This episode I breakdown the results of my 4 week vegan challenge. Although I was only planning on doing it for a month, I have decided to continue on with my plant based life.

My end weight after the 4 week challenge was 177.6 pounds and I started out at 181.4 pounds. I essentially lost 5 pounds by not changing a thing, I still worked out, meditated, and surfed, but only cut out meat and dairy from my diet. I’m feeling and looking better than ever.

What has really helped me is having the support of my wife, who also did this challenge with me. She has been doing a lot of cooking which has really made it easier to life this lifestyle.

I have tons of energy, I’m still lifting weights and feeling strong. I never realized how meat and dairy affected the way I felt, mainly in a negative way.

I believe that everyone needs to go all plant based or at least mostly plant based. There is too much information available proving how much healthier we will be as individuals and a society if we switch to a plant based diet.

Besides just feeling and looking great, you will reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. One thing we have to realize is that we have been fed the wrong information over our lives regarding meat and diary.

We are also trying to cut down the amount of processed food that we eat. Many times we see something like almond milk and think that it’s healthy, but if you look at the ingredients you’ll see that there is lots of chemicals used in production.

You also have to learn about the impact that the factory farming is having on our environment. The amount of land, food, and water that is required to raise and grow animals for food production is extremely costly. We have to realize that these problems are real, and if you spend some time and do the research you’ll realize that you need to start making a difference.

Do it for your health. Don’t you want to live a long and healthy life? If you keep eating a rich meat and diary diet your health will be effected. If you really want to feel better, live longer, and do something to help the planet, then you have to start to make a difference.

If not you, who? If not now, when? - Arnold Swaggerer

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Thank you,

Terry Carter

Today, I'm going to talk about how I'm feeling after finishing my 2nd week of my 30 Day Plant Based Vegan Diet. Just to be clear vegan is cutting out all meat and diary out of your diet.

I was out surfing this morning and got motivated to rush home and record this. Even though the kids are stirring and the dog is out and about I wanted to share with you exactly how I'm feeling both mentally and physically.

I'm feeling outstanding, my energy in incredible and I'm loving of my body is responding to this plant based diet.

Although I don't sleep much anyway but I have been averaging 3-4 hours of sleep a night. But I think the key is that I'm getting up consistently at 4 AM to do my morning routine and my body and mind is locking into a solid routine.

In this 2 week period I have lost 3 pounds. Losing weight has not been the goal but it's just a side of effect of cutting out the meat and diary out of my diet. Don't get me wrong it's nice to drop a few pounds but I am not starving myself or limiting the amount of food I'm eating. As long as it's vegan I'm eating as much and whenever I want.

Here is what my diet is looking like right now: - Banana with almond butter in the morning. - Oatmeal with flaxseeds, chia seeds and blueberries. - Raw vegetables: carrots, bell peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, with hummus. - Black bean burger (without a bun) - Organic home popped pop corn. - Fruits: apples, pears - For dinner: sweet potatoes, quinoa, peas or corn

For date night my wife and I have found several really great vegan restaurants here in the San Diego area. We have also found a vegan bakery that makes the most amazing cookies and desserts, and we even found a vegan double chocolate gelato that is to die for.

Going vegan is a great choice but can be difficult to explain to your family and friends.

My advice is that you have to be strong in your convictions of why your choosing a vegan diet. But I recommend that you talk to them and answer their questions and inform them the best that you can.

Remember that this is a 30 day vegan challenge for me. It's no different than when I did the 30 day sugar detox a few months ago.

It's give it a shot for 30 days and then see how you feel. You don't have to be locked down to something for the rest of your life. Maybe you want this to become a permanent part of your life but take it one day at a time.

For example I do eat sugar now, but it's in very limited quantities and I'm more aware of sugar and how much of it I consume.

You have to be able to make it at least 30 days of stopping something. If you can't stop drinking, smoking, eating sugar or eating meat, then you have to examine your discipline.

If you struggle with discipline and courage there are many great resources out there, especially here on YouTube that can help you.

I recently finished the book Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. An amazing book on courage, resilience, toughness, and determination.

The story is about the worse tragedy in US Navy SEAL history. After all 3 of his SEAL team is killed he fights and crawls for his survival.

He talks about after being down and deflated he decides that he is going to grab a rock, stretch it out in front of him, draw a line in the dirt, and crawl to the line. Once he reaches the line he drew another line and crawled to it. He did this for over 7 miles to escape the enemy who were looking for him to kill him.

Here is a short video by Marcus Luttrell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_Pi42Hv858

Remember to stay in the present moment, don't look to the future. Take it one day at a time even one meal at a time to help create that discipline.

Quote of the day: "You got to be f#(@* tired of not being #1" Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

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Terry Carter

Today I'm going to talk about my 30 Day Plant Based Diet that I'm trying.

As a successful musician you can't perform at a high level if you don't feel good.

Many of you know that I'm big on exercise, eating well, meditating, positive thinking, and reading a lot.

Although lately I haven't been feeling 100%. I wouldn't say that I have felt bad, but I feel like there was some room for improvement.

In attempts to better health I decided to do a 30 day all plant based diet.

This is something that I'm a little scared of. I have eaten meat and dairy my entire life so giving it up, even for 30 days is scary.

Although my diet didn't involve a lot of meat or dairy, mainly chicken or fish with dinner or eggs with my breakfast or milk with my coffee, but I felt like it may have been the thing causing me to feel the way I was.

We also generally tried to avoid red meat and only had it occasionally.

I was watching some videos on Netflix and it started to change the way that I was thinking about meat and dairy.

I high recommend watching these 2 documentaries about food and diet.

The first is called, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan https://www.netflix.com/title/80097071

The second is called, Forks Over Knives https://www.netflix.com/title/70185045

What is great about this videos is that they have great information and studies on how much food and diet can not only help us feel better, but how it can actually reverse many of the diseases so many people suffer from. Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and even cancer.

Another great thing about these videos is that they are not scare tactic videos. They don't try to get to get you to eat a plant based diet by showing tons of animals being mistreated or abused. Matter of fact the Michael Pollan video talks about eating a mostly plant based diet.

I watched both these videos on a Saturday night and decided the very next day to try to go plant based or vegan.

I was nervous to approach my wife about this because, this would essentially change the way we ate. When I mentioned to her that I wanted to try a plant based diet, she didn't say a word, she simply turned around and pulled out 4 books on plant based eating.

She purchased the books a while ago but was actually nervous to talk to me about going to a vegan diet.

To my delight she was totally on board with this diet and even ready like I was to start immediately.

I love the fact that we didn't ease into it or go out and eat a bunch of meat or dairy and then start the diet. It was literally like let's start right now.

We decided to give the plant based diet a 30 day trial and see how we felt. This is very similar to the 30 day sugar free diet we did at the beginning of the year. Here is the vlog on it, https://youtu.be/74Y0FXfSVT4

I'm convinced based on the research that I have done and the experiments I have tried with eating, that this will make me feel better, have more energy and perform at even a higher level.

This whole thing comes down to being successful and you can't be successful if you don't feel well. You have to feel good, be energetic, and you have to put the right things in your body, along with all the other things such as exercise, meditation, and breathing.

So far I feel great. I know that it has only been a few days and sometimes changes are easy at first but can be more of a struggle as time goes on, so let's see how I feel after a week, 2 weeks, a month, or even after 6 months.

I can tell you this, I feel great this week. I feel full after eating a meeal but I don't feel stuffed like you do so many times after eating a big meat based meal.

I highly recommend watching the films that I suggested above and whether they make you change your diet or not, but hopefully they will at least make you think more about the food you put in your body.

The better you treat your body, the better you treat your mind, the more your going to become that better performer, the better songwriter, or whatever your goals are to become a successful musician.

Quote of the day: "The way you do one thing is the way you do everything."

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Terry Carter

In this 4K motivational video I'll discuss how I dealt with a performance where I sucked and learned to be better.

Part of any kind of success is also going through some low points or failures. Today instead of telling you something I did well at or excelled at, I’m going to discuss something that I failed at.

This is a story that is hard to discuss because we want to believe that we always perform at high levels and that we are essentially “perfect.”

I got a call from a good buddy and wanted to know if I wanted to teach a summer guitar class and perform for the faculty concert at what was then called L.A.M.A. (the Los Angeles Music Academy).

I said yes since I would do anything for this friend but also because I was going to teach a class at the school in the Fall and thought it would be a good way to get to know the other faculty and staff.

Shortly after agreeing to do the gig, my grandpa passed away suddenly. This was extremely difficult because I wasn’t prepared and I was really close to my grandpa. He had helped raise me and helped me become the man that I am today. Plus, this was the first time that I had someone close to me die.

Within’ a few days of my grandpa’s passing, my wife and I had our yearly trip to England to visit her grandma.

We were going to be in England for 2 weeks and then the concert was literally the day after we got back to Los Angeles.

I had my guitar and the setlist for the hour show, but honestly it was extremely difficult to concentrate on anything except just coping with the loss.

Although there was only about 8 songs, I didn’t devote very much time to preparing for the concert.

When we returned to Los Angeles the summer school started the next day and the concert was the very first day of school.

As I walked into the performance hall I didn’t know any of the musicians and besides a sound check there was no rehearsal for the show.

The room was filed with students, faculty, and recording equipment. We played the show and I sucked. I played horribly. I wasn’t prepared properly, I missed intros, and I wasn’t in the right state of mind.

I didn’t feel great after the concert but I got a call from buddy who hired me for the gig and he said that the school no longer wanted me to teach there the next semester. I actually played so bad that I got fired.

I felt bad for a few reasons. First, I let my buddy down, he trusted me with this gig and put his name on the line and I didn’t come through. Second, playing bad in front of your colleagues and students is hard to deal with.

I remember thinking to myself, would I ever get hired from my buddy again? Would he ever trust me or my talents again?

What I realized is that you always have to push through these situations. You either have to find a positive or learn something that you can take away from the experience.

Now that I look back at the situation, yes it is still a little painful, but I ask myself why did I take the gig?

I knew that I was going to be out of town on vacation up until the gig which would leave me little time to prepare like I wanted to. Plus, after my grandpa passed, I should have gotten someone else to do it, knowing that I wouldn’t be in the right state of mind to play a show.

If your not prepared or don’t have the time to prepare to get something to the level that you want it to be, then don’t do it.

You never want to embarrass yourself or let other people down.

The good news was that I have worked with my buddy many times after this event and he did trust me as we played and worked with some fairly popular artists such as Josh Groban, Weezer, and Robby Krieger from The Doors.

I have also learned that whenever I agree to work on a project I will always put in my best effort and make sure I have the time to achieve at a high level.

Realize that you are going to have a lot of successes in your career but you are also going to have a lot of failures as well. You have to learn how to deal with and learn from your failures the best that you can.

“If your striving for excellence their is no such thing as over preparation” - Col. Chris Hadfield

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Terry Carter

In this 4K motivational video I'll discuss how to Track Your Goals and achieve the success in life that you are looking for.

You have your dreams and you set your goals but now you have to track your progress along the way.

I'm going to use my weight as an example to demonstrate how you can use tracking to reach your goals.

I set a goal to get to 180 pounds. Since I was at 191 pounds that meant that I had to lose 11 pounds.

My first step was to start a sugar and carb detox. For 3 weeks we completely cut out sugars, yes even fruit, and all carbs (breads, grains, etc.).

I still did my daily exercise, lifting weights, stretching, and meditation but really focused on controlling my diet.

We already lived a pretty healthy diet but decided to step it up a level.

To track my weight and my progress I decided that at 7:00 AM every Monday I would weigh myself. This allowed me to get an accurate weight and allowed me to see if what I was doing was working.

Week 1 I weighed in at 191 pounds. By week 2 I dropped 2 pounds and was 189. Week 3 I got down to 185.

So it was working, just by simply cutting out sugar I had dropped 6 pounds.

By tracking your sugar intake and reading food labels, you begin to realize that there is sugar in everything. So many products that we buy at the grocery store, many which you would never think of, have sugar in them.

Sugar is so addicting and taste good, that many companies put it in to not only help with taste but to sub-consciously get addicted so you will buy the product again.

Finding foods without sugar can be difficult but with a little work and awareness it can be done.

Week 4 rolls around and I'm at 185 again. To be exact it was 185.4, just like the week before. The next week 185.4 and then the following week 185.4 yet again. I started to think that the scale was broken.

Four straight weeks I didn't fluctuate at all. Although this can be discouraging since I'm working so hard and sacrificing foods I love to eat but I had to stay the course until I reached my goal of 180 pounds.

The following week I get down to 182 pounds. Finally have a month I start heading in the right direction again and lose over 3 pounds.

Then the next week I hit 181 pounds and then at the time of this video I was 180.8 pounds. So I was 0.8 pounds away from my goal.

The main reason I did this was for health reasons and to overall feel better.

By tracking my weight every week it allowed me to see if what I was doing was working. Is the diet I'm doing working? Is the exercise I'm doing working?

Let's say that one week I was 185 pounds and the next week I went to 187 pounds. Then I could look back and ask myself, "why did I go up 2 pounds?" Did I eat poorly? Did I not exercise enough?

Whatever the reason, I now know that I have to make some adjustments this week to get the results that I'm looking for.

The line to success is never straight, it's a winding road that you have to learn from your mistakes, make adjustments, and find new solutions.

But, if your not tracking your progress then you don't know how close you are to your dreams and your goals.

Even though I'm using my weight in this example you can do this with anything, doesn't matter what your dreams or goals are.

You need to track it, write it down everyday, every week, or every month whatever your system it to track it.

You have to track it, this way you don't do something for 3 months and realize that what your doing isn't working.

All your dreams are possible, all your goals are possible, but track them, and keep an idea of where your at. Also, when you hit small milestones and start having some success you start feeling good about yourself and start gaining some confidence.

I have 0.8 pounds to go to hit my goal and when I do I'll set a new goal. Update I did reach my goal and got down to 179.6 pounds.

Track your dreams and track your goals.

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Thank you for listening,

Terry Carter

In this podcast I'll discuss how and when I got my first composition on MTV.

Around the time I was graduating from the University of Southern California with my Master of Music in Studio/Jazz Guitar, I was working around Los Angeles as a professional musician.

One of the things I wanted to get into more than anything was studio recording work. At the time I was mainly playing guitar but I was also working up my skills as a lap steel, dobro, banjo, and mandolin player.

I was also studying country guitar with the great Steve Trovato and loving anything that had twang, like Johnny Cash, Jerry Reed, Albert Lee, Chet Atkins, Roy Clark, Buck Owens, and Les Paul.

I was doing any kind of recording sessions you can imagine. Some in big time studios and some literally in people's bedroom studios. I just wanted to get experience recording.

One day I answered an ad on Craigslist from a songwriter named Chris Frame who was looking for a multi-instrumentalist to play on 4 of his songs for his upcoming album.

I remember my first day I went to his studio, also a bedroom studio, but he had all the professional gear, including one of the first Pro Tools systems called the 888.

Since I didn't know what to expect I took every instrument I could fit in my car including a Gibson ES-335 (which was a recent birthday present from my wife), a Fender Telecaster, a Recording King Lap Steel, and a Dobro and Banjo I got from my grandpa.

Chris and I hit it off right away. Our personalities, style in music, and work ethic were very similar and our friendship began.

We spent the next few days recording for his album, which was a mix of country, rock, and southern rock. We did lead guitar, banjo, lap steel, and even a little mandolin.

Although Chris was a very demanding producer, he was also very talented musician, songwriter, and could work Pro Tools better than anyone I had ever seen.

Around this time I found a guy on Craigslist that was the music supervisor for MTV and he was looking for some tracks to place in some of their shows.

I had always wanted to write tracks for TV and since Chris and I were done with the album I suggested that we do a few and submit them and see what happens.

Chris was excited about the idea and was ready to get started.

The process is that first the music supervisor gave us some popular radio songs and told us to "copy" them. When I say copy, it's really more of make them sound like these songs but don't infringe of the original artists copy write. This is a very standard procedure in the film and TV world.

Some of the bands he wanted us to sound like were The Killers and Weezer.

The way Chris and I worked was that I would go and listen to the songs, and write chord progressions that sounded like the original tracks. In the studio Chris would help with the arrangement and then program the drums and play the bass. After I would lay down the guitar parts, we would add any keys or special sound effects, mix it and it was done.

The energy was really flowing and we did 10 tracks in the matter of a few days.

We submitted them to our MTV guy and waited. A few weeks later I got an email from the guy saying that we placed one of our tracks on an MTV show called Wild Boyz. Wild Boyz is a "Jackass" style show that featured Steve O and friends in different parts of the world doing stupid stuff.

Anyway, he says that the show will air on a Wednesday night. I set up my TIVO during band rehearsal that night so we wouldn't miss it. We both forgot about the show and after rehearsal Chris started to drive home to Santa Monica.

When I went to my house I remembered that I had recorded the episode of Wild Boyz. I sat anxiously watching the show waiting for the familiar sound of one of our songs.

Sure enough during the middle of the episode I hear one of the tracks that Chris and I wrote. It was so cool that I got goose bumps hearing my music on TV. I immediately called Chris and he got so excited he turned around and drove back to my house.

We must have watched it over and over again, sitting there smiling like two school kids. It was an awesome feeling.

This began a long string of tracks that we got placed on MTV, but also lead to music that I have written for Scorpion (CBS), Pitbulls and Parolees (Animal Planet), PUMA, and even a theme for a professional hockey team.

All the music you hear in this video are tracks that Chris and I wrote.

The picture in the middle of the video is The Chris Frame Band taken at my studio Carter's Coyote Pass Studios. Chris is the tall guy on the right and I'm the cool guy with the dogs.

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