Whether you're a housewife, professional athlete or health practitioner Paul Chek delivers the answers on how to build your own personalized nutrition and workout program. Living his life with the boundless energy of a 25-year-old, Chek has heard every excuse as to why people don't exercise and why they can't get motivated. In his book, How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy, Chek challenges you to make the time to create a step-by-step individual exercise program.

This book is a must-read for anyone who is serious about taking control of their health and finding that perfect guide to achieving optimal results. His book mirrors many of my nutrition philosophies and is an excellent companion to the Total Health Program as it provides the other critical component to optimal health -- proper exercise.

With having as busy of a lifestyle as you do, how do you manage to stay so energetic and upbeat all the time? Where do you find the energy?

First of all, I am quite selfish. I love myself enough to put "me" first, making time to eat very well, exercise, practice Tai-Chi and Qi-gong and study daily.

Once that is done, I'm on track, on purpose and feel much better about sharing myself with others and the world.

In the beginning of your book you describe yourself as an athlete, therapist, conditioning specialist and consultant to professional athletes. What title best describes you right now?

Truly, I am a Holistic Health Practitioner. Having been an athlete and a highly motivated learner my whole life, I've been able to achieve a level of mastery in several areas, which has afforded me success as both a therapist and a coach/teacher.

It seems like the hardest thing for people beginning any kind of exercise/eating program is just getting started. What have you found is the biggest roadblock to getting started and how do you overcome that? What were some of the personal challenges that you have had to overcome?

Most people have a hard time getting started because they don't have clearly defined goals and objectives. Most are not sure who they are, nor are they sure who they are trying to become!

Much of my work with healing and athletic performance centers around life coaching. When one finds a direction they want to go with their body and their life, desire naturally feeds the will. As a coach, I often help them get clear on the reason and rational.

With two-household incomes, careers, meetings, kids and not enough hours in the day, how would you approach the excuse, "I just don't have enough time."

First of all, I hear this almost every day I work with clients. They are pretty shocked when I tell them that it simply isn't true! I expand, highlighting the fact that they are currently spending a LOT OF TIME:

• Going from doctor to doctor. When you add up the travel time, waiting for doctors in their office, cost of tests, waiting in line at drug stores for pills, it really adds up!

• The average American watches 4.7 hours of TV a day! My wife and I don't watch TV at all because it is predominantly mind pollution. As I tell my students and patients, "If there's anything on TV worth hearing about, you won't make it 20 steps down the street before someone tells you!"

• Doing unnecessary things, like shopping when they don't need anything. Just looking at things they "wish" to have when they "have more money," which will probably be about the same time they "have more time!"

Frequently, my patients, clients and even students -- until I get them thinking clearly -- are spending all their time working for things they don't need and often don't even want. For example, How many people have cars, vacation homes, motor homes and jewelry they are paying for every month, but don't need?

Their monthly expenses are so high that they constantly need to work overtime and stress themselves into submission (think disease), yet they hardly ever get anything close to the value from these "extras" in their life. I have people driving $70,000 cars who tell me they can't afford organic food! I simply ask them to drive their car to the graveyard to see if they can find a hole big enough for both them and their car. And if they do, they should reserve it!

In the end, all you can take with you is "what you become" while you are visiting this lovely planet. More importantly, if you are a parent, you are teaching your children how to live and you should stop and take a look at yourself and if you can't state with 100 percent honesty that you love yourself, you are probably passing on the same poor self-esteem to your children.

They too won't have time to eat, move and be healthy, because that is what they learned from Mom and Dad!

Once people begin your program, what is the key to staying motivated?

The outcome is better than anything they have ever done to this point, I assure you, or they wouldn't need the program to begin with! Consider everything I've said above and once you get clear on what you want to become, know that the rest is comparatively easy.

When anyone knows what they want to become, they always find reasons to do it, which feeds desire, driving will. For example, "It WILL be done." Additionally, my system is fully customized to their personal needs, not trend, fad or fashion. This fact helps people feel more motivated because they know they are truly investing in themselves.

How To Eat, Move & Be Healthy! also has a library of exercises, a system of stretch testing to maintain optimal flexibility and a system of progressive reassessment so each individual is appraised of his or her progress at all times. We all love success and are likely to achieve it when we feel supported with a good, tried and tested plan. This is one reason I've given so many case histories in the book. People get healthy and vital against the odds and, more importantly, against the tide of society every day!

In your book you talk about the importance of finding your metabolic type to customize a diet plan that is right for your body. What is your nutritional type and could you give an example of certain foods you need to avoid because they don't fit your individual body type?

Using the Intermediate Level nutritional typing system, I am a parasympathetic dominant fast oxidizer. For those who don't know what that means, it basically means I need to eat almost exactly like an Eskimo. My bloodlines are Cherokee Indian and European mix. True to tradition, most American Indians age a predominantly animal food diet and supplemented with available vegetation, which is what makes me feel the best.

If I eat any processed sugar, or even root vegetables without a lot of fat to slow them down, I go up like a rocket and down like a rock! I do very well on what is often referred to as a caveman diet. I am very conscious about food quality and am very concerned about the power of my food dollar, not wanting to contribute to the destruction of society by supporting commercial farming.

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