Mark Bell's Power Project - MBPP EP. 674 - Knees Over Toes Family: No Entertainment For A Year ft. Ben, Alissa & Onyx Patrick

Episode Date: February 8, 2022

Today we have the whole Knees Over Toes Pack, Ben, Alissa and Onyx Patrick! We learned why Ben decided to abstain from all entertainment even though he and his wife were avid tv watchers just like eve...ryone else. We also learn how they run the ATG business together and what life was like before Onyx and Knees Over Toes. Special perks for our listeners below! ➢https://eatlegendary.com Use Code POWERPROJECT for 20% off! ➢Bubs Naturals: https://bubsnaturals.com Use code POWERPROJECT for 20% of your next order! ➢Vertical Diet Meals: https://verticaldiet.com/ Use code POWERPROJECT for 20% off your first order! ➢Vuori Performance Apparel: Visit https://vuoriclothing.com/powerproject to automatically save 20% off your first order! ➢8 Sleep: Visit https://www.eightsleep.com/powerproject to automatically save $150 off the Pod Pro! ➢Marek Health: https://marekhealth.com Use code POWERPROJECT10 for 10% off ALL LABS! Also check out the Power Project Panel: https://marekhealth.com/powerproject Use code POWERPROJECT for $101 off! ➢Piedmontese Beef: https://www.piedmontese.com/ Use Code POWER at checkout for 25% off your order plus FREE 2-Day Shipping on orders of $150 Subscribe to the Podcast on on Platforms! ➢ https://lnk.to/PowerProjectPodcast Subscribe to the Power Project Newsletter! ➢ https://bit.ly/2JvmXMb Follow Mark Bell's Power Project Podcast ➢ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/markbellspowerproject ➢ https://www.facebook.com/markbellspowerproject ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mbpowerproject ➢ LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/powerproject/ ➢ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/markbellspowerproject ➢TikTok: http://bit.ly/pptiktok FOLLOW Mark Bell ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell ➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell ➢ Snapchat: marksmellybell ➢Mark Bell's Daily Workouts, Nutrition and More: https://www.markbell.com/ Follow Nsima Inyang ➢ https://www.breakthebar.com/learn-more ➢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 on all platforms ➢ https://direct.me/iamandrewz

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Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, Roger family. How's it going? Now, we have had so many different guests that have come onto our podcast and we've talked about meat a lot. And the one thing that everybody that tries Piedmontese says is that it is some of the most tender steak they have ever had. I think actually Sean Baker came on and talked about the lack of connective tissue in the cattle. Yeah, he broke it down scientifically, but yeah, he did. That's the reason why when you, whatever cut you get, whether it's a ribeye, whether it's it's a flat iron whether it's a bavette no matter when you cut into that steak after it's cooked you're not getting any of that chewiness that gristle that you have to spit out because you can't actually chew it piedmontese is super tender they have great cuts that are low fat high
Starting point is 00:00:37 fat for whatever diet you're doing they're just overall amazing beef company andrew how can they get it yep that's over at Piedmontese.com. That's P-I-E-D-M-O-N-T-E-S-E.com. At checkout, enter promo code POWER for 25% off your order. And if your order is $150 or more, you get free two-day shipping. Again, Piedmontese.com, promo code POWER. Links to them down in the description as well as the podcast show notes. All right, little boy.
Starting point is 00:01:02 Podcast time. What's he chewing on over there? Is this guy eating carbs? Snacks. Teething crackers, gluten-free. Those dissolve so quick. He's organic. He's bulking.
Starting point is 00:01:12 He's in a bulk. He's in a bulk. Clean bulk. There you go. Awesome. So we got some questions today, and this kind of came about, I think this was more in Seema's idea to kind of investigate this no entertainment thing that you got going on. And I thought it would be great to also include your wife here today because she's part of all of this as well.
Starting point is 00:01:32 So, yeah, man, what is the deal with this kind of no entertainment over the last, what, year and a half, two years thing? Yeah, maybe you could break it down, babe. It was January 1st, 2021 that basically he started No Entertainment and kept to it. We haven't watched anything. She did it with me. She did the whole year with me. And if you guys, for those that are listening, if you're hearing a bunch of weird extra noises, we got Baby Onyx on here today.
Starting point is 00:02:00 He's going to try to interrupt and mess things up as much as he possibly can. That's his job. He's a baby. He's the ultimate interrupting machine, you know, as you'll see as your kids get older too. The idea was to cut out the stuff that we know isn't getting us closer to our goals. We have a kid now, so we know, boom, that's a bunch of time we want to spend with the kid. She is on the business side i'm on the creative side we work together super well and by cutting out the entertainment it gave us a lot more time to work and to create together right but i think it had a lot of ramifications for me personally that unlocked my creative mind because i wasn't now spending all that time just letting someone else's
Starting point is 00:02:47 creation entertain me, you know? So it's different. And I think if I ask this to you, I say, okay, what do you want to get luckier about this year? You have to have something you want and it has to be measurable. So you say, okay, on the podcast, Andrew would know, Andrew, you could know what a goal is for this year. We want X amount of downloads. Boom. I want to get lucky about that. I consider myself an unlucky guy, so I got to put the work in.
Starting point is 00:03:14 You want to get lucky about that. Make it a measurable goal. Now, why do you want to get lucky about that? So for me, okay, I wanted more Instagram followers, but why? Why is because I wanted this data about something as simple as backward sled to be more known. That's my driving why. Then you look at what entertainment do you need to cut out? But what the fourth question would be, what technology do you need to increase?
Starting point is 00:03:37 Maybe Andrew needs to spend more time studying the top podcast. So there's a difference between entertainment and technology. That's true. Like if he needed to study some basketball move on YouTube, that's one thing, and he would do that. But it's not like he's watched any game. He watched zero football, zero basketball, any actual just TV entertainment. But for work, for sure, he then would go and find what he needed. And even watching a game on TV is not going to allow you to analyze what you're trying to look at anyway.
Starting point is 00:04:10 You need to watch almost like game film or something more specific. Oh! Yeah, that's true. I agree. Onyx knows. But yeah, you've got to probably watch from different angles and see the person actually, like their feet and their knees and all that stuff, right? Yeah, and if you're a basketball player, that've got to probably watch from different angles and see the person actually, like their feet and their knees and all that stuff, right?
Starting point is 00:04:25 Yeah, and if you're a basketball player, that's going to be part of the tech that you can take advantage of to study things easier. But I was trying to grow on social media. I'm trying to spread technology about knees. So I was studying people who are succeeding on social media, seeing what are they doing to succeed. People with positive outlooks who aren't blowing up on social media through degraded things, but through positive things, inspiring things. And I learned from them, and I copied my social media strategies after them. So I spent time studying that tech.
Starting point is 00:04:54 And I think that's important to realize I'm not anti-technology. I'm not living a life like a monk. I'm just removing the entertainment that I know isn't getting me closer to my goals. Then I actually have more time if I do need to study some technology to get closer to my goals. And then I did the same thing with food. So I looked at what food do I need to cut out? And then that would be the fifth question. And then the sixth question would be what foods do I need to focus more of? So for me, I focused more on fruit and therefore cut out. Now she could break this down. She knows I didn't have a single cheat meal. I didn't have any
Starting point is 00:05:26 junk food the whole last year. The whole 2020. No entertainment. No junk food. And 2021. 2020 and 2021. 2021. I'm mistaken. And now rolling into this year, I guess we're into the second month, so I'm still going strong because I really enjoy it.
Starting point is 00:05:42 I was excited for him to be done. I'm like, yay, now we can watch a TV show. I'm not like a big TV person, but there's a couple shows that I really like that I would like to – the seasons are out now. And I'm like, wait a second, because let me explain this. When Ben and I started dating, this is the opposite of what he is now. He literally was a couch potato, like in the sense of he'd work out and then he called it decompressing. Just go, watch TV, and eat his food. How long ago was this, by the way?
Starting point is 00:06:09 I mean, we've been together 11 years. So this is 20... My only serious relationship. So starting at 19. Yeah, 2010, we started dating. But literally, go work out and lay on the couch and watch TV. And I'd be like, let's go walk or let's do this.
Starting point is 00:06:24 And of course, he had bad knees at this point. So he was saying he already exerted as much as he could for the day and that we couldn't go do anything else. I didn't want to go be in more pain. Right. And so. Now we walk every single day. Every day. I mean, he walks now.
Starting point is 00:06:40 He could probably walk 10 miles just any. I'm sure he has with the dog and the baby in a day. Day after day after day after day after day. Last year, raising him, everyone in town, they probably think I don't have a job. I strap him up, morning walks, afternoon walks, every single day. We know all too well the last person you would call if you had to move or if you needed a a lot of work done would be like other lifters like you because you know like everyone wants to just chill like people don't want to lift anything so if you're like moving your home or something well it'd be great to rely on some of the people here at the gym you know that everyone's like oh my
Starting point is 00:07:16 back's pretty tight because i deadlifted yesterday like we're kind of useless outside of the gym in a lot of ways totally so that was the that him. I mean, he watched so much TV and didn't eat vegetables. I was telling someone he was starting to eat broccoli. Literally. I didn't eat much fruit then either. Didn't eat fruit. He was trying to
Starting point is 00:07:37 navigate and learn. What he's done, the best is learn. Our life is so different from you know even sorry here's a fun fact i was gonna say she met charles pollockman before i did really she went and learned nutrition from charles pollockman she was on a strict diet before i was his diet was really strict you'd go tell him the diet yeah you took out everything all sugar sugar. Go, Onyx. All sugar, all grains, everything.
Starting point is 00:08:08 It was nuts and protein for breakfast. I couldn't get on to like... Great veggies. I couldn't do steak for breakfast, but I did have... I couldn't. Like, I just am not used to that much meat for breakfast. Yeah, meat and nuts. Yeah, meat and nuts.
Starting point is 00:08:22 But I would eat eggs and nuts. And I was like a girl that likes her eggs and toast, even if it was gluten-free or Ezekiel or something. I liked my... Oh, I think you said avocado you'd have. Oh, that's right. I'd have avocado, eggs, and almonds for my breakfast. And I was eating junk.
Starting point is 00:08:37 Yeah. I'm like, try a piece of this cake, and she wouldn't do it. And after 30 days, she was allowed to introduce blueberries. That's right. Blueberries. That's it. Well, Charles Poliquin, he just like killed everybody because he's like, if you're not 10% body fat, you're fat. That's right. I did bio signature. That's what I wanted to
Starting point is 00:08:52 meet him at. And he's like, this is the diet. Like if you're on the heavier, you know, in his view, like what he considered to be fat was like still people are very lean at 12% and especially women. I mean, it's different for women, but he would say, if you're not 10%, just don't even bother eating carbohydrates. It's like, whoa, all right. Well, that's pretty harsh, but okay. Those are his principles. So I lucked out because in terms of the no entertainment thing, she just did it right with me.
Starting point is 00:09:17 So that made it super easy. Now, on the diet side, she was nursing for him. Now she's four months pregnant. She looks stunning even if you weren't pregnant. And so for that, you just eat what you want. I eat what I want. But honestly, it makes it like your discipline has to be even stronger because I'm sitting here actually having chocolate cake,
Starting point is 00:09:39 and he's next to me. Do you know what I'm saying? So I super admire him for that because that wasn't how he used to be and the fact that i i really didn't i haven't tried to diet once while i've had the baby so i have had pancakes chocolate cake you name it but i i obviously still eat very healthy but i the whole year there's been no restrictions and he's seen all of that. What I'm curious about is it's really interesting to understand like, yeah, you were playing basketball, right? It's not like you weren't working, but you weren't as, I guess, disciplined as you are
Starting point is 00:10:18 now back then, but you were still having some pretty decent success. So even though you were having good success, what really spurred great success already? Now, we're just not going to watch TV anymore. We're not going to have any entertainment. What spurred that decision to do that? Well, as a kid I was actually super dedicated.
Starting point is 00:10:38 But then as my basketball career sputtered out, so when she was with me, I didn't play basketball. I was just a bum. Really? Basically, I failed at that point. He was like a failure. I was already a failure. No basketball scholarships, not even playing basketball, not on the team,
Starting point is 00:10:53 nothing, like just trying to work out. Right. When your hard work doesn't give you results, I think any of us can feel like we're lazy. Now, I'm curious about this. If he was such a bum back then, why did you choose? And I'm just being serious. Why did you choose him?
Starting point is 00:11:11 Good question. I'm going to have to think for a second. I don't have an immediate answer. She didn't think I was a bum. That's true. I didn't realize. I didn't know all. Well, we've got to back up a little bit.
Starting point is 00:11:22 You've known him since he was a kid. That's right. So I've known Ben since. You guys know each other's families a little bit and stuff, right, too? We went to school together. We were in elementary school together. So you've always known him. She was a serious figure skater. You've seen the drive he had previously.
Starting point is 00:11:34 That's true. And I think you were mentioning, you were like, that's not Ben Patrick because you didn't see him for a while, right? And then you saw him and he was like disciplined and all fired up and in better shape and stuff, right? So, yes. So, I mean, I'll just give you the back story. He was, I think, 5'4", 92 pounds starting high school. Very tiny, very skinny, very short.
Starting point is 00:11:55 Not on anybody's radar to get laid, right? Thank God she came around. So basically, he was a little kid. I'm also two and a half years older than him. So even that, he was younger and smaller and everything. So then we went different ways, different schools. And then I ran into him again. Now he was, I think, 18 at the time.
Starting point is 00:12:20 I had no legs, but I had bulked up. That's right. And now he was like... Turn the mic towards you. Turn the mic towards you. You actually wouldn't believe if you saw pictures. You wouldn't believe it. So truthfully, he's like, hey, do you remember me?
Starting point is 00:12:31 I'm Ben Patrick. And I was like, I know his name, obviously. Send us some pictures, by the way. Definitely will. And I'm like, there's no way you're Ben... I have one on my phone. I can find it if you want. Okay.
Starting point is 00:12:42 Find it, yeah. Send that over. It's amazing. So I'm like, there's no way you want. Okay. Find it, yeah. Send that over. It's amazing. So I'm like, there's no way you're Ben Patrick. Literally, there's no way. And he's like, yeah, I'm Ben Patrick. And he's almost 200 pounds at this point, bigger than he is now, puffier, because obviously he had checkers, which is, I don't know what you guys have here, but it's like burgers
Starting point is 00:13:02 and shakes to get bigger. That was my bulk diet. Two big Bufords, large shake, large fries. You know. Checkers? We got to check this place out. I've never heard of that. Oh, that's East Coast.
Starting point is 00:13:12 They call it Rally's somewhere along the line. Okay. Anyway, so he was just big and tall, and I'm like, what happened to this guy, you know? And there you go. You got to see this. Just text it over. I'll text it. Here, I'll... Yeah.
Starting point is 00:13:29 Here. I'll show you. So this... But there's no... Holy shit. There's no evidence. Check out checkers, though. Holy shit, though.
Starting point is 00:13:36 Like, you were leaning big. Yeah. Not really lean. He had abs, though. That's... I mean, I... What the fuck? He's always had his abs.
Starting point is 00:13:45 Okay. He's always had abs, but he's definitely like, now he's got his 18 pack or whatever. There was no leg muscle at all. There's no pictures. Remember, I would never wear, I would wear long pants. Really scared of my leg. Because after surgery sometimes, after the atrophy, it can get really embarrassing.
Starting point is 00:14:02 If people who see that picture though, it's going to be very interesting to see if you were to choose to gain muscle again. Like just really put on muscle, you'd be big. Oh, yeah. I just think you can do anything you set your mind to. Not that this is that great, but I just think you can improve at anything. So maybe I was failures in certain areas, but I was still trying. And I know this sounds ridiculous, but I was painting walls for my dad, and I figured out better ways, faster ways to paint even more accurately.
Starting point is 00:14:32 So he'd been painting for decades, and within a year, I had a better painting system. So it's just I was always, you know, that kind of mindset. And I was going to say that too. So basically, as kids, we were the only two serious athletes in our little private school. So it was very obvious. Hello, Onyx. It was kind of natural
Starting point is 00:14:55 for when we did meet back up to then discuss all of our different things and everything that he had done, I had done. She was an ultra dedicated figure skater. So when we were kids, like seven and eight, he had done, I had done. She was an ultra-dedicated figure skater. So when we were kids, like 7, 8, 9, 10, in that age, in our little town, I was the kid dedicated to basketball, already with a work ethic at 9 years old. And she was dedicated to figure skating, super dedicated.
Starting point is 00:15:19 Keeps pulling on our cords over here. I know, I'm so sorry. So even though I was a failure by 1920, we still had that history together. Wow. We were the only two. We both left every day from school early when it was P.E. and art time. I would go skating five days a week. He would go to basketball.
Starting point is 00:15:35 I would leave at three, get home at eight. Day after day after day. I don't know his schedule, but it was very... When we started dating, we would meet around 6 a.m to work out then that's crazy that was that was me at 19. looking jacked that's when we started dating people would say that you were on drugs so why was yeah straight up i i gotta get back to that level that's what i'm my goal physique would be getting steroid accusations you do want to get
Starting point is 00:16:02 bigger you were mentioning right now now Now I do. And I've gone through a lot of stuff and don't take any supplements and be dedicated to my craft at knees. But now I do want to gain now that I've found a good foundation and I feel amazing on the basketball court I want to maintain that amazing feeling
Starting point is 00:16:20 and just lift my whole physique up. I showed him a little bit of bodybuilding yesterday. Just like a little bit of a drop set type of thing. What did you think of that? Well, it was great. On a leg press. Yeah, it was great. And in general, Mark's making wonderful improvements to my system
Starting point is 00:16:36 by taking, this is what I do. I learned from Charles Poliquin and Louie Simmons, and now I'm learning from Mark Bell. And the best thing I can do with ATG is that I trust myself not to have ego in it. That's what I do really well, is have no ego and just have no, you know, have a bullshit detector, not lie to myself about what's going to produce results
Starting point is 00:16:58 when I see something that improves it. So Mark's been amazing. The program's going to be, it's getting insanely good. She's seen even this year I've actually put on more muscle, but stayed lean and stayed, and I'm jumping even higher. So it's really dialing in now by adding Mark's knowledge with Louie Simmons and Paul Aquin.
Starting point is 00:17:19 You know what I love about what you were mentioning, though, there, man, and we can get into a lot of stuff. But you have studied, and I want to kind of ask you guys, when you said that you were going through and you're going to Charles Poliquin seminars and all of that, I want to know what your work kind of timeline was. How long you were spending going to these things and how that was with you. But one thing about you too is that you have this amazing system that you set up because you did did the research, you learned those things, you experimented and you also learned from other people. But you're still out here continuing to learn from other people and taking things and implementing it. When a lot of people get to not even at your level, but maybe they're kind of close to that. Maybe. And they know some things. They get very set into their thing. And that's that,
Starting point is 00:18:09 that's all it is. Like, this is my way. I'm not going to do anything else. I'm not going to talk about anything else. I'm not going to add into what I'm currently doing. Cause what I'm doing is currently working, but you're continuing to build with all these other people's like you,
Starting point is 00:18:22 obviously yourself, but all this input from all these other people. And that is something like, that's why I love podcasting here because we get people like you and all these other individuals come in and they show us all these really cool things that we add into our systems.
Starting point is 00:18:34 And it's just like, it's great to see you doing that currently. Well, you can relate because you were doing my program before I even came here. Oh yeah. So you can relate to that mindset. It wasn't,
Starting point is 00:18:47 oh, that's interesting, but I'm cooler. So I'm not going to do that. And Mark is the same way. And I think it's because we can't lie to ourselves. And so I can't lie to myself. So two days ago, Mark comes up with an innovation that I think will go down as the most important knee innovation this year. Not for Knees Over Toes guy, for Mark Bell. But what's my goal?
Starting point is 00:19:04 I'm just trying to help people. And I'm not going to lie to myself. And if I look at that and I go, well, Mark came up with that, so therefore I'm going to say that's nice, but it's not as good as everything I have. That's another tool in the toolbox. Mark just powered me up and made my program better.
Starting point is 00:19:21 But I've also attached myself to my program where I've marketed myself. It's my dunk out there. I had some crazy NBA success stories last year that you will never hear about because it's going to be my dunk. And what's on my app is what I'm doing this week and what I'm doing next week. And so it keeps me so attached to it. So when I see something like that, it's not, it's not, oh, that's different. It's, boom, that can make my program better. I can't wait to shoot this, film it,
Starting point is 00:19:50 have it on my site, my app. That just made me better. That just made me able to get better results for my clients. So it's that kind of attitude. It's not me versus other people. It's me with other people. So credit to Mark for powering up the program. Why do you think maybe, and I know
Starting point is 00:20:06 you usually speak on your own behalf and say, Hey, this is what I've done rather than saying, Hey, I think you should do this. But what are some reasons why you think someone should maybe look into cutting out at least some entertainment? Well, in today's world, there's a lot of really good entertainment and there's a lot of really tasty food. And some of that entertainment and some of that food is making it harder to get to our goals. So if we want to get to our goals, and you guys see I'm a math guy. I need to be able to measure every exercise in some way. I'm obsessive about numbers and measurement.
Starting point is 00:20:43 So if you're trying to get closer to your goal, I can ask, I can, I can ask someone these questions. What do you want to get lucky about? Why? What entertainment are you going to cut out? What tech are you going to focus more on? What food are you going to cut out? What food are you going to focus more on? And number seven, what's your sled? Because I find that gives you momentum. You know what? You go to a sled workout, you don't want to go eat junk after that but you can do it often right so those seven questions give me something measurable that someone now is is putting energy more on what they want and less on what they don't want in life so it's not that the cookie is not delicious it's not that seinfeld isn't a great TV show. I love that TV show.
Starting point is 00:21:27 But by cutting out the cookie in the Seinfeld, I'm simply telling the universe, I would like more success along this line. I can't lie to the, you can lie to yourself. We're all lying to ourselves. Yes. I want this so bad.
Starting point is 00:21:40 Only I'm spending a thousand dollars a year telling the universe, I actually don't want it. And you have to understand too, like when someone, you know, everyone has their life and their struggles and what they have to do. So if you're already working a nine to five job and then you go home and on the time that you can be getting ahead and beating out the next guy, you're sitting there watching TV and then you're binging and then you're this or whatever.
Starting point is 00:22:02 Then you're even more tired because now you stayed up super late because you just watched TV and you got nothing done in that time. And then now you're drinking coffee in the morning and then you're sucking every single day is like a spiral. When if you stop that super, you know, start your own little business, work super hard that night. Read books. Whatever you're actually trying to do. Study your craft. Then you also fuel yourself, I feel like, with the motivation and the production and the attainment of whatever you're getting out of it. And then it's just now you're pumped for the next day. You go to your 9 to 5 job and you can't wait to get off to continue doing whatever you're doing to better yourself and better your life. And then you can actually get ahead and get out of this wild game of life, you know, and set yourself up for a better whatever you're trying to do.
Starting point is 00:22:56 And then focus on that if it's your own online business or if it's, you know, your own fitness or whatever it is, you just have to be able to get ahead. And I feel that's the same thing with everything. Like I act and to me, my idea of an actress is you just have to be more persistent than everyone else because everybody else at some point is going to give up. Not everyone else, but I'm just saying the people that are going to make it are the ones that are just going to keep going and keep going and never give up. Not everyone else, but I'm just saying the people that are going to make it are the ones that are just going to keep going and keep going and never get up, give up. And at some point it's going to work. And that's my kind of philosophy. And anyway, however you do it,
Starting point is 00:23:35 you have to supplement your money here. You have to do this, you have to do that. And then if you, you know, if you decide to change your own path because of a specific reason, that's different than just like, I gave up because I couldn't make it. Do you know what I'm saying? Anyway, so that's my, I just wanted to add that. She's often got the baby nursing on one boob. She's really business passionate now and making our business the best it can be.
Starting point is 00:23:59 And she has been for quite a while. She's got the baby nursing. She's on a phone call that, you know, all these business phone calls that I would never want to have to take doing all the hard work but what i was thinking about while you were saying that is you can you can slingshot your progress in life yeah and then you actually could have more time to focus on what you want to yeah so yeah it's it's a slingshot to then have a better rest of your life because modern life is kind of set up to keep us on this wheel
Starting point is 00:24:31 that it's hard to ever get happy. Actually think what, Mark, what would a natural life be? You'd have your family, but you'd also have a tribe. You'd have this great community around you. You'd be very physically fit. You'd be eating natural foods. That's the baseline of what human life is supposed to be. Someone who has that now,
Starting point is 00:24:50 less than one in a hundred people have that. So it can be hard to get to that kind of a life when you're still stuck in that rat race and you're still stuck. I think addiction is a big word on the technology. Before her, I was addicted to pornography like pretty much any guy that I knew.
Starting point is 00:25:10 And even before that, I had a little bit of a video game addiction. What did you play though? I didn't even know this. She's like, what the fuck? I didn't even know he ever played video games. I liked NFL Madden. Who am I with? Oh, Madden football is great.
Starting point is 00:25:25 Yeah. These things are, they work at making us happy now. Yeah. It's instant pleasure. But there's so many of these instant happinesses that we know are making us less happy long term. And that's why I did the no entertainment.
Starting point is 00:25:41 It's trying to get out of that cycle, which at that point for me, I still felt like I needed a TV show at night. I think that part is the most important part, the most important piece of what you're saying, because you recognize that as a problem for yourself and other people, they are going to lie to themselves. They're not going to, they're going to be like, I don't have the same problems, man. I'm not addicted to porn.
Starting point is 00:26:00 And meanwhile, they watch it every day. It's true. You have to recognize it yourself. You do have to identify it but if it's not problematic and you feel like you're successful and you feel like you're pretty darn happy then there's probably not a lot of reasons to just suffocate
Starting point is 00:26:13 yourself with cutting off a bunch of things that you love. You really love your morning coffee probably not a lot of great reasons to completely ditch it. See I still have that dick. That's a perfect example. I still love my morning coffee. But it's a good example. I still love my morning coffee. But it's a good idea if you drink a lot of coffee to cut it back or cut it out for a little bit just to kind of see what that does to you and for you. Then you learn.
Starting point is 00:26:36 You're like, I really love my morning coffee. It's not really that big of a problem. I don't have to have it 17 times a day. And that is what he did, actually. He had it. Then he stopped having it for six months. I don't know if you remember that. Six months? Yep. And then he decided he really wanted it again and he did a bunch of research on coffee
Starting point is 00:26:52 and espresso and found out espresso actually has less caffeine than coffee. Well, in certain ways. On how he orders it, he orders a little tiny shot. Well, now I have that strong coffee which is 120 milligram. Yeah, if you do a single shot at Starbucks, it's like 75 milligrams.
Starting point is 00:27:07 If you do an Americano... I do a lower amount, but it's because I felt like that was something that maybe does help me get a little closer to my success. But watching Melrose Place, which actually we used to watch that, and my personality
Starting point is 00:27:23 by the end, I'm like, babe'm like babe we gotta watch the next episode Melrose I don't know he finished it without me he also finished Friends without me and he also finished Seinfeld without me so like it's not like he is used to this is all in the last couple years
Starting point is 00:27:39 you're mean 2020 we were watching Melrose Place when we just got to la and finished that without me and 2020 was also friends also so this is not just in my defense yeah she'd like to use the tv show to fall asleep and when i watch a tv show then i want to watch the next one yeah remember uh remember dumb and dumber when they get in a snowball fight? I picture you're that guy. Taking it too far. Totally annihilating your snowball fight.
Starting point is 00:28:12 I want to mention something else, too. I think that people maybe underestimate the amount of time that they're spending in this entertainment space. Even something as innocent as an hour a day, it does add up over time, but it's probably for being realistic. People are probably more in the two or three hour time zone for that.
Starting point is 00:28:30 Probably. And then you mentioned a lot of people having, uh, you know, kind of nine to fives or 40 hour work weeks are pretty, are pretty common still, even though people work from home and stuff like that. So now if we have an extra 20 hours that we're devoting per week towards extra activities and stuff, it could be really pulling and making you feel like I don't have time for anything. And if you investigate it a little bit, it's not that you don't have time. I feel that people don't have direction. And they don't have the priorities straight, honestly.
Starting point is 00:29:02 And a goal will help set everything. It will cause what I like to call a cascade of disciplines. You start thinking about waking up at 5 a.m. It's not going to be too long after waking up at 5 a.m. that you stop going to bed at 11.30. That's 100% true. It'll be, you know, setting up these habits. A couple days, a couple weeks go by, and you're like, I got to get to bed.
Starting point is 00:29:20 And you'll start getting in bed by like 9, 9.30. So that's funny because I used to be the one hooked on the tv shows she wasn't hooked on it she doesn't have an addictive personality like that same with food she she could have like half of a cookie and be like that was the best cookie i've ever had and i'd be like i just ate six you know i never in my life have i had half of a cookie that was really good so but now she wants to watch some of her favorite tv shows and i'm the one like no no i don't want to go back yeah because i feel like i have like a 30 hour day now instead of a 24 hour day the point is it used to be addictive for me and i managed to get
Starting point is 00:29:55 myself off that hook i do think though the best for someone is not going to be doing it the way i've been doing it of 365 i think if you set up something along the lines of, okay, if it's the weekend, we can watch a show with her. You see what I mean? Yeah. I think, oh, if it's the weekend, I can have an ice cream cone with my kid. So I went through this when he was one. He doesn't want to go to the movies. He can't even talk yet. Yeah. He's not eating junk food yet. So I do think, I'm not saying it's best to do this 365 days the way I did. I think someone could set up their own schedule with it. But I do think you'd have to have rules. And I think for myself, I do think that'll be my rules as Onyx grows up. He'll know like awesome, like on the weekend, we can go out for ice cream with daddy. On the weekend, we can watch a movie with daddy. But during the week, I'm going to have to go on a walk with daddy. I'm going to have to go play sports with daddy on the weekend we can watch a movie with daddy but during the week i'm gonna have to go on a walk with daddy i'm gonna have to go play sports with daddy i'm gonna have to do art with daddy hey what's happening with mommy mommy's always been the one wanting to do these kind of
Starting point is 00:30:58 things and i was the one wanting to veg out on the couch so i am really there's no i would have gotten to this point if she hadn't already been am really, there's no way I would have gotten to this point if she hadn't already been that kind of, she's that stellar personality that already didn't want to be a couch potato and stuff like that and never got into any of the addictions that I did. So that helped me.
Starting point is 00:31:17 It's the fact. I think people need to pay attention to maybe how much it's costing them. How much does this cost you to have an extra 20 hours? 20 hours, you multiply it by four, and you end up with a full couple of work weeks worth of work that you never got paid for.
Starting point is 00:31:36 So your cell phone, your new iPhone that you got that costs $1,000 or $500, however much the thing costs, depending on your plan and all these other things. Yeah. It's costing you a lot more because the amount of time, time is money. And when you're spending a lot of time doing that, I mean, if you were to think, if somebody said, Hey, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to pay you, um, you know, 25 cents an hour to watch some of these shows and to
Starting point is 00:32:02 mess around on your phone. You'd be like, what the fuck? I'm not, no, I don't need 25 cents an hour. That's nothing. You'd be like, that's preposterous. I would not fucking do that. Are you kidding me? Like they would laugh at you, right?
Starting point is 00:32:12 Like you're going to make this amount of money per week. You're going to make 47 cents a week. And this is how many hours you have to devote to that. You'd be like, that's not worth it. Why would I waste all my time doing that? I mean, even if somebody just said, hey, we're just going to, I want you to be in a room by yourself for an hour every day. Like somebody wouldn't do that for money, right? That's so true. Because you would be like, that's a complete waste of my time.
Starting point is 00:32:37 Pat Roger, family, how's it going? We talk about sleep all the time on this podcast. That's why we partnered with Eight Sleep Mattresses. Now this mattress is the Tesla of sleep. It's the Tesla of beds. Its technology tracks your heart rate, your heart rate variability. It changes its own temperature based off the way you sleep so that you get better sleep every single night. It is quite literally insane. Check them out. Andrew, how did they get it?
Starting point is 00:32:57 Yes, and before I do that, I wanted to let you guys know that you can actually set the bed to wake you up silently. I know that sounds weird, but actually the bed starts vibrating around your head and it doesn't wake up the entire household the way my phone used to do back in the day. So now I just kind of have the bed wake me up silently and it's amazing. You guys got to head over to eightsleep.com slash power project. That's E-I-G-H-T sleep.com slash power project. When you guys go there, you'll see a banner across the top saying that you're going to receive $150 off automatically. So again, that's eightsleep.com slash power project to receive 150 off your pod pro cover or your pod pro cover and mattress combo links to them down in the description as well as the podcast show notes let's get back to the podcast i'm so sorry you know we're just it's almost it's
Starting point is 00:33:40 almost nap time no this is we've gotten some great data across. I think we're good. I just feel bad. So I just want to let everybody know that. We're trying to do our best. This is a power project first, man. I love it. This is sick. Well, before he goes, where did the name Onyx originate from or come from?
Starting point is 00:33:58 So right before the trip, we found out I was pregnant. We're in a store. And Ben is really great now at buying me things. We had no money before. So basically there was a gemstone bracelet, and it said Onyx, and there was different bracelets, and I saw what Onyx meant, and I was like, I could really use that. That's awesome.
Starting point is 00:34:20 What did it mean, by the way? It means like unity. You should look it up. Exactly, yeah. I can never remember, but it's awesome. But it's awesome. What did it mean by the way? It means like unity. You should look it up. Exactly. Yeah. But you can never remember. I know, but it's awesome. So I was like, I love that. And we bought the bracelet and then that same trip the next day, I was like, I think I'm pregnant. And so I was like, yeah, you know, it, it, I think there's no way that I'm not pregnant. Basically. It's also a very strong rock-top Pokemon.
Starting point is 00:34:45 Somehow she knew. I mean, we'd been married already for a while, and then she goes, I'm going to get a pregnancy test. She had never had a pregnancy test. Goes and gets one, finds out she's pregnant. Now a couple more years go by, and a few months ago or a couple months ago, she says, I think I'm pregnant.
Starting point is 00:35:00 Goes and gets a pregnancy test, finds out she's only done two pregnancy tests. Both times she knew intuitively. But maybe the fact she's gone so much of her life without all the entertainment, she's way more in tune. We were talking about that the other day. That's interesting. You know, something that I don't need to brag in any sense, but I can say it because it's true.
Starting point is 00:35:21 I have never smoked anything in my life, ever. I've never had a cigarette, and I've never had alcohol, ever. I've never had a glass of alcohol. I've never been drunk, ever. I've also never had antibiotics. So I'm pretty like, you know. Even with all the injuries you've had as an athlete, never. Never.
Starting point is 00:35:39 That's amazing. Never. Never. So I'm pretty, I've also never had McDonald's,ald's coca-cola or pepsi but those are just random facts she's hardcore mentally disciplined i think the skating though made her just and as a skater you're chasing perfection that's true so she has the squalias she chases perfection whereas i'm basketball i just want it to i just want to win by one point you know i can make half my shots yeah with you two i i really want to know, because you guys have been together for a long time.
Starting point is 00:36:07 You've known him when he wasn't making as much money, when he wasn't as driven. Now you mentioned that you're also going towards being an actress. But you, you got, both of you have created this ATG tribe, right? And you're handling all the business stuff. So when did you realize that, and was it at the same time you guys realized that you wanted to do this stuff together? Or
Starting point is 00:36:34 did he start doing this and going down this hole and then you're like, I need to help you? Because now you're like a team. And it's kind of crazy because Mark and Andy too, they've gone into their stuff, but she handles a lot of the business stuff, he handles all this video stuff, and it's kind of crazy because mark and andy too like they've gone into their stuff but she handles a lot of the business stuff he handles all this video stuff and it's just like it's crazy how like you guys have been able to both of you you couples been able to create such a cool thing together i think a lot of people maybe want to do that but they don't know how they
Starting point is 00:36:59 can become like join up yeah uh it's very interesting so i was acting basically ice skating was my everything then i got hurt had i had atg i would actually probably have done so much better i mean i was working on triples my coach was the first man to land a quad in the olympics so i was i mean i was die it was my life was ice skating i wanted to go to the Olympics I wanted to win the Olympics so then I found acting is for me was like my next best thing because it at least gave me something to to work for and and do and um I did very well doing that in the from Clearwater Florida I starred in two independent films which was pretty wild since that's not like a film industry really at all. And now I could still be crazy acting. I finally got myself to L.A.
Starting point is 00:37:53 We moved there and I was like, yay. Onyx and I were in one film actually. He has IMDB credits. Whoa. Okay. He's better than me at a lot of things. Whoa. Okay.
Starting point is 00:38:03 He's better than me at a lot of things. So we actually started, Ben and I, filming me ice skating. So we've now, I've been able to pick and choose. I don't have to just go to auditions and just take anything just because to pay the bills. Do you know what I'm saying? Now I can be what I want to do. And anyway. She did love business though. I love business.
Starting point is 00:38:25 As HGG started to grow and she started to have really sensible ideas, then it just happened naturally. I've always said that I hate business. I love just trying to help people. But by working with her, that she really loves the subject of business, it's a perfect, you know,
Starting point is 00:38:46 it's a perfect match. And I thought we were too different, but actually the fact that we're so different makes it a much better team. Yeah. It's having, instead of two quarterbacks, you have a quarterback and a wide receiver. It just makes a lot more sense. So if someone's out there as a couple thinking,
Starting point is 00:38:58 Oh man, I don't know if we could work together. I love you, but I don't know if we could work together because we're too different. Maybe it's actually the right mix. and what happens we're always working and it never feels like work we don't work 40 hours a week we work over 100 hours a week because we're together so we're talking about the business we might have an idea at any random time on the business handling you see um so instead of that 40 hours and then clock out
Starting point is 00:39:26 or how about having to set up meetings we got to set up a business meeting meet that takes so much time and you get so little done relative to the amount of hours on meeting up in a lunch meeting and you drive there and you chit chat and you, how's the weather? This is the primary meeting. And I got to say, the aspect of the two different personalities, we've compared it, like he said, to the quarterback and wide receiver, but we've also compared it to a hammer and a nail. You need both. You can't have two hammers and get the job done,
Starting point is 00:40:00 or two nails and get the job done. So it's not that we agree on everything, too. It's often disagreements, and we have to figure it out and work it out together because he's bringing rightness in this view and I'm bringing rightness in this view. And then we have to really like hash out how is it going to actually work. And, um, and we both have the same viewpoint that if you want to be successful, learn from people who are having the success that you want. That's true. Not theorizing about it. So the day I met Mark, I went, man, I really hope this guy can be like a mentor for me. And now yesterday she spent the day with Mark's wife learning from her.
Starting point is 00:40:33 That's exactly right. And that keeps it really simple and it saves you years of mistakes. Yep. Just study people who are already having the success. You could already be watching them online. I learned a lot from Gary Vee and I've never even had a text message to him or a DM to him or anything. So it doesn't necessarily mean you have to be lucky enough to have that person in your physical space. You could just follow them online and study them online, and they could still be a mentor to you even if they don't know you exist.
Starting point is 00:40:59 So true. I've learned a lot from you guys, I've got to tell you. From you and your wife, I'm amazed. Ben said you were great. You're greater than... Oh, thank you. She was shocked. Yeah, thank you very much.
Starting point is 00:41:13 And we're going to have some dinner tonight. I think your dad's coming along for the ride too, right? My dad's a hiker. He's in Tahoe, right? He's going to fly out here. He's, oh, hitch a ride and go to Lake Tahoe. So we haven't seen him the whole time. He's, oh, hitch a ride and go to Lake Tahoe. So we haven't seen him the whole time.
Starting point is 00:41:26 He's been in Tahoe hiking but this way he gets to, you know, have a little time with Onyx tonight. We'll get you guys out of here so you can get this baby
Starting point is 00:41:33 maybe down for a nap or something like that. He's finally like chilled out. Yeah, I actually did. I did want to talk about social media
Starting point is 00:41:40 but real quick, so it did take me a while to find the definition. I was like searching the wrong thing so i once i figured out that like the onyx the stone then i can figure out the stone and what that definition was yeah so the onyx stone offers its bearer immensely powerful vibrations and of protection willpower focus and strength many believe that the onyx is there to drive motivation and to continuously push you forward in your life it activates your roots and
Starting point is 00:42:05 solar plexus as well as your third eye chakras so that's yeah that's a mouthful but that was a lot it was hard for me to even find it because i'm like i know it's a fucking stone but what does it mean yeah but i did want to ask because like for me um i've been very hesitant to put like videos and pictures of my son out there just because the internet is it's the wild west still yeah um but you guys have been like onyx has been in your guys videos since like day one and you guys have been totally fine with it um i guess what's your thought process about like or not thought process how what's your feeling towards social media and like posting him and like having him on the table right now is hilarious it's amazing i have like one good camera shot on him but like yeah how like
Starting point is 00:42:45 yeah how did you guys like come about like being okay with posting videos and photos of him i think honestly i had no choice ben just did it and did it again and again and again and again yeah i am i i can say this i do ask ben not to post like where we are just because i would like some privacy um but onyx has just been there since, like there's no turning back at this point. You know, this is my kid. Mark said it, you weave it into your life. So he said that on yesterday's podcast.
Starting point is 00:43:14 Incorporated in. What, social media? No, no, just your family. Oh, but he was asking, I thought, specifically on like social media and showing Onyx's face. A lot of people don't want to show their kid. And I'm saying right now, Onyx is on one of the biggest fitness podcasts in the world.
Starting point is 00:43:30 And he's right here on the table. He's literally on the podcast. But I'm also getting more time with my son. Yeah, he's with you. I think it's because on my end, I don't take life that seriously. Let's go. I have a few stable things that guide me but I don't take this seriously no one's gonna care
Starting point is 00:43:46 you know I don't care what people think about me and stuff like that and I want more time with my son yeah but I do get
Starting point is 00:43:53 what you're saying and basically that's his viewpoint and there was there was nothing I could do about it so Onyx is in the staff and now I just call us
Starting point is 00:44:02 a squad like the you know we just all roll together. I'm rarely recognized by myself. But when I'm with him and her, people are spotting me all the time when I go out in public. So there's some, our little trio, clearly we're on social media a lot together. We're on Jesus's head.
Starting point is 00:44:19 I also want to be a role model for, my dad was super active in my life. So now if Onyx wasn't with me and around, that would be very different than how I grew up. My dad was so active in my life. I don't know if he ever missed a basketball game and stuff like that. He's eating Jesus' head. I've seen some very successful people on social media, and I see how I want to emulate them and be like them. So the amount of people I've had reach out now that the dad goes, wow, I wouldn't have known about that tip of taking my baby for walks if I hadn't seen your posts.
Starting point is 00:44:54 I love that. That makes it worthwhile right there. So I'm going to continue to try to be a role model as a dad and use that on social media. I don't think we're using it in a weird way it's just no he's just a part of our life yeah and if there's things i feel strongly about as you know spreading that positivity that it's okay to be with your family and show your family and spend time with your family and you don't have to only be on your own as some super entrepreneur in your private helicopter to be cool. And I appreciate that very much so.
Starting point is 00:45:29 This is more memorable for me than if I had a private helicopter. You know, these are the priceless moments with my family. Seeing Mark Bell hold Onyx today, stuff like that. That's the stuff that I'm going to remember. What if Onyx wasn't here he wouldn't be having that wouldn't be having that moment yeah and then what about um like with everything you guys have been doing like outside influences um yeah i mentioned on on one of the podcasts how like people keep wanting to give my son like sweets and stuff but you guys are like
Starting point is 00:46:01 hey not only we're not doing sweets but like we're not doing like, I don't know, it's just like family come over. And like, how are you like stiff arming everyone to be like, no, this is like how we live. And like, this is what we do. I mean, in our case, we actually give him full spectrum. Like he is allowed to watch a little kid show. And he there's no there's no restrictions on this guy. Yeah, he's doing his own thing. I'm going to try to set an example.
Starting point is 00:46:25 Yeah. But I do know what you're saying with outside influences. I think because people know we're so like rock hard. Yeah. They're not going to mess with it. I think, yeah. For example. Well, her particularly.
Starting point is 00:46:36 No one's going to. Our family knows to not mess with Alyssa. Look at this kid's sitting position. It's beautiful though. Oh, yeah. No, he's. Yeah. Mo moves so well. Mark knows that I cannot skip over this since you mentioned it.
Starting point is 00:46:51 You were younger, you said you had a video game addiction and you were addicted to porn a little bit. I'm just curious how you went about stopping that or getting over that if you want to go into that at all. I think a lot of guys have talked to us about that and commented. I don't remember who it was, but someone made it clear to me that every time I'm watching porn, I am supporting that industry.
Starting point is 00:47:17 And that hit me too hard. And I cut it out right then and there. And I never went back a day. Literally cold turkey. I'm someone who feels, I feel very badly if I'm doing something wrong and it makes me unhappy and I just want to be happy
Starting point is 00:47:29 so I don't want stuff on my conscience. Yeah. So, someone made that so clear to me and however clear they made it,
Starting point is 00:47:38 just that it wasn't even making me wrong thought, it was just stating the fact and I have that, well, what's my greatest strength my internal bullshit detector yeah so the moment i realized holy crap every time i watch porn i
Starting point is 00:47:51 am putting energy to support that industry and i just stopped and i'm so i'm so glad i did and then magically shortly after i wind up in a relationship and we've been together for 11 years. I think the porn is a really tough one on a relationship personally. Yeah. And one cool thing I've noticed about a lot of the stuff that you guys have been talking about has been like, you guys set your mind on something. The decision is made. It's not like you're teetering, right? It's like you make a decision to no and no entertainment, no entertainment. You make a decision to do this with nutrition, do this. You make a decision to no entertainment, no entertainment. You make a decision to do this with nutrition, do this. You make a decision not to go around. Like you do it.
Starting point is 00:48:27 There's no like, there's no dip your toes in there and see how it is. It's like, we're doing this. Yeah. That's an amazing thing. I think that's kind of. He's like, what are you doing? You're so right, actually, on spotting exactly that. It's like a decision and then you do it.
Starting point is 00:48:43 But you're so right so many people talk about like when they're gonna do blah i'm gonna start this at some point like for us there's really no like it's just done yeah and um accountability last year yeah going no entertainment the fact i told her i was gonna do it i didn't want to lose her respect i whether she never would have said it but if I would have caved, it definitely would have lost some respect since I said I was going to do it. So having a person with you
Starting point is 00:49:12 who makes you feel accountable, whether it's a training partner or a friend or a mentor or your wife or whatever it is, I do think the accountability is pretty crucial. And I'm lucky enough to have a team now. We have this team with ATG. So also if I say I'm going to do something, I don't want to let all of them down.
Starting point is 00:49:29 So I think you need to align yourself with some kind of support structure where you're not just living for your own personal interest, but you're actually trying to uplift your group. So if you say you're going to do something, you're going to have to follow through with it. Take us on out of here, Andrew. Sure thing. Thank you everybody for checking out today's episode. Please make sure you guys like today's video and subscribe if you guys are not subscribed and turn on all those notifications so you guys don't miss any more uploads. And please follow the podcast at Mark Bell's Power Project on Instagram at MB Power Project on TikTok and Twitter. My Instagram and Twitter is at I am Andrew Z and Seema, where can people find you? I'm Seema Inyang on Instagram, YouTube, I'm Seema Inyang on TikTok and Twitter. My Instagram and Twitter is at IamAndrewZ and Seema, where can people find you? I'm Seema Inyang on Instagram and YouTube.
Starting point is 00:50:06 I'm Seema Inyang on TikTok and Twitter. I just got to say, it's been amazing meeting both of you and seeing how well you are together. It's my relationship goals right there. Both you and her, Mark and Andy. It's beautiful. Also, I vote on the name Steelix if it's a boy. And where can people find you guys? You got to save that for your
Starting point is 00:50:22 kid. Your kid is going to be a great name. It's the evolved version of Onyx. Steelix. Knees over toes girl. I'm going off social media now. We're just running the
Starting point is 00:50:29 knees over toes girl page. And knees over toes baby. No. Actually, someone has knees over toes baby and they tried to sell it to me. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:50:37 Fuck. Cut that out. And where do they live? I have teammates now. Let's go. I'll choke them out. Your next kid could be what? Like Tibby Atlas or something?
Starting point is 00:50:51 Pop Lidius? No. Strength is never weak. This week, there's never a strength. Catch you guys later. Thank you both. That's just me and you else, Patrick. Oh my goodness.
Starting point is 00:51:02 I love it.

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