Bedros Keuilian Podcast Show - 207. Longevity in Life and Business

Episode Date: March 31, 2022

Bedros’ personal Doctor, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon stops by HQ today for an awesome in-depth interview! Bedros’ lifestyle and health is something he admittedly started optimizing only years ago through the help of Dr. Gabrielle. He brings to you today the life hacks, tips & tricks of the top high performers she calls her patients. Watch this full interview to find out how you can make sure you're playing the long game in the vehicle of your body, in order to build the empire of your business! Refer here down below for the key moments   00:32 - Introducing Bedros’ friend and Doctor! Dr. Gabrielle Lyon 05:14 - What does Doctor Gabrielle see in Bedros’ and other Entrepreneur’s patterns of harming their health? 10:39 - How can a high performer think long term?  11:19 - Doctor Gabrielle and Bedros go deep on the Sleep conversation 13:06 - How these vice habits affect high speed individuals over time 17:57 - How you can optimize IV’s for long hauls of work and avoid burn out 20:05 - How to program an Entrepreneurs lifestyle coming from a Doctor 28:36 - Protein! Bedros asks for a physician’s take on Plant-Based Protein vs. High Quality Animal Protein 32:05 - “Muscle is the organ of longevity” 34:05 - What are some shifts someone can take today to feel big changes in their health? 40:21 - Coffee? What's up with Coffee? 42:50 - Bedros breaks down his optimization tactics in his life now  46:52 - Where can we find Dr. Gabrielle Lyon? Connect with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon  https://www.instagram.com/drgabriellelyon/ https://drgabriellelyon.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWPQJeWz4pvccA3lIoZ7j1Q Connect with Bedros Keuilian : Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bedroskeuilian/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bedroskeuilian/ Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/KeuilianInc Twitter - https://twitter.com/bedroskeuilian LinkedIn - https://ww

When we think about longevity and we think about Alzheimer's prevention, then we have to think about muscle. Because a lot of these issues with body composition are not issues with body fat. We are not overfat. We are undermuscled as a society. Hey friends, welcome to The Empire Show. My name is Bedros Kulian, and this is an inside look, which means we've got a guest with us in studio. And this guest is none other than my doctor, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon. And not only are you a doctor and my doctor, but you are also a dear family friend. Welcome to the show, Gab. Thank you for having me.

Thank you for being here. The reason I asked you to be on the show is because I want to talk about optimization, like entrepreneurs. And what we talk about here on the Empire show is as entrepreneurs, we are athletes. Like we need to play at the highest level of performance. We need to show up every day. We don't have a set date that's our Super Bowl. Every day is our Super Bowl. And every day we take the court, we get on the field.

We want to play at the highest level of decision making, of marketing, of sales. We don't want to have thought fatigue, foggy-headedness. We want to make sure that we're healthy and showing up as great leaders. And what really sparked this in having you come on here is, lately I've been posting up before and after pictures of me, me 10 years ago, where I was still on testosterone, testosterone therapy, with another doctor, not you. But I was 30 pounds over fat, and you could see it in the pictures.

And here I am at 47 years old, 10 years later. So at 37, I was on testosterone, was strong, but fat, didn't sleep well, had a lot of mental fatigue and foggy-headedness. Here I am at 47. I have three more companies, many more employees, more demands on me, and I'm in better shape and I'm more mentally, physically, emotionally optimized. And a lot of that is due to the work that we've been doing together. So what better way to share human optimization with my audience than to bring the human that is helping me get optimized, right? So anyways, who introduced us?

Jason. Jason Redmond. Jason Redmond. Yeah. So for those of you that don't know, Jason's been on the show. Jason is a retired Navy SEAL, wrote two amazing books. One of them, his first one is a New York Times bestseller about leadership. And, you know, he had a lot of failed leadership attempts before he became an amazing leader. But in a tragic incident while on a mission in Iraq, he was shot several times across the body, once through the face, almost 40 surgeries later. They patched him back together. And as Jason and I hit it off his friends and I helped him improve his work from the stage, We're talking one day upstairs in my conference room.

And I paused and I'm like thinking. And he's like, looking at me like, are you okay? And it was the end of the day and I'm like, Jason, I'm so sorry. I'm a little, my memory doesn't work well right now. And he goes, why? I go, I think I just worked so much that my memory just starts to backfire. I go, in fact, sometimes when I leave HQ, I'd go park at the gas station just to clear out my text messages and stuff on my phone before I drive up the hill because I don't want to do my texts and stuff in front of the

family, right? So I always do my text messages there at the gas station while I'm listening to music, go through 20, 30 text messages, reply, and then turn off notifications and drive up the hill. I've got a pattern and that's one of my patterns of winning. I go, but sometimes I forget which way I'm supposed to go up the hill or down the hill to my house. It takes me a minute and he's like, dude, that's not, that's not fatigued. That's not fatigue. That's not normal.

Yeah. He goes, have you had any traumatic brain injury? I'm like, no, dude, I haven't been in the military. No doors blown up in front of me. Like, that's you guys. He goes, well, something's up with you. Can I introduce you to Gabrielle? And that's how we connected.

Yeah. And so when we did, I think that was one of the first things I told you was like, listen, I, from time to time, I'm having this memory issues. And fatigue. You were very tired. Yes. At the end of the day. Now, you come in, it's, you're like, on a. fire, ready to go.

Yeah, and the fatigue, in fact, I remember, like, I would hope that somebody would cancel a coaching call or an appointment, a meeting so I could take, like, a two o'clock nap, you know? And I just thought, well, it's, again, it's because I'm working so hard and demanding so much of my body and my brain. But in reality, there were several things, like thyroid. Thyroid was a big one for you. What was that heavy metal? Mercury.

Mercury poisoning. You're eating a lot of sushi. Mm-hmm. And so why don't we start there? So as you met me and you're like, okay, this guy's an entrepreneur, he's having this fatigue and memory issues. What made you start going down the rabbit hole of thyroid and heavy metals? Well, one of the things that I love that you said is this is one of the things that you do to win. And in my practice, I take care of innovators and leaders, individuals that change the world.

Jason is a patient, a lot of the seals. and one of the things that you see is they charge hard. Yeah. And an individual that charges hard typically will do whatever it takes. Right. That means sacrifice sleep. That means go long periods without eating. They'll probably train in the morning but really push through.

And just listening to your story when we were talking about what were some of the foods that you're eating. Do you remember how often you were eating sushi? I was eating sushi three to four times a week. Because it was easy. It was easy. It was convenient. A friend of mine owned the restaurant. And I'm a creature of pattern.

Which is important to know from a health care perspective. I was on my 10th year of eating sushi basically four times a week for 10 years. That is impressive. And large amounts. I eat large amounts when I eat. Yeah. You know what I mean? I do.

Yeah. Yeah. I saw those donuts on your desk. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Those were healthy. But that, so, you know, taking a good history and physical of an individual.

from a preventative aspect. So my job is to make sure that you are always able to function every day like you're in the Super Bowl. And that means even understanding what you're eating. When I heard that, you know, we went through your diet and you were, you know, pretty fit, I would say, as you are when you came in. But to talk about the content of what you were eating and also the pattern of fatigue, I knew that although you had been on testosterone, we needed to check everything. Right. And that included thyroid, also vitamin D. talked about your sleep.

Right. And then with the heavy metal, we keyleted you. And man, you are not happy to give up that sushi. Yeah. And I tested you again after. I was like, did you really, have you really? You know what's funny is for a whole year after that, I was so trigger-shy where sushi was concerned.

Now I'll eat it like once or twice a month. But for a whole year, I was so trigger-shy because from what I understand, not everyone is able to flush that mercury is out of out of their body, right? Well, everyone has a different capacity to detox. Got it. And I used that word loosely, but everyone has a different capacity. Gotcha.

Yeah. Gotcha. So again, I was just very grateful that I was able to get down to healthy levels, and then that you were able to regulate my thyroid. Yeah. Which immediately, it's not like I gained energy. I just didn't where the thyroid was concerned. You know, people always asked me, like, did you all of a sudden gain the energy?

No. But I didn't all of a sudden fall off the cliff at 2 o'clock and feel like I just needed to put my head down and sleep for 30 minutes. And your memory. Your memory is better. I actually, I don't know if you remember when we first met, you were very tired. You were really struggling with fatigue. Always. And also, we change your testosterone dose.

And I don't know if I can't talk about that. But again, part of an entrepreneur is go hard or go home. Right? And lots of times the state. standard dose or even a little bit over the recommended dose of testosterone, whatever that is, maybe too much for an individual. And actually, when you pull it back, the body, you know, the receptors upregulate, the body can actually utilize the testosterone better.

Yeah, which is exactly what happened. And again, I'm an open book, so I don't mind sharing this with anyone and guys and gals. If you're watching and listening to this, you have questions that we weren't able to answer. Just send me a DM and more than happy to help you guys or send Dr. Gabrielle if you want to, you know, consider working with her a DM. But like for me, I went from 200 to 250 to 300 milligrams of testosterone sypinate a week, just thinking, well, maybe more is better because I'm fatigued and I don't feel the, the aggression in the gym like I used to. And then when you put me on, I think it was 186 milligrams. Yeah, 185. And we started subculeg. And we also did subcue,

which, I mean, I don't know if you were super fan of that for a period of time. In the beginning, I was skeptical because you don't necessarily hear about oil-based testosterone going subcutaneous. Normally, it's intramuscular, those of you that know, no. And I was a believer in that. And so to have those, but I think what was happening is I was stuck in old knowledge and didn't realize that so much new research and information had come out and that doctors like you existed. Like I had no idea.

Yeah. And so had Jane not made that introduction? one, I would have not known about the high levels of mercury in me. Two, I would imagine that would just keep using higher doses of testosterone. Terrible. Right? Because more is better when you're high speed. And then on top of that, there's only so much coffee and Red Bull that you could have after

2 o'clock because at some point you know you need to sleep, but you're still trying to get that energy bump. And so that's really helped me out big time in terms of personal optimization. But you said something a second ago. you said preventative. Right. Most people aren't preventative. They are reactive.

Reactive. Yes, sir. What do you find, like, how do you change someone's mind to go, hey, if you were preventative, we can really help prevent issues later? Well, entrepreneurs, they want to win. Yes. And the way in which they win is longevity. It's really a game about longevity.

It's not short-term strategies. The key is to give. get an individual to understand that there's a battle rhythm and there are ebbs and flows. And depending on what those are, that we can prevent, you know, if we think about the long-term trajectory, for example, sleep, when I first met you, I won't say anything about your sleep study, but when I first met you, sleep was not really a priority. Right. And one of the things, and that is with almost all entrepreneurs, that is the first thing.

And I'll say this. That they give up. You're absolutely right. Because when you go, okay, where can I find more time to work? The second thing that we think of is better productivity and time management. The first thing we think about is, well, I can give up an hour or two of sleep. Right. And so if you go from six to five hours or four hours at night, like that's a substantial.

Right. And I believe there's almost like sleep debt. It adds up. There is. And there are repercussions. One of the things that we know is that over time it really affects memory because sleep is the time that the brain cleans itself. I did a fellowship in geriatrics at Washu in St. Louis. And one of my jobs was a memory and aging clinic.

And sleep, lack of sleep is a risk factor for later life memory impairment. Wow. And that is a very big deal. Processing speed. And also, listen, every guy cares about testosterone and hormones. Right. Sleep really impacts that. Also, blood sugar regulation.

One thing that is so important for entrepreneurs to understand is their weaknesses. Really, really plan for them. Individuals that are pushing hard and not sleeping, it will definitely affect their ability to regulate their blood sugar. Yeah. Let's talk about that for a moment because especially I see this with my coaching clients. You see it with your patients. I also saw it with myself. High-speed entrepreneurs that are always pushing and have their foot on the gas pedal,

they're either going to over-consume a ton of food at night, like that stress response to food, the emotional eating, the I need to get all this, like, relax and take the food in. Or they also, or and they take the edge off with alcohol. Right. And it's predictable. Yeah. That's what's so interesting. interesting is people think of entrepreneurship is not predictable, but from a health care perspective,

each and every one of you are very predictable. Yeah. And so what do you see in patterns like that? Yeah. When you see an entrepreneur or anyone high speed, a great athlete or whatever, someone who's dealing with stress and is dealing with stress because they know that they have a purpose, a drive, they have a passion for doing something. So the stress must continue.

but they are managing it poorly through alcohol, through bad sleep, through overeating at night, foods that are going to spike insulin. How does that show up the alcohol, the overeating throughout the next day, the days after? Yeah, it's interesting. It is a very predictable pattern of increased vice use, whether that vice is food, whether that vice is alcohol. And again, it goes back to battle rhythms. It is predictable what will happen the following day.

And ultimately, you see individuals crash. They can only do that for so long. Maybe they put on weight, maybe they're then become pre-diabetic, or their cognitive function goes down, the way in which they think and process. And for an entrepreneur or an athlete or an individual who really cares about their business, they can only go as far as their health capacity. That is going to be the ceiling. Individuals could argue and say, no, it's mental. I am telling you as a physician, it is physical. Nothing will take you out faster.

Yeah, yeah. Well, one, you've got a good point there. And two, I can tell you that when my stress levels were high and recovery levels were low, optimization was low, recovery was low, stress levels were high. I would randomly get, pull my back, pull my shoulder, like something in my shoulders, like impinged, traps were super tight. Like my body, there's a great book out there called The Body Keeps the Score. Of course, of course.

When I read that, I was like, holy crap, like your body truly does keep the score, both, like, physically, like you said, in cognitive thinking and loss of memory and the slugging issue of the way you think. But also physically, all of a sudden you start developing aches and pains in your body. You're like, what the hell, man? Like, I can't even get my workouts in because I'm always injured. And I realized I'm not doing anything to get injured. I think this might be a byproduct of, like, poor sleep, poor diet. and the vices that I would turn to, again, if I'm replacing a cup of water with a cup of coffee,

if I'm eating three bagels and one sitting at night, which that was a regular practice for me three, four times a week, and I crack the bagels in half and I dip it in that whipped cream cheese. You just hurt my heart right there. Right? So imagine that. And so those of you that are seeing that before picture of me from 10 years ago, like I would literally go like, all right, I'm growing this franchise.

This is the problems that I'm dealing with. No one can relate to me. So I would go home and I would just sit there and work through my problems as I'm eating. And what about eating carbs and sugar? What is it about it that makes you feel so good? It is just that kind of reward dopamine hit, that emotional response. Holy shit. And then it becomes a habit and individuals continue on in this habitual nature. Which is dangerous for us because as an entrepreneur, you're really good at building habits, especially success habits. As it turns out, you're You could also build vice habits easily. But you have to plan for that. People cannot be surprised by their predictable nature. Right. Individuals will become more stressed. It is part, it's the name of the game.

Yeah. So individuals have to plan. There are times of push. And you plan for that. And you really think about, you're not surprised by the fact that you've worked 27 days. You know that this is what you're going to do. You can dig in and say, listen, I'm going to train in the morning. I'm going to be dialed in during the day.

I'm going to take whatever supplements I'm taking, you know, vitamin D, anti-inflammatory agents, whether it's fish oil, there's strategies in place. And then you know maybe for this block, you might get less sleep. But immediately after, you have to plan for that recovery. Yes. Maybe that's an IV or maybe, you know,

when we were getting you ready for the project. Right. We knew that we had to get you so you could cognitively focus for those long periods of time and now you're pro at it. Yeah. That's actually a good point.

And look, those of you that are like, maybe you're on the speaking circuit, maybe you're in a fundraising sprint. Like if you're in a fundraising sprint, for 30, 40, 50 days, you're doing Zooms, flying around the country, meeting people that you're trying to raise capital. And you're going to be burnt out. The reality is, and I do this now, Bryce does this as well. As soon as he comes back from an event, we're getting IV. Yeah. Right. And so what's the right kind of IV to get?

And the first time I got it was when I was like, hey, Doc, it seems like every time after the project, I catch a cold or a flu or something. And what do I need to do to go into the project? Because, yes, it's 75 hours. I get very little sleep during that time, as to all the other instructors. But then I have to come out of the project and still be the CEO. Right. And you have to work. And I have to work.

And it's just draining on me when I'm also finding off a head cold. and you're like, have you ever gotten IV before? And I've never gotten one. And you know, you'd hear about them. But what's in a good IV bag like that that is going to help? Like, what are the people looking for? Well, they're looking for fluids, which is, of course, where they're going to get. And also vitamin C, which is a big one.

And, you know, depending on how big you are and how much you need, vitamin C is very, very helpful. Why can't they just take a whole bunch of vitamin C pills? You can, but you might have diarrhea. Right? Because your body can't, like, and that's what I started to like. Yeah, I mean, it might hurt your stomach. you might have diarrhea and that's not good. That's not a good one.

No one needs to blow out. No one needs to blow out. So vitamin C can be great. Magnesium, B vitamins. It's just a quick way to replenish vitamins and minerals without taking everything. Right. Right. It's effective and it's fast.

I mean, you feel it immediately. I do. I guess because it goes directly in your bloodstream, right? That's the whole idea. That's the whole idea. And so where optimization is concerned, like if you're like, okay, here's a human who's just like, they're raising money. They're trying to get marketing funnels going.

They're hiring people. They got investors that they need to, KPIs that they need to meet that the investors have set. So this person is not going to have a lot of rest for like the next year. Yeah. How do you program their diet, their lifestyle as a doctor? Well, number one, you have to plan for what can be prevented. You know, there are certain things that should be non-negotiable.

You have to make sure that sleep is there. I know that they may not be able to get what they're looking for. You have to make sure that the sleep that they're getting actually is effective sleep. That's really important. What are some strategies to get effective sleep? Sleep steady. For you guys wondering, the internal joke between me and Gab here has spent about two and a half years. She's been wanting to me to get a sleep study.

So it'll be another two and a half years. My objection was, I don't want to go to a place where I have to sleep in their bed. But she doesn't. Yeah. And so she sent me an at-home sleep study kid. It's still sitting at home. It's still sitting at home. And we also joke that you have your real wife, you have your work wife, and you have your

medical wife between the three of us. Yeah. You still can't get me to take a sleep study. Yeah. So this concept of having to push for long periods of time, you know, I see that, especially with the seals. But they do come home and they do recover. One of the things is sleep is important regardless.

And to go through long stretches of sleep deprivation is. not good. We know that it increases risks of all kinds of diseases. So that has to actually be a priority and then understanding the rhythms, right, waking up at the same time. If they're going to bed late, they still should be waking up at the same time. Really? So if you're going to sleep late? You should be on a, yes, you should be on a consistent rhythm. Is that the circadian rhythm that we're trying to dial in? What's happening there? Well, I think that, you know, number one is it does, it programs the body. And that is, you know, is it anecdotal? effective it is. Individuals get up at the same time every day is really important. The other thing is if an individual has a family history of something like cardiovascular disease, those are really important things to know because there is stress in an entrepreneur or a Maverick or a game changer. Those individuals. You have to make sure that, you know, if an individual crashes and burns, then they're not going to be able to ever accomplish their dreams.

So making sure blood pressure is checked and dialed in. It's really important. Yours is good. I know. Shane has checked it. I have checked it. Can I share a fun story? So you guys live on the East Coast, and so you guys were down, I don't know, I think this was maybe last summer or the summer before.

But so Gabrielle's husband, Shane, is a former seal as well, just like Jay. And he's in medical school right now. and we were going to have like a family dinner together, so we decided to meet up at Mastro's steakhouse. And did, did Shane just, like, roll up with like a blood pressure cup, or maybe you needed my blood pressure? I wanted to do a physical exam. We needed a physical exam.

Every year we need a physical exam. So it happened right there at the dinner table at Mastroes where Shane took my blood pressure, and it was fine. So those are really important things, and then understanding there's simple nutritional strategies that individuals can do, and that really is optimizing for protein. And I know that that sounds very cliche, but you know, you have to be able to recover.

Yeah. Let's talk about that for a moment. So we know obviously sleep is very important. And so you want to prioritize sleep when you can. When you can. Yeah, right? Because if you're on a sprint, just, and I love what you said, plan for it. Great.

You're on a sprint. But if you know that we're doing a 30 day of fundraising, day 31 and maybe the next five days after, you're getting some decent sleep. And whereas before I was like, no, I just got to shift gears to the next thing. I now make time. Like before, the project would end. It ends on a Friday. Starts on a Tuesday.

Ends on a Friday. And we go all the way through. We have the project dinner. And the first two project classes, I would still take on speaking gigs Saturday and Sunday. Well, that means I got to still prep and get up on stage and bring the thunder and then hang out and do the meet and greet. And Monday would come.

And I could just, I was rung out. You were crushed. Now, I intentionally have light days on the Mondays that follow the project. So I've got literally Saturday, Sunday, and Monday that I get to rest and recover, and my body is so different. This is what I see with the best in the business is they plan for it. Yeah. They understand and they pivot really quickly.

Yeah. You pivoted really quickly. Yeah. Yeah. I realized like, again, you said it best, entrepreneurship or any kind of change. Whatever change you want to make in the world, it's going to happen over a long time. It's going to happen over long term. Entrepreneurship, the successful entrepreneurship happens over a long term.

long term. And if you want to be around for the long term, then you've got to look after the machine. And the machine is the brain, the mind, and the spirit, like all that, or the body, and it all has to work together. So the sleep factor is it, how important is hydration? I know Sean Stevenson. Yeah, it is important. But is it really that important? It is that important. I know it is. It is that important. The other thing I think it's really important for your listener to understand is that individuals often will put off any health-related tasks. They are not, the entrepreneur, there is this, it's so interesting. I would say the best entrepreneurs are excellent at dealing with their health, but there is kind of a tipping point

where they don't make time for it and they're constantly, you know, falling behind at something. or there's a new headache or there's a new gut issue. And those individuals, they really have to take a step back and prioritize. Nobody is too busy to prioritize their health. Yeah. Let's talk about gut issues for a moment. I know that there's been times where gut issues have definitely, during my highest, highest, highest levels of stress, two things happen.

I get gut issues, like almost ulcers. I'm convinced, well, I know they're ulcers because I do. And my eyebrows and hair, like scalps start flaking. It's crazy why I can tell it's a stress response. Interestingly enough, the last four or five years hasn't happened because I've learned to throttle myself. Obviously working with you has helped. And we do do blood work for, I mean.

Every 90 days. Somewhat annoyingly, yeah. But listen, I think that you have to, my job is to make sure that. that you are safe and protected. But you know what? Let me tell you guys something here for a moment. If you're like, yeah, that sounds like a lot. Every 90 days blood work.

I make it easy for you. You do. When you're working with a professional, that's the point I want to make here is when you're working with a pro, I show up here at 8 a.m. on the day that the blood work has to happen because I got to do it fasted. I show up to HQ.

There's someone already waiting. Like in my office, by my couch. So I literally sit on my couch. I'm going through my text messages while I'm giving blood. and then Gabriel gets the results a few days later, gives me a call, and then we get on the phone together. I never have to go to the doctor's office. I never have to go to like a lab core to give blood.

Everything's convenient. I love how she just quickly knows how to break it down. And unlike your regular doctor, it's like, oh, this level's good and this level's not. And you're like, well, what does it mean? You actually explain, like, this level is responsible for this in your body. And here's where you are and here's where we want to be. and so I'm going to send you something. And the something is you send it all to Joan, my work wife.

Which is amazing. And that's really helpful. And so people that think like, well, I don't have time. I'm in the startup phase. If you're like I was where I'm in the startup phase, I don't have time for like this. And I used to stupidly say, I'll sleep when I'm dead. How dumb is that?

At 47, I realized what stupid statements I was making. And I'm pretty sure you're not sleeping when you're dead anyway. Right. Right. Technically not. But it's so easy when you're working with the pro, and the services come to you and the supplements show up. Like, we're living in a whole different era where you don't have to go to the doctor to wait in a sick waiting room and then go to a lab core and give blood.

That is very reactive. And you're not a sick individual. This is not what we are looking for. We are looking for ways to keep you healthy and well. And also your diet is really dialed in. Yeah, and that's the big thing. So let's shift gears on that. protein. Like everyone seems to be talking about the beauty of plant-based protein. And based on...

What would happen if you went plant-based? Actually, can I tell you what would happen? I've never shared this on social media or on a podcast because I've been waiting for this podcast for us to do together. Really? Yeah. So check this out. You know how I do these six-week challenges? Yeah. During the six-week challenge where I was doing my MMA challenge, so I was training, so I was training with Aaron Weatherspoon at the time he was King of the Cage, Walterweight champion, training with him three times a week, while still working out in the gym. So every challenge that I would do,

I would still do my meathead workouts in the gym, plus jujitsu or MMA or rock climbing or training for the marathon. So during this MMA challenge, I would train with him three times a week on the mats, and this was six weeks long. And right at the end of six weeks, after one of the last training sessions with him, I went to the gym to work out like I normally do.

At the gym, there's this rope that you climb. And I went to climb that rope. And as I was coming down, my biceps snapped. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And so I found myself that evening in surgery, getting a bicep reattachment. Well, lo and behold,

what you may not know is Diana used to be a vegetarian. There was a period of time that she decided to go vegan and then went raw, right? impressive yeah that is very and so i was like well hell that'll be a new challenge i'll go vegan and raw with you while i'm doing the six week challenge so i was extra beating up my body so you were just a glutton for punishment just bring the pain not taking in any quality protein yeah and it was very clear to me that's something that i know my you know your body everyone knows their body my body should not if i was taking the kind of protein i'm taking in today my body would not have had any

problem going up that rope and back down but I'm convinced it was because of the lack of quality protein and the volume of quality protein that my body broke down and my biceps snapped. Yeah. And so what's your position on plant-based when the whole world seems to have shifted to plant-based? I have a lot of thoughts on this. And I will tell you that if you want to be plant-based, you can do it and still be healthy. But the question is, is that optimal?

Is that going to make you as strong as your capacity? And in my opinion, no. Why is that? Because the quality of the protein is different. You know, iron, B vitamins, zinc, selenium, bioavailable protein is what we're built off of. Yeah. And you're talking about what, chicken, fish, steak. Bison, beef.

Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. I mean, if you really think about it, and this, of course, is anecdotal, how many really strong vegans do you know? And people are going to be like, oh, well, there's a vegan bodybuilder. Okay. Right. But it is maybe perhaps the exception and not the rule.

Right. Right. Because there are exceptions in life. Of course. There are exceptions in life. And so there was a documentary that came out a few years ago. Oh, gosh. Brutal, which it's called Game Changers.

Yes. And that is, we should really preface that by saying it's entertainment and not science. Just because something comes out as a documentary doesn't mean that it's validated. Well said. And so obviously one of the things that I've learned from you is the term that muscle is the organ of longevity. Yes. Tell me what you mean by that. Muscle is actually the largest organ in the body.

It's not the skin. And it's really responsible for everything. It's responsible for the way in which you age. You know, people are really interested in the immune system right now. Skeletal muscle is an immune modulator. When you contract it, it secretes myokines throughout the body, helps with inflammation. it's incredible. It's responsible for, obviously, the way you look. And in fitness, that is great. But when we think about longevity and we think about Alzheimer's prevention, then we have to think about muscle.

Because a lot of these issues with body composition are not issues with body fat. We are not over fat. We are undermuscled as a society. We are not over fat. We are undermuscled as society. Can you imagine we have obesity medicine? instead of muscle-centric medicine, we are constantly looking at symptomology. That is a huge mistake. That is so reactive. All of these diseases, these diseases start in skeletal muscle first.

You get insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. Really? Yes, first. Talk about what insulin resistance is. The ability where the insulin that you're making, to move glucose into a cell is ineffective, and your body then produces more. And so if you can't move glucose into a cell,

Right. Then you, that's toxic. That's the definition of diabetes. Oof. And the idea is, because if you can move glucose into a cell, then you can use it as energy. Yeah. Right. Yes. And if it doesn't, then it gets... And it also has to get out of the bloodstream because it's toxic. Right. Yeah. Powerful. These diseases are not diseases of adiposity. That is secondary. These are all diseases of skeletal muscle. Being under muscle. Yeah. Society is under muscle and under quality proteins. Yeah, and weak. Yeah. So if you were to give, let's say, one, a one, two or three pieces of advice for simple things that people can shift today and start seeing results soon. Okay. Immediately, I would say the first meal of the day, whenever that is, should be a high quality protein. You know, can have a little bit of fat, whatever, but 30 to 50 grams first meal the day, which I know you do. You do, I think you do a shake and then you do a meal and then, you know, a few other things. 1 gram per pound ideal body weight. For all the entrepreneurs, for anyone that is looking to attack in the battlefield of life, nail your nutrition. One gram per pound.

One gram of protein per pound. Yes. Ideal body weight. For your ideal body weight. So just let me break this down for you guys as a former personal trainer. Let's say you weigh 220 pounds, but your ideal body weight is 200 pounds, then you would take 200 grams of quality protein throughout the day. Yes.

Right? Yeah. And so someone says, well, isn't that excessive? Isn't that a lot of... No, you know it's not, right? You've got to be working out. You've got to be pushing your body. And if you don't, then you fall back into the other trap. Which is the disease of mediocrity. Yes, the disease of mediocrity and, of course, being under muscle. Yes. Right? Which is really the big problem. It is. Which is truly the big problem. And there's so much science behind that. There is. And, you know, again, we are... These are a lot of narratives that are a problem. You know, the same people that are going to sell you little dabbies are going to be the same people that sell you weight loss products. We are not in a culture that is looking for optimization or really wanting individuals to win. There is a huge narrative and food industry has a lot of say of what we're even learning.

Even as physicians, you know, don't get me down this big rabbit hole of big pharma, but these are these are. Well, food's, listen, if I'm peddling food that's going to increase insulin, it makes, sense that I also be connected. Right, that I also be connected to a pharmaceutical company or whatever, yeah. Solves a problem of insulin, right? And so, all right. And listen, and I want to say that's not to say that all, you know, foods are bad or carbohydrates are bad, they're not, but it has to be utilized within your calories. Yeah. Right? So it is not about sitting in the dark, overconsuming lollipops or marshmallows like I sent you. But those were delicious. I know. I told you. Are you doing that for job like retention? Like, why are you doing that? So, all right,

so we know that obviously whenever you wake up, your first meal of the day should be high protein and lower fat. Yeah, because you've been fasting and now it sets you, it primes your muscle. We know muscle is the organ of longevity, supports your immune system. It's going to help with brain function by help regulate metabolism. It's the place where you can move glucose into. And you're suggesting one pound of protein. One gram of protein. One pound of protein. That's impressive. Yeah. Yeah. One gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight. And between each meal should have between 30 and 50 grams of protein, which actually becomes very important as individuals age. Not that you're aging, but overall because it really helps stimulate tissue, stimulates muscle. That's huge.

Speaking of fasting, because the way you said it, you were like, whenever your first meal is, you should get. So are you suggesting that you're pro fasting in the mornings? I think it's a tool. I think it's a tool. I personally fast in the morning. You do? Yeah, it just depends. Tell me why. What are the benefits? Well, it allows for calorie control. And it compresses a feeding window. So if anyone has gut issues, you were saying, you know, before, which I don't, but I prefer to eat within a restricted time, in a time restricted window. Do I believe that there's magical benefits to fasting, I don't think anything is magical. I think that it can be used as a tool. I think the times in which you would use it are if you perform better. So let's say, for example, a lot of the

patients I have will eat something and they just don't feel well. Sure. Right? Maybe they're eating the wrong thing and then they have to take a nap right away. Yeah. Not that I've ever happened to you, but let's say it did. Yeah. Those individuals do really well fasting. Gotcha. And it, you know, some individuals like a challenge. So there is a benefit for fasting in that way. But really calorie restriction. And then one of the other things I think is important is eating at the same time every day, not being chaotic, being structured.

I have found that like predictable feeding schedule for me has been huge. Yeah. And my body almost knows, and it's like it reminds me now versus depriving myself. Right. And then picking out at night. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

So what else can you add on top of those? Yeah, I would say that carbohydrates, if an individual is going to have carbohydrates, that that should really be a meal threshold. And what I mean by that is oftentimes people think about how many carbs you're going to have during the day, which ultimately is important. And I actually learned this from my mentor, his name is Dr. Donald Lehman. And we have talked about it, and the carbohydrate per meal should roughly be 40 to 50, grams or less unless you are training.

So carbohydrates per meal should be 40 to 50 grams per meal or less. Yeah. I mean, you earn more if you're training. Yeah, of course. But these are very applicable action items that your listener could take away and say, you know what? Here's how I'm going to design it. I'm going to do three meals a day, which is not necessary, but if they wanted to do three

meals a day, their first meal is going to have protein, their second and third meal is also going to have protein. and then they're going to have carbohydrates at their second and third meal. And perhaps it's going to be if they're working all day because they're in a push phase, then it's going to be 50 grams of carbs per meal. Gotcha. And that's easy. And listen, you titrate up or down depending on the individual and the activity.

Yeah. But you have to earn your carbohydrates. I love that. Earn your carbohydrates. Take in your protein as you're required, but earn your carbohydrates. It's such a brilliant way of saying it. Let me ask you this. Coffee.

How much coffee is too much coffee? Is coffee even as bad for you as people say? Is caffeine bad? What the fuck is up with coffee, Doc? So I want this one seal in particular, Brian, I was taking care of him. He had just gotten back from deployment. And I went over and I checked his pulse. And he's just sitting there.

He was a breacher, just like this trunk of a dude. Hi, Ryan. And he was just sitting there really calm. His pulse was like 150. I'm like, Brian, how much coffee did you drink? He's like, Doc, I had a cup. Brian, how big was your cup? He was like, well, it was like about that big.

Okay, so the concept of caffeine. Caffeine, I have no problem with caffeine. I mean, if you're going to go over, you know, four or 500 milligrams, that's a lot of caffeine. But two, 300 milligrams, some individuals. Per serving or per day? I mean, for a day, but listen, some people can tolerate more depending on if you are a fast metabolizer. Got it.

Shane pounds a lot of caffeine. Okay. But he can, you know, he doesn't have a cardiovascular effect on him. People metabolize it differently. Okay. I found that when I get over, this is how, like, I found when I'm over like 150, is it milligrams or grams? Milligrams.

Milligrams of caffeine, like in a serving. Mm-hmm. Because sometimes I'll drink coffee at home. and then I'll hit Starbucks and then that'll put me over and I'll literally have these like micro I'm not going to say anxiety attacks with these micro feelings of anxiety while I'm training in the gym so you know that's too much for you yeah people have a caffeine tolerance but it can be used well as an ergogenic aid it's great for performance yeah it is it is again finding your threshold what about alcohol I'm not a big fan.

And I actually don't drink for no other reason than, well, number one, it tastes terrible. But alcohol, I mean, I suppose in moderation it's okay. But then again, as a physician, I am not want, you know, it affects sleep architecture. It just, you know, I don't see a lot of great things from it in general. That's one of the tools that we entrepreneurs use to take the edge off. It can affect liver enzymes. You know, why not use something else like meditated? Yeah. Yeah. No, a good point. Or get a dog. You know, it's funny you say that this goes back to so many other conversations of the easier thing to do is to eat or drink your emotions, your stress away. The proper thing, the longevity thing to do is to use routine, to use habits, to use discipline, to go, all right, I'm feeling something. And what I found with myself is I was like, all right, wife, do we really need bagels in the house? We really don't.

And do we need a jar of peanut butter sitting right on the counter? We really don't. So maybe if there's no bagels in the house and the peanut butter is put away, just simple strategies. If it's out of sight, it's out of mind. And learning how alcohol actually does negatively impact my sleep. So if like, man, I only have a four or five hour window of sleep, am I going to have a cocktail or two to take the edge off only to make that four or five hours even worse? And then the other thing an individual has to think about is if they do that habit today, what is the likelihood that an individual is going to do that habit tomorrow? Right, right, because we have addictive personalities. And then they wonder why they never reach their goal or, you know, regret is a bad thing and the wave of youth only lasts so long. The great equalizer is health. the more mature an individual gets in terms of chronological age, the smarter they have to be because the wiggle room is less. Yes.

Yes, I have noticed that. The wiggle room is less. You look great for 35. Thank you. There was a time. There was a time I could, we're talking like early 2000s. I could literally speak on stage on day one at fitness business summit, these three-day events I would have, and then get wasted that night with everybody.

You never did that. Yeah, man, if you knew me back then. I would have probably fired you as a patient. You would have. You would have. And then the day two, I would be up on stage crushing it. And then I noticed a couple years later,

now it took like a cup of coffee on stage that I had to nurse a cup of coffee to crush it. And then sooner I realized, I can't keep doing this. I don't even want to get up on stage on day two. Like, I'm a fucking mess. But it's like if I can go back and I'm speaking into the youth right now,

if you're in your 20s and 30s, starting a business in that mid-level range, you're about to hockey stick. Don't be an idiot, man. You've got to optimize now versus, oh, I'm 47 now. I started really optimizing the last four or five years. Imagine if I started optimizing in my early 30s. Like, there'd be less stress in my life. I feel like FitBody Boot Camp and Trulian and all my business would have moved forward

faster. And I don't know. I think whatever the long-term damages that I've caused would be the, less, but I can't do anything about taking that away. I can just be proactive towards it now. Well, you're actually a phenomenal patient. You are excellent. Really? You're not just saying that? No, I wouldn't. Do I just say that? Ed, I would like you to cut this clip and put it on the top of every website we have. Dr. Gabrielle lying saying you're actually a phenomenal patient. You are very wise in the way that you understand that, you know, things need to be tended to.

Yeah. And you're not actually reckless. Or if you're going to be reckless, I'll be like, you know, we'll look at it. Yeah. You know, and that is wise. Because again, you're looking to do this for another 50 years. Right. Right. It truly, that is the goal. And once you realize that you want to be in this for the long haul, then you go, how do I maintain this high level of optimization and performance? And it's interesting because there's a lot of information in this space. And when young entrepreneurs are coming up, there's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of stimulant use. There's just a lot of stuff.

And everything can be used well and appropriately, but more is not better. Right. And there's always a cost of doing business. There is a cost of doing business. Well said on that. So if our audience wants to find you, where is the best way for them to go

to find you, connect with you, and learn more from you? Because we're just scratching the surface here. Yeah. Yeah. They can find me on Instagram at Dr. Gabriel Lyon and my website at the same name, Dr. Gabriel Lyon, and Twitter and YouTube, and I have a show coming soon.

You do have a show coming soon. And guys and gals, I want you to really pay attention to what we're talking about here. If you trust me in terms of mentoring your business, and I appreciate the tens of thousands of you who always reach out after every episode and say you love that show, well, trust me here where your health is concerned to. leadership and marketing and sales, those are all great things. But if the leader is not optimized to run the funnels, the sales, the teams, to make the decisions, then literally you could, you could literally crush your dreams and never live up to your fullest potential.

Dr. Gabriel, is there anything I should have asked you that I didn't think to ask you that I should ask you now? No. Well, I appreciate your time for joining us. And guys and gals, take a screenshot of this. Be sure to tag me, tag Gabrielle, and share it on social media. And of course, thank you for leaving a five-star review on iTunes. And as always, don't forget to tell your mama.