Each day I look around and I see all sorts of interesting things people are doing to "look" perfect or to have that "look" that their favorite celebrity has. Just recently I read an article on a popular website about a certain "body type" being "in" for women. The article made references to two actresses who were, coincidentally, stick figures with skin and hair and wearing Versace. The article went on to say that "hips and the hour-glass figure of Marilyn Monroe-types are 'out' and the rectangle body types like Keira Knightly are 'in'"
What have we come to as a society where we actually start picking certain body types as if they are some "fad" or "trend", like some new style of hats, that we are all supposed to now regard as "attractive"? Well, what if you aren't that particular body type? Are you totally screwed? Does this mean that you aren't attractive?
Oh that's it....now that you don't have that Gumby-like rectangle look, you ain't gonna get no dates. No one is going to want to so much as touch you because you remind them of Marilyn Monroe with your hips and boobs!!
So, this is where we get people, mostly women, even though there is a growing number of men with this problem, with serious body image issues. They start making all kinds of unnecessary sacrifices to get "that look", which includes cosmetic surgery, crash dieting, and over-training at the gym.
Look, I know this sort of stuff has been going on throughout history, but in this day and age, with the power of the Internet, the obsession with "what do I eat to lose weight", and insurance companies covering "weight loss surgery", it has reached an all time high. Did you know that the 'weight loss' surgery, known as bariatric surgery, reduces the size of one's stomach to that of a golf ball? So, this means that overeating (as many of us do from time to time) can actually result in regurgitation! That's medically induced Bulimia!! And it's covered under most insurance plans!!!
At what point does someone completely forsake their "happiness" to look "perfect"? I know beauty has it's price, but what if that price is eternal misery? What if one's fate is to forever be trapped in some narcissistic shell where the only thing he or she has is the reflection in the mirror? Eventually, that image fades...then what?
As for the rest of us, I'd rather be ten pounds overweight and happy than be of perfect body shape and miserable while always trying to meet these unrealistic standards put on us by people who are probably miserable themselves to begin with. I'd rather sit and eat a robust, healthy meal and go back for seconds instead of saying "er...I'm on a diet, so that means I have to punish myself with my food so I could look like Brad freaking Pitt".
Enough is enough. The reason why it is so hard to lose that "last 10-15 pounds" is probably because you really don't have to lose it to begin with. They just tell you that you have to so you keep buying their diet books and you keep buying their weight loss products. Here is a newsflash: those last "10 pounds" never come off because that whole idea is one of the greatest myths ever told in the history of western civilization. How many times have you heard someone who looks just splendid say to you "eek...I need to lose ten pounds", and you replied "um, from where? You gonna cut off a foot or something?" This whole idea of the perfect body or the ideal body type is a myth perpetuated on us by the wellness industry to sell gym memberships, books on weight loss, supplements, weight loss products, and pre-packaged diets called "nutri-"whatever that you'll have to buy for the rest of your life or else the dreaded weight will return (if it ever came off in the first place). They play on our fragile self-images and try to convince us that no matter what we do, we'll never be like that chick or that dude on the cover of that "fitness" magazine, so we have to keep buying their products....or worse, get a new and trendy "weight loss surgery" that essentially turns you into a deflated mylar balloon and sucks the energy and life right out of you (but hey, thin is in!).
The Fat Person In the Mirror
What this all amounts to is that we all need to reflect on who it is we are looking at in the mirror. Is that who we chose to be or is it what someone else wants us to be? Do we truly love ourselves, regardless as to what we see in the mirror-if we are ten pounds overweight, or ten pounds under weight? Or if our hair is thinning? Or if we have wrinkles? Do we really accept the person we are looking at as a whole and complete being, regardless of what "they" say? So we really "need" to lose all of that weight (if there is in fact any weight to lose at all)?
This is why when I work with clients who want to lose weight, I always ask "Why? Why do you want to lose weight?"many times, the answer has nothing to do with what they want, and everything to do with what is expected of them.
The funny part is that many of them really don't need to lose weight for health reasons; they are perfectly healthy and are at a perfectly healthy weight. They just think they are overweight because of what someone told them or what they read somewhere. They don't feel attractive. They don't feel "right". They look at themselves in the mirror, and they see a fat person. So, they try to starve that fat person, or they punish that fat person by forcing it to eat a fad diet. They put all sorts of pressure on that fat person in the mirror to magically become the "thin" person in the mirror, and when they don't, they ridicule and punish that person by more extreme diets, more extreme exercise programs, and more and more.....
20 years ago this behavior pattern was called an "eating disorder". That's right. Look it up. Eating disorders are not just anorexia or bulimia, but by definition, the above scenario is in fact a mild form of anorexia...which just happens to be created by the weight loss industry to keep you nice and scared so you keep buying into their unscientific diets and buying more of their books and products.
So, ask yourself, is that "fat person in the mirror" really you, or is it someone that somebody else wants you to believe is you? Do you really want to lose weight, or are you only trying to because you feel it is expected of you? Maybe the weight you thought you needed to lose really wasn't there to begin with, but was just a figment of your imagination created by someone who has a vested interest in you believing it was real? And if you want to lose weight, do you think it could be much easier and much more fun if you didn't put so much pressure on yourself to be "perfect"?
The truth is, no one ever needs to lose as much weight as they think they do. We always add 10 pounds when we look in the mirror. What we need to do before ever embarking on any weight loss or wellness program is to take stock of who we are and what we want. Anything we get out of such a program should be of our choosing. We must love and accept ourselves for who we are before doing anything for self improvement; this way, we'll get a really clear idea of what we really need to improve! Many, many times, it's not the weight that needs to be lost, but our own preconceived ideas of who or what we are supposed to be; that negative conditioning that makes us feel like we are broken, incomplete, fragmented, or just plain ugly. The opposite can also be true, where we think we are super-perfect. The truth is probably somewhere down the middle between those two extremes. But it is only when we take an honest look at who that "fat person" in the mirror is and get a clear assessment of who that person truly is will we know if we really need to lose that last 10 pounds.
Michael Joseph
Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting Inc.
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Staff of Life Nutrition Mission Statement
Mission Statement: Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting
Director and Founder: Michael Joseph HHC AADP
We are called Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting, and our services include private nutrition consulting, food allergy testing, lectures, and seminars on health and nutrition. Our main focus is to bring people back to the primal basics; the foods and the habits that sustain long term health and personal growth. Staff of Life Nutrition is not just about "what to eat", but a journey of self discovery of what food works best for each person. No two people are ever 100% alike in every way, so what we do is support the individual in attaining a sense of independence so he or she can make food and lifestyle decisions that are unique to their own needs. It is a cutting edge nutrition consulting philosophy that has its roots in the basic needs of the individual and in the traditional cultures of the world. The peasant cultures of the past and present have survived and thrived by being attuned to these basic needs and fulfilling them intuitively with what the Earth has provided. In fact, every life form on this planet intuitively, instinctually, knows what to eat in order to sustain its life. Human Beings are no different. If we were, then there surely would not be over 6 billion of us inhabiting this planet. Unfortunately, in America, we as a society have lost sight of this intuitive ability to feed our needs and we rely on someone other than ourselves to "tell us what" to do or eat.
We at Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting attempt to strengthen the individual's ability to chose what works best for them by giving clients an objective, non-dogmatic education on food, nutrition, and wellbeing so one can become more independent. Our goal is to create "independent thinkers" who can decide for themselves what is best for them, and not be so reliant on other people to make those decisions for them. Let’s face it, our society is based in large part on someone else telling you what is good for you and what you should do: It’s called "advertising", and the purpose of it is to get you to buy a product, or in this case, a food or nutritional product, and to buy as much of that product as possible. They will tell you anything legally allowed by the government to get you to buy that particular product so they can make as much money as possible. They want you to be a customer or client for life, and why wouldn't they? The 80-20 rule applies to food and nutrition as much as anything out there (the 80-20 rule states that 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your overall customer base). We at Staff of Life Nutrition do not want to create customers for life. We aim to create peers; we want to see our clients have the same capabilities as we do: to be able to make the best decision about what is good for them without being swayed by advertising to buy the next fad diet product or book.
We offer a pathway of self development that is based on the clients' goals, which we assess from the starting gate. Our approach is rooted in the individual’s relationship with food, which we explore on a biological level with extensive food allergy testing, and from an emotional standpoint through journaling, private counseling, and group discussion meetings. We then tie it all together with a "food/mood" diary and encourage the client to analyze it and self reflect by asking questions like "How does this make me feel? Why am I eating this? Would this fulfill my need at this moment? Is this something that is aligned with my goals?” Strengthened by a foundation of a comprehensive education about food, nutrition, and healthy lifestyle habits, which includes health food store tours, cooking workshops, and meal demonstrations, clients can achieve a sense of independence unlike anything they had experienced before. Imagine knowing exactly what you need and knowing how to fulfill that need. We shorten the gap between the intellect and the emotions, and food becomes our bridge to our self discovery. We are all a reflection of what we eat, and what we eat expresses who we really are. Through this understanding between food and our emotions; between our habits and our obstacles to our goals; between our food allergies and our food attachments; between our food choices and our self-esteem-we help to create independent individuals who eventually will not need us, Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting, anymore.
"Give a man a fish, he eats for a single day; teach him how to fish, he eats for a lifetime"-Chinese proverb
We do not believe in making lifelong Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting clients. There are so many people in this country that could genuinely benefit from our service and we feel that trough word-of-mouth and good relationship-building networking we can reach out to those people. We are so confident and inspired to do great work and we are certain that our clients will be just as inspired to refer us to those they care about so we can help them achieve their goals as well.
So, our question to you is this:
“Are you with us? Are you up for the challenge?”
Let’s do something Epic.
Michael Joseph HHC AADP
Holistic Nutrition Consultant
Founder and Director of
Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions about Staff Of Life Nutrition Consulting and The 100 Days To Nutrition Independence educational program:
What is “The Staff Of Life”?
For the majority of human history, mankind’s primary source of nutrition was bread. That bread came from a seed that was ground into a flour to give the traditional peoples the nutrition they needed to thrive. This special seed, called a grain, is the foundation of all of human development and the central food to many, many cultures. Bread has been called in religious texts of various cultures “The Staff of Life”. We at Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting continue this tradition of the “Staff of life”, but instead of it being bread as the central food in our approach, we use the source for the bread which had fed so many of our ancestors: the whole grain. So, for us and for our students and many clients, our “Staff of Life” is the Whole, unprocessed, un-refined Grain.
What is The 100 Days to Nutritional Independence Program?
The 100 Days To Nutrition Independence educational program, which was created by the founder and director Staff Of Life Nutrition Consulting, Michael, is a comprehensive 4 month nutrition education program. Drawing from his more than 6 years of experience in teaching, writing, and consulting in the field of Nutrition, Michael teaches how to apply good nutrition ideas to everyday living. The program includes shopping tours, cooking classes, and over 50 hours of lectures. The focus of this program is the practical application of nutrition information for everyday living. The course incorporates food sensitivity assessments, study groups with mentoring, private counseling with expert nutrition and health consultants, and personal fitness training to create a comprehensive, personalized experience to help each student reach their goals.
How will I benefit from this program?
You will learn how to be as self-sufficient in your nutrition decisions as possible. You will learn how to assess your own nutritional goals and needs and how to fulfill them by implementing a day-to-day plan of action. Students will discover what roadblocks have been preventing them from achieving their goals and some new ideas of how to overcome those roadblocks. You will learn the basics about food and nutrition, and how different foods work with your body, therefore enhancing your awareness of your own personal nutritional needs. The program will give you the tools you need to never have the need to go on a “diet” ever again. You will learn what real “Whole food” is and how it can be the most healing food for your body. Lastly, you’ll learn to love food again, without guilt, fear, judgment, or shame.
What topics are covered?
Many different topics are covered in the course. The program is divided into two parts, the first, the Core Curriculum, includes classes on Practical nutrition ideas, creating sustainable health habits, living with food allergies, creating dietary variety, emotional eating, nutritional strategies, essential nutrients, micronutrients and macronutrients as well as several cooking classes and shopping tours of Whole Foods Market.
The second part is called the secondary class lecture series which contains classes with additional useful information for the students.
What is the Core Curriculum?
The Core Curriculum is the material that is the fundamental focal point of the course. These classes contain the bulk of the information in The 100 Days To Nutrition Independence educational program and are taught by the creator of the program, Michael Joseph. Each class has specific course books and activities to help each student understand the material better. The information in these classes is by-and-large practical in nature and the classes are designed so that the students can immediately apply the knowledge the very next day. The Core Curriculum is based on many years of experience in working to help people have a greater understanding of food and nutrition.
What is a Secondary Class?
A secondary class is a lecture that supplements the information and concepts in the Core Curriculum. Its information that is useful and important and it coincides with the information in the Core. The Secondary class series has additional valuable information that isn’t necessarily directly related to nutrition. Non-nutrition topics include stress management, overcoming fear, physical fitness, and money management. The Nutrition and Cancer lecture panel and a beans cooking workshop are two additional nutrition-related classes that didn’t fit into the Core program, yet offer useful information for each student. It is highly encouraged and recommended to attend all of these classes in addition to the core curriculum.
Think of the secondary class lecture series as a “Bonus” class series.
What are the study groups and mentoring all about?
The class will be broken up into several “study groups”, where the students will have an opportunity to interact with others and form a community. They will be able to exchange Ideas, share concerns and solutions, make friends, and participate in group activities. This is important for the final project, which each student in the group will have a specific role in the project.
The groups will be established during core class # 2, and will be based on common factors that the students might share, such as allergies, lifestyle, interests, same counselor, etc…Before each class the students will have 30 minutes to interact with each other and create discussions while enjoying some of the snack provided by whole foods market. A Mentor will moderate the group and give each person a chance to talk about a nutritional concern, share an achievement, or just interact.
Out-of-class interaction between the individuals in each study group is encouraged, and to support this, each group will have 1 conference call per month with their mentor. Also, additional group activities are encouraged, such as in-home study sessions, restaurant outings, and shopping field trips. Creativity is encouraged!
The students may have some questions, and the study groups will have the mentor to email with questions about the class material and basic nutrition and wellness suggestions as well as attendance questions.
What are the cooking workshops all about?
The cooking workshops demonstrate how to prepare the “staff of life”, whole grains, from scratch, simply and easily as well as how to prepare vegetables in a tasty and healthy way using a variety of different cooking or preparation techniques. Gluten free and allergy free cooking is taken into special consideration, as all of the grains in these classes are 100% gluten free. During some of the practical nutrition classes in the Core program, there will be demonstrations and samples of certain meals. All food in The 100 Days To Nutrition Independence educational program is sponsored by Whole Foods Market.
How is Whole Foods Market affiliated?
Whole Foods Market, the Jericho Store, is the official natural grocery store sponsor of the program. They provide the snacks at each class, food for cooking classes, and samples for demonstrations. Whole Foods market is also the host for both shopping tours in the program.
Will I get personalized attention to help me meet my own goals?
Yes! Every student will have the option of working privately with one of our expert health and nutritional counselors who will be there to support you in your goals. Each student will have full email support for questions and for extra-help with the course material. The Mentor study groups also provide a sense of community so each student can support each other and help one another to understand and apply the material.
What is the food sensitivity testing about?
Food allergies are among the most misunderstood and neglected aspects of health and wellness in our country. It is estimated that anywhere from 25% to 60% of the population has some kind of food related immune or non-immune reaction. Often there is confusion between the different types of food allergies, and many times a food intolerance is misdiagnosed as an allergy, which can lead to even more confusion with the treatment. Food allergies can be present in many conditions; they manifest in digestive problems, anxiety, fatigue, arthritis, hives, migraines, skin problems, ear infections, accelerated pulse and many other symptoms.
Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting uses this test to asses Delayed Onset Food Allergies, which may cause symptoms from 2 hours to 4 days later.
This test is used as a means of fine-tuning your diet so you can get the most customized nutrition plan possible.
Some features are:
Quick, easy, virtually painless process
Sample processed by one of the best nutritional sciences laboratories in North America.
Split sample, fully automated, and strict quality control to assure the most accurate results.
Michael is one of the most experienced nutrition consultants in the region in working with delayed onset food allergies
Basic 96 food panel included in
The 100 Days to Nutritional Independence Program
Results within 14 business days, which includes a color computer printout explaining the extent of the immune reaction.
Cooking classes and shopping tours available that are allergy-specific.
96 food panel includes 8 different forms of dairy, eggs, wheat, yeast, soy, and more...
Vegetarian food test, herbs and spices test, and Candida testing available
Written assessment/interpretation of allergy reports also available
Testing available for:
96 general food panel:
95 vegetarian food panel:
15 additional vegetables:
24 medicinal herbs/ 24 cooking spices:
Candida Albicans screening
Celiac Screening (wheat allergy)
Airborne allergens (non-food)
Comprehensive food allergy assessment (all four food allergy tests)
Can I “customize” my own program?
Absolutely! There are many additional, optional services, called “Essential Adjunctive Support” services available for each student. It is absolutely recommended to sign up for some or all of these services, which includes, private nutrition and health counseling, personal training, A secondary class lecture series, and personalized nutritional assessments. These services are included in special promotional packages for early pre-payment of the program and are available as add-ons to the Core Program.
Is the100 Days to Nutritional Independence Program affordable?
Very much so. Many other nutritional education programs can cost up to $10,000, can be very time consuming, or are not typically held in a location that is close to residential areas. And many programs teach nutrition as a career, which some people may not be interested in. The 100 Days to Nutritional Independence Program, however, is strictly and educational program to teach everyday people how to make nutrition work for THEM.
There are convenient payment plans and special pay-in-full discounts and incentives for the program. This program is designed to be affordable and practical for people who have families, full time jobs and are students or busy professionals.
What are the qualifications of the staff and instructors?
The staff is comprised of some of the most respected and highly trained wellness and holistic health professional in the region. The health counselors are certified as Holistic Health Counselors by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners and graduates from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. All counselors employed by Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting have additional training from Michael in Food Allergy consulting, emotional eating, and holistic nutrition education. The fitness adviser is a NASM CPT Equinox Tier III Personal Trainer. We only work with the highest quality health and wellness professionals at Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting.
Where are the classes held?
The classes will be held at a centralized location, conveniently located by public transportation, high ways, and major roadways. Please contact us or attend an introductory seminar for more information.
When are the classes?
The classes will be held from the last weekend in September to the second week of December. The classes in the Core Curriculum will be broken up into “blocks” and will be primarily on weekend and several weekdays close to those weekends. For an exact calendar of the classes, Please refer to the schedule or contact us or attend an introductory seminar for more information.
Are there payment plans?
Of course! There are payment plans that that can make this a program that just about anyone with any level of income can do. As stated before, the program is designed to be affordable. We accept all major credit cards and also can do automatic transfers from checking accounts on a monthly basis. Please contact us or attend an introductory seminar for more information.
Are there discounts for seniors, students, and couples who enroll together?
Yes there are several types of percentage-based discounts for seniors, students, and couples. Please contact us or attend an introductory seminar for more information.
Are there any scholarships?
Yes there are scholarships. Once the class reaches its full capacity, Michael will pay 50% of two students’ tuitions and also award one FULL scholarship to a prospective student. Qualified applicants may have to fill out an application and attend a direct phone interview with Michael and the staff. If interested, Please contact us or attend an introductory seminar for more information.
Is this a certification program for professional training?
No, it is not a certification course. It is an educational program for personal enrichment. The information taught in the 100 days to nutritional independence course can certainly augment any health-oriented practice, such as personal training, chiropractic, massage therapy, and even MD’s who want to learn a little bit more about cooking. A personalized certificate of completion can be made available upon request only.
Please contact us for information about some excellent schools that can offer a professional training program.
This program is not, however, designed to take the place of professional medical treatment or to cure, treat, or diagnose any disease. Always be sure to be under the care of a qualified medical professional for any and all serious illnesses.
What are some other services that Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting offers?
In addition to our flagship educational program, we offer a variety of additional nutritional services, such as private consulting, workshops, retreats, personalized nutritional assessments, educational intensives, food sensitivity testing and group programs. We also offer corporate consulting on contract. Please contact us for more information on these high quality nutritional services.
