Feeding Fatty

Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days - Why Wait Any Longer? with David Medansky

"Diets tend to be trendy & don't work. I'll teach your audience how to lose weight by making small adjustments to their daily eating habits."

David Medansky, a retired divorce attorney, is an international best-selling author, and America's newest authority for successful weight loss.

In July of 2016, his doctor told him to lose weight or find another physician, because he didn't want David dying of a heart attack on his watch. Within four months, Medansky dropped 50 pounds. He wrote about his inspirational weight-reduction journey and lifestyle transformation and how you can do the same in his book, If Not Now, When? Reduce Weight – Create a Healthy Lifestyle.

Medansky teaches them to feel better by eating healthier and stop losing the same 10 pounds over and over. Bottom line, Medansky's clients improve their health, have more energy, and LOVE what they see in the mirror.

www.createyourthinnerself.com

www.feedingfatty.com

Full Transcript Below

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (00:02):

Hello, and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty. This is Roy I'm Terry. So we are the podcasts that, you know, we're chronicling my journey through this weight loss, getting healthy wellness journey that we're on. And then, uh, also, you know, Terry is my support mechanism helping me through this. So, uh, she has, she's got her story to tell too. But the other thing that we do is we have, um, uh, other guests on that are, uh, experts in different areas that can help us out. And today is no different. Uh, David [inaudible] the, uh, the health Maestro actually, uh, he's a retired attorney and an internationally best-selling author and America's newest authority on successful weight loss. In July of 2016, his doctor told him to lose weight or find another physician. He didn't want David dying of a heart attack on his watch within months.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (01:01):

Uh, David dropped 50 pounds. He wrote about his inspirational weight reduction journey and lifestyle transformation and how you can do the same in his book, if not now, when reduce weight, create a healthy lifestyle. David, thanks so much for taking time out of your day to join us and we're looking forward to it. And just, uh, you know, we appreciate you sending the book ahead of time and Terry's had a chance to look at it. And I think she has generated a lot of questions and a lot of stuff. But before we get into all of that, just kinda, uh, you know, tell us a little bit more about your journey, you know, how you find yourself and, uh, you know, in the midst of your doctor, trying to fire you, if you didn't get yourself, get yourself under control and, uh, uh, no, that's, uh, you know, that's, yeah, I'm not quite that I'm not quite there yet, but you know, I do understand that that can be a hard place to be in.

David (01:59):

Well, thanks for having me, Roy, as a guest and Terry appreciate it very much with most people. When I was younger, I was fit and trim. However, life gets in the way. And before I realized that the way to crept up and I was over 225 pounds on five eight, and my doctor told me based on my lab results and being significantly overweight that I needed to either find a new doctor, as you said, or lose the weight because he didn't want me dying on his watch. Now, normally being in the 95 percentile is a good thing, except when it's a death sentence. So if that sort hanging over my head during the next four months, I shed 50 pounds. As you mentioned, ad, the most important thing is I've kept it off.

David (02:46):

What I did was I started rereading the books I had from the 1970s, you know, books like Richard Simmons, Jack, Elaine, Paul and Patricia brag and, and other authors. And then I started reading the current books that are out there today. And what I learned was there's a lot of misinformation and misconceptions being in the newer books, the older books actually had better information. The problem today is people go on diets to lose weight and the diet tends to be temporary, extreme, hard to stick with and potentially dangerous. What you need to do is actually change your lifestyle. And the way I look at it as a diet is similar to a sprint. It has the finished line. And once you reach that finish line, most people revert back to their old eating habits. Exactly. If you lose weight by changing and improving your lifestyle, it's similar to running a marathon except there's no finish line. You just keep going and going and going. So that's part of my, my journey. I wanted to help others. So they don't experience the same OE risks that I was at for an early death, also for people to improve how they feel in priests, their vitality have more energy, feel better and look better and have more self-confidence in themselves. So that's my mission right now is to help other people.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (04:14):

Right. And you know, it's so important that you mentioned, cause that's kinda where we're at or where I'm at is that, um, you know, I don't want to do a fad or do something that is a short term, because like you said, it has a finish line. And then what happens after that? And if we don't, you know, my opinion is only if we don't change our behaviors, if we can't get our minds, right, we can lose all the weight doing whatever the short-term fix is. And then as soon as we get through and try to integrate back into normal life, we put it back on. And I mean, I throw myself under the bus and say, you know, I've been there before. And, uh, so that's why this time, I'm trying to find that, uh, you know, a healthy balance of things that we can do because, um, sometimes we don't know to these diets short, the fad diets and things like that. They can not have other health and we may lose weight, but they have other health implications on us as well.

David (05:11):

Exactly. And they're finding people who are on the keto diet most in are doing in properly. And after a year or two, they're starting to develop, um, what I call Leighton or, you know, delayed negative side effects because you're denying your body, the proper nutrition, right? You have to look at food as fuel for your body. And there's a quote by Heather Morgan. I love where she says, every time you eat or drink something, you're either fighting disease or feeding disease. Interesting. I'm paraphrasing. However, that's the gist of it. And that, that's how I look at it. Is am I putting something into my body? That's going to give it the right nourishment and fuel and treat it like a high performance car or even, you know, most people treat their pets better than they do themselves. Right.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (06:03):

Well, you know, it's the interesting thing is that when we started this, we signed up for, uh, you know, an app that was really good because it not only it had the, the micronutrients as well. And I think people would be surprised even trying to eat good. And what we thought was good with our vegetables and meat and not doing anything extreme, just saying we're eating a well-balanced meal, how, um, how deficient we were in a lot of micronutrients that are very important, you know, so the nice thing is the app has, um, it kind of will prod you to say, if you're short on this, these are foods and where you can recapture that. And so, you know, I know it's not the end all be all, but, uh, especially as we age, you know, there's certain things that we need to, to help us age healthy. And so, uh, but anyway, I think it's just important that, you know, when we do these fads or we go to the extremes, I can only imagine how much these micronutrients that we need that we're losing out on.

David (07:07):

Exactly. And most of us know what to do to reduce weight in a healthy manner. We just choose not to do it, or we forget, or maybe we're not aware of some of the things that we should be doing, right. Or we have bad habits. And how I look at it as bad habits are hard to break and new habits are difficult to create. And the way I explain it is if you just look at your daily routines, those become your behaviors and then your behaviors then consistently become new habits.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (07:42):

Yeah. Before I let Terry jump in here with some questions that are books specific, you know, that's the biggest hurdle for me that I don't know if, if you can give advice or speak to how you overcame the, those habits, because it's not that, like you said, we know what to do, but unfortunately whether it's laziness or life or other things, we all, you know, I tend to revert back to these bad habits and it's just, you know, I can do, I can do the right thing for a few weeks or a month. And then, you know, I I'll give an example here of late. You know, I got back into the gym a couple of weeks ago and was doing awesome. And then, you know, things have gotten so busy that, you know, I haven't been able to make it over there. We've tried to take some short walks, but, uh, you know, it's just once I kind of, uh, once I get that day off or once I don't, can't do something because of life, it's really hard to pick it back up and just keep moving.

David (08:47):

Well, here's the interesting thing. People think exercising is correlated with weight loss or mistaken. It's a myth, right? A hundred percent of what you put into your mouth has to do with your weight. You can lose weight without exercising. However, poor eating habits will never overcome, you know, your exercise habits. Right. And what happens is people will get frustrated. You don't tell those story if that's okay. Uh, one of my clients was doing everything he was supposed to as far as modifying and improving his eating habits. However, he was frustrated after a couple of weeks, the scale was not showing any difference for his weight. I asked him, I said, well, are you exercising? He says, yes, I'm going for walks. He's walking about five miles a day total. And he's riding his bicycle and doing other things. And I said, well, how are your clothes fitting?

David (09:44):

He said, well, they're looser. And he says, people are noticing that I'm slimming down and make comments. And I said, don't go by the scale, right? Because you're replacing your fat with muscle and muscle and fat weigh the same, however, muscle takes up less room. So give a time. And that's where people get frustrated is they'll go to the gym, there'll be exercising for a week or two. However, the scale won't show any change. Right? So it's like, well, why bother? I'll give up. If they keep going. Like my client did, then all of a sudden the number on the scale went down and that's the difference. So the important thing is your clothes will tell you how you're doing. Right?

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (10:29):

Yeah. And I've always heard a trick on that is, uh, if you take your measurements, when you start on those weeks, when you're not losing weight and you're feeling down like that, if you'll get the tape out and measure, usually you'll find some inspiration in the, uh, the inch loss or, you know, the, I guess the movement of our measurements, however, that works.

David (10:50):

But the other thing is they did research in England. And what they've found is it takes an average of 66 days to create a new habit. Wow. Not 30 days, not 21 days. So you need to give a time. And Darren Hardy has a, he wrote the compound effect. And what he talks about is there, it's the little seemingly inconsequential improvements that you do consistently for a long period of time that will give you noticeable results. And the two operative words are consistently and long period of time. And that's the difference where people want instantaneous results. They listened to the commercials on TV from the national brands and think, Oh, I'll drop 20 pounds the first month. It's unrealistic, nor is it healthy for you to do it that fast? Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (11:43):

Yeah. Uh, in that, um, uh, I've read a similar book it's called the slight edge. And basically, you know, he makes the same point as in he used, he likes to the baseball player. The, you know, if you were to go out today and hit, uh, you know, 500 balls at the batting cage and you never went back out there, you're not gonna see much improvement, but if you go out and hit 500 balls every day for the next six months, you'll definitely see those improvements and, and vice versa. You know, you, uh, if you have a bad habit, say smoking, if you quit smoking for a day, but pick it back up, you're not going to see much. So I think that's an important, uh, and that probably gets back to, you know, making the smaller, incremental changes that we can be consistent over time versus too many making huge changes or too many changes at one time. And I, I know I've read that as well, but, and I'm, I'm guilty of that. You know, you wake up today and gun change everything, and it just makes it so much harder. And then at two o'clock exactly.

David (12:46):

Yeah. What I, what I tell people is I ask them, would you like to wait, you know, 20, 30, 40 pounds lighter by this time next year, most people say, well, of course, and I asked, can you lose two, three or four pounds a month? Not a week in a month. And most people are that's doable. What if you lose two, three or four pounds a month on average for 12 consecutive months, that's anywhere from 24 to 48 pounds. Right? However it's being patient and giving it time also, no one is perfect. And if you get off track, you just need to not beat yourself up, be positive and start over again. The only caveat I would say with that is be careful of making exceptions because they tend to become the rule.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (13:37):

Exactly. Yeah. And that's celebrating. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And that's kind of the same, you know, that's the habit I fall in and, uh, you know, do really good fall off and then it's like, yeah, I'm off. So I might as well just continue, continue these bad habits. But anyway, I'll let, I'm gonna let Terry ask a couple questions that she's pulled out of the book that she'd like to talk about.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (14:02):

Well, I really enjoyed this book and it was, it was an easy read, you know, I, it was, uh, I just, I really, I enjoyed it a lot. And you covered a lot of issues. Um,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (14:15):

Well, well, I'll, I'll testify to that. It'd be, as I'm trying to go to sleep at night, I get the elbow like, Oh my God, we need to drink more water. And they see, like, she'd be telling me all the points that she is reading every night.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (14:26):

He couldn't, he couldn't read anything. So really he was reading it as well. But, um, so your jumping off point was, go into the doctor and then him telling you, if you don't lose that weight, then you know, death is eminent, basically. Yes. So, uh, I, and that's all it took for you

David (14:50):

For me, that's it took, um, for other people, it's other things. I, I have a couple, uh, clients, uh, one was borderline type two diabetic, and then he called me and said, can we work together? I said, sure. I started helping him. He kind of drifted away. And then he called me and says, uh, now I'm a full type two diabetic, what can we do? So he's more enthusiastic. What they say is, what's your why, if you don't have a big enough why you're not going to do it, you need to make a commitment. Everybody wants to lose weight, right? Everybody has a desire to do it. The difference is those people who make a commitment to do it. And that's the difference. Uh, other people I talked to their biggest fear is becoming a type two diabetic, or they're already a type two and want to get off the medication in type two diabetes. For the most part is reversible. The sad statistic is 80% of people who are age 50 or older are either a type two diabetic or pre-diabetic 80% when people were 50. It just blows my mind. When I think of that,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (16:00):

You know, we talked to a guest, um, last week that she reminded me of a good point. Is that in again, I don't have all the research to back this up, but I've heard this multiple times that, um, you know, dementia and Alzheimer's is, uh, what they have termed type three diabetes, basically that if we let this type to run long enough, bad enough, then it, I guess it can be a precursor to, you know, having Alzheimer's. So if, if the, if the medication and the, all the other side effects of, you know, losing toes, limb circulation of, you know, messing up your eyes side, if that's not enough to make you want to change, then that whole threat of being more susceptible to Alzheimer's should definitely wake you up.

David (16:50):

Well, actually, I had a friend asked me, uh, when I wrote the first book, the discover your thinner self, how many people would rather keep their poor eating habits and, um, risk having a disease or illness that's debilitating or even death. And I said, I don't know. He says research and see, and I was amazed how many people would rather keep their poor eating habits and risk those ailments, even, you know, certain types of cancer and early death, um, struggling just to survive each day and give up their junk food and their fast foods and convenient foods.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (17:32):

Yep. Why is it that people feel like they're Bulletproof? I mean, it's like you, you have that teenager mentality and then you just kind of carry it on. It seems like, you know, I think it's denial because, you know, I can only speak for me that it's like, well, that's not really on your mind at the, at the time you're doing something that, you know, you shouldn't be doing. It's more in the moment. And that short, uh, you know, I guess the sugar and the carbs release, some endorphins that give you that higher, the energy or whatever you're looking for. But then, you know, in clear moments like, you know, when you wake up the next day and think, Oh, what did, what did we eat last night? Then it's then it's like, Oh, I need to clean up, clean myself up because of all these things, right?

David (18:17):

Well, we all understand it's difficult to give up cigarette smoking. People understand there's a danger with, you know, lung cancer and throat cancer and other things. However, cigarettes are addicting. Same thing with an alcoholic. They know that alcohol is bad for their liver. It's an addiction. And that's why it's difficult to give it up without a support group. Food is addicting and people may not realize, but they've engineered scientifically engineered the food today to be addictive. They've optimized it to increase your cravings for fat, salt, sugar, and texture. So when they say, bet, you can't eat just one potato chip. It's not a Derrick. It's a fact, in fact, they've done research Oreo cookies, and I guess there's like 66 different types of real cookies now, or something like that. They're more addictive than cocaine. So imagine that a cookie is more addicting than in an illegal substance. Wow. So you can't really blame people sometimes because food, isn't it diction. What I used to tell people is the number one reason people rate was because of stress and what we were boredom. And what do people do to get away from stress. They go on vacation and what are you doing? Vacation? You mean drink?

David (19:42):

However, I was listening to another doctor and what he was saying, it's no longer stress. It's convenience. It's just easier to go through a drive-through at a fast food place. It's easier to order a pizza. It's easier to get a frozen meal and pop in the microwave or open a package, right? People are not eating real food anymore. There are any what I call it, edible products because they're manufactured and processed foods.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (20:13):

Well, and kind of that point on the, uh, the addiction in that, um, you know, we're all addicted to some way to McDonald's French fries. And I I'd read an article a long time ago about them. That what their trick is is that they used to soak them in sugar water before that they fried them up so that they have, you know, a lot, you get the sugar and you get the salt too. So that's one reason that makes him well,

David (20:39):

Actually, yeah, I can dispel that myth because way back in the day, when they had the fresh and we had appeal to them, and then what would they would do is they would blanch them and then they would fry them later. However, it was the oil they used, they used lard. And so it was the oil that gave it the extra crispness and flavor and the way they process it, there was no sugar water used there.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (21:08):

I see grapevines starts those French fries back then were, um, yeah.

David (21:15):

Yeah. Now they're just filled with preservatives and chemicals. Yeah.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (21:21):

Trying to keep, they didn't. Nobody wanted the Lord. The Lord was a big thing. Okay. Well then they just added more stuff or get it.

David (21:28):

Well, no, it was easier to make frozen fries than freshmen. Right,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (21:31):

Right. Yeah. Oh my gosh. That's crazy. Well, um, so 10 behaviors to improve and change to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Let's talk about that chapter.

David (21:46):

Sure. What would you like to know about that chapter? The first behaviors, the first behaviors to drink more water. And the reason being is 75% of the us population is chronically dehydrated. And there's a correlation to people being overweight. 71% of the us adult population is overweight, which 42% are clinically obese. The reason being more people are drinking, soda, diet, soda, orange juice, or fruit juices, and fruit flavor beverages than they do water. Yet our bodies are composed of 60 to 70% water. Well, it's not native diet, soda, or soda or fruit juices. So you need to drink more water.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (22:30):

Yeah. And I liked the, uh, the hint that you gave to about, uh, drinking two cups, I think, or drinking two glasses of water prior 10 minutes prior to [inaudible] or crying.

David (22:44):

The first thing I do in the mornings, I have a 16 ounce glass of water sometimes too. And you rehydrate from sleeping overnight, right? So that's one, you know, at 16 ounces or one eight ounce glass is fine for most people. Uh, and then again, if you just drink two glasses of water before each meal one mid-morning one mid-afternoon, you've got your minimum of 64 ounces. The rule of thumb is drink one half of your body weight in ounces of water. So if you're 220 pounds drinking 110 ounces of water, if you're unable to drink that much water, build up to it, start out with a minimum of 64 ounces. Okay.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (23:24):

Okay. All right. So, um, and then, so there was another one that I was going to ask you about, and I just lost

David (23:33):

About sleeping. Uh, sleep is an important factor.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (23:36):

Sweet. Oh my gosh. We really have a problem with that, but I'm sure many people do just trying to

David (23:43):

Do everything researchers have found is to lose a pound. You need to reduce your caloric intake 500 calories per day for a full week to lose one pound. So the average consumer in just 3,600 calories per day, wow, it's the daily requirements are based on 2000 calories per day, right? If you want to maintain a healthy weight, if you're a guy who was not doing much physical activity, you only need about 1,750 calories. Women only need about 1,250. Wow. So people are consuming two or three times more calories than they need to have most of our empty calories, because there's a difference with net calories. For example, if you eat an Apple and Apple has about a hundred calories, it takes your body 25 calories to digest it. So your dad has 75 calories. If you had a Hershey bar, it's about 125 calories for regular size Hershey bar, it takes your body's zero calories to digest and process it. So your net is 125 calories. Plus the Hershey bar has no nutritional benefit whatsoever other than maybe comfort where the Apple has a lot of phytonutrients and a lot of nutrients for your body.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (24:59):

Yeah, no, that's a good, that goes back to the, um, you know, the exercise and I don't want to, the exercise for the losing weight is not that important, but you know, for just general health, it is important, but we can do the math on this and this what people, I always challenge everybody, get a, get a pencil paper and a calculator and sat down and think about that one Hershey bar, except I eat the big ones. So it's probably about 250 terrible idea. So

David (25:28):

That's what actually is about 450.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (25:32):

So we got 450 calories that we just, and that's, that's not eating the chips and everything else that, you know, that goes with that, we'll take one item 450 for that, that, uh, candy bar. And then you go to the gym and you try to walk for, I don't know, an hour. And you know, like for me, I'd be lucky if I burned 140 calories, you know, during that walk. So anyway, I just always challenge people, do the math. If you, if you need to understand how important the eating factor is in losing weight, because you know, you'd have to go walk, you know, if you want to eat a candy bar, that's fine. But if you're think you can walk it off, you'll have to walk about four hours a day, you know, just to burn that off.

David (26:16):

Well, that's the fallacies people always overestimated how many calories they burn while exercising. Yeah. And underestimate how many calories they're actually consuming. Yeah. The other thing is, uh, with the exercise, I forgot what I was going to say about the extras, but I went back to the sleep issue. What the research has found is people who are sleep deprived tend consume an extra 500 calories per day without adequate sleep. So just getting adequate sleep can help you reduce your cravings. Yeah. I remember we did with the exercise. Exercise is important for overall health and fitness. And that's the difference what most of my clients find is when they reduce the weight and start shedding, some of it, they have more energy, then they want it to become more physically active and you don't have to go to the gym to be more physically active. Like you said, you can go for a walk outside, you can do pushups, you can do leg lifts. There's this little things you can do, um, to get more physically active. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (27:26):

Yeah. And I just bought a, um, one of these TRX bands that I put in, you know, behind me, because during the day it, it makes me get up out of my chair, which that's the thing that, you know, I can get involved in set here all day long and never get up. So I just look for those little things that make me get up, make me do something positive. But anyway, w kind of getting back to the sleep is that, you know, as I've paid more attention to myself, that is so true that, you know, when I'm tired, I'm always looking for something to eat, to, you know, try to give me that little burst of energy to pick me up with con conversely, when I get a good night's sleep for a few nights in a row, and I feel very energized, man. That's when you want to go out and conquer the world and, you know, be very, very active. So it, to me, that is probably one of my bigger triggers is the sleep factor.

David (28:22):

The, the other, uh, that we can talk about is our food portions have been supersized without us realizing it in the 1900 staff average sized dinner plate was nine inches in diameter over the years it's grown. So that today it's now 12 inches in diameter. Wow. Uh, yet in Europe, it's still nine inches in diameter for a dinner size plate in restaurants. The average serving bladder is 12, 13, 15 inches. So what I tell people is if you're at a restaurant, order your food, get a, to go box right away, take care of it, put it in your to-go box, just eat the half there. And that way you get two meals for the price of one. So you're saving money and not over.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (29:10):

Exactly. No, that's a good habit. Good habit to get into. Okay.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (29:15):

You know, uh, another thing I wanted to talk about is the, um, cost of nutritious food versus, um, the non-nutritious food. And, uh, you explained it really well about, um, how well you explain it, because it will come much better out of your mouth. Just the let's talk about. Sure.

David (29:42):

Let's start with eggs. Most people don't realize there's a difference between regular eggs, where the hens are kept in a cage where they call cage-free, which really aren't cage-free hens. If you actually see how they raise them, and then there's, um, pastor eggs now pasture eggs are where the hands actually forge outside for their own food. The bugs worms grass, like they're supposed to cage-free. If it says that they have special feed or grain fed that's corn and soy that's unhealthy because it's in the egg. So the price of eggs can be anywhere from a dollar 99 for regular eggs and pasture eggs can cost anywhere from four 50 to $9, depending where you get them. People are like, I don't want to spend six or $7 on a dozen eggs. Well, if you think about it, it's only 50 cents an egg. If you spend $6 for a carton and there's a dozen in them, however, they have no qualms going to McDonald's and getting a breakfast sandwich or combo meal that they're spending four 50 to $6 for, for one meal.

David (30:47):

So there's a difference there. The other thing is most of the drive-through is an average meals, anywhere from six to $8, it doesn't cost that much to get a can of tuna. As long as it's packed in water, um, eat maybe a half an avocado or an avocado or an Apple in a slice of Zeke, your bread, as opposed to the process breads that are on the shelf, Zeke, your breads found in the frozen food section. If you don't refrigerate it after two weeks, it goes bad. Where if you get the regular chef bought breads, um, they can last for six, seven months and still fresh because of all the chemicals in there. So that's it. It's just little things like that. If you think about it, the other thing with tuna, if you look at the front of most cans, it'll say packed in water.

David (31:35):

However, if you turn it over and look at the nutritional fact label, it'll say packed in, it'll say tuna water, vegetable broth, and sometimes Seesaw. Well, my question is what's in the vegetable broth and it can be up to 168 different compounds in there. So you don't know what's actually in the water. Wow. That's, you're brought that's in the tuna. The only places I found actual tuna, um, is wild planet. I have Costco and also the, uh, Carolyn brand and also chicken of the sea that I get at Costco, which is interesting because the chicken to see at the grocery store, it says it's packed in, um, vegetable Bri. So we need to start reading the nutritional fact labels to see what's in there. If you eat an organic Apple, it's a little bit more expensive than regular apples. However, what they're finding is regular apples, you know, have the chemicals in there from the pesticides and the fertilizers that they're using.

David (32:38):

So I look at it as like the Fram oil commercial from way back in the seventies. You can pay me a little now to do it right. Or you can pay me a lot later to fix it when it's messed up. It's like your body, you can pay a little bit extra for the healthy nutritional food, or you can wait and you get sick. And then you're starting to pay the doctor, your extra money that you say for medical advice. Now you're on prescription medicine. You have less energy. You're not as vital. And so you have a lower quality of lifestyle, as opposed to just eating a little healthier pain, you know, the extra money for it

Terry - Feeding Fatty (33:16):

And bear, bear. Yeah. That's, that's what I was trying to get at was the, you know, pay, pay now or pay later and you have to pay. And, but I mean, just steadily pay or pay in bulk after something happens to you from eating all of this stuff.

David (33:33):

Exactly. And the way I look at it as being healthy and eating healthy, it's like paying rent and the rent is due every day, right?

Terry - Feeding Fatty (33:45):

Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (33:45):

Well, and the, you know, you, I think you made a good point that w we don't, nobody ever thinks twice about zipping through McDonald's and throwing out, you know, 10 bucks for a supersized quarter pound meal and, uh, everything that goes along with that. So we could take that money and spend it a little bit, uh, better to eat more healthier, you know, from the grocery store.

David (34:06):

Well, now they're do gimmick is buy one, get one free. So you can buy one sandwich and get two sandwiches free, which is great. If you're going to share the other sandwich with another person or whatever, a lot of people just eat, both sandwiches themselves. So now you're over consuming and you're thinking I got a great value. Well, what kind of value did you get? Did you get great value for your body, or did you get great value for your wallet? Yeah, you have to look at that.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (34:36):

That's something that's come to light too. I kind of, it's a new catchphrase that I'm trying to try to use more often is, you know, we don't want to outlive our wellness. And I think that's something that, um, you know, we have to consider with everything we put in our mouth and, you know, a lot of other decisions about things that we do is to me, the very worst thing that could happen is to, you know, have to live in a shell of a body that doesn't work right. Or, uh, just not being able to get out of bed or go find, you know, there's so many things that can go wrong, but anyway, you know, we want to try to match our wellness to our lifespan, for sure.

David (35:15):

Well, Dr. Bob Martin has a great quote. He says, if you wear out your body, where else are you going to live? Right, exactly.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (35:23):

Right. Um, okay. Biggest challenges, biggest challenge and obstacle for you is that you're just not motivated. And there's a reason why can you explain a little bit about that?

David (35:40):

Most people don't want to give up their convenience. They don't want to, you know, put the time and effort. They don't want to spend the extra money. They don't want to go to the grocery store, you know, and get the fresh fruits and vegetables and then go home and prepare it. Right?

Speaker 4 (35:53):

Well, so

David (35:56):

We all procrastinate and there's reasons, you know, I'll start losing weight or go on my diet Monday, or I'll start tomorrow or after Christmas or the holidays or after the company picnic, or after we go to dinner with friends at our favorite restaurant tomorrow never comes right. We all know that. And if we put off until tomorrow, what we can do today and tomorrow never comes. What that means is we're never going to do what we need to get done. Right? And that's the issue is people procrastinate. They think I'll delay, delay delay until you wake up one morning and you're in a situation like I am word you're told you have a 95% chance for a heart attack and an early death. I was fortunate. I have classmates that had the heart attack, had the stroke are type two diabetic. I avoided that. I count my blessings.

David (36:50):

Um, they weren't so fortunate. So a lot of them, it's only after they get the heart attack or the stroke, or the type two diabetes BDS diagnosis that they start improving their eating habits. And again, a lot of people just don't know where to start, because again, they're looking at diets. There are thousands and thousands of books written about diets and healthy eating up there right now on Amazon alone. There's over 50,000 books on nutrition, kind of like it's crazy. So one expert will tell you one thing, one will say another. And a third will say, both of them are wrong. So who or what you believe and act on the trust? No, it comes down to basics in there. What I've identified as nine principles that are fundamental for just healthy eating. The first one is drink more water. The second one is avoid manufactured and processed foods.

David (37:49):

That includes deli meats, such as the smoked Turkey. Even if it is low sodium, the ham and Stromae and roast beef. The third thing is eat more holistic whole foods that are real foods as close to organic as possible. Also, you want to eat slower. You want to reduce your portion sizes. You want to get adequate sleep. You want to have a positive mental attitude and give positive self-talk. People may not realize we have over 12,000 thoughts a day. And 90% of those thoughts are the same thoughts as the day before. And have those thoughts. 80% are negative. Now, can you imagine if you turn around and your self-talk or thoughts were 80% positive as opposed to negative? So little things like that is what we talk about in the book to help people, um, you know, start their health journey. It's a lifestyle it's, again, diets are designed to fail. They're extreme. They're temporary to, hard to stick with and are potentially dangerous. Yeah. So people who go on diets and failed to lose weight, it's not their fault. The diet is to blame.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (39:01):

Right. Right. Exactly. Yeah. And, and I like also, I just wanted to say, I liked that you quoted Walt Disney and keep moving forward in here as well.

David (39:10):

Exactly. If you, if you stumble and you have a day where you, you went out with friends and ate something you weren't supposed to, or indulge a little bit, just start over the next day and keep moving forward because you start making progress. Instead of, you know, you'll start taking two or three steps forward for every one step backwards. And before you know it, you start getting new routines that will become new behaviors. That'll become new habits.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (39:36):

I like that. One more thing before we wrap up, if we could just touch on quickly is the, um, it's fasting, you know, something that we've been thinking about, talking about a little bit more, it's become more. Uh, I think there's a lot more talk about it. W what's your opinion on, on the value of fasting

David (39:56):

Thing has been around for thousands of years, a lot of the religious leaders from Jesus to Buddha, to Mohammad all fasted, um, they did it for spiritual reasons. Fasting is great for, um, healing, the body. It gives your body time to rest and digest the food we talked about in the book, um, of a dirty dishes in the sink. And he keep piling up the sink with dirty dishes. He never wash it. Well, assume the sink is overflowing with dirty dishes, and then it's getting gross and bacteria is growing and you have problems. Well, that's, what's happening to your body. If you don't give your body time to clean itself, to digest the food and process it, you keep putting more and more into it. So fasting is important. Now there's different types of fast there's, short-term fast. Um, a fast can be as little as four hours between eating.

David (40:49):

Uh, I like what I call intermittent fasting, and that's anywhere from 12 hours to 16 hours, some people go 18 hours. It's really easy. And most people do an intermittent fast without realizing it. If say, you go to bed at, you know, you stop eating at seven o'clock at night and your breakfast is at seven o'clock in the morning. Well, that's an interim, an advance that's 12 hours. You know, again, some experts say you only need 12 hours. Some say 14, some say 16, it's what's best for you. And what you're able to do, build up to it. The trick is to stop eating three hours before you go to sleep. Now, some experts will say, stop eating after six o'clock at night, some will say seven o'clock hour. Everybody has different work schedules. If you don't get home from work till six o'clock, you want to have dinner.

David (41:40):

It's hard to stop eating at six, right? Or it's seven. So that's why I usually give the rule of thumb is three hours before you go to sleep. But fasting is, is important because again, it gives your body an opportunity to cleanse itself. Um, if you're going to go on a longer, fast of three days, which is 72 hours or longer, it should be with medical supervision. Okay. And during a fast, you should be drinking mostly water cause you want to stay hydrated. Yeah. And again, when you're doing a long, fast, over a day, you don't want to do much physical activity. You want to give your body an opportunity to rest in cleanse itself. That's the purpose.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (42:21):

Yeah. And that's what I was going to ask because everybody's definition of fasting is a little bit different too, but mainly it's, uh, you can still intake water during that period. But then I have seen some that are, are like, um, liquids, Roca, you know, like a protein shake or whatever like that. So

David (42:41):

No, a protein drink is not okay. You can have water, black coffee or unsweetened tea. Okay. Those three things, a protein drink has nutrition in it. Right. So your body wants to start processing the nutrition, even though it's a liquid.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (43:01):

Okay. Okay.

David (43:04):

And you know, the other thing is everybody's, you know, like I said, the example I give, oops, give me the book about, um, experts. One expert will say, you should eat breakfast. Another will say you should avoid breakfast, perhaps. And then someone will say, well, you should only eat fruit before your, you know, lunchtime meal. Others would say avoid fruit and only have protein. One research study will say, if you increase your protein intake, first thing in the morning, you'll have more success losing weight. Another research study would say just the opposite. So again, we're all different. We have different chemical compositions, different hormones, different body types. So you need to find out what's going to work for your body specifically and your comfort.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (43:55):

Yeah. I was just teasing you. That, that was the last thing one. Now the other thing that Terry brought up too, is the microwave effect. If we could just hit that just shortly from, I'll make that the end

David (44:10):

In doing research. What I've learned is microwaving food is unhealthy and bad for you because it changes the chemical composition. If you Google, whether microwave food is unhealthy or not, it will say 90% of the time that it's okay. In 74, you, they buried the bad stuff saying it's unhealthy for you. So the reason being is almost 95% of households have a microwave, right? And most restaurants use microwave. They don't want you to know that you're not supposed to be eating microwave food. So I avoid back food as much as possible. There are times sometimes it's unavoidable. Um, if you don't know who's preparing the food or how they're preparing for you again, I'm not a purist. I'm not saying you have to be perfect. No one is perfect. Just do your best to improve your eating habits. And before you know, it you'll start seeing the improvements.

David (45:11):

And the biggest thing, the number one factor for the audiences drink more water, give up the soda and diet soda, and I can hear it. Now, what diet soda has zero calories. However, most diet soda has aspartame. Aspartame has 92 known side effects that are all negative and most. And what it causes is waking. If you're like, well, how does a product with zero calories? Cause waking the aspartame inhibits your body from absorbing vitamins, minerals and nutrients. So now you're putting your body in starvation mode. So now your body's craving more. Also the aspartame increases your craving for sweetness. So now you started eating other things that are sweeter, right? And so it's a vicious cycle. Um, just understand that that sodas and sodas are chemicals and they prevent your body from absorbing vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. And that's why your body wants more fuel for itself. And that's why you eat more.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (46:12):

Okay. Awesome. All right. I'm keeping my promise, David, thanks so much for taking time out of your day to come on the show. It's a very interesting book and everybody needs to pick up a copy. Uh, the other thing I want to ask is what is something that you do in your daily life, a habit ritual, maybe an app or something that you use, but what, what do you use that adds value to your life? Personal professional, something you couldn't do without

David (46:41):

I start the day with doing affirmations. And my first affirmation is I begin the day with gratitude and being grateful and, um, you know, begin the day being grateful for all the new opportunities. I'm going to receive all the new connections. I'm going to make all the new information and to learn. So I have a whole list of a page of affirmations. Um, my first thing is, like I said, I start my day with a glass of water, 16 ounces of water. Um, so little things like that. Um, there's things in the book with the affirmations and declarations that people could look at and the book is available at Amazon and Barnes and noble and at their library. And they can probably get, uh, at their local independent bookstores. Okay. So that's, that's the biggest thing is just, you know, being grateful and Connie my blessings.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (47:33):

Okay. Again, if not now, when is what the name of the book is

David (47:39):

Correct. And they can go to my website if I can give that up.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (47:42):

Certainly I was going to ask you, you know, cause, uh, um, you do some coaching as well. So I want you to be able to tell people, you know, kind of who's your client, what can you do for them? And then of course, how can they reach out and get ahold of you? And then also where we can get the book?

David (47:59):

Yeah. Clients, basically anyone over age 40 who wants to make a commitment to reduce weight and improve their eating habits and lifestyle. Uh, they can go to the website of createyourthinnerself.com again createyourthinnerself.com. And there's a lot of great articles I write on my blog that gives a lot of great information so they can read the blogs and get an idea of who I am. There's some videos up there, uh, about my weight loss journey. Uh, I've been interviewed by, uh, Dean Cain who played Superman and Lois and Clark TV show interviewed by Kevin Harrington from shark tank, the original shark. So there's a lot of great information they can get. And then I also do a free 30 minute consultation for people to see if they are a good fit for the program. The is very affordable, very inexpensive. I've done it that way.

David (49:00):

It's a 21 day jumpstart program. So it's 21 days of getting short videos anywhere from three to five minutes with a little PDF, one page with more information and I've done it that way so that people can start improving their daily eating habits. Okay. And I call it jumpstart because it takes 66 days to create a new habit. And during this time I also give them a phone call each week for coaching. So talk to them about some of their struggles, obstacles, or challenges and what they can do to get past them. Okay. So there's a lot of great support in there.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (49:37):

Okay. Awesome. And there's also a place on your website that they can pick up the book as well as Amazon, correct? Correct. Okay. All right. Awesome. We all go take a look at David, uh, a lot of great information and, uh, I know that, you know, a couple things that we're going to change is getting that water first thing in the morning and then making sure we at least have a couple before, uh, before our meals. So that'll be a first good change for us. All right. Well, that's going to do it for another episode of feeding fatty. We appreciate, uh, all of our listeners. Of course you can find us at www dot feeding, fatty.com. Also all the major social media, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and, uh, uh, uh, this video. We will have a video of the interview that will go live on, um, YouTube, whenever the, uh, podcast comes up. And of course you can find us on iTunes, Google, Stitcher, Spotify, all the major podcast platforms. We appreciate you sharing with your friends. Uh, and also if we're not on a platform that you use regularly, please reach out. We'd be glad to get it added. So until next time that's going to do it for me.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (50:51):

David Medansky. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Lots of insight. Thanks Roy. Thanks to appreciate some ranch. Thank you. Have a great day.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Learn How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle in 90 Days Why Wait Any Longer (51:00):

Yup. Y'all take care of your health. Thanks.

www.createyourthinnerself.com

www.feedingfatty.com

A Healthy Mind And Body Will Lead To More Confidence with Valerie Sinady

Knowing what it's like to be on the diet rollercoaster and understanding its effects on the body, Valerie Sinady decided to develop a program that helps people get off this hamster wheel and step into healthier bodies and minds.

Her professional experience as a Nurse Practitioner, Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Weight Management specialist gives her the solid foundation she needs to truly make a difference in people's lives. It is this desire to help others that has become the driving force behind her company, ValYou Wellness, and her life-changing approach and services.

www.valyouwellness.com

www.feedingfatty.com

Full Transcript Below

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:03):

Hello, and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty. This is Roy I'm Terry. So we are the podcasts that are chronically in my journey through, uh, through wellness or to wellness, trying to get my, uh, you know, lose a little weight, eat healthier exercise more regularly, uh, get my glucose and blood pressures under control without needing medication. So that is our primary mission is just, um, you know, we thought it would be good. We know a lot of people struggle with these things. So I wanted to start this podcast just to, um, you know, try to show others what we're doing and see if we can help each other as a community from time to time. Of course, you know, we do have, uh, awesome guests and, uh, no different today. Valerie Sinady, she knows what it's like to be on the diet roller coaster and understanding its effects on the body.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:53):

Uh, Valerie decided to develop a program that helps people get off this hamster wheel and step into healthier bodies and minds, her professional experience as a nurse practitioner, certified personal trainer and certified weight management specialists gives her the solid foundation. She needs to truly make a difference in people's lives. It is this desire to help others that has become the driving force behind her company, Val you wellness, and that's V a L Y O U wellness and her life-changing approach and services. Terry - Feeding Fatty, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to be with us. We certainly do appreciate it. Yes.

Valerie (01:33):

Thank you. Absolutely.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (01:37):

So we have to, uh, we'll tell the funny story right off the front that, you know, Harry was reading down through your blogs and one thing, uh, Terry I'll let you tell the, that got, got us, our attention focused on Valerie.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (01:50):

Yes. It, it w it said the urination situation, and I was like, okay, well, I mean, I drink a lot of water, but I just, uh, yeah, I don't have so much strength down there anymore. And I have to go to the bathroom all the time, and I didn't know that it was a trainable thing. So,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (02:10):

So anyway, once we saw that and, uh, you know, water is, uh, we are both deficient in water and, uh, in the pre-show, we were just talking about Terry - Feeding Fatty and her dedication and commitment to drinking water. So anyway, that was what got us interested. And then, uh, just, uh, uh, Valerie's credentials. Um, you know, there's a lot of people in the space, but I think that your education, uh, the nurse being a nurse practitioner, along with the, a certified personal trainer, and then the certified weights management, I think that just puts you in a little different stratosphere as far as, you know, the, uh, background education to be able to help people. So that's why we wanted to reach out and talk to you about some different things. And, um, anyway, just appreciate you taking time out of your day for us.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (03:00):

Yeah. So how did you, so tell us a little bit about, I mean, he just, he just talked about your background a little bit, but are you were an ER nurse, correct?

Valerie (03:17):

Correct. Correct. So it's kind of come full circle. I was in the health and fitness industry first. Um, so I've been in, I might be tongue a little bit at my age. I've been in the health and fitness industry for about 30 years now. So, yeah. Um, so that's where it started.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (03:36):

Wow. Because of your age, you must impressive. You must be younger than we are hazards of nursing. You started when you were eight years old.

Valerie (03:47):

Yeah. I started, I started, uh, not always involved in athletics, so I was in the health and fitness industry. And, um, there came a point where I started having a lot of, uh, people who were being sent into get fit from their healthcare providers. And I was kind of puzzled like, well, why aren't they sending you to us? Don't they know what to do. And that's when I started to realize that actually in a lot of medical training, there really is not a lot of information on nutrition, on health and fitness, um, preventative wellness. And, um, I really was just like, well, that doesn't really make a lot of sense to me. I think that you should be able to assist these people. And so I actually kind of switched gears and went back to school and became a nurse and a nurse practitioner, and then married all of these things together. Um, because I think that it really would be helpful for people that was my goal. Um, because most people do have chronic issues. A lot of people have chronic issues. And so I was hoping to marry those two things, to be able to truly help people get to their health and fitness goals.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (05:03):

Yeah. And I think it makes such a big difference besides just, uh, you know, a lot of the medical profession, you know, they don't want to just throw medicine at us instead of actually let's get to the root cause of, you know, why do you have high glute coasts levels? Or why do you have high blood pressure? Why are you overweight? Let's try to fix the underlying fundamentals instead of just, well, we got some medicine that we can give you. And I kinda, you know, my story's kind of that way went, uh, you know, found out that I was, uh, had high glucose and then I got the medicine and, you know, after a while you just think, why am I taking this? Why don't we fix, you know, what's going on, on the underlying issues there. So, yeah.

Valerie (05:44):

Right. Exactly. Yeah. And I think prevention part is missing for a lot of people.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (05:48):

Exactly. Yeah. And not to, uh, not to really, uh, you know, pile on to the medical professional, but it's funny that I had years ago, I'd gone to a very specific, uh, diabetic class, which was put on by some nurses and, uh, they were talking, you know, it was just like a two or three week, uh, you know, one Saturday cup, you know, maybe six or eight sessions. But anyway, that was basically their message is that, you know, unfortunately the, the doctors don't always have a lot of that in-depth information about those specific things. So instead of helping us with the fundamental problems, basically, you know, we're just treating the symptoms

Valerie (06:33):

Exactly. And don't get me wrong. I absolutely think that there are situations and reasons for people to be on, um, medications. Right. And there are times that that is necessary. Um, but there are also a lot of my style and behavioral things that can help conditions that can help minimize in a lot of cases, how much medication somebody may be on. Um, and so addressing those things is really sometimes the missing piece for a lot of people.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (07:04):

Right. Yeah. And I think the, uh, we've, you know, we talked previously about this and one of our talking points as of course, you know, dieting, and I think that, uh, you know, myself, there's people always suggest well or used to, you know, you could have the surgery and, um, you could do this, you can do that. But you know, if we don't change that behavior and the mindset, you know, for me, the biggest issue is just, you know, getting my mind wrapped around because I've had so many bad habits for so many years that it's hard to just change on a dime. But my concern is always that, you know, I need to be a whatever changes I'm able to make. I need to be able to live beyond that. So if you eat out of a, if you eat a box meal, you know, while you're losing weight, when, when you get to where you want to be, and it's time to quit eating out of a box, then you know, then where do you go from there? So,

Valerie (07:58):

Right. As I say, it's, it's a tough one. Um, people want to think about, you know, weight, loss surgery. Some people think that, Oh, you must be against it. And it's not that I'm against it. It's a tool. You still have to be able to make changes for the sustainable part of it. And you have to learn those habits. And you're right. A lot of it is a lot of it is mindset because in the long run of it, dieting doesn't work. Long-term right. It's a short term solution. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (08:33):

Yeah. And so, uh, you know, like us, what we, we try to cut down the processed, uh, foods and yeah. You know, organic, well, we do look at calories. We try to look at the bigger picture is just, you know, and when you're eating more vegetables and more of the foods that seem to be better for you, it's like that whole calorie worry goes away because you're, you know, you're getting a lot of good stuff. And the other thing is you get, I think the other thing that concerned me that we weren't that up on, on dieting is, um, when you diet change and do something that's, uh, pretty extreme. It's all these micro nutrients that our body needs for different functions that you miss out on. And so, again, I know we're talking about a lot of things here at once, but that's why I'd like to get, you know, we, we got the, one of the apps so that we can be very cognizant that we are getting these micronutrients and we're not losing out. And the nice thing about the little app we use is if you, if you are deficient in one, you can just hover over it. And it'll actually tell you the foods to go to, which all typically tend to be green spinach.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (09:50):

I got to slide on me.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (09:53):

I haven't, I haven't rolled over one yet. And it says, go down to, uh, Brahms and get a double dip, uh, ice cream cone, anything like that.

Valerie (10:00):

It doesn't seem to be in there.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (10:04):

Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (10:05):

Um, you know, I think kind of talking about the dieting doesn't work, I think not only do we have to come off of that diet eventually, but we could be doing a lot of damage to our bodies in the process.

Valerie (10:17):

That's absolutely true. Um, a lot of people, it might seem a little bit contradictory to say, but there are a lot of people who are overweight, but under nourished. Exactly. And they just don't have the appropriate nutrients. Um, and the difficulty with that is, you know, your body's always trying to keep you alive and trying to get you to do the right things physiologically. Right. So when you're not getting the right nutrients, you aren't going to be hungry. You're your body wants you to get them in and kind of, it's going to prompt you to hopefully eat the right things. Um, so it's, it's trying to get the right food in, um, that really helps you manage your weight and manage your hunger. Okay.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (11:01):

Yeah. The other thing, and I'm going to let Terry talk about this more. She read one of the articles that you had. That it's huge for me because as you know, as we started this journey, or as I started it, I, I I've become much more aware of myself, my feelings, uh, not those feelings, but just whenever I feel,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (11:25):

Okay, this is a whole new show

Roy - Feeding Fatty (11:28):

When I feel hungry or, uh, tired. And so one thing I have noticed is that, uh, being tired, not getting enough sleep is a huge trigger for me. And so years ago I got into a bad habit of, you know, like an eight or nine o'clock at night. It'd be like, w you know, want to go get something to eat snack, and then, you know, go to go to bed with the full stomach, that full satisfied feeling. But, um, also it's like, you crave that for our, I do for the energy, because I'm like, I'm fixing to fall out if I don't have something and it's tired, or it's the war anyway, Terry, I'll let you talk about that article. Yeah.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (12:07):

Oh, well, I mean, Terry - Feeding Fatty needs to talk about it, but it was your last, your, uh, most recent, um, blog posts. The XYZ is of weight loss and how important sleep is, and the two hormones, um, the starvation hormone versus I I've read it all. You explain a little bit about that. You'll be much better than I am.

Valerie (12:33):

Well, this is the thing, you know, your body does a lot of things when you're asleep, you know, your body's always trying to keep you alive. So, you know, at night is the time when you're not doing all these things. So it can now take time away from digestion and slows your breathing down. So it doesn't need to use the energy for that, and they can bill. Um, but there are also these circadian rhythms, right? So we have certain hormones that come out at certain times of day. Um, and there's you say, the, the hunger hormone and the satiety hormone, um, and when you don't get enough sleep, your hunger hormone gets higher and your ability to feel full goes down. So you're not getting enough sleep, you're going to have cravings. And a lot of times those cravings are for high energy things, which translates to high sugar, highs that things, because your body's just like, give me energy now, you know, I I'm missing something. And the reality of this is what you're actually missing is sleep. Yep. There's the answer very important. We're in a society where sleep is something we don't do a lot of

Terry - Feeding Fatty (13:52):

Too many things to do. I mean, there's so much going on, you have to multitask and do all these things, right.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (13:57):

Yeah. And it seems to be the one thing that gets pushed out. And I think we could probably relate that a little bit to water as well, that we were talking about, because you do read a lot that, you know, we need water for our body, but also that, uh, sometimes it can mask being dehydrator, thirsty can mask itself as hunger. Is that correct?

Valerie (14:20):

That is correct. That is correct. And there's a couple of different theories about why that actually happens. Um, they still kind of research trying to flesh it out on whether, uh it's because in part, those signals come from the same part of the brain. And is there some crossover, um, where your body can't tell if it's actually thirsty or hungry and we tend to eat because we are not hydrated and we're not in the habit of drinking water. Um, and so our first instinct is usually to go to food as opposed to trying to drink some water. And sometimes you'll see, and you drink your water. And then you're like, Oh, okay. I wasn't so hungry after all. I feel just fine. And it really wouldn't be hydration. It was really a coffer for water or for hydration, as opposed to a call for food that your body is giving you. Right. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (15:12):

So, uh, another, uh, thing that you had mentioned is, excuse me, taking the loss out of weight loss.

Valerie (15:21):

Absolutely. Absolutely. Weight loss tends to come because of the dieting industry. And it is an industry, right. It's an industry. So it is made to make money as most industries are. Right. Um, which in order to make money, you have to have repeat customers. Right? Right. So, uh, it is the dieting industry tells us to restrict food and restrict and restrict and restrict. And so when you're coming from a place of restriction, you feel very limited. You start to then think about what you're missing. I mean, if I tell you, you can't have a cupcake, what do you think about that's really what you start to zone in on? Right. Um, so I said, take the loss out of it. Think of it. Instead of thinking about what you can't have, think about all the things we can have. Let's focus on that. And really now in on those, because I don't believe that there are any foods that are off limits or bad foods. You can have everything that you want. It's a question of when you have it, how you have it to what degree, um, excess of anything is not good, but some is, is good. You know, you can have 80, 80% good and 20% is so that you can have fun and maintain your sense of control and not feel deprived because that probation is going to lead you to cravings and bingeing and all of that.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (16:53):

Yeah. And I think you bring up a good point about the, uh, the time of day that we eat. Certain things is, is important as well. I guess the, uh, I'll let you speak to this, but maybe if you need that, the carbs, eat them earlier in the day and try to start tapering them off the closer you get to evening, things like that.

Valerie (17:15):

Sure. Absolutely. Um, carbs are necessary. They are necessary. Uh, fat is necessary. Uh, protein is necessary. There is no macronutrient that your body does not need. Right? So you need all of it, but there is a question of how you're getting it in what the quality of the food is. And yes, also when you're having it. Yeah. If you're having something that is high carb, which is quite fast energy, if you're going to work out and have a heavy workout, that's a great day to have plenty of carbs that day. Right. Because you're going to need it and it's going to help you have a, even better workout if you're energetic, trying to work out when you're, who deprive or carbohydrate the cries. And if the quality is not going to be very good in terms of your physical activity either,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (18:06):

Right? Oh yeah. Timing. Yeah. Oh, go ahead. I'm sorry. No, you're fine. Go ahead. No, uh, yeah, I was going to say, you go and work out and then it's like, Oh, I'm so hungry. You're much hungrier after that seems like always.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (18:23):

Yeah. And it's just that, you know, trying to keep that balance. I used to have a note over my desk. I need to get that I needed to resurface it, but you know, it was drink your water. It was, uh, you know, exercise, you know, even just taking those short breaks and getting out and walking, not only is it good for your body, but also clears your head so you can, you know, I become, uh, I, I think much better after I go for a little 15 minute walk and just clear everything out and able to reset, but also, you know, getting the S the sleep and the breathing. And other thing that I have noticed is number one, I'm a very shallow breather, but whenever I get really involved in something or intense or focused, I tend to, you know, probably hold my breath a lot more. So there's a lot of things that we need to think about that we need to do all in conjunction before we get to the point of saying, uh, we need to restrict be restrictive on, you know, all this on our intake. Like you said, as long as we manage that, uh, we could probably have just about everything that's out there. Yeah.

Valerie (19:31):

I agree. Yeah. I agree. And I just wanted to bring out a point that you said was about like going for a little walk, which is great. And I, uh, like to emphasize to people that in terms of activity, your activity, doesn't have to be all at once, right? You don't have to do a 30 minute or 60 minute workout every time you do three, 10 minute walks. If, you know, research has proven that it is still helpful, even if you're doing it in blocks, because it adds up, you don't necessarily have to have huge blocks of time to kind of improve your health and improve your habits. Right.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (20:06):

Yeah. And I think for me, uh, uh, having that little walk after a meal has, seems to help me manage my glucose a lot better. Uh, you know, when I'm watching what I eat and just getting a little exercise seems to burn some of that excess off for me.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (20:25):

Yeah. Terry - Feeding Fatty, can you tell us about, uh, more about, uh, your company value wellness?

Valerie (20:34):

I'm sorry. Oh, I'm sorry.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (20:36):

Uh, can you tell us more about value wellness and, and, um, what is all involved in in your company?

Valerie (20:45):

Sure. Um, it is value Y O U wellness, um, because that is very much my approach. It's a customized approached, um, everybody's individual needs are different from their history, from what they're doing there, what they have done, what has worked for them, what is not as well as what their goals may be now. Um, not everybody's goal is necessarily to lean out and, you know, be, uh, uh, figure competitive lean or something like that. Some people it's just, okay, I want to get better control of my nutrition. I want to have a better relationship with food, and I want to know how to do that. I need to get more hydration. Um, I want to be a healthier either. So there's a lot of different goals that people may have. Um, and it's in discussion with my clients and kind of discovering what they're looking for, what their needs are, um, and figuring out a plan that is going to get them to their goal.

Valerie (21:52):

Um, sometimes people need more help depending on what they need. Some people will have longer times, um, because they have bigger goals and more extensive goals that they need to reach. Um, but cookie cutter programs just don't work because everybody is different and everybody's metabolism is different. Um, your lifestyle is different. So what I try to work with my clients is to try to make your lifestyle a healthier lifestyle, as opposed to living a healthy lifestyle, whatever that made may mean as far as society is concerned. Um, you know, if you'd like to watch football every week on Sunday and you do certain things, then we need to work a program. That's going to fit that in because it's a bad quality of life. Ultimately it's not just about a number on the scale, right?

Roy - Feeding Fatty (22:46):

Yeah. I love that. Yeah. And if we try to push again, not only with, uh, with limiting our intake or what we eat, but also if we try to overdo, it can just lead to burn out. And I know I've done that because, you know, I, I, I tend to try to spend too much time in the, you know, I get in there, you get all excited and want to do all of this stuff. And then, you know, two or three hours go by. And then at some point it's like, Oh, I just can't spend two or three hours. So, you know, trying to get a plan design for around your schedule where you can keep up with it and it doesn't just wear you down, obviously will make things much more sustainable going forward.

Valerie (23:30):

Right. Exactly. Cause that's what happens with the yo-yo dieting and the rollercoaster, because in the short term, a lot of people do get results on diets in the short term, but then life happens. And how do you adjust what you were doing to how your life actually is? And that's when everything starts to kind of go awry and it's like starting over again. Um, and so you just try to work from a place of where my clients are and try to fit things in that are sustainable and flexible things change. Yeah. My changes

Roy - Feeding Fatty (24:07):

Age and aging too. I mean, you, the older you get, the more important than nutrition is, I mean, you want to hang around and you want to have a good quality of life. So you need to make sure that when you laugh out loud, because you must have been reading my mind. Cause I was just thinking about the same thing there. I was like, no, I was just thinking about, you know, from the, uh, the exercise and the, the strength of our bodies, you know, always, I think if you get to a certain point in life that you start thinking about, you know, the aging and you see people that age, not so well. And so again, for me, you know, part of my motivation is like, I don't, you know, I don't want to be a burden on somebody in the aging process. I want to be able to be strong.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (24:53):

And, and so part of that means being healthy and, you know, making sure that we not only eat the right things at the right weight, taking care of ourselves nutritionally, but also having a stronger body. I think we, um, you know, one thing I've talked about before is you can, you can withstand some trauma if you, if your body is stronger, I guess, and you know, I take the, like a football player, you know, those guys get hit and knocked down and thrown down all the time. They pop right up and they keep moving. They may be a little sore tomorrow, but you know, if you were to take a normal person like me, that's out of shape. If I was to take one of those hits, I mean, it would be, it'd be over for me. So, you know, I think I kind of look at it that way, going through the aging process is the stronger and the healthier we can be. We probably give ourselves a better chance of aging. Well, too.

Valerie (25:45):

Absolutely. You know, the goals that most people have across the continuum of life changes, right? So, you know, when you're in your twenties, you know, clients are in their twenties and thirties, they may have very physical appearance oriented goals, right. As you get older, those things change. You know what, I'm even more concerned now about mobility and flexibility and longevity, and being able to, you know, go on vacation and do walking tours as opposed to, you know, not ending up in a wheelchair. And those are totally different goals. And that's why your approach that I have has to be so customized, right? Because people are at different stages in life. People have different concerns, people have different goals. Um, but it does ultimately it's about having the best quality of life wherever you are in that span because people are not afraid of getting old per se. I think people are afraid of getting older and not having a good quality of life at that age. Yeah,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (26:51):

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. We can't stop the aging. We can't stop ourself from aging. I think we can just set ourself up to age better. You know, we don't want to outlive our, we don't want to outlive our health. You know, we, of course we don't outlive our usefulness, but we don't want outlive that health component either because it can be such a, a, a terrible place to be. Uh, one thing that you brought up that, uh, I have definitely noticed a lot more in the last few years, is that flexibility and stretching. So, uh, you know, I guess stretching also plays a major part in the, you know, the health of our body and is, should be a big, uh, component as much as our cardio and walking and weightlifting as well.

Valerie (27:39):

Sure, sure. It's often neglected by many people, even people who are very physically active, um, often kind of neglect the flexibility part. Um, but it is important because you can be very physically fit and as you start to age, you're still physically fit, but you can't bend over and tie your own shoes. Exactly. You know, so that, there's a quality of life piece that, you know, is involved with flexibility and mobility being able to get upstairs, come to me, um, lowering your chance, your risk of falls, all of that is important as we age. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (28:15):

Yeah. And it's funny you say that we were a couple of weekends ago, we were out running around and I had to, I had a time I shoe in an awkward position and I like really strained my back. I kind of pulled a muscle and it, you know, we were laughing like, Oh my gosh, I threw my back out, tying my shoe. But I think that all comes back to the flexibility. And I just, I have to say, I don't do that enough and need to pay a lot more attention. I'm sure there, um, you know, a lot of great techniques that people can learn to do this in their house and, you know, probably just do it in a few minutes every day. Lots of virtual.

Valerie (28:51):

Absolutely. And it is something that you can improve on regardless of where you are. You can always improve on your flexibility and bit by bit. Um, so it is something that doesn't take a lot of time. I can have a huge payoff off in terms of quality of life. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (29:07):

Yeah. Another thing I talk, I, I kind of excited about this, but, uh, I got me a, uh, recently I got me a T R X band and just put it here in the house now I can't, I didn't have the hive to put it up, you know? Yeah. I didn't have the hive to put it like that. Like I wanted, but I was able to tie it off to a beam and, you know, it's good for me. It doesn't replace me going to the gym and working out. But you know, what I do is during a day is, um, it makes me stop for a few minutes and go over. And not only just not be sitting at the desk in front of a computer, but you know, I just do a few little arm presses or exercise or pull ups, you know, a few different little routines on it, but it's really been beneficial.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (29:55):

And, uh, I feel like that's, it's helped me a lot because, you know, again, talking about like a little bit like we did earlier, you know, I, I tend to sit in my chair and get intense on why I'm doing either, if it's the podcasting or my, you know, regular job and, um, you know, hours and hours go by before we get up or four, I get up and move. And, you know, sometimes Terry comes over and gives me a little tap on the shoulder. Like, okay, it's time to just get up for a minute.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (30:27):

But, uh, you know, it's, it's a serious thing because the new messaging is that setting is the new smoking. And so I think giving ourself a reason to, you know, set an alarm to stand up, it's not only about our body, but another thing it's about our eyes that, um, you know, there's some, I think there's a 2020 rule that every 20 minutes you should take 20 seconds and focus 20 feet away or something like that. But, uh, you know, we need to give ourselves a good reason to just get up every hour or so during the day and not just sit here and be a zombies to our computer screens.

Valerie (31:09):

It's yeah, we it's, it's easy to fall down that rabbit hole. I think we all, especially now, I mean, we spend so much time in front of the screen during the pandemic don't have, as, you know, the opportunity to go places. Um, but yes, the TRX is awesome. The goal is always to try to move more and sit less. Um, but what I love about the TRX, actually, one of the things I like the most is the balanced perspective, um, because of the way you use it, you do use your core muscles. It does integrate a lot of balance work. Um, so good job, boy, that's a good thing

Roy - Feeding Fatty (31:47):

Now for people that don't understand, don't understand it, you use your own body weight, and you can probably explain it much better than me, but use your own body weight. And you can, you know, just like doing the pull-ups, you can adjust the angle of your body in order to increase or decrease resistance.

Valerie (32:06):

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. So it's a set of Holies essentially. Um, and you can do all kinds of different exercises on it, and basically as you angle your body, you get more or less leveraged. Um, and you're using your body weight, you're using your body weight. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (32:23):

Yeah. And if you could tie it up to the ceiling higher, if you can get, you know, the right anchor to get that set up, you can actually do a lot with your legs. I've seen guys put their feet in there and do pushups or, uh, you know, turn around and do some kind of a set up in it. So anyway, it's a it's, I don't think it replaces for me. It doesn't replace the gym and needing to get out and do some more, uh, I guess more weight focus, lifting like that or the cardio part, but it is a good little tool to have them to make yourself get up.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (32:53):

I have not tried it yet. I'm a little afraid that I'm just going to go. I just need to do it, rip the bandaid off and go,

Valerie (33:02):

Just rip it off once you do it, it's also kind of fun, you know, just the, the flow of it. There's a piece of mindfulness. I think that comes into using it too, which is kind of a meditative aspect.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (33:15):

Oh yeah. And mindfulness, everybody can use a little more of that. A lot more of that. Okay.

Valerie (33:21):

True. True. Well,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (33:24):

We want to thank you so much for being a part of our program. And, um, before we get away, I want to ask you a couple of things. Number one. So what is a tool or a habit or ritual that you use in your daily life could be professional, personal, just something you do that adds a lot of value.

Valerie (33:46):

Now, Roy, you know what I'm going to say?

Valerie (33:50):

I'm going to tell you it's water. I carry my 32. Yeah. My 32 ounce bottle of water, wherever I go, so I can keep myself hydrated. Um, it's one of the simplest and most impactful habits, um, that you can have. And, um, you, you, you notice the difference. I mean, when you're hydrated, you have definitely noticed the difference. So I always recommend the Drupal. That's one thing that you can do for your health and is, uh, easy, um, and just have it with you all the time and you won't feel so, so much better for it.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (34:25):

Yeah. And the other part for me is, uh, substituting it for the carbonated drinks. Cause even though I don't drink the regular, the sugar water, still the carbonated drinks, uh, I just, I've begun to read a lot more about the negative effects of that and the, um, uh, artificial sweeteners. So, uh, trying to replace some of those with water, and I will ask you for any tips or tricks that you have, because I'm just not a water guy. I don't like water. It's hard. I've got a bottle here. That's probably been sitting on my desk for about two or three days. And

Valerie (35:06):

What are we going to do with, I try, We're going to work on it,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (35:12):

Opening his mouth and pouring it down his throat. I mean, my goodness we'll have to get a hose.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (35:21):

Are there any tips or tricks, you know, every now and then I buy the, uh, the packets that I can put in there. Crystal lights. Yeah. I'm not sure if that's, uh, doing more harm than good, but anyway, w what, what are some tips that we can do?

Valerie (35:36):

This is what I say, progress, not perfection, right? So if you are drinking, you know, more water and less carbonated beverage, and so you're going in the right direction, right? So then you start from there and you gradually do one better. So those packets, they're not necessarily all bad. Um, there are some, I do suggest that you go for ones that are more than just dehydrated fruit, um, that don't have the added sugar that don't have the added artificial sweeteners. And it's basically literally like dehydrated fruits. You can just add some citrus flavor to it. Um, another thing I do herbal teas, you know, do some herbal tea, put it in a pitcher, um, put it in the refrigerator if possible, put it in the refrigerator and keep it at eye level, take your gift. So there's some things that you have once in a while, put them down at the bottom so that when you see you open your fridge, you're going to be more tempted to get something that's right in front of you, as opposed to, if it's down there, you really have to think about like, do I really want this, that down on the bottom shelf?

Valerie (36:47):

Um, just simple things to kind of some of it sometimes, honestly, it's a little bit of just the mind trick. Yeah. Yeah. Um, of having something more accessible to you, you're going to be more likely to do it. It makes it easier for you to make a healthier choice,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (37:03):

Speak colluding. Cause I went in there the other day to look for a Coke and they are down on the bottom at the very back where you have to move everything. I love that there was a, there was a bottle of water that was setting right there on the top shelf, easy for me to reach in and grab. So

Valerie (37:20):

How about seltzer? Have you tried seltzer?

Terry - Feeding Fatty (37:23):

Uh, well, you know, well, no, I mean, it was like a flavored Korean, a cranberry one, but he doesn't like the, um, sparkling waters. Yeah.

Valerie (37:33):

Well, you know these things too, aren't you have to give your palate time to judge. Like if you've been having a lot of things that are, as you start to move away from processed foods, a lot of times people start to realize like, if you haven't had these things and then you go back and you taste something that you used to really, really like, and then you taste them. You're like, Oh my gosh, that is really too sweet. And sometimes it gives you giving you the palette some time to adjust. We'll get you to be able to make that transition a little bit easier.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (38:04):

Yeah. And the other thing I noticed, the kind of the other side of that is when I'm eating cleaner, like a carrot, you can really taste the sweetness in a carrot. It's not quite as good as a Snickers bar, but you do get a little bit, you do get a little bit of that. Uh, wow. This is a sweetness that I really didn't know. And I guess because we've, you know, drown our palette in so much other sugary foods that, uh, you just can't discern that, but it's interesting what you can start taste after you, uh, cut out some of these other foods. Yeah.

Valerie (38:41):

Very, very true. And it's what our bodies are used to too, is the thing that, you know, before all the processed foods came into play and all the added sugars, we were more accustomed and able to taste the sweetness, but, you know, processed foods are very concentrated sugar. And so over time, your body kind of gets tolerant to that need things that are sweeter and sweeter in order to be able to taste. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (39:08):

Yep. Yep. And that's a good, that's another good point to make is that I guess, uh, w we shouldn't expect to make, uh, a fairly decent size change and, uh, uh, be effective in two or three days, just like with this taste. I mean, it may take a week or so a week or 10 days or two weeks to finally kind of clear your pallet to where you can actually start tasting more of the good foods that we eat. Yeah. Very true. Very true. All right, Valerie. Well, thank you so much for being with us. So before we go, why don't you tell people who, um, who is your customer, uh, what you can do for them? And then of course, how can they reach out and get ahold of you website?

Valerie (39:54):

So, um, my customer is the person who wants to improve their health, which may include losing body fat, losing weight, sometimes, maybe other things. Um, but once you have a customized approach where it is about sustainability, lifestyle changes, habit changes, whole foods. Um, I definitely not, uh, the approach of having a lot of supplements and pills and potions and things of that nature. Um, and everybody's plan is a little different, to be honest, I do speak with, uh, all of my clients beforehand, because you have to see if I can help. I can't help everybody. Um, sometimes I have to refer out. I have a very big, uh, referral base for those who may need services that I cannot provide. Um, but we do it kind of step wise approach, a lot of little changes that stick a lot of small changes that become habits over time and become big changes over time and are sustainable. And you can get me the value wellness.com. I should mention, let's see at valyouwellness.com.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (41:06):

Yeah, that's great. Yeah. And I think you bring up a good point. I hate to keep on going, but every time we, every time we have an exchange, I think of something else, but I think you bring up, you bring up a good point that if, um, if you reach out to somebody to help you, and they say, Hey, I helped Joe. So I can use that plan and help you. That is a definite red flag. EV everybody not only their goals are going to be, their bodies are different. Everything is different. So, you know, you need to have a customized plan that is developed just for you as an individual. Yeah,

Valerie (41:46):

Sure. I mean, look, looking for example, in your case, I mean, if you, if you have a, if I have a client who suffers from diabetes, their concerns and their plan is going to be different than somebody who does not, right. Yeah. What is diabetes or PCLs or hypothyroidism, like those things are actual conditions that change hormones and things like that. And that plan is not going to be the same for somebody else. Right. Um, so it, it really does need to be a customized approach depending on what that person's situation is and what they're trying to achieve. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (42:21):

Yep. So if you're, if you reach out to a wellness professional, they're not asking you those questions, that should be a definite red flag that you may need to be a red flag. Yeah. Yeah. So you need to reach out to Valerie, let her, because we know that she will, uh, ask you all the right questions and, uh, with her w you know, I think you have such a unique background, uh, with your, um, you know, being the nurse practitioner with the certified trainer and the certified weight management that, uh, it's just a great combination. So y'all reach out to Valerie, uh, see how she can help you out. And that's going to do it for the blogs. Yes. Read the blogs.

Valerie (43:01):

Yes. Read the blog. Lots of information on the blog. They'll keep coming. So feel free to read those as well. Okay.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (43:07):

Terry calls me in after she reads them. Oh my gosh. You got to come hear about this one. So I read the whole thing. That's great. All right. Well, that's going to do it for another episode of feeding fatty. Uh, of course you can find us on all the major platforms, iTunes, Google, Stitcher, Spotify. You can also find us at www.feedingfatty.com and all social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. And of course this, uh, once this episode goes live, the, uh, YouTube video will be up as well. So until next time I'm Roy I'm Terry. Thank you, Valerie. Appreciate it.

www.valyouwellness.com

www.feedingfatty.com

How Can QiGong And Traditional Eastern Healing Help You Live Better? with Yadi Alamin and Joi Abraham

Yadi Alamin was severely ill in 2000. The medical drugs he was prescribed made him sicker and he contemplated suicide due to pain and emaciation. Yadi's mother recommended he get acupuncture. Yadi got more than that.

He credits the acupuncturist for saving his life. Yadi learned Eastern Traditional Healing Arts and Exercise and has been helping people since his recovery. Charlotte Reflexology opened in 2012, and has grown since training Joi Abraham to work in clinic.

Yadi is the apprentice of 3 Master Acupuncturists, a six-time Certified Reflexologist, and a Tibetan Medical QiGong Therapist. He has 18 years clinical experience in Traditional Chinese Medicine, No Needle Acupuncture, Reflexology and Medical QiGong for Serious Conditions.

Yadi was diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease at 24, and learned how to heal himself without surgery, drugs and a cocktail of herbs. His philosophy is simple "do what works, and do it often." He has had clients recover from a host of ailments using QiGong, Reflexology, and food-based methods.

Eastern Traditional Healing Arts & Charlotte Reflexology School

Qigong Saved ME

www.feedingfatty.com

Full Transcript Below

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:03):

Hello, and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty. This is Roy I'm Terry. So our show is I, um, you know, it's kind of a personal journey. What we'd like to do is, uh, share my journey. Terry is my support. I take all the credit for the fatty part of this, but, uh, she works diligently trying to, you know, help keep me on track with the eating ex, getting out of my chair and going and exercising and, you know, with COVID and working from home, it's become much more easier to be sedentary. And I posted a new video yesterday and we're going to try to post more, uh, little video clips of me being out, uh, you know, at the gym yesterday. So anyway, we appreciate you tuning in and listening. The other thing is, uh, you know, we always like to have, uh, professionals and other experts in areas come on with us, uh, to give us not only some things to think about, but points of view, and also people to reach out, to, uh, talk to, to help us through our journey. So, uh, today we have some awesome guests and Terry, I'm going to let you introduce them.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (01:07):

Yeah, today we would love to welcome Yadi Alamin and Joi Abraham from Charlotte, traditional healing, formerly Charlotte re reflexology and Yadi Alamin was severely ill. And two in 2000, the medical drugs, he was prescribed, made him sicker and he, he, uh, due to pain and emaciation yadda, his mother recommended he get acupuncture and he got more than that. He credits the acupuncturist for saving his life. He learned Eastern traditional healing, arts and exercise, and has been helping people since his recovery. Um, Charlotte traditional healing opened in 2012 as Charlotte reflexology and has grown since, since Joi, Abraham trained to work in the clinic. And she is a clinician as well. So welcome both of you to the show. We are so excited to hear more about all of this very interested. Yes.

Yadi (02:16):

Thanks so much for that warm introduction. Good morning. Good morning.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (02:22):

We are both interested in, you know, we kind of had some pre-show conversation that we, uh, been looking forward to this for a couple of weeks now, but unfortunately with our, uh, you know, knowledge base, uh, it's gonna be difficult for us as good to, you know, intriguing questions. So we, we're going to try not to be an audience here. We're going to try to jump in and add something to the conversation. But, um, you know, with that said, if you don't mind Yachty, could you just kind of tell us a little bit more about what got you started or, uh, you know, how that transformation looked?

Yadi (02:56):

Sure. Um, I used to work in phlebotomy. I used to draw blood. I was a vampire. I was a medical Porter as a really young guy, and I worked in, um, pharmacy in mail order pharmacy. So I had already worked in Western medicine, you know, up until about 2000. So everything that I knew was Western medicine. My father was a chemical engineer. My mother mother's a teacher. I'm from the Midwest. I'm from Illinois, grew up in Chicago. So I'm not as long Asia. I didn't have any experience in anything outside of the norm. Um, but I got very sick, uh, and ended up in the emergency room because my heart was beating too fast and I couldn't breathe. And I'd never really been sick in my life. I was a wrestler. I was a boxer. I did, I think, karate or whatever when the karate kid came out.

Yadi (03:54):

And, and that was about, you know, it was, I thought I was tough, but all of a sudden, you know, my heart's beating too fast and I can't breathe. I called the ambulance and I, now I'm clueless because now I'm a patient I'd never been on that side. And, uh, they gave me Xanax and told me I had anxiety and they were so quick to give me the drug. And I didn't know anything about the drugs. I just took it. And within two weeks I had ended up in the ER, seven times. Wow. And by that time, uh, it was the same diagnosis, but then eventually they said, well, we've been an x-ray $10,000. We did an x-ray and we think you have ulcerative colitis. We want you to go see a GI specialist, blah, blah, blah, go see him. Uh, they told me, no, you don't have colitis, but I'm going to send you to a GP. I go to a GP, nothing. And finally, they sent me to an immunologist and told me I had idiopathic auto-immune hepatitis.

Joi (04:50):

Wow. That again, literally

Yadi (04:56):

Nothing. If you go back, that means they don't know why you have it. Auto immune was a guest and then hepatitis had his liver and then items, inflammation. I didn't know this really. I was like 24 years old and I believed everything they said, but I was losing weight quickly. And I went down to about 118 pounds. And you can tell, like, I'm spinning as is, imagine 30, uh, 40 pounds lighter. Wow. Um, and at that point they said, you're going to take these drugs. You're going to take interferons. Like you have hepatitis or you're going to die. And, um, I, I had been sick from the medication on top of being sick. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep. Uh, every symptom was magnified by a million. Like my heart would just pound. I would stand up the room would spin. And, um, I gave up, so for about a year, I did what people do.

Yadi (05:51):

I went on at the time it was Yahoo and I Google, um, I went on Yahoo and I'm like, yeah, what do you do to fix your body? You don't know anything. How do you heal from disease? And you realize that the world is not built that way. And people are selling things for symptoms. And you're going to keep buying things as long as your complaints. Uh, about a year later, I was suicidal and I called my mother who was down here in Charlotte. Uh, and I said, mom, I want to die. And she said, well, don't do that. Go to an acupuncture,

Joi (06:23):

Please don't do that.

Yadi (06:26):

Yeah. And she really didn't know what she was saying, but it was kinda like this don't don't kill yourself. You know, I found the guy in a book, um, Chinese guy wearing, um, a pool, like the comfortable uniform you see in the old Shaw brothers, seventies movies. Right? Well, he can like me in the neck.

Joi (06:45):

Right.

Yadi (06:49):

It wasn't much different. It, it went very deep. Uh, he checked my pulse, he looked at my tongue. He told me, uh, liver, kidney spleen, which I didn't know what he was talking about. Exactly. Was very thick. Put me on the table for about 20 minutes. And he's doing these, you know, these body manipulations, like pressing and rolling and grunting and putting his hands on the radiators. It was cold. So he put his hands on the radiator and he's

Yadi (07:20):

Like, I'm like, whatever, you know, uh, whatever you want to do is fine. Place smelled like fish. The fish market is a Chinatown. So fish markets down the hall, sort of, and his liniment and fish smell in there. I can get up. And I got to tell you the first time in a year I could breathe. I didn't feel like I was going to die. And, um, I knew this man was helping. So I just, um, I borrowed money. I was a patient for about eight, nine months, ran out of money to borrow and beg to be a student. And that's kind of what happened. I became a student and eventually decided that I didn't want to work in corporate America when I got well, because I think the whole thing was set up to keep people in that medical loop of owing money and being sick.

Yadi (08:07):

And, uh, if you get close enough to dying, you just want to be honest with people. You can't, you don't have the energy to lie or put on errors or be somebody else. So the only honest thing that I could do would be help people who ask me for help. And, um, I spent seven years in Chinatown before I quit. Cause I was making $10 an hour, the businesses, uh, a half a million a year, and I'm making $10 an hour. I went to go work for the, the, um, the Dean of, uh, Sydney college of Oriental medicine. I worked as a TA with no degree in acupuncture. I was with him for about five years. And then I moved here and couldn't find anyone to work under. So I opened this clinic. That's where her stories.

Joi (08:53):

Yeah. Joi. How about year? Let's hear about

Roy - Feeding Fatty (08:56):

You. That's awesome.

Speaker 5 (08:58):

Oh, wow. Um, my side of the story I put up, never orchestrated this myself any better. Um, I have always been interested in Asian medicine and health and healing, and I went through my own issues. Um, but interestingly enough, I went to live in Japan for a few years. And that is where I had my first Asian medicine experience. I had heard about Asian medicine in America, but it wasn't Japan when I experienced it for myself. And I brought my health issues from America to Japan. And in Japan, they did not like for you to take time off. They want you to be at work.

Speaker 5 (09:44):

If you have a problem that prevents you from going to work, they want to know what it is. So, uh, you know, I would be sick every month and they would ask me, yeah, they would ask me what's the problem. And then I said, you know, I have these issues every month, but I can't come in and we'll say, well, would you like to see, uh, a doctor? I said, yes, but I do not want to see a Western doctor. I'd rather see an herbalist. They took me to the herbalist and I explained my symptoms and they prescribed something called reishi mushroom. Everybody probably knows what that is by now in this country. But at the time I had never heard of it. And they gave me this hard crusty mushroom, and I was supposed to make a tea out of this. It was red. Yeah. It was red. And I said, what do I do here? I said, you know, take a hammer, break it up and make a tea, take a hammer. And I said,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (10:40):

You'll have to back up because now I really, I don't know what that is. So yeah, taking a hammer to break up a mushroom. That is a new concept for me.

Speaker 5 (10:48):

Well, really, she must remain as the hard Woodland mushrooms and then it grows, it grows very hard. So when it's dried, it gets even harder. And it's very much like wood it's artists to add to that. Um, racy in, in Chinese is called lynching and Ling means, um, soul or spirit almost. So in, um, in Asia for a long time, they believed in reincarnation. And they said, if you were good in this life, you reincarnate as mushroom.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (11:25):

Oh, interesting. Okay.

Speaker 5 (11:29):

But it tasted bad really bad.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (11:32):

Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I interrupted. So anyway, I kind of go back to that process. So you have it, you break it up with a hammer and then I guess you put it in a cup and make tea out of it.

Speaker 5 (11:44):

Yeah. You boil it and then you make the tea and strain that off and then drink it. And I was to do it twice a day and, uh, it tasted bad, but I followed the direction and it worked. It was the first time that anything natural for me had actually work. I was able to go to work without any problems. And they noticed, Oh, Joi. He must be feeling a lot better.

Joi (12:12):

How long, how long did it take for it to start working for you?

Speaker 5 (12:16):

About two months, it took about two cycles. Okay. So, um, you know, doing that and doing it and being dedicated to it was difficult, especially when you didn't exactly know what it was going to do, but I trust the process and I'm glad I did because I did see the results. So I continued to do that while I was there. And I was very happy with that method. So I stayed there for three years and then I came back to America and at the time reishi, it, it was just starting to become known, but I wasn't able to find that kind of hair here. So, you know, my health deteriorated again and it got to the point where I couldn't walk and I was only 37 years old and I was having hip arthritis. And that was very devastating, especially if you traveled and you've moved along everywhere and you walk really fast and you know, you're reduced to walking in pain with a cane.

Speaker 5 (13:19):

So I knew there was something that I needed to do or walked into the health food store. Cause I wanted to find something to try to start the process. You know, naturally he went again and I saw him, I'm a native of Charlotte. And he worked at the local health food store and I'd never seen him before. I said, okay, this is going to be interesting. So I walked up to him and I said, Hey, do you have Chinese bitters? And he kind of pauses for a minute. And he looked at me like, kind of strange, like there was this question and he said, no, what do you need it for? And you know, I told him, I, I told him all of my health issues and what I wanted to use him for. And this guy says, well, why don't you just do reishi mushroom?

Joi (14:00):

Wow. That's destiny. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (14:06):

But I knew when he knew what he was talking about. And through the second thing he said while we were talking was that he had been studying Chinese medicine year. And I thought to myself, does this guy look like we'd be able to study in 15 years, the beauty thing he looked so

Joi (14:22):

In meats

Speaker 5 (14:25):

And found out we had a lot in common, especially about Asian medicine. And I knew that, uh, I had met the right person. So he invited me to cheek on club, which was great. I had never had to, I've been in movement and dance for all my life. And I had never done that. So I went to cheek on class and I never stopped doing cheekbone after that. And then you explain to

Roy - Feeding Fatty (14:52):

Us, can you explain to us what a cheat dong is she quick she's gone.

Yadi (14:59):

Um, so she gone after China changed their politics. They created that word too long before that it probably would have been called like young sin or, uh, nourishing, nourishing health nourishing light, or a Dallion or the path within it's kind of a generic word. It's almost like saying a martial arts or saying, uh, health. And she goes, I'm going to be a lot of things, but when you standing and be breathing can be, uh, very physical. It can be meditation. It could be teaching could be many things, but it's abroad. Okay. Okay.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (15:44):

I'm sorry, Joey. I didn't mean to interrupt you again, but I just, that's a term that I'm just unfamiliar with. So those, okay.

Yadi (15:50):

It was a great question that, especially in the seventies, you know, like with, with the Chinese, when you say words in English, uh, that's called whether you spell it out, it's called opinion. Right. And, uh, that's changed over the years. Like years ago you could order pay King duck, right. Pay King is now Beijing. Right? Right. So in the seventies, when she came here, they spelled it Chi K U N G like clean food cheap, but now they spell it with a Jew and the Cuban sounds like, sure. So if you see Q I G O N G she gone. Um, yeah. If that helps anybody I'm okay.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (16:31):

Yeah. Go ahead. Joi. Sorry to interrupt

Yadi (16:38):

Problem. I think we were getting to like how Keith on the cheek. And I remember one time after class, or actually we were hanging out and I wasn't same age. So we, you know, we grew up in the same time period and somebody, all of the things that you did or, you know, similar music flows, you know, a lot of like, I always tell people like nowadays, um, like hip hop and rap music is big. It's, it's huge. And it's mainstream. When we grew up in the eighties, it was not mainstream. Like you had dance, music rock. We had house new. You had like this goal, which died, you had pop music, but rap was not a big thing. You know, now everybody wants to rap. And some of the people who rap are over 40, 50 years old. And I always tell people, if you saw the space shuttle crash, Oh gosh, you should stop rapping. Right.

Speaker 6 (17:53):

That's like save and close, you know, save and close that you think you'll fit into. You know, it's going to come back around. Well, if it comes back around again, you're too old to wear it, you know,

Speaker 5 (18:06):

Boom gone by that point. But, um, uh, yes, we were hanging out one night and I had a flare of arthritis and I couldn't walk, but I was trying not to show it to him because I didn't want him to worry about, you know, me not being able to walk, but of course he likes to walk fast. Uh he's from Chicago. So he's like, okay, what's wrong? And I told him, you know, I have, uh, hangs in my head too. It's a really nosy, you know, so he said, okay, we get to this little space in the park. And he said, why don't we do this? She goes, that he did not tell me it was an advanced sense. And that we were going to be doing this for a full 20 minutes. And we're, it's the summer night and it's really hot outside. So I'm doing this advanced, she gone that I have to hold my arms out.

Speaker 5 (19:09):

I had to control my breathing. I start sweating. And then I started feeling pain in my leg and I'm looking at her like, Oh, hate this. Why do I have to do the aspirin? Give me stop. No, just keep doing it. He was very calm. We were just doing it for the whole 20 minutes and the whole 20 minutes. I hated it. I hated him. I hated being there. And then finally the 20 minutes was over and I was so upset, but I got to walk. I went to walk and there was no pain wow. At home. And I didn't believe that that was actually true. So I tested it. I walked up Hills, I ran downhills. I walked in circles. Cause when I have put my Fridays, I would turn and I would try to shift quickly. And my hip joint would not move because of the plane, but I didn't have them. And I could walk around in circles and it was pain-free and it lasted for three whole days. Wow. No pain relievers, no medication for three days. And I was convinced that that was something that I needed to do continue school. That's how I got into what you do.

Speaker 6 (20:23):

It's true.

Speaker 5 (20:26):

You able to see me go from walking without a pain, to being able to walk as fast as you want. And it did not take very long in order to see that change. You've seen somebody standing in a horse stance and low in the stance they'll have their arms up in some kind of position. Right? Um,

Yadi (20:48):

Likewise,

Speaker 5 (20:51):

It

Yadi (20:51):

Was light that only arms were straight out and the fingers were kind of bent like this. And then there were certain movements in between. So it's a, it's a martial arts kind of stance. Um, and it was 20 minutes. Wow. It was long enough. 20 minutes is long enough for the kidneys to filter every drop of blood in your body. So if you do something for 20 minutes straight, if it's walking or if it's deep breathing or whatever, um, if you're excited for 20 minutes, that's enough time to change the way your blood chemistry looks under a microscope. Interesting. That's a big deal. Yeah. And so, you know, for, for people who want to learn anything, you want to learn yoga, you want to do walking or whatever it is you want to learn. She gone do it for 20 minutes. 20 minutes is probably a good cutoff. Um, because after that, that's when you go into the negative return cycle, like if you keep doing it after that, that's when you fatigue, that's when the pain comes. So it was good to do things in 20 minute cycles. Why you're a beginner, you know? But yeah. That when, when Jordan, um, you want to help somebody that's in pain. Right. And we just met and you know, we, um, I don't know. It's hard to look, uh, young and attractive when you're limping. You know what I mean? Like it's hard to be,

Speaker 5 (22:13):

Apparently I try. I tried. Um, but yeah, in the end he could tell, you know, cause he's used to movements, he's into body movement, body moves and, and you know, as a dancer, I understood that. And you're trying to hide that didn't work very long because then you start to see it in other parts of your body. So that's what he was thinking.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (22:38):

So now do, y'all just, uh, do y'all work mostly with people with, I would say like a physical ailment, like, you know, like a joint pain or something in that movement issue or is it, you know, because I think of like the, uh, uh, overeating and smoking and I think of all those types of things as well.

Yadi (22:58):

Well, yeah, it is a good question. Uh,

Speaker 5 (23:02):

Well we see a lot of different kinds of issues.

Yadi (23:05):

Asian medicine is holistic. So if the person has a movement problem, um, joints are connected to your liver and your gallbladder. If you have, if you're smoking, there's usually an emotional reason why, and there's a physical reason why, um, and that's more holistic how we deal with it. So, you know, there's the chemical part that you may be addicted to nicotine, but then there's the feeling you get when you take deep breaths, you can take long exhales. A lot of times people smoke because they don't get a chance to just take a deep breath and instantly excuse to let things go. Because these threats interesting, interesting times my Japanese teacher would say the same thing. She really likes smoking because she could relax and I never understood that, but it made a lot of sense.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (23:54):

Yeah. And you know, it's funny you bring that up because that's something that, um, it's something that has been pointed out for me in the past is the breathing part. And it's, uh, something I didn't even realize, but like, uh, you know, I did some martial arts training and uh, my sensei would, he would walk by me all the time and tap me on the shoulder and say, take a breath. You know, because I would just, I guess, get so tensed up doing that. And then another time it was a fun setting. We were out at a paint painting party where they have a lady instructor painting. And so you, she says get brushed one and paint green. And so I was following her instructions and she came by and tapped me on the shoulder and said the same thing, you know, and this was all in the same time period.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (24:39):

And she's like, this is fun. You can take a breath. It's all right. And I thought, you know how these other people could see that in me, you know, but I could not see it in myself. And so I, uh, you know, I actually had a, um, a list of things to do every day over my desk. And one of them was to breathe. Just a reminder that take those deep breaths. Because even if I'm not thinking about it, I feel, um, short breaths. I don't feel like I ever like and do that, but that's a good, um, I guess that's a good analogy for the smoking that I'd never thought about is people, you know, having that big release and that big exhale.

Yadi (25:17):

Oh yeah. Can we do something for fun? Is that All right? I'm glad you brought up breathing. Um, because this is an exercise that works really well for people who experienced anger, frustration. Um, and it's just something you can do with breathing. You don't have to deal with any body movements. Um, let's make it as realistic as possible. Find something that makes you angry.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (25:46):

Yeah. My internet connection. I don't have to look that far. I had some internet troubles this week and I like to throw my chair out the window and Terry stopped me from doing that like, Oh God. Yeah.

Yadi (25:56):

Yeah. Okay. So to be authentic, everyone let's do this together and find something that makes you upset and feel how your body responds to the feeling of being angry and being angry. Like, okay. So a lot of times you feel the tension in the chest, the throat will get a little tight. You might even feel heat in the cheats and under the eyes. Right? So I want you to remember how that felt when you thought of it. This is not hypnotism. This is just, she'd gone. We're going to take a breath in. And as you exhale, I want you to make a sound. The sound is shoo shoo, next time you do it. I want you to inhale. It was standing in front of a big green tree and you can see the green leaves. You inhale fresh air in the tree and then exhale the sound. One more time. You're standing in front of a tree, bright green leaves. You inhale. And then exit go back to the thing that made me angry. Well, back to what made you upset and think of it. See what your body is done.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (27:11):

Yeah, no reaction. Interesting. Yeah. Wow.

Yadi (27:18):

What if I told you what was going to happen, then it's hidden. It's hidden, right? I don't tell you naturally. So the problem is being angry. Isn't the problem. It's the problem that we hold on to anger. And then we take anger with us. Like it's helpful to us. Angry was just inspired to be angry when you're angry, but to be angry when you're not even angry, that's, that's resent mint. And that becomes dizzy. That becomes where you hold onto the tension or you waste all that, all that energy. Yeah. Sometimes we're taught that a physical ailment may have started as an emotional issue first. And a lot of times when you start to heal the physical, the emotional, then it come up and you have to deal with both at the same time. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (28:04):

Yeah. There's a, there's a great saying that I heard years ago, it was like that being mad at somebody or holding on to some anger with somebody else it's like drinking poison and hoping that somebody else dies. You know,

Yadi (28:20):

That's a big thing. If you think about the word resent, it means sent twice. We sent. And a lot of times when somebody has cancer or somebody has a disease that's rotting and festering inside them, they carry. Even if they're the sweetest person to you, they carry that resentment, that anger, and it becomes a physical thing was now your body is constantly making that tension, constantly making that heat and constantly breathing shorter, as you mentioned. Interesting. Just something that might help people know. That's awesome.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (28:53):

So let me just, uh, this may be too deep to get into, but maybe we can touch on it. But what about the, um, what about the overeating? I mean, it's like me, you know, every emotion elicits eating, you know, we, we talk about this all the time and it, you know, part of it is culture growing up in habits that, you know, you come home from school or from work and something bad happened and they're like, Oh, let's go get them. You know, let's go eat something, let's go get an ice cream. I'll make you feel better. Or you come home like, Hey, I just won first place and things are great. Awesome. Let's go get an ice cream to celebrate. You know, I was like, you know, you're sad. You're down and get tense, stress, all of that. But, um, anyway, I just love food and uh, I love food. It's a, it's a bad habit. It's, uh, you, I do it unconsciously, you know, sometimes I'll be doing it and think, ah, why am I even doing this? I should've thought about this before doing it. So any, uh, any little helpful tips or tricks for that?

Yadi (29:55):

Well, the simple answer, why do we overeat? Or what, what does it mean outside of, um, the, the chemicals that we like, you know, sugar makes you feel happy. Obviously you have sugar, um, in, in Oriental medicine, this stomach and the spleen organs are connected with elements of nature. Um, as is the liver. The liver is representative of anger and we connected with wood. The tree was the exercise in terms of food that's earth. So when things are out of control, what you want to do is have rounding and balance. You want to have stability, you want to be stable. So you eat things that make you more stable or make you feel more stable in stock. Okay. Interesting. If you think about it, um, when the pandemic hit, what did people do? They went and bought out everything from the grocery store, right?

Yadi (30:53):

Well, actually from food and a lot of friends who are trying to create that comfort and safety, usually what we go through first. And that's usually what, like you were saying, most of our special events, right? All that as a way of, uh, combat. So in clinic, we, um, we overeating is often seen as an excess of heat in the stomach. Um, and the stomach is warm. I mean, in, in the West, we know we have stomach acid in, in, uh, Asian medicine. They would call that stomach fire. Um, but what will happen is you'll get too much, uh, you'll have too much heat and it doesn't mean you're digesting. Well, it doesn't mean you have a good metabolism. It just means the fire is burning. The fire is burning and you in clinic, there are things that we would do to kind of reduce the buyer or, you know, disperse the buyer, not to put it out because you have to eat know, and there's nothing wrong with liking. Ooh, it's just moderation is key. Right. My teacher would say moderation, everything in moderation, including moderation.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (32:11):

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And the comfort issue, you know, that's a good point because, um, you know, something that I started years ago was that, uh, you know, kind of not eating like right before bed, I'd be like, uh, you know, leading, wanting something, whatever. But then it got to be, I think it was that comfort feeling like, like if I wasn't full, then I didn't feel like I could go lay down. And so that is one thing that I have noticed is that, you know, and the other thing too, I mean, you, you know, like somebody who's big, like me, I get a little hunger, you know, twinge and like, Oh my God, I got to stop and eat. And then, you know, you think through this, like, I don't know that that little hunger thing is probably going to kill me within the next three or four days. I can probably, you know, wait 20 minutes or an hour to eat a meal instead of getting that snack. So, uh, you know, I know a lot of this is self-awareness and then trying to stop yourself before, you know, taking that plunge.

Yadi (33:11):

It does take time to be able to find something that you can use to stop you from doing it. You don't replace something with nothing, right. It's not like, okay, we're going to get you to stop eating, just stop. Cause then you go back to what you were doing before. So a lot of the times, um, so, uh, just speaking from my own experience, like my, who was angry, um, I'm a small guy, I'm five 11, you know, I'm 155 pounds and I'm from the city of Michael Jordan. Like I like people are big in Chicago. Um, and I had to fight a lot when I was growing up and I had a chip on my shoulder, which, you know, as we talk about it, doesn't help you as you get older, it just becomes kind of like your problem. Now you have an, I you're just mad.

Yadi (34:03):

Um, so I would notice that when somebody would say something or I would interact with somebody, I always had this feeling of tension. And when I started doing Chico long exercise and it wasn't the commitment, um, I use the same energy that I would use to be angry, to do whatever with my anger, to talk crazy about you to go punch a punching bag, which I still do. Um, but I would use that energy to go, do she gone? No, I'm not saying she goes the thing. Sometimes it might be calligraphy or it might be, you know, uh, what was the, uh, like demean more in ghosts? Like if you go make pottery, right. But it's, it's, you have to replace one thing that makes you feel good with something else that makes you feel good. You don't just moving out. Like that's, that's like, just like, okay, that makes you feel good. That's the one time you get to be free. No, one's telling you where to be and what to do. And how, how much money are you going to make? What stop. Yeah.

Yadi (35:05):

Terry and I were talking earlier and I told her that I was a flight attendant and I, I remember I would always accurate flight go find five guys in Dallas international airport because they had the best price. And I always wondered why I wanted to do that after a flight. And I realized that, you know, as a flight attendant, you encounter a lot of people. It's very fast paced and it's very high stress and my stress would be through the roof. But there are certain things that you can't say you can't in front of people and you have to keep certain appearance while you're on a plane chain.

Yadi (35:45):

But I, I would go and kill a bag of five guys, French fries after the flight. And I, I started to realize that it was making me feel bad afterwards. And I was wondering, why am I always triggered to go do this after you're eating your anger? My frustration. So once I figured out that's what it was, I then had to start going through what I could do then like right there to distress so that I could perform my job, but also not depend on high cards in order to make myself relax. So that is what, uh, that's what I had to do. That's what I would find. One little thing. Yeah. I find little things breathing, maybe getting, um, nice water or something, taking a walk and help a lot. So if I had time in the terminal, I would take a few laps and that would really help. And that made a huge difference.

Joi (36:47):

What'd you say?

Roy - Feeding Fatty (36:51):

Yeah. The, uh, I think that's an awesome idea. That the cause that's why I was thinking about is maybe doing some breathing, maybe just drinking water. Uh, anyway, it give me something, cause I have tried to replace that a little bit more, you know, with getting to the gym, instead of sitting around here, you know, eating a popcorn or whatever, you know, get out and go for a walk or, you know, do something more productive

Yadi (37:15):

And expressing your feelings at the right time to the right person who also important. You don't want to hold in what it is that you're feeling. I mean, sometimes you need to find a way to tell whoever it is that you are experiencing. Um, I'm hungry [inaudible]

Joi (37:35):

Oh,

Yadi (37:40):

Um, because we mentioned that, that, uh, that, that hunger, a lot of times comes from heat and a fire. Uh, a simple technique that they do, this comes from the fasting and this is something you could do is very easy. Like you take a simple breath and then exhale, then click your teeth together. About 36 times with the mouth closed, when you do it, you'll generate saliva. And you just switch the saliva around in the mouth and swallow the saliva, which not only lubricates the Brode, but, um, that feeling of, um, being full sometimes diminishing, not saying this is going to work every time we try it. Right. Right. Um, sometimes I was going to say, Oh good, you have all types of things in your saliva that, that are energetic, like immunoglobulins things that your immune system needs, enzymes, even electrolytes are in your saliva. Um, and your teeth are extremely of your bones. So there's an electrical charge that's generated just from clicking with teeth, just like there is when you make impact when you run

Roy - Feeding Fatty (39:04):

So awesome. Because I, you know, I've heard a long time about the, uh, you know, how much breathing is important. I think y'all reinforce that with these other little tips and tricks that we can do to help disperse some of the anger anxiety, and, uh, you know, maybe think about replacing that, you know, that eat the, not the good, healthy eating, but that snacky type eating. So I know you guys need to get to an appointment. I know you've got something that's coming up. Cause we could actually probably talk to y'all for a couple more hours here. It's just so interesting. And um, you know, I'd love to have y'all, uh, back on the show, uh, to, you know, to go off into this, you know, some of these things a little bit more in depth, but we appreciate your time. Uh, so very much it's been such a pleasure meeting both of you and having this conversation,

Yadi (39:54):

You too, as well, enJoied it very much. It's fine. Have you pick a little bit of time and share it? Thanks for having us. We appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (40:02):

If you don't mind, uh, before we let you go, first off, I'd like to ask both of y'all, uh, what is something that you do every day? And it could be an app, a program, a habit or ritual, what is something that you do every day that you couldn't do without, that really adds a lot of value to you?

Yadi (40:22):

Your life is. Um, and, and the great thing is to be able to, um, you know, send them a little good morning, you know, my daughter's grown up. Um, yeah, just being able to, uh, to communicate with family on social media is probably one of those things that like we didn't have before that. I, I think it would be hard to live with that. Yeah. Yeah. I'd like to spend some time, whether it's five minutes to 30 minutes and silent, no cell phone, no computer. I wake up before everybody else so that I can have that mental space where I have quiet and it sets me up for the day because I, I, both of us are in a situation where we have a lot of people come and ask us a lot of questions and they're asking to help them. And then we deal with people outside, like our families that need help. And then you just need that time where you can get centered and get still. And if I don't do that, it's not a good day. That's awesome.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (41:38):

Oh yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (41:40):

Uh, if one of y'all would tell us, so how can people, uh, well, first off, who is your client, uh, what you can do for them and then how people can reach out and get ahold of you. Yeah.

Yadi (41:52):

Well, if you're in Charlotte or if you're in the Carolinas, you're welcome to come to the clinic. We're close to the border of South Carolina in South park. Charlotte, we have Charlotte traditional healing located about five blocks away from South park. Um, the only mall with the valet that I've seen, um, also you can go to Charlottetraditionalhealing.com, uh, or where you can go to, she gone, qigongsaved.me if you're interested in learning a full set of exercises. Um, and we have, tele-health, we're really big into other things, which we haven't mentioned, but this is, um, yeah, this is how you get ahold of, or call called Joi. Don't send me messages like, Hey man, I got my movies helped me. Like I get, I get those at 3:00 AM. We help people all over the country and depending on the time, we can help people in different types of worldwide.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (42:54):

Awesome. Well, again, thank you both so much. We appreciate it. Uh, that's going to do it for another episode of feeding fatty. Of course, you can find us at www dot feeding, fatty.com. Uh, this interview, the audio and the video will both go up live. It'll probably be three to four weeks. We'll get that up. Uh, the, uh, also find us on social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the video will also be on our YouTube channel. You can find the podcast on all the major platforms, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and probably a dozen more. So reach out, give us a listen, should be sharing. Share sharing is caring. So share this with all of your friends, get them involved. We would love it. Visit us on our Facebook group. We'd love to start a discussion with, you know, with our listeners and see what we can do. If you're a professional that can help people with wellness and wellbeing, or if you have a great story, we're always looking for those. So reach out to either me or Terry. We'd love to get you on a future episode. So until then take care of yourself and take care of your family. This is Roy.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (44:04):

This is Terry Yadi, Joi. Thank you so much. We really appreciate your time and expertise and sharing all of this.

Yadi (44:12):

Thank you so much for having me.

www.feedingfatty.com

FUN-ctionally Fit with Dai Manuel

Dai Manuel is a super dad, dating his wife, with a lead by example way of living and a contagious personality, who is on a mission to positively impact one million role models around the globe to lead a FUN-ctionally fit life through education, encouragement, and community.

He is an award-winning digital thought leader and author, Distinguished Toastmaster & keynote speaker, former partner and Chief Operating Officer of a multi-million dollar retail company, and a sought after lifestyle mentor and executive performance coach.

Dai knows the struggle of the juggle and keeping his health and happiness a priority. He models his work based on 5 F's: Fitness, Family, Faith, and Finances with an overarching roof of FUN, built on a rock-solid foundation of Health. Nuggets of wisdom and inspiration to take action to be your best self are guaranteed when you connect with Dai!

www.daimanuel.com

www.feedingfatty.com

Full Transcript Below

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:02):

Hello, and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty I'm Roy I'm Terry. So we are the podcasts that, uh, you know, we like to Chronicle my journey and Terry is my support mechanisms. So we'd like to bring you talk about our different challenges, successes, and things that we've learned along the way through getting healthy weight loss. And, uh, we also bring, uh, have guests that have awesome stories to tell professionals in the field that can give us some actionable items. So today, without further ado, let's introduce our guests.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:36):

Okay. We are very happy to have Dai Manuel. He is a super dad dating his wife and currently doing life with his family around the globe. He is also an award winning digital thought leader and author executive performance coach and certified lifestyle mentor who empowers people to lead a functional functionally fit life through education, encouragement, and community day. Welcome to the show.

Dai (01:08):

Well, thank you very much, Terry and Roy was a nice little introduction. I was like, wow. I think I might've almost [inaudible]. Yeah. Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to be with us. We appreciate that. Yeah. Oh man. Well, you know what, uh, I just keep thinking about the title of your podcast, right? Eating fatty and I, it's such a great name and, uh, it brings back lots of memories for me. I'll tell you that, because I think we can all relate to that. We've all had periods in life where we fall out of health. When we're in that space, it certainly feels like we're just feeling bad and I've lived in that space. So I know it very well.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (01:54):

You know, we kicked it around Terry when we started this, Terry's like, we really need to Chronicle this because there not only is it for our mock accountability, but there are other people out there with the struggle as well. And we were kicking around names and I just jokingly threw that out there. And she's like, that's it that's right.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (02:11):

Like healthy lifestyle fitness at for you. What works

Roy - Feeding Fatty (02:16):

Part of that? I think the is that, um, no matter how healthy I may get, hopefully to get in the future is that, you know, I always have to be careful because I think once you, you know, it's like being a diabetic, once you've been fat, you could get that way again, very easy if you don't watch yourself. And so that's, the other thing is too, is that, you know, we can do a lot of stuff to get healthy, but it's trying to do it in a manner that we can do it for a long time

Terry - Feeding Fatty (02:44):

Lifestyle. Yeah. Yeah.

Dai (02:48):

Well, you know, it's all about sustainability, right? Lifestyle. I mean, it's the lifestyle we're always looking for that thing where we just don't even have to think about it anymore. We just live into it. Yeah. I think that's the thing that we're all aiming. Right.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (03:00):

Right. So can you tell us a little bit about your history, where you, how you got to where you are now and what's going on?

Dai (03:09):

Sure. Well, I mean, thank you for asking that. I think we all have a, I'm a big Marvel fan or a comic book fan, and I always like the origin stories. Right, right. You know, just keeping to the theme of your podcast. Uh, I w even though I'm someone that's been, I've actually worked, I've had a career in the wellness and health industries now for 26 years, 26 years, my entire adult life, I've worked in the fitness and the wellness spaces in various capacities obviously. And, uh, I love it. It's a, it's a big part of, of what I just love to do. I love to empower people with change and I didn't come to that naturally though. You know, like I think a lot of people, especially in the fitness space, uh, a lot of people tend to be athletes where people that have a very natural lifestyle, that's embraced athleticism, you know, like they'd just been active their entire life.

Dai (03:59):

And I love that. I think it's inspiring, but I am not that person. I came from the opposite end. And this is where I find another contingency within the wellness industry where it's people that have are not working in it because they themselves have already had this massive shift or transformation and awakening where really they just prioritize their health and made some changes. And I'm from that camp, uh, I was morbidly obese as a teenager. So from the age of nine to 14, well, listen, it wasn't rocket science. Uh, you know, that got me there. In fact, it was just really simple. Uh, I ate a lot of foods that were very poor and nutrition value yet rich in calories. And I did that frequently. Uh, and also I, I had a lifestyle that was, well, let's just put it this way. The majority of my time free time was spent watching movies or playing video games, you know, and compound that day in day out for a period of about five years.

Dai (05:00):

Well, yeah, I didn't grow up. I grew out and I, I can laugh about it now, but to be honest and fully transparent with you, you know, at that age, I was battling depression, a lot of anxiety, a lot of just self doubt and, uh, you know, a lot of the, and I hate to use the word cliche because today, you know, when we hear obesity or even the term morbid obesity, it is like regular in our vernacular now. Right. Can't help it look on the feeds. And we see these words coming up, you look at the world health organization talking about this global pandemic outside of COVID, but I mean, it's an issue before COVID was this issue of just the rise in people's weight and, and the increase of health complications as it was then, you know, back then childhood obesity, wasn't even something that you would put together. I was one of two kids in my class that was in that state of unhealth, you know, and, and so it was very alienating and, uh, and to be fair, you know, I think I alienated myself more than others were alienating me if you know what I mean. I wasn't good in social settings. That's where it started. So, sorry, go ahead.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (06:15):

No, no, I was just going to say, you know, that is, uh, it's such a tough age and I, I gotta hand it to you that you overcame it even, uh, because that, uh, unfortunately those, um, the ridicule, the self down, everything kids go through at that time period, sometimes it leads to even worse troubles as adults. So I think, uh, congratulations that, you know, you were able to work yourself out of that. That's amazing because I I'm the opposite. I was skinny as a kid, like to the skinny, to the point of my grandparents would be like, Oh my God, you've got to eat something. You know, we need you to eat because I was just very thin, but, you know, I beefed up through high school and athletics and then, uh, you know, put my weight on as an adult. So I, luckily I've never been chastised too much. So I can't even imagine what you must have gone through, you know, as, as a, that age group.

Dai (07:09):

Yeah. I mean, children are mean most of the time, but I was gonna say, teens can be cruel, you know, like it's, it's really, uh, and, and so, you know, I had a few friends, um, but even then, you know, if we were hanging out, it wasn't like we were playing, we were playing video games or watching movies or eating junk in the races. I had that, that body type, because I'd been doing that for so long. I have a body type that it is fairly easy for me to put on weight. It just, it is, I can, but I mean, it works to my advantage as well, because as soon as the flip switched, you know, uh, yeah, right. I flipped the switch happened and I made that shift. Right. I, it, it worked my advantage because, uh, when I, especially when I got into weight training and more resistance type training, I, I saw myself develop much more musculature, you know, so developing muscle mass, uh, but it also changed how I fueled myself, you know, so I started eating different foods and foods that were more in alignment with the lifestyle that I wanted, the way I want it to feel.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (08:19):

Was there a catalyst for that change that something happened? Did it, how did that, how did that come about?

Dai (08:26):

Well, you know, up, up until the day that the catalyst, you know, like there, there was that moment where, and I think we hear about this often, you know, when people really reach that point where there really is no other option, but to embrace change and really become very proactive in our own lives to facilitate the change. You know, we realize that we've got to do something different than we've been doing to get different results. Otherwise, you know, Einstein said it best, right. You're doing the same thing, expecting

Speaker 4 (08:56):

Different results. Uh, so leading up to that, you know,

Dai (08:59):

My parents were great. Uh, they were very, very supportive. Um, my I, my parents separated when I was nine, which is interesting, you know, at that time and years later, you know, putting it all together with some supportive of, of a counselor and psychologist, you know, I, I went through a period about 11 years ago where I just needed to start focusing inward, you know, really focusing on my own mental health and my own issues and, uh, dealing with the old trauma. And what I realized, you know, is I had a lot of unsettled stuff okay. From, from that period of my life. And a lot of that I carried forward in later years. So it would always come up and I won't get into that so much right now, unless there's time. But what, back in those days, you know, I, uh, my parents were very supportive from the standpoint.

Dai (09:45):

They saw that I was hurting, you know, and they saw that I was in pain. They saw that was unhappy. They just wanted to make their son feel better. And they wanted them to happy, you know, healthy and happy. So they would often come and try to encourage me or invite me to try things like, how about we get your, or, you know, it's, uh, I mean, we seek out a nutritionist, we try to eat a little bit differently or, you know, can we get your gym membership? Like just little asides, you know? And, and I know they were coming from a place of love, but I'll tell you when you're in that place of hurt and you're already have a lot of self doubt. And, you know, if I ever saw my reflection, I would instantly, you know, just become very angry. Yeah. You know, upset at myself.

Dai (10:28):

And so here they are coming to try to help me, but I took it as an attack. Yeah. You know, and, and this is why I like to bring this up, because I think a lot of us can relate to this. We feel this at times in life, where those that love us and care for us, they come to us wanting to support. They make suggestions and make recommendations. They offer it up and they take it as if they're saying we're not enough. Right. You know, we're not good enough. We need to change. And that's how I took it then. So, you know, I would push back. I would act out and, uh, I could be mean at times, you know, just really not happy. And so over these years, you know, they, they basically just let me be, you know, try to support me as best they could.

Dai (11:12):

And, uh, but I had to come to grips with myself, you know, that, Oh my goodness, if I'm not happy where I am, I'm going to have to take ownership of this and make some changes, but it didn't come to that by accident. You know, I remember being at my father's place one weekend and, uh, I used to have this hack, you know, if I, if I got in the shower, cause I really had, didn't like seeing my reflection. I mean, there's very few pictures of me, of that period in my life because I would avoid social settings. I would avoid cameras. I just, no, you don't know. I mean, I used to forge my mom's signature on notes. I didn't have to do for Zen class. Cause that meant I'd have to change in the changing with a bunch of other kids, no way I'm taking shirt off.

Dai (11:54):

And so my life was highly compromised that way. And uh, I got really good at it. And one of my hacks was I'd have to get in the shower, turn on the water, really, really hot, get it super steamy in there, stay in there and actually long time. So when I get out here will be covered in condensation, all fogged up. I wouldn't have to look at myself toweling off this morning. My dad was rushing me cause he didn't have to get my brother and I somewhere and we could have been going bowling. I don't even know what it was, but it was mid morning. And he's just, he's like I was going to, I'm going to have a shower saying, okay, well you got hurry and you know, he's knocking on the door and it's like, come on, we gotta go. And uh, so I rushed it that you remember coming out of the shower and um, talent off and I can see my profile in the mirror and I turn and I lock eyes and I'm filled with anger with hate discussed and uh, I just lose it and uncontrollable sobbing, you know?

Dai (12:47):

And uh, I felt overwhelmed with emotions, just like, how is this me? Right. You know, like you're looking at yourself, but it's like, you don't know yourself, recognize you don't recognize who you've become. Wow. Yeah. And it's as, I mean I'm 14 at this time. And there was like, Oh my gosh, my limited scope in life at that period in time, my limited perspective on life, it felt really hard. Right. You know, it was really hard just acknowledging that this is me. And, uh, I started having thoughts and it, you know, at periods of time throughout those years, I mean, I would entertain the idea of like life would probably just easier for wasn't living. You know, it wouldn't be easier. My parents would be easier on me, like not having to deal with all this, but it never really felt like a true option.

Dai (13:31):

So as much as I entertain the idea, I never acted on it. And uh, this, that morning, it was like, that's not really an option, even though it was still there. You know, that idea just to be so much easier because it wasn't easy way around, but I didn't want to do that to my parents. And I didn't want to do myself. I didn't want him to live. And uh, but I wanted to like living. Right. And uh, so I've found myself realizing I was at a fork in the road. You know, it was like, because you know, after 14 I had had five years and I was like, man, things weren't trending in a good direction. So I was aware enough to realize that, you know, for the next five years I keep doing what I'm doing. I don't think it's gonna be better than it is right now.

Dai (14:10):

In fact, I, I, I admit it will probably be worse. So that's to the right. Well, here's this path to the left. That is completely unknown to me. It's still scary because I don't know what to do or what to expect, but maybe if I do something that's a little bit differently, maybe I can change. Maybe I can get healthy because I want to be healthy. I want to be happy. I want to like who I am. So I came into that bathroom with this conviction, you know, eyes, all bloodshot from crying. And then I approached my dad after I got dressed and I'm like, I want to get healthy. Then I don't want to be this way. And he must've realized, you know, you got to strike the animal. It's

Speaker 4 (14:49):

Hot. Cause, cause

Dai (14:52):

He had the awareness and I'm so grateful for this. But you know, within a matter of days he took me to buy a mountain bike. I said, I want a bike. You know, I want a bike because that way I didn't have to be in a Republic to work out because that was not an option. I'm not going to a gym or any of that stuff, no way, but a bike I could manage, I could ride a bike. I used to like riding a bike as a kid. And so it was like, I couldn't get a bike and it took me to get a bike. And uh, that literally after that weekend I just started cycling every day I had, I borrowed my dad's am or, well, I guess it was an am FM. You remember the Sony wall in the yellow ones?

Dai (15:29):

I think many of us have had those, you know, I'm totally dating myself, but I, I, I borrowed it and it was great because it had the automatic flip on it. Right. We would always play one side and then flip the other side. So I had to, on one side I had one of my favorite Canadian bands, tragically hip. And then on the other side I had an Alison chains and I knew that I would just start writing when the hip stopped plan and it flipped over. And I started hearing Alison change time to turn around and go home.

Speaker 5 (15:55):

And

Dai (15:55):

So it wasn't a matter of a distance. I just did it based on the music. So it was, it was about an hour, you know, I'd be out cycling and, uh, and it was hard. I'll admit it, it was really hard because I was really ashamed. I mean, I'd gone up a flight of stairs. I had to be out of breath and get a little bit of a glow on because I'd start sweating and uh, you know, just everything was compounded, right. When you're unhealthy, when you're feeling, not fit. Right. Not healthy, not, well, it just makes the usual minor things in life feels so much more like major things in life, you know, like when more difficult, uh, that's definitely the place I was in. And so that was it. I just committed to that. And I went to the library and got books out on fitness nutrition, and my kids still laugh. They're like, why don't you just Google it then? And I'm like, I'm old, I'm older

Speaker 5 (16:41):

Page.

Dai (16:43):

Yeah. And it's funny. Right. And so I educated myself. Right. And I just trusted that, Hey, other people have done this and other people who've lost weight. My mom was a big fan of Richard Simmons and then was swept into the eighties. I remember her putting on the old VHS tapes and just giving her and, uh, I used to, and I feel bad, but it was, I used to make fun of her because I'd be like, well, you know, it's just so funny. Right. And, uh, but it was awesome because, you know, she was role modeling me that, you know, you could do something at home just basic and here's this guy, but he sent him to edit an inspiring story. And then he would always show the clips on his shows, right. Or the infomercials of the people that lost all this weight. And so it was like, people can lose weight, people can change.

Dai (17:23):

So why can't I? And so I just trusted the process and I was consistent and I want to take that away. You know, it's like I was consistent with how I fuel myself, nourish myself. I was also very consistent with how I moved my body. And I started to feel a difference, you know, feel a change within just a matter of a month. Things started to just get better. And, uh, I CA I maintain that for after 20 months. Uh, I realized, you know, without even really think that I, I just had this new lifestyle, but also I'd become quite fit and you can quite healthy. And a lot of the psychological and emotional benefits of that also started to manifest, you know, I had more confidence in myself. I all of a sudden started to hang out with certain people. And also one of the biggest extrinsic motivators for me was I just wanted a girlfriend.

Dai (18:14):

I'm being completely honest. I, I did. I wanted, like, I mean, the underlying thing was, I just wanted someone to want me. Right. Yeah. I mean, that really was it. And, uh, and so I had a girlfriend as well and mean, you know, so life just was like, wow, this is amazing. And, and, and just to close out on this, what was super interesting, and this is really what was my catalyst for, for committing to this path as a life, you know, not just the lifestyle, but this is what I do for life. You know, like for, for, not only my vocation, but it's just, I love doing it. I mean, if I didn't get paid to do it, I'd still do it. You know, because when I started, that's how it was, I wasn't getting paid. I was just doing it for fun and for free, because I just wanted to help people.

Dai (18:54):

But at 17 friends of my parents would come around the house, you know, and I often, I was just thinking to come and say hi to my mom, you know, or, or whatever. And they come in, they say, I don't know. And then they pulled me aside and be like, Hey Dan, can I ask you a few questions? And cause they'd seen this transformation, this change that I'd had. Right. And so they would come and pick my brain. They would ask about fitness, they'd ask about nutrition. They would say what they were doing, what they wanted to achieve. And I was like, you care what I have to say? Like, you're, you're asking, are you sure you want to ask me, you were asking me this. And that was a first time in my life, you know, 17 years of life where I felt like people actually cared about what I had to say, but I also felt I had value to offer. And it felt so good to help people. And, uh, and that's what got me excited about coaching and mentorship and just helping people with transformations and, you know, fast forward now, 44 years old, I'm still doing it, but that's sort of where it started, you know,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (19:48):

Incredible that you were able to, to, to act on that at that age. I mean, kudos to you, my goodness. What a, what a hard, hard road.

Dai (20:00):

Well, I want people to know it was not easy, but, but big changes rarely are easy. I mean, it's easy to get started and it's challenging to sustain it, but one thing for certain it's always worth it. Yeah. It's always worth it. You know? So it's like any challenge or obstacle we overcome when you look back on it. Yeah. When you're going through it, it's hard, right? Like you're, you're surrounded by it. You're engulfed in it. You, you can't see anything else, but the challenge and the obstacle, but as soon as you get through it on the other side and you turn around and look back and it's like, is that all it was, you know, it's amazing how our perspective changes so quickly, as soon as we get through that challenging bit. And, uh, and, uh, so I have to remind myself of that. And I have at number of periods of my life where other challenges popped up, it was a nice lesson to learn that early on life because I realize change is possible, you know? And I can be,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (20:52):

Yeah, I'll just say again, it goes along what we were talking about. Uh, you know, pre-show about the, um, that, that coin I have, that the obstacle is the way that sometimes, you know, and the other thing that's kind of important about that is that, uh, know there's a place here called the great sand dunes. And if you climb up to the top of the first one, you can see like, then there's another and another and another. And I think that's another important thing to remember, you know, in, in not only in wellness, but in life is that we never reached the top of the mountain. I mean, it's always, there's always another Hill and we always have to keep working and keep climbing. I think as long as we can resign ourselves to this fact that we're, we always need to grow reevaluate and, uh, you know, in order to make those positive changes. But another thing, what I was going to ask you about was on the nutrition side, you know, you talked about getting the bike and getting out there every day and exercising, but did you make some big, uh, nutritional changes as well?

Dai (21:53):

You know, the nutritional, well, I mean, they were big, but not insurmountable. I think there's a difference there, you know what I'm saying, big shift. It was because, you know, my mom and just to give you a little bit more context to how life was at that time, uh, you know, my parents separated and we'd see our dad every other weekend. He had a, a business that he was still building, you know, and, and, and he, he, he just had a wonderful work ethic as well. And, uh, and at that time, you know, I kind of resented his work schedule and the fact that he worked so much, um, but it was later on in life. I realized that I actually didn't hire at a ton. And, and I modeled a lot of his work ethic and my mom had a similar work ethic. And at that time, after my dad had left and got his own place, and my mum was looking after my brother and I, uh, full full-time, she's also working full time, as well as going back to school to get her master's and, and so her life.

Dai (22:49):

And then on top of that, she's trying to, to find a potential next mate, you know, next life partner. And so she was busy, you know, like really busy. And so my brother and I would tend to have a fair bit of time to ourselves, you know, especially as we got over the age of 10 and we'd have more autonomy. And, and it was just based on, uh, circumstances. And, uh, so my mum would often buy foods that were quick to produce quick to cook, you know, easy for my brother and I, and that that'd be like pizza pockets, a little, the little McCain, pizzas. I mean, Costco, uh, one of the things I used to eat a lot of was a, you know, those muffin trays at Costco, right? Those are not Moffitt's, I'm sorry. They're little cakes.

Dai (23:38):

Oh. And they were like 1500 calories. Like, I didn't understand what calories, but once I educated myself and understood how food works, like macronutrients, calories, just really foundational stuff. As it relates to nutrition, not super complicated stuff, like I'm not going to get into like the Krebs cycle and how creatine works and how our muscles produce lactic acid. And that all came later. I just wanted to understand the fundamentals. And as soon as I understood that, and I understood how to read labels, right. Everything started to change. And I started asking myself, okay, well, it's really hard to find foods without sugar. I was like, Holy smokes. Cause you know, sugar wasn't vilified back then, like it is now, right. I mean, back then it was really fat was vilified, right. That was during that whole time to remember during the eighties, and even during the nineties, they were like fads bad for you. Don't eat fat

Speaker 4 (24:27):

Heart attack. It's funny. Now what's one of the most

Dai (24:30):

Popular diets out there. The keto diet, we're just pretty much right.

Speaker 4 (24:34):

All fine,

Dai (24:37):

Which don't get me started. There's a whole nother conversation there, but, but with the basics, I just started eat more whole foods. I took an interest in actually starting to prepare meals for our family because my mom would come home. You don't want to be after six, by the time she got home, I have to work. And I'd already been home for a few hours. I had this new passion for getting healthy and I took it upon myself to take a lot of wrong ingredients and start making meals, you know, I didn't have a, a large breadth of meals, but I got really good at making a couple of studios. And Chili's, you know, especially, you know, Ontario in the winter, it's cold, you want warm food. So I got really good at making that kind of stuff and you know, less things out of boxes, more things that were whole food unprocessed. And that was really the gist of it. And I cut sugar out and started drinking lots of water. Like that's it, you know, that along with the fitness, you know, just moving my body every day with a little bit of purpose. And when I say with purpose, it's like, I'm moving my body to elicit a positive response, such as get a bit of a globe. You know, as my wife says, I don't sweat. I glisten,

Speaker 4 (25:42):

I sweat. Okay. I sweat a lot and I love it. And, uh,

Dai (25:49):

So that's what I would look for. Just sweat a little bit every day and, and watch what I eat. Good things are gonna happen. And to be honest though, at the start, it was really a big, big, big change, right? So you get the headaches, you get the, you know, there's a little lethargy, like there's your, body's like rebelling because five years of doing the thing a certain way and trying to change it overnight, obviously there's pushback. And just physically, especially, you know, also psychologically and emotionally, I mean, there's lots of stuff happening, but I trusted that it would get better. And the thing that really helped me shift, like go from, okay, this is a good idea. I think it might work. This may work. It might, it might work to the point where it's like, this is working and I'm doing this and I love it and I'm going to keep doing it. And that was about three and a half weeks in.

Speaker 4 (26:36):

You reminded

Dai (26:36):

Me of this. When you, you mentioned the dunes because this was concession street, uh, road, I would, which is sort of, it was the border of our town, right. There's always those little roads that are sort of at the very outskirt and it's sort of that barrier that everybody would refer to. And, and I live just off of it. So I I'd cycle up it in, and there was this Hill and I say it Hill because that's really what it is. But to me at that time, it was Everest. Okay. It was a big Hill and here I am, this obese kid on his bike riding up to this Hill and I'm like, Oh my God. I said, big Hill. You know, I don't know if I can do this. And, and I just remember trying and get into about a third of the way up.

Dai (27:14):

And it was just like, I'm not moving like floating right now. And all of a sudden, and inside, I was like, Oh, I should just turn angled, go back. I mean, I obviously can't do this. You know? Um, I just failed that very first till I came to you, can't do this. Like, what am I thinking? But then, you know, I'm getting off the bike. I know what's at the top of the Hill. I know it flattens out and I know where it goes. So I just walked my gut and I did. And then I got back to cycling again, you know, listening to my, my tape and just going about my day and every day I'd come back to that Hill. It was about three and a half weeks in. I ascended the top without getting off the bike to the top, you know, and three and a half weeks.

Dai (27:58):

And, and when I got to the top of that Hill, my mountain, you know, it was like, Oh my gosh, I did that. I did that. And because you know, the number on the scale, wasn't changing a lot, my belt size, wasn't changing a lot, like certain metrics numbers, like, you know, how the fitness industry works and that's, I got a love, hate relationship with it because we're so quick to quantify things, right. How much should we, you know, what's your dress size? How fast can you run a mile? How many pushups can you do? Like w w we quantify things so quickly, and I want to qualify things I want to look at, how do things actually affect our life? You know, the emotional connection to the things of why we do what we do, especially when it comes to lifestyle change. And so when I got to the top of that mountain, that Hill, I was like, I did this.

Dai (28:47):

And my belief in myself was like, highest it's ever, ever been. And at that moment, I knew like this is happening. This is working because I'm doing it, you know? And, uh, that was it. That was my turning point. I, in Canada, we have a network called TSM, which is these sports network. You know, it's like the ESPN in the States. And, uh, we have a TSN turning point. This is always the highlights where they showed the games. And in those show where, you know, it's that moment in a game where things just switch and you know, that the team that's losing all of a sudden, Whoa, they make a play, they score. And now the energy shifts and they ended up winning. Right. And I called that moment in my life at TSN turning point. That was it. So, so yeah, that's, that's sort of in a nutshell, you know,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (29:31):

Well, that's a couple of cool things, but number one is you, you unknowingly at the time, but you had a measure. So you, you know, you started the Hill third of the way, but you were able to work your way up, which kind of brings up a couple, uh, a couple math equations to think about. And one of the biggest for me was thinking about, okay, how fast does it take to eat a calorie, versus how quick does it take you to burn one off? And this is, you know, cause a lot of people like I'm gonna, I'm gonna continue to, um, I'm gonna continue eating this way, but I'm going to go out and walk or jog or do this or do that, but not make a nutritional change. And then they, they like, well, I can't make it. It's not nothing's happening for me.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (30:19):

And so I know the, the numbers that I've gotten is like 3,500 calories equals a pound. So basically if everything is an equilibrium and you're where you need to be, you're eating your 2000 calories and life is good. You're holding. If you eat 3,500 extra calories that week, you will gain one pound in, you know, somewhere in there. I'm sure it's approximate. But so if you think about how much like me, I think about my little package of m&ms and a package of chips, I don't even know what they are. Probably, you know, five, six, 700 extra calories right there that it took me about five minutes to consume. And then last night I walked 45 minutes on a treadmill, pretty decent pace, a little bit of incline. You know, I was like a hundred and I didn't put my weight in. So it was probably judging me off of a little slider built person. But anyway, I burned, you know, about 145 calories. So if we just stop and think for a minute, it's M you know, sometimes it's input and output. It's like, what are we putting in our mouth? And how are we burning that off through the day? It's a huge awakening or can be, it was for me anyway.

Dai (31:39):

Yeah. Well, that's, I mean, I think you're spot on with that realization because it's true, right? Like, it doesn't take much to, especially when we're looking at certain types of foods and there's a lot of content out in the world now that talks about not all calories are equal. Right. You know, and yes and no, uh, there's truth to that. And it's true. Like, you eat a calorie of sugar, you need a calorie of, of spinach, your body treats it very differently, very directly to get that calories. Spinach might be a cup of spinach in volume where we're talking about less than the Cuba sugar. Right? Exactly. It's very different. And also that composition in spinach, it's mainly fiber. Right. And we already know fiber doesn't get processed by your body. So, and this is the neat thing about the keto diet, right? Like they talk about different types of carbohydrates and you know, there's some that are basically net zero, you know, you could eat the calories, but you actually end up, it's like eating celery, right?

Dai (32:43):

Yeah. You burn more calories than what the calories are provided in celery, because mainly just water and fiber, your body doesn't process it, but we need fiber too. And, uh, but so that's a great realization though, because when you start putting in that perspective, it's like, okay, well I could have this, but that could be 300 burpees. I always tell people, you should do it in your car. If you'd make it. Burberry's he's not walking. You really look at it different. Cause I used to do that with some of my clients and I'll be like, it's okay. Treat every burpee, like one calorie. So you want an extra a hundred calories today. It's okay. Do it. But you got to do an extra, a hundred burpees when you work out and be like, okay, it ain't worth that.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (33:24):

There's a, there's another, another concept in finance, it's compounding, you know, which is kind of the Genesis for, you know, a lot of the financial calculations and how, you know, again, that was a huge awakening for me. Uh, you know, as a young person to figure all that out. But, uh, there's a good book called the slight edge and I think everybody should read it. And it basically it's this compounding factor is that had you gone out and re written your bike one day and threw it in the garage, you would never gotten up to the top of the Hill, or if you had to read it one day and then six months later taking it back out. And so it's that compounding effect of riding that bike every day or eating the right combination. And, you know, we always say, we're not doctors, please seek medical attention, you know, to get your diet straightened out, get a dietician, whatever you need to do.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (34:23):

But let's just say, you know, if you eat right multiple days in a row, the compounding effect is unbelievable versus, you know, like I go through those spells, like, Ooh, I'm really eating right today and I'm going to the gym. And then tomorrow is like, what's that pizza guys deliver? You know, what's that pizza number again, or we can call up. So I think that, you know, that consistency factor that you talked about compounding, however you want to talk about it. It's important. It's important in a lot of aspects of life, but also when we're talking about getting healthy.

Dai (34:58):

Yes. So about, you know, one of my favorite books complementary to that book is the compound effect. And that was one that really opened my eyes, Slack, the whole concept, right? Like as much as we all love compound interest compounding the negative in our life, not so good. Right.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (35:19):

Not looking at it that way too is, uh, you know, like last night, if I'm in the gym walking for 45 minutes, I'm not at home sitting on the couch eating for 45 minutes. So it's like a double, it's a double good too it's as well, but it's really smart. The other thing is motivation me. Uh, you know, we were talking, me and Terry were talking a little bit last night or this morning, like I have had a few days out of the gym, got back in it, you know? And I, it just, it lifts me so much in so many ways. I feel better physically, mentally. I mean, today I've been like so alert and, uh, you know, a lot of good creative thoughts, but it's not the part is the problem is not the gym. It's the distance between, you know, my chair at my desk and, and the gym front door, if I can ever, if I can conquer that distance. Um, yeah, I'm awesome. But it's, I just have to be honest and say, you know, I have trouble conquering that.

Dai (36:23):

Hmm. You're not alone at all. You know, I think we can all relate very much to what you just shared. And I often will say, you know, motivation's great, but it's, we're often looking for things outside of us to motivate us, to move where I like to kind of flip it a little bit and say, well, what would inspire you to move? You know, what would be that internal connection that would just get you fired up every time? So you go from like, I really need to go to the gym or I have to go to the gym today to, you know, what I get to go to the gym today. It was bring an awesome, you know, it now it's not easy if it was, I just give you like, Oh yeah, here's the formula, you know, that checks in the mail, you know?

Dai (37:12):

Uh, but it's, it's not so simple cause it's, it is a little bit of reflecting, but also taking some time to actually ask ourselves, well, what is the life I want to be living five years from now, 10 years from now, how about 20 years from now? You know, what is that lifestyle? What are the things I want to be able to do and do without thinking about it? Yeah. And often in some of the most basic things, like I remember a few years back, my mom going on a bus trip with my, or sorry, a bus tour in Scotland with my stepdad, you know? And, uh, my mom is battled with her weight, most of her life. And so, and she's also, now that's my arthritis in her knees and that's from a past car accident. So, you know, there's not much we can do with that.

Dai (38:02):

So there is certain things, but, you know, adding the extra weight on top of the arthritic knees or ankle, it compounds things in a very unhelpful way. And, but I remember thinking when she was talking about it, like there was a lot of times where they would get off the bus at various places and she'd have to be required to walk, but she wouldn't be able to. Yeah. And, and it is such a basic thing that we take for granted is just her ability to be mobile right now to move to care for ourselves. And so it's being that honest with oneself and recognizing, okay, well, this is how much I've changed in the last 10 years. You know, if you look back 10 years ago, where were you at health wise then? And where are you now? And now it's like forward setting. And he was like, okay, well on the 10, 20 years of the habits and the lifestyle that I'm living now, do I envision myself being able to continue to live the quality of life that I want to. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (38:56):

Yeah. And I think that that's

Dai (38:58):

Always worked well for me, you know, I was getting very clear on that.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (39:01):

Yeah. And I think the compounding factor is something that I think about with that as well, is that, you know, getting to my age, it's like the, you know, poor behaviors going forward are going to be compounded to the point of, like you said, just, you know, is it shorten your life? Is it, uh, make you less mobile where you just can't enjoy it? And you know, like, uh, uh, do you have type two diabetes? So I'm always trying to keep that under control. And I was reading, um, some, um, you know, the top 10 causes of death came across the internet the other day. So diabetes is like number seven, but then, um, you know, like number nine is renal failure. And then, you know, the footnote that this is mostly caused by, uh, diabetes. So, you know, it's like, it's, uh, it, it basically ranks number seven and number on number nine on the top 10.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (39:57):

So, you know, these are important things because, uh, not only can they kill you, shorten your life, but I think that they can debilitate you into, uh, to a place that nobody really wants to go live. So, so many, so many important factors, especially the older we get, we just, and you know, it would have been awesome. Had I been thinking about this more 10, 20 years ago, but you know, we are where we are. So now I have to think about, um, I have to redouble that effort because I, you know, I want to, I don't want my, uh, I don't want my lifespan to outlive my health span.

Dai (40:37):

Yes. Right. Yeah. And very well said, you know, and I agree. I mean, I think it really comes down to just wanting to over simplify it, please. Like those that are listening. I know it's not always easy, but it'll always be worth it. I know that for a fact, after being through periods of unhealth in my own life, numerous times, and sometimes because of my own volition, sometimes not, you know, I was just, I mean, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune, like a chronic auto immune disease, a number, but eight years ago, and that rocked my world, you know, it did cause leading up to that, I mean, when they're doing all those tests and the bone marrow biopsies, I mean, they thought I had leukemia, you know, there's a lot of fear there. And I was like, how did that happen? How did that happen?

Dai (41:28):

And, and, you know, it came back eventually that was not immune diseases. It's still pretty serious. But fortunately for me, based on lifestyle choices, I can mitigate a lot of the sentence. I can lead a life that's very high in quality, you know? And I, I'm very optimistic that I'm going to get the quantity too, you know, in the years and, and the experiences, but I've definitely had to, to shift some of my lifestyle habits based on that appearing in my life. So sort of what you're sharing about type two diabetes, you know, when we have these, these health, everyone call them issues, but they're, there, there really are just these moments, right. Where we're presented with health challenges. And sometimes they come based on lifestyle choices and sometimes they just happen. Right. Yeah. We don't absolutely know what was the trigger. Like I like to think, man, I was living in a pretty healthy, active life. I eat really well, you know, like I manage stress. Okay. At least even not as well as I could have 10 years ago, but much better now. And, you know, so I, I'm very aware and I think it's that mindfulness that, that awareness that we have of just repercussions of some of our actions being present. Yeah. Knowing, knowing what's going on right at the moment. Yeah. Yeah. And I think we all are aware aren't we like did to some level we're aware of what we're doing, but yeah. It's really tough.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (43:00):

A good point about, you know, about getting sick. And, um, I think about like athletes is that, you know, you see these guys on the, uh, only American football field. Let's take those guys. You know, they get hit hard, a lot of fallen. Now, if I was out there and somebody hit me that hard or fell down, you know, that'd be the end of me, but because they're in such awesome shape, they are able to take a lot of that punishment. And so I think we can translate that to, into, uh, to our bodies. Our health is that if we have a healthy body, if we're eating right and we're doing everything we need to do, where we are able to fight some things off better, um, than if we were unhealthy. And then we were able to survive through some of those things that we really don't have a choice, you know, that may, uh, afflict us in some way, but we are much able to navigate through that if we are healthy and in good shape. So just something else. I think we, you know, always good to keep in mind.

Dai (44:04):

It's so true. And actually that reminded me, you know, the doctors, I remember my hematologist, especially like she figures I've had this probably most of my life. Um, it's just because of my lifestyle choices and the way I just live my life. It really masked any of the symptoms from ever appearing, you know, and even if they were there, but I started putting things two and two together because I would get sick or I would get a cut or a bruise and it would take a long time to heal, you know? And like, I get like the flu and I'd be out for almost two weeks sometimes. And it was just like, why don't I just take off? And when I do, Oh my do I get sick? And my wife used to bug me all the time. Right. Because before we knew about the condition and she'd be like, get in the bed, man, like just a man called [inaudible].

Dai (44:58):

But no, when she went and then, you know, it was funny after the diagnosis came down and she's like, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that this was going on. And, and, uh, but it was interesting, right? Like, I mean, being someone that also was in the fitness equipment industry for 17 years, uh, I used to deal with a lot of people that would come in to buy equipment for their homes or for their facilities, but specifically in the homes. And very often you get people coming in and be like, Oh, what brings you into today? You know, you look for some strengths and cardio what's up. And uh, well, my doctor sent me it's you could tell they didn't want to be there, not there because the doctor said, you got to go do this. You're going to die. Right. And they come in, they buy the equipment, they have the best of intentions to use it. And then they go, yup. I mean, this is the cliche, right. We go on like the Craigslist, the marketplaces, and look into equipment. And it's like, you're lucky if you find a picture of just the product without clothes on it. Right.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (46:00):

Yeah. I mean, I've had a few of those. Yeah. I've seen those background pictures of the, you know, take a Christmas picture. And then in the background, you see the, a treadmill with all the laundry hanging on the side of it. Yeah.

Dai (46:12):

Yes. And I used to hate that about the industry, you know, that, that, that cliche was even existing, you know, that we would, people joke about it. They come in and are like, Oh, I'm going to buy this, but I'll probably just end up as a coat hanger. I'm like, what are you talking about? You just told me that your doctor said you're going to die. Like what is going on here? And it just makes me wonder, you know, like that was something that used to really eat at me, you know? Cause I want to help people. I want them to feel empowered that they can make the changes that they want to make. And so it used to frustrate me. It made me feel sad and, and make me question a lot of time, what am I doing? You know? Cause I didn't feel I could really support them in the change.

Dai (46:58):

Right. Some new equipment. And then, you know, you do some follow ups here and there to see other doing, but often they wouldn't never reply because they feel guilty to reply because they did admit that they weren't using it. So it wasn't, it was rarely a pleasant followup where I'd get a message. Oh, we're loving it. It's great. Yeah. I've lost 20 pounds every once in a while we get that. But it wasn't the average, it wasn't the majority. Right. You know? And, and uh, so that led, that was also fueling me for making some big changes. Just my career, because I was like, I just didn't feel like I was really making a dent.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (47:35):

Yeah. That's what I was going to ask was how do you Tran how'd you transition out of selling the equipment to what you're doing now?

Dai (47:46):

Well, for me it was this, I wanted to help people by just giving them information, just really providing info and, and you know, people take it or leave it. It didn't matter to me. I just wanted to share. And it was fortunately for me, like when I started blogging about 13, 14 years ago, like I just started putting content up and I was sort of inspired because I had read Gary Vaynerchuks first printing of crush it. Do you guys remember crushing it? I didn't read that. Or if this is like back when he still had like wine library, right? Like his old YouTube channel and before Gary Vaynerchuk was, you know, dominated the internet. And uh, but I remember reading that because I used to do a lot of marketing for my past company. And, uh, I'd be responsible with helping with some of the purchases of our media buys and we're buying TV.

Dai (48:34):

We were buying print Brian radio and you know, we'd spend the same amount of money every year. And I was like, man, we're not getting the same return here. We'd be scratching around what is going on here. And it's like, wow, this thing called the internet and the Google. Maybe it's a good thing. We take a look at that. And, and, and so we did, and then I read Gary Vaynerchuks book and I was like, wow, this guy's onto something. This makes so much sense. So I started really embracing social media and I started blogging just to create content, to share it with people because I thought that would compliment what I was doing on the fitness equipment side. Yeah. You know, it was like, here's a, but I also got some great articles. I got some programs, I got some free information that will support you with this equipment that you're buying.

Dai (49:13):

And so that was started the intention behind it. But then I realized, you know, not everybody has access to equipment. Not everybody has the means to have equipment in their home. And so I started to just change some of my belief systems around, you know, I used to be a gym rat, you know, I had one in the gym. That was my main thing. I'd go to the gym. I work out and I was like, well, that's what everybody should do. You know, again, this is in my twenties, right. Approaching my thirties. I was still in that mindset. Like, this is the solution, this is the best option. And for everybody, they need this. And as they say, I drank the Kool-Aid and I drank a lot of it and I was trying to serve it to anybody that was thirsty. Right. And, uh, and so I started just talking about the body as a piece of equipment calisthenics, right.

Dai (49:58):

They just body weight based moons, because then there really is no excuse. I mean, you got enough room to put a towel on the floor. You will get amazing workout and that space, like you can get a park outside your door. That's a gym, you know, there's really no excuse you, you, you travel, you, you hang out in a hotel every once in a while because you're traveling lot. No problem. That room, you can do this between the two beds, you know, like, and I started creating a lot of content that really supported that for people. And, uh, w which created a major riff, uh, in my, uh, company, because, you know, I had a lot of staff at that time. I also had a partner that was the CEO and, uh, my personal brand started to, to grow the business. And, uh, he's like dying.

Dai (50:50):

I remember one of my articles went viral on Reddit and crashed my site a couple of times. Cause I wasn't prepared for that kind of a spike. And, uh, and it was like 99 workouts you can do without equipment got shared all over the place. And uh, I remember all the staff as well as like my partner at the time, he was like, you gotta put us out of business. What are you doing? You are a mean, yeah, we, we were one of the top fitness equipment retailers in North America, you know, and here we are, the main guy, he was like, I was just the face of the company. So I'd often do the media stuff and all that. And uh, there him saying you don't need equipment. But the funny thing was, it actually increases it increased sales because it increased our brand recognition, also increase trust in our marketplace.

Dai (51:40):

People realized I was more motivated to help people just get well than I was to sell money. Right. And, uh, so that sort of fed into my desire to eventually leave. Cause I was just like, you know, this, this isn't a fit anymore. And not feeling like I'm making a big enough shift in people's lives here. And, uh, you know, as operator opportunities started to grow based on some of the things I was doing outside of work realized we had the options. But more than that, my wife had a desire for us to be a full-time family to travel while the kids still thought we were cool.

Dai (52:14):

And you know, that Terry door closes pretty quick. Yeah. And, uh, so yeah, I, I left a career 17 years and sorta just embraced a little bit of the unknown and I trusted that we'll figure it out. And, uh, I had written a book at the same time, as I was saying, sign an art to that career. And, and so at the same time it was published me. I quit my job. My wife quit her as a month later, a couple months after that, we took the kids out of school and gave away all our stuff, packed up what we decided to keep in her SUV and just started traveling and started chasing the sun. We drove down to like California and all around the States and back up to Canada in the summer drive around there and back to the States and then eventually made our ways overseas. And then we ended up in Bali and we lived there for over two years coming back to Vancouver. And, uh, uh, just, just before COVID, uh, we came back because our kids wanted to finish high school here in Vancouver. How exciting. So the last six years have been a bit of a ride. I'll tell you that, you know,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (53:11):

Well, we thank you so much for taking time out of your day. You know, one question I always like to ask is, so do you have a tool? I mean, it could be an app program or ritual habit, uh, you know, whatever that you feel really adds value to your wellness journey and that, um, you just couldn't live without every day.

Dai (53:34):

Oh, well, there's a couple habits. I know I've been really, really powerful just in my life. Um, a couple of which is just moving my body everyday with purpose for a minimum of 15 minutes, right? Like just a minimum, just 15 minutes. I mean, it's not very much tiny, right? Everyone's got at least 15 minutes that they can just dedicate to just moving their body. Right. And, uh, and hopefully creating a little bit of a sway. So you get a little bit of a positive effect. Uh, also meditation. And I encourage people minimum five minutes a day, and also feeding our mind now minimum 10 minutes a day, feed your mind with something positive. Maybe it's a Ted talk. Maybe it's a great podcast, right. Maybe it's just reading a great book or listening to a book like, and if you put those three things together, that's 30 minutes.

Dai (54:26):

That's 2% of every 24 hours. Wow. And that's it. I mean, that's the minimum. I encourage people, I guess people will say, is that all I got to do? I go, it's the least you deserve. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like it's the least anybody just like, you deserve to love yourself enough to give yourself at least 30 minutes a day, right. For your body, your mind and your spirit. And then I say, and I say, if you start to see some, some good things happening and you want to do more things lean into that, don't fight that don't think I'm only going to do three, like lean into it, do what you feel inspired or drawn to do, because all it takes is a little bit of the positive momentum to start to kick in. And it's amazing how that can just pick up speed and it'll open your eyes to a lot of things. And, uh, uh, I do have a five day sugar detox. It's just a free program on my website as well as a 28 day program. That's also free it models. My book gives people, the workouts gives them the full program. No hidden agenda here. It's just, I just keep giving all that stuff back.

Dai (55:29):

Make sure we get that out there. No, let me just do this real quick. [inaudible] but uh, I give it away for free my publisher. Doesn't like, there's been a giveaway, the digital copy for free, uh, in the program basically for free on my website. So Hey, if you want to buy it on Amazon or, you know, at Barnes and noble or whatever, Hey, feel free to plug, but, uh, it is free on the website. So why don't you tell us, tell us

Roy - Feeding Fatty (55:58):

Website so people can go over there and we'll be sure and include all that in the show notes, but tell people how they can find you. And if they want to reach out and get ahold of you, how is the best way to do that?

Dai (56:09):

Oh, thanks. Right. Yeah. It's pretty simple. Actually. It's the one advantage, you know, as you were asking me, Terry at the beginning, you know, before we started this interview, my name is pretty unique. Uh, Dai Manuel Dai, and then Manuel, I mean, U E L a, it's a sh slash Portuguese name. So a bit of a mix, as I said, everybody I'm Canadian, but if you go to diamond, weil.com, you'll find all sorts of stuff. And, uh, I, I do say like for those that are listening to this, if it's spring 2021, you will be seeing a new website very soon, which is a lot more user friendly. Uh, but there's over 1500 articles and resources out there that are all accessible. They're geared to help people get more of the life and help them get out of their own way to really lean into being their happiest, healthiest self.

Dai (56:55):

And, uh, so I always invite people just, Hey, have at it. And if you want to have a conversation, reach out to me on Facebook or Instagram, cause that's the easiest way and I'm most active on those channels, but, uh, that's it, you know, like I just want to acknowledge you too though. I think is, is, uh, one very brave to, to just be vulnerable and share your journey, uh, as it relates to living healthier, more active and making these changes. And I think it's, it's very inspiring as well to, to see you sharing your story, but also highlighting other people's journeys there, their tips or tricks or strategies. And I just think it's really, really cool. And, uh, I also, I do like the name so fantastic. So I just wanted to acknowledge you too. It's been an honor to be here too.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (57:38):

Well, thanks so much. We appreciate it. And it's, you know, we get, we get to meet a lot of great people like yourself and we get to, you know, bless our listeners with, uh, you know, not only your personal story, but your profession as well. So thank you so much for, uh, sharing with us. We appreciate it. Yeah.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (57:55):

Yeah. You've been very inspiring. It's been an honor to listen to your story and I'm so glad that you were able to share that with us today.

Dai (58:04):

Thank you, Terry. And thank you, Ryan. It's very kind of you to say again, it's a, it's a bit of a love Fest happening, right? [inaudible] you guys are awesome though. And I really appreciate, I mean, of course, if I can be of any help, please know that I'm always here and that goes for anybody out there. And uh, I, I take that offer not lightly. It's very serious. And I would say like, I'm, I'm just here to help. So reach out anytime.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (58:27):

And it's more of that on your website. I recommend to everybody go and check them out. It's it's well worth it. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (58:37):

All right guys. Well, that's going to do it for us on this episode. Again, we appreciate our listeners as well. Uh, you can find us of course, at www dot feeding, fatty.com. Uh, we will have the, um, the audio component and the video component up there as well. We are on all the major platforms, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and a lot more out there. Of course, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, always there, and we'll have the copy of the video will be up on YouTube as well. So go out there, take a look, take a listen. If you have a good story over your own, don't hesitate to reach out to either myself or Terry. We'd love to hear from you and hopefully we can get you on the show soon. So until next time that's going to be it for us. Thanks so much.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (59:27):

Thank you. Appreciate it.

www.feedingfatty.com

John's Amazing Transformation with John Kovaleski

Hello! My name is John Kovaleski. I am a Type 2 Diabetic and a Certified Nutrition Specialist. My health and fitness journey began the summer of 2007 when I found myself waking up from a coma brought on by extremely elevated blood glucose levels. I had been leading a life where I put no thought into what I ate or how I took care of my body. At 40 years old, 6'2, 405 lbs, I should have known better, especially with a family history that is riddled with all kinds of red flags. I simply thought those things couldn't happen to me.

In 2008 my mother passed away from Diabetes complications. The last few years of her life she struggled through losing a leg, going partially blind, and kidney failure. In 2010 I lost my father to a stroke, which was no surprise due to years of heart related issues. In between my parent's deaths, I also lost two dear friends who were close to my age. These reminders of my own mortality would become the catalyst that formed my mission, to reverse my Type 2 Diabetes and to help others do the same. It has become my obsession to inspire people to be better, make educated choices, develop habits that will lead to a healthier lifestyle, and to do so with a holistic approach.

T2 Nutrition, while having been inspired by one of the world's biggest health problems, Type 2 Diabetes, is about creating lasting change in people from all walks of life with a variety of disordered eating scenarios. Our approach focuses on finding the why, as much as the how, when it comes to an individual's eating habits. In doing so we shine a light on behaviors that can be changed to improve the fundamental quality of our client's lives through proper nutrition.

www.t2nutritionandwellness.com

www.feedingfatty.com

Full Transcript Below

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:02):

Hello, and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty. This is Roy I'm Terry. So, you know, we, our show that, uh, we want to bring you our journey, my journey, uh, through, uh, you know, weight loss, getting healthy, getting diabetes under control, high blood pressure, you know, all of those things that affect us. Once we start the aging process a little bit, as well as, uh, maybe not paying as close attention to our, uh, diet and exercise routine or activity, not necessarily exercise, but just being moving. So we also have guests on from time to time. And, uh, uh, the gentleman we have today is got an awesome story to tell it is John Coleville Leschi. He is with, uh, T to nutrition and wellness. And John, thanks for taking time out of your day and welcome to the show.

John (00:58):

Well, thank you for having me. It's an honor to be here.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (01:01):

You bet. And, uh, you know, usually I do a little bit longer of an introduction, but I think your story it's, uh, it's very profound and, uh, you know, we've talked a little bit pre-show, I would rather you tell it and, you know, make it more personal than me. Just kind of reading it off of a piece of paper. So with that, we'll just turn it over to you and say, um, you know, tell us a little bit about your story, how you found yourself here and we'll go from there.

John (01:28):

Absolutely. Well, um, my story is like a lot of people that I work with on a daily basis, um, started back in the summer of 2007. At that point in time, I worked as an automotive mechanic and my day started just like any other. I was just your normal average, although a little bit bigger. Um, American husband, you know, I went to work every day, got done work. I came home was so sliced with family, played. The kids did all that kind of stuff. But on this particular day, I went to work in my pickup truck, but I wound up leaving work in an ambulance. Um, I had just come back from lunch and I was doing an alignment on a vehicle and I was underneath the vehicle making adjustments and whatnot. And I fell into a diabetic coma about a half hour later. Um, my coworkers came back, found me laying back there, rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.

John (02:26):

Um, but I got there. My blood sugar was well over 500, which very easily could have killed me. Wow. Um, and I had no idea what I weighed or anything at that point in time. Um, you know, I just was one of those people that I, what I want to eat. I didn't exercise. I didn't, you know, didn't much care. And I figured, well, you know, when it's my time, it's my time. And I should have been smarter. Um, my family history is riddled with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, all these different things. And you would think that I would have been smarter, but I wasn't. It was just like a lot of people just kind of going about day-to-day life, being oblivious as to, you know, what we're putting in our bodies. And, um, I woke up from my bad, bad coma and the doctor looked at me and he said, you know, you are at the very least the type two diabetic, it's possible that you are type one.

John (03:19):

We're not sure yet. Um, but one thing I do know is if you continue down the path that you're going down, you're probably going to be dead within a year. Wow. At that point in time, it was like, um, yeah, big wake up call. And I was like, okay, well, uh, yeah, well, that's not happening. So playtime's over it's time to go to work. And immediately the next day when I got into the hospital, it was like, I started checking into going to see doctors getting on medication. But the best thing that happened to me was when I went to see an endocrinologist and I spent like 45 minutes working with a dietician in his office when she started to explain to me how different nutrients work within the body and how manipulating those macro and micro nutrients can affect our blood sugar levels. It lit a fire on me and I was absolutely fascinated.

John (04:17):

So now back in 2007, the internet, wasn't the resource that it is today. Um, you know, I had to spend a lot of time in a library, reading books and things of that nature. Whereas if it would have been fast forward to now, I would have been able to just get on the internet on YouTube and learn everything I need to learn. Right. Um, so it was a long process, but over the course of the next, well, I'm going to say six years, I changed a lot of eating habits. Um, we're still on diabetic medicine, but I had lost a fair amount of weight. I had, I had lost about 60 to 80 pounds somewhere in that area. Um, but I still wasn't as healthy as I wanted to be. I still smoke at that point in time, I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for 30 years.

John (05:04):

Wow. Um, and I decided when I quit smoking that I was going to make a change and I was driving by a gym one day and I was like, you know what, I'm going to stop. Ms. Stopped. And I checked out the gym and I wound up joining and everything just kind of blossomed from there. I fell in love with fitness, with lifting weights. And then once I got myself to the point where I was off all my diabetic medicine and didn't need to go see a doctor on a regular basis anymore, I was like, you know what? I want to help other people do this. And I want to make things easier for them. I don't want people to have to struggle. Like I did going into all that. When once I found out I was type two diabetic. So that's pretty much the story in another nutshell, as far as my main issue.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (05:54):

So prior to you, um, being carted off by the ambulance, you hadn't been diagnosed with diabetes?

John (06:02):

No. Nope. Hadn't been diagnosed. I didn't go see the doctor. Um, you know, I just, I, to me, I felt normal. I did everything that, you know, all my friends around me did, you know, I was, I went, I worked 60, 70 hours a week. Um, you know, I had an active family life. I had an active social life. Um, I got out of doors and did things and everything else. So I didn't think there was anything wrong.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (06:28):

Wow. So that was just like a machine gun, wake up call right there. I mean, bam. Now you got it.

John (06:34):

Oh yeah, absolutely. And, and, you know, when I tell people that story, it it's, they try to connect the dots and, and try to figure out how this process happened. And what I've actually done is I've actually put together this picture that I'm going to show you guys, which actually kind of visually documents the journey. Now on the left, immediate left, I was, that was me at 405 pounds. Um, the picture in the middle was the day I joined that gym. I was like, okay, I'm going to take a before picture. And then at my leanest, uh, was that picture there in 2019, where 249 pounds. And I was running about 11% body fat at that point in time.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (07:16):

Wow. That is amazing. Well, yeah. And I think your story is not unlike so many of ours. Uh, you know, I don't know if we learn it in our teenage years or early twenties, but we have this eating pattern. And then, uh, as our activity level slows down, it's like our eating levels don't or maybe they even pick up a little bit and then, you know, um, I am very much and have walked the same path is that one day you just wake up and, uh, you know, I found myself heavy, even though looking in a mirror, it's like, well, you know, you're heavy, but you don't feel like it. But then you wake up with, uh, you know, it's a little harder to move and then you go to the doctor and, you know, you get that, uh, diabetic, diabetic diagnosis and wonder, you know, what to do, where to start. And so, um, I guess that's kinda the next question is, uh, you know, you started doing this research and, uh, where did, where did you start?

John (08:17):

The first thing I did was I, the very first thing was I cut out the glutton. I knew that it was, it didn't take a rocket scientist to see that I was just eating way too much. Once I took the time to actually examine what it is that I was eating. You know, I looked at, um, like two days after I got out of the hospital, I, I wrote down everything that I ate. Um, I started my morning stopping off at the store and I got a, a quart of chocolate milk, a little six or eight pack of chocolate donuts. Um, in six big slams of mountain dude, the one liter bottles of mountain Dew. Now I got all that and hopped in my truck, driving to work. By the time I got to work, the chocolate milk and the donuts were gone. And by lunch time, all of that mountain dude was going to wow.

John (09:06):

Then for lunch, my typical lunch was a large pizza, two big Macs and alerts, vanilla milkshake. That's what I would eat every day for lunch. Oh my gosh. And then dinner was whatever, take out my wife and I, both my wife at the time, her and I both lead, lead really hectic lifestyles. So it was like, we were never cooking. It was always take out this, that or the other. So whoever grabbed takeout, that's what we ate that night. And once I wrote it down and then I started looking at the macro and micro nutrient content, it was, it was like, okay, this is one of the biggest problems right here. I'm just eating entirely too much. I don't need to eat. So cutting out the gluttony was the first big step that I took in order to start to get my situation under control.

John (10:00):

And then it was just fine tuning things from there. Um, I cut out a lot of stuff right from the beginning, which is something that a lot of people do when they start a weight loss journey. They're like, okay, we're going to take all of this stuff out. Um, you know, and I'm just going to eat way less than I should. It's just one of the biggest problems that people have today. Um, and then I started putting things back in slowly but surely until finally I, I dialed in something that worked for me for a while up until like the, the, that middle picture there in 2013, I had had a relatively significant weight loss, but I still was not in shape. Um, I read an article that was explaining how the more lean muscle tissue you have, the better your body is situated to metabolize the nutrients that you take in. And I was already a big guy anyway, I'd always had been. So I was like, you know what? That was what that was, what prompted me to join the gym, joined the gym immediately started seeing results. At that point in time, I was, I don't know, mid forties, early to mid forties. And it's like, I could, I was seeing results that guys in their twenties and thirties seen, I was losing body fat. I was picking up muscle mass. So that became my new addiction rather than food. And I just it's been nonstop ever since.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (11:29):

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. You know, that's important to that building that muscle mass because it's, you know, I like to walk, but when we do a little bit of weightlifting and you can speak more to that, it's like we, uh, we build that muscle mass and then we, uh, those muscles are able to help us burn fat, you know, all through the day, not just when we're actually pumping the weight.

John (11:54):

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, there's a process in the body called the adaptive thermal Genesis and long story short. The, the more muscle costs much more to maintain in fact, does that doesn't cost you a thing. You don't burn a single calorie to maintain fat. That's just thing. Yeah. But to maintain muscle mass, you have to make sure that you're getting adequate protein. You have to make sure that you're doing all these things, because if you're, if you're not getting proper nutrients, your body is actually going to break down that muscle tissue, because it is easier to break down and utilize for energy than what fat is. That's why muscle burns faster than that.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (12:41):

So you said that, you know, when you got to the hospital, they S they, your glucose was over 500. So what, how, what was the, uh, I guess the path, or how long did it take you to get that down to a manageable level? I mean, I'm still feel like, you know, there's medication involved to a certain point,

John (13:02):

Right? Right. Absolutely. I, it took me about four months to get it to where it was manageable. It still wasn't where it needed to be, but it's like I had an A1C test done, um, roughly about two weeks after I got out of the hospital. And I think that A1C came back at like 11.6, which is super hot. Right. Um, inside of four or five months, I had it down to like 8.4 and then it was just slowly but surely working, working its way down. The, the biggest catalyst to be quite honest with you was when I joined the gym, I mean, I had done well up until that point, but then it was like when I joined a gym, what it was doing to my body, the exercise that I was doing, and I didn't start off going in there and lifting a bunch of heavy weight at all. I went in there just doing machines, doing range of motion exercises and, and focusing on cardio. And the transformation that I saw happened from that point in time, it was just phenomenal. It was like, it was like dumping gasoline on that fire.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (14:15):

Oh, wow. Yeah. You know, that's kinda what our plan is. We, uh, you know, we go to the gym, we like to walk and do, uh, you know, the cardio there, but we also do the weights, not, uh, you know, on a heavy scale, but more like you said, for range of motion, it just makes me feel better to have a little resistance. And then also some of them, you know, kind of stretch me out. So it's a twofold, but it, you know, one thing I see in my struggle and, you know, I'm kind of up and down the scale with the, uh, you know, on the blood sugar, but that, uh, not only does the, just the carrying the weight, because I'm still overweight, I can eat right. Watch my carbs in my sugar and still have a high glucose reading. I just, you know, there's sometimes it's just hard to manage that, but then that little exercise component of getting out and walk in, uh, the different side it makes from before and after it's significant.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (15:15):

I can tell a huge difference whenever after you do that. I mean, if you go out and have a walk, you know, you're watching everything you eat, but if you go out and have a walk and come back, there's a huge difference. Yeah.

John (15:27):

Yeah. Let's see something else that you'll notice a lot too, is, um, people that have problems regulating their blood sugar. Um, like when they go to the gym, I still do this today. I checked my sugar a couple of times a day and my blood sugars are under control, but I still check it because I want to know as I get older, I mean, I'm two weeks from my 54th birthday right now. And, you know, as I get older, I want to monitor and pay attention to how my body's changing. So it's like I can shake, I can check my blood sugar, um, a half hour before I go to the gym and it might be one Oh eight or one Oh nine. But once I get done working out, I can check my blood sugar in the locker room. And my blood sugar is one 41 60 C.

John (16:12):

What people don't realize is when you're expending energy, when you're doing exercise, your body is breaking down glucose, breaking down glucose to get the ATP, which is the energy currency that the body uses in the muscles and everywhere else. So basically what winds up happening is all of this stored glucose, which is the storage form of glucose in your muscles is called glycogen. When it's released into the bloodstream to be used for energy, it runs your blood sugar levels. So people have a tendency to Mister through that, as it being a bad thing. And it's really not. Yeah. Um, glucose when it's broken down acts much, much differently than what fat does. And then that's what people, you know, when you're, when you're on your journey and you get to the point where you're really doing any sort of strenuous exercise in the gym and whatnot, these are all things that you need to make sure that you're clear on. Um, when you're losing body fat for every gram of stored fat, you have in your body, you store three grams of water. So if you're losing fat, it's very, very easy to become dehydrated. That's why hydration is so important. All of these little idiosyncrasies that go into the process when people are expanding on their journey.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (17:29):

Yeah. And that's interesting. I've never, um, I've never taken it before I went to the gym and after, uh, you know, a good workout, but I'm going to definitely give that a try and, and see, see what that is. That's, uh, uh, I mean, I guess when you think about it, it's a pretty intuitive, but again, you don't really, uh, put the two and two together about how it releases that glucose into your system like that.

John (17:56):

Exactly.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (17:57):

So, um, you, you know, once you've kind of, uh, dialed yourself in, or you focus in a little on reducing the carbs or, uh, I guess, you know, now that you're, you know, you've lost a lot of way you're working out a lot. It's probably not as important as it was, but let's go back in time to, um, you know, those first four or five months after you're losing, where you limiting carbs to a certain amount or kind of what was your diet like then?

John (18:31):

Um, I was, I was limiting carbs at that point in time. I was not aware of the difference between simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. That part I didn't get to, to, uh, later on in my journey. So I was limiting carbs and sugar overall. Um, then actually I ran across a ketogenic protocol and I have run that off and on for a number of years, I don't do it all the time. Like some people do, um, I'll do it for maybe three months and then I'll go back to eating regularly. And the reason I do that is, um, I don't want to restrict my carbohydrates so much that as I get older, my body doesn't realize how to handle them anymore. Right. Right. So I'll run a protocol for, you know, 12 weeks of eating ketogenic, and then I'll shift gears and I'll go back to eating more of a metabolic style where I'm eating three or 400 grams of carbs a day, depending on my training load. But that's spread out over six minutes. I don't eat large amounts of carbs at any one setting. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (19:45):

Yeah. That's another thing that I've noticed, uh, you know, with myself is it doesn't matter what the number is, but whatever your carbs, if you, you can have those over a day. But if you, if you tend to pile them all up into one meal, you know, I still get the big, uh, the big spike. Whereas if I tried to limit them and spread those out over the day, much better in managing the, uh, you know, my glucose levels, but I was going to get you to drop back for just a minute. You mentioned the simple versus the complex. Can you just give us a quick explanation of the difference?

John (20:21):

Okay. In layman's terms, think of carbohydrates as stacks of bricks. Okay. Um, if you've got it, if you're, let's say you're a karate student and you're trying to break stacks of bricks, a simple carbohydrate is like two bricks. A complex carbohydrates is like four bucks. So it takes a lot more to break apart and distribute those four bricks than it does to take the two. Okay. So what winds up happening is, and this is where a lot of people make their mistake. When they're dealing with carbohydrates and fat loss, when you spike your blood sugar, when you spike your insulin, when your insulin spikes that burning stops will not burn any sort of body fat whatsoever when your insulin has spiked. And when your carb load is high, here's the double-edged sword about that. If you have more carbohydrates floating through your body than what you need, if there's too much in your bloodstream, if your muscles can't store anymore, and then your body only has one option, it sends it to the liver.

John (21:33):

The liver puts it through a process called lipogenesis and it turns it to body fat. So not only do you have the spike of insulin, which cuts off that burden, you're actually storing more fat by spike in your cars. So that's where you have to be very, very careful about using the simple carbohydrates, that two bricks scenario versus the complex, which is more, it takes much longer to digest them. It takes longer to burn them down. And most of your complex carbohydrates are things that also come with some sort of fiber sweet potatoes, Brown rice, King wall, things like that. Those are complex carbohydrates. You still get the carbohydrate content that you need, but it doesn't have the effect on your insulin and your blood sugar overall. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (22:22):

And that's the other thing I don't think that he, people, um, really understand in depth is just all the body functions that are affected when you have the higher glucose levels. And, you know, you mentioned the liver, but you know, people, and I, you know, I'm very surprised that, um, the recovery that you've had, especially being such a heavy smoker, because I've heard, uh, you know, I've just heard horror stories about people who had the high blood sugar and were smokers on top of that. Like, uh, you know, losing toes and all kinds of things like that. So I think just, uh, you know, it's a good reminder to everybody out there that, uh, high blood sugar is not it's, it's a very, very, uh, deadly, deadly thing. And because it affects so many parts of our body.

John (23:17):

Absolutely. You need, when you sit back and you look, yeah. I tell people all the time and the ketogenic craze and the, and the carnivores phase and all that different stuff, it has got people to the point that they're villainizing carbohydrates, carbohydrates are not bad, right? Carbohydrates are not evil. What they are is dangerous. If you don't pay attention to them, if you eat too many of them, they, they can cause you issues. If you eat too much protein, if you eat too much fat, you can eliminate that. You're going to eliminate that in store. You're going to eliminate that in urine. You cannot eliminate carbohydrates. It either gets burned for energy, or it gets stored as fat. Those are the only two options the body has. So it is the one that you need to pay the most attention to. Right.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (24:07):

Yeah. And I think it's like, anything else just, uh, coming in and saying, you know, well, let me just say our approach that we have taken has been more that balanced. And so you kind of have to be careful, as you saying about living a life where you just cut something completely out, because there can be other ramifications as

Terry - Feeding Fatty (24:25):

Well. Yeah. That doesn't work so well, if you just

John (24:27):

Try that and it

Roy - Feeding Fatty (24:30):

Makes it harder when you say you can't have any of, any of anything, all of a sudden,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (24:34):

Yeah. Just forget it. You want all of that.

John (24:37):

Yeah, exactly. As soon as you are told that you can't have something, you want it, but now here's the, here's the funny thing, 85%. And this is an accurate number because I literally just went through all my client records for the last 18 months. Okay. 85% of everybody that I work with, I've had to increase the amount of food baby when I start working with right. Because most people cut their intake so much that they slow down that adaptive thermal Genesis. And they're not even taking in enough to sustain what they're doing on a daily basis, let alone any exercise or anything. Right. Most people, I have to increase their calories anywhere from 500 to a thousand calories a day before they start burning fat. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (25:23):

And that just goes to a great point of why we need to seek out professional help on these things, because, you know, just like, uh, you know, a lot of people get on the internet and say, Oh, carbs are bad. So we're cutting all of them out or, uh, reduce the calories, which, you know, it is calories in calories out, but we've got to have enough calories to function. I mean, brain function, body function. And then if you add some exercise in, on top of that, you know, we've got to have, and then, like you said, it's the it, and you'll have to call the name, but it like Stokes that metal metal your metabolism fire as well, whenever we do eat.

John (26:01):

Yes. Yep. And so

Terry - Feeding Fatty (26:04):

You're a nutritionist, is that correct?

John (26:08):

Yes. Yes. Yup.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (26:11):

And, and then you have a certification in fitness as well, or

John (26:17):

Yes, I have certification I'm certified in fitness and I'm a certified nutrition expert through the international sports sciences association, the ISS,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (26:28):

Another big thing that's kind of come up on the radar a lot more, um, is fasting. What's your take on intermittent fasting?

John (26:38):

The best thing about intermittent fasting is learning to your hunger. That's it? As far as the actual fasting, part of it, most people that that fast tend to fast for 24 hours or more. And there are certain benefits that you can get from that there's autophagy, which is basically new cells, eating old dead cells. And they almost becoming like super salts. Okay. Um, that effect happens when you fast it 24 hours or longer the intermittent fasting. The main thing it does in my view is it teaches discipline because you have to be disciplined to say, okay, I'm only going to eat from, from noon to eight o'clock at night or from noon to six o'clock at night. So I have to make sure if I'm eating 2,500 calories, I've gotta be able to get 2,500 calories in that window. And I have to do it in a way where I'm not eating one huge large meal and then having to deal with digestive discomfort.

John (27:41):

Yeah. Not to mention the fact of nutrient overload, you know, can you absorb 200 grams of protein on a one meal? Right. You know, there are those that say, you can, there are those that say you can't the end. The science is unclear. But one thing I know is this intermittent fasting is very good. If you are someone that is not disciplined, not good at portion control and someone who doesn't want to take the initiative, especially up front to be okay, I need to weigh out my food and I need to plan out I'm going to have six meals a day and I need to weigh everything out and portion it all out. So I'm prepared. So that's my take on intermittent fasting.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (28:25):

Yeah. And the other interesting part about that is really what is considered fasting because I've seen somewhere, you know, they talk about the 24 hours and you know, you do that every once a week or once every two or three weeks, something like that. But then I've also read information that, you know, they talk about more like a 12 hour fast, which, you know, to me is basically just kind of that old school thinking of, we just don't need to eat too much after about six o'clock at night. And then we wake up in the morning, you know, we can eat, you know, start with our breakfast and eat normal, but is a 12 hours really actually considered fasting.

John (29:08):

It is. But let me, let me back up to your point that you just said, the worst possible thing that you can do is not eat before you go to bank. And let me explain why when you're sleeping, your body is still burning calories. So let's say you go to bed at nine o'clock and you have your last meal at six by seven 30 odds are, unless you had a huge meal, that food is digested and already being processed throughout your body. Okay? Which means you have no reserves going into six to eight hours of sleep and then another six hours of fasting. Does that make sense? If you eat? I tell all my clients, make sure you eat at the very least eat a snack, something that contains protein and healthy fats about an hour or two before you go to bed. Okay. Because what happens is when you don't have any food in your system and you're sleeping, your body goes into, what's known as a catabolic state.

John (30:09):

At that point in time, your body is looking for substances to break down for energy, especially if you don't have any food in your digestive tract. And the first thing it goes to, like I said before is muscle because muscles much easier to break down for that energy. It takes the amino acids, them to the liver creates ATP and glucose from it. And then you have your energy just to sustain you throughout the night. So that's the downside of fasting. Okay. Um, it's, you're doing a, let's say, for example, you're doing a 16, eight window intermittent fasting, which is the most popular protocol that people use. Okay. And typically how they do it is they'll have their last meal about three hours before they go to bed. And then they sleep for six to eight hours. So if they're sleeping for eight hours, then they wind up getting their 11 hours from the time they get up that they've already fasted. So then all they have to do is skip breakfast late to lunch, and they're good to go. They've got their 16 hours and it wasn't that difficult because they were sleeping for the bulk of your time. Right. But your body was still breaking down muscle. Your body was still needing to find energy. And that's why that's the downside of intermittent. Okay.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (31:27):

Mm. Yeah. That's good to know. I've just, um, you know, I know it's been around for a while, but it seems like we've just heard much more about it, you know, in the last month or so. Yeah. Friends, I mean, we've been talking, we've kind of talked about it. Not specifically about what, which fast we win, think about doing, but just kind of getting into it. Um,

John (31:52):

Yeah. Well, like I say, it, it can be, it can be a useful tool. Things like intermittent fasting, he degenerate protocols, carnivores protocols, um, all these different things. They're all tools that we can bring out and we can use at different points in time. Um, you know, there are people in the fitness world that say you can't be a bodybuilder, especially a professional bodybuilder and run a ketogenic lifestyle. You have to eat four or five, 600 grams of carbs a day. And I can show you a man right now that is in his fifties and has won his last two masters competitions in bodybuilding. And he's been ketogenic for 10 years. Wow. So it can be done. You just have to be aware of what you're putting in your body. You have to be very aware of what you're doing in the gym, you know, and you need help, stuff like that, you know?

John (32:48):

And back to your point that you said earlier, right? When, when the average person doesn't have a clue, what macronutrients doing the boundary, right? The average person doesn't know how much food they should be eating in the course of the day. Shoot. Most of us in our generation, we grew up Saturday mornings was all about eating sugary cereal in front of the TV, watching cartoon. You know what I mean? And the card and the cartoons were sponsored by the cereal companies. And it was all a big thing that got to see the ton of sugar and made us all overweight.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (33:22):

It's all their fault. Gotta have somebody to blame. Yeah.

John (33:29):

So let's talk about it.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (33:31):

The other components of, uh, you know, of not only losing weight, but, you know, we just want to be healthy. Some of us need to lose weight to be healthy. And I'm sure there are people that are at the right weight that need to add more activity, exercise to, you know, help them be healthier. But the other components, uh, you know, I used to have a sign that hung over my desk. That's, you know, said get my eight hours sleep every night, drink my, um, you know, six to eight hours, six to eight bottles of water or glasses of water. Uh, and then, you know, move, do something, uh, you know, try to sweat a little bit every day. But no, you know, I think the, the water and the sleep are, how do you feel that those are, you know, big components of helping us to not only lose that way, but be healthy in general?

John (34:26):

Absolutely. Um, you know, water is King, our bodies are 80% made up of it. You know what I mean? So it's in one way in one form or another. So iteration is incredibly important. Sleep recovery is also very important. Um, if you need an active lifestyle, whether you just have an active job, or if you spend a lot of time in the gym, um, recovery is keen. Anybody will tell you that knows what they're talking about. They will tell you that, um, you know, building muscle, burning fat, all of that stuff, none of it, none of that happens in the gym. It all happens outside the gym. Okay. We go in the gym, we apply metabolic stress through our bodies, by engaging in activity. We apply, you know, micro tears and muscle tissue by, by lifting weights. Okay. That's, that's the catalyst that starts at all, but then everything that happens, happens outside, it happens in the kitchen.

John (35:27):

It happens in the bedroom sleeping. Um, so yes, hydration incredibly important. You should be aiming to get a minimum of six hours of good quality sleep at night. If you can get eight. Great. If you can get 10, even better. Yeah. But you don't want to be getting less than six because then that starts to mess with your circadian rhythms. And that throws off all kinds of metabolic processes within the body. So yeah, those components are incredibly important, but the biggest, and this is the biggest and most underrated component of anybody's health and fitness journey right here. Right now, mindset is count. Mindset is absolute key and getting all the bad knowledge, all the noise out of people's heads and getting to the truth. Yeah. Because I mean, come on, you can pick up any social media platform today and there's some fitness influencer on there and you know, you'll see these guys in there, they're like 6% body fat.

John (36:29):

And they're trying to make people think that that they're, that they're that way, year round was, they're not, they look like they literally live in the parking lot of a gym and never seen a Twinkie or a ho-ho they're like, but, but it, but they're, but they're selling, they're selling a fantasy. Okay. Yeah. These guys, you know, and girls, for that matter, most people don't realize that when they get ready for their photo shoots, they are restricting carbohydrates. They're restricting water for two or three days beforehand. And then just before they step in front of the camera, they eat a bunch of sugary stuff. So it causes cellular swelling in the muscles. So it makes them look bigger than what they actually are. They're all kind of tips and tricks that these guys use to make themselves look good. And the general public tries to buy into that.

John (37:16):

Wow. You can, you can't. No, nobody can look like that year round. Right? So find somebody that can educate you in the proper ways to do what it is that you need to do for you. But then that person has to make sure that they're helping you address your mindset issues too. Because if you're not ready to make a change, you're not going to, it doesn't matter how many coaches you hire. It doesn't matter how many, how many fitness plans you buy online? How many supplements you take? It doesn't matter if you're not mentally ready to make a change. You won't.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (37:49):

Yeah. And you know, I've had, uh, you know, people ask me before, like, have you ever thought about having the surgery? And, and usually that's why I always say no, because if you don't get it fixed between your ears, it doesn't matter what you do like that because I've known people that have had different procedures, but then they fell back off into the bad eating or drinking habits. And then all of a sudden, not only are they heavy again, but they got complications from whatever surgery that they had. So definitely write about, you know, getting yeah.

John (38:21):

Yeah. And it takes something different for everybody. Yeah, go ahead. Yup. It is. If my, my, one of the, one of the things that, that I tell a lot of people, I talked to a little background, I'm a, I'm a resident coach in a huge Facebook group called the dad Bob transformation group. We currently have over 60,000 members, which it's a huge, huge group. And I go live in there a couple of different times a week and whatnot. And, and one of the things that, um, I'm real famous for telling these guys is that if you're working with a coach and the first thing he does is takes your money. And then he says, okay, well, this is the workout plan that I have all my clients do. And this is the nutrition plan that I have. All my clients do. It works amazing for them. And it's going to work amazing for you. You're going to have good results. Let's go. If that's the pep talk, he gives you after he takes your money, get your money back and run. Right. Number one, you could use the exercise and number two, you don't need to spend that money. Right. You know, because it there's so many misconceptions in the fitness industry today. It's, it's insane. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (39:29):

Yeah. And I think you're right. You have to find somebody, uh, you know, everybody's a little different, so everybody's going to need a little bit different plan depending on where they are, where they need to go. So if you don't get that individual attention, definitely, uh, right. That is a huge red flag to begin with. So tell us about T2, nutrition and wellness. What's that all about

John (39:53):

G2, nutrition and wellness. It's actually kind of funny how that came about. Um, in the spring of 2019, I wound up finding out that my right knee had gone bone on bone and I was going to need a full knee replacement. So I spent a significant amount of downtime that year. Um, I had to wait like three months from the surgery. Cause my insurance company wanted me to jump through all these hoops and get six injections and all this other stuff. So I was sitting around the house with nothing to do. So me being me, I'm always trying to learn something. So I was listening to a podcast with Tom bill, you who was one of the founders of quest nutrition. And he had, I believe the guests he had on the show with his name was Mark Sisson, who was the guy that started primal kitchen and the primal blueprint, which was all about ketogenic foods and all that type of stuff.

John (40:50):

And he was sitting there and he was talking to Tom and he said, you know what? He said, people have to look at it like this, you know? Cause he, cause Tom was asking him how, why he started primal kitchen at, I think he was 53 when he started that business. Okay. And it turned into a multi-million dollar business that he's since sold the crap, but, and Tom was asking him why. And he said, look, instead, it's real simple. I believe that if you find the world's biggest problem, not only are you going to find the world's biggest opportunity to help people, but you're going to find one of the best business opportunities that there is. And I immediately, because that hit me like a brick, I picked up my phone and I was like, Google. How many in the world today have type two diabetes, 280 million people.

John (41:37):

Wow. 70 million of them are undiagnosed 17 million. And mind you, this was two years ago. So these stats may not be correct now. 17 million of those 280 children. Oh, okay. So I was like, okay, that's, that's what I need to, you know, I I've, I reversed my type two diabetes. So these are the people that I need to work with. So I went to my laptop and go daddy.com and I'm like T2 nutrition. The domain was available. So I bought the domain, I built the website and started everything. And then I kind of rebranded everything about eight months in, because I realized that it was more than just nutrition and exercise, fitness wellness is everything. It's the mind, it's the mindset. It's the body, it's the spirit. It's the way you look at life. Um, so that's why I rebranded it to T2 nutrition and wellness. And I deal with people's mindsets just as much as I do what they're going to eat and how many reps they're going to do in the gym. No.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (42:47):

So how do you start? I mean, how, how do you find out where they are? How do you assess them to find out where they are in their journey and if they're ready to do what they need to do,

John (43:01):

How, how I typically start is if somebody contacts me and wants to work with me, the first thing I do is I send them intake forms. Um, the two forms combined total about nine pages and they give me a ton of information about them. I asked them questions like, um, you know, does their family support their journey as far as getting fit or do they find resistance? Um, how do you feel about counting calories, measuring food, preparing food ahead of time, stuff like that. How do you feel when you are in a situation and you find a shirt in the gym that, or find a shirt in the store that you want, but you can't find one of your size because you're too big, all these different questions that I asked them. And then after I get that information, I sit and I give them a free consultation online, over zoom or something like that. And I discuss it with them and I try to find out where they're at physically, where they're at mentally and emotionally, and then I try to address all those teachers.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (44:10):

Okay, great. Well, John, thanks so much for taking time out of your day to be with us. Uh, before we let you go. A couple of questions first off is, um, what is a tool that you use and it could be in your wellness journey and just something that adds value to your day, a tool, a habit, some kind of a ritual it business or personal professional, either one,

John (44:37):

Um, on a personal level. It is, I always take some time to be mindful and how my ritual for being mindful is I will take at least 30 minutes out of my day. And it's typically in the morning, um, I'll let an incense, I'll find a playlist that has some sort of music, preferably like binaural beats, which are very, very good. They have a very calming effect. And I just, I meditate in a and I, um, I meditate on how grateful I am to be here. I remember where I was and everything that I had to do to get to where I am now and why I want to continue to improve where I am, because I want to be around for my kids and my grandkids and my great-grandkids for many, many years to come. So that's the, that's the biggest tool that I use personally is I'm trying to be mindful every day.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (45:37):

Yeah, no, that's awesome. That is good practice. Yeah. All right. Well, uh, so tell everybody again, how they can reach out and get ahold of you if they would like to, um, you know, talk to you about working with you.

John (45:51):

Sure. Well, my website is T2nutritionandwellness.com and I'm on Facebook teaching nutrition, wellness, same thing with Instagram on Twitter. They decided my name was too long. So they redid it for me, I'm wellness, T2. Um, but other than that, I'm pretty much everywhere. I'm not hard to find. I have a podcast on YouTube and all the audio platforms called the jacked up podcast where I interview people like yourself. Um, fitness professionals. It's pretty, it, the podcast has a pretty wide berth. I talk about a lot of subjects because I believe, like I said, wellness is all encompassing. So I talked to people from all sorts of things.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (46:32):

Okay, awesome. Well, y'all check out John's podcast and reach out, take a look at the website, see how he can help you and, um, put him to work for you. You've done a fabulous transformation of yourself. I mean, it's simply amazing. And I, you know, I've, I've had some blood sugar readings in the 200 and kinda gas when that happens. So I, I just can't even imagine getting a 500. It that's, uh, congratulations. Oh my goodness. Congratulations. I know it's a lot of hard work. It takes, doesn't come easy and takes a lot of time, but it's awesome that you're going to put all that knowledge that you've gained and, uh, to work, to help others.

John (47:15):

Nope. That's my goal.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (47:16):

All right. Well, great, John, thanks so much. That's going to do it for another episode of, uh, the feeding fatty podcast. Uh, we appreciate you taking time out of your day to listen to us again, if you're a professional, if you have a great transformation story, like John's, we would certainly love to hear from you so you can reach out to either myself or Terry at, uh, I'm at Roy at, uh, I'd say it's information [email protected]. And of course you can pick us up on, uh, www.feedingfatty.com, uh, the, uh, podcast, or put up there with the player. You can also catch this, uh, over on YouTube, also Instagram, Twitter, Facebook we're on all of them. So until next time, take care of yourself and be sure and take care of each other. Um, Roy

Speaker 4 (48:07):

I'm Terry. Thank you. Thanks John. Appreciate it. Thank you.

www.feedingfatty.com

Women's Transformation with Maverick Willett

Hello! My name is Maverick Willett and I am a ISSA Certified Personal Trainer & Fitness Nutritionist, former army ranger and former collegiate basketball player with a passion for helping women and mothers lose weight and regain control of their bodies.

Growing up, my parents were both competitive bodybuilders and taught me a great deal about the importance of taking care of our bodies. I have been in the fitness industry for over a decade and have a fitness and nutrition coaching business named "Maverick Online Coaching" with my wife, Sophie, where we are on a mission to help women feel more confident about themselves by taking care of their mind and body.

You may have seen me as "Dagr" the norse sun god in Sunbutter commercials or as a sponsored & featured athlete for BSN. However, most of the time I am feverishly working remotely with my clients, staying up-to-date on the latest information about nutrition, or spending time with my wife and our son who was just born in 2020!

I believe that women need balance and sustainability, especially those that have a family and kids. There are so many "fad" diets out there that are causing more harm than good for women. My goal is to go beyond giving a guide - I teach women WHY they should eat certain foods and give them the tools to succeed long term.

Maverick Willett- Online Fitness and Nutrition Coach | Facebook

wwww.feedingfatty.com

Full Transcription Below

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:00:02):

Hello, and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty I'm Roy I'm Terry. So, you know, we are the show that, uh, we are chronicling our journey. My journey Terry is my helper support. You know, I'm the one that actually, uh, needs to get in better shape, lose some weight, improve a lot of, um, health issues. So, um, I appreciate her for doing that. I couldn't make it without her. And so, you know, we on this show, we try to Chronicle our journey, things that we're learning, uh, mistakes that we've made, trying to help others. But we also, uh, have, uh, guests that, um, you know, professionals in their field that can really come on and add more value to our listeners. So today we are fortunate enough to have Maverick Willett. Uh, he is an I S S a certified personal trainer, a fitness, and nutritionalists our fitness nutritionalists. He is a former army ranger and former collegiate basketball player with the passion for helping women and mothers lose weight and regain control of their bodies. Uh, growing up, both of his parents were competitive bodybuilders and taught him a great deal about the importance of taking care of our bodies. Um, my average, thanks a lot for taking time out of your day to be with us. We certainly do appreciate it.

Maverick (00:01:21):

Thank you. I appreciate you too. Thanks for having me. I'm just happy to be here. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:01:26):

Yeah. And one thing I didn't I failed to mention is that, you know, that is kind of your specialty is that you are focusing, uh, pretty much explicitly on women's transformation. Uh, not only that, but after giving birth, uh, you know, so that, that is kind of where your, um, your focus has been for the last year or so, is that correct?

Maverick (00:01:51):

Yes. Yes, we do. I focus primarily on women and moms and, uh, yeah, this is something that we decided to do about you're going in this industry. You want to niche down and, and that was who I resonated with the most and knew I love working with and who Sophie loves working with. So it just kind of naturally happened. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:02:07):

Yeah. And we do want to say that if, uh, we had a little pre a show discussion and your wife is part of your partnership, so y'all work together, even though she's not on here with us today, correct.

Maverick (00:02:20):

Somebody has got to watch say, I get to be with you guys eight month old. Is that what you said? Wow. We're so lucky. He sleeps through the night. He's um, he's been a good baby. I mean, we, we feed them the same stuff we eat, we just puree it for him. And we went away from the Gerber stuff and this stomach is so much better for it. And he's just growing like a weed or we're so lucky, easily. He's a great baby.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:02:51):

Yeah. Two happiest days of your life. Uh, you know, when your children are born and then the second one is when you get them off your payroll. So you can look forward to that one.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:03:05):

Uh, well, if you don't mind, let's just start out with, tell us a little bit about how you ended up here. I know that you are, um, a former army and an athlete. Your parents were both competitive bodybuilders. So, I mean, it's, it's a little bit built into your DNA, the fitness portion of this, but, uh, you know, you were saying that I really want to hear your story, that, you know, you were, uh, doing this on the side, had another job, and you finally just said, this is what I want to do. Um, I'm not looking back and I'm going to make a success of this. So tell us a little bit about that, um, uh, transformation.

Maverick (00:03:42):

Yeah, of course. Um, so, uh, yeah, I, I was in the military. I got, I got out and was having some trouble finding, you know, my calling, I guess you could say, um, like you said, fitness is kind of ingrained in my DNA. My parents were, were both competitive bodybuilders. So I grew up in that culture of fitness and, uh, watching my mom, especially growing up, we had a very unique relationship. I mean, I didn't out bench press my mom. So I was like 17 years old. So, um, that was a pretty loose. And so that was a very unique upbringing to compete with them in, in the gym and, and have that kind of bond. It was a very solid bond that we build just that mutual exertion, um, pushing each other and, and achieving that stuff daily. And we had a home gym.

Maverick (00:04:24):

And so it was something we did every day together. So, you know, and learning how to eat my mom, very, very smart with nutrition. My dad was more of a, if it fits your macros kind of guy, but she was really dialed in. And, um, that, that got me a foundation of knowledge at a very young age of how to eat, change your body. And so I took that with me in my athletic career and my military career for performance then, and then now to help people change their lives through nutrition and holistic holistically, especially, and kind of heal metabolisms from the, the fad dieting out there, the misinformation and give people a blueprint for success for the rest of the lives. But like you said, I was up till two years ago, I was working. Um, I've worked several different jobs. I was in car sales for awhile and nothing against car sales.

Maverick (00:05:07):

Um, I, I enjoy, I enjoyed working in the sales field, but it just wasn't enjoying what I was doing. And I had this thing on the side that I loved doing it. I loved helping people change their bodies and use my platform on social media to do that. And I was like, there's gotta be more here. And I saw other people doing it. And eventually I actually hired a business coach to help me figure out how to, how to do that. And once I figured out how to grow my, uh, the, the part-time job I was doing, it exploded. And I said, you know, okay, I have to make a decision. They're both taken away from each other. I can't be good at car sales and grow this at the same time. And it's that, this is what I love. I'm going to do this no matter what. And I took that leap of faith. I'm into uncertainty. I had the secure quote, unquote secure job here with a 401k. And I had this unknown here. And I said, I'm going to regret it forever if I don't give this a shot. So I did, I never looked back. It exploded

Maverick (00:05:58):

And it's been growing, ever says, I'm so grateful every day to wake up and do what I love doing. And I was fortunate enough a year and a half later for Sophie, my wife to leave her full-time job and, and help me grow it as well, because it just grew beyond one person's capacity to handle. So we're very lucky. And now I get to do that every single day.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:06:16):

It's awesome. Yeah. That's such a great story because, uh, you know, as we said earlier to any transformation, if it's career career relationships are, you know, our relationship with food exercise, we've got to come to that realization that, you know, we're going to push just forward and, um, be successful because as long as we have one foot on each side of the, uh, the line there, you know, and it will just take, uh, eating as long as you're, uh, you know, kind of still nibbling on some, uh, candy and chips and things like that. It's really hard to commit to the being healthy. You gotta just go all in and, uh, do everything that you possibly can to make it work.

Maverick (00:06:59):

Yeah. We're conditioned to stay in our comfort zone, right. We're conditioned to avoid, um, any kind of what unquote danger when we are conditioned self from ages zero to 10, and keep that from doing anything that could, that could bring that dangerous. So we, we live in a condition state of living in fear and approval. We want other people's approval. We fear the judgment and we fear leaving our comfort zone. And so that's where I was. I was in my comfort bubble and I was afraid to take a step into the unknown. And like you're saying, that's, that's a huge thing with, with nutrition as well. A lot of people have patterns that they're used to and their behavior that has been conditioned in their mind or internal narrative. Um, and it's how they cope with things in their life. And then taking a step outside that it takes time and thinks it's a fearful step for a lot of people.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:07:45):

So, um, I'm going to ask a loaded question. I mean, I'm sure there are many ways you could answer it. I don't know. Um, how, how do you, uh, how do you, how do you make that change? How do you recondition yourself to do the healthy choice? You know, make the healthy choices on eating, and

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:08:05):

This is my conscience talk

Maverick (00:08:12):

Not easily. It's not easy. Um, especially with the patterns are so ingrained. Um, you know, it's, uh, I would say one small thing at a time. I think one of the issues with mainstream, uh, nutrition, advice, influencers, fad diets, it's a drastic change overnight and often drastic changes unsustainable. And, and with my clients, especially, you know, I, I usually overload them with information, but then I say like one small habit of time each week to implement. And if you can do that, if you can just do one small thing every week after, you know, six, eight, 10, 12 weeks, you're going to be a whole new person. You're going to have all this whole new set of habits you've implemented while simultaneously trying to understand why you have the bad one, the bad patterns, the patterns that are taken are you understand where those come from, the gentle to yourself and try to come out of those, those behaviors.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:09:03):

Yeah. I think that's a big one, be gentle and kind to yourself, you know, we're just such, and we're terrible critics. And I am I actually taking notes because I mean, there was just so much that came out of that last sentence that you said, you know, and I'm going to relate this all back to me. I'm not, I don't even have to throw anybody else under the bus to say that, you know, it's like the bad habits that we, you know, that I've been in for years. And, and my worst one is that not eating nine, 10 o'clock at night, if I'm still up walking around, I'm ready for, you know, a bowl of popcorn or some kind of a snack, and then you go to bed and it's harder than, um, I don't know, there's that feeling of going to bed, not totally full that it just, uh, you know, and it's psychological. I realized I could go in there and go to sleep, but it's that conditioning to do it, uh, to break that habit, it's very, very difficult, very difficult. And, you know, we try and struggle and, um, you know, there, we do good for weeks at a time. And then all of a sudden fall off the wagon and, you know, back at it again. So it's something to constantly, constantly work on.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:10:17):

Yeah. The other thing I think that you brought up was, um, trying to do too much at once. I've read some research that that is what leads to the greatest failure rate of, um, of trying to change our healthy lifestyle. Our change to it. One is because again, I'll use me for instance, like, well, I'm getting up tomorrow and I'm not having any candy. I'm not having any salt. I'm not having any of this, um, eating, right. No more of, you know, fast food, it's all vegetables. And then I'm going to start going to the gym and I'm going to start, you know, running or walking 10 miles, you know, at one time and lifting weights and you do all this stuff. And then, you know, after about a week, it's like, you just, you just give out because it's so much at one time. So

Maverick (00:11:06):

Yeah, when you look at any addiction program and you look at alcoholism, you look at drug addict, food addiction, sex addiction, any kind of addiction, you you'd be hard pressed to find any type of addict has just decided, you know what I'm done and cut it out completely for the rest of their life. Right? There's always relapses. There's always, you know, shortcomings there's there's, that journey is never linear. It's like a weight loss journey is never to how you're going to start here and we'll end here if you do it right. But in between, it's going to look like a heart monitor about to down the same way with almost the retro journey. I mean, there's going to be, this word comes, that's where being gentle with yourself comes in, you know, um, it takes time to unwire behaviors that are wired into our mind.

Maverick (00:11:49):

It takes a lot of money, you know, we didn't become that way overnight. It's not going to dissipate overnight. And so having a program where, you know, like for instance in my clients have a trouble with soda, for instance, it'd be like, Hey, I gotta have a soda. I'm like, don't cut it out. Like completely, don't cut it out completely. What we're going to do is gradually decreased over time, try to taper it off, um, understand the feeling before the feeling. There's always a feeling that makes you want to have that. There's always something that's stress. Is it? What are you trying to escape? What are you trying to consume with the said behavior? There's, there's some kind of thing you're trying to escape from. So being mindful of that often leads to a change in behavior down the road, but just scolding someone or saying, don't do that. Isn't going to help because it's coming from something else that they they've learned to use that to medicate in some way, who is no different from any other addiction.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:12:40):

Yeah. And, you know, I find myself I'm on both sides of that equation. I think it's the, um, it's that soothing factor, you know, we're, we're conditioned, you know, at least in our culture, we were conditioned, uh, uh, you know, you had a bad day today. Well, let's go get something that, you know, let's go to the dairy queen, we'll get an ice cream, I'll fix you up. Or, Oh my gosh, that things went good for you. You got a promotion today. Well, let's go out and eat or, you know, then it's like, you know, you get stressed, sad, you know, you have that little food. But the other thing that I've kind of picked up on myself is, um, the fun factor whenever I've used this example before, but I was like, uh, uh, I was all excited. One day I thought Terry was, uh, I think, I think I thought she was going to Chick-fil-A and gonna bring me a Chick-fil-A sandwich home.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:13:30):

And then she said, Oh, no, there's some, uh, fish and some green beans in the refrigerator. And I was like, Oh yeah. And I just actually just felt that air go out of my body. Like, Oh my gosh, that, well, that's no fun. And so, you know, but, and, and we with COVID, you know, we don't go out and eat and don't go, you know, see the kids, you know, cause we, we would meet at a, you know, place and have some more d'oeuvres and maybe a drink or something. And just being out in public. I mean, we don't get to do that a lot anymore, but, um, you know, that is a big, big takeaway. Is that fun factor for some of us too?

Maverick (00:14:11):

Yeah. That's such a good point. Um, I, and that's another thing that I do is, you know, oftentimes there's, there's a lot of shame and guilt centered around that indulgence. I don't like to call them cheat meals and like you call them indulging planned indulgences. I call them kind of less negative with what I do. I find it's way more sustainable to have something you love a couple of times a week, because at the end of the day, you're an accumulation of your overall habits, your overall consumption. That is what you're an accumulation of, not what you did one night or two nights out of the week. I mean, for instance, if you eat this, you even, if you eat three meals a day, that's 21 meals a week, if you, two of those are planned indulgences, you're still on that 80 margin. So I think, you know, another strategy that I use is instead of like Sophie and I tried this and we did not do very well, we used to just eat like monks the entire week and then on the weekend splurge and what that would lead to is overeating on the weekends and then we'd feel bad about it.

Maverick (00:15:07):

So instead of that, we had, we started each sheet eating a indulgence on Wednesday and then Saturday. So now we have it twice in the week. We tend to eat less in that meal than we would have waited longer now. And we're getting something every two or three days to keep us happy and we don't feel any shame, no guilt. And so that's a strategy I use with my clients as well to say, Hey, it's okay to have that food that you love to eat in moderation from time to time and not feel shame and guilt about it.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:15:32):

Yeah. You know, uh, as we prepared for this, uh, last night I was doing some reading, then it, um, I guess the other thing that, you know, this intuitively, but it kind of came out very strong yesterday was, you know, people like myself that have a large amount that they want to lose is it can be overwhelming and daunting. And so, you know, what I'm trying to do very hard is shift that from, I don't, I don't, I'm not thinking I'm not focusing on the a hundred pound journey. I'm focusing on the one pound journey, you know, the one or two pounds this week. That's what I need to focus on. Because like you said, you string together a 52 pound loss weeks and you've got your hundred all of a sudden, but it can be daunting as somebody that's heavy to think, Oh, you know, I've got such a long journey that I'm going to have to take a break and have some M and M's, uh, to kind of get me started here.

Maverick (00:16:31):

Yeah. Focused on the next step. Not the ladder is something I always say is focused on the next step, the whole ladder. It can be daunting, but that next step and that it becomes a lot more.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:16:44):

And you also brought up about a, uh, you know, it's a culmination of our habits and patterns. And so it just, that's kind of off topic, but there's a book called the slight edge that I had read years ago. And it's, it is a great book to kind of explain that whole factor is that, you know, if you're going in, if, if you're going through life and you're eating and you go out and you eat that one, a McDonald's hamburger is not going to hurt you or, uh, be bad for you. It's that when you start stringing multiple times of those together, you know, day after, week after week, day after day. And he uses an example of a baseball player that, you know, if, if, uh, you know, some of these guys take bat and practice, they hit 10 balls and they're done. If you look at your great hitters, they hit hundreds of balls every day. And it's a constant, you know, just trying to build off of that every day and do better the next day.

Maverick (00:17:50):

Yeah. A hundred percent. Absolutely. And, um, with, with the habits thing, it's, it's, you know, you have to look at how habits are created. Um, this is straight from a book I like called atomic habits. I'm sure you've heard of that book.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:18:03):

Uh, could you, I'm sorry. You kinda cut out. Could you say the name of it one more time? Atomic habits. Okay.

Maverick (00:18:10):

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Super popular book, but he's taught, he talks in that book, how habits are created and it uses the example of when you walk into a dark room, you have the cue, the craving, the response and the reward. So the cue is you walk into a dark room, it's dark. The craving is, I want light. The response is you flip the light switch. The reward is light comes on and we create habits like that all day, every day. And so when you're trying to instill new habits in your life, having that in mind, if you want to install, instill a good, a good habit, make the cue obvious, make the craving, um, you know, something that you, you really want it something that you desire make the response easily obtainable in the risk and the reward rewarding. So if you can do that with healthy habits, that's, that's a good way to program your habits every day.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:18:53):

Yeah, that's great. The other thing, I, I think I'm lucky in some respects that I enjoy, you know, my job, I enjoy what I do for living. And so I, uh, tend to spend a lot of time sitting at the computer. The, um, you know, the, all the new research is saying that sitting is the new smoking and that, you know, that's definitely, what's gonna kill us all, especially, uh, with COVID and, uh, you know, being confined and some people working from home and, you know, like myself, my commute's about 10 steps. And I sit in a chair and I, you know, I can, I got engaged the other day in a, in a, an analytical project on the computer. And I mean, it was like 10 30. And, you know, Terry was in here rattling my cage, like, okay, you've got to stop. And, you know, we're done for the night, but you know, what are some tips or that, you know, for people like myself that can, um, you know, kind of break that concentration just to get up and walk away, because it sounds easy, you know, like set an egg timer and get up and go for a walk, but I'm just telling you, it, it, even though I want to, it is not that easy sometimes just to break away and do those little things that need to be done, but any advice or any helpful hints you can offer there.

Maverick (00:20:10):

Yeah. I mean, sedentary lifestyle is, is one of the number one factors that lead to most of the chronic health diseases in this country. And that's, that's something that a lot of the studies surrounding food neglect to mention, there's all, there's, it's a huge factor with any kind of, you know, diabetes, any kind of, you know, heart disease, anything like that. When you have fatalities, they always relate it back to the nutrition. And sometimes don't mention the other big piece, which is the sedentary lifestyle, right? Um, and so what I found is, uh, you have to break down like how we burn calories every day. It's simply, I mean, non-exercise activity is a huge bulk of that. So 70% is burned at rest. So your metabolic rate, just breathing functioning 70%, um, and you burn more at rest. The more lean body mass you have, 15% is not our size activity.

Maverick (00:20:53):

So walking typing, and that that category is going to be higher or low. All these categories be higher and lower based upon your lifestyle, 10% from digesting foods. So the Bader nutrition is the better. That's going to be in 5% from exercise. So people make the mistake of thinking that since they put all their effort into that 5%, that 30 minutes to an hour exercise other day, and then they go the other 23 hours and they're sedentary. They think that they're going to get in shape, but again, you're an accumulation of your overall habits. So if you only work out an hour of the day and you sit around and another 23 hours of the day, you're not going to reflect someone who exercises for an hour. You're gonna reflect someone who's sedentary for 23 hours a day. So giving people that, that there's perspective on that, what I do with my clients is, um, 10 minute walks.

Maverick (00:21:33):

So, and I didn't, I didn't make that up. I got it from a mentor of mine. I understand everything, but, um, 10 minute walks are very effective, especially post-meal. And when you couple them with a meal, you know, you have to get up and get some food eventually. So that sometimes just having them walk by itself, isn't enough. Like you're saying to just remember or set a timer, but if you have, if you go up and eat and you're like, okay, before I sit down, I'm going to go on a 10 minute walk at 10 minute walks, very effective because instead of a one 30 minute walk, if you space that out amongst the day, you're accomplishing many different things. Three, 10 minute walks a day, you're getting 30 minutes of sun exposure, probably. So you're getting your vitamin D you're getting, which is a very important for metabolism, hormones, et cetera.

Maverick (00:22:11):

It's helping you digest your food and uptake those nutrients instantly. If you do it, post-meal, it's been shown to be very beneficial for blood sugar management for it, for some people more effective than prescription Statens for managing blood sugar. Like it's that effective insulin resistance, all kinds of things, blood pressure reduction. So lots of benefits from 10 minute walks. So I have my clients do that. If they can't get out of it super cold, they, they, a lot of them have like an elliptical or they just walk around their house, getting that movement in at least three or four times a day, especially people who their primary goal is, weight loss is, is very effective.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:22:43):

Yeah. And I, you know, I do take some, uh, medication for, uh, diabetes as well. And that's what I can tell you about my glucose control is if I will walk after a meal, I can manage it much, much better than, you know, just eating and coming back and setting. And again, there's just so much to get into with this start. I'm trying to take some notes as we, as I listened to you. But so there is some, um, well, depending on who you talk to, there is some debate because, um, I'm hearing more about these 10 minutes shorter walks, but, um, how does that compare? Because I had one guy and this has been a few years ago that used to train that he was like, you know, 40 minutes, if it's less than that, you know, basically not doing yourself any good. And, uh, he was, that was his thing, you know, kind of everybody has their thing, but I feel that there's been a lot more research come out in the last few years that if we do four, 10 minute walks a day, we are probably better off than trying to do that one 40 minutes.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:23:49):

And I guess maybe it depends on the goals that you're trying to accomplish.

Maverick (00:23:59):

Oh yeah. Sorry. It froze for just saying. Yeah, no. Um, well, I think it's important to distinguish between exercise activity and non-exercise activity, right? Like if you're going to do intentional cardio, but a third party, not that there's less benefit before the 30 minute Mark, but they're generally around 30 minutes is what you want for some kind of low intensity, steady state cardio session. Okay. You're an interval training. It's a different story. You can go a little bit shorter than that, but an exercise that tipping exercise. So with exercise activity, being such a category and a category, when it comes to the day, the way that we burn fat and calories daily, that's a big area of concentration. If you can spread that out throughout the day, you have other factors involved there, you have the blood sugar management there. So like for example, um, your blood glucose is very pertinent to your fat loss. If you have, you know, generally lower blood glucose, you're going to have better fat loss. So, uh, I mean the majority of the day, so by doing one larger walk, you're getting it, you're getting the benefit right then, and then you're not getting anything the rest of the day. Whereas if you have three or four, 10 minutes throughout the day, you're having longer, better optimal management of your blood glucose. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:25:24):

Well, we kind of broke up there a little bit. I think the point you were making though, is that that 10 minutes, those 10 minute walks will help us with a lot more things. And that was another thing to distinguish is that, you know, even though, uh, exercise leading up to that weight loss factor, it's minimal, you know, diet is 80%, the exercise, 20%, that weight loss, there's just a lot more, uh, physical benefits to our body with, you know, getting up and moving. And so we, we, we still need to do because a lot of people think, well, I don't need to exercise, but especially with me, you know, like blood sugar, uh, high blood pressure, things like that. It's still important to make that a, um, a big component of our day, just for the other benefits, besides the weight loss.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:26:15):

Yeah. And helps with mindset and all of that for everything else across the board. Right?

Maverick (00:26:21):

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, for me, I just personally, anecdotally, if I don't, I w I just sit and work all day, my creative energy starts to go down. If I, if Sophie and I, we get up and we go out on a walk and we, we have some, some conversation and I'll come back and I'm so much more productive than if I would've just tried to grit through it all day long. And she, uh,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:26:44):

I just never thought about it. Maybe, maybe Terry sabotage in my exercise, because when we, uh, we live in an awesome rule type environment where, you know, we can get out, walk the dogs and it really clears my head. And so, you know, to your point, if I can go for a 10, 15 minute walk and I come back and it's like, man, I've got all these ideas. I'm like, okay, sit down and get your pencil and paper. Cause I've got all this stuff. And she's like, Oh my,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:27:09):

Well, he didn't even, he didn't even let me sit down. I mean, we're walking five minutes and he's like shooting off all this stuff. I'm like, I can't take notes right now. I got to figure out where I'm walking.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:27:21):

But yeah, I think it's just, it's amazing what a, you know, a 10 or 15 minutes just to get out, walk, uh, clears your head. And it gives, gives me that much more creativeness. And I feel, you know, like the last few days it's been a little cooler and I've been inside, but I can kind of feel it's not a brain fault, but it's just like, uh, I don't know how to say it like a heavy brain. It's just like, it's not as free and flowing as when you're, you know, when you do get that exercise.

Maverick (00:27:51):

Absolutely. Absolutely. Uh, one thing I can suggest Roy is, uh, there's an app called Otter and it, uh, it's just, um, you talk, it writes, so maybe having that along while you're on your wall, both that's, what's the whole thing I do. We put in it and it writes as we talk. So we don't have to have a pen and pad because you never know inspiration is going to come. You want to be ready when it does.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:28:14):

Yeah. Terry May take you off for Christmas list after you give me that too a lot. Yeah.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:28:18):

Thanks a lot.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:28:22):

Uh, well, let's talk a little bit about your process. I know, uh, you know, COVID has changed a lot of things, but I think your model is pretty much, uh, on a hundred percent online anyway, is that correct?

Maverick (00:28:40):

Yes, we are a hundred percent remote. Okay. Yeah. And we, uh,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:28:44):

Talk to us about, you know, you were just saying all the different components that go, you know, this isn't, you know, basically you coming on and, uh, shouting to give me 10 pushups and things like that. You know, there was a lot more, um, input from you besides just the, you know, watching somebody do some pushups or setups.

Maverick (00:29:06):

Yeah. I think most people's perceptions, uh, depending on their generation, when I tell them that I'm an online trainer, they think that I'm in their living room. Like I'm like C3, I'm gonna do burpees or something. And that's like the furthest thing from what we actually do. Um, we are very nutrition focused. So you get a personalized nutrition plan based on what you're trying to achieve. We, you know, we I've been doing, I've been a nutritionist for years, so that's very fully fledged years went into this nutrition plan, focus on gut health hormones, um, just basically a blueprint for success with your nutrition. So people never have to be in this area of, you know, what the hell do I do? I've Googled one thing and I've gotten 200 different answers. So-and-so's doing this. And I don't think that would work. They have that blueprint forever. So that's number one. Number two is yes, we do training plans as well. Uh, we have our own training platform where we can give you, you know, there's video demonstrations. If you, if you're especially right now and you're trapped at home and you hit your gyms close, whatever's going on at home workouts. That's really big right now. So we have, you know, with ex X resistance bands free, what do we have available?

Maverick (00:30:15):

Um, my wife's Sophie, she gets act as a live treatment or a Facebook group every week where she does an at-home workout. And that, that helps a lot for people who need, you know, cause it's hard to keep it fun at home, working out, finding new things you can do to challenge yourself. So, um, we make sure that we, we meet them there with that. The biggest part of what we do though, is the accountability. So we, um, we have a Facebook group, hundreds of women, you know, have similar loans are crushing it because they have surrounded themselves with a group of wounds or a pot going on in their lives. What's going on with going on. And me ever, they have this group to go to and it's always 100% going to be positive. It's going to be, um, a positive influence on their life.

Maverick (00:30:57):

It's going to be lifting and it's going to keep them focused on their goals. So we have that community where we do free challenges every week, give away free prizes for those challenges. So I do five live streams a week in that group right now where we're adding more every, every month it seems like, wow, we do group calls and we all get on zoom just like this, but there's 30 of us and we celebrate wins. I answered questions, craft big. Uh in-depth um, and they have access to us around the clock. So any questions that get asked, they get answered. We're there for any that they need. We do weekly check-ins we do one-on-one responses to those check-ins, but it's just about as involved as you can get with an online coaching program. And that's why it's seen the success that it has.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:31:41):

So what does your, um, client look like? I mean, I know transforming women, but is there at a S at a certain fitness level? Um, what, what's your client?

Maverick (00:31:56):

I ideal avatar is women 30 plus, um, who, you know, primarily weight loss, but we work with just body composition type clients as well. Um, all levels of their journey and fitness that we w our job as a coach is to meet you where you're at and take you the next step. So, for instance, I had a lady in my program, uh, this past year named Tammy who at the start of the program, she was, she couldn't even, you know, get off the floor, get down on the floor, um, do any exercises. So we started with walking, we started with just, you know, addressing the nutrition and addressing the mindset stuff she had going on, uh, centered around food and just start with walking. And over the past year, she lost, she dropped 60 pounds and she's now jogging in the gym for the first time in her life. I actually got on a, um, a FaceTime call with her and showed her how to use the different machines. And she's crushing it. She's doing things she hasn't done in 30 years. And so that's someone who couldn't even, we didn't even know how to exercise or wasn't even able to who is now doing all those things. So that's, that's what we can do with someone, um, even not being there in person. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:33:00):

Wow. Yeah. It's that support is such an important component in this and not only for the exercise part, but for the eating part. I mean, because as we go through this, you know, we have questions, uh, sometimes it's like, Oh, let's just go ahead and slide one. Buy-in if you have somebody that, you know, you can reach out to, or if you know, you're going to have to face somebody at the end of this week and say, w w why did we eat? You know, you tend to change your mindset a lot more, but,

Maverick (00:33:34):

But they, they don't. The thing is though, this is what's lacking in this industry, is they can't be afraid to come to you at an off week, or if they, if they made a mistake, right. I think a big, Oh, no, I messed up either. I'm not going to track this because we can see all their foods. So it's like either I'm going to track this and I'm going to lie, or I'm just not going to tell them. And, you know, because I've been doing this long enough to know what progress should be looking like, based on what I see on their nutrition. So the key with being a coach in my opinion, is they're comfortable enough to come to me and say, Hey, this day I had, you know, 12 ounces of wine. That's cool. You know, that's totally fine because the rest of the week he did really well going forward.

Maverick (00:34:19):

Here's what we're going to do. Um, you know, w what school, what else is going on? Are you stressed? Oh, you're just closed on your house. So you guys are really stressed and packing your house up. Got it. That makes sense. Don't worry about it. Let's go forward. Let's keep establishing good habits. We're good to go. Having that kind of mentality. Um, I made a mistake or I made a, you know, I ate off plan or whatever, but it's going to be okay. Longterm and not punishing them for it. And being a drill Sergeant with me, women, because I'm a 250 pound army veteran. So for them to be able to trust me with their fitness, you know, I have to have empathy and I have to be understanding. And so that, that's another reason why I love working with women, because I've been able to cross that threshold and, and understand stuff they're going through to the best of my ability and not having that firsthand experience. That's where, so it becomes,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:35:05):

Yeah. And that's a good point, you know, we're hard enough on ourselves and, um, you know, being able to work with somebody you trust that you can come to, because that gives you, uh, the opportunity to build me up and say, you know, what ate a few tacos the other day is it's not the end of the world. And, you know, the, because the, the sad thing is we, we do bad and then we give up and then the trajectory just goes downhill from there. And it's like, even if we could just make a little bit of a comeback from a bad day or two, we're still going to be way ahead of the game moving forward. So is so important to have that reassurance.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:35:44):

Yeah. And that, that empathy factor is a huge deal, especially when you're, especially when you're dealing with women, because they, you know, they, they just, they don't need the harsh, the harsh words. They just don't need the guilt and the shame, you know, we pile enough of that stuff on, as it is. We need somebody who's going to be able to understand,

Maverick (00:36:07):

Right. Just listen, not trying to fix. And at the end of the month, if they've, you know, instilled all these new habits, and they're doing all these new things at the end of a month, when they look back and they're like, wow, like I've actually come a really long way. Despite me, me sabotaging, or trying to mentally sabotage myself every step of the way I've actually come a really long way. So then I have that progress to look back on all the stuff, doing a great job. And that, that keeps, that builds momentum with them instead of, you know, frayed. Tell me I can't rule. Never.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:36:44):

Yeah. I do have one question about, uh, something that also came up yesterday. Are you familiar with the, the T R X bands, those yellow bands are those pretty decent for, I mean, I know, I see a lot of, uh, you know, you can do so much with them and at one time the gym I go to, they had one in there and they've since removed them. But, um, you know, I just wonder if the, the time spent on those, doing some things is, is worth the effort to get one.

Maverick (00:37:16):

I think that they are a great addition if, um, if you don't have access to freeways, because in my opinion, freeways are always going to be the best. However, if your gyms close, they're a fantastic piece to have to have for maintenance or re depending on where you're at in your journey. Okay. Absolutely TRX bands have their place. And even if you do have access to freeways, there ha they have their place in a program for extra stimulus. I mean, you have to use a lot of stabilizers with, with TRX. I think they're a fantastic innovation and a great addition, but I wouldn't, if I had access to freeways, I wouldn't base my entire.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:37:55):

Okay. Yeah. And, uh, you brought up a good point about, um, well about the free weights. And if you don't mind explain the difference between a, you know, like, uh, in the old days, a universal machine and, uh, kind of set the stage for those that may not understand the, the weights are on guides. And so you, you push the weight up and down for sure. But with, with free weights, there are a lot of stabilizer muscles that you have to use and get benefit of that as well. If you wouldn't kind of expound on that just a little bit,

Maverick (00:38:30):

There's just less variability. There's less, there's less margin of error with free weights. Mean the resistance is always gravity and you can't cheat gravity, you can't do anything, but the exercise. And, and I know it can be intimidating for a lot of people, especially in the, in the freeway section of a gym to go in there and not to give it a try. Um, but it isn't the most effective form of changing your body. At the end of the day. It will always be the most effective form with machines. You have to worry about who they're built for. You have to worry about a lot of other advanced principles being a lot like me, for instance, I have to finagle myself into every single machine cause I'm so large to get the proper angle for the exercise to even be effective. I mean, it's, you know, you're ill where I want to in the target muscle. So I'm imagining someone who's brand new to exercise, trying to make that connection while they're in a machine. Um, it's, it's, it's hard without someone guiding you, machines just are not going to be as effective because you're rolling the dice with, if you're even doing the exercise, correct. Or feeling it in the right spot to begin with a lot more.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:39:37):

Sorry about that. We hadn't, Oh my gosh. Oh my goodness. I scared me. I thought we were not, we were under attack for a minute. Okay. Come on. Gosh. Okay. Sorry about that. Oh my gosh. That was loud. Uh, uh, broke my train of thought. So, yeah. So anyway, that's the difference in the free weights and the, uh, you know, the machine types? The other thing is the, um, I think on the nutritional side, the importance of journaling, not only so we know it's so we can look back because I think, uh, you know, like for us, one thing that we learned, it, it wasn't as much as for the calorie count, although that's nice and helpful it's for all the other things that we don't know we're in food. And so, uh, you know, kind of an exercise for us when we started cooking more, quit doing more fast food or, uh, easy take out stuff.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:40:38):

It's, uh, you know, even the pre-packaged food in the grocery store, when you put that into some kind of a nutritional app, you are just blown away at all the stuff. And, you know, mainly we'll say probably salt was the big one that always got our attention, but, you know, there's just a lot of other stuff that's in there that is not really probably what we want to be putting in our body. So anyway, that's kind of a two-fold thing is the pre-packaged versus the fresh, but also, you know, just that importance for a journaling. So not only do we know what we're eating, we can be true to ourself. And then if we don't lose weight this week, or if we don't lose enough, we can kind of look back and say, well, here's exactly why,

Maverick (00:41:22):

Oh my gosh, it's, it's so important. It's so important because gosh, for so many reasons, number one, becoming aware calorically of what you're intaking on a daily basis. I mean, that's where

Maverick (00:41:34):

Fad diets missed the Mark big time, um, with, with messing people up is because yes, you'll lose a little bit of weight by cutting out entire food groups. But if you don't understand what a plate of food is supposed to look like for your personal goals, I mean, that's a tool you can carry with you for the rest of your life. So with, with my clients, I always tell them the mindset is you're, you're not going to track calories for the rest of your life, but doing so for a certain amount of time gives you that invaluable tool of knowing what a serving for you should look like. And it's different for everyone. And especially for couples, I find that with my couples, you know, there's a huge disparity. They'll realize Holy crap, I was eating as much as he was just because we're around each other all the time.

Maverick (00:42:15):

And that's why I was putting on weight because that's a full grown man and I'm a woman and this is, that's not okay for me individually, but they should be eating. The other thing is, you know, you learn what, like you said, what nutrients are in each foods. You know, if you need this many carbohydrates, what's a good food for carbohydrates. What's a good food for protein. What's a good food for protein that isn't loaded in fat or good source of carbohydrates. That's not loaded in sugar. I mean your fiber, you know, it's just, it gives you so many tools to take with you for the rest of your life. And it, it can help you understand what your weekly intake is, let alone your daily. So like, you know, with weight loss, especially if your, if your maintenance amount of calories is 2000 and you eat 1800 every day, Monday through Friday, right?

Maverick (00:43:03):

So that's, uh, what, uh, since 200 times five, so it's a thousand calorie deficit for the week, but then on Saturday and Sunday, you eat, you know, uh, Oh, so far over your maintenance, you eaten the surplus that it puts you at a surplus for the week. You're going to have a hard time losing weight. So realizing that is what helps a lot of people. They're like, Oh, this is why I'm not losing weight because although I was eating well, Monday through Friday, I was eating so much on Saturday and Sunday. It was completely sabotage me. It comes down to your weekly caloric intake as well. And that's why, you know, the, the weekend can, can kill people. Cause they just, they, they binge and they don't realize how far over their maintenance calories they go. So again, it's, uh, there's some push pull with this debate because a lot of people think that counting calories can create some unhealthy eating habits, but I think that's when people like about, you know, that feedback. Um, and then you get into weight loss and how the scale and everything and how the, you know, your, your body fluctuates week to week and everything else. But just keeping that food diary is, is so important to, to also realize if you eat something inflammatory, you can go back and see what it was. You know, it's like, okay, I ate this. I felt like crap after, or I feel like crap today. What did I eat yesterday? And you can look back and be like, okay, there's something going on with those egg whites, right?

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:44:19):

Yeah. And there, I just read an article about that calorie counting. And I think there's a, you know, it's a good distinction to make that, just tracking what we eat and put in our body is so much different than making a decision based on that. Like, Oh, well, I'm cutting these calories down to some absurd level or things like that. And so, um, it also, you know, like myself, one thing I knew years ago, I started, you know, when I was eating bad, I took a lot of supplements because I knew I wasn't getting the nutrients. And then that's the other great benefit of tracking is we are able and, uh, uh, chronometer I think is the one that we use. It has a very good, uh, micro, new nutrient tracking in it. And so what it's done is it allows us to, uh, adjust our meals to try to make sure we're getting all these vitamins and nutrients instead of having to take a supplement. And it's, it's been an invaluable tool for us. We've cut out a lot,

Maverick (00:45:20):

Always going to absorb it. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And one thing on that note is my clients who have been on blood pressure meds, I've gotten, uh, I want to say like 35 people off of blood pressure medication. Now over the past two years. And the only, the only thing I do is I say, Hey, we're going to track your potassium for the next couple of months. And I want you to get 4,700 milligrams of potassium every single day from food. And over the course of two months, their blood pressure goes range, know, doing that. And 10 minute waltz and some weight loss, but that mineral balance. So they have to track calories to know how much potassium they're getting, obviously. So that just knowing that balancing or minerals could potassium so, so important for blood pressure. Um, and then just mineral balance overall. And they, they feel so much better. And obviously it's coupled with some weight loss and being more active, but that potassium piece, they have to track galleries to, to know that right,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:46:14):

Like that you need some potassium, honey.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:46:19):

All right. Well, Terry, have you got anything else

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:46:22):

Now? This, this has been, I really liked that you guys split it up, you know, instead of doing, you know, well having your, um, nutrition program Monday through eating correctly, Monday through Friday and then sell, like, I, I think of it as celebrating Saturday and Sunday, you know, like that y'all split it up to Wednesday and Saturday. Cause you know, we need two days. We have to have two days of celebration sort of, I think, I don't know.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:46:50):

Oh, I'll tell you what, one other, one other point I wanted to make that you brought up about the, um, you know, calories in and out. I challenge everybody to get a pen and paper. I mean, I actually don't do a calculator, get a pen and paper out and uh, w Maverick, I'm gonna let you just tell me if, uh, if I've got this right. Okay. But, uh, 3,500 calories is what equals a pound. Correct?

Maverick (00:47:18):

What equals a pound? Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:47:20):

Then if you, uh, yeah, 3,500 calories if you eat well, I guess if you let's say 2000 is Mark. If you eat 3,500 calories over that, that would, you would gain a pound per week and, or

Maverick (00:47:37):

Yeah, 100 pounds over were maintenance. I'm sorry. Now the 1500 calories over your maintenance is what you're saying.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:47:44):

Uh, no, just basically that, if you want to lose weight, let's say you want to lose a pound over a week. You would have to adjust your calorie intake or out, you know, exercise or however, by 3,500 calories to achieve that pound.

Maverick (00:48:05):

Um, it's hard, you know, that's hard to say because there's so many other variables it's like I have to have like, so when my clients, you know, I'll have an initial questionnaire where they tell me, you know, what's your scale of one to five, what's your activity level? You know, what weight are you now? Or are you currently tracking calories with, I guess some information with which to generate a, uh, caloric goal for them to hit the first two or three weeks and that move for the first two or three or as much a baseline response to that. And everyone's energy balance is different on different days. So that's why, you know, to have that, if you're doing this on your own, especially you stick to something yeah. Calorie wise for at least three weeks to a month to account for the variability is in your activity.

Maverick (00:48:51):

So stress, um, with women, you know, hormones every month with, you know, water retention with any kind of other activity that's going up or down in your life. And you're gonna, you're gonna burn more calories on different days. So that's why it's imperative to stick to one number two or three weeks to see what your weight does. Yeah. And then once you see, let's just say that you, it, it stays exactly the same. Then you would bring your calories down 150 to 200 calories and do the same thing. And repeat that process is not sexy and it's not what people want to hear, but that's the best way to lose weight and keep it off and not have to do something extreme with your nutrition. So if you don't want to completely cut carbohydrates and things you love out of your life, this is the way to do it. And you're going to learn how to do it for the rest of your life and not have to do something that ultimately probably won't be sustainable and puts you in a, in a mode of disparity and frustration and failure again, because it didn't stick. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:49:48):

Yeah. And I guess what the point I was going to make, and maybe after, um, you find that equilibrium for yourself, you see kind of what those calorie, you know, the differences for you to lose that pound. But if you actually put it on paper and do the math, I think we find that have what I have found for me anyway is having that little extra snack, the, you know, the little extra M and M things. It adds a lot. I mean, it just, one little package of candy will take away so much from your week or, you know, add more that you have to try to try to reduce. But the converse of that is that if you get on the stone, just a treadmill and walk at, uh, you know, a fairly good pace, you will see that the, uh, the calories reduced by that are so small in comparison to eating that package of M and M's.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:50:44):

And that's one thing that has really woken me up is I think it takes me five minutes to eat a candy bar m&ms chips or whatever, and I can go to the gym and, you know, basically it takes you four hours of a decent walk just to burn off that one little indulgence that we had. And, and I'm not, you know, uh, I'm not trying to stress that we've got to cut everything out, but I think I just wanted to look at things from the mathematical side of how we sabotage ourselves and then what you would physically have to do to overcome it. I think it makes me personally make a lot better nutritional decisions, you know, trying to do the math because it's like, it's incredible. I mean, it really is.

Maverick (00:51:33):

Yeah. And Agworld that, I like any of this, this chat are, you burned at breasts with non introspective food. As you cumulatively cumulatively, do those things better. As you have a better body composition, as you have more lean body mass compared to body fat, you know, all those categories are going to get higher. So once that happens and your metabolic rate comes up, you can get away with eating, you know, your, your things you love to eat, uh, in, in, in larger amounts or more frequently than you could before. When, you know, we were, we were in poor health all through, you had a higher body, fat percentage and everything else, you were more sedentary as those other categories get higher. You could actually indulge more often and not see the effects as much as you used to. And then I found it well,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:52:19):

Well, one more thing I know we've run way over, which is, you know, it's awesome. I mean, we've had a good conversation, but it's like every time, every time you say something, it just sparks. Another idea is like, uh, the, uh, you know, as we, uh, put on muscle or as we reduce the fat, the there's the difference that, um, and I think this goes back to the walking versus doing, even again, this is all a balanced approach. I'm not saying do one, don't do the other. It's more of, uh, where we spend our time. We need to do the cardio and get that. But the weightlifting part, as we build muscles, those muscles will continue to burn fat, I guess, you know, for the, for a longer period of time, where if I'm not wrong, the cardio, we pretty much get you get what you get right up until you quit. And then, uh, but building that lean muscle mass, um, will help continue to burn calories through the rest of the day.

Maverick (00:53:21):

Yeah. Your body responds to the stimulus, you provide it and does it build muscles. So, um, in order to create that, that lean feminine muscle that, that women want, it comes down to, you have to do some sort of resistance training to stimulate the muscle growth. Um, and that's always a, uh, a line that I have to toe with with women, especially. Cause if you say muscle, if you say, uh, you know, you're, you're, you're building your body. They automatically just picture Arnold Schwarzenegger in their head. Like, I don't want that. I don't want, I don't want big lots. I don't want shoulders. Right. And so getting past that look, every fitness model, you see every in grants, a lot of more probably Photoshop, but every ideal body that you see on TV or whatever, they lift weights, all of them, every last one, there's, there's no way you can build a lean feminine muscle type of body without lifting weights without doing that. So yes, the muscle you burn more at rest because your, your base model metabolic rate has to be higher to accommodate that. I mean, you have to eat more to accommodate that, that muscle growth. And that's, uh, that's great news for most people. It's like, Hey, you get to eat more.

Maverick (00:54:24):

And muscle is less. Muscle is more dense than fat. So, you know, you can, the more you gain more muscle, you gain the theater you're actually going to get, because there's muscle takes up less space, same weight, body fat,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:54:35):

One more thing. And I promise we're done. Uh, I know, uh, but the, uh, you know, somebody like myself who likes to eat at night, uh, I think somebody had told me a long time ago that, um, fixing a protein shake or ma even if you have to have that little snack to make sure that it's more protein based than, uh, well, you know, intuitively better than a bowl of ice cream or a bag of chips, for sure. But if you, if you eat that protein, you know, when you get a little bit hungry at, in the late in the evening like that, then your body will burn that through the night. Is, is there some truth to that?

Maverick (00:55:16):

Yeah. Like there's the myth there's, uh, the whole thing notion that eating right before bed will make you more prone to gaining body fat is a complete myth. I mean, again, it always comes down to your overall energy balance. I mean, it doesn't matter if this is, I would never recommend someone to do this, but if your maintenance amount of calories to maintain your weight is 2000 and you don't eat all day and then you eat 2000 calories right before your head hits the pillow. You're not going to gain weight because you're still in that, that, that maintenance at the end of the day in 24 hours, you didn't consume a caloric surplus. So although that's not ideal for metabolism, it's, it's, you know, it's, it still comes down to that no matter what. So, um, what matters is your overall intake for the day?

Maverick (00:55:55):

So eating closer to bed doesn't affect that. But as far as like what I recommend for, in my program for people who have that type of craving, you know, I look at what they're eating throughout the rest of the day, if they're eating, to getting their fruit dose and from tropical fruits. So oftentimes cravings are a result of a mineral imbalance or mineral deficiency. So we address that first, but there's different things you can do. There's different creative little things. I have a, there's a protein self when I recommend all my clients. It's just collagen hydraulic say, it's, it's just college and protein from bovine college and types one and three, really, really good for your digestion and gut health, really good for your skin, hair bones. So it's a great product for women, especially, um, but what they have a Berry flavor. And so I, you can re mix that with yogurt, you can make little overnight oats with that, make little snacks.

Maverick (00:56:38):

Um, protein shake is fine as well, but there's all kinds of critical things you can do. There's also an amino acid, uh, EA it's called EAs essential amino acids that I recommend for people. And what you can do is a little, little trick. I learned a long time ago, you blend it up with, uh, with ice and just make like a slushie and eat it with a spoon. You're tricking your body into thinking you're having like a, like a tasty treat. It actually tastes really good. And it's really good for you. So that's like little things I can have here there.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:57:05):

All right. Awesome. Well, I promise I'm cutting it off no more. What we'll have to do though, is promised to come back and be a guest again so we can, uh, you know, there's just so much to cover. And then of course we can get, so in-depth on so many subjects that we could talk for hours, but, uh, we do appreciate you coming on. So is there a tool that you use in your, um, you know, and it could be a workout tool or a nutritional tool, but is there something that you do in your daily life that you just can't do without or something that really adds a lot of value

Maverick (00:57:39):

For my life? Um, yeah, I use, uh, I like my fitness balance as the nutrition tracker of choice. I know there's different ones out there. I just find that's the easiest one piece that you can scan barcodes. It saved you say recipes instead of the most quick later foods. So as far as just being aware of my work and think, I think that's, that's probably the one I would recommend at most. It's the one I use my clients. Um, yeah, that's I think bang for your buck, that's going to be quite the best thing.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:58:03):

The good thing about my fitness pal too, is, uh, they put out a lot of good articles on nutrition and exercise and just a, um, a lot of good material as well.

Maverick (00:58:16):

Yeah. I've got an article coming out with them in a couple of days. I think about protein consumption. They got published in there for that, so, yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:58:24):

Okay. Well, great. Well, uh, tell everybody again, just, uh, who is your client, what you can do for them, and then of course, how they can reach out and get ahold of you.

Maverick (00:58:36):

Yeah, so women 30 plus who, you know, moms busy women who, you know, have your body has changed. And since high school I'm having trouble dropping stubborn body fat, stubborn weight. And just looking for an answer when they're tired of Googling, one thing, getting through a hundred different answers, entirely the fad diets that don't want to restrict themselves. We want to create a time and there'll be stress in their life. And finally have that one stop answer for nutrition and wellness and mindset, the whole shebang. Um, that's, that's what we're looking to, help them get their life back where and how it went back and be the best they can to their family can be the best that it can be. Because when the matriarch is at their best, the rest of the family runs like nobody's happy, but we're a Maverick. Will it simply Maverick will it on Instagram, same thing on Facebook. And we are website that our construction, but it's coming soon, but yeah, just out is it's Maverick Linder score will it on Instagram and a good way to find it.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:59:33):

Okay, great. Yeah, I'll reach out and, uh, let Maverick help y'all out. I, I know he could do great things with you. So again, thank you for your time. We appreciate it. Uh, this is going to be it for another episode of feeding fatty. Thanks for joining us. Uh, again, you can find us at www dot feeding, fatty.com. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and also a, when we publish this episode, the video will go up on YouTube. So we look forward to, uh, look forward to hearing from you. If you've got a good story, reach out to us. Uh, also if you're a professional, you know, in the nutritional exercise, anything to do, uh, you know, mindset, anything to do with getting us healthy, reach out. We'd love to hear from you as well. So until next time, take care of each other and take care of yourself. I'm Roy I'm Terry. Thank you, Maverick. We appreciate it. Thank you all. Thanks for having me.

www.feedingfatty.com

Benefits of Foraging with Dr. Mark "Merriwether" Vorderbruggen

What would a caveman do?" is still a valuable question to ask in modern times, especially with health concerns. Let me tell you more. :)"

Bringing you over a decade of public speaking at museums, garden clubs, prepper groups, historical societies, nature parks, botanical gardens, MENSA clubs, distilleries, Toastmasters, and multiple podcasts.

Author of Idiot's Guide Foraging

Nationally recognized foraging and herbalist instructor, creator of Foraging Texas

Ph.D. Chemist with 14 patents

Chemist/herbal formulator for Medicine Man Plant Co.

Experienced YouTube Personality: DrMerriwether

Over 26,000 followers on the Facebook/ForagingTexas

Winner of the 2019 Native Plant Society of Texas Digital Media Award

Author of a monthly magazine article on foraging

Full Transcript Below

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:03):

Hello, and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty. This is Roy and we are the show. You know, we try to bring a lot of different views to the table. Uh, you know, we all struggle in some ways with our getting our fitness plan going, uh, eating right, vegetables, meat, you know, how much, what do you do? What's recommended. What's good for you, you know, what do you like? So we try to bring, you know, this is not only about our journey, mine and Terry's journey, but together, but we also like to, uh, bring guests who are more, um, uh, experts in their field in different areas that have to do with diet and nutrition. And, uh, today, uh, we have an awesome guest that, um, you know, we were kind of joking a little bit in the, uh, in the pre-show that, um, you know, more we have read about him the less that we truly understand what is going on.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:57):

So it's going to be a, an interesting show for all of us to learn. Uh, but we are, uh, grateful that Mark Merriwether [inaudible] hope I got that, right. Uh, he is a PhD, uh, not, uh, and we're going to Merrywhether it's what he goes by in kind of the plant world. So that's where we're going to go with that. And so Merriwether grew up in the wilds of Minnesota, where parents and grandparents utilize the amazing wild foods and medicinal plants found in local woods fields and lakes. The oneness with nature that Dr. [inaudible] has known since childhood is a foundation of who he is today. So Merriwether, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to be with us.

Merriwether (01:44):

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (01:46):

So let's, uh, let's just talk a little bit about, uh, tell us a little bit about, you know, growing up kind of what led you, cause I know that you are, uh, very outdoorsy and, uh, I've seen you reference yourself as a forger. And so, um, those would be some good jumping off points to kind of talk about those.

Merriwether (02:08):

Sure. Uh, so when they mentioned growing up in Minnesota and both my parents were big into outdoors and every day we were out in the woods behind our house, the fields of rivers, the lakes, things like that, it was part of their upbringing of us is giving us a deep connection to nature. And one of the things that played a role in that was eating the different wild foods that we're finding. Yeah, so that, that played a big role. Both my parents were high school education, uh, but children are the great depression. So one of the things that was very important was the idea of food security, because they grew up in the time, their childhood, where that was an issue, right? So that was always important to us concurrent with that, I knew I was going to be a scientist. Uh, I used to drive my, my elementary school teacher nuts with different questions that they couldn't answer about science.

Merriwether (03:02):

I was starting to read science textbooks at a very young age. Um, and by the time I got to college, it became obvious that what I want to do is study plant chemistry because when it gets down to it, the chemicals in the plants are fascinating. They've evolved. I tell people, if you can't run, you have to fight and plants can't run. So they have to fight. They have to develop all sorts of really interesting compounds that turnout have benefit for humans too. And so that led into kind of a long and twisted path down herbal medicine. Uh, but at the same time, my, my original plan was to go into pharmaceuticals and become, uh, you know, my, my master's degree was in medicinal chemistry. My PhD was in physical, organic chemistry. So not making molecules, but figuring out which molecule you need to accomplish a certain task.

Merriwether (03:56):

Uh, I got sidetracked with 18 years in the oil industry, but during that time I was using my knowledge of natural products to come up with new environmentally friendly, safer ways of accomplishing oil field tasks. I got 14 patents. The first one was using cinnamon as a corrosion inhibitor and it just went from there. Um, yeah, but, uh, finally after many, many years, uh, I was able to take that chemistry back into the medicinal side, uh, working for a company as their chemist, herbal formulator for dietary supplements, using ancient plants for modern issues, but there's a whole nother side of the world too.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (04:37):

Okay. Wow. Yeah. That is a, uh, that is a long and interesting road through the, through the oil patch back to plants.

Merriwether (04:46):

Well, always with plants, but yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (04:51):

So, um, you know, we talked a little bit about the forging aspect and you were saying that, uh, because you know, growing up in more of a, an urban environment, even though we lived, you know, kind of in the country, what we called it, we had gardens, but we would never go out and pick anything. Well, you know, we were always scolded against never pick anything up off the ground and put it in your mouth. You know, we, weren't not that they're all bad, but we weren't smart enough to determine the good from the bad. So, uh, you know, that's kind of an interesting concept of being able to go out into the, to the fields. And, uh, no, I guess the first step is being able to identify what is edible and what is something you need to stay away from.

Merriwether (05:36):

Definitely. Um, there's a basic rule of thumb. I teach foraging classes all around Texas and actually around the nation now. And I tell people when you are, you know, there's lots of good books and websites and so forth to help people identify plants, even apps though. I don't trust the apps, but I say you got to match at least five structural features of the plant. You know, the, the edge of the leaf, the vein pattern of the leaf, the arrangement of the leaves, the flower, the number of pedals, that color there's lots and lots of structural features, but you need to match at least five of them to whatever resource you're using to identify the plant next to you. Really, the secret is start on your doorstep, look at your trees, identify your trees, and then Google, you know, Elm tree edible and figure out, you know, what you can do with that. Then look at the bushes, then look at the flowers and go down into the weeds and identify the weeds. And then just expand from there. A lot of people make the mistake of taking a foraging book out in the woods, thinking I'm going to learn edible plants. And they look at the sea of green and they looked at this thick book and they go back home. So, you know, start, it's easier if you identify the plant and then look up it's edible and medicinal.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (06:49):

Yeah. That's what I was going to say is where do you start or ask, where do you start? It's like, it's just so overwhelming because there's so much.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (06:59):

Yeah. And the, um, I guess, like you said, the overwhelmingness of, when you walk out that even though they are differences to the trained, I'm sure that, you know, to the untrained eyes, like a lot of stuff, they all look the same. So that is a,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (07:15):

Yeah. So I just block it out. It's my fault.

Merriwether (07:18):

I get so many pictures of a vine wrapped around a tree that people think is one plant, you know? And it's like, no, they're two distinct plants here.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (07:29):

So what are the benefits are there? Um, I know that in the, I guess the Western world, we have lost a lot of that medicinal use of plants. That there's a lot that's good out there, but for a minute, talk about the nutritional. Uh, are there a lot of nutritional values that are good for us in plants that we may find growing out in the wild?

Merriwether (07:52):

Oh, definitely. That's a, that's another thing that makes me laugh at gardeners. Uh, nothing personal gardeners, but you guys work way too hard. It's funny to see a lot of the weeds they're pulling up and throwing out are often more nutritious than the plants that they're growing. One of the aspects of the domestication of plants was to alter it in a way that makes it more convenient for the humans to harvest, you know, or store to a point. Um, but in a lot of those changes, uh, you know, basically the plant said, okay, if you take care of me, I will make it easier for you to eat me. But in that process, they did lose some of the nutritional value. Whereas the wild plants, they are constantly fighting, you know, they can't run. So they still have a lot of their initial vitamins minerals.

Merriwether (08:39):

Uh, dandelions are always a great example. You know, the, the most hated weed and it should be the most loved weed on the planet because the, the leaves are loaded with the vitamins and minerals, even a little protein, the flowers have medicinal properties, the roots can go 12 feet and they have amazing medicinal uses. Yeah. And when the dandelion dies, you have now worked, you know, organic matter 12 feet down into the soil. So one of the things that makes them so nutritious is they have this deep, long reservoir of minerals that they can bring up back into their leaves. That's why they show up in damaged areas because when it rains, a lot of water soluble minerals get percolated down deep into the soil. So the top layer of the soil becomes dead. Nothing can grow in there. The Daniel lions can, they send the roots down deep and remineralize and then other plants go, Oh, this soil is good. And they come in and they crowd out the dining lines have been negative. It's just go away. Interesting.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (09:38):

So that is one thing that, um, you have seen, I mean, you're currently in the Houston area, you grew up in Minnesota. I mean, that's about as far, uh, you grew up about as far North, as you can go. And now you're living about as far South, as you can go in the U S and then, you know, it's, the, the train is different. The climate certainly different, but what is the diversity of plants that we may find from one area to the other? I mean, is it like a whole new, is it like a whole new, I mean, I'm sure there's some that translate from both areas, but in Houston, are you finding a lot more different stuff than what you found in Minnesota?

Merriwether (10:15):

It's funny. The, uh, the main difference is the time when the plants show up. Okay. So a lot of the summertime, well, a lot of the winter time weeds in Houston, things like, uh, wild violets and cleavers and girl dock, those are summertime plants up North. Um, and then the summertime plants are the down here in Texas are the deep summary, like the July, August weeds there. Um, I I've been down here since 97 and I still get confused as to what time of year it is. Cause I kind of rely on the plants to be my calendar. And like now I know when I see the Blackberry, uh, flowers, I know it's time to do my taxes. They, they, they start showing up in the beginning of April, I was like, the Blackberry tasty. And then when the curl doc starts showing up, I know it's time to buy my Halloween candy. But up in Minnesota, it was time to buy the Easter candy. You know? So it's different things like that. Plants don't really follow, you know, political boundaries, they follow, you know, ecosystem boundaries. And so the ecosystems, you can find the similar ecosystems all over. Now there, yes, there are certain plants that are hot weather plants or, uh, coastal saltwater, coastal plants that we don't have in Minnesota. But for the most part, a lot of the plants, if you look for the ecosystem, you'll find the plants. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (11:45):

Okay. The other thing you kind of mentioned too, when we were talking a pre-show is that there are a lot more benefits to forging than just the nutrition or the medicinal purposes that we can pull out of the plants. Could you elaborate on that just a little bit? Yeah.

Merriwether (12:03):

Oh boy. Uh, yes. I'll try to keep it down to a little bit. This is one of my most passionate things here, but yeah, so yeah, the, the, the, the vitamins and minerals and medicinal properties and all that are great from the wild plants, but there's a whole nother level of health that people don't understand or don't realize. So I like to tell the, the problem with the world is it's flat now. We're not talking flat earth sort of thing. We're talking paved sidewalks, you know, tiles, all that. We did not evolve on a flat earth. We evolved on a slippery, slippery, you know, unbalanced, Rocky, tripping hazard sort of thing with things hunting us. So our brains, our bodies are designed to be out walking around on uneven ground and in doing so that requires a lot more mental action, which helps stimulate the brain and the brain needs stimulation.

Merriwether (13:04):

So by, you know, trying to keep our balance on uneven surfaces and so forth, our brain is much more engaged in what we're doing. One of the things they've found besides helping stave off dementia later in life, it also helps with, uh, things like, uh, attention deficit disorder and so forth because you, you are giving the brain, the input it evolved to get, if it's not getting that sort of input, it's like a cage beast and starting pacing. It starts finding ways to amuse itself. So when you're out walking on uneven ground, your brain is doing exactly what it was designed to do at the same time. You're looking, you're smelling all your senses are coming into play, right at the same time, your core muscles, you know, the people, you know, for exercise, they run on the treadmill. If you really want to exercise, go running across a Rocky field, you, uh, it takes a while, you know, or uneven.

Merriwether (14:00):

So pre-think, um, because again, as you are trying to maintain your balance in a really topsy turvy, slippery thing, your core muscles are getting a much stronger workout. You're getting a more full body workout. That's like right now, they have all these platforms where you stand on and they vibrate and so forth. They'd say it's, you know, to, to activate all the muscles. Well, you know, go for a walk in the Y you're going to get this. If you are crossing a, you know, a fallen tree over a stream, you are using a lot of muscles. You aren't losing and pushing a shopping cart down the HEB corridor. And especially if you're carrying stuff and you know, in Texas, obviously you're going to have a lot of water that you're carrying with you cause it's hot. So it's like a much more full body workout, bending. You're stretching, you're digging, you're climbing occasionally you're running like hell or Janie. It's a full body workout. It's not just picking things off a shelf in a grocery store. So that physical action and that mental action have amazingly good benefits for the body.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (15:07):

Yeah. And those are good points. The, um, actually I just posted an article on, uh, on another, um, a website that we've run that was talking about the, if you walk for certain periods of, I mean like a longer period of time, if you walk over consistently over about six years, I think they said it dramatically reduces their chances of Alzheimer's. So, you know, that's good to know. Uh, the other thing that I was thinking, as you were talking about that is, you know, I, I go exercise for the extra size benefit that I get my muscles and all of that. But the other thing that's interesting is when you're out either exercising or forging, uh, you're not eating. So for, you know, people that are trying to, trying to help their way, there's kind of like, it's a double benefit. You're getting the exercise, but you're not sitting in front of a TV, you know, eating as well. So,

Merriwether (15:59):

Well, I will say if you're forging, you're probably munching as you go, but it's going to be very low calorie stuff. It's easy to get vitamins and minerals and all that stuff. Calories is the hard part. Okay.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (16:12):

Me and Terry were talking yesterday, uh, you know, we talked briefly about this, about, you know, can you, uh, you know, would it be hard for working people, you know, with a decent sized piece of land ordered, you know, to grow enough food or to forge enough to actually survive. And that was one thing, the point that you did bring up was that, yeah, we could get all the nutrients and everything we need, but the actual caloric intake would be very, very difficult to achieve.

Merriwether (16:44):

Yeah, you would probably the best clerk intake from an evolutionary point of view is animal fat and which doesn't store well. So you'd have to have some sort of batty animals growing there, you know, corn and so forth has some benefit, but really, yeah, you can do it if you are willing to do no 100% buy-in on the other hand, if I may, uh, giving 10% of your diet from the wild, pretty reasonable, even in city folk, there's, if I can go sideways for a second, a number of people say, Hey, I live in the city, everything has got to be contaminated. I can't eat any of the weeds. Well, actually they've done some really interesting studies looking at the potential contamination in urban plants, mainly up in Minneapolis, St. Paul and in Boston and a few other cities. And they found them to be clean.

Merriwether (17:40):

They don't have any of the pesticides, heavy metals, anything like that. There there'd be absolutely no reason a person couldn't eat them. Usually the main reasons are against it, like here in the state of Texas, uh, it's actually illegal to take a piece of plant material from a property. What not the property owner has permission. He needs to go back to the sheep and cattle Wars of the 18 hundreds, but, uh, city parks and things like that. Yeah. It's verboten to take plants from there. And part of that is if everyone starts doing that in States where they don't have laws against it, uh, they're finding, especially in the last five years, uh, the parks in places are getting stripped of plants because people are, you know, harvesting over. There's a thing called the tragedy of the commons. It's an economic theory that if there is an open space, that's open to everyone with the resource on it, whoever grabs that resource first is the one that benefits economically. And so there's always someone who is going to try and do that to better themselves rather than leave it forever.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (18:44):

Right. Right. So we've talked a lot about the nutritional, uh, side of this, but what about the medicinal side? I know, you know, back in the more ancient days, uh, we, they used a lot of plants, you know, for our medicine instead of, I guess, again, this is out of my league, but chemical compounds that, you know, that people figured that go together to solve this. So have we lost a lot of the, I guess the goodness of the medicinal?

Merriwether (19:16):

Yeah. Um, and there's a couple of different reasons that, so let's first talk. I mean, plants, they are loaded up with all sorts of compounds, all sorts of molecules that have proven biological effects in the human body, uh, up until about 1864, the, you know, it was plants were our medicine now, along with plants, hygiene plays a huge role in things. So one of the things to keep in mind, uh, you know, the, the increase in the ability to keep things clean and to sterilize wounds and the understanding that you have to keep things clean, played a big role in human health, but plants were a big deal. Uh, and you know, going back tens of thousands of years, uh, really they, they say the first scientists were probably the herbalists of the tribe, where they were, you know, you know, someone was sick, they'd throw something, you know, some plant at it and Hey, the person got better.

Merriwether (20:15):

Uh, you might be familiar with Euell Gibbons. He was wild food, you know, from the sixties and seventies, but anyways, eat a pine tree. He wrote a, he wrote a book called, uh, stocking the, the healthful herb. And his theory was that a large part of the medicinal benefit of wild plants was actually due to their increased nutritional value, getting more vitamins, you're getting more vitamin a, you know, that sort of thing. And so he did a lot of studies looking at nutritional value of wild edible plants. Well, that ended up coloring the, the scientists approach to the disenroll plants. They thought, yeah, it's just, it's just vitamins minerals. There's no real true medicinal value to it. But in the eighties they started going, well, let's just take a look at it. It's because there's a lot of traditional use and there seems to be something going on.

Merriwether (21:12):

And since then it, they really did find, yeah, there are molecules that do this and that increase in nitric oxide, which lowers blood pressure, you know, increases neural growth, the neural connections in the brain, all sorts of things that speeds up the processing of the liver stimulates the immune system. There are compounds that do that in the plants. And so that's kind of re awoken the whole looking at traditional medicine saying, yeah, there's something there. Yeah. I mentioned the date 1864. That was when the first chemist came up with a synthetic medicine chloral hydrate, which was used as a sedative as a, you know, kind of like an ether sort of thing for people undergoing, uh, operations or surgeries, that sort of thing that was kind of at the time of enlightenment when scientists said, Hey, you know what, we have this power now. And as a chemist, uh, I'm speaking for my tribe here.

Merriwether (22:07):

We have this pot. We can make that. One of the issues with nature is with the wild plants, the amount of the compound varies some from plant to plant and ecosystem and all that. So there was, there was some hit or miss the plants had power, but it was hard to get an absolute reproducible thing. So scientists said, Hey, if we make the molecule, then we know exactly how much is in there and we can fine tune it and all that sort of thing. And so that whole let's search for, for synthetic forms occurred. So that was a big push. Another thing, if you think about it, the collecting the plants, storing the plants, turning them into medicine, that's very labor intensive. It requires a lot of time on regards, a lot of effort to do it on a mass scale. And so as the population grew, it became impossible. If you think, uh, you know, monoculture, a lot of the, the farming right now is designed so that it can be harvested by machine, right? And so that's, that's not always possible with a lot of the medicinal plants, especially once, you know, that are wild. And so it just became easier and more cost efficient to find a molecule synthesize that molecule and say, here you go, here's the molecule rather than the whole plant. So,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (23:32):

So they're kind of brought up a good, um, a distinction in the medicinal side about, um, I guess being a preemptive versus, you know, after something happens. And a lot of times we think, well, I'll say, I think of, you know, medicinal purposes as something happens, you're sick. You take something to treat it, to make you feel better, but I guess we could kind of look at that from some things you said as more preempting, if we eat these things that may prevent us from getting, getting sick,

Merriwether (24:10):

I have to be careful because the FDA has certain rules about what you can and can't say, uh, yeah. Um, yeah, not allowed to say like plants will prevent diseases, but they can stimulate the immune system. They could, you know, people seem to have forgotten lately that they have an immune system. In fact, they have two immune systems. They have the innate and the active, the innate is the ones that are constantly patrolling the body, looking for invaders to try and get rid of it. And then the active is if the innate feels it's getting overwhelmed, they can't handle it. It releases the dogs of war, the killer white blood cells to attack the things that have tags. And there are plants that will both support the innate and the active, uh, speed up, especially in the case of the white blood cells, speed up the response time and the number of white blood cells that the body produces to attack invaders.

Merriwether (24:59):

So going back to the caveman lifestyle, um, looking at the bone said, yeah, the average life span was 40 years, right? Because by then you've suffered probably some sort of injury. You fell off a mountain near, you know, something like that. Uh, so, you know, but a lot of the plants help with what, uh, are generally considered lifestyle diseases. Um, we spent a lot more time as cavemen than we did in the modern world. And our body is still designed to deal with the caveman threats in the caveman issues. You know, is there something that they're going to eat me? Oh, have calories. Let's take all the calories we can because we may not find them tomorrow. Right. And so that's how we're programmed to respond to threats and also foods. I mean, they've shown that there are sensors in our stomach when you get sugar, it sends a signal to the brain that says, Hey, this stuff, eat more of it because you don't know when you're going to get it again. Well, yeah, we're going to get again in an hour, but the caveman it's, it's like, this is a miracle. Um, so by incorporating the, the plants of our ancestors that does help, you know, give the body what it thinks it needs, what it evolved, needing, what it evolved to using, to maintain its health and, you know, corn products, not so much corn. It was a pretty recent invention as far as the human racism involved, but we get a lot of corn in her diet, not as a lot of wild, not so, and

Roy - Feeding Fatty (26:44):

Not that, not that there wasn't fish and beef and the animals back in that day, but I just assume, you know, they were harder to catch, like you said, they could run plants couldn't. And so, um, I just figured that's why a lot of the diet, uh, ancient diets were built around plants. They were just easier to, easier to go out and capture them than an animal that was moving.

Merriwether (27:10):

Yeah. You know, I talked about, uh, calories. I make a big deal though. If you've ever watched the history channel alone, you know, it's basically the hunger games who can manage their calories the most here in Texas, West Texas, the native Americans had what they called second harvest. So they would eat a prickly pear, cactus, fruit loaded with seeds. The next day they would go through their feces, find the digested seeds and consumed them again because they, they were trying to squeeze every calorie they could out of the environment. Delicious. We got water burgers so much better, much better.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (27:51):

Well, the other thing, uh, a little bit may be off topic, but the, you know, I think our bodies are still on that. Not maybe not as much caveman as just the agrarian society, you know, that we were for so long, we wake up at, you know, when the sun comes up, we're out working, moving all day and then, you know, we go to bed, whereas now, you know, I get up and walk 10 feet to my desk and I'm like, I have to take a, I have to take a break. Cause I'm winded. You know, it was like, uh, you know, we just don't have the, um, the activity, we've got a lot more, you know, we just have access to these high caloric foods. And then of course the awesome shifts that we have today, you know, they jazz those up even more. But I think that's, uh, am I wrong in thinking that, you know, it's probably a good thing that, you know, plants can make a comeback because you know, we're not in as much need for the calories as we were, you know, at one time when we were out plowing the fields behind a horse.

Merriwether (28:58):

Yeah. And you're right. They did a study that 150 years ago, people were eating about the same number of calories as they are now, but they were rail thin because they were burning them up. Right. 80% of the population in the United States was agricultural based, you know, farming, growing, plowing, all that sort of thing. Right. And so there was a lot just more movement and activity and thought. Yeah. So sitting behind a desk is bad for us. So, um, yeah, my belief, the closer your foods are to what you evolved, eating the better your body is gonna respond to it, as opposed to some, you know, frozen TV or frozen burrito or something like that. A lot of process things, you know, there's, there's some real food there, but at least having part of your diet, it's still back to what we evolved with. Yeah. It has benefits.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (29:50):

Yeah. And what we have found I think is, uh, as we have become more aware of everything, it's just the, some of it is the basic control over what we put in our bodies is when you buy, the more pack is in preprocess. I mean, you can look at the label, but there's, who knows what some of that stuff is. And then, uh, you know, now we can control, you know, better salt, salt, I guess we'll look take that, you know, kind of the big one, a lot of processed food has tons and tons of salt. And so we are able to control that much better when we're cooking and doing things ourself.

Merriwether (30:27):

Right. Yeah. And it's easy to use a lot of wild foods. I, maybe I mentioned it, but the average person can probably get 10% of their food from the wild, you know, between their house, their neighbors down the street, things like that, you know, add to your salads, you know, you're out, uh, it's funny in my, my, my neighborhood there's 800 houses. And when someone new moves in, they're told about me and said, okay, there's this guy, he may knock on your door and asked to eat something from your yard. He's harmless. Yeah. But on the other hand, now, if someone needs something, I'm the guy that they, Hey, does anyone have, you know, the, the, the branch for installing a faucet? Oh yeah. They have it. You know? And so it's, it's like the neighborhood color, I dunno. Centered database.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (31:21):

Well, Mary, whether that, uh,

Merriwether (31:24):

I'm sorry. Can I interject something? Okay. Can, can you talk a little bit about medicine man plant company? Oh yeah. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. So, like I said, after years of just treating myself and through the classes and so forth, I finally, uh, was able to expand out into commercial products. Uh, so January of 2020, we started medicine man, plant co, uh, and then the apocalypse hit, but what these are are. So we have like the liver pill, which is burdock root and milk thistle and flax seed. Uh, there's a lot of scientific support for burdock root speeding up the, uh, action of the liver. The milk the soul has, uh, found to maintain the integrity of liver cells under attack. If you eat a poisonous mushroom, the, uh, the only thing they have right now to treat that, uh, the liver damage caused by that.

Merriwether (32:21):

Cause it's usually what mushrooms do is they talk to the liver, uh, is a milk thistle extract. So we got that in here. Then the flax seed is in there to increase the bio availability. Um, I'll tell you right now, and I may get in trouble. A lot of herbal supplements. Their main product is really urine. So you want to make sure the plants are set up to maximize the bioavailability, the bio absorption, and we have the immune pill and it's hard to focus there. So this has the elderberry of the [inaudible]. Both of them shown to support the innate and active immune system, the cell field, which helps block the viruses from getting into cells. And then also cordyceps mushroom, which is a immune modulator. So if the immune system does start getting out of control, you might've heard of thing called a cytokine storm.

Merriwether (33:18):

Uh, there can be a help tamp it down some to keep it, you know, at the appropriate response, not too much, but also not too little. And then vitamin C and most people think vitamin C, but we threw it in here because vitamin C is actually the messenger molecule between the innate and the active immune system. And so if you're lacking in vitamin C, because it's used in so many different other processes in the body, uh, your innate it's kind of actually down low on the list of who gets to use it. And so if you don't have enough, it can't send the signal. It needs to the, uh, active form brain pill, lion's mane mushrooms, Sage Gingko, leaf increases, blood flow increases, neural connection, uh, and increases, focus, and attention. Of course, the moneymaker, the libido pill, we can probably have to go to detail.

Merriwether (34:09):

Um, and of course, like I said, they, the FDA says, you know, uh, um, it's the morning needed to do, to do, um, we can edit, okay. These statements have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. So, whereas the individual plants have been tested because the actual product has not, we can't make specific medical claims, but we can save the plants. And if you go to the website, I have all the scientific documentation as a scientist. I need the proof. So hopefully I didn't go too long on that.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (34:49):

I think it's a, it's an important distinction to make that, uh, you know, you're not a guy that woke up yesterday and said, Hey, I think I'm going to crush some plants and package them up. And so, I mean, the, you know, the PhD and, and tell us what that is, what yours is in again, I think it's in the, okay.

Merriwether (35:05):

Yeah. Physical, organic chemistry. So, you know, like not making molecules, figuring out which molecule you need to accomplish a task.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (35:13):

Right. Right. And, and on that note, Roy was saying that he needed to find energy. What do you suggest for energy? What helps with energy?

Merriwether (35:24):

Yeah. So, okay. There's two ways of approach it. Uh, so going back to the Burdoch word, uh, burdock root has been shown to speed up the process of the liver. When you are active in working you, your muscles are producing lactic acid. It's a waste product of the action. And so the lactic acid is removed from the blood by the liver. There's an equilibrium that sets up though, the, the muscles can only get rid of the lactic acid acid at a certain rate, because at a point the blood kind of becomes saturated with it. So the more quickly you can get rid of it by the liver, the longer your muscles can eject the lactic acid. So there's a lot of, of, uh, data that shows the burdock root helps with overall physical endurance and strength, because it helps, uh, prevent the fatigue that occurs in the muscles as they're working something. I also really like is a mixture of tumeric, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. I put that on my eggs every morning. I have a shaker and I put that on because that has been also shown to kinda increase metabolism, which has send you your SIS and blood flow. So you need the black pepper in there with the tumeric and the cayenne pepper to make those more bio absorbed.

Merriwether (36:49):

Yeah,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (36:50):

Because I had been, um, this has been a few years ago, I'd started taking the tumeric, um, supplement. And then, you know, when we kind of started getting back to cooking more and paying more attention, we actually got it in the, uh, the ground form where, like you said, we can add it to the food. And I just felt like I was getting a better quality and more equal distribution, you know, than taking the supplement. So, um, I've been very happy with that, but mixing it with the black pepper and the CA and the cayenne we'll check that out.

Merriwether (37:23):

Yeah. So you're like 50% tumeric, 50%, uh, cayenne pepper and just about 10%. So I guess you could say 45%, 45% and 5%, 10%, 10% of the black pepper. You only need a little bit of black pepper mixed in with it. So it tastes really good. Perfect. All right. Yeah. I wrote that down. That's cool. Ooh, can I give one other caveman a tip? Okay. So going back to the brain, uh, one of the things that the human race evolved doing was throwing things at stuff, and it's been showing that that helps the brain a lot and still do well. But, uh, juggling learning to juggle is great. Both exercise and for your brain. So interesting something to do. You spend 15 minutes a day juggling, so okay. As exercise for your brain and your body, and then eventually you get on like a, a ball and do it there. Yeah. You get the full body workout. Don't do it in the kitchen though. When you're first learning someplace less breakable

Speaker 4 (38:34):

There. Huh?

Roy - Feeding Fatty (38:38):

I can't believe I'm even going to say this, but the other day, the other day at lunch, uh, I turned the TV on, in the Beverly hillbillies was on and they were all excited. They were going to parade where they had a possum juggler. So I guess when you get, when you get, they get really good at it, you can not try juggling possibly, I guess. There we go. All right. Merriwether, uh, any, anything else Terry, before we wrap up?

Terry - Feeding Fatty (39:04):

Uh, no, I think that's it. I mean, it just, I'm so glad that you shared about the medicine man plant company. Um, well, just all of the information that you gave us, lots of food, food for thought and body and soul

Roy - Feeding Fatty (39:22):

Tell everybody how they can reach out and get a hold of you and get in touch with the medicine man plant company as well.

Merriwether (39:29):

Sure. So the website is medicine, man, plant code.com. And then on Facebook, of course, Facebook medicine, man, plant code.com. Uh, I also have the website for gene, Texas. DubDubDub for gene, texas.com. It has over 225 plants, uh, with all sorts of pictures and information and maps, both of Texas and of all of North America, because it's become, you know, nationwide sort of thing. So you can look up on there, I'm in the process of revamping it, cause it was started before smartphones. Um, but my goal for 28, you know, the first quarter of 2021 is to make it a lot more smartphone friendly. Well, yeah, you can find me there. And if you send an email to medicine, man, plant kill, I'm the guy that answers it.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (40:16):

Yeah. Before we get too far away from that, uh, why don't you tell us, uh, what are the forging classes? You know, how often do you do them work? And I'm sure you can find out more information on the website, but just tell us a little bit more about what's involved in those.

Merriwether (40:31):

Okay. So the most of them will be a four hour excursion across some piece of property. They're usually hosted by historic sites or state parks or other organizations, museums. The list of upcoming class can be found on the 4g in Texas. It's mainly in Minnesota or sorry, mainly in Texas. Uh, but then I go up to Minnesota at least once a year. And I'm also talking to some people out in Georgia, things like that, Louisiana. So we're expanded. Um, so he actually me

Roy - Feeding Fatty (41:03):

We'll add it to the field and uh [inaudible]

Merriwether (41:08):

Yeah. Cause a lot of people, there's, there's a fear factor. They look at a plant and they're like 80%, you know, someone can really looks, but you know, and so, you know, I take that and say, okay, here's, you know, we look at all the structures, look at your reason, this is the plan. Go ahead and need it. And you know, I encourage people, uh, really it's best if you have like two or three people along, so one can taking notes and one can be videoing at all. Cause you want to go back and look at a lot of this stuff, but yeah, it's four hours wandering around talking about the plants, but you can see that you can eat what you shouldn't eat. Right.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (41:48):

That was awesome. That sounded like a great excursion. So, uh, if y'all would just take some time to go over to the websites and uh, check out Merriwether and all the great things that he's got going on. And we certainly, again appreciate you taking time out of your day to be with us. It's been a very interesting and in a, in lightening talk for sure. Mark. Thank you. So I like to talk about,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (42:10):

Can't tell, hide that. Well,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (42:15):

All right guys, well, that's going to be it for us today. Uh, you can find us of course, at www dot feeding, fatty.com. Of course we are on, uh, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and this will, uh, when this episode goes live, of course we will have the video up on YouTube. So check us out. And uh, we're always open to suggestions for a new and different topics. If you're a professional that deals in the fitness, nutrition, uh, arena, you know, can help people out with their journeys on becoming healthier. We'd love to hear from you. So until next time, take care of each other and take care of yourself. Okay.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (42:54):

I'm Terry. Bye. Thank you.

www.feedingfatty.com

Meditation and Hypnosis with Doug Sands

Welcome to Anywhere Hypnosis! My name is Doug Sands, and I'm a consulting hypnotist who works with clients all over the globe. All of my techniques are tailor-made to use online or via phone. I built Anywhere Hypnosis for two kinds of people: those who love to travel, and those who love the convenience of hypnosis wherever they want it.

www.anywherehypnosis.com

www.feedingfatty.com

Full Transcript Below

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:02):

Hello, and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty. This is Roy Harry. So this is show we, you know, we try to bring a wide variety of, uh, speakers and topics concerning health wellness, physical fitness, uh, it's a wide spectrum that we do. And today we're fortunate enough to have Doug Sans as our guest. He is a consulting hypnotist who has helps adventurous people all over the world, overcome fear and anxiety. Doug is also the host of making meaning podcast. This show interviews, top adventures to, to learn how they've built their ideal life and to inspire listeners, to start building their own. Doug, thanks a lot for taking time out of your day and welcome.

Doug (00:50):

Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:52):

Awesome. Um, you know, we all need to learn how to live our best lives and while COVID has, uh, you know, it's been definitely hard on people, uh, financially and, you know, we've had deaths and illness and all that. Uh, you know, one thing I have seen is a lot of people, uh, practicing a lot more gratitude now and also, uh, you know, being thankful and maybe wanting to restructure their lives in order to make some, you know, these more, uh, changes that we've seen lately. And so, um, you know, I think it's very timely to have you on here to talk about, you know, how can we build our ideal life and, um, also talk about the, the, uh, hypnotic aspect. I think we are both very interested in that as well. Yeah. So, um, how did, how did you, how did you find yourself, um, you know, helping, I guess, in the hypnotist role, but then also, you know, talking to adventure, some people to try to help with the, you know, build the ideal life. How did you, how did you find this space?

Doug (02:00):

I think it's only when we look back that we see that through line of how everything really connected, and that was my story. Like I never started life wanting to be a hypnotist. It wasn't my number one career goal. I started life wanting to be wanting to be a fiction author. And at first that's, that seems like very disconnected things, but I've learned that hypnosis and, um, psychology, they, they are so rooted in, uh, language and just how we use that language. So that was kind of my first foundation in that, but I grew up in rural Wisconsin where there's not a lot of adventure to be had, and I knew that I wanted more out of life. And for me personally, I always felt like I w I don't want to say a victim of life, but I felt like it was in the backseat of my own life.

Doug (02:49):

Like other people were making my decisions and I was just kind of going along with it. And it wasn't until I believe 2015 the year I was in college. And I decided that it was not for me. And so I ended up dropping out and I moved across the country to do some seasonal work. And I started feeling this fulfillment that I was looking for and having these Austin ventures, but I was still having those troubles. I'd been, I had been diagnosed at an early age with mental illness, like depression and anxiety, and I was trying to overcome that. And it wasn't until I had a pretty dangerous hike in New Hampshire where I nearly froze to death, that I had enough of a push to really search for things that were out of the ordinary. I grew up in a very Christian household and meditation and hypnosis were so far out of left field.

Doug (03:41):

I hadn't even considered that. So I discovered meditation and I started learning more about that. And I was hooked. I mean, it was the first time I realized I was able to have an influence over my own emotion and for a meditation. And, uh, adventuring, I realized that I had, I was in the driver's seat of my own life, whether I wanted to, or not what, what, you know, and by doing that, by learning more about meditation, I discovered hypnosis because there's a very strong link, you know, looking at the brain, we had patterns behind them. Okay. And when I discovered the, the rudimentary, when I discovered how I was able to make changes with the rudimentary tools that I had, I knew that I had to get certified and I had to help bring this to other people who might also be suffering.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (04:31):

Interesting. So the, so you were diagnosed with depression and anxiety and all of that. So you were just looking for a way to maybe get away from the medication and help help with, um, everything else. Um, and, um, I had something on the tip of my dog and I lost it. Uh, so they're just both linked very, I mean, the meditation is what led you to the hypnosis part of it. Um, how did you, how did you learn more about the hypnosis part of it?

Doug (05:10):

I did. So I heard the link between the two of them on a podcast of all things. And, um, I was, I was Googling things on hypnosis and how to, how to learn it. There's a bunch of different schools of hypnosis that you can go through a bunch of different trainers, but what really took off for me was a, another podcast. There's a hypnotist out of Toronto who runs a very famous podcast. His name is Mike Mendell, and I just absorbed everything I could. And when I finally went to my hypnosis training, I was amazed how much I learned, like I already had a very strong foundation just from listening to the podcast. Yeah.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (05:47):

Yeah. They're just really, there really is so much information about, you know, where do you know where to start? You know, how do you know where to start? You know? So like a little one Oh one

Roy - Feeding Fatty (05:58):

Hypnosis, maybe from you, everything that you've learned. No. Yeah. We might be kind of debunk the myth that, you know, I hate to say this, but we all have the, uh, you know, that cartoonish image of the watch waving back and forth. And then, uh, the not the, I don't know what you call them, but the person being hypnotized, you know, they fall over and then we clap twice and you have total control of them. So we can kind of debunk that myth a little bit as well. Yeah.

Doug (06:32):

People always ask me, uh, you know, some very common questions. One is hypnosis, mind control, and two is, it's a dangerous and three, am I going to get stuck? Those are probably the three most common ones that I experienced and hypnosis as mind control that idea. I mean, it's been perpetuated by, um, by these comedians, these comedic hypnosis shows, but I always have to remind people that the people who volunteered to be on that stage willingly chose to be there. That was part of that unspoken agreement that, you know, you might come up here and do some ridiculous things. When a person comes in for a therapy or change session, they're not expecting to do those things. And so they just don't happen when you're working with someone in hypnosis, you are essentially communicating with their unconscious mind, the part of them that keeps them safe, whether it's emotionally or when they step on the street.

Doug (07:29):

And they jumped back before the bus hits them. It's that part that is looking to keep you safe always. And if at any time in hypnosis, you give a suggestion to someone that their mind doesn't agree with. It's either going to ignore that suggestion, or it's going to bring them out of hypnosis because you've broken that trust, just like, uh, just like therapy and talk therapies are built on trust. Hypnosis is heavily built on trust because you're, you're putting yourself in that vulnerable state, in that relaxed state. Um, and so your unconscious mind is essentially on high alert just to keep you safe. That's the first one, that second idea of, um, hypnosis as, Oh, I lost what the second one was, but the third one was, um, hypnosis. You know, what if I get stuck in hypnosis and that's, that's not physically possible because we mentioned that talking about, um, the unconscious mind, keeping you safe. And when you're in hypnosis, your unconscious mind is monitoring your heart valves, your lung functions, your liver enzymes. It's going to wake you up eventually because you're going to need to use the bathroom or go get some food, or I don't know, get out of the room or something. It's not physically possible. The longest time that I've seen someone really stayed hypnosis after, uh, after I just stopped giving them suggestion was about 10 minutes because they had just kind of a woke from it.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (08:57):

So now are you in a better, I don't know, a better word, like a cat, a cat, a catatonic state where like, your eyes are closed and somebody might, you might appear sleep, or are you wide-eyed or kind of, how is that for the person that's being hypnotized?

Doug (09:15):

Yeah. So looking at the, looking at the brain wave patterns, when you're hitting hypnosis, you're going into a feta frequency, which is that frequency just above sleep. So you, so you're looking like you're asleep because you're very relaxed and, uh, your, your mind is constantly consciously, um, processing. Every single thing that was being said, a lot of people think that once you go into hypnosis, you're not gonna remember anything, but that's not true because if you can't hear what the hypnotist is saying, you're not going to be in here. Right. Yeah. And for Ben and for anyone who has never experienced with gnosis before I often tell them that it feels like a guided meditation, because they're very similar in the brainwave patterns, or it feels like that moments right before you fall asleep, when you are very relaxed and perhaps you're dreaming of very creative things, because your mind is actually dropping through that same frequency in that moment.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (10:15):

Okay. So now, you know, you said earlier that to be hypnotized, you need to be a willing participant. And so I guess, are there people that that will not go under? I mean, are they fighting it subconsciously or can you pretty much hit Mathais anybody?

Terry - Feeding Fatty (10:35):

Yeah.

Doug (10:37):

I believe that anyone can be hypnotized because they are constantly doing it to themselves, whether it's highway hypnosis or something, getting lost in a good book or a good movie, or being in that flow state, like think of the last time you watched a TV show or something, you didn't remember the color of the rug underneath your feet, or what was going on in the corners of the room. You were only focused on that image and it felt like you were kind of inside it. You were a part of it. You were invested that in and of itself is a very light state of hypnosis. And to be hypnotized, you know, formerly with a hypnotist, you do have to be in that receptive state where you actually wants to be hypnotized because otherwise you're not going to trust the person. And you're just, it's not going to happen. Yeah.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (11:24):

And do people when they, I'm sorry. So, so do people, um, I would see, I would think I'm like, I'm always wanted to do it. I've been very curious, um, you know, curious about it. And, and then I start thinking, Oh, they can't do it to me. I am impenetrable. I can't, you know, do people come in and does that mess up the mojo of everything? I mean, that just me, people often

Doug (11:55):

People often call it to me and they're like, I can't be hypnotized because I have a very strong mind and a very strong imagination. And I tell them that makes you the best candidate for hypnosis because the people who don't believe they're their posse, they're really going to go into gnosis. I find they're the best subjects, because they've got such a strong ability to focus and in such a strong imagination, all you really need for hypnosis is that ability to focus on something to the exclusion of all else. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (12:31):

So now, um, I guess the, a couple of questions is, do you need to be in the same room? Can you actually do this through video or through a phone? And then, uh, I hate to even bring this up, but like the whole watch, is there something that you do physically, or is this just something that you kind of talk out, talk out with them?

Doug (12:56):

So I built my hypnosis business from the very start to be completely online. So you absolutely can do it online. That's, that's what I'm doing full time. But I do find when you are in, in person, there are a lot of little finesse kind of tools that you can use. Um, but it's definitely not required. Okay. Uh, what's your, what you're talking about, the, the swinging pocket watch, that's what we call an induction and induction is just to get you to that deep fate of state. Yeah. Uh, the swing, your pocket watch, that's just kind of a myth. No one actually does that, except maybe a few States with this, but, um, there are some physical inductions that you can do, like lifting a person's hand or, um, bringing in that kinesthetic bodily States. But it definitely doesn't have to be that because the majority, I'd say 95% of hypnosis is all about those language patterns. And when I can't get on a zoom call with someone, I will absolutely do it over the phone. I mean, it helps to be able to see their reaction because that lets me know how far they're going into it, but it's definitely something you can do online and over the phone. Okay.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (14:09):

Yeah. And we had had a conversation the other day about some things. And, uh, I think one thing you mentioned is that again, a lot, so many people, and I'm one, you know, the only thing I have to compare this to is what I've seen on TV, which they usually dramatic. Dramaticized it as well as, uh, you know, kind of, uh, the comical side of it as well. But the true hypnosis is not, uh, you know, just like myself, uh, you know, w have an eating problem and love to do eat overeat. And I exercise enough, but in order to be effective, it's not, you can put me out and then change my whole behavior. And then I wake up tomorrow and all of a sudden I'm eating broccoli and running five miles or something like that. This is a, it's still a change of behavior, which takes time. Can you kind of explain that a little bit more?

Doug (15:10):

Of course, yeah. Hypnosis is one of the most rapid ways that we can make changes, but you still have to be in that state where you're ready to make that change. Right. We call this the idea of threshold and until a person reaches that moment, they're not actually going to commit to that change. And so threshold is ideal. An idea with three parts, you have to be able to congruently say to yourself, one, something needs to change two. It has to be me that makes that change. And three, it has to be right now. And until someone can actively say those three things and believe it, it's not going to happen. Like, for me, in my own example, I had known about meditation for years before that hike, but it wasn't until I had that rock bottom moment that I knew something needed to change that I actively let it into my life.

Doug (16:03):

And so looking at perhaps weight loss meds or hypnosis, they have to be ready to lose the weight. They have to be willing. I see a lot of people coming into, or I should say reaching out to me, um, who were like, I just want you to make the wave, the magic hypnosis wand and make me lose 50 pounds. But it's not that at all, it's about me helping you to change your beliefs and your identities. And some of those things can be difficult to wrap your head around if you're not in that mind frame. Right. I mean, yeah, when we, I give the classic example of a, a woman who finds out she's pregnant and instantly stopped smoking or drinking cold Turkey, that's a perfect example of threshold. I mean, once you're in that state, the change is relatively easy to make, but so much of what I do is about helping people get through that state.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (16:58):

Okay. So this is kind of a rabbit hole, but you brought it up again. Is your hike where you actually, were you hiking? The presidential mountains?

Doug (17:12):

I was, I was in the, um, I was living in Bretton woods at the AAMC Highland center. And that specific hike where I got lost was the Lafayette Ridge, but, uh, the white mountains in the presidential range, they're closest dear to my heart. So love the place.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (17:28):

Yeah, just a side note. I did, you know, I lived in a Northern mass for awhile and got interested in that because of some of the highest clocked winds have been, uh, clocked on one of the presidential mountains. And then I, I don't know, there was a story about a young lady who actually froze to death up there in June or July. They went hike and got up to the top. And, uh, and these aren't like super, uh, elevations, I think, six, 8,000 feet somewhere in there. And then she ended up, uh, freezing to death with the freak snow storm that came through in the summit. Anyway, none of that, it's just interesting that you said that. So, um, so I think the other thing too is because, and it's not just hitting the test. I mean, it's anybody, uh, I can hang a shingle out and say that, you know, I am a brain surgeon or a chiropractor, and you're not going to figure that out until I really kinda mess you up. So, um, if somebody was wanting to choose a hypnotist, so how would they go about that? Making sure that they're reputable, good match. Uh, and I don't know if P if, if, if it's hypnotist in general or, you know, if some, uh, may be focused on different aspects of changing behavior.

Doug (18:47):

Yeah. I actually spoke about this with a pharmacist on one of her podcasts recently. Um, and she was asking if there was like some central board behind hypnosis and there, there isn't yet because unlike unlike doctors and social workers and these really well-established fields, there, aren't a lot of hypnotists, I think worldwide, there's some people who say it's as low as 17,000. Some people say it's like, I dunno, a hundred thousand, there aren't enough hypnotists to make it worthwhile for a government to put out the bureaucracy and the manpower to regulate it. Yet. There are some hypnosis boards though, who have done this independently. Um, whether there are a couple in the U S I think there's one major one in the UK, and there's a bunch in Europe. Um, for someone who's looking for a hypnotist that they know is actually going to help them change.

Doug (19:44):

I've got some recommendations. Okay. Uh, there are, there are a lot of bad hypnotists out there, and I don't, I don't say bad as in, like, they're going to mess you up or, um, steal your money or anything. Like, they're just not very skilled because as you say, there's no central board of hypnosis. And so there's, it's, it's a kind of low bar to get into. I would S I recommend that they first look at their website. Is it professional? Is it, you know, does it look like someone just slapped it up there? Uh, I would look for their publications, um, look for if it just is published anywhere else besides their website, if they've got a podcast, or if they've got, um, publications in a local paper or even a national paper, that's a really good sign. Um, I would also look at a hypnotist who specializes in something because hypnosis hypnotists can be generalists.

Doug (20:39):

And I've seen hypnotists who, uh, do everything from weight loss to stopping smoking, to, um, ending anxiety. And they even a plumbing business out of the back of their garage. And so look for someone who really specializes and hones in on something. And then most scientists will give you that 15 minutes conversation to talk about what you want to come in for free, take that and trust your gut. If you get a very bad feeling from a hypnotist, like they're not going to help you go to someone else. And if you're in a rural area where there's only one hypnotist or no hypnotists, you're not stuck with that one option. There are so many habitus online. I mean, personally, I've built it from the start to be online. And so that's what I specialize in. But even now in 2020, like the major players in hypnosis who were only brick and mortar are now going into that online field, the options now for hypnosis are so vast. Yeah. Little did you know that was going to, Oh my gosh. That was a great, great way to structure your hypnosis practice. Absolutely. Yeah. I got lucky on that one. I built it that way to be able to travel, but this year with 2020, um, it, it really, really saved me.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (21:59):

So you, uh, you know, you talked about the, kind of the trust and connection, and I assume that we could approach this like a therapist is, I mean, you, you don't want somebody that's just gonna roll over for you and say yes to everything, but you, you really need to look to somebody that you kind of have that connection that you feel like you can trust in order to make this the most effective.

Doug (22:27):

Absolutely. Absolutely. So that brings up the idea of rapport and you see it in therapy and you see it in hypnosis. If you don't trust a person, if you don't like that person, it's not going to work, or it's not going to work as effectively. Right. And you can tell when you're in rapport with a professional, like a hypnotist who you were talking with in that first 15 minutes, if you are well, let's, let's use the example of a dinner conversation. You meet a friend for dinner, and you're just really engrossed in their story. And every time they, they laugh, you're laughing. And every time they take a drink of water, perhaps you take a drink of water because you're mirroring their body language unconsciously. I would say that when you were trying to tell if you're going to be a good fit for hypnotist, trust your gut, because your unconscious mind already knows whether that person is like you enough. And if you're going to trust them enough to go into hypnosis.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (23:30):

So, uh, I guess the best, uh, the other thing I was going to say is the best directory, I guess, that we can do is just do a local search, but, uh, or, uh, I mean, a Google search. And now that we do understand that you don't have to be local, that kind widens the, uh, your prospects that you can take the time to look around and find somebody that you really feel like you should, uh, like you really connect with. So you can build that rapport and trust.

Doug (23:58):

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (24:00):

So, you know, we've talked about general behaviors, uh, I guess let's talk about some, um, specific things, you know, we can talk about weight loss, stopping smoking. What are some other, um, things that you, maybe not, you personally, well, as a million ask you, do you have a specific focus first off, and then if you do, or, you know, even if you do, what are some other things that other, uh, hypnotist may be able to help with?

Doug (24:29):

Yeah. So I focus on dealing with anxiety. That's my number one thing. That's what I personally resonate with. I also, as a secondary thing, do a lot of weight loss hypnosis. And the amazing thing about hypnosis is that once you learn the, uh, once you learn the tools and everything behind it, as long as you know, the structure and the psychology of what you're trying to change, you can use it on almost any problem. And that's why you see a lot of nurses, generalists. Yeah. Um, so I typically don't advertise for things like, um, I don't know, irritable bowel syndrome or nailbiting or things like that are very niche because anxiety is my big one. Yeah. But when someone comes to me and if they've worked with me before, or if they've just heard of some of my content, and they're really in a good they're trusting of me, then I will work with them for that issue. The one issue that I don't really work with, that everyone knows that those for is smoking. Because I find that when people sign up for that session, they're in that state, they're like, I'm ready to drop this habit. And then the sessions now for like two to three weeks, and then they show up for the session and it's like, well, I already bought this thing. So I guess I'll, I'll try it and see what happens. They're not in that state anymore. And so

Roy - Feeding Fatty (25:46):

Up smoking smoke one last cigarette while we're talking,

Doug (25:52):

You got it. Exactly. So, uh, there, there's some very big ones like mental illness and phobias and fears, uh, weight loss, uh, smoking. Uh, but there are also some very niche things. Like I mentioned, irritable bowel syndrome. That's actually been studied by the university of Michigan, I believe as an effective treatment for that. Uh, it's even used to treat cancer. It's approved by the national cancer Institute as a treatment modality. So really if, I mean, if you're curious, if whatever you've got, whether that's emotional or physical is treatable with hypnosis and just reach out because I guarantee a hypnotist can give you an honest answer of whether or not that's going to be effective.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (26:33):

So you mentioned a research from the, Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead. I'm sorry. No, no, no. There's just a little bit of delay. I didn't mean to, sorry, go ahead. I know, sorry.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (26:44):

I don't like that. No, I was just going to say, I didn't realize, you know, the irritable, irritable bowel and in that cancer, I didn't realize that, um, you know, how the, how hypnosis that helped with, with that, is it just the, um, internal, I mean, how does it, how did that work?

Doug (27:01):

Yeah, so hypnosis works both with the mind and the physical aspect of those, those issues. So like irritable bowel syndrome, part of it is mental. Part of it is the cues and triggers that we've taught ourselves to, to follow. But it's also partly physical and gnosis is about communicating with the unconscious mind that part of you that runs your stomach and your, your organs and that part of you speaks in, in visualization and in emotions, it doesn't speak in language like you and I speak with. And so hypnosis is a very effective way to communicate with that in its own language. And so in the example of cancer, you can show, or I should say you can encourage a, um, a body to be more perceptive on what specific cells are cancer cells and what are healthy cells and by training or by hyper-focusing your body's aim, its target state. You can really let it do its own work and just give it direction on what you want it to do.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (28:12):

Hmm. Okay.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (28:14):

So you mentioned some research from the university of Michigan. I think that that's another thing is like, if there's somebody that's interested, but skeptical, can you point them to some bodies of, you know, academic research that they could go look at and maybe feel a little bit, I know that's kind of a, uh, off the wall question, but, uh, you know, sometimes people feel better reading some research in order to feel more comfortable moving forward with it. And if you don't know any, that's fine. We may, uh, you know, offline get some and post on the show notes.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (28:53):

Yeah.

Doug (28:57):

Well, in any case, I definitely can talk about the, the science behind hypnosis. I mean, it's been studied for over 50 years Bay back in 1982, the British medical association actually approved it as a treatment modality. And it's actually went further and said that all doctors should, um, take 144 hours of hypnotherapy training so that they can use this with their patients. It's been approved by the American medical association.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (29:40):

Um, I was doing,

Doug (29:44):

I found the ones that I really liked, the one that showed, um, exactly what I was trying to get people, but they, they kept getting bogged down. So now I've just compiled. Some of the best was the best academic research on my own website, which is anywhere hypnosis.com. Someone wants to check that out. They can scroll through, I've got four to five of the really big ones. And if they really want to do their own research, I just say, go to Google scholar and search hypnosis and efficacy. Cause there's, it's been studied for over a hundred years, so many research papers on just what this can do. Okay.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (30:21):

Okay. Interesting.

Doug (30:38):

It's like the stories cause you think of it. I think on the campfire, the shaman is telling a, a really interesting story and they're being the drums and people are going into that trance state where they're in the zone, but the first kind of recorded history that we have that was way back in, uh, in ancient Greece in the sleep temples. And that's actually where the name Hypnos comes from because Hypnos was the God of sleep and that's, you know, hypnosis, um, it's evolved and really taken on a life of its own from the early days of magnetism and Mesmer and those kinds of things. It's now bringing in so many other tools from neuroscience and psychology. It's really a it's by now. It's a well running machine and it's something that constantly improves hypnotists are very well known for constantly learning and improving their craft.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (31:33):

Okay. I think I might've dropped off there. Sorry about that. I had a little internet interruption, but uh, I think what you were, I caught the tail end of it. I think what you were saying was that you've compiled some research that's on your website that people can go to and we'll give all that information here in just a little bit as well. Oh yeah. All right. That's great. So, um, as we kind of wrap up here, so what is a tool that you use in your daily life that, um, it could be a tool. It could be a habit or ritual, but what's something that you do in your daily life that you couldn't do without it personal professional.

Doug (32:16):

So I do meditation and Suffolk self-hypnosis every single morning. I'm constantly growing, constantly changing and I've made that a part of my life. I would say the tool that I use most often is a tool from hypnosis called the pattern interrupt. And when we get, when we get stuck in our thoughts, when we're stuck in a negative loop of emotion or anything like that, sometimes all you have to do is literally shock yourself a little bit to break up that loop and then go into a new direction. And so personally, I just, when I'm stuck in that loop, I tell myself, literally stop. And then that, that shakes up that loop enough that I can say, this is how I want to feel instead. And so I'm going to do these things instead, just being willing to break up those loops instead of kind of indulging in it and letting it run its course.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (33:10):

Okay. Interesting. All right. So, um, you've told us a little bit about how you can help people, but, uh, no, if you want to be a little more specific, you know, who are some of, you know, who would be a good client for you and then, you know, what you can do for them. And then of course, how they can reach out and get a hold of you.

Doug (33:35):

I would say anyone who is really ready to make a change, whatever that change may be. So I, I call myself the adventure hypnotist because I work mostly with anxiety, with people who want to live the adventurous life, whether that's climbing Everest or just simply getting out of their house, if they've got a Gore, a phobia or something. Okay. So I typically see anxiety clients, but whether it's weight loss or anything like that, if you've got a question about whether it's going to work, reach out to me, you can find me on my website anywhere hypnosis. I'm also very active on Instagram. My handle is at making your meaning and I give a, I call it if not a test drive, but for those who are curious about hypnosis, I give up these free hypnosis sessions just to, just to see what it's like. And it's not just me giving the search, this relaxed state, it's me actually taking those same tools and using it for a general audience.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (34:36):

Okay. All right. Awesome. Terry, you have anything before we wrap up?

Terry - Feeding Fatty (34:43):

No, I'm, I'm still stuck on the self-hypnosis going back. Like, Oh, how would I do that kid a beer? You can be one of your clients. You're your best. I mean, why not? You know, you're, you're the best. One

Doug (35:00):

Of self-hypnosis. I don't want to turn this into a sales pitch, but I've got a group class coming up on February 1st and second I'm teaching the basics of self-hypnosis and what I find most, or I should say what I find the best way is to teach. So, and self-hypnosis is not to try to give them the years of hypnosis training that I have to just go through. It's too good. Take them to that place using a hypnosis session and then give them the tools to get back there. And so it's just a 90 minute session. I'm going to give you the tools. And then at the end of it, it's going to be a full session if gnosis where, um, we are actually taking the clients, the subjects to that state so they can reaccess it for themselves. Okay. Awesome.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (35:46):

February 1st

Doug (35:47):

And second, I believe the first is on 4:00 PM MST and the ninth or the second is on 9:00 AM MSD

Terry - Feeding Fatty (35:56):

And we can find that on your website on Instagram. Okay,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (36:02):

Great. Yeah. And we'll be sure and put that in the show notes as well for you. Yeah. All right. All right. Well, thanks a lot then just going to do it for another episode of feeding fatty. Uh, of course you can find us at www dot feeding, fatty.com. Also we're on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and this will be put up on YouTube as well. So, um, until next time, take care of yourself and take care of each other.

Doug (36:32):

Absolutely.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (36:34):

Doug, thank you so much. We're very grateful that you came in and gave us your time and expertise. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you again. Appreciate it. Thanks. Have a great holiday.

www.feedingfatty.com

196 Flavors Of The World with Mike Benayoun

What is 196 flavors?

196 flavors was founded in 2012. What started as a fun project to prepare and document a dish from every country in the world, eventually led us to a much bigger venture with the lofty goal to become the "Wikipedia of authentic and traditional recipes" with a focus on culinary history. With the help of chefs and experts from the local country or region, we thoroughly research and validate our recipes and articles to ensure people now have one place online to access a legit representation of any authentic recipe from the 196 countries that cover our planet. We now feature more than 1100 recipes and articles in 3 languages (English, French and Spanish) with a traffic that will surpass 15 million page views in 2020

196 flavors - 196 countries. A world of flavors. - World Cuisine Blog

www.feedingfatty.com

Full Transcript Below

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:02):

Hello, and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty on Roy and Perry. So, you know, we try to bring, uh, guests that can help us with our, uh, not only our nutrition eating, uh, but also exercise anything that's on the spectrum. You know, we believed in a bounce approach in a, we found a very interesting, uh, gentleman to have on with us today. His name is Mike Ben, a Yoon. He is with 196 flavors. First off, Mike, welcome. Thanks for taking time to be with us. Uh, a hundred, 196 flavors was founded in 2012. Uh, it started as a fun project to prepare and document a dish from every country in the world. And that eventually led them to a much bigger venture with the lofty goal of becoming the Wikipedia of authentic and traditional recipes with the focus on culinary history, with the help of chefs and experts from the local country or region they've thoroughly researched and validated their recipes and articles to ensure people have one place online to access legit representation of authentic recipes and, uh, from 196 countries that cover our planet. So they now feature 1100 recipes and articles in three languages, English, French, Spanish with traffic that will surprise 15 million page views in 2020 Mike. That is awesome. Glad to have you to the show

Mike (01:39):

Okay. Thank you so much for having me, Ryan Terry really, really appreciate it. Um, yeah, very excited to, uh, to talk about, uh, how we, how we got started and kind of where we are and what, uh, what our goals are, but you kind of summarize what we're all about. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (01:54):

Know, I mean, what an amazing project that some you thought to try recipe from, you know, every country and then of course making it authentic, getting the chefs and some local people involved. I mean, it's just a water project. I bet it's been, Oh my God. Yeah.

Mike (02:13):

Yeah. So it's funny because when we started, like you said, I mean, it was really a hobby and it was really nothing more than a, from an idea that, that had in the back of my mind for two years. And I suggested it to my best friend. Uh, there are who, who is my business partner now and, uh, and she jumped on it. She was like, you know, let's do it. So it took her, it took us about a year and a half to finish the dish from every country. Uh, the thing is at the time we were probably not as thorough in our research as we are now, because again, it was just a fun and we're like, all right, if it's not the exact, uh, authentic recipe, the big deal, but now we have other ambitions and we are much more thorough. And, you know, if, uh, if it's interesting, I can tell you kind of our, our process in terms of research and, and kind of how we go about it. So have you all started

Terry (03:02):

Was that, Oh, so is your background in, uh, as a chef chef, is that what you did or what, what did you do as work?

Mike (03:12):

Absolutely not. My background is in cooking and eating since I, my background, like another two goals. Now my background is more in the software industry, so, um, I studied more on the technical side and then over time I morphed more into, uh, uh, this dev and sales and marketing. Uh, so my day job is actually a VP of this dev for software startup. Um, and my night job on a weekend job is the blog or the website.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (03:46):

Well, that's cool. Have y'all sir. Have you surpassed one, a recipe from each country are, y'all gonna like build on that once you get that initial while y'all already got the initial one, but are you just going to keep building that out?

Mike (04:01):

Yeah, so we, um, we do have, uh, that was our initial goal, right? So to have one recipe from each country in the world, which we finished in a year and a half since then, what we have done is initially we had one, we were focusing on one country per week. Uh, for the past four years, we've been doing one country or one region per month. So this, this month, for example, we're doing the Nordic region, which encompasses five countries, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. Uh, but typically we focus on one country and what we typically do is we're going to have, so now we actually work with contributors. So it's not just Vera on my staff. We have, uh, depending on the time of the year we have between five and 10 contributors who help us. And what would that, what I mean by that is they actually, um, what we do is we source the recipes.

Mike (04:58):

Uh, so typically what we do is we source the recipes in the local language. So we go to the source, you know, we try to find, uh, authentic recipes from credible sources. Sometimes chefs, sometimes cookbook authors, a lot of times in the local language, not only, but a lot of times [inaudible]. So that's what we're, um, uh, trying to do is we're trying to look at different representations of the same recipe, authentic recipe. And we come up with our own version, which we try are, is going to work. We're trying to do is trying to capture the essence of the authentic recipe. And as you know, we can never say there's one version of every authentic recipe, right? It doesn't, it doesn't go like this. There's an evolution of recipes. Every chef is going to have their own twist, uh, over time. Uh, but you know, obviously there are some rules to follow some guidelines in terms of ingredients and so on.

Mike (05:51):

So that's what we're trying to do in capturing the essence of the recipe. Once we done that, we actually give those recipes to our contributors. So we store the recipe, we have our own research process and we give those recipes to our contributors who have to follow to the letter, those recipes. But in addition to that, because our contributors are like us, right? They're not really trained chefs, or they're not for like, for this month, they're not necessarily from the region or country. So in addition to that, we have one additional layer of validation. We actually do collaborate with chefs. We known chefs from the region or from the country that adds another layer layer of validation and credibility to our project. Because now we have somebody, for example, from Sweden, uh, who is going to, um, can you hold on, I'm sorry about that. Somebody's knocking on my door. Yeah,

Terry (06:45):

Yeah, yeah. I've been,

Mike (06:51):

Oh

Terry (06:52):

Man. That is so, I mean, that is an amazing task in 96. Yes. And I mean, and so many, you know, just different regions, you know, you think about our, our low world where we're in Texas, but you know, the United States, there are just so many different, uh, you know, just the read the difference in the recipes, in their different regions and everything, you know? Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (07:20):

Yeah. And even in families, I just think about our family, you know, we've got the faction that is the, uh, Manet's in the potato salad and the one that's the mustard in a potato salad. So it's like, you know what a project, no, we were just talking about,

Terry (07:34):

Yeah, we were just talking about the, Oh, go ahead, go ahead. Sorry.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (07:38):

And I was just like, we were talking about the geography involved, number one, uh, you know what, uh,

Mike (07:45):

I guess

Terry (07:46):

Not the country, you know, the individual countries, but the different regions of the countries and how it all evolves there, you know,

Mike (07:57):

Are you going to, are you going to able to

Roy - Feeding Fatty (08:00):

Fine? We're just, we're, we're just keep it all moving.

Terry (08:04):

Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Mike (08:07):

Um, so we, yeah, we, I was talking about the research process and the fact that we, we do the research on the recipes. We provide those recipes to our contributors. There's an additional layer of validation, not just for the recipe, but also for the article about the recipe, because, um, we, don't just, we're not just the recipe website right. At the end of the day, like I said earlier, like you mentioned, right. We really want to become the Wikipedia, the source of truth, more like an encyclopedia of authentic recipes. Right. So what we discussed to be clean or Arctic origin of the recipe, the original, the name sometimes how it has evolved over time, because recipes, you know, evolve over time. Um, and any kind of stories on the, on the recipe side, but also sometimes on ingredients that compose the recipe, uh, some of them might be unique in nature, uh, every representative of the region. Um, but a lot of times what you, what, what we have found over the, the past eight years that we've been doing, this is ideally they, yes, there might be some local ingredients here and there, but a chicken is a chicken. So whether it's in the Nordics or in France or in the U S the chicken, the chicken, what you make of the chicken is what's going to be representative of the cuisine of the region, whether it's spices, cooking techniques, combination of ingredients and so on.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (09:33):

So do y'all give guidance on, uh, on the particular spices. It may not be something readily available here in the States, but do y'all give guidance on where somebody may be able to obtain that.

Mike (09:47):

So we, we don't, we're not the biggest fan of substitutions because we are all about authenticity, right. So I'm going to say that nowadays in 2020, especially with the internet, you can pretty much find anything you want online. So it's, um, yeah, it's, it's very easy to source ingredients. Um, and yeah, I've never had any problems sourcing.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (10:11):

Yeah. So what about cooking styles? I mean, you know, we're used to the States, we have kitchen, we have ovens, but, um, you know, I'd read not too long ago that, uh, probably still 75% of the population cooks outside or something wildly high number like that. So I guess the, the differences in, you know, like maybe what we think about a Dutch oven versus outside on an open flame versus on a stove top, how has that worked out?

Mike (10:43):

Yeah, that's a good quote. That's a good point. Um, so in most cases, you're right. We may change, uh, sometimes the cooking methods. So you cook inside as opposed to outside. Yeah. Um, yeah, there are some nuances. We always try to stay as close as possible to the authentic recipe, but there's been occasions where, uh, you know, you could get the same results and by the way, the, the recipe has evolved from points. I can mention one example. There's a recipe called koozie, Q U I N from Iraq. And this is supposed to be initially originally the it's a centuries old recipe of typically an entire land that is, uh, open and stuffed. Like the entire land is actually stuffed, uh, obviously cooked outdoors on an open flame. Um, Mississippi has evolved to a point where I'm not cooking an entire lamb anymore. They're actually cooking pieces of lamb in a Dutch oven or a larger, um, pot. Uh, but you know, everything is cooked together. So it's still kind of cozy. It's just, the recipe has evolved to, um, to make it easier for modern chefs to cook any story acceptable time.

Terry (12:05):

Okay. And so what was one of the, uh, what's one of the most unique regions or unique countries that you got? I, I, I can't even think 196. I mean, that's kind of, um, Oh my gosh.

Mike (12:20):

Yeah. So I'm going to spend the most, not necessarily, uh, my favorite, but the most unique in terms of is in that I was not familiar with. Um, and I think most people are not familiar with is the prism of West Africa. Um, and our Western pallets are probably not that used to the flavors. And, uh, and then some of the ingredients of, uh, of Western African presents, there are some really, really good dishes. Um, one of my favorites actually on the site is all the achievement [inaudible] or chap from Senegal, which is typically fish, whole fish with a bunch of vegetables, some specific spices, um, one very pungent spice that, um, think it's called Neta too, when you smell it, it's really, really pungent. But when you use it in cooking, like a lot of ingredients, it's actually stained, uh, as you cook it as you simmer it.

Mike (13:14):

Um, so there are some really, really good, um, dishes like this one, however, I think in general where our pallets and I popped this right about it. Um, you know, our pallets are probably not that used to it. It's interesting because it's years ago, uh, four or five years ago, um, for one year I, I actually posted cooking classes here in Los Angeles. And the first cooking class that I decided to host was, um, a class of a Western African cuisine, um, with a friend of mine and some sending gala as well. Uh, so she helped me, uh, host. We had like 35 people. It was a pretty successful picking class. Um, and again, trying to, uh, next this cuisine more, um, popular in, uh, in here in LA, but, you know, in the Western world in general was, uh, was very excited.

Terry (14:05):

Wow. Do you find, um, do you find like United States, do we use a lot of salt maybe trained to make up for lack of knowing about the different devices and how to use them? I mean,

Mike (14:23):

It's possible, I'm not really exposed to that. I think in processed food. Definitely. Yes, but I'm going to say in general, at least my friends, my entourage, my family here, not really. I haven't really, what I have noticed though is yes, there's probably less use of spices in general or probably the same over and over. It's interesting because I'm really not a picky person. I'm really, you know, I really love to eat and, and I'm really not picky, but there is one spice that is way overused in the U S that I really can stay on it's cinnamon

Terry (14:59):

Really. Oh, okay.

Mike (15:02):

So right now it's not my favorite season. I like cinnamon. The problem here is it's not the same cinema as it's used in other parts of the world. So there's two types are the Salem and Garcia. And the one that is used here, which is typically used a lot in powder form, uh, where we do use it in ground form in other regions, right. I'm not saying it's specific to the U S uh, but there's a lot of dishes where you just use one stick and you remove it and it's fine. But when you use, um, the ground forum of, of cinema, and I think it's way over powering, and I always joke with our friends and by saying that I think cinema grows inside apples in this country. It goes, there's no dessert that has apples that doesn't have cinnamon just goes in there.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (15:59):

Right. Exactly.

Terry (16:02):

That's true. Yeah. So, um, you

Mike (16:06):

Know, go ahead.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (16:08):

No, I was just going to say, so I'm not a big vegetable person, so I, you know, I know the main categories, like a potato and a, uh, broccoli and some things, but I guess as you go across the world, are there different vegetables and, uh, that you run into that may be some other countries use a lot more of,

Mike (16:29):

Yeah. I mean, there's, uh, obviously I have been exposed to different fruits and vegetables alike. Um, over the course of the past eight years, one that comes to mind, um, is one called banana flour, uh, which is used in a lot of Asian dishes. I can think of one soup from Laois, uh, very popular, actually. I think it's one of the national dishes over there called [inaudible], uh, which is made with different types of vegetables, but one of them being the benefit of flour, it's kind of hard to describe, but it's, um, I think it's more about the texture than the, than the taste itself to be very Frank. Okay. Um, have you, has any of you to have it or

Terry (17:05):

Never? No, not that I know I'm aware of.

Mike (17:12):

Um, when you open the, the better than a flower, you're not supposed to be the out outer scaler, but the inside is very similar to, um, I'm going to say like soybeans sprouts, but a little stiffer and kind of straight as opposed to, you know, um, subtle. Yeah.

Terry (17:31):

Interesting. I have to check that out. I, Roy, can't wait to try it. I'm sure.

Mike (17:38):

Um, but the cashew fruits, I don't know if you've had it, so they're all aware of, but there's the, um, cashew, Apple or cashew fruit as it's called. Um, it's interesting. It's, it's kind of, um, you know, sweeter fruit of course, but you can, you can taste the after taste of the cashew nuts. Definitely. You know, you can take anything. Fruit comes from the same plant.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (18:01):

Oh, I would like that. So how did you go about sourcing this? I mean, Canada and, uh, you know, Mexico are both our neighbors here, but if I wanted to call down there to figure out a dish, I wouldn't even know who to, you know, who to dial first. So how did y'all go about, uh, you know, gathering the resources and all the different countries?

Mike (18:25):

So it's fairly easy to find, uh, cookbooks, um, know credible sources online nowadays, I think in the past we would have had to go to the library, but it's pretty easy to find credible sources, um, you know, good books like of Reno authors, um, most of the time from the country, you know, and obviously we hope we put the ability and, um, and then, like I said, we have those recipes validated by our chefs when we have a chef. So w w by doing this research there easily, we can find at least, um, for Canada, it may be a little more difficult. I don't think we have as many, but Mexico is rich, has a rich cuisine. Um, and, uh, and there's quite a few, uh, resources for finding those recipes.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (19:12):

Okay. Interesting. And what, what recipes are the most popular on your site?

Mike (19:20):

So, good question. It's interesting because when you, when you look at any website at the end of the day, it's, uh, to be, to be popular in the internet world, it's a game you play with Google, it's called search engine optimization. So there are the, the, the recipes that are quote unquote more popular are the ones where we rent better than others, right? Uh, still when we search for that recipe, if we appear in the first three results, chances are, this recipe is going to be the most popular on our website. Now, having said that there are some recipes where we ranked pretty high. Um, one of them that I can think of, which is actually one that I became familiar with when I moved to Los Angeles from Paris 20 years ago. Because, um, as you may know, I don't know if you know, but, uh, while centralize has the largest Iranian population after Tara.

Mike (20:15):

So it's as a joke, it's often called Terra Angeles because there's really a community here. Um, so I became familiar with Persian cuisine, which is really, really good. And one of the dishes, they have a lot of stews beside the Kaibab of course, but they have a lot of students that they serve with rice. One of them is called [inaudible] and homicides is this very unique stew, which is made with maybe five or six different herbs, fenugreek, parsley, cilantro, onion, like different herbs greens. And they are so stayed kind of reduced. A lot of the water is evaporated as you, um, as you would say, the herbs, and then you use it as a base for a stew that you, where you incorporate these red kidney beans, and then you another unique ingredients, more kind of a spice called limo, Amani, what it is, is a dried lime. It's almost black and it's like rock solid. It's dry, really, really dry. And you put a suit in the stew and it gives this kind of sour taste really, really good. Uh, that is very unique to this stew. Um, so for a few hours, and then you serve it over Persian rice. This is actually our one of our top three recipes on the site right now.

Terry (21:35):

Oh, my, that sounds lovely. Oh, I might have to try that.

Mike (21:39):

Good. So it's interesting because like I said, I discovered this this 20 years ago, however, I was born in France, but my background is from North Africa. So both my parents are Jewish from North Africa. My mother was Tunisian and my father is half Moroccan, half a Jerian. So I was more raised on my mother's side of the family. And there's a very, very typical dish, which is more like a Jewish Tunisian dish called Kayla. And I was raised on it and Kyla in concept, it's interesting because although it tastes completely different than from a sudsy. It is very, very similar in concept to homicides, because as opposed to the five or six herbs that I was talking about, we just use spinach and we use more oil and you actually sauteed spinach for probably at least three hours, believe it or not. Wow. I have a technique now, which is not, um, authentic, but you can cut down this time in 45 minutes in the microwave and it works, um, kind of reduce the spinach again, spinach is probably 95% water, right?

Mike (22:44):

So you reduce a form, uh, which is, uh, very, very black green. And again, use that spinach conceit, if you will, to, uh, to make a base for us to then thing we add this, we use, um, white beans as opposed to red beans in the homicides in, uh, there's no sour agents, but we add Harrison, if you know about how the chili paste is interesting. Not a lot of people know that, but it's original Tunisian and we put Korean cilantro mint and we serve it of a Cusco because our rice in North Africa is

Terry (23:24):

Oh, okay. Oh, very interesting.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (23:30):

So do you have any good,

Terry (23:32):

I'm sorry, go ahead. Go ahead. I was gonna, I was gonna ask,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (23:39):

Yeah. For those of you that don't, we'll go ahead and say for those, you don't know, we got a little bit of delay. Uh, Terry's actually in Hawaii. So, uh, have just a little bit of a audio difficulty, but go ahead. I'm gonna let you speak the whole sentence.

Terry (23:56):

No, I was just gonna ask, um, uh, what are your favorite, what are your favorite recipes on there? I mean,

Mike (24:06):

So the last one, I, the last recipe I just mentioned is obviously one of my favorites because I was raised on it. So I'm very biased towards this one. Uh, the discoveries I have made one cuisine, which I really didn't know anything about that. I discovered that, um, really, really, um, and I don't cook a lot, but, uh, but, uh, but I really like his program. So Caribbean cuisine was actually a discovery to me. I don't think I had had Caribbean food before and especially one dish, uh, which I made a few times recently. Um, for some reason it's called normal South Dubbo. And in Peru, the interesting thing is, as you may know, there's been a lot of Asian insurance with immigration from China, as well as from Japan. And there is, um, a cuisine within Peruvian cuisine, which is called chauffeur, is in C H U F E shows like cuisine is actually interesting.

Mike (25:04):

It's a fusion cuisine of Caribbean and Chinese, and which is very popular and it, which is not part of the authentic Peruvian repertoire. You know, it's not like just something that is recent, it's actually something that is part totally part of Caribbean cuisine. Um, and Loma Santo is definitely one of those fusion dishes. It's interesting because it's a combination of, so Tate, um, beef typically see a lot sirloin and it's mixed with tomatoes, red onion, but also soy sauce. And, um, it's sauteed with garlic and so on, but then you add French fries to it because it's probably the, the biggest consumer of potatoes that I think they have like 2000 species of potatoes over there. Um, that's where particulars originated. So they're really big on potato dishes, but after that, they actually mix it with white rice rice, which is more the Asian instruments with obviously the sauteed stir fry and sizes. So you get this weird dish, you know, when you, when you think about it, you're like, okay, French fries, sauteed beef and vegetables, rice. Like, it sounds weird. It's actually one of my favorite dishes on the website.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (26:23):

Hmm. Interesting. So that brings up a couple of questions up first off, what is the, the mix between more of a vegetarian style versus the ma the dishes with protein and then kind of a followup to that is going to be, so what is the most, um, common protein that you found used in the dishes?

Mike (26:48):

Sure. So interestingly enough, um, you know, human humans have always been carnivores and omnivores, right. But interestingly enough, when you look at authentic cuisine, um, especially in the past 10 to 15 centuries, meat has always been an expensive produce, right? So when you think about it, a lot of those authentic recipes, not all of them, but a lot of them always had a vegetarian version, which was more for the poor people and then kind of a festive version with meat added to it. So what this means is even though there's obviously a lot of recipes that include meat on our website, uh, we also have a lot of vegan and vegetarian dishes depending on the country and region is going to be more or less difficult to find meatless, uh, or vegan or vegetarian dishes. For example, South America is very meat heavy. So I just talked about Peru. There are actually a judicious without meat, but, uh, it's, you would be hard pressed to find dishes with, without meat in Argentina, your wide Brazil, you know, those countries are very big meat, meat eaters, central and Eastern Europe, European countries, same thing, meat and potatoes.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (28:10):

Okay. Interesting. It's like support word. Yeah, exactly. Yes. So, uh, as you put these dishes together, what would you say is the most used protein from around the globe?

Mike (28:25):

Um, I'm probably gonna say, can you, again, um, it's probably the most pervasive pervasive, uh, yes, slowly, maybe shortly after it's this there's a lot of, uh, Muslim countries, of course. So I would have said port, but of course you're not going to have a lot of pork based dishes in most of the 30 to 35 Muslim countries. So, yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (28:51):

Okay. Interesting. So what about a dish that has a fun story or fun fact, or that

Mike (29:01):

There's a lot actually, because we always try to find, um, stories behind the recipes. Um, so, you know, in preparation for, for, um, Tokyo, I prepared a, you know, kind of a few interesting stories and we can go through them, but one which I thought was interesting cause, uh, there's a, what is the, I'm gonna ask you a question. What is your, the most popular, um, get them? Is that the first one that would pop up in your mind?

Roy - Feeding Fatty (29:31):

Oh, okay.

Mike (29:34):

Yeah. It's very popular in the us, uh, Mesa

Roy - Feeding Fatty (29:42):

Soup or something.

Mike (29:43):

No, that would be okay. So the most on that is in every Vietnamese restaurants across the world, not just in the us is wrong anyway. Yeah. So interestingly enough, actually fo comes from a French, uh, where there's a very authentic traditional dish called puto food. Uh, P O T a U F U F U in front of the fire. So it's part under the, uh, on the fire and it's bunch of vegetables and meats kind of a, you know, a soup, but soup slash stew that is very popular. It's centuries, old centuries or recipe. Now, interestingly enough. So fo actually come comes from French. And even though it's, it's probably the first recipe that would come to mind when we think about Vietnamese is in, it's barely a hundred years old, you know, and it was really created, um, like I said, it has a French influence and, um, it's kind of a fusion dish, um, you know, with, with this it's. Um, and it's, it's funny because it's not as popular and as widely consumed in Vietnam, it's more of a dish that's consumed outside of Vietnam. And like I said, it's only barely a hundred years old, so it's not even an ancestral recipes. There's dozens of Vietnamese recipes that are way older than this world. However, this is the one that everybody knows around the world.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (31:18):

So that, yeah, that brings up kind of a good point too. Is there, um, you know, probably like the us, there are a lot of dishes and there are a lot of popular dishes. So how did you decide which the initial pick from each country?

Mike (31:35):

So at first in probably the first three or four years, we were just picking the dishes that we liked. Okay. So it was just Vera, my best friend and I, um, picking dishes. We're like, okay, this month we're going to do a room. Let's pick three dishes each. And there was no, no more research than this. Okay. Now, because we're more of a business and we're, you know, we work with contributors and so on. So we run it as a business. Now we do more research and typically we're going to find 40, 50, 60 recipes for each month. And we're going to pick the ones that are the most popular. And what we mean by the most popular is really the recipes that are the most searched by people online, because obviously we want people to find us and we want people to find the recipes that are the most searched. So now we do a little more research into what are the, really, the most popular recipes in the country.

Speaker 4 (32:31):

Okay. No doubt about traffic.

Mike (32:36):

It's exactly. Like I said, it's, it's a business too though. Yeah. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (32:41):

So, um, I guess we, as we kind of wrap this up, my favorite dessert did y'all, did you highlight any, uh, dessert dishes

Mike (32:54):

In the desert? There's a lot. I have a sweet tooth. Yeah. Being French for me, a meal without a dessert at the end is not a meal bread is not Amelie either. Um, so there's quite a lot, I'm trying to think. So my favorite, which is very popular and I did not discover it with, uh, with a website of course, is Tremblay, which of course, you know, I have a, uh, middle bias towards French pastries and French desserts. Uh, but yeah, Kimberly is probably at the top of my list, which happens to be gluten-free. I know there's a lot of people nowadays that I've written free. Um, it's full of like those dogs and, uh, but I'm fairly easy to make, uh, not as complicated as long as you have a torch to caramelize the sugar on top. But, um, and with easy to find ingredients, it's pretty much eggs, sugar, milk, um, you know, heavy milk. And, um, and that's it. So for the, for the flavor,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (33:57):

What about drinks? Uh, did y'all look at the, you know, I know a lot of overseas, uh, wine is a natural drink with, with the dinner, but was there any, anything that came to lie on that?

Mike (34:13):

So my signature cocktail over the past few years has become peace Corps center. You've done it before. Um, and again, coming back to Caribbean cuisine, I discovered that when we traveled to Peru, uh, this is Pisco is kind of a Brandy, um, that is originally from Piru as well as Chile. Uh, it's probably the most consumer the core over there. And they have a cocktail called Pisco sour, which is made with Pisco, with lime, uh, simple syrup and egg whites. And then you shake it. So the trick here is like most cocktails that you make with egg whites, you have to shake it without ice. Otherwise it doesn't form as well. So you shake it first, then you add ice to chill it, you pour it. And then you add a few drops of [inaudible], which is the same bitters that is used in old fashion. For example, it has become my favorite cocktail slowly, um, shortly after it's public cafeteria and Marketo. How about a margarita? I like margarita as well. Interesting fact about margarita. Do you know what is the most popular cocktail in Mexico? [inaudible] it is the Peloma and I don't know if it's as popular here, but, um, it is the most popular in Mexico.

Terry (35:48):

Interesting. Yeah. You would think definitely margarita.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (35:55):

Well, uh, Mike, we appreciate, excuse me, we appreciate you taking time to be with us today. Uh, this is such a fascinating project. Um, I'm going to have to get on there and check it out a little bit more. And maybe when Terry gets home, she can, uh, whip me up one of these, uh, exotic recipes that y'all have on there.

Mike (36:13):

We have friends of ours who tell us that they don't even cook them, have just spent hours or they're on their bed at night before going to bed, just reading through the stories and they don't even cook the recipes.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (36:25):

Right? Yeah. I mean that the food is, the food is one thing, but the stories behind it all have got to be, you know, the most amazing thing.

Mike (36:36):

Yeah. It's fun to learn. I mean, every day we learn something, even sometimes recipes that we have known all our lives and we're like, wow, I didn't know. You know, it was, that's how it was created or, you know, things like this. So

Roy - Feeding Fatty (36:49):

I'm sorry, Terry, I didn't mean to cut you off. You're a little bit delayed.

Terry (36:53):

That's okay. No, no, no. I was just, I just had this in the back of my head while we were talking to you. I was trying to work it in, but okay. So we are trying new things with tofu. So what's your favorite? Do you like tofu and what's your favorite dish if you do, and what would be easy and easy? It's not

Mike (37:11):

Right. We're not so much about easy recipes,

Mike (37:17):

But there's a lot of easy recipes, but not all of them are my favorite dish with the food may not be as easy, but it's, uh, uh, two from Korea, uh, which is called the silky. Uh, so keto from soup, which typically includes, um, some kind of meat, so it could be beef, but it's also made sometimes with, um, seafood. Um, and it's, um, the broth has to be made with seaweed and, uh, and anchovies. So it's kind of a fishy kind of broth. And then, um, it's piping hot, served in a stone ball and, uh, there's, uh, it's an egg drop soup as well. So you typically add an egg at the end, which, because it's piping hot, it's going to cook in a couple minutes. Um, but it's you add, use the silk to, for, you know, there's different types of from desk.

Mike (38:12):

So you would use the one that is the most silky, which is kind of, it's almost going to look like eggs in it, but it's going to be two food inside the soup. Like I said, piping hot. It is also very spicy. Um, and if any of your listeners is visiting LA, um, we have a chain of Korean restaurant called BCD tofu house, which is actually open 24 hours, like then is, it is kind of there dentists in Koreatown and, uh, in making their own true. And also their signature dish is this, uh, Sirki tofu soup.

Terry (38:49):

Okay. Thanks. I haven't tried to make any soup.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (38:57):

Well, again, Mike, thanks so much for taking time to come on and talk to us. It's been a fascinating and, uh, it's, uh, wish you much more luck in continuing this project. If you wouldn't mind, just tell people how they can reach out. If somebody wants to reach out and get ahold of you, uh, maybe make a recipe submission, how can they do that?

Mike (39:18):

Absolutely. So the website is one nine, six flavors.com. We are on pretty much all the social media channels. As you know, one nine, six flavors is our, um, handle. Um, you can contact us on any of those channels as well. We also, there's something we haven't talked about. We have started to, um, write good books eBooks. So we have four available right now and we intend to have, uh, we have a dozen more in the works for, um, that each of them is actually focusing on one region. So, so far we have one for the middle Eastern cuisine, uh, for North African cuisine, Southeast Asian. And we just released our Indian sub-continent cuisine book. And again, like I said, we, we add typically one a month, uh, and actually for the listeners of a feeding ferry, we, um, we are offering 25% of those, uh, those e-books. So if you use the code F F 25, uh, you will have access to 25%, any of our eBooks, like I said, right now we have four available that we have a dozen Lord in the works.

Terry (40:25):

Okay. Well, great. Thanks a lot. We appreciate that. I'm sure we'll, we'll reach out and take advantage of that ourself for sure. Yeah. Yes, I can do, I can do difficult. I don't have to do easy. I can do it. Yes.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (40:43):

All right. Well, thanks a lot. Uh, again, you can find us at www dot feeding, fatty.com. We are also on all the major social media networks, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and also this, a copy of this, um, interview, uh, video will be placed up on YouTube are also, you can find us on all the major podcast platforms, iTunes, Stitcher, Google play, and Spotify. Just to name a few, if we're not on one that you, uh, listened to your podcast on, please reach out. I'd be glad to get it added for you until next time. I'm Roy. Please take care of yourself.

Terry (41:25):

I'm Terry. Bye. Thanks.

www.feedingfatty.com

Functional Medicine with Dr. Carol Shwery

Dr. Carol Shwery (DrCarolShwery.com) has been a dedicated healthcare practitioner for more than 40 years. She is deeply committed to helping people who struggle with feeling sick, tired, and in pain, find the root causes of their health challenges. She helps them reset their body and health so they can wake up feeling vibrant, full of energy, and ready for each day, no matter their age.

Through targeted lab testing, Dr. Shwery can assess how each system is working and design an individualized program to rebalance your body. Creating an individualized diet plan, a scientifically based supplement program, stress reduction, and exercise, a person's health can improve dramatically – not only physically, but emotionally.

With an ongoing wellness plan, many health problems can be avoided, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, female, adrenal, thyroid, and insulin hormone imbalances. Her clients are finding a vitality that has given them a new lease on life!

Her personal goal is to transform our broken health care system as well as our broken health and empower people to achieve optimal health so they experience the joy and freedom of a life without limits.

www.drcarolshwery.com

www.feedingfatty.com

Full Transcript Below

Roy - Feeding Fatty (00:03):

Hello, and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty. I'm Roy I'm, Terry Terry, I'm going to let you introduce our guests today.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:12):

So we are so excited to have Dr. Carol Shwery. She is a dedicated healthcare professional professional, and has been doing that for 40 years. She's deeply committed to helping people who struggle with feeling sick, tired, and in pain. Find the root causes of their health challenges and to find their root causes of their health challenges. She helps them reset their body and health so they can wake up feeling vibrant, full of energy and ready for each day. No matter what age through lab target or targeted lab testing, Dr. Sherry can access, assess how each system is working and design an individualized program to rebalance your body, creating an individualized diet plan, a scientifically based supplement program, stress reduction and exercise. A person's health can improve dramatically, not only physically, but emotionally with ongoing wellness plan with an ongoing wellness plan. Many health problems can be avoided such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, female adrenal, thyroid, and insulin hormone imbalances. Her clients are finding a vitality. There's given them a new lease on life. Her personal goal is to transform our broken healthcare system, as well as our broken health and empower people to achieve optimal health so they can experience the joy and freedom of a life without limits. Dr. Carol, thank you so much for joining us. We're just thrilled to have you here. Thank you so much

Roy - Feeding Fatty (01:51):

Nicotine time too. I am was not feeling too hot this morning when I got up. So yeah, it is very timely subject. Yeah.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (02:07):

So tell us, so tell us more about your history, how you got started, what you started in the healthcare profession 40 years ago.

Dr. Carol (02:18):

Yeah, so I wasn't spring chicken back then.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (02:21):

You still are,

Dr. Carol (02:24):

Well, the numbers say differently and you look great. Well, I, um, I got interested in health at a very early age and, um, I was directed by some of my mentors to go to Google to actually get a degree. And so I did that and I, I expanded my, I went to chiropractic school back then. And since then, I've, um, in the last 40 years I've gotten many different degrees, but, uh, at that time, uh, in, and for the first 20 years of my practice, I was just, uh, you know, don't go and gangbusters, everything was fantastic. And then about, um, about when I was 49 years old, um, my health started to all of a sudden deteriorate before I was, you know, everything was great. You know, I could do anything and everything. And did, um, I tended to pride myself on being a mom, great multitasker and stress was my friend.

Dr. Carol (03:27):

It really motivated. Um, but then, uh, at that 49th year, everything started to dismantle and I spent about five years trying to figure out what was wrong with me as my health just started to go down, down, down, down, down. And I will, I went from doctor to doctor, whether it be conventional or alternative, nothing was making sense. And, um, people were telling me things that I knew were not true. They were diagnosing me. And I said, you're not hearing. And so ultimately, um, it's a long, long five-year long story. I found out I had a brain tumor. Wow, gosh. And I'm a big, bad one. And, um, I ended up and it was killing me and I was slowly deteriorating in many different directions. So I ended up in a 14 hour surgery, um, came out and, um, was in a coma and then came out paramedics.

Dr. Carol (04:28):

Um, like why, um, why I tell this story? It's a big story, but we all have our stories. We all have stories. And ultimately I call myself a warrior because I said, this, I'm not, I'm not Lee, I'm this, I'm not letting this stop. And, um, I spent a long time, well, actually a short time and written in real terms for months clawing my way back to being able to go back to practice. I was in a wheelchair, but I learned everything over again. I still have partial paralysis in one leg, but it's, you know, I'm here and I'm back to being the ever anybody. And the reason why it's probably this is because we a, we do have our stories, but also I now have a sense of understanding and compassion for people and what their needs are. Whereas before I could give information, but I didn't have the personal experience.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (05:27):

So you having that, um, that, uh, brain tumor and, and having to go through all of the therapy and that you're just clawing your way back and being paralyzed and all of that, just, you think that made you a better practitioner?

Dr. Carol (05:45):

It made me a better physician. Yeah, totally. Because now a I can listen to people in a brand new way. Right. And then I can be empathetic and I can empower people in a new way that I simply could not prior to this moment. So I'm grateful that I had that experience. What I wish it on anybody else? No, but it happened. Right. And so I do feel I'm a better doctor because yeah, yeah,

Speaker 4 (06:14):

Yeah. Sometimes we have to go through that to, to actually, uh, you know, it can be transformative. Once we come out on the other side of a traumatic experience, like

Dr. Carol (06:24):

That's right. And it made me, you know, it empowered me to be, have more of a belief. What I needed to do to get back to the place I'm at now is alternative medicine. Conventional medicine took the majority of that tumor out, but alternative or functional medicine got me to where I am. So it was the blend lovely blend.

Speaker 4 (06:46):

That was one. Oh, I'm sorry. That was one question I was going to ask you was the, uh, you know, what is the difference between the functional and the traditional?

Dr. Carol (06:54):

Yes. Conventional medicine, um, is an expert in diagnosis, surgery, medication. We need these things. If we're in a crisis situation, there's nothing like conventional medicine. That's going to help us. We need that, but these things can behave like band-aids. And so it doesn't get down. It's like going from the top down, conventional medicine is looking at the top of symptoms. And then it's saying, this is how we're going to treat those symptoms. Functional medicine is going underneath. We're trying to look at the root causes of why people get sick. So it's completely different approach, more holistic and taking in to account all aspects of a person that you may actually think is unrelated. So we're, it's really looking from top down or bottom up. And that's really the essential difference than we know that our health in this country particularly is going down in our healthcare system and the model for it is broken. Um, and we're, we're not doing well from a health point of view in this culture. So this is trying to take the wisdom natural of natural medicine from the ages mixed with science of nutrition and medicine and blend them to come and figure out root causes, then give personalized treatments to each individual. Cause it's not what anybody gets. One, one picture, right? She has to be customized. That's right.

Speaker 4 (08:32):

So a couple of questions don't want to get too far out ahead of you, but, uh, two things that just came to mind while you were talking were number one. Do you feel that traditional medicine or Conventional, do you feel like there is a difference between prescribing medications does traditional, uh, uh, does, Oh, now I'm confused. Does that, does the, uh,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (09:01):

Conventional medicine go, are there, are they more apt to prescribe the medication first and foremost? Or

Dr. Carol (09:11):

I guess it just depends what versus what, as opposed to trying

Speaker 4 (09:16):

The traditional versus the conventional, you know, the, I guess the mainstream, like we have today, my opinion only, but it seems like if you go in and say, Hey, I've got this, it's like, yeah, we got some pills that we need you to take. That's going to fix that. And so I, the,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (09:32):

The functional medicine medicine is more looking at the whole,

Dr. Carol (09:36):

Well, let's say, why do you have that thing? Right. That's the difference here? Let me give you something for the pain without understanding. Why did that pain occur in the first place? Right. That's the essential difference between the two things. Okay. Here, I'll give you something, but I don't really know. What's why it's happening. This is going to get rid of the symptoms, right. Maybe right.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (10:01):

If somebody were wanting a functional, wanting somebody to look at, you know, at a functional medical professional, how would they go about searching for that?

Dr. Carol (10:16):

Uh, well, I know you guys are in Texas. I know, I know there are functional medicine doctors in Texas. I mean, I totally know that you can find, you know, somebody like me, there are you look, you clump in functional medicine. Yeah. And then people and people will show up. You can find me, I treat, I read virtual all over the country. Everybody's virtual. Now you have, yes, you have in actually it's been a service been, um, because people can get what they need and not necessarily be locked into their immediate environment. Right. Community and wants something outside.

Speaker 4 (11:01):

Well, not only that, but you know, like I had a falling out with my longtime doctor because it was like, you know, you go there and wait an hour in the waiting room. Then you go back to the exam room and wait another 30 or 40 minutes. And you know, nobody, you know, I know that scheduling tight is how they make money. But on the other hand, it's like, you know, with this virtual medicine, I think that it probably puts the patient a lot more ease being to be staying at home in their own environment, but not going to be in that waiting game. And then also not mixing with the people in the waiting rooms, especially with COVID. But even before that, I mean, you never know what people have sitting next to you.

Dr. Carol (11:43):

That's true. Well, there's also sort of a standard of care in medicine, which is a, uh, you know, you have a window of time and it's a short window of time. You have to be rapid. You have to, so they can put a lot more, you know, they put a lot more people in where is in functional medicine because we're really looking at a larger complexity of situation. We're going to take a longer time. I didn't turn into a cattle call. That's right. Different.

Speaker 4 (12:08):

So you mentioned diet, uh, earlier, that was the second question I had is so, uh, you know, from your experience, have you found that diet is a big component of our illnesses or when things go wrong, can it be traced back to that?

Dr. Carol (12:26):

Well, I'm going to, I want to talk a little bit about something called what I call the essential eight. We have what I call foundation of health and they're essentially eight different foundations. And if they're like pillars, okay. So if you have any of those pillars is been knocked out of balance, the building on top, which is your organs are not going to be able to function correctly. So there's eight of them. And I'll just say, um, it's sort of like, these are the basics. Okay. And if you don't take care of the basics, whether it's, whether you're worried about COVID or you have a mental health issue, or you have a chronic health condition or an acute one, if you don't deal with these essential aid, your something's going to be out of whack. Let me just tell you what I believe they are. Okay. So nutrition, hydration, that's one, that's an essential core piece of health sleep. If we don't get the proper sleep, we're not going to function like

Speaker 4 (13:31):

We've been dealing with that lately.

Dr. Carol (13:34):

This is a huge people are having trouble sleeping right now because they're, so one of the other things, stress stresses them, stress management, another pillar, another foundation, um, physical activity. How many people have been sitting in front of their computer for eight or 10 hours a day and not getting up to move, right? We are, we are locked. My hips are locked. I mean, I've never set them up to my believable. Um, the environment, whether it's the water, the air, we are surrounded by 85,000 potential chemicals every week. You 5,000 that's that's toxicity in the environment. And then another problem is social connection. There's no much distress because we are at this time. So isolated and social connection at any time is one of these essentials. And then, um, fun, pleasure, joy getting out in nature. If people are unhappy, that is one of the pillars. And then the nervous system, if our nervous system isn't functioning, right? Any one of these, or if you have more than one or just one, they can knock your system out. So nutrition key, right? That'd be eight. I hope that's a long winded way of answering.

Speaker 4 (14:53):

It's good. I was taking notes here because, uh, you know, that's kinda, uh, I don't think I've given it quite that much thought, but you know, kind of what we always talk about between us as our pillars, I guess, are, you know, the sleep diet, exercise and the hydration, because I feel like I've begun to feel like, uh, you know, sleep is, uh, kind of, uh, what sends me off on the wrong paths. And, you know, I've been working a lot the last few days and getting little sleep and, you know, then all of a sudden I feel like I have to eat more, um, eat, you know, like a vacuum, I'll be eating anything. I could get my hands on to try to get me some energy to, you know, boost me up for a couple minutes and then diet Cokes, no water. You know, it just seemed like it is a downhill from,

Dr. Carol (15:43):

Sorry. No, no, you're fine. You're fine. So the truth is you're tired and you're trying to use nutrition or the lack thereof to boost energy in the two really have nothing to do with each other. But that is a really common situation. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (15:58):

Oh, and I forgot exercise was the other, which that has gone, you know, that goes by the wayside too. When you get busy, no exercise, no sleep eating by, you know, drink, not drinking water.

Dr. Carol (16:11):

Do you have a cell phone? Yes. You got your little cell phone. Yeah, I have every, every hour I have my cell phone. I like, I'm a dog person, so I have my cell phone bark every hour. And instead of get up off your tush and do something a few minutes. Right. Okay. Okay. So we need, we need some ways. Yeah. The other thing is, um, you know, I, I say this a lot, especially during this time of lockdown, we are not social distancing from the refrigerator. No. Okay.

Speaker 4 (16:46):

No, we've become, we've become very close. I should probably have a six foot from it. Got a tunnel.

Dr. Carol (16:57):

Yeah. It's definitely a thing. Yes.

Speaker 4 (17:03):

It's so important because you know, I'm just looking at these that, you know, you've talked about and it seems like that, you know, going through this pandemic, especially all of these eight are, are out of whack in some way for just about everybody, you know? Cause I know, you know, and we've been lucky. Uh, I'll say I'll speak for me. I think Terry too, but we've been lucky we have thrived through this and you know, I kind of tell some people that I feel like I may have a little survivor's guilt because you know, being at home, it's been, I've been a lot more focused, been able to get a lot more done, but unfortunately it kind of leads into that. Staying in the chair longer, not getting up, not getting out and getting the exercise. You know, you just, it, I don't know. You just cannot

Terry - Feeding Fatty (17:51):

Leave in, not leaving your seat there. Cause you're working, we work and all the time feeling like you need to work when you, and so many things going through your head.

Dr. Carol (18:00):

I know my desk here is just covered. You know how that is, but the good news is the two of you work together. And so you can push each other to go, okay, we need three minutes. Let's get up. Let's go outside. Let's do something. Right. Um, that's the good news if you utilize it, right?

Speaker 4 (18:22):

Yeah, no, she tries to keep me on track. I have to give her that much. He works very hard to make sure, to make me stop for dinner and you know, do all the right things. But you know, I guess what another point is where we are, we are some of the lucky ones because we have each other and we have things to do around here where we can get outside or I can get outside and get my exercise and work. But you know, there's so many people that can't get out and the, the social isolation I'm sure. Especially for like, you know, our parents that, um, seniors. Yeah. I just know when we go over there, we, we went by to drop something off on a Sunday and you know, ended up staying for three hours just because, you know, they were just, uh,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (19:09):

Starved for any kind of human interaction whatsoever.

Dr. Carol (19:13):

Well, well the stats on seniors actually, um, there's the loneliness of creating and social isolation is creating a more chronic disease manifesting.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (19:26):

Wow. And depression. I bet

Dr. Carol (19:27):

It could be found that it's not, it's not a pretty picture. No.

Speaker 4 (19:31):

Yeah. And it's a vicious cycle because even if they have a medical condition, then they get scared to go to the doctor or go to the hospital and then it just kind of snowballs from there. So yeah.

Dr. Carol (19:45):

Yeah. That's right. So it's, it's just important that we do as much as we can for ourselves and the people who love you within the limits that we now have. Right, right, right. Um, to, to help, to help. Um, so I did want to talk and tell me if this is okay, because you kind of hit on something and what you said. Okay. Um, we're, you know, we're probably all super pandemic fatigue. Like it's hard to even say it. It's like, Oh my God. So that's always thought about for, you know, eight months. Right, right, right. But the thing is that what you said? Um, there are non-infectious pandemics that are going on all the time. They're not infectious, but they're not infectious. And I wanted to talk about three of them. Cause what you said. I can't remember exactly, but it's triggered me wanting to speak a bit. Yeah. There are three non-infectious pandemics and I wanted to talk about, and it relates to how this essential aid, if they're off kilter, then how your body functions isn't going to work. So I wanted to talk about the first one, which is, have you ever heard of metabolic syndrome? Yes, but I don't remember. Okay.

Dr. Carol (21:07):

Um, you've heard, we all know that these, uh, when they talk about co-morbidities as being a problems, well, three of the comorbidities, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes all make up, uh, can, uh, be manifestation of something called metabolic syndrome, which is your blood sugar. Uh, you have high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, high cholesterol. These are all things I see your face. These are all things that,

Speaker 5 (21:38):

Um, is he over there rolling his eyes? I just hit the triple crown on that one there. I think I've got all of them. Here's the problem.

Dr. Carol (21:48):

I mean, this is just, we're just hitting on a few things very briefly. We can spend hours looking into this, but if you have this problem, it lowers, it causes inflammation in your body. We've all heard that cytokine storm. This is inflammation. Okay. And then it lowers our immune function. Okay. So if we are hitting, uh, sugars and carbs, um, that is going to alter our ability to handle blood sugar correctly, then metabolic syndrome can take place. Now your immune system starts coming down. It doesn't work. Yeah. Okay. So I wanted people to understand in terms of understanding root causes, it's not just me. All I have to do is put a mask on in social distance. No. How is the body function so that we can try and maximize our immunity by not doing things that are going to be problematic. Right. So I wanted people to talk about that. And one of the things I do with patients is ask them to test their blood sugar throughout the day, many times a day. So we find out what is your blood sugar? And this is something that you can do at home, um, to give us this information. Um, once something else I, uh, stop me at any time.

Speaker 5 (23:11):

Yeah, no, you're good. You're good. This is all, you're a dream

Dr. Carol (23:15):

Big 90% of all our illnesses are due to lifestyle and 90% of illnesses can be fixed with lifestyle. Okay? So this, these beans are really relevant. I don't care what we're talking about. Right. It could be immunity or anything else, but here's this other thing. And I wanted people to really get this we're sitting around and we are suppressed to the men. Most of us, uh, well, there's these glands called the adrenal glands. Have you guys heard of them? They sit right on top of the kidneys and they are our first line of defense against stress. Now, if they are struggling, they might be pumping up too many of these hormones that they produce. Or maybe not enough if we're really, really stressed, the body goes, I can't take this anymore. And they stopped supporting these hormones. Guess what happens to your immune system? It goes down.

Dr. Carol (24:10):

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's important that we can find out are our adrenal glands suffering. Um, and so we talked about the essential aid. If our stress management is not working well, the adrenals may suffer. So in functional medicine, we talk about, um, tests don't guess. Okay. So we do, um, for people who, I think this is an important piece and it may not be for everyone. I would have them do a salivary test to find out what, what is going on with your was so that we could find out a personalized approach to whether they need to have that handle in order to boost their immune.

Speaker 4 (24:57):

Okay. Yeah. And you know, I can attest to that back in, uh, LA, it hasn't happened lately, but this was back in my younger days when I had a pretty high stress corporate job is that, um, exp you know, before I would go on vacation the last, the week before vacation would be so stressed, trying to make sure everything was handled and in line. And my people knew what to do that week and that I would literally get off on Friday night, go home and wake up sick Saturday. Yeah. I would be, I'd be sick for three days because you know, it was like once that's, once the stress had, once the stress had relieved, once I got home and it left my body, it's like my immune system must have been so weak that, you know, I just got, I got sick. And so my vacations were usually marred by two or three days of, you know, flu like symptoms. Not, not really bad, but just being fever and, uh, all of that.

Dr. Carol (25:56):

I am right there with you. Yeah. And you're going away Terry for two weeks. I am, let's see, Oh my gosh, I've been running around.

Speaker 4 (26:05):

I think people are, people have got a pool going on. Who's going to survive me or the dogs when she comes back.

Dr. Carol (26:13):

I mean, for two weeks, I'll be gone two weeks and there you're going to be sorely missed. I think I wanted to talk about one other thing because people, I really want people to see the connection. And that is, um, where do you think 70 to 80% of your immune system lives in your body,

Speaker 4 (26:39):

On your skin or underneath? Just underneath your skin? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 (26:44):

Yeah. Okay. I'm done drop the mic.

Dr. Carol (26:50):

If you're, you've heard the term microbiome, have you heard that your gut, the floor in your gut, the good, the bad and the ugly, if that is imbalanced, is there is a problem with, and these are terms may or may not know if there's a problem with the permeability and we've got meaning there's holes and bad guys are bidding in and affecting the body. If that, if your gut is not running smoothly and your microbiome is off and given it 70 to 80% of all our immune system is living down there, your guts, not good. Guess what happens? Your immune system is thinking. So these are actual pandemics. These things are happening everywhere with everybody, but nobody's thinking about all that interaction, that infectious pandemic and these noninfectious pandemics, this is a recipe for disaster. And so we want to find out well, is that relate to you have that issue? Um, so we might, if, if I think, you know, somebody has that issue, I might want to test that, test your guts in, in what we call functional testing.

Speaker 4 (28:01):

So what is, uh, what is a test that you would run to test somebody's gut?

Dr. Carol (28:08):

If I felt it was important for that person? Uh, well, I call them poop tests, but they are,

Speaker 5 (28:17):

Oh, now we're always going to start turning red. And we talk about anything,

Dr. Carol (28:23):

You know, fecal tests, but, and they're, they're done over a couple of days. You get a sample from each day and it tells us many things. It tells us, uh, what you are able to digest, what you're not able to digest. Do you have creatures down there that are, um, parasitic or fungal or bacteria that are not supposed to be there? Um, it gives us a whole huge array. Are you, if you have inflammation in your gut that we, that you couldn't see, you would not be able to see if you went for a colonoscopy, this is the functioning of the gut. So it tells us lots of information, um, of which then we can design something based on that information.

Speaker 4 (29:08):

I guess you could say, I stepped into that one.

Speaker 5 (29:12):

[inaudible] yeah.

Speaker 4 (29:14):

Those are good things to understand, because it is, um, now that you, when you said that I did, I do realize now that I've heard that before, that that's where a lot of our immunity lives is in our gut health.

Dr. Carol (29:29):

Right. So I just liked people to step back and go. The first line is the social responsibility of what we are being told what to do, but then we want to go deeper. Right. So that we actually have impact. We are so that I'm, I'm fortified. So as to be

Roy - Feeding Fatty (29:54):

Out. Okay. Yeah. We just kind of, you kind of bleeped out on us that last word there, I think, yeah.

Dr. Carol (30:02):

The internet. Do you, can you hear me? Cause my internet, just,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (30:05):

You blanked out after, um, you said at the, at the people being empowered,

Dr. Carol (30:12):

Empowered to take responsibilities and really do something for their kids. Um, and I don't know. I mean, I can give little, uh, little things for people to do right now today. You know, what can you do right now?

Roy - Feeding Fatty (30:28):

Okay. That'd be good. Yes. Yeah. I'm taking notes.

Dr. Carol (30:31):

All right. Cool. Okay. So, um, I wanted to say, obviously you said something about drinking water. You want to drink, if you can, for an average adult drink, I'm sorry. I see your face. There is

Roy - Feeding Fatty (30:44):

Water.

Dr. Carol (30:46):

Okay. You need to try and drink, um, about around 64 ounces a day. And so, um, you'll see, you know, I've got my cup here. You got to figure out how to do that. Now coffee does not count. Okay.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (31:01):

Wait, say that again, please. Liquids

Dr. Carol (31:04):

Are not the same as water. Okay. So unfortunately, so you can also, everybody agrees that fruits and vegetables are really important, right? Everybody is in agreement of that. There's lots of things in alternative medicine that people don't agree with them when it comes to diet. But we all agree that having fruits and vegetables and having a large plant-based diet is super important. So what that means, and even the CDC believes it's if we could have like nine to 11 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. So I often talk about drinking your fruits and vegetables, making a drink, uh, should be a smoothie, is so that you, you can put big handfuls of stuff in there and you don't have to stress. If you had nine to 11 servings, that's about to dinner plate full of vegetables or two pounds. But if you drink your vegetables or fruits, then you minimize that, Oh my God, are you kidding me?

Dr. Carol (32:10):

Um, sort of feeling right. So that's something you can do because that will give you lots of important vitamins and minerals. Anti-oxidants all these things that are going to fortify your system. Okay. Um, and then for, um, uh, for, uh, de-stressing okay. You could do two simple things. Well, first of all, do you meditate? Do you find moments of peace? Do you pray? How do you, how do you get into that calmer state of being that's going to really help your adrenals? Okay. Um, okay. So that's one thing you can take a couple of vitamins that really help your adrenal glands, a B five B6 and vitamin C. Okay. There are formulas that I have that are, you can get that are specific for adrenal de-stressing and they generally always have B five, B, six, and C. Okay. Okay. And then a simple protocol for your guts is, do you guys have, I don't know, where are you in Texas? Did you, after you told me, okay, I'm assuming there is called booths there. Yes,

Speaker 5 (33:31):

We do have that.

Dr. Carol (33:34):

Yeah. Um, but you know, do you know what kimchi is?

Speaker 5 (33:38):

Yes. And you know, I don't think I've ever tried it, but I've been very curious for a long time

Dr. Carol (33:43):

Kimchi and sauerkraut, organic, raw, both of them. Um, they taste great. You have to kind of, you have to, you know, you might have to acquire a taste for it, but I love them. They have natural probiotics in them. Okay. So you can fortify with the proper bacteria by eating these foods or taking a multi-screen probiotic. And you go to the health, food store is your weight to say, Oh, I'm going to support is, you know, support my guns,

Speaker 5 (34:16):

But you said raw sauerkraut and,

Dr. Carol (34:19):

Um, rock, rock, rock him. [inaudible].

Speaker 4 (34:23):

So let me ask you about that because I think that's where, um, you know, somebody like me, that's tried to, you know, I've kind of played at being healthy for a long time, but there's so much information and probiotics and not trying to put you on the spot, but just trying to get your opinion on this is that, um, at one point, you know, I was taking a probiotic and, um, I don't know, 25 million deals or whatever, you know, it was pretty good strength,

Dr. Carol (34:55):

5 million billion,

Speaker 4 (34:57):

Maybe billion maybe. Yeah. But then I started reading some material, not, I didn't seek it out. It's just stuff that came across to me that it said that there's this natural occurrence in our stomach. And so when we take a probiotic every day, we were actually counteracting it. And I guess this guy or person was saying that maybe you need to do it once a week or once a month, every once. Every two weeks. So what, what is the thought on that?

Dr. Carol (35:28):

Well, I've never personally seen that, but I want to comment on it anyway. Um,

Speaker 5 (35:37):

You have to find

Dr. Carol (35:38):

Out whether you need the probiotics or not. Okay. That I just want to say, I do feel that taking a multi-screen probiotic because the research indicates there's so many positive value. There's so much positivity to it. Okay. Um, I don't know what he was. He or she was thinking about some mechanism that this is going to hurt. I don't, honestly, I didn't have to hear the whole thing. Just trying to really understand, but probiotics, like anything are not all made equal and they need part of the, part of the thing about probiotics is not all probiotics can make it through the, through the gallbladder, the secretions. So you have, you have to know about what you're getting, because if you, you know, the most expensive supplement is the one that doesn't work. Right. Okay. So not everything is made equal, but again, um, I do think that taking probiotics is, uh, in, uh, in, um, sort of a preventative way can be valuable.

Speaker 4 (36:43):

Okay. Okay. No, thanks for answering that. Cause I, you know, the thing is I heard it, I don't know their credentials. Don't really, and it's been a year, a few years ago, but I think like you said, the key is probably, you know, doing the test to see if it's even necessary or if it's what's right.

Dr. Carol (37:00):

Well, the other that brings up this whole thing, I read it, I read this, I read that you go to Dr. Google. Yeah. Okay. And you know, Dr. Google is going to make him crazy because there's so much conflicting information. So in my opinion, um, I love to research, you know, and lots of people do. Um, but you need some, some way to decipher whether this is information that actually is valid. Right. Um, and, um, I think it's helpful to have somebody in your corner who has, uh, studied enough, who has enough, uh, years under their belt to go yay, Nate, or let's think about this Navy, you know, so you just don't go, I'm going to buy every, I have a pitch that she has. She came in with bags and bands of supplements, just everything she reads on Dr. Google, she, the slides, that's it? This is it.

Speaker 4 (38:02):

Yeah. Well, you know, and I, this is a long time ago. I had, you know, an unhealthy diet. I knew I did, and I wasn't eating fruits or vegetables. Mostly. It was, you know, restaurant food at every meal. So, uh, you know, I, I am that person. I started, you know, taking one and then I read something, it took more, you know, and it morphed into a whole bag full. And of course I took it to my doctor and let him look over him. And there was, there's one he threw out and wine. He added, I think K three was one that he wanted me to take. But then, you know, one thing we did, um, you know, when we started this show was we got the Krono meter. You know, we started monitoring our Mac, our micronutrients as well. And when, when we eat good, like we're supposed to, we were getting most of everything, you know, that we needed. I know there's some like the, the ones that you were talking about, the be five and six and see that you may need a boost to, uh, you know, help you with what you were talking about. But, um, I basically got off of most everything that I was taking and kind of pared it down to a few that I knew we were struggling with.

Dr. Carol (39:17):

That's a good, that's good. Um, because really what you're wanting to say at this point for our health, the best defense is a good offense, right? So you want to take, you want to, you know, strengthen your body as much as you can, given what your particular personal needs are. So you, you know, you want to, you want to put yourself in, uh, in that, uh, position of taking responsibility with the proper information. Right. Which I think is really important. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (39:51):

Yeah. Yeah. And so, so what can people do today if they're feeling overwhelmed, trying to figure all this stuff out all the time?

Dr. Carol (39:59):

Well, first of all, um, I wanted, I put, I have my notes somewhere. So the first, um, first thing is I would stop. I would consider like minimizing your doctor, Dr. Google. But, um, you have to figure out, you know, when you're feeling overwhelmed, you know, what's your personal, why, what do you, why do you want to be healthy? Do you want to be healthy to play with your kids, your grandkids, do you want to go to Hawaii and hike in the volcano? Um, you know, what is it that you're, what is your goals? You figure that out. Okay. So you can go as, is, is this important to me? What do I want to do? And then you try it. We were part of, in a situation where we want to, we really want to survive and thrive. So we're calling that thrival, we want to do that.

Dr. Carol (40:55):

So, um, we come up with, we find a mentor, if that's your choice, not everybody likes that who can support and figure out what's going on with you and support it. Um, also my website, I have a book, an ebook that I've written called this the essential aid, and it gives you a guide to those essential foundations. And you can go to my website, it's free. You can just click it. That's something you can do right now to get, and I can give you my website. Um, I can spell it out for you. Okay. Um, it's Dr. Dr. Carol C R O L S H w E R y.com. So Dr. Carol square.com, no period or anything you can go and you can go to, uh, go there and you can get my ebook. Okay. Okay. That's certainly one thing you can do. And did he decide that, um, you really want to investigate this further?

Dr. Carol (41:53):

You know, you want to go, she, I really want to be healthy. Um, I am offering your, your listeners today, a gift, and that is if you would like to talk to me and have me hear what's going on with you, um, what, what your health concerns are. If you have health concerns, what is driving you to say, I'm going to spend 15 minutes, a complimentary discovery consultation with me, 15 minutes on the phone, uh, where we talk about your health challenges, or we talk about the kind of, uh, programs that I provide and see if, what I have to offer you in terms of information, education, and a plan might be of service to you. I'm happy to do that for your listeners.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (42:45):

Very nice. Yes. Yeah. I may be the first one. I was going to say we have to Duke it out.

Dr. Carol (42:54):

Uh, but it's, it's nice to have for me, I'm the kind of person that wants to go to somebody who has years of experience that can go, Oh, I hear you. Or I see, like I've been watching cause you sort of your wear it on your face. That's a bad

Speaker 4 (43:12):

Thing about doing video now,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (43:17):

Whose idea was it to do video?

Speaker 4 (43:20):

You know, for so much of my life, it was, you know, it's meat, potatoes, and the only two vegetables that I like are, you know, potatoes and corn, probably the two worst ones,

Dr. Carol (43:31):

By the way, just why, I guess what those turn into in your body, those two, those two things, what have they turned into

Speaker 4 (43:40):

Carbs sugars.

Dr. Carol (43:42):

Totally. That's it? Yeah. That's all I do. So is that going to affect your blood sugar potentially? Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (43:52):

And the other thing is the quickness and, you know, that's one thing that we, we were on a good path. We were cooking in the kitchen and doing everything right. And then, you know, uh, Terry's mother had had a spell. And so we kind of, she had been out, you know, kind of in and out for two or three weeks, kinda got off track, but you know, it, it became easy, the easy path. And I think that's, uh,

Roy - Feeding Fatty (44:19):

Just grabbing something already, you know, some pre-packaged something just that you can eat and you don't have to prepare and then just go back to your work and, you know, yeah. I mean, I'm not just saying you no, but that's,

Speaker 4 (44:32):

That's the way it is. It's hurry up and eat so we can sit back down and get back to work. And I guess it's a bigger picture is take the break, eat the good meal, take, go for a walk, get away and get out of the chair.

Dr. Carol (44:44):

I say, it's, um, these basics they're fundamental. Are they sexy? Meaning, uh, you know, is it like, Hey, this, this has been real easy, really? You know, it's going to be, well, these are the day-to-day ins and outs that are not so exciting. Right. But they will keep us moving and alive better and longer if we do them, but it can be like the drudgery. So we have to figure out how to make that better.

Speaker 4 (45:14):

It's funny. That's the other thing I think it's funny you mentioned is that, um, I guess at some point I got wrapped up in that food is fun. And so, you know, it'd be like, when she'll tell me, Oh, I got some broccoli. I'd be like, Oh,

Speaker 5 (45:32):

Uh, shoulders, did you get me a snack? I sure did. Rugeley

Speaker 4 (45:40):

Yeah. So you know it, and it, we talk about it and I can say the words, it's harder to put into practice that we need to eat to live. We don't need to live to eat. And it, you know, we, while we can make it a social event, as far as us setting down, talking about our day, talking about tomorrow, you know, that shouldn't be where we gain our, shouldn't be what we look forward to for our fun, I guess.

Dr. Carol (46:05):

Well, I'm going to have a slight disagreement with you because food can and should be fun. I think that that is one of the basic enjoyments in life. It's that our taste buds have been programmed to think only certain things taste fun. Yes. But if we can retrain them. Okay. So I D I think food is a foundational piece of, you know, of enjoyment and we should, you know, and so I think we can alter that so that you can, anybody can change and make it fun. Even if it's not fun with, I don't know what you loved most, except I do know you love potato. Right. Um, but it can't be fun.

Speaker 4 (47:00):

Yeah. I'm going to have to really give that some more.

Speaker 5 (47:03):

I'll see what I'm working with here. This is hard. This is really hard.

Dr. Carol (47:09):

Uh, I'm gonna keep doing it.

Speaker 4 (47:11):

No. And I give her a lot of credit. I mean, she jazzes things up and re you know, trying stuff out, which it it's, it's more delightful. It's just, it's not my thing. You know, I'd read that, uh, the vegetable part I'm, I'm like, wait a minute,

Dr. Carol (47:31):

You might be a great candidate for drinking your drink and your veggies.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (47:35):

Right. Yeah. And you went down a little.

Speaker 4 (47:39):

Yeah, I did that a little. I bought a, it was like a green mix, some kind of green powder that had all the vegetables wrapped up in it. And, you know, I had gotten pretty good about making some smoothies, uh, with that in it. So we, I may have to revisit that or look at making, uh, making some with fresh vegetables too. We haven't really tried juicing.

Dr. Carol (47:59):

Good. Did you guys have a, I don't know. Do you guys have, um, Costco in Texas? Okay. So Costco, at least where I am, uh, they have, uh, bags of organic grew, dark leafy greens. And the reason I say called Costco is there's so much cheaper than if you go to the store. So you can get a big old bag of dark leafy greens, organic at Costco for a few bucks. And you can, I mean, you can just dig your hand in there and really make it make a great trick. I did want to say too, what I like to do to make the drink, uh, more palatable is I have these things called medical foods. So if somebody let's say has an influence, if inflammation is one of their big problems, I have medical, uh, powder, which has vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and also supplements in it for inflammation. You mix that in with your drink, or if somebody's blood sugar, if that's their big issue, I have powders for that. So you can combine getting your nutrients and supplements in with your drink so that it becomes multipurpose. Right.

Roy - Feeding Fatty (49:12):

That'd be ideal right there. All right.

Dr. Carol (49:15):

Yeah. I mean, that's how I start my morning. Um, and I just feel like for, I mean, it's hard to get that stuff in and if you, if you're sitting there going Rockley

Roy - Feeding Fatty (49:27):

Squash is a really big one. You don't like squash. I think, I think it's the word squash, maybe. I don't know, but none of it, I mean, pretty much none there's spaghetti squash, you like that. All right.

Dr. Carol (49:41):

You don't like to Keenis you don't like Sakina maybe just don't fix them.

Speaker 4 (49:46):

No carrots, no squash, no com I like, you know, catch up, but I don't like tomatoes raw. I mean, it's really just meat potatoes and some corn

Roy - Feeding Fatty (49:57):

And bread and bread. Oh, well,

Speaker 4 (50:07):

Um, I guess we'll, uh, we'll call it, uh, you give me some things to work on, so we'll, let me get started. What we need to do is we need to make an appointment to, uh, you know, get you back on the show, continue this, because like you said, we could, we could talk about it for hours and hours. It's very interesting to me because I want to learn. I want to do better. I really do. I just have to find that, you know, I think I just have to find the path for me is just the no,

Dr. Carol (50:36):

That's right. And you know, one of the things, you know, like when somebody becomes a client, um, I ask them, you know, we have a very long consultation, so I can try and understand the root causes of what may be going on or not going on with somebody. Plus I have about 30 pages of questionnaires. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, because that way, well, yeah, because I don't care how long I talk. I'm never going to remember all the things I need. It's just not going to happen. So, so that way we really get down to the meat and potatoes [inaudible] so that's what I do. And I know if you guys, or any of your peeps on the show are interested in doing this, I'm going to give you my phone number, call my office and set up a time. Okay. So if you call them, I want you to say, you know, I was on your show. And so that they know, you know, what the connection is. My number is (831) 476-6906.

Speaker 4 (51:50):

Okay. And we'll be sure and put that in the show notes as well. But before we go, before we start wrapping up too much, let me ask you about, uh, is there a tool that you use in your, your daily life, a tool, habit, ritual, professional, personal, something that you do every day that you just couldn't do without?

Dr. Carol (52:11):

Yes. Okay. Um, I've been a meditator for 40 years, but I decided I needed some help in that area. So there's a group that just happens to be located in my County. And the group is called heart math. Have you heard of them? No. Art man. You can go to their website, heartmap.org, I believe.

Speaker 4 (52:36):

Is it M a T H like math,

Dr. Carol (52:39):

Math, hard math. Yeah. One word, one word. And, um, they have a device called inner balance. It's $129, or it might be for, I have an iPhone. It works with the iPhone for 129. Uh, and then I think for, uh, Android, it might be, or for Bluetooth, which I did not want. Um, it may be one 49, but it's a way for a person to learn how to use their breath and learn how to, um, go into their heart, uh, and find a level of gratefulness that causes, uh, what we call a heart, the heart rate, variability. It just is a term that talks about what's your heart is doing. And it represents a level of calm. There's a great deal of research on this. They've been, they've been at this for about 40 years, but it has brought great calm to me and my patients. Okay. And I feel like we're living in times where we need to find methods to have that calmness. Right. And I encourage people to go to that website. Cause it's, it's powerful.

Speaker 4 (53:59):

Speaking of breathing that that's one of the other big things that used to be on my list with the, uh, with the water and the sleep is I had it's like breathe, remember to breathe because I am the world's worst about holding my breath. And, you know, I had gone to one of these painting parties once, you know, and the lady was walking around, checking our workout. She's like, it's okay if you take a breath every now and then, cause I was just like so intense and it's just, but uh, you know, I've done a little bit of yoga before and it's just amazing what we can control with our breath if we just be mindful of that. So definitely something worth checking out for sure. Yeah.

Dr. Carol (54:40):

Yeah. I'm just trying to think of this. I wasn't old Yogi for many years and then I decided to become paralyzed instead stuff,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (54:50):

You know, I have never tried yoga. Isn't that terrible. Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Carol (54:56):

You get addicted to it. Yeah. Yeah. It's very, one of the beauties of yoga is that you lose, you have to stay very present or are you going to fall down? Okay. You need to just be in your body. And yoga is not easy. No,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (55:16):

I mean, I've, I've done certain aspects of it, you know, but not ever really sat through a whole class, you know, and I need it.

Dr. Carol (55:24):

Well, I encourage you to, um, to do it. And I have a friend, uh, uh, one of my oldest friends from high school, she teaches yoga and she's teaching it online. She lives in New York. And now that I cannot think of her website, but I could certainly get that to you because she's teaching five days a week online and she's teaching for beginners.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (55:49):

Oh, that's what I need. Definitely. Yeah. Okay.

Dr. Carol (55:51):

So that's the beauty of it. Yeah. What it,

Speaker 4 (55:55):

A lot of people don't understand that. Um, I have, uh, a DVD of a lady. She has like an am and a PM routine. And she was good about the modifications because it's tough. I mean, if you try to start out doing what these instructors do, I mean, you'll give up are, I'd give up in a minute because it's number one, it's difficult with the flexibility. But number two, it takes a lot of body strength. I mean, they have to have a lot of body control.

Dr. Carol (56:24):

Well, there's two aspects to, um, yoga strength and stretch, right? Some people are quite strength oriented and other people are quite stretched or either I was the ladder. I was extremely flexible, but I actually, I utilized, I did not utilize my body correctly because I wasn't strong enough. So I did a lot of work that ended up hurting my joints because I was always using my joints rather than the muscular strength. Yeah. So you need somebody, one of the beauties of have going to a live class is that they watch you, even when you're virtual, they go, okay, Terry, I want you to do this. Yeah. And adjust accordingly. That's fine. Yep. Right. And men are more, clearly not as flexible for the most part. So you guys use your strength, but you don't have that stretch, which makes it equally difficult. Right.

Speaker 4 (57:21):

Right. Well, Dr. Carol, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to be with us. And, uh, we definitely will, uh, you know, set up another time. It's been enjoyable talking to you. I feel like we've gained so much information. I have learned so much. So, uh, if you don't mind again, I know you gave us the phone number, but tell us the website again, how people can,

Dr. Carol (57:42):

Should I just spell it? Yeah, I'll just spell it. www.drcarolshwery.com.

Speaker 4 (57:54):

Okay. And we will con uh, we will put that in the phone number in the show notes as well. So they will be there for everybody to look again. Thanks a lot. Uh, thank you so much.

Dr. Carol (58:07):

Thank you. This was really fun. All right.

Speaker 4 (58:11):

Well, we won't thank our listeners for being here. Of course, we're on all the major platforms, iTunes, Google play, Stitcher, Spotify. We've just been added to a few more of the Pandora, Amazon, and, uh, uh, another big one. I can't think about which one anyway, if we're not on one that you listened to, if you're not on, if we're, if we're not a one you'd listen to let us know we'll get added to it, but you can find us at www dot feeding, fatty.com. We're also on, uh, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, um, look us up. We'd be glad if you are professional. I'm sorry if you are a professional. Uh, okay. Yeah, if you are a professional, uh, we'd love to hear from you and hear your insight if you had, uh, if you're somebody that's had some success with, uh, getting healthy weight, loss, exercise, things like that. We'd love to hear from you as well until next time I am Roy on Terry.

www.drcarolshwery.com

www.feedingfatty.com