Brandon shares that he started out his career as a band director. He found the work rewarding, but like many of us, he found himself struggling with his health. He describes the week where he realized he had had enough, when he saw a picture of himself on social media, weighed 244 pounds, found out he was pre-diabetic and was struggling to fit into his clothes. 

He decided to become a runner. Using the program couch to 5k and loseit.com to track calories he committed to run 6 days a week. After years of not missing a day, he had become a marathon runner and lost 88 pounds! This led him to help other people achieve similar results and after some time his passion for fitness grew into a career. He got his certification and became a trainer.

We pepper Brandon with some health questions about everything from hot peppers, BPA plastics, multivitamins, and ED. A lot of practical information in this episode.

Brandon's approach that there are no shortcuts and helping his clients find what intrinsically motivates them is a great metaphor for business owners and entrepreneurs who like many fad dieters fall, victim, the marketing of a glossy looking course that will help you 10X your business with this simple step... It takes a solid plan and consistency to make a lasting change. This is true for your fitness and your business.

Brandon shares his reason for starting The Fire Within and the story behind his logo and his branding. The legend of the Pheonix is that it catches on fire and turns to ash and then emerges completely anew. This is the kind of transformation he sees happen in his clients as they burn their old habits and emerge new people.

We talked about some of the myths of nutrition and fitness that new science in the past 10 -15 years have shown that goes against much of the conventional wisdom known to most of us as Americans. When it comes to nutrition, wheat, grain, and corn should not be the staples that most Americans have made them. When it comes to fitness, steady-state cardio can inhibit results and is, in many cases, less effective than strength training for fat loss and increasing your VO2 levels. 

Also mentioned in this episode

• The Fire Within Fitness and Nutrition Podcast
• Couch to 5k
• Loseit.com to track calories