What distinguishes our innovative strategies from those promoted by countless self-described 'wellness experts' is the science.

In contrast to many others in the wellness industry, our methods are proven to:

1. be safer,
2. actually work,
3. and be sustainable over the long run.

The vast majority of health, wellness and fitness products and services out there fail in one or more of these three key principles.

Surely you might lose 10 pounds following an extreme 90-day exercise regime, but do you know what your odds are of suffering a painful, incapacitating and expensive-to-treat injury?  Will the regime be sustainable for the next 5 or 10 years?

Likewise, you'll probably lose '5 pounds in 5 days' on the latest 'juicing detox' fad but will those be 5 pounds of fat or 5 pounds of water and even muscle mass?  What effect will this 'detox' have on your body's electrolyte balance?  What are the chances that it will have any real positive or long-lasting effects on your weight and your health?  And what is the long-term effect of engaging in such dramatic weight fluctuations?  We've done the research and needless to say, the answers to all of these questions are not good.
 

The same applies to many other trendy health and fitness programs and fads. They may be unsafe, ineffective, unsustainable, or any combination of these three because they are formulated to appeal to our desires for quick, cheap and easy results.

Trendy diets and workouts are carefully engineered to sell to the masses and generate a fast profit based on their novelty and on 'catching the hype' instead of being based on finding the best way to improve your health in a meaningful and long-lasting way.

Have you ever noticed how any given exercise or nutritional company is always releasing newer and "better" systems featuring flashier names and packaging?   Sooner or later there is always an "upsell" to persuade you to spend more money than you were originally led to believe you would.  This makes these products a marketer's dream but at the expense of your time, money, and long-term health.

By the way, the health & fitness industry is betting billions of dollars that you will ignore what you just read and that you will still pay good money for the bogus promise of 'quick, cheap and easy results.' So buyer beware.

Most health products and services rely on this false promise as a way to guarantee 'a new you' while conveniently ignoring the most important factor in the entire equation: you.

Some well-researched books and guides can certainly be useful starting points for a more informed health strategy, but they can only do so much by delivering very generic information in a single direction: at you.  The authors have no idea who you are and have no way to tailor the information to your unique needs, expectations and preferences.

Sadly, these limitations also apply to many personal health coaching services out there. Some 'institutes' make their money selling their health coach training courses (and by coaching anyone!). Their profits lie in the fees paid by thousands of lay persons, with no relevant background in health care, who pay to be churned out as 'certified' coaches. So once again, you - the potential client - are nowhere to be seen in the equation.

In your search for a personal health coach consider what makes us different:

You are starting off with a professional who has dedicated his entire career to the science of how the human body works, what makes it ill, what heals it, and how to carry out and interpret sound scientific research.  This is a solid and reputable foundation.

Next, Dr. Peña is a Level 1 certified Precision Nutrition coach.  Precision Nutrition is the premier, research-driven, nutrition coaching qualification proven to have brought thousands of people safe and long-lasting benefits because it is based on habits that are learned, practiced and mastered, instead of bank account-draining gimmicks like supplements or gadgets.

Now consider the fact that Dr. Peña is an experienced and talented teacher and coach and that his driving ambition is to help you live the happiest and healthiest life possible. This is why he went into medicine and what drives him every day.

Dr. Peña's knowledge, personal attention and listening skills help you identify your true motivations and formulate a plan of action that works for you. This will make you feel supported, committed to a cause that is meaningful to you, while also holding yourself more accountable for the outcome.  This uniquely scientific yet individualized approach to your health goals is the ELITE Difference.

Research has shown that face to face professional coaching using proven methods is much more likely to lead to significant and lasting changes in lifestyle and health than a person attempting to make such changes on his or her own.

So, in the search for better health resources, be your own scientist.  Using the scientific method is little more than simply using your common sense is a systematic way.  Ask the tough questions when it comes to assessing health claims from so-called 'experts':

• Who is the 'expert'?
• What makes him or her an 'expert'?
• Does the promoted solution work?
• Where is the proof?
• Does the explanation make sense to you?
• Does it sound too good to be true?
• Is there a bias, conflict of interest, or an ulterior motive resulting in poor credibility? (such as when a 'nutritionist' sells you supplements or a coach's website advertises a health coaching training program).

Then, if you choose to try something new for your health then be your own experiment and once again ask the tough questions:

• Could it be harmful to your health?
• Is it making any difference to your life?
• Is it worth the time, money and effort you are investing?
• Is it something you can continue to practice over years and will give you lasting results?
• Is it something you enjoy doing?

Check out the following brief video of doctor Kelly McGonigal, PhD, a Stanford University health psychologist passionate about translating scientific research into real-life strategies to improve our lives.
 

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Agency for Healthcare Quality & Research (AHRQ)
American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
American Cancer Society
American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM)
American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG)
American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
American Diabetes Association (ADA)
ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal
American Council on Exercise (ACE)
American Dietetic Association
American Heart Association (AHA)
American Institute for Cancer Research
American Institute of Stress
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
American Journal of Epidemiology
American Journal of Health Behavior
American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
American Journal of Public Health
American Psychological Association
American Society for Nutrition
American Society of Clinical Oncology (Cancer.net)
Annals of Behavioral Medicine
Annals of Internal Medicine
Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism
Arthritis & Rheumatology
Associated Press
Authoritative Nutrition
Bariatric Medical Institute (Ottawa, Canada)
Behavioral Scientist
Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine (MGH)
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
British Journal of Sports Medicine
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
Celiac Disease Foundation
Celiac Society
Celiac Sprue Association
Center for Disease Control (CDC)
Center for Human Sleep Science at UC Berkeley
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Cleveland Clinic
Cochrane Library
Columbia University Institute of Human Nutrition
Consumer Lab
Department of Health and Human Services
Duke University Medical Center’s Lifestyle Medicine Clinic
EBioMedicine (by The Lancet)
Environmental Health Perspectives
Environmental Working Group
European Heart Journal (European Society of Cardiology)
European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Evidence-based Fitness.net
Examine.com
Federal Trade Commission
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Greater Good Science Center, Berkeley U. of California
Harvard Medical School, Institute of Lifestyle Medicine
Harvard School of Public Health
Health News Review.org
Hepatology
Human Reproduction Update
Improving Chronic Care.org
Informed Medical Decisions Foundation
Insomnia & Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Stanford U.
Institute for Responsible Nutrition
Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Affiliate
Institute of Medicine (National Academy of Science)
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity
International Society of Sports Nutrition
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine
Journal of Endocrinology
Journal of Management
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
Journal of Research in Music Education
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
Journal of the American College of Nutrition (JACN)
Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA)
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
London School of Economics
Linus Pauling Institute (OSU) for Micronutrient Research
Mayo Clinic Proceedings
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)
Medline
M.I.T. Center for Health Promotion & Wellness
National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine
National Center for Health Statistics
National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)
National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF)
National Exchange for Weight Loss Resistance
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), U.K.
National Institute on Aging (of the NIH)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Osteoporosis Foundation
NSF International
National Strength and Conditioning Association
National Weight Control Registry (NWCR)
Nature Medicine
Neuroimage
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)
NutritionFacts.org
Nutrition Journal
Nutrition Science Initiative
Obesity Society (TOS)
Oxidative Medicine & Cellular Longevity
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Physiology & Behavior
PLoS (Public Library Of Science) ONE - Medicine
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A.
Psychoneuroendocrinology
Reuters Health
Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology
Scientific American
Scripps Research Institute
Sleep Health
Sleep To Live Institute
The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health
United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Health & Human Services
United States National Library of Medicine
United States Preventive Services Task Force
United States Surgeon General
University of Central Florida Center for Lifestyle Medicine
World Life Expectancy
Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center
Yale University School of Medicine
 

This warning may seem odd coming from a health coach in the wellness industry, but this is why you should take this advice.  I know the wellness industry and I know how incredibly unregulated it is.  This is why it is crucial to develop your critical thinking skills and to keep them honed at all times.

The following short article describes the current state of the "cult of wellness."  I strongly recommend you read it.

If your profession and pasttimes have not included the natural sciences or if 'the scientific method' is just a vague and distant term you recall from your high school years then you may be among the vast majority of people on the planet.

 For a variety of reasons the foundational knowledge in science among American students is not world renown.  In fact, on a recent international education survey United States science and math students ranked 36th from the top.  This makes us all prime targets of scams, false advertisement and misunderstanding of the science that is shaping our daily lives.

 Please take the next 14 minutes to enjoy this funny, entertaining, and yet very important talk by Dr. Ben Goldacre, a London-based medical doctor and epidemiologist who is taking on "Bad Science" as his cause.