Taught Not Told Podcast
Our mission is to teach you everything you need to know and implement so you can be extremely successful on your journey towards health and fitness. I strive to make complex topics and challenging methods stupid simple to understand so YOU can take action with confidence knowing what you're doing will WORK! Please enjoy!
Much Love,
Coach Tyler
Taught Not Told Podcast
EP#24: A Glimpse Inside The Minds of Fitness Experts [PART 2]
I just got back from Coaching Con 2024 where I was in the room with some of the best fitness/nutrition coaches in the WORLD!
At this conference I pulled aside a few of the best and biggest names I could to bring YOU some amazing value and insight into how they create success for their clients and themselves.
In these mini-interviews I asked each coach 5 questions, three of which related to fitness and nutrition and the other two about life.
I hope you enjoy and please comment or shoot me a message on Instagram and let me know what you thought of this🙏🏼
My Amazing Guests:
00:00 - Intro
00:32 - Jared Hamilton
14:54 - Andrew Garritson
27:35 - Jordan Maybach
33:07 - Ryan Johnson
44:15 - Thanks for watching!
Connect with our guests:
Jared Hamilton: https://www.instagram.com/realjaredhamilton
- Jared's podcast: https://www.dietingfromtheinsideout.com
Andrew Garritson: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.garritson
Jordan Maybach: https://www.instagram.com/maybach.j
Ryan Johnson: https://www.instagram.com/ifwithryan
- Ryan's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Ryan_Johnson
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P.S. If you’d like my help with mapping out your path to success on your fitness journey, click here to book a FREE strategy session 1-on-1 with me:
https://calendly.com/tntcoaching/strategysession
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https://www.instagram.com/ty.lerstuder
Also, if you’d like to see what others say about working with us check us out on Yelp:
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Lastly, to find out more about TNT coaching, what we offer, and how we can help, check out our website:
https://betaughtnottold.com
BONUS - CHECK OUT OUR FREE GUIDES:
https://betaughtnottold.com/free-guides
Hope you found this helpful!
Much love,
Coach Tyler🤍
Welcome back to the Taught Not Told podcast. I am so excited to share with you four more amazing mini interviews from CoachingCon 2024 in Orlando, florida. I pulled aside four of the best coaches that I know personally, that I got to ask three health and fitness questions and two life advice related questions that I think you're going to find a ton of value in. So please enjoy and take a moment to subscribe, because there's going to be a lot more videos coming, just like this. I want to introduce to you guys my good friend, jared Hamilton. Honestly, guys, he's one of the coaches I respect the most, not only for his success, but also his communication skills, and I definitely will be posting his podcast in the description. It is like one of my favorite to listen to, but, that being said, I'm really excited to dive into these questions, absolutely so, uh, I have three questions about health and fitness, and then I have three more and more life, or two more, uh, more life and uh, life advice. Realm right, I love this idea.
Speaker 2:You're so smart, dude and life advice. Realm right. I love this idea.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're so smart dude, I stole this idea from Jared and you guys can hear a different version of it on his podcast.
Speaker 2:But you, to be fair, you saw the idea and ran with it. So that's the thing, is you're the smart one. It's like, oh, that works really well, I'm going to do the same thing. So you're the smart one.
Speaker 3:I'm definitely going to try to put my own unique spin on it, but uh, you already are right now.
Speaker 1:Thank you, bro, Appreciate that. So my first question what is the biggest misconception about fitness or nutrition that you'd like to either debunk or kind of prove otherwise?
Speaker 2:The first. There's so many, but the first that came to my head is that it's supposed to be slow.
Speaker 1:Oh, I like that.
Speaker 2:Um. Can you elaborate?
Speaker 1:a little bit.
Speaker 2:So I'm, I'm big on like whatever first comes to your head, right, um, from, in most cases, um, but uh, that's the thing is, most bad decisions and weight loss are made because of a misunderstanding of speed. Uh, one of the analogies I use is I'm like with pregnancy, everyone knows like. With pregnancy, nine months is around the magic number, a little more, a little less, but like nine months, is it? Um? But if you look at, if you look at the person, that's, let's say, the gestation period of pregnancy, and you have a mom who's, let's say, three months pregnant, she may not be showing very much, but imagine, if she goes, I'm not showing something.
Speaker 2:It's like, no, just that little fuckers come out in like nine months, like they chest. That little fucker's coming out in like nine months, like they're 100. But but what if, uh, what if a mom was like um, I'll do whatever it takes to get it out in three months? Or or if a doctor said I have a cool shot, or I have a pill, or I have a powder, I have a potion that I can make the baby come out in three months and it'll be fine? Um, will it though? Like you know, like. But why, though, because everyone knows, nine months is the magic number it, it's not supposed to take long.
Speaker 2:So I always say weight loss or building muscle or whatever it's just like. It's just like pregnancy, it's supposed to take. Nothing cool happens till about nine or so months. Yeah, no, of course you can see progress before then. But if your mindset going into it is, no, I'm not going to have what I want for like at least nine months. I love that. That's great, cause it was because the that's great, because the issue is oh, I haven't seen drastic progress. Great, you're not supposed to 100%. It's supposed to be slow and don't speed up something that is meant to be slow, 100%.
Speaker 1:I think my favorite thing I've heard on that topic exactly is like plan for it to be a year and watch it happen in six months.
Speaker 2:We actually a question on our intake form for new clients coming on board. Is that would you be cool taking 12 plus months to get to where you want to be? If they say no, I won't even entertain coaching them.
Speaker 1:That's phenomenal. I'm going to take that as for me as well.
Speaker 2:Now, granted, we have options that aren't 12 months, but if you're not prepared, then you're not our people.
Speaker 1:A hundred percent. That's amazing, man. Thank you for sharing so I think this is a really interesting one. You know what's been the biggest challenge you faced on your own health and fitness journey and how did you overcome that.
Speaker 2:My own biggest that's such a good question my own biggest struggle and how I overcame that?
Speaker 2:Because this is an interesting thing is there's levels to this, like there's this For sure. Now I would say what comes to mind first is when I was deep in the trenches, not knowing what I was doing, because I was the guy. I mean, it's I was, it's the same. It's. The reason my content resonates with so many people is because I'm basically talking to the version I was. So for me, my biggest misconception was I thought I had to to. Uh, I, I believed all the bullshit. I believed like I, I went, started going into a big meathead gym with a bunch of dumbasses. I didn't know what they're doing, but they were all taking steroids, so they obviously knew what they were talking about. So I would talk to guys. They're like no, the only way you can build muscles eat a dozen eggs a day. Yeah, I guess, I guess you gotta eat a dozen eggs a day, or like expensive or like I was convinced like fruit, eating fruit while driving a car somehow stored fat, because crazy shit, right.
Speaker 2:But I didn't know any better. I was uneducated. I did for sure, no judgment, no shame. But like on paper, I had the wrong information for sure. So for me it was getting the right information, understanding, like, the truth about calories and how they work in calorie deficits, like when I found out you can eat whatever you want in calorie deficit and nothing inherently stores fat. I was like it's like I got a lottery ticket, bro. I'm like I can't, I don't have to, like suppress my cravings and like then binge on the weekends, like, but I call it a cheat day, and I was told that would your metabolism.
Speaker 2:So I was unknowingly validating binge eating and having a poor relationship with food Wow, right. So for me it was getting the right information on how to lose weight sustainably. That goes against the grain of what diet culture teaches. And that's how I overcame it. I started studying coaches, unfollowing you know the, the, the Fitspo, you know Joey's and Jane's and things like that and started leaning into the right information and then applying it and then watching the results speak for themselves. And then my life was never the same.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I love that. I love that answer. So my third and final question, for health and fitness related, is you know what would be the number one piece of advice you'd give to someone just starting their weight loss journey?
Speaker 2:Be okay. Be okay that it's taken three years to get to where you want to be. Like fuck the 12-month thing. Like literally be okay, taking literally like the next three to five years and it'll be fine. Like it literally will be so much better. The people I've worked with a lot of people, probably thousands at this point been coaching for the last 12 ish, 13 years professionally okay. Our friends with the best coaches in the world and the as far as from a client and result side of things. The people who try to to lose weight the fastest, struggle the longest. And the people who quite literally release the attachment to the timeline in our case, or who literally say to themselves we see, with clients, they go, I don't care how long this takes, it can take as long as at once I'm going to do my end of the bargain and the results will show when they're ready. Yeah, all of a sudden that person had the craziest three to six months of their life, right, like that's that's it.
Speaker 1:The ones who go fast end up going nowhere.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the one who want to lose weight the fastest, struggle the longest.
Speaker 1:Absolutely man. And then, um, wow, that was. Those were amazing answers, by the way. So, um, now switching gears a little bit, going into the realm of your life, and so, uh, I really like this question when you asked me and I wanted to ask you the same question. So I wanted to know what's the best piece of life advice you've ever received?
Speaker 2:So I actually didn't receive this from anyone. I heard it on a piece of content from a couple people that I look up to, so I took it as if it was given to me. It is what if it works out better than you ever could have imagined? So, naturally, growing up very anxious person, always worried, always doubtful, always struggled with trusting myself, trusting outcomes we're going to work out, always see, like well, what could go wrong so I could prepare Right. But when I heard what if it could work out better than you ever could have imagined, I went wow.
Speaker 2:Because the cool thing is the way the brain works. If we naturally will, what if ourselves into a hole? Because the brain doesn't like to be hurt? It's about self-preservation. But every the the universe operates in polarities light, dark inside the room, outside the room, up down, like there's always a polarity. So if we can entertain, what if it doesn't work, we have to to be fair, entertain what if it works out better than we ever could have imagined? Because now your brain looks at that possibility and goes, you know, fair, like what if? And then I have cases in my life where it did happen better than I ever imagined and like these things happen out in left field that they should not have happened, but it's like that was supposed to have happened. So that's it. When I get into a state where I'm cause we're all human, myself included like struggle with worry, doubt and anxiety is go well, what if it could? What if it works out better than I could imagine?
Speaker 3:So that is the exact reason I want to come on here because this man communicates so freaking well.
Speaker 2:A lot of therapy, my man. I really hope you guys take a moment to sit with that answer.
Speaker 1:That was amazing man. So I think my last one I want to leave here with is what fuels you, what drives you forward, what makes you want to keep going on this journey of life that you are on?
Speaker 2:It's interesting. Part of me has no idea. Literally part of me goes I don't know, has no idea. They're literally part of me goes I don't know. Um, I've lived. I was taught early on in my entrepreneurial journey, early 20s, as, uh, my mentor and like the whole thing was grow or die. Yeah, so, like if I, like we were doing one or the other right, we're either growing or dying. It's my entire sleeve is about um, but part of me also lives in the state of like, like, like, what's my potential? You know, um, it's kind of airy fairy as that sounds, um, but I, I would just hate to get to the end of my life and it's like yo, you could have done that Like that's who that was the people you could help, that's the impact you could have created, that's the experiences you could have had.
Speaker 2:That's the family you, of my own self, we have to be careful of that. So that's a dichotomy. I'm still. I don't think we get to a place where we've mastered that. It's on a sliding scale. One of the weird things I do and I don't talk about this very often, but I feel like it's relevant is I actually. Your audience is either going to go wow, or they're going to go you're a you're fucking weird.
Speaker 1:Um, I take advice from my 80 year old self. Solomon, solomon, what are you talking about? Uh, like in the Bible? No, uh, no, uh.
Speaker 1:Alex Ramos, he talks about this and he calls him Solomon or I forget why, but he talks about like he creates a Google doc and he has a conversation with himself as like Solomon. He calls Solomon. His 80 year old self talks to him on a Google doc every day and I learned that from the, from his podcast, from, uh, Alex, from Ozzy's podcast, but, uh, I've actually thought about doing that myself. So, honestly, I don't, I don't think it's weird. They all might be like what the hell is okay, but can you like what the hell that's okay?
Speaker 2:that's okay, but can you, can you kind of explain a little bit like how and why you do that? So, um, I'm pretty sure I I know I haven't like heard his talk on it, but I I've heard a little bits of stuff. I take a little bit different approach, like um, because I love these deep questions, like like good, deep conversations, like one of my favorite things. And, um, so when I back in the day, when I was reading a big, a big napoleon hill, okay, and Napoleon Hill, uh, I've read a lot of his work and one of the things that he did was he talked about like he's Napoleon Hill, interviewed 500 of the world's most successful people, wrote the book thing grow rich, right? Yeah, well, in his next book after he died, that got published. They waited till he died to publish it. It's called Outwitting the Devil, where it's basically not so great interviews and what he learned from that. It's fucking intense. But one of the things Napoleon Hill did was he basically went into the boardroom of his mind and had interviews to seek counsel from these amazing humans.
Speaker 2:What would Abe Lincoln say about this? What would Thomas Edison say about this? What would Henry Ford say about this? Modern day would be like. What would Steve Jobs say about this? What advice would Tony robbins give me?
Speaker 2:Like, whatever it may be, yeah, um, but the question is I think I may have heard this from alex alex's who, like your 80 year old old self, 90 year old self, truly has your best interest at heart. Um, there's a level of understanding about you no one else can have. Like, yeah, like I could, I would love to have ed my letter. Tony robbins, tell me, like, strategize with me. There's still a level that they can't understand about me. But no one's going to have the self-awareness or understanding at the right levels other than you. That's why self-awareness is so key. So who would have all that is my 80 or 90 or 100 year old self.
Speaker 2:So I will literally get. This is so weird. I will literally get into like a meditative state, especially when I'm struggling with something, and I like I was I did this somewhat recently, because it's not an all the time thing I was literally at my like on our deck on my fire pit and I was literally like meditating, like eyes closed, whatever, and I literally visualized myself across the fire pit, from me, this wrinkly 80 year old motherfucker, and I was wrinkly 80 year old motherfucker and I was just quiet. I was just like what would it? Because obviously he knows what I'd be struggling with, or like I would be like in my mind, like having a conversation, um, because it's kind of it's almost like reverse inner child work, like you know, like it's proven in psychology. We teach this with our clients. I do it, um, you can go back and have a conversation with your inner child and actually heals and all these things. Why can't I do that, that the other way Again, that law of polarity.
Speaker 2:So if I can go back in time and have a conversation with my 13 year old self in my head and it's proven to heal. Why can't I go to the 80 year old self and seek counsel? Whether this is, some may believe, like there's that version of myself that lives in a universe somewhere that I'm tapping into. I don't. I don't know. Or if it's this sense of knowing deep down Because we all use that term it's like, oh, I'm worried, but I know deep down it's going to be okay. Well, we can access that deep down. This is something I learned from Kyle Cease. There's a level of a deep down wisdom we all have, and so for me it is the 80-year-old self, the 100-year-old self. So for me it's the state that I get into and I feel like I can tap into it.
Speaker 2:It's fucking weird, but I'm telling you I'll have notes. It will literally be as if the words on those patients, they were not mine. Wow, I literally have the note. Actually, I have a it's called a remarkable, it's like a Kindle notebook, right a like a it's called a remarkable, it's like a kindle notebook, right and I have like all of it, and so this way, when I'm struggling, I go back to it in whatever 80 year old jerry, it's literally like dude, it's so trippy, like I got into that state and I go okay, wrote that down. I go back, you have like two pages of notes and I'm like those are not my words. Yeah, I don't know what we call god, the universe, somewhere, my 80 year old self, I don't know, but it's what I needed to hear in that moment.
Speaker 1:So that was again again, I'm telling you guys, make sure you listen to his podcast. And uh, jared, I would love to ask you if, in the near future, there's two topics that I know that you are, uh, someone I respect the most when they're talking about these two things, which is the inner work that you just mentioned, as well as self-sabotage, and I think those are two things that I would love to go deep, yeah, with you, uh, on a podcast in the near future.
Speaker 3:So okay, just tell me what.
Speaker 4:Absolutely. Let's do it, bro. I appreciate you, jared.
Speaker 1:Thank you again for coming on love you, man, absolutely this is andrew garretson, garretson, garretson. This is andrew garretson. Uh, gerritsen Gerritsen, gerritsen, gerritsen.
Speaker 3:This is Andrew Gerritsen. That's kind of racist, but no, I love it. Yeah, Andrew Gerritsen.
Speaker 1:So my man here is a coach that you should definitely know, you should definitely follow, probably one of the most brilliant minds I've ever spoken to and had the opportunity to have a conversation with. And so, my man, questions for you. Okay, let's do it. Three of them are health and fitness related, okay, uh, which I think you're a perfect fit to answer, uh. And then the ones I think you're a little less fit to answer are the life advice ones but I'm going to ask you anyways, all right, so that being said, man, you know my question.
Speaker 1:My first question is what is the biggest misconception about fitness and nutrition that you'd like to debunk?
Speaker 3:biggest misconception about fitness nutrition that you'd like to debunk, the biggest misconception around health and fitness? Yeah, you know it's. It's funny because a lot of things jump in my head and I think that's really a great symptom of what we're seeing in the industry right now, which is people are really trying to stand out fitness influencers, people that may have experienced themselves with their own health and fitness journey and people that ultimately have a lot of anecdotal understanding of what works for them. But I think a lot of people really forget that what works for them may not work for everyone else, and I think that, more than anything, the most important thing is to keep it as simple as you can, maintain the ability to execute, because if you can't do the plan, regardless of how great of a scientifically based plan it is or how much it worked for someone else, consistency and execution is the number one definitive factor of what allows people to really be successful with pursuing their goals. That's a phenomenal answer.
Speaker 1:Thank you bro. So my next question would be is you know, as you know, as coaches most of us have, been on our own journeys and we've all faced some sort of challenge. So what has been the biggest challenge you faced on your own health and fitness journey and how did you overcome?
Speaker 3:that you know it's. That's a funny one, I think. So I assume most of these listeners probably aren't going to know who I am, and so just a little bit of backstory. I was born in Korea, moved to Georgia and the US when I was probably about eight years old, and so fitting in was always a thing to obviously be the foreign kid in the room and being a little bit different, being in the South Right, and I think that I wouldn't say racism, but there are definitely some diversity related tendencies that people have, definitely some diversity related tendencies that people have.
Speaker 3:You kind of recall what we're talking about in the beginning.
Speaker 3:It's funny that it's kind of coming full circle now, all joking aside, but you know, I think one of the biggest challenges that I had to overcome was feeling like I was good enough to want to be included, and what I mean by that is originally because I was different.
Speaker 3:I thought that I wanted to buck the system and not have to try to belong, and I thought if I was better than everyone else, everyone would want to try to belong with me, and it really created this paradigm that evolved as I've matured and evolved and I often find that I have a lot of elitist tendencies that tend to alienate people as I've grown, and that really makes it a strain on developing meaningful relationships. So, while being really good at what I do in the education space with my special operations background, there's a lot of interpersonal relationships that I've sacrificed because I've tried to be better than so that I wouldn't have to belong, and so I think the thing that I really learned most, as it relates to my own personal journey, comes in the form of you don't have to know everything, and the more you know, you actually lose a lot of your humanity and you lose the ability to relate to other people. Because it becomes that information becomes a part of how you operate in your day-to-day, which you start to resent people.
Speaker 1:That don't understand that and aren't willing to operate at the same level. Wow.
Speaker 3:That was a deep man. Thank you for sharing that. I really appreciate that.
Speaker 1:So I know, like I mentioned earlier, it's like you. Uh, you have a brilliant mind and I know you've worked with a lot of people coaches and clients and so I want to know what would be the number one piece of advice you'd give to someone getting started on their weight loss journey the number one advice that I would give to someone starting their weight loss journey would be you know, it's less tactical as I get older in it, and a lot of this stuff is definitely grounded in community.
Speaker 3:You're only a plant, can only grow, even in the best sunlight, and it has the most water and the most nutrients, to the degree that its soil allows. And what I mean by that is your environment will be the biggest determining factor for your sustainment of a new behavior. For instance, if you take into account, let's say, that you know there's a wife and she doesn't feel great about how she looks, her husband may not have any awareness around that and she may tell him hey, babe, I'm trying to lose some weight, you know I'm trying to eat healthier. And let's say that in a rare instance the guy actually goes grocery shopping.
Speaker 3:I shouldn't laugh at that, maybe in the rare instance the guy goes grocery shopping, you know um, and he's buying junk food and he's doing all these things that are adding these temptations that she may fall prey to. Uh, because of a lot of grooved in behaviors. And so the best way to change behaviors that have been set in stone for a very long time to change the environment upon which a lot of those things are enacted, which is why joining a gym and finding people that you can hold yourself accountable with, not for, because we find that in psychology research, people will do a lot of things for other people that they won't do for themselves. And so, when we think about putting skin in the game, it actually looks more like having a selfless attachment to someone else and like, hey, I'm going to come to the gym because I know that if you don't come, I won't come. And so cultivating that environment is one of the biggest, strongest things that people can do when they're first starting out, even more so than knowing what to do, because in community you learn faster, you share more, you're going to celebrate each other's wins, you're going to feel better.
Speaker 3:You're going to celebrate each other's wins, you're going to feel better, you're going to feel seen, which is actually a huge missing in these days, and that's why social media is so prevalent, that's why people are on there and that's why, when you look at what people are producing, a lot of people actually really struggle to be seen and feeling vulnerable, and so, having people around you that, hey, I get what you're going through. We're going through the same thing that shared suffering. That's something that I took from the military, which is why, when you have a lot of people that aren't used to thinking in that way and you put them into a shared living space for three months, um, you all develop a lot of same values, the same behaviorisms and a lot of same you know ways of thinking, and I think that that's probably the biggest shaping factor now if you go into an environment where no one knows what the fuck they're doing that's.
Speaker 3:that's obviously gonna be a problem, so there should be some kind of learning in there.
Speaker 3:But I think that the tactical implementation that might be finding a small group that you can train with, that's maybe led by a personal trainer or an expert in that, that can really shape and make sure that you do it well, because mistakes are costly. You might find that if you bend over and you do a deadlifting correctly, you might find that if you bend over and you do a deadlifting correctly, your back goes out. Now you think bending over is a dangerous thing, when in reality it might've been that you tried it but you didn't do it well. And so the supervision element inside of a community setting would be the second thing, and I would say go find an expert that you trust, that you like, um, and that understands your certain circumstances and situations, so that way you can know that your community is going to be supported by someone that's knows and is going to reduce your cost of error.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I think my the two biggest things right there that really hit home with me is that community and environment, and I think um those two alone. If you can find the right community and create and and build the right environment, man, you're going to be unstoppable 100%.
Speaker 3:Think about football teams. It's not just a running back right. That would be crazy.
Speaker 1:I don't care how good your quarterback is, but if your whole team doesn't work together in unison, we've probably seen some of the greatest teams not be one player. It's the entire unit. It's the family that produces the best outcomes outcomes in the super bowls and the rings and all the praise. So I love that. That was fucking beautiful man. So we're gonna switch gears a little bit. Okay, we're gonna talk a little bit about life advice and I want to know what is the best life advice you've ever been given, or?
Speaker 3:that you've received. You know it's funny, I um there's a guy when you ask me that I don't know if this is the best advice that's ever been given, but it's the first one jumps to mind. So, just like thinking through it, yeah, I love that. Um, I was sitting in a sauna and it was a co-ed sauna, so it was a family, it was a as a husband and wife, um, and it was while I was working at a in a, a big sitting there.
Speaker 3:Um, I walk in and the guy knew me. He knew me as one of the trainers and he's trying to make small talk. He makes a joke, right, and as I see that I naturally have a very strong personality, uh, and I kind of three up him and I'm like, oh okay, you know just the tip, or I kind of say something like that and his wife kind of titters and like he's like maybe you should come in a little bit softer. And so one of the reasons why that sticks out to me isn't because I could have made that so hard joke. Like, obviously that's the easy thing on the table, but when I think about coming in softer and taking the time to get to know the people in your environment.
Speaker 3:I think it it really allows you the opportunity to again. Mistakes are costly and so, until you can calibrate across the room and read the room and know who you're sitting across from, get a, get a shared understanding, which comes through small talk, which comes through finding commonalities and looking and exploring some of those things before you know, maybe opening your mouth and sharing a polarizing opinion or potentially saying something might be very off putting. That's one of the things that I took, and this was in like 2013, 2014. Like that's kind of stuck with me 10 years later. You know, as I'm in my 30s now, of just think twice before you speak when the stakes are higher and you know when it matters.
Speaker 1:Amazing man. Thank you for sharing that story. So my last question is you know what ultimately fuels and drives you to continue moving forward in this game we call life?
Speaker 3:Being elite. You know, I wasn't meant to be average, and I think that part of that could be some childhood trauma, right, and I think that people's anxieties will do more to shape their personalities than anything else. What you fear most is the thing you will do the most to try to overcome, until you become self-aware. And so, when I think about the things that I fear most is, um, you know, the the idea that my legacy is meaningless, that the things I leave behind, whether it's my family, whether it's the curriculums that I get to, that I get to contribute to, that I get to cultivate in the relationships. I think a lot of that is what keeps me going forward. And how do I leave everyone a little bit better than how I came across them, whether it's they feel more connected, they feel more educated, they have a better tactical implementation, and so, if that's the big picture, the way that I, that I keep myself focused on that day to day, is, I actually keep a little you don't have my permanent marker over there, but I have a little water bottle that I put tally marks on, and so every time I share something, it's customary for me to ask um, if I'm thinking about it to say what did you take away from that? And if they share one, two, three, 50 things, then I get to put those as tally marks on my bottle.
Speaker 3:And so every year I have a goal of having a hundred thousand uh, what I call light bulb moments, or basically epiphanies in people.
Speaker 3:That uh is a very clear transactional way for me to do this thing. That people like, wow, you're so, you know, you're so giving, you're so sharing with your information. Like it's kind of selfish in a lot of ways, and I think that it's okay to be selfish as long as it serves a common good. And you want to think about how can you be constructively selfish to forward the conversation for a community to, to really champion an industry or to challenge the status quo in a way that's not just self serving, but also how can we be community serving in that way? But if you don't take care of yourself and you don't make it something that's very personal to you, aka selfish, you're going to find that it's really challenging to stay focused and that's where people tend to get blown off course very frequently, because it's not something that's really tied to their depth of core and a scoreboard, so to speak. So my scoreboard and my fear and anxieties are probably the things that keep me going. If I put a, put a bow on all of it, wow.
Speaker 1:Andrew, that was phenomenal man.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. Yeah, of course, absolutely Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Up next we have my friend Jordan, who I just met yesterday and, funny enough, she just so happens to work at the same gym in a different city, in Long Beach, and it just so happens that all the way across the entire nation we came in contact and ultimately, I saw that she was a great coach and I wanted to ask her these questions. So, that being said, I want to know what is the biggest misconception about fitness or nutrition that you would like to debunk or talk a little bit about.
Speaker 5:I think, overall, what I see within my clients is just not eating enough.
Speaker 1:Especially in female clients.
Speaker 5:Yes, you know they'll come to me and say that they're eating great. It's always what they like to say. I eat really good, you know. Super clean, super clean. Yeah, I have like a salad and, like you know, and super clean, super clean. Yeah, I have like a salad and, like you know, maybe a smoothie here and there, um, and that's it, and overall they're eating like maybe one actual meal per day.
Speaker 1:A hundred percent. I agree with that. I see that way too often, so what should they actually do instead?
Speaker 5:Uh, so I like to do with my clients is start with macro counting. Okay, um, if that is a position that they're ready to be in, depending on mental health. That's something I like to check in with first. Numbers can be super overwhelming 100%. But I think starting with your macros is a great place because it gives you so much freedom with your food. You don't feel stuck within a meal plan, or like you have to eat chicken and rice, which is what I think?
Speaker 1:Same shit every day.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I think that's what they think I'm going to have them do.
Speaker 1:Right, so, um, I start with macro. I love that. I love that. Thank you for sharing. So my next question would be is you know, this one's a little bit deeper. So what has been the biggest challenge that you faced on your own personal health and fitness journey, and how were you able to overcome that?
Speaker 5:Um so, reason that I became a trainer was to empower other women, and I think, even through this event, you know, uh, teaching self-love and learning how to hype yourself up to get you from A to B. So that is what I like to push into my clients and something that I've had to overcome, where I never felt like I was enough. Whether it was in the gym or outside the gym, I never felt like I looked good enough. You know, body dysmorphia is real.
Speaker 1:I still have that yeah it's tough, it's tough.
Speaker 5:So that is something that was my biggest obstacle, so to speak.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you overcame that. I believe we talked about this a little bit, and do you feel like getting strong, becoming healthy, was part of that evolution, of overcoming that challenge that you face?
Speaker 5:Yeah, I think, maturing in the gym for one, and then who you surround with too. You know like the trainers that I work with are incredible, and you know seeing so many strong women in the industry that also look different than they did 1020 years ago. You know like we see different shapes and sizes today 100% beautiful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, transformations are so powerful in so many ways, mentally and physically.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that answer. So that kind of goes into my last nutrition and fitness question, which is like what is the number one piece of advice you'd give someone that's just starting their weight loss journey?
Speaker 5:Don't make it too complicated. It's not that complicated. You don't need every supplement under the sun.
Speaker 1:You don't need any at all.
Speaker 5:Yeah, you don't need to worry about brown rice versus white rice. You know, keep things simple.
Speaker 1:That debate. That's hilarious.
Speaker 5:I agree with you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, simple is easier and I feel like to piggyback off. I feel like so often people are like I'm going to throw the whole kitchen sink at it. I'm going to try to change every aspect of life. It's like just pick one thing and make it simple and start there. You know.
Speaker 5:So I completely agree. Yeah, that's another thing too, if I can add you know baby steps, and if you make a mistake, don't say I fucked up, so it's all fucked up, you know, and then fall backward.
Speaker 1:Yes we're human, we're supposed to make mistakes, yeah. So, that being said, like I have two more questions, and these are more life related, so my first question is is what is the best piece of life advice you've ever received?
Speaker 5:So something that my grandpa used to always say to me was that his cup was overflowing, and it's probably my favorite saying, and I think, just to tell yourself to fill your own cup first and letting that overflow into all aspects of your life.
Speaker 1:Wow, that one hits home. That one definitely hits home. Let that one sink in a little bit.
Speaker 3:That was amazing.
Speaker 1:I love that. So my last question what would you say today? What continues to drive you and fuels you to continue going forward in this crazy game we call life?
Speaker 5:I think a couple of things. As a kid. I grew up with nothing. I definitely grew up in poverty. I didn't have the best step running, so wanting to be so far from where I came from, you know, and just wanting to better myself every day because I know I'm capable of so much more than that. And then, secondly, my clients. They motivate the hell out of me, you know the way they push themselves every day and seeing them grow so much is huge.
Speaker 1:You're going to be the one, the one to break the cycle and to change your lineage. So that's freaking awesome. I love that, and so thank you so much for taking the time to come on my podcast. Next up, we have my friend, ryan Johnson my man. Thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker 4:Hey, what's good man. Good seeing you again.
Speaker 1:So you know, I met this guy very recently, actually in January. We had some amazing conversations and I thought he'd be a perfect guest to have on. So, essentially what I'm doing here, I have five questions. Three of them are like health and fitness related. I know you've worked with a lot of people and you've built an amazing YouTube channel. By the way, if you haven't go subscribe, it's down in the description. So I have three questions there, and then I have two more that are more like life related. So let's dive into it, man.
Speaker 4:So number one.
Speaker 1:What is the biggest misconception about fitness or nutrition that you would like to debunk?
Speaker 4:I'm going to try to keep it as brief as possible, but I feel like it takes much time, you know, yeah, debunking stuff is like.
Speaker 4:So the biggest thing that I'd like to debunk and I feel like I am on a mission and part of it is selfish and trying to help who I was a few years ago, right, like, yes, it's not the answer for everybody, but it's where I struggled um the most, and that is this idea that you've consistently and always got to be chasing optimal and what is best, and the reality is a lot of it works.
Speaker 4:You just got to find what works for you. I think sometimes we get obsessed with, like, what is the best way to do, and we spend so much time thinking about that that we don't spend any time doing what is good enough, especially from a guy who was I used to be really physically fit, but then, as I look back on it, that's I wasn't taking into account what my life looked like. Like I didn't have kids, I was in the army and the infantry. They set time for us to work out in the morning and in the afternoon, like, and when I was in college, like I had the time to do that, and it's like my goal now isn't to be a it's not to be perfect and it's not to be an elite level athlete.
Speaker 4:That's not my goal. Therefore, why do my protocols have to like line up to that? So this idea that it has to be perfect, I think, sometimes trips us up. All of it works.
Speaker 1:I love that, thank you. Thank you for sharing that. So I know you kind of mentioned this a little bit, which is like your own journey. So I would love to know, like, what has been the biggest challenge you faced on your own journey and how were you able to overcome that?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think one of the things that.
Speaker 4:So I'm a chronic yo-yo dieter. I've always been heavier. I remember when I was in the fifth grade I popped the buttons on my dad's pants. So at nine or ten I remember Fifth grade yeah, a vivid memory my dad was in the Army and I always wanted to follow in his footsteps and be in the Army, so I would wear his uniforms around. But in the fifth grade I could no longer wear his uniforms. That's wild. I've always been a bigger kid, so I've always struggled with yo-yo dieting. I've always been a bigger kid, so I've always struggled with yo-yo dieting.
Speaker 4:I think the biggest takeaway or thing that I've learned or that I struggle with is really adopting this I want to be good for the rest of my life. Even now it's like am I there? Sometimes it can be discouraging when it's like I'm not as far as I want to be, but really like looking back and saying I am better than I was a little bit ago and that is good enough to keep me going. It's like if you set a goal I want to be under 200 pounds you lose 60 pounds. You're 205. You can focus on that. Man, I'm not at 200. And it's like, man, you're down 60. Like, just ride that out for a while.
Speaker 1:Wow, dude, that was. That was fantastic. Okay. So, that being said, I do have one more for you here. What is the one piece of advice you would give to someone that is just getting started on their weight loss journey?
Speaker 4:I'm going to give you two.
Speaker 4:Okay that's fair. The first one is I'm going to challenge you to take that long-term approach. I'm going to challenge you to say don't set a goal when you're going to be there. You have to, from the beginning, know that it's going to take a while. With that being said, what's the first actual step to take? This is going back to the first question is like debunk the myth that there is a right way or there is an optimal. It all works. So the first step is knowing what you know. Now, if you're watching this and want to lose weight, you already have some ideas of some things you can do. So find the one that you think you can fit into your life now and just do that one and nothing else. That's where I'm going to challenge you.
Speaker 1:Don't do anything else until that, one is a habit If you could build.
Speaker 4:I always say three, you said two. If you built two healthy habits a year but I'm talking healthy habits that you do not go back on At the end of a decade, you will have 20 healthy habits that you will live out for the rest of your life. If you try to pick up five habits, honestly, most of us try to do 10. I'm going to hit 10,000 steps. I'm going to drink a gallon of water. I'm going to get eight hours of sleep. I'm going to hit it's too much. Maybe you keep it for a week, maybe two, maybe, if you're good, three, but then two months later you're doing none of them. So I'm going to challenge you to go slow. So what is the first actual step? That's going to vary based off of the person, but off everything you know. Now find the one that you think can integrate, keep that up for three, four months. Then do the next one. That's the challenge. Just do one.
Speaker 1:Take the first step. I love that. One step at a time. The fastest I see people fail is when they try to change their entire lives overnight. They wake up in the morning one day like I'm going to lose this weight, I'm going to go do da-da-da-da-da-da. It's like no, just pick one. I love that. That is fantastic advice, man. So, speaking of advice, I have two other questions, and this goes back to just life advice, and I want to know like what is some of the best life advice you've ever received?
Speaker 4:I was thinking about this. I was walking up just because we're here at Coaching Con and doing well in my business. I have done well in a lot of things and I think part of that is looking back to my dad. He was in the Army. I was fortunate enough to join the Army, go in the infantry. I always wanted to follow in his footsteps. But I remember when I was in the 11th grade he said something to me. I was telling him I was thinking about going in the 11th grade. He, um, he said something to me. I was telling him I was thinking about going in the army and he was like, if you're thinking about joining the army to be average, don't even do it. And like that has shaped, shaped my life. Now I think that probably some of my struggles to that my all or nothing mentality, but I channel that into I'm going to be above average about being consistent over a long period of time, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:That same energy.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Shipped into moderation. But if you're going to be average, don't try. I like that and you're definitely I got deep real quick.
Speaker 3:No, I know.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic, man. That's why I do these and I'm asking pretty deep questions. So I expect those answers in terms of, uh, wanting you to dive into it and I appreciate you being able to go deep like that and really share those those moments and uh, I think that is extremely impactful just to hear that and I I hope our listeners here, I hope you guys, are really sitting with these things, um and so, like that being said, man, like I want to know one last thing, and that is like what, what drives and or what fuels you to continue moving forward on this journey we call life?
Speaker 4:Yeah, no, I think it a hundred percent. Um comes down to wanting to serve and to make an impact. Um, the thing that drives me is absolutely um my family and wanting to drive impact there. And money like doesn't do anything for me. Like I've made money in the past and I was like empty on the inside, um, because I felt like I wasn't having an impact.
Speaker 4:I, I think it's just a drive. It's cliche, but sometimes the things that are cliche are absolutely true. It's like is is wanting to make a bigger impact. I think um just understanding, with my weight loss journey, the thing that I have learned is, if I can stay consistent for a long time, I'm going to do great things. So the thing that keeps me going on the low days is like I now I know I can have one of those, but a low day doesn't negate the good days ahead. That is what is different from now than before is that it really is that 80-20 rule. So the thing that drives me is to have impact. That's what, on a day where it's not going well, the reason that I'm able to get back up the next day is know that well, if I get at it today, I'm going to have that impact.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I always like to say to clients and to other people around me is like the low days are not what define you, it's how you respond and react to those days will make you who you are.
Speaker 4:A hundred percent, like on a weight loss, like specific thing. I stress eat. I think after my first appointment I kind of picked it up there. I've been a stress eater for a while. I still stress eat. When I started doing this full-time there were some stressful days it happened.
Speaker 4:For sure To think that I'm going to go the rest of my life and not stress. Eat food brings me some level of comfort. To deny that is to deny reality. The difference between now and five years ago, when I was at my heaviest, is I would stress, eat and the next day I would wake up and I would say why did you do that? You shouldn't have done that. What were you thinking? And that would lead into weeks of eating bad, whereas now it's like a bad day if I have a 10 000, which I don't do, but I may do a six or seven K day every once in a while. I still stressy. But the difference is if I have one 6,000 calorie day, that is not going to determine where I am a year from now, unless I wake up the next day and I'm like why did I do that? What's the point in even trying today?
Speaker 1:And when you wake up and make that difference of I'm just going to get right back to what I was doing before and realize I'm human. I can make mistakes. There's no such thing as perfect, and that's clearly why you've seen success in your life, success in your business and, uh, it's only getting better man. So thank you so much, I appreciate it dude, thank you so much for taking the time and I'm excited to share this with these lovely humans, me too, man.
Speaker 4:Thank you, love you, bro, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:And that's a wrap. This was one of the most amazing experiences ever here at CoachingCon. Not only were the speakers great, but, more importantly, I got to meet some of the most amazing humans. On top of that, these conversations not only inspired me, but I hope you were able to take some sort of value away from this today, and I hope you can go actually take action and implement the things that you learned so you can continue furthering your journey to help you become the best version of yourself. So thank you again for taking the time to listen. If you haven't already, please go like and subscribe. You mean the absolute world to me and I'll catch you on the next one, peace.