, sometimes it feels like you can’t win. If you don’t lose weight, people will criticize you for being “lazy,” “unhealthy,” or “lacking willpower.” But if you take medication to help you, you’ll be criticized for “cheating” or “taking the easy way out,” even if you’ve tried for decades…

Reviewed by Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD Once you decide you want to work with a health coach, finding the right one goes beyond checking off a list of qualifications. How do you know if you’ve found the best health coach for you? What are the qualities of a good coach besides the obvious credentials?…

Reviewed by Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD We all make thousands of decisions every day, large and small. What to have for breakfast. Whether or not to exercise—or when. Which project to tackle first at work. More coffee or not. After a while, it’s only natural that decision fatigue sets in. Decision fatigue can happen…

Reviewed by Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD From hitting a wall with your workouts to stalled weight loss, plateaus can occur at any stage. But all that hard work hasn’t been for nothing. Plateaus, although frustrating, can be useful. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what causes them, how to push through,…