March 1, 2024 • 51 mins
Imagine achieving a level of focus and sleep you never thought possible; Aiden's living proof, marking four months of sobriety and a fitness journey that's nothing short of extraordinary. Celebrate with us as he details the 'superpowers' he's gained and the ambitious goal of completing 100,000 pushups within the year. His story is a testament to the idea that discipline and dedication can truly transform your life, inspiring us to examine our own resolutions and routines.
And it's not just our physical health we're nurturing; mental and emotional well-being are at the core of this episode's essence. Aidan open up about his morning rituals, including exercise, meditation, and wisdom from stoic philosophers, fostering resilience and a positive mindset. We round out the conversation highlighting the strength found in sobriety during tough times and its influence on Aidan’s father's health and lifestyle.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome back to another episode of Feel Free,
the only podcast that will tellyou to chase dreams.
Call you out and all yourbullshit, myself included.
I am joined today by my buddy,Aiden, back for another episode
where we're talking aboutsobriety, physical fitness,
wellness, chasing your goddamndreams and just having a good
time.
So how you doing today.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Fantastic.
It's great to be back here withyou, john, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
You had a seven hour drive today, is that right?
Yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Woke up at 4.45 this morning, killed a great body
weight workout and then hit theopen road.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Nice.
So last time Aiden was on thepodcast you were driving to
Colorado, correct Right To workat a ski mountain there.
Now, on your way back, you feltlike stopping by the studio for
another episode right, couldn'tmiss an opportunity to be in
the studio, oh yeah.
Actually the first person inthe new studio as well.
I love it.
It looks fantastic.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Thank you Appreciate that.
Also wanted to say we did notplan these matching outfits.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
No, we didn't.
No, we didn't.
But honestly, great minds thinkalike, right Indeed they do
Hell yeah.
Yeah, I didn't even notice that.
So obviously you're back hereto talk about all things well,
recovery and fitness related,just your self-development
journey in general.
Right For the listeners, though, I think you're hitting a
(01:26):
milestone today, right?
Yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Today marks four months of sobriety from alcohol
for me, nice.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Congratulations, thank you very much.
Feels good, and also a couplemonths without marijuana too.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yes, sir, last time I smoked was New Year's Eve and
was just kind of thinking andrealized well, it's about to be
a new year, may as well.
Stop now.
That's so true, hell yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, I actually a lot of people use the New Year's
resolutions and obviously youknow it doesn't always work out.
I think I did an episode whereI talked about that too, but if
you could take an enroll with it, yeah, so you're fucking almost
three months now without weed.
That's huge.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Almost two months.
If we're at the end of.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
February, genuine, almost two months, yeah, sorry.
So how does that feel then?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Oh my gosh, it feels fantastic.
Like I was talking to you aboutearlier, I feel like I have
superpowers now.
I just feel like I can handleanything that comes my way.
I have clear trains of thought,I can focus, I can concentrate.
It just feels really good andI'm also sleeping a lot better.
(02:39):
I'm remembering all of mydreams.
Nice, it's been a fantasticchange, and it was something
that was a lot tougher for me togive up than alcohol, because
it seemed to be a lot less of aproblem in my life or at least
that's what I told myself.
But I knew I needed to get ridof it and I'm really glad that I
(03:02):
finally made that decision.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah, I mean just overall clarity, energy levels.
Yeah, I also didn't have thebiggest problem cutting that one
out when I actually got sober.
It was kind of how you did it.
You got sober from the alcoholfirst and you kind of used the
weed to get through thosebeginning stages, because it's a
little brutal, not even justlike withdrawals, but like
(03:27):
changing what you do for yourlife, like not going out to bars
or not going to certainsituations.
So I think at three or fourweeks of being sober from
everything else, that's when Igave up weed too.
But it wasn't too difficult forme because when I smoked weed I
didn't want to work out.
So giving up weed I was like,all right, I feel like working
out now.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, it was something that you can get rid
of that allows you to do all ofthe things you need to do
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
So four months sober from alcohol, coming up on two
months sober from weed hugemilestones.
And so let's talk about yourfitness, because what you're
posting on Instagram it's crazy,because you look like kind of
like a movie star.
That's what I've been talkingabout people say you're coming
on the podcast and I'm like dude, this guy's fucking shredded,
(04:15):
he's yolk, but you're putting inthe work.
I mean, when I heard you did300 burpees this morning, that's
kind of speaking for itself,right there.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Indeed, yes, I've been working out seven days a
week since I got sober, so forthe last four months I haven't
missed a day, holy fuck.
When we spoke last time, I wason a program where I did a
different muscle group every day.
I'm on a bit of a differentprogram now where I'll do two
(04:45):
days of chest, front and sidedelts and triceps, two days of
legs and two days of back traps,lats and rear delts, and then I
sprinkle abs in on three ofthose days.
But then Sunday is my rest day.
Okay, but rest days are forcatching up on pushups.
(05:08):
Nice, my new year's resolutionwas I'm doing 100,000 pushups
this year, so I have to stay onschedule.
And actually, speaking ofmilestones, today I've been a
little bit behind on my pushupsand this morning I hit 15,000
for the year.
So, 15% of my weight to the goaland I decided to calculate how
(05:32):
far we are into the year.
We're exactly 15% of the waythrough the year, so I am back
on track as of today.
Nice, that feels good, jesus.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I remember you were starting this and you're like
I'm going to do 50,000 pushups,right.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I did that for a week and I realized that goal was
going to be way too easy to hit.
I needed something to challengeme and I said, okay, if I
double it, I'm going to have toaverage about 274 pushups a day.
Now, that's going to bechallenging, but it's definitely
doable, and I like even numbers.
So 100,006 figures.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Let's do it.
Right, that's fucked.
I was just saying Tony that'sfucked Great goal to have.
You're putting out a lot ofcontent too.
I always like checking on yourpushup count see where you're at
, so it's nice that you're backon track for that.
So when you say you don't dothe rest days because you're
still catching up on pushups,like you said, do you see
(06:31):
yourself doing rest days or willyou do a rest week?
Maybe?
No, okay.
I mean until the pushup thingis reached, though right,
because that's number one goal,right.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yes, that's my number one goal.
I said I was going to do it, soI'm going to do it.
But my rest days I do reallyenjoy doing just pushups,
because I'm not doing anadditional heavy workout with
dumbbells, barbells, machines,whatever it's just a light
bodyweight workout.
I do like staying active everyday, so I can definitely see
(07:04):
myself doing that into thefuture.
Nice, I mean at the bareminimum, doing my morning
routine workout, which is 100pushups, 100 squats and 50
crunches.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Okay, yeah, it's pretty.
I mean, for someone like youthat's probably pretty easy,
though, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah, it's just.
It's more of a discipline thingto me at this point, nice, but
there's something that feels offif I'm not active during the
day.
So my rest days will always bemore restful, but there will
always be activity.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Okay, nice.
Yeah, like I was telling youearlier, I think this past week
was the most active I've been ina long time.
I did take a rest day onThursday, though no pushups Like
full on rest day, and then theother eight days I've been
extremely active.
Now I wanted to ask in yourfitness routine there was a lot
of lifting and there was a lotof isolated muscle groups, and
(07:58):
then there was abs too.
Do you do cardio or I do cardio?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
That's okay.
Um, not really, I would say, ifanything, cardio is external,
like when I was on the mountain.
I didn't do a whole lot ofsnowboarding this season, but
I'd get some snowboarding in.
Running is something I'd liketo get back into this summer.
(08:20):
It's just something I haven'tdone in a long time and I don't
have any running shoes.
And every time I try to run invans, it's just not going to
work.
Not good for the knees.
So, um, I do want to introducea little bit of cardio back into
my life, but I do tend to focusmostly on the weightlifting.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Nice.
Yeah, most people hate cardio.
I think if you find a cardiothat you really like, then it
can be fun, but also, you knowlike I play a lot of basketball.
Yes, my other question wasgoing to be other than, like the
weightlifting, you had juststated that you didn't snowboard
a lot, which would also be aform of cardio too.
Do you see yourself gettinginto like some sort of
(09:03):
extracurricular hobby or like asport or like some sort of
wrestling, or are you just goingto strictly stick to your
workout?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Um, I definitely want to get into boxing.
Nice, um, I did that a littlebit with my cousin last year,
just doing some heavy bagroutines and some speed bag
routines, and that was probablymy favorite form of cardio I've
ever done, and just how gassedyou feel after, uh, after six,
(09:35):
12 rounds on a bag.
Um, so, boxing, and theneventually I would like to get
into some other types of martialarts.
Um, when I have more time inthe future.
Right, that's that's cool.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I tried getting into Tai Chi, but that's more like
moving meditation.
It's not mostly like cardio,then yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
I think, uh, jiu Jitsu would be really cool, yeah
, yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I actually had a Jiu Jitsu coach, uh, on the podcast.
Yeah, he's, he's a black belt,and Jiu Jitsu he's a teacher.
So, um, I have a few otherbuddies who like Jiu Jitsu.
I've never really been a bigwrestler, though, so the whole
grappling and rolling around onthe ground things never stood
out to me.
So, um, I have gotten into thestationary bike recently in the
(10:20):
last few weeks though.
So, okay, yeah, cause that doeshelp with my endurance for
basketball.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Like an assault bike or just a regular bike.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
No, just a regular bike, okay.
Um.
Well, like at the gym, thestationary ones, not the one
where you're like sitting back,the ones you're still sitting up
, so, but not like the spinclass ones.
Is that what an assault bike is?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
An assault bike is the one with the fan where the
front wheel is and you have the,the two arm things that you're
pumping to, just going hard withyour arms and your legs.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
No, no I don't think they have those at LA Fitness.
They got, yeah, they got like,they got like they got like they
got like.
They got like ellipticals andnormal stationary bikes, but uh,
I like that in like rowing.
Um, I do enjoy rowing.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah, rowing is cool.
Um, or sometime on the arctrainer, if I'm ever around
those.
What are those?
It's a machine that Cybex makes.
It's kind of like an elliptical, but I don't know how I could
describe the difference, but itfeels different.
It feels a little bit more uhflowy, if you will.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Yeah, I mean I do like those forms of cardio
because they're better on thejoints.
Running is tough, though,because it is hard on the
fucking joints.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yes, yeah, but it makes your bones stronger.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
It does.
Yeah, if you have the rightshoes, like you said.
Can't be running in vans though.
Yes, yeah, you're gonna fuckyour shit up then.
I like Brooks for running myrunning shoes when I do get
around to running.
Um, my brother's really big onNike because he he's still
training.
I think he's training for the800 meter right now, but he's
(11:57):
been really big on the Nike.
So my next question was goingto be how's the nutrition going?
How was the nutrition inColorado?
Because you didn't really havelike a kitchen right To prepare
your meals.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Well, we do have a community kitchen there, so I
would do my best to pick one dayout of the week where I did a
ton of meal prep and I was ableto stick with that pretty well.
Um, the quality of the foodwasn't always the best.
I mean, I was doing my best tojust eat Chicken, rice, veggies,
but canned chicken For sure.
(12:32):
Being out in Summit County, thegroceries are far more expensive
than they are back here.
So it's just you leave thegrocery store and you're like I
bought canned chicken and rice.
How is it this much?
But so I was sticking to amacro plan for a while, trying
(12:53):
to eat the same amount of macrosthroughout five meals in the
day, but that ultimately wasjust really inconvenient.
So I've switched over to a moreintuitive form of eating where
I just eat good foods.
I'm still tracking my dailymacros, but they're not evenly
divided between meals anymore.
So I have like a yogurt bowlthat I'll make.
(13:17):
I'll have an oat bowl that Imake.
Canned chicken and rice is ahuge staple Ground turkey and
cream of rice.
I usually like to keep itsimple, but occasionally I'll go
with some ground beef.
But that usually is tough tokeep my fat levels down with
that.
But that's where it comes backto the intuitive eating, because
(13:40):
ground beef is extremely goodfor you.
It has all of the amino acidsthe body needs.
So I've definitely been eatingmore fat than I was and kind of
experimenting with what thatdoes to my body.
Like I notice, if I'mincreasing my fat content a lot,
my abs do lose definition.
But having the body type thatwe have, it's really hard to put
(14:04):
on any sort of significantweight.
So I do eat sticks of butter.
People judge me for that andthink I'm crazy, but I think
it's delicious and butter isvery good for you, despite what
we've been led to believe aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah, well, I mean, we could have a whole podcast
episode about how things areportrayed here in America,
whether that's health orpolitics or anything like that.
So true, because they even saidthat red meat's bad for you,
bad for your heart, and I'm like, yeah, but most of the people
that are saying this are reallyoverweight doctors.
(14:47):
I don't look at America andthink like, yeah, they got it
figured out with health.
So if you do your own research,I think you'd come to the
conclusion that red meat'spretty good for you.
I mean, my brother eats steakand ground beef and fruit and
honey, and he's fucking runninglike an absolute animal.
(15:07):
I'm interested on the butterthing, though.
My dad would be really happy tohear you say that, because he
loves butter and he says when hedies that we're going to bury
him in the casket with just abunch of butter.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
I like that idea.
I would totally be down forthat.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Send me off in the lake, Johnny, and shoot one of
those flaming arrows at me withall the butter in there.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Go Viking funeral yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, butter is nice, though it's nice cooking with
it too.
Do you have any?
So, like you said, thegroceries were actually more
expensive up there.
Now that you're going to bemoving back to the Midwest, are
you going to be back on thatliver grind?
Are you going to be back on theorgan grind?
Speaker 2 (15:50):
I'm so excited for that Because, being in the
mountains well, especiallyColorado you'd think that
there'd be local butchers to goto, but a lot of places that
were close by to me you had tobuy at least a quarter cow and I
don't have a deep freezer or aplace to put all of that meat.
So I was just getting grass-fedground beef from the grocery
(16:13):
store but no organ meat.
So I am very excited to be backin Plymouth getting my liver,
heart and testicle.
I was taking some supplementsfrom the fittest some liver,
thyroid, adrenal liver and bonemarrow but you don't get nearly
(16:34):
the amount that you're lookingfor with just supplements.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Right, I was going to say the.
What is it?
The bioavailability of it justdoesn't compare it if you were
to actually eat the organ itself, right?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Yeah Well, I mean, it's bioavailable.
It's just a very small quantity, whereas I can just take liver
out of the freezer, cut off anounce hunk, and that's usually
good for the day.
Right, put it in my smoothies.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah, you had mentioned when you were here
before that you wereexperimenting with different
smoothies recipes in order toget rid of the liver taste.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yes, I think the next smoothie I'm going to be trying
is liver, whey protein and afew eggs.
See how that tastes.
Nice, Nice protein, fat bomb,lots of vitamins.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Hell yeah.
Yeah, I eat a lot of carbs, butit's mostly fruit.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
And those are good carbs, right.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
As long as you're active, otherwise you're just
going to crash.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Well, yeah, I mean, the whole point of eating
carbohydrates is to provideyourself with energy, and
they're important for fuelingmuscle growth after a workout.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I didn't know that, so I'm going to keep that in
mind when I come and smash a tinof raspberries when I get home
from a workout so fucking good.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
I do want to get away from eating processed carbs
because I've been really allabout the rice cakes and I guess
plain rice cakes are probablyfine, but I'm a sucker for the
apple cinnamon ones and they dohave a lot of sugar in them and
they sure provide good energyfor a workout.
I'll tell you that.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
The apple cinnamon ones sound really fucking fire.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
They are.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, that's the oatmeal I get too.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
And I eat like a tablespoon of cinnamon in a day.
I swear I put it in my oatbowls, I put it in my yogurt
bowls.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Really good for digestion.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, end of something.
Yeah, it's really good fordigestion, I know it was good
for inflammation, but I haven'theard the digestion thing before
.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah, I think my doctor told me that too.
Maybe one other buddy who'sreally into nutrition told me
that as well, I think.
Well, apples are my favoritefruits too, so anytime you throw
a fucking apple in something,I'm going to eat it you know for
sure.
I get shit for this a lot,because my favorite apple is red
, delicious, oh yeah, what doyou?
Think what do you think?
(18:54):
What do you?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
think I'll talk a little shit about that.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Oh my.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
God, the classic lunchbox apple.
I don't know I'm a honey crispguy personally there's no taste.
That's the most flavorful appleyou're talking about it's like
watery Honey crisp apples fromMichigan in the fall.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Okay, that's a little different.
I'm going to have to go upthere and investigate.
It's totally different.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
And it depends on if they're in season or out of
season.
I've definitely tasted reddelicious apples that I enjoy.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
They got to be good, though you can't just go and
pick out the ones that aren'tgood, because then it's like my
buddy's like said it you'reeating a wax apple.
Because, the skin's really waxy,I get it, you know.
But if you get the good ones,like with the good crunch, and
they're super sweet, that's just.
It's my favorite.
Actually, lisa has given meshit since we've started dating.
(19:49):
She goes you're eating theworst fucking apple.
And I'm like all right,whatever.
And I go to jewel and I siftthrough all the apples and I
Take an apple from each one.
I'm like all right, I'm gonnagive it a shot, I'm gonna try
these apples, because everyonewants to talk shit about my
apple.
Nope, red delicious, still it'sit.
Well, how do you feel about?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Fuji apples.
Fuji, you're good, okay, yeah,I like Fuji, probably second to
honey, chris.
Okay, what about?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
gala, you like gala?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
I'm not sure.
It's been a while since I'vehad a gala apple.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Experiment with my apples as much as you do, right,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I did a lot of spite.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
I know.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
I was like I used to get a lot of shit for only
watching anime and people ravedabout Game of Thrones for
fucking a decade.
I'm like, all right, out ofspite, I'm gonna watch Game of
Thrones, you know.
Just so I can tell them it'snot that good and like, oh, it's
actually pretty good.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
You never know what you're gonna find out exactly,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
So we've talked a little bit about Fitness, talked
a little bit about nutrition.
What are you doing for Mentaland emotional health?
I know you have a really strictmorning routine.
Are you reading any books, anyother hobbies that you're into?
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah.
So the morning routine reallyhelps center me every day,
immediately upon wake up, makemy bed, do my hundred push-ups,
hundred squats, 50 crunches,have a mug of herbal tea,
meditate for 15 minutes and thenI do a daily reading out of the
art of living by epic Tetus.
I've started studying stoicphilosophy and that has helped
(21:28):
me immensely.
Just it's offered me a newperspective on life and Trying
to worry about so many thingsthat might happen to you and
just accepting them as they comeand being the strongest Person
that you can be in order to faceanything that life may throw at
you.
So I've benefited a lot fromthat.
I've been reading some othermindset books as well.
(21:50):
As a man thinketh by James AllenIs a fantastic one.
It's like 20 pages.
So I just read it over and overand over again and just kind of
get the the messages drilledinto my mind.
And then I've been readingthink and grow rich by Napoleon
Hill quite a bit as well.
And Just keeping the mindsetpositive I think is really
(22:10):
important.
And guarding your subconsciousfrom what enters it is a very
intimidating task because yoursubconscious picks up everything
, every bit of stimuli thatenters your mind.
So I've been, I've been doing abetter job with guarding what
enters my subconscious, and alot of that has to do with
keeping my time occupied byreading those books, saying
(22:34):
affirmations and just noticingwhen negative thoughts slip in
and immediately replacing themwith positivity.
So it's been tough, but I'mgetting better at it.
I've noticed my mind becomingstronger.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Nice, yeah, it sounds like it, especially with the
stoicism thing.
I was going to ask did you readthe, the meditations?
No, that is on my list to getthough.
Nice, yeah, I mean, that's one.
Everyone raves about that one.
I think I also have lettersfrom a stoic.
I think that's by Seneca.
Seneca, okay, there's also astoic, and then Marcus Raleighus
is a stoic.
(23:08):
I've heard good things aboutthe Epictetus one.
Somebody I had on the podcast afew weeks ago mentioned
Epictetus, so I'm going to haveto give that one a shot too.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
It's great because a lot of the passages are either
less than a page or a couplepages, so I just do one reading
every day and I'll read itthroughout the day and meditate
on it and incorporate it.
And actually, epictetus was theteacher of Marcus Raleighus.
Oh really, I feel like he'smore often quoted, so I am
(23:40):
excited to get my hands onmeditations, right.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Yeah, I just finished that one, actually summer last
year I finished that.
Right now I'm reading a littleFrederick Nietzsche, but that's
not yeah, yeah, that's notreally any sort of stoicism or
positivity I would call it, orself development is what I would
(24:03):
call it.
It's more, yeah, just strictphilosophy.
At that point I think I alsolisten to a biography on Abraham
Lincoln that won the PolterAward last year.
It's pretty intense, yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
That sounds really fascinating.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Yeah, it was pretty, it was pretty dope, and I mean
not to get off topic, let mejust tell you this OK, this man
was like losing.
Ok, like we think of him as,like you know, emancipation
proclamation, civil war, guys,president in 1860.
Ok, and leading up to that,this man could not win Right
Because he was like anti slavery, just never won any political
(24:42):
races, would just get shit onall the time, you know, and then
finally, just like, fuckingturns it around, people started
trusting him and shit, and then,yeah, it becomes one of the
greatest presidents ever, youknow.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Napoleon Hill actually talked about that and
thinking grow rich about howAbraham Lincoln didn't really
hit his stride until he was past40.
Yep Talking about how a lot ofmen hit their stride between the
ages of 40 and 60.
Which is kind of fascinating.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Right, and I think we were talking about this earlier
, about when I was saying I wastoo hard on myself.
Sometimes we're too hard onourselves and in this really
fast paced society and I thinkthis is important with how
you're talking about your mentalfortitude and how strong you're
getting mentally when we openup our phones, maybe it's social
media or maybe it's the newsand all these things entering,
(25:32):
like you said, like the stimuliin the subconscious, I think,
being able to not compareourselves.
So, like I was saying, I'm 30years old Right, I'm trying to
compare myself to maybe the Johnin 10 or 20 years.
You got to be right here.
You got to be 45 year old Johnright now, at the age of 30, in
(25:52):
terms of mental toughness,success and development Right,
but that's unrealistic to think.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Oh, you're saying that you're trying to compare
yourself now to who you want tobe in the future, exactly Right.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
And it gets me down, or other aspects of life, when
people over here in America veryfast paced capitalistic World.
It's like you got to get out ofcollege, you got to get a job,
you got to find a wife, you gotto have kids, get the fucking
house, you got to do this, bang,bang, bang.
And then you start comparingyourself to everyone else.
Well, this is the way thingsare supposed to do.
(26:26):
And then you just get like sadthinking that way You're like
that's not my life.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, you can't compare to other people and that
is really hard to pull yourselfout of that, because I was
stuck in that for the longesttime, comparing myself to my
friends who were more successful, to people I saw on the
internet that were moresuccessful.
But on this personaldevelopment journey I've really
been able to reel it back in andand say, like, where do I want
(26:54):
to be in 10 years and what do Ihave to do today to move towards
that goal?
Right, and that's what I'vebeen focused on and I don't
compare myself to who I'll be in10 years, but I think will my
self in 10 years be proud ofwhat I'm doing today.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Will I look back and be like, wow, 28 year old, and
he really started getting hisshit together and that's the
reason I'm where I'm at now.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Right, it's a very I can say that's a very stoic way
to think about it, the wholelooking back and being like,
yeah, I'm proud of the person Iwas when I started making those
changes.
You know, which comes with notbeing hard on yourself, I think.
And also, yeah, like I stillfall into that trap.
(27:41):
I don't know if I comparemyself to other people as much
as, like I said, I comparemyself to the version of John.
I think I should be, you know.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
And that's the word should, should.
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Expectations, expectations that don't need to
be there, can't be met, actually, yeah, just can't be met.
Stupid.
You know, it's one thing tohave goals and then it's one
thing to have expectations.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Yes, expectations can ruin a lot of things, right.
I think it's important to havegoals and just to be accountable
to them, to say like, all right, if this is where I wanna be,
this is what I have to do, andif I'm not doing that, then I'm
not in alignment with my goaland I can be a little hard on
myself, I mean, but, like yousaid, we shouldn't be too hard
(28:30):
on ourselves.
We need to be able to breakevery once in a while, because
the road to success is filledwith speed bumps, right, but it
is important to take course.
Corrective action Afterwardsyes, but, like we were talking
about earlier, how you had thosenights where you watched Lord
of the Rings and ate ice cream,and I had that night where I ate
(28:51):
a shit ton of candy and bingedNetflix.
Yeah, we needed those.
You might feel bad about it inthe moment, but you look back
and you're like all right, it'skind of a nice little break from
all of this personaldevelopment.
Now I can move forward, learnthe lesson from the experience,
right, and keep going.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, get back on the horse, keep going.
Yeah, I think doing things likethat just kind of means your
soul was trying to tell yousomething like hey, fucking,
ease up.
You know Been going hard for aminute now, you know, and
burnout's no joke.
So you definitely got to facethat.
And if, like you said, if youmiss a goal, I think being able
(29:34):
to change things up like aroutine, like if the way you're
going about something isn'tworking, don't quit but
reevaluate.
You know, like, if I don't likeworking out at a certain time,
there's definitely another timeduring the day that I can figure
out a better time to work out.
You know, if I feel like shiteating a certain type of food,
but it's easy to get, it's easyand convenient, I'll stop eating
(29:57):
it and try and cook a differentmeal.
You know we have to be able toadapt Right, right, and it's
really easy to slip up and thengo scorched earth.
You say fuck it.
All you know.
Or, like I mean, for you rightnow that seems like probably
outlandish, because you're likeyou've got a really good routine
(30:19):
going in terms of your fitness,your mental fortitude, your
nutrition, and that's likelocked in too.
I've been through a lot of upsand downs in my recovery away
from drugs and alcohol andthere's been moments where I've
been like what you're doing andthen there's moments where it's
like I can't work out.
I'm just gonna play video gamesfor four months and eat like
(30:42):
shit and smoke cigars, you know,and I don't know if I don't
know if I need to do that again.
You know, I hope the last timeI did that was now my authentic
self saying hey, if you're gonnalike eat ice cream and watch
movies for a few days, justrealize that you can go to the
gym and get back on your horse.
You know.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah, it's okay to slip up.
You don't have to completelyquit Right.
Regret is not a choice, it's aguideline.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Like that.
Yeah, I could definitely tellyou're reading the stoicism, for
sure, yeah you'll definitelylike the meditations, then it's
a lot of that stuff.
Any hobbies other than likeworking out and stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Not really.
I've pretty much eliminatedeverything from my life that
isn't working out reading,writing or making content.
Fuck, like it got to the point,snowboarding is one of my
favorite things in the world todo, but towards the end of my
stint at Copper I just didn'tfeel like going at all.
(31:42):
My friends are like do you wantto go out one last time before
you leave?
I'm like nope, I'm notinterested.
Anything that's not getting mecloser to my goals I'm not
interested in, because I spentthe last 10 years fucking around
so much Like I got it in.
I got in all the partying, allthe lazing around, all the
(32:06):
hobbies Not to say that I won'thave hobbies in the future.
But I'm very much in grind modenow.
Nice, I have my eyes on somegoals and I'm working really
hard towards creating the lifethat I want so that I can have
some money, have some financialfreedom, and then re-evaluate
(32:28):
Okay, what do I want to do withmy free time now?
That's kind of where I'm atright now.
It's a good place to be, soundslike, it feels good.
I've never felt this before andthat's another thing the
sobriety has helped me with.
I'm just like I'm all about itnow.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Yeah, it's a nice grind to be on.
I honestly I started going toNA.
Like I was telling you, I'm notsuper big on the book or the
program itself.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
I have read through it and I have Is that similar to
AA?
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Yeah, yeah, it is.
Narcotics Anonymous is verysimilar to Alcoholics Anonymous,
like the 12-step program andstuff like that.
Maybe there's a little changeshere and there in the books, but
I did notice that my therapistmentor at the time who helped me
get sober in my first threeyears, he definitely helped me
through those steps, whether Irealized it or not.
(33:24):
So that's really good.
And the community aspect too.
It's nice going there once aweek and just talking to other
sober people and just hearingtheir struggles or their thought
processes, because I haven'thad a lot of that.
I like talking to Brandon andMuncie and now you about it,
because, yeah, I'm really big onthe sobriety thing.
(33:48):
It's completely changed my lifefor the better.
Even if you have a bad day,it's way easier to deal with
when you're sober.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Honestly, I've come to believe that sobriety is a
prerequisite for any sort ofmeaningful success.
All the people that I see onlinethat are extremely successful
people that I follow all of themare sober and just seeing what
Brandon has done with his life,I love being a part of the
(34:18):
circle of you, muncie andBrandon, like you said, being
able to talk with other peoplewho have gone through the same
thing and are all moving forwardwith their lives.
I think the sobriety is veryimportant and I try not to push
it on people, because I know alot of people do enjoy a lot of
people can enjoy drinkingresponsibly and just have that
(34:41):
moderation.
But I also do want to push themessage like you should try
being sober.
You should try it.
It's incredible, I mean, I'vejust started to feel my
intuition come through more andjust be able to listen to that,
and that's something that I feellike was very quieted by the
(35:03):
substances for many years and Ijust feel like I'm moving in the
right direction and I continueto receive signs from the
universe that I am moving in theright direction and I can pick
up on those signs and feelgratitude for them, and then
more signs keep coming.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yeah, I was going to say what did you say earlier
when I mentioned that you hadquit marijuana too?
And you're like, yeah, it'slike a superpower.
Yeah, the sobriety is like afucking superpower, I believe.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Like two weeks after quitting weed, I just felt like,
wow, this is a whole new levelof clarity.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
It's fucking insane.
Yeah, I wouldn't trade it foranything.
I got three more months andthen I'll be five years sober.
So I always keep thinkingthat's fucking crazy man.
That's an awesome milestone man.
Yeah, thanks, it gets crazieras I think about it.
(36:07):
Well, we were talking aboutbefore.
Sometimes I do get down tomyself for not completing the
things I want, and then Imentioned that to somebody at NA
and they go hey, but you weresober today.
I was like, yeah, you'refucking right.
And then I'm like shit, I'vebeen sober for almost five years
.
It's like Fucking somethingright there.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
I got damn, you know that's exactly what I said to
myself when I had that candyNetflix night I.
It felt almost like a relapseto me.
But I'm like I'm still soberRight, just ate a bunch of shit
and and watch some Netflix.
But I didn't drink and smoke,didn't do any drugs right.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Well, it's cuz you, you would you had channeled it a
little bit.
You know that I call, I callhim my fiend.
You know sometimes you dochannel that.
If I channel it with the videogames or the, the sweets or
something like that, you knowthe, the fiend in me, will never
die.
It's just you have to directthe, the lower self, in a
positive manner.
You know, as Brandon and Iwould talk about.
(37:05):
You know it's.
It's funny talking about thedichotomy between the higher
self and the lower self, becausethere's like this fearlessness
that the lower self had, or likeour old selves that used to use
we were fearless, was just likeI'm just gonna drink and party
and do whatever, I'm not afraidto shit, I'm just gonna go
fucking hard, you know.
But that came with a verydestructive, very destructive
(37:29):
behavior.
And now, as you're sober, I'mlike, well, I want that
fearlessness.
You know, in my life I wantthat energy, you know, but I
want it to be positive andhealthy.
You know that's been myultimate goal in recovery, other
than healing, and being soberis like I want to channel my
authentic self, that energy.
(37:50):
I want to find the authenticfiend.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Yeah, just like loving and living life
completely like that, it's anice journey you know it is
Channeling my authentic fiendinto exercise right, the
exercising every day.
Another reason why I don't liketaking rest days is the
discipline that it's built in me, which is another thing that
(38:14):
has helped being sober isBuilding discipline, but then
the building discipline has alsohelped me be sober, so it's
kind of like a self Fulfillingprophecy right, I don't think
that's the right term, but it'slike a.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
It's like a loop.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Yeah, it's a positive feedback loop, right, but I
just I'm just able to do itevery day, like a lot of days I
do like working out, but there'splenty of days where I don't
feel like doing it.
But I always do it like I didthose 300 burpees this morning
in 10 sets of 30 and those lastthree sets I did not want to do
(38:54):
and and the hotel breakfaststarted, the smell started
coming into the gym so I couldjust smell bacon.
That's.
That's funny.
But I got down and did them andI felt great about it
afterwards and I've just gottena lot better at keeping my word
(39:14):
to myself.
That's a big thing about doingthese hundred thousand push-ups
this year is I said I'm going todo it and I'm going to do it,
and once I've completed that,that's going to be a huge Mental
thing for me, whether I realizeit or not, that I Keep my word
to myself now, which issomething I never used to do,
(39:36):
used to let myself down a lot.
I used to sell myself short alot.
I think that's part of thereason why I started the year
saying I'm going to do 50,000push-ups, because I was scared
of setting too big of a goal.
But after that first week I'mlike, no, that's too easy, I can
do 100,000.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
It's insane, but I know you're going to do it, so I
don't see you not doing it.
How about that?
Speaker 2 (39:59):
I'm well on my way and I post an update every
morning on instagram.
I got to stay accountable topeople, right, right.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
I think Brandon makes a joke.
He goes I got a post that Imade my bed and my daily reading
for my fans.
Because I owe it to them,because they're holding me
accountable, john, I'm likealright for sure, because, yeah,
you got to hold yourselfaccountable for shit.
Like that.
I definitely slip up sometimes,but I have been very consistent
(40:29):
with my writing lately, so,whether that's in my phone or on
On paper or typing, I'mactually really old school, so I
write everything by hand.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
I love writing in my journal.
Yeah, that's my favorite way todo it.
Yep, the phone is nice becauseit's easier to make edits like
when I'm writing content, I'llgo on my phone or laptop.
But if I'm just kind of doing amind stream, getting my
thoughts out on paper Is alwaysthe best way to do it, for me
for sure.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Yeah, I just sometimes Won't be able to crank
out more than like a page withmy hand, you know, because then
it just like starts cramping.
Yeah, I've gotten better atbeing able to type now more
because I am trying to Work onthe next book, you know, but
also with the podcast too, Ihave a lot of the next book
(41:18):
written actually, so I just needto plan it, you know.
So I like how you've beentalking about Holding yourself
accountable, because that isdefinitely something I need to
do when it comes to the nextbook thing.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Um, have a timeline and stick to it right.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yeah, I have one written down actually and I keep
it in my planner.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
I just need to look at it more so it Actualizes in
my brain, you know that'ssomething good to have on the
wall or out on your desk so youcan see it every day.
Right, I get deadline and staysreal right.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
I was good with homework deadlines.
For some reason, I do it allthe night before anyway, but
like this procrastinator, right,the shit got done, though, you
know.
So I need to see thosedeadlines in order to actualize
them.
So, yeah, honestly, we'vetalked about fitness, nutrition,
holding yourself accountable,your new love for stoicism, your
(42:13):
sobriety, recovery, and thensome other shit that I've thrown
in there that I was planning on, but, yeah, it made for a good
conversation nonetheless.
Do you have anything else youwant to talk about?
Anything for your, your fans.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Anything for my fans?
Not that I can think of rightnow.
It has.
It has been a good conversation.
I've also been up for a verylong time.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Today I was gonna say yeah, yeah, do you have
anything out there for anybodywho might be struggling with
Holding themselves accountable?
Any tips for that?
Speaker 2 (42:48):
I would say start small.
Start with little daily actionsthat you tell yourself that
you're going to do something andthen do it.
Personal development a bigthing.
A big part of that is aboutstacking wins daily.
So whether it's a big win or atiny win, it's still a win and
(43:10):
those wins compound over time.
So Brandon always likes to sayand I'm a huge proponent of this
as well make your fucking bed.
Say you're gonna do it and doit.
Wake up time is another goodone.
Say you're gonna wake up at acertain time and you're not
gonna snooze.
Your alarm goes off.
You get out of bed.
(43:30):
Little things like that helpbuild discipline into yourself
and then you can move on tobigger and bigger things of
staying accountable to those.
So start small.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Right, yeah, I think that's really great.
I was actually listening to abook Atomic Habits.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
Oh yeah, I read that last year, yeah it's a good one.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
I think he talks about that earlier in the book
too.
So I've actually been alsotrying to set smaller, more
achievable goals in order tobuild better habits right.
So I think that's a reallyapplicable thing, because
sometimes we put a really biggoal in our head and we're like
I gotta do this right, and thenit's overwhelming.
You're like, well, I don't evenknow how to fucking start.
(44:13):
You know, but if you do startsmall with these small wins,
small little habits, once youstart getting those small wins
and victories, you startstacking that shit like compound
interest.
I think Brandon said that onetime, but I totally get it
though.
Speaker 2 (44:29):
And the compound interest is you won't see it at
first, but it does happen.
And you won't see it and all ofa sudden it'll be huge and
you'll be like, oh wow, I'vebeen stacking all these wins, I
have this discipline and itseemed like it came overnight,
but it is the result of doingthat shit every day, even when
(44:49):
it feels like it's not doinganything for you.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
Right.
I think another thing thatpeople might get discouraged
about I was going to ask if youhad any advice for somebody who
might be struggling withthinking they need to get sober
right.
And one misconception thatpeople have, in my opinion and
that I've seen in NA andRecovery, is people think that
when they get sober all of theirproblems are going to be fixed.
(45:14):
Right, and I don't think that'strue at the start.
But it definitely gives you thetools and the discipline in
order to heal yourself, right.
But you don't see, like youdon't start to see those things
within the first week or two.
You're like, well, I quitdrinking and smoking.
Why is it in my life fixed intwo weeks?
And it's like, well, you'refucking up for, like you know,
(45:34):
like a decade like I was, or adecade like you, you're trying
to fix yourself for two weeks,you know so not getting
discouraged about that andrealizing that the compounding
interest is going to come alittle later down the road,
right.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
Yeah, it's really all about sticking with the
decision once you've made it andknowing that it's the right
thing to do.
Quitting, or getting sober ingeneral, is not going to fix all
your problems, but it willeventually give you the tools to
deal with your problems in ahealthy, constructive way and
not be overwhelmed by them.
(46:09):
Not feel like you're drowningin life, but feeling like you
can meet any situation head on.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
Even the bad days are easy to deal with when you're
sober.
Speaker 2 (46:19):
Yeah like, for example, when I lost my mom two
years ago.
I was still drinking prettyheavily during that time, drank
a lot to cope with her death.
And now that I've gotten sober,I recently found out that my
dad is going to have to haveheart surgery.
(46:39):
And it's just kind of scary togo through with our family
because we just lost my momrecently and now my dad's going
through this major surgery.
But I guess my point is thatnow that I'm sober I feel like I
can deal with that.
I can deal with whateveroutcome happens.
I can be the rock to hold myfamily together, to be that
(47:04):
emotional support for them, andI just feel like, of course I'm
a little scared but I'm ready todeal with whatever happens.
Because I'm sober, because Ihave been practicing this
discipline in my life, I'm justready to take on whatever life
throws at me.
And that's where the stoicismcomes into Right.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
I was going to say I'm sorry to hear that, but it
looks like you are in the rightspot to be dealing with
something like this, and it'snot easy at all, but I think you
are definitely going to be therock to hold your family
together through this, andthat's a beautiful thing, too,
yeah.
Speaker 2 (47:42):
It feels good, I feel proud of where I'm at and I
feel like I've been a goodinfluence on my dad too.
He's getting jacked now.
He's cutting back on hisdrinking.
He's a strong motherfucker.
He's going to be okay.
Speaker 1 (47:55):
I think you're influencing a lot more people
than just your dad, but that'sawesome too, hell yeah.
So keep doing what you're doingand posting about it, because
you're helping a lot of peoplewith that too People you don't
even know yet.
Also, people are going to comeacross your content and they're
going to be inspired like amotherfucker to see what you're
doing.
So thank you for saying that.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Yeah, some of the most supportive people have been
strangers on my Instagram.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
For sure, for sure, especially when you're starting
out too.
Yeah, I think.
Yeah, you're definitely whereyou need to be.
I'm going to tell you that much.
So what is next?
What's next on this nextchapter?
You're moving back home.
I hear you and Brandon aregoing to start a rival podcast
against me now.
Speaker 2 (48:40):
That we are.
It's going to be called theFeel Free your podcast.
God damn, fucking A no.
Yes, the podcast is in theworks.
We have some other things inthe works as well I don't want
to say too much about.
I'll say stay tuned to ourInstagram.
I plan on expanding to moreplatforms this year.
(49:01):
Get on YouTube and TikTok aswell, but for now, instagram is
the main platform I post on.
Follow me at adtfitness, butall I can say is I'm very
excited for this next chapter.
Brandon and I actually had aconversation earlier today about
some puzzle pieces that havebeen falling into place very
(49:22):
recently and everything seems tobe aligning.
So it feels good to be whereI'm at, very excited for what's
going to happen over the nextyear.
Hell, yeah, and yeah, we'regoing to bring all the homies up
with us.
Speaker 1 (49:37):
I'm ready for that.
So, goddamn, that's dope.
Obviously, I don't want toomuch, I don't want the details,
but just to know that you twoare going to be putting in some
really big work, making some bigmoves together.
I think it's going to be greatto have you back in the Midwest,
especially with Brandon andMuncie and, as Brandon was
talking about in the lastpodcast, I had him and Muncie on
(49:58):
like yeah, some pieces aredefinitely falling together.
So whatever is going to happenin 2024 is going to be dope as
fuck.
Speaker 2 (50:06):
I'm ready to say that .
That is for sure, hell yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:09):
I think we've had a pretty good episode so far.
Follow him at adtfitness onInstagram Adtfitness.
I'm also going to drop thehandle in the description.
Give my man a follow, check outhis content, follow his story
on self-development, fitness,stoicism and other live and
happy, healthy, authentic tipsand tricks, and also watch this
(50:31):
man do a fucking 100,000 pushupsin a year.
It's going to be absolutelycrazy, but I hope you guys
enjoyed the episode we'reheading out, so stay up and feel
free.
Thanks for having me, john, noproblem.
Welcome back to another episode of Feel Free,
the only podcast that will tellyou to chase dreams.
Call you out and all yourbullshit, myself included.
I am joined today by my buddy,Aiden, back for another episode
where we're talking aboutsobriety, physical fitness,
wellness, chasing your goddamndreams and just having a good
time.
So how you doing today.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Fantastic.
It's great to be back here withyou, john, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
You had a seven hour drive today, is that right?
Yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Woke up at 4.45 this morning, killed a great body
weight workout and then hit theopen road.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Nice.
So last time Aiden was on thepodcast you were driving to
Colorado, correct Right To workat a ski mountain there.
Now, on your way back, you feltlike stopping by the studio for
another episode right, couldn'tmiss an opportunity to be in
the studio, oh yeah.
Actually the first person inthe new studio as well.
I love it.
It looks fantastic.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Thank you Appreciate that.
Also wanted to say we did notplan these matching outfits.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
No, we didn't.
No, we didn't.
But honestly, great minds thinkalike, right Indeed they do
Hell yeah.
Yeah, I didn't even notice that.
So obviously you're back hereto talk about all things well,
recovery and fitness related,just your self-development
journey in general.
Right For the listeners, though, I think you're hitting a
(01:26):
milestone today, right?
Yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Today marks four months of sobriety from alcohol
for me, nice.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Congratulations, thank you very much.
Feels good, and also a couplemonths without marijuana too.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yes, sir, last time I smoked was New Year's Eve and
was just kind of thinking andrealized well, it's about to be
a new year, may as well.
Stop now.
That's so true, hell yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, I actually a lot of people use the New Year's
resolutions and obviously youknow it doesn't always work out.
I think I did an episode whereI talked about that too, but if
you could take an enroll with it, yeah, so you're fucking almost
three months now without weed.
That's huge.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Almost two months.
If we're at the end of.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
February, genuine, almost two months, yeah, sorry.
So how does that feel then?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Oh my gosh, it feels fantastic.
Like I was talking to you aboutearlier, I feel like I have
superpowers now.
I just feel like I can handleanything that comes my way.
I have clear trains of thought,I can focus, I can concentrate.
It just feels really good andI'm also sleeping a lot better.
(02:39):
I'm remembering all of mydreams.
Nice, it's been a fantasticchange, and it was something
that was a lot tougher for me togive up than alcohol, because
it seemed to be a lot less of aproblem in my life or at least
that's what I told myself.
But I knew I needed to get ridof it and I'm really glad that I
(03:02):
finally made that decision.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah, I mean just overall clarity, energy levels.
Yeah, I also didn't have thebiggest problem cutting that one
out when I actually got sober.
It was kind of how you did it.
You got sober from the alcoholfirst and you kind of used the
weed to get through thosebeginning stages, because it's a
little brutal, not even justlike withdrawals, but like
(03:27):
changing what you do for yourlife, like not going out to bars
or not going to certainsituations.
So I think at three or fourweeks of being sober from
everything else, that's when Igave up weed too.
But it wasn't too difficult forme because when I smoked weed I
didn't want to work out.
So giving up weed I was like,all right, I feel like working
out now.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, it was something that you can get rid
of that allows you to do all ofthe things you need to do
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
So four months sober from alcohol, coming up on two
months sober from weed hugemilestones.
And so let's talk about yourfitness, because what you're
posting on Instagram it's crazy,because you look like kind of
like a movie star.
That's what I've been talkingabout people say you're coming
on the podcast and I'm like dude, this guy's fucking shredded,
(04:15):
he's yolk, but you're putting inthe work.
I mean, when I heard you did300 burpees this morning, that's
kind of speaking for itself,right there.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Indeed, yes, I've been working out seven days a
week since I got sober, so forthe last four months I haven't
missed a day, holy fuck.
When we spoke last time, I wason a program where I did a
different muscle group every day.
I'm on a bit of a differentprogram now where I'll do two
(04:45):
days of chest, front and sidedelts and triceps, two days of
legs and two days of back traps,lats and rear delts, and then I
sprinkle abs in on three ofthose days.
But then Sunday is my rest day.
Okay, but rest days are forcatching up on pushups.
(05:08):
Nice, my new year's resolutionwas I'm doing 100,000 pushups
this year, so I have to stay onschedule.
And actually, speaking ofmilestones, today I've been a
little bit behind on my pushupsand this morning I hit 15,000
for the year.
So, 15% of my weight to the goaland I decided to calculate how
(05:32):
far we are into the year.
We're exactly 15% of the waythrough the year, so I am back
on track as of today.
Nice, that feels good, jesus.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I remember you were starting this and you're like
I'm going to do 50,000 pushups,right.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I did that for a week and I realized that goal was
going to be way too easy to hit.
I needed something to challengeme and I said, okay, if I
double it, I'm going to have toaverage about 274 pushups a day.
Now, that's going to bechallenging, but it's definitely
doable, and I like even numbers.
So 100,006 figures.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Let's do it.
Right, that's fucked.
I was just saying Tony that'sfucked Great goal to have.
You're putting out a lot ofcontent too.
I always like checking on yourpushup count see where you're at
, so it's nice that you're backon track for that.
So when you say you don't dothe rest days because you're
still catching up on pushups,like you said, do you see
(06:31):
yourself doing rest days or willyou do a rest week?
Maybe?
No, okay.
I mean until the pushup thingis reached, though right,
because that's number one goal,right.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yes, that's my number one goal.
I said I was going to do it, soI'm going to do it.
But my rest days I do reallyenjoy doing just pushups,
because I'm not doing anadditional heavy workout with
dumbbells, barbells, machines,whatever it's just a light
bodyweight workout.
I do like staying active everyday, so I can definitely see
(07:04):
myself doing that into thefuture.
Nice, I mean at the bareminimum, doing my morning
routine workout, which is 100pushups, 100 squats and 50
crunches.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Okay, yeah, it's pretty.
I mean, for someone like youthat's probably pretty easy,
though, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah, it's just.
It's more of a discipline thingto me at this point, nice, but
there's something that feels offif I'm not active during the
day.
So my rest days will always bemore restful, but there will
always be activity.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Okay, nice.
Yeah, like I was telling youearlier, I think this past week
was the most active I've been ina long time.
I did take a rest day onThursday, though no pushups Like
full on rest day, and then theother eight days I've been
extremely active.
Now I wanted to ask in yourfitness routine there was a lot
of lifting and there was a lotof isolated muscle groups, and
(07:58):
then there was abs too.
Do you do cardio or I do cardio?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
That's okay.
Um, not really, I would say, ifanything, cardio is external,
like when I was on the mountain.
I didn't do a whole lot ofsnowboarding this season, but
I'd get some snowboarding in.
Running is something I'd liketo get back into this summer.
(08:20):
It's just something I haven'tdone in a long time and I don't
have any running shoes.
And every time I try to run invans, it's just not going to
work.
Not good for the knees.
So, um, I do want to introducea little bit of cardio back into
my life, but I do tend to focusmostly on the weightlifting.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Nice.
Yeah, most people hate cardio.
I think if you find a cardiothat you really like, then it
can be fun, but also, you knowlike I play a lot of basketball.
Yes, my other question wasgoing to be other than, like the
weightlifting, you had juststated that you didn't snowboard
a lot, which would also be aform of cardio too.
Do you see yourself gettinginto like some sort of
(09:03):
extracurricular hobby or like asport or like some sort of
wrestling, or are you just goingto strictly stick to your
workout?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Um, I definitely want to get into boxing.
Nice, um, I did that a littlebit with my cousin last year,
just doing some heavy bagroutines and some speed bag
routines, and that was probablymy favorite form of cardio I've
ever done, and just how gassedyou feel after, uh, after six,
(09:35):
12 rounds on a bag.
Um, so, boxing, and theneventually I would like to get
into some other types of martialarts.
Um, when I have more time inthe future.
Right, that's that's cool.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I tried getting into Tai Chi, but that's more like
moving meditation.
It's not mostly like cardio,then yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
I think, uh, jiu Jitsu would be really cool, yeah
, yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I actually had a Jiu Jitsu coach, uh, on the podcast.
Yeah, he's, he's a black belt,and Jiu Jitsu he's a teacher.
So, um, I have a few otherbuddies who like Jiu Jitsu.
I've never really been a bigwrestler, though, so the whole
grappling and rolling around onthe ground things never stood
out to me.
So, um, I have gotten into thestationary bike recently in the
(10:20):
last few weeks though.
So, okay, yeah, cause that doeshelp with my endurance for
basketball.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Like an assault bike or just a regular bike.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
No, just a regular bike, okay.
Um.
Well, like at the gym, thestationary ones, not the one
where you're like sitting back,the ones you're still sitting up
, so, but not like the spinclass ones.
Is that what an assault bike is?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
An assault bike is the one with the fan where the
front wheel is and you have the,the two arm things that you're
pumping to, just going hard withyour arms and your legs.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
No, no I don't think they have those at LA Fitness.
They got, yeah, they got like,they got like they got like they
got like.
They got like ellipticals andnormal stationary bikes, but uh,
I like that in like rowing.
Um, I do enjoy rowing.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah, rowing is cool.
Um, or sometime on the arctrainer, if I'm ever around
those.
What are those?
It's a machine that Cybex makes.
It's kind of like an elliptical, but I don't know how I could
describe the difference, but itfeels different.
It feels a little bit more uhflowy, if you will.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Yeah, I mean I do like those forms of cardio
because they're better on thejoints.
Running is tough, though,because it is hard on the
fucking joints.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yes, yeah, but it makes your bones stronger.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
It does.
Yeah, if you have the rightshoes, like you said.
Can't be running in vans though.
Yes, yeah, you're gonna fuckyour shit up then.
I like Brooks for running myrunning shoes when I do get
around to running.
Um, my brother's really big onNike because he he's still
training.
I think he's training for the800 meter right now, but he's
(11:57):
been really big on the Nike.
So my next question was goingto be how's the nutrition going?
How was the nutrition inColorado?
Because you didn't really havelike a kitchen right To prepare
your meals.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Well, we do have a community kitchen there, so I
would do my best to pick one dayout of the week where I did a
ton of meal prep and I was ableto stick with that pretty well.
Um, the quality of the foodwasn't always the best.
I mean, I was doing my best tojust eat Chicken, rice, veggies,
but canned chicken For sure.
(12:32):
Being out in Summit County, thegroceries are far more expensive
than they are back here.
So it's just you leave thegrocery store and you're like I
bought canned chicken and rice.
How is it this much?
But so I was sticking to amacro plan for a while, trying
(12:53):
to eat the same amount of macrosthroughout five meals in the
day, but that ultimately wasjust really inconvenient.
So I've switched over to a moreintuitive form of eating where
I just eat good foods.
I'm still tracking my dailymacros, but they're not evenly
divided between meals anymore.
So I have like a yogurt bowlthat I'll make.
(13:17):
I'll have an oat bowl that Imake.
Canned chicken and rice is ahuge staple Ground turkey and
cream of rice.
I usually like to keep itsimple, but occasionally I'll go
with some ground beef.
But that usually is tough tokeep my fat levels down with
that.
But that's where it comes backto the intuitive eating, because
(13:40):
ground beef is extremely goodfor you.
It has all of the amino acidsthe body needs.
So I've definitely been eatingmore fat than I was and kind of
experimenting with what thatdoes to my body.
Like I notice, if I'mincreasing my fat content a lot,
my abs do lose definition.
But having the body type thatwe have, it's really hard to put
(14:04):
on any sort of significantweight.
So I do eat sticks of butter.
People judge me for that andthink I'm crazy, but I think
it's delicious and butter isvery good for you, despite what
we've been led to believe aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah, well, I mean, we could have a whole podcast
episode about how things areportrayed here in America,
whether that's health orpolitics or anything like that.
So true, because they even saidthat red meat's bad for you,
bad for your heart, and I'm like, yeah, but most of the people
that are saying this are reallyoverweight doctors.
(14:47):
I don't look at America andthink like, yeah, they got it
figured out with health.
So if you do your own research,I think you'd come to the
conclusion that red meat'spretty good for you.
I mean, my brother eats steakand ground beef and fruit and
honey, and he's fucking runninglike an absolute animal.
(15:07):
I'm interested on the butterthing, though.
My dad would be really happy tohear you say that, because he
loves butter and he says when hedies that we're going to bury
him in the casket with just abunch of butter.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
I like that idea.
I would totally be down forthat.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Send me off in the lake, Johnny, and shoot one of
those flaming arrows at me withall the butter in there.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Go Viking funeral yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, butter is nice, though it's nice cooking with
it too.
Do you have any?
So, like you said, thegroceries were actually more
expensive up there.
Now that you're going to bemoving back to the Midwest, are
you going to be back on thatliver grind?
Are you going to be back on theorgan grind?
Speaker 2 (15:50):
I'm so excited for that Because, being in the
mountains well, especiallyColorado you'd think that
there'd be local butchers to goto, but a lot of places that
were close by to me you had tobuy at least a quarter cow and I
don't have a deep freezer or aplace to put all of that meat.
So I was just getting grass-fedground beef from the grocery
(16:13):
store but no organ meat.
So I am very excited to be backin Plymouth getting my liver,
heart and testicle.
I was taking some supplementsfrom the fittest some liver,
thyroid, adrenal liver and bonemarrow but you don't get nearly
(16:34):
the amount that you're lookingfor with just supplements.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Right, I was going to say the.
What is it?
The bioavailability of it justdoesn't compare it if you were
to actually eat the organ itself, right?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Yeah Well, I mean, it's bioavailable.
It's just a very small quantity, whereas I can just take liver
out of the freezer, cut off anounce hunk, and that's usually
good for the day.
Right, put it in my smoothies.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah, you had mentioned when you were here
before that you wereexperimenting with different
smoothies recipes in order toget rid of the liver taste.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yes, I think the next smoothie I'm going to be trying
is liver, whey protein and afew eggs.
See how that tastes.
Nice, Nice protein, fat bomb,lots of vitamins.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Hell yeah.
Yeah, I eat a lot of carbs, butit's mostly fruit.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
And those are good carbs, right.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
As long as you're active, otherwise you're just
going to crash.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Well, yeah, I mean, the whole point of eating
carbohydrates is to provideyourself with energy, and
they're important for fuelingmuscle growth after a workout.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I didn't know that, so I'm going to keep that in
mind when I come and smash a tinof raspberries when I get home
from a workout so fucking good.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
I do want to get away from eating processed carbs
because I've been really allabout the rice cakes and I guess
plain rice cakes are probablyfine, but I'm a sucker for the
apple cinnamon ones and they dohave a lot of sugar in them and
they sure provide good energyfor a workout.
I'll tell you that.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
The apple cinnamon ones sound really fucking fire.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
They are.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, that's the oatmeal I get too.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
And I eat like a tablespoon of cinnamon in a day.
I swear I put it in my oatbowls, I put it in my yogurt
bowls.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Really good for digestion.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, end of something.
Yeah, it's really good fordigestion, I know it was good
for inflammation, but I haven'theard the digestion thing before
.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah, I think my doctor told me that too.
Maybe one other buddy who'sreally into nutrition told me
that as well, I think.
Well, apples are my favoritefruits too, so anytime you throw
a fucking apple in something,I'm going to eat it you know for
sure.
I get shit for this a lot,because my favorite apple is red
, delicious, oh yeah, what doyou?
Think what do you think?
(18:54):
What do you?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
think I'll talk a little shit about that.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Oh my.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
God, the classic lunchbox apple.
I don't know I'm a honey crispguy personally there's no taste.
That's the most flavorful appleyou're talking about it's like
watery Honey crisp apples fromMichigan in the fall.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Okay, that's a little different.
I'm going to have to go upthere and investigate.
It's totally different.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
And it depends on if they're in season or out of
season.
I've definitely tasted reddelicious apples that I enjoy.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
They got to be good, though you can't just go and
pick out the ones that aren'tgood, because then it's like my
buddy's like said it you'reeating a wax apple.
Because, the skin's really waxy,I get it, you know.
But if you get the good ones,like with the good crunch, and
they're super sweet, that's just.
It's my favorite.
Actually, lisa has given meshit since we've started dating.
(19:49):
She goes you're eating theworst fucking apple.
And I'm like all right,whatever.
And I go to jewel and I siftthrough all the apples and I
Take an apple from each one.
I'm like all right, I'm gonnagive it a shot, I'm gonna try
these apples, because everyonewants to talk shit about my
apple.
Nope, red delicious, still it'sit.
Well, how do you feel about?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Fuji apples.
Fuji, you're good, okay, yeah,I like Fuji, probably second to
honey, chris.
Okay, what about?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
gala, you like gala?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
I'm not sure.
It's been a while since I'vehad a gala apple.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Experiment with my apples as much as you do, right,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I did a lot of spite.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
I know.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
I was like I used to get a lot of shit for only
watching anime and people ravedabout Game of Thrones for
fucking a decade.
I'm like, all right, out ofspite, I'm gonna watch Game of
Thrones, you know.
Just so I can tell them it'snot that good and like, oh, it's
actually pretty good.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
You never know what you're gonna find out exactly,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
So we've talked a little bit about Fitness, talked
a little bit about nutrition.
What are you doing for Mentaland emotional health?
I know you have a really strictmorning routine.
Are you reading any books, anyother hobbies that you're into?
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah.
So the morning routine reallyhelps center me every day,
immediately upon wake up, makemy bed, do my hundred push-ups,
hundred squats, 50 crunches,have a mug of herbal tea,
meditate for 15 minutes and thenI do a daily reading out of the
art of living by epic Tetus.
I've started studying stoicphilosophy and that has helped
(21:28):
me immensely.
Just it's offered me a newperspective on life and Trying
to worry about so many thingsthat might happen to you and
just accepting them as they comeand being the strongest Person
that you can be in order to faceanything that life may throw at
you.
So I've benefited a lot fromthat.
I've been reading some othermindset books as well.
(21:50):
As a man thinketh by James AllenIs a fantastic one.
It's like 20 pages.
So I just read it over and overand over again and just kind of
get the the messages drilledinto my mind.
And then I've been readingthink and grow rich by Napoleon
Hill quite a bit as well.
And Just keeping the mindsetpositive I think is really
(22:10):
important.
And guarding your subconsciousfrom what enters it is a very
intimidating task because yoursubconscious picks up everything
, every bit of stimuli thatenters your mind.
So I've been, I've been doing abetter job with guarding what
enters my subconscious, and alot of that has to do with
keeping my time occupied byreading those books, saying
(22:34):
affirmations and just noticingwhen negative thoughts slip in
and immediately replacing themwith positivity.
So it's been tough, but I'mgetting better at it.
I've noticed my mind becomingstronger.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Nice, yeah, it sounds like it, especially with the
stoicism thing.
I was going to ask did you readthe, the meditations?
No, that is on my list to getthough.
Nice, yeah, I mean, that's one.
Everyone raves about that one.
I think I also have lettersfrom a stoic.
I think that's by Seneca.
Seneca, okay, there's also astoic, and then Marcus Raleighus
is a stoic.
(23:08):
I've heard good things aboutthe Epictetus one.
Somebody I had on the podcast afew weeks ago mentioned
Epictetus, so I'm going to haveto give that one a shot too.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
It's great because a lot of the passages are either
less than a page or a couplepages, so I just do one reading
every day and I'll read itthroughout the day and meditate
on it and incorporate it.
And actually, epictetus was theteacher of Marcus Raleighus.
Oh really, I feel like he'smore often quoted, so I am
(23:40):
excited to get my hands onmeditations, right.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Yeah, I just finished that one, actually summer last
year I finished that.
Right now I'm reading a littleFrederick Nietzsche, but that's
not yeah, yeah, that's notreally any sort of stoicism or
positivity I would call it, orself development is what I would
(24:03):
call it.
It's more, yeah, just strictphilosophy.
At that point I think I alsolisten to a biography on Abraham
Lincoln that won the PolterAward last year.
It's pretty intense, yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
That sounds really fascinating.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Yeah, it was pretty, it was pretty dope, and I mean
not to get off topic, let mejust tell you this OK, this man
was like losing.
Ok, like we think of him as,like you know, emancipation
proclamation, civil war, guys,president in 1860.
Ok, and leading up to that,this man could not win Right
Because he was like anti slavery, just never won any political
(24:42):
races, would just get shit onall the time, you know, and then
finally, just like, fuckingturns it around, people started
trusting him and shit, and then,yeah, it becomes one of the
greatest presidents ever, youknow.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Napoleon Hill actually talked about that and
thinking grow rich about howAbraham Lincoln didn't really
hit his stride until he was past40.
Yep Talking about how a lot ofmen hit their stride between the
ages of 40 and 60.
Which is kind of fascinating.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Right, and I think we were talking about this earlier
, about when I was saying I wastoo hard on myself.
Sometimes we're too hard onourselves and in this really
fast paced society and I thinkthis is important with how
you're talking about your mentalfortitude and how strong you're
getting mentally when we openup our phones, maybe it's social
media or maybe it's the newsand all these things entering,
(25:32):
like you said, like the stimuliin the subconscious, I think,
being able to not compareourselves.
So, like I was saying, I'm 30years old Right, I'm trying to
compare myself to maybe the Johnin 10 or 20 years.
You got to be right here.
You got to be 45 year old Johnright now, at the age of 30, in
(25:52):
terms of mental toughness,success and development Right,
but that's unrealistic to think.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Oh, you're saying that you're trying to compare
yourself now to who you want tobe in the future, exactly Right.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
And it gets me down, or other aspects of life, when
people over here in America veryfast paced capitalistic World.
It's like you got to get out ofcollege, you got to get a job,
you got to find a wife, you gotto have kids, get the fucking
house, you got to do this, bang,bang, bang.
And then you start comparingyourself to everyone else.
Well, this is the way thingsare supposed to do.
(26:26):
And then you just get like sadthinking that way You're like
that's not my life.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, you can't compare to other people and that
is really hard to pull yourselfout of that, because I was
stuck in that for the longesttime, comparing myself to my
friends who were more successful, to people I saw on the
internet that were moresuccessful.
But on this personaldevelopment journey I've really
been able to reel it back in andand say, like, where do I want
(26:54):
to be in 10 years and what do Ihave to do today to move towards
that goal?
Right, and that's what I'vebeen focused on and I don't
compare myself to who I'll be in10 years, but I think will my
self in 10 years be proud ofwhat I'm doing today.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Will I look back and be like, wow, 28 year old, and
he really started getting hisshit together and that's the
reason I'm where I'm at now.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Right, it's a very I can say that's a very stoic way
to think about it, the wholelooking back and being like,
yeah, I'm proud of the person Iwas when I started making those
changes.
You know, which comes with notbeing hard on yourself, I think.
And also, yeah, like I stillfall into that trap.
(27:41):
I don't know if I comparemyself to other people as much
as, like I said, I comparemyself to the version of John.
I think I should be, you know.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
And that's the word should, should.
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Expectations, expectations that don't need to
be there, can't be met, actually, yeah, just can't be met.
Stupid.
You know, it's one thing tohave goals and then it's one
thing to have expectations.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Yes, expectations can ruin a lot of things, right.
I think it's important to havegoals and just to be accountable
to them, to say like, all right, if this is where I wanna be,
this is what I have to do, andif I'm not doing that, then I'm
not in alignment with my goaland I can be a little hard on
myself, I mean, but, like yousaid, we shouldn't be too hard
(28:30):
on ourselves.
We need to be able to breakevery once in a while, because
the road to success is filledwith speed bumps, right, but it
is important to take course.
Corrective action Afterwardsyes, but, like we were talking
about earlier, how you had thosenights where you watched Lord
of the Rings and ate ice cream,and I had that night where I ate
(28:51):
a shit ton of candy and bingedNetflix.
Yeah, we needed those.
You might feel bad about it inthe moment, but you look back
and you're like all right, it'skind of a nice little break from
all of this personaldevelopment.
Now I can move forward, learnthe lesson from the experience,
right, and keep going.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, get back on the horse, keep going.
Yeah, I think doing things likethat just kind of means your
soul was trying to tell yousomething like hey, fucking,
ease up.
You know Been going hard for aminute now, you know, and
burnout's no joke.
So you definitely got to facethat.
And if, like you said, if youmiss a goal, I think being able
(29:34):
to change things up like aroutine, like if the way you're
going about something isn'tworking, don't quit but
reevaluate.
You know, like, if I don't likeworking out at a certain time,
there's definitely another timeduring the day that I can figure
out a better time to work out.
You know, if I feel like shiteating a certain type of food,
but it's easy to get, it's easyand convenient, I'll stop eating
(29:57):
it and try and cook a differentmeal.
You know we have to be able toadapt Right, right, and it's
really easy to slip up and thengo scorched earth.
You say fuck it.
All you know.
Or, like I mean, for you rightnow that seems like probably
outlandish, because you're likeyou've got a really good routine
(30:19):
going in terms of your fitness,your mental fortitude, your
nutrition, and that's likelocked in too.
I've been through a lot of upsand downs in my recovery away
from drugs and alcohol andthere's been moments where I've
been like what you're doing andthen there's moments where it's
like I can't work out.
I'm just gonna play video gamesfor four months and eat like
(30:42):
shit and smoke cigars, you know,and I don't know if I don't
know if I need to do that again.
You know, I hope the last timeI did that was now my authentic
self saying hey, if you're gonnalike eat ice cream and watch
movies for a few days, justrealize that you can go to the
gym and get back on your horse.
You know.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah, it's okay to slip up.
You don't have to completelyquit Right.
Regret is not a choice, it's aguideline.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Like that.
Yeah, I could definitely tellyou're reading the stoicism, for
sure, yeah you'll definitelylike the meditations, then it's
a lot of that stuff.
Any hobbies other than likeworking out and stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Not really.
I've pretty much eliminatedeverything from my life that
isn't working out reading,writing or making content.
Fuck, like it got to the point,snowboarding is one of my
favorite things in the world todo, but towards the end of my
stint at Copper I just didn'tfeel like going at all.
(31:42):
My friends are like do you wantto go out one last time before
you leave?
I'm like nope, I'm notinterested.
Anything that's not getting mecloser to my goals I'm not
interested in, because I spentthe last 10 years fucking around
so much Like I got it in.
I got in all the partying, allthe lazing around, all the
(32:06):
hobbies Not to say that I won'thave hobbies in the future.
But I'm very much in grind modenow.
Nice, I have my eyes on somegoals and I'm working really
hard towards creating the lifethat I want so that I can have
some money, have some financialfreedom, and then re-evaluate
(32:28):
Okay, what do I want to do withmy free time now?
That's kind of where I'm atright now.
It's a good place to be, soundslike, it feels good.
I've never felt this before andthat's another thing the
sobriety has helped me with.
I'm just like I'm all about itnow.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Yeah, it's a nice grind to be on.
I honestly I started going toNA.
Like I was telling you, I'm notsuper big on the book or the
program itself.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
I have read through it and I have Is that similar to
AA?
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Yeah, yeah, it is.
Narcotics Anonymous is verysimilar to Alcoholics Anonymous,
like the 12-step program andstuff like that.
Maybe there's a little changeshere and there in the books, but
I did notice that my therapistmentor at the time who helped me
get sober in my first threeyears, he definitely helped me
through those steps, whether Irealized it or not.
(33:24):
So that's really good.
And the community aspect too.
It's nice going there once aweek and just talking to other
sober people and just hearingtheir struggles or their thought
processes, because I haven'thad a lot of that.
I like talking to Brandon andMuncie and now you about it,
because, yeah, I'm really big onthe sobriety thing.
(33:48):
It's completely changed my lifefor the better.
Even if you have a bad day,it's way easier to deal with
when you're sober.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Honestly, I've come to believe that sobriety is a
prerequisite for any sort ofmeaningful success.
All the people that I see onlinethat are extremely successful
people that I follow all of themare sober and just seeing what
Brandon has done with his life,I love being a part of the
(34:18):
circle of you, muncie andBrandon, like you said, being
able to talk with other peoplewho have gone through the same
thing and are all moving forwardwith their lives.
I think the sobriety is veryimportant and I try not to push
it on people, because I know alot of people do enjoy a lot of
people can enjoy drinkingresponsibly and just have that
(34:41):
moderation.
But I also do want to push themessage like you should try
being sober.
You should try it.
It's incredible, I mean, I'vejust started to feel my
intuition come through more andjust be able to listen to that,
and that's something that I feellike was very quieted by the
(35:03):
substances for many years and Ijust feel like I'm moving in the
right direction and I continueto receive signs from the
universe that I am moving in theright direction and I can pick
up on those signs and feelgratitude for them, and then
more signs keep coming.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yeah, I was going to say what did you say earlier
when I mentioned that you hadquit marijuana too?
And you're like, yeah, it'slike a superpower.
Yeah, the sobriety is like afucking superpower, I believe.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Like two weeks after quitting weed, I just felt like,
wow, this is a whole new levelof clarity.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
It's fucking insane.
Yeah, I wouldn't trade it foranything.
I got three more months andthen I'll be five years sober.
So I always keep thinkingthat's fucking crazy man.
That's an awesome milestone man.
Yeah, thanks, it gets crazieras I think about it.
(36:07):
Well, we were talking aboutbefore.
Sometimes I do get down tomyself for not completing the
things I want, and then Imentioned that to somebody at NA
and they go hey, but you weresober today.
I was like, yeah, you'refucking right.
And then I'm like shit, I'vebeen sober for almost five years
.
It's like Fucking somethingright there.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
I got damn, you know that's exactly what I said to
myself when I had that candyNetflix night I.
It felt almost like a relapseto me.
But I'm like I'm still soberRight, just ate a bunch of shit
and and watch some Netflix.
But I didn't drink and smoke,didn't do any drugs right.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Well, it's cuz you, you would you had channeled it a
little bit.
You know that I call, I callhim my fiend.
You know sometimes you dochannel that.
If I channel it with the videogames or the, the sweets or
something like that, you knowthe, the fiend in me, will never
die.
It's just you have to directthe, the lower self, in a
positive manner.
You know, as Brandon and Iwould talk about.
(37:05):
You know it's.
It's funny talking about thedichotomy between the higher
self and the lower self, becausethere's like this fearlessness
that the lower self had, or likeour old selves that used to use
we were fearless, was just likeI'm just gonna drink and party
and do whatever, I'm not afraidto shit, I'm just gonna go
fucking hard, you know.
But that came with a verydestructive, very destructive
(37:29):
behavior.
And now, as you're sober, I'mlike, well, I want that
fearlessness.
You know, in my life I wantthat energy, you know, but I
want it to be positive andhealthy.
You know that's been myultimate goal in recovery, other
than healing, and being soberis like I want to channel my
authentic self, that energy.
(37:50):
I want to find the authenticfiend.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Yeah, just like loving and living life
completely like that, it's anice journey you know it is
Channeling my authentic fiendinto exercise right, the
exercising every day.
Another reason why I don't liketaking rest days is the
discipline that it's built in me, which is another thing that
(38:14):
has helped being sober isBuilding discipline, but then
the building discipline has alsohelped me be sober, so it's
kind of like a self Fulfillingprophecy right, I don't think
that's the right term, but it'slike a.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
It's like a loop.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Yeah, it's a positive feedback loop, right, but I
just I'm just able to do itevery day, like a lot of days I
do like working out, but there'splenty of days where I don't
feel like doing it.
But I always do it like I didthose 300 burpees this morning
in 10 sets of 30 and those lastthree sets I did not want to do
(38:54):
and and the hotel breakfaststarted, the smell started
coming into the gym so I couldjust smell bacon.
That's.
That's funny.
But I got down and did them andI felt great about it
afterwards and I've just gottena lot better at keeping my word
(39:14):
to myself.
That's a big thing about doingthese hundred thousand push-ups
this year is I said I'm going todo it and I'm going to do it,
and once I've completed that,that's going to be a huge Mental
thing for me, whether I realizeit or not, that I Keep my word
to myself now, which issomething I never used to do,
(39:36):
used to let myself down a lot.
I used to sell myself short alot.
I think that's part of thereason why I started the year
saying I'm going to do 50,000push-ups, because I was scared
of setting too big of a goal.
But after that first week I'mlike, no, that's too easy, I can
do 100,000.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
It's insane, but I know you're going to do it, so I
don't see you not doing it.
How about that?
Speaker 2 (39:59):
I'm well on my way and I post an update every
morning on instagram.
I got to stay accountable topeople, right, right.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
I think Brandon makes a joke.
He goes I got a post that Imade my bed and my daily reading
for my fans.
Because I owe it to them,because they're holding me
accountable, john, I'm likealright for sure, because, yeah,
you got to hold yourselfaccountable for shit.
Like that.
I definitely slip up sometimes,but I have been very consistent
(40:29):
with my writing lately, so,whether that's in my phone or on
On paper or typing, I'mactually really old school, so I
write everything by hand.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
I love writing in my journal.
Yeah, that's my favorite way todo it.
Yep, the phone is nice becauseit's easier to make edits like
when I'm writing content, I'llgo on my phone or laptop.
But if I'm just kind of doing amind stream, getting my
thoughts out on paper Is alwaysthe best way to do it, for me
for sure.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Yeah, I just sometimes Won't be able to crank
out more than like a page withmy hand, you know, because then
it just like starts cramping.
Yeah, I've gotten better atbeing able to type now more
because I am trying to Work onthe next book, you know, but
also with the podcast too, Ihave a lot of the next book
(41:18):
written actually, so I just needto plan it, you know.
So I like how you've beentalking about Holding yourself
accountable, because that isdefinitely something I need to
do when it comes to the nextbook thing.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Um, have a timeline and stick to it right.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yeah, I have one written down actually and I keep
it in my planner.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
I just need to look at it more so it Actualizes in
my brain, you know that'ssomething good to have on the
wall or out on your desk so youcan see it every day.
Right, I get deadline and staysreal right.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
I was good with homework deadlines.
For some reason, I do it allthe night before anyway, but
like this procrastinator, right,the shit got done, though, you
know.
So I need to see thosedeadlines in order to actualize
them.
So, yeah, honestly, we'vetalked about fitness, nutrition,
holding yourself accountable,your new love for stoicism, your
(42:13):
sobriety, recovery, and thensome other shit that I've thrown
in there that I was planning on, but, yeah, it made for a good
conversation nonetheless.
Do you have anything else youwant to talk about?
Anything for your, your fans.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Anything for my fans?
Not that I can think of rightnow.
It has.
It has been a good conversation.
I've also been up for a verylong time.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Today I was gonna say yeah, yeah, do you have
anything out there for anybodywho might be struggling with
Holding themselves accountable?
Any tips for that?
Speaker 2 (42:48):
I would say start small.
Start with little daily actionsthat you tell yourself that
you're going to do something andthen do it.
Personal development a bigthing.
A big part of that is aboutstacking wins daily.
So whether it's a big win or atiny win, it's still a win and
(43:10):
those wins compound over time.
So Brandon always likes to sayand I'm a huge proponent of this
as well make your fucking bed.
Say you're gonna do it and doit.
Wake up time is another goodone.
Say you're gonna wake up at acertain time and you're not
gonna snooze.
Your alarm goes off.
You get out of bed.
(43:30):
Little things like that helpbuild discipline into yourself
and then you can move on tobigger and bigger things of
staying accountable to those.
So start small.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Right, yeah, I think that's really great.
I was actually listening to abook Atomic Habits.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
Oh yeah, I read that last year, yeah it's a good one.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
I think he talks about that earlier in the book
too.
So I've actually been alsotrying to set smaller, more
achievable goals in order tobuild better habits right.
So I think that's a reallyapplicable thing, because
sometimes we put a really biggoal in our head and we're like
I gotta do this right, and thenit's overwhelming.
You're like, well, I don't evenknow how to fucking start.
(44:13):
You know, but if you do startsmall with these small wins,
small little habits, once youstart getting those small wins
and victories, you startstacking that shit like compound
interest.
I think Brandon said that onetime, but I totally get it
though.
Speaker 2 (44:29):
And the compound interest is you won't see it at
first, but it does happen.
And you won't see it and all ofa sudden it'll be huge and
you'll be like, oh wow, I'vebeen stacking all these wins, I
have this discipline and itseemed like it came overnight,
but it is the result of doingthat shit every day, even when
(44:49):
it feels like it's not doinganything for you.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
Right.
I think another thing thatpeople might get discouraged
about I was going to ask if youhad any advice for somebody who
might be struggling withthinking they need to get sober
right.
And one misconception thatpeople have, in my opinion and
that I've seen in NA andRecovery, is people think that
when they get sober all of theirproblems are going to be fixed.
(45:14):
Right, and I don't think that'strue at the start.
But it definitely gives you thetools and the discipline in
order to heal yourself, right.
But you don't see, like youdon't start to see those things
within the first week or two.
You're like, well, I quitdrinking and smoking.
Why is it in my life fixed intwo weeks?
And it's like, well, you'refucking up for, like you know,
(45:34):
like a decade like I was, or adecade like you, you're trying
to fix yourself for two weeks,you know so not getting
discouraged about that andrealizing that the compounding
interest is going to come alittle later down the road,
right.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
Yeah, it's really all about sticking with the
decision once you've made it andknowing that it's the right
thing to do.
Quitting, or getting sober ingeneral, is not going to fix all
your problems, but it willeventually give you the tools to
deal with your problems in ahealthy, constructive way and
not be overwhelmed by them.
(46:09):
Not feel like you're drowningin life, but feeling like you
can meet any situation head on.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
Even the bad days are easy to deal with when you're
sober.
Speaker 2 (46:19):
Yeah like, for example, when I lost my mom two
years ago.
I was still drinking prettyheavily during that time, drank
a lot to cope with her death.
And now that I've gotten sober,I recently found out that my
dad is going to have to haveheart surgery.
(46:39):
And it's just kind of scary togo through with our family
because we just lost my momrecently and now my dad's going
through this major surgery.
But I guess my point is thatnow that I'm sober I feel like I
can deal with that.
I can deal with whateveroutcome happens.
I can be the rock to hold myfamily together, to be that
(47:04):
emotional support for them, andI just feel like, of course I'm
a little scared but I'm ready todeal with whatever happens.
Because I'm sober, because Ihave been practicing this
discipline in my life, I'm justready to take on whatever life
throws at me.
And that's where the stoicismcomes into Right.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
I was going to say I'm sorry to hear that, but it
looks like you are in the rightspot to be dealing with
something like this, and it'snot easy at all, but I think you
are definitely going to be therock to hold your family
together through this, andthat's a beautiful thing, too,
yeah.
Speaker 2 (47:42):
It feels good, I feel proud of where I'm at and I
feel like I've been a goodinfluence on my dad too.
He's getting jacked now.
He's cutting back on hisdrinking.
He's a strong motherfucker.
He's going to be okay.
Speaker 1 (47:55):
I think you're influencing a lot more people
than just your dad, but that'sawesome too, hell yeah.
So keep doing what you're doingand posting about it, because
you're helping a lot of peoplewith that too People you don't
even know yet.
Also, people are going to comeacross your content and they're
going to be inspired like amotherfucker to see what you're
doing.
So thank you for saying that.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Yeah, some of the most supportive people have been
strangers on my Instagram.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
For sure, for sure, especially when you're starting
out too.
Yeah, I think.
Yeah, you're definitely whereyou need to be.
I'm going to tell you that much.
So what is next?
What's next on this nextchapter?
You're moving back home.
I hear you and Brandon aregoing to start a rival podcast
against me now.
Speaker 2 (48:40):
That we are.
It's going to be called theFeel Free your podcast.
God damn, fucking A no.
Yes, the podcast is in theworks.
We have some other things inthe works as well I don't want
to say too much about.
I'll say stay tuned to ourInstagram.
I plan on expanding to moreplatforms this year.
(49:01):
Get on YouTube and TikTok aswell, but for now, instagram is
the main platform I post on.
Follow me at adtfitness, butall I can say is I'm very
excited for this next chapter.
Brandon and I actually had aconversation earlier today about
some puzzle pieces that havebeen falling into place very
(49:22):
recently and everything seems tobe aligning.
So it feels good to be whereI'm at, very excited for what's
going to happen over the nextyear.
Hell, yeah, and yeah, we'regoing to bring all the homies up
with us.
Speaker 1 (49:37):
I'm ready for that.
So, goddamn, that's dope.
Obviously, I don't want toomuch, I don't want the details,
but just to know that you twoare going to be putting in some
really big work, making some bigmoves together.
I think it's going to be greatto have you back in the Midwest,
especially with Brandon andMuncie and, as Brandon was
talking about in the lastpodcast, I had him and Muncie on
(49:58):
like yeah, some pieces aredefinitely falling together.
So whatever is going to happenin 2024 is going to be dope as
fuck.
Speaker 2 (50:06):
I'm ready to say that .
That is for sure, hell yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:09):
I think we've had a pretty good episode so far.
Follow him at adtfitness onInstagram Adtfitness.
I'm also going to drop thehandle in the description.
Give my man a follow, check outhis content, follow his story
on self-development, fitness,stoicism and other live and
happy, healthy, authentic tipsand tricks, and also watch this
(50:31):
man do a fucking 100,000 pushupsin a year.
It's going to be absolutelycrazy, but I hope you guys
enjoyed the episode we'reheading out, so stay up and feel
free.
Thanks for having me, john, noproblem.
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