January 9, 2025 • 26 mins
In this episode of the Pound of Cure Weight Loss Podcast, Dr. Matthew Weiner and Zoe Schroeder, RD, chat with Coach Dart—a seasoned fitness coach and vegan bodybuilder. This dynamic conversation explores vegan bodybuilding, injury prevention, the importance of flexibility, and why hiring a fitness coach can transform your fitness journey.
Meet Coach Dart: From Personal Trainer to Vegan Bodybuilding Pro
With a decade of experience in personal training, Coach Dart specializes in High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), athlete training, weight loss, and competition prep. Dart’s journey into veganism began eight years ago, transforming his health and fitness. A plant-based diet significantly improved his digestion, recovery times, and energy levels, proving that a vegan lifestyle supports intense athletic training.
Dart’s Nutritional Foundation:
- Protein-rich staples: Chickpeas, tofu, edamame, and beans.
- Clean eating focus: Prioritizing whole, minimally processed foods.
- Structured meal prep: Weekly meal plans tailored to fitness goals.
Vegan Bodybuilding: Fueling Performance Naturally
Dart dispels the myth that plant-based diets can’t provide adequate protein for bodybuilding. He emphasizes that vegan nutrition is not only sufficient but also optimal for muscle recovery and growth.
Key Tips:
1. Hydration: Crucial for recovery and peak performance.
2. Simplicity: Whole, unprocessed foods build sustainable eating habits.
The Importance of Hiring a Fitness Coach
Fitness coaches offer accountability, motivation, and expert strategies. Dr. Weiner and Dart highlight how professional coaching ensures proper form, tracks progress, and prevents injuries.
Top Benefits:
- Personalized programs that evolve with your needs.
- Expert support to help you stay consistent and confident.
Avoiding Injuries: Pro Tips from Coach Dart
Preventing injuries starts with warm-ups and knowing your limits. Dart advocates for progressive overload and the importance of recovery days.
Injury Prevention Strategies:
- Dynamic warm-ups, like stretching and light cardio.
- Gradual increases in workout intensity to build strength safely.
How to Become More Flexible: A Beginner’s Guide
Flexibility enhances physical performance and reduces injury risks. Dart emphasizes incorporating daily stretching and practices like yoga for long-term benefits.
Steps to Improve Flexibility:
- Combine static and dynamic stretches for optimal results.
- Stay consistent with daily routines, even if for 10 minutes.
Holistic Wellness: Connecting Veganism and Mental Health
Dart shares how a plant-based diet complements mental clarity and recovery. By reducing inflammation and encouraging mindful eating, veganism fosters both physical and mental health.
Takeaways
This episode underscores the value of sustainable habits, whether you’re curious about vegan bodybuilding, looking to avoid injuries, or aiming to enhance flexibility.
Tune in to the Pound of Cure Weight Loss Podcast to hear more about Dart’s inspiring journey and practical advice for lifelong wellness.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Coach Dart (00:00):
You can work out six days, seven days a week, but if
your nutrition is not there,you're just going to be going in
circles.
So I'm going to have them writeeverything they eat, tell them
to eat clean, but just write itdown, and then, when that week
goes by, I'm going to tell themwhat they need to switch and
change water intake and stufflike that.
Zoe (00:19):
Welcome back to the Pound of Cure Weight Loss Podcast.
We are here with my friend Dart.
Welcome Dart, Welcome Dart.
Coach Dart (00:25):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Zoe (00:26):
Yeah, we're excited to talk with you today, so tell us a
little bit about yourself.
Coach Dart (00:31):
Well, my name is Coach Dart.
I've been a personal trainerfor the last 10 years.
I'm co-owner of the DumbbellLab on 2922 East 22nd Street.
Zoe (00:40):
In Tucson.
Coach Dart (00:40):
Tucson, arizona, and In.
Zoe (00:41):
Tucson, Tucson.
Dr. Weiner (00:42):
Arizona, and what do you specialize in in terms of
your personal training?
Coach Dart (00:47):
Mostly I specialize in, you know, hiit training,
weight loss, recently got intoathlete training and then my
favorite is bodybuilding prepfor contest training.
Dr. Weiner (00:56):
Have you ever participated in a bodybuilding
contest.
Coach Dart (00:59):
I have been competing for the last eight
years, all natural.
Dr. Weiner (01:02):
Okay, Now let's talk a little bit about your
nutritional approach, because Ithink this is something we've
talked about in the past on thepodcast.
Zoe (01:11):
One of the previous sorry to interrupt you.
One of the previous episodes wewere talking about vegan
bodybuilders and I said I knowone and then you said we got to
bring him on the show.
Dr. Weiner (01:19):
Yes, so you're a vegan.
Coach Dart (01:20):
Yes, I've been vegan for the last eight years.
About eight years ago I hadsome issues with my stomach and
they wanted to give me all thesemeds.
They ran some blood tests andthey said you can take meds or
just switch to plant-based.
I immediately switched toplant-based Huh.
Zoe (01:35):
What else like?
What did you notice when youmade that change?
Did you notice?
Coach Dart (01:41):
anything significant besides the stomach issues.
The immediate change when Iwent plant-based was recovery.
I felt like I can work out forseven days a week.
Digestion was amazing.
The bloating was gone.
I just felt like energized.
Dr. Weiner (01:53):
So how did you start Like?
Were you a mediator before?
I mean, did you love steak, oryou know what was your diet like
before you were a?
Coach Dart (02:01):
vegan, like growing up, we never ate like steak.
You know, we never ate steak.
We didn't have the money forthat.
It was actually hamburger meatand just ground turkey and stuff
like that.
So I was never a big steakeater.
Every now and then I justnoticed a couple months before I
got really sick eating steak.
But yeah, I was never a hugemeat eater, yeah.
Dr. Weiner (02:20):
So how did you get started?
Did you read a book, or wheredid the knowledge?
Coach Dart (02:25):
come from Social media.
I went to Pinterest, typed invegan and just started copying
some recipes and thenimmediately it was like trial
and error.
I went to the frozen sectionand got those high-sodium box
meals and then, as the morning Igot into it, I started getting
the whole foods.
Dr. Weiner (02:42):
Yeah, so specifically, what's the
difference between a vegan and a?
Coach Dart (02:44):
vegetarian, vegan is no animal products.
So vegetarians you can havecheese, stuff like that, but no
animal, no milk, no dairy is oneof the biggest.
No eggs, exactly Right.
How about butter?
No butter, no butter.
But nowadays there's anythingthat's regular you can have is
(03:06):
vegan.
Zoe (03:06):
There's vegan butter yogurt , there's vegan meat, you know.
So, yeah, it's come a long way.
Do you eat a lot of those kindof more vegan, like processed
vegan items, or do you try tokeep it mostly whole foods?
Coach Dart (03:14):
pretty much 99 whole foods yeah um, just because I
compete in bodybuilding, we canhave the sodium and it's just
much healthier right.
Zoe (03:21):
So the difference is probably the preparation, right.
So talk to us about what yourmeal prep looks like, how you
maybe build your meals to makesure you get enough protein in.
Coach Dart (03:34):
So I meal prep every Sunday.
Luckily, I just recently forthe last like four months I got
with a meal prep company andthey cater to my vegan lifestyle
, so that kind of helps.
But it starts off with, likechickpeas Um, it was my main
protein source um, tofu, edamame, my main three, and then beans.
So I start from there and Ijust base it off.
You know, start there and thenI got my carbs and then my green
(03:56):
veggies.
It's pretty simple.
What's the meal planningcompany you're using?
Um, bizfit, okay, yeah, so theycater mostly to business
professionals who are reallybusy.
Um, that's why they came upwith the name, but they'll, you
know, cater to anyone.
Dr. Weiner (04:09):
You can check it out on my own facebook or my own
instagram so how does it work,like, let's say, someone out
there is like okay, I'minterested in this bizfit thing,
I would love someone, I want tobe vegan or even you know,
maybe you're not even fullyvegan, but you do a lot of meal
prep, so a lot of your meals arevegan, correct?
How does?
Coach Dart (04:27):
it work.
They do regular meals and theyalso do vegan meals, so you just
contact them.
There's a website.
You go and build your meals.
It's cheaper if you do thesubscription.
Obviously you get a betterdiscount, but if you're a meat
eater, they cater to you.
If you're, like me, vegan, theycater to myself.
You do your orders by Friday,they deliver to pickup location
on Monday and then there you go.
Dr. Weiner (04:52):
So do you?
Is it like, is it fully mealprepped, or they give you the
stuff and then you have to dosome work after?
Coach Dart (04:56):
The one I like is fully prepped.
So I have a it's called likevegan with veggies, and then
they're also.
They do in bulk.
So you can do tofu, you can doground turkey, you.
And then they're also.
They do in bulk, so you can dotofu, you can do ground turkey,
you can do rice, you can dosweet potatoes and just build
yourself.
So it's up to you.
So if you're like a competitorlike myself, we do bulk.
That way we can build ourmacros okay.
But if you just want to justhave your meals, just whatever
(05:16):
the veggies, the protein and thecarbs, they can build that out
as well.
Dr. Weiner (05:20):
Just heat it up and go and so you don't think that
this is a disadvantage in termsof bodybuilding?
Coach Dart (05:27):
not at all.
Um, it's the last like five toten years.
There's more vegan professionalbodybuilders.
Um, if you go to instagram,obviously they're not going to
be as well known as the you knowthe regular guys, but it's
coming along, yeah.
And if you guys watch theNetflix and you know Game
Changers, and there's moreNetflix and specials about
(05:47):
plant-based versus, you know,meat eaters.
It's science, you know, so itworks.
Dr. Weiner (05:51):
Yeah, there's a real push where a lot of athletes
like Djokovic the tennis playerwas, I think, vegan for a while.
Is that right?
Yeah, big time.
What are some other prominentvegan athletes out there?
Coach Dart (06:04):
are some other prominent vegan athletes.
Out there there's a couple umfootball players that have been
gone big in basketball playersum, yeah, yeah, like five years
ago they would say, um, it's acouple running backs I can't
think the name right now, butthey were like you need animal
protein.
He wouldn't last.
But you know they do last.
Um basketball player um, kairiervin is vegan.
A couple of athletes are there.
I mean they're getting fedwhatever they want, so they have
chefs that'll cater to themprivate, or they have a team
(06:24):
chef that'll.
Zoe (06:25):
You know pretty much, as long as you have your carbons,
you know your carb resources foryour energy, you're good well,
it's also interesting you werementioning about the recovery,
so with these professionalathletes maybe being able to
recover better from thosetraining sessions and games also
, yeah, big time they're goingto be carb heavy.
Coach Dart (06:41):
Obviously Everyone wants to go 40, 40, 20, which is
40% protein, 40% carbs, 20%fats.
But I'm thinking they're going60% carbs, like 20 to 30%
protein, and then the rest fats.
So your body runs off carbs andfats.
A lot of people think you needall this protein, but if you
were to be stuck on an island,your body is going to survive
(07:03):
off carbs and fats.
Dr. Weiner (07:04):
So so yeah, because your body can make protein out
of carbs.
Correct and I think that'ssomething people don't
understand is that this ideathat a carb must stay a carb and
a fat must stay a fat and aprotein must stay a fat protein.
That's not how it worksbiochemically.
I mean, there's all thiscrossover again biochemistry 101
.
I remember learning about howyou can take protein and use it
(07:28):
to metabolize glucose and howyou can take glucose and use it
to metabolize and create otherproteins Correct.
Coach Dart (07:36):
So the science behind it too.
You know people think you needto match your body pound per.
You know your weight andprotein.
That's not true, you know.
Obviously they're going to havetheir scientific ways.
But you know I'm 175 pounds andI probably do about a hundred
grams of protein a day.
I'm just not a big proteineater.
I supplement it with a coupleshakes and that, but I'm totally
(07:56):
fine.
I stay this way all year round.
But you know that's up to theindividual to determine where
they need the exact amount ofprotein per their body weight.
So you do protein shakes,correct, I do vegan protein
shakes, just pea protein.
Dr. Weiner (08:08):
I'm assuming Pea protein, correct.
Coach Dart (08:09):
Okay, I do about two of those a day.
Dr. Weiner (08:11):
Okay, and then what else is in that?
Do you make your own peaprotein shakes or do you do like
a commercial pea protein shake?
Coach Dart (08:17):
I just use a commercial one.
There's one called Organe, Iuse gain I use yeah, yeah, that
was pretty common and justwhatever your digestive system
can handle.
You know people recommendcertain brands, but even certain
vegans can't handle certainprotein because they're allergic
or whatever.
Their body just doesn't handlethe digestion.
Dr. Weiner (08:34):
So yeah, so.
So how much, how many grams ofprotein you get from food versus
how much do you get from?
Coach Dart (08:40):
supplements probably 70 from food and then about 30%
from supplements.
So mostly food, yeah.
Whole foods I'm a big fan ofwhole foods yeah.
Dr. Weiner (08:50):
I mean, that would be my thought is, I wonder if
it's even necessary Like that's.
You know, you and I, I think wehave a similar mindset, which
is that, you know, it's not themore protein, the bigger the
muscle.
Correct, exactly.
Coach Dart (09:03):
When I'm in prep, when I'm not in prep for a show,
when I'm currently prepping fora show, I probably only do one
protein shake a day.
There's days I don't even doprotein shake and I'm totally
fine.
You know, I'm not like losing asubstantial amount of weight or
anything like that.
Dr. Weiner (09:15):
So yeah, what's different when you're prepping
for a show?
What are you doing differentlythan when you're not prepping?
Differently than when you'renot prepping?
Can you kind of walk us through, like the whole bodybuilder,
the life cycle of a bodybuilder?
Coach Dart (09:27):
All right.
So when you're prepping for ashow, you usually start anywhere
from 12 to 16 weeks.
I do about 12 weeks because Ikind of stay in shape all year
round.
You make sure your macros arethere and you want to eat five
to six meals a day and thebiggest thing is diet and cardio
.
So you want to eat super cleanand you want to.
So, yeah, that's the biggestthing.
Zoe (09:47):
In addition to your weightlifting.
Coach Dart (09:49):
Correct, absolutely.
So I've trained six days a week.
I stick to.
I don't really track macros, Ijust eat clean.
I'm pretty weird about that.
And then I do cardio six days aweek, okay.
How long do you lift weights?
For About an hour and a half,okay.
And then I do 45 minutes ofcardio six days a week.
Dr. Weiner (10:07):
And do you do like how do you come up with your
exercise routine?
Like, where's that?
How do you.
Coach Dart (10:14):
For me it's just years of experience.
You know I'm going to always domy start of the week with my
heaviest, which is on leg day onMondays and Thursdays.
And then Tuesdays is chest,wednesdays is back, thursdays is
legs again, friday is shoulders.
Zoe (10:31):
And then Saturday is like a full body day, okay, and then
Sunday rest.
Will you talk a little bitabout how you take your
experience and your personallike passion for fitness and how
that relates to how you helpyour clients and maybe
specifically people who aretrying to lose weight through
your exercise programming?
Coach Dart (10:45):
Um, I got into the fitness business like in 2004,.
I was selling memberships at agym and then, you know, with
that comes like a lot ofpressure and sales.
So I didn't want to get.
I didn't really like that.
So I switched over to thefitness side of things, which I
remember just helping peoplewalking through the floor and
just really helping them andthen they would come back to me
and ask questions.
So I got certified and justreally fulfilling seeing people,
(11:06):
you know, succeed.
The biggest thing is thenutrition part, so I really tap
into that.
You can work out six days,seven days a week, but if your
nutrition is not there you'rejust going to be going in
circles.
So I always tell people whenI'm doing like an intro, I
really go over their nutrition.
How's their lifestyle?
Is their spouse involved inthat?
Because if you're trying to eatclean, you have your kids or
(11:28):
somebody else you know spouseinvolved in that.
Because if you're trying to eatclean, you have your kids or
somebody else you know throwingyou garbage or not supporting
you.
It's just not going to be, youknow, helpful so.
Dr. Weiner (11:36):
So let's say someone's overweight and they
come to you and that's you know,that's what we treat every day.
Is patients struggling withobesity got it?
Where would you start withsomeone who comes to you and
let's say their diet's not sogreat and they're looking for
weight loss, and let's just saythey don't want to do meds, they
don't want to do surgery, theyreally just want to focus on
(11:56):
nutrition, lifestyle, fitness.
What would you do for thispatient?
Coach Dart (12:02):
So I'm just going to pretty much interview them, ask
what I've just said, ask abouttheir home life and just tell me
like a daily of what they'reeating.
And then for like we're goingto immediately start working out
, just usually doing body weightstuff, and then for like the
first week I'm going to havethem write everything they eat,
tell them to eat clean, but justwrite it down.
And then when that week goes by, I'm going to tell them what
(12:22):
they need to switch and changewater intake and stuff like that
.
But for that first week I'm notgoing to put a lot of pressure
on them.
Zoe (12:32):
I'm going to just say give me your daily of what you've
eaten today and then.
So with the fitness side ofthings like introducing the
resistance, but via body weight,so that is maybe a little bit
lower barrier to entry, lessintimidating how do you feel
like that progression is interms of like?
When someone starts out bodyweight, maybe they're
intimidated by the gym.
(12:52):
How do you help them progressto the point where we see, we
see your clients on yourInstagram.
You know they're, they're doingall sorts of really intense
workouts and you've been able tohelp them progress to that
point.
So talk a little bit about thatprocess.
Coach Dart (13:07):
Yeah, especially with, you know, large people or
overweight people.
I have a guy who I startedtraining him in 2014.
He's, you know, gone on andtravel and he came back to
Tucson.
He's was 200 back then.
Now he's 366.
For the first two weeks we hadnothing but body weight.
You know he couldn't do apushups, body weight, squat,
medicine balls and stuff likethat just to get his body, you
(13:27):
know, used to training again.
And you want to injure someone.
Even if it's five pounds or 10pounds, you could possibly
injure them because theirmuscles and joints are not ready
.
And then we'll slowlytransition to, like TRXs and,
you know, battle ropes and stufflike that.
But you really want to getsomeone, somebody, just not just
to throw you in weights andstart cranking weights.
Your body's just not ready forthat, especially if it hadn't
worked out in years or months,you know.
Dr. Weiner (13:50):
Yeah, yeah.
So what are some tech, I mean,what are some things?
I'm a few years older than youOkay, a couple and I feel like
for me, I'm just.
I'm like, from one injury tothe next, to the next, to the
next, it's just kind of.
I'm always either like gettingover an injury or just got an
injury and recovering from itand dealing with it.
(14:10):
Like what do you do to exerciseand to keep yourself safe?
Because that's something thatI've seen so frequently is
someone's like I'm going toexercise, yeah, and then they
show up at the gym and like aweek later they throw their back
out and they're in bed andlimping around for a month and
they gain 12 pounds as a resultof that experience.
And they're in bed and limpingaround for a month and they gain
12 pounds as a result of thatexperience.
So what can someone do toprevent injury?
(14:34):
And, as kind of a side note, doyou think, being a vegan, that
protects you from?
Coach Dart (14:38):
injury.
First of all, you want to hirea coach.
I always use that analogy.
I don't know anything aboutcars, I suck at it.
So if anything wrong with mycar, I hire somebody.
Same thing with your bodynutrition Just hire a coach.
Spend the money.
In the long run you're going toend up spending the money
anyway.
But for me it's like we'reswitching seasons, so it's
getting a little bit coldereventually.
(14:58):
Now it's hot right now, butwarmup is huge.
Right, you never want tostretch cold muscles.
So a dynamic warmup, five, 10minutes on a treadmill, some
light stretching that reallyhelps.
And then your recovery.
You know the food you eat.
You know a meat eater is goingto battle you versus a vegan.
They'll go back and forth andsaying, oh, meat is better for
you versus a vegan, plant-based.
(15:19):
The science is there.
Your recovery and all that.
I'm going to go to theplant-based side.
But recovery after you work out.
You got to get that protein,you got to do your carbs and
refuel.
You're breaking everything down, so you want to refuel and
replenish afterward.
So that's a big thing as far asthrowing your back on the stuff
.
Stretch afterward, foam rollmassages they got cold plunges,
(15:42):
all that really helps.
Um, foam rolling, just got todo all the things you know.
Cold plunges cold plunges is anew thing.
Yeah, are you into those?
I can do two minutes.
They say do three for, you know, health reasons I did three and
I slept like a baby.
But, um, yeah, I mean it's ithelps.
You see a of athletes.
Dr. Weiner (16:00):
Have you ever done a cold plunge Zoe?
Coach Dart (16:02):
Three minutes Zoe Three minutes.
Zoe (16:04):
I get cold so easy.
I had a sweater on earliertoday.
Dr. Weiner (16:09):
To me that's like the craziest idea I've ever
heard is to willingly putyourself in.
I mean, what's the temperatureof this water?
Coach Dart (16:17):
Like 65 degrees.
Wait or no, this might be lowerthan that, yeah, 65,.
Dr. Weiner (16:22):
I feel like I might be able to handle that this is
like 40 degrees or something.
Zoe (16:26):
Yeah, you're probably right .
Coach Dart (16:27):
That first time I did it.
We had a guy.
Dr. Weiner (16:28):
Let's look that up, zoe, look that up for us.
Coach Dart (16:31):
The first time I got there was this guy, I don't
know.
He just gave us this.
He had everybody meditate forlike 10 minutes.
Zoe (16:36):
Yeah, because it, once you get in that water I made sure to
have my phone there for threeminutes and I was just
concentrating on my breathing 50to 60.
Coach Dart (16:46):
I was basically 60, 65.
Yeah, so the main thing isyou're breathing to get through
those three minutes and you'regoing to sleep better.
Your joints are going to be.
You know, it feels like itwould be the longest three
minutes of my life.
Zoe (16:56):
Well, I think about, like you know, oh yeah, that sounds
great, I want to start doingthat for my health.
And then you know how manytimes I didn't want to go into a
pool or a lake or whateverbecause it was too cold.
Dr. Weiner (17:08):
And I'm like ah.
I mean, like if the shower'scold when I walk into it in the
morning, it like ruins my day.
The whole cold plunge thing, Imean I think the science is
there and I think if you canpull it off and and I I just
have so much respect for someonewho's like I'm going to make
myself so miserable.
Zoe (17:27):
Mental discipline.
Dr. Weiner (17:28):
That only through, like focused breathing will I
ever be able to endure thatperiod of time.
You know, like the me, thatjust it's such an exercise in
mental strength.
I, you know, I don't know thatI've got that mental strength,
mental strength.
Coach Dart (17:43):
I don't know that I've got that mental strength.
I think if I was a professionalathlete I'm making millions.
Obviously I would do it becauseyou want your body in tip-top
shape.
But you see the footballplayers and basketball players,
they ice their knees afterward.
That's a little bit different,but the cold plunge, I'm with
you.
Dr. Weiner (17:55):
I think something else I really like is your
discussion about a coach, andI'll be honest with you.
So that's something that'salways really bothered me about
surgery.
I mean because surgery, to somedegree, is a performance sport.
Right, You're in there, you'removing around, you're making
decisions, you're using yourhand, your body and you're
executing something that's goingto impact someone's life
(18:16):
tremendously.
And during residency andtraining there's a tremendous
amount of coaching, but at somepoint it's kind of like go
little bird, fly, You're on yourown now.
Something I'm trying toimplement at our hospital is a
coaching program so that we'relooking at and coaching each
other, not as a punitive measurelike oh, you had a complication
(18:38):
, you need to be coached, butmore as a let's all get better
at doing this surgery, let'skind of share experiences, let's
get a second opinion and kindof coach each other.
So I think that's really soimportant.
Zoe's a coach for all of ourpatients, and I think I'm
starting to kind of use thatterm.
More is that she's kind of ournutrition coach, as opposed to
(18:59):
you know someone who's justgiving you some information,
yeah.
Well, something I wanted topiggyback off of as well to you
know someone who's just givingyou some information?
Yeah.
Zoe (19:04):
Well, something I wanted to piggyback off of as well, when
you were talking about how toprevent injury and you had
mentioned hiring a coach,there's a big difference between
you know, maybe having arelatively sedentary lifestyle
and deciding okay, I'm going tostart exercising and going in
the gym, pushing yourself toohard, getting injured.
Okay, I'm going to startexercising and going in the gym,
pushing yourself too hard,getting injured.
(19:24):
And then you know oh well, ohwell, for another six months,
right?
Versus having a plan, having aprofessional help you progress
in a very safe and progressiveway.
Coach Dart (19:34):
Yeah, it's just about knowledge too.
You know, driving here, Iliterally signed a lady up
online coach, online client,because she's been trying these
you know workouts from apps andstuff and she's trying to lose
20 pounds.
She was doing it all wrong, shewas telling me.
I basically interviewed her onhere.
She just didn't have anyknowledge.
She's a great motivationalspeaker, she's good at women's
and all this and stuff.
(19:55):
She's an amazing woman but shejust doesn't have the knowledge.
So she's going to make aninvestment and put that money
aside.
Zoe (20:01):
Investing in yourself and your health.
It's investing in your future,right.
Like you said earlier, you'reeither going to invest that
money now or it's going to be ahealth cost later on.
Coach Dart (20:11):
Absolutely.
Zoe (20:11):
Right Like the hospital stays whatever it is.
Dr. Weiner (20:14):
It's.
Yeah, healthcare is expensive.
Yeah, you get sick.
It's expensive.
Coach Dart (20:19):
Yeah, and then do your own homework.
I have a client actually nowshe's doing the weight loss
surgery in a couple of weeks inNogales or whatever, and usually
she's she's having the weightloss surgery in Nogales Actually
correction, tijuana, mexico.
I'll say so, yeah, for financereasons, but yeah, no, I get it.
She's doing the homeworkherself, she's doing all the
studying, she's got all thecookbooks.
(20:40):
She's, you know, changing herlifestyle now, which is huge.
I told her to do all thatbefore, because if it's not here
, you're not going to.
You know, do it afterward.
You know how that goes.
So proud of her I want to tellyou something.
Dr. Weiner (20:51):
We see I've seen a lot of patients go to Nogales or
Tijuana for bariatric surgerywho had insurance coverage for
it.
Oh, wow, gotcha A lot.
There are people out there whoassume, hey, I've never had, I'm
just, I don't have coveragebecause I have insurance and
there's no way they cover it.
Bariatric surgery is only cash.
(21:12):
95% of insurance policies coverReally Including access In
Arizona, if you have access, itcovers bariatric surgery fully
zero dollars?
Coach Dart (21:22):
Do you just see that there's no knowledge?
They don't know.
Is that what you're saying?
Dr. Weiner (21:24):
I think a lot of people out there because we see
people who don't have coveragefor bariatric surgery see that
very uncommonly.
It's very uncommon.
I see probably 40 or 50 newpatients a month here in our
practice for surgery evaluations.
Maybe one of those 40 might nothave coverage, oh wow.
(21:46):
So make sure before she goesdown to Tijuana make sure she's
checked her insurance policy.
Coach Dart (21:51):
Yeah, she's a regional manager for a property
manager company, so she hasamazing insurance.
Zoe (21:55):
Yeah, I bet she's covered.
Coach Dart (21:57):
She might have coverage.
Zoe (21:59):
She's already paid the $4,500, so unfortunately, Okay,
but anyway, that's a little sidenote.
Dr. Weiner (22:02):
have coverage she's already paid the 4,500 bucks, so
she's unfortunate.
Yeah, yeah, okay, but anyway,side, that's a little side note
yeah, um, so so what kind ofstretches do you think people
should be doing?
Like if you wanted to startimproving your flexibility?
That's something I've always,you know, I've always wanted to
do them.
Yeah, I wasn't like I couldnever even sit like cross-legged
, um is even like as a child I achild my knees would pop up.
(22:24):
Yeah, what do you do forflexibility?
What's a good way to kind ofimprove?
Coach Dart (22:30):
your flexibility.
Take a yoga class, even ifyou're a guy, if you're big,
football players are starting todo it now.
They'll help you.
They'll give you blocks, butthat'll just get your body used
to it, because if you just wantto lay on the floor and start
stretching stiff muscles, you'reprobably going to injure
yourself.
If you like heat, hot yoga isamazing, but yeah, just start
(22:50):
there by taking a basic yogaclass.
Dr. Weiner (22:52):
Yeah, I've taken yoga classes.
There weren't enough bricks inthe room, I think, for me
Propping this up and proppingthat up and trying to get me to
bend over.
Coach Dart (23:02):
And if you're in Tucson, Arizona, on the north
side, there's an actual massageperson that does stretches and
if you can invest in that, thatwould be ideal.
I've heard of the Stretch Lab.
Dr. Weiner (23:09):
There you go.
Is that what it is?
Coach Dart (23:11):
Yeah, so you think those are good quality and they
do a nice job Most people aregoing to YouTube and do it
themselves and find out theirheart rate, but I would suggest
me personally, just take a yogaclass and then, yeah, the
stretching lab was amazing,awesome, awesome yeah.
Zoe (23:26):
So if somebody is in the Tucson area and wants to maybe
work with you you know, getpersonal training or whatever it
is how can people get in touchwith you?
Coach Dart (23:34):
DM me on Instagram, coach Dart, or Facebook.
My name is Dartanian Goff.
Send me a DM.
Get back to you immediately,coach Dart.
Dr. Weiner (23:42):
Coach Dart, yeah, d-a-r-t, d-a-r-t.
All right.
I love it.
And what I really love is youkind of bringing this idea that
you can be in fantastic shape,you can build muscle Absolutely
and do not need to eat massivedoses of animal protein to do it
Correct Exactly, in fact, don'teven need to eat massive doses
(24:07):
of protein to do it Correct.
So I think that, to me, issomething that's really, really
important for us to get outthere, because we see so many
people kind of almost gainingweight, taking in these huge
doses of animal protein,oftentimes not doing the
exercise and the work that youreally should be at if you're
consuming that much protein.
So I think that's such a greatmessage for people out there and
I think you know, keep up thegood work, appreciate it, thank
you.
Zoe (24:26):
Thanks for coming, Dart.
Dr. Weiner (24:27):
Thank you All right.
Zoe (24:28):
Thank you.
Coach Dart (24:28):
See you next time, all right.
You can work out six days, seven days a week, but if
your nutrition is not there,you're just going to be going in
circles.
So I'm going to have them writeeverything they eat, tell them
to eat clean, but just write itdown, and then, when that week
goes by, I'm going to tell themwhat they need to switch and
change water intake and stufflike that.
Zoe (00:19):
Welcome back to the Pound of Cure Weight Loss Podcast.
We are here with my friend Dart.
Welcome Dart, Welcome Dart.
Coach Dart (00:25):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Zoe (00:26):
Yeah, we're excited to talk with you today, so tell us a
little bit about yourself.
Coach Dart (00:31):
Well, my name is Coach Dart.
I've been a personal trainerfor the last 10 years.
I'm co-owner of the DumbbellLab on 2922 East 22nd Street.
Zoe (00:40):
In Tucson.
Coach Dart (00:40):
Tucson, arizona, and In.
Zoe (00:41):
Tucson, Tucson.
Dr. Weiner (00:42):
Arizona, and what do you specialize in in terms of
your personal training?
Coach Dart (00:47):
Mostly I specialize in, you know, hiit training,
weight loss, recently got intoathlete training and then my
favorite is bodybuilding prepfor contest training.
Dr. Weiner (00:56):
Have you ever participated in a bodybuilding
contest.
Coach Dart (00:59):
I have been competing for the last eight
years, all natural.
Dr. Weiner (01:02):
Okay, Now let's talk a little bit about your
nutritional approach, because Ithink this is something we've
talked about in the past on thepodcast.
Zoe (01:11):
One of the previous sorry to interrupt you.
One of the previous episodes wewere talking about vegan
bodybuilders and I said I knowone and then you said we got to
bring him on the show.
Dr. Weiner (01:19):
Yes, so you're a vegan.
Coach Dart (01:20):
Yes, I've been vegan for the last eight years.
About eight years ago I hadsome issues with my stomach and
they wanted to give me all thesemeds.
They ran some blood tests andthey said you can take meds or
just switch to plant-based.
I immediately switched toplant-based Huh.
Zoe (01:35):
What else like?
What did you notice when youmade that change?
Did you notice?
Coach Dart (01:41):
anything significant besides the stomach issues.
The immediate change when Iwent plant-based was recovery.
I felt like I can work out forseven days a week.
Digestion was amazing.
The bloating was gone.
I just felt like energized.
Dr. Weiner (01:53):
So how did you start Like?
Were you a mediator before?
I mean, did you love steak, oryou know what was your diet like
before you were a?
Coach Dart (02:01):
vegan, like growing up, we never ate like steak.
You know, we never ate steak.
We didn't have the money forthat.
It was actually hamburger meatand just ground turkey and stuff
like that.
So I was never a big steakeater.
Every now and then I justnoticed a couple months before I
got really sick eating steak.
But yeah, I was never a hugemeat eater, yeah.
Dr. Weiner (02:20):
So how did you get started?
Did you read a book, or wheredid the knowledge?
Coach Dart (02:25):
come from Social media.
I went to Pinterest, typed invegan and just started copying
some recipes and thenimmediately it was like trial
and error.
I went to the frozen sectionand got those high-sodium box
meals and then, as the morning Igot into it, I started getting
the whole foods.
Dr. Weiner (02:42):
Yeah, so specifically, what's the
difference between a vegan and a?
Coach Dart (02:44):
vegetarian, vegan is no animal products.
So vegetarians you can havecheese, stuff like that, but no
animal, no milk, no dairy is oneof the biggest.
No eggs, exactly Right.
How about butter?
No butter, no butter.
But nowadays there's anythingthat's regular you can have is
(03:06):
vegan.
Zoe (03:06):
There's vegan butter yogurt , there's vegan meat, you know.
So, yeah, it's come a long way.
Do you eat a lot of those kindof more vegan, like processed
vegan items, or do you try tokeep it mostly whole foods?
Coach Dart (03:14):
pretty much 99 whole foods yeah um, just because I
compete in bodybuilding, we canhave the sodium and it's just
much healthier right.
Zoe (03:21):
So the difference is probably the preparation, right.
So talk to us about what yourmeal prep looks like, how you
maybe build your meals to makesure you get enough protein in.
Coach Dart (03:34):
So I meal prep every Sunday.
Luckily, I just recently forthe last like four months I got
with a meal prep company andthey cater to my vegan lifestyle
, so that kind of helps.
But it starts off with, likechickpeas Um, it was my main
protein source um, tofu, edamame, my main three, and then beans.
So I start from there and Ijust base it off.
You know, start there and thenI got my carbs and then my green
(03:56):
veggies.
It's pretty simple.
What's the meal planningcompany you're using?
Um, bizfit, okay, yeah, so theycater mostly to business
professionals who are reallybusy.
Um, that's why they came upwith the name, but they'll, you
know, cater to anyone.
Dr. Weiner (04:09):
You can check it out on my own facebook or my own
instagram so how does it work,like, let's say, someone out
there is like okay, I'minterested in this bizfit thing,
I would love someone, I want tobe vegan or even you know,
maybe you're not even fullyvegan, but you do a lot of meal
prep, so a lot of your meals arevegan, correct?
How does?
Coach Dart (04:27):
it work.
They do regular meals and theyalso do vegan meals, so you just
contact them.
There's a website.
You go and build your meals.
It's cheaper if you do thesubscription.
Obviously you get a betterdiscount, but if you're a meat
eater, they cater to you.
If you're, like me, vegan, theycater to myself.
You do your orders by Friday,they deliver to pickup location
on Monday and then there you go.
Dr. Weiner (04:52):
So do you?
Is it like, is it fully mealprepped, or they give you the
stuff and then you have to dosome work after?
Coach Dart (04:56):
The one I like is fully prepped.
So I have a it's called likevegan with veggies, and then
they're also.
They do in bulk.
So you can do tofu, you can doground turkey, you.
And then they're also.
They do in bulk, so you can dotofu, you can do ground turkey,
you can do rice, you can dosweet potatoes and just build
yourself.
So it's up to you.
So if you're like a competitorlike myself, we do bulk.
That way we can build ourmacros okay.
But if you just want to justhave your meals, just whatever
(05:16):
the veggies, the protein and thecarbs, they can build that out
as well.
Dr. Weiner (05:20):
Just heat it up and go and so you don't think that
this is a disadvantage in termsof bodybuilding?
Coach Dart (05:27):
not at all.
Um, it's the last like five toten years.
There's more vegan professionalbodybuilders.
Um, if you go to instagram,obviously they're not going to
be as well known as the you knowthe regular guys, but it's
coming along, yeah.
And if you guys watch theNetflix and you know Game
Changers, and there's moreNetflix and specials about
(05:47):
plant-based versus, you know,meat eaters.
It's science, you know, so itworks.
Dr. Weiner (05:51):
Yeah, there's a real push where a lot of athletes
like Djokovic the tennis playerwas, I think, vegan for a while.
Is that right?
Yeah, big time.
What are some other prominentvegan athletes out there?
Coach Dart (06:04):
are some other prominent vegan athletes.
Out there there's a couple umfootball players that have been
gone big in basketball playersum, yeah, yeah, like five years
ago they would say, um, it's acouple running backs I can't
think the name right now, butthey were like you need animal
protein.
He wouldn't last.
But you know they do last.
Um basketball player um, kairiervin is vegan.
A couple of athletes are there.
I mean they're getting fedwhatever they want, so they have
chefs that'll cater to themprivate, or they have a team
(06:24):
chef that'll.
Zoe (06:25):
You know pretty much, as long as you have your carbons,
you know your carb resources foryour energy, you're good well,
it's also interesting you werementioning about the recovery,
so with these professionalathletes maybe being able to
recover better from thosetraining sessions and games also
, yeah, big time they're goingto be carb heavy.
Coach Dart (06:41):
Obviously Everyone wants to go 40, 40, 20, which is
40% protein, 40% carbs, 20%fats.
But I'm thinking they're going60% carbs, like 20 to 30%
protein, and then the rest fats.
So your body runs off carbs andfats.
A lot of people think you needall this protein, but if you
were to be stuck on an island,your body is going to survive
(07:03):
off carbs and fats.
Dr. Weiner (07:04):
So so yeah, because your body can make protein out
of carbs.
Correct and I think that'ssomething people don't
understand is that this ideathat a carb must stay a carb and
a fat must stay a fat and aprotein must stay a fat protein.
That's not how it worksbiochemically.
I mean, there's all thiscrossover again biochemistry 101
.
I remember learning about howyou can take protein and use it
(07:28):
to metabolize glucose and howyou can take glucose and use it
to metabolize and create otherproteins Correct.
Coach Dart (07:36):
So the science behind it too.
You know people think you needto match your body pound per.
You know your weight andprotein.
That's not true, you know.
Obviously they're going to havetheir scientific ways.
But you know I'm 175 pounds andI probably do about a hundred
grams of protein a day.
I'm just not a big proteineater.
I supplement it with a coupleshakes and that, but I'm totally
(07:56):
fine.
I stay this way all year round.
But you know that's up to theindividual to determine where
they need the exact amount ofprotein per their body weight.
So you do protein shakes,correct, I do vegan protein
shakes, just pea protein.
Dr. Weiner (08:08):
I'm assuming Pea protein, correct.
Coach Dart (08:09):
Okay, I do about two of those a day.
Dr. Weiner (08:11):
Okay, and then what else is in that?
Do you make your own peaprotein shakes or do you do like
a commercial pea protein shake?
Coach Dart (08:17):
I just use a commercial one.
There's one called Organe, Iuse gain I use yeah, yeah, that
was pretty common and justwhatever your digestive system
can handle.
You know people recommendcertain brands, but even certain
vegans can't handle certainprotein because they're allergic
or whatever.
Their body just doesn't handlethe digestion.
Dr. Weiner (08:34):
So yeah, so.
So how much, how many grams ofprotein you get from food versus
how much do you get from?
Coach Dart (08:40):
supplements probably 70 from food and then about 30%
from supplements.
So mostly food, yeah.
Whole foods I'm a big fan ofwhole foods yeah.
Dr. Weiner (08:50):
I mean, that would be my thought is, I wonder if
it's even necessary Like that's.
You know, you and I, I think wehave a similar mindset, which
is that, you know, it's not themore protein, the bigger the
muscle.
Correct, exactly.
Coach Dart (09:03):
When I'm in prep, when I'm not in prep for a show,
when I'm currently prepping fora show, I probably only do one
protein shake a day.
There's days I don't even doprotein shake and I'm totally
fine.
You know, I'm not like losing asubstantial amount of weight or
anything like that.
Dr. Weiner (09:15):
So yeah, what's different when you're prepping
for a show?
What are you doing differentlythan when you're not prepping?
Differently than when you'renot prepping?
Can you kind of walk us through, like the whole bodybuilder,
the life cycle of a bodybuilder?
Coach Dart (09:27):
All right.
So when you're prepping for ashow, you usually start anywhere
from 12 to 16 weeks.
I do about 12 weeks because Ikind of stay in shape all year
round.
You make sure your macros arethere and you want to eat five
to six meals a day and thebiggest thing is diet and cardio
.
So you want to eat super cleanand you want to.
So, yeah, that's the biggestthing.
Zoe (09:47):
In addition to your weightlifting.
Coach Dart (09:49):
Correct, absolutely.
So I've trained six days a week.
I stick to.
I don't really track macros, Ijust eat clean.
I'm pretty weird about that.
And then I do cardio six days aweek, okay.
How long do you lift weights?
For About an hour and a half,okay.
And then I do 45 minutes ofcardio six days a week.
Dr. Weiner (10:07):
And do you do like how do you come up with your
exercise routine?
Like, where's that?
How do you.
Coach Dart (10:14):
For me it's just years of experience.
You know I'm going to always domy start of the week with my
heaviest, which is on leg day onMondays and Thursdays.
And then Tuesdays is chest,wednesdays is back, thursdays is
legs again, friday is shoulders.
Zoe (10:31):
And then Saturday is like a full body day, okay, and then
Sunday rest.
Will you talk a little bitabout how you take your
experience and your personallike passion for fitness and how
that relates to how you helpyour clients and maybe
specifically people who aretrying to lose weight through
your exercise programming?
Coach Dart (10:45):
Um, I got into the fitness business like in 2004,.
I was selling memberships at agym and then, you know, with
that comes like a lot ofpressure and sales.
So I didn't want to get.
I didn't really like that.
So I switched over to thefitness side of things, which I
remember just helping peoplewalking through the floor and
just really helping them andthen they would come back to me
and ask questions.
So I got certified and justreally fulfilling seeing people,
(11:06):
you know, succeed.
The biggest thing is thenutrition part, so I really tap
into that.
You can work out six days,seven days a week, but if your
nutrition is not there you'rejust going to be going in
circles.
So I always tell people whenI'm doing like an intro, I
really go over their nutrition.
How's their lifestyle?
Is their spouse involved inthat?
Because if you're trying to eatclean, you have your kids or
(11:28):
somebody else you know spouseinvolved in that.
Because if you're trying to eatclean, you have your kids or
somebody else you know throwingyou garbage or not supporting
you.
It's just not going to be, youknow, helpful so.
Dr. Weiner (11:36):
So let's say someone's overweight and they
come to you and that's you know,that's what we treat every day.
Is patients struggling withobesity got it?
Where would you start withsomeone who comes to you and
let's say their diet's not sogreat and they're looking for
weight loss, and let's just saythey don't want to do meds, they
don't want to do surgery, theyreally just want to focus on
(11:56):
nutrition, lifestyle, fitness.
What would you do for thispatient?
Coach Dart (12:02):
So I'm just going to pretty much interview them, ask
what I've just said, ask abouttheir home life and just tell me
like a daily of what they'reeating.
And then for like we're goingto immediately start working out
, just usually doing body weightstuff, and then for like the
first week I'm going to havethem write everything they eat,
tell them to eat clean, but justwrite it down.
And then when that week goes by, I'm going to tell them what
(12:22):
they need to switch and changewater intake and stuff like that
.
But for that first week I'm notgoing to put a lot of pressure
on them.
Zoe (12:32):
I'm going to just say give me your daily of what you've
eaten today and then.
So with the fitness side ofthings like introducing the
resistance, but via body weight,so that is maybe a little bit
lower barrier to entry, lessintimidating how do you feel
like that progression is interms of like?
When someone starts out bodyweight, maybe they're
intimidated by the gym.
(12:52):
How do you help them progressto the point where we see, we
see your clients on yourInstagram.
You know they're, they're doingall sorts of really intense
workouts and you've been able tohelp them progress to that
point.
So talk a little bit about thatprocess.
Coach Dart (13:07):
Yeah, especially with, you know, large people or
overweight people.
I have a guy who I startedtraining him in 2014.
He's, you know, gone on andtravel and he came back to
Tucson.
He's was 200 back then.
Now he's 366.
For the first two weeks we hadnothing but body weight.
You know he couldn't do apushups, body weight, squat,
medicine balls and stuff likethat just to get his body, you
(13:27):
know, used to training again.
And you want to injure someone.
Even if it's five pounds or 10pounds, you could possibly
injure them because theirmuscles and joints are not ready
.
And then we'll slowlytransition to, like TRXs and,
you know, battle ropes and stufflike that.
But you really want to getsomeone, somebody, just not just
to throw you in weights andstart cranking weights.
Your body's just not ready forthat, especially if it hadn't
worked out in years or months,you know.
Dr. Weiner (13:50):
Yeah, yeah.
So what are some tech, I mean,what are some things?
I'm a few years older than youOkay, a couple and I feel like
for me, I'm just.
I'm like, from one injury tothe next, to the next, to the
next, it's just kind of.
I'm always either like gettingover an injury or just got an
injury and recovering from itand dealing with it.
(14:10):
Like what do you do to exerciseand to keep yourself safe?
Because that's something thatI've seen so frequently is
someone's like I'm going toexercise, yeah, and then they
show up at the gym and like aweek later they throw their back
out and they're in bed andlimping around for a month and
they gain 12 pounds as a resultof that experience.
And they're in bed and limpingaround for a month and they gain
12 pounds as a result of thatexperience.
So what can someone do toprevent injury?
(14:34):
And, as kind of a side note, doyou think, being a vegan, that
protects you from?
Coach Dart (14:38):
injury.
First of all, you want to hirea coach.
I always use that analogy.
I don't know anything aboutcars, I suck at it.
So if anything wrong with mycar, I hire somebody.
Same thing with your bodynutrition Just hire a coach.
Spend the money.
In the long run you're going toend up spending the money
anyway.
But for me it's like we'reswitching seasons, so it's
getting a little bit coldereventually.
(14:58):
Now it's hot right now, butwarmup is huge.
Right, you never want tostretch cold muscles.
So a dynamic warmup, five, 10minutes on a treadmill, some
light stretching that reallyhelps.
And then your recovery.
You know the food you eat.
You know a meat eater is goingto battle you versus a vegan.
They'll go back and forth andsaying, oh, meat is better for
you versus a vegan, plant-based.
(15:19):
The science is there.
Your recovery and all that.
I'm going to go to theplant-based side.
But recovery after you work out.
You got to get that protein,you got to do your carbs and
refuel.
You're breaking everything down, so you want to refuel and
replenish afterward.
So that's a big thing as far asthrowing your back on the stuff
.
Stretch afterward, foam rollmassages they got cold plunges,
(15:42):
all that really helps.
Um, foam rolling, just got todo all the things you know.
Cold plunges cold plunges is anew thing.
Yeah, are you into those?
I can do two minutes.
They say do three for, you know, health reasons I did three and
I slept like a baby.
But, um, yeah, I mean it's ithelps.
You see a of athletes.
Dr. Weiner (16:00):
Have you ever done a cold plunge Zoe?
Coach Dart (16:02):
Three minutes Zoe Three minutes.
Zoe (16:04):
I get cold so easy.
I had a sweater on earliertoday.
Dr. Weiner (16:09):
To me that's like the craziest idea I've ever
heard is to willingly putyourself in.
I mean, what's the temperatureof this water?
Coach Dart (16:17):
Like 65 degrees.
Wait or no, this might be lowerthan that, yeah, 65,.
Dr. Weiner (16:22):
I feel like I might be able to handle that this is
like 40 degrees or something.
Zoe (16:26):
Yeah, you're probably right .
Coach Dart (16:27):
That first time I did it.
We had a guy.
Dr. Weiner (16:28):
Let's look that up, zoe, look that up for us.
Coach Dart (16:31):
The first time I got there was this guy, I don't
know.
He just gave us this.
He had everybody meditate forlike 10 minutes.
Zoe (16:36):
Yeah, because it, once you get in that water I made sure to
have my phone there for threeminutes and I was just
concentrating on my breathing 50to 60.
Coach Dart (16:46):
I was basically 60, 65.
Yeah, so the main thing isyou're breathing to get through
those three minutes and you'regoing to sleep better.
Your joints are going to be.
You know, it feels like itwould be the longest three
minutes of my life.
Zoe (16:56):
Well, I think about, like you know, oh yeah, that sounds
great, I want to start doingthat for my health.
And then you know how manytimes I didn't want to go into a
pool or a lake or whateverbecause it was too cold.
Dr. Weiner (17:08):
And I'm like ah.
I mean, like if the shower'scold when I walk into it in the
morning, it like ruins my day.
The whole cold plunge thing, Imean I think the science is
there and I think if you canpull it off and and I I just
have so much respect for someonewho's like I'm going to make
myself so miserable.
Zoe (17:27):
Mental discipline.
Dr. Weiner (17:28):
That only through, like focused breathing will I
ever be able to endure thatperiod of time.
You know, like the me, thatjust it's such an exercise in
mental strength.
I, you know, I don't know thatI've got that mental strength,
mental strength.
Coach Dart (17:43):
I don't know that I've got that mental strength.
I think if I was a professionalathlete I'm making millions.
Obviously I would do it becauseyou want your body in tip-top
shape.
But you see the footballplayers and basketball players,
they ice their knees afterward.
That's a little bit different,but the cold plunge, I'm with
you.
Dr. Weiner (17:55):
I think something else I really like is your
discussion about a coach, andI'll be honest with you.
So that's something that'salways really bothered me about
surgery.
I mean because surgery, to somedegree, is a performance sport.
Right, You're in there, you'removing around, you're making
decisions, you're using yourhand, your body and you're
executing something that's goingto impact someone's life
(18:16):
tremendously.
And during residency andtraining there's a tremendous
amount of coaching, but at somepoint it's kind of like go
little bird, fly, You're on yourown now.
Something I'm trying toimplement at our hospital is a
coaching program so that we'relooking at and coaching each
other, not as a punitive measurelike oh, you had a complication
(18:38):
, you need to be coached, butmore as a let's all get better
at doing this surgery, let'skind of share experiences, let's
get a second opinion and kindof coach each other.
So I think that's really soimportant.
Zoe's a coach for all of ourpatients, and I think I'm
starting to kind of use thatterm.
More is that she's kind of ournutrition coach, as opposed to
(18:59):
you know someone who's justgiving you some information,
yeah.
Well, something I wanted topiggyback off of as well to you
know someone who's just givingyou some information?
Yeah.
Zoe (19:04):
Well, something I wanted to piggyback off of as well, when
you were talking about how toprevent injury and you had
mentioned hiring a coach,there's a big difference between
you know, maybe having arelatively sedentary lifestyle
and deciding okay, I'm going tostart exercising and going in
the gym, pushing yourself toohard, getting injured.
Okay, I'm going to startexercising and going in the gym,
pushing yourself too hard,getting injured.
(19:24):
And then you know oh well, ohwell, for another six months,
right?
Versus having a plan, having aprofessional help you progress
in a very safe and progressiveway.
Coach Dart (19:34):
Yeah, it's just about knowledge too.
You know, driving here, Iliterally signed a lady up
online coach, online client,because she's been trying these
you know workouts from apps andstuff and she's trying to lose
20 pounds.
She was doing it all wrong, shewas telling me.
I basically interviewed her onhere.
She just didn't have anyknowledge.
She's a great motivationalspeaker, she's good at women's
and all this and stuff.
(19:55):
She's an amazing woman but shejust doesn't have the knowledge.
So she's going to make aninvestment and put that money
aside.
Zoe (20:01):
Investing in yourself and your health.
It's investing in your future,right.
Like you said earlier, you'reeither going to invest that
money now or it's going to be ahealth cost later on.
Coach Dart (20:11):
Absolutely.
Zoe (20:11):
Right Like the hospital stays whatever it is.
Dr. Weiner (20:14):
It's.
Yeah, healthcare is expensive.
Yeah, you get sick.
It's expensive.
Coach Dart (20:19):
Yeah, and then do your own homework.
I have a client actually nowshe's doing the weight loss
surgery in a couple of weeks inNogales or whatever, and usually
she's she's having the weightloss surgery in Nogales Actually
correction, tijuana, mexico.
I'll say so, yeah, for financereasons, but yeah, no, I get it.
She's doing the homeworkherself, she's doing all the
studying, she's got all thecookbooks.
(20:40):
She's, you know, changing herlifestyle now, which is huge.
I told her to do all thatbefore, because if it's not here
, you're not going to.
You know, do it afterward.
You know how that goes.
So proud of her I want to tellyou something.
Dr. Weiner (20:51):
We see I've seen a lot of patients go to Nogales or
Tijuana for bariatric surgerywho had insurance coverage for
it.
Oh, wow, gotcha A lot.
There are people out there whoassume, hey, I've never had, I'm
just, I don't have coveragebecause I have insurance and
there's no way they cover it.
Bariatric surgery is only cash.
(21:12):
95% of insurance policies coverReally Including access In
Arizona, if you have access, itcovers bariatric surgery fully
zero dollars?
Coach Dart (21:22):
Do you just see that there's no knowledge?
They don't know.
Is that what you're saying?
Dr. Weiner (21:24):
I think a lot of people out there because we see
people who don't have coveragefor bariatric surgery see that
very uncommonly.
It's very uncommon.
I see probably 40 or 50 newpatients a month here in our
practice for surgery evaluations.
Maybe one of those 40 might nothave coverage, oh wow.
(21:46):
So make sure before she goesdown to Tijuana make sure she's
checked her insurance policy.
Coach Dart (21:51):
Yeah, she's a regional manager for a property
manager company, so she hasamazing insurance.
Zoe (21:55):
Yeah, I bet she's covered.
Coach Dart (21:57):
She might have coverage.
Zoe (21:59):
She's already paid the $4,500, so unfortunately, Okay,
but anyway, that's a little sidenote.
Dr. Weiner (22:02):
have coverage she's already paid the 4,500 bucks, so
she's unfortunate.
Yeah, yeah, okay, but anyway,side, that's a little side note
yeah, um, so so what kind ofstretches do you think people
should be doing?
Like if you wanted to startimproving your flexibility?
That's something I've always,you know, I've always wanted to
do them.
Yeah, I wasn't like I couldnever even sit like cross-legged
, um is even like as a child I achild my knees would pop up.
(22:24):
Yeah, what do you do forflexibility?
What's a good way to kind ofimprove?
Coach Dart (22:30):
your flexibility.
Take a yoga class, even ifyou're a guy, if you're big,
football players are starting todo it now.
They'll help you.
They'll give you blocks, butthat'll just get your body used
to it, because if you just wantto lay on the floor and start
stretching stiff muscles, you'reprobably going to injure
yourself.
If you like heat, hot yoga isamazing, but yeah, just start
(22:50):
there by taking a basic yogaclass.
Dr. Weiner (22:52):
Yeah, I've taken yoga classes.
There weren't enough bricks inthe room, I think, for me
Propping this up and proppingthat up and trying to get me to
bend over.
Coach Dart (23:02):
And if you're in Tucson, Arizona, on the north
side, there's an actual massageperson that does stretches and
if you can invest in that, thatwould be ideal.
I've heard of the Stretch Lab.
Dr. Weiner (23:09):
There you go.
Is that what it is?
Coach Dart (23:11):
Yeah, so you think those are good quality and they
do a nice job Most people aregoing to YouTube and do it
themselves and find out theirheart rate, but I would suggest
me personally, just take a yogaclass and then, yeah, the
stretching lab was amazing,awesome, awesome yeah.
Zoe (23:26):
So if somebody is in the Tucson area and wants to maybe
work with you you know, getpersonal training or whatever it
is how can people get in touchwith you?
Coach Dart (23:34):
DM me on Instagram, coach Dart, or Facebook.
My name is Dartanian Goff.
Send me a DM.
Get back to you immediately,coach Dart.
Dr. Weiner (23:42):
Coach Dart, yeah, d-a-r-t, d-a-r-t.
All right.
I love it.
And what I really love is youkind of bringing this idea that
you can be in fantastic shape,you can build muscle Absolutely
and do not need to eat massivedoses of animal protein to do it
Correct Exactly, in fact, don'teven need to eat massive doses
(24:07):
of protein to do it Correct.
So I think that, to me, issomething that's really, really
important for us to get outthere, because we see so many
people kind of almost gainingweight, taking in these huge
doses of animal protein,oftentimes not doing the
exercise and the work that youreally should be at if you're
consuming that much protein.
So I think that's such a greatmessage for people out there and
I think you know, keep up thegood work, appreciate it, thank
you.
Zoe (24:26):
Thanks for coming, Dart.
Dr. Weiner (24:27):
Thank you All right.
Zoe (24:28):
Thank you.
Coach Dart (24:28):
See you next time, all right.
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