Wellness Reimagined: Nicholas Frye Of Medifast On 5 Things That Should Be Done To Improve and Reform The Health & Wellness Industry
An Interview With Maria Angelova
Small changes add up and so even small victories should be celebrated. Of course, we all love to see results. The transformation. But what about all the steps and small victories along the way? As an industry, there needs to be a shift in focus from only the end result to the process, the journey, the struggles and the small triumphs. After all, the definition of wellness itself is not a state of being but rather it’s the active process that leads to health.
In our world of constant change, and with life moving faster than ever, topics such as mental health, self-care, and prevention have become popular buzzwords. People are looking to live healthier lives, and there is superb care out there that is being offered. At the same time, there are misconceptions about the meaning of self-care and exercise. Many opt for quick solutions — surgery, pills — to dull the problem without adequately addressing the underlying cause. Meanwhile, many parts of the industry are unregulated and oversaturated. People with years of training are competing with people with weekend training. Many providers are overworked, overwhelmed, and underpaid. The general public is not educated about asking the right questions when selecting a wellness provider. In the face of all this, what can be done to correct the status quo? In this interview series, we are seeking to hear from a variety of leaders in the health and wellness industries who agree that the wellness industry is in need of an overhaul and offer suggestions about what can be done moving forward. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Nick Frye.
Nick Frye, MS, LCPC, CHES®, serves as the Behavioral Counseling Manager for OPTAVIA, the health and wellness brand under the global company Medifast, and is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Certified Health Education Specialist and affiliate instructor in the Department of Psychology at Loyola University Maryland. He has expertise in mental and behavioral health, nutrition, exercise, weight management and integrative health approaches. His experience includes counseling and psychotherapy in hospital outpatient clinics, community mental health programs and private practice as well as designing and managing health and wellness programs; developing and delivering training and education seminars; and communicating health information related to weight loss, body image, emotional health, stress management and habit change.
Thank you so much for doing this interview. It is an honor. Our readers would love to learn more about you and your personal background. Can you please share your personal backstory? What has brought you to this point in your life?
It is my pleasure. I am truly grateful to participate in this interview. For me, like many young people, I entered college with absolutely no idea what I wanted to major in and what career I wanted to pursue. So, I tried a bit of everything. English Literature. History. Political Science. But it wasn’t until I took Psychology 101 that I discovered my calling. I fell in love with studying human behavior, fascinated by questions about why we make the decisions we make, why we behave the way we do, and why our intentions so often misalign with those behaviors. I completed my undergraduate work in psychology and then went onto graduate school to study counseling psychology to become a psychotherapist. After a few years of working in substance use disorder treatment programs as well as private practice treating people suffering with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, I decided that I wanted to focus on habits. In particular, how our habits impact our physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing. And so, 11 years ago, I came to work for Medifast, the global company behind one of the fastest-growing health and wellness communities, OPTAVIA, as the Behavioral Counseling Manager and a large part of my work here is rooted in just that: habits.
What is your “why” behind the work that you do? What fuels you?
I am driven by bringing order to chaos. I love turning confusion into clarity. And I most enjoy doing that for people — helping to solve problems and supporting them when they face a challenge. When someone is struggling with their health, having a hard time maintaining a healthy weight, eating nutritious food or finding time to exercise or they just can’t seem to get quality sleep, that person’s life feels chaotic and confusing. Perhaps they’ve gone online to research healthy eating or fitness or getting a good night’s sleep. Then, quite likely, they walked away from their research feeling more confused and hopeless than ever. Or tried to implement the tips they read about but can’t seem to make them stick and end up feeling like a failure. They are not, by the way.
Often, people are lacking the roadmap they need for behavior change through healthy habit creation and the right support along the way. That’s why I stand behind working to bring people a simple solution to their health that focuses on making small changes that can compound into significant results.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting new projects you are working on now?
The lifeblood of our program is our independent OPTAVIA coaches, who work directly with clients providing them with encouragement and support. And because about 90% of our coaches started as clients, they have that shared experience and understanding of what it takes to transform your life. The human relationship element of our program is paramount, so what has me most excited is how we build on it by facilitating and enhancing relationships through digital products and data insights. Providing new tools for our coaches — like an in-app robust, customizable recipe library — that helps them to support their clients is an exciting part of how we’re innovating at the company.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Early in my career with the company, I was involved in developing a behavior change program. I used the best available evidence to determine which strategies and techniques the program would focus on and pulled from my real-world clinical experience to develop the activities for clients. To me, it was a recipe for success, but clients weren’t fully connecting with what the program was asking of them. This taught me an incredibly valuable lesson: Evidence and experience aren’t enough if you don’t take into account the preferences of your specific client base. Today, we have an engaged community of more than 60,000 active earning coaches and even more clients who are happy to talk with us about their experiences as we continually work to optimize and build on the success of our OPTAVIA program.
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. From where you stand, why are you passionate about the topic of Reimagining The Health and Wellness industries? Can you explain what you mean with a story or an example?
I’m passionate about reimagining the health and wellness industry because when I take a look at the landscape, I see a lot of overcomplication and confusion. With the abundance of wellness information, products and programs out there, people can easily fall into the trap of ‘analysis paralysis’ where most of their energy is spent researching what they should be doing and then waiting to find the perfect solution before taking action. I think it’s time we got back to basics. It’s time we focus on making small changes and building small habits to create a foundation of wellness from which we can stand.
I’ll share a personal example: I was an athlete most of my life and my sport was swimming. I started swimming competitively when I was 9 years old at the local community pool and kept on going until I graduated college. Because swimming is a sport that comes down to tenths of a second, everyone is always looking for whatever slight advantage they can gain. From new swimsuit technology to better goggles. But oftentimes, a race would come down to the basics. Which swimmer had the faster start? The better stroke technique? Who had the tighter flip turns? The basics, the fundamentals, the foundational elements make all the difference.
From a habit perspective, the approach for how to create healthy habits is simple. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy, which is why I’m also passionate about making sure people have support as they go about implementing these lifestyle changes. And this is so much more than going to the doctor — yes, we need that too, but consistent peer support and a healthy environment play a big role as well.
When I talk about Reimagining the Wellness industry, I am talking about reimagining it from the perspective of the providers as well as from the perspective of the recipients and patients. Can you share a few reasons why the status quo is not working for both providers and patients?
When I think about the status quo within the health and wellness industry, I imagine a scenario where a person goes to an expert, some health professional, for help. The expert provider gives excellent information, makes fantastic recommendations, and gives them resources to get started. The patient gets excited by what they’ve learned and has every intention of going home and implementing all the recommendations. Then a week or a month later, they go back to the provider with a hangdog expression and say, “I failed. I don’t have the willpower. I can’t do it.”
The problem in this paradigm is the lack of a supportive, positive community that encourages doing the basics, and creating simpler ways to develop healthy habits in an unhealthy world. For a lot of people, this type of support needs to show up in their life on a daily or weekly basis.
Why do you think there is a good opportunity now to improve and reform the health and wellness industry?
We recently conducted a survey at Medifast that found that while 81 percent of U.S. adults have cut spending in the last six months, 70 percent say they don’t plan on letting their health and wellbeing falter. This suggests that health and wellbeing is important, valuable and a worthy pursuit in people’s lives. This high level of interest and importance that people are placing on health and wellness coincides with an opportunity to reform the industry for the better. We need to give them the realistic and holistic solutions they’re searching for.
Can you please share your “5 Things That Should Be Done To Improve and Reform The Health & Wellness Industry”? Please share an example or story for each if you can.
First, the concept of the lone ranger is best saved for the movies. In real life, when you want to make real changes in your life, you’re going to need help. There is something so powerful about being a part of community all heading in the same direction. All pointed toward a ‘north star’ of health and wellbeing. Too often, I’ve seen people taking on the challenge of change all by themselves. Perhaps they don’t want to inconvenience or burden others. Maybe they think that they should be able to do it all on their own or they simply don’t have anyone in their life they can rely on. Regardless of the reason, the industry needs to focus on creating positive and supportive communities of people working together to help each other on their journeys.
Second, all these ideas of easy solutions need to make way for simple solutions. Easy and simple are not synonymous. I’m a bit of a ‘word guy’ as my grandmother used to call me and so I think it’s important to have clear and precise definitions for the words we use. Easy refers to something that can be accomplished with little effort. Simple refers to something that is straightforward and uncomplicated. However, it cannot be accomplished without effort. The health and wellness industry needs to focus on creating simple, uncomplicated solutions that fit into people’s lives while also recognizing there needs to be intentional and focused effort to be successful.
Third, small changes add up and so even small victories should be celebrated. Of course, we all love to see results. The transformation. But what about all the steps and small victories along the way? As an industry, there needs to be a shift in focus from only the end result to the process, the journey, the struggles and the small triumphs. After all, the definition of wellness itself is not a state of being but rather it’s the active process that leads to health.
Fourth, habits and systems are just as important as goals. Everybody wants to achieve their goals and for many people striving for health and wellbeing that means reaching a goal weight or losing a specific number of pounds. While effective goals are good things, it is important to understand the habits and systems that lead to those goals being achieved. I believe both goals and systems have their place within the industry, and both can be used effectively together. We need to move past the notion that one is superior to the other. Set effective goals, then form habits and systems to help you achieve those goals.
Fifth, and I have touched on this previously, we need to get back to the basics. It doesn’t matter so much that your new water bottle has the most cutting-edge thermo-technology. What matters is whether you’re staying hydrated. There’s nothing wrong with having or wanting any of those things, and if a fancy water bottle helps you to drink more water throughout the day, great, but we must not lose sight of the foundations of health and wellness. Focus on achieving a healthy weight. Eat nutritious foods. Stay hydrated. Get enough sleep. Manage your stress. Connect with people.
From the recipient and patient side of the industry, can you please share a few ways that patients and recipients should reimagine what the wellness and healthcare industry should provide?
People should expect that the industry sees them as an individual, with a unique set of experiences and needs. Although there are general approaches that work well for the majority of people, it’s the uniqueness of each individual that needs more attention. This is just another reason why I think relationships and communities are so important in health and wellness. A coach working one-on-one with a person can take the time to listen to that person’s beliefs, values, experiences and needs and offer individualized guidance. And a community can provide a sense of unity and togetherness while also acknowledging and encouraging the special contribution each person can make.
What do you think are the biggest roadblocks to reforming the industry? What can be done to address those hurdles?
The internet and social media have done amazing things for our ability to connect across previously insurmountable distances, and to provide access to information — and support! — like never before. At the same time, social media can be a detriment to our wellbeing when misused, which is easy to do because of the addictive nature of these platforms. To address this, we can turn to teaching people healthy habits. If you build good habits around your use of technology, you can deter or at least minimize any potential negative consequences to mental health.
I’m very passionate about the topic of proactive versus reactive self-care and healthcare. What do you think can be done to shift the industries towards a proactive healthcare approach? How can we shift the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike?
I couldn’t agree with you more and the advice typically given around self-care is the perfect example of why we need to transition from the reactive to proactive. Self-care advice generally goes something like this, “If you’ve had a stressful day, make time for a bubble bath.” Or, “If you’re feeling stressed out, be sure to treat yourself to something special.” There’s nothing wrong with bubble baths or treating yourself from time to time, the problem is that these strategies are reactive and short-term.
Whenever I talk to people about self-care, I focus on creating a plan, developing habits and creating systems that can easily integrate into their life; making sure they are enjoyable and satisfying activities that align with their personal values. This means habitually fueling yourself with nutritious and delicious foods, moving your body throughout the day with both planned exercise and unplanned movement, and having a nighttime and sleep routine. But perhaps the biggest area of proactive self-care is in our relationships. Connecting with others, spending time with family, friends or someone who brings you joy, and setting healthy boundaries are the best way we can engage in proactive self-care.
Thank you for all that great insight! Let’s start wrapping up. Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
My favorite life lesson quote goes, “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.” This ancient wisdom from the Old Testament resonates with me so much as a person who is energized by solving problems with careful thought and consideration. A person who appreciates having time to produce quality results. But not only that, it resonates with what I see as two critical qualities for someone looking to improve their health and wellbeing: patience and persistence.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)
What a fun question! I would have to say game designer, researcher and author Jane McGonigal. She invented SuperBetter, a game that helps players tackle real-life health challenges like depression, anxiety, chronic pain and traumatic brain injury. What’s so cool about her work is that it’s not what you typically think of when you think about gamification. You know, adding game-like elements to something to try to motivate somebody to do something they maybe don’t want to do. Her focus is on designing games where players are intrinsically motivated. Her games are about using strengths to confront challenges, change habits and live better lives.
I appreciate your time and valuable contribution. One last question, how can people reach or follow you?
It has been my absolute pleasure, thank you. Although I do have social media profiles, they are almost exclusively dedicated to pictures of my beautiful wife and adorable daughter. The best way to reach me is by good ol’ fashioned email: nicholas.frye@medifastinc.com. And if you want to learn more about our approach to redefining health and wellness, visit OPTAVIA.com.
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.
About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.
