Mark Bell's Power Project - MBPP EP. 713 - Josh Peck Talks Fatphobia: How He Lost Over 100lbs And Conquered Substance Abuse

Episode Date: April 11, 2022

Josh Peck has established himself as one of Hollywood's rising talents, making the seamless transition from child actor to leading man. He’s starred in feature films such as Mean Creek, The Wackness, Red Dawn, Dany Collins, Take The 10, Netflix’s The Musical, out later this year, and much more. Josh was first seen on Drake and Josh as the overweight childhood actor but has transformed his body and kept it that way. Check out Josh's new book, Happy People Are Annoying, now at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3jqfyMM Follow Josh on IG: https://www.instagram.com/shuapeck/ Join The Power Project Discord: https://discord.gg/yYzthQX5qN Subscribe to the new Power Project Clips Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC5Df31rlDXm0EJAcKsq1SUw Special perks for our listeners below! ➢https://www.vivobarefoot.com/us/powerproject Code POWERPROJECT for 20% off Vivo Barefoot shoes! ➢https://markbellslingshot.com/ Code POWERPROJECT10 for 10% off site wide including Within You supplements! ➢https://mindbullet.com/ Code POWERPROJECT for 20% off! ➢https://eatlegendary.com Use Code POWERPROJECT for 20% off! ➢https://bubsnaturals.com Use code POWERPROJECT for 20% of your next order! ➢https://verticaldiet.com/ Use code POWERPROJECT for 20% off your first order! ➢https://vuoriclothing.com/powerproject to automatically save 20% off your first order at Vuori! ➢https://www.eightsleep.com/powerproject to automatically save $150 off the Pod Pro at 8 Sleep! ➢https://marekhealth.com Use code POWERPROJECT10 for 10% off ALL LABS at Marek Health! 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 Follow Mark Bell's Power Project Podcast ➢ https://lnk.to/PowerProjectPodcast ➢ 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 ➢https://www.tiktok.com/@marksmellybell ➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell 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 #PowerProject #Podcast #MarkBell

Guys, these legendary tasty pastries have changed the game. They're 20 grams of protein, 5 grams of carbs. If you were a kid, and I was a kid that ate Pop-Tarts, those things tasted great. But the difference, man, Andrew, what are the macros on Pop-Tart? Yes, for a regular Pop-Tart, we're looking at 190 calories, 37 carbs, 16 grams of sugar, and only 2 grams of protein. 16 grams of sugar, and only 2 grams of protein. As comparison to a tasty pastry, we're looking at only 180 calories, 5 net carbs, 0 sugars, and 20 grams of protein.

And this bad boy is gluten-free. There you go. That's right. And they taste so good. I'm eating it cold. I'm out here. A little bit of coffee. It's so good, though. You guys can warm this up, man.

They have so many flavors on their website, too. You have to check them out, Andrew. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. You guys got to head over to eatlegendary.com. They have tons of different things. They have almonds. They have butters. They have amazing flavored everything,

and everything, everything is all health conscious. Everything has low to no sugar. They have nut butters. They have nut butters, and you can't help but smile when you say nut butters. But head over to eatlegendary.com and use promo code POWERPROJECT

to save 20% off your entire order. Links to them down in the description as well as the podcast show notes. I know it sounds like we're overhyping it, but I promise you we are not. You guys have to go try these tasty pastries right now. Recording in progress.

Nice. Oh, that was fancy. Can you make that noise again again maybe on the next show maybe on the next show but cost money for each time hit the button yeah yeah um i uh filled up my car with gas like two days ago oh your, your wagon. I was like, what do you mean, the Tesla? Yeah, yeah. How much does it take to fill that tank? It's quite a bit. It's funny because I was like, maybe it was like three days ago.

Yeah. And I told Andy, I was like, I didn't seem like it was that much. I was like, I don't think, I didn't even notice. And then she went today and she just texted me and she's like it was 147 point i was like damn but i mean i'll try the tesla a little more yeah but gas and i mean gas in california has always been pretty high but like my little subaru i don't even know how many gallons it is but i looked up and i'm at costco because i can't go well i can

but like i don't want to go anywhere else other than costco it's the cheapest and i look up and i'm just like damn it's still going it's like shit it was 65 bucks for my little car 80 here damn dude that's a toyota right toyota camry yeah that's good mileage but um yes how's your butt hamstring calf like stuff that you got worked on? Oh. By Graham. He was rubbing on you, right? Yeah, he got, you know.

You don't want to talk about it? Sometimes with that guy, sometimes he just gets uncomfortably deep. So, yeah, like he was like cupping my high hamstring. This might be the first time he heard that. Cupping the high hamstring and then going towards the. Taint? Going towards my butt and just. And I was just like, well, it feels feels good so i might as well let it happen uh but it feels great today that's the first time and then the next time you pushed a little further yeah yeah yeah it's like that

personal trainer that's massaging their client just like yeah we're going a little bit deeper than we did last time it's okay you train people right i used to yeah i used to train people too and i was like the last thing i'm gonna do is touch anybody i don't want anybody saying anything got it hell no i mean i mainly train women too i'm like i'm staying over here i'm gonna have them train over there i'm gonna stay over here you know when you have you know when you see the trainer training the lady and he's just he's just doing a little too much you're like he fucking his clients it's's usually that older guy. He's been around for a little while.

He's like my age or a little older. And he's trying to be so sweet. And all the women are always like, he's so sweet. And you're like, do you not see that this guy's a disgusting pervert? I mean, I'm a disgusting pervert too. But he's super obvious about it.

As they say, takes one to know one. Yeah, at least I'm a disgusting pervert too, but he's super obvious about it. Oh, yeah. As they say, takes one to know one. Yeah, at least I'm dishonest about it. So here's a little piece of advice for all you men who your wives may have trainers. He's not just really nice. He might be nice, but... He might be very conversational. Might be very conversational.

Might be talking about the things that you're not doing right at home. He's the shoulder that she's going to lean on and the shoulder to cry on. And then one day the session just takes a little too long and she comes home a little too sweaty. My husband never hit that spot like that. Starts out in the neck and then travels throughout the rest of the body. You know what I mean? Oh, Lord. What we got going on today?

We got Josh Peck On the show today Also I was talking to my son And he said He's seen every episode So Of Drake and Josh

I thought that was pretty cool Yeah My daughter He saw every episode? Every episode That's sick He said he loved it Dude my daughter

She don't really care too much About some of the big names We have on But I was just like Hey Did you ever watch Drake and Josh? And you know Like of course Like oh well I'm just talking i'm emailing back and forth with like you know his people it's like what if he comes in studio then i i'm taking the day off

of school and blah blah i'm like oh fuck that's great you don't care about anyone else but she will come you know till ditch school for him dog i find this so funny because like even i like am i that young because like i've seen episodes of drake and josh when i was a teenager like i watched a few you never did though right no i was gonna say i don't think i've ever watched like nickelodeon before what yeah like i i i never was what about spongebob no i never watched spongebob before i mean i've seen like clips and stuff like like memes and shit like that this explains so much much. I was going to say. It makes sense. It makes sense on why when we touch him, he's so tight.

Yeah. He's relaxable. Yeah. I thought you guys were down with tightness. Like you wanted it tighter. Get some slime. Ah, sometimes. Oh, you watch the slime stuff?

Oh, yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah, man. All right, Senior Josh is good to go. I don't know what it's like to be on TV for so long. I have such an ashy elbow. You're fine. Lotion that up.

You're good. You'll be fine, dude. Yeah, you don't want people to see when you're about to drop that elbow on them. Lotion's not here. Do we got you? Hey, guys. What's up, dude? How are you?

We're doing great. How are you doing? Good, man. Good to be here dude? How are you? We're doing great. How are you doing? Good, man. Good to be here. Great to have you on the show. Man, I got to know, what is it like to be on TV for so long and to be a kid at the time that you were going? I mean, how many seasons did you guys go with Drake and Josh?

We did only actually 60 episodes i think it just feels longer because yeah there's no there's no residuals in kids tv so they rerun it oh yeah oh that's that's horrible it uh but yeah we only did 60 but it was kind of spread over five years and uh but yeah since i was 13 i've kind of been doing the TV thing. How'd you end up landing that gig in the first place? When I was basically 10 years old in New York City, I was doing stand-up comedy. What? I was chubby, funny, and eager.

And it wasn't going to be Little League for a guy like me. And so the way I found confidence was by basically regurgitating jokes I heard around the dinner table and started auditioning and booked a movie for Nickelodeon and then this show called The Amanda Show, and that spun

off Drake and Josh. Would you be open to doing stand-up comedy nowadays? No. I like myself too much. Yeah, it would be hard, right, to get up in front of everybody, try to make everybody laugh? Yeah, and I think because I'm semi, I don't know what you'd call it,

just like a quasi pretty public person, I feel like I would be fighting against a lot of heckling, to be frank. Wait, I have a question. You said you love yourself too much now. You also mentioned how when you were 10, the humor was like, it was regurgitated about the things that people said about you. So it must have been like very self-deprecating humor. So that's my assumption, correct?

self-deprecating humor. So that's my assumption, correct? Well, yeah. I mean, I've always sort of been self-deprecating because sort of taking the piss out of myself was an effort in which to do it before you could. Because my fear was, or at least my projection was that you made a snap judgment about me the moment I walked into a room and I needed to like sort of pull the air out and gain some power back by being the first to sort of assault myself. You know, what you're saying right there is really, really interesting because we were literally just having a conversation on a prior podcast about people talking about like fat phobia. And when, when individuals like there's a stereotype when people have, when they look at like a Mexican person or a black person, there's a knee-jerk stereotype that you see through media.

And there's also a knee-jerk stereotype that people have when they look at individuals who are overweight or obese. They might think they're lazy, that they're not hardworking, that they don't care about themselves. And all those things aren't true. But I'm wondering for you, you mentioned that it was like what you would do is it's like before people could hit you with something, you would be able to take control of the situation. How long did that go on? And when did you feel like you switched out of that? Or do you still feel that you have a little bit of that in you? It's a good question. I think to a certain point, there's always that people pleasing that need to sort of uh control the energy of a room um yeah i mean i think at 35 you know i'm married with a kid i've been doing this for a fair amount

of time to where like just naturally i i don't know whether it's that i think more of myself or that my level of caring about what other people think has sort of lessened. I think it's probably somewhere in the middle for the, both of those things, but inevitably, yeah, I think like, you know, here's the thing with overweight people. And, and it, this is just my experience. Of course, I think people have a primordial response to seeing someone who's bigger. Like they, they literally think like, Oh, like this person is going to slow down the path.

Or you have like people who literally like I would see as a kid, something triggering people's eyes when they would see me and I go, they're going to make a comment about my weight. And I don't know if subconsciously they almost felt like maybe I need to shame him so that he'll do something about it. And it wasn't born out of malice. It just was like they were so emotionally unequipped. What was like the most hurtful part of that?

Was it maybe the fact that they might insinuate stuff about your entire family because you're so young and you're heavy at such a young age? It just was easy. it was hacky it was like first of all it like i'm like i grew up i didn't know my dad and so like a lot of like men in my life would be like oh i'll be your father figure i'd be like i bet you will like well let's start with allowance and go from there like i, I'm like, it sounds good. These like platitudes, like, it sounds fun that you want to project on me, like, Oh, how healthy I should be. But like, you're not going to put the work in, like, it's going to be you're a passing ship in my life. So I just remember at a young age, thinking how outrageous it was that people felt comfortable commenting on it. Because now now in a good way,

I think people would never feel comfortable doing that with someone they didn't really know. Yeah. I think we're in a better place. So yeah, I just remember growing up and thinking like, why is this, how is this an okay conversation?

Do you think that like the, cause we were just talking about this, uh, yesterday, the day before about like, you know, like being fat phobic and, you know, the body acceptance and stuff. But do you think like all that stuff is like an overcorrection and instead of, I mean, obviously, yeah, I don't think it's good to like shame anybody, but now it's like, uh, and Seema brought up the, um, the, the topic of like doctor chairs having handles is now fat phobic. And it's like, and Seema brought up the topic of like doctor chairs having handles is now fat phobic. And it's like, do we go a little bit too far now? I want to add a little bit of context to that because there was an interview with this therapist.

I wish I could remember her name, but she was, do you know who Dr. Mike on YouTube is? I don't. Okay. He's this doctor who has millions of followers and he puts out some really good fitness information, but there was some information he was putting forward, which this therapist who she herself is overweight. She was saying that it was somewhat fat phobic. And when I was doing some digging, I was trying to truly understand what is fat phobia or what do people look at that? What, what is that, right? And she was mentioning certain things like,

for example, the chairs in the doctor's offices. I've never thought about this before, but when an individual that's overweight or obese goes to a doctor's office and there are handles and chairs and they cannot fit, that is something that quite literally is a hindrance for them to even want to go to the doctor because they might not be able to fit

in the chairs that are there, right. And she's mentioned these other things that might be in society that are fat phobic. But she was also mentioning how like the whole of the doctor's industry, because typically if somebody goes in to try to get help that's overweight, the doctor will generally just say lose some weight. Right. Rather than maybe addressing a lot of other issues that may be the reason why they're overweight, like things going on in their personal life, things going on at home, which could be the bigger issue than just go lose weight. So the fat acceptance side of things, and it's like, we have to be very careful when we talk about it because everyone should love who they are and even love your body at the time. But there should be, if you are not feeling confident or feeling unhealthy, there

should be a push to change that if you're looking to, you know what I mean? So with the fat acceptance thing, it seems that it's gone very far to say like, hey, this is actually okay. And it's, it's gone very far to to say like hey this is actually okay and it's it's it's somewhat healthy when maybe it's it's it might not be healthy for that individual you know what i'm saying yeah no i think look i think in every case and and body image and whatnot is a great example there's always an overt correction right The pendulum swings far to the other side, but inevitably there seems to, it seems to find its middle ground over time. And, you know, data would suggest that, yeah, having, having a bit of a, a lower body mass allows you to, to avoid some comorbidities, some, some things that are brought on with obesity or high amounts of sugar and high amounts of things in your diet that, I mean, there's just enough scientific data to support

that you're going to be in a better place if you're able to sort of to work on that. And so, yeah, I agree. I think there's, I certainly think there's a balance. You know, my buddy, a good buddy of mine, he's in his early fifties, pretty heavy guy, you know, certainly he's got an extra 60, 70 pounds on him and you know, his knee gave out finally, you know, he's pretty active guy, but his right knee went out. And so I sent, sent him to my orthopedist who I love. Cause I actually, I tore my pec bench pressing Josh Peck tore his pec and uh and he fixed me up good so I said go see this guy he's great and uh and my buddy's basically expecting

to go in to get shamed right that the doc's gonna look at him say you did this to yourself and now your knee went out and we're gonna have to put on a new knee and you're gonna have to completely uproot your life and inevitably this doctor cause he's savvy and understands not only the science portion, but the bedside portion and being a human being, which isn't always connected in, in the sciences, right? Usually you're really good at one and maybe not as great at the other. He said, listen, you tore your meniscus,'re 52 a lot of guys are walking around with tears in their knee that they're not even if they're aware of it's like it's not completely hindering their life he's like you're not that into sports so we can probably get away with not fixing it as of now

if it's not going to truly hurt you we can do a lot of pt we can work around it if you're apprehensive about getting put you know put out for a surgery in your mid fifties. And he said, and listen, for every pound you lose, it's going to help your knee out. And it was like, I'm going to acknowledge the reality that yeah, if you were, if you were leaner, you wouldn't have these knee problems, but I'm not going to shame you. Let's just, we're on the same page because he knew, my buddy knew he was walking in getting ready to be shamed. And he was like, I just remember getting a call from him feeling such a relief. And by the way, still motivated to go do something about it, but not like I'm a bad guy because I'm carrying some extra weight. Yeah. I find your situation to be unique. A lot of times people are like, I'm carrying some extra weight. Yeah. I find your situation to be unique.

A lot of times people are like, I'm going to lose weight, and I'm going to make a new person, kind of. I'm going to divorce my former self. But with you being on TV, did you have concern over like, if I lose this weight, I won't be the same person that I got casted as? Or is that something that you were like, I need to just go all in on this and forget about acting I won't be the same person that I got casted as, or is that something that you were like, you know, I need to just go all in on this and,

and forget about acting and just see where I end up mentally and physically. I think people tend to marry themselves to you for the first image that they fall in love with. So for me, it was like as the big funny guy. And also I was part of a legacy, right? So when I was heavy and, and getting into acting, people would be like, Oh, you'll be like Chris Farley or John Candy.

Now, obviously those guys are geniuses. I would be lucky to have a 10th of what they had, but they weren't comparing my talent. They were merely comparing my girth. Like, Oh, like wrap yourself up in this package because this tends to work um and I'm sure if you're a pretty girl or a handsome guy like a leading man type like everyone or maybe you're like um you're a Michael Cera like every man sort of type and then everyone wants to put you in a box and and if you want to change at all, you're going to have a bit of an uphill battle. So I knew what I knew was that my competition was small, that as an overweight guy, there

were three or four guys who were in my sort of, forgive me, no pun intended weight class that were like going out for the same roles and that I probably had a good chance of booking something. And that if I got down to like a lower weight, I was going to be going against Jake Gyllenhaal. I mean, not really, but you know, there's like a thousand guys that look like me. I could smoke that guy. It was going to get competitive. How did you lose the weight? And maybe what are some things you were attempting to do when you were young? I'm sure you've been addressing this your whole life, things that maybe didn't work for you and then ultimately what worked for you.

What I talk about in my book about – I think I was the first 10-year-old who was on keto. But back then we didn't call it keto. We called it Atkins. Right. Poor Dr. Atkins, man. He really got a bad rap. Meanwhile, he was like early keto um but i uh so i would try and fail man i would because you know i was really heavy and this idea of like

on a monday removing all white sugar all carbohydrate it you know it would work great for the first two three days i'd lose 10 pounds of water weight and whatnot. And then eventually I would just sort of, I just couldn't sustain it. And so when I was 17 and I decided that I would finally sort of do it, I just made small sort of changes on a regular basis. And I had no framework. I got buddies now who like put on some weight, but they were athletes in high school. So even with like this big dad bod belly of theirs, they can like, you can just see in their movements, they have, there's something inherently athletic. I didn't have any of that. I was a musical theater nerd. Right. So like at 18, when I went from like 295 to 230, I had to go into a gym with my buddy

Ronaldo, who was my trainer. And he'd be like, we're going to do a pushup today. And I was like, that's cute. I won't be participating. I've never, ever been able to do it. And he was like, no, no, we're going to do it. You're going to do it from your knees. And that's how we're going to start.

And I was like, I can't do that either. And he was like, okay, well, you're going to do it from your knees. And that's how we're going to start. And I was like, I can't do that either. And he was like, okay, well, you're going to do it from your knees and I'm going to wrap a towel around your waist and I'm just going to take some of the weight off and you're just going to push up what you can. And that's how we began. And then it became, I could do one from my knees and then eventually one from my toes and then started to string them together. And same thing with pull-ups, you know, with like a resistance band that probably gave me a hundred pounds of help. So inevitably it was just like, just grit. And, and that's what made me fall in love with like really basic, hard body weight workouts, because I was like, this was an impossibility for me. And now I feel

like so proud because I feel like a lot of the world can't do a strict pull-up. So every time my chin goes above the bar, I'm like, yes, this one's for 15 year old Josh. So ultimately diet wise, like what was it specifically? You mentioned those small incremental changes. That's what we talk about here on the show all the time is finding those small incremental changes that you can implement and that are sustainable. So what were the things that you implemented that made the big changes? You know, I think it's something I still do to this day. I mean, in the, in the beginning I really wiped, you know, tried to remove sugars and carbohydrates for the most part. But still, like, I remember there was a middle ground. I was at a diner with my buddy in Queens, New York, when I was 17,

starting to lose weight. And I was like, well, I know a chicken Caesar would probably be a good bet. But I'd really love to eat a sandwich. But if I do a chicken Caesar wrap, maybe I'm going to get a little bit of what I want while also sort of sacrificing some, some caloric sort of stuff here. Cause the wrap, it can't be that, you know, calorically dense. And it was just slowly starting to make those smart, smart choices. And even to this day, I don't know how you guys are. I mean, you guys are really pros, so it's probably a different approach. But for me, I'm eyeballing calories every day. And I'm just basically like, okay, I need 2,500 calories to sustain life. And then if I can work out and maybe burn an extra 500 calories. So I'm playing with about 3,000 calories. And if I can work out and maybe burn an extra 500 calories, so I'm playing with about 3,000

calories. And if I can come in at a deficit, I'm in good shape. Yeah, man, you nailed it. We don't track our calories. I used to do that maybe six or seven years ago. And it taught me a bit about food. But I don't do that anymore. I eyeball everything just like you eyeball everything.

And I'll eat sushi. I you eyeball everything. And I eat, I'll eat sushi, I'll eat pizza, I'll eat these foods. But there's this thing in the back of my head that's like, okay, just don't go crazy with it because I love to fucking eat. A little bit of like invisible tracking. It's being tracked where it's accounted for. We see it, we know what we're doing, but we're not writing it down. We're not putting it into an app. Yeah. And for a lot of people that becomes somewhat obsessive. And it, what you mentioned as far as sustainability, it's a, it's a very interesting thing because it's like everybody needs to, it seems that initially when you were doing everything, you, I don't know if maybe you were tracking and you were being very incessant about what you're eating, but over time you figured out where you could loosen the reins for yourself. And you're like, having a fucking wrap on a chicken thing is not a big deal,

which it's not. But what I'm curious for you is like, you mentioned, because most people, when they get on a diet, they're super restrictive. They try to change so many things at once. And it turns into something that they're not able to be successful with in the long run. so many things at once. And it turns into something that they're not able to be successful with in the long run. So for you, what was your process in the beginning and maybe in the middle to where you are now? Because I'd assume that there are certain habits and things within your lifestyle that are different from when you were younger, when you were having issues with food and exercise and your weight. I think it, it look it really became a lifestyle i also like i'm i've been sober for the last 14 years from drugs and alcohol and what what we sort of talk

about is this idea of like drinking or using with impunity is ruined for me it now that doesn't hold me back right like certainly there's that addictive quality that if I did dip my foot back in there, I certainly, you know, a monster would be unleashed, but it's not like it was when I was 18 and 19 and having a great time and eating for me isn't like it was when I was 11, 12 years old and I'd crush an entire large pizza to myself and just think, oh, tomorrow's going to be a great day. Delicious. Fucking good.

And he's from New York, so you know they have the good pizza out there. Good shit. Good shit out there. You mentioned like an East Coast diner. Like, you got me starving. Bro. So good. And, you know, like if you went todonald's like you had a burger fries course

but you also had to have like a nuggets course you know i'm saying that well-rounded the food pyramid i don't want to get anyone listening um but yeah so i so basically like at 17 and now today at 35, like I, it, it was like winning through surrender. There's no intuitive eating for me. I, my intuition tells me to crush a whole pizza. So I've accepted that like, I can eat like a normal person, but it requires some thought and that I'm just always going to be sort of in my head doing this calorie game a little bit. And at this point it doesn't encumber me and I'm allowed, it's allowed me to live sort of a normal life, but I don't have a normal or a thoughtless approach to food. Everything

has to be thought about. And, but it's worthwhile worthwhile to me especially now at 35 where i see friends who were effortlessly thin as teenagers and then like i go on their facebook page and i'm like oh rick you put on a couple uh yep celebrating like remember all that shit you were talking back in the day? Right. Your book has an interesting title. How did you come to this idea that annoying people are happy? Happy people are what? Happy people are annoying. You know, I just thought that happiness was reserved for quarterbacks and the generationally wealthy and attractive people.

quarterbacks and the generationally wealthy and attractive people. And it just annoyed me that people's default settings seem to be at perfect tuning with the world. Because I just didn't think I was born with the same manual for life that everyone else was. So the book is about me sort of redefining what happiness is for me through walking through challenges like losing 100 pounds or getting sober. And it was only through sort of facing life on life's terms that I was able to find a little bit of that joy and sort of grace that I had been searching for. Yeah, that's funny. I used to have similar thoughts before I started doing some personal development and working on my physique because I was always the, uh, the skinny scrawny guy and I'd get mad at, you know,

like the MVP quarterbacks and shit, just like you were, you were explaining. But, um, in regards to happiness, um, when you finally did start to lose weight,

um, which a lot of overweight people think like, Oh, that's when I'm going to have it all. That's when I'm going to be happy. But that's kind of when you started actually turning to drugs and alcohol. So like what happened? Did you still not find of when you started actually turning to drugs and alcohol. So like what happened? Did you still not find happiness when you started to lose weight?

Well, I think it was sort of a natural... Sorry, am I breaking up a little, guys? Oh, you're good now. You're good. Good now? Yeah. Okay, good. You know, it basically, I, I talk about this sometimes, and maybe it goes back to what we sort of started the pod with. But I think that, you know, being overweight to an extent can be a manifestation of a lot of things, right? Like, I have buddies who carry some extra weight on them, and they love going out to dinner, and they love trying trying the new hot restaurant and it's just not a thought to them and my hat's off to them because it it doesn't it sort of impede them in any way for me the weight was a manifestation of a lot of discomfort going on and a lot of demons inside that I wasn't facing and we all are for many of us our first foray into sort of numbing out with something is food

because it's acceptable and it's introduced you know my three-year-old goes to the supermarket and he cracks out on a kinder egg he's like that I want that and I'm like relax so it it you know for me was this thing that I overindulged in to sort of try to numb my feelings. So then eventually, when I sort of took that away and I had this new body, I still had the same head. And I hadn't done that inner work yet. So then when I found drugs and alcohol, I was like, oh, this is so much more efficacious and so few calories. And it was like trading a Prius for a Ferrari with no brakes. So the good thing about that was it drove me to my knees quicker.

And I was forced to sort of face it or perhaps have some consequences that I wouldn't have been able to come back from. I know you're enjoying this clip, but listen up. We have this beef company, Piedmontese Beef, that no matter what diet you're doing, whether it's low fat, high fat, carnivore, keto, whatever, they have perfect cuts that are going to fit your diet perfectly. And the cool thing, Andrew, less connective tissue, so you're not going to have those gristly, nasty things that you have to spit out when you eat beef. That's what those are? That's what those are. Oh, and Piedmontese doesn't have that. They don't have that because the cows are jacked, lack of connective tissue, buttery when you cut into it.

Amazing taste. So, Andrew, how can they buttery when you cut into it. Amazing taste. So, Andrew, how can they get some Piedmontese? Yes, sir. It'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, that's at piedmontese.com, promo code POWER.

Let's go ahead and get back to this podcast. Was there a lot of emotional eating going on when you were young um trying to fill in some gaps and and things of that nature i'm sure of it but i was not aware you know i just thought this is what i do this is fun and it was your mom your mother like she was was she like did anyone address it with you like you mentioned like being on a keto diet at a very, very young age. Did somebody say, Hey, I think, you know, was there a health scare or was, you know, anybody kind of watching you saying, Hey, I think this would be a good idea if you went

on this nutrition plan. No, I come from a family of big people. So like I grew up with my mom and like going to Weight Watchers meetings with her or Overeaters Anonymous. Like there was a lot of, it was a constant conversation and cause food was like to be celebrated, but it was also punishing. And it was like, enjoy, you know, we're going to celebrate, let's order a pizza, let's get Chinese, let's go to the movies,'s have popcorn but it's also like

don't eat so much you're too fat you know my mom wouldn't say that but the world would kind of say that and and family members and so yeah it was this odd it was this odd balance of like in in it was a celebratory thing and yet i could tell it was like this menacing force to the packs. You know, this is going to be somewhat of a long question, but I'm going to try to make it very short. But from everything you were saying, you've obviously at this point, you know, you have a beautiful wife, you have a child. You've probably you've learned how to deal with stress and probably a much healthier way than you used to when you were dealing with drugs and alcohol and the way you used to when food was your, was your vice at the time. So I want, I'm curious, what are the, like, number one, what, how do you handle stress now? What is your go-to? Because for some people, the go-to is like,

okay, out of there a long day, I'm going to smoke some weed and have a beer. You know what I mean? Sure. Or I'm going to eat quite a bit because I'm fucking hungry and I want to have some pizza. That's their knee jerk to stress. But what is yours? How did you figure that out for yourself? And when you were dealing with drugs and alcohol, how deep did it get for you that you were like, fuck, okay, I need to switch this out too for something healthier. I think for me, you know, I, I try to be active most days, five to six days out of the week, whether it's doing a boxing workout, some yoga, going for a run. I get bored easily, so I'm constantly switching it up. But I just know that I can't think my way into right acting. I have to act my way into right

thinking. And working out first and foremost, is like literally a chemical change in your body to get like those natural endorphins that make you feel good overall, to just sort of like come out, it's the easiest hack to me. But then yeah, inevitably, it's like, you need to sort of uproot that bad feedback wheel. And for me, it's like, I have to get busy. The truth is, and I hate it. I have to get out of myself. I have to go help someone else because at a baseline, even when things aren't working out for me or life rears its ugly head and we all have, you know, wins and losses throughout. My buddy always says your life should be like, hopefully be like the stock market,

right? If you zoom in on any particular day, it could be up or down 500 points, but over time it tends to go up. He's like, that's how you should try to sort of live. And the reality is I'm so lucky and overpaid today. And so in moments where I'm completely self-centered and spinning out and dealing with stress. It's like, how do I get out of self? And it could be a small act of like making something that's not my problem, my problem. Like those errant shopping carts at the Costco where I'm like, these jerks, they don't return their carts. How do people live? Well, it's like, well, then return it. Let me let me go grab a couple of carts. You know, let me inconvenience myself today for somebody else. Maybe you don't want to do it for giant corporate America and Costco. Maybe you want to do it for your neighbor. But you know what I'm saying? And so, yeah, that's that for me works well. And then, you know, how did I get to my bottom when I was 21 years old and got sober was just, you know, your bottom is whenever you stop digging. And I just knew that for me at this moment, I had spent so many years working on this career

and relationships. And I was in a place where I was going to, you know, ruin a lot of that if I kept going the way I was going. And I just, and I had enough data to suggest because I had been overweight throughout a lot of my life where I was just like, Josh, you overdo things like this doesn't work for you. You must have moderation. And that's when I kind of made the jump. You stated something to the effect of it didn't matter if your life was going beyond your wildest dreams or it didn't matter if your life was a mess. It didn't change the temperature of your mind. And you somehow recognized that the outside world didn't ultimately have an impact in making you feel whole. How did you come to that? And what

does that mean to you? I just think it's this desire to put the cart before the horse. You know, I don't like I'm not trying to put the cart before the horse. I'm trying to inject the horse with steroids. Like, I just want to make this horse. I'm trying to get this horse. I want this horse to have a deck of stack. And I want to run baby but you know I I sort of tell this three three part story in the book where so food was a dead end for me and then I try sort of drugs and alcohol and that becomes a dead end

and then I somehow at 20 years old you know my desire had always been to sort of supersede people's image of what a child actor is or the funny fat guy. I just wanted to be an actor. I just wanted to be a grownup. I didn't want to be a movie star. I didn't want to be anything too impressive. I just didn't want to have to like fight this origin story of mine and be relegated to like just like the cornball stereotype so I do this movie called the whackness and it goes to Sundance and it's me and sir Ben Kingsley and it's like this thing that I'm so proud of and I had been to the Sundance film festival at 16 I remember like making this vow to myself, like one day, you're going to come back here as a star of a movie. And I was. And I'm like at the screening and Tarantino's there and all these people and it goes great. And I go to bed that night.

And I wake up and I'm like, oh, no, I'm still here. Like somehow I thought I'd wake up the next morning and I'd be all better and that like shitty committee that woke up a few minutes before I did every morning would just be like evaporated but it was still there and it like just proved this hypothesis I'd had my whole life which was like I am bottomless like and now like yeah we know food wasn't great and obviously drugs and alcohol, but this is success. This is prestige. This is what I thought I'd always wanted. And even then, I was still feeling utterly incomplete.

So that was sort of when I started doing that inner work journey through 12 step and more growth where I was like, I got to work on the inside because nothing out there is going to make me feel okay. Yeah. Focus on the dopeness. Don't focus on the whackness. Dude, the whackness is probably my favorite, most underrated movie of all time. Everybody needs to go watch this. No, dude. So here's the thing. We were talking before you got on. I don't think I've ever really watched a Nickelodeon show period. Like, like little, not, you know,

let alone Drake and Josh. I've never seen that. So when I, uh, when I watched the wackness, I just see you, you know, as this,

you know, this young actor, I didn't know anything about your previous work. So I, I got like the best experience possible. And dude, like you and method, man,

uh, you was selling you know weed in the park like this shit that is the music dude the opening scene is naz um the world is yours dude this is one of the best movies like ever like everybody has to go watch this but what i wanted to ask dude is like how did did that even come about? Just because I feel like, um, just because like the way the business is, you know, like, um, the, whatever, I'll just say like Jim Carrey, like, Oh, he's going to be the funny guy. It's going to be hard for him to break into a serious role, even though he can. But for you, it was like, Oh, here's this, you know,

young, young, funny guy. Like, how are we going to make him like this star of this, this, uh, this movie? And like I said, dude, if you guys haven't seen it, like everybody has to watch this fucking movie. It's so good. But yeah. How did it come about? Oh, well, I appreciate that, dude. And people that love that movie, it means a lot to me, but yeah, I, you know, I was also fresh off this kid's show that only kids had watched, right. It wasn't like it is today where sort of it's continued to hit generations because it's a pretty simple idea. It was about a family. It was about two brothers who were like totally opposites and they have to figure out how to

coexist. So at this time, the show had been on for like three years and only 12 year olds watched it. So the director of the wackness didn't know me from anything he just was like can you play this like hip-hop loving you know slightly drug addicted um you know 18 year old with too many feelings i'm like i'm from new york i enjoy drugs i love hip-hop i was like i might just be your perfect candidate and i remember like at that time i was going against you know guys who who are so far beyond me even to this day jonah hill and miles teller and all these like you know actors who crush it but i just remember like knowing they were all going for this part and thinking i might just be right for this. Like I might be uniquely qualified for this role.

And I couldn't believe it. And Ben Kingsley is my favorite actor. That's like starting like your rookie season with Michael Jordan. I couldn't believe that I was like with this dude and he was the best. It was, it was the best experience. Do you learn anything from him? Yeah. I mean, I talk in the book. I asked him on my last day of filming if he had any advice. And he kind of looked at me like, are you really asking me this?

And I was like, I never met my dad. But he said, you know, he was like, find your apostles. And I was like, I'm Jewish. I'm not sure that's in the old Testament, little confused. And he was like, find your apostles, like find people that you can not only rejoice with, but will be there for you in your difficult periods. And when you are in a room and you feel like someone doesn't support you and is looking out for your best interests, leave immediately. And I still think of that to this day, like an

apostle is someone who's willing to hurt your feelings in an effort to do what's best for you. And yeah. And so I guess Sir Ben was like my first apostle. What kind of project do you have going on right now? was like my first apostle. What, uh, what kind of project do you have going on right now? Um, so, you know, I'm, I'm doing this book tour thing. I, uh, right now I'm on how I met your father on Hulu and I have, uh, I just finished filming this like super small part in this, uh, in the new Chris Nolan movie Oppenheimer. How about, uh, your, your YouTube channel? Cause I see, um, well, sorry. Okay.

I guess I'll pose it this way. Like I have seen some other YouTubers that will do like an eating challenge or whatever, and they'll take it way too far to where it's like, okay, you clearly have a disorder and it's like, they're almost kind of getting praise for how big they can get and how much food they can put away.

And you have some, some like eating challenges and stuff too, but how are you doing it kind of like i'll say responsibly i think i mean i'm vain and i want to stay in good shape so if i do it i'll like base my day around like knowing i'm gonna probably consume 2 000 calories for a video so maybe it's just like a light breakfast and a good workout. But I remember I started my YouTube channel, and for one year I made videos with dismal views. It was a no bueno, nothing to be proud of.

And it was because I was betraying myself. I was not comfortable being the guy in the airport who was talking to his camera, being like, what's up, Hexsters? I just felt like a cornball. and a buddy of mine was like why don't you try being in front of the camera and just let me hold the camera and you worry about being funny and be yourself and i was like well what could be more myself than enjoying a good meal in front of people so i ordered a bunch of chicken wings i invited invited another YouTuber over and we just talked shit for 45 minutes. And that video got 5 million views. And suddenly I was like, oh, I get it.

And also I knew food videos were really popular on YouTube. I knew I was uniquely qualified because I was like a former thick boy. And so I just was like, this is my lane. It's believable and I enjoy this. So I hope I'm presenting somewhat of a responsible sort of muck banging channel. What about your son? How old is he and how are you guys handling his nutrition? Because my son is one years old and I joke around a lot and I say I feel like I have my Captain America shield. And I joke around a lot and I say, I feel like I have my Captain America shield. I'm blocking all of the bad food because every, I mean, at one years old, how many people can he interact with?

Enough people that want to give him like sweets and like candies and stuff. And I'm like, Jesus, like, can we just let him like figure out his own like taste buds before we fry them all? So for your son, how are you guys feeding him? Yeah, you know, my son is three. And thank God it seems as though he's inherited my wife's athletic family genetics thus far. And he's got my flat feet, but he's got her thin body. So I'm happy about that. I'm always like, I love MMA and boxing. And I'll always point out to my wife, like Aljamain Sterling. I notice he is kind of

slightly flat feet or like or and I'll be like babe look look like you can still be athletic and she's like you found like the three dudes are incredible with um and but he's um I what I don't want to do is make food taboo and to give it extra power because that is what i remember from as far back as three four or five years old it was like eat you know sneaking snack wells and from the pantry um and like we learned certain things like i never tell my kid to clean his plate but that was a thing for me growing up like why do we clean our plate? So that we can eat more in dessert, right? It's like, if he's not hungry, then he's not hungry.

And I don't want to plant this seed of like, to be a good boy, to get dad's approval, you have to overeat. So it's just trying to be smart about that and get him, you know, he really likes chicken, rice, and string beans. And I'm like, ah, you're a bodybuilder in training i love it like you know i'm just trying to get him and then he you know he'll crush cupcakes at a birthday party so trying to give him that balance thank you so much for sending out your book um what do you have coming up that you're excited about um you mentioned the book you're on the book tour right yeah i'm doing the book i got my

my podcast male models and uh yeah just happy to be here with you guys i really appreciate you having me male models yeah what's up with male models why is it called male models good one but i do have a question for you. Um, yeah, you like, you started off obviously in, in, in media, you were on TV. This was before social media.

Cause I like, I remember when I, I w I was a kid when I saw I'm 29. So I did see Drake and Josh a bit as a kid, which is sure. It's weird. Cause I believe you really did. And I'm,

I'm, it's weird. Nickelodeon as a kid. I don't know. Anyway, but seeing the transformation of social media instagram vine you now having to make your own videos right for on social and doing a great job of it but i feel like i'm not sure about this but when you were probably a kid actor

there was a distance between yourself and the people fans, the people that dug your stuff. Now people can DM you, people can listen to you on a podcast every day. People can watch your videos and comment and get responses from you all the time. Um, does it feel odd for you to be so close to the people that pay attention to you now? Or do you find it, is it just a natural progression of things? It's a, it's a great question. I think you're right that I think even you being 29, I'm 35, like we were part of the last generation before social media. And to me, there was always like a mystery around, you know, famous people, movie stars, people you look up to. And I think there was like a part of me for a long time that felt like

I needed to sort of project an image out to the public and that, you know, save the real me for my family and friends. And obviously there's a level, a deep, the deep core of me that I'll never share publicly because it's not necessary. Like, but I think that social media has allowed us to circumvent the gatekeepers. think that social media has allowed us to circumvent the gatekeepers and I think actors people like me went crazy for many years because you were so at the mercy of of things you didn't have control of and you know our business it's not a stats business it's subjective right like it's not like if you have you know the best sort of, if you can like hit these markers, you're going to get a job because you're throwing better or you're catching better than like the next 10 guys below you. It's like you might be the best actor, but it just might not be your moment.

And so I like that with social media, I can go direct to the audience. I can get their feedback. I can create for them and I I can go direct to the audience. I can get their feedback. I can create for them, and I don't have to ask for permission. It's allowed me a level of freedom that I never expected. It's certainly odd, and I try to keep things private. I don't show my kid's face on social media. I have a wife who's a beautiful beautiful civilian and it's constantly being like,

turn your phone off. And I'm like, babe, the views. And she's like, I hate you. It keeps me grounded in that way. What's your go-to kind of form of exercise, even when you don't want to exercise? I, you know, I try, like, if I can get, I'll find myself, if I am going to do some, some sort of lifting or something high intensity, it's got to be early in the morning. I got to get like a Celsius on deck, head in the game. But if it's like seven o'clock at night and I'm exhausted and I'm like, if I go to bed tonight, I'm just going to wake up feeling disgusting. Like, I know that I'm at like, you know, too many calories for the day, but I can just get on the elliptical machine and put on a show and just, you know, knock it out for the next hour, hour, 10 minutes like that. So it's just about making those agreements with myself, like

knowing that some days I'm going to really want to get after it. And other days, if I can just slog through, you know, an hour on the elliptical knowing the first 30 minutes will suck and the last 30 minutes will fly by it's it's all the way. But I, I just try to, I just try to get after it as long as, as long as I can like break a sweat and feel like I put in like at least 45 minutes of work. I'm not going to wake up hating myself. Do you try to put some rules around like if you wanted to eat pizza or something like that?

Or how do you manage that? Oh, totally. I think about, you know, I plan it. Like there's always sort of one. It's usually one day out of the week where I'm like, you know, I'm going to take sort of the breaks off and just enjoy myself, whatever that looks like. But I don't know how you guys are, but obviously like part of being that in shape is, is, you know, not part of it. The major thing is eating. When I really try to go hard body karate and I'm like, I'm going to have four donuts like for

breakfast, I get indigestion. I, maybe it's mean in your 30s but it like kills me yo the oil within the donuts messes me up guys wet yeah yeah you get the wet shits yeah no it's not good not good it's really upsetting but but still and i'm like you know i'm not fancy like i'm like i'm gonna go to the cheesecake factory and'm going to get the chicken Romanesco. And I know it's 2200 calories and I'm going to eat mad brown bread and I'm going to get the cheesecake. That brown bread is so good. Bro. That brown bread.

He knows. It's good stuff. It's good stuff. Bro, I like eating in my car. Okay. I'm a real dirtbag. I'm going to drive around and I want to like have i like eating in my car okay i'm a real dirtbag i'm gonna drive around and i want to like have mad fast food in my car and like where am i going i don't know

people would be like i saw josh peck he was eating cheesecake factory in his car i think that couldn't have been him he ran a stoplight what the fuck it's like pounding chris cut fries i'm gonna black out hey thank you so much for your time today it was a it was a lot of fun it's like pounding Chris Cut Fries I'm in a blackout Jesus hey thank you so much for your time today it was a lot of fun appreciate it I really appreciate it guys

thanks for having me alright have a great day thanks see you later thanks guys peace awesome man awesome information there I love what he said

about the kind of family gatherings where and just the family in general the way they viewed food it was you about the kind of family gatherings were, um, and just the family in general, the way they viewed food, it was, you know, like kind of a lot of love coming through the food, but it's also, he mentioned also mentioned the word punishment and yeah, man, it can be like, you go to these Thanksgiving dinners and these Christmas things. And even beyond that, just birthdays, just people just, uh, getting together and celebrating stuff.

It's like, why does it always have to be such overkill all the time? All the time. Does it all have to be unhealthy food? Can someone bring some fucking fruit? Can somebody have something healthy going on here? Yeah. Yeah, I went to visit my parents this past weekend. I think it was this past weekend.

I'm trying to remember. I go every weekend now. I had brought Greek yogurt, some within you vanilla protein, mixed that all up, and then just had some fruit with it. It's so good. That's my favorite dessert right now. My dad's like, oh man, this is really good. What is it? I'm like, oh, it's just

whipped cream and fruit. I promise. That's it. He looks at me weird. He's like, because he knows there's something healthy about this. And if you tell him like, oh, it's Greek yogurt, he would like spit it out. He's like, Greek yogurt tastes gross. I'm like, well, sir, you're currently eating it. But yeah, dude, just a small little thing like that. Like it's so easy to do.

But, you know, it's just helping everybody out and you know keeping yourself on track too yeah while not like secluding yourself that's that's a big thing too he was it was really cool um how he mentioned how he had to uh he couldn't think his way into right acting but act his way into right thinking he really got me thinking about how we always mentioned think less you know because just just do shit, just act, right? And we've been talking about just getting moving. Just start moving. Walking.

Keep the barrier low. Start walking. Do some body weight shit at home. Just start moving. Because I wanted to ask him if at this point if he enjoys the aspect of exercise because exercise for some people isn't enjoyable at all. It's like we enjoy it because as he said, he realized that as he goes and does his boxing class or if he goes for a run or after workout, you have all these feel good hormones that ruminate around your head. You actually start to feel good and then maybe you start to truly enjoy it. And then maybe you start to truly enjoy it.

But for the people that are like, I don't like to exercise. I don't, it's just not for me, blah, blah, blah. If you just get yourself moving, just to start moving, keep it low, then that may be, that'll start becoming something normal for you and will move you in the right direction. And maybe at some point you might like the way exercise feels. Think about a couple of things he mentioned. He mentioned a personal trainer, which I don't know if he still has. Maybe he doesn't need that at some point you might like the way exercise feels. Think about a couple of things he mentioned. He mentioned a personal trainer, which I don't know if he still has. Maybe he doesn't need that at this point. But what a great place to start.

Personal trainer. He also mentioned the elliptical. In his house? Yeah. And the TV in front of it? Yeah. You go on the elliptical. You're kind of like, I mean, you can get off there at any time you want.

But, you know, how good is it to say, hey, look, you bargain with yourself. Say 30 minutes. Come on. Let's just do 30 minutes. It's not that. The elliptical is really nice. It gets people make fun of it and stuff, but it's a way to kind of mimic like a run, especially for people that aren't used to running. You go out and just start running.

You might hurt your calves and your lower back and stuff like that. Easy on the joints too. Very easy on the joints. Easy on the joints. Easy to get your heart rate up. And then the other thing that he mentioned was kickboxing. Like, how easy is that? Like, I know it's not easy necessarily,

but to sign up for a class, like, okay, I'm going to get my ass kicked for this hour and I'm going to burn a lot of calories. You can go to the gym and bro out and do some of our stuff, but not everybody likes that. Yeah, there's these spots in Sacramento called Nine Round. I don't know if you guys are familiar. There's one right by my place, yeah.

Yeah, there's one in Elk Grove too, where it's just like every 30 minutes they have another class. So it's just like super easy to just walk in and pop in just 30 minutes later done never have a bad workout yeah and what i like about the elliptical because like on the treadmill like i'll watch you know a show or even on the step mill i'll watch something but like um this is a good and bad thing about the elliptical but you're on a track like you can't really like fall over you know like on a step mill if i miss a step oh fuck you know like you know look stupid in the gym or whatever but on an elliptical it's just super inviting you know because if I miss a step, oh, fuck, you know, like, you know, look stupid in the gym or whatever. But on an elliptical, it's just super inviting, you know, because it's like, hey, just stand here, move, and we'll take care of the rest.

He mentioned one thing that was super interesting. Like, he was talking about the way he eats and how he's always thinking about it. We all think about it. And the thing is, is like maybe hundreds of years ago, we wouldn't have had to think about it. But the reason why everybody, even the most fit individuals, myself, yourself, you, Andrew, everyone. The reason why we think about it is because there are so many options that probably aren't the greatest for us. I know that if I purchased a bag of Doritos from the store, I'm not going to eat half. No.

No, I'm going to eat the whole thing. That family size one? Bro, I could, no, I have not going to eat half. No. No, I'm going to eat the whole thing. That family size one? Bro, I could, no, I have eaten a whole thing like that. I know that if I purchase it, I'm going to eat the whole thing. So I have to tell myself when I'm going by the bag of hot Cheetos or Takis or the- What about hot fries? Do you like hot fries? Never had hot fries.

Those sound real- They got like a weird taste to them. But man, once you start going, you're just like, let me get one more. And now I'm salivating. And now I'm salivating. You got to ruin your food. Remember we had somebody on the show that talked about ruining their food. They were like eating ice cream.

And then they said they take their ice cream and they just pour water all over it. Oh my God, you masochist. I don't remember that, but Jesus Christ. It was a girl i think she's like she's like i eat a bunch of it and then she's just like i run it under the faucet because like i need to be like done with it someone's gonna look at that and say that's disordered eating i know imagine doing that with doritos like you you're eating doritos and you ate like you know a hand couple handfuls of them i used to pour some cheese on it pour some lemon juice in the bag could also that might make it taste amazing so good yeah

you see this is you can buy it you can buy it like that already made by the way don't think for a second that i didn't hear him talk about chinese food oh of course of course dude i heard that rang right through my fucking headphones we do this every time yeah dog there's just there's nothing better there's a spot called ming dynasty if you want legitimate chinese food they have this amazing duck and they have this dim sum that's so good now back to what we were talking about health and nutrition but that's the thing like i'll have some of that stuff but i have to think i'm saying like what have i eaten today have i eaten like will this will this be too much food for the day? You know, people keep talking about like,

oh, fasting, being disordered, eating and restricting calories. Like, dog, if you want to be healthy in today's day and age, like with everything that we have at our fingertips, we have to have a level of self-control. Or as some people put a negative perception to, we have to have a level of restriction. That therapist lady, again, I keep referencing her, but she was saying this restriction mindset that it's unhealthy. The environment is not healthy. So to be able to live within this environment of excess, we have to be able to restrict ourselves from doing the thing that we want to do, which is to eat the whole bag of Doritos or to eat the two pints of Ben and Jerry's because I want to do that. Yeah. And in his own words, he said the word disgusting.

You know, he said gross. Like, I don't if I go to bed and I didn't like put out some calories when I ate a lot that He's like, I know the next day I'm going to feel disgusting or gross. The same words were utilized when I spoke with Russell and a couple of the other guys here at the gym that are real big. They said the same, they use the same word to describe themselves. They said it doesn't feel good. Like they're like, we don't want to be this fat. We recognize that we're this fat. We recognize that we're this fat. We recognize that we're

obese. And, you know, it's hard for sometimes, I think, for people that haven't walked in those shoes to try to understand what any of it's like, but to actually start to talk to people. That's what I kind of hope happens. I hope that more people get into some open dialogue that is useful and not hurtful. And it can just get more people to come forward and to say, yeah, that sounds easy enough for me to implement. Maybe I should look into some of the suggestions of maybe finding a kickboxing class or, you know, dragging a sled or going on some walks or riding. Like Russell, Russell's awesome. We got to have him on the show because he has found so many different things.

Like as soon as the summer hits, I know that he'll be back in the pool again. He loves to swim. And he goes with his son and he makes it a thing. You know, to be a bigger guy and to be out in the, I mean, to be in the Sacramento heat is like not fun regardless of your size. It gets hot, hot, hot here. And so Russell's swerve on that is he just fucking goes to a pool and does some swimming. Yeah, and that's the thing.

Russell is doing a lot of stuff in the gym where I'm like, holy shit. He's busting out those squats the other day. Exactly. Like, but, but he's, you know, he's, he's in the mid four hundreds, but he's figured out things that will allow him to do these movements, assistance that will allow him to do these movements and get those muscles moving. So there are always options for individuals.

You just got to be willing to look around for them. Yeah. And he's doing the hard stuff too. Like he's doing stretching. He's crown. He's doing, he does crown work. It's like,

yeah, man, he's getting after it. Yeah. This doing stretching. He's crown. He's doing, he does crown work. It's like, yeah, man, he's getting after it. Yeah. This was a great episode, man. Like Josh's insight on, again,

from his transformation, that's a, it was a very useful conversation. I think for myself specifically, just cause again, I'm trying to learn how it feels for an individual to have to go through that. The psychological aspects of it too. Like we were mentioning on that prior episode,

a lot of people that may be overweight or obese are not that way just because they eat too much. There's a lot of things going on behind the scenes that you cannot just say, just lose some weight. Calories in, calories out. Calories in, calories out.

Just eat a little less. It's not that simple, bro. It's not that simple. I also liked that he didn't blame. He wasn't like, we've talked about on the show before where people will blame a system or they'll blame a situation he didn't just seem like at 17 he decided to take personal responsibility for it and do something about it

he grew up with the circumstances he grew up with there's really nothing he can do to change him it is unfortunate you know everyone grows up with different circumstances and it sound like his circumstances made certain things more difficult for him. But as an adult, he was able to navigate. He was able to figure it out, which I think is awesome. Yeah. Watch the wackness and get his book. Yeah. Definitely comment below if you guys either seen the wackness or you're going to watch the wackness. I'm going to watch the wackness. It's so, dude. Oh my gosh. Let me look at it. So it'm gonna watch the wackness it's so i don't know dude oh my gosh let me look at so it's got um so it's josh peck ben kings ben kingsley and then olivia thurlby i can't she was in dread what else was she in i don't know she's like his like love

interest and she's super hot and of course method man's in it it's dude it's such a good movie though it's fucking incredible yeah anyway yeah you guys ready to get out of here i just want to kind of dwell on that quote that he said because i think that's pretty amazing like nothing in the outside world um was going to make him feel whole and i think that's an important thing for people to it shouldn't either like i don't think that just it's hard it can be very difficult you know when you get a compliment from a particular person or you get a put down from a particular person to not have that like sting or to give you an extra zip. You know, if Casio's like, hey man, like if he tells you you're one of the best in the world, like he knows what one of the best people in the world look like. And it would be hard for you not to feel super fired up and excited about that, right?

But I think we just need to be careful with how much value we place on that. Because what happens when the reverse happens? Or what happens? It's kind of okay when it's more motivational and it's more inspirational and it keeps you more up. That's a little bit better. But I still think that we need to be careful

of any of the outside influences. You don't really want those to control, like what if that's all you were trying to get? Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Like now you're chilling and you go to less practices. All these things can happen. And so this is something that I've come to the realization of

and it's actually been really useful for me. I like playing the game of being a business owner. It's fun and it's exciting, but that's kind of the end of it. It's a game to me. It's math and emotionally I don't feel super uh connected to it so just knowing that the you're going to get the most bang for your buck by continuing to work on yourself and figuring out ways of leveling up with the things that you're really truly interested in and developing a skill set so that when there are times that are extra stressful or there is something from the outside world

that does have an influence on you, even though it necessarily shouldn't, that you'll be able to kind of protect yourself at all times and be able to lean on those things, lean on those skills in the times of need. Andrew, want to take us out of here, buddy? I will. Thank you, everybody, for checking out today's episode.

Please make sure you guys like today's video on YouTube. Drop us a comment down below. Again, let me know if you guys have either seen the Wackness or you're going to watch the Wackness. Method Man's pretty funny. He has like a Jamaican accent, which threw me way off in the beginning. But now it's like. Hey, man. Yeah, like.

Yeah, dude. It's like. It's Jamaican me crazy, man. Yeah, he kind of. He leaned into it a little bit too much, maybe. I don't know. I don't know. It's.

Not Blombergrat. Blombergrat. It's so good. He's. And I's and i'm not gonna give it away but yeah let me know and um yeah if you guys haven't seen it just go watch it because you're gonna love it and make sure you guys subscribe if you're not subscribed already turn on all those bell notifications and uh oh shout out to zumanji he's been very active in the discord oh yeah maybe that's where you can download movies i don't know how discord works still but i think maybe the whackness is playing on there right now guys i don't know how it works don't let andrew confuse you bro you got a lot of boomers on this podcast that are like probably

believing the shit you're saying i'm making a point sir when you and owen are just like dude you just do the thing and i'm just like um uh y'all go download this where's the button like where i can go back the links in the description you're like when you give like uh like somebody who's had android their whole life like how do i go back on an iphone it's like are you proud of what you're becoming i'm just asking are you proud of this all right here we go i was telling owen i was like i've been old since elementary school my god all right i've been an old ass motherfucker since back then and is because i have a like seven and eight year older brother and sister than me yeah so i've been like a teenager

when i was like a fucking like 10 year old like you know just anyways yeah don't know where we're at but follow the podcast at mb power project on instagram tiktok and twitter my instagram tiktok and twitter is at i am andrew z and sema where? Guys, check us out on the Discord and Reddit, yo. All right? We'll see you in there. And Seema Inyang on Instagram and YouTube. And Seema Yinny Yang on TikTok and Twitter, Mark. I'm at Mark Smiley Bell.

Strength is never weakness. Weakness never strength. Catch you guys later. Bye.