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The Fit Perception
The Fit Perception
The Thrill of the Unknown Future
What if simply pushing past your comfort zone could lead to profound personal growth and a stronger sense of self-esteem? Join me on this episode as I uncover the transformative power of facing challenges head-on, with personal stories from my fitness journey. Despite recent setbacks like an allergy attack, I've discovered the remarkable benefits of peptides on my strength training, leading to notable improvements in lifting and sleep quality. Yet, there’s a constant battle against complacency, and I share how I'm learning to navigate this by taking on tasks I’d rather avoid, like a grueling leg workout. Plus, hear about my bold plans to expand this podcast to YouTube, even without video editing skills.
Walking you through the emotional roller coaster of breaking personal barriers, I'll illustrate the thrilling leap of confidence I experienced by shedding workout straps and succeeding without them. In a particularly intense assault bike session, hitting 100 calories in seven minutes became a personal milestone, pushing my physical limits and triggering a cathartic release powered by the imagined encouragement from my son. This episode is a testament to the strength found in vulnerability and the rewards of perseverance, especially during tough times. The narrative reinforces the idea that doing the things we least want to do can lead to significant personal development.
Finally, I explore a shift in mindset from instant gratification to finding joy in anticipation and the journey itself. The thrill of working toward future goals, whether in fitness or personal interests like sports, offers a fulfilling alternative to the fleeting satisfaction of immediate rewards. This perspective has influenced my views on diet and exercise as well, advocating for natural foods and a mindful approach to health. With reflections on modern societal challenges and cognitive limitations, I urge listeners to savor life’s journey, appreciating the beauty of the unknown future while embracing individual traits that shape our identities.
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Oh, what is up? Familia? Oh, what is up? Familia Just had a freaking allergy attack, so I sound like I'm dying and I can't speak. Well, it's fine. I can't breathe, my eyes are puffy, it's all good. Yeah, I love those. You know the best, the absolute best.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to another episode, y'all, of the Fit Perception Podcast. It's your boy T. We're back in the lab. We're good to go. What's going on? What's going on? What's going on?
Speaker 1:Okay, so last, I feel like these weeks just go by way too fast. I feel like I did this last week and I sure didn't. I sure didn't do that. It's been a hot second. But last time we talked, last time we were on here, we talked about peptides and I told you guys, I was running some Y'all. Let me tell you something these peptides are freaking crazy, they're amazing. These peptides are freaking crazy, they're amazing.
Speaker 1:I've been getting way stronger, like crazy stronger, and I mean I haven't really noticed any like super crazy physique changes or like weight gain or anything else other than, um, the strength, uh, increases. Like I can bench a lot more, I can deadlift a lot more, I can, um, move a lot more weight a lot more comfortably, um, which, like over time will obviously lead to physique changes, but so I'm excited for that. It's, it's great. Um, and yeah, I just wanted to update you guys on that. I I feel like I sleep deeper now, like when I fall asleep. I'm like unconscious asleep, like it's time to go goodnight and it's nighttime, bye-bye, uh, so that's been good.
Speaker 1:What else is happening? I feel like I haven't been like I don't know, it sounds weird confession time. Um, I feel like I haven't really been pushing myself in any other way other than in, like fitness. I feel like I haven't really gone out and like tried new things or, or, um, you know, gone in and learned a new skill, or gone and learned, uh, about a new ideology, or you know, whatever I, I don't know I just I feel too comfortable. You know what I mean and and that's not good.
Speaker 1:Anytime I feel comfortable it's not good. It leads to complacency, it leads to self-doubt, it leads to a lot of, I think, negative self-reflection. You know I'm a huge fan of self-reflection, but you can have good self-reflection, you can have bad, negative self-reflection. And I feel like anytime I get complacent and comfortable and just kind of like, oh yeah, I'm in a good place, then I get negative self-reflection and I don't know why that is. I feel like that's very odd to be like everything's going well, everything's going good, and I just feel more negative than normal, which is not me. I don't like feeling negative. I feel unnatural when I feel super negative, um, and so I, uh, I feel like putting this show out on YouTube is making me very uncomfortable, um, so if you enjoy listening to it now, you can go watch it, which is so wild to me that anyone would go watch this, but it's all good. So if you want to go look up the, uh, the fit perception podcast on YouTube, go watch the episodes we're going to. I'm going to try. I have no, I have no idea how to do any sort of video editing. Um, so we're going to go on a journey together, fam, we're going to make this a high roll in podcast. No, uh, anyway, um, oh, my gosh, okay.
Speaker 1:So, guys, kind of going back to the peptide thing, I let's see. Let's see what this was, not this last Saturday, but the Saturday before. Um, I was just not feeling myself, y'all. I was like in a funk. I wasn't in any sort of positive headspace. I wasn't feeling good about my body. I wasn't feeling good about where I was mentally, anything like. I just was in like a low spot, you know, and everybody has those. And so when I have those, I go what is the thing that I don't want to do the most? Because if I can, if I can force myself to do something, I think this is really important. If I can force myself to do the thing that I don't want to do, then I can honestly say to myself you did good, you did well, you should be proud of something. And if I don't do that, then I have nothing to be proud of. So I'm sitting there on Saturday feeling low, feeling whatever, um, not really actually feeling much of anything, just kind of like emotionally dead. Um, and it's after work.
Speaker 1:I taught three classes great classes, they're fantastic. Um took class. I was like what's the thing I don't want to do the most? And and the answer was, for sure, legs. I did not want to do any sort of leg workout, especially heavy, and so I was like all right, cool, we're going to do leg workout and it's going to be heavy and it's going to be grueling and it's going to be nasty, and you're going to do it until you're done. And so I went in there and I was like, okay, what's the worst thing I could make myself do? And that was deadlifts for sure, that was lunges for sure, and I knew that I needed to do some sort of cardio.
Speaker 1:And so the hardest cardio to me is the assault bike, and if you don't know what that is, it is a game changer. It's one of my favorite things actually to introduce people to, um, because it is such, uh, there's nothing else like it. There's, there's nothing else like it and this is coming from somebody who's done pretty much everything you can do in fitness Uh, there is nothing like the assault bike. It is an insane experience, um, in a very painful way, very pain, very, very painful way for your legs, um, anyway. So I started loading up the bar.
Speaker 1:I put this workout together it was five deadlifts, 10 GHD sit-ups, 15 wall balls If you don't know what that is, it's a squat, a deep squat, while you throw a heavy medicine ball against the wall and catch it again and then 20 walking lunges with 100 pounds on your back, and I was doing that for five rounds, as fast as I could. At the end of that, I had 100 calories on the bike as fast as I could, which, if you've never done that before, it's grueling, very painful. I know I said that, but I just have to hit it home. It is so painful, um. So I start loading up the bar and I started noticing that I'm feeling way stronger than normal the peptides, um. And so I was like, okay, okay, let's do it, let's keep adding weight, let's keep adding weight, let's keep adding weight. So I got up to 300 pounds on the on the deadlift, which is not extremely heavy. I know it sounds heavy. It really isn't for people who exercise as much as I do, um, but I if you didn't know this about me, you do. Now I don't have all of my fingers on my left hand, um, I've brought it up multiple times on the podcast, so if you haven't heard that before, you're brand new to the show and that's great. We love you. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1:Makes it really, really difficult to grip heavy weight. It tends to slide out of my left hand, so I use straps workout straps that are just like leather. They're not gloves, but it's like a strap that wraps around the bar and it connects to my wrist so I can hold things a little bit easier and it is an insecurity, I think, a little bit for myself to use the straps and not really be able to do, not be able to hold things as strongly as I could. But for whatever reason, today or the day I was doing that workout, I was like I'm going to try this strapless and I pulled that 300 like it was nothing. I was like, oh cute, five reps, great. Pulled that 300 like it was nothing. I was like, oh cute, five reps, great. So that that really I is so silly. But something so minute like that could boost my confidence and boost my, my positivity about myself. So huge. But it did. And so I was able to boost my confidence by doing something that I really, really, really did not want to do.
Speaker 1:The whole time I was like I'm miserable, I hate this, and yet I was also proud of myself. Now I got on that bike, fam, and let me tell you, I knew it was going to be bad. I knew it was going to be tough, I knew I didn't want to do it, I knew the pain involved, because I was familiar with that pain, um, and I got on the bike, started doing it anyway, and I'm I'm not going at a crazy pace. And then I start to notice my time and I started like setting myself little miniature goals of like okay, I got to reach 50 calories by this time, I got to reach 60 calories by this time. Um, and then I started noticing what time I was at and I was like, I wonder if I can get a hundred calories in seven minutes. Um, uh, cause I'd never done that before. And so I started really starting to push the bike. About five minutes in, I was like, oh man, if I'm going to get this, I'm going to have to push really, really fricking hard here at the end. And so I started pushing. I started pushing, I started pushing, I started noticing my heart rate get up to one 180, 185, 195, 201, and I am cooking, I am panting hard, my lungs hurt, my legs have gone numb, can't really feel them, and yo I tell you so this is so vulnerable. It's so vulnerable.
Speaker 1:Workout, as you guys know, is very, very special to me. It's my favorite, okay. Workout, as you guys know, is very, very special to me. It's my favorite. Not my, okay, it's not my favorite, but it is something that is part of my identity. At this point, it's where I think the most, it's where I reflect the most, it's where I ponder the most. It is my therapy for myself. Um, and I can kind of go to weird places when I'm working out. Um and yo.
Speaker 1:I tell you what I got to the point of like just exhaustion. My heart rate was over 200 beats per minute, um, which is very, very high. If you don't know that it's very high, you're about to tap out. At that point, um, and and so I'm up in this crazy, crazy heart rate. My brain starts firing off of like you need to quit, you need to quit, you need to quit. And then my other side of my brain, my ego, is like don't you dare quit, don't you dare quit. You got on here and you're going to finish this goal.
Speaker 1:And then my subconscious started kicking in and it was crazy Guys. I started sobbing on the bike, like I started crying, crying while I was dying. And this is like this is crazy. It's very vulnerable. But in the back of my brain I heard my son's voice like saying daddy, why did you quit? Yo, like, how messed up is that? Like that's some wild insecurities, fam. Like, holy crap, I'm sitting there dying doing something I don't want to do, just trying to push myself. And my subconscious knows the one thing that can get me to go harder than anything else, and that's my little boy. And when I tell you I, when I, when my subconscious brought that little voice into my head saying, daddy, why'd you quit bro? I was sobbing, sobbing tears down my face, which I'm sure is a very, very uncomfortable thing to witness a grown man crying like, like ugly crying on a cardio machine. I'm sure that was a sight to behold to everyone in the gym there's only like 3 people, but whatever. And then I fell off the bike. I got it done. I got 100 calories in 7 minutes, fell off the bike and couldn't move for like 5.
Speaker 1:Anyway, just like I, I share. I don't know why I share these stories Cause, like it's so, when I say it out loud, I'm like I sound like an insane person, I sound like a crazy person who, the freak is sobbing on an assault bike because they heard the voice of their son in the back of their head. Crazy, I'm out of my mind and it's all good. All good, but no, I share that just because, like it proved to myself that I was able to still do something for myself that I did not want to do, and I made myself better because of it, and so I had something to be proud of which I hadn't felt like that in a long time. Um, so I I feel like if, if you're going through a very difficult time and a lot of us are, tons of us are, and we can get into why in a second but the best thing that you can do is to do the thing that you do not want to do just because you know it's going to be better for you.
Speaker 1:Too often, I think, we settle for saying, oh, I gave it my best shot, well hey. For saying, oh, I gave it my best shot, well hey, sometimes your best is not good enough. Sometimes it isn't your best. Sometimes we settle for our best, which I know sounds crazy, but you should think about that for like right now. Turn the podcast off and just go think about that for a little bit. We way too often settle into our best. Our best is what we did yesterday. Our best is not what we can do today. We don't know what our best is until we fail. Like. There's that quote I don't remember who said it but success is not built on successes. Success is built on failures and I really do think that, from an individual standpoint, that's so critical to remember that it's okay to fail, that it's okay to say that wasn't my best and be legitimately serious about it. That wasn't my best, but I did it and I can be proud of it because I did it.
Speaker 1:And then I'm going to try my best, I'm going to give my best, knowing that my best isn't good enough and it's okay, like we're so obsessed with, just like making sure that everyone's okay all the time and that trying is enough. You're enough, no, no, that's not how you feel better. That's not how you become better. That's not how you become happier and more positive and a better person than you were yesterday. The only way to do that is by accepting the fact that you weren't good enough. You're not good enough, and I don't mean like you beat yourself up over that. That's a fine line. You don't say, oh, I'm worthless or I'm not important or I don't matter. That's not what I'm saying at all. But to say that, say that like oh, I'm good, exactly how I am, it's just crazy. We need to be like oh, I don't feel good and I'm going to go and try to be better, because I'm not better right now. I hope that makes sense. Maybe I'm just rambling and it's not making sense at all, but trying your best doesn't mean that you settle Like you don't settle into your best. You give everything, you give everything and you see what happens and sometimes you fail, and that's okay, because successes are built on failures.
Speaker 1:Anyway, wow, we're starting deep, 15 minutes in and just depths of despair. What else is going on? What have I been doing? Well, basketball starts in a week. Huzzah, my little guilty pleasure watching basketball. We love it. Go, lakers, we're going to see if we can pull our shiz together. So, if you don't like basketball, I'm going to try not to make this a basketball podcast. But whatever, if it happens, it happens. Um, what's going on? Um, oh, speaking of the gym, okay, so this is actually something that I've been thinking about a lot, and this, this is just a a silly um discussion. That kind of proves a point of of what I've been thinking about, and what I've been thinking about is like anticipation versus results.
Speaker 1:For example, there's a very silly conversation I had with one of my clients and we were talking about gym crushes. Right, I don't. This is me being honest, totally, totally honest. I don't have a gym crush. Have I had gym crushes? Yes, do I have one right now? No, but I also don't think that gym crushes are bad. Here's why.
Speaker 1:So I was talking to this client and she was telling me about a gym crush that she had, and then she was like he was so hot and I would. It would give me motivation to go to the gym early because I knew when he would be there and I could watch him work out and it would give me motivation. It was great and I always, you know, had something to look forward to going to the gym and and and I was just enjoying this I thought it was hilarious listening to this and then she goes. But then he came over to a machine I was working at and he started working out next to me and then he started talking and he ruined the illusion. And he started working out next to me and then he started talking and he ruined the illusion. He wasn't hot anymore and I stopped going to the gym, which is not the point of the story.
Speaker 1:The point of the story is it's it's OK to have the anticipation, the, to not have the thing Like, like, if you, if you follow through and you go talk to your crush and you start, you know, dating, and they start hooking up and they start all this other stuff, you ruin what was fun, you ruin the whole magic of the thing. The whole reason it was fun is because it was unknown. The whole reason your heart went pitter-patter and you had so much infatuation and it was exciting is because it wasn't real. It was an imagination, it was a figment of your imagination. That's what was fun about it. You got to pretend that something was there and you got to let your mind wander and it was beautiful.
Speaker 1:The second that you start to make something real is the second it starts to become not fun a lot because it's hard, um, but it like that's a, that's a, a fun, silly way to get the point across of like, let things just be in your imagination, let things just be anticipated, like, like receiving a gift or or, or getting something new is not nearly as fun as anticipating that moment, right, because it's not real. You don't know what it feels like, and so you're creating this image and these feelings and these emotions and these thoughts about the thing without actually having it, and I think there is so much value in that. We're so consumed with consuming things, we're so obsessed with getting stuff and being on top of trends and being on top of fashion and getting the newest shoes and the newest clothes and the newest phone and the newest car and we're so unhappy, so unhappy, and so we're like obsessed with like oh well, well, if I get the newest thing, then I'm going to be happy. No, you won't. No, you will not. You will not be happy. You won't. Period, end of story. You won't be happy getting the stuff, because the happiness comes in the imagination and the creation of the thing.
Speaker 1:Anticipating it is the fun. That's where the joy is, that's where the beauty is, think. That's why why I have stuck with with fitness and become obsessed with fitness, is because the whole basis of being fit is falling in love with something for a future date, doing something now for the future, and you don't get the satisfaction in the moment. Like you get the endorphins and you get the dopamine and you get the serotonin hit and all those things, but the effort is not immediately rewarded and people call it delayed gratification. I don't even want to call it that, because you're still getting something in the end, because you're still getting something in the end. And I think that the most joy and the most fun is thinking about the things happening, not actually getting them. And I don't know how to.
Speaker 1:I don't even know when this started becoming an obsession of mine, but I used to be. If you know anything about me, I used to be obsessed with shoes. I like literally obsessed. I watched all of the apps, I watched the drops of new sneakers, I knew the ins and outs of of checking for fake ones and you know what was going to be hot for a while and what isn't, and the style of shoe and the cut of shoe. Um, and the brands, the new brands were coming out. Like I was obsessed, I, I was on top of it.
Speaker 1:And now guys like I don't care at all, I don't care even a little bit Um, which, which is weird like I still like good shoes, but it's not Because of like, oh, it's hot and what's new, and like it's not obsession anymore, it's just like, oh, yeah, that's a nice shoe, I like it. And it's because, like, I think it's because I got More fun out of anticipating getting the shoes than actually getting the shoes and I was in a place where I could get a lot of shoes and so I got a ton of shoes and it wasn't very fun. And so now I'm more of a mindset of like I guess you could call it deprivation of like depriving myself of things, because I find that more enjoyable. I genuinely do. That sounds so crazy to say out loud, but I genuinely find more fun and and joy out of anticipating things rather than getting them. And I don't know, call me crazy, but like it's way more fun.
Speaker 1:And I guess, like there's obviously a A point where that's not true. We're like you want to, you know, anticipate going on trips with people and then actually go go on the trips, like the trips itself are amazing and the time you spend with other people is fantastic. So obviously there's like a a give and take, but the anticipation of that moment is so beautiful and so fun because you feel so many emotions. You long for it, you wonder about it, you, you hope for it. You know you might feel um a little sad because it's not happening yet, like, but all of these emotions disappear once it happens, like obviously they're replaced by other other emotions and memories and things like that, but the, the anticipation, is so much more intense and fun and beautiful than receiving the actual thing, I think. But I don't know. Let me know what you think about that. Like I would, I don't want to do a devil's advocate because it'd be really hard for me to argue the other side, but I really do think that there's a lot to be said for anticipating things and putting things off and waiting, Because once you get to the real thing, it's not as beautiful as we thought it was. Which, like, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I guess that's why I loved reading books growing up so much, uh, rather than watching movies. I love movies now because of a lot of different reasons that we won't get into, but I loved reading so much growing up because I got to create these characters. I knew what they looked like. Nobody else did, um know, I got to hear their words in a certain way and nobody else did. I got to create the storylines and how they presented themselves and their. Expand your mind and let yourself be, and any chance you get to do that, I think is a massive opportunity. Anyway, that's what I've been thinking so much about, and it's hard because we're so used to just getting things and getting things and getting things, and Amazon this and Amazon that, and I'm going to get it tomorrow and boom, it's here and I love it.
Speaker 1:And now I'm moving on to the next thing, which I just I don't. I understand that mentality. I just I don't think it's healthy, I don't think it's good, I think it makes us very sad, very um, I don't know uncreative people, but I digress. Um, what else is going on? Oh, um, okay, so, speaking of like sports and basketball and fitness and all this other things, uh, I was so my wife hates this, but I was watching arguably one of the greatest fighters ever to be in the UFC, and I know, not everybody likes fighting. I know very few people actually enjoy fighting and I used to not like it, but I've become more and more into it and I think it's because okay, so let's backtrack a little bit. I absolutely love basketball, I love gymnastics, I love sports. I love sports, I love physical activity. That is not a surprise. Everyone who knows me knows that I like sports. I think it's amazing to see people push their them themselves, mentally and physically To their maximum. I think that's huge. I think it's. I'm obsessed with it, but I started to become More involved and following Fighters and fighting Like legitimate fighting.
Speaker 1:I'm not talking like WWE, I'm talking like legit cage fighting and I don't know why, cause, like, I don't like watching violent movies, I don't, I don't appreciate, I don't, it doesn't make me, I don't know, I just don't like them, I don't like them at all. Um, like super violent things. I just I think it's gross, I don't think it's good for humanity. But, um, cage fighting, I don't know, I can turn that side of my brain off, I guess. Um, because I respect the discipline and the amount of effort it takes to do what they do. And I was thinking, I was like that's as far as my brain had gone. I was like I don't know why I like this so much, and then I was thinking about it when this fight went down. So so, alex Pereira, if you don't know who that is, that's fine.
Speaker 1:He's arguably one of the best fighters ever. His fights are legendary. He knocks people unconscious for insane amounts of time. The dude is a viper. He is so deadly Like when he knocks you unconscious. He knocks you unconscious Like you are out out, and he does it almost every single fight. I don't know of one of his fights that has gone to decision, like I don't think it's ever gotten through a full fight, like he has knocked his opponent out or he has been knocked out, and he's only been knocked out once by Israel Adesanya. So he is a deadly assassin guy, right, scariest dude on the planet, anyway. So any of his fights I like to tune in, I like to watch, just because he's the, he's the best, he's unbelievable, um, very intimidating man, uh, anyway, and so I'm watching this guy and the fight itself was amazing.
Speaker 1:The guy the other, the other fighter's name is Khalil Roundtree. Um, great fighter, a warrior. He like he used to be like 350 pounds or something. He lost like 200 pounds. He's a beast. Well, about 150 pounds, um, and now he does cage fighting, like he is an absolute monster, just insane discipline, crazy mentality, um, anyway. So he's going into this fight as as the underdog, knowing that there's a good chance he could get knocked out, because everyone gets knocked out by by his opponent anyway.
Speaker 1:So I'm sitting there watching this and for the first few rounds the five round fight, and for the first two rounds he did really well, really really well, and, you know, got really good boxing in, caught alex a couple times, started really starting to piece him up, got some confidence, um, and then in the fourth round, alex bejara did what Alex does and he just started freaking, slicing this poor man's face apart with his fist. And when I when I say that is like, not a joke Like he literally cut this dude's face open, obliterated his nose like shattered it, slit his eye open until his eyelid was hanging, like I'm talking, like this dude's face was a bloody pulp, um, which, again, I don't like violence, like I don't like watching violence, but to see that I'm like, oh my gosh, this, this warrior is still doing it. And it hit me that the reason that I've become obsessed with fighting is not for the violence, but because it's not a game. Basketball's a game, football's a game. All of these sports are games. When they you know you can get injured in these games, I'm not saying that it's not dangerous, but when you lose a game, right, like if the Lakers lose, they're just going to go play another game.
Speaker 1:When you come out of a fight and you've lost the fight, your face will never be the same. You'll have scars for the rest of your life. Your head will never be the same. You're going to have brain damage for the rest of your life. If you broke your shin, it's broken. You have to deal with that for the rest of your life, like it's not a game. It's a sport, but it is not a game Like.
Speaker 1:The people that play that sport go into their events knowing that they're not going to be the same human being when the event is over. Even if you win, you're not the same person because you got hit, you got tapped out, you got messed around with. You're not the same person that you went into. And that is why that is the sole reason why I've become obsessed with the UFC, because I say that phrase all of the time. I say it in every single class that I teach.
Speaker 1:When you come in here, I don't want you to be the same person when you walk out. You put the effort in to be a different person by the time you leave the studio. And I mean it Like I genuinely mean that I don't want anybody to come to my class and leave the same person. I want them to leave better, I want them to leave stronger, I want them to leave faster, I want them to leave more powerful than they walked in and you only do that by doing real stuff. Real stuff, real work, real effort. And that's why I like the UFC.
Speaker 1:And that's why I like fighting is because it's not a game, it's not something that you just play, it is real stuff, um, and and it's interesting to like catch yourself noticing little little things about you and how that bleeds into other aspects of your life. Like I've been saying that phrase forever and then I just now figured out oh, that's why I like the UFC is because of what I've been saying forever. Anyway, so the things that are like that I respect so much and they're all over the place. It's not just fighting, it's all over the place. When you, when you have everything to lose and you do something anyway, instant respect from me. When you start a business, when you start a company, when you start, um, you know a lifestyle change when you start doing these things that have real life consequences, immediate respect, because I think that's like totally why we're here is to become better and to improve and to advance and progress. But then like but then also like the question comes up okay, but then like, what's the limit? Where do we stop?
Speaker 1:And I know I've talked about that before, but it's something that's been on my mind, because now we're getting to a point where the progress is going backwards, almost where we've come so far that things are going backwards. So far that things are going backwards, uh, I mean, like we're we're trying to get a, a, a jet, from London to New York. There's a hypersonic jet that's going from London to New York in an hour, so so we can go anywhere in the world so fast and yet, at the same time, we're building technology so we never have to leave our house with, with the, the meta world and the digital landscape. Like we're creating all of this technology to increase communication but decrease actual interaction, which is so backwards. It's like, where does the advancement go?
Speaker 1:So far that we start backtracking. Like, where, where does the progress of of human rights become? So far that we start backtracking? And and because it is, life is cyclical, life is a giant circle that we repeat over and over and, over and, over and over again. How do we know that? Oh, because of history. Um, that that when you become so advanced that, like, like, humans are not meant to do I actually I don't think that humans are meant to do most of the stuff that we're doing right now, like our brains, are the our brain capacity that we can handle, is so not ready for this? Um, that I just I think that we're we're reaching our limit here pretty soon, but like that's just a question, like again that I've been pondering on. I guess I've just been in my head way too much, obviously Been way too into my thoughts, which is crazy too.
Speaker 1:Also, deep thought, when I was falling asleep last night, I was sitting there and I was thinking like I could not fall asleep to save my life. Dude, sitting there for like two hours just trying to close my eyes, trying to fall asleep, meditate, breathe, do all the things Can't do it, breathe, do all the things Can't do it. And my brain starts wandering and it's like, hey, how aware are you of your thoughts and your brain, like when you think of yourself. This is deep and we'll try to get through this quick. When you think of you, what are you thinking of? Are you thinking of, like, your body? Are you thinking of your senses? Are you thinking of your thoughts? Because I think for myself this is so weird. Guys, I'm being vulnerable. Today it's all good.
Speaker 1:Hashtag vulnerability, mental health awareness day, woo, woo, when I this is from when I was like six. I remember having these thoughts when I this is from when I was like six. I remember having these thoughts when I was young. I remember thinking that my eyes were who I am. Like, what dude? Like I can see things and that's where my being is. You know, we hear that phrase like eyes are the window to the soul or whatever. And like, for the longest time I associated who I was with my eyeballs, which sounds so crazy. You're probably like, hey, man, you need to go get locked up real quick. But like, because that was how I understood everything was seeing it. I'm a visual learner and so, like I associated what I saw and my sight with me. Everything else was kind of like a secondary unit. Like my body was a machine, my brain was a computer, but my eyes were who I was.
Speaker 1:And I was thinking about that the other day, about like, okay, so if that's the case, and now I'm a 32-year-old man, like, do I still think that? And yes, I do, I do what I see makes me who I am. And I was thinking about how, like y'all these sound like high thoughts. I promise I'm not high, but I. I was thinking about, like, okay, so all of these things happen and it makes me who I am. Right, my, my sense of touch, my sense of smell, my sense of hearing, taste, sight, um, you know my thought processes that makes me who I am. How conscious am I about those things on a day-to-day basis? Like, am I in control of them? Am I thinking about them? Cause if not, I am, by definition, out of control If I'm not thinking about those things.
Speaker 1:And I w I was sitting there last night and I was like you know what? I need to be more in control. I need to be more in tune. I need to not just let things go and let my mind think these things and and act this way and have that mindset Like you're in control.
Speaker 1:All of the things that happen, the you know, all these conditions that we have, the ADHD and the ADD and the OCD and the dyslexia and the you know all of these things, like we can get a grasp on them, because it makes us who we are, like that is a part of who you are, and I've had, I think, a lot of this stemmed from I've had conversations with my wife and my friends, um about these things recently, where we, where we view them as conditions and sometimes people even go so far as like diseases. I just don't agree with that. I think that it's part of your being and it's made you who you are and the choices that you've made for so long, and getting a handle on it and being conscious about it is the most important thing. And being aware of how your brain thinks and how your body reacts to things and your emotional state, um, because, again, we live in a world that is so fast paced and there is no limit to what we're trying to do, and it's really starting to mess around with our own self-awareness, um, so I guess I guess, with all these deep thoughts y'all I don't know, sorry, it's been a super deep one, um, this time, but, like, with all of that being said, you and I and our individuality is so unbelievably important to think about and to connect with and to believe in and to nurture, because that's the only thing that matters, it's the only thing that you can connect with, ultimately is with yourself on that deep of a level.
Speaker 1:Anyway, guys, I'm going to try to get out of this deep hole, because we could just keep going down and down and down and down. We'd be for hours, but we don't want to do that. You know what I mean. So let's move on from all this crazy deep stuff. I'm so sorry, guys. I thought this was going to be a fun one. This turned out to be such like a freaking oh hey, let's look into Thomas's deep, dark thoughts type of episode. Anyway, let's get out of here. Let's move on to the Devil's Advocate, all right. So let's, let's kind of like uh, lighten up a bit. Huh, let's lighten up a bit and talk about something that's, that's actually um, something that we can actually debate and have a good time on. Um, so let's, let's go back to fitness, cause that's a lot easier, a lot more straightforward to deal with and it'll get me out of my deep funk.
Speaker 1:So when it comes to because this is a question I've been getting asked a lot from a lot of different people clients, friends, family members, associates If you want to get in shape, what is more important, diet or exercise? And obviously I am a fitness professional. This is what I do for a profession. So I kind of could go really ham on both sides, but we'll try to keep it light profession. So I kind of could go really ham on both sides, but we'll try to keep it light.
Speaker 1:So, um, as far as getting into better shape and feeling good and and looking good and being healthy, healthy, healthy, I think that the the best way to do it and the most important way to do that is with your diet, um, what you internalize, what you put into your body, and there's a lot of science behind this. You know, we've heard the phrase, you know it's 80% diet, 20% exercise, and I think it's even more than that, because it's been proven that you can change your physique, you can change your metabolism, you can change your gut with your diet, with no exercise. Put exercise to the side, obviously, move your body, don't just lay on your bed, but you don't have to go to the gym and do push-ups and all these things to change your body, to be better, to feel better, to look better, because your diet is what fuels every system of your body. It fuels your brain, it fuels your nervous system, it fuels your heart, your lungs, your stomach, your muscles. Everything that is fueled, that gets your body to actually function, is based on what you put in your body. Um, and, and you know so people then jump to? Okay, well, if that's the case, then what diet should I use? And the answer is this don't diet, don't diet. It's really simple Eat natural foods, eat natural foods.
Speaker 1:And that obviously I'm trying to make this as simple as I can. Obviously, it's very, very difficult to do that, because the food system in America is pardon my French, you know what I mean. You know it's effed up, it's so screwed mean. You know it's effed up, it's so screwed Um, the the food industry is now built on making people addicted to food, because that's how they make money. Um, and so they're not in the business of providing good food, they're in the business of providing addictive food.
Speaker 1:And so when I say natural, I literally mean natural Like. Did you personally grow it? Obviously, that's very difficult to do. I'm not saying that you have to have a garden, but like. That's the mentality, that's the level of natural that you should be eating if you want to be in the best shape of your life. And it's a very simple way, not easy, but a very simple way of eating. Do you know someone that has a farm? Do you know someone that can raise a cow and kill it and give you meat? Do you know someone with chickens where you can get eggs? That's the level of natural Like.
Speaker 1:If you were able to do that I'm not saying this is just for the sake of argument right, if you are able to do that and get all natural things, natural milk, you don't need soy milk, you don't need almond milk. Cow milk is just fine. It is safe for you by every measure of scientific discovery known to man. It is safe for you if it has not gone through a processing plant. The fats in it are very good for you, the calcium in it very good for you, the bacteria in it very good for you if it's natural.
Speaker 1:The whole pasteurized movement and the making it preservable movement ruined food, ruined food, genuinely ruined food, because it took all of the natural things out of the food. It's not natural for food to be preserved. It's meant to be eaten and obviously you can preserve food in more natural ways than other. You can salt it, you can dry it, you can can it without it becoming, you know, too overly processed. But again, the best thing that you can do is eat naturally. There's very few things that you can't eat.
Speaker 1:If it's naturally, you can have all the sugar you want from fruit you can. It's really really, really, really hard to overeat sugar from fruit. It's really difficult, like very difficult. So anybody that tells you like, oh, cut out the sugar, cut out your fruit for all the sugar Well, don't ever listen to that person. They're stupid. Well, don't ever listen to that person. They're stupid. The sugar should not come from processed sources.
Speaker 1:I have a client actually this is like a real fact. I have a client who's down 25 pounds because she only eats fruit and protein. That's her diet. She eats fruit all morning and then she works out really hard with me and then she has protein the rest of the day. She has protein and fruit and you know some low processed carbs and she's lost 25 pounds. It's very, very difficult to overeat sugar from fruit.
Speaker 1:So, like, the more natural you can eat, the less you have to quote unquote diet, um, which in this day and age is very difficult. I understand that. But for the sake of argument, the more natural you eat, the less you have to diet, and the more naturally you eat, the better shape you're going to be in. Your body will function the way it's supposed to be. You'll shed weight, you won't be in. Your body will function the way it's supposed to be. You'll shed weight, you won't be fat, you won't have all these cardiac problems, you won't have cholesterol problems, you won't have all these chronic illnesses that are killing millions and millions and millions of people, especially in the United States, but over the world too. But if you eat more, naturally, most of those problems start to disappear. And so I think, if you're talking about what will make me healthier, diet is for sure the thing that will make you healthier.
Speaker 1:But on the flip side of that, the argument can be made that exercise is the key to being healthier, because it takes what you do, regardless of whether it's supernatural or not, and kind of levels it out where the the more exercise you do there's a massive studies have been done on this the more that you exercise and strength train and resistance train and do cardio all of the aspects of exercise, but specifically, most importantly, resistance, strength training the better your body will react to what happens to it. So say, for instance, I eat a pizza. I eat really processed food. Because of how much I exercise, my body will be able to break that down way faster and way more efficiently than somebody who does not exercise. Now, if I'm eating healthy, that is, I'm off to the races doing diet and exercise game on.
Speaker 1:But if I'm just going to pick one for overall helping me be better, it's going to be exercise, because I can work off things. I can work off bad food, I can work off little sleep. I can work off a lot of things with exercise. And it's very difficult, it's very, very hard to do, but you can outwork it. Now you have to actually do it. You can't just, you know, think about it and go, oh yeah, I kind of did my best. No, you have to work really, really hard.
Speaker 1:But the but the science is there that says that the exercise is what's going to give you a long life, because it'll make your muscles strong. It increases and boosts your brain capacity, your memory, your cognitive function, your cardiovascular All of the aspects of your body get boosted from exercise. And you don't have to be super clean eating. You don't have to constantly eat, naturally, cause it's really difficult to do so in, especially in today's era. Exercise is going to be the key that keeps you healthy and obviously try to eat healthy and and and don't overdo it.
Speaker 1:But as far as like staying on track and and controlling what happens. Exercise is where you're going to get the most where you're. You're going to boost your metabolism, so you're going to be able to process the things. Like I said, you're going to boost your cognitive function. You're going to boost your ability to sleep. You're going to boost your ability to think. You're going to boost your cognitive function. You're going to boost your ability to sleep. You're going to boost your ability to think. You're going to boost your ability to move, um, all of the aspects that lead to a long and healthy life.
Speaker 1:Like, you can eat healthy, but if you're not strength training, your, your longevity and your your VO two max is going to be garbage, and so you won't be able to live as long or as healthy because you won't have the strength capacity to last that long. You just won't have it. So you have to make sure that you you prioritize exercise first, exercises where you're going to get things done. You're going to learn discipline, you're going to be able to outwork a lot of different things if you will exercise. So, yeah, I would say exercise is kind of the king as far as staying healthy and building longevity, because it actually physically changes your body. It builds fiber, it builds your muscles. It strengthens your bones and your joints, increases your nervous system, boosts your metabolism. The list goes on and on and on. So, yeah, I would definitely lean towards more of the exercise route.
Speaker 1:As far as making the argument that what is more important important diet versus exercise thing, exercise is the king, um, but that is your devil's advocate. Let me know what you think, Let me know what your position is. Um and uh. If you have ideas for the show, let me know. I would love to. It takes a lot of brain capacity to think up these devil's advocates that don't just repeat and repeat and repeat, cause I could talk about the same thing over and over again. So, if you have ideas, let me know. Message the show. You can text the show. You can message me on Instagram. I'll read those and ask your friends. Start debating with your friends. Let them have input too.
Speaker 1:But before we get out of here, one final thing, and that is your final takeaway. Your final takeaway is very simple, very short, and it's a recall to what we were talking about earlier, because I cannot get my mind off of it. Your final takeaway is something to practice, something to do, something to think about, something to put into your life that, if you do, will bring you joy, will bring you happiness, will bring you positivity, will bring you success and ultimately just make you a better person. And that is live in anticipation, live with anticipation, live in anticipation, live with anticipation. Focus on anticipation rather than actually getting what you're anticipating.
Speaker 1:And I really do believe that All of my most exciting moments, my happy moments, are in the anticipation of things, like when I think about memories, like really, really beautiful, happy memories. Yes, the actual thing happening was beautiful, but what I think about the most is all of the stuff previous to that thing happening, meaning what led up to it, the thoughts and the feelings. Every time I think about the moments that matter the most in my life, it's always the thing that gets me the most excited is remembering the stuff leading up to it, all of those moments leading up to it. Those are the most exciting, um and and I would love to to hear somebody else's thoughts on that but I I encourage you to try to live with anticipation more.
Speaker 1:And I'm not saying don't get things, don't do things. What I'm saying is live in the anticipation more, which is another way of saying just live in the present. Live in the moment, obviously, but like, enjoy the anticipation. See it for what it is. It's the most beautiful part of the experience of life the anticipation, the wonder, the amazement of not knowing and and and hoping, um. That's what can really really bring you joy is to love the anticipation of what's coming, um, or or what's not coming. Maybe you know the anticipation of not knowing. It's a beautiful feeling and I think it's overlooked too often as far as wanting to be satisfied and satiated more than we want to wait and enjoy and live in the anticipation. So I would encourage you to live with anticipation and love the anticipation more than maybe you have currently been doing.
Speaker 1:But I do love you guys. Thank you for tuning in. Sorry, this got super deep. Actually, I'm not really sorry because I think deep is good sometimes and this is just me being real. You know how we do in the show. It's my show. I just say what I want. I say what I feel I'm very honest do in the show. It's my show. I just say what I want. I say what I feel I'm very honest and upfront and open and vulnerable on this show. So I hope you guys respond to that and enjoy that Let me know if you have thoughts and questions and concerns. I love you. I really do hope that you know that you're an important person. I hope that you know that you're powerful, that you're loved. I hope that you know that you're powerful, that you're loved and that you actually are very, very important to the world and to the moments that you exist in. So, thank you, I love you. This is the Fit Perception Podcast. I'm your boy, t, and I'm out. Thank you One, two, three.