October 17, 2025 • 38 mins
In one of our favorite episodes as an encore we find out: What does it really take to move from 300 pounds to a 9:15 Ironman without losing your love of great food and a full life? We sit down with chef-turned-triathlete Will Liebig to unpack the habits, community, and mindset that reshaped his health over a decade. Will is open about the grind: he swapped isolation for master swimming, built cycling and running tribes, and embraced the 80/20 training rule—keep 20 percent truly hard, keep 80 percent easy. The gains came not from punishment, but from patience.
Food is a highlight. As a classically trained chef, Will rejects fear-based nutrition and shows how fats like olive oil, butter, and cream can fuel endurance when paired with smart timing, portion control, and macro awareness. He eats smaller meals throughout the day, anchors a larger mid-day plate, often skips starch at night for better sleep, and isn’t afraid of fasted zone-2 when the plan calls for it. He also defends cheat days as motivation, not failure—a double spicy Bloody Mary after a race or a well-plated steak dinner cooked sous vide because satisfaction matters.
We also explore resilience. Will shares the setbacks that tested him—career shifts, grief after his father’s passing, and a brush with body dysmorphia—and how he course-corrected by eating enough, tracking with intention, and leaning on his wife, Lisa, for logistics and encouragement. That partnership turns races into shared adventures and keeps training sustainable. Expect practical coaching cues, real-world nutrition, and the reminder that big change demands a wider timeline. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a quick review—then tell us what habit you’ll commit to for the next five years.
Email us at HELLO@ChampionsMojo.com. Opinions discussed are not medical advice, please seek a medical professional for your own health concerns.
Check out Kelly's Books at www.KellyPalace.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:02):
It's just been a slow, arduous process of making
sure you commit to what you wantto do and get into it.
The best part is being a chef, Ihave the nutrition side of the
things down.
I know what I need to eat, whenI need to eat them, and how much
you need to eat them, eventhough I have a lot of good
cheat days too.
SPEAKER_01 (00:23):
Hello, friends.
This is Kelly Palace, host ofChampions Mojo, your place for
better health, resilience, andmaster swimming.
I'm taking a short break fromrecording new episodes of
Champions Mojo for two excitingreasons.
First, I'm launching my latestbook, False Cure.
It's a whistleblowinginvestigative journalism book
(00:45):
about a denied health epidemic.
If you'd like more informationon that, it's in the show notes.
The second and most compellingreason I'm on a break is here at
Champions Mojo, we're preparingfor the January 2026 reboot of
powerful new weekly episodeswith expert guest interviews,
(01:07):
inspiring topics, and tips totake your mindset, health, and
personal performance to the nextlevel.
We will be announcing someexciting partnerships with show
we will be announcing someexciting we will be announcing
(01:29):
some incredible partnershipswith the show, and I guarantee
what we have in store for youwill empower you and keep your
mojo strong in the new year.
While I'm prepping all thisgreat stuff, we've selected
While I'm preparing all thisgreat stuff, we've selected some
of our shows.
(01:50):
While I'm preparing some of thisgreat stuff, we've selected some
of our best shows ever for anEncore series.
My hope is that if this is yoursecond time listening to this
episode, you'll take away evenmore insight and motivation.
Or if it's your first time,you'll love this episode as much
as everyone else did.
(02:11):
So settle in and enjoy thisEncore presentation in its
entirety.
We are so excited today to hearfrom our special guest, Will
Liebig, who has experienced thehighs of crossing the finish
line at an Iron Man race to thelows of facing self-doubt and
(02:33):
setbacks.
Will has experienced it all.
He's here to share his insights,tips, and lessons learned from
this transformational journey.
So whether you're a seasonedathlete, a fitness enthusiast,
or someone looking formotivation to overcome personal
challenges, you are in for atreat.
Maria, what else can you tell usabout Will?
SPEAKER_00 (02:55):
Will is a former professionally trained chef who
once weighed 300 pounds and hasnow become a high performing
Iron Man triathlete, currentlytipping the scales at a lean 174
pounds.
That's right.
If you did the math, that's wellover 100 pounds.
His journey is nothing short ofremarkable, and we're thrilled
to have him share his story withus.
(03:17):
Will welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_03 (03:19):
Awesome.
Thank you very much for havingme, ladies.
I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01 (03:23):
Yes, we are we are so delighted.
And Will, we got to start off bysaying you are a high performing
triathlete, but Will is likeelite.
I know I've heard of a couple ofyour triathlons, but tell us
first, like what is the withinthe your Iron Man, well what's
your best performance thatyou've ever had in Iron Man?
SPEAKER_03 (03:43):
It's definitely been a build in progress, obviously,
with a lot of endurance sports.
This is coming up on my fifthyear doing this.
And I just completed my thirdofficial full Iron Man distance,
and that was Iron Man, Marylandlast year in September.
And I did that in nine hours and15 minutes flat.
Wow.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:04):
So that's it.
SPEAKER_03 (04:06):
And that's what I definitely like to tell people.
It's not an overnight thing.
You have to slowly work into it.
You have to build to that goal.
And that's the real key behindinterim sports is consistency
and time in the saddle, time onyour feet.
And just I my my big thing is Ihave to make a commitment to
myself.
So I have to commit tosomething.
SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
So nine hours and 15 minutes for an Iron Man is just
incredible.
And it's that is just that'sjust incredible.
What what is that?
2.4 mile swim, 112 bike, and a26.2 in a marathon.
SPEAKER_03 (04:43):
Yep.
Yeah, in a marathon.
SPEAKER_01 (04:45):
Wow.
I might be lucky to do themarathon in nine hours.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (04:48):
That's kind of what I was that was that's what I was
thinking.
That's amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (04:51):
Oh, and yeah.
Well, and that's what I woulddefinitely really like to say is
everybody can do it.
Everybody can do the Iron Man.
I mean, a big story that Idefinitely got inspired by was
Chris Nikich, who's thegentleman who has Down syndrome.
And he was at my very first IronMan.
Um, and he was on the rack rightin front of me, and his story is
amazing.
So, again, anybody can do it.
(05:12):
So don't short yourselves.
I know you guys could do it ifyou wanted to.
So wow.
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (05:17):
So, well, we do know that we have a lot of master
swimmers that listen toChampions Mojo, and we all three
met through master swimming.
And could you start with tellingus how did you find master
swimming?
And where does that fit intothis overall transformational
journey for you, masterswimming?
SPEAKER_03 (05:39):
So, master swimming I found early last year after a
pretty good spout of doing awhole lot of swimming by myself.
And I was a lifeguard for thecity of Melbourne.
I worked on the beach for years.
So swimming was in mybackground, but I um I was
putting myself sort of in thehypothetical hole, I guess you
could say, swimming by myselfand not having any community
(06:02):
around it.
So actually, I was starting tohate swimming.
I was not happy with swimming.
And so I started to reach out toa couple of triathletes that I
knew, Ed Donner and a coupleother guys, like that said, hey,
BJ is always there.
Check out the master swimming.
And I really felt uh felt and Ifound a giant sense of community
(06:23):
with this group.
And the good mornings we get inthe morning motivate me.
And it's really, really nice tohave a great group of
individuals to to see as much asI want in the mornings Monday,
Wednesday, Friday, andSaturdays.
So, and more than anything, itstarts my day on those days.
Those tougher days, Monday,Wednesdays, and Fridays, are
tougher days to get going, andthat really helps me.
(06:43):
So it's great.
SPEAKER_00 (06:45):
Do you have community in your in cycling and
running as well?
Or you those are solo?
SPEAKER_03 (06:49):
I do a lot of cycling by myself, but I have
recently found a nice group ofgentlemen and ladies that go
from Starbucks.
It's called the StarbucksSaturday ride.
And the big thing was I didn'thave a road bike for the longest
time.
I just had a tri-bike and a lotof roadies, I don't know if you
know the bike scene, but a lotof roadies will sort of
persecute you for having a TTbike in the in the road bike
(07:10):
scene scene.
So I finally got a road bikethis last year and and I started
branching out into a nice groupcalled the Starbucks riders.
So and then and then therunning, I do a lot of solo, but
I do a lot with a group too.
So it's sort of individualizingeverything.
The best swimmers, the bestbikers, and then the best
runners.
So that's really helps me getall the tools that I need.
(07:32):
So to do the racing.
SPEAKER_00 (07:34):
Well, I think we have to ask the question of the
hours, you know, how did you gofrom being this chef who was
pretty overweight to this leanmean triathlon machine?
I mean, what inspired you?
How long did it take?
Give us the whole rundown.
SPEAKER_03 (07:51):
Well, it was definitely a long process, I
would say 10-year plus process.
And it's had a lot of ups anddowns, being that my wife was in
the kitchen, we met.
We met in culinary school.
She actually sat right in frontof me, and and we uh we went all
the way through culinary school.
And then obviously, you get intothe kitchen.
And the big thing is we came outof culinary school in 2008.
(08:12):
So if you can imagine what wasgoing on in 2008, um, a lot of
time on your feet, a lot ofworking, and then obviously
there's a lot of partyinginvolved with the kitchen too.
You don't just go home afteryou're done in the kitchen, you
go out and have a drink, and uhso obviously I was drinking a
lot of beer and I was uh eatinga lot of butter because I was
working a saute line.
And uh and basically I starteddating my wife, and my roommate
(08:35):
at the time was a bodybuilder.
He was actually going to his couh culinary school, and he's you
need to come and start you'reseeing this new woman, you need
to start doing gym work.
So I started going to the gym,and then I started going twice a
week and or twice a day, and Iliterally over the holiday break
from school, I had lost like 40pounds.
(08:56):
I it just fell off.
Again, he had me working prettyhard, my roommate.
And I think it was mostlybecause I was courting why I
wanted to really have arelationship with Lisa, and uh
and that happened, and then andthen obviously we went off and
we moved to California for acouple years, and uh and the
weight sort of went back upagain, and then because I was
working for gracious retirementliving, which is basically
(09:17):
taking care of the oldergeneration, and uh, there were
cookies every day, and there wasrolls every day, and all the
different things that you loveto eat, and the weight went back
up, and then we decided we wedid our three-year California
experience and came back toFlorida, always end up back in
Melbourne, Florida somehow.
I don't know how.
And uh, and basically that was10 years into our relationship,
(09:38):
and we were sitting on a beachin Tampa, and I looked at her
and I said, Hey hun, why don'twe get married?
And 10 years after after we weretogether for 10 years, she said,
Of course.
But I made a deal with her.
I said, We need to get in shapebefore we get married.
We need to be more just overallbetter health.
And it's funny, but that and Isay it's funny, it's sad, but my
(10:01):
grandparents had just passedaway.
And the one thing my grandfatheralways said to me when he was
alive was, Will, you're such agood looking guy.
Why aren't you in shape?
And I always contribute hiswords, still always in my head,
that I wish he could see metoday because I've literally
gotten in shape like he wantedto.
So, but the thing that I relatedit at that when I started
(10:23):
working on a lot was my grandparode his bike five miles a day
until he was 96 years old.
And that work, he did it everyday consistently.
You have to commit and you haveto be consistent.
And my grandma swam in the poolfor an hour every day until she
was 95 years old.
So, again, that sort of workedit in.
(10:45):
And my wife and I decided tostart doing this boot camp at
Health First, and we did theboot camp and we did the boot
camp for two months, and theweight was just starting to fall
off.
And I was swimming and I wasbiking.
And then my uncle, Tony, he wasa collegiate cyclist, and my
cousin was a collegiate cyclistand said, Hey, why don't you
(11:05):
start riding with the cyclingguys?
So I rode with the cycling guysa little bit, and then he says,
You're doing so well at cycling,why don't you throw the running
in there and go try a triathlon?
So I started doing a triathlon,and all this time we were losing
weight and the weight wasstarting to really come off.
But then I found triathlon and Ireally enjoyed it.
And my first triathlon ever wasthe uh the pineapple man.
And then I did the boardwalkright after that, and the rest
(11:28):
is history, and then it was IronMan's and my wife logistically
getting all the different racestogether and all the different
things.
And again, it's just been aslow, arduous process of making
sure you commit to what you wantto do and get into it.
So, and the best part is being achef, I have the nutrition side
of the things down.
I know what I need to eat, whenI need to eat them, and how much
(11:51):
you need to eat them, eventhough I have a lot of good
cheat days too.
SPEAKER_00 (11:53):
So that would be my next question is I think most
people struggle with the weightloss part because it's so hard,
it seems hard to eat wellconsistently.
Do you have any do you have anywords of encouragement on that?
SPEAKER_03 (12:06):
I think the biggest thing is you you that I've
found, and it's truly all whatyou put in your mouth.
It's if you can drop the sodas,and you and that was the first
thing that went is I had to stopdrinking soda.
So I stopped drinking sodacompletely and I found an
alternative.
And you just have to drop those.
Um, I don't want to say sugar islike the devil or anything like
(12:26):
that.
Sugar is amazing, but you justhave to limit it in your life.
And and but at the same time,it's going back to cheat days.
You have to have those cheatdays.
You can't be on, not even themost professional athletes are
on seven days a week.
They have to have that onerecoup day, and you have to
reward yourself.
You have to have thatself-reward that really keeps
(12:47):
you motivated and moving.
So, but it's all what you eat.
It's getting your macros down,getting your calories, and uh
and don't eat too little.
I suffered for that r really badfor a really long time.
I had I had a pretty good caseof body dysmorphia.
I just wanted to be really lean,really thin, and I was actually
making myself sick.
I really was.
So I even had my spleen was alltelling me the blood tests were
(13:10):
telling me I wasn't doing theright thing and this, that, and
the other thing.
And I had to pull myself backfrom that and really focus in on
what mattered.
So, and that's overall health.
I would say it's about beingoverall healthy.
Don't you don't have to be tooskinny, you don't have to be out
of shape, but you just need tobe healthy.
That's the key.
SPEAKER_01 (13:28):
So, Will, was there s like a time during this
overall transformation that youhad a really rough time?
SPEAKER_03 (13:38):
Yes.
I had a really rough time aboutgosh, it's coming up on four
years now.
When my father passed awaysuddenly, it was it was very it
was a tough time because Ialways used food as a crutch.
Um, especially when I was in thekitchen.
You would get done with a heavy,hard day, and two pitchers of
beer were was nothing.
(13:59):
I just drank two pitchers ofbeer.
And again, that I don't want tosay I was ever uh had a problem
with alcohol, but I I did drinka lot and and that sort of
spiked up a little bit when hepassed away.
I mean, because that's sort ofjust how I griefed.
But then it was more of a it wasmore of a you've done all this
work to to regress again and togo back to where you were is not
(14:20):
where I want to be, and again,just have to re refocus your
mind and and go back out thereand do it, do it like he would
want you to do it.
So, or what how he wanted me todo it.
SPEAKER_00 (14:29):
So he got to see you do triathlons and he he did.
SPEAKER_03 (14:34):
He actually the last triathlon he got to see was Iron
Man 70.3 Puerto Rico, which wasan absolutely amazing trip.
We had a great time, and and hewas really, really happy for
what I had accomplished, and andI know he's he's watching, so
that's beautiful.
SPEAKER_01 (14:49):
So, Will, take us on the chef journey just a little
bit, because obviously you'vealluded to the fact that you
were eating a lot when you werea chef.
You're in a new career, but youstill enjoy cooking.
How do you balance thattemptation or the fact that you
and Lisa are chefs and that youcook a lot?
(15:10):
How do you balance that beingaround food and wanting to cook
with this new life?
SPEAKER_03 (15:17):
I think again, it goes back to the timing of the
week.
Fridays are our our Fridays andSaturdays are like cheat days.
So, so where we go and enjoyreally, really nice meals.
Or as we're going on thesedifferent trips, when we were
out in St.
George, we went to Las Vegas andof course we went to a beautiful
steakhouse and had that's myfavorite thing to do is to go
(15:38):
find the biggest steak possibleand then to eat it.
So and and again, rewardingmyself and rewarding the hard
work is what it's all about.
I always laugh in the pool whenI was actually talking to
Benjamin today about it and uhand the good old Lane Four.
Um, I don't know if you knowMaria about Lane Four yet, but
there's a bit of a camaraderiegoing on there.
But Benjamin.
SPEAKER_02 (15:57):
Hey, wait, they all wear matching suits.
SPEAKER_03 (15:59):
Yes, we wear matching suits, whatever.
And uh no, Benjamin has has justcome back after a little bit of
injury, and I was telling himwhat I love to do after a good
race is my favorite drinking isto have a double bloody Mary,
extra spicy, and that you haveto have those rewards because if
you don't have them, you'reyou're not gonna enjoy yourself.
But I think more than anything,it's again just choosing those
(16:22):
right foods and building somefun dishes at home.
And I don't know if you guysknow what sous vide is or not,
but I've been messing aroundwith a sous vide machine a lot.
SPEAKER_01 (16:30):
And yeah, no, no, you gotta explain it.
SPEAKER_03 (16:32):
Oh, okay.
So sous vide is basically it's along, a lot of things these days
are sous vide, but it'sbasically cooked in water at a
certain temperature for a reallylong time, and it makes anything
you cook super tender.
So, like we did pork chops thislast weekend and uh and bone in
pork chops, cut our own porkchops, and then sous-vide them
for 12 hours and basicallyinfuse them with all these
(16:54):
spices.
And again, it it that gives methe sense that I'm still in the
kitchen where I get to cook up areally nice meal and have the
sides.
And I my wife and I platebecause I'm always the guy that
prepared everything, and then Iwould turn around to the pass,
which is where you plateeverything in the kitchen, and
Lisa was always there because Iwas terrible at plating.
I was I would just throw the shthe stuff on the plate, but she
(17:16):
makes it look beautiful, andobviously you eat with your eyes
before your mouth.
SPEAKER_01 (17:20):
So we need to drill down on that because that is
just like what explain plating.
SPEAKER_03 (17:29):
So it it's it's where you obviously have your
three main components, which isthe center of the plate item,
which is your meat or yourprotein, and then you have your
starch, which is your risotto oryour mashed potatoes, or your
polenta.
We love doing polenta, and andthen obviously your vegetable,
you always have to have allthree items.
And that's the other big thingthat I like to stress is
(17:52):
everything has to be in in inportion in unison.
And when you're plating it up,what makes it beautiful?
You get some height on theplate, or in this case where
you're doing pork chops, youhave a nice bone in the pork
chop, and that's sort of theflair that brings the height to
the plate.
And again, just makes it makesit look more appetizing before
you consume it.
And and again, I'm verytraditional French trained, so
(18:14):
it's a lot of heavy cream saucesand lots of butter.
I love I love butter.
Butter is my favorite thing inthe entire world.
It's butter, cream, and butter.
Those are my three maybe withyou.
And I mean, and that's what it'sall about.
And and that's the sad part isthat that's the other thing that
I will stress is don't be afraidof those things.
They're wonderful for you.
(18:35):
They the whole 90s and early2000s, oh fat everything.
I eat a ton of ton of olive oil,ton of butter, ton of cream, and
that really that's a huge fuelin an endurance sport.
So make sure you're getting allthat in into your diets.
SPEAKER_01 (18:49):
So that is fantastic.
So, so the idea that like maybethat's why we enjoy eating out.
You go to a lot of buffets oryou serve buffet, like you have
go to someone's house to eat,and it's just it's a buffet.
So you just kind of sloping onyour plate.
But the idea of plating, I justlove that.
I love that you eat with youreyes first.
(19:11):
That is really cool.
So, gosh, Will, so there's somany things.
So we kind of talked about yourroutine, which are your reward
and you obviously work superhard, but what are some things
that you think champions share,like some common traits that are
important if people are going toachieve these really rich goals
(19:33):
like you you have achieved?
SPEAKER_03 (19:35):
I definitely think, and I would definitely look to
Mike Murder for teaching more ofthis too, but the hard is hard.
You have to go hard for 20% ofthe workouts.
And then obviously the restneeds to be easy.
And for the longest time,especially earlier on in my
triathlon career, it was hardall the time, that gray zone,
(19:58):
that middle zone where youshouldn't be all the time, but I
was always there.
And once you figure that side ofthings out and you're able to
literally go in, and that wasthe one that I can point in my
whole time in triathlon, therewas a time where we were over in
Claremont and we were ridingwith a bunch of professional
triathletes.
And to watch them go for thefirst hour and a half at just
(20:21):
conversation, relaxing pace, getout to where we were going to
start our workout.
And then all of a sudden it wasbam.
It was 10 by two minutes all theway, tons of hills, this and
anything.
But then after that was done, itwas relaxed again.
It was easy.
So you definitely have to findthat balance where you're not
doing too much, but you're notdoing too little.
(20:42):
And I know you and I, Kelly,have definitely talked about
that in the pool was you have tobe able to hit those times that
you want to hit to increasebecause then the margin as you
get more fit and you get longerand longer, even that half a
second is where you're gonna seeit.
And being able to produce thathalf a second more every single
time is where it's gonna be.
(21:03):
So, because we're all notsupermen, but we can get close
if we really work at it.
SPEAKER_00 (21:07):
Maria, did you hear that?
I have a million questions toask you.
Your transformation is soinspirational and your
incredible athleticism.
But I think a lot of people, youknow, it's confusing what to eat
is confusing.
And as you said, they used totell us I grew up you're never
supposed to eat any fat anddidn't eat vegetables because
they don't taste very goodwithout fat.
(21:28):
I'm curious with your expertiseand food, what specifically do
you eat?
How do you manage, you know, dayto day?
I know you have cheat days, buta regular week with your busy
career and you're all the hoursyou're spending working out.
What do you eat and how do youmanage to do that in a
reasonable amount of time?
SPEAKER_03 (21:44):
The big thing that I really seen that has helped and
worked a lot is the smallermeals more many times a day.
So a lot of the time, my wifecan protest this, I'm constantly
got something, a bar, but eatingeight to twelve times a day a
smaller meal.
And then you have that onelarger meal towards the middle
of the day.
And starting with breakfast, Iwould say it's a lot of eggs,
(22:07):
egg whites, omelets, scrambles.
I love sardines.
I know that's a weird one, but Ilove I had sardines this
morning.
That's my Wednesday meal.
I'm pretty routine throughoutthe entire week of what I eat on
certain days.
That's obviously adding morecarbohydrates into my diet
towards the end of the weekbecause obviously my most
training is going to come on theweekends on Saturdays and
(22:30):
Sundays, your long days, I guessyou could say.
But lots of eggs, and then Ilove tuna.
I I eat a lot of tuna, shrimp,but but then as you get that big
meal out of the day towards oneo'clock, two o'clock, you go to
more of a lighter meal at nightwhere it's just a protein of
some sort, being at steak and avegetable, no starch at night.
(22:52):
That's the one thing.
And it's weird, but I've foundthat when I don't include starch
in my diet at night, I sleepbetter.
I get that, I get the starchduring the middle of the day.
So again, your body has a chanceto use those carbohydrates
before you go to sleep and thenready to go.
So, and that that's anotherthing I will say is I do a lot
of fasted cardio in the morning,especially when it's not a
(23:16):
workout, like a hard workoutwhere it's more of a zone two
training or a zone one training.
I do my best to just consumeliquids in the morning.
I'll have a shake in the morningor just drink my, I call it my
uh my my beat thing.
Uh everybody in lane four callsit my tiger's blood.
So basically it looks like andand just just in enjoy that.
And then again, but alwaysputting that what you need in
(23:39):
your body throughout the day.
And it has to do a lot with withmacros, how much protein, how
much fat, how muchcarbohydrates.
And obviously the biggest thingthat I'm taking eating a lot
right now is protein.
So and uh and then still fatsand then carbohydrates.
So um uh, but yeah, it's avariety, and I think that's the
one thing I like about being achef is I can open up my cooler
(24:00):
or my refrigerator and I cansay, Oh, I can put this with
this, so I don't always have tobe going to the to Publix all
the time or things like that.
So, and lots of yogurt.
I eat a lot of yogurt, so Iprobably eat a big tub of yogurt
in three or four days.
So that's another thing.
So but uh yeah, it's just makingsure you're and I know it's
really elementary, but myfitness pal is amazing just by
(24:24):
for tracking what you eat, soyou can say to yourself, Oh,
I've only got and I don't wantto say calorie counting works
for everybody, it sure doesn't,and don't be attached to it.
That's just one of thoseprocesses that I have to do is
literally input the stuff on myphone, say, Oh, here's what I
have.
So, but those cheat days I neverinput on my phone.
So that's the key.
SPEAKER_01 (24:42):
So we love MyFit Pal.
Mark uses that every day.
I mean, he's like constantly onit.
So, well, before we ask the lastquestion and play the fun
sprinter round, Maria and I loveto know about partnerships and
people that really play a rolein champions' lives.
Tell us about your wife and yourpartnership and what that has
(25:06):
really done for you.
SPEAKER_03 (25:08):
Well, I'm gonna just I'm gonna go just standard and
say behind every great man istruly a greater woman by far.
She is huge in my success.
And if I didn't have her andshe, and I will say, if she
didn't come into my life at whenshe came into my life, I
definitely wouldn't be where Iam today.
The logistics and the planetickets and the hotels and this,
(25:30):
that, and the other thing.
And hey, we need to go see thisand we need to see that.
I just can't think of some ofthat stuff all the time.
And she is amazing in that side.
And I will say, that's the onething that I'm really happy.
And that's what we're trying todo is we're I want to go do the
Iron Man's in certain weirdplaces like Cork, Ireland.
We want to go to Cork, Irelandin the next couple of years so
(25:52):
we can go see Ireland and andthings like that.
So it's more of a what's theword I'm looking for?
Like more of a cohesion that welike because she gets to
experience some things, but thenshe also is a wonderful Sherpa.
They call her a Sherpa.
She's there to make sure I haveeverything.
She comes out on her bike withthe bike or with the run group
and the mobile, we call her themobile aid station, but she
(26:13):
carries everybody's water duringthe summer.
And she likes that side ofthings because obviously it's a
great sense of community, butbut at the same time, is she she
gets a good workout in and uhand just likes being out there
and enjoying it?
So, but she's a huge part of mysuccess, and I definitely
wouldn't be here without her.
SPEAKER_01 (26:30):
Sounds amazing.
Yeah, I know every time you doanything, you always talk about
her.
So I love that.
So, all right, the very lastquestion before the fun sprint
around is there anything that wehave not asked you that you want
to share with our listeners?
SPEAKER_03 (26:44):
I just want to stress anybody can do what I
have done.
If you're having trouble gettingover something or getting over a
certain hurdle, it really justcomes down to just refocusing
and doing what you need to doand just being committed.
Know that it's not gonna happenin two weeks.
It's gonna take five years toget to where you need to be.
We're so narrow-minded in thisinstant gratification.
(27:07):
You gotta stick to it.
You gotta find that communitythat that really helps you
achieve your goals.
Beautiful.
SPEAKER_01 (27:13):
Well, all right.
And even though you are not asprinter, Will, we know that
you're gonna do a great job onthese questions.
Are you ready to play?
I will ask the first fewquestions and then Maria.
What do you consider the bestsandwich?
SPEAKER_03 (27:31):
Oh, honestly, turkey, avocado, bacon, bacon,
turkey, avocado.
I love that.
On marble rye bread withmayonnaise, homemade mayonnaise.
SPEAKER_01 (27:40):
Oh gosh.
How do you make homemademayonnaise?
SPEAKER_03 (27:42):
It's really easy.
Eggs and eggs and uh oil.
That's it.
Boom.
Whisk them.
SPEAKER_00 (27:47):
Do you have to worry about the I gotta ask this
because I always want to makehomemade mayonnaise?
Wait, we yeah, we need to hearhow do you make homemade
mayonnaise?
SPEAKER_03 (27:54):
We need a whole recipe.
It's really easy.
It's egg yolks.
It's egg.
You could go three three eggyolks to a cup of oil and a
little bit of a little bit oflemon juice or vinegar.
So you just need it.
I like to use olive oil oravocado oil, but you can use
just regular vegetable oil ifyou wanted to.
It just depends on what theflavor you're looking for.
But the big thing is you needobviously the fat from the egg,
(28:16):
egg yolks, and then you need alittle bit of acid, and then
just whisk it together.
So you can do it in a foodprocessor too.
SPEAKER_00 (28:22):
So and and how long does that keep?
And do you have to worry aboutgerms and the raw egg?
You can keep that for probablyabout seven days, seven, eight
days.
SPEAKER_03 (28:31):
But if you just make a small batch of it, if you just
make a small batch of it andyou're using it every single
day, because when I do my tunafish, I use that in there.
SPEAKER_01 (28:38):
Yes.
All right, on to question numbertwo.
Okay.
What do you own that you shouldthrow out?
SPEAKER_03 (28:45):
Oh gosh, t-shirts and hats.
SPEAKER_01 (28:48):
Okay.
What is the scariest animal toyou?
SPEAKER_03 (28:51):
I don't like hippopotamuses at all.
They're really scary becausethey got those big teeth.
And I think that movie Congoback in the nine, it was the
late 90s where the it ate thewhole boat.
SPEAKER_01 (29:02):
Is there a celebrity that you would like to meet?
And if so, who?
SPEAKER_03 (29:05):
Oh geez.
Honestly, I would love to meetthe trio back in the 90s, Bruce
Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger,and Sylvester Stallone.
So I wrote a little book back inthe day when I was a kid called
Abs.
Arnold, Bruce, Sylvester.
And I got a little monkey fromPlanet Hollywood.
Remember they used to own thePlanet Hollywoods?
And I called them abs because Ialways wanted abs.
SPEAKER_01 (29:27):
So oh gosh.
You might have a new nickname.
Yeah, there we go.
We'll call you abs.
All right.
What is the hardest swimmingevent in the pool?
SPEAKER_03 (29:37):
Ooh, for me, I would say it's the hundred, just the
straight hundred free.
I would say it's the 50 or thehundred because I'm just
terrible at speed.
You know that.
SPEAKER_01 (29:45):
So you can work on that.
Yes.
All right.
So yes.
Last one for me.
What what's your favorite movie?
SPEAKER_03 (29:53):
Ooh.
Um Terminator 2.
I love that movie.
I don't know.
I was good to do that.
SPEAKER_01 (29:57):
I love that movie too.
SPEAKER_03 (29:58):
That's a great one.
Tropic Thunder.
SPEAKER_00 (30:00):
What's your favorite smell?
SPEAKER_03 (30:02):
Oh gosh, lavender.
I love lavender.
So and that's coming from when Ilived in England years ago when
my uh when we were stationedover there, there was a giant
lavender field right next to ourhouse.
So and I love that smell.
SPEAKER_00 (30:16):
Do you make your bed every morning?
SPEAKER_03 (30:19):
Uh yes and no, sort of.
My wife is really into that.
So yeah, she normally does, andI'm normally up before her, way
before her, so she's stillsleeping.
Kickboard or no kickboard.
Oh, kickboard.
I'm a terrible kicker.
I just need something to floaton.
SPEAKER_00 (30:33):
So if you had to listen to one song for the rest
of your life, what would it be?
SPEAKER_03 (30:39):
Oh gosh.
Oh man.
But people are crazy.
Billy Carrington.
Because people are crazy.
So, and that's a really goodstory.
So it's a great story he tellsin that song.
SPEAKER_00 (30:50):
So window or aisle?
SPEAKER_03 (30:54):
Middle seat, all the way.
I I'm excited.
I I love getting to know, andLisa always sits in the window.
So, but I like sitting in themiddle because I like to meet
everybody on the aisle.
Actually, I'm really lookingforward to flying tomorrow
because I meet like everybody onthe air.
I'll take I'll talk to a brickwall if it'll talk back to me,
Maria, all day.
SPEAKER_00 (31:11):
So the best answer I've ever heard.
I you're changing my wholeperspective on that, which I
always get because my husbandgets the aisle.
SPEAKER_01 (31:18):
Yeah, and this is why I can never get Mark out of
swim practice because he andWill are the same.
Like Mark is the same way.
SPEAKER_03 (31:26):
Yeah, I'm a social butterfly.
I love I I mean that's my jobnow.
I literally, I mean, I sellfood, but that's my job is to go
in and speak to people and toknow people.
SPEAKER_00 (31:36):
So well, you're a delight.
I'm sure people love to see youcoming through the door.
Okay, last question.
Describe your life in fivewords.
SPEAKER_03 (31:44):
Crazy, uh up and down.
I well, that's two words.
It's been tough.
It's been a tough life, but it'sbeen a good life and uh and uh
exciting.
I love doing the things I get todo and and rewarding.
I like I like to go and dothings and then reward myself
with fun afterwards, andespecially fun with my wife.
So that's great.
SPEAKER_01 (32:03):
Actually, Maria, there's one last question we
didn't see there.
SPEAKER_00 (32:06):
Oh, we didn't.
I'm sorry.
Yeah.
What comes to what word comes tomind when you dive in the water?
SPEAKER_03 (32:12):
Freedom.
It's relaxing.
It's relaxing to do that first.
Well, and not rushing thewarm-up anymore because I get
yelled at by Benjamin at thatone, and I like that little five
things that you're not supposedto do in the pool.
And I remember always rushing tothe warm-up, and it's but no,
freedom, just relaxing and goingunder the water, and
everything's quiet.
So love that.
Beautiful, beautiful.
SPEAKER_01 (32:32):
Well, what a great time to spend with you and learn
all these more in-depth thingsabout you.
You are definitely an iron manand an inspiration.
Awesome.
Thank you very much, ladies.
It's been wonderful.
So, Maria, there it was.
Our beautiful interview withWill Liebig.
What an what an amazing humanbeing.
(32:54):
Just so inspirational in so manyways.
SPEAKER_00 (32:56):
Yeah, I say this frequently, but I would have
loved to have three more hourswith Will.
SPEAKER_01 (33:00):
I know, I know.
He's just great.
So, what was your firsttakeaway?
SPEAKER_00 (33:05):
The first takeaway, I think just listening to Will,
he talked about that his lifewas full of ups and downs.
And I just loved the I thinksome of us think we have to be
happy all the time or kind ofupbeat.
And he here's this passionateguy who's extremely successful.
And clearly he's had ups anddowns with his weight, with his
(33:28):
life, with ev with everything.
And I think sort of justembracing the embracing that
life is full of ups and downs,and we can look in in the down
moments, we can know we're gonnacome back up.
I just I thought he was really Ilove listening to him talk about
his just his passions and hewould reward himself and just
very passionate guy.
Yeah, it makes me feel betterbecause I feel like I'm that way
(33:49):
to a degree too.
So it made me feel better aboutmyself.
I always often put pressure onmyself to just always be happy,
and sometimes I'm not.
SPEAKER_01 (33:57):
Yeah, and I loved that part of that ups and downs,
which could have been a takeawayof its own, but we didn't there
there were many more takeawaysthan just the two, but is the
fact that he allowed himselfcheat days.
A lot of people think that ifyou're gonna be an Iron Man and
you're gonna lose 130 pounds,that you're just you're always
on, you're always rigidlydieting, and that that he had
(34:20):
cheat days and that they're veryimportant to him every single
week.
And on those days, he doesn'teven record his what he eats.
And so I think that's part ofthe ups and downs.
So I love that.
And yeah, my first takeaway, andI think for me, the overall
arching theme of this is thepower of love.
This was a love story that gotWill to go from a 300-pound
(34:44):
out-of-shape guy that fell inlove with his wife Lisa and
really said, quote unquote, thathe wanted to be in shape while
he was courting Lisa.
I think I think that and thatshe's been his inspiration.
She's been on this journey withhim, and that just we never
underestimate that power.
We, in fact, I think our lastepisode or second to last
(35:06):
episode was the power ofemotions and that love is the
most powerful emotion.
So I think that is my takeawaythat when you find something
that you love, whether it's ahuman or somebody helping you,
that love can really helptransform you.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (35:21):
Yeah, agreed.
Uh, it was beautiful to listento him talk about her and maybe
want to meet her because she'san incredibly she sounds like an
incredibly lovely wife andsupporter of his dreams.
So yeah, she seemed an amazingwoman.
I agree with that.
SPEAKER_01 (35:36):
Yes.
So your second takeaway.
SPEAKER_00 (35:38):
Oh, you eat with your eyes first.
That was a great quote from him.
He talked about plating food,which is putting food on a
rather than just servingyourself out of a bowl or
something, but putting food on aplate in a beautiful way.
And he described doing that.
I thought that was I thought itwas beautiful.
And he talked a lot about food.
(35:59):
He's a chef.
And so the eating food that thatlooks good and has a three
three-dimensional quality.
I knew about plating, but Ididn't know about this idea that
you have you eaten the plateshould have be a sculpture,
basically.
You should have threedimensions.
I thought that was really cool.
He he he talked about portioncontrol on the days when he's
not cheating and eatingfrequently.
(36:20):
He gave some really good tips.
And I think the last tip that Iloved was you can make your own
mayonnaise.
I ate a lot of mayonnaise, and Iknow I know that's not really
good for me because the oilsthey put in commercial
mayonnaise aren't the best oils.
And you can eat olive oil tillyou're blue in the face, and
it's not going to hurt youcompared to the whatever the
oils, the soy oils that they putin and manufactured mayonnaise.
(36:40):
So that was good.
Yeah, a lot of good to me, justsince I love to eat too and I
love to cook, a lot of good kindof little tips on eat eating
frequently during the day,eating one big meal early in the
day, not eating too much beforebed.
A lot of good stuff in thereabout nutrition and still really
loving your food.
Perfect.
You don't have to just eat dryprotein all day and and broccoli
(37:05):
with no butter.
SPEAKER_01 (37:06):
Yes.
Well, yeah, that as I I said,that plating thing really lit me
up.
I just thought it was great.
And I don't know if I will be soadventurous to make my own
mayonnaise, but I do know thatthey do make mayonnaise with
olive oil, and I might switch tothat.
So they do have a healthiermayonnaise now.
So my last takeaway was howimportant community is.
(37:28):
And of course, I'm right alongwith Will.
I really hate swimming alone.
Like I just it just when I godown to the pool, if I have to
do a workout alone, I sometimesliterally sit down on the edge
of the pool, put my cap andgoggles on, and I've walked
away.
I've gone to that much trouble.
And then I'm like, no, I justdon't want to train alone.
So the community that he feelswith his all of his programs,
(37:51):
but his master's swimmingprogram, his cycling community,
his riding community, uh hisrunning community.
Sounds like he's really intothat.
And it my takeaway is it's justnot as fun to train alone.
SPEAKER_00 (38:04):
So true.
And I train a lot with eitherjust Jim or alone.
It's fun to train with Jim, butit that's very motivating to
remind me.
We're traveling so much thisyear, it's hard to get into a
community.
But yeah, a bike ride, even areally hard bike ride with a
group of my friends goes by sofast.
There's a lot of laughter, andI'm gonna get up to to train
with you hopefully a week afternext.
(38:24):
And so I'll get to experience acommunity in the pool.
I often run alone, so it's areal motivating because well,
I'm extroverted, and so to bewith other people, it'll make it
go by faster and I'll bemotivated to push myself.
So you're right, the community.
It's worth the effort to workfor it and to get involved in
it.
SPEAKER_01 (38:41):
Absolutely.
Thanks so much for listening tothis Champions Mojo Encore
episode.
If it inspired you, pleasefollow the show, share it with a
friend, and consider leaving aquick review.
It truly helps.
And don't forget, my new book,False Cure, is available at
Amazon and Barnes Noble.
I'll be back with all newepisodes to help you live well,
(39:05):
swim well, and keep your mojogoing.
It's just been a slow, arduous process of making
sure you commit to what you wantto do and get into it.
The best part is being a chef, Ihave the nutrition side of the
things down.
I know what I need to eat, whenI need to eat them, and how much
you need to eat them, eventhough I have a lot of good
cheat days too.
SPEAKER_01 (00:23):
Hello, friends.
This is Kelly Palace, host ofChampions Mojo, your place for
better health, resilience, andmaster swimming.
I'm taking a short break fromrecording new episodes of
Champions Mojo for two excitingreasons.
First, I'm launching my latestbook, False Cure.
It's a whistleblowinginvestigative journalism book
(00:45):
about a denied health epidemic.
If you'd like more informationon that, it's in the show notes.
The second and most compellingreason I'm on a break is here at
Champions Mojo, we're preparingfor the January 2026 reboot of
powerful new weekly episodeswith expert guest interviews,
(01:07):
inspiring topics, and tips totake your mindset, health, and
personal performance to the nextlevel.
We will be announcing someexciting partnerships with show
we will be announcing someexciting we will be announcing
(01:29):
some incredible partnershipswith the show, and I guarantee
what we have in store for youwill empower you and keep your
mojo strong in the new year.
While I'm prepping all thisgreat stuff, we've selected
While I'm preparing all thisgreat stuff, we've selected some
of our shows.
(01:50):
While I'm preparing some of thisgreat stuff, we've selected some
of our best shows ever for anEncore series.
My hope is that if this is yoursecond time listening to this
episode, you'll take away evenmore insight and motivation.
Or if it's your first time,you'll love this episode as much
as everyone else did.
(02:11):
So settle in and enjoy thisEncore presentation in its
entirety.
We are so excited today to hearfrom our special guest, Will
Liebig, who has experienced thehighs of crossing the finish
line at an Iron Man race to thelows of facing self-doubt and
(02:33):
setbacks.
Will has experienced it all.
He's here to share his insights,tips, and lessons learned from
this transformational journey.
So whether you're a seasonedathlete, a fitness enthusiast,
or someone looking formotivation to overcome personal
challenges, you are in for atreat.
Maria, what else can you tell usabout Will?
SPEAKER_00 (02:55):
Will is a former professionally trained chef who
once weighed 300 pounds and hasnow become a high performing
Iron Man triathlete, currentlytipping the scales at a lean 174
pounds.
That's right.
If you did the math, that's wellover 100 pounds.
His journey is nothing short ofremarkable, and we're thrilled
to have him share his story withus.
(03:17):
Will welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_03 (03:19):
Awesome.
Thank you very much for havingme, ladies.
I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01 (03:23):
Yes, we are we are so delighted.
And Will, we got to start off bysaying you are a high performing
triathlete, but Will is likeelite.
I know I've heard of a couple ofyour triathlons, but tell us
first, like what is the withinthe your Iron Man, well what's
your best performance thatyou've ever had in Iron Man?
SPEAKER_03 (03:43):
It's definitely been a build in progress, obviously,
with a lot of endurance sports.
This is coming up on my fifthyear doing this.
And I just completed my thirdofficial full Iron Man distance,
and that was Iron Man, Marylandlast year in September.
And I did that in nine hours and15 minutes flat.
Wow.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:04):
So that's it.
SPEAKER_03 (04:06):
And that's what I definitely like to tell people.
It's not an overnight thing.
You have to slowly work into it.
You have to build to that goal.
And that's the real key behindinterim sports is consistency
and time in the saddle, time onyour feet.
And just I my my big thing is Ihave to make a commitment to
myself.
So I have to commit tosomething.
SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
So nine hours and 15 minutes for an Iron Man is just
incredible.
And it's that is just that'sjust incredible.
What what is that?
2.4 mile swim, 112 bike, and a26.2 in a marathon.
SPEAKER_03 (04:43):
Yep.
Yeah, in a marathon.
SPEAKER_01 (04:45):
Wow.
I might be lucky to do themarathon in nine hours.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (04:48):
That's kind of what I was that was that's what I was
thinking.
That's amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (04:51):
Oh, and yeah.
Well, and that's what I woulddefinitely really like to say is
everybody can do it.
Everybody can do the Iron Man.
I mean, a big story that Idefinitely got inspired by was
Chris Nikich, who's thegentleman who has Down syndrome.
And he was at my very first IronMan.
Um, and he was on the rack rightin front of me, and his story is
amazing.
So, again, anybody can do it.
(05:12):
So don't short yourselves.
I know you guys could do it ifyou wanted to.
So wow.
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (05:17):
So, well, we do know that we have a lot of master
swimmers that listen toChampions Mojo, and we all three
met through master swimming.
And could you start with tellingus how did you find master
swimming?
And where does that fit intothis overall transformational
journey for you, masterswimming?
SPEAKER_03 (05:39):
So, master swimming I found early last year after a
pretty good spout of doing awhole lot of swimming by myself.
And I was a lifeguard for thecity of Melbourne.
I worked on the beach for years.
So swimming was in mybackground, but I um I was
putting myself sort of in thehypothetical hole, I guess you
could say, swimming by myselfand not having any community
(06:02):
around it.
So actually, I was starting tohate swimming.
I was not happy with swimming.
And so I started to reach out toa couple of triathletes that I
knew, Ed Donner and a coupleother guys, like that said, hey,
BJ is always there.
Check out the master swimming.
And I really felt uh felt and Ifound a giant sense of community
(06:23):
with this group.
And the good mornings we get inthe morning motivate me.
And it's really, really nice tohave a great group of
individuals to to see as much asI want in the mornings Monday,
Wednesday, Friday, andSaturdays.
So, and more than anything, itstarts my day on those days.
Those tougher days, Monday,Wednesdays, and Fridays, are
tougher days to get going, andthat really helps me.
(06:43):
So it's great.
SPEAKER_00 (06:45):
Do you have community in your in cycling and
running as well?
Or you those are solo?
SPEAKER_03 (06:49):
I do a lot of cycling by myself, but I have
recently found a nice group ofgentlemen and ladies that go
from Starbucks.
It's called the StarbucksSaturday ride.
And the big thing was I didn'thave a road bike for the longest
time.
I just had a tri-bike and a lotof roadies, I don't know if you
know the bike scene, but a lotof roadies will sort of
persecute you for having a TTbike in the in the road bike
(07:10):
scene scene.
So I finally got a road bikethis last year and and I started
branching out into a nice groupcalled the Starbucks riders.
So and then and then therunning, I do a lot of solo, but
I do a lot with a group too.
So it's sort of individualizingeverything.
The best swimmers, the bestbikers, and then the best
runners.
So that's really helps me getall the tools that I need.
(07:32):
So to do the racing.
SPEAKER_00 (07:34):
Well, I think we have to ask the question of the
hours, you know, how did you gofrom being this chef who was
pretty overweight to this leanmean triathlon machine?
I mean, what inspired you?
How long did it take?
Give us the whole rundown.
SPEAKER_03 (07:51):
Well, it was definitely a long process, I
would say 10-year plus process.
And it's had a lot of ups anddowns, being that my wife was in
the kitchen, we met.
We met in culinary school.
She actually sat right in frontof me, and and we uh we went all
the way through culinary school.
And then obviously, you get intothe kitchen.
And the big thing is we came outof culinary school in 2008.
(08:12):
So if you can imagine what wasgoing on in 2008, um, a lot of
time on your feet, a lot ofworking, and then obviously
there's a lot of partyinginvolved with the kitchen too.
You don't just go home afteryou're done in the kitchen, you
go out and have a drink, and uhso obviously I was drinking a
lot of beer and I was uh eatinga lot of butter because I was
working a saute line.
And uh and basically I starteddating my wife, and my roommate
(08:35):
at the time was a bodybuilder.
He was actually going to his couh culinary school, and he's you
need to come and start you'reseeing this new woman, you need
to start doing gym work.
So I started going to the gym,and then I started going twice a
week and or twice a day, and Iliterally over the holiday break
from school, I had lost like 40pounds.
(08:56):
I it just fell off.
Again, he had me working prettyhard, my roommate.
And I think it was mostlybecause I was courting why I
wanted to really have arelationship with Lisa, and uh
and that happened, and then andthen obviously we went off and
we moved to California for acouple years, and uh and the
weight sort of went back upagain, and then because I was
working for gracious retirementliving, which is basically
(09:17):
taking care of the oldergeneration, and uh, there were
cookies every day, and there wasrolls every day, and all the
different things that you loveto eat, and the weight went back
up, and then we decided we wedid our three-year California
experience and came back toFlorida, always end up back in
Melbourne, Florida somehow.
I don't know how.
And uh, and basically that was10 years into our relationship,
(09:38):
and we were sitting on a beachin Tampa, and I looked at her
and I said, Hey hun, why don'twe get married?
And 10 years after after we weretogether for 10 years, she said,
Of course.
But I made a deal with her.
I said, We need to get in shapebefore we get married.
We need to be more just overallbetter health.
And it's funny, but that and Isay it's funny, it's sad, but my
(10:01):
grandparents had just passedaway.
And the one thing my grandfatheralways said to me when he was
alive was, Will, you're such agood looking guy.
Why aren't you in shape?
And I always contribute hiswords, still always in my head,
that I wish he could see metoday because I've literally
gotten in shape like he wantedto.
So, but the thing that I relatedit at that when I started
(10:23):
working on a lot was my grandparode his bike five miles a day
until he was 96 years old.
And that work, he did it everyday consistently.
You have to commit and you haveto be consistent.
And my grandma swam in the poolfor an hour every day until she
was 95 years old.
So, again, that sort of workedit in.
(10:45):
And my wife and I decided tostart doing this boot camp at
Health First, and we did theboot camp and we did the boot
camp for two months, and theweight was just starting to fall
off.
And I was swimming and I wasbiking.
And then my uncle, Tony, he wasa collegiate cyclist, and my
cousin was a collegiate cyclistand said, Hey, why don't you
(11:05):
start riding with the cyclingguys?
So I rode with the cycling guysa little bit, and then he says,
You're doing so well at cycling,why don't you throw the running
in there and go try a triathlon?
So I started doing a triathlon,and all this time we were losing
weight and the weight wasstarting to really come off.
But then I found triathlon and Ireally enjoyed it.
And my first triathlon ever wasthe uh the pineapple man.
And then I did the boardwalkright after that, and the rest
(11:28):
is history, and then it was IronMan's and my wife logistically
getting all the different racestogether and all the different
things.
And again, it's just been aslow, arduous process of making
sure you commit to what you wantto do and get into it.
So, and the best part is being achef, I have the nutrition side
of the things down.
I know what I need to eat, whenI need to eat them, and how much
(11:51):
you need to eat them, eventhough I have a lot of good
cheat days too.
SPEAKER_00 (11:53):
So that would be my next question is I think most
people struggle with the weightloss part because it's so hard,
it seems hard to eat wellconsistently.
Do you have any do you have anywords of encouragement on that?
SPEAKER_03 (12:06):
I think the biggest thing is you you that I've
found, and it's truly all whatyou put in your mouth.
It's if you can drop the sodas,and you and that was the first
thing that went is I had to stopdrinking soda.
So I stopped drinking sodacompletely and I found an
alternative.
And you just have to drop those.
Um, I don't want to say sugar islike the devil or anything like
(12:26):
that.
Sugar is amazing, but you justhave to limit it in your life.
And and but at the same time,it's going back to cheat days.
You have to have those cheatdays.
You can't be on, not even themost professional athletes are
on seven days a week.
They have to have that onerecoup day, and you have to
reward yourself.
You have to have thatself-reward that really keeps
(12:47):
you motivated and moving.
So, but it's all what you eat.
It's getting your macros down,getting your calories, and uh
and don't eat too little.
I suffered for that r really badfor a really long time.
I had I had a pretty good caseof body dysmorphia.
I just wanted to be really lean,really thin, and I was actually
making myself sick.
I really was.
So I even had my spleen was alltelling me the blood tests were
(13:10):
telling me I wasn't doing theright thing and this, that, and
the other thing.
And I had to pull myself backfrom that and really focus in on
what mattered.
So, and that's overall health.
I would say it's about beingoverall healthy.
Don't you don't have to be tooskinny, you don't have to be out
of shape, but you just need tobe healthy.
That's the key.
SPEAKER_01 (13:28):
So, Will, was there s like a time during this
overall transformation that youhad a really rough time?
SPEAKER_03 (13:38):
Yes.
I had a really rough time aboutgosh, it's coming up on four
years now.
When my father passed awaysuddenly, it was it was very it
was a tough time because Ialways used food as a crutch.
Um, especially when I was in thekitchen.
You would get done with a heavy,hard day, and two pitchers of
beer were was nothing.
(13:59):
I just drank two pitchers ofbeer.
And again, that I don't want tosay I was ever uh had a problem
with alcohol, but I I did drinka lot and and that sort of
spiked up a little bit when hepassed away.
I mean, because that's sort ofjust how I griefed.
But then it was more of a it wasmore of a you've done all this
work to to regress again and togo back to where you were is not
(14:20):
where I want to be, and again,just have to re refocus your
mind and and go back out thereand do it, do it like he would
want you to do it.
So, or what how he wanted me todo it.
SPEAKER_00 (14:29):
So he got to see you do triathlons and he he did.
SPEAKER_03 (14:34):
He actually the last triathlon he got to see was Iron
Man 70.3 Puerto Rico, which wasan absolutely amazing trip.
We had a great time, and and hewas really, really happy for
what I had accomplished, and andI know he's he's watching, so
that's beautiful.
SPEAKER_01 (14:49):
So, Will, take us on the chef journey just a little
bit, because obviously you'vealluded to the fact that you
were eating a lot when you werea chef.
You're in a new career, but youstill enjoy cooking.
How do you balance thattemptation or the fact that you
and Lisa are chefs and that youcook a lot?
(15:10):
How do you balance that beingaround food and wanting to cook
with this new life?
SPEAKER_03 (15:17):
I think again, it goes back to the timing of the
week.
Fridays are our our Fridays andSaturdays are like cheat days.
So, so where we go and enjoyreally, really nice meals.
Or as we're going on thesedifferent trips, when we were
out in St.
George, we went to Las Vegas andof course we went to a beautiful
steakhouse and had that's myfavorite thing to do is to go
(15:38):
find the biggest steak possibleand then to eat it.
So and and again, rewardingmyself and rewarding the hard
work is what it's all about.
I always laugh in the pool whenI was actually talking to
Benjamin today about it and uhand the good old Lane Four.
Um, I don't know if you knowMaria about Lane Four yet, but
there's a bit of a camaraderiegoing on there.
But Benjamin.
SPEAKER_02 (15:57):
Hey, wait, they all wear matching suits.
SPEAKER_03 (15:59):
Yes, we wear matching suits, whatever.
And uh no, Benjamin has has justcome back after a little bit of
injury, and I was telling himwhat I love to do after a good
race is my favorite drinking isto have a double bloody Mary,
extra spicy, and that you haveto have those rewards because if
you don't have them, you'reyou're not gonna enjoy yourself.
But I think more than anything,it's again just choosing those
(16:22):
right foods and building somefun dishes at home.
And I don't know if you guysknow what sous vide is or not,
but I've been messing aroundwith a sous vide machine a lot.
SPEAKER_01 (16:30):
And yeah, no, no, you gotta explain it.
SPEAKER_03 (16:32):
Oh, okay.
So sous vide is basically it's along, a lot of things these days
are sous vide, but it'sbasically cooked in water at a
certain temperature for a reallylong time, and it makes anything
you cook super tender.
So, like we did pork chops thislast weekend and uh and bone in
pork chops, cut our own porkchops, and then sous-vide them
for 12 hours and basicallyinfuse them with all these
(16:54):
spices.
And again, it it that gives methe sense that I'm still in the
kitchen where I get to cook up areally nice meal and have the
sides.
And I my wife and I platebecause I'm always the guy that
prepared everything, and then Iwould turn around to the pass,
which is where you plateeverything in the kitchen, and
Lisa was always there because Iwas terrible at plating.
I was I would just throw the shthe stuff on the plate, but she
(17:16):
makes it look beautiful, andobviously you eat with your eyes
before your mouth.
SPEAKER_01 (17:20):
So we need to drill down on that because that is
just like what explain plating.
SPEAKER_03 (17:29):
So it it's it's where you obviously have your
three main components, which isthe center of the plate item,
which is your meat or yourprotein, and then you have your
starch, which is your risotto oryour mashed potatoes, or your
polenta.
We love doing polenta, and andthen obviously your vegetable,
you always have to have allthree items.
And that's the other big thingthat I like to stress is
(17:52):
everything has to be in in inportion in unison.
And when you're plating it up,what makes it beautiful?
You get some height on theplate, or in this case where
you're doing pork chops, youhave a nice bone in the pork
chop, and that's sort of theflair that brings the height to
the plate.
And again, just makes it makesit look more appetizing before
you consume it.
And and again, I'm verytraditional French trained, so
(18:14):
it's a lot of heavy cream saucesand lots of butter.
I love I love butter.
Butter is my favorite thing inthe entire world.
It's butter, cream, and butter.
Those are my three maybe withyou.
And I mean, and that's what it'sall about.
And and that's the sad part isthat that's the other thing that
I will stress is don't be afraidof those things.
They're wonderful for you.
(18:35):
They the whole 90s and early2000s, oh fat everything.
I eat a ton of ton of olive oil,ton of butter, ton of cream, and
that really that's a huge fuelin an endurance sport.
So make sure you're getting allthat in into your diets.
SPEAKER_01 (18:49):
So that is fantastic.
So, so the idea that like maybethat's why we enjoy eating out.
You go to a lot of buffets oryou serve buffet, like you have
go to someone's house to eat,and it's just it's a buffet.
So you just kind of sloping onyour plate.
But the idea of plating, I justlove that.
I love that you eat with youreyes first.
(19:11):
That is really cool.
So, gosh, Will, so there's somany things.
So we kind of talked about yourroutine, which are your reward
and you obviously work superhard, but what are some things
that you think champions share,like some common traits that are
important if people are going toachieve these really rich goals
(19:33):
like you you have achieved?
SPEAKER_03 (19:35):
I definitely think, and I would definitely look to
Mike Murder for teaching more ofthis too, but the hard is hard.
You have to go hard for 20% ofthe workouts.
And then obviously the restneeds to be easy.
And for the longest time,especially earlier on in my
triathlon career, it was hardall the time, that gray zone,
(19:58):
that middle zone where youshouldn't be all the time, but I
was always there.
And once you figure that side ofthings out and you're able to
literally go in, and that wasthe one that I can point in my
whole time in triathlon, therewas a time where we were over in
Claremont and we were ridingwith a bunch of professional
triathletes.
And to watch them go for thefirst hour and a half at just
(20:21):
conversation, relaxing pace, getout to where we were going to
start our workout.
And then all of a sudden it wasbam.
It was 10 by two minutes all theway, tons of hills, this and
anything.
But then after that was done, itwas relaxed again.
It was easy.
So you definitely have to findthat balance where you're not
doing too much, but you're notdoing too little.
(20:42):
And I know you and I, Kelly,have definitely talked about
that in the pool was you have tobe able to hit those times that
you want to hit to increasebecause then the margin as you
get more fit and you get longerand longer, even that half a
second is where you're gonna seeit.
And being able to produce thathalf a second more every single
time is where it's gonna be.
(21:03):
So, because we're all notsupermen, but we can get close
if we really work at it.
SPEAKER_00 (21:07):
Maria, did you hear that?
I have a million questions toask you.
Your transformation is soinspirational and your
incredible athleticism.
But I think a lot of people, youknow, it's confusing what to eat
is confusing.
And as you said, they used totell us I grew up you're never
supposed to eat any fat anddidn't eat vegetables because
they don't taste very goodwithout fat.
(21:28):
I'm curious with your expertiseand food, what specifically do
you eat?
How do you manage, you know, dayto day?
I know you have cheat days, buta regular week with your busy
career and you're all the hoursyou're spending working out.
What do you eat and how do youmanage to do that in a
reasonable amount of time?
SPEAKER_03 (21:44):
The big thing that I really seen that has helped and
worked a lot is the smallermeals more many times a day.
So a lot of the time, my wifecan protest this, I'm constantly
got something, a bar, but eatingeight to twelve times a day a
smaller meal.
And then you have that onelarger meal towards the middle
of the day.
And starting with breakfast, Iwould say it's a lot of eggs,
(22:07):
egg whites, omelets, scrambles.
I love sardines.
I know that's a weird one, but Ilove I had sardines this
morning.
That's my Wednesday meal.
I'm pretty routine throughoutthe entire week of what I eat on
certain days.
That's obviously adding morecarbohydrates into my diet
towards the end of the weekbecause obviously my most
training is going to come on theweekends on Saturdays and
(22:30):
Sundays, your long days, I guessyou could say.
But lots of eggs, and then Ilove tuna.
I I eat a lot of tuna, shrimp,but but then as you get that big
meal out of the day towards oneo'clock, two o'clock, you go to
more of a lighter meal at nightwhere it's just a protein of
some sort, being at steak and avegetable, no starch at night.
(22:52):
That's the one thing.
And it's weird, but I've foundthat when I don't include starch
in my diet at night, I sleepbetter.
I get that, I get the starchduring the middle of the day.
So again, your body has a chanceto use those carbohydrates
before you go to sleep and thenready to go.
So, and that that's anotherthing I will say is I do a lot
of fasted cardio in the morning,especially when it's not a
(23:16):
workout, like a hard workoutwhere it's more of a zone two
training or a zone one training.
I do my best to just consumeliquids in the morning.
I'll have a shake in the morningor just drink my, I call it my
uh my my beat thing.
Uh everybody in lane four callsit my tiger's blood.
So basically it looks like andand just just in enjoy that.
And then again, but alwaysputting that what you need in
(23:39):
your body throughout the day.
And it has to do a lot with withmacros, how much protein, how
much fat, how muchcarbohydrates.
And obviously the biggest thingthat I'm taking eating a lot
right now is protein.
So and uh and then still fatsand then carbohydrates.
So um uh, but yeah, it's avariety, and I think that's the
one thing I like about being achef is I can open up my cooler
(24:00):
or my refrigerator and I cansay, Oh, I can put this with
this, so I don't always have tobe going to the to Publix all
the time or things like that.
So, and lots of yogurt.
I eat a lot of yogurt, so Iprobably eat a big tub of yogurt
in three or four days.
So that's another thing.
So but uh yeah, it's just makingsure you're and I know it's
really elementary, but myfitness pal is amazing just by
(24:24):
for tracking what you eat, soyou can say to yourself, Oh,
I've only got and I don't wantto say calorie counting works
for everybody, it sure doesn't,and don't be attached to it.
That's just one of thoseprocesses that I have to do is
literally input the stuff on myphone, say, Oh, here's what I
have.
So, but those cheat days I neverinput on my phone.
So that's the key.
SPEAKER_01 (24:42):
So we love MyFit Pal.
Mark uses that every day.
I mean, he's like constantly onit.
So, well, before we ask the lastquestion and play the fun
sprinter round, Maria and I loveto know about partnerships and
people that really play a rolein champions' lives.
Tell us about your wife and yourpartnership and what that has
(25:06):
really done for you.
SPEAKER_03 (25:08):
Well, I'm gonna just I'm gonna go just standard and
say behind every great man istruly a greater woman by far.
She is huge in my success.
And if I didn't have her andshe, and I will say, if she
didn't come into my life at whenshe came into my life, I
definitely wouldn't be where Iam today.
The logistics and the planetickets and the hotels and this,
(25:30):
that, and the other thing.
And hey, we need to go see thisand we need to see that.
I just can't think of some ofthat stuff all the time.
And she is amazing in that side.
And I will say, that's the onething that I'm really happy.
And that's what we're trying todo is we're I want to go do the
Iron Man's in certain weirdplaces like Cork, Ireland.
We want to go to Cork, Irelandin the next couple of years so
(25:52):
we can go see Ireland and andthings like that.
So it's more of a what's theword I'm looking for?
Like more of a cohesion that welike because she gets to
experience some things, but thenshe also is a wonderful Sherpa.
They call her a Sherpa.
She's there to make sure I haveeverything.
She comes out on her bike withthe bike or with the run group
and the mobile, we call her themobile aid station, but she
(26:13):
carries everybody's water duringthe summer.
And she likes that side ofthings because obviously it's a
great sense of community, butbut at the same time, is she she
gets a good workout in and uhand just likes being out there
and enjoying it?
So, but she's a huge part of mysuccess, and I definitely
wouldn't be here without her.
SPEAKER_01 (26:30):
Sounds amazing.
Yeah, I know every time you doanything, you always talk about
her.
So I love that.
So, all right, the very lastquestion before the fun sprint
around is there anything that wehave not asked you that you want
to share with our listeners?
SPEAKER_03 (26:44):
I just want to stress anybody can do what I
have done.
If you're having trouble gettingover something or getting over a
certain hurdle, it really justcomes down to just refocusing
and doing what you need to doand just being committed.
Know that it's not gonna happenin two weeks.
It's gonna take five years toget to where you need to be.
We're so narrow-minded in thisinstant gratification.
(27:07):
You gotta stick to it.
You gotta find that communitythat that really helps you
achieve your goals.
Beautiful.
SPEAKER_01 (27:13):
Well, all right.
And even though you are not asprinter, Will, we know that
you're gonna do a great job onthese questions.
Are you ready to play?
I will ask the first fewquestions and then Maria.
What do you consider the bestsandwich?
SPEAKER_03 (27:31):
Oh, honestly, turkey, avocado, bacon, bacon,
turkey, avocado.
I love that.
On marble rye bread withmayonnaise, homemade mayonnaise.
SPEAKER_01 (27:40):
Oh gosh.
How do you make homemademayonnaise?
SPEAKER_03 (27:42):
It's really easy.
Eggs and eggs and uh oil.
That's it.
Boom.
Whisk them.
SPEAKER_00 (27:47):
Do you have to worry about the I gotta ask this
because I always want to makehomemade mayonnaise?
Wait, we yeah, we need to hearhow do you make homemade
mayonnaise?
SPEAKER_03 (27:54):
We need a whole recipe.
It's really easy.
It's egg yolks.
It's egg.
You could go three three eggyolks to a cup of oil and a
little bit of a little bit oflemon juice or vinegar.
So you just need it.
I like to use olive oil oravocado oil, but you can use
just regular vegetable oil ifyou wanted to.
It just depends on what theflavor you're looking for.
But the big thing is you needobviously the fat from the egg,
(28:16):
egg yolks, and then you need alittle bit of acid, and then
just whisk it together.
So you can do it in a foodprocessor too.
SPEAKER_00 (28:22):
So and and how long does that keep?
And do you have to worry aboutgerms and the raw egg?
You can keep that for probablyabout seven days, seven, eight
days.
SPEAKER_03 (28:31):
But if you just make a small batch of it, if you just
make a small batch of it andyou're using it every single
day, because when I do my tunafish, I use that in there.
SPEAKER_01 (28:38):
Yes.
All right, on to question numbertwo.
Okay.
What do you own that you shouldthrow out?
SPEAKER_03 (28:45):
Oh gosh, t-shirts and hats.
SPEAKER_01 (28:48):
Okay.
What is the scariest animal toyou?
SPEAKER_03 (28:51):
I don't like hippopotamuses at all.
They're really scary becausethey got those big teeth.
And I think that movie Congoback in the nine, it was the
late 90s where the it ate thewhole boat.
SPEAKER_01 (29:02):
Is there a celebrity that you would like to meet?
And if so, who?
SPEAKER_03 (29:05):
Oh geez.
Honestly, I would love to meetthe trio back in the 90s, Bruce
Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger,and Sylvester Stallone.
So I wrote a little book back inthe day when I was a kid called
Abs.
Arnold, Bruce, Sylvester.
And I got a little monkey fromPlanet Hollywood.
Remember they used to own thePlanet Hollywoods?
And I called them abs because Ialways wanted abs.
SPEAKER_01 (29:27):
So oh gosh.
You might have a new nickname.
Yeah, there we go.
We'll call you abs.
All right.
What is the hardest swimmingevent in the pool?
SPEAKER_03 (29:37):
Ooh, for me, I would say it's the hundred, just the
straight hundred free.
I would say it's the 50 or thehundred because I'm just
terrible at speed.
You know that.
SPEAKER_01 (29:45):
So you can work on that.
Yes.
All right.
So yes.
Last one for me.
What what's your favorite movie?
SPEAKER_03 (29:53):
Ooh.
Um Terminator 2.
I love that movie.
I don't know.
I was good to do that.
SPEAKER_01 (29:57):
I love that movie too.
SPEAKER_03 (29:58):
That's a great one.
Tropic Thunder.
SPEAKER_00 (30:00):
What's your favorite smell?
SPEAKER_03 (30:02):
Oh gosh, lavender.
I love lavender.
So and that's coming from when Ilived in England years ago when
my uh when we were stationedover there, there was a giant
lavender field right next to ourhouse.
So and I love that smell.
SPEAKER_00 (30:16):
Do you make your bed every morning?
SPEAKER_03 (30:19):
Uh yes and no, sort of.
My wife is really into that.
So yeah, she normally does, andI'm normally up before her, way
before her, so she's stillsleeping.
Kickboard or no kickboard.
Oh, kickboard.
I'm a terrible kicker.
I just need something to floaton.
SPEAKER_00 (30:33):
So if you had to listen to one song for the rest
of your life, what would it be?
SPEAKER_03 (30:39):
Oh gosh.
Oh man.
But people are crazy.
Billy Carrington.
Because people are crazy.
So, and that's a really goodstory.
So it's a great story he tellsin that song.
SPEAKER_00 (30:50):
So window or aisle?
SPEAKER_03 (30:54):
Middle seat, all the way.
I I'm excited.
I I love getting to know, andLisa always sits in the window.
So, but I like sitting in themiddle because I like to meet
everybody on the aisle.
Actually, I'm really lookingforward to flying tomorrow
because I meet like everybody onthe air.
I'll take I'll talk to a brickwall if it'll talk back to me,
Maria, all day.
SPEAKER_00 (31:11):
So the best answer I've ever heard.
I you're changing my wholeperspective on that, which I
always get because my husbandgets the aisle.
SPEAKER_01 (31:18):
Yeah, and this is why I can never get Mark out of
swim practice because he andWill are the same.
Like Mark is the same way.
SPEAKER_03 (31:26):
Yeah, I'm a social butterfly.
I love I I mean that's my jobnow.
I literally, I mean, I sellfood, but that's my job is to go
in and speak to people and toknow people.
SPEAKER_00 (31:36):
So well, you're a delight.
I'm sure people love to see youcoming through the door.
Okay, last question.
Describe your life in fivewords.
SPEAKER_03 (31:44):
Crazy, uh up and down.
I well, that's two words.
It's been tough.
It's been a tough life, but it'sbeen a good life and uh and uh
exciting.
I love doing the things I get todo and and rewarding.
I like I like to go and dothings and then reward myself
with fun afterwards, andespecially fun with my wife.
So that's great.
SPEAKER_01 (32:03):
Actually, Maria, there's one last question we
didn't see there.
SPEAKER_00 (32:06):
Oh, we didn't.
I'm sorry.
Yeah.
What comes to what word comes tomind when you dive in the water?
SPEAKER_03 (32:12):
Freedom.
It's relaxing.
It's relaxing to do that first.
Well, and not rushing thewarm-up anymore because I get
yelled at by Benjamin at thatone, and I like that little five
things that you're not supposedto do in the pool.
And I remember always rushing tothe warm-up, and it's but no,
freedom, just relaxing and goingunder the water, and
everything's quiet.
So love that.
Beautiful, beautiful.
SPEAKER_01 (32:32):
Well, what a great time to spend with you and learn
all these more in-depth thingsabout you.
You are definitely an iron manand an inspiration.
Awesome.
Thank you very much, ladies.
It's been wonderful.
So, Maria, there it was.
Our beautiful interview withWill Liebig.
What an what an amazing humanbeing.
(32:54):
Just so inspirational in so manyways.
SPEAKER_00 (32:56):
Yeah, I say this frequently, but I would have
loved to have three more hourswith Will.
SPEAKER_01 (33:00):
I know, I know.
He's just great.
So, what was your firsttakeaway?
SPEAKER_00 (33:05):
The first takeaway, I think just listening to Will,
he talked about that his lifewas full of ups and downs.
And I just loved the I thinksome of us think we have to be
happy all the time or kind ofupbeat.
And he here's this passionateguy who's extremely successful.
And clearly he's had ups anddowns with his weight, with his
(33:28):
life, with ev with everything.
And I think sort of justembracing the embracing that
life is full of ups and downs,and we can look in in the down
moments, we can know we're gonnacome back up.
I just I thought he was really Ilove listening to him talk about
his just his passions and hewould reward himself and just
very passionate guy.
Yeah, it makes me feel betterbecause I feel like I'm that way
(33:49):
to a degree too.
So it made me feel better aboutmyself.
I always often put pressure onmyself to just always be happy,
and sometimes I'm not.
SPEAKER_01 (33:57):
Yeah, and I loved that part of that ups and downs,
which could have been a takeawayof its own, but we didn't there
there were many more takeawaysthan just the two, but is the
fact that he allowed himselfcheat days.
A lot of people think that ifyou're gonna be an Iron Man and
you're gonna lose 130 pounds,that you're just you're always
on, you're always rigidlydieting, and that that he had
(34:20):
cheat days and that they're veryimportant to him every single
week.
And on those days, he doesn'teven record his what he eats.
And so I think that's part ofthe ups and downs.
So I love that.
And yeah, my first takeaway, andI think for me, the overall
arching theme of this is thepower of love.
This was a love story that gotWill to go from a 300-pound
(34:44):
out-of-shape guy that fell inlove with his wife Lisa and
really said, quote unquote, thathe wanted to be in shape while
he was courting Lisa.
I think I think that and thatshe's been his inspiration.
She's been on this journey withhim, and that just we never
underestimate that power.
We, in fact, I think our lastepisode or second to last
(35:06):
episode was the power ofemotions and that love is the
most powerful emotion.
So I think that is my takeawaythat when you find something
that you love, whether it's ahuman or somebody helping you,
that love can really helptransform you.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (35:21):
Yeah, agreed.
Uh, it was beautiful to listento him talk about her and maybe
want to meet her because she'san incredibly she sounds like an
incredibly lovely wife andsupporter of his dreams.
So yeah, she seemed an amazingwoman.
I agree with that.
SPEAKER_01 (35:36):
Yes.
So your second takeaway.
SPEAKER_00 (35:38):
Oh, you eat with your eyes first.
That was a great quote from him.
He talked about plating food,which is putting food on a
rather than just servingyourself out of a bowl or
something, but putting food on aplate in a beautiful way.
And he described doing that.
I thought that was I thought itwas beautiful.
And he talked a lot about food.
(35:59):
He's a chef.
And so the eating food that thatlooks good and has a three
three-dimensional quality.
I knew about plating, but Ididn't know about this idea that
you have you eaten the plateshould have be a sculpture,
basically.
You should have threedimensions.
I thought that was really cool.
He he he talked about portioncontrol on the days when he's
not cheating and eatingfrequently.
(36:20):
He gave some really good tips.
And I think the last tip that Iloved was you can make your own
mayonnaise.
I ate a lot of mayonnaise, and Iknow I know that's not really
good for me because the oilsthey put in commercial
mayonnaise aren't the best oils.
And you can eat olive oil tillyou're blue in the face, and
it's not going to hurt youcompared to the whatever the
oils, the soy oils that they putin and manufactured mayonnaise.
(36:40):
So that was good.
Yeah, a lot of good to me, justsince I love to eat too and I
love to cook, a lot of good kindof little tips on eat eating
frequently during the day,eating one big meal early in the
day, not eating too much beforebed.
A lot of good stuff in thereabout nutrition and still really
loving your food.
Perfect.
You don't have to just eat dryprotein all day and and broccoli
(37:05):
with no butter.
SPEAKER_01 (37:06):
Yes.
Well, yeah, that as I I said,that plating thing really lit me
up.
I just thought it was great.
And I don't know if I will be soadventurous to make my own
mayonnaise, but I do know thatthey do make mayonnaise with
olive oil, and I might switch tothat.
So they do have a healthiermayonnaise now.
So my last takeaway was howimportant community is.
(37:28):
And of course, I'm right alongwith Will.
I really hate swimming alone.
Like I just it just when I godown to the pool, if I have to
do a workout alone, I sometimesliterally sit down on the edge
of the pool, put my cap andgoggles on, and I've walked
away.
I've gone to that much trouble.
And then I'm like, no, I justdon't want to train alone.
So the community that he feelswith his all of his programs,
(37:51):
but his master's swimmingprogram, his cycling community,
his riding community, uh hisrunning community.
Sounds like he's really intothat.
And it my takeaway is it's justnot as fun to train alone.
SPEAKER_00 (38:04):
So true.
And I train a lot with eitherjust Jim or alone.
It's fun to train with Jim, butit that's very motivating to
remind me.
We're traveling so much thisyear, it's hard to get into a
community.
But yeah, a bike ride, even areally hard bike ride with a
group of my friends goes by sofast.
There's a lot of laughter, andI'm gonna get up to to train
with you hopefully a week afternext.
(38:24):
And so I'll get to experience acommunity in the pool.
I often run alone, so it's areal motivating because well,
I'm extroverted, and so to bewith other people, it'll make it
go by faster and I'll bemotivated to push myself.
So you're right, the community.
It's worth the effort to workfor it and to get involved in
it.
SPEAKER_01 (38:41):
Absolutely.
Thanks so much for listening tothis Champions Mojo Encore
episode.
If it inspired you, pleasefollow the show, share it with a
friend, and consider leaving aquick review.
It truly helps.
And don't forget, my new book,False Cure, is available at
Amazon and Barnes Noble.
I'll be back with all newepisodes to help you live well,
(39:05):
swim well, and keep your mojogoing.
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