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 Vol 34 • Extraordinary Health ™ 47