The Small-Steps Approach to Healthy Habits (And Sharing Something New)

By: Matt Frazier

Happy Marathon Monday! Wishing the best to everyone running and cheering today — and congrats to Jason, Joe, and of course, Meb. (And to Greg, whose wife’s Twitter post made my day.)

On a day that makes you proud to be a runner, to be part of a community who understands you, I’m excited to share something I’ve been working very hard on — something that I hope will take our little part of the running community at No Meat Athlete to a new level.

I’ll explain more below, but first, here’s an 8-minute sample of an interview I did with author and nutritionist Sid Garza-Hillman as part of the new project. In this segment, we talk about the “small steps” approach to habit change that underlies the whole 2-hour interview (and we actually did a second interview for another hour, too!).

(If you’re reading in email or an RSS reader, visit the post to view this video.)

A Better Way to Make Healthy Changes

At the beginning of the year, I sent around a survey to part of the NMA audience. I asked about a few frustrations people have with their diet and fitness, hoping to use our new community site to address the biggest one or two.

But it turned out that there weren’t just one or two areas where people needed help. Instead, there were about 20 topics — topics that kept coming up, over, and over, and over. Everything from finding the time and motivation to eat healthily, to losing those last few pounds, to workout-specific nutrition strategies based on natural foods, to how to keep from getting injured and run a fast marathon or ultra.

Even more puzzling: a lot of these were topics I had written about on my blog before. So why were people still struggling with this stuff?

Then I realized the fundamental problem.

Even in a long blog post, there’s only so much you can say (and I’m no stranger to a 2,000 word post). And while podcast interviews are fun, they’re really light conversations meant for casual listening — not serious learning.

And neither blog posts nor podcasts offer much in the way of continuity … no easy way for someone to digest the information, come back and get detailed answers to their questions, and repeat.

In short: blog posts and podcasts are “for everyone.”

We needed something that wasn’t for everyone — something for the person who is more serious about learning and improvement than just the casual reader or listener, and wants information that is more targeted, in-depth, and action-focused. And an environment where you’re surrounded and supported by like-minded people, who share your attitude and passion for thriving on a plant-based diet.

This all led to an idea that I (with a lot of help) have been working hard to develop for the past few months. A place where we bring in well-known experts for in-depth, actionable audio seminars, host followup live Q&A sessions for deeper interaction, and provide private forums for focused discussions.

Tomorrow, I’ve got another interview snippet from the Academy — this one with our second guest, Michael Arnstein, winner of the Vermont 100 and owner of a sub 13-hour 100-mile time. And no, that’s not a typo: seven minutes and forty-six seconds per mile. For 100 miles. On not just a plant-based diet, but a raw one, based almost entirely on fresh fruits and vegetables. And that was the topic of our conversation: the natural, plant-based foods Mike eats and recommends before, during, and after workouts to maximize your performance. 

So check back for that one, or if you prefer, go here and I’ll send you an update when it’s posted and when the Academy opens.

Until then, enjoy the rest of running’s finest day!