SHAWN STEVENSON: Welcome To The Model Health Show. This is Fitness and nutrition experts, Shawn Stevenson, and I'm so grateful for you tuning into me today. What are the ingredients that make up a healthy human body? What are the ingredients that make up a healthy family culture? That's what we're gonna be talking about today on this powerful episode of The Model Health Show, because the ingredients for making up humans has changed dramatically in the last few decades. And also the ingredients that make up our family recipe or our family culture has changed dramatically in the last few decades as well. And we've got some profound data indicating some simple changes that we can make in our family culture, and also what we're feeding ourselves that can lead to incredible benefits for our health. And really start to shift the epidemics, the multiple epidemics of chronic illnesses.

SHAWN STEVENSON: According to the CDC, 60% of American adults now have at least one chronic disease. 40% have two or more chronic diseases. So poor health has been normalized. It's the norm now, if you're healthy today in the United States, you are not normal. You're not in the norm. And so we can shift this. We can create a tipping point to normalize health. And I believe that we're much closer than we think. And this information today is coming straight from the New Eat Smarter Family Cookbook. And today, I had the tables turned on me and somebody who's been such an incredible friend and supported my work for many, many years from the beginning, is going to be interviewing me. And you're going to be able to hear some of the most incredible insights from this new project that I've been working on diligently. Now, I've been in this field for over 21 years now, and this is really the culmination of all of that work and the tens of thousands of hours spent in research, in teaching, in filming The Model Health Show, for example, and also writing these incredible books.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And this is my third major project with the Eat Smarter Family Cookbook. And I'm very, very happy and and proud to be able to say that. But most importantly, I feel this burning desire within my spirit to utilize this as a launching pad, to truly create a movement for family wellness, to truly create new conditions for our future generations to grow up in. We've gotta start now. And so this is why I'm so passionate about this project, is that it's so much more than a cookbook, which by the way, we are about that life. When it comes to food we love delicious things. We're big foodies. And so that's one of the most powerful ways to create change, is to invite people in, provide incredible food experiences, make this about joy and love and celebration and connection. And we can do this while providing.

SHAWN STEVENSON: By the way, this is the first time this has ever been done. This is the first cookbook that is so data driven. There's over 250 scientific references in a cookbook. It's never been done before, but in a way that we do it You know how we do it in a way that's entertaining, enlightening, fun, empowering. And also the fact that this is a cookbook. It is so beautiful, the layout of the book, it is really brought to life. The images jump off the page. The food is out of this world delicious. And this week is very special because this is the week that the Eat Smarter Family Cookbook is getting released nationwide to bookstores everywhere. So right now, you have a small amount of time left to be one of the first to get it. Reserve your copy. Head over to amazon.com. Barnes & Noble, reserve your copy.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Go to Eatsmartercookbook.com and you'll still have time to get hooked up with the incredible pre-order bonuses if you're listening to this episode as soon as it comes out, by the way, because the new book is coming this week, and I need you to be ready because we are on a mission. This is about sparking a movement for family wellness. And so make sure to be ready to run out, get your copy, support this movement. If The Model Health Show has been of value in your life, this is my one ask is to go and get your copy of the Eat Smarter Family Cookbook for yourself. It's gonna be a staple in your kitchen. I know it. I've already seen it. And the people that have gotten early copies of the book is just staying in there. It is so wonderful. And also, this is gonna be a wonderful gift to share with the people that you care about. To provide, yes, the education, yes, the empowerment, but also delicious food experiences. So eatsmartercookbook.com. And of course, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, your favorite bookstore, retailer. You can go there online, reserve your copy. And if you're listening to this after 10/10, 10/10, 10/10, 10 out of 10, 10/10/23, head over to your favorite bookstore online or in person. Get your copy today, support this movement. And without further ado, let's get to our Apple Podcast review of the week.

APPLE PODCAST REVIEW: Another five star review titled, Great Resource by Joy1904. Thank you very much for this great resource. I stumbled upon this podcast a few days ago, and I can't believe the great nuggets it contains. I started from the first issue, and I'm taking notes as I binge listen.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Amazing. I love that so much. Thousands of folks every month, go back and start from episode one of The Model Health Show and journey all the way with us through this incredible process and all of these amazing world changing guests that we've had, experts in their respective fields, and all the incredible masterclasses that are just absorbing all of that powerful information. And I'm so honored. Thank you so much for making me a part of your life. And without further ado, let's get to this incredible episode of The Model Health Show.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Interviewing me is going to be New York Times bestselling author, Chalene Johnson. She's actually a Guinness World record holder for the most fitness DVDs out there in circulation. All right, she set that record long ago, and she's really been an icon in health and fitness and really family culture as well. And she's been such a big supporter of my work, and I'm so honored that she sat me down and interviewed me about these incredible, and so we're gonna be talking about the psychological barriers that make junk food so appealing. We're gonna be diving into transformative power that's found in family meals and the science behind that, even how to deal with picky eaters. We're gonna be talking about how to create a healthy micro-culture and a lot more, let's dive into this amazing conversation with the tables turned on me. Interviewed by my friend, New York Times bestselling author, Chalene Johnson.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Shawn Stevenson joins me today. He is the host of The Model Health Show, a number one, often number one top ranked health podcast. You can check him out also on YouTube or whatever audio podcast app you like to listen to. Shawn is just like one of those super awesome dope people who is cool, but also obsessed with science, obsessed with kind of like uplevelling and helping other people do exactly that. So whether it's relationships, mindset, your body, your your family, the way that you sleep, the way that you eat. He's the guy you wanna listen to. You probably have heard me talk about him endlessly. Like “Sleep Smarter” was a game changer for me. 'cause I read that book about the same time I realized, oh wow, I need to change the way that I sleep. And most of the advice out there just, it didn't work for me. It didn't feel practical.

CHALENE JOHNSON: He followed that up with another great book that just became another number one seller. And that is “Eat Smarter”. And not only do I love him, but I love his wife. I love their kids. They're so fun. They're so dope. And today we are just sitting down to talk about that, like how to uplevel your family culture, how to get healthier, how do you improve not just your health, but like how do you do this for your whole family? And more than just, food and nutrition and exercise. Like what does it mean to have a healthy family? So without further ado, I welcome to the show my friend Shawn Stevenson.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Oh my goodness, that's so awesome. Thank you so much.

CHALENE JOHNSON: So thanks for for letting me use your studio to bring you on to talk about a topic that's like super, really important to both of us. I wanna lead off with your definition of a healthy family. How do you know if you have a healthy family?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Wow. What a question to start with. The first thing, obviously, maybe it's not so obvious, is that it's going to be unique. No family is the same. But within that, of course there are some core ingredients to what a healthy family looks like. And some of the core pieces would be connection. And we say words like this, but like, what does that actually mean? This means being able to have this availability. There's a statement that's seek first to understand and then to be understood. So an atmosphere of understanding, an atmosphere of curiosity, an atmosphere... And some of these words might sound a little bit like some tough words, but an atmosphere of patience. And an atmosphere of growth as well. Accountability, challenge. Because another thing that is not talked about in the context of relationships, like we think this is the notebook, this is not that. Real relationships, long-term healthy relationships are going to incite challenge.

SHAWN STEVENSON: It's gonna incite conflict. And so the ability also, of course to navigate those challenges and those conflicts with an err of love underpinning it. And so, another core ingredient would be affection. And affection comes in different packages as well, but we all require closeness touch proximity and it's gonna be different depending on different people. I even have different levels of affection and connection with my different family members.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Kids. Yeah, yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: With my kids me and my older son, it's more like, there's a lot of muscles involved in the, in the hug, you know what I mean?

CHALENE JOHNSON: [laughter] And a lot of dancing.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And a lot of dancing. And we're definitely quick to like link up on a dance move. Whereas my younger son we are very much more like close and kind of like huggy, like feet on him...

CHALENE JOHNSON How old is Frank.

SHAWN STEVENSON: He's 12. Okay. He just turned 12.

CHALENE JOHNSON: And Jordan just turned 22 today.

SHAWN STEVENSON: 23 today.

CHALENE JOHNSON: 23 today.

SHAWN STEVENSON: The Jordan year. It's the Jordan year.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Oh my gosh.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And same, my wife comes from a culture where affection was kind of non-existent. She didn't see her father and mother like ever hug.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Did you?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Or that kind of stuff? Yeah. In spots. In spots. I had a model of my grandmother and grandfather. They were very loving.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Well, that's why I wanted to walk you back and so you've, and I don't wanna stop you if you, there's more elements that you think are part of a healthy family. 'Cause what you haven't mentioned is anything about weight or exercise or food. Are those included?

SHAWN STEVENSON: That Part. Yeah. So even with that, there's...

CHALENE JOHNSON: But I love that you started with like the emotional stuff first.

SHAWN STEVENSON: That's the stuff that influences those other things. And the crazy thing is we try to address the other things first. And then try to have healthier relationships.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Dude. Right.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And again, like these kind of misconceptions can happen to any of us. But I've really found, I've been in the field right now, I'm about to cross 21 years...

CHALENE JOHNSON: Dang.

SHAWN STEVENSON: This month. And so early on, of course I was like, this is the way, whether it's like through food, whether it's through exercise, sleep obviously is a big part. All these things affect our health. But it's our relationships first and the quality of those affect everything else. And this isn't just hearsay, by the way, one of my colleagues who is sitting right in that chair that you're sitting in, he's the director of the longest running longitudinal study. This means they follow you.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Your life.

SHAWN STEVENSON:Around basically. On human longevity and wellness. Ever constructed. It's been over 80 years and it's had multiple directors. He's the latest to get the torch passed to him and their data... And again, even him, he's very skeptical, which I love that in a scientist to be skeptical. He couldn't believe their own data that had been compiled. And so he had to kind of retest things, outsource, check in with other researchers, but their data affirmed that the quality of your relationships is the number one influence on how long you're going to live.

CHALENE JOHNSON: I need to unpack that. And I'm going to, so I'm gonna write myself a little note. 'cause #ADHD. Did you have a household where people you felt understood, where you felt connected, where people were present, where there was patience?

SHAWN STEVENSON: I feel like my life was a big experiment.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Is the answer no?

SHAWN STEVENSON: There's a statement that God doesn't call the qualified God qualifies the called. 

CHALENE JOHNSON: Mmm, hello. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: So life was kind of qualifying me to do what I'm doing today. And this was regardless of what I thought my life was going to be, I grew up in two very different atmospheres. My mom had me when she was barely 18 years old. If you see my birth certificate at my house, there's no father's name there. And it wasn't immaculate conception from what I've seen. But I've never met my biological father. And so, but my stepfather came into the picture when I was just a baby. 

CHALENE JOHNSON: Oh ok. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: I was just under a year when they got together. And so I had that aspect of, of a lifestyle with my mother and stepfather. But that was drugs, alcohol, inner city, violent environment. That's what that environment looked like. And when I would go to stay at their house, because I'm gonna tell you about the other environment. Went to stay at their apartment on the weekends, I would be sleeping on the floor. There's like mouse traps, mice, all the things. My mom worked at a convenience store overnight to just again, to put food on the table. My stepfather was a chef and working at the convenience store, one of those evenings, she was stabbed eight times. Fending off...

CHALENE JOHNSON: I never knew this.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. And I've got tons of stories like this. But even within that, by the way, a little sidebar, she...

CHALENE JOHNSON: You were how old when that happened?

SHAWN STEVENSON: I was about six. Yeah. I was about six years old. And even within that she was fending off somebody trying to rob the store. And that's just... My mom is really different.

CHALENE JOHNSON: She's badass.

SHAWN STEVENSON: She's tough, like different. And so, but they actually, she restrained the guy and the police got him. But anyways, but when she...

CHALENE JOHNSON: After being stabbed?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Eight times, and so...

CHALENE JOHNSON: She's... Wow.

SHAWN STEVENSON: When she went to the hospital and they gave her the stitches and all the things, her physician told her that if you weren't so overweight, you would've died. You being a heavyset woman saved your life. Do you think she's ever going to let that weight go? It protected her, just saved her life. And so this kind of like, it's one of those things.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Did that message impact you? Were you forming a belief about weight from that incident? I mean, I know you were young.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Of course there's these subconscious things. Of course, I'm glad that she survived that and that she did have that extra whatever that looks like. But this is gonna branch out after I tell you this other side. To my entire... And I'm not exaggerating, not one family member in proximity. Not just my nuclear family, but branching out with without one chronic disease or more. And that's what really what I grew up in. And so I had that environment and at the same time, going to school from kindergarten till second grade. And also I stayed there a lot previously just because sometimes my mom didn't have a place to stay. And so I would live with my grandmother. And this was I still remember the address, it was a very nice part of town. And I walked one block to my school, to the local school. There was so much certainty and safety and routine she would say prayers together with me each night. She would basically, I had my own little table and chairs to sit and have my dinner. And I had opportunity to all... Everything that I could imagine.

CHALENE JOHNSON: For how many years?

SHAWN STEVENSON: For three years. Like really strong years. But these were like very impressionable years.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Really.

SHAWN STEVENSON: I remember so much of this. But within that, I also saw the relationship between her and my grandfather. And there was so much love. I never saw them... I never saw conflict. Not to say they didn't have it. 

CHALENE JOHNSON:  Sure.

SHAWN STEVENSON: But there was just this underpinning of love and affection. And she had so much of that for me, that's where I got it. My mother, I can't remember my mother hugging me until I was an adult. Not to say that she didn't, not to say that she didn't, happen every now and then, like some random thing. But my grandmother, she was very affectionate towards me and just made me feel loved and seen. And...

CHALENE JOHNSON: If you had to pick one word to describe what you felt, in that home, not from her, but in that home, what's the word or emotion you felt in your grandmother's home?

SHAWN STEVENSON:  Important. I felt important.

CHALENE JOHNSON: That gave me goosebumps. What one word would you use to describe the way you felt in your home with your mom and stepfather?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Scared.

CHALENE JOHNSON: [Gasp]. Has that influenced the way you parent?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Of course, it has no choice but to, and I didn't realize this early on, of course. You just start to replicate things that you experienced from your environment.

CHALENE JOHNSON: You saying you felt scared makes me wanna cry.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. I mean, that's just the environment that I was in. And, again, but even within this, this is what people don't understand if they don't come from where I come from. There was also so much beauty in this environment as well. So this is real talk. There were times where you live in places where there's gunshots, there's a chance drive by if you're just outside playing.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Where'd you grow up?

SHAWN STEVENSON: All over St. Louis. Which St. Louis, even today, unfortunately, is the murder capital of the United States.

CHALENE JOHNSON:  Wow.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And also just losing family members as well to murder, prison, all those things. And there's a high likelihood that I'm following in those footsteps, being in this environment, because eventually, like why did I move back with my mother at third grade is because my grandfather kept having heart issues. And so they moved back to his hometown, Southern Missouri, far away, that kind of thing. It was like a choice that was made between my mother and my grandmother for me to move back in with my mother. And so, but anyways, even within that environment where it's just like so much uncertainty, there's also a lot of love as well.

SHAWN STEVENSON:  And also by the way, we were getting food from charities. Like there's a place called the Hosea House, food stamp, WIC, all this stuff while again, my mom, they're trying to make ends meet. And but this brought about this level of creativity being in this environment. So people see this kind of stuff like little, maybe in a movie, like putting the crate up on the pole to play basketball.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yeah, yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: No, we did that sh*t. Like for real. And creating all these different games and finding creative ways to bond with our community, being able to be creative even with our food. And one of my most beautiful memories, because my stepfather just passed away just a couple weeks ago actually, and he was in assisted living for almost 15 years because of brain damage from drugs and alcohol. And this was during the crack epidemic, next door to that place that I'm describing. There was a crack spot, just literally there was a walkway, and then that's where it's getting made and sold from. And so, but anyways, one of my fondest memories was all we had in the refrigerator, we had some pasta sauce was sitting on the shelf. Like some ragu or whatever it was. And there was some frozen deer sausage that my grandfather had hunted and sent out.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Venison.

SHAWN STEVENSON: In the freezer. Okay. There was some government cheese. So they had blocked cheese and there was some Texas toast that we got from the WIC program, and my stepfather made pizzas out of that.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Wow.

SHAWN STEVENSON: One day, like we didn't have anything. We're like, we're hungry. Like, we don't have anything to eat. And he whipped that up.

CHALENE JOHNSON: That's crazy. That's a core memory for you.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And let's be clear, it didn't taste like Domino's.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Right.

SHAWN STEVENSON: But the fact that it was pizza.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yeah. It was pizza. We called it pizza.

SHAWN STEVENSON: The fact that we ate it together. It was just because kids love that. Like, I love pizza and like, we made it, we got to have that. And I got this experience of this person making something out of nothing. And that skill, that character trait, that inciting of creativity came from that environment as well.

CHALENE JOHNSON: How old were you when you... Do you remember looking around and going like, This is not healthy. These people aren't healthy, these people are ridden with disease. I want to do different, I'm going to do different. At what age do you remember thinking that?

SHAWN STEVENSON: I consciously knew that I was not going to be like this. I consciously knew that I wasn't going to create an atmosphere of fear for my children. I consciously knew that I was going to make a difference in the world. I didn't know what that was though. But these are the seeds that were planted from my grandmother and watered by my mother as well. Because despite all of that stuff, my mother really busted her ass to put me in position, trying to get me into good schools, that kind of thing. 

CHALENE JOHNSON: Right.

SHAWN STEVENSON: So it's just like, but I could say ignore that part and just talk about all the bad stuff. But that creates suffering for me. She was doing the best that she could with what she had. And the same thing with my stepfather.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: I just shared one of those core memories. It's such a beautiful experience that he gave me and he gave me so many memories like that. Yes, there was a lot of negative things that happened, but I get to choose what I carry with me.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Got a quick break coming up. We'll be right back. One of the major reasons that people give for not being able to cook home-cooked meals on a consistent basis is not having the energy to do it. Energy can be one of our greatest assets, and it can also be one of our greatest deficiencies. Obviously our lifestyle factors play a huge role in the availability that we have to access energy. But there are a few recent discoveries that are adding to the energy equation. Like a few things ever have numerous studies, including a study published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, or the FASEB Journal, found that exogenous ketones can be up to 28% more efficient in generating energy than glucose alone.

SHAWN STEVENSON: This is about cognitive function, if this is about energy, you've got to utilize these ketones. But not just any run of the mill ketone esters that had its time in the sun, but something far better has been brought to the world by HVMN. Go to hvmn.com/model and you're going to get 30% off your first subscription order of Ketone-IQ. Ketone-IQ is now clinically proven to improve our cognitive performance and also bolster our energy for sports performance. In fact, studies have found up to 15% increased mean power output after recovery by utilizing ketones. And the bioavailability of Ketone-IQ is in a league of its own. Check out Ketone-IQ today. Go to hvmn.com/model for 30% off your first subscription order. Now, back to the show.

CHALENE JOHNSON: You are like one of the most research people I've ever met. It's fascinating how your brain works. It's fascinating to just to hear your story of like how you grew up and the influences you had and how people probably expected things to turn out for you. And thank you for maintaining your edge too. You know what I mean? Like, you're not like your typical science looking dude.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Thank you.

CHALENE JOHNSON: And I think that's part of the appeal. I know it is. And also that voice that you use, like, it's like slow jams 98.9, but...

SHAWN STEVENSON: Quiet storm. Yeah.

[laughter]

CHALENE JOHNSON: That's exactly. But you and your show, like you really talk about, again, like the science and studies and you break all this stuff down, you make it really palatable. People can consume it and understand it, and you don't always take a stance. It's like, I'm just gonna lay this out for you and it should be pretty obvious. What is it though that makes family such an important piece? Like this latest book that you've written is about family. You could have written a book about any like weight loss and it's like a guaranteed number one bestseller. You wrote a book about family, about connection, about food, about like how to do this together. And I think it's really interesting to hear your own backstory, but what you're taking on is so intensely difficult to change the way families eat. And what is it that motivates you to do this?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Alright. So just even that lead in that it is incredibly difficult. That's attractive in and of itself for me.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Oh, okay.

SHAWN STEVENSON: My personality type, but also the fact that, in all my years, the clinical work, all the speaking, all the teaching, all the writing of books, I saw that this was the biggest leverage point because both you and I have tried to, and successfully in many writes, but get people to target behavior changes. Do this to get this result. But what we don't realize a lot of times and why we blame other people when they're not able to do the thing, or they're not sustain it, is that if you give people a behavior change and then they go into an environment that is anti that behavior.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Right, right, right.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Like the culture is completely opposite. Or even inundating them with behaviors that make that behavior change even foolish or whatever the case might be. It's very difficult to make a healthy change in a culture that is unhealthy.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Well, you say culture, but it's even difficult in your own home.

SHAWN STEVENSON: That's what I'm talking about specifically.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Okay.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Let's talk about culture. Alright?

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yeah. Okay.

SHAWN STEVENSON: So what is culture?

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yeah. What is culture?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Culture is defined as the attitudes, values, beliefs, behaviors of a group of people. That's then passed on from one generation to the next. That's what culture is defined as. Now we have macrocultures and we have microcultures. The macroculture in the United States currently, we are the sickest society in the history of humanity. It's documented...

CHALENE JOHNSON: Isn't it just like ridiculous.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And by the way, I'm just gonna throw rattle out of these facts. Okay.

CHALENE JOHNSON: All right.

SHAWN STEVENSON:  DC's data published just last year, 2022, 60% of Americans now have at least one chronic disease. 40% have two or more. We're knocking on the door of... We just passed prior to the pandemic. 42.5% of Americans being overweight or obese, I'm sorry, clinically obese and 72% being overweight or obese. 130 million Americans having type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, 60% of Americans have some degree of heart disease. A hundred million plus Americans regularly sleep deprived. I can go on and on and on.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Right.

SHAWN STEVENSON: We're not doing well.

CHALENE JOHNSON:  No, we're not.

SHAWN STEVENSON: But that is the larger culture scape and we both have spent a lot of time trying to change that. Don't go to the drive-through, but the drive-through just is, it's a thing and it's going to exist. Where we have real power is our microculture and what we do within our household. 

CHALENE JOHNSON: Okay

SHAWN STEVENSON: But even that starts with a cultural shift within ourselves because we ourselves are a cultural vessel. Because what I saw, and even just recently taking my family to a place we've never been before, we went to Maui, we went to Hawaii. 

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And I saw that when you go somewhere, you take your culture with you. I'm a reflection of my culture, so you can plant me anywhere and I'm going to be an example or a model of where I come from. And that is infectious also.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yeah. Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: True story. Literally even when we were sitting on the plane and people were walking by and they're just like, your family is so beautiful. Just like, because they saw us hanging out, I guess, before we got on the plane.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yeah. But you know what... I'm just sorry to interrupt your story, but you know what people see that's so beautiful is how connected you guys are. I mean, yeah, you're good looking. People stop bragging. But it's not that. 'Cause you see good looking families and they don't grab your attention that way. I mean, you guys are an anomaly how connected you are. Continue.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Thank you. And I didn't even think about the like appearance part of it. I thought about the connected part.

CHALENE JOHNSON: You did. Okay. Okay. [laughter]

SHAWN STEVENSON: That was the word she used.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Humble, yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And I just, oh, [laughter] we just talked about...

CHALENE JOHNSON: But you guys are all all very good looking. It doesn't hurt either, but yeah. It's rare, and when you do see it, it kind of like grabs your attention because people are so disconnected from their families. Mom and dad are looking down at their phones and the kids are on their iPads and with headphones on.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. We saw that in Maui. Matter of fact, for whatever reason, we kept seeing the same couple when we go out to eat at the resort restaurant, and I'm not exaggerating, every time we probably saw them, four times for four meals and there would be some proximity to us. They didn't even look at each other. They were just on their phone. They ate their food. Even eating, they were looking at their phone.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Jeez.

SHAWN STEVENSON: This couple, and they were probably like in their late 20s.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Wow.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And I was just like, wow. That's a real thing. And but of course I try to see the positive stuff. I'm just like, well, at least they're here. They gotta walk together or whatever. But at the same time, it's just like we are experiencing something that is very disruptive to connection.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Right.

SHAWN STEVENSON: We've never had this kind kind of access to technology.

CHALENE JOHNSON: That's so true.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And so I was seeing that point to say that even there, people were coming up to us at the resort as we're hanging out. But now that you evens just said that, it's because we were playing, we were in the spirit of play. We were connected. That's really what it was. People aren't coming over like how your son get these muscles. But they might be curious about that.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Because Jordan was flexing.

SHAWN STEVENSON: I mean, he can't help it. He's a flexitarian.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yeah. He's...

SHAWN STEVENSON: He has the ability to flex.

CHALENE JOHNSON: We're going to call him Mr. Thirst Strap.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Okay. He will love that.

[laughter]

CHALENE JOHNSON: And we're going to put a little clip of him right here and we're gonna give him a little Instagram shout out. Okay. Continue.

SHAWN STEVENSON: You are welcome, son. [laughter] You're welcome. So, again, we take our culture with us. We are a product of our environment. Absolutely. But we're also creators of our environment. 

CHALENE JOHNSON: Okay.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And so now here's the other part. As I went to that culture in Maui, I saw something on display that was affirmed in all the studies that are in this new book. And by the way, when you talk about the science, there's never been a cookbook like this before. There's over 250 scientific references in a cookbook...

CHALENE JOHNSON: That's crazy.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Directing us towards like, this is why we're doing what we're doing. But going there we see this kind of dramatization of something that was a part of all of our heritage. For them it's a luau.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: It's the procurement of food, the hunting, the gathering, the food preparation, and then the celebration together. We evolved with that. That's how humans evolved. And so to see it on display and this kind of, again, dramatization of this thing that has been pulled away from our culture. And so my question was this, Could this process of eating together be something that our genes need, that our DNA expects from us that's possibly leading to the behaviors that we're doing. And the poor health outcomes. And this is where everything changed by me asking that question that sent me down to, like I mentioned my friend who's the director of that long running longitudinal study with health. Some other researchers at Harvard compiled all this data on eating behaviors, families eating together, and health outcomes. And I was like... First, when I saw it, I'm like, how is this not like everywhere? People should know this, but... It's like there's a lot of stuff.

CHALENE JOHNSON: I think people do know it.

SHAWN STEVENSON: We do know it.

CHALENE JOHNSON: We do know it. And so that's the thing. Like you talk about a culture, And it starts with us, but Shawn, there's so many homes and I mean, I have close friends where there's two cultures within the home. Mom and sometimes dad are doing something completely different from their kids. Like mom and dad are eating green salads and avoiding processed foods. And then they're buying all the things that, you talk about this in the book, the things that have the cartoons on the box. And because their kids want it and they want it. So we're gonna give it to them. And we feel disconnected to, I think our kids in so many other ways. Or, maybe it's a blended family and we're not seeing our kids all the time. So we just feel like I wanna give them all that they want because this is love. That's number one. And number two, I wanna say this, this is speaking from personal experience. I sometimes, if I'm being honest, would live vicariously through what my kids got to eat.

[laughter]

CHALENE JOHNSON: I couldn't eat that. But like their metabolisms are through the roof. They've got abs and they're running around like crazy. So I desperately want to eat these pink... My downfall with those pink cookies that had like little sprinkles on top. They're like cake cookies at like, Ralph's, you know the ones I'm talking about? , I never that I buy those every week for my kids. I did. And those are garbage. That's garbage food. That is crap. And I would buy it for them because I was like, they can eat. I was living vicariously through them. So that was like a splintered culture within my home. And I think this is happening a lot.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Of course.

CHALENE JOHNSON: So how do you get us? I'm gonna throw myself into that, this pot... Like how do you get us to understand like it needs to change for the whole family?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Well the cool thing about this is that I'm not speaking about this through some idealistic lens. I'm speaking about this from where I... I've experienced this. I have this very unique experience growing up in two distinctly different households. And within one of those, although this one looks like the more structure and health affirming, but my grandmother was giving me those, they weren't eating that at the time.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Oh.

SHAWN STEVENSON: She was giving me those ultra processed foods because she wanted me to be happy. So I know what that's like. And so, but here's the reality. She is the queen of the culture. She's the queen of the culture.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yes.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Alright. You see, you already know where I'm going. And so this is this is where we put the power back in our hands. But we have to be more intentional about the culture that we're creating. Regardless of where you are right now with the ages of your kids, you are still a benevolent leader.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Benevolent.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. You could be benevolent dictator, but you have so much influence. Know your kids. Being able to pay attention to what excites them. And what de-excites them, what motivates them. We were talking about this when we were doing my show. What motivates them. We know those things, but sometimes because we just want people to do what we want them to do, we don't take the time to just like pay attention. And to be able to communicate. And we do this also with our significant others as well. If you would just act right, don't kill my vibe.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Then everything's gonna be good, but people are not going to do what you want them to do all the time.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Which is why in the book you talk about... And it reminded me a lot of it's just your through line of everything you do, which is like, it's attainable. Like that's why Sleep Smarter work for me. That's why Eat Smarter works for people. And you talk about in the book how, don't flip everything upside down. All you're gonna get is everybody to revolt and like running at you with pitchforks. Don't do that. So give me a specific. Like my kid loves and is going to throw a fit if tomorrow morning they don't get their sugary cereal. I can't come home with something that's the healthy version of that. What do I do if they just won't eat? I heard from so many people, they're like, please ask him how do I handle my picky eater?

SHAWN STEVENSON: I am gonna talk about the biggest factor with this, cravings are cultural, what your kid eats is based on the culture that they're exposed to, they're not gonna crave something that they're unaware of, and so it's the introduction of these things in the first place that we have to take responsibility for. We can't just say that it's someone else's fault, we are creating these connections and there're very strong neuro association that we have with food. One of my other kind of based food memories was my great-grandmother, she made me a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. I was probably like four years old, four or five years old.

CHALENE JOHNSON: You just let them soak until the milk turns pink?

SHAWN STEVENSON: I can taste it right now. I can taste it. And again, it's laying down, guess what I want more of that, that is chemically designed by brilliant food scientists to create that kind of connection to my brain, to my physiology to make me crave this thing and it's so abnormal. There's nothing real about it at all, this is the definition of an ultra-processed food. And so first of all, we've gotta have some compassion for ourselves, but also responsibility. The compassion is, you're not alone. My book is the first published piece of work demonstrating this new study that just came out, this was published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. They looked at the diets of American children in the past, about 20 years from 1999 to 2018. In 1999, the average American child's diet was made of 61% ultra-processed, fake food.

CHALENE JOHNSON: 61%. Okay.

SHAWN STEVENSON: By 2018, that number was 67.5%, almost 70% of our child's diet here in the United States is made of fake food, ultra-processed food. And what does that mean? This is not like processing, humans have been processing food forever, it's not like taking meat and cooking it...

CHALENE JOHNSON: I understand.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Or olives and pressing the oil out. This is a field of corn or wheat, eventually becoming that bowl of Lucky Charms or Fruity Pebbles in my food memory.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Pink sugar-coated whatevers.

SHAWN STEVENSON: All those chemicals, food dyes preservatives additives. The whole nine.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Look, I get this. I think anyone who's listening they are like I know this, I know this, I know this, what responsibility do we have to be the parent?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Okay, last point with that was, we don't know that our kids are addicted. We're little addicts and big addicts, this stuff is very, very powerful, so trying to rip the band-aid off is not the solution either, we've gotta understand what we're dealing with here. This is a very strong neuro-association, our connection to food. So with that said, you just said another kind of key phrase, which is, I don't have time for this. That's what I was starting with, and I was trying to set the story of like, these are the conditions that we're dealing with right now, it's pretty dire and complicated, but at its core, it's something that we oftentimes don't want to deal with, it's hard.

CHALENE JOHNSON: That's right.

SHAWN STEVENSON: It's hard, but it's... You get to choose your hard, you could suffer your way into changes in culture and body change and different health practices, but it's very difficult to sustain something that you hate. We crave what we're exposed to, cravings are culturally, knowing our child. Number one, a huge leverage point is we like options, but not too many, if you're just like, I'm taking your cereal away...

CHALENE JOHNSON: And you get this.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And you get this. Instead, you come in with an option.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Smart.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Come to the table with options, but also speaking to where they are, what is attractive to your child, and I remember, my little brother, my little sister coming from this environment, this is maybe like, I don't know, maybe 15 years ago, I went over to his house and I just transformed my health, I was helping all these people now, and we were standing outside. He's kinda still tough vibes and Tough Guy vibes. He was like I heard you're organic, is organic and I was like, Yeah, basically, I eat the same thing you do it is just not sprayed with pesticides and fungicides, and herbicides and I shared a little bit like, these are very... Whatever, and he just kinda looked like... But that's healthy food though. For him, it's like, It can't be as good as what I'm eating because it's organic.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Absolutely. That's right. It's a mindset.

SHAWN STEVENSON: It's a mindset. And because also we've been inundated with ultra-processed food, all of our advertising that triggers the deliciousness, the pizza pulling in the commercial, the alcohol, all those... Every commercial you see is for ultra-processed foods.

CHALENE JOHNSON: That's right.

SHAWN STEVENSON: We don't have... There's not like a omelette commercial. You know what I mean? It's just like, we've gotta understand what we're dealing with, but let me give you an example. So humans have been driven to eat sweet things forever, but we villainize, our desire for sweet things, it's very silly. And I'm saying this because, for example, what that would indicate through our evolution is that there's a dense source of energy here in this sweet thing, which would generally be honey, or sweet fruits or even semi-sweet fruits, and also that's energy to shuttle to the brain and to also stock-pile some energy potentially, if we come across a famine. And so we've evolved with these drives to eat sweet things, but yes, food manufacturers have manipulated that desire today, but are those... Is our desire for sweetness bad? Absolutely not, as a matter of fact, honey, which I just mentioned, and I shared over 40 specific foods that have all of this science to affirm this, I'm very bullish on honey right now, because there's so many different sweeteners out there, and they go in and out of favor, the debates, artificial and even natural ones.

SHAWN STEVENSON: "Natural ones", they still look like sugar, by the way, processed sugar, but I shared a study in the book that found that not only does honey not cause this abnormal glucose spike like other sweeteners, but long-term, it can actually improve your fasting blood glucose by eating honey, that's abnormal for a sweetener. Why would it do that? Also dramatically improving blood lipids, so blood fats and essentially reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease, to call honey a sweetener is, Put some respect on my name. It's like, it's not just a sweetener, it's so much more than that. And it's been prized for thousands of years.

CHALENE JOHNSON: So honey, for example, getting your kid to switch from whatever it is that they're using like sugar on top of their cereal to honey, maybe mom's doing that, but how do we get this culture in the family together, like again, I think oftentimes, mom or dad are doing something that's healthier than what they're doing for their kids.

SHAWN STEVENSON: The most important thing here, and you talked about this when I interviewed you as well is the modeling, and where do your kids actually get to see you doing these things even when we're working on our fitness, a lot of times it's like, my mom is going to this gym place, and she's doing stuff, she comes back all sweaty and happier, where's she really going. Instead of like, Let's involve our kids in some aspects of this, give them the exposure. Where do we get this exposure with food? It's at the dinner table. And by the way, when I say dinner table, this could be breakfast, this could be lunch, but what I was sharing earlier was we evolved eating together, that was a part of how we connected, and suddenly that's been pulled away from our culture. I say suddenly, just in the last couple of decades, currently only about 30% of families eat together on a regular basis, according to that data from Harvard I mentioned, and what they found was that when families eat together on a regular basis, the children have a significant increase in consumption of real food, including the intake of essential nutrients that prevent chronic diseases and a significantly reduced intake of processed foods like chips and soda.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Wow.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Alright, one more study. Another study, these are two different studies I put together to kind of wrap this up, published in pediatrics and published in JAMA, they found that when families eat together just three times a week, the children have significantly lower onset or risk of developing obesity and other kind of disordered eating as well, and so again, this is just stacking conditions for our families by having that practice. There's something about eating together with your family, this doesn't mean we're automatically gonna eat super healthy food, and for me, I gotta share this last one, just super fast. I was like, What about if we don't have a lot of money? Because that's where I come from. And there was a study that was done, and I highlight all of these things pretty much everything we've covered is in the book as well, but looking at minority children who are generally in the context of a low-income community, and they found that these children who ate together with their families four times a week, whatever meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner, four times a week ended up eating five servings of fruits and vegetables five days a week, and significantly lower intake of chips, soda and other processed foods. There's something protective…

CHALENE JOHNSON: What's going on there? What do you think it is?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Two things. Well, there's actually five things, but two quick things, number one, is that this engages a part of our mind our planning, so humans, we're always thinking about things, questioning things, we've got running questions in our mind like, What are we gonna eat? Like family dinner's Wednesday night, so it's just in the back of our mind, and so it's just going to alter our behavior subconsciously to make sure that we are eating a "healthy dinner" or a well combined, what we deem to be a healthy dinner, which might be some fried chicken and potatoes and whatever, but even that is gonna have a tendency towards bringing in some more real food elements.

CHALENE JOHNSON: So if I hear you correctly, if I can restate this, just start by trying to eat together more often and make that step one, you don't have to switch everything out to organic quinoa and broccoli if you've been bringing home KFC, bring home KFC, but this time sit down and eat together and just do this in a way that's gradual and everyone doesn't revolt.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Here's why it works, is that now you get to see your child, you get to see them, you get to really start to understand their character traits, how they speak, what they're attracted to, that's how you have power to help to change what they're eating. You have to spend time knowing your child, and this is one of the greatest challenges today, because we're so disconnected, we all have our devices, our devices are divisive, they just are. And with that, they can also be a unifying thing, they have their pros and cons, but at the table, this is an opportunity to really see them and for them to feel seen, and that changes the whole game right there in and of itself. So again, we come into this like, I have a picky eater. We have to be attentive. And it's harder today. We can do it though. And this is some of the other things that we talk about, because there isn't a one-size-fits-all with any of this stuff, by the way. And sometimes...

CHALENE JOHNSON: Okay, that's fair.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And by the way, it isn't to villainize that food as well, like that damn cereal can still be a thing, let's stack conditions and make sure we're getting in these other things. And here's another thing that tends to happen is that information from that real food that's coming in, food isn't just food it's information. It starts to shift the body's intelligence and what you start to crave, so all this has kind of stacking conditions for people.

SHAWN STEVENSON: More than ever, because of our environmental stressors, we need key nutrients that help our bodies to modulate and manage and process stress. A lot of those have to do with micro-nutrients, key minerals are essential in running processes to help to even modulate shifting our nervous system from the sympathetic fight or flight dominance over to parasympathetic, rest and digest recovery, we need certain key micronutrients to do that. Historically in the last few decades, unfortunately, we turned to these shitty multi-vitamins that are coming from synthetic sources, that's what I was given. My grandma gave me Flintstone Vitamins. Alright, I'm biting off the head of Fred and Barney and Dino, and what that really is, it's sugar, synthetic micronutrients, artificial flavors, artificial colors, all of these things that are terrible for a growing developing human brain and body.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Because the emphasis here is on synthetic versions of these macronutrients, a synthetic nutrient, though it might be the same chemical make-up on paper, does not have the underlying intelligence, and even more tangibly speaking, the supporting elements, the co-factors found in real food concentrations that magnify its resonance with our human cells. Let's take vitamin E, for example, this nutrient is important for healthy function of our cardiovascular system, cognitive performance, and even the health of our skin. Well, the study that was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition determined that natural vitamin E from a food concentrate has nearly twice the bioavailability of synthetic vitamin E, so again synthetic versions of this. So these are artificially concocted versus the whole food form and also whole food concentrate, so food-based supplementations.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Now, all of my family, my kids in particular, I make sure that they're getting in a concentration of whole food-based micronutrients several times a week at minimum, most of the time every day.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And for me, especially for my kids, and in particular with my youngest, I love the formulation of red juice and these kind of red, blended red and blue hued super foods and the Organifi red juice, because he loves the way that it tastes and it's just packed with real food nutrition. So in particular, we've got açaí that's in there. In the Journal of agriculture and food chemistry found that açaí actually... Not just theoretically, it actually raises participants' anti-oxidant levels demonstrating how effectively it's absorbed by our gut. By the human digestive system, we actually do absorb the anti-oxidants, it's not theoretical. There's a resonance here, and açaí actually has an ORAC value of 103,000, this means that it's about 10 times the antioxidants of most fruits that you're gonna see in your produce aisle, so it's again, getting our kids' growing bodies the anti-oxidants in their concentrated source, but it's kid-tested. Parent-approved tasty, another ingredient in that red juice blend is actually blueberry. And researchers at the University of Michigan published data finding that blueberry intake can potentially affect genes related to fat-burning, again, stacking conditions for healthy metabolism.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Head over to organifi.com/model, and get 20% off their red juice blend and also their green juice blend, their incredible gold, everything they carry actually, it's a really, really special thing that they have going on. Go to organifi.com/model, that's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com/model, to get 20% off. Again, kid-tested, parent-approved. Definitely for our kids, red juice is a huge winner. Now, back to the show.

CHALENE JOHNSON:I told people, everyone loves you and you've been on the show a bunch of times, and so I told them you're gonna be on the show. I told them what we're gonna talk about, and I said, When I tell you the concept of this book, which is a mission for you. This is an initiative, you went into this with an intention. It's about family, it's about the people that we love, and if we say we would lay our lives down for our kids, if we say like, I would do anything to help my child avoid pain, we have to look at what we're doing that's going to cause them pain in the long run. But I asked 'em, I'm like, when I tell you what the... The title of the book is Eat Smarter, and it's a family cookbook, and it's about eating together and eating healthy and learning to do these things together. And I said, hit me right away with your first thoughts of why you can't do this, and Shawn, almost every message. Very similar themes. We're all busy. No one's home at the same time. All picky eaters, we're just not on the same page, just a lot of this has to do with we're all going in a million different directions. So how do we get people... That's a real thing. Elizabeth has volleyball tonight and Duke has football, and so my husband's gonna go this way, I'm gonna go that way, we're coming home in... How do we get them to do this? And I think we always think dinner.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah, but maybe the problem is the culture that's separating us and creating us so that everybody's running in different directions. If we say that our family is the most important thing to us, and I know many of us would, that's what we say, but what does our life show, how are we actually living our lives and not to say again, we've all got responsibilities there's a lot going on. My son, he just started playing AAU basketball in Los Angeles. It's a lot, this tournament, it sucks up so much. But I found creative ways to make this work, and so sometimes when we travel, this is an opportunity for us to bond. Sometimes, even if the game is just an hour and a half away, we can drive back, maybe we might get a room, him and I and just spend time together and sit down and eat dinner together and maybe just hang out and then watch a movie after, I find ways because he's my priority to connect with him.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And it's harder today. It is, it absolutely is. But there is a way. And so even with that being said, that's gonna be a lot of the resistance, but my mission is to let's stack conditions to make it easier for us to make healthier choices, let's stack conditions to make it easier to connect. And here's another big takeaway for everybody, quality over quantity, this doesn't mean that you need a whole elaborate whatever, two hour whatever, this can be 30 minutes of sitting down or having coffee, or I make my son this little hot coco whenever he's out of school, so just sitting down and having a beverage together, a little snack, but just spending time, and be present.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Wow.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And putting the devices to the side, so you can actually be there with the people you care about.

CHALENE JOHNSON: That's why I love this book. And people need to get on the pre-order of this book ASAP depending on when you're listening to this or watching this, because it's important, and I know you love your family, I know that you would lay your life down for them. And the studies and the information that you share in this book is so powerful, it's these kinds of things that once you know it, you can't go back. You know what I mean? But also that it's almost less about the food and more about the connection, and that when you started this episode, our time-out today, you said a healthy family, you didn't mention food, but all of these things are only possible if we're connected and we have gotta find a way to do that. And so the book is Eat Smarter Family Cookbook, and people, of course, I love me an iPad, I love encouraging people to... You're thinking about it right now, so you should go grab the book, like we'll put a link below in the show description. Is there another place you wanna recommend people to go check it out?

SHAWN STEVENSON: We gotta say this last piece, which is the secret sauce to all of this is the delicious food.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Dude.

SHAWN STEVENSON: My family and I we're big foodies. And so when we're talking about.

CHALENE JOHNSON: A hundred recipes.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Listen, but when we're talking about something like my kid with the candy, we have sneaker-bites in the book, we're just upgrading the ingredients. For me, growing up, I was a huge fan of breakfast sandwiches, like going to McDonald's, I have this upgraded breakfast sandwich which is gonna knock your socks off. It is one of my kids' favorite breakfasts is, we're a big brunch family, we love pancakes, so we have these sweet potato protein pancakes, this has to be done through the language of delicious-ness, give people things that are of equal or greater value.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Like the burgers, the fries, you've got avocado fries, like so many delicious recipes, but also it's a beautiful book, it's beautiful, your family's involved in it, and you the love pops off the page. This is a great resource for anyone, but Shawn, I know this is something that's really important to you, you've been able to change the... You've been able to change the legacy, your family's legacy, and it's pretty powerful to think the thousands, perhaps millions of peoples' families whose legacies, you have the ability to impact them in this way, and guess what, it does take work and it takes intention, and I think if you love your family, even if it's your spouse, maybe we're talking to people right now, who don't have kids, but you have family, maybe you live with your parents. And so I encourage everyone to pick up the book.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Thank you, and of course, people can pick it up anywhere books are sold, pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and go to eatsmartercookbook.com. That's where we have all the incredible bonuses, which you're a part of the 2023 family health and fitness summit as well.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Yes, I am excited about that.

SHAWN STEVENSON: So you get free admission to that, it's $300 and you get it for free. So it's gonna be amazing, we're doing a bunch of giveaways for fitness equipment and food and all kinds of cool stuff.

CHALENE JOHNSON: Every time you launch a book, you put together these incredible bonuses that are just like next level, amazing. So I will put the link to that so people can go there and get those bonuses. Because why wouldn't you. Thank you so much for letting me use your studio, for being such a great friend and being such an incredible role model to not just moms and dads, but humans. You're such a great husband and a great friend, so I really appreciate you.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Thank you so much, Chalene, that means everything. Thank you. Thank you so very much for tuning into this episode today. I hope you got a lot of value out of this. Thank you for being on this journey with me. And this is a celebration, this is the week that the Eat Smarter Family Cookbook is being released in bookstores nationwide, so make sure to be ready to run out and grab your copy. Of course, head over to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, online as well. If that's how you like to buy your books, but please support this project, support your family's health, I promise you, this is going to be a staple for your family for many, many years to come. And again, this is about creating a true tipping point, so we can normalize health and wellness, we can normalize family connection, and I thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for being on this mission with me. Eat Smarter Family Cookbook. Grab your copy today and of course, head over to eatsmartercookbook.com for some cool bonuses, we've got so many incredible things in store for you, powerful master classes and world class guests coming your way very, very soon. So make sure to stay tuned, take care, have an amazing day and I'll talk with you soon.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And for more after the show, make sure to head over to themodelhealthshow.com, that's where you can find all of the show notes, you can find transcriptions, videos for each episode, and if you have got a comment, you can leave me a comment there as well, and please make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a rating to let everybody know that this show is awesome, and I would appreciate that so much. And take care, I promise to keep giving you more powerful, empowering, great content to help you transform your life. Thanks for tuning in