June 4, 2025

Josh Hajar: Staying positive, beating cancer, and losing over 100 lbs

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Mike is out of town, so Jim brought in one of Third Street Barbell’s most consistent and inspirational members, Josh Hajar.

Josh is an emergency department nurse who faced a harrowing fight with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and then suffered an injury that set back his recovery and fitness goals. When he arrived at Third Street, he was finally ready to execute a winning game plan for losing weight and getting stronger. Building on the advice he received when he first received his cancer diagnosis to “Be Positive,” Josh sets a strong example in and out of the gym.

Join our Discord for free at goodcompanydiscord.com!

Check out our gym (Third Street Barbell) at ThirdStreetBarbell.com https://www.thirdstreetbarbell.com/ and subscribe for updates about our apparel line at goodcompanyapparel.com https://3sb.co/! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Get early access to our NEXT DROP!

Check out our podcast website: 50percentfacts.com https://www.50percentfacts.com/

50% Facts is a Spreaker Prime podcast on OCN – the Obscure Celebrity Network.

____

Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) https://www.instagram.com/silentmikke/ and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd). https://www.instagram.com/thejimmcd/

Produced by Jim McDonald

Production assistance by Sam McDonald and Sebastian Brambila.

Theme by Aaron Moore. Show art by Joseph Manzo (@jmanzo523)

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/50-facts-with-silent-mike-jim-mcd--5538735/support .

WEBVTT

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Okay, so Mike is as a popular broadcast I like

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to listen to, likes to say on assignment. He's he's

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working on something else right now, so he's not not

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available to me for podcasts. So I'm going to have

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a string of guest slash co hosts, I guess for

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the next few weeks. I have not done a any

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kind of a show without Mike since late twenty eighteen.

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So you know, if I if I go up at

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some point, just kind of poke me and then I'll

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try to The standards are high, though, oh I said

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the standards are high. Standards are high.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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I'm here with josh one of our members. I'm going

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to have you introduce yourself. We don't stand on ceremony here.

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Actually we hardly ever stand for anything as lazy.

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But anyway, Hi, my name is Joshua jar I am

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forty two years old, turning forty three soon. I've been

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working out at Third Street Barbell since April of twenty

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twenty three.

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Okay, I was not sure exactly how long it about it.

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I knew it'd been a while, but yeah, yeah, we're

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gonna tilt that Mike just a little bit more towards

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your mouth, just like out out out.

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Yeah, there we go.

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There we go. Okay, that's probably that's a little better. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

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it's just I can tell you're you're kind of falling

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off Mike. So now all right, not Mike, not you

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know what I mean.

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Yes, So.

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I want to talk to you just because I know

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you have you have an interesting story, definitely faced some

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some struggles, some some battle some things like that, and

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you can feel free at any point to say, oh

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that's not a direction I want.

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To go whatever. Yeah, not a problem, thank you.

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Well, you know we can cut that on. We can

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do whatever. So you are you were nurse?

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Yes, I'm an emergency nurse. I've been an emergency nursing

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in some capacity in about fifteen years. I started working

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in healthcare in the early two thousands. I worked kind

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of like the desk to start, and then I've been

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in various roles until I became a nurse. I worked

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as nursing administration for a small portion of my career,

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but mostly with emergency patients in the emergency department.

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Okay, cool, And what was the like a lure of

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nursing And I know what kind of person you are,

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so I know the answer to the question, but I'm

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gonna ask it anyway.

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Initially I took the job as working the front desk

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of an emergency department because I needed money for college.

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And then I started really liking the aspect of healthcare,

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the teamwork that I saw from my coworkers, and so

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one of them kind of encouraged me to look at

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becoming an EMT, which I did, and then becoming a nurse,

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which was the ultimate goal. So that was the allure

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of it was I saw how well we all worked

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as a team, even when I just worked at the

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desk and I wasn't physically at the bedside with patients.

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And then as my career progressed and I started more

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hands on with patients, it was really enjoying the teamwork

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aspect and having colleagues that were, you know, we had

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to function as a team or we really couldn't perform

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our duties.

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Nursing has been historically been a profession that is dominated

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by the sheer number of women who do it, and

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men have definitely been more in the minority. I think

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that's grown over the last probably twenty twenty five years.

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My wife was a nurse and so and you know that,

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and I've definitely seen over the years that she was

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working with more men as nurses. Is there was there

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any push back in your head about that.

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Or there was never really any pushback in my head

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about it when I saw what nurses did, especially in

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the early two thousands. It's a lot different from what

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those stereotypes originally were, And I think as a profession

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we've done a really good job at getting rid of

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some of those stereotypes. We work in an environment that

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you know, from the emergency department to any capacity that

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you work with patients directly in the q care setting

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where it's high stress. You have to use a skill

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base that's physical. You have to use a knowledge base

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not just from your training in school, but what you

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learn on the job. So I think that the society

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as a whole is starting to respect the profession more.

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They're not just seen as caretakers who clean people up

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after they've soiled themselves, but they see them as people

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who administer high risk medications and they need to know

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all the parameters around those and that we are directly

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responsible for saving the lives of people. Doctors do a

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great job don't get me wrong, but they spend maybe

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five to ten minutes with every patient, and then it's

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response to the nurse's responsibility for telling the doctor. I

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see these labs, I see these vital signs, I see

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these symptoms. Can I get orders to intervene with this?

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And I think society as a whole is starting to

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see us more in that light.

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I think that nursing has become and this is just

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from observation, more technical over time, Yes, definitely, and that

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and you know a lot of guys are drawn to

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that part of it, and that's why I like it.

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There's a lot of a lot of guys become a

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MTS or paramedics or whatever because that's a very technical

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and you know, kind of algorithmic almost. These are the things,

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these are your standing orders. You can do these things,

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and these are your standing orders.

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These are the things that I'm capable of with the

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physical skills, IVY placement, all those things that I have

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to do that. You know, if you ask the doctor

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to place an IV unless they were trained in certain

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regions or in the military, they wouldn't.

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Know how, they wouldn't know how to do it.

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Yeah, So there's there's certain things that I'm really good at.

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I am the IVY guy at my facility, and I

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really enjoy that. I really enjoy that resource. But there's

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also there. It's it's it's the knowledge that comes with

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the technical skills too. You know how to use the

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algorithms what you're talking about to intervene when somebody's having

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a life threatening situation. And that's like you get to

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use that knowledge on a day and day out basis.

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Let me ask you this question. When you see bodybuilders,

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like pictures of bodybuilders or just the bodybuilders out in

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the wild, are you surveying their veins?

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Sometimes? I am. Sometimes you see somebody and you're just like,

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oh my gosh, those are amazing veins. And I think

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that's just a part of the business. We see it

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all the time.

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Yeah, it's and yeah, phlebotomous and nurses are always like, oh,

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you have good veins.

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Yeah, that's like one of the first things you noticed.

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Now that if you've been in the trade long enough, Yeah.

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I'll tell you that my anti cubital is run transverse

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and so and that freaks and put some of them out.

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They don't know like how to how do I go

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into that. It's like just it's a vein, just goes

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to the sideways to tilt the angle, tilt the angle.

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You'll get it, trust me. Just don't what And I

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mean I'm not huge veins currently, but I they they're

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not hard to find. No, No, I'm always frustrated when

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somebody misses and it's so like I could stick myself.

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Why are you doing?

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It's a I would say it's a nerve wracking thing

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when you first start, and sometimes you'll just end up

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missing because they they they most trades. When it comes

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to phlebotomy to nursing, we are not allowed to practice

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on humans. So when we first come out or when

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we're still in school, that's when we get and we're

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kind of working more on the inside of our schooling

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or our training. We sometimes we do get to work

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on humans, but in a lot of states, we can't

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stick ivs or any needles inside of a human until

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we get our first job. So you might be running

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into people who maybe they've only got a couple months

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experience to less than a year's experience.

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Yeah, when I was sixteen, I ended up in the

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er for something stupid and not something well so was

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something stupid I did, but it was just anyway, there's

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we don't need to get into exactly why I was

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there anyway. Had a nurse, probably considering where I was,

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probably in LVN, tried to draw blood and she literally

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went all the way through the vein and scraped the bone.

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Oh that's painful.

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It was the biggest bruise I've ever had on my

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arm at any point in my life. It was it

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was a whole thing.

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Yeah, that sounds really painful.

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It was. It was not good at all. I was

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frustrated by that. I know that another part of your

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journey is having been diagnosed with a life threatening illness,

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and like, first before we launched into what it was,

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what did that feel like as a medical professional?

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Oh, so this is this is this actually kind of

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relates to nursing a little bit too. My story, and

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it's kind of an aspect of my story. I don't

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tell that often. So in February of twenty nineteen, before

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I was diagnosed, I was involved with a pediatric fatality

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at work that kind of left me with some symptoms

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of CPTSD and I kind of knew this was happening,

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and this is February of twenty nineteen. So I was

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having difficulty sleeping, I was having anxiety, I was having palpitations,

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I was having night terrors, like all all the symptoms

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you get from PTSD, right, And then in March of

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twenty nineteen, those symptoms progressed and kept getting worse. Palpitations,

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occasional shortness of breath, chest tightness, all these things, And

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so I kept thinking to myself, Oh, this is just

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the symptoms of my PTSD. I'm okay, you know, I

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just need to find ways to calm my anxiety and

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I'll feel better. But the anxiety and the symptoms of

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shortness of breath, chest pressure and just palpitations kept getting worse.

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I was wearing like a garment fitness watch at the time,

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and it was telling me that my resting heart rate

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was in the one thirties, and I was like, oh,

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this can't be anxiety. This is way too high. But

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I didn't know what was going on, and I didn't

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start feeling severely short of breath until April of twenty nineteen.

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At that point in time, I was working for a

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facility that had an urgent care kind of attached to

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the emergency department. So I said, after my shift, I'm

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going to go and just check into the urgent care

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and say, I'm feeling a little shorter breath. Can you

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check me out. The doctor there Ransom lab work in

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an EKG and did a chest X ray and at

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that point in time you could see the mass in

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my chest. But I was thirty seven years old then,

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and he thought it was just anxiety and said, just

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follow up with your doctor. And so here I'm thinking, okay,

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I got checked out by a doctor. It's an emergency

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room doctor. I'm fine, it's just me. It's just anxiety

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from this event that I went through. All these things

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by Memorial Day actually just passed. By Memorial Day of

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twenty nineteen, I was severely short of breath. My resting

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heart rate was in the one fifties. I was pale.

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I went into work and my coworker said, you look

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like you are dying, and I said, I feel like

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I'm dying. And I was working an administrative role at

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that point in time. Sorry, I was working administrative role

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at that point in time. And my boss and one

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of the doctors that I worked with, said, we're going

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to bring you to the er. Now. They brought me

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to the emergency department and I kind of gave a

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story about I've been feeling progressively more short of breath

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than palpitations, and they saw that my heart rate on

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the monitor was very fast, and they said, oh, we

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think this might be a blood clot in your lungs

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called a pulmonary embolism, because you've been driving long periods

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of time to move from where you've lived to here

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to Sacramento. And I said, okay, let's check it out.

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So they performed cat skin of my chest and the

228
00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:23.559
nurse came into the room and I said, hey, do

229
00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:26.080
we have results from that cat skin yet? And he said,

230
00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:29.039
the doctor's going to come talk to you. And that's

231
00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:32.000
when I knew, Okay, this probably isn't a blood clot,

232
00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:35.080
because the nurse would just tell me. So the doctor

233
00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:39.440
came into the room and he said, we found a

234
00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:44.000
mass in your chest. And my first question was posterior anterior,

235
00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:48.720
because sometimes you can have anterior masses on your heart

236
00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:51.759
that are completely benign and some people just developed them

237
00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:54.480
because it's genetic thing. They don't know why, but they're

238
00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:57.799
just completely benign and they get removed and anterior means

239
00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:01.720
the front, the back the post. I mean, so posterior

240
00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:04.600
is the back and then anterior is the front. And

241
00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:07.480
so he said anterior and I said, okay, And that's

242
00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:10.639
when I knew there's something really wrong here. And he said,

243
00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:15.639
you also have very large plural effusions, which are liquid

244
00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:18.960
or between your diaphragm and your lungs. There's a space

245
00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:21.200
between your diaphragm and your lungs called the plural space,

246
00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:24.919
and mine was filled with fluid and that typically needs

247
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:28.720
to be like a vacuum or drained. Just that needs

248
00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:30.840
to be drained because you're not taking a full breath.

249
00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:33.440
So that was the shortness of breath I was experiencing.

250
00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:36.639
And then he said, you also have a para cardial effusion,

251
00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:39.360
which is there's a sack around the heart called the

252
00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:43.039
pear cardium. And mine was filling with fluid from my

253
00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:46.279
heart hitting the mass in my chest because the mass

254
00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:48.679
in my chest was directly above my heart in the

255
00:13:48.679 --> 00:13:52.080
media styinum. And so that's why I was feeling so awful,

256
00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:54.879
because my heart wasn't able to fully expand, and then

257
00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:59.240
because it was filling with fluid, it was also reducing

258
00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:03.240
what we call country activity. So I was in the

259
00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:05.840
beginning stages of what they call tampanaud, which is there's

260
00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.120
so much fluid around the heart that the heart that

261
00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:10.919
the heart can't pomp and your blood pressure goes too low.

262
00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.799
You start to have episodes of passing out, which I

263
00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:17.639
was like having small episodes of passing out but not

264
00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:21.759
realizing it. So they admitted me to the to the

265
00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:25.600
ICU where they performed a para cardial sentesis, which is

266
00:14:26.519 --> 00:14:28.600
they make a small incision under your sternum and they

267
00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:32.120
guide a tube up into the par cardium to put

268
00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:34.519
like a small incision and drain the fluid out that

269
00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:39.360
was around my heart. And then they performed thorsentisis, which

270
00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:42.000
is they make a small incision in your back to

271
00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:45.440
drain the fluid from beneath your lungs. And this happened

272
00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.919
during my first admission to the hospital. After that was

273
00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:50.720
all done and I was kind of over the hump

274
00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:56.039
of all those life threatening processes, they did a biopsy

275
00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:59.960
underneath a CT scan guided and then the biopsy can

276
00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:05.080
came back positive for non Hodgkins lymphoma. After the biopsy

277
00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:07.240
came back positive for non Hodgkins lymphoma, I got a

278
00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:10.240
PET scan, which is a scan that kind of looks

279
00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:13.399
for additional tumors because they were worried that, you know,

280
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:17.320
if this could be a version of lymphoma or non

281
00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:22.240
Hodgkins that's throughout your body, which is diffuse large lymphoma.

282
00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:24.200
There's a long acronym for it, but I won't go

283
00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:27.919
into it. But if it's located only in your chest

284
00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:30.919
or the media stynum, it's a rare variant called primary

285
00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:33.519
media stinyl B cell lymphoma, which was what I was

286
00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:39.039
diagnosed with because it was only in my media stynum. Yeah,

287
00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:43.679
so after that diagnosis, I received the information on what

288
00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:47.919
the treatment plan was and there was no surgical removal

289
00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:51.639
option because it's a very large tumor, it's above your heart,

290
00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:54.840
and lymphoma doesn't really respond to surgery. It only responds

291
00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:59.039
to chemotherapy. So the immediate treatment was just to start

292
00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:00.600
chemotherapy as possible.

293
00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:04.799
That sort of makes sense in that when you open

294
00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:10.279
up a lymphoma in an area of trying to get

295
00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:12.840
a tumor out, there's no way to not spill it

296
00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:16.720
in every place and just have it just go everywhere.

297
00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:20.600
Yeah, Well, be celllymphoma or it's in your B cells,

298
00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:23.759
which your immune system cells. So it's just really hard

299
00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:27.200
to operate and remove that. If it was causing something

300
00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:30.159
more life threatening than what I was experiencing, I'm sure

301
00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:32.360
they would have done a partial resection of the tumor

302
00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:34.159
just to kind of get me to a safer place,

303
00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.519
but I didn't really need that at that point in time.

304
00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:39.639
Luckily enough, it had to have felt pretty life threatening,

305
00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:42.360
though in the moment, yes, it felt very life threatening,

306
00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:46.519
any sensation of just get this even though like logically

307
00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:48.639
I know, but just get this out of me, Just

308
00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:49.519
get this away from me.

309
00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:51.559
Yes, there was a time where I was like, I

310
00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:55.000
don't understand why they can't, you know, just remove it quickly,

311
00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:58.519
because I continued to have symptoms of palpitations for a

312
00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:01.759
very long time even after my treatment was done, And

313
00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:03.399
so that was one of the things that was really

314
00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:05.759
difficult to deal with, which was, you know, are these

315
00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:09.400
palpitations from you know, this is coming back or is

316
00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:12.319
this just a sensation of anxiety because a lot of

317
00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:14.920
my symptoms were tied to anxiety.

318
00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:19.759
Symptoms and maybe, I mean, I don't know, does it

319
00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:22.720
Is there a lasting effect on the electrical system of.

320
00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:26.200
The heart that would there's not an lasting effect electrical

321
00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:28.480
system of the heart effect. But my lungs, from what

322
00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:32.440
I understand, have diminished capacity because those plural effusions. I

323
00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:35.400
had multiple plural effusions, and I would have to get

324
00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:39.240
them drained every couple months and or actually every month

325
00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:41.640
while I was under treatment. After about my fourth round

326
00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:46.319
of chemo, I stopped getting them, but they from the

327
00:17:46.359 --> 00:17:48.880
fact that they collapsed every time there was too much

328
00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:53.440
fluid underneath them, I have diminished, like permanent diminished capacity

329
00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:57.039
in my lungs.

330
00:17:57.759 --> 00:17:58.680
How scared were you?

331
00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:02.240
I wasified. I'm not afraid to admit it. I was

332
00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:05.000
a nine year veteran of the emergency department. I had

333
00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:10.599
seen traumas where people were shot and bloody and losing limbs.

334
00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:13.480
I had seen so many things in my career where

335
00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:16.200
I was able to stay calm. That was one of

336
00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:18.680
the things I was always complimented on. You're so common

337
00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:21.920
emergency situations, You're so calm with patients are very sick.

338
00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:26.400
And when I was in the hospital, in that bed

339
00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:31.319
wondering what was going on, I was absolutely terrified because

340
00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:33.440
I didn't know. I didn't know it was happening. I

341
00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:35.880
didn't know what kind of cancer. It was until they

342
00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:38.400
were able to diagnose me with non Hodgkins lymphoma. I

343
00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:41.279
used doctor Google to look up all sorts of scared

344
00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:44.759
and scared the shit out of myself, finding cancers that

345
00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:48.519
had ninety five percent fatality rates that were similar to

346
00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:52.559
my You know, what I presented with mine was an

347
00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:56.359
enlargement of a gland or a lymphatic vessel called the thymus.

348
00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:00.279
And so my thymus got really really big due to cancer.

349
00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:04.920
And there's also a thymic carcinoma which I was looking at,

350
00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:08.000
which has a very low survival rate. So the whole

351
00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:10.519
time I'm waiting for my biopsy results, I'm praying please

352
00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:14.640
let it be. I'm literally praying, please let it be

353
00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:15.960
non Hodgkins lymphoma.

354
00:19:16.039 --> 00:19:16.240
Yeah.

355
00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:18.400
Yeah, because there's other things that it could be that

356
00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:19.039
were more.

357
00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:20.559
Give me the lesser of the evils.

358
00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:22.160
Please give me the lesser of the evils.

359
00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.559
Yeah. If I got to have something, yes, give me

360
00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:26.680
the one. Please make it be something I could potentially

361
00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:27.079
get up with.

362
00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:29.400
Yes. And then when I finally found out that it

363
00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:33.039
was primary stinyal be selemnphoma, I found out that a

364
00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:36.759
treatment option had to be developed in twenty seventeen that

365
00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.920
had a ninety percent survival rate, and so I was

366
00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:44.839
very hopeful. At that point in time. My oncologist was

367
00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:49.519
doctor Gwendolen Hoe, who worked for Kaiser sa Kaiser Morris

368
00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:51.720
and Kaiser Sacramento at that point in time, but I

369
00:19:51.720 --> 00:19:54.119
think she's in the Bay Area now. She was wonderful.

370
00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:57.319
She was very reassuring. She told me that chemotherapy was

371
00:19:57.359 --> 00:19:59.519
going to be a rough ride, which it was, but

372
00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:02.240
that there ninety percent chance I would survive and never

373
00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:04.079
have not Hodgkins again.

374
00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:09.680
I mean, wow, that's I mean, when when I was

375
00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:13.680
in high school, during one summer, I think it was

376
00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:18.240
probably the summer I was like sixteen, went to a

377
00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:22.480
like picnic with friends whatever, and one of one of

378
00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:28.960
my friends had it's kind of off again, on again

379
00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:34.799
boyfriend whatever, super cool guy, but he had uh uh

380
00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:36.960
he had he had Hodgkins and Foma.

381
00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:37.480
He had the.

382
00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:43.079
That version of on Foma super cool guy. And she

383
00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:45.680
talked about, you know, the treatments that he'd had and

384
00:20:45.720 --> 00:20:48.440
stuff like that, played the guitar, he saying it was awesome,

385
00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:52.319
and I always thought he got better. And this was,

386
00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:56.720
you know, nineteen seventy something and I found out a

387
00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.480
couple of years ago when she said, oh, yeah, like

388
00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:01.000
he died, and I was like, oh fuck, I did

389
00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:03.720
not know that. That's I had no clue because I

390
00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:08.200
thought just people, you know, would get better. Yeah, and

391
00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:11.200
and and now I mean that's that seems to be

392
00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:14.640
more the case that that there's more effective treatment and

393
00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:19.559
and and people do have longer term survival.

394
00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:22.759
And yeah, that with my very and a lot of

395
00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:25.480
non hodgkinslim phone where they have three options. You start

396
00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:29.000
with chemotherapy. You can then move to chemotherapy, radiation, and

397
00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:32.440
a stem cell transplant if chemotherapy doesn't work. And then

398
00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:34.559
now they have car T, and I know UC Davis

399
00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:36.599
is doing car T. It used to be something that

400
00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:41.279
was exclusive to places like MSK in New York City

401
00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:44.640
or the Anderson Clinic in Texas, And now a lot

402
00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:48.279
of hospitals are getting cart cell, which is it's it's

403
00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:50.519
like targeted killer cells that will.

404
00:21:50.359 --> 00:21:51.759
Just killing immune therapy.

405
00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:55.359
Yeah, well that will just kill cancer. My initial treatment

406
00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:59.359
strategy was called da epic R, which is a really

407
00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:05.200
long acronam but it stood for the chemotherapies and immunosuppressants

408
00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:08.359
that I would get and then prednizone. And then so

409
00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:13.400
prednizone is a quartericosteroid, it's not a ped Yeah, predna

410
00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:14.480
zone is a quartercosteroid.

411
00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:15.680
Less swelling is your issue.

412
00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:17.160
Yeah. They give it to a lot of people for

413
00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:21.640
a lot of different reasons. My dosage was about six

414
00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:24.480
times the normal dosage that you'd normally take, and that

415
00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:26.799
was to help your body just get rid of some

416
00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:30.920
of the cancer and the tumor. And then the treatment

417
00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:33.799
was every three weeks, I would get a bag of

418
00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:36.200
chemotherapy to take home with me and it would drip

419
00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:39.000
in over twenty four hours and I would wear it

420
00:22:39.079 --> 00:22:40.599
and I used to call it my shadow because it

421
00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:43.440
followed me everywhere for four days straight. Yeah, I had

422
00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:46.839
an access line in my arm called a pick line.

423
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:49.400
And then for twenty four hours, I would get a

424
00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:53.599
three chemotherapy cocktail twenty four hours a day, and then

425
00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:55.440
I would go back to the infusion center. When the

426
00:22:55.480 --> 00:22:57.400
twenty four hours were up, they'd refill it and I'd

427
00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:59.319
get it again for four days straight, and then on

428
00:22:59.319 --> 00:23:02.000
the fifth day, I'd at an immunosuppressant and then I'd

429
00:23:02.039 --> 00:23:04.359
go home and my immune system would be really low

430
00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:06.880
for a period of time. And then I would take

431
00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:10.119
shots to get my bone marrows to generate white blood cells,

432
00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:11.839
and then they'd give me a week off and I'd

433
00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:14.079
go right back to that chemotherapy regimen.

434
00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:18.119
That doesn't sound like any kind of fun.

435
00:23:18.359 --> 00:23:21.599
It definitely was not fun. It was twenty nineteen from

436
00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:25.279
June to December. So by the time COVID came around

437
00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:27.240
in March of twenty twenty, I was very used to

438
00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:31.119
shelter in place and masking and all those things, I'm sure,

439
00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:33.559
And at that point in time, I had wanted to

440
00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:37.480
start the journey of fitness and getting in shape, and

441
00:23:37.559 --> 00:23:40.160
I was so ready in March, and I was done

442
00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:42.240
with chemotherapy in December, and I was like, I'm going

443
00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:44.039
to give myself a couple months and then I'm going

444
00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:46.480
to start to get in shape like I've always wanted

445
00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:49.240
to and live my life. And then COVID happened in

446
00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:50.400
March of twenty twenty.

447
00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:56.079
Yeah, I would think that the thing about a treatment

448
00:23:56.119 --> 00:23:57.720
that takes a big block of time in which you

449
00:23:57.759 --> 00:23:59.640
can't do a whole hell of a lot that like

450
00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:05.200
your mind really really is on it, Yeah, and finding

451
00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:07.440
distraction from it has to be challenging.

452
00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:13.759
Yeah, I binge watched Friends and Cheers and Frasier. I.

453
00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:17.119
So there's a there's a there's a condition called chemo

454
00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:20.759
brain where your body is so focused on surviving that

455
00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:23.039
it kind of shuts down your ability to think for

456
00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:25.640
long periods of time. So I was trying to binge

457
00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:28.799
watch serial TV shows that I really enjoyed, but having

458
00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:31.160
to remember what happened in the last episode for the

459
00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:34.079
next episode became difficult, I would imagine. So the only

460
00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:36.119
thing that I could really watch and pay attention to

461
00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:42.119
were simple, easy, you know, situational comedies or sitcoms that, yes,

462
00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:44.920
there's an overall plot, but from episode to episode you

463
00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:47.640
could just kind of zone out and laugh. And of course,

464
00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:49.400
you know, I'm I'm the type of person I like

465
00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.119
to laugh, So having being able to laugh through that

466
00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:53.480
was a was a big benefit.

467
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:58.200
Oh yeah, I can imagine. And it's like they're not

468
00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:03.960
they're comforting, they're not challenging for the most part, And

469
00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:08.759
I mean that's how people use Friends anyway. Yeah, the

470
00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:12.000
other ones as well. Cheers, same kind of thing, where

471
00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:16.200
you know, it's just funny situation comedies, it's just funny.

472
00:25:16.359 --> 00:25:18.200
Yeah, And it was just easy to watch, and I

473
00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:22.559
didn't have to remember what had happened. And it was

474
00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:25.160
like kind of nostalgia too, because I grew up on

475
00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:26.279
a lot of those TV shows.

476
00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:31.599
Small Bit of Trivia, Wilmer Flores of the San Francisco

477
00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:36.799
Giants walks up to the theme from Friends because he

478
00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:41.039
used Friends to learn to speak English. Oh wow, okay, damn,

479
00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:45.920
that's cool. So yes, he's kind of the ultimate an

480
00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:57.279
MLB Friends fan. So you said you were then you

481
00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:03.039
were trying to early pandemic, trying to figure out, like,

482
00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:07.640
how do I then put my body in the best

483
00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:14.319
condition that I can to maintain my health for a

484
00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:15.039
long life.

485
00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:19.640
Yes, yes, I started that journey during the pandemic. Actually,

486
00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:21.839
I bought myself a spin bike and I was working

487
00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:25.599
out with resistance bands, so while I was trapped inside,

488
00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:28.839
I was working out a lot. I was working administration still,

489
00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:30.839
so I didn't have to go into the hospital at

490
00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:33.079
this point in time. There were a couple occasions where

491
00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:35.000
they asked us to come in just to support staff

492
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:38.000
who did work bedside, but I wasn't working directly bedside

493
00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:39.960
with patients, and that was a big benefit because my

494
00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:43.720
immune system didn't recover for ninety days until after my

495
00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:47.680
chemotherapy was done. So at this point in time, I

496
00:26:47.720 --> 00:26:49.559
was working administration, and I was able to work from

497
00:26:49.559 --> 00:26:51.640
home sometimes or I was able just to go into

498
00:26:51.640 --> 00:26:55.119
the office and come home pretty early. Kind of started

499
00:26:55.119 --> 00:26:56.799
a little bit of a fitness journey there, but I

500
00:26:56.880 --> 00:26:59.960
wasn't really matching it up with the way I was eating.

501
00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:02.400
I wasn't eating super HEALTHI or I was going on

502
00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:05.400
periods of times of very low calories. And then of

503
00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:08.240
course it's so hard to sustain very low calories for

504
00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:10.799
long periods of time, so you break, and you break

505
00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:14.160
in amazing fashion. So all the work I was doing

506
00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:17.039
was a lot of cardio and all change, no breaks,

507
00:27:17.079 --> 00:27:20.319
all binge, no breaks, or all you know, all starvation,

508
00:27:20.680 --> 00:27:23.599
no you know, no breaks, And so that wasn't the

509
00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:27.200
healthiest mindset to do it. And I was on this

510
00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:30.039
journey for it. It was a good period of time

511
00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:31.359
and I lost I want to say, I lost a

512
00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:35.279
good thirty to forty pounds and that was felt really nice,

513
00:27:35.319 --> 00:27:37.319
and I started to feel really good and really strong.

514
00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:40.960
I had unfortunately atrophied quite a bit during chemotherapy, and

515
00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:42.680
I had always told myself, oh, I'm going to work out,

516
00:27:42.680 --> 00:27:44.039
I'm going to work out. I'm going to work out,

517
00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:47.720
but I was not expecting chemotherapy to make me feel

518
00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:52.440
so tired and so lack of energy all the time.

519
00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:55.319
And then there were occasions where I would spike fevers

520
00:27:55.319 --> 00:27:57.599
and those are called neutri penic fevers. So I'd get

521
00:27:57.640 --> 00:27:59.839
admitted to the hospital again because they have to treat

522
00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.839
you like your immune system is very low, so they

523
00:28:02.839 --> 00:28:05.480
give you very strong antibiotics until the fevers go away.

524
00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:08.599
So with all the hospitalizations, with all the times I

525
00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:11.000
just laid in bed and kind of wasted away because

526
00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:13.759
of the chemotherapy, I had atrophied anything that I had

527
00:28:13.799 --> 00:28:16.960
ever built for myself muscular wise or muscle wise before.

528
00:28:16.759 --> 00:28:18.160
That, because you had lifted before.

529
00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:22.279
Yeah. Yeah. In my twenties, I had met a gentleman

530
00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:26.079
who had training in I think it was early powerlifting

531
00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:29.640
or Olympic lifting, and he taught me and my friends

532
00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:33.599
the how to lift with proper form and he started

533
00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:36.000
us all out on body weight stuff, and then we

534
00:28:36.119 --> 00:28:38.720
just lifted whatever we had in the basement of the

535
00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:42.079
fraternity house that we had, which was like those old

536
00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:44.319
weights that you filled with sand, and then we had

537
00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:46.160
a couple of things that were made of like you know,

538
00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:49.039
of rubber, and then we had a couple of plates,

539
00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:51.680
and he really taught us form more than anything else.

540
00:28:51.720 --> 00:28:54.119
And I kept that going until I was about twenty five.

541
00:28:54.519 --> 00:28:56.319
So I had already kind of built some strength through

542
00:28:56.359 --> 00:28:59.359
myself and I knew I loved the whole art of lifting,

543
00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:03.680
and I hadn't really put it all together until I

544
00:29:04.119 --> 00:29:05.279
came here and I met Avey.

545
00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:10.160
Well, you mentioned the other day about being in a fraternity.

546
00:29:10.200 --> 00:29:12.599
I would never have clocked you as a fraternity guy,

547
00:29:12.839 --> 00:29:13.319
would you.

548
00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:18.200
Say, best, No, No, never, Yeah, I mean it wasn't

549
00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:20.799
a traditional fraternity. We started it ourselves, Okay.

550
00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:23.160
Yeah, so you're starting to get more into the zone

551
00:29:23.400 --> 00:29:24.799
of expectation here.

552
00:29:24.759 --> 00:29:28.680
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And we started ourselves and it was

553
00:29:28.759 --> 00:29:30.480
just a group of guys who were all friends, and

554
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:33.039
we were just all misfits from areas in Connecticut that

555
00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:36.160
you would, you know, not associate with normally. You know,

556
00:29:36.359 --> 00:29:38.440
I come from an area that's really wealthy, even though

557
00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:40.839
I'm not wealthy myself, and a lot of them come

558
00:29:40.920 --> 00:29:43.640
from a lot of the other cities in Connecticut. We

559
00:29:43.680 --> 00:29:45.680
all just kind of met and clicked and decided, hey,

560
00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:48.680
let's start a fraternity. There's so many fraternities on campus already.

561
00:29:49.079 --> 00:29:52.720
We're in Connecticut. I grew up in a town called Stamford, Connecticut,

562
00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:56.119
which is about forty five minutes north of New York City.

563
00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:57.880
And then I went to school in a town called

564
00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:00.319
new Haven, Connecticut, where Yale is, but I not go

565
00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:00.799
to Yale.

566
00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:03.720
I have a friend who's stand up. He's also he's

567
00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:08.880
also like a training manager at an equinox in new Haven.

568
00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:11.119
Okay, yeah, so new Haven was where I went to

569
00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:13.319
school and met those guys and kind of started this

570
00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:16.880
whole lifting thing. Yeah. Yeah, So.

571
00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:24.680
When you got here to Third Street and started working

572
00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:26.279
with AVI, Like, how did you how did you even

573
00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:28.599
find us? That was That's a question one, How did

574
00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:29.759
you even find us?

575
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:33.960
I was lifting at Jim and Atomas. I won't name them,

576
00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:36.000
but I was lifting at a gym and Atomas and I

577
00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:39.240
was just kind of ego lifting and eating my feelings

578
00:30:39.240 --> 00:30:42.559
at the same time. So by that point, yes, at

579
00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:44.599
that point in time, I want to say, I was

580
00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:49.079
three hundred and fifty pounds plus, but I had not

581
00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:52.480
weighed myself, and then I had decided to start to

582
00:30:52.519 --> 00:30:54.720
try to eat healthy, and the next time I weighed myself.

583
00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:56.400
I was about three thirty eight, so we'll say I

584
00:30:56.440 --> 00:30:57.440
was three thirty eight when.

585
00:30:57.279 --> 00:30:59.200
I came in here, when you're about six.

586
00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:01.279
I'm about six feet on the dot. Yeah, so it

587
00:31:01.319 --> 00:31:02.759
was about three hundred and thirty eight pounds when I

588
00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:06.400
came in here. I googled powerlifting Jim Sacramento, and you

589
00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:08.079
guys were the first place that came up.

590
00:31:08.599 --> 00:31:11.160
And we weren't even paying for that. Then, Holy crap,

591
00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:13.200
I wonder what happens now that we're paying for it?

592
00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:16.799
Anyway, go on, and I decided, I can't remember. I

593
00:31:16.839 --> 00:31:18.440
had the day off, and I decided, oh, I'm going

594
00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:21.759
to stop in and see what it's like. I stopped in,

595
00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:24.599
and I believe at that point in time that I

596
00:31:24.599 --> 00:31:30.440
stopped in. It was the evening strength class that you

597
00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:34.039
guys had, and Kyle was sitting at the desk and

598
00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:36.799
he introduced himself and then he induced me to Avy,

599
00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:40.240
and Abvy said, you know, we can work together. And

600
00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:43.200
Kyle was talking Avy up. He said, av went to

601
00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:45.359
the Arnold and when the Arnold in her weight class,

602
00:31:45.400 --> 00:31:47.920
and you know, she's just a beast, and you know,

603
00:31:47.960 --> 00:31:50.000
I'll introduce you. And she was having the strength class.

604
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:51.960
She took some time to talk to me, and then

605
00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:54.000
I came. I want to say it was the very

606
00:31:54.039 --> 00:31:56.920
next day to the strength class, and she really focused

607
00:31:56.920 --> 00:31:59.119
on all my lifts, and I was like, all right,

608
00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:02.119
let's do this, let's work together. So at that point

609
00:32:02.119 --> 00:32:05.480
in time, I decided, let's see what personal training is

610
00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:09.440
going to look like. And we started personal training one

611
00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:11.359
on one sessions in the morning on my days off

612
00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:14.440
from work. She was really good about for the whole

613
00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:17.119
month scheduling my three sessions on my days off because

614
00:32:17.160 --> 00:32:18.920
I worked twelve hour shifts, so it's very hard to

615
00:32:18.920 --> 00:32:21.720
come here before and afterward. And she was really good

616
00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:26.079
about working with me during those days off and I

617
00:32:26.119 --> 00:32:27.720
lost sound in my headphones.

618
00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:30.599
Oh I'm still OK.

619
00:32:30.839 --> 00:32:34.119
Okay, good, there we go. I got it back. Yeah,

620
00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:37.680
And so we started working three days a week and

621
00:32:38.240 --> 00:32:42.319
she was just correcting my form and you know, really

622
00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:47.200
focused on helping me correct my form. I guess kind

623
00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:49.480
of as an aside to this story is what kind

624
00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:53.039
of derailed that initial finish journey was I fell down

625
00:32:53.039 --> 00:32:55.400
some stairs and I tore my piteller tendon and it

626
00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:58.920
completely ruptured in my right knee. And so the recovery

627
00:32:58.920 --> 00:33:01.079
from that was to stay in a brace with my

628
00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:04.079
right leg straight for three months so that the pateeller

629
00:33:04.200 --> 00:33:07.799
tendon surgery could heal. So my quad and my gas

630
00:33:07.799 --> 00:33:11.480
stock on the right were looked like a baby's muscle

631
00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:13.559
by the time that was done. And then I did

632
00:33:13.640 --> 00:33:16.200
pet to rehab that, and I was rehabbing that on

633
00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.160
my own by the time I met AV by just

634
00:33:18.200 --> 00:33:20.640
doing unilateral stuff on the right side at the gym

635
00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:22.599
I was working out at. But then when I started

636
00:33:22.599 --> 00:33:25.559
working with AV, she was helping me regain range of

637
00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:29.039
motion and she was helping me learn how to actually squat,

638
00:33:29.079 --> 00:33:31.559
because I wasn't really good at squatting to begin with,

639
00:33:32.119 --> 00:33:34.599
and so we started working really hard on what I

640
00:33:34.599 --> 00:33:39.160
could do, like assisted bandit squats, squats with maybe quarters

641
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:40.960
on the bar, and which you know, as a much

642
00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:44.599
bigger guy who had lifted, was so embarrassing. But I

643
00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:47.720
will say nobody, it's humbling. But nobody during the morning

644
00:33:47.839 --> 00:33:51.400
or even afterwards said that at all to me, And

645
00:33:51.480 --> 00:33:52.720
no one's going to say that to you. And I'll

646
00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:56.640
say that about gym culture period. Gim culture period. If

647
00:33:56.680 --> 00:33:59.680
you walk into a gym and you are trying, nobody

648
00:33:59.720 --> 00:34:01.559
is going to look at you and discourage you.

649
00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:03.799
And if they do, you need to find another gym.

650
00:34:03.880 --> 00:34:05.519
And if they do, you need to find another gym,

651
00:34:05.559 --> 00:34:08.719
and especially here, so Abby and I really started working

652
00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:11.800
together and her knowledge was just amazing and she was

653
00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:15.880
a absolute drill sergeant when it came to form, and

654
00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:19.280
I really liked that. I was forty one at the time.

655
00:34:19.320 --> 00:34:22.679
I did not want to get re injured and her

656
00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:25.280
attention to detail with my form was what I really

657
00:34:25.320 --> 00:34:28.559
appreciated about our relationship. And then over the year we

658
00:34:28.920 --> 00:34:31.000
sort of became friends a little bit, I'd like to think,

659
00:34:32.119 --> 00:34:33.960
and it was really nice to come in every morning

660
00:34:33.960 --> 00:34:37.159
and talk to her, and I kind of got introduced

661
00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:40.119
to the community that way. Yeah, and.

662
00:34:42.320 --> 00:34:44.360
I know you started to lose weight at some point

663
00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:47.280
in there, Like what approach did you take? Like what

664
00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:48.119
worked for you?

665
00:34:48.199 --> 00:34:51.440
And I hate to admit it because it's such a

666
00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:53.519
thing I don't like now that I'm at this point

667
00:34:53.519 --> 00:34:56.760
of my journey. But I started off with carnivore, which

668
00:34:57.119 --> 00:34:59.159
did help me lose a considerable amount of weight in

669
00:34:59.199 --> 00:35:01.719
the beginning. But the way I did carnivore then was

670
00:35:01.760 --> 00:35:03.840
I just cooked as many chicken breast as possible and

671
00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:06.960
ate chicken breast until I wasn't hungry anymore, which is

672
00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:08.599
not the way to do it. Do not do it

673
00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:12.199
that way. And I started to drop the weight, and

674
00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:15.039
that way, when you're at my weight, it comes off

675
00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:21.800
pretty rapidly. And it was Bench who he used to

676
00:35:21.880 --> 00:35:23.400
work out here in the mornings. I don't see him

677
00:35:23.400 --> 00:35:25.920
here anymore. I was on the treadmill after I was

678
00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:28.199
done working with Avi came up to me and he said, hey, man,

679
00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:30.599
you've lost a good amount of weight, and I see

680
00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:32.280
you working hard. I just want to let you know,

681
00:35:32.360 --> 00:35:35.519
keep going. And I was like, all right, I'm in it,

682
00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:38.760
let's do it. So after that initial weight loss with Carnivore,

683
00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:43.039
I kind of started learning that the bodybuilder version of

684
00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:45.679
how you drop weight is actually the best way to

685
00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:48.800
do it. So I started tracking calories and macros and

686
00:35:48.840 --> 00:35:52.719
I started getting really into meal prep and how to

687
00:35:53.880 --> 00:35:56.559
optimize that process for my schedule in the gym and

688
00:35:56.639 --> 00:35:59.559
at work. And the last time I weighed myself, I

689
00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:02.079
believe I was two hundred and thirty seven pounds.

690
00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:05.519
Jeez, Yeah, that's a big drop. Benure is still in

691
00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:08.039
and out. Yeah, yeah, I think he's in a nursing

692
00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:10.159
right now. He's in nursing. He's in a nursing program.

693
00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:12.280
You can tell when you talk to him that he's

694
00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:13.320
in a nursing program.

695
00:36:13.599 --> 00:36:15.840
Yeah. So he was one of the first people. And

696
00:36:15.880 --> 00:36:18.400
then as just time went on and I kept putting

697
00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:20.880
in the work and showing up, and even without av

698
00:36:21.159 --> 00:36:23.239
people here at Third Street were coming up to me

699
00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:25.760
and saying they've noticed the way I look as different.

700
00:36:25.800 --> 00:36:28.000
They've noticed the weights on the bars are going up.

701
00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:31.119
From the first day I walked in and started coming

702
00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:33.880
in in the morning, Sebastian is just one of the

703
00:36:33.920 --> 00:36:36.480
friendliest people, remembers a lot of things that you talk

704
00:36:36.519 --> 00:36:40.039
to him about in conversation, and just a really social guy.

705
00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:42.159
And I would say definitely responsible for a lot of

706
00:36:42.159 --> 00:36:45.519
the reason why there's such a great community here at

707
00:36:45.559 --> 00:36:47.519
Third Street. And so just coming in and talking to

708
00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:51.000
him and matt Oj and just all that morning crew

709
00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:53.360
when I first started showing up, and it was really

710
00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:55.760
nice because you get a little in your own head

711
00:36:55.760 --> 00:36:58.440
about the way you look and the way you, you know,

712
00:36:58.599 --> 00:37:01.639
come off to other people, but nobody. I'd never felt

713
00:37:01.719 --> 00:37:03.800
like anybody was judging me, and in fact they were

714
00:37:03.800 --> 00:37:05.559
doing the opposite. They were just encouraging me.

715
00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:09.840
Did you find yourself getting stuck along the way, Like

716
00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:13.519
the scale didn't move very much at different times, And.

717
00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:15.920
There was a couple of times that the scale wouldn't move.

718
00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:18.800
But I was lucky in the fact that when I

719
00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:23.679
switched from carnivore to calorie deficit, it was a consistent

720
00:37:24.239 --> 00:37:27.119
move and it was never like stuck for longer than

721
00:37:27.159 --> 00:37:29.400
maybe a week or two, And so I didn't never

722
00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:31.599
let a week or two of being stuck discourage me.

723
00:37:31.800 --> 00:37:34.400
Carnivore plays out as calorie restriction.

724
00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:37.960
Everyone just Yes, carnivore ends up being a calorie deficit.

725
00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:40.679
But then at a point, your body gets to a

726
00:37:40.719 --> 00:37:43.800
point where the calories you're eating, if you're eating steak

727
00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:49.199
and bacon and heavier pieces of meat, will exceed what

728
00:37:49.239 --> 00:37:51.519
your body weight is at. So carnivore will no longer

729
00:37:51.559 --> 00:37:52.440
work for you. Yeah.

730
00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:53.440
Also your labs.

731
00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:57.159
Yes, Also, you will put yourself in some serious issues

732
00:37:57.159 --> 00:37:58.920
with cholesterol and heart problems.

733
00:38:00.119 --> 00:38:03.480
Same story keto. If you don't have a compelling medical

734
00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:07.719
condition that pushes you into toward keto, it's not a

735
00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:11.000
long term strategy, folks, It's just not car You need

736
00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:11.920
that for energy.

737
00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:13.840
You need carbs. Yes, And there was a point in time.

738
00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:16.280
I'd say it was three months in the Carnivore where

739
00:38:16.320 --> 00:38:18.599
I showed up to the gym and I just could

740
00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:20.480
not put up the weights that I was doing well,

741
00:38:20.519 --> 00:38:22.719
and a VI tore into me, and I told her

742
00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:25.400
what I'd been doing, and she tore into me even worse.

743
00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:28.320
She was like, you need carbs. You need carbs for

744
00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:31.400
the energy and the gym. You have been without carbs

745
00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:34.079
for so long that you're carb depleted and your body

746
00:38:34.119 --> 00:38:36.280
is never going to be able to lift what you

747
00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:38.719
want to lift. And if your goal is to lift

748
00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:42.320
and become a powerlifter, if you don't eat carbs, you're

749
00:38:42.360 --> 00:38:43.320
not going to be able to do that.

750
00:38:44.119 --> 00:38:47.880
Yeah, And I think that's true. I think that some

751
00:38:47.960 --> 00:38:51.679
folks get caught up in like that they need a

752
00:38:52.559 --> 00:38:55.519
Gatorade or whatever world they're lifting, And unless you're in

753
00:38:55.519 --> 00:38:57.840
a super hot environment, you probably don't. But you do

754
00:38:57.960 --> 00:39:00.679
need carbs in your diet going into the lift, Yes,

755
00:39:00.760 --> 00:39:04.360
so that you're not like just dead. Yes, your muscles

756
00:39:04.400 --> 00:39:06.159
don't want to work because they don't have the fuel,

757
00:39:06.199 --> 00:39:09.119
and yeah, keto whatever whatever, but not for a long

758
00:39:09.199 --> 00:39:12.320
term strategy. You know your body will burn fat. But

759
00:39:12.480 --> 00:39:16.800
like I don't know. I did an RMR test a

760
00:39:16.880 --> 00:39:20.599
few weeks ago resting metabolic rate, and they can tell

761
00:39:20.639 --> 00:39:26.400
you with that what what you're burning. You know, in

762
00:39:26.519 --> 00:39:29.360
normal respiration, what you're burning. So I was like seventy

763
00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:36.199
five percent fat carbs, and I eat carbs. So I mean,

764
00:39:36.280 --> 00:39:41.679
if you're if your metabolism is relatively normal, you're burning

765
00:39:42.159 --> 00:39:46.039
fat anyway, yes, yes, more preferentially over carbs.

766
00:39:46.199 --> 00:39:50.000
Yes. And the benefit from having carbohydrates in your diet

767
00:39:50.039 --> 00:39:53.679
is amazing and just the thought, the way that you

768
00:39:53.679 --> 00:39:56.239
can think with carbohydrates in your diet, and.

769
00:39:56.440 --> 00:39:58.079
The thing is a really important thing.

770
00:39:57.960 --> 00:40:00.400
As well, which you don't often do on the carnival diet,

771
00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:02.440
where you do too much of on the carnivore diet,

772
00:40:02.440 --> 00:40:08.000
I will say pellets of so I do not. I

773
00:40:08.079 --> 00:40:10.800
hate to admit that carnivore did help me for a

774
00:40:10.840 --> 00:40:13.480
period of time, but I think it started me on

775
00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:18.400
the path to recognizing that the way I had interacted

776
00:40:18.440 --> 00:40:21.400
with food before was unhealthy. So I needed to start

777
00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:25.920
looking at this. And I will say the biggest portion

778
00:40:26.159 --> 00:40:29.280
of my journey that has helped me stay consistent has

779
00:40:29.440 --> 00:40:35.719
not been my mindset from a place of telling myself

780
00:40:35.800 --> 00:40:37.639
you need to get into the gym, you need to

781
00:40:37.639 --> 00:40:40.960
work out your two week It's been from being gentle

782
00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:45.199
with myself. I've started therapy. I do EMDR for the

783
00:40:45.239 --> 00:40:48.519
PTSD event that I told you about. I have friends

784
00:40:48.519 --> 00:40:51.159
that I can talk to about emotions when I have

785
00:40:51.239 --> 00:40:54.760
deep emotional things to talk about. And I've learned that

786
00:40:54.800 --> 00:40:57.960
the more I am gentle with myself and patient with

787
00:40:58.039 --> 00:41:01.519
myself on this journey, the more it sticks. In the past,

788
00:41:01.519 --> 00:41:04.119
I would do a carnivore diet. It would come from

789
00:41:04.159 --> 00:41:06.440
a place of hatred. You have to lose this weight

790
00:41:06.480 --> 00:41:09.039
to look good and be valued as a human being,

791
00:41:09.639 --> 00:41:12.760
and I would completely fall off carnivore and start eating

792
00:41:12.840 --> 00:41:16.039
terribly again. Once I started looking at my interaction with

793
00:41:16.119 --> 00:41:19.280
food and how to eat healthy and how to enjoy

794
00:41:19.320 --> 00:41:24.280
food but eat healthier, everything changed, the whole. Everything changed

795
00:41:24.320 --> 00:41:27.000
with the lifting and sticking with it. Once I started

796
00:41:27.719 --> 00:41:30.239
getting out of my own head and realizing that it

797
00:41:30.280 --> 00:41:32.079
was safe to feel my own emotions.

798
00:41:32.480 --> 00:41:34.679
Yeah, that's a really critical part, because I mean a

799
00:41:34.719 --> 00:41:37.920
lot of a lot of weight game comes from emotional eating, period,

800
00:41:37.960 --> 00:41:40.079
and a lot of diets fail because of emotional eating.

801
00:41:40.239 --> 00:41:43.480
It does, it does, and it pains me to see

802
00:41:43.880 --> 00:41:49.320
some of the content on Instagram and social media, most

803
00:41:49.360 --> 00:41:53.199
of the content on social media and Instagram that talks

804
00:41:53.239 --> 00:41:56.760
about who's going to carry the boats, which you know,

805
00:41:56.840 --> 00:41:59.840
I love the mindset of guys like David Goggins, but

806
00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:04.400
I don't think it accounts for the reason why many

807
00:42:04.440 --> 00:42:07.159
people struggle with their weight has to do with their

808
00:42:07.199 --> 00:42:10.920
mental health. And you cannot fix their mental health by

809
00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:15.400
bullying them out of feeling anxious or depressed or whatever

810
00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:17.519
they're feeling that makes them eat the way they do

811
00:42:17.639 --> 00:42:19.559
and not move their body in a way that makes

812
00:42:19.559 --> 00:42:22.800
them love their body. And I do not think that

813
00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:25.760
the manisphere portion that tells you you have to do this,

814
00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:28.480
you have to look like this, and you know, if

815
00:42:28.480 --> 00:42:31.440
you're struggling with your diet, just stop being a bitch

816
00:42:31.719 --> 00:42:33.800
and get into the gym and work out. That's not

817
00:42:33.960 --> 00:42:35.559
the talk that helped me with this.

818
00:42:35.760 --> 00:42:40.079
No, that's not supportive. It's like, if you help me

819
00:42:40.119 --> 00:42:42.920
to go to the gym, you tell them you can

820
00:42:43.079 --> 00:42:46.360
make changes. Yes, if you go, you can make changes.

821
00:42:46.400 --> 00:42:50.519
If you're consistent, you will see progress. It happens for everyone.

822
00:42:51.079 --> 00:42:53.440
Those are like rock solid principles. They might not be

823
00:42:53.559 --> 00:42:56.519
exactly what you have in your mind, because when people start,

824
00:42:56.559 --> 00:42:59.360
they tend to like they're thinking up here and not

825
00:42:59.400 --> 00:43:01.119
thinking about all the steps along the.

826
00:43:01.079 --> 00:43:03.880
Way, all the steps along the way, the consistency. And

827
00:43:03.920 --> 00:43:07.360
then I found as that as my mind started to

828
00:43:07.400 --> 00:43:11.079
improve and my body started to improve, they were such

829
00:43:11.199 --> 00:43:15.320
a symbiotic relationship that when one of them started to suffer,

830
00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:17.239
the other would start to suffer. So I knew that

831
00:43:17.280 --> 00:43:20.400
the consistency of working out would lead to better mental health.

832
00:43:20.880 --> 00:43:23.519
And then I knew the consistency of attending therapy and

833
00:43:23.599 --> 00:43:27.519
being more mindful and being more attuned to my emotions

834
00:43:27.880 --> 00:43:29.239
was going to help me come to the gym and

835
00:43:29.280 --> 00:43:33.360
push harder and push more consistent. And that has been

836
00:43:33.480 --> 00:43:36.559
such a springboard into this whole thing. And I've struggled

837
00:43:36.559 --> 00:43:39.199
with my weight since I was seven years old, and

838
00:43:39.360 --> 00:43:41.639
I have been on so many weight lost journeys. I've

839
00:43:41.639 --> 00:43:43.880
lost eighty pounds and gained it all back. I lost

840
00:43:43.880 --> 00:43:46.480
one hundred pounds and gained it all back multiple times

841
00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:50.039
in my life. But that's all happened within the period

842
00:43:50.119 --> 00:43:52.280
of a year, and that every time it happened, it

843
00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:54.360
happened within six months to a year. And I would

844
00:43:54.360 --> 00:43:57.199
stop and stop and start and stop and start and

845
00:43:57.199 --> 00:44:00.400
stop and start and stop. This time gone, yes, this time.

846
00:44:00.400 --> 00:44:02.599
It's been two years. I've kept the weight off, I've

847
00:44:02.719 --> 00:44:05.559
gained a considerable amount of muscle. I am very strong.

848
00:44:05.639 --> 00:44:07.239
I am so much stronger than I was ever in

849
00:44:07.239 --> 00:44:09.400
my twenties, which is amazing for a forty year old.

850
00:44:09.960 --> 00:44:14.199
Forty is the twenty that's what we like to think.

851
00:44:15.119 --> 00:44:18.800
But that has only stuck because I put together that

852
00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:22.519
the mindset portion of it had to be consistent as well.

853
00:44:23.039 --> 00:44:26.039
And I feel really bad for anybody who is struggling

854
00:44:26.199 --> 00:44:28.719
with their weight or issues with their body, because I

855
00:44:28.840 --> 00:44:31.000
know that's being trapped in your mind more than it's

856
00:44:31.039 --> 00:44:32.480
being actually trapped in your body.

857
00:44:33.039 --> 00:44:38.480
I think that that's really true. If someone this is

858
00:44:38.559 --> 00:44:41.880
just purely, if somebody feels like they need to have

859
00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:43.400
a need to go on to some kind of a

860
00:44:43.519 --> 00:44:46.239
named diet to get started, I would so much rather

861
00:44:46.320 --> 00:44:51.119
somebody do like an intermittent fasting situation, because that actually

862
00:44:51.639 --> 00:44:54.440
tends to if you're doing it just intermittent and not

863
00:44:54.519 --> 00:44:57.880
just straight up for twenty four hours, twister seven, two hours, whatever,

864
00:44:58.400 --> 00:45:04.000
it tends to tamp down the sensation of needing to

865
00:45:04.079 --> 00:45:07.079
f fill your gut, like you get used to having

866
00:45:07.159 --> 00:45:09.480
less in your stomach for periods of time.

867
00:45:09.440 --> 00:45:10.519
And it's a calorie deficit.

868
00:45:10.639 --> 00:45:13.760
It's a calorie deficit. It's Yeah, it's just a way

869
00:45:13.840 --> 00:45:16.639
to execute that as long as you're not you know,

870
00:45:16.840 --> 00:45:17.519
it's a way.

871
00:45:17.360 --> 00:45:20.880
To name portion control and calorie deficits without calling you that.

872
00:45:21.039 --> 00:45:23.000
Without calling it that. And I don't think it's I

873
00:45:23.039 --> 00:45:25.440
don't think it's a great long term strategy for most people.

874
00:45:25.519 --> 00:45:27.920
But as a kickoff, it's not the worst thing to do.

875
00:45:27.960 --> 00:45:31.480
It's certainly better than something like keto or carnivore or whatever,

876
00:45:31.519 --> 00:45:33.719
because you just end up, you know, you end up

877
00:45:33.719 --> 00:45:38.039
paying the price for those things. Yes, what's your This

878
00:45:38.119 --> 00:45:40.480
is not this is not a question that's a medical question.

879
00:45:40.559 --> 00:45:44.679
This is a personal question. What's your opinion on the

880
00:45:44.760 --> 00:45:46.280
GLP one agonist drugs?

881
00:45:47.000 --> 00:45:50.400
So my personal opinion from a medical and a non

882
00:45:50.440 --> 00:45:53.400
medical standpoint, I'll give you that double barreled, double barreled.

883
00:45:54.519 --> 00:45:57.079
I think if you need a kickstart with the GLP

884
00:45:57.199 --> 00:45:59.599
one to help you with the initial weight loss, to

885
00:45:59.599 --> 00:46:02.199
shut off the food noise, I think that's okay. I

886
00:46:02.199 --> 00:46:06.159
think if you're severely obese or in the obese category.

887
00:46:06.440 --> 00:46:08.960
It's perfectly fine for you to do for a short

888
00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:11.880
period of time. What I don't like about the glp

889
00:46:12.039 --> 00:46:16.000
ones is that it doesn't reinforce the healthy, consistent habits

890
00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:18.440
that you need. And I was just talking about this

891
00:46:18.480 --> 00:46:19.760
with a friend the other day, so this is a

892
00:46:19.760 --> 00:46:23.440
great subject. The glp ones shut off food noise, but

893
00:46:23.480 --> 00:46:25.880
they don't teach you how to eat. The way I

894
00:46:25.920 --> 00:46:28.679
have gone on this journey and lost weight consistently is

895
00:46:29.239 --> 00:46:31.800
I eat to the top of my calories, all of

896
00:46:31.840 --> 00:46:34.679
my macros. So I'll give you an example. My calories

897
00:46:34.760 --> 00:46:36.960
right now are twenty six hundred to twenty eight hundred,

898
00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:38.480
depending on it if I work out or not, and

899
00:46:38.519 --> 00:46:40.320
that's two pounds of weight loss a week, which is

900
00:46:40.360 --> 00:46:44.920
really good. Right. I eat enough rice, chicken, breast, vegetables

901
00:46:44.920 --> 00:46:47.360
and fruit to make twenty eight hundred calories a day,

902
00:46:47.400 --> 00:46:49.519
and that's a considerable amount of food. I am full,

903
00:46:49.599 --> 00:46:52.440
I don't feel like I'm starving, and my body likes

904
00:46:52.480 --> 00:46:55.239
it because I have enough energy to work out, and

905
00:46:55.280 --> 00:46:57.960
I have enough energy to live my life and go

906
00:46:58.000 --> 00:47:01.199
about my day. The people who take the glp ones

907
00:47:01.320 --> 00:47:04.519
and they use it long term, they're just learning to

908
00:47:04.639 --> 00:47:08.760
eat the typical American diet, which you're malnourished in most

909
00:47:08.760 --> 00:47:13.400
of your macro and micro nutrients just a lot smaller portions.

910
00:47:13.880 --> 00:47:15.679
So they're instead of eating a whole bag of chips,

911
00:47:15.679 --> 00:47:20.079
they'll eat for five potato chips. Instead of eating, you know,

912
00:47:20.960 --> 00:47:24.480
three hamburgers for McDonald's, they'll have one, which isn't bad

913
00:47:24.559 --> 00:47:28.280
and is sustainable. But you're malnourished. So now you're malnourished

914
00:47:28.280 --> 00:47:30.519
and you're eating the foods that you were always eating

915
00:47:30.519 --> 00:47:32.760
when you gain the weight to begin with. If you

916
00:47:32.840 --> 00:47:38.039
can unify the GLP ones with eating a nutrient rich

917
00:47:38.159 --> 00:47:40.559
diet and that helps you shut off the food noise

918
00:47:40.599 --> 00:47:43.960
for junk food or eating larger portions of that, I'm

919
00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:46.239
all for it. But it seems like people are eating

920
00:47:46.360 --> 00:47:49.280
just smaller amounts of food they shouldn't be eating. And

921
00:47:49.519 --> 00:47:51.559
I wouldn't want to say shouldn't be eating, but foods

922
00:47:51.559 --> 00:47:53.880
that aren't nutrient rich in the first place.

923
00:47:54.519 --> 00:47:58.119
My take is that they should absolutely be done with

924
00:47:59.079 --> 00:48:06.039
some kind of nutritional guidance support, registered dietitian, somebody helping them.

925
00:48:06.119 --> 00:48:12.400
With psychologists, Yeah, psychologists, psychologists like with the with with

926
00:48:12.760 --> 00:48:16.800
the psychological psychological aspects of of how they gained the

927
00:48:16.840 --> 00:48:22.480
weight in the first place, and and then also uh

928
00:48:22.599 --> 00:48:28.840
information instruction, learning about macros, about food quality, about all

929
00:48:28.840 --> 00:48:32.880
that kind of stuff. I also think this is I

930
00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:34.519
know a lot of people say, yeah, I get started

931
00:48:34.559 --> 00:48:36.679
on it, and then and then when you get into

932
00:48:36.960 --> 00:48:41.480
into a zone that you're more comfortable, then transition to

933
00:48:42.400 --> 00:48:46.079
self management kind of scenario. But I like to think

934
00:48:46.119 --> 00:48:50.599
of them as being like the alternative insulin. So like,

935
00:48:50.760 --> 00:48:53.519
if this is if this is your body's dysfunction, this

936
00:48:53.599 --> 00:48:56.159
is how you fix your body's dysfunction, And and part

937
00:48:56.199 --> 00:49:01.440
of the answer might just be pharma. For some people,

938
00:49:01.519 --> 00:49:06.159
it just forever. If they can't fix the other things,

939
00:49:06.440 --> 00:49:10.199
at least they're at least they're not so overweight that

940
00:49:10.440 --> 00:49:15.639
they're they're cultivating other health problems in their bodies all

941
00:49:15.679 --> 00:49:16.079
the time.

942
00:49:16.159 --> 00:49:18.000
Yeah, which is my opinion on them as well. I

943
00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:21.280
feel like they are definitely a very useful tool to

944
00:49:21.360 --> 00:49:27.119
help people who struggle considerably with their weight and just

945
00:49:27.159 --> 00:49:30.519
getting that piece of it done. But I wish, I

946
00:49:30.559 --> 00:49:34.320
wish we as a society would acknowledge how much of

947
00:49:34.400 --> 00:49:39.559
a mental health disease, you know, binge eating, overeating, severe obesity,

948
00:49:39.800 --> 00:49:41.280
is and treat it that way.

949
00:49:42.280 --> 00:49:47.239
I think that to a certain extent, GLP one drugs

950
00:49:48.159 --> 00:49:53.679
have been treated the way the psychoactor drugs have been

951
00:49:53.920 --> 00:49:57.159
for where you just like, Okay, here's your antidepressant, but

952
00:49:57.280 --> 00:50:00.760
there's no other support. Yeah, and like, well do you

953
00:50:00.800 --> 00:50:05.440
get better? You might feel better, but is it sustainable?

954
00:50:06.199 --> 00:50:10.000
And you're you know, they're constantly you're constantly monitoring like

955
00:50:10.119 --> 00:50:12.599
whether or not it's continuing to work, and you're switched

956
00:50:12.599 --> 00:50:14.599
to a new drug and it's a different set of

957
00:50:14.599 --> 00:50:17.960
side effects and your new adjustment process or whatever, and

958
00:50:18.079 --> 00:50:23.920
you're not if you're not getting that that emotional, mental,

959
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.199
instructional support from that perspective, It's just it's kind of

960
00:50:29.199 --> 00:50:32.280
the same thing between between that kind of a drug

961
00:50:32.320 --> 00:50:33.320
and this kind of a drug.

962
00:50:33.480 --> 00:50:36.519
Yeah. Yeah, And I think that I don't think it's

963
00:50:36.519 --> 00:50:39.079
an easy shortcut. I don't think it's something to be

964
00:50:39.119 --> 00:50:41.519
looked down on, that's for sure. I would never shame

965
00:50:41.559 --> 00:50:44.360
anybody for deciding to go with a GLP one. I

966
00:50:44.400 --> 00:50:47.559
would just urge them to use that as a springboard

967
00:50:47.639 --> 00:50:53.599
into feeling fuller often and then transitioning towards healthier habits.

968
00:50:53.679 --> 00:50:58.519
Because I considered using GLP ones when I first started,

969
00:50:58.519 --> 00:51:00.559
because they were first kind of coming around when this

970
00:51:01.239 --> 00:51:04.320
all happened. But then I started to see the results

971
00:51:04.880 --> 00:51:07.440
from and I will say there was a marked result

972
00:51:07.599 --> 00:51:13.400
difference from carnivore to calorie deficit with macros, Like people

973
00:51:13.440 --> 00:51:15.800
were really noticing my weight loss when I started calorie

974
00:51:15.800 --> 00:51:20.480
deficit with macros. And I just would wish that there

975
00:51:20.559 --> 00:51:23.519
was a better education surrounding that whole process.

976
00:51:23.840 --> 00:51:28.760
And I think that's true. Like health education, medical literacy, literacy,

977
00:51:28.840 --> 00:51:31.800
those things are a big problem everywhere. They're a really

978
00:51:31.880 --> 00:51:35.239
big problem in America where we have, you know, half

979
00:51:35.239 --> 00:51:37.480
the nation not able to read at the sixth grade level.

980
00:51:37.920 --> 00:51:42.119
It's you know, you understand with patient education is very challenging.

981
00:51:42.159 --> 00:51:44.000
Well, it goes, it goes so much deeper than that.

982
00:51:44.239 --> 00:51:48.360
It's the best example that I use is if you

983
00:51:48.360 --> 00:51:51.239
go to McDonald's and you say, I would like a salad.

984
00:51:51.280 --> 00:51:53.440
When they used to have salads on the menu. Some

985
00:51:53.559 --> 00:51:56.639
of their salads are eighteen hundred calories with the dressing

986
00:51:56.679 --> 00:51:59.599
and all the ingredients in them. Your average person thinks

987
00:51:59.599 --> 00:52:02.239
I'm gonna a salad, I'm eating healthy. You might as

988
00:52:02.280 --> 00:52:04.199
well just have a big mac and fries because that's

989
00:52:04.280 --> 00:52:08.360
nine hundred calories happy and it's more delicious. So we

990
00:52:08.639 --> 00:52:14.199
in this country have this very unregulated food source where

991
00:52:14.519 --> 00:52:17.639
you are allowed to make things look healthy like nature

992
00:52:17.760 --> 00:52:21.239
Valley's bars, and those are full of sugar. And so

993
00:52:21.320 --> 00:52:24.159
you're average person who doesn't understand this or doesn't have

994
00:52:24.199 --> 00:52:25.880
the education on it. They'll be like, I'll get some

995
00:52:25.960 --> 00:52:28.239
Nature Value Bars as a snack, and then I'll have that,

996
00:52:28.599 --> 00:52:30.719
and then I'll have that on top of my you know,

997
00:52:30.760 --> 00:52:32.599
coffee in the morning that has sugar in it. They

998
00:52:32.599 --> 00:52:35.159
don't realize that those Nature's Value bars have a lot

999
00:52:35.159 --> 00:52:37.280
of sugar in them. And again I'm not shaming anybody

1000
00:52:37.280 --> 00:52:40.679
for having sugar. I just wish when things were not

1001
00:52:40.880 --> 00:52:44.199
so healthy for you because they contained a large portion

1002
00:52:44.280 --> 00:52:47.400
of processed carbs or sugar, they weren't allowed to have

1003
00:52:47.440 --> 00:52:50.440
packaging that makes it look like, you know, the grass

1004
00:52:50.519 --> 00:52:53.039
is on it and this is a healthy food for you. So,

1005
00:52:53.239 --> 00:52:55.480
as an average person, or not an average person, as

1006
00:52:55.480 --> 00:52:58.320
somebody who's not as educated in nutrition, they would go

1007
00:52:58.360 --> 00:53:02.039
into a supermarket and see Natri's Valley or anything similar

1008
00:53:02.360 --> 00:53:05.719
and think I'm eating healthy. But that's truly not eating healthy.

1009
00:53:06.199 --> 00:53:10.599
Yeah, No, that's that's for sure. And I have a

1010
00:53:10.719 --> 00:53:13.280
small beef with somebody that I considered, you know what,

1011
00:53:13.360 --> 00:53:17.760
an industry friend, and Jordan sayatt he is. He speaks

1012
00:53:17.800 --> 00:53:23.920
against organic foods because of the way of the labeling,

1013
00:53:24.079 --> 00:53:26.480
because sometimes you just don't know what you're getting because

1014
00:53:26.480 --> 00:53:31.760
anything there's no like standard nationwide standard around what is organic,

1015
00:53:32.239 --> 00:53:34.639
and then people pick organic and they think that it's

1016
00:53:34.760 --> 00:53:37.320
better for them and it may not be. There are

1017
00:53:37.440 --> 00:53:40.159
organic things that are definitely better for you. Yes, I

1018
00:53:40.159 --> 00:53:42.840
think they're definitely And we live in an area where

1019
00:53:43.199 --> 00:53:45.119
you can go to farmer's market you can buy organic

1020
00:53:45.119 --> 00:53:47.920
food and it's it's like you put it side by

1021
00:53:47.920 --> 00:53:49.559
side with what you can buy in the grocery store

1022
00:53:49.760 --> 00:53:50.840
and there's no comparison.

1023
00:53:51.119 --> 00:53:53.840
Yeah, And I come from one of those areas where

1024
00:53:53.880 --> 00:53:56.079
I grew up in the New York City suburbs. It's

1025
00:53:56.199 --> 00:53:59.760
really hard to get farm fresh food. But I do

1026
00:53:59.800 --> 00:54:03.000
think that if you can discern between what's organic farm

1027
00:54:03.079 --> 00:54:05.639
fresh hasn't been shipped to you from a long distance,

1028
00:54:06.039 --> 00:54:09.159
and what's actually, you know, not organic, that that's that

1029
00:54:09.239 --> 00:54:11.360
makes all the world a difference for when it comes

1030
00:54:11.360 --> 00:54:13.960
to healthier foods. Yeah, I agree.

1031
00:54:14.199 --> 00:54:17.400
So as a wrap up. Do you have words that

1032
00:54:17.440 --> 00:54:20.079
you would like to give to somebody who might have

1033
00:54:20.320 --> 00:54:23.039
might be in the position you were in when you

1034
00:54:23.920 --> 00:54:26.719
decided to start this journey.

1035
00:54:27.880 --> 00:54:30.880
So one of the nurses who was in the room

1036
00:54:30.920 --> 00:54:34.880
with me when I was diagnosed, I'll never forget him.

1037
00:54:34.880 --> 00:54:38.079
His name was Eric, and I found out the news.

1038
00:54:38.360 --> 00:54:41.039
I found out that where the tumor was, and I

1039
00:54:41.079 --> 00:54:43.800
had suspected it was cancer, and it was really devastating.

1040
00:54:44.280 --> 00:54:46.800
And he said to me something I will always remember,

1041
00:54:46.840 --> 00:54:49.800
and he said, just stay positive. Just stay positive, man,

1042
00:54:49.880 --> 00:54:51.880
That's all you have to do. Just stay positive. And

1043
00:54:51.880 --> 00:54:53.599
that was one of the things I kept with me

1044
00:54:53.679 --> 00:54:56.840
throughout my cancer journey. And this just stay positive.

1045
00:54:57.840 --> 00:55:01.719
That's that's und standing. Where can people find you, Josh?

1046
00:55:01.760 --> 00:55:03.159
If you want people to find you, you.

1047
00:55:03.119 --> 00:55:09.079
Can find me at Amazing j Rab jr ab Jrab

1048
00:55:09.199 --> 00:55:12.920
was my college nickname, So Amazing Jrab on Instagram or

1049
00:55:13.039 --> 00:55:16.559
Josh Ajar on Facebook. Anybody who wants to reach out

1050
00:55:16.559 --> 00:55:19.039
to me, who's in similar shoes to me or not,

1051
00:55:19.199 --> 00:55:21.519
or who is struggling with weight loss, please reach out

1052
00:55:21.519 --> 00:55:24.159
to me. I'm not a coach, just a person who cares.

1053
00:55:25.079 --> 00:55:29.840
Sebastian and your sunny Disposition. I am on ig at

1054
00:55:30.039 --> 00:55:34.239
Sebastian Score brand Bila, Go ahead, Jim, I am at

1055
00:55:34.320 --> 00:55:36.920
DJ McDonnell the social media. The show is fifty percent Facts,

1056
00:55:36.920 --> 00:55:39.000
for a percent is a word and fifty is just numbers.

1057
00:55:39.039 --> 00:55:41.960
Fifty percent Facts is a speaker Pine Podcast and association

1058
00:55:42.000 --> 00:55:45.559
with the Heart Media on the Obscure Celebrity Network. Thanks

1059
00:55:45.599 --> 00:55:46.519
a lot, Josh, Thank.

1060
00:55:46.360 --> 00:55:46.800
You so much.

1061
00:55:46.880 --> 00:56:12.559
Jim, HM, you just kills another story. H