Introducing Stacey Hancock

Hi everyone,

I’m really pleased to be a guest blogger here and I thought I would make my first post just a little rundown on who I am and what I believe in when it comes to health and fitness.

I spent the greater part of my life in pain and discomfort. The range was huge: depression, anxiety, stomach issues, elimination problems, weight issues, energy, lower back pain, painful menstrual issues, binge eating disorder,  sinus and gland problems…. Just to name a few.

“Health and fitness” in the traditional sense only got me so far. The so-called “healthy diets” designed to alleviate these problems weren’t working and the “go hard or go home” approach to training only provided results for a short time. The traditional model of food and exercise had helped me, only to a certain extent but had let me down overall. The bodybuilding “model” of training and nutrition that I also undertook depleted my cells so far that the good ol’ healthy food and multivitamin couldn’t even bring me back from the deep damage that had been done.

Even my education in fitness and nutrition didn’t have the answers. I felt totally stuck.

I then discovered Paul Chek and his concept of “sometimes to work out, you need to work in”. I found an Integrated Dr and learned about adrenal fatigue, toxicity and thyroid issues. I started reading material from Weston A Price and learning about the GAP’s diet by Dr Natasha Campbell McBride. I started reading Charles’ Poliquin blogs and got involved in reading information by Personal Trainers who also followed these methods.

The message became perfectly clear. If I didn’t balance out my nervous and endocrine systems then those systems would continue to work against me as they fought for homeostasis. I had to accept that I was going to have to “go soft…or go home”

And I did. I followed the non-conventional concepts of diet and exercise, replacing my lean chicken breast for chicken thighs cooked in coconut oil, including fatty gelatinous broths and enjoying my soaked oatsfried instead of boiled, and added tasty condiments like Rapadura sugar, cocoa and coconut. I switched my gym sessions for complete rest, tai chi, walking and just recently pilates. I began listening to what my body needed, guided by the teachings of Paul Chek and Sally Fallon Morrell. 100% of the time I kept away from the foods I was intolerant too, I took all the supplements I was told to and I was given instructions that detoxing my overburdened body is not over…until it’s over.

I am now at a stage where I can start putting gym workouts back in (May/June 2012) , and those workouts will be dictated by the teachings of Charles Poliquin, Paul Chek and Bret Contreras (The Glute Guy). I refuse to hire another personal trainer in my town unless they are CHEK trained, and currently I’m the only one.

I am a CHEK Exercise Coach, Weston A Price Foundation member, CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach and a traditionally trained Personal Trainer and Nutritionist. I operate my practice in Hamilton New Zealand.

So I intend to guest blog on this site about health and fitness based on the teachings of the aforementioned people. Together we will take a trip back in time before things like heart disease, obesity, cancer and mental illness were so commonplace. I will not be singing the praises of the Food Pyramid, nor will I be touting the benefits of polyunsaturated oils. I certainly won’t be looking for the next best “health food” or the most amazing diet.

I look forward to sharing with you how to become your own Health Detective and how to make objective decisions over the heath and fitness techniques you select.

Peace,