Emily Chapman: The Four Pillars of A Longer & Healthier Life
The Proactive Path to Healthy Aging: A Conversation With Emily Chapman
The quality of our health shapes the quality of our lives. Few people share that message as generously as my friend Emily Chapman. I repost her content all the time, because she makes healthy living practical, delicious and doable.
Emily is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and a CDC-trained Diabetes Prevention Program lifestyle coach. She is the founder of Emily Chapman Wellness and creator of the Proactive Method for longevity and metabolic health. Her three-month, one-on-one coaching program covers nutrition, movement, sleep, stress management, metabolic health and healthy aging.
From Family History to a Calling
Emily’s work is deeply personal. Diabetes runs in her family. She has a sibling with diabetes, and her father spent his last 14 months bedridden with complications from the disease. She has thought about sugar her whole life.
In 2020, during a deeply painful season, an unexpected divorce changed the course of her life. She lost much of what felt familiar and had to rebuild, dig deep and focus on her own health. During that same season, she formalized her training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, learning from leaders including Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Andrew Weil. She also studied with sleep scientist Matthew Walker, author ofWhy We Sleep.
Looking back, Emily calls that season one of the best things that ever happened to her. She learned how mindfulness, resilience, nutrition, movement and sleep all work together, and she built her coaching program around that whole picture. Today, her motivation is simple: she wants to get down on the floor and play with her future grandkids.
It’s a true story of pain to purpose, and of surrendering what she couldn’t control so she could take the next step forward.
Why Prevention Matters More Than Ever
Diabetes is one of the costliest chronic illnesses in the country, and many people with prediabetes have no idea. Emily believes COVID made many of us pay closer attention to prevention, because so many serious cases involved underlying conditions.
Know your A1C
Your A1C is a blood test that reflects your average blood sugar over about three months. According to the CDC, an A1C between 5.7% and 6.4% indicates prediabetes.
Emily’s advice:
Ask for your A1C at your yearly checkup.
If your doctor says you’re “borderline,” treat it as a signal to act.
Learn your family history. Ask your relatives about diabetes.
Medicare’s Diabetes Prevention Program
Through her work with Fruit Street, Emily helps deliver the Diabetes Prevention Program, a year-long lifestyle coaching program that came out of the CDC. Medicare covers the program for eligible beneficiaries with prediabetes, and participants meet with a coach throughout the year. If you’re on Medicare and have a high A1C, ask your doctor whether you qualify.
Most people don’t know this program exists. Please share it.
The Power of Accountability
Emily is candid: she finds strength training boring. It’s also one of the most important things we can do as we age to preserve muscle. So she works with a coach who schedules sessions with her twice a week. Now she’s finding her rhythm, and even starting to enjoy it.
That’s the power of accountability. People may need support with sleep, eating, walking, managing stress or positive thinking. Emily notes that coaches refer clients to mental health professionals when needed, and coaching works alongside your doctor’s care.
She also points to research showing that people taking GLP-1 medications for weight loss have a better chance of keeping the weight off when they also work with a lifestyle coach. The medication helps, and lasting habits make the difference.
Living Well With Brain Health in Mind
Emily’s first client lives with Parkinson’s, and she’s seen how lifestyle changes, guided by the right doctors, can support quality of life. Carroll has watched loved ones face Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and those journeys are heartbreaking.
The goal, Emily says, is to improve your health span: the years you live well.
Her favorite ways to support brain health:
Move every day. Movement is the most important thing for healthy aging.
Stay curious. Lifelong learners tend to stay positive and keep meeting new people.
Challenge your mind. Mahjong, card games and puzzles all help. I’m a card player myself!
The Three F’s: Faith, Family and Friends
Community becomes even more important as we age. Emily’s formula, in this order:
Faith. Your relationship with God matters most. If you’re looking for community, she suggests starting with a church.
Family. Treasure the people who are yours.
Friends. Surround yourself with people you trust and love.
With all three, plus curiosity, Emily believes you’ll have an exceptional life and won’t be lonely.
Taming the Sugar Cravings
I’ll admit it on air and in print: I’m a sugar addict. Emily gets it, and she’s full of satisfying alternatives.
Read your labels
The American Heart Association recommends that women limit added sugar to about 25 grams a day. Emily also reminds us that refined carbs like pasta turn into sugar in the body. Once you start reading labels, you’ll be surprised by the sugar in plant milks, flavored yogurts and other “healthy” foods.
Think of food as fuel to do the things you love, and build your meals around whole foods.
Emily’s favorite swaps
Dark chocolate with almond butter.She’s graduated to 100% dark chocolate with a little almond butter, and says it tastes like a peanut butter cup.
Homemade granolawith no added sugar.
Lower-sugar yogurts, such as sheep’s milk yogurt.
Emily’s Protein-Powered Morning
Emily makes breakfast her biggest meal and aims for about 40 grams of protein. Her routine:
Water with apple cider vinegar.
A protein shake made with high-quality whey protein, unsweetened almond milk and chocolate, frothed cold.
Coffee after the protein.
Breakfast: homemade granola mixed with gluten-free oats, topped with flax, organic blueberries and sheep’s milk yogurt.
How much protein do you need? Emily says it depends on how active you are, and recommendations vary widely. She lifts weights, does yoga and walks about six miles a day, so she needs more. Talk with your doctor or coach about the right amount for you.
The rest of her day is simple: a big salad with protein and avocado around 2:30, and a vegetable with salmon or another protein around 6:30.
Make Healthy Eating Easy
Stock your staples. Keep the healthy foods you love in your refrigerator so the right choice is the easy one.
Eat on a schedule. If you wait until you’re starving, you’ll eat anything in your path. Ask me how I know!
Check the menu before you go out.Decide what you’ll order ahead of time. You’re there to enjoy the people.
Use the 80/20 rule. Eat well most of the time and enjoy a treat now and then.
Emily also loves wearables. When she wore a continuous glucose monitor, a basket of restaurant chips sent her blood sugar spiking well above her normal range. Data like that, especially with a coach to help you read it, can be eye-opening.
Invest in Your Health
Emily challenges us to reframe how we think about our health. We spend freely on clothes and other things, yet hesitate to invest in good food or support for our bodies. Investing in your health is investing in your future.
I want to stay active with my people for as long as I can, so my visits feel like a joy, never a burden. That starts now. When we know better, we do better, and today is the day.
Emily’s Sleep Tips
Sleep may be the most underrated pillar of health. Emily’s quick list:
Get morning sunlightto set your circadian rhythm. This is the most important tip.
Stop caffeine after 1 p.m.
Set a bedtime and a wind-down time.If you sleep at 11, start winding down at 10.
Keep your room dark, or wear a sleep mask.
Try a warm bathbefore bed.
Limit alcohol at night, since it disrupts sleep.
Ask your doctor before using sleep aids, including melatonin and magnesium.
We’re planning a whole conversation on sleep with Emily, so stay tuned!
Key Takeaways
Know your A1C and your family history.
If you’re on Medicare and have prediabetes, ask about the Diabetes Prevention Program.
Accountability helps habits stick.
Read labels and watch added sugar.
Prioritize protein, movement and strength training.
Build your life around faith, family, friends and curiosity.
Protect your sleep, starting with morning sunlight.
Listen to the Full Conversation
Hear the whole conversation onConversations with Carroll, on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. Please share this episode, because education is key.
This conversation is for general education and isn’t medical advice. Talk with your doctor before making changes to your diet, exercise, medications or supplements.
Thank You, Father.
— Carroll
