"What In The Wellness?!" A global perspective on integrative health &wellness Hosted by Ansley Knopf

In this episode I sit down with Reed Davis to have a fantastic conversation about functional health. 

Reed Davis, Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner (HHP) and Certified Nutritional Therapist (CNT), is an expert in functional lab testing and holistic lifestyle medicine.  He is the Founder of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) and the FDN Certification Course with over 3000 graduates in 50 countries. Reed served as the Health Director at a Wellness Center in Southern California for over 10 years and with over 10,000 clients is known as one of the most experienced clinicians in the world. Reed serves on the Advisory Board of the American Natural Wellness Coaches Board and the American Association of Natural Wellness Coaches.  He lives in the US and when not teaching the FDN Certification Course and helping his graduates build their private practices, he is usually found gardening or riding motorcycles.

What are you interested in? Proudest Accomplishments?

Other than building my business and world-wide community of FDN Practitioners?  I love riding motorcycles and try to get into the nearby wine country, mountains and desert once a week or so, where I stop at out-of-the-way antique and gem shops or the odd biker bar.  I have made many cross-country trips including motorcycle rallies in Nevada and South Dakota.   I love gardening and have planted over 2000 succulents in my gardens, planters and property in So. Cal.  I own and operate a mini resort in the hills East of San Diego, overlooking a vast natural landscape and huge reservoir, and spend 1-3 hours per day outside working on my property. I love to entertain and am known for small catered gatherings, wine-tastings, hiking and almost year-round dazzling sunsets.

Who or what has been the greatest influence in your personal health journey?

Working in a natural wellness center and learning from many of the top pioneers in “alternative medicine” has had a tremendous effect on my own personal health journey.  The primary three people who mentored me in the early years were Drs. Bill Timmins, Bill Bailey and Bill Wolcott.  Timmins taught me to use functional lab work to identify the underlying causes of almost every chronic stress-related condition.  Bailey gave me insights and guidelines that helped refine my approach to identifying “healing opportunities” and how to address each problem using general principles of healing vs specific treatment.  Bailey helped to define the distinct lines between “practicing medicine” and “building health” and is still a friend and mentor over 20 years later.  Wolcott taught me how to see food as medicine and how to determine the correct diet for each individual based on his system of Metabolic Typing®.  While other mentors were very instructive, these three Bills were the most significant in the early years and, combined with my own observations from running thousands of labs on thousands of people, helped shape the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) Methodology and the DRESS for Health Success® Systems.

You can follow Reed at: 

https://www.facebook.com/FunctionalDiagnosticNutrition/  https://twitter.com/FDNtraining  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7xDnEKCe9gKeWZ2vbE3C8w  https://www.instagram.com/fdntraining/  https://www.instagram.com/fdntraining/

And as always, like, share and follow the podcast!! Emails for interviews and questions: [email protected]

1 in 10. Remember that number. 

In this episode, we dive deep into Sara's story. She tells us: "My story began when I was only 12 years old but some unanswered health concerns took center stage while I was in AIT for the Army in 2017. This began the long fight that has led to my becoming an advocate for women's reproductive health. 

Who or what has been the greatest influence in your personal health journey and why?

Having to fight for my health after going through many unnecessary treatments that left my body traumatized and left me with few options. I was broken and decided that I had to speak for those who didn't know what I had learned.  Advocacy and education is necessary when there are so few resources out there."

Her takeaway piece of advice is: "Advocacy and self education is key."

To support Sara's mission and to help educate and empower more women to bring healing into their lives, you can find Sara at: @thefightingspoon on Instagram. 

Please like, share, and follow this podcast to help bring more guests like Sara to help provide better education, advocacy and awareness for this critical issues in our world. 

And if you or someone you know would like to be a guest on the podcast, please send an email to [email protected], subject line: podcast guest. 

Thank you for your listening and support! 

Endometriosis resources: 

https://endowhat.com/

Facebook group: Nancy's Nook 

#endo 

#fightingspoon 

#trainandflourish 

#whatinthewellness

#womenshealth 

**Sale discussed in this episode ends Jan 20th, 2021** 

In this episode, I sit down to talk with Valarie Wingate, who is an ambassador for Tru Aura. 

Tru Aura's website explains its products as: 

" PROBIOTICS HELP MAINTAIN

We use prebiotics and/or probiotics in all of our formulas. Applying these ingredients to your skin can stimulate the production of defense cells that restore your skin's natural balance and stabilize its immune system. Not only does this help your skin look healthy, young, and clear, but it may also decrease sensitivity, redness, and inflammation." 

In this episode, we discuss skin microbiomes, what they are, why it's important and relevant to your health and how you can start taking steps to improve your overall health through supporting your skins microbiome. 

If you would like to know more about Tru Aura and skin support, you can reach Valarie on Facebook or her website: 

https://truaurabeauty.com/vjwingate

And as always you can find me on instagram at @ansleyknopf_valkyrie or via email at [email protected] 

Please like, share, follow and subscribe to keep supporting the podcast! 

In this episode, I am honored and honestly laughing my way through this fantastic conversation with the one and only, Ren Jones. 

Ren is a certified trainer, nutrition coach, and corrective exercise specialist who focuses on coaching moms over 30. After losing his brother, sister, and mother to lifestyle-related health issues, he left the corporate world to start his own health and fitness business and found his passion in helping clients all over the world through online coaching. 

More than this, Ren is a genuinely amazing HUMAN. He's the type of person that leaves you feeling like the world is still full of goodness, magic, and laughter and makes you feel as though you can spread some grace, love, and joy around too. 

He is pure fun to talk with, and this conversation is filled with laughter, and a metric ton of valuable advice, hard-learned lessons, poignant life experience, and a beautiful passion for helping others to live their best lives. 

Ren is a blessing to know, and you won't want to miss his content. 

You can follow Ren on social media @fitnessjonestraining and at his website: https://www.fitnessjonestraining.com 

His piece of takeaway advice? "Give yourself grace instead of discipline." and he recommends reading: Atomic habits, The four agreements, Roar. 

If you or someone you know would like to be a guest on the show, please submit your application to [email protected] 

And as always, to make sure you never miss an episode, and so you can send listener questions, discuss the show, and more, follow me on Instagram @ansleyknopf_valkyrie 

In this episode, I sit down to chat with Meg Stolt, 

She is a runner and Triathlete turned coach after a variety of circumstances that showed me how much she loves teaching and coaching.  She has achieved both her BA and MS and am invested in girls (of all ages) in sports.   

Among her other accomplishments, she holds both the USA Triathlon Youth and Junior Elite Certification.

Her writing includes Continuing Education for the AEA, and presenting includes the International Aquatic Fitness Conference, as well as a variety of guest lectures and workshops. 

She says: "My emphasis is performance and I currently own the OtterTriTeam and the PinkOtters (a women’s triathlon team).  Both teams are about having fun while challenging our limits.   One of my professional goals for 2021, is to increase the growth of the PinkOtters, as well as my HighSchool Tri Team, providing more opportunities for young women to compete."

Meg has excellent advice for women, athletes, and just life in general! 

Her one takeaway piece of actionable advice?

"Eat the Cake.    Nike says, just do it.   We have all these rules for our journey.  The do’s and dont’s and we get so caught up in those, we miss the adventure.  So take a moment and eat the cake.  Laugh out loud.  Enjoy the process."

She recommends the following books and podcasts for personal growth: 

I just finished reading Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey.  I loved this book.   So many takeaways to living.

 On IG:  I love @mosssportsperformance — he shares his coaching, but also awesome posts about team culture and building character and teams.

 Podcasts:  the growth equation by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness (their books Peak Performance and Passion Paradox are on my shelf)

 And Young Heretics — I love the discussion of literature, how it may apply to today’s society and culture.

If you're interested in triathlon training, and/or would like to follow Coach Meg, you can reach her at her website: 

https://msjathletics.com 

And on social media 

Facebook: MSJAthletics and OtterTriTeam

Instagram: @coachbatmeg

Twitter: @msjathletics

And as always, if you or someone you know would like to be a guest on the show, please submit requests to [email protected] 

and you can find me on Instagram at @ansleyknopf_valkyrie 

In this episode, I have a great discussion with Paul Levitin who is a health and fitness enthusiast, who has built his career around helping people lead healthier, happier lives. As a personal trainer, strength and mobility coach, nutrition coach, and board licensed health and wellness coach, Paul uses his unique blend of knowledge and abilities to guide clients through the struggles of day to day life.

Paul is a Certified personal trainer, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, PN certified, certified mobility specialist, Master Certified Health & Wellness Coach, National board-licensed health & wellness coach.

We talk about questions like: 

Thoughts on motivation? 

Why is mindset so key?

 3 common mindset mistakes that hold people back? 

Where the fitness industry has gone wrong?

What is important for change, vs what most people think is important/focus on?

Paul can be found at his website: https://www.instagram.com/paullfit/ 

and also on Instagram at @paullfit 

If you would like to write in questions to the show, apply to be a guest on the show, or know someone who would like to be on the show, please send an email to [email protected]. 

I look forward to hearing from you! 

And as always you can find me on instagram @ansleyknopf_valkyrie 

In our reflection end of year series, I bring you JC Nieves once again to share his story and his amazing perspective on life, women's silent emotional load and the most important part of creating change in our lives, the fear of failure. 

JC is a GGS-1 (Women’s Coaching Specialist- Level 1) ⁣, PN1 (Nutrition Coach - Level 1), PT (ISSA Certified Personal trainer), OTA (Certified Online Trainer).

He shares his story: 

I used to weigh 230 pounds and know first hand how hard it's on your mindset when it comes to weight loss.  I’ve been married for 22 years. I have 2 sons (oldest 19, youngest is 15). I don’t have any sporting ability. I sucked at every sport I tried as a kid which led to poor self-esteem, lack of confidence & a sense of belonging.   I was always picked dead last.   To this day, I won’t play sports which is why I love lifting weights. It’s just me against me. I hate competition. I was bullied in HS, berated, and almost molested by a family member. This created body image issues that still linger with me to this day.  I don’t feel comfortable in a room with guys or hanging out with them. I don’t have anything in common and feel threatened & judged by men (I’m sure it’s side effects from bullying and family issues)  I’m passionate about empowering women to feel good about themselves. This goes back to my childhood as my mom, grandma, sister, and spouse are strong influences to this day.JC and I discuss the following questions and more: 

1. What are you holding on to that needs to go by the end of the year? FEAR of failure. Failing is essential when it comes to changing our lives.  

2. Do I have to do everything perfectly in order to get results?  

3. Do I have to do everything all at once? No. One of my core principles is "simplicity over complexity". 

 4. Is taking care of myself selfish? Not at all. We only have 1 body, 1 life to live. It's extremely important to take care of ourselves first so that we can take care of others in our lives.  

5. What's the easiest way to get started improving my life?

To follow JC, you can find him on facebook at FB: JC Nieves

And as always you can find me on instagram @ansleyknopf_valkyrie and my website www.trainandflourish.com 

If you or someone you know would like to be a guest on the podcast, please send an email to [email protected] 

If you have any topic requests, or would like to write in to the show, please send an email to [email protected] 

Our December series; Reflect, Restore, Renew- is all about taking some time to connect with ourselves again. 

To sit with our feelings, especially in the uncomfortable, take time to reflect on everything this year has brought us and lessons learned. 

And to offer steps to restore and rejuvenate your mind and body during this season. I hope that these episodes will help you to find ways that you can create intentions that renew your self-care, your sense of purpose, and bring you hope as we go into the new year. 

In this episode, Jenn and I have a great conversation about the work she is doing and what she's learned through her personal and professional journey. 

Jenn is a certified personal trainer (specializing in weight loss and transformation) and holds a masters degree in counselling. Jenn’s creative approach and unique combination of skills allow her to individualize training or transformation programs specially to each client. Her philosophy of 1% better every day provides a supportive relationship with her clients in moving forward and continually improving body and mind to achieve personal success. 

You can find her at Prime Fitness Inc on social media. 

And as always you can reach me on instagram @ansleyknopf_valkyrie and if you would like to be a guest on the podcast, please send me an email at [email protected]. 

*** When this episode airs, it will be preceding Jenn's Online Health Summit, which you can click the link here for a free ticket. 

If you or someone in your life is struggling with their health and feeling isolate or hopeless, listen to the Weight Escape; Holiday Edition for tips, support and inspiration to make thrive through the holiday season. Grab your Free ticket here https://the-me-project.mykajabi.com/theweightescape

(I'm also one of the guest speakers!!)***

In this episode, I have a great conversation once again with JC Nieves. 

JC is a beekeeper, loves to cook (hates cleaning afterwards) and considers himself a great baker. He can make a meal out of anything in the pantry or fridge.   As for accomplishments, since 2016 he has complete: GGS-1 (Women’s Coaching Specialist- Level 1) ⁣, PN1 (Nutrition Coach - Level 1), PT (ISSA Certified Personal trainer), OTA (Certified Online Trainer).

JC lives in North Carolina with his family, and in between coaching women to live their best healthy lives, he keeps his bees in his backyard. 

This discussion was fascinating and I learned SO much! 

I'm so excited for you to hear all about bees, why they're so critical to our survival, our food sourcing, as well as fun amazing facts about their bee life. 

(For instance, did you know there is a BEE RAVE inside the hive every winter?! What?!) 

If you're interested in learning more about bees, and getting connected with your local beekeepers, you can find more information at this website: 

American Beekeeping Federation (abfnet.org)

State and Local Beekeeping Organizations - American Beekeeping Federation (abfnet.org)

For information about bees and honey, you can find more here: 

Pollination Facts - American Beekeeping Federation (abfnet.org)

Honey Facts - American Beekeeping Federation (abfnet.org)

Looking for something for the kids? 

10 facts about honey bees! | National Geographic Kids (natgeokids.com)

Know someone who would like to be a guest on the podcast? Email me at [email protected] 

And please like, share, follow/subscribe so I can continue to bring you more of these great conversations about global health!

As always you can find me on Instagram @ansleyknopf_valkyrie

Submit listener questions or topic requests to [email protected]