Flip your Script

Welcome to another episode of Flip Your Script, a vodcast by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, hosted by ACLM President Dr. Padmaja Patel. In each episode, we explore five key takeaways on how lifestyle medicine is helping clinicians and leaders reimagine the future of healthcare.

This episode, “The Power Behind Lasting Change,” features Dr. Jessica Matthews, a nationally recognized leader in health coaching, behavior change, and whole-person health. As a tenured professor at Point Loma Nazarene University and Founding Director of Health Coaching at UC San Diego Health, Dr. Matthews has spent her career helping clinicians and patients move beyond simply knowing what to do and toward creating meaningful, sustainable lifestyle change.

The conversation explores why lasting behavior change is about more than willpower, the science of intrinsic motivation, and how coaching can empower patients to take an active role in their health. Dr. Matthews shares practical insights on self-determination theory, the importance of empathy and curiosity in clinical practice, the growing impact of group medical visits, and how technology can support behavior change without losing sight of the whole person. Together, she and Dr. Patel discuss how lifestyle medicine professionals can build stronger relationships with patients, foster lasting motivation, and create healthier communities through collaborative, person-centered care.

If you're interested in lifestyle medicine, health coaching, behavior change, motivational interviewing, self-determination theory, patient empowerment, whole-person health, group medical visits, physician coaching, chronic disease prevention, healthcare innovation, or sustainable healthy habits, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Subscribe to ACLM on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsjJsNjWtUf30LiofumGRfQ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the medical professional society for physicians and other professionals dedicated to clinical and worksite practice of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable healthcare system. Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. 

Lifestyle medicine-certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connections—also provides effective prevention for these conditions.

Connect with ACLM Online!

Visit lifestylemedicine.org: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lifestylemedicine.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/lifestylemed/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/ACLifeMed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aclifemed/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-college-of-lifestyle-medicine/

Welcome to another episode of Flip Your Script, a vodcast by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, hosted by ACLM President Dr. Padmaja Patel. In each episode, we explore five key takeaways on how lifestyle medicine is helping clinicians and leaders reimagine the future of healthcare.

This episode, “The Science of Happiness: Building Health Through Purpose, Gratitude, and Connection,” features leaders from ACLM’s Happiness Science Member Interest Group who are exploring the powerful connection between well-being and long-term health. Drawing from the fields of lifestyle medicine, positive psychology, coaching, and behavioral science, the discussion highlights how happiness is more than a feeling—it’s a measurable contributor to better health outcomes and a key driver of sustainable lifestyle change.

The conversation explores the science behind happiness and flourishing, the role of purpose and social connection in supporting healthy behaviors, and how cultivating gratitude, optimism, and personal strengths can improve both mental and physical well-being. The guests discuss how helping patients build a sense of agency can transform health outcomes, why positive emotions make healthy habits easier to sustain, and practical strategies anyone can use to improve their quality of life.

If you're interested in lifestyle medicine, happiness science, positive psychology, behavior change, mental well-being, resilience, purpose, social connection, gratitude, stress management, chronic disease prevention, or human flourishing, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

00:00 Introduction
03:15 What Drew You to Lifestyle Medicine and Happiness Science
09:43 The Connection Between Lifestyle Medicine and Happiness
13:00 How Building Agency Helps People Create Lasting Change
16:01 Why Purpose and Relationships Matter for Sustainable Health Habits
20:02 Simple Practices to Improve Well-Being, Gratitude, and Joy
24:44 Closing Thoughts

Subscribe to ACLM on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsjJsNjWtUf30LiofumGRfQ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the medical professional society for physicians and other professionals dedicated to clinical and worksite practice of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable healthcare system. Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. 

Lifestyle medicine-certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connections—also provides effective prevention for these conditions.

Connect with ACLM Online!

Visit lifestylemedicine.org: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lifestylemedicine.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/lifestylemed/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/ACLifeMed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aclifemed/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-college-of-lifestyle-medicine/

Welcome to another episode of Flip Your Script, a vodcast by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, hosted by ACLM President Dr. Padmaja Patel. In each episode, we explore five key takeaways on how lifestyle medicine is helping clinicians and leaders reimagine the future of healthcare.

This episode, “The Missing Link in Healthcare: The Power of Health Coaching,” features leaders in the health and wellness coaching space who are helping transform how patients make and sustain meaningful lifestyle changes. Through evidence-based behavior change strategies, health coaches bridge the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it—empowering patients to achieve lasting improvements in their health and well-being.

The conversation explores the growing role of health and wellness coaches within healthcare teams, the science behind behavior change, and how coaching supports patients in building healthier habits around nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management, and other lifestyle factors. The guests discuss why coaching is becoming an increasingly valuable component of lifestyle medicine, how coaches collaborate with clinicians, and the measurable impact coaching can have on patient engagement and outcomes.

If you're interested in lifestyle medicine, behavior change, patient engagement, health coaching, wellness programs, chronic disease prevention, team-based care, or helping patients create lasting healthy habits, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Subscribe to ACLM on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsjJsNjWtUf30LiofumGRfQ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Access Lifestyle Medicine for Coaches: https://www.wellcoachesschool.com/lifestyle-medicine-for-coaches

Read the Compendium of Health and Wellness Coaching: 2023 Addendum: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40152886/

Learn about the National Board of Certified Health and Wellness Coaches: https://nbhwc.org/

Access the Members-Only Health and Wellness Coaches Toolkit (become a member to access): https://connect.lifestylemedicine.org/viewdocument/health-and-wellness-coach

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the medical professional society for physicians and other professionals dedicated to clinical and worksite practice of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable healthcare system. Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. 

Lifestyle medicine-certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connections—also provides effective prevention for these conditions.

Connect with ACLM Online!

Visit lifestylemedicine.org: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lifestylemedicine.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/lifestylemed/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/ACLifeMed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aclifemed/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-college-of-lifestyle-medicine/

Welcome to another episode of Flip Your Script, a vodcast by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, hosted by ACLM President Dr. Padmaja Patel. In each episode, we explore five key takeaways on how lifestyle medicine is helping clinicians and leaders reimagine the future of healthcare.

This episode, “The Future of Surgery Starts Before the OR,” features Dr. Michael Suk, a nationally recognized orthopedic trauma surgeon, physician executive, and pioneer in integrating lifestyle medicine into surgical care. As co-founder of Blue Zone Surgeons and co-editor of the forthcoming textbook Lifestyle Medicine and Surgery, Dr. Suk is helping redefine how clinicians think about perioperative care, recovery, resilience, and long-term health outcomes.

The conversation explores why surgery should no longer be viewed as a single isolated procedure, but instead as part of a broader, longitudinal journey of whole-person health. Dr. Suk discusses the role of orthopedic surgeons as unexpected “quarterbacks” of whole-person care, the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration between surgeons and lifestyle medicine clinicians, and why surgical specialties are uniquely positioned to advance prevention-focused healthcare.

If you’re interested in lifestyle medicine, surgery, orthopedic care, perioperative optimization, healthcare innovation, prevention, or the future of whole-person medicine, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

Subscribe to ACLM on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsjJsNjWtUf30LiofumGRfQ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the medical professional society for physicians and other professionals dedicated to clinical and worksite practice of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable healthcare system. Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. 

Lifestyle medicine-certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connections—also provides effective prevention for these conditions.

Connect with ACLM Online!

Visit lifestylemedicine.org: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lifestylemedicine.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/lifestylemed/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/ACLifeMed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aclifemed/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-college-of-lifestyle-medicine/

Welcome to another episode of Flip Your Script, a vodcast by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, hosted by ACLM President Dr. Padmaja Patel. In each episode, we explore five key takeaways on how lifestyle medicine is helping clinicians and leaders reimagine the future of healthcare.

This episode, “The Courage to Pivot: From Sick Care to Lifestyle Medicine,” features Dr. Alicia Craig Rodriguez, a board-certified family nurse practitioner, educator, and leader in integrative health innovation at Florida State University’s College of Nursing. With a career spanning bedside nursing, pharmaceutical drug development, executive leadership, and academic innovation, Dr. Alicia shares the deeply personal and professional journey that led her to rethink how healthcare should be practiced.

The conversation explores what it means to step outside your comfort zone in pursuit of meaningful change. After years leading the development of life-saving medications, Dr. Alicia realized that treating chronic disease required more than prescriptions alone. She discusses why she pivoted back to direct patient care, how lifestyle medicine reshaped her understanding of prevention and healing, and why clinicians must move beyond the traditional “expert model” toward coaching and empowering patients.

You’ll also hear how Dr. Alicia pioneered the nation’s first full academic pathway to lifestyle medicine certification for nurse practitioners, the resistance she encountered along the way, and how evidence, innovation, and persistence helped transform skepticism into momentum. From redesigning healthcare education to creating clinical environments that support disease reversal and whole-person care, this episode offers an inspiring look at what’s possible when clinicians are willing to challenge the status quo.

If you’re interested in lifestyle medicine, nursing leadership, chronic disease prevention, healthcare innovation, or transforming the future workforce of healthcare, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

Subscribe to ACLM on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsjJsNjWtUf30LiofumGRfQ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about ACLM's Academic Pathways: https://lifestylemedicine.org/academic-integration/health-profession-schools/

Learn more about ACLM's LEADR program: https://lifestylemedicine.org/about-aclm/research-innovation/leadr-sma/

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the medical professional society for physicians and other professionals dedicated to clinical and worksite practice of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable healthcare system. Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. 

Lifestyle medicine-certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connections—also provides effective prevention for these conditions.

Connect with ACLM Online!

Visit lifestylemedicine.org: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lifestylemedicine.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/lifestylemed/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/ACLifeMed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aclifemed/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find ACLM on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-college-of-lifestyle-medicine/