As I mentioned last week, I have received several communications asking me to further explain the products I handed out to the models in Petra Nemcova's "A Model Life", specifically the supplements I gave them, so I'm explaining them one by one, starting with Fat Burning Lemonade then Nutrition Complete then Super Calcium Complex and now discussing Alkalizing Super Greens today.

Alkalizing Super Greens, which is one of our newest products, is a nutrient-dense super food made from mostly organic ingredients, containing the most optimum alkalizing greens, herbal formula and probiotics - all in a powder that mixes easily with water and tastes really great (we worked a lot on the taste and I'm really proud of how it turned out). It is designed to restore the body's PH balance which will obtain the following benefits:

• Boosting brain function to support a busy lifestyle
• Supporting physical and mental performance
• Increasing energy, endurance and alertness
• Improving detoxification for proper PH BALANCE
• Providing friendly bacteria for easy absorption and digestion.
• Supporting immunity
• Promoting Vitality and Well being

When the body gets too acidic it causes stress on other tissues (dull skin) as well as other body systems (colon and poor digestion).
When this situation occurs, you may feel tired, low in energy, even gain weight (fat binds with acid and the body holds onto fat).  At this point, nutritionists will typically recommend a regimen of proper nutrition to restore the body’s PH balance - you know, suggesting you eat alkalizing foods, 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, drink half your weight in ounces of water (150 pounds = 75 ounces of water), etc. 
I think proper supplementation is required, too, and Alkalizing Super Greens is the perfect supplement for people who are trying to restore their PH balance, because it contains vitamins, minerals, amino acids, chlorophyll (“the molecular structure is the same as our blood”), enzymes, vegetable blends, fruit and herb blends.  One of our secrets is the high level of Green Tea extract, rich in ECGC polyphone.
Working together, these nutrients help neutralize acidic levels in our body fluids, tissues and cells delivering oxygen throughout our body.

I gave the girls on the show Alkalizing Super Greens to alkalize their system, to promote good "gut ecology", so excess yeast and bloating leaves their system, and so their good bacteria is rich and abundant, all of which can fight off illness and potential disease. 

The body is incredible in the way it can heal itself given the proper nutrients. Enjoy the benefits of this excellent product every day.
* Caution: Nursing or pregnant mothers or individuals with known medical conditions should consult their health care professionals before using this product.

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Media Appearances , Supplements
Print me! | Send by email | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

As I mentioned last week, I have received several communications asking me to further explain the products I handed out to the models in Petra Nemcova's "A Model Life", specifically the supplements I gave them, so I'm explaining them one by one, starting with Fat Burning Lemonade then moving on to Nutrition Complete and now discussing Super Calcium Complex today.

Here you go !
Super Calcium Complex With Hydroxyapatite
is a comprehensive bone support formula scientifically designed for maximum uptake of calcium in the bone. Calcium is a mineral which makes bones dense and resistant to fractures. The Vitamin D together with calcium aid with the assimilation and utilization of calcium.  Along with strengthening bones and tissue and maintaining healthy bones and teeth, this supplement also:

• Assists in maintaining healthy blood vessel function
• Assists in maintaining healthy neurotransmission
• Provides relief for muscle cramps
• Provides relief for PMS
• Promotes general health & vitality

I gave the girls Super Calcium Complex because there is a need for extra calcium in low calorie diets (they're models, remember).

However, models are not the only ones - extra calcium is also needed by those with high protein diets, high fiber diets, lactose intolerance, pregnancy, lactation, puberty and aging men and women.
Give Super Calcium a try if you feel you could benefit from the effects.

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Media Appearances , Supplements
Print me! | Send by email | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

nPeriodically, I let you know of a magazine or newspaper article or a segment on TV in which I am featured or discussed or in which I give some advice. 
Not sure if this article in yesterday's New York Post newspaper will be of interest to everyone, but I do lay out a brief, 3 exercise program (on the second page) aimed at looking good in the hot new bathing suits of the moment.  I thought I'd highlight it for you - you might like "the 3 best exercises tips (reverse lunges, bent knee narrow push-ups and rear dips)...or you might like the bathing suits...

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Exercise , Improved Appearance , Media Appearances
Print me! | Send by email | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

As I mentioned yesterday, I have received several communications asking me to further explain the products I handed out to the models in Petra Nemcova's "A Model Life", specifically the supplements I gave them, so I'm explaining them one by one, starting with Fat Burning Lemonade yesterday and moving on to Nutrition Complete today.

Here you go !
Nutrition Complete Powder
Our Nutrition Complete formula is designed to promote peak wellness by optimizing intake of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and micronutrients.
I've actually discussed Nutrition Complete on this blog before (click here to see the post) and, not to be repetitive, but let me say again that it is made with exceptional quality whey protein, which comes from herds that graze on pesticide-free, chemical-free natural grass pastures. These milking cows are never given bovine growth hormone or any other hormones (No rBST or rBGH), genetically modified organisms or injected pathogens. This whey protein is never exposed to high heat temperatures. The result is the highest quality protein supplement, rich in immunoglobulins and lactoferrin. Free of artificial flavors and sweeteners.
Other important components:
PHOSPHATIDYL CHOLINE
Nutrition Complete contains 840 mg of phosphatidyl choline per serving, which is the most important nutrient for liver support. This is because liver cell membranes are made of phosphatidyl choline. Supporting the liver is important whenever a patient is working with toxic chemicals or lives in a polluted area, takes prescription or over the counter medications, or has any form of hepatitis.
FLAXSEED POWDER
Flaxseeds contain lignans which have shown positive effects in relieving menopausal hot flashes. Lignans also have anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activity.14
GLUTAMINE
Glutamine is an amino acid which is essential for the health of the immune system and digestive tract. It also helps promote optimal muscle growth and strength. Nutrition Complete can be used as part of a protocol for leaky gut syndrome and poor immunefunction especially with the extra 900 mg of added glutamine contained in the formula.
FOLIC ACID
Folic acid has been shown in research to lower homocysteine levels. Homocysteine is a toxic by-product of amino acid metabolism that has been linked to atherosclerosis,4 depression, schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. 5 Nutrition Complete contains 200 mcg of folic acid per serving.
GLUTATHIONE
Glutathione is the body's master antioxidant. Maintaining an adequate supply in the body gives more fuel towards the fight against free radicals which are found in everything including our air, food, and water. Studies show that supplementation with whey protein increases plasma glutathione levels of HIV-infected patients by up to 44%.6

I gave the girls Nutrition Complete for strength, immunity, cleansing, digestion , and over all well-being. Nutrition Complete is so much more than a protein powder - that's why I removed the word protein from the title.

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Media Appearances , Supplements
Print me! | Send by email | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I've received several communications asking me to further explain the products I handed out to the models in Petra Nemcova's "A Model Life".  I'm glad to share this information, because it gives me a chance to discuss products of which I am very confident, and when my company markets them, proud. 
Basically, I gave the girls a "gift bag" consisting of:

• supplements from our product line, Holistic Fitness,
• my book,
• an exercise ball,
• a matt,
• and a customized workbook consisting of food journals, menu plans, and all my top tips.

Since most of the questions asked me specifically about the supplements, let me cover them in detail.  I'll discuss the first one today and the others in subsequent posts so as to keep the length of each post to a reasonable length (I could go on about each one for pages...).

Our product called Fat Burning Lemonade is a super concentrated, pleasant tasting lemonade mix (just add water) that is available in both lemon and tangy berry flavor.  Dr. Abbatiello has formulated "FBL" for maximum effectiveness and purity: no added sweetener, no additional ingredients or fillers. The berry flavored option uses a natural flavoring to obtain the favor (again, nothing artificial).  The secret to this amazing formulation is that d-ribose has been added to boost the effectiveness of the carnitine that is the featured ingredient. 
I know the following claim sounds extreme, but we believe: it literally converts fat to energy!!
Let me explain how:
Carnitine promotes energy production by enhancing fat oxidation in the cell mitochondria, which means it helps you more efficiently burn fat.  D-ribose helps your body to produce more energy by enhancing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production.
By having more energy to expend (d-ribose) and by being able to burn fat more efficiently (l-carnitine) your workouts will be performed at peak level, your recovery will be quick, and fat consumption as fuel will be optimal. We recommend that you use it everyday to energize and burn fat naturally!

That's why I gave it to the girls on the show - for energy - as well as convenience.  With their busy schedules, all the running around they were forced to do, I told them just to put a teaspoon of FBL into a bottle of water and they'd be on their way - it would keep them going all day.

Try out some Fat Burning Lemonade - we're sure you will be as pleased with it as we are.

more detailed, technical info for those who are interested:
Carnitine Tartrate:  promotes energy production by enhancing fat oxidation in the cell mitochondria. Without carnitine, fats cannot be transported into the mitochondria for burning.  Because of this, optimizing carnitine levels has been found to have dramatic benefits in all energy deficient disorders: obesity, chronic fatigue, immune deficiency conditions, elevated blood fats, cholesterol and triglycerides.  Use with low carbohydrate diets when the patient is unable to lose weight, muscle fatigue, senile dementia, reduced muscle mass, cardiac stress and liver degeneration (cirrhosis).  Carnitine increase weight loss by promoting optimal fat burning.  Carnitine also promotes heart health and sports endurance and enhances anti-oxidant effects of vitamin C and E. 
D-Ribose:  is a simple 5-carbon monosaccharide which is an essential building block of DNA, RNA, certain vitamins and other cellular compounds.  Ribose synthesizes adenine nucleotides which are required by heart, muscle and other tissue to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the primary source of energy used by all cells to maintain normal health and function.  Use ribose to replenish these nucleotides during disease or strenuous physical activity when the level of energy available to the cell is compromised. It is ideal for athletes, weekend warriors, patients with cardiovascular weaknesses, poor circulation, ischemia, and those with any type of energy deficits.

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Media Appearances , Supplements
Print me! | Send by email | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I received  the following comment on this blog regarding my appearance on "A Model Life" from a reader named T-Larson:
I am really saddened and angered by how you treated the girls on the TLC show "A Model's Life." Your harsh criticism of their bodies - for being too skinny - was dangerously irresponsible in an industry that already promotes eating disorders. You just became another person telling them their bodies were wrong! These are young girls in an industry that tells them to be thin - and this contradicts your message of a high BMI is paramount, which might be a good message, but your delivery and advice was ill-conceived. Supplements and pills are not the answer and neither is an adult man telling young girls they are "sick" for having the bodies they have. You fell into the same trap you seemed to be trying to combat - criticizing the girls for having the bodies they have, the y just happen to be skinny. Later that day, Lucia who you said was "perfect" was told by her agents she was too fat. Michelle who you berated for being too skinny and "sick" even though she repeatedly told you she ate every hour and you had already humiliated her for the amount of food, albeit junk food, she had listed in her food journal - well she was told she was doing great. Talk about mixed messages! If your tactics are to humiliate, criticize, and emotionally abuse your clients well then count me out. Shame on you!
and I really want to reply, so here goes.

Hi T-Larson,
Wow, I though it was such a positive segment and I when I first saw it, I felt it captured what had been such a constructive time with the girls, but I just watched it again with your perspective in mind and I hear what your saying.  Let me address this for you the best I can and let me start by saying that even though you are upset, I want to thank you for taking the time to comment on the blog.  It means everything to me and I am going to post this so everyone can get something from our discussion.

Unfortunately, what was presented - what you viewed - was a 10 minute, well-edited segment pulled out of a six hour day.  If you look closely, you can see that we went for a while - in fact, we moved from the gym to the hotel room because the producer wanted to wrap things up.  After the initial testing, during which we tested for much more than just BMI, we spoke for an extended time and I tried to impart education covering proper nutritional habits, training habits, cleansing habits and empowerment exercises.

You say: "your delivery and advice was ill-conceived.  Supplements and pills are not the answer".
Not pills, as you say, but yes to supplements, without question. Sorry, but I feel you are wrong saying they should not take supplements.  I would love it if the girls were to eat avocado and raw organic almonds and all the quick snacks and meal plan breakdowns I created for them, but as you know, this is a tough task.  These girls are on the go, they are sleep deprived and they need  proper supplementation for over all wellness, both internally and externally.  The "pills" to which you refered - what I gave them and asked them to consider - were an omega 3 fatty acid, a pro flora whole food based organic multi-vitamin, calcium, a super greens formula, and an organic protein powder.

These are your essential supplements - we all need them - especially these girls at that time, as they were acidic, exhausted, stressed, anxious, and thrown in to a reality series in an unfamiliar city - New York City...P lease refer to some of my past blog posts (on supplements and nutrition) and my parent web site www.holisticfitness.com for a deeper explanation of each supplement so I can focus back on your post to me.

You state: "Michelle who you berated for being too skinny and "sick" even though she repeatedly told you she ate every hour and you had already humiliated her for the amount of food, albeit junk food, she had listed in her food journal".
When I talked about the journals and their eating habits I tried to be slightly over the top and light, which is my way getting them out of their heads, so I can introduce a very serious subject.  Remember, the very first word out of my mouth in the segment as I was introduced to them was not "hello".  It was "FUN".  Unfortunately, good TV sometimes doesn't involve fun.  Conflict is more typicallt the norm on reality based shows - though I have to give TLC credit - I felt the segment was very uplifting and I think they'de done a great job with the show.  I think it is great .
FYI : Michelle's food dairy, which we broke down in detail later, showed she did not eat every hour and she was completely acidic due to a high sugar diet and poor eating habits.

And I have to say, I am sorry Michelle cried, but that was not when she was with me.  That was another segment filmed at another time.  The one moment of intensity in the segment, unfortunately became the part that was highlighted.
Please rest assured that Michelle spent a lot more time laughing then crying.  I am always very careful and light when I address food issues, because I am completely aware that there is so much emotional attachment involved.

Food can not serve as the enemy and again, think "FUN".  I reinforce everything I project with compassionate lifestyle advice and sound nutritional education.

Michele needs tools and she also needs to take a little responsibility and move away from the victim role into the informed role.  Helping her was my job for the day.  I was there to pump them up with information and inspiration - Give them tools for their power!!  If you look closely, Michelle later took her supplements with a swig of coke, dismissed them, then got back to her bowl of cereal with milk.

Remember, any initial testing can be revealing and upsetting, but it was my job to follow that up with support, structure, empowerment, and again, tools.  When I say tools, I mean a resource guide that was simple and easy to understand, a break down of the basics of nutrition, some sample eating plans and snacks - all customized to keep them strong and fulfilled, never to take away or "humiliate" as you stated.

I really worked hard personally to create a custom package for each girl, at my own expense, that they could take from the show.  I hope the education lasts their lifetime. 

The pressures of modeling, which start at such an early age and cover so many foundational areas of a model's life, are truly devastating.  This is an area of expertise for me, which is why I took this show back when it was offered and why I feel so passionate today to take the time to respond to you in this detailed fashion.

In the end, like I said, I want these girls to take their power back.  Self empowerment is my definition of beauty and to me this starts with education and information.
One of my clients, Gisele Bundchen, radiates beauty, because she owns her power! She can walk down the runway, give a glance way up to the back row, and knock them over with her ownership of self.  She got this way by eating well, taking proper supplements and making that investment to her self, so she has longevity, success, and she keeps this crazy business in the proper perspective as it belongs.

I want these girls to have the same success with themselves and their health, regardless of their experience in the fashion industry.

I hope this gives you clarity on where I am coming from and what i tried to achieve, and again, I sincerely thank you truly for engaging me in this dialog.

All the best in health.

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Media Appearances
Print me! | Send by email | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Earlier this year - as Winter was becoming Spring, I went to New York City to take part in an episode of a friend's television series.  The friend was Petra Nemcova and the show was called "A Model Life" (photo at left is from the show's web site). 
Well, the show debuted last week - to supportive critical reviews and good ratings, I'm told - and my episode airs this week (Friday, the 20th, at 10 PM). 
Last week, Access Hollywood did a story about Petra and her show, including a clip in which I was featured - you can see it here .
I did a post about the experience  back when it took place, mentioning that I focused on explaining the concept of Body Mass Index (BMI) and healthy weight for one's height.  The topic of the episode was to discuss the struggles models go through to achieve the unhealthy weight levels of a misguided fashion industry.  As you will hear in the interview on Access Hollywood, Petra dealt with these challenges when she was coming up through the modeling industry, she got through them and understands the critical risks faced by young, aspiring models.  She asked me to come speak to them - to offer them some guidance and support - along with some honest opinion of their then current situations.

I am told the message comes through well in the episode.   Check it out!

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Celebrities , Media Appearances
Print me! | Send by email | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Back on March 13th, I posted about doing an interview with a reporter from "The Howard Stern Show" regarding their Battle of the Blobs contest - a sponsored weight loss competition between cast members of the show (all of whom weighed over 250 lbs) vying to lost the most weight in 8 weeks. 
Well, a couple weeks ago, they finished the contest - had their final weigh-ins - and the results were striking.  All contestants (who lost weight) lost at least 10% of their starting weight, with the winner, Benjy, losing 24% = 64 pounds.
Now, although again, the results are substantial, I really don't they are to be celebrated, because they were achieved through unhealthy methods such as:

• using rapid weight loss supplements, water pills, diuretics
• fasting / starving themselves
• vomiting
• extreme periods in saunas and steam rooms
• etc.

As dedicated as they were to this short-term effort (Benjy even shaved his head...) - and you know I applaud and am always impressed by what people can do in terms of self-control, these efforts were just the sort of "artificial weight loss" tactics I wrote about last week.  As I noted in that earlier post, this sort of effort wreaks havoc on your body and shuts down your metabolism and the moment you re-introduce food into your system your body immediately stores it as fat and soon the weight comes back on ... and then some.
Let's keep an eye (and an ear, since it is a radio show...) on this group to see if I am right or if they can prove me wrong - maybe they really did develop improved habits, which would be great. 
I hope so and I would love to see it, but even if they do, their approach was truly unhealthy and dangerous.  Please don't try it.

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Current Events , Media Appearances , Weight Control
Print me! | Send by email | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I have done a bunch of interviews recently - magazines and newspapers. 
In the spirit of Web 2.0 sharing and collaboration, I thought I would support them, too - you know, reciprocate for their promotion.
Here is a story in the Denver Post newspaper and here is a link to one in this week's Forbes magazine.

More to come.

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Media Appearances
Print me! | Send by email | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)