Extraordinary Health Magazine EH Magazine VOl 34 | Page 49
Extraordinary Health Magazine: Justin, with you being a
professional athlete, how important is diet?
Justin: It gets more important to put the right things in my
body as I get older. That includes supplementing with the right
nutrition and that includes my pre-game and post-game routine.
EHM: Has eating well and taking care of your body been a
life’s pursuit?
Justin: Interesting how in my early 20s, I thought while going
out to eat I was eating healthy, but not knowing the exact
ingredients or how my meals were being prepared. Now we
cook at home most of the time and at 31 years old, this is as
good as I have ever felt.
EHM: How hard is it to adhere to a healthy lifestyle, getting
enough fuel to play hockey?
Justin: Our team nutritionist makes sure we have options like
chicken, fish or steak and for an athlete, the structure of a meal is
huge. You have these habits and those are tough to change, but
choosing healthier options, now I don’t feel so heavy or dragged
down after a meal. As part of post-game meals, we have Garden
of Life products at the rink, including Sport Plant-Based Protein
shakes so our strength and conditioning coach makes sure we get
something in us right away within 5-to-10 mins of the game. Our chef
makes sure we have healthy options like pasture-raised chicken,
grass-fed beef or wild-caught fish—and always incorporates greens.
We work out with some sort of cool down, stretch and ice, and eat 30
minutes to an hour after each game. But that first 5-to-10 minutes,
I have a shake—vanilla or chocolate.
EHM: Why is the NSF label so important in your health plans?
Justin: When something is certified for sports and has
NSF on the label, you know you’re eating the cleanest
products out there. The Garden of Life products are in
line with our ideals for that reason—clear of toxins and
a natural fit for what we are trying to do.
EHM: We understand you also find value in fasting. Why and
how does this benefit you?
Justin: Fasting allows my body to detox. It gives my body the
time it needs to focus on other systems besides digesting.
EHM: How did connecting with Julie help take your health plan
through the same program and what I’m finding is integrating
health coaching is fast becoming part of many doctors’ offices.
The courses for becoming an Integrative Health Coach are
mandated and it’s good to have a certification that encompasses
all of my knowledge of health and nutrition.
EHM: You’ve got great ideas on making delicious shakes.
What are some of your favorites?
Julie: Justin does the Sport Protein shakes before workouts for
energy to get through tough workouts and after games. In the
summertime, we do a Sport Protein shake with organic banana
and blueberries, mixing it up so we get a diverse selection.
EHM: Do you and Justin plan to continue this healthy lifestyle
beyond Justin’s hockey career and pass it on your children?
Julie: Those basics are what we need to focus on because it’s
more than just getting protein and vitamins—aromatherapy
and essential oils are part of it, and it’s about longevity in the
foods and products you use. We can treat what ails us through
our environment and products from the earth and the more we
learn, the more we can use them for healing. For example, we use
peppermint oil for headaches, but we barely get them because of
our diet. We use lavender at night to help us sleep.
EHM: You’ve said the gut is your second brain. What do people
need to understand about this?
Julie: It begins with educating yourself on how important our
gut microbiome is in controlling and regulating different systems
in our bodies. Incorporating prebiotics and probiotics into our
diet and eating gut-nourishing foods is crucial. Every system is
interrelated in a unique way. Our gut specifically is tied to our
hormones which creates a healthy environment for our mood,
therefore, people refer to our gut as our “second brain.”
EHM: Justin, we understand you are writing a children’s book—
tell us about it.
Justin: It’s about overcoming obstacles along the way. I grew
up wearing a Red Wings jersey everywhere I went, idolizing
those guys on the team. I dreamed of being the player on the
ice and holding up the Stanley Cup. I had doubters along the
way, not making a team or making the cut, but I used that as
motivation. I worked hard and stayed the course so I could have
the opportunity one day to raise the Stanley Cup as a part of the
Detroit Red Wings team, proof that dreams can come true. Some
of the proceeds will go towards my reading programs.
to the next level? EHM: Inspiring kids and reading to them is a passion of yours.
Justin: I’ve gotten into it more since Julie and I met, going What are some of your favorite memories of this outreach?
through our relationship and focusing on nutrition, we are
bringing out the best in each other. Justin: A group of Drummond Island students left at 3 am for
Detroit to participate in a field trip with me, which was a six-hour
drive. We had a pizza party at the rink where I read to them and
they received upgrades to their library. They also got to attend a
Detroit Tigers baseball game. It was so cool for them to come to
Detroit, coming through the traffic on major highways to have the
big buildings in downtown Detroit come into view and take a tour
of the ice arena.
EHM: Julie, how did you decide to become an Integrative
Health Coach and what does that mean for your clients?
Julie: Growing up, my mom was always really into integrative
health and using nutrition as medicine—caring about clean and
chemically free products. My obstetrician’s wife is a health coach
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