Life By Design Podcast

In his incredible definition of self-esteem, Dr. Nathanial Branden (author of one of Life By Design's favourite books - The Six Pillars Of Self-Esteem) mentions that the hardest judgment we pass is on ourselves.   Interestingly, he chose to keep that thought in the definition, most likely because of the astonishing amount of times we, humans, think that our behaviour, thoughts, and actions are inherently broken or wrong.   Our culture has done an excellent job of pushing it into our minds that no matter our personal circumstances, we are never enough. We are never rich, beautiful, happy, in love, thin, strong, etc., enough no matter what we do.   On today's episode, I'd like to talk about procrastination, willpower and laziness. Of course, there are times we are these things. Even the hardest working and most productive person will have times when they feel lazy and unmotivated.   I'm going to argue that procrastination and lack of will power get substituted, more often than not, for

"Don't go to a chiropractor because they can cause you to have a herniated disc."   Hopefully, this is the first time you've heard this but, as is often the case, bad news travels much faster than good news.   Is this true?    A new study suggests that this is not the case at all. The study concludes that patients have the same risk of an acute disc herniation going to their medical doctor as they would going to the chiropractor with low back pain.   It's important to know precisely what these conclusions mean and how they affect you.   Low back pain can be a severe problem. Low back pain affects 70% of the population throughout their life and on any given day anywhere from 15-30% of the population is affected by low back pain.   An issue is that sometimes low back pain is prodromal to a lumbar disc herniation. Meaning that the individual has already suffered from an acute disc herniation and the nature of that injury has not fully expressed itself with the first symptom.   It would have appeared, on first in

This truly was one of my favorite episodes to record. Was it because of the fantastic content? Yes. Of course the content was wonderful and for many, the concepts we covered will challenge your current training approach and lead to significant and results boosting action. But it was more than the content... it was the guest. On today's episode of the Life By Design Podcast I had the opportunity to speak with 6x CrossFit Games athlete (including finishing as the 12th fittest man in the world in 2016) Marcus Filly. Marcus is a husband, father of 2 daughters and the CEO and Founder of Revival Strength and Functional Bodybuilding, and creator of Awaken Training Series. What I loved about this episode was the value systems and principles that make up this functional bodybuilding model. The amount of crossover with Life By Design lead to a detailed dive into what works in the functional fitness real world and what doesn't. What We Covered The journey that lead Marcus from a high school athlete to Division 1 athlet

There are three reasons for experiencing a lack of results at the gym, and they have almost nothing to do with willpower, procrastination, or hard work.   Yes, those are all important but, by far, they are not the most significant reason you fail to get the results you want.   The most significant reason is that your strategy is not compatible with your goals.   What does that mean in plain English? It means that, for the most part, you're not doing the things that will get you the result you want.   No matter how much scientific data, anecdotal evidence, and even personal experience show you, the widespread consensus still is that cardio produces weight loss, and to tone, you need to do low weight, high reps.   The second reason is the lack of consistent intensity. Your body adapts to the stress you place on it. Most people, when joining a gym, experience great results but then plateau and never improve. The improvement occurs because your body gets used to what you're doing. If you want to keep improving, y

Beware the health halo. The health halo is a term or in this case, group of words, that are often associated with a particular outcome. For example, when you hear the term organic what comes to mind? Most likely, your brain jumps to fresh, healthy, crispy, colourful, etc. Now, what if we mentioned that both cocaine and heroin can be by definition organic? Health halo terms also include "natural, drugless, vegan, vegetarian, paleo, keto" and the topic of today's episode "plant-based." Recently, and it's unknown if this is correlated or coincidental, but a change in Canada's food guide toward a more 'plant-based' diet (their words not ours) has seen many fast food chains jump on board and begin offering 'meatless, beyond meat, and plant-based' options to their customers. Of course, since we love business and free enterprise, it's lovely to see companies meet (meat would have been a pun) the needs of their customers. The issue, in this case, is that these products are promoted as (or at least assumed to be) heal

Oct 18, 2017, will always be remembered by Canadians.    That was the day that Gord Downie, leader of The Tragically Hip and Canadian Icon passed away.   The Tragically Hip have been called a Canadian treasure, the national band of Canada and many other flattering things have been said about them.   Gord Downie was (and will continue to be) a role model and an influence. He inspired many in Canada, his vision reached much wider than music, and he had a lot to say.   Role models are a real and powerful force in your life. If you have good ones you can overcome the worst that life can throw at you and still be successful. If, on the other hand, you (either consciously or unconsciously) have selected poor role models your life might never reach it' s full potential.   The purpose of this episode it to help you understand why having and worshiping heroes is a key to success; and how to choose a proper role model.   What we cover: Issac Newton said, "The reason I can see so far is that I've stood on the shoulders

Old habits die hard right?   I still find it shocking that despite the current and steady stream of consistent scientific evidence you are still scared to make fat a major part of your diet.   But on the other hand, I get it.   I mean, after all, fat has been vilified for so many years, by so many people that you respect (your teachers and your doctors) that it's hard to go against the low fat mantra.   I remember being in public school and our Phys Ed teacher brought in this disgusting yellow lumpy jelly and said: "This is hardened body fat. You will get this in your arteries and on the sides of your body from eating too much fat."    Talk about leaving a mark...that was almost 30 years ago and I still remember that event. So it's no wonder that most of us are completely fat phobic.   But, science (good science, and a lot of it) is proving time and time again that fat is NOT an enemy of health. On the contrary, fat is looking more like your health's best friend.   I'm not advocating eating as much fat as you

This is it! The secret 'reveal' that you've been waiting for is finally here. Someone is going to spill the beans on the one very specific thing you need to do in order to stick to your diet forever. In fact, we can go even deeper than that. This 'secret' will help you not only stick to your diet but also your workout regime, and anything else that requires will power. Heck, it will also make you wealthy without working. Hopefully, by now, you can tell that this idea I speak of, this secret gem, is not real at all. There is no secret, no magic pill, special cream, surgery, extraction, etc., that will get the results that you want. There is just work. But that doesn't mean you can't become the person who does the work and succeeds. The purpose of this podcast is to share with you the strategies that I've found most helpful in helping me stick to my diet. What I Cover A general overview of why there is no 'secret,' but that doesn't mean there are no strategies and way for you to improve. There is still a lot o

Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.   -Theodore Roosevelt   In this episode of Life By Design, we are going back a bit in the history of the podcast with something we used to call a Baby Bullet episode.   If you remember the magic bullet kitchen utensil, you would recall that it was advertised as something where you could put many ingredients in it, and it would chop them all up with no problem.   The idea for today's show is to take a random topic generator, hit 'generate topic' and talk about whatever comes up.   Why are we doing this, and what's the benefit for you?   There was an article published in the Washington post recently on a book title "Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence That Caring Makes A Difference". The theme of the book is that patients who have doctors they perceive as compassionate tend to recover faster and attain better health.    Full disclosure, we have not read the book but found the article interesting since it affirms a personal beli

Being a parent is a fantastic experience in many ways; sometimes, because it's challenging and other times because you can experience love and joy beyond any measure possible. Children seem to be the great divider of time in our lives - almost like the B.C and A.D of us. There was your life before you had kids where you had time, other interests and could remember doing things and there's your life after kids where you're busy, on a schedule, and always have another part of you that's out there in the world...and whether you're 90 and they're 70, they will always be your kids. One of the things you're forced to deal with when you have kids is your own mortality, what will happen to them if something happens to me, and what do I want to leave them with after I'm gone? Most of the time, 'things' get thought of when you ask yourself that question: your house, your investments, your possessions, etc. That is an essential line of thinking because those things are important. Yet, there is something more important t

The amount of low and no calories sweeteners that children get in their diets has increased two hundred percent in recent years. Obesity rates have also been climbing with one-third of children between the ages of two and nineteen overweight or obese.   The obvious (maybe not so obvious) conclusion that children's weight should be decreasing or staying the same has made researchers question what's going on. It would be safe to assume that fewer calories and less sugar should amount to a decrease in weight.   There's an important disclaimer that needs mentioning -  weight loss does not necessarily amount to good. We don't have objectively measurable qualifiers for health, only for disease.   Some studies are suggesting that swapping artificially sweetened drinks for those high in sugar might promote weight loss in children and teens, but there is also data to suggest that doing so increases health risk in other areas.   Bottom line there are better ways to lose weight and improve health than drinking artificia

I recently finished Cal Newport's book, Digital Minimalism and really enjoyed it. There were two concepts which I found to be both urgent and vital to include in my life as soon as possible. The first was a distracted mind's intrusion on our solidarity - a topic for another day. And, two, the issue of free time and how it affects our mind. I'm paraphrasing what I've read and what my takeaways are so, please feel free to dismiss both if you'd like. But at least give me the change to share what I think and see if it resonates with you. The purpose of this podcast is to have a closer look at 'free time' and see if there is a better way to spend it than just mentally drifting. What I covered Is free time a paradox? We spend most of our time 'wanting some time off,' even though when we get it; it doesn't seem to make us any happier. What is happiness and is it important? Does a lack of structure, free time, generate more happiness or less?  

"Drvo se savija dok je mlado" - Croatian Proverb   The above statement translated into English means that the "tree is bent when it is young." This saying can also be a metaphorical statement implying that the habits and environment experienced as a child tends to continue into adulthood.   The is precisely the mindset the United Nations Public Health Agency had in mind when they made their newest recommendations for sleep, exercise and screen time in 1-5 years olds.    Previously, there were no recommendations for children below five years old. However, due to the idea (and evidence) that children who are obese, tend to become adults that are obese (obesity increases all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes) the United Nations Public Health Agency is trying to help 'bend the tree' in the healthy direction by creating guidelines surrounding screen time, exercise and sleep, for children under five.   The purpose of this podcast is to review those guidelines and offer suggestions on how to make

"Everything is amazing, and nobody is happy" are words famously (it might be notoriously now depending on who you're asking) spoken by comedian Louis C.K in a late night talk interview with Conan O'Brien. The context was how incredible it is to be able to fly in an airplane and how even 60 years ago if you wanted to travel across the country, it could take days or weeks, not a few hours. C.K also alluded to the fact that you could get the internet now on an airplane (the interview is 2 years old when the internet was novel on flights) which prompted the man next to him to get upset because it wasn't as fast as he would have liked instead of being grateful and happy that this 'awesome' technology was possible. Having the pleasure of being alive in 2019 is fantastic. The opportunities presented to us are outstanding and abundant. So, then, why aren't we happy? Why is mental illness still a thing? Why are young people full of nothing but potential taking their lives? Why is there more addiction? The purpose of t

An interesting study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine looking at supplementation levels vs. nutrient levels and all-cause mortality. This means they were searching to see if people who took supplements (in general) lived longer.   The Cohort study was conducted on 30 899 adults in the US above the age of 20 years old. The participants were required to answer questions and complete a survey.   The findings were as such:   Adequate intake of vitamin K and magnesium resulted in decreased mortality - this was limited to obtaining these nutrients from food, not supplements.   Adequate intake of vitamin A, K and zinc resulted in decreased mortality from cardiovascular disease - this was limited to obtaining these nutrients from food, not supplements.   Excess intake of calcium was associated with an increased risk of death from cancer - this was related to consumption of 1000 mg/day of supplement intake and not with calcium found in food.   What I covered: A discussion of the results and what I fo

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."   -Aristotle   If you've ever read a self-help book or spent any time scrolling through your phone, it's very likely that you've seen this quote by the philosopher Aristotle on the power of your habits.   However, as easy as it is to understand that your habits are important and that your beliefs, actions, and luck have gotten you the results you currently have, it doesn't tell you which habits you should adopt and how to implement those habits into your life.   Often times principles and ideas are easily understood, but deciphering which habits to adopt and how to adopt them is much more confusing. Just like it's easy to read a book and the mechanics of a push-up, it's much harder to learn and train to do 100 push-ups with impeccable technique.   The purpose of this podcast is for us to discuss our favorite habits that we believe have been responsible for our happiness, joy, and success.   These might not be the right habits for you

    A large recently published study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that adults who consumed higher amounts of cholesterol had an increased chance of dying from cardiovascular disease.   Cholesterol is thought to raise LDL (often referred to as 'bad' cholesterol) and is considered a risk for heart attack and stroke.   These results came at an interesting time since the U.S Government recently removed it's recommended restriction (300 mg/day) on cholesterol stating that 'cholesterol is no longer a food of concern for over-consumption.'   The general consensus among scientists was that cholesterol from food had little to do with what showed up in the bloodstream.   The purpose of this podcast is to take a look at and discuss the study.   What we covered: How the study was conducted. The research... 29, 615 ethnically diverse people were questioned about what they ate and then were followed up with over 31 years, the median was 17.5 years. The conclusion of the study

Every once in a while, I read or hear quotes like the following:   "A bad day for your ego is a good day for your soul."   "When ego is lost, limit is lost. You become infinite, kind and beautiful."   I'm not sure if I'm reading or hearing this more often than before, or whether I'm more sensitive to it now than I was in the past, but either way I disagree wholly and entirely with such sentiments.   Your ego is you - the part of you that is unique and distinct from everyone else. The part that reasons, decides, chooses, loves, achieves and thinks. It's the best part of you and denying it - or worse - creating a systematic plan on how to 'conquer it' does not lead to good in your life.    I know this because for the first 20 years of my life I attempted to conquer my ego - it was not pretty and it led to a lot of pain, anxiety, and frustration. It wasn't until I started listening to that part of me that my life turned around dramatically.   The purpose of this podcast is to share my experience of how listening

Our kids are the most important members of our family.    It's our job as parents to raise them and prepare them for meeting the challenges of the world.    The challenge of raising healthy, well-adapted kids is harder now than it was for our parents. There are more social pressures, larger problems, and a much different society than when we were growing up.  Yet, human nature and children's physiological needs have not changed.   How can we as parents still meet the needs of our child in a society more difficult to traverse than ever?    On this week's podcast, we look at an article from The Military Wife And Mom and share our thoughts about the habits to raise healthy children.   What we covered: Why it's important to have boundaries with your kids and where some of our boundaries are with our children and why we chose them. The purpose and importance of routines, the benefit of teaching your child a routine and why schools like Montessori implement them really well. Why sleep is essential to a growing ch

Sorry about the swear word but it’s not us… it’s our guest. Since the time this original episode aired, Mark Manson's book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F#*K has gone on to become a New York Times Bestseller. Congrats to Mark! We thought it would be fun to go back and listen to what Mark had to say about the principles in his book in this interview with Dr. Kreso. The book is really about how to live a better life and that something we preach on Life By Design! Mark is an author, blogger and entrepreneur. Mark writes about personal development and has a lot of people reading his stuff… so check it out. What we covered: Why most people seem to be continuously stuck and unhappy. What you can do to become unstuck and start living a healthier and happier life. Mark’s book "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a ****" and how it’s different from all of the other stuff that’s out there.