My Story

I knew things were out of balance because I was…

  • Making the same stupid decisions over and over.
  • Feeling bloated, moody, and generally weak.
  • Uncomfortable taking my shirt off.
  • Struggling with feeling like no matter what I did, it was never enough.
  • Pushing harder than ever before with diet and exercise with little results.
  • Bouncing between “good” days and “terrible” days.
  • Lacking the energy or confidence I once had.
  • Taking on too many obligations and experiencing anxiety and burnout.
  • Getting in my own way with perfectionism and self-judgment.
  • Feeling ashamed about my struggle but couldn’t talk about any of it.

I Know What It’s Like To Feel Frustrated & Stuck In A Body You Don’t Like

I battled an eating disorder when I was a teenager.

I was plagued by voices in my head — obsessed with counting calories, what I could eat, and how I could exercise to manipulate my body.

I stopped eating altogether because starving myself was safer than experiencing the intense and complex emotions that I felt in my body.

The struggle with myself became too much to bear. Moreover, it was impacting all those around me: friends and family I cared about.

I needed to change. For myself. For others.

I hit an all-time low when I was crying on the sofa at my parent’s house. I realized that I wanted to live a healthy life but I couldn’t do it on my own.

Asking for help is not giving up; It’s growing up.

I surrendered the need to control every aspect of my world and allowed help into my life.

I dropped out of high school, got hospitalized, and began the long journey of nurturing myself back to health with the support of medical professionals, psychologists, nutrition experts, and more.

It was the hard work of turning self-criticism into self-care, every day.

I knew I was the only one who could determine the outcome of this battle. I knew it was my responsibility to take care of my body.

I also knew the way we’ve all been taught how to take care of ourselves is woefully inadequate.

I had to empower myself and relearn to trust my body so I could rely on it when life really got tough.

The Challenge of Building Sustainable Strength

As I continued down my path of healing, I began to question the assumptions on which my education was built.

  • Is my crappy mood just a neurotransmitter imbalance?
  • Is my body just a calorie-burning machine?
  • Are my beliefs even really “mine” or the conditioning I received?

I realized there’s a big hole in the western biomedical approach to health and wellbeing. It disconnects the mind and body. It treats everything as a machine to be programmed, manipulated, and drugged. It is incomplete and reductionist.

I’m totally in favor of Western medicine to treat acute diseases. But when it comes to chronic ailments – body pain, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, anxiety, burnout, etc. – we need a more comprehensive approach.

Lifestyle is medicine. Food is medicine. Sleep and social support are medicine.

I wanted a more comprehensive grounding to inform everything science had to say about healthy living. As a result, I was drawn to the eastern spiritual traditions during my time living in Malaysia and Hong Kong (where I spent 4 years studying Buddhism at the University of Hong Kong).

The gift I received was access to ancient wisdom on living well.

My Masters in Mind & Brain Education at Harvard University allowed me to further integrate the technology of mind and body — applying biology, psychology, and eastern spirituality to health, fitness, and personal development.

I wanted a framework that was built on a solid foundation of a lifelong practice that results in sustainable wellness. This meant integrating the best of East and West, science and spirituality, mind and body.

The old stories and methods were no longer adequate. I had to redefine what it means to be a healthy and highly evolved man in today’s world.

I want to help you do the same.