Try something new each week preferably based on a healthy lifestyle such as hiking, visiting a new farmers market, watching a live music performance

As a part of my series about 5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve Ones Wellbeing, I had the pleasure of interviewing Stella Metsovas.Stella Metsovas is a former competitive athlete, clinical nutritionist, speaker, author, and specialist in food science and human nutrition, with over fifteen years of experience in the health and fitness industries. Stella is the founder of Love Live Wild, a lifestyle brand that helps people elevate their everyday with soul-nourishing rituals.www.lovelivewild.com/press

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you share with us the story about how you first got involved in fitness and wellness?

Around 15 years old while training at the elite level for USA Swimming. I realized nutrition would make or break my performance in the pool after having indulged in a donut party before a big swim meet. I recall feeling tired and bloated all day, not knowing what caused this since the day before I turned one of my best time splits in the 100-meter breaststroke. Through trial and error, we realized the high carbohydrate swimmers diet from mostly processed foods was the culprit to performance issues.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

I have worked as a consultant to food brands and commodity groups whove invited me to travel to their locations and learn more about the product. The Norwegian Seafood Council welcomed me to explore their fisheries in beautiful Tromso, Norway. I enjoyed the food and culture very much so!

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

Sitting in my first office, circa 2006, fresh out of college, wondering how do I market my business I was fortunate to have thrived from referrals early on, but the first few years were tough. Resilience and networking are the formulas to success in any industry. Also, finding a mentor is key.

Can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority in the fitness and wellness field? In your opinion, what is your unique contribution to the world of wellness?

The combination of my athletic background, and advocating the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle especially for optimal gut health and wellness. Ive lived the ancestral Mediterranean way every summer in the villages of Greece since I was a little girl. Ive been able to provide my clients and followers an effortless approach on how to integrate these practices no matter your geographic location.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

First and foremost my swim coaches. They instilled a strong work ethic that has helped me professionally in more ways than one. Also, my literary agent, Chris Tomasino, for believing in the authentic Mediterranean way as championed through my book, Wild Mediterranean (Penguin Random House, 2017) that promotes a blueprint of wellness, backed by research.

Ok thank you for all that. Now lets move to the main focus of our interview. We all know that its important to eat more vegetables, eat less sugar, exercise more, and get better sleep etc. But while we know it intellectually, its often difficult to put it into practice and make it a part of our daily habits. In your opinion what are the 3 main blockages that prevent us from taking the information that we all know, and integrating it into our lives?

Firstly, our modern living environment has made the convenience of food both good or the absolute worst attribute to health. You can never replace whole unprocessed foods to easily packaged varieties that make bogus health claims. Also, processed foods change the way you taste the food, making unadulterated meals quite bland on the palette.

Can you please share your 5 Non-Intuitive Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve Ones Wellbeing? (Please share a story or an example for each, and feel free to share ideas for mental, emotional and physical health.)

Know your water. The consumption of quality water is essential to your health, including our gut microbiome. Unfortunately, a reverse osmosis system can do very little if your tap water is treated with various chemicals. See more here:https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/cmp130704chap8.pdf?ua=1

Take adaptogens for both the body and mind. My top recommendation is to include Lions Mane and Siberian Ginseng.

Try to rise and sleep with the circadian rhythm of the sun and moon. Our hormones depend on quality sleep.

Vary your workouts and try to get outside as often as possible if weather permits.

Try something new each week preferably based on a healthy lifestyle such as hiking, visiting a new farmers market, watching a live music performance

As an expert, this might be obvious to you, but I think it would be instructive to articulate this for the public. Aside from weight loss, what are 3 benefits of daily exercise? Can you explain?

Natural detoxification through breath and sweat that occurs while exercising. Also, depending on the form of exercise, youll feel a sense of stress relief and most likely better sleeping habits throughout the night. Lastly, maintaining leanness throughout the body helps promote a healthy gut microbiome. Since the gut and brain are considered connected, its important to have a balance between the two.

For someone who is looking to add exercise to their daily routine, which 3 exercises would you recommend that are absolutely critical?

Daily sit-ups and pushups. No matter your fitness level, both forms of exercise are imperative to body conditioning. Im also a fan of early morning sun for vitamin D absorption; try to get outside for a hike or jog.

In my experience, many people begin an exercise regimen but stop because they get too sore afterwards. What ideas would you recommend to someone who plays sports or does heavy exercise to shorten the recovery time, and to prevent short term or long term injury?

Soreness after a workout could be an indication of a circulatory deficit. This is why I like to promote movement throughout the day. Training in a gym for 45 minutes and then sitting for the rest of the day and night is not a good preventative formula if you wish to lead a long, healthy life. You might have heard that sitting is hazardous to health since other lifestyle habits come along with sedentary behaviors, such as type 2 diabetes.

There are so many different diets today. Can you share what kind of diet you follow? Which diet do you recommend to most of your clients?

The ancestral Mediterranean diet as presented in Wild Mediterranean. I encourage the value of intermittent fasting for gut health and a diet that is heavy on plant-based fibers, combined with quality meats and fats, with prebiotic fibers mainly from ancestral grains.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?

The Zone Diet by Dr. Barry Sears. One of the most influential nutritional concepts of the 21st century. Dr. Sears is a prolific researcher when it comes to hormones especially insulin and dietary attributes that trigger inflammation. He pioneered the basic formula 40:30:30, which is still respected in dietetic research today. This book sparked my curiosity 15+ years ago to think beyond a calorie is just a calorie, and to realize that our bodily systems are far more complex than basing a diet off of heat units (i.e., caloric measurements in food).

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Elevate your every day through body and mind rituals harvested by Mother Nature. The idea here is to support your internal ecosystem the best way you can.

Can you please give us your favorite Life Lesson Quote? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

My sports medicine professor: Live long die long; live long die short. You choose. Live long, die long means that you are living longer, but the quality of your life or dying long is not the goal.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them

Gary Vaynerchuk. I love his enthusiasm that spreads far beyond a digital media company.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

Instagram: love.livewild

Twitter: /stellametsovas

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

Thank you!

More:
5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve One's Wellbeing, with Dr. William Seeds & Stella Metsovas - Thrive Global