The Transformative Power of Mindset with Ironman Athlete and Wellness Coach Matt Izzo

Speaker 2

00:00

 This episode is sponsored by the Integrity income fund, which is managed by yours, truly and my team at Labrador lending, the Integrity income fund is for accredited investors. It aims to pay 8% preferred return and an 8.5% preferred return for early investors. It aims to pay out monthly distributions. There's a 25 thousand dollar minimum and only a one-year lockup. If you are an accredited investor and you're looking to get away from Wall Street, letting looking to beat inflation and looking for an asset class that is backed by hard physical real estate. Then look no further than the Integrity income fund. Check it out at Labrador lending.com.

Speaker 1

00:50

 What's up everyone? This is Jamie Bateman. And today we have our first repeat guests on the form adversity to abundance. East Matt is oh who we had on the show previously and I highly recommend you go listen to that show first that episode first, Matt lost 75 pounds three different times. And this third time he was able to keep it off for five plus years. I wanted to bring him back on the show for a couple of reasons. One, he completed an Iron Man which had been a goal of his and if you know is all To do is look at the before and after pictures of his weight loss and to sit say that before person was able to run an Ironman, it's just, I mean, it's hard to believe. But, so I wanted to talk to Matt about how the race went which will you know that's what this episode is focused on is how the race went, some ups and downs and some didn't go perfectly. So I think the race is kind of microcosm of Life and the ups and downs of the journey that we all have along the way from adversity, through adversity, to abundance. But Matt is just such a positive influence on Twitter, and he's just such an uplifting person to speak to and you can't help. But like this guy there are, he does have his haters online and I think that's just because his following is continuing to grow, and he stands by certain Bullseye but it's just such a positive uplifting person. This episode is really for anyone. Yes its fitness and health focused but it's really for anyone who has struggled with self-doubt depression, weight gain, self-defeating limiting beliefs and overcoming that. And Matt has a coaching business that he works through for one-on-one with people with clients to want to make them. Selves better and lose weight, have greater energy, eat better, and he takes a very individualistic, long-term genuine authentic approach. And that's what I love about following Matt and I can, we will continue to follow him and wish him nothing but success. So hope you enjoy this one. Thanks.

Speaker 2

03:24

 Inspiring stories of real people. Overcoming incredible odds to live life. The fullest we are all guaranteed to face. Hardships. How will we handle the adversity? Join us to be moved by everyday people who have turned poverty and prosperity, and weakness into wealth Be Inspired as these relatable Heroes, get vulnerable and former counterintelligence investigator Jamie Bateman puts his interviewing skills to the test, restore your faith in humanity as you experience. True Cinderella stories of average people turning surreal struggle and deep despair. Are into booming businesses and financial Fortune. Take ownership of the life. You are destined to live and turn your adversity into abundance. Welcome everybody to another episode of the form adversity, to abundance podcast. I am your host Jamie Bateman.

Speaker 1

04:19

 And I am thrilled today to have our first return guest, I guess, except for myself but Matt is oh Matt. How are you doing today? I am doing great. Thanks for having me back. Jamie, I am so happy to be here. Absolutely. That's I am really excited. I am not just saying that I am very excited to have you on. I follow you on Twitter. You were one of my favorite.

Speaker 2

04:41

 I.

Speaker 1

04:42

 Was on Twitter favorite follows online period. You just so positive and just so many things, I could say that you. We have never met in person but you have actually had just an inspiring kind of impact on me in the short time. We have known each other. So, thanks, I appreciate that. You know, I try to build the community on my Twitter. It's at Matt is 0 and mighty tizz. Oh, and I try to just be supportive and uplifting, you know, there's so much negativity online. And all that stuff. But I try not to focus on that sort of thing and I just try to keep things positive. But, you know, I try to keep things real to write. I don't want to be a Pollyanna, right? I think it's best to tend to look at things from an optimistic perspective, right now. That's a great way to put it and you certainly as anyone who's whose audience grows and you're following grows you, you're going to have detractors and naysayers and you have had your share. Those and we don't need to focus on that but I just love the way that you handle it. It's so just positive and you know, it's your, you can't, please everybody. There's just it's. And if you are pleasing everyone, you're probably doing something wrong and I just love your approach, you know? I know people say, oh, you brag all the time or is or like, you know, this whatever and it's like, no you're I can tell just from following you, your, your genuine person. You're just trying to support and trying to promote positivity and trying to lift people up. So that's it mans. And you know people do that and you know I try to make it a teaching moment, right? I don't take it personally. There was someone the other day who felt the need to like put a picture of himself up without a shirt on it, me and show how much more, you know, well, muscular he was right, right, and I offered to him. Obviously, before I block him, I offered him. The idea that like, you know, you might be doing this because you have a lot of (Preston) repressed, insecurity about yourself and your actions. Very have nothing to do with me. And, you know, maybe you should take a look into the mirror, and I am not necessarily expecting him to just apologize. It has an epiphany on the spot, but I think that by planting the idea in his head, right? You know, you just plant a seed and you don't know where that's going to go and you know where that's going to lead. Someone 5 10, 15 years, down the road. So I try to see it as a teaching moment and not take it personally. Yeah, I was telling my wife actually the last night I like, you know, he's only solidifying his base of followers, by being sticking to his principles and being uplifting and supportive, but we can chat offline about all that. So for the listeners out there, first of all, I recommend you go back and listen to the first episode with Matt where we really went into a deep dive about, Matt about your history of being overweight, and we will hit on this. And a lot of the emotional baggage, I think that was, you know, related to that if not the cause Of appetite for the listeners out there, who have no idea who you are, who are you? And what are you up to today? Yes, I am 40 years old and I spent most of my life, you know, being obese with some, you know, depression issues, self-image issues, and you know, I have battled against obesity for a long time. I lost the same 75 pounds twice and gained the weight back, you know, once in my teens once in my twenties and I just struggled with that and then Starting at age, 34. I got my act together and then I, you know, I lost the weight again and I figured out a way to keep it off now for over five years. And the way I have done that is by just keeping on going, you know, because in the past I would set a goal and I reached the goal and put my feet up and say up, did it mission accomplished right? You know, and I kind of realized that you can't do that, you know, you have to keep getting after it. So I just kept going to the gym and I, you know, kept trying to push myself Of make myself better and you know, got involved with Endurance Sports in 2019 and set a goal to complete an Ironman. And I just did that earlier or earlier this month actually, you know, is about three and a half years later, thanks to, you know, some delays with the pandemic. And, you know, just a lot of struggles with that. But you know reach that goal and now I am you know, working towards new things and you know try it out. Push myself towards new goals. As I realized that I just can't rest on The Laurels of what I just did forever. Sure. Yeah. And that's a big reason I wanted to have you back on the show is talk about the Iron Man will dive into that in a bit and that but that's first of all it's just phenomenal to have completed that. I mean just you know and I think it's important for everyone out there to stop and celebrate victories, even if it doesn't. Maybe look exactly how we wanted it to but Envisioned it, but the fact is just completing an Ironman. I mean, 10 years ago, did you think you could complete an Ironman, or you will? And I would even say that. As recently as 2019, when I was 37 years old, I was in pretty good shape then right? I had lost weight, kept it off for a couple years. I kept going to the gym I lifted weights four times a week. I did high intensity cardio once a week, right? I walk 10,000 steps every day for years, so I was in very good shape at this point in time when I would have told you it was impossible for me to run further than about 5 miles. I would say, right? Because they just had these things Anchored, In My Mind, throughout my life of, you know, running three miles. Well, that's really, that's really far. That's really hard, right? Yeah, I have miles, maybe right? If I wanted to like kill myself, right? You know, I can push myself like that but I couldn't understand how I could ever maybe run further than that. So you know really over these last three and a half years or so that Evolution has just been, you know, crazy because what I have realized is that a lot of What? I was held back by was self-limiting beliefs, right? You know, there was a physical time when I couldn't have run more than 5 miles, perhaps most of my life, but after I got to that point where I was able to do it, well I would really only being held back by my mind, right? And I hadn't, I hadn't actually come to appreciate the new sort of power that I had or what My New Reality was, or could be. And I was just stuck, you know, looking at things from that, same perspective that I had in, The past. Yeah, that's, and that is one way. I think you have seemed to be taking a different approach than a lot of sorts of the fitness gurus out there and maybe the wellness people out there. Even I guess, Wellness is bigger than Fitness, but I just think the approach that you seem to be taking as a holistic, you know, spiritual physical, mental, emotional, nutritional all of it. So, and we were talking beforehand, That is really what you're focused on is the holistic approach and actually trying to make real change. Not trying to sit, make a quick Buck or cells, cell something here, you know, to then retire overnight. It's not all about money and, you know, for you. But, but then the flip side is the people you're working with. They play a big factor, big role in their own success. But so, before we dive in a little bit more, kind of to the race itself in, Some of the adversity that you have gone through just briefly describe for the listeners, what your, what your business model looks like, or what are you trying to accomplish from a coaching standpoint right now? Yes, I guess the long term goal I want to pick like a big goal will be to help solve obesity. You know, that's obviously a huge long-term problem, and I am not something I can do this week on Twitter. Obviously, I have often said if I could just write a Twitter thread and solve obesity, I would do. And I move on with my life and do something else. Obviously, that's not going to happen though. So, you know, in the meantime, I try to work with highly motivated individuals, you know, and help guide them through the process because it's going to look a little bit different for everybody, right? And I don't think just emailing, somebody PDF, full of instructions, is going to be helpful, right? You can find, you can find all this information online, you know? I figured it out. It took me 25 years to figure it out. I could really shorten the time frame for someone else. You can do it alone, obviously you know, there's no one saying you can't but what I do with my clients is I sit down with them and I helped formulate you know a program that's going to work for them and fit into their life because everybody has different life situations, everybody you know, some people are older, they're heavier you know some people have family obligations work obligations, all these different things. So you have to figure out something that is sustainable plan for you. That will bring you results, increase your energy, right? And this is something that's going to have to evolve over time. Because what you're doing on day, one is not going to be what you're doing on day one hundred and it's not to be doing what you're doing at a 1000. It's going to be a constant Evolution, but just really getting them moving in the right track building up momentum because as you build momentum, it grows, right? And, you know, even if progress is slow from the start, you know, you're still making it just by kind of reinforcing those habits and, you know, learning how to, you know, build the mindset that's necessary to achieve. We have long termed success. Sure. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Everyone's situation is different. Everyone's body is different. Everyone's family, you know, or professional situation is different. Everyone's goals are different and then but that's not ever static. It does its Dynamic, right? So it's not a one-size-fits-all answer. So, so you're working one-on-one with clients to meet them where they are and take the help, take them help. Take them. Guide them where they want to go? Is that fair to say? Yeah, that's, that's pretty fair, right? And, you know, I try to empower people, we were talking about it a bit before to write. I try to teach everybody that you have to become your own best coach, right? And you have to know how to treat yourself with unconditional love, and treat yourself with compassion for when you're not making the mark, but also hold yourself accountable, right? And, and demand more from yourself and actually go out and execute that, right? And I think, That's where so many people, fall short, and they struggle with that right, though? They will have a lot of negative. Self-talk. You know, the they will judge themselves, very harshly, they will see themselves as a failure, or not good enough, right? And, you know, that's not treating yourself with compassion and that's not treating yourself with love. You're approaching your own self from a low energy State and that's not going to help raise your emotional state. So you have to change the way you see yourself but also be realistic that you know hey you need to actually do these things. And Hold yourself accountable to what you're doing. So I help with accountability but at the end of the day, we're the only ones that are there with ourselves 24/7 365. And if we don't hold ourselves accountable, doesn't matter how good your coaches have support of your family is or anything like that. You're going to find the time to the space to do. What it is. That is potentially a destructive Behavior if that's where you are. Yeah, absolutely. So let us talk about your Training and then your race for your Iron Man. I know there's a lot more to just again, it's more to this Than Just Fitness, but let us talk about the kind of like the mindset and the approach you took to your training. So you know, when did you decide to do an Ironman and what did it look like, at the very beginning of your training process? Yeah. So I will even go back to like the summer of 2019. When I first joined the local pool and I got inspired I had just read David Goggins book. Hurt me and I got inspired to do a triathlon and I had never really swam much only for a few weeks and you know wasn't much of a runner and I hadn't ridden a bike in 20 years, but I figured hey, I can hop on a bike and pedal it for like 18 miles, right? How hard can that be? I was in decent shape. So, you know, I did that first race and that was really scary, you know, that was hard for me. I have only had 24 days to really train for it. I was riding a borrowed Mountain. Bike. That was two sizes, too big for me, and I was it was an ocean swim and I really wasn't comfortable swimming what alone in the ocean at the time. So I was actually way more scared and anxious before this race, then the Iron Man and that came down really to level of preparation and familiarity with what I was doing. So basically, you know, following that race, I achieved it, I got across the finish line and left me wanting more because I didn't do really well in that race. Get finished like 29th out of 31st of my age group, right? And it was understandable, you know, these are competing against people who really trained for these things. But, you know, so I kind of wanted more and then, you know, later that year I was looking to sign up for another shorter race. That was going to be held in June of 2020 and I waited three days to sign up for it. The sign ups were October 1st. And actually I said a reminder and I got it and I said, yeah, I don't like doing this today. And I only waited three days. I cope with the third I went on to sign up and it was sold out already. Oh wow, I was like wow, this whole thing I had planned. Now I have to figure out a new plan right? And then you know, I decided there was a, an Ironman 70.3 event, which is a half Ironman that was scheduled for that same weekend in June of 2020 down, down in Maryland. And I said, you know what, I don't think I could even do this. I don't know if I can do this, but I am going to sign up, and I am going to try to do this. So I trained just curious because I am in Maryland. What? Where was that? It's in Cambridge, it's okay. Yeah, so that's where my sister did and I think action this, she did the Chesapeake man-years ago and yeah, that was pretty wild. We went out to lunch. We watched her. Well, first of all, it was delayed two hours for the fog and it when we went out to lunch, then we watched a movie, then we went out to dinner this whole time. She's doing the Iron Man, but it's crazy. But so, okay, so half this was Half Ironman and in Maryland, right? Yeah. So I signed up for that and I, you know, I had a book and I just started training pretty much constantly throughout the winter, right? And, you know, running biking and swimming a lot and, you know, got myself into pretty good shape. And then got, you know what, March came around that, you know, I was really ready to start doing some intensive, build-up to the race. And then obviously the, you know, the whole thing with the pandemic happened in the pools, got close and my gym got closed and, you know, caused all kinds of problems. And I just kind of kept raining and, you know, Unlikely. They're going to cancel this race, but I had a keep doing it these whatever? Didn't, you know, I can't just show up and wing it. So they end up canceling, the race, and then I, you know, I postponed into another race later. That summer, it was in Atlantic City another half Ironman and I just trained all through the summer kept doing it you know thinking the whole time while they're going to cancel this one through probably, you know, they didn't do it. They didn't do it. Finally, they end up canceling, that race. So then I deferred into the Iron Man. 70.3 Atlantic City, the next September. So September 20 21, I deserved until then I didn't really want to mess with a lot of, you know, earlier races because of all the issues from you know, the pandemic and stuff. So I basically end up training for that one race for about 23 months. So that was about from October 2019 to September of 2021. I ended up training for that Ironman 70.3. And then, you know, from there, I have set a goal at the start of this process that I was going. Do an Ironman. And I am going to write a book about it. I had this Epiphany while I was running through the woods one day and Ironman Florida and in November of this year made the most sense since I was going to be moving across country. Probably, you know, and I didn't want to do anything earlier in the year. So, you know, February came around that I basically trained for 38 weeks to, to get to the, the start of this race. Yeah. So do you think you had the pandemic? Not happen. You think you would have done the half Ironman and that would have been it. No, I think at that point I had set the goal to do the full one but my plan was to do. I was going to do two, half Iron Man's in 2020, Problems by going to do the one in Maryland, and then the one in Atlantic City and then in 2021 I probably would have done like Ironman Lake Placid or something like that. Just because I was getting New Jersey at the time and that was the, you know, the closest one to me. But you know, all that happened. And I had to put, you know, how to put things on hold. Will you push them back for over a year? And you know, it was a frustrating. It was a long few years, especially 2020. It was really demoralizing at times, you know, but, you know, taught me a lot, you know, about perseverance and consistency. And, you know, by the time that race day did finally show up, I was much better prepared than I would have been otherwise, I had a whole extra year plus of training under my belt for it and you know, something like Iron Man racing. During Sports, it's not just, you know, the week leading up to the race and a month leading up to the race. It's the years leading up to the race because, you know, that it takes years to really be competitive at events like this. Even if you are gifted for it. Sure, no such thing as an overnight success, and probably anything. But, so let us talk about the race itself. I know we spoke briefly about it, but I would guess that the race itself could be viewed as maybe of microcosm of You know, the ups and downs of life. And there's certainly, I know you faced adversity in the race itself. So, how did the race go? And yeah, just how did the race go? Yeah, but overall it went well and it taught me a lesson in perspective, right? Because I can look at it from the perspective of where I was when I lined up for the start line. And I could say, all right, you know, this didn't necessarily go as planned. I felt like I left someone would take Table, right? You know I could have achieved my goal you know of going faster on the Racecourse, right? This is why I am doing a race, right? It's to challenge myself and see how fast I can get from point A to point B. And it doesn't serve me to have the perspective of in five years ago, you were fat and you couldn't even dream of like, run and five miles. Like look what you're doing, right? That doesn't help me in the race. All right, so, you know, from, you know, I lined up I was extremely well-prepared for this. I didn't really feel any anxiety whatsoever about It just because you know I knew what I was capable of, I had a pretty good understanding of how these things scale. I had nothing but confidence, I was going to be able to finish the race basically. Due to my level of preparation, I have done, you know, over 12 triathlons, now, over 20 races, right? And I knew what I was getting into sure. You know, there's always the possibility of the acts of God and stuff like that happening, right? You know, especially for can't control everything right? Like mechanical. Problems or injuries and stuff like that, you know. Sure. So certainly getting to the Finish Line as a blessing and I think 16 percent of the people who started the race, didn't finish it. All right, so, it's a challenging race for sure, but I felt really confident about it, you know. And right it started out it was in Panama City Beach, Florida. It starts out with a 2.4, my lotion swim, which, you know went really well. I executed on the swim pretty much perfectly you know. I had done a lot of swimming up to that point, you know? And a 2.4 mile swim sounds like a lot if you don't do a lot of swimming. But, you know, swimming is one of those things that it's easy to like scale that it's easy to swim that long and training. So, you know, I was able to swim the swim portion without exerting too much effort, right? You have a long day ahead of you and then after the swim it featured. 112 mile bike ride through the plot, you know? Through the Florida Panhandle, you know, which is, which is a challenging, right? And again, if it's not peopled misunderstand these sort of races and you're not necessarily exerting yourself at high capacity at any point during this race. It's a long race, right? This isn't like trying to run your turkey, try 5K where you 13 miles. So, you know, it was a pretty measured effort and I executed on the bike, pretty Well, I thought, you know, and the think it did it in like, six hours and 17 minutes took me a little bit longer than I was expecting to. It was about 18 miles per hour. You know, took me a little longer than I was expecting, but I was okay with that and you know then you have to get off the bike and then run a marathon. You know, it's and I will just chime in, and I am because I have seen that transition, you know and again having done it right? But Yes. I mean these people have trouble walking and now I am sure that you loosen up of course, right? Yeah, I have never run a marathon, let alone, I mean you have trouble just walking let alone running 26.2 miles. Yeah. So yeah. So how did that go? It's always good. It went. Okay. You know, again it's a challenge to, to run after something like that, right? And I have never ridden more than 100 miles before. So this was the longest bike ride. Of my life. And, you know, so it is definitely a daunting proposition. You try not to think about. Hey, I have to run a marathon now. It's more about like, what's the next step in front of me, right? Sure. Where's the next aid station, right? Like, I just have to get to that age station. Yeah, you know, and so, you know, I was pretty much executing my plan. Okay, I have some, some gastrointestinal issues out I will you know, during the run because you know, getting the nutrition piece of a Race like this right is really important. You know, it's going to take 10, 12 14 hours. So we have to make sure you're fueling well throughout the race. It's hot. You need to hydrate and stuff. I am sorry. I didn't nail that part of it, 100%. But I was doing okay. And, you know, basically as the race went by, I started to get a lot of pain in my lower back, my bike position probably not ideal you know. So that you know, in a race of this length, these sort of mistakes. Really handsome guy, you know and you know you can get by during a shorter race, right? But in the longer race that any mistakes you're making early in the day are really going to have a compounding effect, you know, 8 10 hours later. So, you know, my back started hurting and, you know, running was a real challenge. So pretty much. Every mile there was an aid station, so I just, you know, packed the back of my Sous with ice and it would sit right above? I have a belt on hold in my, you know, a water bottle. So just sit right above my lower back. And it would numb the pain for about the next half, mile or so, you know, and just be nice and icy and then, you know, pretty much suffer for the next half mile. And then do it again, you know, and you do it again and, you know, the ability I had to run, you know, it became diminished as the race went. So I wasn't able to execute the Run itself the way I would have liked, right? So I had to do a lot of walking just because I really wasn't able to run. Then I wanted to make sure that I reached my ultimate goal, which was to finish and that, you know, because I had done so well earlier parts of the race. I was able to do that, you have a 17-hour time limit. So, you know, I finished, you know, two hours before you two minutes ahead of that. Yeah. So I was happy to do that right? You know. And but it doesn't necessarily you have this kind of in you know, Vision in your mind that you're just going to be running through the Finish Line was gonna Keel over in exhaustion. How did I leave it all out there on the course? It really wasn't like that for me because my body didn't really hold up as much as my, I would say conditioning in my spirit did. Yeah, gotcha. Yeah, it's one of those. There's nothing you're just, you're going to be a little bit disappointed. I mean, because you put so much effort in training and time into that in when you're in the moment, you're in a race and there's people passing you in the object of the race is to beat them, right? And together. Yes, you can. So You have to be in that mindset during the race. And this is why it's important, right? Not just for Ironman racing. But I think for everything that happens in life, right? To just get some perspective on how it went right, you know, and don't just rely on your immediate judgments how you feel in the immediate you know aftermath of something happening. Ordering it happening. Yeah. Give yourself some time and the more significant the thing that happened the more time you need to give yourself right to just zoom out and look at it from a different perspective and you know, I think that's really crucial. Oil. And that's how we develop, and that's how we learn from our experiences, and that's how we grow. And we don't just react to them from our emotional perspective as it happens. Well, and one thing I have continued to learn, I guess is the difference between reacting and reflecting has theirs. You have more time and more space and just more perspective to be able to digest what happened and it's a healthier way of looking at things. But there's nothing wrong with trying to compete in the moment and do your best, of course, right? So I think just changing the perspective given what given the circumstances is a skill that can be pretty valuable because like you said, you shouldn't be looking big picture when you're just trying to get to the next, you know, tree up there, whatever it is because that's not going to serve you well, but there is a time to step back when the race is over and kind of evaluate. Hey look. Compared to where you were three to five years ago. It's amazing. I mean, and just, you know, again, it's the whole like you were in the arena. You're actually doing it so nobody can say anything. So, I mean, it's super impressive for whatever, you know? I know I would be, I have a competitive streak. I know I would be a little bit disappointed. If it didn't go the way I wanted it to but, you know, it's extremely impressive. But appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah. So, what's next and You have some more questions? Well, what's next with your own personal kind of, you know, fitness journey, if you will? Yeah, that's a good question. I have the a marathon coming up at the end of January. I am running the Miami Marathon which, you know, it's, I have run a marathon before and, you know, I think I again, I think I finished a lock 405, right? So I was like really trying if I four hours, you know, so I got something like, I have a proof. Felt like I left a little bit on the table, but, you know, One of the marathon's pretty unpleasant, and I was like well I might never do this again, it's okay if I don't but you know I have all this Fitness built up and it looks like just a great race in Miami. He spent the first 11 miles running around Miami Beach and stuff. So gotcha should be a good day, you know. Hopefully my body can hold up to the pounding of all the training that I am doing just because, you know, it's been a long season for me and then after that, I am going to take off-season, you know, because I really I train following a periodized approach, right? You know, it's not about just train, train. So I look at it kind of from a, you know, a larger perspective of, you know, in the offseason and then preseason and then like, you know, actual race building. Because when I was training for the actual race, I know you follow me on Twitter, you know. Yeah, I was, I was doing. I was averaging over 15 hours per week for like 12 weeks of training. Yeah. But that's not sustainable for And I never expected it to be. It was more like hey, let us just see if I can do this, it sounds crazy. But let us just go through the process and see. So you know, I am looking forward to an offseason and then the on that I don't really know what I am gonna do. I don't have to figure that out right now you know it's a lot of these things you have to wonder, right? Like, what's the, I guess? What do you get out of doing it a second time or third time, right? Yeah. Obviously gained a lot of going through an experience like that one time. Then doing it the second time, how much other, how much additional do you gain for? And third and the fourth feels. So people do this kind of habitually, which right, you know, which is, I mean, it's crazy in some ways because it's a lot of work and a lot of effort that has to go into that, you know. So I think it's, you know what's the opportunity cost of doing something like that, right? Versus, hey, maybe if I spent my time and energy on something different, you know, I didn't grow it in a new way and expanded in the way and not just try to do a really long Triathlon, a little bit faster, Either, you know, so right. Got it. So if you had to pick one of the three swimming, your favorite or which one do you tell it? Like, I don't like any of them really. I mean that, you know, ride in the bike is great. But the bike is a big pain. There're all kinds of mechanical things and it's just, you know, it's an expensive. It's a money pit and stuff. And plus, plus riding in here in South Florida is not particularly enjoyable for any number of reasons, but, you know, swimming is great. I especially loved swimming in open water and, you know, being in the ocean and swimming like there. That's great. And that's some of my favorite, you know, like Flow State activities, you know, a swim in the ocean and it just, it feels so good. And then running, you know, you know, running is good too because it's easy, you know, you just need a pair of shoes and just put them on and go outside and you know there's not a well you don't have to worry about all the stuff you have to ride the bike and stuff like that. So very, you know, I try to find joy in them all because they all have Positives. Right. And that they all have some downsides but this is one of the reasons I like training for a triathlon, so much is because you get to do different things and it's not just the same repetitive thing, right? Like even now with a marathon training, it is beaten my body up running five times a week compared to most of my season for a triathlon. I am only running twice a week you know and back to riding the bike and get to swim. So it just you're doing different things and it's kind of healthier, you know, you're you know. But You know, the benefits to them all for sure nicely. And I have seen you talk about for most people walking if they're, if they're not at a healthy weight. Walking is probably just as beneficial or more beneficial and healthier than running. Is that fair to say, yeah, that's, that's definitely fair to say. I mean, running is a great activity, it is, you know, kind of the king of sports, I would say, you know. And you know, it gets kind of bad rap amongst people in the fitness community and I think that's because it's hard, and they're not very well, you know, in a lot of situations but obviously it is impactful on our joints when we're Landing, when we're running, we're Landing with two-and-a-half to three times, their body, weight, every stride, right? So if you don't have the sort of physicality to support your weight, then that's not a good to be a good idea. Plus most people who are overweight, they can't really run long enough to get a great cardiovascular benefit from that. You know, I can go out now and run for two hours. Burn a ton of calories, right? But going out and running for like 20 minutes, you know? And you don't get the same effect and you're just kind of beating yourself up when you can just instead of walking and it can actually enjoy yourself, right? And, you know, there's so many other great things you can do on a walk. You can, you know, talk to friends or family, listen to podcast, listen to music. You, you take a work call, you do all these different things when you're out, you know, in nature Under the Sun. So I think for most people, that's, that's the best place to start without a question. Listen, I love how you Incorporated the Sun and nature and everything into your mean essentially. You're incorporating Fitness into your daily life. As opposed to oh I am working out really hard for 20 minutes but so let us I got a few questions here for you. What's and I don't recall frankly if we is I asked any of these last time but what's one thing that people misunderstand about you? You know, I think a lot of people now, they seem to misunderstand what my motives are, I guess kind of on social media, you know. And I guess they might, you know, see themselves in me, you know, they might, you know, you know, be critical of me, you know? And again, I am not trying to make myself out to be any kind of Saint, right? You know, I am trying to earn a living too, but I mean, really, you know, I am just trying to help people, you know. Yeah. I think Some people, I think some people who are really into the fitness Community have some serious self-image issues, you know, and they're insecure about that, and they look to Fitness to kind of overcome that and obviously being physically fit is great, right? And muscle mass is great. You know if weaving your cardiovascular fitness is great, it will make your healthier little improve your energy, all those great benefits but it's not going to necessarily fix all your problems either. And you know if you have deeper sort of Social problems stuff that you have suppressed and repressed, you know, it's easy to I think to hide behind your physical form and say, well I will look how great is she thought, man? Right, like you know I am not you know, I am Peak human specimen here when that might really ultimately be a cope for, you know, some other issues that you're having, you know, and I think one of the ways I have gotten healthier is I have really kind of stopped, caring about my parents, you know? And when I got into this, I did it because all I want to look good. I want to be thin, I want to have a lot of muscle, right? And, you know, that's fine, that's great. But I get to the point now where I am really more concerned about training for performance and, you know, just being able to also enjoy my life, right? You know, you know, being able to eat to support my performance and if that means, I am a few pounds heavier than okay, who cares, right? It's not the end of the world. I don't have to be as skinny as possible, right? You know, there's a difference when I was obese for all those times I saw My fatness as my biggest problem. So I thought, well, if I can get as lean as possible and then that's going to be my ticket to success. But once you get to a certain point, you start to see some diminishing returns on that. So, you know, for the average person, if you're fifteen percent body fat, or if your 8% body fat, you're not going to necessarily be. They live in that much of a better life. Sure. That makes a lot of sense. What would you say is one of your big looking back on your 40 years? What? What's one of your biggest failures or setbacks or regrets? I guess I would just say lack of self-belief, you know. And that's really, I think, what? What held me back more than anything at certain points in my life? But, you know, there was a part of me that never gave up. And I think there's a part of everyone who never gives up and I certainly see that a lot in my clients, especially when their new clients. Right there. There's something that Impels them to say, hey I need to turn this around and I think that's in all of us and I think a lot of people try to block that out, you know, ignore it. I think it's there though you know because if you believe in yourself and you're committed to something and you show up consistently, you will be successful provided. The thing you're trying to do is somewhat reasonable, right? Yeah, you know if you just stay persistent at it and you keep showing up every day, you will be successful. And that really comes down. Down to two self-belief. So you know I tell all of my clients before you know any nutrition or how much you eat or exercise right? That stuff the most important part and self-belief you have to believe that you can do this and that you will do this because it all stems from that. So you know that would be the one thing I would go back and tell my younger self and you know but it's one of those things where talk is cheap you have to earn it. You know, you can't just You believe in yourself. You have to actually produce some results that encourage it. So, you know, it's going to be a process and it's gonna, you know, you have to, you have to go through the process to do it, right. I lined up for the Iron Man with self-belief. Well, when I started the journey, three and a half years earlier, I didn't have that. I only got to that point by doing the work, and getting there. Sure, makes a lot of sense. You need both, you need the self belief, but then you need to support yourself so that you have increased self belief, I guess. Yes, you know, but I love that. It's you take a very positive yet, realistic approach to things. So now, okay, so if you had to eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would that be? I guess probably like ground beef or something. And yeah, this point. Yeah, just because it works, right? Or steak or something like that, maybe, you know, I one of the kind of my, you know, this is one of the great things about, you know, the online kind of community and On Twitter, there's a lot of bright people on there and there's data really successful people, and they share what they do, you know, and sure, one of the great things about it is you get to see the process, right? You know, and what I am training for an Ironman, I am trying to document. The process is, it's one thing to look at a tweet and be like, oh wow, look at this guy. He went from that to that, that's amazing. But it's a whole other thing to follow somebody and see what they do day in day out to actually achieve that result. So I follow a lot of people. People on social media. You know, they all seem to eat a lot of meat, you know? And they all seem to be pretty happy pretty successful. Pretty good-looking, you know, so I can't help but think there's a strong correlation between that, and so I would definitely say, you know if I could pick, and I am not paying for it, you know, I will take a rib eye every night. Yeah, there you go. Like a big potato. Nice. So who do you follow? If you don't mind, can you share a few people? You look up to or follow in the Fitness and Wellness Community? Gray militia for sure what's that? I said, Grim hood for sure. Okay, he's a wizard with most things. Wellness and his, his Archive of tweets is a treasure Trove that can solve virtually any health problem that anyone might have. And, and I know of doctors on Twitter who said that, they use his Twitter feed more than any other resource. Because all of all the well, documented research and stuff, he's done, you know, I was fortunate enough to do this Iron Man along with all big group of guys. So they're awesome. Zach's homos. One of them like donatelli, there's a bunch of them, of course, but that was, it was the same. I knew he had an Ironman, I didn't yet, you know, it was all, we all ended up pretty much doing the same race and there was probably about a dozen people. From kind of the online Twitter Community who, who lined up and did the race, you know, and it really was what was incredible. You know, it was one of those things where, you know, at first I was like man you know, I was planning on doing this myself and now it's not going to see. Now seem interesting or special that you know, this is all old people are doing this race, right? Like my whole year of kind of social media content was geared around to it, but at the end of the day, it was hugely beneficial to have so many people that I knew. Doing it with right. They really drives me through training because I wake up in the morning. All right? Gotta beat these guys. Gotta beat these guys, right? But then, when you're actually out on the course, this is a different vibe. And you know, you just, you know, you feel nothing but respect for all the other great athletes who are out there doing this. And, you know what? It takes just to even get to the starting line of this race, you know. So, you know, at some point in the wrong, I got to stop at hug Zack or whatever. Right. You know and like stuff like that, it just gives you so much energy and it makes you feel so good. So you know there's a ton of Great people. You know, I look, I would, I would recommend you if you want to a good list of people to follow, I have in my, in my opinion, tweet on my, on my Twitter at. That is, oh, there's a thread. I wrote that has a lot of great accounts tagged in it. And then, you know, even just the list of people that I am following for, for the most part. I, you know, I would imagine most of those would be great influences for people these. I try not to follow people on Twitter who are negative influences, because I know how a program is meeting. And I try to say, okay well who can I follow on this? That's going to be a positive influence for me. It's going to help me grow and succeed and not, you know. Sure. Take away from my energy. Yeah, I know you have talked about the, the mute function as well quite a bit. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, it is. I mean, Twitter and the internet and all that is very powerful. Can be very good or very bad but you have got to take your own control of your own life, really, and it's an amplifier, you know, and it can amplify the But it's also an amplified the positive and you know, that's what I try to do, right? You know, and give the day, like I said, talk is cheap. I think we lead by Leading by example, right? So you know, I tell people this all the time that it, you know if you want to make a difference in the world to help people get in shape, help people get fit, or whatever. The best way to do it is to lead, by example, and to be inclusive and be supportive and to go out and document it on social media. You know if you're living this lifestyle, I will and you document it and you're supportive of other people, other people will be gravitated towards it. Other people will find you, they will have questions for you. They will be able to give you feedback, right? And, you know, this can be a tremendous force of positive from the world but just telling people to do it, it doesn't work, you know, you know, people ask me all the time about like their relatives and stuff, only telling them is not going to work, you have to just go out and show them and hope that through your example and through your supportiveness and whatever that They will be interested in doing it too. Yeah, I can tell you that with kids, just telling them doesn't work. So I gotta do it, gotta do it. So trying to think is I guess what's an issue that you're facing in your coaching or your business right now because there's always an issue or challenge. So what's your biggest challenge or one of your biggest challenges with your coaching business right now? Yeah, I think it's just really Lee, you know, figuring out how to spend my time and energy, just because, you know, I am one of these solo Downs or whatever they call them, right? So it's pretty much just me. Yeah. You know, and, you know, you can't Outsource help and things like that. But you know, it's just how do I sort of, you know, how do I allocate my time and energy? You know and you know what platform do I do it on, right? You know, like and those sort of Decisions is challenging because I only have so much time and energy. You know, me, pay for this. And there's a lot of opportunity cost associated with that. And through the end up spending, you can end up spending a lot of time kind of getting bogging down on details, which you know, I someone running a business. It's hard to see the big picture and the big picture hat on and it will also be the one who's the specialism. Yeah, it has to do all the grunt work and spending a couple hours researching how to solve this relatively minor Problem. So do you know that kind of stuff is sort of the biggest kind of obstacle? I face? But you know I mean look I the way I see it is, if I just keep putting out value and I just keep helping people, then the running a business will be easy and making money off, it will be easy because, you know, that's it will just be there, you know, and you put in that value out and you will get value back in return, and probably even more than you end up putting out. So yeah, that's how I see it and that's why I try to do. Yeah, absolutely. I mentioned to you before, I do a little bit of mentoring myself, with mortgage, note, investing and my time, there is directly tied to, you know what I charge, right? So it's, but if I wanted to scale, just that, I am only one person, so I can see why people go to the, you know, the group coaching model or the, you know, membership type thing or even selling a book or a program or that kind of thing, just from a scale perspective. Yeah. Yeah, I hope to kind of get to that point at some point. You know. I like I said like to help out over a million people lose weight. Yeah. Yeah. I find a lot of benefit in the one-on-one coaching and what I am doing with that is trying to figure out. Well, how do I, you know, how do I make this a scalable product right? You know, how can I take what I have seen work and not work with other people. Not just me, right? And how can I, how can I build that into a more scalable product like a course or something like that? You know, they actually provide some in-depth sort of.

Speaker 2

50:40

 Knowledge.

Speaker 1

50:40

 And strategies, you know, and then obviously, you know, Reach people at different price points and things like that. And that's, that's also a great way to get people interested in higher levels of service to write. So it works kind of that as both something that helps and as a billboard. But, you know, I mean, I don't feel a lot of pressure to necessarily roll all this out ASAP, right? Think sure. I think Twitter is potentially poised for tremendous growth at this point. So I can see it really becoming sort of Ubiquitous sort of app. So I think being on Twitter and going on the platform. Now, we will keep people well position for the future, you know, right. A week or two ago, people were talking about Twitter might be shutting down. And yeah, I mean, I think that the long-term intention is to just make this kind of like a One-Stop shop for everything. You know, for all content video audio, right shopping, all this stuff, you know? And obviously the people in Ours, now is a Visionary, right? And whether they will be successful with that, I mean, who knows? But there's certainly the opportunity there that this is going to significantly grow. So, you know, right in relation to my other answer. How do I allocate my time? I try to allocate most of it to Twitter because I really see it as sort of the most valuable platform and you know we do some of the growth on Tick Tock and stuff like that is. Certainly interesting. But you know, I don't know that there's necessarily the depth there that people are looking for and that's kind of what my ticket is. As, you know, I am more kind of getting Into the Depths sort of thing, and not just write initial sort of thing. Sure, makes a lot of sense. So, as we wrap up here, talk, what? Could if someone reaches out to you for coaching? What could they, what does that look like? What would they expect? Yes. Normally, you know, we start out with an assessment call, right? And, you know, it's I like to talk to the person about their Situation, right? You know what's it is really based kind of around the pillars. The fundamentals called The Boulders, not Pebbles approach, right? You know, worry about the things that are the boulders, you know, a lot of people with this stuff get really bogged down in Minor Details right? How's your sleep how is your nutrition? How is your exercise over? All right you got to get these things in line before you start worrying about some of the Minor Details like meal timing or And stuff like that. Right, right, right? You know, and change can be overwhelming. So I like to introduce a gradually right as something. Hey, let us just do these few key things. Now, let us get this a habit, see how it goes. And then let us evaluate how that went and to it or change it or whatever kind of, as we go. So, you know, it's a program that I like to say, we build together, right? Because it's gotta be some works for you and your life. Sure. And it's just about, you know, getting feedback about it. How Regular kind of consultations, which I think is important because the more information I am getting the better, right? The more I can understand about how it's working for you and your life, the more I can make changes to help you or support you. So I try to keep a, you know, open dialogue and, you know, have regular meetings and then make changes kind of as it goes. Right. And then, you know, it starts out at 12 weeks, but I would think most people would be well served at doing it longer than that because, you know, 12 weeks is not that long. A timeframe to make a significant sort of change, you know. And yeah, you know, the, you know, again this is something that I want to, you know, one of the things I struggle with, I don't know if you have ever looked at the ever seen, Alex, Hormones, he's stuff. Yeah, yeah. With like an outcome times, the perceived likelihood of achievement over the time delay in the effort and sacrifice. Right? So people want things that are fast and easy, right? Sophie if things aren't fast and easier than it's going to you know, prevent them from buying it. Right? We all want instant results but what I am selling it isn't fast nor is it easy? It's so. So what I need to demonstrate though? Is that the value right? The dream outcome is so astronomical, right, right? That it is well worth this time and effort sacrifice that you have to make sure. So it's, you know, it's you can make great progress in both weeks. You can, you can start to feel better after a few days, even right? You know, and start to feel better but you're not going to achieve the results, you want probably for months if not years and you know, that's, that's just the Reality of it and absolutely nothing I can do about that. So is it, is there? Does it really very per client, as far as whether you focus on nutrition versus Fitness versus sleep kind of thing or is, does it seem to fall into one or two categories? It definitely varies. You know, because different people are at different places, you know, and have to kind of meet them where they are, you know, active 25 year old is going to get a different plan than someone. Who's very overweight and their 60s, right? You know, it's just kind of unrealistic to expect that sort of thing, but it's really all based around these fundamental pillars. And now seeing what works this is, this is, you know, an art and a science right there. There is no kind of easy, there is no easy plug-and-play answer, right? You're going to need to make changes as you go to. So, it's going to be a constant evolutionary process, but again, I try to teach people these Oops themselves, right? So, how do you hold yourself accountable? How, you know, how do you do this when I am not around? Because, you know, I want people to have a lasting sustainable transformation. You know, you know, lose weight and keep it off for the rest of your life, right? And that's kind of what my end goal is with people is to how do you get to that rest of your life bar? Yeah, love it. Awesome. Well you have obviously shown you can do incredible things. I mean, you know, just the first episode where you kept off the last the way three times, and then kept it off the third time. But I mean, even without the Iron Man, it's just super impressive. So and I love that you take a, like I said, a realistic approach, but positive and encouraging and clearly you talk a lot about, you know, self, self belief and principles and not getting too bogged down into the to the details. So I just really love your Our approach and would encourage anybody who's looking for, you know, wellness and fitness coaching to reach out to you. So I appreciate that and you know, like I said, I try to work with a wide variety of people. Right. You know if you're somebody who's looking for really specific stuff like that. I am not I am probably not the right person for him. Not the right coach for it, you know? Like if you were looking to become in Elite power lifter, and I am not a coach for you. Be happy to recommend other. People who might be though, you know? But you know if you're just a person trying to get more energy, trying to feel better trying to lose some weight trying, you know, to have the energy to like, play with your kids, or, you know, just restarting an exercise habit, you know, you know, these are the sort of people that I am working with a lot and, you know, you know, this is kind of, I think we're the most people need help. You know, in terms of how do you integrate a healthy lifestyle into your daily life? That's full Busy and full responsibilities. That's such a challenge in today's world, our lives, are all so complicated. Right now. I want to help you try to figure out. Well, how do I, how do I maximize this? How do I feel better? How do I lose weight and kind of become the best version of myself or at least a better version of myself? Sure, love it. Awesome. So other than Twitter, is there any other places people can reach out to you? Yeah, I am on Instagram, Mademoiselle Fitness and I think tick-tock To set is our fitness that II do a Weekly Newsletter, okay, you can sign up for that. I have a link on all my social media Pages. There is a I have both a fat loss guide and a recipe guide so you can get either one or both of those for free to. If you want to sign up for my email newsletter, I try to add value once a week. You know, it's one of these things that I get a lot of people approaching. Me these ghost writers and stuff. They will the bill DM me, and they will try to, you know, sell me newsletter marketing stuff. And I am like, the last thing I want to do is read spam right? The, the last thing I hate email marketing, right? So, I don't want my email newsletter to be just a marketing flyer, right? I am going to mention the things I am doing and you know, any offers I have for sure, but right there is Nest, there's a substantive message behind it and because I feel like that's important because you don't want to just open an email written by Some ghost writer trying to sell you something. I don't want to read it, and I am sure my readers don't either so it's no. But the and I have heard a recent podcast on this topic, and we don't have to dive into far, but it's a, he talked about the more emails. I send the more money I make and but the caveat was, it has to be good, email like a has to be quality. The thing is though, people do still read email and if they choose to be a subscriber of yours then they do want that email and you know, They're not going to typically commit on Twitter to signing up for a program. They're going to do that through email or phone call. So it's a little more private. But yeah that's why I think it's important though that it offers value. Right term is actually be from me, you know, exactly, and Ghost Writer who's going to put a bunch of generic Fitness stuff in there. That's not what went. Well I am trying to offer. No you're very authentic and looking for real impact to really help people change in a positive way and That's that, that part is obvious. So, yeah. Matt is oh, thank you so much for spending another hour with us. Really appreciate this. So I am very curious to see, you know, follow you and see how things go in the Future Part of Me, wanted to drive down to fly down to fart Florida and watch the race. But I appreciate that. But from what I hear the Ironman races are very boring. I have been watching one myself but you know it's a long day. I look I felt you were as in everybody else's energy. You know, I have to say, you know, the support I got and a lot of that guy from the community. I mean, it's just it's so great. I was down there at the race. I had some people stopped me and told me that they have been watching my YouTube channel or where I was documenting. This, you know, and that's just really cool, you know, and just knowing that there's so many people out there rooting for you and cheering for you. And, you know, it really makes kind of, you know, it's it makes it For me, you know, and I think there's just so much value in supporting, you know, not just me. But these regular people who are achieving these sort of challenging things. Sure. Just did you know. I mean, you know it's great to root for elite athletes the Pinnacle of this but just to see these regular people, you know, and for me to even participate in something like an Ironman race which is going to be the highest level of competition. I am ever going to kind of participate in my life, right? You know it's you know, just being Out there, with, with these people, who are, you know, pushing themselves to the Limit. It's just such a privilege and, you know, I really support everyone who's doing that and everybody who's just getting out of their comfort zone, it's going to look different for everybody. You know, it might just be walking around the block for, for somebody on that first day, right? And you know, that's great, right? You know, just keep going, you know, and you know be supportive of people doing that stuff and you know it makes a world of difference. Yeah it's awesome. I love the positive energy, and we will look for your, the book that you promised yourself. Yeah, some point. I will I actually, I sat down and I wrote the first of all paragraphs, okay, nice this morning, if you're doing a Weekly Newsletter, you have got, maybe the spark to it. So some started, well, thanks a lot. Matt, we really appreciate your time. Thank you. And to the listeners out there, we also appreciate your time which is your most valuable resource. Thanks everyone. Take care.

Speaker 2

01:03:23

 Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the form adversity to abundance podcast. If you're enjoying the show, please feel free to rate, subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts, that helps others find the show, and we greatly appreciate it. Thanks again for listening, and we will catch you in the next episode.