Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - How Jose Lost 120 Pounds, Overcame an Eating Disorder, and Got Healthy

Episode Date: July 20, 2022

In this podcast, I interview Jose, who used the information he learned through my articles, podcasts, and my book Muscle For Life, to finally overcome his bingeing and purging eating disorder, start losing weight the right way, and get healthy and fit. In fact, Jose successfully lost 120 pounds while getting stronger and reversing several conditions, including pre-diabetes and high blood pressure.  Before finding my work, Jose was close to 300 pounds, and had tried various diets and weight loss hacks, including keto, Atkins, acupuncture, and even hypnosis. Nothing stuck, and nothing worked for him. He felt lost with his health and struggled with a bingeing and purging eating disorder and was even hospitalized for it at one point. Luckily, Jose started to find good information online by following some Legion athletes on Instagram, and once he saw transformations of people who had accomplished his dream—of going from fat to fit—everything changed. He finally saw it was possible to reach his goal. He continued following Legion and read my content to build an educated foundation, and started making progress. I wanted to bring Jose on the show because there isn’t a lot of content out there featuring men with eating disorders, and if his story can help even one other person, then it was worth it. So this is Jose’s story of all the obstacles he ran into on his fitness journey, and how he finally overcame his eating disorder and learned what it takes to really get fit and lose weight for good. If you’re looking for a jolt of inspiration and like motivational stories, definitely listen to this episode. Timestamps: 0:00 - Try Whey+ risk-free today! Go to buylegion.com/whey and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% or get double reward points! 4:17 - What has your fitness journey looked like? 26:35 - How has your relationship with food changed? 39:17 - What changes did you make to break your plateau? 1:00:44 - Where can we find you? Mentioned on the show:  Try Whey+ risk-free today! Go to buylegion.com/whey and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% or get double reward points! Muscle For Life: https://legionathletics.com/muscle-for-life-book/ Jose’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jose.gomez.13/

Hey there, I am Mike Matthews. This is Muscle for Life. Thank you for joining me today for a success story interview I did with Jose, who lost 120 pounds and overcame a rather serious eating disorder and started to live a much healthier and more enjoyable life. And although he did all of the work, of course, I was able to help by giving him good information. Jose used the information that he learned in my articles and my podcasts and my book, Muscle for Life, to go from 300 plus pounds and very unhealthy physically and mentally, so much so that he was even hospitalized at one point to under 200 pounds and fit and healthy. And what's even more exciting for Jose is he finally understood that he could reach his goals

and he did not have to continue to struggle with his weight and his body composition and his relationship with food, that those things were truly under his control and could remain under his control for the rest of his life. And so I wanted to bring Jose onto the show to share his story because it is inspiring and also because he has struggled with an eating disorder. And that's something that men don't usually want to talk about. Although statistically it's more common among women, there are many men out there who also have eating disorders and who are too shy or embarrassed to want to talk about it and even seek help. Before we begin, one of the easiest ways to increase muscle and strength gain is to eat enough protein and to eat enough high quality protein.

Now you can do that with food. Of course, you can get all of the protein you need from food, but many people supplement with whey protein because it is convenient and it's tasty. That makes it easier to just eat enough protein. And it's also rich in essential amino acids, which are crucial for muscle building and it's digested well, it's absorbed well. And that's why I created Whey Plus, which is a 100% natural grass-fed whey isolate protein powder made with milk from small sustainable dairy farms in Ireland. Now, why whey isolate? Well, that is the highest quality whey protein you can buy. And that's why every serving of Whey Plus contains 22 grams of protein with little or no carbs and fat.

Whey Plus is also lactose-free, so that means no indigestion, no stomach aches, no gassiness. And it's also 100% naturally sweetened and flavored, and it contains no artificial food dyes or other chemical junk. And why Irish dairies? Well, research shows that they produce some of the healthiest, cleanest milk in the world. And we work with farms that are certified by Ireland's Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme, SDSAS, which ensures that the farmers adhere to best practices in animal welfare, sustainability, product quality, traceability, and soil and grass management. And all that is why I have sold over 500,000 bottles of Whey Plus and why it has over 6,000 four and five star reviews on Amazon and on my website. So if you want a mouthwatering, high protein, low calorie whey protein powder that helps you reach your fitness goals faster,

you want to try Whey Plus today. Go to buylegion.com slash whey. Use the coupon code muscle at checkout and you will save 20% on your first order. And if it is not your first order, you will get double reward points. So that is 10% cash back. And if you don't absolutely love way plus, just let us know, and we will give you a full refund on the spot. No form, no return is even necessary. You really can't lose. So go to buy legion.com slash way now. Use the coupon code muscle at checkout to save 20% or get double reward points. And then try WayPlus risk-free and see what you think. Hey, Jose, thanks for taking the time to do this. Hi, Mike.

Thank you for the chance. Yeah, absolutely. So why don't we start this discussion with maybe you can share with us kind of a brief snapshot, maybe of your before you can share with us kind of a brief snapshot, maybe if you're before and after your transformation so far, and we're always working on the next goal and the next thing. I understand that, but just to give people listening, uh, an idea of where you were before you started to kind of figure this stuff out and how it works versus where you are now. and how it works versus where you are now.

Sure, sure. Yes. So like you said, my name is Jose. I was born and raised in Mexico. I moved to the US nine years ago to go to grad school. Initially, it was just supposed to be just two years, but I ended up finding work here. So it's been almost nine. So I'm pretty much used to the American way of life, I guess.

We've stolen you from Mexico. Yeah, yeah. And since last April, I'm officially one of American residents. So I guess that's one step closer. So, yeah, pretty much I've struggled with being overweight for most of my life. Actually, funny story, when I was a kid, like a kid, kid, like maybe, you know, five years or so, I was very skinny. But then one summer, everything changed. I literally blew up.

I gained a ton of weight when I was like around nine or ten. And it just, I couldn't control it. There was like around nine or 10 and it just, I couldn't control it. There was no, no way for me to stop it. And then my parents took me to the, to the doctor because my mom was, was worried because she has,

she has hypothyroidism. So she was worried about, you know, me having that. And it turns out that I do have it. So I've been having, you know, I've been it turns out that I do have it so I've been having you know being treated since so from then on I struggled to to lose weight I've always tried to you know to control or to to go back to quote-unquote normal weight I mean I was I was just a kid

like I said nine ten years old and to be honest I I never could. My mom, bless her. Of course, we didn't know better. So we tried all kinds of diets and whatnot. But when I say all, I mean all of them. I remember I tried keto before it was a thing back in the, I guess, late 90s, early 2000s. That's when it was just a medical thing. Exactly. And I was just a kid. And I did like the hardcore one, the ones that, you know,

in those, the first two weeks, you're not allowed to eat anything, just like drink water and like tomatoes or, oh no, like celery or something like that. And like doing that as like a 10, 11 year old was hard, man. So I tried, you know, several things up and down and I, I can never grasp the concept around it, I guess. And it was funny because my dad, he was really into, into fitness and exercise. He was, uh, an avid, um, jogger. And then he would

just walk as you know, he aged, but he also was really into the gym and he could never really got me interested into that not even when i started you know my teens and and all that i i just i wasn't interested i did play uh uh soccer uh all my life but i could get away with being a little bit chubby a little bit overweight overweight. It didn't, you know, it didn't really matter. But, you know, I never could go back to normal or at least regular weight. You can say that. You know, I didn't notice this until I was way older. But I started developing really not so healthy behaviors around

food since really young. Pretty much, you know, just overeating, maybe even binging and then purging and didn't have the best relationship with that. I try to, you know, look for help online. I don't know, I get into those deep parts of the internet in which instead of getting help, you get more and more sucked into the eating disorder culture. And I just felt really, I don't know, lost for many, many years. And now fast forward to 2013, when I moved to the US, I was 22 years old. I moved here, this was the first time that I was living on my own. I know no supervision or nothing from any adult, even though I was 22, so I was technically an adult, but like no supervision from anyone. And I noticed that

it got worse. Before that, I kind of controlled it. I mean, I had episodes, but I was still, you know, somehow going through life in a relatively normal fashion. But over here, it got really, it got worse. I guess the, you know, homesick, excuse me, stress at the time, and all that played a huge role role but I started noticing more and more episodes of of those behaviors right and I tried to again look for help online but I felt even more lost something that I that I think is really important is that um behaviors around food like eating disorders amongst men are not very you know well outspoken I would say so all the reference that I could find was regarding to mostly females which it's fine you know a disease is a disease

regardless but you know with when I i think when when we deal with with things like these that affect also like your mental health and such relatability is something that um it's really important and i couldn't find any any of that so i was i was lost right and even then when you start looking into people with eating disorders you usually see certain archetype of said person right really really thin malnourished and you know all those things and i didn't look like that so i was physically so i was like i don't know, I was just very, very confused. And again, I kept trying to get, you know, my stuff together. But I hit a really bad episode around 2014, which I basically, I had a couple days of binging and purging,

and it got bad enough that I ended up at the hospital for like three days. Luckily or unluckily, unlucky, I don't know. I like the eating disorder portion of it didn't make its way through the doctors. They just treat me for something on my stomach or digestive tract or whatnot. And I got released three days later, but it really, it really put things into perspective for me. So I finally talked to my parents about this. I was like, okay, I'm not good.

So I might need some help. So they flew me back to Mexico for two weeks to go to therapy. That was the first time I went to therapy for anything. But unfortunately, I think that I didn't like click with the therapist that I that I saw over there and I just I after you know one or two sessions I was like nah this is not for me and I just you know spent the rest of my time over there just relaxing and being you know enjoying the company of my parents and all that and I flew back with a little bit of a better mindset. But still, it wasn't the best.

And I kept fighting through it. Then I had another, you know, few more gruesome episodes. Trying things that I saw online that weren't the best. Like, I remember I saw on a Reddit forum saying that, okay, you know, if you really want to, like, tackle this with your mindset, you need to be hardcore on yourself. Like, show yourself some tough love. And they say, when you have those episodes of when you want to eat and binge and all that, try to eat in front of a mirror, naked, and see what you think. Man, that was the worst idea.

It really destroyed me. So, again was i was not in a good place but even then i did not find my my way through to uh fix fix my life and then fast forward to 2017 well actually a couple couple months uh before that i have two younger cousins that I'm really close to. And they were also chubby when growing up, but they did lose weight when they hit their late teens. And they were really into the YouTube fitness and they introduced me to those videos. But like the really early ones like Chris Jones and the Hot Twins and Matt Ogles and all those guys so I started looking at those but just as an entertainment you know just nothing but then browsing through those videos I found a couple channels mainly one of our I guess acquaintance Omar Azov and he has really he has really really good information and also like that

humor that he uses so i really like his videos and i like watched a lot of those it showed me something that it was like okay maybe maybe i can do this but again i saw on those on those videos that i couldn't relate to them because they were talking mostly from skinny guys becoming muscular or big but not the other way around so I was like maybe this is not possible maybe I'm just you know this is what it is even though I like I literally dreamt about being fit being thin having muscles and all those things I dreamt about those things I really like I really wanted to get those but maybe I was like maybe this is not possible, I haven't seen anyone do it do this so maybe it's not possible. And one day again now in 2017

I was just you know doing nothing just browsing YouTube and I found a channel of one guy who was one of your athletes back then, Danny Naively, in which he documented his whole transformation since day one. And that really opened my eyes because I saw him transform before my eyes. And I was, okay, so then this is possible. And one day I just decided to give it a try. just decided to give it a try and and i started reading articles watching videos getting myself pretty much obsessed with with information i read you know books from like like lane norton and i went and binge watched eric helms and team 3dmj videos and and all that and I was like maybe I can do this. So I started lifting and

getting my nutrition and tracking April of 2017. At that time I weighted I think the highest number I saw on the scale was 275 pounds. Bear in mind I'm 5'77". So it's not like, you know, I'm the tallest guy. So 200, almost 300 pounds on me looks really, really different than on a taller guy. But I think I weighed more than that. I think I was on the 290s or something like that. So I started, you know, tracking my progress. And by November, December of that year, yeah, for my birthday, I was down to the 200s already. So I was like, okay, this is possible. And that's when Danny started, I think,

working with you or maybe in 2018. So that's when I heard of Legion. So I went to your site and I saw the articles that you put there. And I read those. And I was like, man, this is so cool. I've never seen someone like the owner, the CEO of a company being so open and, you know, actually hands-on. I didn't see that very often. And you were there putting you know articles and information and then i started reading those and i said okay that that's cool and i at the time i hadn't paid attention to any supplements or whatnot because i had the misconception that those things were you

know just there to either you know take money from me or just you know would make me unhealthy or kidney stones you know all the things that you hear about those things. Which is on the whole is more right than wrong, but yeah, not always the case. Exactly. But I, I started looking to those. I liked all the, the, uh, science-y stuff that you guys use. I'm an engineer. So I like, I like facts. I like information. So I, I, and I, and I think I understand somehow those concepts. So it was so cool to see that.

And then I kept on working, and by, I think, by the beginning of 2018, around February, I had lost almost 80 pounds, really close to the 80 85 pounds 90 pounds and I started noticing a stall on my progress both at the gym like lifting though the weights I was lifting and on the weight loss side of things and I really had on my mind that I really wanted to get down to 170 pounds. So I was 270 to 175 until, you know, 170. So it was maybe the 100 pound mark. That should be cool. A good number, milestone, whatnot.

So I had that on my mind. I think I need a little bit of help from someone else because at the time I already understood nutrition. I think pretty good. I did my own macros calories and I just did and and even though I like because of of how I am and my past with with the with the behaviors around food I I put myself some rules on this process when I started doing it especially to not over obsess on things.

So I said, okay, one of the rules I remember was I won't isolate myself from social gatherings, if any, right? I won't let food or, or, or meat dieting make me avoid certain things, which happened before uh one of the other things i was living with a roommate at the time who was actually trying to do the opposite that i that i was doing he was trying to gain weight well i was trying to lose weight so i was okay maybe once a week we will try to go out and eat and have dinner at a fast food place and i'll make it work and i did that and the other thing was like okay i'll put a cap on how low my calories uh would be so i i said i won't get any lower than 1800 and and i did that and i was able to you know those things, respect my own boundaries, my own rules.

But then that's when the stall happened. And I tried to manipulate on my own some of the variables, but I still was not able to do much. So I found a personal trainer here in the area. Her name is Miranda Cohen. And I reached out to her because I thought it was a good idea because of two things. One, of course, the progress in the gym.

She's very strong. She would post videos and all that. And she looked amazing and really impressive. And she trained hard. She trains hard, really hard. And I like that. And the other thing is, I also have a little bit

of a social anxiety thing going on, and I struggle talking to people, especially talking to the opposite sex. So I said, okay, maybe that could be, I could do two things at once. Since she's a female trainer, I can start working with her on the fitness stuff and also in my social stuff just you know polish some things up and i started working with her since 2018 and having stopped we've been working together for four years now and it basically it

changed everything yes i did most of the work myself with the help of people like you and your products and your knowledge. Also, I read your book, Muscle for Life, as well. While I was doing all my stuff, I was like, oh, this really makes sense. This is what I'm doing. So it really aligns with what I did. And by working with her by the end of that year of 2018, not only I had, you know, reached my goal weight of 270 pounds, but I also looked completely different. I increased my lifts in the gym. I fell in love with the gym. So one thing I like to say is that lifting saved my life, to be honest.

I wasn't enjoying living. I was just surviving surviving just coasting through life pretty much although i i had you know a ton of of uh i would say academic goals or whatnot and i can and i could reach them with relatively ease uh there were other things that i that i wasn't doing that i really want to do or wanted to do but i couldn't because my mindset mostly and then my my weight of course was putting a stop to those things so by conquering that like really sticking to the to to the plan to to the plan, to the routine, to, you know, being in tune with myself, I guess. It changed my life completely. I've done things that I never thought I would have done. Like, I went to the Arnold in 2019, and that's where I met Miles, actually.

He was just walking around the expo with a couple of other guys. I think it was Chris Barricade or someone. And I met Miles actually. He was just walking around the expo with a couple other guys. I think it was Chris Barricade or someone. And I met him. I guess I was looking for a booth for you guys, but I didn't see it. But I recognized because he was wearing the black shirt with the Legion logo. I was like, oh okay, he's a Legion. And I started talking to him. Then I went to a gym later that day and I found one of your athletes there and I spoke with him. And I was like, man, this is so cool. And then I think at the time I was,

I was experimenting with supplements, mainly with protein powder because I have a sensitive stomach. You posted something on Instagram and I asked you like, hey, I've tried the old vegan blend that you guys had. And I was like, I did like it, but I don't know, the texture wasn't very good. But I'm worried because I want to try whey, but lactose doesn't do well with me.

And you said, no, but you can try whey plus, this is good, lactose doesn't do well with me and you said no but you can try weight loss this is good lactose free and and it's okay maybe i'll give it a try and i did it and i liked it a lot no upset stomach great great taste mixed very well with everything so i was like oh man this is good and i said okay maybe maybe i'll keep you know you, using your stuff. And then in, I think it was January of last year, when I reached out to Miles again, and I think also to you, and I actually became an ambassador for you guys since January of last year. And, you know, I love it, man.

I love it. I think technically I'm speaking with my boss right now. No, but no, but really like one of the things that I always say is that the online fitness community helped me a lot. Like I said, it helped me take my life back.

It saved my life. So I've been doing now I've been lifting and doing the fitness thing for five years now almost a little bit over five years and i i know where where i want to be since this community gave me so much i just want to give back in any way i can whatever that is you you know, keeping posting on social media, helping my family, helping friends, or just, you know, being there, right? So that was one of the reasons that I wanted to talk to you. I've also spoken to one of our friends, mutual friends, Jordan Syed as well. He was so kind to have me on his podcast as well last year

that was that was so fun and i just just give back man just like you guys do whatever i can because it's friless priceless what what fitness has has brought to my life you know all the way since just, you know, being able to shop for clothes that I really like, all the way to finding love, actually, was funny because through, you know, being open on social media, I met my, well, now my ex-girlfriend, but I met her through that and we shared a lot because of it. I met her through that and we shared a lot because of it. And like I said, it has brought me so much, man. Not only the health stuff. When I was pre-diabetic, high blood pressure, two times I had to have surgery for kidney stones. I had high uric acid, all those things. None of those things is, you know, I was able to reverse all of those things as healthy as I can. And, you know, it's priceless.

How has your relationship with food changed? I'm curious. I mean, obviously it's changed a lot, but I'm curious as to some of the specifics and just your experience of what food was to you before versus now. Yeah. So I think, to be honest, even though I wasn't formally ever diagnosed or admitted for an eating disorder, I do think i i do have one of course and i say i i see i i speak in present tense because i don't think we can ever get completely cured you're always you know on treatment or recovery quote unquote uh and like i said i i don't think i i will ever be 100 recovered for example if you put in front of me a bucket of fries and a bucket of cucumbers, I'll eat them both.

No problem. But I do know where to stop, for sure. Before that, I did have a concept from all of those things that I tried before. I knew what protein was, what fat was, what carbs was. But, like, I don't know, for some reason, the science or the biology or the chemistry of those things and actually seeing that in a piece of chicken or whatever, I didn't connect them in my head until now, right?

So now that completely changed the game because some people say, well, you can use food as fuel instead of for taste. I don't think so. Because at least in my culture, food is something that is really important. And a lot of things revolve around food. But just understanding what it's made for and what you know does to your body is amazing so but particular examples i do eat everything

that i want yes uh i understand portion control that's that's huge i wouldn't say moderation that much because again like i said if you put in front of me a bag of chips, I will eat them all. No problem. But I also know how I will feel after that physically and how that will affect my workout. And I care more about that more than the immediate reward of having the entire bag of chips, for example. I mean, that sounds like all of us, really. Yeah, exactly. Nobody wants to only eat a few Doritos.

Everybody wants to eat the whole bag. Exactly. But no, I mean, I haven't had an episode of binging and purging and or purging since, I don't know, four years now. So that's something that I think it's, you know, under control for sure. I was, I won't say scared, but worried because of how I would handle certain things, you know, certain life events that happen. For example, in 2019, my father passed away.

So I was worried that how would that affect me, right? Because, you know, when life gets hard, sometimes we fall back into old habits that maybe are not the healthiest ones. But no, I was actually able to use fitness as a way of coping with that, right? As an aid to keep me moving and keep my mind occupied. And again, I was very lucky to have the support from my coaches, from Miranda, and, you know, to keep going, keep pushing. And remembering that, you know, one of the things my dad always wanted

was for me to lose weight. And it was such a great thing that he was able to see me still when I, you know, I've already accomplished that goal. So I just, you know, feel the fire to keep going, right? Same now when my relationship ended as well, right? I'm still working through it.

It just ended a couple months ago, but I haven't, you know, stopped working out. I haven't, you know, gave up on all those habits that I've built throughout these five years. And I think that's the key of why this time I'm able to, I was able to stick with it because the foundation is really solid. And by focusing on that, like, because one thing I recently, you know, reflect upon was that, like, you know, reflect upon was that, like, you know, we always chase that, you know,

those immediate results, right? Of course, seeing the scale go down if you're trying to lose weight, you know, that's a great feeling, right? Seeing, you know, lifting more weights, hitting PRs, all that thing is so much fun but at one point the progress will slow down right it's part of of what it is you're preaching to the choir there if i put five pounds on a big lift in six to eight months of training i'm actually happy like that's a good day i'm when i like, wow, I'm squatting five more pounds than six months ago, eight months ago. And I'm doing it while keeping my body composition where I like it to be. And, you know, not just getting fat in the process, which makes

you stronger. But I also like to just keep a certain type of look and aesthetic, I guess. And it, and it also funny enough, it, it kind of ties into my work a little bit too, because I don't have the body to ever be super strong. So it's like, I'm going to impress anybody because I can maybe work my way up to a four or five squat. That's like, yeah, whatever, dude, good for you, dude. You know? And so I can't even go, I can't even go in that. That's like, yeah, whatever, dude. Good for you, dude. You know? And so I can't even go in that direction.

Be like, well, if I put on 20 to 30 pounds, you know, I'll be fluffy as they say, but I'll be really strong. No, not really. So I'm like, whatever. I'll just keep a certain kind of look and be kind of strong-ish for my body weight. Yeah, exactly.

I mean, that's similar to what happens with me like for example i i usually hover around 180 185 pounds that's where my body likes to to be either on the way down or on the way up when i was losing weight breaking that 185 pound mark was hard and when i was trying to gain weight also gaining you know going beyond that it was hard for me i needed to really pound in the food to to get you know to break that point so i usually stay there but i notice even if i get a little bit heavier like like for example like how i am right now a tiny bit heavier uh i sometimes i feel strong on a few lifts but like your leverage changes right so sometimes for example if i'm a bit heavier my deadlift stalls stalls it's weird

i don't know why like maybe i cannot reach all the way down for the bar i don't know but but bench goes up right but so you know it's it's like a give and take like you said but you know you just need to work with what you have and and like focus on on the journey that's what i think that's that's what i what i like i mean like people like you have been lifting for i don't know 10 15 whatever i don't know 20 years now for me yeah 20 years that you know you've been doing that for so long because you like it because you you like the process of course the prs and and the muscles and all that that's almost like like side effects right like it happens just because it happens but having that foundation of

of good habits i think that's that's the key and that's what i've been discovering for these past five years or so. I mean, it's hard to think of another activity that you could invest that time into that would affect your life in as many positive ways, I think. I mean, maybe you could think of a couple of things that are up there. They're maybe in the same tier, but I would argue that fitness, and it doesn't have to be weightlifting per se, but training some sort of fitness. And of course, I advocate heavily for strength training,

but fitness is probably at the top of my list, at least in terms of the return on investment, right? For every unit of time that we invest in that. And yes, you can get to a point of diminishing returns. If you're training three hours a day, you're certainly not getting three times the benefits of one hour a day. But most of us, and I'm sure most people listening are not training three hours a day. We're all in there an hour or so per workout, and we're doing three to five workouts per week. And maybe we have some activity outside of the strength training as well. And that's something I've just, I wouldn't even say reminder, just kept top of mind as I've gotten older and have kids and businesses. And there are more things that I could allow to pull away from fitness. pull away from fitness. And so I've been conscious about keeping that in because everything else, as you've said, in so many ways, everything else is just better when you have that habit in place. Yeah, of course. And everything else that follows, right? Like myself, that I struggle

with self-confidence, right? For example, for so many years, I didn't feel comfortable wearing a tank top, right? So by working with my coaches, with me feeling more confident in the gym and all that, I was able to do so. And at the time I was training and at this old school, like rustic gym, full of like bodybuilders, like those big guys and i was like man you know those guys are huge and this is just me with you know fluffy arms with man boobs and all that how

but you know all those little things you know uh i don't know i remember when i was training on my own i used to go to this you know this gym that i i would drive maybe 15 minutes away from it was 15 minutes away from my house just so i can find anyone i would go late at night just so i could be you know there'd be less people and all that and one day one guy that i would always see there he was he was a really big guy jack with tattoos all over he he fist bumped me and he was like yeah you're doing a good job man i see you here every single day working working your butt off and i was like man this feels so cool it feels so cool so from even though i i moved uh houses i sometimes i go to

that gym from time to time you have to you know remember because you know on that gym that's where i lost almost 100 pounds so it's like, it brings me like memories and all that and seeing people there. And I don't know, I get, especially when I see like overweight people, you know, lifting weights, I really get excited because it's like, I was, at one point I was walking those shoes, right?

So it feels really cool to see more and more people lifting. And I think, you you know getting healthier and i think a lot of that it's it's because of you guys people like you like eric like omar like like my coaches miranda like like you guys put the work like on the on the reality of what it is to adopt this lifestyle and not only the good things but also the not so good things like progress telling and you know all that fitness is it's just priceless what is what has brought to my life it like i said always i've said this a couple times fitness or lifting saved my life hey there if you are hearing this, you are still listening, which is awesome. Thank you. And if you are enjoying this podcast, or if you just like my

podcast in general, and you are getting at least something out of it, would you mind sharing it with a friend or a loved one or a not so one even, who might want to learn something new, word of mouth helps really bigly in growing the show. So if you think of someone who might like this episode or another one, please do tell them about it. You mentioned earlier that, so you were plateaued and then you started working with Miranda, I believe you said her name was. I'm curious, what changed to get the needle moving again? I think most people listening probably know, okay, mechanically, obviously, if you're not losing any more weight or any more fat,

there is a problem with energy intake. Of course, we understand that, but I'm curious specifically, what did you work out and what changes did you make to break i think you you said you were around 200 pounds at that time yeah so it was funny because at the time when i was working with her she was only doing uh personal training like no nutrition advice like no nutrition coaching uh because at the time um she works she has another partner lucas as well they both of them they they are the company at the time lucas was working getting his his nutrition um certification

going so they were not doing that but just by by working with them and having someone else to be accountable for my own nutrition because i was doing my nutrition on my own right but i was sending sending them screenshots of my logs on my fitness pal right just by doing that and by changing the way i worked out you know i guess i downloaded a bunch of of the workouts over there i was doing like six days a week push pull legs and i did a upper lower and all that uh but just the way they structure the workouts that i love how they structure the workouts prioritizing strength uh that's something that i really like like like you always preach you know prioritize your compound lifts and then do do the isolation stuff but still push yourself yeah one of the reasons for that is i and most people find that

more fun and that counts for a lot when you're having fun uh in the gym versus just pushing yourself every day to do workouts you don't really like and getting strong is fun doing doing a bunch of high rep sets of isolation exercises and everything hurts and burns it's not very fun you can do some of it but if that's all you're doing i mean i wouldn't enjoy that very much yeah yeah exactly and just just by doing that sometimes i think you just need that kind of like change i i guess or like like i was saying having that um that accountability especially for nutrition is you know i i already knew what i was doing but just having someone else uh just look or watch what i was doing like made me more conscious and maybe corrected some of the mistakes that i was doing

and then eventually you know they started offering nutrition coaching uh so i was like okay maybe you know i'll i'll have hand them the you know the steering wheel for my nutrition and it's you know one less stress the stressor for me i know what i need to do i i know what what needs to happen i were to adjust but if someone else handles that for me that's that's even better. And just doing that. And I think also one huge thing that I'm grateful for the coaches is the change in mindset on myself. Because, you know, besides pushing me inside the gym, I push myself mentally outside the gym. Try to be more confident. Try to talk more at work. Be more assertive.

And that, I i think translates to whatever you're doing and that case was lifting more weights because for example i i stuck i have wonky shoulders so i've always you know would take the 15 pound dumbbells to do my shoulder movements like presses and all that and i stayed there since i started lifting until i met them like almost for a year and i said no you can do more and okay maybe and and yeah you know i i started working my way up and not only on weight but also on confidence and mindset knowing that you know i i can do more and even till this day i really struggle with gauging my my working weight on sets sometimes tend to undershoot.

For example, I don't know, you're doing a lat pulldown and it says reps 10 to 12. I know I could do maybe probably the 140, for example. But sometimes I tend to go, oh, maybe not. Maybe I'll do just the 100. No, like trust yourself. Those things, those little things, I think they've made a big difference on me

and started moving, like you said, moving the needle, everything, you know, the weight just, you know, went down, I guess. And then I started working my way up again, like, re-comping. And I stopped dieting in 2000, I think around 2000, around the end of 2018. That's when I stopped being in a deficit.

And I've been in maintenance pretty much since until now. And I'm starting my first fat loss phase in like three years just to brush off my dieting skills. So we'll see how that goes and what's your goal with that what do you what if you could have it your way what do you what's the result i i would like to go to go down to like 177 180 but much more different i would say than before like more muscular more defined but besides aesthetics i i really want to to increase my lifts i my all-time pr in deadlifts is 425 pounds like no 420 but then i got covid last year and i haven't been able to go beyond four plates in a while as a consequence of covid i don't know. So I had COVID and I lost a ton of weight. Like in those two weeks that I

was quarantined, I think I lost like 20, 25 pounds or something, even though I was, I kept eating, even though I had no taste or smell, I kept eating, but I lost a ton of weight. Were you mostly just like lying around? Were you very inactive? uh just like lying around were you very inactive well i at the time i had just uh bought a puppy but i right away you know got sick so i was just spending time with her on my backyard so you were out moving around yeah but for some reason i lost a ton of weight because um the reason i asked that is i i i can i actually was just writing about this other day. I can recall some research on people who are bedridden. And there's where you see like, you know, the general rule of thumb is you can stop working out for up to probably three weeks without losing any actual lean muscle tissue.

Your muscles are going to shrink some because intramuscular water and glycogen is going to decline. But you're not learning. You're not losing actual contractile tissue until probably about three weeks. If you just engage in kind of day-to-day activity, then that holds true. But if you were to just lie in bed all day, every day, then you can start losing muscle within probably a week or so. So it's just interesting that you were still moving around and doing things, but you lost a lot of weight very quickly. And assuming that you weren't heavily restricting

calories or protein? No, no, nothing. It was just very strange. But yeah, I haven't been able to go back to that strength again. I do feel, for example, my endurance has, you know i i'm not at the same level i was prior to covet but i don't know if that has something to do with it or not it's a strange virus it's just so strange that how it affects people in in many different ways i mean there are obviously statistical trends and people like us who exercise and stay healthy generally are not greatly affected by it. But it's just interesting, even among different cohorts, how individual the response is. Because, you know, I had it at least once. I think I recently got it again.

I think it just went around my little community again because I was mildly congested for a few days. And that's what it was the first time. I really only noticed it at night. And it was just like a lot of congestion. It was so annoying. I'd have to sit and spit out mucus for like an hour just to get it out of my throat enough to fall asleep. Right. And so I just, I just went through it again and I felt kind of sick like one day and then I was just basically better and that's the end of it. And, um, yeah, it's just interesting. Yeah, sure. No, I, I, I had it that time in April of last year and I had it, you know, I had all the symptoms. I, you know, it wasn't bad. I was still, you know, a functional human

being, but of course I, well, I had like two or three days in which I, you know, I had bad headaches and all that. But besides that, I was fine. Then in December of last year, I think I got it. It was my mom was visiting one of my cousins and both of them started feeling sick. And both of them tested positive and I tested negative. But I had one day in which I had really bad symptoms like a fever and all that. And then I was okay. But yeah, it's strange, like you said. But, yeah, I mean, I have a ton of gym goals,

like go back to the mid-400s and deadlifts. Bench two plates as well. It's one goal that I have in mind. Hopefully by the end of this year that happens. And go back and squat three plates. So we'll see. See, that's's where like my my mind is set not all not not not that much on how i look the two three four uh you know two plates on the bench three on the squat four on the deadlift that's a that's a fun milestone to work toward yeah exactly you know and i know it's gonna take time of course but like for so many years so

i can i cannot barbell squat back back squat uh because i you know my shoulder mobility is very bad and i have a hunchback i'm working you know to correct that but still i i'm not able to reach all the way back so i use a safety bar squat uh but i i love it man i yeah safety bar squat is great i i rec i've recommended it many times it's uh feels probably more like a front squat at least to me uh than a back squat yeah yeah for sure have you front squatted yes yes i i have but i don't know it also felt weird i mean i i cannot do it with the front rack position because, again, of my mobility. So I did it with the thing over here like this and the clavicles. It felt strange.

So when I squat, I either goblet squat or I do the safety bar squat. But I do want to at least maybe one day do a barbell back squat. I do want to at least maybe one day do a barbell back squat. I hope one day I'll be able to get my mobility, you know, ready to hold the bar on my back and try to do that. Also, my body doesn't really want to squat that much. Because of playing soccer, I'm being overweight while playing soccer. My ankles and my knees are not the you know the healthiest so i really need to work on you know on my ankle and stability and mobility to be just prepared to

do a leg workout right so i know there's a long way but that's a you know a goal that i have on my horizon to at least one day barbell back squat and And if you haven't come across Ben Patrick, he has a lot of people who swear by his protocol for improving knee function and health and reducing pain. I'd recommend checking that out. I think he produces some content on other stuff related to like body composition and training in general. And I haven't looked at it recently. Um, uh, generally though, I mean, I know him personally,

he's a great guy and, but what I know for a fact is, I mean, he's helped tens of thousands of people at this point, uh, overcome all kinds of knee issues. And so that, that might be, that might be helpful. And the protocol is actually very simple. So worth checking out. Cool. Yeah, no, for sure. Because when I was like 17 or so, I had a really bad injury while playing soccer and I didn't listen to the doctor. So I didn't, first of all, I didn't want to get surgery. So I just did the PT route. But even then, I didn't go to all the sessions. And I kept playing, and that wasn't the best choice. It sounds like one of the guys who works with me did basically the same thing.

He messed his knee up playing football, didn't want to get surgery, didn't really want to do PT, kept playing football, then playing soccer, then, then, then, and he's re-injured it a number of times yeah no exactly because I had that weird uh that uh you know big dream of still being able to play pro soccer uh but so I was like no because if I could surgery I will miss this tryouts and all that never happened but I didn't even go to the tryouts nothing happened on that end I'm now I'm left with a funky knee and right ankle. But also one of the things that I found through you guys is that you can work your way around some of your injuries, right?

You don't need to stop lifting. You can just work around. And we all, unless we're like 20 years old, we all have something. Like my right shoulder has just always been, you know, I've aggravated it weightlifting a few times. And so like, for example, something I won't do is heavy overhead dumbbell pressing just because this shoulder doesn't like it.

Like I've pissed it off a number of times and it's just not worth it to me. But barbell pressing, no problem. Different type of machine or plate loaded like my gym has a Viking press is what it's called. And Viking press. Great. And all right, fine. I'll do Arnold presses with dumbbells because it's less weight. But I have no desire to try to overhead press.

You know, I maybe got up to 95 or 100 pounds in the past. And I hurt my shoulder a couple times that way. And so that's just something similar to what you were saying with the barbell back squat. For me, I don't see a scenario where I'm ever going to try to overhead press, dumbbell press large amounts of weight. It's just not worth it. I'll do other things. Yeah, for example, I have a really hard time

connected with my biceps in any bicep movement. I always get a huge forearm pump, but nothing on my biceps. So I think it has to do with my shoulder stuff, because I feel a lot of stress, especially on my left shoulder. But I don't know. But I noticed that certain machines, especially cables, do work. Side raises, too. That's another tip for you and people listening.

If dumbbell side raises, if you just also don't really feel that mind-muscle connection, you don't feel the side lats working working you don't really notice much of a pump go try it on a on a cable uh setup for example right the leaning one right yeah yeah you can you can do it that way or uh try what's the machine called it might just be called like a side raise machine but there's also at least in my gym there's a machine option too where you're holding handles that are that are kind of right here out in front of you and you're just i did it today and you're side raising so i i do like the dumbbell side raise but i like to alternate i'll do that for a couple of months and then i'll go do some cable side raises for a couple of months then i'll go do some machine side raises exactly you know and again that again, that's like the thing that I come back to,

like that information that you guys put out there because a bunch of people think, okay, if you want to get big legs, you need to back squat. Yeah, and if you can't do that, just give up. Exactly. And having the information from you, from working with a coach,

I think that's also really, really important important either online or in person or whatever but someone that you know that align with you know your values and and you know you you have trust in them that that's huge and having all those options again man like i cannot thank you guys enough for all the information that you guys put out there all those articles that you i don't know if you guys enough for all the information that you guys put out there. All those articles that you, I don't know if you still put them on the website. Yeah, yeah. I still have a presence there. I mean, there was a time when I personally was writing probably two or three long-form articles per week. And now, actually, I still spend a lot of time producing content.

It's just that time is now divvied up between the next book. I'm always working on the next book and then, and then there's the podcast and then, but I still do have a presence on the blog. And now I have a couple of other people who also, they, they don't write, you know, under their own names, but they together, you know, we're, we're a little content creation team. And so, um, you know, there are several, several articles that go up on the blog every week. I was telling Damien, like, I've never met, you know, someone that represents a company that starts with a message saying that, hey, by the way, the things that I sell, they're not needed. And I was like, man, you always start your podcast with like that. And I was like, man, that's so, it so that's so fun but funny but also like very honest like and that's i don't know that's why i i said one of the many reasons i

decided to to contact you guys contact miles and see if i could you know work with you on that end because i don't know i think especially in the on the weight loss community from the fitness world, I guess. I don't know. It's really easy to fall into several scams and traps and all that. So if you know someone that, you know, does the right thing, you know, why not try to, you know, align with them and, you know, represent, represent what you also stand for. So that's great, man. Yeah, I know know i really appreciate the support i'm flattered lots more good stuff to come more books more articles more podcasts and now i have my my family back in mexico like international shipping

legion stuff from from amazon or from whatever so yeah yeah And that's something also, uh, we'll, we'll be working on, we'll be working on getting international distribution, um, set up officially properly. It's kind of just a one thing at a time. Um, there's certainly an opportunity there. It's just something that you have to make sure you do right. And it requires a fair amount of resources to do right. So, but it will happen. And we're starting with, um, we're starting with UK and with Europe just because there's the most demand in those areas, but, you know, and it's, it's, it's fairly easy to set up because Amazon has a presence really. So like getting set up on Amazon UK allows us to then fulfill orders into Europe a lot more cost-effectively than currently.

But there's Mexico, there's Canada, there are many others, Australia, there are many other places, even individual countries in Europe, that it would probably make sense to serve more directly. And we'll get there. In the meantime, I'm doing the middleman work. Every time we go over there for Christmas or something. I'll always carry my tub of recharge and one tub of or Ziploc bags of whey. But sometimes, especially if I do like the vanilla one or the birthday cake ones, it is white and it's in a Ziploc bag.

Sometimes you get funky looks. I mean, they'd have to think, though. There's no way this dude, he's making it this easy. This can't be what you might think it is. Like, at this point, they have to assume, like, it's protein powder, guaranteed. Yeah, exactly. So it was so fun.

Again, just trying to give back to whomever listens. I remember I also was telling Damien, I listened to the podcast the other day. I can remember the name of the kid who spoke about his anorexia journey. Yeah. Jake. Jake. Jake. Yeah. that kind of information out there is huge because I, I don't know, like it would have made my,

uh, my process much more easier if I could find another guy speaking, you know, out loud, um, you know, dealing with this kind of stuff. So I know that the more we speak about the better,

because that would mean that less people will suffer in silence i mean it's like you said right i mean just see if all it takes is that that moment where that person they see themselves in somebody else and then they think well if if jose did it maybe i can do it too exactly that's all it all it takes. That's, that's the beginning. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And the more information we can, we can put more stories like these,

all the stuff that you guys do, the Q and A's, the, when you have people over all those things, it's just, you know, priceless and, and free information for everyone.

So, yeah. Well, Hey, this was a great interview, Jose. Thank you again for taking the time for people who want to check you out, you mentioned that you're on social media. Where can they find you? find me there. Jose.Gomez.13, the number one, three, that's where you can find me. But, you know,

otherwise, I'll refer them to you, Muscle for Life. Thanks again. Thanks again for doing this. I love the story. Keep up the good work. Thank you for the support. And I look forward to hearing an update from you. If you want to email me at any time, of course, reach out and let me know how this next cut goes. Sure. Of course, Magno. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. And just, you know, keep doing what you're doing because it's amazing.

It's priceless. Thank you. Thank you. Well, I hope you liked this episode. I hope you found it helpful. And if you did, subscribe to the show because it makes sure that you don't miss new episodes. And it also helps me because it increases the rankings of the show a little bit, which of course then makes it a little bit more easily found by other people who may like it just as much as you. And if you didn't like something

about this episode or about the show in general, or if you have ideas or suggestions or just feedback to share, shoot me an email, mike at muscleforlife.com, muscleforlife.com, and let me know what I could do better or just what your thoughts are about maybe what you'd like to see me do in the future. I read everything myself. I'm always looking for new ideas and constructive feedback. So thanks again for listening to this episode, and I hope to hear from you soon.