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by Derek Edward Opperman (Author)
Derek Opperman's life was imploding. As a fitness professional managing gym studios and running health retreats, he was supposed to be the picture of wellness. Instead, he was living a dangerous double life- preaching health and mindfulness by day while bingeing on drugs and alcohol at night.
An unexpected pregnancy became his reckoning. He could continue down his destructive path or finally become the man his daughter deserved. He chose transformation, but not the way you might think.
This isn't a story about sudden perfection or extreme discipline. It's about a flawed father and fitness coach who learned to make wellness work within the full catastrophe that is real life. Between running a business with a rigorous travel schedule and raising two kids Derek discovered something revolutionary: you don't need more time to get healthy. You need smarter habits.
Eat the Apple, Take the Stairs is your roadmap to sustainable health without the overwhelm. Through honest stories and frameworks honed through coaching hundreds of busy professionals and parents, Derek shows you how to:
* Find the hidden 5-60 minute gaps in your "impossible" schedule
* Build your Chief Health Officer (CHO) calendar that makes healthy habits automatic
* Master the 80/20 approach: get 80% of results with 20% of the effort
* Use "word magic" to overcome the "but I don't have time" mindset
* Stack simple practices (apples, stairs, morning sunshine) into transformative routines
No daylong meal prep marathons. No 5am gym sessions. No giving up your social life or favorite foods forever.
Just practical, proven strategies for real people with real constraints-shift workers, single parents, traveling executives, anyone who's ever thought "I know what I should do, I just can't find the time."
Eat the Apple, Take the Stairs proves that one's health doesn't need a complete overhaul. It needs small, consistent choices woven into the life already being lived.
Start with one apple. One flight of stairs. And change everything.
