The Rich Roll Podcast - Jonathan Schwartz: From A-List Manager To Healthy Heart Athlete & Advocate

Episode Date: April 11, 2013

Today on the show, my friend — & brother in arms when it comes to swim / bike / run — Jonathan Schwartz. In certain respects Jonathan is an “everyman athlete”, but he is far from ordinary. Early morning it's up to train. By day he's a business manager to A-list Hollywood clientele & professional athletes — NBA players and major rock stars like Alanis Morissette & Linkin Park — as well as a dedicated father and husband. But his passion his health. Particularly heart health. I'll let him tell the story, but in a nutshell a health scare led him to a plant-based diet, and he's never looked back; sound familiar? Jonathan took his passion for addressing our nation's heart disease crisis to the next level when he founded HeartView Global, a foundation devoted to two primary goals: * To identify heart disease in its latent “clinically silent” phase, thereby allowing asymptomatic but vulnerable individuals to undertake the necessary prophylactic lifestyle modifications and medications to arrest atherosclerosis – and for clinically unrecognized high risk individuals to undergo the necessary coronary interventions that will help prevent the development of heart attacks, stroke, or premature sudden cardiac death; and * To encourage a plant-based nutrition diet founded in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, along with some nuts and seeds. Jonathan is a great guy. His message is powerful. Tune in. And thank me later. Thanks for listening! Rich

Welcome to the Rich Roll Podcast, episode 25, with Jonathan Schwartz. The Rich Roll Podcast. Hey everybody, welcome back to the show. Oh my goodness, what a 24 hours it's been for this program. We uploaded the episode with Macca, Chris McCormick, the other day, and the downloads were gangbusters today. Pretty incredible to see people responding to that show. Macca was a great guest. If you haven't checked it out yet, it's a completely epic interview. Macca uncensored, but deep too, man. We dove deep. We spent about an hour and 15 minutes chatting and we covered all sorts of stuff. It was great. And the audience has responded. We absolutely decimated our previous best one-day download record, almost like a third more downloads than we'd ever had before in one day, which is a testament to this athlete's global popularity.

It was crazy. And I just checked iTunes a couple hours ago, It was crazy. And I just checked iTunes a couple hours ago and we topped out at number two for all fitness and nutrition podcasts on all of iTunes. At the top of the heap is Jillian Michaels, who basically sits up there undefeated, I suppose. It helps to be on primetime television on a hit show. That's clear. But anyway, I was just thrilled that everybody seemed to enjoy it so much. My Twitter was blowing up today and my Facebook and lots of great comments, lots of support. And I appreciate that, man. So if you've been enjoying the show, hey man, just tell a friend. That's all. If you want to do something more, we'll get into that in a minute. But if all you did was just say, hey, this is a cool podcast, check it out, then I am a happy camper.

But maybe you are brand new. Maybe this is the first episode of this podcast you've ever heard. Maybe you just saw it on iTunes and you have no idea who I am. Well, I am an ultra endurance triathlete. That means I like to do really long races on my bike and running and swimming. I am a plant-based nutrition advocate, which means I like to talk a lot about vegan stuff, vegan eating, how plant-based nutrition revolutionized my health and in my humble opinion is attributable for everything that I've achieved as an athlete in middle age. I'm a public speaker, motivational speaker. In fact, I'm getting ready to go out on the road

again. I'm going to be in Worcester, Mass. this Sunday, April 14th at the Worcester VegFest. If you want to find out more, go to worcestervegfest.com. I'm speaking at 3.15 that afternoon. I'm going to speak for about an hour, do some Q&A, and sign some books. So if you're in the hood, if you're in the Boston area,

it would be great if you could stop by and say hello. Then I'm going to go to New York City for a couple days. I've got a whole bunch of great podcast interviews set up. I don't want to jinx it, so I'll tell you more later, but I'm pretty excited about that. And then I'm going to be going to Ottawa, Canada for Plant Powered Ottawa. I believe it's sold out, but if you want to find out more information about that, go to plantpoweredottawa.com. What else?

I'm also the best-selling author of a book called Finding Ultra. It is my memoir. It came out last May. And hey, man, it's still going strong. And you know why? It's because of you guys. And I really believe that it is this podcast that is reaching additional people who are just now discovering the book, reading it. I'm getting crazy emails from people, crazy awesome emails from people who seem to have really enjoyed the read and been inspired and are making changes

in their respective lives with their nutrition program and with their fitness. And nothing makes me feel better than to get those emails. So keep them coming. I'm getting quite a few these days. So if I don't get back to you, please don't take it personally. It's just I tried to get back to every one of them, but it became too overwhelming. But know that it means everything to me when you guys reach out. So even if you don't hear back from me, I do read every single one of them. And it's what keeps me going. It keeps me motivated to continue doing this podcast and to continue trying to spread a message of health and wellness to all you guys. If you have not read my book, well, shame on you. It is coming out on paperback May 21st. It's available for pre-order on Amazon already. So if you haven't picked it up,

now's your chance to get the cheap version. Be the first to get it for the bookstores. Just go to amazon.com. You'll see up there there's a kindle version hardcover audiobook all that kind of stuff and if you like audiobooks i did the narration which was really fun uh what else can i tell you oh if you are going to buy something on amazon like my book or you know hey you don't have to if you're going to buy something on amazon anyway something else it would be huge so It would be a huge support to the show if you clicked on the Amazon banner on richroll.com on the blog page or the podcast page. That way you will go to Amazon and you're going to do what you're going to do, buy what you're

going to buy. And it won't cost you anything extra, but Amazon will kick some loose change over our way. And it helps keep this show going. We also put up a donate page or a donate button on the website. So you can check that out as well. And if you're just feeling generous or charitable, you can throw a few bucks our way. And we've been getting a lot of great donations. So I really appreciate all you guys out there who are of your own volition supporting the show, a show that will always be free. So don't feel obligated to do anything.

Only if you have the spirit moving inside of you, I guess. What else can I tell you about me? Well, I'm a recovering attorney. I'm a family guy, a father of four. I've been married 10 years, and I launched this show back in December with a simple goal. My goal was to bring you some of the brightest and most vital people and personalities in health, wellness, and fitness. Many of the people that I've had the good fortune of coming across through my travels these last couple of years, kind of blazing this little path that I'm on. I met a lot of amazing people, a lot of people that have inspired me, that have kept me accountable and on track, that have educated me and, inspiration that you need to unlock the best, most authentic version of yourself, because we need more of that in the world. And today's guest

is no exception. A little while ago, I shared that I was interested in kind of bringing some average Joe type guys to the program and hearing kind of an everyman perspective on being a kind of middle-aged athlete and struggles with fitness, struggles with diet, etc. And I suppose in a certain respect, today's guest fits the bill. Jonathan Schwartz is a really interesting cat. I wouldn't call him an everyman and I would not call him average by any stretch of the imagination, but he's an amateur multi-sport athlete in his mid-40s who has only in recent years kind of gotten into marathon running and he's preparing for his first Ironman this year. And I met him because we're coached by the same coach, Chris Health, and we have some mutual friends. And I was lucky enough to spend a little time with him, get to know him a little bit. And he's a guy that you want in your corner and you want in your life.

And I won't spoil it, but I think you'll feel the same after you hear what he has to say. His journey is very interesting. It has some high highs and some low lows. He's kind of blazed a very interesting path in discovering plant-based nutrition. kind of blazed a very interesting path in discovering plant-based nutrition. And he's a huge advocate of this way of eating. And he'll explain to you how he does it, why he does it, how he feels training for his first Ironman on a 100% whole food plant-based diet, and why he made the decision to switch. He also has a really interesting career. He's a business manager in Hollywood. And what that means is essentially he's a CPA who manages

the money and the kind of financial portfolio of some pretty interesting high profile people, lots of rock stars, lots of professional athletes. And so in the course of his day, he gets to interact with and kind of be in the universe of some of Hollywood's best and brightest. So he's going to tell us a little bit about that as well and give us a peek into his world. But his story is quite fascinating. And as much as I wanna sort of tip my hand and tell you about it, I think I'm just gonna let him tell you how he got there. We're brought to you today by recovery.com.

I've been in recovery for a long time. It's not hyperbolic to say that I owe everything good in my life to sobriety. And it all began with treatment and experience that I had that quite literally saved my life. And in the many years since, I've in turn helped many suffering addicts and their loved ones find treatment. many suffering addicts and their loved ones find treatment. And with that, I know all too well just how confusing and how overwhelming and how challenging it can be to find the right place and the right level of care, especially because, unfortunately, not all treatment resources adhere to ethical practices. It's a real problem, a problem I'm now happy and proud to share

has been solved by the people at recovery.com, who created an online support portal designed to guide, support and empower you to find the ideal level of behavioral health disorders, including substance use disorders, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, gambling addictions, and more. Navigating their site is simple. Search by insurance coverage, location, treatment type, you name it. Plus, you can read reviews from former patients to help you decide. Whether you're a busy exec, a parent of a struggling teen, or battling addiction yourself, I feel you. I empathize with you. I really do. And they have treatment options for you.

Life in recovery is wonderful, and recovery.com is your partner in starting that journey. When you or a loved one need help, go to recovery.com and take the first step towards recovery. To find the best treatment option for you or a loved one, again, go to recovery.com. Ladies and gentlemen, Jonathan Schwartz. Schwartz. Thank you for having me. Yeah, thanks for coming down to the garage studio. Definitely a unique studio. It's a little makeshift right now.

Love it. I was thinking of, I'm trying to find like a studio space or some other garage that I could rent and just turn it into a man cave podcasting studio with all my bike stuff and audio equipment. With the kids here, they come in

and out. There's just too much craziness to do it at home. I love it, but it would be good to have a dedicated space where people could come in and I could hire a couple of people that do the post-production because it takes a long time. Although to give up the scenery and the aesthetic beauty of the mountains and the greenery is, I don't know. Yeah, you're right about that. You know, I keep, people keep suggesting podcast guests,

but they're all people that don't live here. And I'm not averse to doing Skype interviews. I've done a bunch of them, but it's different. It's not the same energy when you're sitting across from somebody and we've got the view and you're in my house. I can lull you into a sense of security and get you to divulge your deep, dark secrets. Unless my wife hears it.

No, nobody listens, man. Oh, come on. It's just me, you know. But yeah, man, I appreciate you taking the time. You know, I put it out on the internet not too long ago that, you know, I've had all these experts in health and wellness and doctors and nutritionists. I, Juliana Hever, who I know, you know, on the show. Yeah, she's great. Right. And, uh, and I've had, you know, world-class athletes and, you know, people that are kind of the top of their field in

health and wellness, um, and athletes. But I said, you know, I want to get just some, uh, you know, like normal dude athletes who have made the kind of switch to this way of eating and kind of gauge their reaction and hear a little bit about their journey. Not that you're normal or typical in any respects because you're actually a really extraordinary guy. Oh, thanks. But just being kind of, you know, an amateur athlete, you know, a dad, you know, husband, somebody who's got a very, very busy schedule and kind of an amateur athlete, a dad, husband,

somebody who's got a very, very busy schedule and kind of how you make it work. Yeah. Well, that's a challenging balance, right? How do you balance family, work, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, training, to accomplish all the things that you've accomplished and more in sort of the Ironman world. It intrigues me. I love it. I love the camaraderie of the people who are involved in the sport.

I love the discipline that's required. There's a great unique structure that you have to follow, even as an amateur. And I'm intrigued by it all. And quite frankly, I've loved the journey thus far despite some of the injuries and the complaining that i do yeah i'm very much looking forward to my first iron man yeah it's going to be great so what what is what's the first one that you're signed up for august 25th in whistler canada oh the canada yeah that's going to be amazing it's so exciting so

just to kind of lay the foundation uh i met jonathan because we have the same same coach chris howth and uh coach chris coach coach chris and uh last time i saw you was when we were doing lactate testing in in this hotel room in santa monica and i'd finished my lactate test and i was interviewing chris like we were sitting on the bed in the hotel room and you came in and waited patiently to do your lactate test while we finished the interview oh that was fun it was it was awesome to listen to you two talk it was great yeah that was a good episode there was a i got a lot of great feedback on that one so they're all good man yours is going to break podcast download records there you go feel it already i could i could just feel all the energy right but you're you're kind

of i mean you've been an athlete and you've run marathons uh and you're a fit guy but the ironman world is a new kind of world for you it's such a new challenge and unique challenge what happened was um i was scheduled to do new york i flew to new york because uh our lovely mayor bloomberg was very indecisive surrounding Superstorm Sandy. Yeah. And earlier in the week said the marathon must go on despite, you know, the political incorrectness of it. So I flew from Los Angeles to New York. I went to the lovely convention center, picked up my great number, and was prepared to run, although, you know, it was probably not the right thing to do.

And thankfully, Mayor Bloomberg made the right decision and canceled the marathon. So upon returning back to Los Angeles, a mutual friend of ours, Darren, called me and said he's sorry. He knows I trained hard, and he's going to issue me a new challenge. I said, what would you like me to do? He said, well, my new challenge to you is to train with me for the Ironman. I'm like, the Ironman? That wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I said, let's do it. I mean, I'm on this healthy lifestyle, vegan journey,

plant-based nutrition, which has been the best decision of my life. And now let's go on some more journeys together along that healthy lifestyle. And that's what I think the Ironman is going to bring me, just more health and wellness. Right. There's no question about it. So let's get into that story, your journey to plant-based eating, because it's a really fascinating story and it's taken you in a couple of different interesting directions. Yeah. So in 2010, in September, I grew up in upstate New York, the Catskill Mountains,

the Borscht Belt for many. And my dear friend, age 42 years old, passed away from a sudden heart attack. He was asymptomatic. I returned from New York, his funeral, and immediately saw my doctor. Well, let's hold on. Let's get into that a little bit more. I mean, his funeral, and immediately saw my doctor. Well, let's hold on. Let's get into that a little bit more. I mean, so was he overweight? And when you say asymptomatic, like what exactly does that mean? He had no symptoms of coronary disease. He was living a lifestyle where he would work hard and he would work out, lift weights, not so much cardio-driven, but for all intents and purposes,

he and his family felt he was living a healthy lifestyle. Then all of a sudden he was watching his parents home when they were away on vacation, and they returned home and found their 42-year-old son passed away on their couch. So very sad, needless to say. And, um, that's what I mean by asymptomatic. He was not diagnosed with any, you know, coronary disease or history. Right. He wasn't on statins or wasn't battling, you know, cholesterol issues to his knowledge or anything. That's correct. That's correct. Right. his knowledge or anything.

That's correct. That's correct. Right. So, you know, it's immediately, you know, me being a very hypochondriac Jew,

I went to Dr. Saram Kausa, who I credit along with many other physicians here locally and saving my life. He's an amazing guy. Amazing, amazing guy. He, if you don't follow him on Twitter to all of your fans out there,

I encourage you to follow him on Twitter. He's an amazing person. I'll put a link in the show notes up to his Twitter account and to his website. And he's definitely on my A-list of people I want to get on the podcast. Yeah, he's super awesome. So the story is I've been seeing him for probably a decade. As you know, he's an alternative physician who practices both western and eastern medicine and um i saw him upon my return from my friend's funeral and i said to him dr kawso you know a

friend of mine just passed away is there anything you can do to give me peace of mind that i'm heart healthy i have a wife and three beautiful boys and you'm 42. At the time I was 42 and I want to live a healthy lifestyle. So he said, to quote him, he said, Schmuck, you're fine. You're healthy. And I said, no, you don't understand. My friend was healthy as well, but at the same time he unfortunately passed away. So there's got to be some test out there that can provide me with this peace of mind he said you're right for eight hundred dollars go to cedars-sinai medical center and get a coronary ct scan angiogram it's essentially a non-invasive virtual image of your coronary arteries not covered by insurance insurance would pay for a

ten thousand dollar invasive catheter through your groin, but they won't pay for an $800 non-invasive test. And we're going to get into why that is and all of that in a little bit. So I took the test in early October, went to Cedars, and then two surgeons walked in, and they didn't look like they were going to report anything happy to me. Oh, man. So I said said and did you

look essentially the way you look right now i mean you're a fit guy and you know i was by every sort of objective standard of just what looking at you yeah from the exterior i was other than being 25 pounds heavier um and that was more muscle than it wasn't necessarily fat. But I was healthy. For all intents and purposes, I was healthy. I was working out. I was lifting weights. I was not so cardio intensive as I am now, but I certainly integrated cardio into my weekly regimen, if you will. But unfortunately, the two surgeons that walked in, they said, we have some good news, bad news. The bad news is that you have nearly 100% blockage in your coronary artery, and you are a walking heart attack, impossible death. The good news is this is routine, and we just need to put a stent in your heart.

So it was the first very surreal moment of my life. How old were you at this? 42, 42, the exact same age as your friend. Exactly. And that can't be what you were expecting to hear from me. You just wanted the affirmation that everything was cool. That's all I wanted. And, um, I gotta be honest as a manly, as we think we are, you know, in training for an Ironman or whatever it is that we do in life, my eyes were filled with water. I was crying. I was very scared. All I could think about is, you know, my children and my wife.

And God forbid, I recall the night before going in for the test and I was wrestling with my 17-year-old boy. And I realized I had shortness of breath. And when I worked out historically, I realized I was starting to get shortness of breath, but I was attributing that to just getting older. I was, I had no knowledge of, you know, this shortness of breath might be a sign of blockage. So all I could think about is God forbid the night before I passed away wrestling with my 17-year-old and what he would have had to go through in life thinking. And so needless to say, stop with that.

And let's talk about the beautiful things that resulted from this test, which is that I. Well, it's all part of the story. It's like filling in the detail on the story. So you get this news. And then, you know, obviously, i would imagine some level of panic sets in but the the next question is all right well you know what am i going to do so this so the doctors are saying we got to put a stent in that's right so is that that's what happened next that's what happened so this was a wednesday and on on uh that afternoon i was introduced to my first cardiologist dr batia who's fantastic and um i was uh given some sort of uh

blood thinners for two days prior to going in on friday for the stint and i was very scared even though it's routine and um uh it was suggested i mean it's you know it's sort of like yeah it's routine but only because you know our society this is so normal now for people to get that it's considered routine. But there's nothing routine about cutting your chest open. Good point. Well, in fairness, they just insert a catheter through your groin. Right. But you're right.

I mean, it's still an operation. And even though there's a small percentage of risk involved, there's still a small percentage of risk involved with any surgery, right? And so, yeah, it was scary. And for me, I decided at that moment that I had to make life changes. And one of them was to adopt a plant-based lifestyle. And was that on the advice of Sorum or how did that come into the forefront of sort of the next step? You know, I have some really great clients who sent me countless books on plant-based nutrition, along with Dr. Saram and other physicians who suggested that I read many books that are out there right now

that science has proven that if you adopt a plant-based lifestyle, you can reverse and arrest coronary disease. And why wouldn't I do that? Why wouldn't I embrace any opportunity that I can have to extend my life and be around for my children and their children and to live, as they say, I believe that you could extend by being a plant-based lifestyle dieter, for lack of a better word, you could live 15 years longer, healthier, in terms of life expectancy, if that makes any sense. So there was no way I wasn't going to do that.

I mean, I loved my meat, frankly. I loved going to great steakhouses and whatnot. But I always felt bloated. I always felt lethargic. And I got to tell you, since I've been, now it's been two years since I've been on this lifestyle, I would never turn back. I've never felt bloated. I feel this amazing mental clarity. I feel full of energy. I just feel alive. I mean, I just, and that's why I can train for an Ironman. Right. And it's, it's an amazing feeling. That's, I experienced the same thing and I still do. And I have to kind of sometimes hold myself back from shouting from the mountaintops. I know that's not always helpful, but I do, I do admit to getting frustrated

from time to time when people sort of say, well, look, you're healthy now, like what's wrong with paleo or why don't you go back? And it's like, why would I, why would I turn my back on the thing that revolutionized my health? I've, I've adopted, adapted to this lifestyle. It suits me. It's working very well. I'm continuing to get faster and stronger and you know my energy levels are still high i don't feel deficient in anything i'm not deficient in anything and you know why would i alter that course of action i suppose that's how i feel i mean you know i'm from being from from New York and now sort of being a transplant out here in lovely Los Angeles, a lot of my New York friends ask why do I have to go to such an extreme as being plant-based.

Every time I see them, I ask them, don't you see this amazing turnaround in not only my physical appearance, but all aspects of my life? And they say, yes, we do. And then I invite them to sort of adopt this same lifestyle. But there's a lot of reluctancy on their part. Even though I take them to the Candle 79s in Manhattan or whatever, and they love it. And if I never told them it was vegan, they would never know themselves.

But slowly but surely, they're actually coming around and being a little bit more open-minded as most New Yorkers are not I'm trying to lead by example and I think my leadership qualities are starting to disseminate to my friends back east and as I said I hope I can convince them and if I can't convince them, which is not my responsibility I know I'm doing the right thing for myself without a doubt and I know I'm doing the right thing for myself without a doubt and I know I'm doing the right thing

for my three boys and my wife right exactly and the most powerful sort of thing is just to lead by example and go do that Ironman and keep running marathons and live healthy and thrive and that speaks a lot louder

than anything that's going to come out of your mouth anyway absolutely I'm really excited about the journey. Yeah. And for the listeners out there, I mean, you're, you're a very unlikely candidate to be, you know, quote unquote vegan, you know, and, and everything that that, you know, term kind of entails. I mean, you're a very successful businessman, you know, you're, you're, you're a New Yorker through and through, you know, why don't you tell us a little bit about what you do for a living?

Because it's really exciting and cool. Sure. Well, I like to think I'm a geeky CPA, but my profession is I'm a partner in an entertainment boutique business management firm. Our clientele is high net worth entertainers that cross all spaces within the entertainment community, film, TV, music, and sports.

And naturally it's a very stressful job. But I love what I do. I love my clients. I love my partners. I love our staff. But frankly, it could take a toll on you. And it's very stressful. And being a vegan and training the way I train really does help with that balance that we talked about in the beginning of this conversation.

Right. It's sort of putting this template of structure over your day where you know you have this workout you have to get in or these two workouts or whatever the case may be on a particular day. For me at least, sort of really focuses me. And then I have to look at my day and say, okay, I have time to do this, this, and this, and this doesn't fit. I've got to get rid of that. And things that are non-essential or that are not part of my plan to advance my life get cut out.

And ultimately, my life improves as a result. And I'm actually more productive. There's no question. I mean, my productivity has risen a result, and I'm actually more productive. There's no question. I mean, my productivity has risen in the last few years, and it's all natural. I mean, I can't stress enough to your listeners how I'm an average human being. I'm not this tremendous great athlete that you are, but I'm an average person who, sure, I loved playing sports as a child or as a young adult, but if you would have suggested to me even three, four, five years ago that I would venture a journey to try and train for an Ironman, I would have laughed, frankly. Or that even I would have adopted, who knew what a plant-based diet was?

But now, I mean, I would love to go on an education circuit and educate people on how to incorporate this type of lifestyle. And if you can do that, and I'm proof that it's not difficult, that we would really improve overall health and wellness of the individuals that embraced our invitation. Right. Well, I'm getting the bus and you're getting on and we're doing it.

I'm already doing it. I've decided that I am going to dedicate my life to this path and to spreading this word and this message of health and wellness. And just in the last year as this kind of has slowly begun, it's been incredible to go across the country and meet people and talk. And it's just amazing when somebody comes up to you and they share their very personal kind of struggle with health and things that they've faced and have been able to overcome. when somebody comes up to you and they share their very personal kind of struggle with health and

things that they've faced and have been able to overcome. And, you know, whether it's some inspiration they got from the book or seeing forks over knives or some other book that they read. And, and, and then they, a big smile comes on their face and there's, I would have never thought that I'd be standing here and I lost all this weight and I'm off my statins and my doctor doesn't even know what to say. And I would have never believed it. You know, it's like the most gratifying feeling to just play a tiny part in that. And, you know, all you have to do is travel enough and be in airports to know that there's a lot of work to do. You know, when you see people, you know, there's no end to, you know, I would just, I'd go out on the road and do it all the

time. You know, anybody who wants, you know, me to come and speak, I would just, I'd go out on the road and do it all the time. You know, anybody who wants me to come and speak, I'm there. Yeah. I just, I applaud you for your efforts and any little small part I can play in your journey, I'd love to participate because you're doing a great thing. And, you know, you mentioned the statins and I'm proof of that. I mean, I'm already off of my statins. Right. And I mean, have you gone to other, I mean, Dr. Saram, I mean, he understands that, but your other doctors, your cardiologists, I mean, what has their reaction been to kind of this protocol? They're very open, and they understand the benefits of being a plant-based dieter, if you will.

In fact, I had Dr. Bhatia and his lovely family over at my house for dinner, and they had the chicken kebab and I had the tofu kebab. But he said that he's never seen, and he's one of the top cardiologists in the world, he has never seen someone like myself who had a stent put in two years ago already reduce, you know, from let's just call it Crestor 10 milligrams down to five milligrams. Now I have to cut the five milligrams in half to go to two and a half milligrams. I'm off of my Plavix. There's only one reason why I've been able to get, you know, to not have to take this type of medicine anymore. It's solely attributable to being plant-based. It's amazing. There's no other explanation for it. Had I not chosen this path, I probably never would have gone from 10 milligrams of Crestor to 5.

For certain, I would still be on Plavix and probably the rest of my life. My blood and my results are just off the charts thanks to this style. What is the difference in how you feel? I've never been on statin, so I don't know what that feels like. I have plenty of friends that are. And they always tell me they feel drained or they don't have good energy.

What was your experience with that? Frankly, it must be the plant-based because I didn't feel any side effects. And I really feel so amazing, I've got to tell you. And it's all about plant-based. And I'm not one historically to preach, and I'm not preaching to your listeners. I'm just sharing with you my life story and my real-life benefits. And no one can dispute the way I feel,

and all the people around me, whether you work with me or you're in my personal or professional life, you, you're witnessing it. You're witnessing these, this incredible change. And it, you know, my medicine today is my food. Right. I mean, it's probably an overused adage, but food is my medicine. Yeah. Hippocrates said it in 640 BC and it's still true, unfortunately, people. Unfortunately, not, not everyone subscribes to it. But I promise you, if 1,000 people, 1,000 listeners, or a million of your listeners listened, 999,000 of them would feel the same way.

Right. And for the people who are listening who are already plant-based vegan people, I mean, you're kind of preaching to the choir. But it's a diverse listenership. I've got a lot of paleo people that listen, people that are on all different kinds of diets, Mediterranean diet, the low carb diet, et cetera. And, you know, I'm, I'm like you, I'm not here to preach or tell people you must eat this way or that way. I'm just trying to provide a safe forum for people with all different points of view to come on and talk about these issues. And we can have a mature, you know, Charlie Rose-like discussion about it without it devolving

into an argument. But there are a lot of people that are curious, you know, they're paleo or maybe they're on another diet and they're kind of interested, they're tiptoeing around the edges of it. And the kind of common response as well, it just sounds too severe. It sounds too hard. I don't know how I could make that work with my life. And, you know, when you were facing that, when you were just starting, like, how did you take those first steps? Like what were the resources that you kind of grabbed onto to help you transition? I mean, did you do it 100% out of the gate? Did you move slowly into it? And did you buy a bunch of cookbooks?

Like, how did that work? So I hired Juliana to be my nutritionist. Oh, you hired Juliana. I did. I didn't know that, actually. So Juliana immediately was my nutritionist. And thanks to her education, I went right into it 100%. It was not difficult because for me

I viewed it as a necessary life change given what happened to me. You had a tremendous amount of willingness. There was a lot of pressure on you to make an immediate change. Yeah, I believe you have to lead by example. One thing that we'll get into is the non-profit that I started as a result of this, because of course it's really special and near to me, but I wanted my children to see that

if I can do it, they can do it. I wanted my friends to see if I can do it, they can do it. I wanted my employees, I wanted my clients, I want everyone who's around me to understand that they knew who I was before and they should be proud of me even more because of the way I am today. And if I can save one person's life, you know, what a, what an amazing story, but I'm going to actually save thousands of lives by people who just watch me and hopefully make the changes that I think are appropriate. So I went all into it and it's so easy. Listen, we live in Los Angeles. We have Whole Foods.

We were talking about this before, right? Right. It's easy here. It's so easy. If I lived in Montana, yeah, it might be a little bit more challenging. But where there's a will, there's a way. And I believe no matter where you are, despite the different challenges, one can do it.

I'm fortunate enough that I live in an area that is very vegan-friendly. When I travel on a plane, I know I pack my bag because you're not going to get a vegan meal on an airplane, and it's very challenging to get at the airport. Right. So it requires a little planning ahead, and just to kind of get back into your business a little bit. I mean, you're being sort of coy and humble about the whole thing, but are you allowed to mention some of the people that you work with or is that verboten? When I referenced earlier to your listeners that I have a client that was so gracious and kind, Alanis Morissette.

I mean, her and her husband, when they heard about what happened immediately, because it's funny because Alanis and I were scheduled for a meeting on a Thursday, and I had to tell her why I'm not able to make the meeting because the next day I'm going to have a stent put in my heart. Immediately, she sent these great books on plant-based eating and um you know resting and reversing coronary disease by dr. and um you know she was incredible because you know she sort of you know eats not sort of she eats a healthy lifestyle as well and um she taught me a lot and that support really helped me through the beginning stages and still does today. And then I have many other clients that have just like one member of Linkin Park. He and I have gone on this plant-based journey, and it brings us together closer than ever before.

There's a special bond that's created in sort of this plant-based culture. Right. Well, food is always the great uniter i mean we sort of are in this debate now where it seems to be dividing us more than it should be but it it's a shared communal it's the original shared communal experience and it should bring us closer together and yeah when you have when you found it you know what you found and you want to share that with somebody who's like-minded it it can, you know, of course it creates like a level of intimacy and a friendship that. Yeah. I'm very thankful that I surround myself with smarter people than me and just

great resources and caring and loving individuals. But part of what you do too, you know, as a business manager and sort of working with musicians, artists, and athletes, you know, I would imagine there's a lot of business dinners, a lot, you know, Morton steakhouse and, you know, all of these sorts, you know, going to New York and dinners set up at Peter Luger. And that's just the way it is in, in your, in your particular field. Um, and I, and I hear that a lot from listeners and emails that I get, you know, I'd love to do it, but in my work, I've got to be, these are the restaurants where the people that I work with go, and it's just not going to work.

It's not going to be possible. So how do you kind of skate around that? It's a great question. And listen, I'd be kidding you and your listeners if I said it's not a challenge. But again, where there's a will, there's a way. So several examples. I used to love Mastro's. Frankly, I still do. I go there in Thousand Oaks with my wife and kids, and unfortunately if they want to have a steak, I have to support it. But the chef there knows I'm in the computer that I eat vegan and plant-based, and he comes out and we talk about what meal he's going to make,

and they're very supportive of my vegan lifestyle. When I go out to dinner with clients, they're pretty understanding and we try and compromise about where I can eat and where they can eat as well. But I'm also very mindful and respectful that I can't honestly expect people to bend over backwards to select a restaurant just to accommodate me. And be that annoying guy who's causing problems. to bend over backwards to select a restaurant just to accommodate me. Right. So I always. Annoying guy. Yeah.

Causing problems. Yeah. So what I say is, listen, wherever you'd like to go, I'm sure I can find something to eat. And you know what? I can. So, you know, if I have to have a salad, I'll have a salad. Who doesn't love salad? So I'll find a salad.

I'll find some, you know, whole grain. And there's always honestly i probably less than 10 times in two years have i had the challenge of not finding something on a menu where i can eat right and the other tip that i kind of do is uh i just always have a thermos with a vitamin smoothie you know nearby if i'm going to a place like that where i know it's going to be tricky yeah of course i can get salad, but I also don't want to be starving and staring at somebody else's plate. Like I'll try to plan ahead for that by, you know, eating a robust snack before dinner so I can go in, I'm not starving and I can eat a lighter meal and be content with that.

That's right. And I've started, I've started to do that. I'm also considering going raw now. Yeah. Well, let's, I want to hear about that. You know, I just to hear about that. You know, I just feel like, you know, you could eat vegan, you can be plant-based, but there are things that aren't healthy for you even in that world, right? For sure. If you go to Trader Joe's, there's those oatmeal raisin vegan cookies. Right.

Great snacks. Uncle Eddie's. Yeah. But probably not the best for you. Well, there's tons of vegan junk food i mean you know of course and you can sort of trick yourself and say well i'm on a plant-based diet i can eat you know i can eat the buffalo wings of veggie grill with the sort of plant-based blue cheese whatever it is and and trust me that stuff's delicious you know like i i like it as a treat once in a while

but i'm not in denial. You know, I know that that is not, that's not really all that healthy for me. There's a much better way to do it. And yeah, raw, I mean, raw is the next level. I think so. And you know, I've experimented in the last few weeks with it. And frankly, I didn't think I could feel even better than I do, but I, like you said, I think it's another chapter in my life where I'm improving every day my health and wellness. I'm experimenting. My wife and I just bought, we just graduated from the Vitamix that we acquired at Costco to this amazing juicer. And there's so many beautiful- Like a cold press one, one of the super duper ones.

Super duper. So we're ready to have our, we have our carrots, we have our kale, we have our apples. It's delicious. Even my nine-year-old boy loves it. I had an early guest on the podcast was Tim Van Orden. I don't know what episode number it is, but you should go back and listen to that. He's a very accomplished runner who's totally raw. He has a YouTube channel where he puts up tons of videos and he just talks all about like how he does it. And he's very balanced.

He's very like low key and intelligent in his delivery. Um, he's not preachy at all. He's not like a crazy person. And, uh, and he's done really, really well.

Like he does all kinds of crazy races too. Like snowshoe race. He lives in Vermont, you know, snowshoe races. He does the stair racing stair racing you know empire run up the empire there was that article in the new york uh time sunday magazine a couple months ago about stair running it's this new thing with skyscrapers like the sears tower and stuff like that and he kills it in those races and totally totally raw no see you know, I'm not going to be one of those that has to finish first in the Ironman

or be the first one up the stairs, but I'm going to be the one that has a tremendous balance in his life. And that's what this plant-based lifestyle along with training does. Right. And the irony is somebody would say to you, well, it seems severe to be on a plant-based diet that doesn't seem balanced you know well it's a good point and my wife's not vegan my wife hasn't conformed to this or adopted to my lifestyle so if you ask her and she was sitting

right next to us she would tell you well i i eat healthy you know i i don't eat a steak all the time you know i have a piece of chicken or a fish once or twice a week and um why don't you why don't you why do you have to go to an extreme and become plant-based why don't you just modify your lifestyle she's not saying that to me but she'll you know that's a question a lot of people pose to me right and um what i say to them is why would i when i feel this great right now? And I don't view it as being extreme. I just, this is a choice I've made. I'm not an extremist. It's just a choice I've made. The choice for me works. Again, I'm not going to preach to anybody about it. I'm just going to lead

by example. I can't tell you how many people have come to me and they've said, since we've observed you, we never thought we can do this. But as we're starting to slowly but surely eat healthier, we can understand why people choose to eat vegan or go plant-based. We're not there yet. But I say, you know what? Small steps. You don't have to do it overnight. Like I did take your time and, and you know, slowly but surely all of these people are going to become a vegan. Right. And I think another thing that I always kind of suggest is release yourself from this idea of being perfect. Like you say, vegan, you say plant-based and it kind of on some sort of subconscious level, it's almost a setup for failure because it seems so challenging. And

if you begin the journey and you do okay for a couple of days or a couple of weeks or whatever it is, and then you slip and you eat something you're not supposed to, a lot of people just say, well, that was just way too hard. You know, I can't do it. Obviously I can't do it. I failed. So I'm going to go back to eating the way I was. Whereas, you know, that's okay. It's just, it's not about being perfect. It's like, let's just eat more plants, build that into your routine, see how you feel, pay attention to it, you know, take responsibility and, and make your own decision, but make it based on the information. Juliana shared with me that, you know, how do you know what I asked her?

How do I know what to eat or select from the grocery store? Well, if it has more than three ingredients, it's not healthy, right? Or if it's not colorful, it's not healthy. And she was right. But, you know, unfortunately for me and for many of my friends, I bring that business mind, that solution basedbased sort of black and white approach to this, which is probably not the right approach for many people who I'm trying to encourage, if I were to encourage them to adopt a plant-based.

Because for me, it's really simple. It's not that challenging. You know, my wife said to me, how can I lose weight? I've been on this diet. I've been on that diet. I said to her, honey, all of these nutritionists who don't understand plant-based living, they're going to come up with, well, if you minimize your carbs

and you maximize your protein and this formula or that formula, you could lose weight. Honey, I lost 25 pounds not even trying to lose weight by eating healthy. So for all those listeners out there who aren't plant-based and just simply want to lose weight, there's no rocket science in losing weight. Just adopt a plant-based healthy lifestyle. Right, whole foods close to their natural state.

And I guarantee you, you'll lose weight. I want to touch on also the relationship aspect in your marriage. I mean, you said that your wife is not on this diet. And that's another thing that I kind of encounter a lot. You know, my wife is very supportive. She's now completely vegan, but she wasn't for a big part of my journey. But I get emails saying, you know, I'm really interested in this. But, you know, my spouse or my girlfriend or my boyfriend or whatever it is, they're just not down. And if they're not, I'm never going to be able to make

it work. And you figured out how to make it work when you guys are on somewhat different programs. Yeah. I have a lovely wife and she's very supportive and she knows it's in the best interest of me to continue down this journey. And I think, again, slowly but surely, she's eliminating some of the non-plant-based meals. And I think without me pushing her, she's ultimately going to come into my world. Careful with that attachment. But there's a way to maintain a healthy

relationship with one being plant based and the other not being it's just about having fun and being selective and where you want to eat together and what you both can enjoy and you know my wife cooks two meals frankly

she cooks a meal for her and the boys and she cooks something just for me and I think that's really beautiful I'd love for my children to be plant-based. My oldest son's a sophomore in college. There's no way his fraternity house is going to go plant-based. So there's a sense of reality there. But the moment when he graduates in a few years... If they're drinking beer all day long, that's's plant-based but um i doubt he's listening to this podcast he's studying now come on yeah but um i i just have a loving loving and supportive family and i think that um if you're in a great relationship

your spouse will be very supportive of you and i think there's a way where one can be plant-based and the other does not have to be. So you're not trying to impose your agenda on either your wife or your kids. No. But you want your kids to have healthy habits. Like, how do you kind of broach that subject? Or, you know, do you have Cheetos in the house or Froot Loops? And how does that work? Great question. So I have three boys, 19, 17, and nine. The 19 and 17 year old at this point, it's going to be very difficult for me to convert. The nine year old, it's not difficult. So we removed all of those Cheetos and Oreo cookies and snacks that are very unhealthy for you and high in sugar. And we replaced them with fruit, bananas, and soy ice cream. And he loves it.

He absolutely loves it. In fact, he told his mom the other day, I don't want you to sign me up for a hot lunch in April. I want you to make my lunches for me. That's great. And so instead of peanut butter, we're giving them almond butter. Instead of white bread, we're giving them whole wheat bread. You know, instead of chips, we're putting in carrots, you know. And, you know, we'll give him a treat once in a while.

And at the same time, if he's out at a party with friends and the friends are serving pizza, I'm not going to punish him for having pizza. He's a little boy. Let him enjoy it. But if I can help improve his diet, 90% of his intake, then that to me is an improvement. Right.

I think it's about just creating healthy patterns that become more and more entrenched over time and educating him as he matures so that he can make an informed decision for himself when he's out in the world. And that's essentially what we do with our little girls. If they're at a birthday party and there's cake or, you know, I'm not going to be the dad who's like, you can't, of course, you know, enjoy.

Enjoy your life. But when we're at home, we're pretty much on this routine, and the kids have really taken to it. And it's crazy when you see your 18-year-old son come down for breakfast and he's not even awake yet and he just grabs a Vitamix and he starts putting kale in it and I'm like, what is happening? It's crazy. Or they're like, mom, how come you haven't made lunch yet? They want her cooking, they want her food. And it wasn't that long ago that it wasn't that way. Yeah, you're right. I mean, you said it

so well because my nine-year-old son said to me the other day he said dad i just ate a piece of cake and i could feel it he was at a friend's house they served you know non-plant-based non-vegan cake and frankly he's now starting to understand his body you know and he he understands that putting that sugar in his body, he's a different person. I mean, when he eats sugar, he's acknowledged at nine years old on his own. And this is without any encouragement from me, he said, Dad, I don't feel as good eating this type of sugar versus eating healthy. And so like I said, you just have to make them, let them,

let them make their own decisions. And, you know, again, how could you not feel great being plant based? I don't know. So I don't know if a nine year old can say that to mom and dad, anybody can say that. Right. So I want to get back to this idea of balance. You know, you said your goal is you want to live a balanced, healthy, happy life. And you're a guy who is navigating through some pretty heavy business circles. You're training for an Ironman. You're eating this to the sort of typical man on the street, a very restrictive diet. And these are sort of all complex things that are thrown into this mix.

And again, you know, like how, like I guess what I'm saying is for me, I'm fascinated with balance because balance is the final frontier for me. Like I have very difficult time being balanced in anything. And I don't know whether that's because, you know, by nature I'm an addict alcoholic and I'm just drawn to extremes or that's what makes me tick or what I'm attracted to. But I'm always trying to find that perfect alchemy of training, business, family, marriage, relaxation time, creative time. And of course, you never get it perfectly right. Those chess pieces are constantly moving around the board. Um, but, and, and I certainly have yet to master it. You know, I'll be extreme in one area and then I got to reel it back and then I'll find myself being extreme in another area. So how do you, like, what is your sort of daily approach to your day to kind of stay

grounded and, and, and and balanced i guess no sleep no sleep yeah well that's not balanced no all kidding aside time management um you know i know coach chris gives you that you know my weekly log so um on a sunday on i you know plan my week um i know what i have to do either that one workout in the morning or one workout in the morning with an afternoon or evening workout. I know my local restaurants. I know my professional life and the commitments. I know my commitments to my wife and children. And frankly, it's about time management.

There's not one thing I'm missing. Yesterday, for example, I found two hours on a Sunday to read a great book and at the same time watch baseball, take my son to a baseball game and train and eat healthy. So it does require someone to be very organized and to manage that time appropriately. That's not easy, but it's not impossible. It just requires attention to detail. Everybody has more time than they think that they have

if they're willing to sit down and look very, very honestly at how they spend their time. Certainly there's many, many ways you can economize how you go throughout your day. And it was very revealing when I sat down and I actually made a log and I wrote down what I did all day long. I was like, wow, I'm spending way too much time.

I would drive all the way from out here where we live into West Hollywood to have lunch with somebody and drive back. The business aspect of that could have been managed in one email or a phone call. So when the training ramped up for me, it was about looking at that stuff and making changes. So I'm interested in what kind of,

like where did you find you were not making the best use of your time? Because now you're facing much more time training than you kind of ever have before, right? So it's forcing you to really get clean with this, right? Yeah, so for me, there's two things. For me, what I find interesting is now when I look forward to the weekend and spending time with the family or going away on vacation,

I'm looking at vacation spots that will allow me to run, bring my bike, swim, and or eat healthy. And historically, I never used to look at a destination that met all my criteria. At the same time, be a place where I know the children and Meredith, my wife, will enjoy. And to be honest with you, it's just a whole new way of exploring life. Like in June, we're going to go to Turks and Caicos. So we have beautiful weather. We're going to have the ocean. We're going to have great food. And the families and I are both going to have our needs met. And in terms of the balance, you know, my wife likes to sleep to nine, 9.30, 10 in the

morning. I can get up at 5.30 in the morning and be back in bed with her, and I'm done with the majority of my training for the day on a weekend. So it didn't really affect the quality time that my wife and I spend together. And that goes back to just understanding what you have to accomplish in a given day and balancing that and your family. And you know what? I don't need, so I can go to bed. So I go to bed at 10 o'clock instead of 11.30.

And I wake up at five instead of 6.30 or seven. But I'm willing to do it if I know it's gonna help me become healthier. And at the same time, it's gonna still allow me to be a great husband and a great father by not being selfish in my training for the Ironman or selfish in what I want to eat by taking that time away from my wife and kids. Right. And that's, that's the key to success really, because I've seen, and I've seen this a lot, uh, particularly with people that are

training for Ironman, they get really obsessive about their training. They get really rigid about it. And it starts to take up a priority slot that might be a little bit too high. And then the relationship with the spouse starts to suffer, and the relationship with the kids starts to suffer, and this sort of house of cards starts to collapse. And I've seen divorce over this. You hear it all the time, like the triathlon widow, you know,

and it's really important for me to always remember, like, you know, no, this doesn't come first. You know, I have bigger priorities in my life that have to be taken care of. If they're taken care of, then I can go train and be happy and feel good about it. But, you know, let's be honest about what's really important. That's well said. I mean, listen, at the end of the day, my wife and I have unconditional love for one another, and I'm blessed to have her support,

and I'm blessed to have the support of my children on this healthy lifestyle. And it's up to me to make sure that I recognize the support that I'm receiving from them and to meet their needs as well. It's not just about them meeting my needs. When you talk about balance, to me the number one balance is making sure that you balance the needs that you should want to give your wife and children and the needs that they give you the needs that

they fulfill for you and i can tell you that my wife is incredible with her love and support and i thank her for that and it it incentivizes me to find the time to work out in the morning while she's sleeping and to make sure i'm home when she opens her eyes yeah that's beautiful. I aspire to that. Hopefully she's listening to this podcast. Yeah, yeah. I scored some points. You can go home, babe, I did this really great. You really got to listen to it. It's pure gold, right?

Well, I want to get into Heartview Global Foundation and the story behind that, because I had the good fortune of attending your fundraiser recently. Thank you for having me. Thank you. And it's amazing work that you're doing. So it's all informed by what happened with your friend and this journey that you've been on and this test that essentially saved your life. Yes.

No, thank you for bringing that up. And really, thank you for attending. We were honored to have you in the audience. It was a fantastic event. Thank you. Thank you. So the genesis of Heartview Global Foundation was a result of my life experience of being told that I needed to put a stent in my heart.

And I've always, you know, representing high net worth clients and seeing how philanthropic they are by writing a check or volunteering to do a concert or this or that. As I got older, as I was getting older, I realized, you know, there's more to life than me just giving someone financial advice and doing what I was doing. I needed to do something else. So when this opportunity presented itself, unfortunately, or fortunately, frankly, with my medical condition and the changes I needed to make, my wife and I asked ourselves, what can we do to be great philanthropists? You know, what can we do now to educate the world and to save lives? And we felt obviously a strong connection and a passion for my own experience

and turning that experience into a way of helping people. And what we've done is we started this foundation called Heartview Global, and we partnered with Cedar Sinai and Mr. Murdoch at Four Seasons, CEO of Dole. And essentially... Just to explain a little bit about who he is, because he's a character.

He is a character. So David Murdoch is the CEO of Dole Foods. And I think the world's, I'll call it 130th richest man and one of the greatest philanthropists that certainly I've ever met. And because we live in Westlake Village, I identified the Four Seasons Health and Wellness Longevity Center as a place where I wanted to hold the annual galas. There was some great synergy between the Health and Wellness Center

and what my mission was within Heartview Global. And I asked to speak to Mr. Murdoch and meet him in person and share my story. And there's a relationship between Dole and the Four Seasons Westlake, right? Like there's a headquarters that's adjacent to it. That's right. And that's his headquarters. And he also owns the Four Seasons in Westlake. And once I shared my story with him, the story I shared with your listeners, he saw my vision.

And he's a lot older than I am. He's near 90. And it's just a wonderful man, and I was blessed to be in the same room with him and blessed that he gave me the opportunity and the platform to share my story. He totally embraced my vision, and he and I have now become partners in another area of educating people on health and wellness. So back to HeartView Global and its genesis, essentially what happened was we wanted to help people

who can't afford the $800 test because it's not covered by insurance. Is there a name for the test? What is the test called? It's called this coronary CT scan angiogram. And it's unfortunately not covered by insurance. And so I feel like how can you deprive someone of this non-invasive test? Why put someone through a $10,000 invasive procedure just because it's covered by insurance when you can have a test non-invasively done for $800?

But let's face it, in today's economy, there are people who can't afford $800. And those people should not be denied the medical care that those that can afford it are afforded the opportunity to have. So my wife and I decided that we are going to start this foundation. We're going to partner with these wonderful organizations, both with David Murdoch and with Cedars-Sinai and others as we start to grow who will, 50% of our net profits will help subsidize the tests for people who can't afford the coronary CT scan. We will pay for that. And Cedars-Sinai believes we can save hundreds of thousands of lives

simply by having people take this test. And then the other 50% goes to coronary research for early detection of heart disease. Sort of the byproduct of what we do is the big global message is eat healthy, right? Adopt this plant-based lifestyle, because if you do, you have a really solid chance of reversing and arresting

and certainly mitigating not only coronary disease, but a lot of other diseases, whether it's dementia, you know, certain carcinogens, cancer, so many great benefits of being plant-based. And so I'm really proud of what we've done in two years with Heartview Global. And I can't wait to hopefully come back in three or five years from now to your listeners and share many stories of all the lives we've saved. Yeah, it's a great mission. And thank you for pursuing that path. Because, you know, it's crazy that I think the last stat that I saw was 935,000 Americans suffered a heart attack last year, 385,000 of which were fatal. And those are crazy,

crazy numbers. And it makes you wonder, well, how many of those incidents were asymptomatic, right? And what would have happened if this test had been readily available? And in fact, it seems to me with that high an incidence of heart attacks or NGO incidents, I guess you would call it, and with the extent to which Americans are obese, up in the 40% range, that this test should just be part of your annual physical as a matter of course, as a no-brainer. And so how did it get to this point where this super expensive invasive procedure is covered by insurance and this simple scan is not?

I mean, what is the history behind that, do you know? I don't know, but what I do know is that unfortunately our society is reactive and not preventative or proactive. And if there was one message among many messages, I wish that we would transition from reactive to be preventative and proactive in care for ourselves. Because 50% of heart attacks in the U.S.,

which is the number one killer here in the U.S., are people who are asymptomatic. Why not test these people it's 50 really it's that high wow 50 of those lives could be saved with early detection of heart disease why not use resources to be preventative and the answer is because it comes down to dollars and cents right i mean for us to for blue Anthem, or many other insurance companies, for them to adopt this in preventative care would mean that they'd have to offer it

for all of their subscribers. But how much are they paying out to cover open-heart surgery? Exactly. Logic says they're totally wrong. I'm not allowed to acknowledge this but i will to your unique group of listeners that one of my silent missions with heartview global is to lobby the health care industry to have this test covered ultimately because again it's just just not fair yeah it's not fair that people who don't have the

good fortune to pay 800 for a test should be denied this preventative care. And I won't sit by and let it happen. Is this test something that you would have to go to a place like Cedars-Sinai to get? Does it require super expensive equipment? Or is it somebody that is, you know, if somebody's listening in Cedar Rapids or wherever they are, could they go to their normal doctor or their hospital

and ask if they can have this done? Is it accessible? It may not be acceptable in Idaho. Well, finance is a side. If they're willing to pay the $800. Yeah, if they're willing to pay. It's not at every hospital, no. It's considered a new technology it was created

in 2005 and not every cardiologist not every hospital is aware of this test so this would require your listeners to go to their cardiologist be very aggressive be very proactive and and suggest that you are either, you have a history of heart disease, you have high blood pressure, you're obese, and you're a candidate to take this test. And they'll say, I don't think you're a candidate. Why don't you take a calcium test?

Why don't you take a stress test? And you'll say, no, I want this coronary CT scan angiogram. And the reason why you're gonna say no is because had I taken the stress test, it would not have detected my plaque because the stress test is only 70% accurate where the coronary CT scan angiogram is 100% accurate. I'm not comfortable with that 30% margin, nor should your listeners be. So there are a lot of doctors who believe that this test has a high level of radiation. Because there was an article in 2005 that came out

and incorrectly cited this test to have high levels of radiation. It has no more radiation than a traditional x-ray. And I'm not suggesting to your listeners to go out and take this test every day. You take it one every five years one every 10 years so that's i don't buy that argument and nor do educated cardiologists so the answer to your question is i would encourage your listeners to be aggressive and not rely upon your cardiologist or your group of physicians to embrace this idea of you taking this test you say you want the test done. And if you have any problem paying for it, contact Heartview Global and we'll be happy to pay for it. And, um, fantastic. It also sounds like it's something that is almost right for like a move on petition,

like, you know, petition your hospital that make this available, or at least have the equipment to make it available or to educate the doctors about exactly what you just said so they can suggest it to their patients because most people they don't even know that it exists so how are they going to ask for it if they're not even aware of it that's right that's right it's unfortunate you have to you have to be you have to be very aggressive into this today's society because you can't rely upon your trusted advisors to tell you everything. You've got to do a little bit of research,

and you've got to be really aggressive and proactive in your own care. Yeah, the level of self-responsibility, I think, that is incumbent upon all of us is much higher than it used to be. You really have to take it into your own hands. And the days of just trusting your doctor to know everything, you really can't do that, whether it's nutrition or a test like this or anything else. I agree.

I mean, for those of us who fit the average profile like I did, you just have to be hypochondriac at times. Being neurotic helps. This is the one time I always say to my friends, me being a neurotic human being saved my life. Right. So is this an excuse for you to be super neurotic about everything now? You know what?

I think I'm not neurotic anymore. I don't have to be. I'm plant-based. I'm healthy. Yeah. You certainly look healthy. Why, thank you. Yeah.

Well, good. So is HeartView doing outreach to better educate the doctors? What are the steps that you have to take to kind of pursue this mission? So thankfully, Cedars is helping us educate their physicians and giving us a network of physicians to continue to educate and to know that HeartView Global is a resource for patients that fit the profile for this test. We want them to think of Heartview Global.

So the mission is, right now it's more sort of West Coast, Southern California. But as we start to grow and grow, I want to take this education and platform across the U.S. and eventually across the world and have hospitals in every territory, like you asked earlier, have this test available for patients. And that's going to take some time. I mean, I'm realistic. I mean, that's not going to happen overnight. But just like with plant-based, that's my new, that's a life journey. So is saving lives. So if I have to, you know, if I have to put a lot of time and it goes back to balance my time, if I can, you know, this is part of my balancing act and I'll be doing this

for the next 25 years or however long it takes for me to lobby silently, of course, the healthcare industry to accept this test, that's how long I'll be doing this. I'm wondering if there is any, you know, I'm just imagining like lobbying groups, giving you the pushback, but who would be the sort of lobby on your behalf? You know, who is in Washington that could, you know, be a good fit for helping you push this agenda through? Well, you know, the good thing about what I do is that I represent very powerful people,

and I don't like to take advantage of people. I'm one that rarely asks people for help, but this is a situation where once in a lifetime I'm going to take advantage of the people that I represent, the people that I know, and those are going to be my eyes and ears to the White House, to Congress, to everybody to help preach our message. Right. Well, you're not asking them for help for your own personal benefit. I mean, this is, you know.

No, not at all. This is for everybody. This is for everybody. And that's why they're so willing to help. Because it's not about helping Jonathan. It's about helping educate the world on not only the advantages of this test, but the advantages of plant-based lifestyle and the advantage of eating healthy. So who's not willing to help me? I mean, everybody's willing to help.

It's for a great cause, and you don't have to give me a dollar. I'm not asking for your money. I'm asking you to help me create awareness, to help me educate people. And if someone would ask me to help them and for me not to have to write a check and it was for a great cause, I'd do it. Right, so for people out here who are listening to this

and are just getting familiar with what you're doing, how can they help? What is it that somebody who is inspired by what you've just said, how can you put them to work or what kind of actions can they take? They can help. They can contact me by going to heartviewglobal.org and telling me that they're very interested to learn more or to help. And I can always use help. I can always use, I'm not omniscient. So I'd love someone to share with me some new knowledge and new ideas to, for fundraising and for, um, soliciting,

you know, good people to join our board and to help our cause. And we're always looking for great people with great ideas. All right, man. Thank you. You're an inspiration. Please. You are. No, it's true, man. It's awesome. It's really awesome. And again, it was really great to be at the benefit and kind of see the fruits of all of your labor and all the people there that are kind of celebrating what you've done. And you only started this, what, a couple years ago?

A couple years ago, yes. Yeah, it's come a long way. Thank you. Yeah, I can't wait to see what's going on next year next year february 22nd heartview global westlake village four seasons i put that plug out push it man push it uh is there is there are there other places online uh are there any articles written about is there any other websites or anything like that where people can learn more um than than the one you just mentioned the heart it's heartviewglobal.org right and if you go to cedar sinai um their general website and go to their cardiology department um you'll see heartview global link there and you'll see incredible

literature about it right cool yeah and how's the training going i'm sore more importantly so are my right glute hurts yeah i have to tell you before you before the show, you got to check out some ART. I'm going to hook you up. Thank you. I need it. You're going to get it sorted out. So have you been, but you've still been running? So you ran the LA Marathon.

I did. Right? I did. And now you have this glute problem. Yeah. So about mile 16, my right hip, right glute started to hurt. I could feel it. But you pushed through it. You pushed through it.

I pushed through it, and I was very pleased because my goal for the average human being, my goal was under four hours. For you incredible athletes like Rich, it's under three. But I was pleased with my time. It was 3.40, and I feel like I could do better if I wasn't injured around mile 16. So next year, I hope to do it for 330, 315. If you stick with the Chris plan next year,

you won't even believe how much better you'll be. And you know what? I believe that. I've taken a leap of faith with all the people that I've surrounded myself with that are experts in their respective fields. And I don't profess to be an expert in a field. I'm not. And frankly, I have great people like Coach Chris and even you

who I can lean on for some great advice, and I listen. And I'm humbled, I'm vulnerable, and I'm excited about this new lifestyle. Yeah, it's cool. And you've been drinking the Zone 2 lemonade, right? Z2 lemonade. How's it working out for you? Well, actually, Coach Chris got a little angry at me

because two weeks ago a friend of mine said, let's go on. I was supposed to do a three hour bike ride in Z two. And so I told Chris, I went on a Z two, but I went, excuse me. I went on a three hour bike ride when I logged in, but I only did 37 miles. There was a lot of climbing. He said, so he's he coached Chris's wonderful sarcasm was so you did a lot of z2 climbing huh i said oops sorry i must have hit z4 probably for half of my ride yeah so no z2 is it requires a certain discipline but like i said earlier i mean i i trust him he without him i would never have completed the marathon two weeks ago by running a lot in my Z2 and building my endurance. And as you saw in that hotel room, you don't even know the results,

but I incredibly improved my blood lactate results by following his Z2 program and being patient. You told me you had a huge, huge improvement. And it had only been a couple months, right, since your previous test? Yeah, you have to throw your ego out because when you're running on the street and you see this 75 year old lady passing you by right you want to say to her z2 z2 z2 but she won't know what you're referring to anyway so you just swallow your pride and you go oh god chris how long am i gonna have to do z2 but you know what it works and uh i'm i'm i've bought into his program and I'm excited about it.

It requires patience. It requires you checking your ego at the door and it's not an overnight recipe. You've got to stick with it and you've got to be adamant and you have to hold back when you're riding with your friends and you're going up a hill to not go harder. That's why I end up doing most of my training alone because I I'm, I can't help it when I'm with friends, I'm either riding too hard or too, or, uh, or not hard enough. And I'm not, you know,

paying attention to what I'm doing and, you know, it gets, uh, it gets tricky. Um, but it does work for sure. And I've had guests on the show that come from all different perspectives on how to train. And, you know, I'm not here to say on how to train and you know i'm not here to say that zone two is you know sort of the you know the zone two program that i'm always advocating is not the only way there are other ways of doing it but it works for me it sounds like it's working for you it is and also just you're taking up cycling and you get to see this beautiful countryside that we live in you don't get to see that and enjoy it in a car and you quite frankly, you can't run the distance that you can cycle. So I'm blessed just to be surrounded by all this beauty. And that's what this sport allows me to see. Yeah, it's great.

You live pretty close by. And I don't know if this has been your experience, but I lived here for a while before I got into this stuff. And yeah, I'd look out my window and I see the mountain and it's beautiful. And that it kind of ended there. You know, I had no idea that we're surrounded by all these trails and all these roads that you can ride your bike on that you can explore. There's no end to what you can explore. That's literally right outside our backyard. And I remember just kicking myself thinking like, why didn't I do this years ago? This is so amazing. And why isn't everybody up here? Like I'd be out on a trail by myself i'm thinking where is everyone yeah and the other thing that i've learned a real strong byproduct of cycling is to respect the cyclists and do not text while you drive yes because it's so dangerous right with all the cyclists out here and runners

it really is um i'll tell you a quick little story. My dentist was a very, very avid cyclist. And I'd go to see him and we'd just talk about bikes. And he loved cars and bikes. And he had a couple of Pinarellos and really high-end stuff. And we'd just chat about it and he'd be all excited. and he'd be all excited. And he got hit by a car on PCH and is a quadriplegic. And it's been a long road back for him. It's been very, very difficult. And it's scary, man, and it's real. So you've got to really, really watch your P's and Q's but also be aware that there are many things

that you can't control. And somebody who's texting when they're driving and all these sorts of things that you can't really predict. It's made me, when you have kids, it's made me really think long and hard. And I choose my routes carefully about where I'm going to ride. And I'm such a wuss on descents, man. Like I'm just, I'm a puss going downhill. Maybe we could petition the city of Malibu to be a little bit more PCH cycling friendly. It's not bad once you're kind of, I mean, it's not bad North of Trincus and

it's not really that bad North of Pepperdine. I mean, the shoulders are pretty wide, but you know, in between Santa Monica and Pepperdine, that's not a good place to ride your bike, you know. And we're lucky that we kind of live on the north end of that and can access that road in a way that people that live on the west side can't. Yeah. You know, we're very lucky out here. This is rider heaven. It really is. It really is.

I had Chris McCormick on the show the other day, and he's been coming out here for years. You know, Ironman world champion comes out here for here for you know a stint every spring or summer uh and i'm always surprised that there aren't more professional triathletes and cyclists that live out here i mean the riding is so epic and i know that some of the pro teams pro cycling teams do their camps out here before tour of california you'll see them out riding which is an amazing thing in its own right to like be out riding and have you know the garmin team whiz by you like a freight train, you know, or something like that. And, you know, the triathletes tend to, the kind of meccas of triathlon are San Diego and Boulder really. And, uh, and I don't know, I'm like, you know, I think

it's, I think it's better here, but maybe we shouldn't say anything. Yeah, that's right. You know, I think more and more people are figuring it out there's you'll see you know people are coming out here and testing it but the climbs and the trails and and the weather and everything it's we're very very lucky we are we we you know a friend of mine just returned from prague visiting his son who's studying abroad and uh upon his return he's wife and his daughter high school student they said wow we take for granted how beautiful it is here i mean prague vienna where they just were was gorgeous in its own right but when you return home and you feel this just amazing just love for the

surroundings you really kind of begin to appreciate how much how lucky we are we really are very lucky and you seem to be a guy who really kind of lives in gratitude or spends a lot of time in gratitude. Hey, Cafe Gratitude. Let's put a plug in for Cafe Gratitude. I love that place. I eat there every day. Oh, I love it.

We've got to open one up here in Harris. We should, you know. Absolutely. Do you know Sun Life Organics in Malibu? No. It's like a juice bar, healthy restaurant. They're opening one in Westlake. I'm there.

Yeah. And the guy who runs it, I'm going to have him on the podcast. He's a great guy. He's got an amazing story, but, uh, that's kind of become like a social hub in Point Dume in Malibu. Amazing food and kind of like he's created a social community around it. And he's, he's, uh, in the middle of building out, uh, one out, out here. So that'll be a good additional place for us to go. Awesome. Yeah. We'll meet there. All right,

cool. Well, I think we did it, man. Thank you for having me today. It's an honor to be on your show. Awesome to, uh, awesome to have you. And, uh, I hope that this, uh, helps, you know, spread greater awareness about heart view and what you're doing. And it's all good, man. Anything that I can do to help spread the word and help you and kind of support your mission, man, I'm here for you. Thank you. We're going to have a Heartview Global cycling team, so we'll get you aboard.

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, we've got to have kits and the whole thing. Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, when I did the New York Marathon, I was running for Fred's team because I didn't get in on the lottery, although I didn't run, as you know. Right. So my intention is, is one of the great fundraising ideas that was suggested to me is why not

run as part of Heartview Global's team? And that's, A, creates awareness, and B, it's another way to generate, you know, contributions to help the cause. So look for Heartview global teams across the country in the near future excellent i love it thank you all right man and when are we gonna go out and get some training in together i promise you i won't let you get out of z2 i don't want to get you in trouble anytime you're available for me i'll make myself available i'm around man i'm easy all right deal all right cool thank you well thank you for uh taking the time

to come by thank you all right man peace peace plants Thank you. you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you