Here is a short (<10min) radio interview that I did last week with a station in Atlanta.

We talked about how “biochemical imbalances” are really at the root of most of our 21st century health complaints – and how restoring biochemical balance can make all the difference in achieving abundant energy, good mood, elevated performance, youthful sex drive, and lasting weight maintenance.

Give it a listen and stay tuned for more information about how you can restore your own biochemical balance and become the best possible version of yourself.

Thanks for reading (and listening),

Shawn

Food Matters TV has many amazing documentaries – including award-winning Killer At Large about obesity http://ow.ly/TYBuL

Majority of U.S. consumers take – and trust – dietary supplements http://ow.ly/TYmYz

‘Being Overweight’ = top health condition that U.S. consumers want to manage http://ow.ly/TYms6

61-year-old billionaire Oprah Winfrey bought a 10% stake in Weight Watchers International yesterday. Her $43M purchase of 6.4 million shares caused Weight Watchers stock price to double – netting her a tidy profit of about $75M (including shares and options). Her investment comes at a good time because even with the Oprah-induced doubling, WW stock price is still down 44% so far this year, WW memberships and revenue have been dwindling for the last 10 consecutive quarters, and the company has a $2 billion debt load (according to WSJ). WW is controlled by a European family (investment company Artal Luxembourg SA).

In a press release, Ms. Winfrey is quoted as saying, “I believe in the program so much I decided to invest in the company and partner in its evolution.”

As a past guest on The Dr. Oz Show (produced by Ms. Winfrey’s Harpo productions), and a frequent contributor to a variety of Hearst magazines (publisher of O magazine), I’m a big fan of Ms. Winfrey’s ability to both educate and motivate her fans – so I really hope that she can bring some much-needed “evolution” to Weight Watchers.

Weight Watchers suffers from some of the very same problems that are plaguing the entire “weight loss” industry, including a “deprivation” mindset, an inappropriate focus on calories or fat grams or carbs, an inability to help clients keep the weight off, and a lack of appreciation for the real reason that most people gain weight in the first place (disruptions in metabolic equilibrium).

The future of the “weight loss industry” has nothing to do with “weight loss” – but has everything to do with helping people to rebalance their underlying biochemistry – so the weight loss just happens.

Most of our modern 21st-century “problems” are caused by biochemical imbalances leading to fatigue, depression, weight gain, mental fog, low libido, and burnout. For more than two decades, I’ve dedicated my life to educating people about the scientific basis for how restoring biochemical balance in body, mind, and spirit is the solution to higher energy, elevated mood, accelerated fat loss, focused mental clarity, youthful libido, and ultimate performance in all aspects of our lives.

I’ve created and researched products for some of the largest and most successful health companies across retail, B2B, and direct-to-consumer channels – but, I started my new venture (EQQIL) because I believe that restoring balance is literally life-changing for people – and I’m lucky to see it in action everyday.

Restoring balance helps you feel better, look better, and perform better (which is a huge “win” for you) – but you’re so much better that you want to share that with others (which is a huge “win” for them). People in balance are better parents and spouses; they have more energy for relationships, hobbies, and volunteering; they’re more creative, optimistic, happier, and engaged with life. This potential to fundamentally change lives is why EQQIL exists – to motivate people around the world to discover and share the transformational power of balance and inspire others to do the same.

Ms. Winfrey is smart. She realizes that a restrictive “diet” (like the OptiFast liquid protein program that she followed to lose 67lbs back in 1998) is not the right way to go (she gained it all back). She also realizes that the “social connection” that WW does very well can be an important aspect of an effective program (but most WW clients also gain their weight back). But, what she might not fully grasp is that without the “biochemical balance” part of the equilibrium equation, clients will never achieve their optimal body weights, nor will they become as balanced as they could be in body, mind, and spirit (which is what Ms. Winfrey has based her entire career and life around – to help people to achieve their dreams).

Thanks for reading,

Shawn

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Shawn M Talbott, PhD, CNS, LDN, FACSM, FAIS, FACN

Nutritional Biochemist and Author

smtalbott@mac.com

www.shawntalbott.com

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–The Secret of Vigor – How to Overcome Burnout, Restore Biochemical Balance, and Reclaim Your Natural Energy

–Killer at Large – Why Obesity is America’s Greatest Threat – an award-winning documentary film exploring the causes and solutions underlying the American obesity epidemic

–The Cortisol Connection – Why Stress Makes You Fat and Ruins Your Health (Hunter House)

–The Cortisol Connection Diet – The Breakthrough Program to Control Stress and Lose Weight (Hunter House)

–Cortisol Control and the Beauty Connection – The All-Natural Inside-Out Approach to Reversing Wrinkles, Preventing Acne, And Improving Skin Tone (Hunter House)

–Natural Solutions for Pain-Free Living – Lasting Relief for Flexible Joints, Strong Bones and Ache-Free Muscles (Chronicle Publishers – Currant Books)

–The Immune Miracle – The All-Natural Approach for Better Health, Increased Energy and Improved Mood (GLH Nutrition, 2012)

–The Health Professionals Guide to Dietary Supplements (Lippincott, Williams & Wilkens)

–A Guide to Understanding Dietary Supplements – an Outstanding Academic Text of 2004 (Haworth Press)

This past Saturday, I ran the 50k (~31 mile) Corner Canyon Ultra trail run here in Draper, Utah (South of SLC).

Since these are my own “local” trails that I run on several times every week, I was motivated to have a good race.

There is a popular ultra-running website (UltraSignup.com) that “predicts” your finish time and place/ranking against other runners in a particular race (based on performances in past events). Ultra-running isn’t really about competing “against others” – it’s more about “challenging yourself” in a group of like-minded friends (aka nut jobs) – but it’s still fun to see where the algorithms think you’ll finish.

My predicted finish was a little over 7 hours (7:11!) and middle of the pack – on a very hard course with a particularly difficult ridge climb in the 2nd half. This algorithm tends to be pretty accurate – it predicted my finish time in the Bryce Canyon 50-miler this past June to within a minute or so.

As a matter of pride, I decided to try to break 7-hours and “beat” the algorithm. My strategy was to go out at a steady pace (3:30 to the half-way point) and then push the pace thru the harder 2nd half (also in 3:30 – for an “even split”).

I came thru halfway at 3:29 – right on schedule and feeling great. On the way back to the finish, my wife was shocked to see me back so quickly to the final aid station – and on-track to complete the 2nd (harder) half of the course in sub-3 hours!

My final finish time was 6:29 (and 12th overall) – more than 40 minutes ahead of the algorithm-predicted time – and only one of two runners in the entire race to run a “negative split” (faster 2nd half).

During the run, I was sipping on a prototype of the new body/mind/spirit drink that EQQIL is launching in January. It clearly helped me with physical energy (body), mental acuity/focus (mind), and generally feeling euphoric (spirit) for the entire run. It also helped me with fat metabolism – I barely ate anything at any of the aid stations – I just didn’t need any external fuel because my body was able to use it’s own internal fat stores as fuel.

For myself personally, I think that the “feel” of our new product has the potential to be a breakthrough blockbuster because it’s the first true combination of the body-mind-spirit benefits into a single solution. That makes it the “right product” for a lot of people – those looking for “more energy” – or help with “fat loss” – or clearer “mental focus” – or superior “athletic performance” – or simply to “be healthier” and “feel better” (that’s a lot of people)…

Please stay tuned for more information about this exciting January launch – and thanks for reading…

Shawn

For those who have been following my various blogs and reading my books over the years, you’re well-aware of my mission to help people to “rebalance” their biochemistry (hormones, enzymes, neurotransmitters, etc) so they can look their best, feel their best, and perform their best at every level imaginable. A lot of my writing and research focuses on how different biochemical/cellular “imbalances” (aka “stress”) leads to problems like weight gain, fatigue, depression, accelerated aging, mental fog, low libido, and burnout – and importantly,  how rebalancing biochemistry restores and increases vigor.

Vigor is a term from psychology research that describes a state of sustained physical energy, mental acuity, and emotional well-being. Another way to describe “vigor” is that you’re balanced in Body, Mind, and Spirit (also described as “Qi” in traditional Chinese medicine).

My new company (more on that later in the week) is called EQQIL – and we are 100% focused on developing solutions to help restore balance (equilibrium) in body, mind, and spirit. I think that the product we’re launching in January will reach blockbuster status pretty quickly. Why?

The new product is a drink that helps:

• Increase physical energy
• Improve mental focus
• Control appetite
• Stimulate fat metabolism
• Generate a heightened sense of well-being

People have asked the EQQIL Team if this product is a “weight loss” product – and our answer is “Yes”

People have asked us if this new product is a “performance” product for athletes – and our answer is “Yes”

People wonder if this product could help students or business people who need to improve focus and creativity – and our answer is “Yes”

People ask if this new product will simply help them be healthier and feel better – and our answer is (again), “Yes”

We’ve been sharing prototypes of this new drink with people around the country – and we’re seeing/hearing all of these benefits first-hand. I have people using the product who are losing (lots of) body fat; athletes who are breaking personal performance records; moms who have their energy (and sex drive) back; dads who have their mojo back (at work and in the family); and people all over the country who are simply “better” in Body, Mind, and Spirit (because they’re more balanced).

In a lot of ways, EQQIL and our platform of new “balancing” products is the culmination of 20+ years of work by myself and the other members of the Team – and we’re excited to bring them to you very soon!

Thanks for reading,

Shawn

Food Matters TV is now featuring my award-winning documentary, Killer At Large, about America’s obesity epidemic http://ow.ly/T9vhH

Diurnal eating patterns may determine body weight (35% of calories consumed after 6pm) http://ow.ly/T3Aqa

Huge NHANES study = factors OTHER than diet/exercise drive obesity epidemic- stress, sleep, microbiome, environment http://ow.ly/T3xNx