#33 - Change Maker: Dr. John Berardi on Building Health, Habits, and Real Change
Today’s guest is Dr. John Berardi
The core problem John is tackling is this: people and professionals are drowning in nutrition noise, all-or-nothing thinking, and “biohack” promises—so they struggle to make consistent progress and to build sustainable careers in health and fitness. His work in this episode is about replacing confusion and perfectionism with limiting-factor thinking, small-wins habits, and clear frameworks that actually produce long-term change for both clients and coaches.
In today’s conversation John Berardi explores how real change in health, performance, and career actually happens over years of “always something” rather than bursts of all-or-nothing effort. He walks through his journey from immigrant-kid pressure to “be a doctor,” into graduate research in exercise physiology and nutritional biochemistry, and then on to co-founding Precision Nutrition and coaching hundreds of thousands of clients and professionals. John and Dr. Wells dig into what separates successful athletes and everyday clients, why simple limiting-factor fixes often beat complex named diets, and why game-day nutrition matters far less than what you do for weeks and months beforehand. They finish by unpacking his Change Maker framework for health and fitness professionals—clarifying purpose, building T-shaped skills, and using feedback to craft a meaningful, sustainable career.
You will learn why the most successful clients and athletes aren’t the ones who obsess over every gram of food, but the ones who care “just enough” and practice a few simple behaviours consistently over time. You will learn how John uses limiting-factor analysis—finding the one thing (like low iron, magnesium, or B12) that’s holding someone back—instead of dropping people into rigid named diets that create 100 new rules and very little progress. You will learn how Precision Nutrition’s coaching data shows that being roughly 60–70% consistent can deliver excellent health and body-composition outcomes, and why the all-or-nothing mentality is one of the strongest predictors of failure. You will learn how to cut through nutrition noise by “squinting your eyes” and looking for stable patterns—adequate protein, whole foods, energy balance—rather than chasing metabolism-boosting foods, red-wine resveratrol, or the latest biohack. Finally, you’ll learn how John’s Change Maker model helps coaches map purpose, core abilities, and values into a T-shaped skillset and a career blueprint they can actually follow.
You will discover that sustainable transformation in health and performance doesn’t require perfect adherence; it requires doing something reasonable most of the time and choosing the highest-leverage “big rocks” instead of obsessing over tiny tricks. You will discover how a single well-chosen intervention—identified through careful assessment—can outperform months of complicated diet rules or biohacks that only tint the “lake” of your physiology by 0.0000002%.
A huge challenge for high performers and coaches alike is feeling stuck between overwhelm (too many rules, tools, and protocols) and guilt (when they inevitably can’t keep up). John’s frameworks give listeners a way to simplify: focus on the few behaviours that matter most, accept “good enough” consistency, and build a career or personal routine that can survive illness, kids, deadlines, and real life—without quitting or starting over every few weeks.
Key take aways:
All-or-nothing usually gets you nothing; aim for “always something.”
Fix limiting factors before overhauling your entire diet.
Game-day nutrition matters far less than everyday habits.
Small daily reps compound into huge long-term gains.
Stop chasing hacks; master the big, boring fundamentals first.
“All or nothing usually gets us nothing.”
Today’s Expert Guest - Dr John Berardi
Dr. John Berardi is a Canadian-American entrepreneur, exercise physiologist, and nutritional biochemist best known as the co-founder of Precision Nutrition, one of the world’s largest nutrition coaching, education, and software companies. He holds a PhD from the University of Western Ontario, an MS from Eastern Michigan University, and a CSCS credential from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Over the last 15+ years he has advised organizations such as Apple, Nike, Equinox, and Titleist, along with professional teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Carolina Panthers and elite athletes including US Open champion Sloane Stephens and UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.
John’s work stands out because he combines rigorous academic training with real-world coaching data from hundreds of thousands of clients and more than 100,000 certified professionals through Precision Nutrition’s programs. Rather than selling one diet or one ideology, he teaches people to think in systems: identify limiting factors, prioritise high-leverage behaviours, and design programs that fit into messy, busy lives. His Change Maker work extends that systems thinking to careers—helping health and fitness professionals clarify their purpose, build T-shaped skillsets, understand what clients really want, and use feedback to grow reputations and businesses they’re proud of.
Adopt an “always something” rule: choose one small, high-impact behaviour you can do even on your worst days—five minutes of movement, a protein-rich meal, an extra glass of water, a short practice block—and commit to doing it most days for months, not weeks. This simple shift away from perfectionism and towards consistent, manageable action is the single most powerful pattern John’s research and coaching experience show differentiates people who actually change from those who stay stuck.
Follow Dr John Berardi on Instagram & Linked In.
Check out his website.
Change Maker:
Turn Your Passion for Health and Fitness into a Powerful Purpose and a Wildly Successful Career
The health and fitness industry is huge, highly competitive, and often confusing to navigate. In this one-of-a-kind book – winner of the 2021 Axiom Business Book of the Year – Dr. John Berardi helps you make sense of the chaos, laying out a clear roadmap to help you achieve both personal and professional success.
This podcast contains advice and information relating to health and wellness. It should be used to supplement rather than replace the advice of your doctor or another trained health professional. If you know or suspect that you have a health problem, seek your physician’s advice before embarking on any medical program or treatment. All efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of the information contained in this podcast / interview / article as of the date of publication. The author and publisher disclaim liability for any medical or other outcomes that may occur as a result of applying the methods suggested in this material.
