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March 7, 2024 20 mins

In this episode I discuss the four levels of health, from 0-4, with their various habits, expectations, body fat percentages, amount of exercise required, knowledge of health, etc.

I scrutinize everything from macronutrient tracking to exercise and nutrition, setting the record straight on what it truly means to be in top physical form. 

While the allure of a Level Three lifestyle often takes the spotlight on social media, I make a compelling case for the sustainable contentment found at Level One, challenging the assumption that peak physical condition is the zenith of health. 

Find episode links, notes and artwork at:

https://blog.dirobi.com

This show is for informational purposes only.

None of the information in this podcast should be construed as dispensing medical advice.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hello and welcome to the Derby Health Show.
Today I'm talking about thefour levels of health, a useful
guide for leveling up.
At least, this was very usefulto me years ago when I learned
about it, and I hope it will besuper useful to you as well, and
hopefully also very affirmingand motivating, because this is
not about getting to the toplevel.
As a matter of fact, I thinkwhat you're going to find is

(00:36):
it's really great to just movefrom level zero to level one.
These were developed byPrecision Nutrition.
I find them to be quiteaccurate, quite useful.
Although there's some peoplethat operate at level two in
some areas of their lives, levelzero in other areas, etc.
For the most part, they'requite good at defining where
we're currently at and where wemight want to be and

(00:57):
establishing some form of abaseline so we can see where
we're at and also somemotivation for where we want to
go.
Let's dive into it.
Interestingly, precisionNutrition deals with everyone
from pro athletes all the waydown to beginners, trying to
help them to reach very simplegoals.
Their scale is from one to twoto three, with three being

(01:20):
professional athletes or models.
For example, we have to havevery low body fat and level one
being eating fairly healthy.
We'll get to that, but I'm justcalling level zero the standard
American diet, the place wheremost of us start, the place
where many of us were raised,without even realizing it.

(01:41):
Level zero is kind of how peopleeat if they just don't know
anything about health or fitness.
It's dominated by processedfoods, insufficient activity,
abundance of stress.
It's a lifestyle that, sadly,is more normal than abnormal.
It represents a diet andlifestyle that many might not

(02:01):
consciously choose but they findthemselves doing out of
convenience, lack of knowledgeor just the demanding pace of
modern life.
Now again, this is not to beall judgy and get down on
ourselves if we have level zerocharacteristics.
Rather, it's to recognize themand then to challenge ourselves
and figure out where ourweaknesses may be and what our

(02:22):
strengths could be if we justworked on them.
And so let's go through thecharacteristics of a level zero
lifestyle, or the standardAmerican diet, or sad as it is
fondly known here in the US.
The sad diet consists of a highconsumption of processed foods,
fast foods, sugary beverages,alcohol.

(02:44):
Nutritional knowledge for alevel zero eater is typically
low.
A level zero person may not beable to recognize the difference
between carbs, fats andproteins.
For example, they are likelyare not a label reader or aware
of just how much sugar, alcoholor other unhealthy foods they
have consumed by the end of anygiven week.
Physical activity is minimal tono regular physical activity.

(03:08):
A sedentary lifestyle is common, with many hours spent sitting
at work, commuting or duringleisure time.
Stress management probably poorstress management leading to
chronic stress.
This may be exacerbated byfast-paced, high-demand nature
the fast-paced, high-demandnature of many jobs and
lifestyle.
Supplement strategy probablynot strategic.

(03:29):
They may take a multi-year or amineral or something they've
just kind of come across fromsome friend or show that they
saw that they thought would becool, but likely it's some
random collection in theircupboard.
They may run out on a regularbasis and it's probably not very
well thought out or strategicand may even be done in a sense
to compensate for some of thepoor behaviors done in their

(03:53):
nutritional, eating andnutritional habits.
Number four sleep habitsprobably inadequate or poor
quality sleep, often due to thisbad lifestyle or the over the
overuse of electronic devicesbefore bedtime, etc.
Hydration insufficient waterintake, often replaced by
high-calorie sugary drinks orcaffeinated beverages.
Body fat of a level zero personis typically over 20% body fat

(04:18):
for men and over 30% for women.
These are some of the markers.
The health challenges of alevel zero eater are chronic
health conditions over time,increased risk of developing
chronic health conditions suchas obesity, type 2 diabetes,
heart disease and even certaintypes of cancer.
These conditions are oftenlinked to diet and lifestyle

(04:39):
factors.
Energy levels in mood they'resubject to low energy levels.
Mood swings, higher risk ofmental issues like depression
and anxiety.
Their diet and activity levelshave a significant impact on
overall mood and energy.
The immune function is poor.
Sleep quality is bad.
Overall quality of life isreduced because they have a lack

(05:00):
of energy.
Chances are they have to takesome drugs eventually to manage
these chronic conditions.
And so, again, those are thecommon factors and definitions
of a level one person.
Living out life of level zerowithout making any changes to
improve diet, increased physicalactivity, managed stress or

(05:22):
enhanced sleep can lead to avicious cycle of poor health
choices and outcomes.
It's critical for a level zeroperson to recognize some of
these pitfalls and hopefully atsome point take control of their
life and level up, as we'regoing to talk about in this
episode.
Luckily, and here's what'ssuper exciting they don't have
to level up to step four.

(05:43):
As a matter of fact, there aredownsides to step four.
Level one is a wonderful sweetspot that is not that hard for a
level zero person to maintain.
Level one is wheretransformation begins.
It's about mastering thefundamentals.
This is where people start tointegrate whole foods, establish
a consistent exercise routineand lay down the habits that

(06:06):
will support their health foryears to come.
And the beautiful thing aboutlevel one is it's achievable to
everyone.
It's not that difficult.
It's highly rewarding.
So let's talk about thecharacteristics of a level one
lifestyle Diet.
There's an emphasis on wholefood, nutrient dense foods, as I
mentioned before.
A cutting down you don't haveto eliminate this point

(06:30):
processed options, but cut downon them.
This includes also raising theamount of fruits, vegetables,
lean proteins, whole grains andhealthy fats that you eat, and
aiming to get as much of thevitamins, minerals and other
phytonutrients and zoo chemicalsthat you can get from food.
You will not be able to achieveall your goals without

(06:53):
supplements.
This is established easily by asimple blood test.
However, you don't have to geta blood test.
We'll talk about supplementshere in a minute.
Back to the foods.
There's an awareness by a level,when eater, of how much sugar,
caffeine, alcohol and otherunhealthy foods are consumed.

(07:13):
They don't have to eliminateall of these things, but they do
tend to know how much caffeinethey consume in a day, how much
alcohol, how many treats theyhave, whereas a level zero eater
may be completely unaware ofhow much they had.
I'll give you one quick exampleA Dr Pepper.
A non diet Dr Pepper has 240calories and is a sugary treat,

(07:40):
and to a level one eater, thatmay be something you do once a
day and that would be the extentof treats for that day.
A level zero eater might taketheir massive cup to the
7-eleven first thing in themorning, fill it up with 50
ounces or whatever those thingshold, and guzzle that thing down
within the next couple of hoursand then add additional sugary

(08:01):
garbage on top of that.
So that's just a quick exampleof the type of awareness that
kicks in at level one.
Physical activity.
At level one, peopleincorporate regular, moderate
exercise into their dailyroutine.
It doesn't even have to beintensive, but it could include
things like walking, cycling,yoga, resistance training
anything that gets the heartrate up and promotes physical

(08:23):
well being.
Time spent exercising would bestill less than about six hours
a week, and we'll talk aboutwhat level two and level I'm
sorry, level, yeah, level twoand level three do Supplements.
At this point become moreimportant and more strategic.
There'll be an awareness ofwhat supplements they need and
that will support their goalsand activity level.

(08:43):
Most people will understand thepurpose of a functional multi
and minerals.
They may also be takingstrategic supplements like
creatine.
If they're doing resistancetraining, they might use
caffeine more strategicallyinstead of a morning coffee.
They might be taking apre-workout, for example, and
they would also be aware ofprebiotics, probiotics, enzymes,

(09:04):
both in their diet and throughsupplements.
And so they're just a moreawareness of the right
supplements for them and howtaking supplements strategically
can help pour gas on the fireof their health.
They're hydration they willprioritize water intake and cut
down on other things, and theywill maintain optimal hydration

(09:27):
throughout the day.
They will stressmanagement-wise they will adopt
a basic stress reductionpractice such as mindfulness,
meditation or hobbies thatencourage relaxation and mental
well-being.
And sleep they will focus onestablishing a sleep schedule
and have some sort of sleephygiene routine and try to get
seven to nine hours of sleep pernight.

(09:49):
The benefits of a level onelifestyle are significant
Improved health markers, bettercontrol of weight, blood
pressure, cholesterol, bloodsugar levels and reduced risk of
chronic diseases.
They'll have increased energyand vitality.
They'll have a stronger immunesystem.
They'll have enhanced mentalhealth and they will sleep

(10:12):
better.
The compound effect of thisleveling up will be dramatic.
They may even, over time,reduce certain drugs that
they've been on for some ofthese chronic conditions.
I'm not advising anyone do thatwithout having tests first and
working with their healthpractitioner.
But it's very, very common forpeople who move from level zero

(10:32):
to one to have symptoms ofdiabetes, for example, reversed
type two diabetes anyway, andother chronic conditions and
inflammation and pain all kindsof things lessen when someone
becomes a level one liver, isthat the way you say it?
And liver is actually like agross meat, right?
So maybe I should be carefulhow I use that.

(10:54):
They will have a much healthierlifestyle than level zero.
It may seem a bit daunting, butit's about taking small,
powerful steps, one at a time.
Start by swapping out someprocessed foods for whole foods.
Buy yourself some high-end,good, functional supplements
obviously from dirobycom, goeswithout saying.

(11:15):
Adding in exercise is not justmaking you healthier, it's
making you just generally feelgood, and so you're really
leveling up your entire life.
So now let's talk about leveltwo.
Level two represents a moreadvanced stage.
Now it should be said that aperson should master level one

(11:36):
before they go to level two.
This is the arena of high-levelrecreational or amateur
athletes seeking athleticperformance and or physique
competitors.
Now I'll give you an example ofthis.
I'm not against keto.
I might have said some thingson the show that make people
think I'm not for keto.

(11:57):
What I'm against is someonegoing from level zero to keto,
which is sort of a level two wayof living that very few people
can sustain.
It is almost impossible forsomeone to go from level zero to
level two or level three andsustain it, and so what you
really want to do is identifywhat level you're at and move to

(12:17):
the next one.
Don't move from zero to two orzero to three or one to three.
So let's talk about why this isWell.
At this level just level twonutrition will become tailored
to support specific goals, suchas improved athletic performance
, muscle gain or fat loss.
This person will know exactlyhow many carbs, how many carbs,

(12:42):
proteins and fats they consumeon a daily basis, and when to
take the right mix of those.
They might have a higher carbratio after a workout and a
lower carb ratio for dinner, andthey may even be using a scale
to weigh out exactly how much ofthese foods to eat with every
single meal.
Their physical activity is verystructured, more intense.

(13:03):
These people train for six to12 hours a week.
They have very specific goals.
It may be strength training,endurance training or sports
specific workouts, but thesepeople are driven.
They have goals.
Hydration and supplementationthere's going to be an increased
focus on hydration.
They will probably add in someBCAAs and other things into

(13:28):
their water.
They'll also use supplementsstrategically.
This is the point where they'reprobably starting to get blood
work done.
They will be using specificsupplements to support recovery,
performance and make surethey're getting enough vitamins
and minerals.
And this is kind of the realmof bio hackers, right, knowing
exactly what's going on in yourbody.

(13:49):
At this level of training, sixor 12 hours a week they're
depleting a lot of things morerapidly than a level one, and so
they want to know they're notjust taking a multi and minerals
.
They will probably also befinding out exactly how much
potassium and and calcium andmagnesium and they may have a

(14:11):
very highly targeted set ofnutrients that they take, based
on their blood work.
This is also the realm wherehormone treatments and even
illegal types of things maybecome tempting to them
Performance enhancing drugs,unfortunately but this is kind
of the realm where these thingscome into play Stress management

(14:32):
and recovery.
They will have a plan for that.
They will be sleeping very welland men who live in level two
regularly will have body fatbetween 8 and 12%.
Women will be around 17 to 22%.
That's the level two lifestyleand habits, and this is not easy
.
As a matter of fact, it's noteven wise for many, many people

(14:55):
to do, because it'll lead toburnout and be quite difficult.
This is the realm, really, offairly serious athletes.
Let's talk about some of thepotential benefits, though.
Chances are they're going tohit some great goals.
They're going to win that race.
They're going to take home sometrophies.
They're going to have a lot ofstrength, endurance, agility and

(15:19):
overall physical performance.
They're going to be sleepingreally well.
They're going to look good andathletic and trim.
They're going to have reallygood cardiovascular health and
metabolic efficiency.
They're going to have increasedmental toughness.
These are people who get thingsdone.
For example, the level zeroperson doesn't have much

(15:45):
confidence in what they canaccomplish, where a level one
can do simple tasks up to 75% ofthe time in health, but a
moderate person, a level two cando the simple tasks of health,
like eating the right things,etc.
90% of the time or more, and alevel three we get into the

(16:05):
realm of they can do anything.
These are the people that gothrow me in, coach, I can do
anything.
Level one is like I have a lotof questions.
Level two is I feel relativelyconfident.
Level three is this is my life,this is my job.
I will do whatever it takes.
To just give you some ideasbetween the thought process

(16:27):
between these various groups.
Level three is the zenith ofhealth and performance and yet
again, it doesn't mean it'ssomething to even strive for.
This is for people who maketheir living with their body.
Think, for example, of actorsand actresses who need to get in
peak physical shape for a movie.

(16:49):
These are level three peopleVery low body fat.
They look terrific.
They're very, very strong.
Their career may require thatthey do so.
These are elite athletes,professional athletes, actors
and models at the very highestlevel.
These are often international,competitive, internationally

(17:09):
competitive people.
Everything in their health lifeis meticulously planned and
executed to maintain extremelevels of leanness and
muscularity.
For men, this is below 8%, forwomen below 17%.
They are exercising 12 to 20hours a week and their lifestyle

(17:31):
is one of precision, disciplineand extraordinary commitment.
These are the people you do notwant to go out to dinner with.
Chances are, this is all we'regoing to talk about, and if you
were to feed them at your house,they would probably bring their
own food, because you probablycouldn't feed them the way that
they want to be fed.
It should be noted, very fewpeople on this planet live at

(17:54):
level three all the time, andoften only hit it for short
periods of time, like whenthey're competing in the
Olympics, starring in that movieor modeling for a very specific
shot photo shoot and so it'snot even necessarily Something
to strive for.
But our modern society.

(18:15):
Here's the problem.
People who hit level three,even if only for a short time,
post their pictures on instagramand we see them in the movies
and we think this is the zenuszenith of health and this is how
I really ought to look, if Iwas really doing everything
right.
That's not necessarily the caseand, as a matter of fact,
people who live at level threeare actually more likely to get

(18:37):
sick.
Their immune system becomescompromised, and so this is
quite an interesting kind of adichotomy that they can look
extremely lean and fit andawesome, and we may aspire to
that, but overall we couldactually be way happier at level
one, then at level three.

(18:57):
Now there's a lot of facts inthis episode, a lot of detail.
I'm gonna put it all at blogdot deroby dot com, called the
four levels of health.
As a matter of fact, let me getyou the exact title if you're
wanting to look at this and kindof review any of these facts or
share it with someone else,which I would really appreciate.
As a matter of fact, anytimeyou share the episode with other
people, I really do appreciateit.

(19:18):
This episode will be called thefour levels of health A useful
guide for leveling up, and so Ihope you've enjoyed it.
I hope, if you're at level zero,my, my wish is that you were
inspired to go from level zeroto level one, that you're also
hopefully Somewhat motivated tolearn that level three, while it

(19:42):
looks terrific on instagram, isnot necessarily a really great
goal to strive for.
That you can be perfectly happyhuman being at level one on the
scale of zero through three.
So thank you for joining me onthe diroby health show.
Remember to use the codepodcast to save 10% off anything
at the road dot com.

(20:03):
Until next time.
This is Dave Sherwin, wishingyou health and success.
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