Since she turned pro two decades years ago, 36-year old tennis champion Venus Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, fourteen Grand Slam doubles championships, and four Olympic gold medals. As a tennis superstar, almost everybody knows her name, but fewer people know she has a debilitating autoimmune disease called Sjögren’s syndrome. She went […]
Matt Frazier is a marathoner and ultra-runner who runs the popular fitness site No Meat Athlete. But Matt says that growing up, he wasn’t that into running or fitness. His journey began in college, when he started going to the gym. On a whim, he and a group of friends decided to try to run […]
I didn’t learn a lot about nutrition growing up. In my family, our weekly menu was pretty routine: meatloaf, spaghetti, pot roast, and usually some canned veggies on the side. And always chocolate cake. After I moved away from home, I became much more body conscious. Many years of fad diets, exercise binges, and yo-yo […]
In 2010, Eric O’Grey weighed over 300 pounds, had type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and took over $1,000 in medications per month. When his doctor told him he would be dead within five years unless he got his health under control, Eric found a naturopathic doctor (Dr. Preeti Kulkarni) to help him. She put him […]
April 30th, 2012, was like any other Monday. I had just had a great weekend with my wife and toddler son. I am a psychologist in private practice and spend every day in my office working with people seeking relief from emotional suffering and pursuing personal growth. Life was good by most standards. I had […]
My name is Fiona Oakes, an ethical vegan since age six and vegetarian since age three. I am vegan by instinct—a natural expression of my love for animals and my desire not to hurt those I care for. My veganism is, and always has been, the predominant force and influence in my life. Vegan is not what I […]
Keera Clarke is a high school scholar-athlete who is preparing for one of the biggest decisions of her life, which is where to go after she graduates from high school. Her father, Kappel Leroy Clarke, a fitness expert who holds a kettle bell world record, has been there with her every step of the way. […]
In 2011, I hit rock bottom with my health. I was in an abusive relationship, and my self-esteem had steadily plummeted while my weight had steadily skyrocketed. I didn’t have a scale that went high enough to weigh myself and didn’t want to, but I’m pretty sure I weighed over 500 pounds at my heaviest. […]
A little over three years ago at 36 years old, I was constantly sick and very overweight. My LDL (“bad”) cholesterol level was nearly 300, and I was prediabetic and on the verge of a heart attack. I was born and raised in the Italian restaurant that my grandparents opened on Lake Michigan in 1957. In […]
About 2½ years ago, when I found myself in excruciating, chronic pain, I couldn’t lie to myself any longer about my health and weight. With a BMI of 36.7, I was not just overweight but troublingly obese (a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese). I read Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat to Live and made […]
As a strength coach, personal trainer, and powerlifter, I spent most of my adult life lifting weights and churning through thousands of calories like a furnace, each and every day. My adult weight always fluctuated between 220 and 260 pounds, and I thought I was in the shape of my life. However, in October of […]
Like most Midwestern Americans, I grew up on meat, comfort foods, and sugar-laden desserts. Later while serving in the Marines, my food trays in the chow hall weren’t any better. After leaving military service in 1992, I became a deputy sheriff, and my food choices while on duty weren’t the best. I tended to go […]
