Jennifer Broxterman - Nutrition Expert

This is episode 235 of the Empowered Team Podcast. Welcome to the Empowered Team Podcast, where we explore how to optimize your performance in career, sport, and life. And now your host, executive coach and life strategist, Kari Schneider.

Hello, Jennifer. Welcome to the Empowered Team Podcast. I'm so excited to have you here and for our listeners. Jen has this amazing background as a nutrition coach and as a researcher, and you've gone through so much in your own health journey, and you contribute so much to so many clients. Tell us just a little bit more about you and. And then we're going to dive into the most amazing. I'm so excited for this topic because it's all about the five books that are really going to serve our lives, from our health to our mindset to our performance that you're going to recommend for us. So I'm so excited for this one. Go ahead. So tell us a little more about you.

Well, thank you for having me. So, yeah. My name is Jen Broxterman. I am a Canadian registered dietitian and nutrition coach. Crazy backstory. I'm also a stage three ovarian cancer survivor. I've been a researcher and instructor at Western University in London, Ontario. So I'm like a nerd at heart. I love reading, I love learning. I love just going deep into kind of the science, but also beyond the science, just the bigger picture of, you know, the way we care for ourselves, our self talk, our energy, our relationships, a very holistic picture of wellness. And you and I have always connected, you know, on and off camera on that. So I'm so excited we get to chat today about some of my most favorite books that I would love to introduce to the audience. If they're bookworms like you and I are, I appreciate.

I love hearing this. I really appreciate this so much because so many professionals out there. If their realm is in the gym, then that's the answer. If their realm is in nutrition, then that's the answer. And you're really bringing this from a perspective of, okay, nutrition is massively important.

And.

And guess what? There's so much more that serves the bigger picture. It's not just that one thing. I love that.

Absolutely. And, well, do you want to dive right in? Let's. Let's talk book number one.

Let's do it. Okay. Book number one.

Okay. It's a little cliche, but it deserves a place on the list for anyone that's looking to improve their own behaviors and. Or they're a coach. So. Atomic Habits by James Clear. Super popular book, you know, on, on Amazon book sales. Why do I like this so much? For both myself and as a coach, I love how he breaks down the science of actually changing our behavior. And when I think about the nutrition coaching that I do with my own clients, it's not so much about like hey, broccoli is really good for you or how do we get more lean protein on your plate? Yes, those are important components of nutritious eating. I would say most people know what they need to be doing, but they struggle with the implementation. And so coaches sometimes push harder with like you just need to try harder or know your whys. And yeah, there is a component of willpower, there is a component of exploring, you know, why it's really important to you. But what I love so much about Atomic Habits is he really does break it down into the science of this validates the stickiness of a habit sticking around. So can we make it easier? Can we make it more available? Can we put ourselves in environments where other like minded people are role modeling and normalizing the behavior you want to see? If we want to break bad habits, here's how we start to undo the neural connections and pathways so that we weaken that tie and strengthen the tie of where we want to go. I'm assuming you've read the book. What, what's, what's your take on atomic?

You know what, this is the funniest thing because even my, one of my employees has, was reading this book when I hired him and I read Atomic Habits. I've read, I've read a number of, you know, like there's one, the slight edge. There's the seven habits of highly effective people. There's behavior, right. So many that are in the same realm. But that's one that I've wanted to read for so long. So I'm so excited about it. And especially you know, I, I coach and consult for men and women and businesses, right. And a lot of time and I always have this in my, the back of my mind with how I deliver things so that people can receive them. And it's this, that men often need some statistics. So men often need research the science, women often need social proof. So what it sounds like you've described in this book is that there's not only the research or the statistics around why like how something works, but there's that also what's the practical application that can really work for everyone. And so I love that. I think it would really land with, with all sorts of people.

Well, I came very prepared And I was wondering if you'd be open to me reading two of my favorite passages from the book just so we have a little sample of that for the audience. Big time. Okay. And I can even do that as a screen share here. So hopefully you guys can see this.

Yeah. And if you.

Recent research. Oh, sorry, go ahead.

I was just going to say, and if you're not seeing the YouTube version and you're listening to this on the podcast, then by all means, jump in. There's a recording on YouTube.

Yeah, perfect. So when scientists analyze people who appear to have tremendous self control, it turns out that those individuals aren't all that different from those who are struggling. Instead, disciplined people are better at structuring their lives in a way that does not require heroic willpower and self control. In other words, they spend less time in tempting situations. The people with the best self control are typically the ones who need to use it the least. It's easier to practice self restraint when you don't have to use it very often. So, yes, perseverance, grit, and willpower are essential to success. But the way to improve these qualities is not by wishing you were a more disciplined person, but by creating a more disciplined environment. So that's one of two quotes that I really like. And the other passage I love, I'll put it on here, is called your current trajectory versus your current results. That said, it doesn't matter how successful or unsuccessful you are right now. What matters is whether your habits are putting you on the path towards success. You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results. If you're a millionaire but spend more than you earn each month, you're on a bad trajectory. If your spending habits don't change, it's not going to end well. Conversely, if you're broke, but you save a little bit every month, then you're on the path towards financial freedom. Even if you're moving slower than you'd like.

That is powerful. I love that because it makes it completely tangible for people to be able to go, oh, okay, I can do this. That's amazing. I love it. I love those quotes. Thank you for providing those. Because it's. Those are the teasers that go, okay, yes. I'm getting this book tomorrow, actually. I might have this book. I think I have this book, actually.

And I have. Sitting on your shelf somewhere, just like waiting to be read, which is awesome. Yeah. So what I really like about his writing is he's very thoughtful and kind of to the point, but everything he's Written adds value. And he just has this great way of like, yeah, why? You know, I don't want to put myself in ultra tempting situations. And so it's not that people that are more successful just have some special je ne sais quoi. Why are they doing it? And I can't. He really breaks it down into when we study people who ultimately achieve what they've set their minds out to go get, these are the environments, these are the thought patterns, these are the relationships. This is how they set themselves up for success. And he just teaches it in a very step by step, tangible way that you can digest the material and then go take action on it. So great for yourself and great as a coach.

I love this because when we're struggling, we tend to be divisive. We tend to think we're alone. We tend to think. And this brings everybody together and says, hey, you know, it's not, not you, it's all of us. And this is how the ones who are doing it are succeeding. So it's so good.

Love it. So number two, ready for it? The title is a little bit long, so the short form version of the title is called Resilience. But the official long version of the title is Resilience. Hard Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life. And it's by Eric. I'm going to butcher his last name. Greitens. I think it's G R E I T E N S. So this book, weirdly, is a book I wish was on my high school reading list. It's the book I wish someone would have made me read as a teenager to start to prepare for adulthood. So what Resilience is all about. The backstory is it's a Navy SEAL who then starts to struggle with ptsd, anxiety and alcohol abuse. And he's on a bit of a downward spiral with his life being fairly self destructive. And he has a friend of his who's another Navy SEAL pull him out of the dark hole. And he does it through a series of letters where he is kind, self compassionate and yet really honest and says what this guy who's spiraling, who's in the victim mindset. The victim mentality needs to hear from a mindset, coaching perspective to get his life back on track. So some of the themes of this book talks about the idea of like, building purpose, confronting our pain and not trying to run away or numb ourselves out to the pain in our life. Practicing a deep sense of self, compassion, developing more empathy, finding our vocation, working with a mentor, trusting a mentor to be A guide to help us get to the next stage in our life. This book is also about finding our own inner peace and happiness. Obviously, with that Navy SEAL military reference, it's like finding that quiet confidence to connect with our warrior within. So it's a book that starts in tragedy and sadness, but it walks the path of breaking free from the victim mentality and smartening ourselves up when we're struggling. And so this guy has to get incredibly vulnerable. He trusts his mentor. He really listens to the advice in these letters. And it's a disservice to think that life will always be comfortable. Life will always be easy. Life will always be fair. It won't. So this book is about facing the reality that we will all have really challenging patches in life, and it's how we choose to respond to those challenging patches that make us. That build our character and make us who we are. So I love this book. It's a book I come back to about once every five years for resiliency recalibration in my own brain.

So out of curiosity, how long have you. Have you been reading this book? If you went back to every five years, is this one that helped you through some of the struggles that you've had? Is this.

Yeah, so I found it obviously, after high school. It would have been just a couple years after I finished university, but it's. It's just. I think it's a book kind of like a driver's license where, like, you should all just get your driving ability, like, retested. This is what this book makes me think of. Of like, okay, learning those skills of resiliency, self compassion, facing pain head on with bravery and courage, not being afraid to sit in uncomfortable feelings, and finding what our purpose is, our vocation, our calling, and knowing that that calling can change. Like, he thought he was going to be a Navy SEAL the rest of his life and obviously had some unfortunate incidents happen with that career. And then he was left spiraling with a lack of purpose of like, who am I? And I think many of us who have had long careers in this industry start out thinking we're going to be one type of coach or one type of helping professional. And conditions change, factors change in our life, and we have to make a pretty major pivot. So I think this book is just so great for anyone who has sat in an uncomfortable change where they're rediscovering themselves of who do I want to be? How do I want to show up in the world? What does my version of resiliency and bravery look like. So, yeah, this is just a book about how to become who you're meant to be in a really challenging situation.

I love that you've revisited this a number of times because you're coming back to it from a different space and then learning something different from it, even though it's the same material. And this is the kind of thing that I would emphasize for everyone. Don't think just because you've read a book that it's done. Don't think that there's not something new to learn from it because you're coming from it, coming from a place that is a different experience of life, a different person.

So this book is different every single time I read it because my life experiences have changed and the way I'm approaching some of the advice hits me differently each and every time. So, yeah, it's a really good book to read and then reread and then reread, read again.

Yeah, I love it. So good. I love that we're getting like the, the unexpected nuggets here. Okay, number three.

Okay. Book number three is a short, very to the point coaching book. It's called the Fearless Mind Stress Essential Steps to Higher Performance. And the author is Craig Manning. So what I really enjoy about this book, this one's a weird book. It's obscure and it's hard to find. Like I had to go down the Amazon rabbit to find a good used version that wasn't all tattered up. Again, by tattered version, it means it's a great book worth reading. So what Craig Manning does is he was a high performance tennis player and now he works as a sports psychologist and works with high performance athletes and high performance executives. And he has studied the characteristics of people that tend to have longer careers where they win. And what I love about this book is a couple of things. One, I appreciate a writer that is to the point. So his chapters are anywhere from like one and a half pages to like four pages max. And he's just like, okay, topic of perfectionism. Okay, I said everything I need to say about perfectionism. On to the next chapter.

Yeah, I feel like you're winning as a reader. Yeah, as a reader, you're winning.

It's like, okay, yes, I got what I needed. There is no fluff. He doesn't drag a topic out for pages and pages. It's very efficient and highly effective. And so what he really focuses on, I have an actual, like bookmark in my book because I've read this section so many times. Is my favorite chapter is called task versus Ego orientation. And what I love about that chapter is he talks about the different framework of thinking that people who have long successful careers, long successful streets of performance, how are they thinking differently than the people who burn out, the people who give up, or the people who don't succeed as much? What's different about them is they don't really focus that much on the outcome. They don't focus on what the score of the game is, how many wins they've accumulated, how much money's in their bank account, what their sales look like the last quarter, how much weight have they lost on the scale. They are actually very different when you analyze their, like, post game or like post quarter, you know, thinking they are obsessed with mastery and excellence. So those are the two keywords, mastery and excellence. So I'll give you like a tennis example. If they were a high performance tennis player, they're not focused on like, okay, I got to win this tournament. They're focused on have I mastered my spin serve? And they will work on it and work on it and work on it till they feel like they have a perfect backhand or spin serve or whatever the case may be. They're obsessed with their recovery, their sleep, their nutrition, the factors that go in to making a champion. So when he studies, yeah, executive careers, athlete careers, and he looks at people that have so many more wins accumulated to their name, they don't worry about the shot that they miss. They don't worry about the future of what's coming up. They're very much in the present. And again, it's those two words. Personal excellence and mastery over the skills they need to develop to be great at what they do. So hard book to find, but such a great book for both ourselves and for coaches that are listening out there.

And what a great title too. The Fearless Mind. And then it's just the five essential steps. I love this. This is so good. Okay, so this one. How. How did this one serve you the most?

What.

What did you adapt in your life personally, from this book?

Yeah. You know what's interesting? The biggest takeaway I adapted personally is after I read this book and around New Year's, I'm not really a New Year's resolution goal setter, but I wrote a blog post and followed through on it and I called it the Year without any Goals. So I intentionally did a year. It's about 2016, I want to say, where I was like, this is a year I will attach no goals whatsoever. No athletic goals, no financial goals, no business goals. Now, did it mean mentally that I was slacking? Not at all. What I started to look at the year without goals, was a year of skill building. What skills do I want to go out and continue to get better at? What continuing education can I sign up for that? I'm interested to learn new information, go deeper, learn a new skill set. And really, I haven't returned to goals since reading this book is I don't think about anything I do in terms of goals anymore. I really think about excellence and mastery. And it's a lot more fun because you're like this little kid learning new skills. And it's just interesting and exciting to get better. And what it does is without goals, it strips away the pressure because there's no timeline. There's no did I hit it or not? Did I achieve it or not? Do I do the yes or I got the big no? And now there's an X stamped across you. It's just, where am I on the scale or the gradient of just improving skills? And so when you look at it as, like, what skills do I want to get better at? Life just becomes this really fun game of continual learning. And you're never failing because better is better, forward is forward. If you've just moved a skill forward, you're improving as a human. So I love that reframe that. That's what the fearless mind taught me.

I. That's so good. And it's. It plays right into how much people can feel fulfilled or happy from progress.

Right?

Progress equals happiness. Progress has brings people to that feeling of, oh, okay, this is good. Way we go. Okay, what's number four?

What do you got? Okay, so this is an author I think we both share a love of. My fourth book is by an author named Kelly McGonagill. It's. The book is called the Willpower, how self control works, why it matters, and what you can do to get more of it. And the title is a little bit misleading in that you think it's a book about, like, how do I have more willpower? I always like to joke that willpower is our flaky friends. It RSVPs yes to the party. It will check off the wedding invitation like, yes, I'm coming. And then it may or may not show up on the day that we need it to be there. So what's really interesting is Kelly McGonagall teaches a university class at Stanford University on the topic of willpower. And this quickly became one of Stanford's most popular elective credits that students could sign up for and that's what ultimately yielded this book because she's like, well, I want more people who can't be in my Stanford University class to learn what I teach my students. And so instead in the Willpower Instinct, she really does a deep dive into how, you know, research around temptation and stress can overcome our brain and hijack our systems of self control. But it's like willpower gym training. So she looked at what are the factors that make our willpower last longer, what are the factors that make us be more inclined to behave with intention to our long term goals. And the four areas that kept coming up in research, this isn't going to shock any health coach, were the areas of mindfulness, exercise, nutrition and sleep. So when we start to hone in our mindfulness with different tactics like breathing drills, meditation, yoga flow states, you know, really working without distractions, mindfulness will increase our ability to act with intention and, you know, have more willpower. Exercise will literally reconfigure the gray matter in our brain and send more blood up to the prefrontal cortex and grow more blood vessels in our self control region of our brain. So we know meditation will remodel the gray matter. But exercise has that effect too. So I'm sure many of our audience listeners will know how good they feel when they start their day with a gym session or a morning walk or taking the dog out and getting some blood, moving right away. A yoga practice, how it just sets you up for success or taking that mid morning or lunch workout break and coming back in the afternoon to work through another session of, you know, deep work. Yeah, that is, that is.

I love this. I love her work and I love the, I love bringing the research side of things into the practical side of things and bringing it together so that. Okay, here's the four things everyone here they are right? And they will serve us all. And yeah, it's the thing that gives the fuel to have the willpower. It's, it's such a great thing. I love it.

Well, I'm going to pull one of my favorite again, very bookmarked. I pull this out and I read this to clients all the time. I'm going to do a little teaser from the book and read one of my favorite passages. Do it because this tiny section talks about things that actually reduce stress that are backed by research and things people tend to gravitate towards to reduce stress that do not have a stress reducing effect even though that we think it will make us feel better. She has these little gray bump out boxes and they're all about real life experiments. And then she asks her students to go home and try the experiments in their everyday life. For our listeners, give this experiment a try. Right from the willpower instinct. So so willpower experiments. Try a Stress Relief strategy that works. While many of the most popular stress relief strategies fail to make us feel better, some strategies really work. According to the American Psychological association, the most effective stress relief strategies are exercising or playing sports, praying or attending a religious service, reading, listening to music, spending time with family and friends, getting a massage, playing with pets, going outside for a walk, meditating or doing yoga, as well as spending time with a creative hobby. So things like arts and crafts and drawing and sewing. Now, the least effective strategies as backed by science are gambling, shopping, smoking, drinking, eating, playing video games, surfing the Internet, and watching TV or movies for more than two hours. So, so interesting, right about like what we go to. So let's get into the chemistry and the hormones in our brain because this really explains the difference. So what is the main difference between the strategies that work and the strategies that don't? Well, rather than releasing dopamine and relying on the promise of reward, which is what that not helpful list does, the real stress relievers boost mood enhancing brain chemicals like serotonin and gaba, as well as the feel good hormone oxytocin. They also help shut down the brain's stress response. They reduce stress hormones in the body and induce the healing and relaxation response. Because they aren't exciting. Like dopamine releasers, we tend to underestimate how good they will make us feel. And so we forget about these strategies, not because they don't work, but because when we're stressed, our brains persistently mispredict that they will make us feel happy. This means we often talk ourselves out of doing the very thing that makes us feel better. So the next time you're feeling stressed and about to reach for the promise of relief, consider trying a more effective stress reliever instead. And I kind of call this when I talk to my clients and I use this passage from her book, I call it the speed bump. The thing that we gravitate to when we're highly stressed, have almost no resistance to fall into the behavior. Going on our phones, scrolling on social media, flopping on the couch and watching Netflix. There's no bump to get into that activity. So we fall into them thinking they're going to make us feel better. But they don't. The things that really make us feel better have a little bit of a speed bump. You have to get over. Going outside for a walk means you have to check the weather, put on shoes, you know, get outside listening to music, you know, go put on a record player, put a song on your phone, playing with a pet, calling a loved one. There's a little more resistance. But once we get into that hobby, that gentle walk, some yoga, some meditation, we'll feel. I've never come home from a walk, not feeling better than when I left. Right, you never regretted to get into it. Exactly. So I just like to give that list as a reminder of when you're stressed. This might be your default, but this just gets your dopamine going. But you're not getting the serotonin, the GABA and the oxytocin. And when you get those brain chemicals flowing. Stress. Bring down the stress.

Yeah.

Wow. So I just achieved very, very evidence based, but very practical, which is why this is one of my favorite books to recommend.

Well, and that example of a comparison of these are the top, these are the bottom. And yet, you know, most of us can think of a time that we ourselves or we know someone that we're close to who's gone directly for the video games, the tv, the drinking, the whatever it is.

Totally.

That seems like the thing. It seems like. Well, no, this is. This is what I need right now. Is it?

I don't know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So good, so good. Okay, let's do number five.

Fifth and final book for today. So this book's a bit older, but it was one that really opened up my mind. So let me give the title first. The book is called Switch how to Change when Change is Hard. And it's written by two brothers, Dan Heath and his brother Chip Heath. And this book is really famous for a concept called the rider, the elephant in the past. So the rider is our logical brain, right? It likes facts and data and arguments. The elephant is more of our emotional brain. It less responds to logic and more responds to feelings. And if you think about it, the elephant is much bigger than the rider. So there's times that it works together where the rider can kind of control the elephant. But if the elephant is tired and stressed and overwhelmed and overworked, it is not going to obey the rider's instructions. And then the third invisible force is the path that shapes and directs where the elephant will go. If the elephant has to bushwhack through a thick forest and try to change behavior and then it gets tired, it's not going to want to persist. But if we can sort of shape the path for the Elephants and the rider and make them have less friction and resistance. To help the elephant go where we want it to go, the rider will have an easier time controlling and leading the elephant down that path. And so for a coach, when I, this is the first my time my eyes got open to motivational interviewing about like, well, as a nutrition coach, can I just present them with the facts and the logic of why they should change their behavior and like, duh, just do it. Rider being like, why can't I make this thousand plus pound elephant go where I want it to go? And so you actually have to, as a coach, as an individual for yourself, understand your underlying emotions, understand your motivators, understand your fears, understand your stressors, understand what excites you, understand what doesn't get your, your, you know, cup of tea, you know, tickled. And the other thing is the more you can shape the path and cut down the bush and the friction, the easier time those two will work together. And that was the book that opened my eyes, that the three have to work together. We need logic, we need our emotions, and we need the path, all three to be as a team in order to change our own behavior. So if you've ever wondered yourself like, I have these good intentions, why did my behavior just go sideways? Do that. Look at your underlying emotions more so than the logical side of why the behavior went sideways.

This is so good. Okay, first of all, I have not heard of this book. I really appreciate you sharing it and, but it really appeals to my, my love of animals, my love of coaching, my experience with clients. And it, it's also, it has me make note of why I am not the same coach with different people. I coach differently with different people. I parent differently with different kids. And there's a reason why. And this explains it more, which. Just an easier way of understanding it. Yeah, I love the idea because I used to ride horses a lot and so I think of the elephant as, you know, you're dealing with this large beast and it's our, it's our emotional forces. So this is so good. This is so good. And for you, it made a big difference for coaching.

Yes.

Have you noticed it personally as well when you're maybe going, okay, I want to be doing this and I'm feeling this and I've got some friction.

So I have one question I asked myself that I also teach to coaches and our Prosper nutrition certification and to my, my, my clients. And if I'm feeling like I'm going sideways, the question I ask is, what's the unmet need. So one of my favorite quotes comes from a friend of mine from Precision Nutrition, Dr. John Berardi. And he basically, to paraphrase him, goes, all underlying human behavior is just an attempt to solve a problem, even if it's not the best response. So if I'm three cookies deep into fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, if I, you know, poured myself a glass of wine on a Friday with the phrase of like I deserve, if I am feeling tempted to order takeout, whatever, you know, whatever the case may be, sleep in and not go to the gym. What underlying unmet need or what underlying problem am I trying to solve? Is it that I'm bored and many eggs in my mouth and sugar creates a momentarily sense of excitement? Am I anxious about a deadline and I'm trying to numb out on social media and procrastinate to avoid that hard task? I don't want to start because my energy is low. Am I sleeping in through my alarm? Because really the underlying need is I had anxiety and didn't get to bed very easily. And now I feel exhaustion and fatigue. And I have two competing values. I want to feel rested, but I also want to go to the gym and be active. So what I now do is I get rid of a layer of shame. I get rid of the layer of judgment and inner bullying. And instead I get really curious. And by being curious, I can be empathetic and a better problem solver. And the question again is, what's the unmet need? And so I start to look at that need of, okay, if there's anxiety, do I need breathing to calm down? Do I need a check in with a therapist to just help sort out some thoughts? Do I need to go for a quick brisk walk to shake off some nervous energy? If I can better quiet my racing mind and not try to self soothe and bury the problem, but actually let the problem come to the surface and go, here's the stressor. What's the unmet need? Then I can find the right tool in my health toolbox to better dissipate that stressor. But if I try to pretend the stressor isn't there, or if I shame myself and bury it, I never have the opportunity to solve the stressor in a more healthy way. So if you're hearing and resonating with this, it's strip away the judgment, strip away the bully, strip away the shame, get curious, let the issue come to the surface, air it out and go, what's the unmet need? And then is there a tool in my Health toolbox that better solves the problem than what my default is that I'm being pulled into right now. And that's really how my life changed after I started to interpret a lot of all of these books kind of put together.

I thank you for sharing that because it's, it's vulnerable, it's personal, and it's powerful. And I, I think that that can really land for a lot of people. It reminds me of when I learned about some holistic nutrition and how they refer to primary nourishment being our emotional nourishment and secondary nourishment being food. And, and so as a, as a professional and expert and, and just who you are and what you've experienced in your field, it means so much to share it, how you've shared it and in such a personal way. I think that's incredible. You, you referred to some of your certifications and your company is Prosper and Nutrition. So can you tell us a little bit more about what you're up to and what people can learn from you or what you offer in the world?

Absolutely. So, I mean, I've been a nutrition coach for 13 years. As a dietitian, I work with all different kinds of conditions. But what I wanted to do was create an army of allies. We definitely need more people on our side helping with the behavior change, good habits, and the mindset components. So I decided, I know that motivational interviewing is such an important skill, and you know me, I am such a nerd. I love learning more and helping others learn more, and that is how prosper nutrition coaching came to be. So it is a certification for health coaches, nutrition coaches, personal trainers, gym owners. We have an option for solo coaches to go through, and we also have a discounted team option. So for gyms that have teams of coaches that are into this holistic wellness, who not only teach fitness, but they want to bring in the nutrition, the mindset, the big picture, sleep and stress and recovery. This certification allows you to become accredited as a certified nutrition health coach. It then allows you to get insurance to coach nutrition within your gym or as a solo, you know, solopreneur. And then the big thing, I think that sets us apart, our secret sauce, is the mentoring. So not only do you get the training videos on behavior change, coaching, the science of nutrition, motivational interviewing, but we actually work with people for three one on one calls for an hour each to take the material and individualize it to you, your coaching, your clients, and your business. And so we kind of use the imagery of A rocket where we get to propel you out, you get to walk away with all of our games, resources, activities that we use with clients. We teach you how to work with them, and then we want you to go make it your own and continue to uplift your practice of nutrition and wellness coaching. So our next enrollment period is coming up this May, and we're taking on our next cohort of students, which is really exciting. And then further down the road, we'll have another cohort go off in the fall, so in September. But yeah, we've worked with about 300 gyms and health coaches so far, and the results that they're seeing with their clients because they really stopped trying to beat information over their client's head and they know how to talk about nutrition in a different way. Looking at the bigger picture and having more of these coaching skills and tools has been just transformative in the nutrition coaching space. So it has been such an honor to work with people who want to level up their skills and help them, you know, really learn about motivational interviewing in a, a client centered way.

I, I love what you're doing. I really appreciate it. From a number of areas. Number one, you're. You are helping people. You have a team of professionals who have expertise in the area at such a high level, and you're helping people from all from the high level athlete to the person who's struggling with Crohn's disease, to everything in between. Your company is doing that and you're endeavoring to have bigger reach and help more people by giving the skills and the tools to the people who are professionals, whether they're in gyms or, you know, physical coaching, life coaching, you name it. So that people have more of a skill set to offer versus maybe just the realm that they've been coaching so far. So your reach is expanding. Expanding. I really love what you're doing. This is such a need right now and you have such a massive heart to be giving this to as many people as you can.

I love it.

And, and when I is is there. You've got an enrollment, it's got. You've got an enrollment in May, you've got enrollment in September.

Yeah. What? Yeah. So I guess if you want to get on the wait list, depending on when this podcast drops, we always have information current on our website. So our website is www.ProsperNC.com. so P R O S P E R M as in Nancy, c as in cat.com or our email is the same. Same email info prospernc.com that will make its way back to me. Happy to answer any questions. But we do have a little wait list that if you get on the waitlist, no obligation to sign up, but it will give you access earlier than the general public. We have a limited number of spots and when we're sold out, we're sold out. We can't add more. So if, if you're a coach, if you're a solopreneur, if you're just someone that really is interested in wellness and self care and learning about the science of behavior change in the realm of nutrition coaching, that's what our Prosper Nutrition certification is all about.

This is fantastic. So we'll put this link in the show notes and then at the same time do you. Are you on Instagram, Facebook? Can people find you other places?

Absolutely. So Instagram pretty easy to find us with our name. We're at Prosper NC and on Facebook we are Prosper Nutrition certification. We can throw that in the show notes.

Yeah, we'll put that in the chat as well. And yeah, I am just so refreshed and so excited that we've been able to do this. Thank you so much for revisiting. If people want to listen back at one of our earlier first year of our podcast, the very first year of our podcast that is an episode that we interviewed you for more of your personal journey of writing sport and overcoming cancer and all of the things that you did that way. So I would love for people to listen into that as well. Well and look you up, check you out because you are the top notch service that I would recommend every time for nutrition. So I love it. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your books because this is the gift that keeps on giving. The reading, the learning that people can keep using to help with their self mastery. So thank you, have a wonderful rest of your day and I hope this serves our list listeners. Thanks for coming on.

Yeah, thanks for having me. Bye guys.

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