On today’s episode we've got three pioneers in different aspects of the health space but one thing they share in common is their passion to help you live your best life.

Living your best life may sound like an overused Instagram hashtag, but in this case it is three amazing individuals who overcame trauma, health challenges and more to learn how not just to survive in life, but to thrive no matter what life throws your way.

You’ve probably seen Dutch fitness model and trainer Jill de Jong in the latest Peloton commercial, on the cover of Women’s Health and in ads for L’Oréal, Avon and Izod. She was also the real-life body model for Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider video game. But before she was sought after model, actress and fitness expert, she was a calorie-counting teenager trying to fit in with the other calorie-counting models where together they created unrealistic and unsustainable ways to maintain their bodies. After years of feeling deprived, eating all the wrong things, and feeling completely uncomfortable in her skin, she knew things had to change.

Jill’s newfound passion for nutrition led her to become a health coach and certified personal trainer. Today, she shares her story  and healthy recipes in her cookbook, Models Do Eat, and on her podcast Life Done Better. Jill is passionate about helping others to find better ways to move, eat, deal with stress, and design action steps for all that they want to achieve in life.  

Dr. Allen Lycka has been acknowledged as one of the leading cosmetic dermatologists in the world for three decades. He is a co-founder of Doctors for the Practice of Safe and Ethical Aesthetic Medicine and founder of The Canadian Skin Cancer Association. He has won the prestigious Consumers Choice Award For Cosmetic Surgery for 16 consecutive years.

In 2003, Dr. Lycka’s life changed drastically when he suddenly developed a right foot drop and then misdiagnosed as ALS (Lou Gherigs’ disease). After being told he only had months to live he discovered the secret that would change his life. He did not have ALS, and he was able to treat his condition naturally and make a full recovery. Because of what he learned, he co-authored the book The Secrets of Living A Fantastic Life with Harriet Tinka.

Harriet Tinka was a model-turned student at the University of Calgary. Featured on haute couture runways and in fashion magazines, she chose to turn her back on the soul-crushing pressure to be the "ideal female body." Instead she chose to go to school and focus on getting an education. During this time, one of her friends began to turn critical, mean and possessive, until one night he attacked her. She was beaten, abducted and sliced up with a butcher's knife. It was a miracle she survived, but the trauma left her with a big "why me?"

As she faced her adversities, she was one day inspired by a little girl in a wheelchair who said to her, “Move forward and use your pain to inspire others.” Harriet decided it was time to pay it forward. Ever since, she has inspired and touched the lives of over 500 teens!

Learn how to eat like a supermodel plus the secrets to living a fantastic life in today's episode of Food Heals!

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