Improving your health is a choice — every single day.

Improving your health is a choice — every single day.

By: Marcy Schoenborn

Not a punishment, not a mystery, not something that “just happens” when the stars align. It’s a series of decisions that either move you forward… or keep you stuck exactly where you've been.

You choose to listen to anyone on the internet who claims they’ve cracked the code to weight loss, or you choose a trusted, proven professional who actually fights for your success.

You choose the exhaustion of yoyo dieting, or you finally acknowledge the very real dangers that come with repeatedly stressing your metabolism.

You choose to accept every word from your doctor as permanent and unchangeable, or you dig deeper and explore the root cause so your health story isn’t written in stone.

You choose to count calories, count macros, and keep eating “less” of the same foods that created the problem, or you wake up to the truth that restriction without nutritional upgrade just traps you in the same cycle.

You choose to skip workouts because you’re busy or tired, or you realize movement is a non-negotiable — as basic and essential as brushing your teeth.

You choose to rely on supplements as your plan, or you finally understand that supplements can’t replace nutrition; they support it.

You choose late nights, overstimulation, and pushing through fatigue, or you prioritize sleep because you know recovery is the foundation of every health transformation.

At the end of the day, your results come from your choices — not luck, not gimmicks, not hope.
When you start choosing like someone who values their health, your body responds like someone who is getting healthier.

Evidence Behind Each Principle

1. Following unqualified weight-loss advice vs. evidence-based guidance

• Many diet claims online lack scientific validity and can be harmful. Evidence-based nutrition guidance improves outcomes.
  Citation:
  • Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “The Role of Nutrition Care in Weight Management.” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2016).
  • Moorhead et al. “Misinformation in Weight Loss and Nutrition on Social Media.” American Journal of Health Education (2020).

2. The dangers of yoyo dieting (weight cycling)

Weight cycling increases inflammation, cardiometabolic risk, and long-term weight regain.
Citation:
• Montani JP, et al. “Weight Cycling During Obesity Management.” Obesity Reviews (2015).
• Lissner & colleagues. “Weight Variability and Mortality.” New England Journal of Medicine (1991).

3. Accepting a diagnosis vs. addressing root causes

Root-cause investigation (functional contributors such as inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, nutrient deficiencies, lifestyle factors) improves outcomes.
Citation:
• Institute for Functional Medicine. “Functional Medicine Model.”
• Dalen & colleagues. “Lifestyle Medicine: Evidence that Healthy Behaviors Can Reverse Chronic Disease.” American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (2014).

4. Counting calories/macros but not upgrading food quality

Calorie restriction without improving diet quality fails long-term and harms metabolism. Diet quality strongly predicts health outcomes independent of calories.
Citation:
• Mozaffarian D. “Dietary and Policy Priorities for Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Obesity.” Circulation (2016).
• Ebbeling et al. “Effects of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet on Energy Expenditure During Weight Loss Maintenance.” BMJ (2018).

5. Skipping exercise vs. recognizing its essential role

Regular physical activity reduces disease risk, improves mental health, and regulates metabolism.
Citation:
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. “Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.” (2018).
• Warburton et al. “Health Benefits of Physical Activity.” CMAJ (2006).

6. Supplements vs. food-first nutrition

Whole foods outperform supplements for nutrient absorption, synergy, and health impact. Supplements fill gaps — they don’t replace diet.
Citation:
• Manson et al. “The Role of Dietary Supplements in Health.” JAMA (2013).
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. “Dietary Supplements: What You Need to Know.”

7. Late nights vs. prioritizing sleep for recovery

Poor sleep increases insulin resistance, appetite hormones, inflammation, and weight gain.
Healthy sleep improves recovery, mental function, and metabolism.
Citation:
• Spiegel et al. “Sleep Loss and Effects on Glucose Metabolism and Hormones.” The Lancet (1999).
• Irwin MR. “Sleep and Inflammation: Partners in Sickness and in Health.” Nature Reviews Immunology (2019).
• National Sleep Foundation. “Sleep’s Role in Recovery and Health.”