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Psychology

How to Really Change Habits with Kevin Davis: PYP 320

May 1, 2019

Kevin Davis is a WellStart Health “Supercoach,” and co-leader of the WellStart Health Coach Training Academy.Today we talk about his story, from being the “fat kid” in high school, to getting into bodybuilding and embracing extreme keto, to a traumatic car crash that led to years of agoraphobia, to his plant-based journey and healing of anxiety.With that as background, we cover the WellStart Health Attainment Model, the pyramid infographic that serves as a roadmap of change.If you’re a coach, or are trying to change your own habits, this will be a valuable model to help you diagnose and overcome obstacles.

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Great article on winning the war against food

March 28, 2019

My buddy and teacher Glenn Livingston, PhD is author of Never Binge Again, whose methodology I use to help people break long-standing self-destructive food habits.

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Andrew Taylor on Taking Radical Steps to Breaking a Food Addiction: PYP 307

January 28, 2019

Andrew “Spudfit” Taylor was tired of being out of shape, obese, and sick. An olympic hopeful in his teens, he had let his fitness and health slip away as his commitment to kayaking waned but his addictions to food persisted.

His depression, largely fueled by the thought that he was far away from the person he wanted to be, always kept him returning to the trough for another supersized hit of vegan junk food.

His relevation – and the spark of his transformational year of eating nothing but potatoes – was that he was treating food like an alcoholic treats booze.

And so he would have to quit food.

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Harnessing Positive Emotions to Defeat Bad Habits with David DeSteno: PYP 292

October 16, 2018

Why do 92% of New Years’ Resolutions fail, one year on? Why has the current cultural obsession with grit and willpower failed to move the needle on our behaviors? And why do long-time Buddhist monks demonstrate more self-control than the rest of us?

Today’s guest, David DeSteno, PhD, has been studying these and related issues for a long time. David is a psychology superstar, and I was amazed when he agreed to take time out of his busy schedule to chat. He’s a professor of psychology at Northeastern University, where he directs the Social Emotions Group.

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Three Words That Can Double Your Influence with Gregg Sparkman: PYP 268

May 1, 2018

A thought experiment: you walk into a restaurant wanting to encourage the patrons waiting on line to order – total strangers – to choose a plant-based option for lunch? And you can tell them one fact. What would it be, and how would you say it?

Take your time; I’ll wait.

[Jeopardy theme plays]

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The Counterintuitive Science of Wise Interventions with Gregory Walton, PhD: PYP 267

April 27, 2018

Gregory Walton has done some of the most groundbreaking social science research of the past decade. His “Wise Interventions” model utilizes brief, targeted experiences to permanently alter a mindset and create a cascading series of life events.

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Becoming a Brave Athlete with Simon Marshall and Lesley Paterson: PYP 262

April 10, 2018

Lesley Paterson, the “Scottish Rocket,” is a three-time world champion in off-road triathlon, an Ironman triathlon champ, a professional mountain biker, an athletic coach, and a world-class slinger of profanity.

Simon Marshall, her husband, is a sport and exercise psychologist at San Diego State, performance psychologist for BMC Racing, and a self-described “mid-pack endurance athlete.”

Together, Lesley and Simon comprise Braveheart Coaching, a service that gets athletes performing to their potential in spite of the “3-pound lump of crazy” that lives in their cranium.

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Binges, Self-Deception, and the Chevelle Car Window

March 26, 2018

I’ve been thinking a lot about my junk food habit.

I liken it to the passenger window on the old Chevy Chevelle. One day I open that window and the damn thing won’t close. I try and try, but you end up having to dismantle the entire door panel to get the window back on the track. It’s a pain in the ass. And I am very aware of this window not working – for a few weeks.

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The Matador, the Car Wash, and the Ten Commandments of Holiday Eating

December 12, 2017

When I am eight years old, my dad gets us a new car.

Because he is an organizer with the United Auto Workers, a foreign car is out of the question – even as the 1973 OPEC crisis sent most Americans scurrying for fuel-efficient Datsuns and Toyotas.

Also not on the acceptable list is his dream car, a sunflower yellow Corvette C3 Stingray convertible: Bad form to show up at a picket line in a set of wheels that expensive and flashy.

So, practical man that he is, my dad settles on a lemon-yellow 1974 AMC Matador with a black vinyl roof. 

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The Mental Health / Lifestyle Link with Dr Elizabeth Winings: PYP 242

November 28, 2017

Elizabeth Winings is Doctor of Nursing Practice at  Nemours Children’s specialty care and Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. She specializes in working with children and teens who are receiving mental health care in an acute in-patient setting. In her work with the children and their families, she emphasizes wholistic, therapeutic, and lifestyle approaches toward wellness.

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Hi, I’m Howard Jacobson, host of the Plant Yourself Podcast, co-author of You Can Change Other People and Sick to Fit, and co-founder of WellStart Health Coach Academy.

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