Australia can hold on to Russell Crowe and even the pavlova with refined sugar as long as Dr Libby is allowed to stay. Dr Libby is a dynamic nutritionist who has a PhD in Biochemistry and a passion for helping people reach their full potential. She’s a great asset to Australia. We claim her because she married her Kiwi husband, Chris Weaver, in 2008.
We’ll likely have to fight hard to keep her after she recently signed with alternative book publishing giants Hay House in America.
Viva spoke with Libby just before the launch of From Exhausted to Energized.
She explains her latest topic: “I wanted people to have a discussion about energy as the real currency of good health.” Weight has been the indicator of health up until now, but our innate energy is a much better reflection of what’s going on.
From Exhausted To Energized, Dr. Libby’s eighth book is a natural progression in what she has identified throughout her 17-year career as a field that desperately needs tangible help.
“People are privileged, but when asked how they feel, they will say, “I’m tired,” “I’m bad,” “stressed” or, simply, that they’re busy.”
Libby argues that many people use their “incredible” lives to justify being too tired to enjoy them. “They live amazing lives but complain about it.” It just kept striking me that people don’t seem to be able to enjoy their lives because they lack the physical energy.
She has identified a concept she calls “open loops” or “open tabs,” which will resonate with those living in this ultra-charged time.
She explains. “That’s exactly what people do to their brains every day.”
She describes a typical workday for many people: “You arrive at your workplace, and you read 25 emails that have been received overnight. Four of the emails are replied to, but 21 others create a loop in your mind. You’re also thinking about how to remove a stain from your carpet, picking up your children, and planning your dinner.
Libby’s study suggests that a person can have as many as 300 tabs in their mind at any given time. It is draining our energy.
The book offers practical advice on how to close the loops. One of the most important is scheduling. Libby explains that the “To Do” list can be useless as people will still prioritize the easiest or preferred tasks and never close the tabs.
People’s brains can function more effectively with strict scheduling. For example, having three times per day set aside for emailing and one hour each day to return and make phone calls. “Creatives often resist scheduling, so I encourage them at first to do it only two or three times a week. The tabs will soon be closed, and they’ll find it gives them more creative ideas.
Libby also recommends identifying “hell yes” moments in her book as a way to “close tabs.” She says, “the,se days, if it is not hell yes, it has to be no.” She explains how most people say yes to things because they feel obliged to, but when we lack the energy or time to complete them, it adds to our fatigue.
“We jump in straight away because we have a kind heart, but it can really take our energy from where we want to focus our attention on our family, work, fitness, and the things we love.
Libby’s “hell yes” moment came when she was asked to speak at Sir Richard Branson’s retreat on Necker Island to a group of entrepreneurs.
It was a great professional and personal experience. The unguarded access she had to executives at the highest levels of business also made for fascinating material for her book. Libby will tell you instantly what she found most surprising about her research.
The morning ritual was a non-negotiable requirement for most of the successful people I interviewed.
It was a very impressive thing that they were all looking out for themselves.
It’s as if she reads their diary. Her ability to read people’s minds, to identify what they can’t change, and to give them the tools to do it is uncanny.
Her research and vision are impeccable, but her greatest gift is her ability to take the scientific and find its emotional counterparts. She then packages it in a way everyone can understand.
Hay House, which has 30 New York Times Bestsellers on its roster, will release her books globally in January. New Zealand should claim her now while they can.
She assures us that “my clinic (Dr Libby’s private practice is located in Shortland St., Auckland) is a wonderful support system for the people, and a contact point for those who want to receive one-on-one advice.” “My New Zealand office is my home.”