HindeSight | No. 32

After being diagnosed with chronic fatigue in 2015, GOLFERAID athlete Scott Stallings changed his lifestyle. With two top-10s and a third-place finish in the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Stallings is looking to earn his fourth career victory at the Valero Texas Open.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.

"The only time I really truly felt good is when I worked out. So when I was training and stuff, I felt great. It just kinda became a routine. It wasn't a matter of if and when I was gonna do it, it was just a matter of what time of day."

—Scott Stallings

Original post from 10News on January 9, 2020

(KGTV) -- The internet is exploding with people trying to help firefighters and animals in Australia amid raging wildfires — enter the Koala Challenge.

The challenge, which was started by beverage company FITAID, encourages people to take a video of themselves latching onto the underside of a workout bench.

An employee for the company tells 10News that, through Friday, it’ll donate $5 for every video of the challenge posted on social media and hashtagged #FITAID and #KoalaChallenge.

“You don’t have to successfully complete it,” joked FITAID employee Jordan Costa.

The company also plans to donate five percent of all sales from FITAID ZERO directly to those fighting the fires.

Videos posted on social media show people successfully, and some not so successfully completing the challenge - all in the name of a good cause.

To join the challenge, learn more at: @fitaid

> > > Live well.

"We recently became aware that a segment of our branding was infringing on the registered trademarks of the Red Cross. In an effort to avoid confusion, we have entered into an agreement to phase out all the products and collateral in question. We would like to thank the Red Cross for working with us through this process."

—LIFEAID Beverage Co.

LIFEAID Beverage Co.® signs Golden State Warrior star Kevon Looney

NEWS PROVIDED BY LIFEAID Beverage Co. | Oct 29, 2019, 13:44 ET

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Oct. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FITAID^®, one of the most popular items in the LIFEAID Beverage Co. portfolio, has long been a favorite of professional athletes in football, baseball and basketball. And it's one of basketball's rising stars that LIFEAID selected as a partner for upcoming Northern California retail marketing campaigns: Kevon Looney of the Golden State Warriors. The endorsement agreement was confirmed today by LIFEAID co-founder and president Aaron Hinde.

Looney will appear on billboards through Northern California, and will also be featured in digital advertising and social media campaigns. The brand's social media platforms will also support regular prize and giveaway programs tied retailers and also offered directly from the brand.

"I've personally been rooting for Kevon since he first played for the Santa Cruz Warriors in 2016, right here in our backyard," says Hinde, a proud lifelong resident of Santa Cruz, California, which is also home to LIFEAID's headquarters. "While Kevon may currently be injured, what isn't damaged is his ability to inspire as a gifted, versatile athlete with a long future ahead in pro basketball. We're excited to help build one another's brands."

Standing six-foot-nine, basketball player Kevon Looney is known for his versatile athleticism, playing both power forward and center for the Warriors. His ability to guard all five positions is reflected in his jersey number "5." Looney re-signed with the Warriors in July 2019, in a three-year extension. Warriors' coach Steve Kerr called Looney a "foundational piece" for the team.

"Kevon is a disciplined, dedicated athlete who appreciates the impact of proper nutrition. These are core values for the LIFEAID brand," says Hinde.

"I'm proud to be working with LIFEAID. The brand is focused on clean and functional ingredients. Recovery is a major part of being an athlete, FITAID helps meet the demands of that critical part of my game. Also, I'm following the paleo diet so I can drink it as part of my everyday routine," says Looney.

About LIFEAID Beverage Co.^®With a focus on great-tasting, wellness-enhancing and solutions-driven supplement products, LIFEAID Beverage Co. has become a trusted brand among health- and performance-conscious consumers. LIFEAID offers a range of "vitamins you'll actually enjoy drinking" including: FITAID, FOCUSAID, PARTYAID, IMMUNITIYAID, LIFEAID, GOLFERAID and the newly launched Keto-friendly FITAID ZERO and FITAID RX ZERO. The FITAID line is currently the #1 Post-Workout Recovery Drink in America as well as the Official Sponsor of the U.S. Spartan Race Series. Visit lifeaidbevco.com for more information.

Media Contact:
Cari McHugh
press@lifeaidbevco.com

SOURCE: LIFEAID Beverage Co.

Does guzzling diet soda lead to an early demise?

There was a collective gasp among Coke Zero and Diet Pepsi drinkers this week after media reports highlighted a new study that found prodigious consumers of artificially sweetened drinks were 26 percent more likely to die prematurely than those who rarely drank sugar-free beverages.

The study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, followed 450,000 Europeans over 16 years and tracked mortality among soft-drink consumers of all persuasions — both those with a fondness for sugary beverages and those who favored sugar-free drinks.

Given the well-documented health effects of consuming too much sugar, it was little surprise the authors found that people who drank two or more glasses of sugar-sweetened beverages a day were eight percent more likely to die young compared to those who consumed less than one glass a month.

But what grabbed headlines, and prompted widespread angst, was the suggestion that drinking Diet Coke could be even more deadly than drinking Coca-Cola Classic.

“Putting our results in context with other published studies, it would probably be prudent to limit consumption of all soft drinks and replace them with healthier alternatives like water,” said Amy Mullee, a nutritionist at University College Dublin and one of 50 researchers who worked on the study, one of the largest of its kind to date.

The study is not a one-off. Over the past year, other research in the United States has found a correlation between artificially sweetened beverages and premature death.

The problem, experts say, is that these and other studies have been unable to resolve a key question: Does consuming drinks sweetened with aspartame or saccharin harm your health? Or could it be that people who drink lots of Diet Snapple or Sprite Zero lead a more unhealthy lifestyle to begin with?

A number of nutritionists, epidemiologists and behavioral scientists think the latter may be true. (It’s a theory that will be instantly recognizable to anyone who has guiltily ordered a Diet Coke to accompany their Double Whopper with cheese.)

“It could be that diet soda drinkers eat a lot of bacon or perhaps it’s because there are people who rationalize their unhealthy lifestyle by saying, ‘Now that I’ve had a diet soda, I can have those French fries,’” said Vasanti S. Malik, a researcher at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the lead author of a study in April that found that the link between artificial sweeteners and increased mortality in women was largely inconclusive. “This is a huge study, with a half million people in 10 countries, but I don’t think it adds to what we already know.”

The authors of the JAMA paper tried to account for these risk factors by removing study participants who were smokers or obese, and they tried to improve its accuracy through statistical modeling.

But Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital, said these so-called observational studies cannot really determine cause and effect. “Maybe artificial sweeteners aren’t increasing mortality,” he said. “Maybe it’s just that people with an increased risk of mortality, like those with overweight or obesity, are choosing to drink diet soda but, in the end, this doesn’t solve their weight problem and they die prematurely.”

Still, scientists say the alternative to observational studies — a clinical trial that randomly assigns participants to a sugary drinks group or a diet soda group — isn’t feasible.

“Clinical trials are considered the gold standard in science, but imagine asking thousands of people to stick to such a regimen for decades,” said Dr. Malik of Harvard. “Many people would drop out, and it would also be prohibitively expensive.”

Concerns about artificial sweeteners have been around since the 1970s, when studies found that large quantities of saccharin caused cancer in lab rats. The Food and Drug Administration issued a temporary ban on the sweetener, and Congress ordered up additional studies and a warning label, but subsequent research found the chemical to be safe for human consumption. More recently-created chemical sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose have also been extensively studied, with little evidence that they negatively impact human health, according to the F.D.A.

Some studies have even found a correlation between artificial sweeteners and weight loss, but others have suggested they may increase cravings for sugary foods.

“There’s no evidence they are harmful to people with a healthy diet who are trying to live a healthy lifestyle,” said Dr. Barry M. Popkin, a nutritionist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He and others remain concerned that giving diet beverages to young children might encourage a sweet tooth.

Still, many scientists say more research is needed to determine the long-term effects of consuming artificial sweeteners. Although Dr. Mullee, one of the authors of the study, cautioned against drawing stark conclusions from their data, she said the deleterious effects of artificial sweeteners can’t be ruled out, noting studies that suggest a possible link between aspartame and elevated levels of blood glucose in humans. “Right now the biological mechanisms are unclear but we’re hoping our research will spark further exploration,” she said.

For consumers, the mixed messaging can be confusing. Dr. Jim Krieger, the founding executive director of Healthy Food America, an advocacy group that presses municipalities to enact soda taxes and increase consumer access to fruits and vegetables, said the new study and others like it raise more questions than they answer.

“Gosh, at this point, you probably want to go with water, tea or unsweetened coffee and not take a chance on beverages we don’t know much about,” he said. “Certainly, you don’t want to drink sugary beverages because we know that these aren’t good for you.”

About the Author: Andrew Jacobs is a reporter with the Health and Science Desk, based in New York. He previously reported from Beijing and Brazil and had stints as a Metro reporter, Styles writer and National correspondent, covering the American South. @AndrewJacobsNYT

Source: A version of this article appears in print on Sept. 9, 2019, Section D, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Alarm Over Diet Sodas, and Questions, Too .

> > > Live well.

After this past year of being in the dark as to what the new season's format would mean for the 2019 Reebok CrossFit® Games, athletes and fans finally got some answers today. Here's your official recap of event wins, upsets, highlights, Leaderboards and photos from Day 1 of competition!

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

This morning kicked off in Madison, Wisconsin, with Dave Castro announcing to a packed room of athletes that they would need to head on over to CrossFit mainsite (CrossFit.com) to discover the workout for Individual Event 1 (which ended up being today’s scheduled WOD, posted since yesterday evening). Castro entitled the event “First Cut,” due to the fact that only the top 75 athletes would be advancing in the competition.

INDIVIDUAL EVENTS - DAY 1

TEAM EVENTS - DAY 1

TEAM EVENT 1: ASSAULT TO BOB

As anticipated, Mayhem Freedom—led by Rich Froning—came out with a dominant Event 1 performance, making short work of “Big Bob” and showing the Team competition who’s boss. After 3 rounds of air bike calories, 30 toes-to-bar, and a Big Bob push, fan-favorites Invictus Boston tied for 6^th with Team Don’t Stop.

Event 1 – Men’s Individual: First Cut

Wildcard Hunter McIntyre finished the first 400m run first, entering the coliseum with a lot to prove as he started chipping away at the remaining work in Event 1. But it was fellow Wildcard, Ben Smith, and 11-time CrossFit Games athlete who really set the pace in Heat 1 with a time of 16:28, a time which landed him an overall 8^th place finish after the dust settled from the final heat. McIntyre finished 46^th overall.

After his Heat 2 win in Event 1, James Newbury remarked, “I feel really good. That type of workout really suits me.” A fact which anyone watching the event was able to clearly see, as Newbury somehow made Event 1 look easy with a time of 16:21 for 6^th place overall.

2018’s Fittest Man on Earth Mat Fraser came out and made sure everyone knew he came to play in Event 1, finishing all 4 rounds in 15:07 for the event win.

*WD: Frederik Aegidius withdrew for competition.

Both James Newbury and Jacob Heppner looked like majestic sweaty beasts while snatching in their final rounds.

Is Mat Fraser the "Maverick" to Pat Vellner's "Goose"?

Event 1 – Women’s Individual: First Cut

There was no doubt from the second the buzzer rang that 2018’s Fittest Woman on Earth Tia Toomey was going to take this event. Her performance was dominant and strong.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Haley Adams made her debut in the Individual Women’s division with an impressive 4^th place finish in Event 1, as one of the only 4 women to even finish the event before the time cap.

Kari Pearce looked strong in the first event with her 2^nd place finish nearly 2:00 under the time cap. While fan-favorites and Games veterans Samantha Briggs and Laura Horvath pushed their way through a grueling first event to sit in 8th and 16th—respectively—overall.

Event 2 – Teams: Worm Thruster

Another overall event win for Mayhem Freedom, led by the G.O.A.T. Rich Froning, 0:30 ahead of X-Terminators‘s second-place time of 16:25. Back-to-back 1^st place wins has to feel good heading into final Event 3 on Day 1 of competition.

Team Vondelgym and Don't Stop putting in work to finish Team Event 2 strong.

Event 3 – Teams: Clean & Jerk

Real shocker here, Mayhem Freedom stole 2^nd place overall in Event 3 with a 1,120 lb. Clean & Jerk total for the team to further secure their 1^st place spot overall. Invictus took 1^st in the event with 1,160 lb. total, pushing them up to 4^th place overall on the Team Leaderboard.

FINAL LEADERBOARD AFTER DAY 1 OF TEAM COMPETITION:

Event 2 – Men’s: Second Cut

True to form, Mat Fraser took a back-to-back 1st-place finish, looking dominant as ever alongside 4th-place finisher overall James Newbury, 5th place athlete and Wildcard Ben Smith, and top-10 finisher Jacob Heppner. His magic mullet proved to be good luck for wildcard Hunter McIntyre who tied for 72nd in Event 2, landing him outside of a qualifying spot and ending his chance of moving into Day 2 of competition. We're all damn proud of you, Hunter — you can now add CrossFit Games athlete to your resume. (Look forward to seeing more of Hunter around the FITAID Morning Show throughout this weekend.)

FINAL TOP-10 LEADERBOARD AFTER DAY 1 OF INDIVIDUAL MEN'S COMPETITION:

Event 2 – Women’s: Second Cut

Sara Sigmundsdóttir came out hungry to redeem her 40^th place Event 1 finish—she led Heat 1 for most of Event 2 which consisted of an 800m row, 66 KB jerks, and a 132-ft. handstand walk. However, a fail just a few feet from the finish line sent Sigmundsdóttir back to that last section of the handstand walk and landed her an over finish of 17^th place with a time of 7:17.

After the dust settled on the second (final) heat for the women …

Danielle Brandon got her first-ever event win with a time of 6:16, after demonstrating some serious smooth sailing on her handstand walks.
Toomey surprised us all by shaking up the Leaderboard, talking 12^th in the event, and now site in 3rd place overall.
Sam Briggs struggled with the final handstand walk, but finished the event until the 10:00 time cap and sits in 22nd place overall as we head into the weekend.
Kari Pearce, who has never been the overall leader at the CrossFit Games, now sits in 1^st place in the Women’s Division and will put on the coveted white Leader’s jersey as we head into the weekend.

FINAL LEADERBOARD AFTER DAY 1 OF INDIVIDUAL WOMEN'S COMPETITION:

CONCLUSION

While Mat Fraser may once again be sitting pretty atop the Leaderboard after Day 1, podium-hopefuls like James Newbury, Ben Smith, Scott Panchik and Patrick Vellner proved they came to put up a fight. Toomey will no-doubt quickly rise to the challenge of working her way up from her current 3^rd place overall, sitting just below Annie Thorisdottir who sits in 2^nd overall after a 6^th place and 5^th place finish in Events 1 and 2. Now 26^th overall at the end of Day 1, Iceland's Sara Sigmundsdóttir said with a smile, “It can never start well, right?” Sigmundsdóttir seems eager to work her way up the Leaderboard over the next three days, and we are confident she will.

With the field narrowed to 50 male and 50 female athletes after Day 1, there are still a lot of events yet to come and plenty of chances for athletes and teams to shake up the standings. Hold onto your wrist wraps, the excitement is just beginning as we wrap up the first of four full days of competition here at the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games.

GOOD LUCK, athletes — the Games have officially begun!

LIFEAID Co-Founder Aaron Hinde Speaks at 2019 EPIC Mastermind Conference

"What we're gonna talk about tonight is gonna bring it to the next level, I promise you," says Hinde, co-founder and president of LIFEAID Beverage Co. in Santa Cruz, California, as he shares the steps it took to build a company from $0 to $1M dollars in annual revenue and succeed both in business & life. (51:23)

Watch the full speech here.

HindeSight | No. 8

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