WISP NEPA

02/20/2023

Definition of irony; me listening to this while eating overnight oats AND prepping tomorrows oats. 😂

If you want no-nonsense nutrition for EVERYONE, follow on social media and wherever you consume your podcasts.

01/07/2023

We all do it, but do you do it as well as you can? In fewer than 4 minutes, learn what optimal breathing looks and feels like and why it matters.

12/31/2022

The first of WISP’s monthly blog posts is up!

Please take some time to read this and wrap your mind how you’ll make sure your 2023 resolutions have the structure you need to come to life this year. If you find it useful, please share it as well!

May you all have a healthy and happy new year! 🎉🥳

With January just around the corner, many people are making resolutions related to improving their health in the new year. Whether through diet, exercise or both, tens of millions of people start each year with excitement for the endless possibilities in front of them if they do one simple thing –...

08/31/2022

As an advocate for health education in our school system, I would add this to the top of the “required reading” list.

The author doesn’t try to sell you any fad diets, promote health products, or, in general, make your promises that can’t be delivered on.

Plain and simple, Pontzer explains how current science helps us make sense of metabolism (i.e. our body’s energy production), weight loss, and the limits of our control over both. If you’re curious about weight management (loss, gain, or maintenance), this one is for you!

07/08/2022

📸Progress pictures? Nope. Regression pictures (circa 2017)
 
⚖️The process of getting to a goal weight was a means to an end when I got started. That meant I worked on my health and wellness only when it served a weight loss goal – it never involved full lifestyle changes.
 
🙌In the first year I had lost more than one hundred pounds! I was so proud of the hard work I put in.
 
😬Then I stopped paying attention because, well, mission accomplished. There was nothing left to do but slip back into my previous, comfortable habits. You know, the ones that got me to wanting change in the first place.
 
🎢In the three years that followed my weight was like a roller coaster. ⬆️ 15 lbs., ⬇️ 15 lbs., ⬆️ 25 lbs., ⬇️ 25 lbs. and so on. Each time I reached a "goal weight" I would stop doing the things that got me there.
 
🙈On the left I weighed the least I have in my adult life, by a lot. ⏩ 4 months to the picture on the right, I put 30 lbs. on. It was the fastest I ever gained weight. It was also the last time that would ever happen.
 
😓I had my fair share of weight loss struggles well before these pictures. I made many attempts and failed. I bought fat burners, tried the fad diets, let gym memberships go to waste, and had more “day ones” than I could count. There were fundamental flaws in those attempts.
 
🍽I didn’t understand food and nutrition – I ate fast food, highly processed stuff, little protein, and few fruits or vegetables.
 
🏋️‍♀️I didn’t know which ways of moving my body brought me joy and fulfillment – why bother when the couch is right there?
 
🧘‍♂️I never sought out relaxation techniques that worked for me – ma*****na, booze, food, and ci******es were all I needed to relax.
 
💪I discounted the power a supportive community could have on me – but my bar friends always picked me first in drinking contests, so… cool?
 
𝚫The beauty of life is that we all have the power to change.
 
🌌It doesn’t happen overnight, it requires sacrifices, and it isn’t always easy.
 
💭This is my “why.” Why WISP exists today.
 
🌱Let's grow together!

06/28/2022

I am elated to announce the launch of WISP’s website, www.wispnepa.com! 🎉🥳🍾

The goal for WISP was always to be a pillar of health and education in the community. The name came from what I strive to deliver to each of my clients; Wellness, Inspiration, and Self-development Practices (WISP) that help them become their best self.

It was just about a little over a year ago when my wife, Sarah, and I decided it was time for me to step away from the business world and turn my passion for helping others live a better life into a career. We had no idea what our business would look like then and, to be transparent, we still don’t know what the future will hold… but we have a lot of ideas.

Currently, our website only displays the services offered to clients from a one-on-one coaching perspective.

WISP does, however, offer corporate wellness presentations that cover a wide range of topics in health. This arm of the business is set to become more of a focal point in the second half of 2022 and beyond. If you or anyone you know has interest in providing a group with health education and actionable ways to improve their wellbeing, please don’t hesitate to reach out to discuss the presentations, packages, and pricing.

A big time thank you goes out to Mark J. Durdach and his company, AvisTech Web Solutions, for their work on the website project.

I have no doubt that WISP, the website, and I will continue to grow in ways I can’t even imagine yet. I hope you’ll all follow along for the ride.

06/23/2022

This is a conversation I have far too often with my clients and others. Most supplements are designed for one thing, corporate profitability. People pushing fat burners, cleansing kits, and other "health products" need to 🛑.

As a consumer desperate to lose weight, be more alert, sleep better, or be healthier, we'll believe almost anything a product promises. Been there, done that.

At one point in time I used Hydroxycut and other fat burners, L-carnatine supplements, Colopure (for real, that's a product), melatonin, "superfood" powders, and more for my "health" or for weight loss. Trust me, that list goes on too.

Ask yourself this, if all these products actually work as advertised, why isn't there undoubted clarity on which ones work and which don't? Also, why don't we see them in every store at the checkout lines in case we missed them where they're located in the main aisles? Oh, right, that space is reserved for sugary, highly caffeinated drinks and candy bars.

The real answer to better health is too boring and sometimes scary - change your lifestyle! Drink water, get adequate sleep, be intentional with diet and exercise, learn stress management techniques, and have a social support/accountability system. Rinse, repeat, and practice patience. Results takes time to surface.

Trust me, I know it's easier said than done. I'm not suggesting it's simple and people should willpower their way to healthier lives. Do, however, save your money for things that actually work. Hire a coach (a semi-shameless plug) that can help educate you on how to do this. If not me, someone else! In the long-run, the knowledge you'll gain and the changes you can make with a high-quality coach will be money better spent.

Oh, and back to the article topic. Here's the very short list of supplements I think are "worth it":

1️⃣ Creatine
2️⃣ Protein Powder
3️⃣ Caffeine (preferred in its natural forms)

Yes, some supplements - multivitamins, fish oil, and others - may be beneficial to individuals, but that is on a case by case basis. Moreover, don't get beneficial be confused with "worth it."

For years scientists have been saying there's not much evidence to recommend vitamin supplements for most people, with a growing body of research suggesting most of the pills are useless and don't necessarily make us any healthier.

05/27/2022

Barbecue season officially kicks off this weekend!
🍔🌭🥩🍗🍺🍹

If you’re looking to stay on track with your nutrition, try some, or better yet, ALL of these tips out for yourself this weekend and all summer long. Enjoy yourself without overthinking it.

Don’t forget to save for later!

05/03/2022

May is mental health awareness month.

📐 We can look at it from a lot of different angles.

📚 Mental health education can be a lot of things.

To me, it’s learning…

🧠 How our brains and bodies function.

🕹 The controls we can exert over that function.

🛠 The tools to do so.

👃🫁🥶🚿🧘‍♀️🌻🎼

🚫 The things we can’t control.

How it all works together.

Why it works.

Putting this knowledge into practice in ways that work for YOU, not what worked someone else.

We’re all just so different and so are our needs. It takes time, but it’s worth the investment.

I take this into consideration in working with clients, not because it’s a good business practice, but because it’s a good humanity practice.

We would all do better to remember that being human is hard as hell. On all of us.

Learn more at pages like and more!

04/28/2022

This is one of my favorites!

The late E.O. Wilson sums it up quite eloquently here. This, he expressed, was a real problem humanity faces today.

Any deep thoughts on this out there?

04/27/2022

The current top 5 books I would recommend to anyone looking to enact change in their lives.

1️⃣ Essentialism won't prioritize the things in your life for you, but it will teach you to do that yourself. You'll learn a framework to be more selective with your time and energy.

2️⃣ You Are a Badass provides short, easy-to-digest chapters. With hilarious nuggets of wisdom peppered throughout the pages, Jen Sincero helps you to identify and change the self-sabotaging behaviors that hold back your inner badass!

3️⃣ Atomic Habits is a game changer! Clear lays out a simple, but effective framework on habit development and/or deconstruction. It's the little things we do every day that amount to the big lives we lead. Start small, but think big with this one!

4️⃣ The Willpower Instinct reviews the science of self-control. You'll learn concepts from neuroscience and psychology, in a ridiculously easy-to-understand manner, that help you see why we don't have limitless willpower. You'll also get strategies to use and actions to take to gain more of it!

5️⃣ Chatter is all about internal dialogue. Learn about the voice in your head, why it matters, and how to take control of it. In order to shape the events in our individual realities, we need to restructure the conversations we have with ourselves first. Ethan Kross shows you how!

Read these in any order! Each one will be immediately applicable in your life.

04/25/2022

🎞 Here's a clip from my Question Everything series on the platform discussing a challenge response versus a threat response.

🧠 Your mindset around stress matters! Here's why:

🧪 The ratio of stress chemicals created in a challenge response and threat response are similar, but have a few very important differences.

😥 In a challenge response, our bodies react similarly to a threat response, but we know our lives are not in immediate danger. This means the ratio of chemicals our brains release are less for life-saving purposes and more to motivate and ready us to act and to learn from the situation. In this way, we can deal with similar, non-threatening challenges more efficiently in the future.

💀 In a threat response, our bodies prep for life-endangering events. The ratio of chemicals released are to motivate and ready us to act, just like the challenge response. Yet, instead of also being ready to learn, the brain uses additional energy to prime for injury. Inflammatory markers rise, blood vessels constrict, and we mobilize our immune system all in the name of saving our lives from this perceived threat.

🧰 Expanding your toolbox of healthy coping strategies means you will have an increased likelihood of having a challenge response as opposed to a threat response! More on why in the video.

04/13/2022

On April 12th, 2022, a Wall Street Journal headline reads “Children as Young as 8 Should Be Screened for Anxiety, Experts Recommend”

This isn’t an “alarmist” take on the matter either. It’s in the data. Youth su***de rates are increasing at historic rates. We need to stop viewing mental health as taboo and start having these conversations, not only in adult circles, but with the youth as well.

So, let’s define the important term in the quote above from Jamie Wheal’s book Recapture the Rapture, physiology. Physiology refers to “the way in which a living organism or bodily part functions.”

I connected with Physiology First University] about a year ago because their salient mission to positively impact youth mental health through educating our younger population on how our minds and bodies work as one to make us… well, US!

As an adult, I have become more aware of my own physiology and the various ways I can consciously change it through choices I make every day.

🥗Nutrition
🏋️‍♀️Exercise
😴Sleep
🫁Breath Work
🎶Music
🥶Cold Exposure
🙏Gratitude Practices

These are many of the things that have made ALL the difference in my life, but it’s a small sampling of the toolbox available to us. Over time, these things moved me from someone who was deeply depressed, anxious, and apathetic to a far more content, fulfilled person with a strong sense of agency. That’s why it’s so important for me to bring this to others.

While Physiology First seeks to educate the youth, but it isn’t JUST for the youth either. We all need the tools available on this platform. Whether you want to learn more about your own physiology and how to take better control of it, to support the movement to educate the youth on the same topic, or both, jump over to the Physiology First University] page and learn how to become part of the platform and the movement!

03/26/2022

✂️ At the start of February, I began focusing on trimming off some body fat to help me meet my athletic goals.

🤔 So, what did I do differently?

2️⃣ things:

⚖️ I began a caloric deficit (eating fewer calories than I burn in a day)

🚶🏻‍♂️ I actively increased my step count.

That’s it.

My time in the gym didn’t change much, if at all. In fact, there were plenty of days I dialed back on the weight or on my intensity. I didn’t have as much energy as I’d like. I’m only human and “powering through” isn’t the answer.

Weight/fat loss is not complicated in theory.

The difficulty lies in application.

I hope you noticed I didn’t say:

1️⃣“I cut my calories down to dangerously low levels.”

2️⃣“I went on ‘X’ diet.”

3️⃣“I started using ‘X’ supplement.”

4️⃣“I started fasting.”

5️⃣“I needed ‘X’ company’s food and plan to do it.”

Or anything else of the sort. (By the way, SOME of the above might work for you and your preferences, but NONE are necessary!)

I simply ate more or less of the things I ALREADY eat on a regular basis. I used real food, my preferences, and my knowledge to guide the process.

For example:

I ate more of my favorite fruits, veggies, and proteins.

I ate less bread, pasta, rice, grains, and cut out a lot of processed stuff (like pancakes, waffles, bars, etc).

*IMPORTANT: I did not eliminate things completely. Damn right I had some Reese’s cups and birthday cakes along the way. I just ate them with awareness and in moderation.*

Let me help you apply these principles to your goals!

Your partner in success,
Chris 🤝

03/01/2022

⚠️ YOU ARE NOT A TODDLER.

Nor do you need to eat as much as one to lose weight.

If any company or health coach tells you otherwise, here’s a list of questions to ask them.

❓❓❓❓❓❓

Why should I eat so little?

How does that help me lose weight better than learning to restructure my diet and moving more?
**WALKING COUNTS way more than you think for movement too!**

What are the risks, short-term and long-term, on my body?

Can I eat my own REAL food instead of primarily prepackaged food PRODUCTS? (They’re usually selling you their “food”)

Will I need to eat this way forever?

❓❓❓❓❓❓

👨‍💼 Don’t forget, companies like this teach their coaches to be salespeople too. So, listen for real, scientifically backed answers - not the sales pitch.

I used to be a salesperson as a financial advisor.

I used to be an educator as a math teacher.

I am a CrossFit coach and have been for nearly 3 years.

I combined those skill sets to start a business on how to turn nutrition, movement, and mindset into your strengths.

I have nothing to sell you but information, my experience, and my time. No products and no gimmicks.

I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I made along the way - mistakes I’ve seen others make as well. Including spending money on weight loss promises from companies.

I just need you to be ready to put in some work on yourself and your habits. That’s where REAL, SUSTAINABLE change happens.

You are unique and your body has different demands than the next person. Why should you be given the same plan as them?

Want to learn to lose weight sustainably, what optimal weight loss cycles look like, and how to incorporate your favorite foods in along the way?

I’m ready when you are.

Source in 📸: kidshealth.org

02/28/2022

📢 DISCLAIMER: PB Cups are my 🌎😍

Desperate with weight goals? Please give me just a few minutes to read and understand.

This matters to ANYONE with a weight goal. Weight loss? This matters. Weight maintenance? Still matters. Weight gain? Yeah… matters.

Quick, simple breakdown:

⚡️ Calories are a unit of energy

Our weight is directly related to how we balance energy intake and output. You’ve heard this as “calories in versus calories out”

⬆️ Consume more energy (calories) than we burn over a period of time, we are in a caloric surplus, subject to gaining weight

⬇️ Consume less energy (calories) than we burn in a period of time, you we in caloric deficit, subject to losing weight

➡️ Consume about as much energy (calories) as we burn in a period of time, we are at maintenance - no weight change expected

💡Make sense so far?

🧰 Fruits, vegetables & unprocessed foods are the most powerful tools at our disposal. All food we eat is broken by our digestive system and used by our bodies to build and maintain our existing cells - literally, what makes us US

Eating varieties of unprocessed food is essential for our bodies. We obtain vitamins, minerals, and other chemicals that help us feel our best daily. This helps improve sleep💤, digestion💩, and brain function 🧠 to name a few benefits.

Already worth it before we talk weight!

🏠 Much like building a house, we want a solid foundation in with nutrition. Fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed foods are the highest quality materials for that endeavor. With a foundaiton set, we can certainly use other materilas where it makes sense

⚖️ Remember the energy balance thing above? Keep it in mind for the following:

(continued in the comments 👇)

02/19/2022

Check this 💩 out 👇

Hanging at the bar 🥃 vs. hanging at the bar 🏋🏻‍♂️

⬅️ February 2011

💸 I had just spent the last 4+ years burning through a $180,000 inheritance.

😱 Yep, $180K.

🗺 I didn’t know the path to who I wanted to be.

🚫 But I was going in the wrong direction.

Things got worse before they got better too.

My siblings and I lost our mother after years of sickness.

I destroyed my credit by going into collections…

💳 Over a $700 credit card bill I couldn’t pay.

🚬 I was too busy drowning my sorrows in ci******es, booze, and gambling to care.

No one knew how bad or lonely it was either.

No one.

I didn’t want to be alive some days.

There was a lot of darkness in those times.

I needed to change and didn’t know where to start.

So, I just started somewhere.

I lost 100 lbs. (struggled for years to keep it off).

I got a steady job in finance (ironic, right?).

I made a budget and paid my debts.

I kicked many of my worst habits.

I earned my MBA with high honors.

I became a financial advisor.

I found fitness.

I became a CrossFit coach.

➡️ December 2021

I recently quit my job because:

“You are best positioned to serve the person you once were.” -

All of who I am, all of it, required constant work on myself.

Mentally, physically, and spiritually.

I failed at a lot of things, but I kept trying.

I believe that is everyone’s path to who they want to be.

That’s why WISP exists today.

To serve any one of you that this resonates with.

Life can be fu***ng hard.

And your lifeSTYLE makes all the difference.

When you’re ready for change, I’m ready for you.

You know some of my story.

Let me learn yours.

Your partner in success,

Chris 🤙