Mark Bell's Power Project - Macro Counting Won’t Fix Your Relationship With Food - Do This Instead - Danny Mably || MBPP Ep. 1113

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

In Episode 1113, Danny Mabley, Mark Bell, Nsima Inyang, and Andrew Zaragoza talk about why quality over tracking quantity may be a better move when trying to lose weight. Follow Danny on IG: https://www.instagram.com/dannymabley/   Official Power Project Website: https://powerproject.live Join The Power Project Discord: https://discord.gg/yYzthQX5qN Subscribe to the Power Project Clips Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC5Df31rlDXm0EJAcKsq1SUw   Special perks for our listeners below!   🥜 Protect Your Nuts With Organic Underwear 🥜 ➢https://nadsunder.com/ Use code: POWERPROJECT to save 15% off your order!   🍆  Natural Sexual Performance Booster 🍆 ➢https://usejoymode.com/discount/POWERPROJECT Use code: POWERPROJECT to save 20% off your order!   🚨 The Best Red Light Therapy Devices and Blue Blocking Glasses On The Market! 😎 ➢https://emr-tek.com/ Use code: POWERPROJECT to save 20% off your order!   👟 BEST LOOKING AND FUNCTIONING BAREFOOT SHOES 🦶 ➢https://vivobarefoot.com/powerproject   🥩 HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN! 🍖 ➢ https://goodlifeproteins.com/ Code POWER to save 20% off site wide, or code POWERPROJECT to save an additional 5% off your Build a Box Subscription!   🩸 Get your BLOODWORK Done! 🩸 ➢ https://marekhealth.com/PowerProject to receive 10% off our Panel, Check Up Panel or any custom panel, and use code POWERPROJECT for 10% off any lab!   Sleep Better and TAPE YOUR MOUTH (Comfortable Mouth Tape) 🤐 ➢ https://hostagetape.com/powerproject to receive a year supply of Hostage Tape and Nose Strips for less than $1 a night!   🥶 The Best Cold Plunge Money Can Buy 🥶 ➢ https://thecoldplunge.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save $150!!   Self Explanatory 🍆 ➢ Enlarging Pumps (This really works): https://bit.ly/powerproject1 Pumps explained:      ➢ https://withinyoubrand.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save 15% off supplements!   ➢ https://markbellslingshot.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save 15% off all gear and apparel!   Follow Mark Bell's Power Project Podcast ➢ https://www.PowerProject.live ➢ https://lnk.to/PowerProjectPodcast ➢ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/markbellspowerproject ➢ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/markbellspowerproject   FOLLOW Mark Bell ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell ➢https://www.tiktok.com/@marksmellybell ➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell   Follow Nsima Inyang ➢ Become a Stronger Human - https://thestrongerhuman.store ➢ UNTAPPED Program - https://shor.by/JoinUNTAPPED ➢YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NsimaInyang ➢Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nsimainyang/?hl=en ➢TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nsimayinyang?lang=en   Follow Andrew Zaragoza ➢ Podcast Courses and Free Guides: https://pursuepodcasting.com/iamandrewz ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamandrewz/ ➢ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamandrewz   #PowerProject #Podcast #MarkBell #FitnessPodcast #markbellspowerproject

You were what, 350 at one point or so? 312 was my highest. And then you went down to like two? No, it was like 158. My stage weight was 150. I didn't just like do cardio and eat better. Like I honestly trained way more than I did cardio. If you're lifting weights,

then you are sending a signal to your body, like, hey, let's hold on to this muscle mass as we lose weight. Whereas if you're only doing cardio, you might be losing quite a bit of muscle mass. I used to focus on fitness for the humanity. You know, basic young dude like BS. And I never focused on like how I felt.

You lost a lot of weight, you got jacked. Was it everything you thought it would be? Mm, that's a good question. Does tracking calories, does it work? There's some health outliers that people kind of make little love on social media, which is kind of annoying sometimes. If you guys have been enjoying the content

we've been bringing here on The Power Project, consider leaving us a review on Spotify and Apple. We've had podcasts with people from Functional Patterns to Ben Patrick to Jack Cruz, who roasted us on air, but we did that for you, to bring you some of the best information in fitness. We're learning along with you, and leaving a review with how you dig the podcast is really going to be something that helps the podcast move forward.

So if you can leave us a review there and enjoy the rest of the show. Playing a lot of pickleball these days? Yeah. How'd you get into that? I feel like five years ago I started playing it and then recently I joined Lifetime and Lifetime, like pickleball is a big thing. I liked it before so I was like good source of cardio, started it just for cardio and then I was like, oh this is fun. I want to get better at this. Like I definitely have competitive nature. Like in PE class I was always like trying to be like the best in PE even though I was like a little bit bigger.

But yeah, so definitely just like the competitiveness took over and then also I just know it's like super good for me. Just because someone's big doesn't mean they're shitty at sports though. I mean, I've seen, there's a lot of big dudes on Instagram and stuff like that that I see doing all kinds of athletic stuff and then, you know, you have football players

and stuff like that that are really big. They're not, maybe they're not like in the category of obese or something like that, but there's a lot of athletic people that are big that can move really well. Oh, definitely, yeah. Yeah, growing up though, deaf people definitely didn't think that. Yeah. I always got picked last.

So. What sports did you play? In Canada, there's not, like you don't really play sports. There's just hockey. Yeah, but I sucked at skating. So I played a little bit of basketball in middle school, played some baseball with my uncle when I was younger, played a year of soccer, kind of tried everything.

And every sport I had something that I was not great at, so I was like, I'll just, I definitely like, if I'm not competitive, I don't enjoy it, right? So for soccer, I just wasn't quite fast enough. For baseball, I was like, yeah, I'll just like I definitely like if I'm not competitive, I don't enjoy it, right? So for soccer, I just wasn't quite fast enough for baseball. I was like afraid of the ball So I would step out of the batter's box every time but hey, it is me And were you always a bigger kid growing up? Well, you're like quite a bit heavier than a lot of other people. So I had it come to be I guess. Yeah. Yeah, so at

Bless you I'm so sorry Come to be, I guess. Yeah, yeah, so at, bless you. Guys, this is gonna have a lot today, I'm so sorry. Just ignore me. It works. So I was actually like a pretty healthy kid up until the point where my mom got with my stepdad. He kind of introduced, like, I didn't really know what soda or like bad foods were when I was younger,

and then like he kind of brought it into our life as well as he was also abusive to my mom. So that combination of like, well, this is good stuff. It makes me feel good. And then I'm dealing with this. So as a kid, I remember like, I would hear them fighting and I would just be like, where are the snacks? Where are the Doritos? Where are the pop? Like shout out to pop because I'm Canadian. Yeah. So, um, yeah, so that was the first time I started kind of like eating that kind of stuff and dealing with trauma as a kid and I just slowly gained weight as a kid and I was always the trappy kid.

I wasn't like crazy obese or anything, like I was always just like 30 pounds heavier than everyone, you know what I mean? But it was enough where people noticed and would pick on me for it. Like some people talk about in America that I didn't get picked on being like bigger in school. I did relentlessly, like all the time. Yeah, so.

Gotcha. Yeah. I'm curious about this man because like, you know, when I started trying to make YouTube videos, that was around the time when I actually first discovered some of your YouTube content. You had a video that has almost 10 million views at this point of your transformation.

And you talk about IFYM and tracking macros in there. So you've probably helped potentially millions of people start paying attention to the food and then their macronutrients. Cause you went from, in that video, you went from, you lost 140 pounds. So I'm curious, man, first off, how did you get to 312 at that point?

And then what was your process of losing the weight that time? Yeah, so obviously, like I said, we were talking earlier, like very different than what I would do now and what works for me now. But initially the reason I gained the weight is I definitely experienced a lot of trauma in my life. Lost both my parents when I was a teenager, dealt with abuse, a lot of drugs and stuff like that. Not me personally, but my parents were drug addicts. And food was my coping mechanism, like 100%. I remember

specific moments where, for example, the story I always go to that like comes up so like vividly is my mom was like, hey, I'm just going to go to the store. Right. And, you know, 24 hours later, she hasn't come home and I'm like six, seven years old maybe. And what I would do is I would be like, well, I don't feel safe. Right.

And so I was like, I know how to cook myself food because I grew up really early as a young kid because I just had to. My mom was chronically sick, so even though she was around, she wasn't like the best caregiver, but she did her best with kind of the situation. But I would make myself like craft dinner or eggs, stuff that's easy for a kid to make. And I would just like get in front of the TV

and watch movies and eat. And like, until she came home, came home because I didn't know what else to do. And so I just was training my body that anytime I experienced like unsafety or fear or anxiety to just eat and to watch stuff. And so like a lot of that, I still love movies. Big movie guy, go to the theater a lot. But also, whenever I have that, and I mean, fear comes in your life in many ways, right? Like we experience it just in like every day, little stuff that we don't know

that we're going through it, but we are. And so anytime that those things would happen, I would just turn to food and be like, oh, there's older pizza, I'll just run through a drive-through. Like just get that quick hit and feel a little bit better and try and go along my day. But doing that over and over throughout my teenage years

led me to being 300 pounds. And I didn't really notice it until, I developed sleep apnea at like 275. So when I hit that 275 mark, I just, I noticed a change. I was like, something's different, something's off. I don't feel good, feel exhausted all the time. I was like, I need to do something, right? And I actually have sleep apnea again now,

but I have a CPAP machine. I didn't when I was younger, so I just didn't really realize what, I didn't realize it was that bad to have it and not deal with it. So yeah, I felt horrible. Missed like a half a year of school just because I could barely get out of bed.

And I started a new job at Telus, which is basically Verizon for Americans. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was working with a guy who was fit, shout out to Brandon. He was just like, hey man, like obviously, I noticed first, but then we just had conversations about like,

yeah, I wanna get in the gym, I wanna get healthier. I still don't know where to start. And so he kinda helped me get started. Cool. And If It Fits Your Macros was like the, in tracking macros, that was the way that you found success initially? Well, this was 2014. So If It Fits Your Macros was like everything.

Yeah. Yeah. It was the, like if you want to lose weight, like everyone was like, oh, this is the way. Like we've been lied to for years. This is the way. Yeah. And so I was like, oh, I can lose weight and eat burgers and eat sushi and like eat whatever I want.

And so I was like, yeah, this is easy for me. And I was like young and so like literally all I did was I would like go to work. Me and Brandon eventually became my roommate. And we would just go to the gym afterwards. We would cook each other's meals and stuff. Like he would tell me what to eat. And so the more progress I made, I was basically losing like 10 pounds a month. Wow.

And I was like. That's a lot. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, at that high weight, it's not crazy, but yeah, consistently, even when I started to get leaner, I was still losing like 10 pounds a month. Wow. Okay. So it came off, but one of the biggest things, which I think is why some of these videos did so well

at the time, is that I didn't just do cardio and eat better. I honestly trained way more than I did cardio. I wanted to, I definitely was in the bodybuilding.com forums. I was in the mindset that when I'm done this, I wanna be fit and big and muscular and like, so. like fit and big and like muscular and like, so. It was a little. This topic is really interesting to me because the type of exercise you do,

it definitely matters from a perspective of like, it's sending a particular signal to your body. You know, if you're lifting weights, you're sending a signal to your body and especially if you're covering yourself protein wise, then you are sending a signal to your body, like, hey,'re covering yourself protein wise, then you are sending a signal to your body like, hey, let's hold on to this muscle mass as we lose weight. Whereas if you're only doing cardio,

you might be losing quite a bit of muscle mass in the process of losing weight, which can then kind of mess up your metabolism a little bit. But I also think that it's important for people, I do, I see a lot of guys, being someone that's power lifted for so long and coach so many people in power lifting. I see a lot of people like wanting to squat bench deadlift

and do these workouts that take a really long time and you're not really that productive in the workout. Do you kind of see what I'm getting at? It's like you do a five by five squats. It's like that, if you start to build up any appreciable amount of strength, a five by five and squats with warmup and everything takes like 45 minutes, maybe a half hour. And maybe in some cases longer if you're training

with a couple other people. And my point here is just that doing some of the stuff that you were doing, I saw you using dumbbells and machines and that stuff. You can get through five, six, seven, eight exercises in like 45 minutes. Yeah, and I honestly, I focus way more on that now. Like obviously what works for me, you know,

is not what necessarily will work for everyone, so I'm never like, this is the way, but. You didn't even know. You didn't even know. Nice tea over here. And those explode like that. So when I, obviously when I was like younger like that. So when I, obviously when I was younger like that, especially when I got to that level at social media, that was literally my life and my income.

So I was just in the gym every single day. And so it was easy. And so my training kind of was like, well, if I'm going to be here, I might as well just train long. At that time also the whole five by five thing was very popular too. So I trained like that for a long time. And then when I, obviously later on in life,

had my daughter and stuff, you just less time in the day, I was like, I wanna be able to go to the gym and get the most amount of progress for the least amount of time. And so at that time, we kind of talked about it earlier, like I've been friends with Jeff Nipper for a long time and I actually texted him and I was just like, hey man, this is what I want to do,

like can you just build me a quick program, like I'll pay you if you want. And he was just like a pal and just sent me this, like hey I wanted to test out this style of training, so here, do this. And so he basically just gave me a workout that takes like 30 to 45 minutes, but each set is like, you do some warmup of course,

but each set is like I'm putting my all into it, rather than just doing five sets of oh yeah, talking. I only have two sets on some exercises, but I'm giving it every rep, maximum intensity. And I got the most amount of progress I've ever gotten in training from that style. And that's just for me, like I said, but my strength went up faster than ever.

I was actually feeling like I was making progress, actually excited to go back to the gym and everything. Do you feel like all your training before that wasn't hard? Yeah, it was my cluster. Because when you're doing so many sets, on the third and fourth, you're just going through the motion. Whereas when you do two and you have a certain amount, you do the weight and you're like,

oh, I need to put it up a little bit because I could get definitely two more. And so the way he structured it, I just, yeah, I loved it, got the most amount of progress. Now that's how I train. So I'll go to the gym sometimes with the guys. Because a lot of the, I would say mass general public still follows different older styles of training.

So I'll go with friends and they'll be like, that's it? And I'm like, yeah, but how we're doing sets are very different. Like, you got like five reps left, bro. I got one. Yeah, definitely, definitely, definitely. So I'm always in support of how people

want to do their own thing, but when I train with friends, they're always like, that's all you do? And I'm like, yes, that's all to do their own thing, but when I train with friends, they're always like, that's all you do? And I'm like, yes, that's all I do. And I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Does tracking calories, does it work?

I mean, definitely. For the mass majority, I definitely think that there's some health outliers that people kind of make little love on social media, which is kind of annoying sometimes. But the mass majority, if you track your calories in a deficit, you're gonna lose weight. Is there potentially a different way you could have played it

to where you didn't gain the weight back? Yeah, definitely. I think for me personally, like it was a lot of the mental work. Like I spent the last year doing more mental focused work than I've done in my entire life. And in the last three months specifically, I've made more progress mentally that I've made in like 10 years of my life. And it's all because like, one, I chose to like surround myself with people who like are focused in that area of mindset. And then also like, every day, the amount of effort

you put into like your training and nutrition, like we all talk about how mindset is such a big part of it, except it's like 5% maybe of the battle. Of the actual like effort you put in. So like people say like it's 80% of the work, but then we're putting 5 to 10% of it as our main focus. And so for me, like I knew that I have all this trauma

as a kid and I've used it as an excuse for a majority of my life. Like I recently kind of like had a moment in a group. One of my clients I work with, he has like a mastermind and I opened up in that mastermind. I was just like, I let like trauma like run my life for so long. And in the last months I've had the most progress because I've just realized like, that's not who I am. That's not who I want to be. That's not who the future me is. And so I just started putting consistent daily work into like visualizing the future me, affirming those things and doing the work, you know, that I hadn't been doing for years.

Cause I thought it was either like, Oh, it doesn't make sense or it's hippie, dippy or whatever you want to say. And then I started doing it and you realize, Oh, this shit works. In terms of application of that, how have you found versus what you were doing before? How have you found it actually really shift you? Because I think some people, they know about the mindset stuff, they know it's important,

they never take action on it, and then they're in this hamster wheel of the same shit. So how specifically are you going about it? Yeah, before I get into that, I will say of course nutrition still delegates the progress. Absolutely. So the way I approach my nutrition now versus if it's your macros,

I focus way more on quality than quantity now. I just realized like the years of like, and I know there's science behind like, you know, sugar-free for example, being fine. And I do, part of me does believe that, but I just started to notice like, what actually agrees with me? Like, I don't care about what the science says,

what agrees with me? And so I went to basically like an animal based approach for like a couple weeks. And I just, just to see like when I reintroduced foods, like what, cause I have always had gut issues, like from majority of my life. I thought it was just like a norm. And then cutting everything out and going to like bare bones

and then reintroducing stuff, I was like, oh no, that's what makes me not feel great. Or that's what bloats me. Or that's what gives me. What kind of stuff did you notice that you like? Nightshades, I can't do nightshades. Okay. Yeah, like peppers, onions. I love them. Every time I go to Chipotle I'm like, oh yeah.

That's always the way it is too. What you love you can't have, right? Yeah, but it just, it literally like, from like I introduced it and it was like immediate bloating, immediate like, it was the only thing that I'd had in like a week. And so I just knew that like, okay, that's just something that like I can when I maybe choose to to be like, oh, well, I don't care right now. But in the majority, it just doesn't agree with me. And so I basically went and 90% of my diet basically consisted of meat, fruit, and rice. And then I do a lot of fruit, and I focus on fiber fruit. So I realize that you can eat whatever fruit, but if you don't eat the fibrous source ones,

then you're just getting low fiber because you're not eating a lot of vegetables. But I'll do broccoli once in a while too, just because I love broccoli. You love broccoli. I do, dude. To me, oil, salt, and pepper on broccoli, or olive oil, is like, money. Okay, be bad, you need to give it a shot. Olive oil, salt, pepper, bake, delicious. Okay. Love it.

Okay, all right. But yeah, so I didn't cut out every single vegetable, and that's for the majority of my life, but before I used to say, oh, 80% of my diet is whole foods, and I was lying to my fucking wife. I was lying every my fucking self. I was lying every day. It's like you ate the whole pack of Oreo cookies. No, because I just, you know, what I used to do, you know,

because the whole argument around what's whole was like so skewed like years ago. And even now there's still a lot of debate, but I just, I'm like, what is good food? Like, what do we know truly deep down, even though we want to look I just, I'm like, what is good food? Like, what do we know truly deep down, even though we wanna look at, have these different arguments, what's good food? I gotta interject just for a second. There's the famous coach, Dan John, and he does seminars and stuff like that,

and he'll talk about nutrition, and he'll lay out what you should eat. He'll say, you know, I think you should eat meat, fruit, and vegetables. Hand will go up, and someone will say, what about rice? And he just goes hand across the face. Someone's like, what about milk? He's like hand across the face.

Like he's obviously not hitting anybody, but he's saying, like, look, you idiot, I just gave you the recipe, I just told you what to do, and now you're giving me resistance to it. And so I think that happens a lot. I think as soon as we say whole foods, people wanna sneak in a bunch of this stuff that's kind of like a peripheral that's on the side that might not be a whole food.

Yeah. And I mean, like I saw the trend online. I was like, I was like, yeah, I don't know about all this. And there's some people that are really good. One of my favorites is kind of a Ray. I think he's one of the best in the carnivore space to just talk about it like it really is. He doesn't add all this craziness to it or make it seem like it's the only way. Like he's like, I don't even flip what you do, but this is what works for me. And it's cool.

But I followed that and for like the two weeks, like that first week I did it, I was like mental, like the whole mental clarity thing, all that kind of stuff was like top. And so yeah, you can make the argument that like, oh, you just cut out a bunch of stuff. Now you feel better. But it's like, if I'm doing that and it's working

and then I can adjust from there and find what really works for me and actually like have a baseline to make those decisions. Cause if you don't know, you don't know. Yeah. Right? So many people feel like shit and they just think that's just normal. And I did for so long, right?

And so it's like, now I know that, oh, when I have this, I feel like crap. And it's not because I just feel like crap in general, it's because I just ate this. Yeah. And so, yeah, so now just 90% of my diet comes from that, truthfully, and then, well, when I'm on track, of course. And then the 10% is like, once in a while,

I'll fit some stuff that is like off, but. You know how to cook too, right? Decent. Like you're a little bit of a foodie, right? Well, I'm definitely a foodie. I like to cook for people, not for myself. I like the gratification of like making something good and like seeing something like, oh dude, good job, you know, but actually like cooking for myself all the time.

I do the air fryer is my best friend. Yes. I'll throw a frozen steak, frozen steak in the air fryer. 20 minutes. Good to go. Just go do something else, come back. Yeah, I'm all about efficiency for sure. Especially now, being around the business world, your time is so valuable. I used to make that as an excuse to like, oh, well, I'll just eat out. That's time saver, but also money waster, but I can do the same at home.

Time is an interesting thing. I think Joel Green has come on this podcast before talking about how most fitness things don't work because the fitness influencers are talking about stuff that just takes way too much time. We just have time to like mess around with our diet. We have time for recovery, for cold plunges and red light therapy and all these different things that normal folks just, they're not gonna spend the time doing it

even if they could make time to do it. That's like, how long is your morning routine? Yeah, it's tedious, right? Like the morning routine is four hours. Like, you know, wake up at 3.30 and not get your sleep and so on. And just, it could be ridiculous, right? Absolutely.

And so I think for someone like yourself, I think, and you mentioned this has happened to a lot of other influencers that lost weight and then gained it back, it's like they lost some weight when they were younger, when they maybe had less responsibilities. But as the responsibilities grew, I know you said you have a daughter and you have a business that's outside of the fitness industry.

And when you have all these other responsibilities, and not to make an excuse for you or anything, but you have commitments that you're responsible for. And it just makes everything a little bit tougher. Not saying that you can't do it, but it throws a monkey wrench in everything. Yeah, absolutely. It's a night and day difference, but really what it comes down to is it forces you to prioritize what is at the most importance, right? And so for me, like, when, you know,

part of me truthfully is like, so go back to the mental stuff, right? Like, I think I spent a lot of years not feeling, like I felt confident in me, but not confident in like the deep me. And what do I mean by that is like, I spent years not being able to trust my own intuition. Cause like I just would make mistakes all the time

and I would choose the wrong thing or I would make impulsive decisions. And I've always struggled with ADHD for the majority of my life. And so I've just always thought like that was the reason for this. And I would use this as an excuse, like, oh, I have all this trauma. That's why I did this. And, you know, this is just the way I am. And I was like, when I started working with that coworker I was talking about,

I'm sorry, not the coworker back when, but recently, the last three months or so, I moved out to the East Coast to work with him. And that was one of the major reasons. Like when I was around him, he wouldn't, like I would talk to him like I would talk to my friends and I'd be like, yeah, this is why I struggle with this. Oh, I just, I want to do that, but I, you know, have this. And he would just be like, nah, dude,

like I don't accept that for you. You shouldn't accept that for you. And he didn't do it in a way that felt like just criticism. It was like- What did he help you with in terms of like what is true? Because there's gotta be like, you know, we can say, hey, look, childhood trauma doesn't make every person obese.

Like we could say that, right? But it's probably gonna leave scars and it's probably gonna resonate somewhere and show up somewhere in someone's adult life. So when you work with this mental coach and you start to kind of lay out some issues that you've had, what does he accept? Well, accepts that it happened, but then like your choice forward is your choice. And so like for me, I was constantly in that voice of this is why I am who I am, not what

can I do to be the person I want to be. And so it was just switching that. It wasn't negating or forgetting the past. It was just, what are you focused on now? Like, if you're waking up every morning remembering, oh, well yeah, I want to stay on track today, but I feel anxious and when I feel anxious, I eat bad food. What are you going to do?

Like, you're going to do exactly what you think. And so it literally was just him not accepting it for me made me realize that like, okay, I need to do something. And so I was like, when he offered me a position locally to him, I was like, if I can be around this guy every day, there's no way I won't level up. And in the last three months, it's been like literally like night and day.

And so as you guys know, like beginning of the year, I was like at my highest weight, most unhealthy as I've ever been. And in April, I decided to start a GOP one. So I started taking trisepatide compounded when it was like off the overproduced list or whatever it was or shortage list. So it was easy to get and now it's not so easy to get.

So that's part of why I'm choosing what I'm choosing to do now, but a lot of it is that, so I was on that. I fully think that like where I was at the time, like without that, I don't know if I'd be where I am today, almost 50 pounds down, but it was, it always has been a goal for me to like, I'll use this as a tool and then get to a place where I can do this on my own.

And so doing what I've done in the last three months with the mental work, I was like, I really truthfully believe in fuck. Because right now I'm, every other day I'm doing like my affirmations, I'm doing like self-hypnosis a few times a week. I can tell you, it's not that bad. Yeah. I can tell you, it's basically like meditation.

Like Andrew Huberman talks a lot about like that 10 minutes of like focused breathing and like, it's similar to that, but a little bit different. You kind of utilize it better. Okay. But I've just been doing this stuff like a few times a week and seeing insane change in like just my everyday focus and like what I want and like how easy it is to like slip up and like make choices.

And I was like, if I do this every day, put the same amount of money I'm putting into getting a GLP-1 into it and like actually focus on that, I'm very confident and I can see my future self fucking doing it of like, I can do this with the mental aspect being a main focus. And so that's what I'm transitioning into now. I still have some GLP-1 left, so I'm like tapering off slowly. And then, yeah, just putting all that effort

back into the mental stuff that's been changing my life. But self-hypnosis thing is basically just a brief meditation, like getting just in into your zone. Like you can do it listening to something, you can just just in into your zone. Like you can do listening to something, you can just do it in your own. And then I got taught at that mastermind I was at, by this woman named Sandra Grace.

And she's worked with like athletes and stuff in the past and like has like a whole track record. And I don't necessarily believe everything within this space, but the stuff that has worked for me, I'm like, okay, it works for me. And so it's basically like, I'll self meditate, get deep in the thought. And then when I'm at that zone where you almost feel

like you could go to sleep, you know what I mean? That's where your subconscious, that's where it lives, is the thought behind this. And so at that moment, when I'm in that space, I'll lightly think about moving my fingers. And every I, at that moment, when I'm in that space, I'll like lightly like think about moving my fingers and every time I move my fingers, I'll speak the affirmations into my head. Like you're healthy, you're strong, like you're determined, you're confident, like you're going to do this. And I do that, like I've been doing it once every few days. Eventually I want to do it

like twice a day every day. And not only has it helped with the affirmation stuff, but also like with my ADHD brain, it feels like I have way better focus as far as my brain just doesn't feel super scattered. Just taking those times to like relax, breathe, calm my mind and put that effort in. And then like most people will just do that and just lay in that or kind of sit in that 10 minutes of just zen, but utilizing it to like fill your mind with what you want. That's what I've been doing. And it just, to me, I wake up, it's hard to forget,

you know, what your goals are and what your motivation is when you're constantly reminding yourself of it. Like I've always known that people like writing in journals every morning, but for me it's like, well, if you do in the morning, you do the morning, you have the whole day out of you. Right, so like I'll, in those moments of like, oh, I'm feeling hungry, I'm feeling like

I want to just go grab a burger, I'll literally take five minutes, I'll be like, okay. Like get into my zone, no, you got this. Like in those moments I turn to that meditation and just being like, no, like this isn't you. I'd be worried that I'd have my hypnosis voice would be David Goggins. I'd be like, what the hell?

It's like, I'm trying to chill. What you got Andrew? If you're someone that's taking supplements or vitamins or anything to help move the needle in terms of your health, how do you know you really need them? And the reason why I'm asking you how do you know is because many people don't know their levels of their testosterone, their vitamin D, all these other labs like their thyroid, and they're taking these supplements to help them function at peak performance.

But that's why we've partnered with Merrick Health for such a long time now, Because you can get yourself different lab panels like the Power Project Panel, which is a comprehensive set of labs to help you figure out what your different levels are. And when you do figure out what your levels are, you'll be able to work with a patient care coordinator that will give you suggestions as far as nutrition optimization, supplementation, or if you're someone who's a candidate and it's necessary, hormonal optimization to help move you in the right or if you're someone who's a candidate and it's necessary, hormonal optimization to help move you in the right direction so you're not playing guesswork with your body. Also, if you've already gotten your lab work done

but you just want to get a checkup, we also have a checkup panel that's made so that you can check up and make sure that everything is moving in the right direction if you've already gotten comprehensive lab work done. This is something super important that I've done for myself. I've had my mom work with Merrick. We've all worked with Merrick just to make sure that we're all moving in the right direction and we're not playing guesswork with our body. Andrew, how can they get it? Yes, that's over at MerrickHealth.com slash power project and check out

enter promo code power project to save 10% off any one of these panels or any lab on the entire website. Links in the description as well as the podcast show notes. This video right here, I'm cracking up. If you're on the audio side. So it's Danny kind of almost mimicking a photo of him looking jacked and shredded.

So my question for you is, so you lost a lot of weight, jacked and shredded. So my question for you is, so you lost a lot of weight, you got jacked. Was it everything you thought it would be? That's a good question. I would say like yes and no. So funny thing about this photo, I did compete in men's wazee competition back in 2017.

It was an awesome goal, didn't do it great. So the reason, it's funny thing is like, if you look at that photo, about four weeks prior to that, I looked way better and it's because four weeks out I had like my first ever real binge. Like I literally spent like 24 hours where I was like, could not stop eating. And then he filled out.

And then I texted my coach at the time, which was a good friend of mine, and I was like, dude, I fucked up. I'm up like 12 pounds. I don't know what we're gonna do. It was four weeks. And so he was like, okay, and in my head, I'm like, social media, I could not fail

in front of everyone. And so I was like, I'm gonna do whatever it takes. You just tell me what I need to do and I'll fucking do it. And so I spent the next four weeks eating 800 calories, doing three hours of cardio a day and training six days a week to get to that. And I probably lost like probably 80% of that weight. It was probably like muscle.

Cause like I remember looking at myself like four weeks out and I was like, dude, I looked so much better. But it was cause I just wanted to be lean enough to be on the stage to like look somewhat like I'm meant to be there. Because I obviously had loose skin, so I knew I was never gonna like win or anything. But I was like, I wanna look the place.

And so we just did whatever I had to do to get there. And that was my choice. Like my coach wasn't like, oh yeah, you gotta do this. It was like, no, no, no, I'm going to do this. Because I was, I just couldn't, I was, my mental spot at that time was very, very overconfidence ego and like letting everyone else dictate what I did in my life. Like comments, social media, like I would just listen and like, and I'm at a point now where I like, I don't give a shit. And truthfully, like I know a lot of people say that, especially with social media, like I don't care what people. And truthfully, I know a lot of people say that, especially with social media, I don't care what people think.

So obviously the odd comment will get to me, but it used to dictate my life. I'd no longer allow anyone else to dictate my life. And not from an ego standpoint, from my health, I need to know me and be able to push and do what I need to do. So what did it feel like though? The day of doing the show felt incredible.

It was amazing. But then I dealt with binge eating for like a year after that where I was like, and I rapidly gained again. And that was kind of the first major regain was after that. But yeah, I mean, like I used to focus on fitness for the vanity aspect of it. Like I was like, I I wanna just look good. You know, I wanna be able to like, you know,

flirt with girls I never got to in high school. Like, you know, basic young dude, like BS. And I never focused on like how I felt or like, or my mental health at that point. Like, and so it was all just like going to the gym and then what's gonna do well on social. And it didn't lead me to a great place. I didn't feel good. I wasn't dealing with any of the life stuff

I had to deal with in my brain. And so eventually at 25, 26, that all caught up with me and I had some work to do. Well, I think in that picture, you look like you belong on a stage, like you got yourself in very good shape. But I think one of the hard parts about trying to be on social media and trying to, you know, be known for like, you know, you lose weight and try to get this particular physique and so on. When you're lumped in with everybody else, I think a lot of the criticism would be like, well, it doesn't matter that you're 230, you still don't look that great.

Like that would be the conjecture from a lot of negativity that you have from people that are following along with the journey. And that probably makes it difficult because you're like, what the fuck, man? I did all this work. I went from you were at what, 350 at one point or so? 312 was my highest. 312 and then you went down to like two. No, it was like 158. My stage weight was 150.

Oh my God. Yeah. I didn't realize that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I got really, like I said, it was not ideal. But here's the thing though, like you're saying, like what really messed with me, and anyone who does like a show that,

because so I did this at the time where it wasn't a popular thing. Now it's a popular thing. And especially kids, especially younger people lifting and everything that wasn't popular in 2014. Yeah, and but especially with like, you know, I think WBFF has one and Summer Shredding was probably the most popular.

They have a whole transformation division that is built kind of around bodybuilding style, like judging in a way. I could have a whole conversation on that, honestly. It's rallying my gears, but we'll maybe mention that later. But yeah, so it wasn't like a popular thing. And I wasn't ready for, I'm 160 pounds, now I'm 180, still very healthy, still very lean. I wasn't ready for, I'm 160 pounds, now I'm 180,

still very healthy, still very lean. Oh dude, you look super fat now. Wait, what? Every five, 10 pounds I would gain, dude, your face is filling out, like, hey, keep it together, keep it together. And it was constant. And every five, 10 pounds, dude, you're losing. And then I was 200 pounds,

and I felt like the most obese I'd ever been in my life, even though I'd previously been 300 pounds plus, because like, when people see like shredded to normal even, they're like, oh, what happened? It's just like a mind fuck. Like, and so people who do these competitions now, I have a couple of friends of mine who have done them, and I'm always like, make sure you are prepared

for what your brain will do. Because if you are not, it's gonna be extremely difficult. And I've had some, oh yeah, I'm good, I'm good. And afterwards they're like, oh shit, this is some of the worst I've felt ever. And I'm like, yep. And you will. And even people who don't struggle with their weight,

like regular competitors. I remember I was in Toronto, I was at the Toronto Pro Show. I was with an IFBB Pro who was training. And me and him were like talking and I was like, we have very similar struggles, like mentally, but you look the way you do. Now look the way I do. And we went and like ate food.

And he was talking about like, it was literally like very similar mindset. Yeah. In terms of trying to just stay lean for him. Yeah, and also like dealing with the struggles of food. Like he doesn't let it go as far as I would, but the mindset around it of like, we ate like a bad meal together and he was like, oh shit, like I'm gonna,

tomorrow I'm gonna wake up a little more fattier on my abs and like, oh, you know, I really beat myself up and I'm like, dude, look, you're an IFBB pro. Like what are we talking about? But yeah, like, you know Hold this whole mental aspect around food and like your body image and stuff It's it's way more similar in these extremes and you'd think for sure. I understand so I'm actually curious about this though, too because

You know you were focusing on the way that you looked, right? And then you changed the people around you. Have the people around you, I mean, has that just changed your self-talk and how you look at yourself or what's it done there? I think the self-talk honestly was just over time. Like even before the mental focus stuff, like I got to a place where even though I was as big

as I'd ever been again, I had more of a confidence in who I was and that like that didn't dictate who I was than when I was younger. When I was younger, I was like, oh, I'm a fat piece of shit. Like, I'm gonna lose weight. Now I'm like, I'm unhealthy, but I'm a fucking awesome dude. Like, you know what I mean? Like, and not to like make that that as a scapegoat,

which definitely sometimes you do. You kind of make, we were talking earlier, you can rationalize every which way, this way and that way to make it okay with being where you're at. But I just, I no longer let, that was one of the first kind of mental hurdles I overcame was I just no longer let my physical dictate who I was.

And so that was a little bit before, but then being around the people I've been around definitely has helped shift some of the little stuff of it. Yeah, I can be confident in who I am, but also really want change because I wanna be healthy. I wanna be a healthy dad. I wanna be, this is because I wanna be healthy. I wanna be a healthy dad. Like I wanna be, this is who I wanna be. Now, a second thing there,

cause we, earlier you were talking about good foods, right? And there are people who don't like it when people say that this is a bad food and this is a good food. These processed foods are bad foods. They think that that makes people build a bad relationship with those foods. Now I'm of the mindset where like,

yeah, we can eat this stuff, but we gotta understand it's not good for you. We can't look at it like a Snickers is an apple. It's not the same thing. What do you think is missed when it comes to communication on that on both sides? Honestly, being a parent, I would just say that like, I agree with that wholeheartedly when you're a child.

Like with my daughter, we don't talk about good food and bad food with my daughter, but she has never had a problem with overeating like both me and her mom did when we were younger. She knows it as growing foods, you know, the good foods are growing foods. Like, hey, make sure it eats more growing foods. And then treats are when she wants to have them.

And it's like, she has one and she self-controls on her own. And most kids, I think, if you do it well, you know, of course you're gonna have outliers of people who just naturally have a disposition to eat more or whatever. But like, she's never had an issue with, and. And she eats, we were just talking about yesterday, she probably eats better than 90% of kids. Just because we give her, part of the reason I work so hard

is so I can afford to give her really high quality foods. So she inherently understands that self-control that a lot of adults lose. Yeah, so I think a kid growing up, that language should be thought about. When you're an adult, you're an adult. And I think that it becomes a defense. Like, oh, I don't want to hear about that

because it triggers me or whatever. And I'm not saying that people don't have real triggers and issues that they deal with, but like I've spent majority of my life avoiding triggers and like making it so that I had to fit in this little box and be safe and be and it was killing me like it was for me like it was absolutely like holding me back from everything I want in life and it wasn't until I stepped out of that and I Started to live with some of the uncomfortable truths

That broke me out of that that I'm gonna rationalize everything I'm gonna stay away from what doesn't serve me, and to the point where you actually start to put effort into things that actually protect your energy in a good way, rather than just protect your like... Your beliefs. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I think, I would say just kids,

I still, I think that's valid, but as you grow older, I think we know deep down, even if you have very little knowledge, I think it's easy to know what, even going to the grocery store is on the outside. That's an old school way of thinking, but it's true. All the good stuff's on the outside. And with kids, at least the parents can kind of regulate

what's in the house. The five-year-old's not driving to the grocery store. It was worse for me than it was for her, because she would not eat her nuggies or whatever. And I'd be like, okay, well, I'm not going to waste this food. So, do you have any extra calories you eat as a dad or as a mom or as a parent? I think Andrew earlier was asking, you know, how did it feel? And then we brought up that picture of you, you know,

competing, but just like, how did it feel in general to lose like 100, 150? Yeah. Or how, what's the most amount of weight you lost? It was 140. 140, so just even losing like, just losing like 80 pounds, 100 pounds, did that make you feel good

or you didn't have time to enjoy it because you kept going lower and lower and stuff like that? Honestly, I just don't feel like I, like obviously I felt way different, way better, like I could move more. Obviously I was way overall better in my health and I felt that, but it's hard to look back

and truly appreciate it where now, I'm only down 40 pounds, but the amount I feel different in this 40 pounds I've lost now, to me is like, and it could be just the moment in time, right? But it feels way more like I can really feel and see it than when I was younger. But yeah, obviously it was nine day different,

but it was just like mentally though, like I definitely dealt with like still feeling overweight for a long time, and especially during the show situation. Yeah, so it was physically obviously felt way better. Mentally, I felt more confidence and I could put that on, you know, and had that better feeling day to day. But deep down, I was, I was definitely like still struggling a lot with stuff. I'm curious about this man, because you mentioned that you're switching from you're slowly tapering off the GLP ones. And we've had somebody that's come on to the podcast recently, Dr. Tina Moore. She is all for it. And some people would actually think like that she's for a little bit too much.

Then you have other people in the fitness industry who are like, oh, no, this is, you know, they're not building good habits and why are people doing this? Right? Where do you land on its use? Because it can definitely like, it can definitely help people move in the right direction. It can help, I don't know, silence some signals that are just going crazy in their mind, right?

What do you think about it? I've always, so we, I don't know if you guys know, we have like a podcast where I have a co-host that's had weight loss surgery. Okay. And so it's called like Cheating on Fat, because it's like, I was taking a GLP-1, he's had surgery, playing into the game.

But- I said like that. Yeah, but one thing we always talk about is like, if people can do it naturally, that's always the best way. No matter what, like why would it not be? You know what I mean? GLP-1 really is like the new tool, like weight loss surgery was way back when.

Like it can help people get started and it can be a life-changing drug for people. Like surgery can be a life-changing surgery for people. There are pros and cons to both. And at the end of the day, depending on, you know, like I'm thankful that I've been able to put myself around people who have like changed my mindset And at the end of the day, depending on, I am thankful that I've been able to put myself around people who have changed my mindset

and are helping me work on that, whereas not everyone has the availability to do that. Not everyone has that, the money or the time or whatever. I'm very blessed with my business. So I look at it like that, where the majority, I think, you know, I'm not the majority. There's gonna be different groups of people, like people who can do it without it,

and there's gonna be people who can only do it with it, and there's people that can maybe use it as a temporary tool, which is I think that where I fall into. And at the end of the day though, like just like with everything else, I think when it comes to like medical decisions for yourself personally, this is just the way I feel, it's like, do what you're gonna do.

I think you need to weigh out all the pros and cons of it. I think a lot of people jump into it just like, ah, whatever, it's like a supplement. It's not a supplement, it's a drug. Yeah. I think, yeah, people just need to take a bit more time into figuring out if it's right for them or not. But then from there, I just think it falls

into different groups of people. Like I think some people need it, some people don't, and some people are gonna use it as a tool. But I think the final goal for everyone should be if it gets us healthier, truthfully, right? Because we don't know a ton of long-term effects on some of the ones. And I don't know if you guys know this,

but in the next six years, there's like 16 more weight loss drugs that are probably, most likely to be coming out. That are being tested. They're being tested right now. So none of them all will make through the FDA and everything. Yeah, and some of them will be pills as well, which will change the game,

rather than people injecting. But there's literally like 16 currently in development in the next 10 years. So what you think now is like, oh, this is, it's not even gonna be like. I was, I think this is mostly positive. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, for sure. But I think where it's going though

is gonna be very interesting, for sure. Because, you know, there's just new drugs being formulated. What's that movie with Demi Moore, that new movie that's out, Solution? It has the... The substance? Oh substance, yeah. My girlfriend can't stop talking about it.

I haven't seen it yet. Have you seen it? Yeah, I watched it. It's a body of a movie. You saw it? Yeah, it's wild. It made me disgusted. I'm still thinking about it.

You haven't seen it, Danny? I have not. I saw Terrifier 3. It was equally disgusting. She wants to see that this weekend. But... The substance was horrible. Yeah, no, that's one that's on my list to watch for sure.

It kind of, I think, runs like a little perpendicular to like GLP-1s almost, you know? Yeah. Trying to change who you are, but you like... Gets pretty drastic. And that's the thing, like I said, like if people can... Phew! Movie's wild. Ah, it's nasty.

The trailer's great too. Is it like kind of like a Black Mirror type? Yeah, Black Mirror on crack. Oh yeah. It's the grossest movie I've ever seen. The tape coming out of the eyeball. Yeah. It's a lot of body horror, right?

Body horror is rough. Yeah. Because it looks so real. It gets worse and worse and worse. I can't deal with that stuff. I can't watch like the pimple popping stuff that people watch all the time. It's the gross as me out.

Chicks love that. Have you seen Candyman? Yeah. Oh yeah. That's a classic that they remade recently. I had a struggle with that one because when they had like all the beehives like... Oh man. Was it called tryptophobia? Yeah.

Ooh. Andrew just passed out. That's spiders. So when you said beehive, my... Oh dude, I got tears coming. Sorry, my bad. But she was hot. That's spiders. When you said beehive my, oh dude I got tears coming up. Sorry, my bad. But she was hot, honestly, in this week. She was so hot. She's unbelievable.

Oh, you're a great actress. Her husband did like an interview and was talking about how like guys will come up to him, dude good job, and he's like, thanks? Like, what do you want me to do? Just like give him props? Yeah, like it was funny at first, now he's like, dude, good job. And he's like, thanks. Like, what do you want me to do? They just like give him props. Yeah, like it was funny at first, now he's like, it's so common.

It's like, am I an ugly dude? Because like, I feel like, you know. Just give him a fist bump. Good for you, man. Didn't see that coming, like wait, what? Shooting up in the world. That was great. But yeah, like I definitely, at the end of the day,

what I would want for people is like, whatever they need to do to get healthier, that's always the good option. But if people can do it naturally, or if people can have the goal of being a temporary to fix all the other stuff, because I truthfully believe that mindset and environment is like 90% of why people struggle with this stuff.

If you can work on that stuff, I think that everyone's capable, I know. And I wouldn't have believed that like eight months ago because I was like, I've tried everything, blah, blah, blah. But yeah, the mental stuff, man, is for me, because I, especially with knowing what I've been through, like it should have been easy for me to tell, but like just normal therapy, it helped me,

but it didn't get me anywhere for me personally. And- Normal therapy? Yeah, like just talk therapy, right? Yeah. Like it definitely helped, but it wasn't switching anything. Like it's all about talking through it. And you know, once you realize that it happened, that's great, but they don't like their common therapies

won't teach you like how to get to that next step. So that's quite interesting. What you've learned from, I forgot his name, that you're the guy you currently work with. Oh, Mike. Mike Shogren, yeah. Because it seems like there's an aspect of therapy there, but what you learned there wasn't just what happened,

but you learned how to make a switch, like to speak to yourself in a different way. That's the big thing? It's speaking to yourself in a different way and then also just visualizing and having clarity on who you wanna be. Gotcha. And like making that an everyday focus.

Are therapists allowed to do that for people? Probably not. Like I said, I guess I wasn't mean bad talking therapy at all, but I was just like, I reached a wall and I was like, what do I do from here? Because like, I honestly thought that like psychedelics were going to be like the only answer for me because I was like, I have all this trauma. I'm trying because the biggest thing I've ever struggled with in my life, and it's one of the main contributors to me being separated from the mother of my daughter, is I was just defensive. Like the way I lived and what I

got through, like I got through that by just being defensive all the time. So in arguments or like in different things, like I'd always just immediately revert to being defensive. And like my boss, when I moved there too, would like notice it and he'd be like, dude, like it's okay. Like, you know, it's just me. Like he could see me getting worked up. And I've struggled with this for my life. And I was just like, this is just who I am.

Like just something I'm gonna have to always deal with, or I'm gonna have to take like a psychedelic to try and like reprogram. And one of the best books I've read that very much changed that was Extreme Ownership by Jaco. It like, it opened me to just realizing that like, people don't care nearly as much as you think they do. Like I used to go out of rooms and be like,

if I said something or did something off, that's all people are gonna remember me about, remember about me. Like if I said something weird and they're like, you know you get that reaction where you say something didn't land with everyone? And they're like, okay, like, weirdo? And I would be like, oh, I'm weirdo freak

for fucking life now. Because that's literally how my brain would operate. I got a bunch of stuff written down here that I didn't even talk about, I believe. And that's how my brain would work. And so I would just go in the defense. And so when it came to weight loss, like I would defend myself and like,

just stay safe, like be defensive. And so working through that ability to like, just accept things how they are and not get defensive. And I still struggle with it, of course, but like I said, the last three months, I've made more progress than the last decade or two of my life. You know, I heard this recently and it's not about how good you do on your best day, it's how bad you are on

your worst day. I think that's really good advice for people that are trying to go through some of your journey with food because, and you mentioned the word switch and I think that's really important, can you switch out your sugary soda with a diet soda? We can get into arguments about diet soda and all that stuff, but you know, we have to kind of start with just these small little baby steps, small incremental things. And so maybe you get rid of some stuff that you like to eat in the morning and you trade it out for eating a, like a Franken food, like a tasty pastry from like legendary,

like a protein forward type of thing. Procter. Yeah, exactly. Protein pop tart. Like you're starting out the day with something slightly different than what you were doing before, but it's not like you're changing from having a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich to having Greek yogurt with some blueberries.

Because like your typical person that has struggled with their weight, they're going to be like, fuck you. I don't want to eat that. That doesn't sound very good. And so you have to try to find options that you can switch. They can literally just switch. Has that been something that's been kind of helpful for you in your journey or is that kind of a slippery slope too because if you kind of open the door to

getting certain tastes it might kind of open up the floodgates? Yeah for me personally like when I did when I was younger like that's how majority I lost my weight was just switching things and I still do that on occasion like just making it like healthier choice, even though it's not the healthiest. I think that's where the money is, is like not that I always have to choose like some weird alternative that's gonna do it, but also just knowing how to make that discernment in what like, it's gonna get me the closest to what I want,

but for like the least amount of damage and most amount of protein and good things. You know? Like a cheeseburger from a fast food place, fries, chocolate shake, maybe just do just the burger. Yeah, or even just like the burger with like another sandwich of grilled chicken sandwich. Like, you know, just like swapping out stuff.

And I think the knowledge of that is super important. For me now, where I'm at, with where I'm at, like when I was younger, I didn't care about how I felt or the overall health, and now that's one of my main focuses. And so for me, it's getting to the point where I know I'm gonna feel like crap if I have something. It's like that influences a bit.

I'm just making it so ingrained in my mind that when I choose something, I'm like, oh, do I wanna feel like crap tomorrow? Do I wanna not feel as good on the pickleball court? Do I wanna not feel as good in the gym? Like those things are now what I kind of think about. So I try my best to, it's honestly a very much on and off approach.

Like I'm either like 90%, like I said, or I'm like today I'm going to have what I want. And like, not, but not where before where it'd be like, I'm going to eat as many calories as I possibly can. Do a 10K calorie challenge in my apartment on my own. But actually, you know, just have a meal, feel good about it, and then move the fuck on with my day. You know, I don't beat myself up after having stuff.

I mean, that was another problem I fell into. It was like, you'd have me beat yourself up, be like, oh, today's gone anyways, I'll start again tomorrow. But if I'm gonna start again tomorrow, I better have all the stuff I want now, which is pizza and this and that. And I'll go get a Ben & Jerry's or whatever.

And then all of a sudden, especially if you're doing that repeatedly, if you're on for six days and then off for two, you're gonna do way more damage than those two than you are in the six, as far as like good versus bad in calories. So yeah, for me, like I do follow more of like a... I'm either eating meat and fruit and like sometimes rice or like I'll do pho, which is like rice noodles and meat. I think it's one of the most underrated like healthy foods.

I'm getting some today, I give it. It's a cold day. Oh dude, pho is... I'll never cut pho out of my life. It's a day out, it's a day out. It's a cold day, gotta get some fuzz. Oh dude, fuzz. I'll never cut fuzz out of my life. And then like simple switches, like I swapped any bread for homemade sourdough or like the best sourdough I can find locally.

I swapped like some meats for locally grass-fed. Like there's a farm north of me in Maine that I order from, similar price to like what a grocery store would be, but way higher quality. You know where it's coming from. So just little stuff that I can control. And I used to be super science approach.

I'd be like, if it doesn't have data behind it, I don't want it. And I was just like, what is gonna help and work for me and have possible pros but no cons? And it was like eating grass fat. Like there's no way that that's, you know, it's gonna maybe not have a crazy amount of stuff like some people online talk about,

but it might just be good. So why not? You know, I'm just not as black and white as I used to be with things. And tracking calories sometimes can be, I mean, you can fall off no matter how you try to diet. There's so many pitfalls, but sometimes when people are tracking calories,

they want the convenience of having something that's super trackable. I realize now we have apps and stuff, and there's a lot of good technology where you can type something in and it auto displays it, and you can click on it pretty quickly. Yeah, you can take a picture. Like it's pretty amazing the way that it has advanced.

But sometimes when people are tracking, they're like, oh, I'll just eat that Rice Krispie treat because it says it on the package what it is. And you just end up eating a lot of junk. 100%. And like I said, for me, you just don't realize how bad you feel eating that because it's just normal. When I talk about this stuff now, it's like, at the end of the that, because it's just normal. Yeah. Right?

When I talk about this stuff now, it's like, at the end of the day, do whatever works for you. I don't care. I used to care. I don't anymore. Literally, if something works for you, do it. Don't let anyone tell you to stop.

As long as you're obviously keeping your health and mind as the main focus and you're achieving the goals you wanna achieve, do whatever you want. But if you don't know what you want and you don't know how you feel, get a baseline. Cut everything out, figure it out, do it,

it was three days until I noticed. And then some people, the whole 30 was a huge trend a while back, which cuts almost everything out. But I don't think you have to put that much craziness into it. And I think some people obviously have to be careful with what they're doing, which is why this is just like, this won't work for me.

But try it, like try a week of just eating meat or meat and fruit and then slowly be like, oh, well I like this food, let's see if I introduce it. If you introduce it and you feel like crap, okay, good to know. You can then make the decision you wanna make from there, but without knowing, you can't make any decision. You're trying to get healthier

and you're probably eating chicken for every meal or the same beef cuts for every meal. And trust me, I know how good some cuts can be. You can make anything taste good, but Good Life Protein is the place that you want to go if you want to start adding some different types of meats into your rotation. They got pecania, they got chorizo sausage,

which is still great on the macros because they're using Piedmontese beef. They have lobster. They have all different types of fish. They have actually a bunch of different types of chicken, too. They have lamb. I'm telling you, if you give it Good Life a shot and try some of their different meats,

which are still great on the macros, you'll start to appreciate the things that you can get from different meat. Don't think too hard about that one. But check out Good Life, because we're sure that you're going to love the taste and the quality. And it's good for your health. Andrew, how can they get it? Yes, that's over at goodlifeproteins.com.

And at checkout, enter promo code power to save 20% off your entire order. Or if you want to save even more, use promo code powerproject to save an additional 5% off your build-A-Box. Again, GoodLifeProteins.com. Link is in the description as well as the podcast show notes. And what you mentioned there is like, like so, like very important doing that stage of creating some distance between these other foods because even, even I feel it when I have like a lot of sugar or something, right? I will, the next day I will feel inflamed.

I will feel like my joints will feel a level of soreness. I'm like, I didn't even work out that hard, right? But it's because of how I react to high amounts of sugar. And I know like if I'm doing this, tomorrow I'm not gonna feel the best for maybe a day and a half, right? I know I'm eating like crap, so I have eczema in my hands. If it's bad and cracked and inflamed stuff,

I know I've been eating like shit. I have lower back pain that if I know that is like, it makes it so it's hard to walk, or like do like pickleball for example, like I'll do a game or two and I'll be like, oh shit, like I'm in a lot of pain. That's how I know, I'm like, oh, I'm not eating great right now.

Cause I don't, like, it doesn't like fix it a hundred percent, but like it's a drastic difference. Like, my back pain will be very manageable. And then my hands right now are like, pretty clear. You know? So if you ever, I'm like, oh, I'm doing really well. You also, you see me, I'm like, what's up, Danny? Yeah, yeah.

Your hands are behind your back. They're in your pockets. Yeah, yeah. Don't look at my hands. So in the gym, we were kind of breaking down that scenario of like, you, you, you have your goal in mind, you know exactly what you need to be doing, but you're in the drive through and you're losing this battle of what we called the fuck. It's right. You're just like, F it. I'm going to go all in.

I'm just going to get everything that I wanted. Even though you have all those goals in mind, can you walk us through what that's like when that other side of your mind is like taking over and you're just like basically kind of tapping to, you know, the submission and you're going to go all in. And then after, if possible, if you can kind of help us out and guide somebody in like trying to either avoid that or when that scenario comes up, here's some advice on how to maybe navigate that thing. Because you talked about like some swaps, you know, especially in the drive-through. I think a lot of people don't understand.

You can swap things out, still get the flavors and all the fun stuff you want, but it's like, just have two hamburgers instead of hamburgers, fries and a drink or whatever. Right. Yeah. So yeah, I know it's kind of like a two-part question, but I just think for me, it's really fascinating to know that like somebody's on this war path and they know exactly what they need to do. Holy shit, they're back in the drive-through again. What happened? Yeah, yeah. So I'll start with preventing it obviously, and it's just been the mental work. Like when you're constantly reminding yourself of your goal, it's hard to

forget it. Yeah. Right? But when it's not on the front of your mind, and you have to make it a front of your mind, it's not there when it needs to be. Right? So like when I used to go to the drive-thru, I literally would forget all that shit. I would forget about the dad I want to be to my daughter. I would forget about the way I want to live my lifestyle. Like I would forget all those things. And now, like almost like the minute I pull up,

I'm like, hey, this isn't what we want to do. Lay off me, I'm starving. Yeah. And sometimes I literally, the other week, I pulled into like a parking stall before the drive-thru and I did the meditation and then I drove the fuck out. Because I was like, I can choose to give into what I feel right now or I now know I have another option. And I'm not saying this is gonna work for everyone,

but figure out what works for you. Figure out that thing that works for you that, like a lot of people talk about discipline, right? You can only have discipline when you actually have a choice to make. So when like you're in the drive-through and there isn't a better option to what seems like the best option at that moment,

then your body's gonna go, this is the option, go do it. But now that I've given myself a clear out, right, that's where discipline really comes into play. Because then you're like, I have an out, and sometimes I'm gonna choose not to do it. But without that out and that thing I know I can turn to, you're giving yourself no option. There is no discipline to build

because you're not giving yourself two choices. Just doing or not doing is not enough, I think, for most people to be like, I know I should just not do this. That's just, you know, so give yourself some way of an out or a reminder or, and it can be like a song that you go to, be like, oh, I can put my song on that reminds me of where I want to be. It's like you're setting up your trigger. Yeah, yeah. And just like give yourself an alternative.

And then hopefully that gets you to a mental place where you're like, you know what, no, I'm going home. And so I've gotten to the place where that's for me. But even then, then to the swaps, like even sometimes I'll go through one of the benefits that, you know, following a little bit of this animal based carnivore stuff is like, instead of getting a whole nother burger,

I'll just get the patties and just get the meat, right? Like, and it's still satisfying, you know? I try to only stick to McDonald's and Wendy's because they have like better meat options. Yeah, we'll tip for it. I'll tip for it. Yo, I actually need to go try that because I haven't had McDonald's in a while,

but McDonald's meat has always been According to the FDA, it's a hundred percent me And it's only salt and pepper, you know, it's an ideal no, but you know, if you're making that swap in that scenario I think you'll be alright but uh Yeah, so like I just a lot of the times now now, a lot of times I just skip the bread now, just because it's just like habit. I just know it doesn't sit well with me, it doesn't, of course I want it, but I have enough other choice to make

in my brain that I can go to that now I just like, oh yeah, I don't need this, I'll get an alternative, or I'll just skip it altogether. Depending on the day, we have our good days and bad, but even on my bad day now, what I always focused on is, if I can make my worst days slightly less bad over time, I'm gonna win eventually. Right now, you may be, a bad day is 400,000 more calories,

and then it's three, and then it's two, and then you're having way less bad days than more. Like, that's all wins, right? Especially for somebody who's struggling with their weight majority of their life. Like, those things should be, like, not used as like, oh, now I'm gonna go celebrate, but like, hey, I'm doing this shit. Like, now he's gotta keep going.

So, but then once, if you do do it, I think it's just like, a lot of people fall into like, oh, well I made a mistake, I'll just focus again tomorrow. But like I said, like if you haven't given yourself another option, then like it's just gonna be a continued cycle. So rather than just be like,

oh, I'll just start again tomorrow. No, no, no, do something. Like there's more that you can do than just starting tomorrow. Like give yourself another option. Give yourself a more positive, in the moment thing that you can go to and make that as daily habit of, as for you, as everything else that you're doing

to get to the healthier version of you that you wanna be. Like even if you did like one less set in the gym, but you focused that time on like doing something mental, I think would be insane for people. Like we just, it's crazy to me that we don't focus, we talk so much about mental health and we need to build each other mentally and then someone's like, hey, do you wanna meditate

or focus on your brain for a second? They're like, fuck no, get away from me. What's wrong with you? Weirdo, no, I wanna go work out, I wanna go eat meat. That's all great stuff. But if our brain is so important, fucking work on it. Well, and we're spending so much energy, too. We spend a lot of energy, we're trying to reduce the energy that we consume, and then you don't have energy to do the mental work that you need to do.

And it'll give you more energy. And I've been talking about this for a really long time, psychology and reinterpretation and trying to have equanimity, a good balance of your mind, because when your mind goes up and down like this, your decision making is going to be more sporadic. It might not always lead you to overeat. Maybe not everyone is obsessed with food, but I know for myself, I mean, I'm a binger. Like I probably just basically recovered from binging quite aggressively, maybe about two years ago. So I, you know, I've been binging quite aggressively maybe about two years ago. So I've been hammering food for a long time and whether I was a 330 or 220 when I was younger and stuff like that, food has just always been like on the front of my mind.

What I found for myself is it's interesting how in the morning time, I mean, maybe it's for everybody, but I think most people do pretty good in the morning. You know, most people seem to be able to sort of manage their morning. I also found for myself and for other people that I've helped lose weight, that falling behind is really brutal. In calories?

Falling behind, not necessarily in calories, but that could be brutal too, because if you're not getting your nutrients and nutrition, it's gonna make you hungry or it's gonna make you have more cravings. But falling behind in terms of your hygiene, your taking out the garbage, dishes, laundry, add up all these different things,

and you're in sort of like a hectic environment as you're talking about, And then you don't have time to prep your meals. You don't have time for this or that. You don't have time to shop. But if you stay ahead, you get your shopping done, you get your food in bulk, you get your food at reasonable prices that work with your budget and all these things, and you have things planned out, it makes it easier to follow the plan and then you can actually drive by the fast food place and just be like, that's not even a place

that has the right food for me. I have it at my house. It's already defrosted, it's already ready to go and it gets easier to make those decisions. But for myself, when I was powerlifting and stuff like that, I was telling myself the same lies. I was like, I need to get bigger, I need to get bigger.

And it was for particular goals, but it also just got completely ridiculous and got completely out of control. And I would do something like, I would say, oh, well, maybe Friday I'll eat a little bit more. But then that turned into Saturday and then that turned into Sunday. It turned into a whole big thing of chaos. Yeah, no, 100%. Can you?

Oh, sorry, I thought you were done. I was gonna say to go off that, like, as your life gets busier, like this stuff, it just becomes way more important, because you need to be able to like delegate and prioritize. And if you don't have that in, like, that's the thing. Like if you don't have this stuff in motion, then everything else is 10 times harder.

Like making the choice to eat good or to go to the gym or whatever, like is so much more difficult when your mental is like, oh, I hate, like I have to get up or I have to, you know, I have to stress about this that I have to do later. And those are all real things. Like I, right now I'm the busiest I've ever been in my business for like last three years. And it's stressful. And it's definitely like, it's taken my overall like

goal setting down, but I've realized like, oh, I got to focus more on this mental stuff because that's where I'm slipping right now. You know? So the first excuse that people make is they don't have enough time. And then some of them will also say like, oh, but I don't know how, but like you just said with an air fryer, it kind of takes out both of those, right? So the next thing though is, oh, but I don't know how, but like you just said, with an air fryer, it kind of takes out both of those, right? So the next thing though is, oh, it costs too much to eat healthy. Can you talk about the difference as far as like budgeting

and costs in regards to like what it costs to like eat quote bad to quote eating healthy? Yeah. That's tough. Especially cause today's election day, so. I'll start by saying this because because I grew up very poor. Right, my, both my parents were drug addicts, like I grew up with very little.

And now being in a place where I have a great living, I do recognize that when everyone says they don't have time, it doesn't mean the same amount, doesn't mean the same for everyone. There's some people out there that legitimately don't have time. They're working like three jobs or a single mom, whatever. There's people out there that really don't have a lot of time and don't have a same for everyone. There's some people out there that legitimately don't have time. They're working like three jobs or a single mom, whatever. There's people out there that really don't have a lot of time

and don't have a lot of money. And I think that first just like address the fact that that does exist is important. If people just roll over like, okay, yeah, sure buddy. No, there's people that really do have that. But that's a very like, maybe not very, but it's a small percentage. So the people that even have that like a little bit extra,

whether it be time or money, it's just like, it's kind of just going back to like the swaps, like do what you can while you can. And then hopefully ideally over time, whether it be you get a new job or things change in the world, you know, then you can slowly make better and better choices. But you have to take with what you have. Like I know people, you people, you take two different people

who are the same, but different focuses, they might be able to achieve completely different results. So at the end of the day, it just goes back to what are you prioritizing? And there was a time in my life where I didn't budget at all. And so I can't afford good foods. Meanwhile, I'm spending like two grand a month on fast food. Like, what are we doing?

You know? Especially, depends on the types of diet you follow. I think a lot of people overspend. You know, you think you need all of this stuff where like, literally you could just be like, okay, I'm gonna get eggs and toast in the morning. I'm gonna have a rice bowl and protein in the lunch. And then at dinner, I'm gonna use that same protein

with potatoes instead. Like, and you're done. But we want the low fat this and the packaged this and the alternative that and those are all expensive. Like anything packaged or convenient is more expensive. But especially people starting their weight loss journey, all that convenience stuff feels like a necessity. So it's tough.

It's definitely hard. But I think it just comes down to like, you know, to go back in that old cliche, you know, saying, like, if you want it bad enough, if you want it as bad as you want to breathe, like, you're gonna do it. Like, you know what I mean? Like, you're going to figure out a way to make it happen. And I, yeah, I've followed,

I've heard better messages of that same idea in other things, but it really just comes down to like it What you want day to day and are you actually working towards that? Yeah, and if you like at some at some points in my life I was trying to do it. I Didn't truthfully want it. I can look back and know that at the time. I was like no I do for sure I hundred percent do it's like no, I don't know You know, there's a side thing too. that really doesn't get talked about much either is that the food is casting a vote for your self-esteem and for you in a very particular way.

It's also like shaping your brain and distracting you and keeping you in that circle and keeping you in that cycle, keeping you in that wheel. That's why for myself, I've always really loved the idea of lower carbohydrate diets, keto diets, carnivore diets, things like that, because I think that it gets people out of that. Instead of being in this wheel where you continually eat these like kind of shitty foods,

you're in this wheel where you're continually motivated to eat the right foods. And it just puts your mind in a very, people talk about like brain fog and all these different things that they experience. And a lot of times it comes down to their nutrition. And I don't think everyone could be cured by a keto diet. And a keto diet has its own flaws

and so does a carnivore diet. But I think that some versions of that, and as you're mentioning, like eating meat and some fruit and some vegetables, I think that's where it's at for most people, especially most people that have already previously struggled. Most people that have,

they're just, food is on their mind a lot. They have a lot of like food noise because you get to eat a lot. You know, you can have omelets, you can have some cheese, you can have some bacon, you can have maybe some fattier foods, fattier cuts of meat here and there, and it's not really, it's not gonna mess you up because in a lot of these cases, you're not even

necessarily tracking or counting the calories. So sometimes when I look at some of these diets, I like to look at them and say, like, what works, but then defining what works is really hard because you could say like, oh, this diet worked. I lost 50 pounds when I was doing it. But then a lot of times people gain the weight back. So the diet worked while you were using it

and while you were following the plan. So the actual diet works, but then it wasn't sustainable for somebody afterwards. And so I also am a fan of people going from one diet to another, like trying different things. And I know, and Seema's mentioned that he used to track his macros. I don't think you track, you don't track anymore, right?

I've been tracked since like 2017. And I think practices like that, I think make a lot of sense. I think it makes sense for someone to either start out low carb or start out tracking or start out with some sort of conscious thought of exactly what they're doing to have a plan to help them to reach their goals. And then maybe at some point they can learn about other ways to be healthy.

They can learn other things about nutrition. Because I've always liked to try to come from the quality side. Like if you're eating quality foods, you're not gonna have to worry about it as much if you're eating these quality whole foods. They're sort of self, they're not always self-regulating cause we know we can out eat these things. If a challenge is put our way, we can out eat these things.

But for the most part, it seems like a safe bet for a lot of people to have struggled previously Yeah, yeah They have you know, my good friend John obese to be is a good example of like someone who's just been able to do it And he's one of the few but for him like You know, we have we always talk about the differences we have like for he's not a foodie at all He could care less like what restaurants he goes to

or when he travels. I don't understand those people. He likes it, but it's not like a focus. But for me, if I go somewhere new, that's all I'm thinking about. Me too. So that's an aspect and difference of like, these people are real.

He's not lying to you. No, no, he's, it's like the same things every day. I just struggle with that. So up until now though, you know, I always try to say that after I say it. There we go. You know, like we have different things that we're good and bad at, right?

So for him, that's easy, for me, it's not. So like I have to adjust differently than he has to with his journey. So it all just comes down to like, I just look at it like, you know, that mental aspect, right? The knowledge that you have, then the adherence, and then like everything else, like then activity, and then, you know, it's like a rung of what's important.

But I think like knowledge, the mental, your focus and what you're focused on and what you want, and then the adherence to what you're doing is everything. And then it'll change over time. Like I said, like, if a Vigimac has worked for me when I was younger, it doesn't now. Yeah. But yeah.

What's your favorite shitty food? Ooh. It's probably, like, most common probably is pizza. Like, or just like. All right, that's great. Andrew, is that pizza ready that we got? Oh, yeah. I think Eric's bringing it actually.

Put it on the table and all three of us would be like eating and talking about dieting at the same time. That's the one thing that like- Melty cheesy. The tough thing about pizza is it really is one of those ones that like you either have it the way it is or like nothing else compares. Like you can make a pretty good healthy burger at home.

Yeah. And you can make a healthy pizza, but it never hits the same. I've had some healthy burgers I've made for myself. I'm like, oh dude, this is, I'm good, like we're golden. Never made a macro-friendly protein pizza. That I've been like. Oh, all this shit that's made out of like cottage cheese

nowadays, you're like, cottage cheese pizza? You're like, I don't know about that. And also pizza is one of those things that like, is so person to person, like I don't think another food is like it. Like, you can talk to someone and be like, oh this place is the best pizza place I've ever had. Yeah. You go there and you're like, it's the best pizza place I've ever had.

You go there and you're like, that's the worst pizza I've ever had in my life. Like, it's the one food that like, everyone has their own particular thing with it. So that's why I think it's just like, I don't wanna say it's so basic, but it's probably mine. It's bread and cheese. How is it so good?

Some people like it thick, some people like it thin. Yo, I need the box to literally be oily. I need the box to be wet. That pan pizza. Bruh. Pizza Hut? You like Pizza Hut? You a Pizza Hut guy?

Pizza Hut's okay. That's what I think of when I think of oily pizza. They do have nice oily pizza, I will say. Yeah, you need that like orange oil. Domino's pan, that used to be my go-to when I was like, shit. Still once in a while when I'm like, I wanna have a bag.

That's why you get the mushrooms. They absorb that orange oil for some reason. And it just makes the cheese a little bit brighter white. It's so good. It's in the gullet. It's burning your face the whole time, but you can't stop eating it. Roof of your mouth is like caving in or caving down.

Well, dude, I made some sourdough, some of the grass fed bees that I have, and some raw cheese the other day. I made a pat like, some sourdough, some of the grass-fed beets that I have, and some raw cheese the other day. I made like a patty melt, basically. Oh, okay. And just used mustard and not ketchup. And it frickin' was fire. There you go.

So like, yeah, like once in a while when I'm like really wanting a burger, like I'll make that instead, you know? There we go. Do you track it all anymore? I'll probably track like once or twice a week, just to see where like, like I'll eat the same for a few days Judge on progress and making progress you're good. But if I'm like stuck I'm like, what am I eating? Like where am I at right now?

That's good awareness. I always thought it'd be a good idea for people to track the shitty food that they eat I've done I did that once like only track the shitty food Did you eat cuz he cares about your fucking broccoli and chicken? see, I started a vlog one day where I was like, I already know I'm gonna do like, do shit, but then I was like, if I put this out, people are gonna be like, oh no, you just did this for the video,

and I'm like, how do you balance it that where like, you're like, no, this is real, but I'm showing it to you like I'm making a choice, you know what I mean? But I was like, no, this would be like the most truthful account of like what an overweight person does when they're like, just like, yeah, fuck it, you know, like you said. But yeah, I was like, no, this would be the most truthful account of what an overweight person does when they're just like, yeah, fuck it, like you said.

But yeah, I was like, how do I do this where people just won't be like, dude, what are you doing? Yeah, so never put it up. But yeah, it was a few times, so I do have a few clips of me where I knew that change is coming, and I was just like, eat a burrito, I'm gonna change soon. And it wasn't like a good burrito,

it was like bad, bad, bad for you. I wanna know this man, what is your beef with the transformation category? Oh, I don't know. So I won't name any names and this could get brought up and eventually it'll be a thing I have to deal with but the space just like, you know, bodybuilding for a long time. Like one, politics come to play. So I have someone of knowledge to me that has dealt with some politics in that scene with the weight loss division.

But then two, it is what it is, because I feel confident enough to be like, I just don't agree with this. Not that this person is a bad person or anything. But they just had world championships of that. And then- That's like that specific category in a show or okay. Yeah, in the weight loss division.

And the guy who won, amazing transformation, but he's openly about TRT, peptides, and everything. In the weight loss division, right? So he won, and the guy in second was a guy who was in a wheelchair who lost like 100 pounds in a wheelchair. To me, like, what are we doing? You know what I mean? Like, not that, like, this is where it's like a gray area,

but like, not to take anything away from the transformation with other assistances, but if we're judging a weight loss division, a transformation division, and we're highlighting and putting the winner on as basically a bodybuilding show, what are we doing? I don't know. It just didn't sit right with me. And I saw a lot of people in my space being like, oh, congratulations, like hard work. Yes, definitely. Congratulations. You did really hard work. I understand. Like the most improved on the team could be the best player,

but they never get the most improved. Yeah. Like, I don't know. It just is not right. It didn't sit right with me. And like to me, it's like, like there's a video that he did with Will Tennyson. I'll just say Simon Lafontant, I think is how you pronounce his last name. I'm not positive. I haven't done a ton of research.

So this is like the shade room now. No, but like you said, Simon, if you're watching this, I think your transformation is amazing. I just, as a person who's like been in the weight loss industry for so long, I just don't think that the person who should win should be like, he has a clip of him literally saying like, why would I be natural when I can be healthy? And so it's not this video, it's the other one, the extreme 140 pounds, but so yeah, go to the, try the extreme 140 pound weight loss.

That's an odd quote. The third one. That's a, Yeah. Nothing against this guy either, but that statement in and of itself, you don't, I don't know if you. It's his journey, I have no judgment, but when we're putting it, it's similar to sports, right?

When we're putting everyone into a sports category, into a weight loss transformation category, respectfully, I just don't think it should be what wins. Like, leave that for, he also won the open bodybuilding. Oh wow. Yeah, so hey, amazing work. That's not what I'm taking away from. I'm just talking about it specifically in a weight loss sense. Like, leave that for, he also won the open bodybuilding. Oh wow. Yeah, so hey, amazing work.

Like, that's not what I'm taking away from. I'm just talking about it specifically in a weight loss sense. To celebrate the weight loss, celebrate transformation, should it be the number one in the show that's focused on a transformation? It just doesn't sit right with me. But, you know.

Yeah. What kind of heat did you get when you start? Because you've lost, you gained weight, lost weight back and forth a couple times. What was that like being a social media presence, being somebody that, you know, did compete, that did step on stage weighing, what'd you say, 150 something? Yeah. And then once you started to gain weight, what does that feel like? Well, I was coaching at the time, so I naturally just stopped that because I was like, I, you know,

people would always say, like, how do you coach people when you're overweight? And I don't necessarily agree with that mindset. You literally stopped coaching people. Yeah, yeah, eventually. Because I was like, I'm not in a good place, like, so it doesn't make sense for me to like try and do this. And like I said, like, when I've been talking

about all this mental stuff, like, this is not me talking about this, like I'm any sort of close to, even like a novice man, you know, like I'm working on this currently with myself. But one of the things I believe in is that like, you kind of, not in an ego way, but in a confidence and a humble way, work towards and talk like you're the person you wanna be.

You know what I mean? Like Jim Carrey has this famous quote where he talks about how he was a kid and he really wanted a bike. And he puts out in the world like, I want this bike, I saw this bike. He envisioned really wanted a bike. And he puts it out in the world like, I want this bike, I saw this bike. He envisioned himself having this bike and then two weeks later he came home

and the bike was there waiting for him. And he was like, what the heck? And he was like, oh, my friend put me in a raffle and I won the raffle and got a bike. And he's like, from then on out, I put out into the world what I want and worked towards it like it already existed. And that's how he basically made it to Hollywood and stuff.

It's like he lived his life like that. And so that's what I try and stuff. He lived his life like that. And so that's what I try and do. I try and be like, I'm not there yet, but I'm living like I'm becoming, this person that I am is right here and exists, and I'm just working towards that person. So not like I know everything,

but with stuff like this, I don't know. It's kind of just part of the process, part of the industry. Social media is a wild place. But yeah. Did you want to disappear a little bit? Like, you know. Oh, I did for a few years, yeah.

You disappeared from social media, from YouTube. I also had, like I said, I had a huge ego, you know? And even me, like bringing up that, like I know that's gonna, I don't usually talk about any, like this is fairly new on my mind today. But I try and kind of just keep to myself because social media can just be a constant back and forth. And so, but for me, it's like the industry

and the side of the social media that I've spent so long in, it's just, it's in a very interesting place, you know? And so I think we just need to like realize what we're putting out there and what the norm is. Like I've not, like I said, nothing against him, but if you go to his page, like there's a bunch of peptides like that he's selling that can tighten your skin, it can do this and that. It's like dude, there's just a point where you have to choose what you share and what you don't, you know what I mean? For the greater good of who is following you

and who is listening to you. Because the fact about people who are trying to lose weight is a lot of people are in a place where they're looking for anything, right? GLP-1 is within that range of a peptide. I think he was on one, possibly. But, and I believe that that is, like that's a regulated thing.

Like we have research at least show that it does work and it's like there's doctors behind it. Just putting out a bunch of peptides is like, you should take all the stuff because this helps me recover, this helps this. Like in that video, he goes through like, he takes nine syringes a day. I'm like, what are we doing?

Like this has always commonly been like a bodybuilding thing and now all of a sudden it's slowly working its way into weight loss. And I'm like, I don't know, man, it just, it just really didn't vibe. There's a lot like, no, you know, what you're saying has a lot of validity and I, I don't want to speak to anybody's specific experience because I can understand the want to use a lot of that stuff. But one of the things is like you mentioned, like how about everything else that's as important

to this? It's not just the drugs. Yeah, maybe they can help, but what's gonna be the thing that can get you there and allow you to maintain that for the rest of your life without potentially having to pin something all the time? Have the ingrained habits set, right? And it's a weird, and I will say that

it's not just the weight loss industry. Even in the wealth industry, like just take, you're not on peptides, what do you mean? Why are you not optimizing your, you know, like that's becoming like a, almost like a part of like the- Mental optimization. Yeah, because like, oh, well like you have,

like it's literally like, we're going back to that, the why I first found you was bigger, faster, stronger. Like that really is happening again with peptides. Like people are like just taking it to take it because why not? Not knowing like down the road, like we don't, like BC 128 or whatever it's called, like we don't know what the fuck that's gonna do.

Like what are you? BC 157. Yeah, whatever. Yeah. BC 128. Yeah. That's one of them, one of the ones. You know, we just like, I don't know,

just like even for me, like when I first went on GLP One, I was working with a company. I was open about the fact that they were giving me a commission, but I was looking I don't know, just like even for me, like when I first went on GLP One, I was working with a company. I was open about the fact that they were giving me a commission, but I was looking at it with a sense of like, people who come to me, most of the time were people who like had it through insurance, lost it, and then couldn't get any more.

So I was like, hey, this is an option for you. Or people who are like, I'm really struggling, this may seem like an option. And I would ask them relentless questions to the point where like people I was working for were like, dude, like you're asking, like if you're not selling, and I'm like, no, sorry. I care more about making sure the people I'm getting to you are qualified than I do selling.

And eventually I just cut off that partnership because it just doesn't align. If you're not gonna let me do it the way I want to, then it just doesn't align with me. And I think there's a lot of people who make GLP-1s their entire identity and focus now on social media. And listen, I think it's an amazing drug. It's gonna's a lot of people who make like GLP-1 their entire identity and focus now on social media. And listen, I think it's an amazing drug. It's going to save a lot of lives, but it's still in like an area where we don't know

a lot. And so that's even for me, like I still talk about it, but it's like in a sense of like always reminding people, like if you can do this naturally, if you're not focusing on this mental stuff, like that's why I'm, I'm shifting from like the GLP one to like the mentality stuff being my main focus on social It's because it's making the biggest difference and I think it's gonna make the biggest difference for so many people Before anything else is neat, you know, some people are still gonna need other stuff. Like it's just reality We're not all gonna be able to just fix ourselves I would love that but in the world, you know, we live in a real world

but at the end of the day, like I just want people to make the progress in their health in the healthiest way, in the best way, in the longest sustaining way possible for them. And what that looks like is going to be very different for person to person. And we just lose that in the conversation and the struggle and in the wanting to be sponsored by different things and wanting to work with this company and wanting to be on this stage. And it's like, dude, everyone follows these people and in the real world, it's gonna be so different from what your journey looks like.

Even for me, when I was back in social media before, I would tell people, you're not gonna have the same journey as me. You don't have the ability to just go into the gym for six hours a day and be like your life. And now I don't have that. But I'm honestly way better place than I am now than I was then because I'm in the time that I do have,

I'm focusing it heavily on the stuff that's improving my life. So yeah, you know, hopefully I talk about all this shit and then, you know, a couple months here, you guys will see some major change. I know it's gonna happen, but you know, it'd be funny. Just like talking about it and see like, oh fuck. He didn't do it, shit.

That's not the case, that won't be the case. No, I understand that. Andrew, do you have one of those clips I sent you in the text thread between, Eric was in there as well, I think. You play that first clip, it'd be cool to kind of hear him talk about that a little bit. You know, it's just interesting before you play this clip,

how well these crappy foods, these comfort foods work. You know, they really do like, we could just say, oh, well, it's just like a couple seconds and you know, it's like you get this taste and it's kinda done with, but it does feel amazing. You know, you have this kind of thing in your head. You got this craving and it's like putting a key in a door. It kind of unlocks that craving that you had

and it sort of just, it just calms you down. But then there's like kind of the regret and everything else that happens afterwards. You're talking about like the initiative initiative to get everybody healthy, right? Like the high school kids, is that the one? Yeah, I think that's a clip. Yes, on David Goggins' page, I think it was. Goggins.

To speak to the people of America about a subject which I believe to be most important, and that is the subject of physical fitness. And I speak not only as President of the United States, but also as a parent of two children who I hope will grow up with those qualities of vigor and energy which we identify with the best of America. This should be a matter of concern to us all. A country is as strong really as its citizens. And I think that mental and physical health, mental and physical vigor go hand in hand.

Ready up. And Seema, can you, or Andrew, either one of you guys, can you read what David Goggins wrote? I'm not going to be able to see it. Them Kennedys, eh? Runs the family. Yeah, right? I'm trying to keep people healthy.

But I know in some of what Goggins said on this post that he put up was basically these initiatives, they're not going to really ever happen again in the same way because there are going to be too many people complaining and too many people whining about their kids having to participate in gym class or whatever it might be. And he basically just kind of goes on to say like,

learn about this stuff and save yourself and put the onus and put the responsibility on yourself. And I think that ties in to the Jocko Willink book that you read and you were talking about how helpful that is. So, I just want to get some of your thoughts on some of that. Can you see it?

Do you want me to read it? Yeah, go ahead. In the span of 60 years, our standards have dropped so far. The USA now ranks in top 15 countries in the world in terms of the obesity rate. Our low standards are reflected in the poor mental and physical wellbeing of our citizens. This is not a political statement.

This is a personal statement about prioritizing your physical health because it correlates and affects all aspects of your life. And by the way, David Goggins was very, very heavy before. So the decline is only gaining momentum. I can only imagine what things will look like 10 years from now, let alone 60. The days of programs like this being approved are long gone. So you need to figure it out for yourself. Stay hard. Rock hard. I bought his book. I haven't read it yet, but. I listened to the audio version,

because he reads it, and he, yeah, it's pretty good. Yeah. But, yeah. What, do you want my thoughts on that? Yeah, what are some of your thoughts? Yeah. Like, you have a young kid, and, you know? Yeah, yeah, I mean, I definitely am, like I said, prioritizing more of the just being healthy

aspect more than the look a certain way, lift a certain amount of weights stuff. Like even you guys like, I feel like a lot of your mindsets in the last 10 years have shifted drastically. Totally different. Yeah. It's not about, yes. Yeah. It's not about, yes. Yeah, yeah. So I think that it's cool to see that being like a, everyone's kind of like tuning in and being like,

hey, wait a minute, we forgot the fundamentals here. You know, everyone's aiming for this like, what's honestly a lot of the cases, like out of reach goal, whereas even just like here would be great for the majority. So I think, yeah, just focusing back into like, you know, unfortunately, healthy stuff always gets tied into some stuff that's pseudo-science,

but like I said, I think when everyone uses some critical thinking and goes, what works for me, what works best for my family, and if that's getting you to a healthier place and a goal, that's right for you. I think that's all that matters, right? So I think going back to those fundamentals, which I think kind of is the main thing he's talking about,

is like, yeah, it's like our standard fundamentals is like shifted and all of a sudden, like things are made to be bad that don't really have a reason to be bad, you know? And then we're missing out on some key aspects. So I think that just when it comes back to what we were talking about, like I think people are starting to realize.

And so the more, I think content, honestly, you know, social media has a huge, huge aspect on that too, just because, you know, what's put out still, like even if I go back to when I was like, you know, really on social, it's different things, but similar vibe. You know what I mean? Like, oh, it's not the same, but then you start to see messaging in certain things, you're like things, but similar vibe. You know what I mean? Like, oh, it's not the same, but then you start to see messaging and certain things,

you're like, this is the same. It's just like a, it's a different, here you go. But a lot of it has not adjusted. And you know, back again, like to John, my good friend, like he spent a lot of years, like kind of like, you know, making, being there for like his community, being overweight community,

and like some of the people that come after them and like say wrong things or whatever. And for a lot of times I was like, huh, you know, I don't know if I agree with that kind of content, but it's like at the end of the day, like he's been doing that for how long? And, you know, if he gets to impact

and help people make some better choices, you know, that's better than what the general public seem to be getting. And so I applaud what he's been able to do. And it's all about, yeah, just, not everyone you follow on social media has the answers. You know what I mean? And so when we just look back at it, move more, eat healthier, that sounds basic,

but choose to learn about that. If you don't know more, eat healthier, that sounds basic, but choose to learn about that. If you don't know more than the basics, choose to. And then include that mental aspect, and I think everyone could drastically improve where they're at. What about navigating life as being the outsider? So you said when you were younger and you were bigger, you were the outsider because you were the bigger kid

and everybody. There was other reasons, but. Okay, well, no, that's fine. younger and you were bigger, you were the outsider because you were the bigger kid and everybody. There was other reasons, but. Okay. No, that's fine. You're still the outsider. But now in 2024, almost 25, if you're eating healthy, you're making these swaps, you're doing exercise, you're moving, getting sunlight, you're now kind of like the outsider, it

seems like, right? Because like people look at me and they're like, what do you mean you don't really eat fast food anymore? It's like everybody eats that. you mean you don't really eat fast food anymore? It's like, everybody eats that, how come you don't? So what's that like for you now? Honestly, it's tough because like now, like just the majority of people I surround myself with, like that's just the norm, you know?

I think there's a huge, huge, you know, that's life-changing for some people. Like who you are with, like I know it's cliche, but like who you're with is who you are. is a huge, huge, that's life changing for some people. Who you are with, I know it's cliche, but who you're with is who you are. The five people, it's the sum of you. So I don't deal with a lot of that, what do you mean, anymore?

Unless I go on, a lot of times sometimes when I'll go on a date or something like that, they'll be like, why didn't you get this? I'm like, don't want it. I don't eat that way. You get whole milk in your coffee? Who drinks whole milk anymore? And I'm like, I didn't for years and years and years,

and now I love it. Yeah, I legit was oat milk for like seven years straight. I never, I guess it was like, milk's not for me. It's gross. Time period, you want to take? He's like, oh, you have an oat milk drinker on the podcast? And that's all the time we have. What the fuck?

Let's turn this off. But yeah, so I don't have to deal with a lot of that, but yeah, I just think that people should just be aware of who they're around, you know? And that's the thing with weight loss too, is like it does affect relationships, 100%. And then it actually, if you look into it, it's people who have weight loss surgery, for example, if their partner is a person who has a different lifestyle, the divorce rate is like insane.

I don't know if you guys ever heard that. I never knew that. Yeah, like it's like 80% or something like that. Well, we definitely have heard of couples sabotaging each other and stuff like that too. One person starts to lose weight, the other one starts to get worried about where their interests are starting to lie,

where they're spending their time and so on. Yeah, but yeah, specifically with weight loss, or just because it's a direct, you can measure it, because people will most likely lose the weight. Yeah, those relationships don't commonly last because who you are with and for me, I know that the future partner I have, I know that they have to have an active, healthier lifestyle.

Because if I am around someone who's like, let's just stay in, let's just order a pizza, I'm going to be like, let's do it! Yeah! Yeah, that's real dark. So I know that I can't do that for me. So setting your standards and not veering from them is super important. So when people, or your friends or family, because those are people who do it,

the ones that you can talk to nicely and change, sweet, but the ones that don't, you gotta make a decision. That's tough too, because sometimes it's close, so you just have to adjust. I always say, instead of like, it's hard not to get defensive, but just treating it like, oh, yeah, like just kind of like playing it off like it's nothing.

Like then people just kind of go like, oh, okay. Like, there's different, I think we have done a podcast talking about that of like things you can do, like specific tools, but yeah. Just don't give a shit. That too, yeah. It's hard. Thank you so much for your time today.

Really appreciate it. Yeah. Thanks for having me on. It's been amazing. And I think with your, you know, new found mental powers, I think you're going to be able to be a service to more people. And I think that the more that you kind of are able to balance your mind,

the more that you'll be able to be active on social media without it being like a negative stressor. Right, like the stress that we have, you're mentioning some stress from work. I think a lot of times when we think of stress, we just kind of automatically put it in a category of negativity, but stress is what makes us grow.

You know, pressure makes diamonds and all those good things. Strength is never a weakness, weakness is never strength. Catch you guys later, bye.