Achieving Sustainable Weight Loss and Learning How To Live A Healthy Lifestyle With A Nutritionist

Coach Justin: “Welcome back to I coach nutrition radio today. I have a very special guest, somebody that was a client of I coach nutrition, worked with one of our coaches named Ellen and he’s coming on the show today to kind of share not only his journey of working with us, but his journey in general of of nutrition and fitness and kind of where he started and where he is today you know, it’s been an inspiration just watching from afar and seeing your, your journey and your transformation so rick, what’s going on, my man?”

Rick: “How are you, What’s up man? How are you? I’m doing great sweet little bio there, I feel more special than I really think I am but I’ll take it.”

Coach Justin: “That’s that’s one of my favorite things to do is make people feel special. We all need people to make us feel special, right? When I go through the Starbucks line and and my, my barista is like super smiley and like nice and happy and it just like makes my day, I’m like, I, I’m like we need more of those people, 100% so rick, I want to dive into what’s kind of your current state of nutrition and fitness now and, and everything that you’re doing and then let’s take it way back to the very beginning just first, so people have some context here as to where you’re at and everything you’ve accomplished and then we’ll take it back and kind of go through the journey Sure.”

Rick: “I guess. So obviously start with you guys now, it’s been probably several months. I started with, I coach, I kind of came in and I coach you know, just kind of ready for taking the level right now I guess. I don’t, I wouldn’t say maintenance, definitely stupid. Like this still always work to go at all times I work at orange theory Probably. I try to aim for five days a week, sometimes six. So between 46 days I’m hitting, hitting the orange theory if I can’t get in there running over 25 years to get, a we got in as you probably know, I get up early in the morning so I work out at five in the morning, get up at 3 30 then head to the gym by 4 30. and that’s pretty much my daily stuff right now. I’m still focusing on eating, right. I’m not, I’m at a point now where I don’t want weigh and measure stuff that you guys taught me how to do essentially a through L and then you, but I feel confident now that hey, I’m in a better place. The last conversation we had, for sure.”

Coach Justin: “I love it, man, so, like, I guess let’s take it, let’s take it back, what was, kind of the beginning, you know so growing up like elementary school, middle school high school, like what was kind of your your you know what type of kid were you, were, you know, were you somebody that was already fit or were you somebody that struggled with your weight? Like, what what was that situation like, kind of, growing up?”

Rick: “Yeah, the music, you know, so throughout, you know, like growing up, me and my dad was I was hanging out and partying all the time and hanging out with us, and like, being part of the growing up situation, so we played sports growing up, played baseball, played football, growing up my whole life, either it was at home or playing you know, organized sports, play sports out of high school, so I would say I was in pretty good shape, you know, throughout high school, and then when I got to college, kind of all went downhill. You know, guy’s a college level, bigger athlete, bigger dudes, and so ended up just kind of, I’m not playing any, you know, organized sports when it came to college and then just got into the party scene, you know, I never drank or did any of that stuff till I got to college when I got to that part. I kind of just escalated from there and kind of dishonesty, I don’t remember really to be honest, I ever worked out in college to be honest with you. I mean I may have Randomly here and there but never really to regiment of working out. So essentially it just became me late night and you know the typical college life, got married when I was 24, pretty young still and living life and met my wife and I realized that I needed to calm down and kind of live if I want to live longer, I need to marry this woman now So I married her and then still the same way, you know I think we were still living having fun, you know, eating drinking, I think Back, was it 2019, about 4-5 maybe about 2014, I realized that my wife started losing weight herself, so she started Jenny Craig, I was like hey, I’m losing weight, you should get on this program you know? And with my industry being in the beer wine industry, our busiest time of year, they call it A O. N. D. Which is october november december, where its money making time. So she started in november and I was like, look, I’ll talk to you in january, we’ll talk about losing weight then. So anything for me at that point, I live by the tagline of, I’d rather live fat and happy versus skinny and hungry. That was always the tagline. I used all the time. So eating steaks eating late night, doing the whatever else does or this is what I thought was what I wanted or maybe what made me happy. come january I joined her and realized that, I enjoyed it a lot and started losing, started losing weight and then really kind of got hooked on it and never looked back since then,, started working out again. Found orange theory probably back in 2014 through a entrepreneur magazine for top 50 franchise and I saw that a plane had one and when I checked it out probably have invested in it to be honest with you because I signed up as a member. But man, they’re growing like crazy now, but from there on, it was kind of like I was addicted right? So at that point I think I probably, I want to say I probably right around like 2 45 to 50 maybe pushing it. and you know, now it has been like, all right now I’m afraid to go back. So now it’s, it’s, it’s a good reminder to keep going right and I look back, I don’t want to be fat wreck anymore. I love it man. So, so just I guess to break down the numbers there.”

Coach Justin: “So how much did you weigh in high school and then how much weight did you gain like through college and, and at your highest point where you at, and then where are you at now?”

Rick: “Like, I feel like when, I mean I looked at the pictures in high school is like pretty crazy cause I was like really skinny., I grew up being chubby or fat because you can call it like, I remember to this day, I think I told my daughter the day that I used to wear husky clothing which at the time it was like, or what it was, but like, or Levi’s, they had a whole brand for Children and they call them husky right essentially were overweight Children. So like I grew up wearing little, little chubby kid closing up until I got to like junior high high school, I guess maybe., I finally grew up and I get lost some weight playing sports stuff like that. And then, I think probably around like 1 61 51 60 sounds about right. in high school and then from there, you know, into college kind of just gain weight. You know, I think freshman year at a picture of me still being skinny, I think about sophomore or junior year blew up essentially in late night partying and all that fun stuff. Oh yeah it was fun. I definitely, I don’t regret a lot of it I mean, I wish I had been a little healthier but have a lot of great memories. Yeah, absolutely.”

Coach Justin: “So what was the highest point you ever got up to?”

Rick: “When I started, I think Jenny Craig essentially I was at 240 but I want to say is probably the point where I already ready with the wife already started the program. I think it already started eating some of her stuff and focus. I would say like I would say strong two fifties where I feel like I was at before I really realized the holy ship I need to lose some weight. Right?”

Coach Justin: “So you started on that and jenny craig and obviously jenny craig is, you know, it is a diet that’s out there that’s been along for, you’ve been around for a really really long time. What’s, what were the biggest changes that you made? You know, here you are, this person you know that you’re partying and eating late night and all that and so you know, any changes, we’re gonna be positive for you. But what did you feel like made like the biggest impact when you started doing jenny craig?”

Rick: “Well you know, with them, they put you on a strict schedule. Gary cool. How much do you weigh? How much, how much do you want to weigh and then cool She pulled out a sheet and says they put it in the computer program and say, cool, this is what you need to eat. And if I remember correctly, it was like some Ridiculous amount, like, you know, 1200 or 400 calories a week. We’re dates, right? So this is cool, this is the 1400 calories sheet you need to be eating every day. Here’s the items, all frozen meals and by this and you’ll lose weight. So at that point when you’re ready for it, you just do it and you know, the food wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good. but when you’re ready to eat, when you’re ready to lose weight, you’ll do anything I guess., and I was losing probably, you know, some weeks, 1-5 pounds some weeks. You know, there’s definitely like days where, you know, weeks where I didn’t cheat, I’d lose a good amount of weight, but I had a bad meal or something like that. What you eat this week cause you only lost 1 pound But it was consistent you know, losing one or 2 pounds every week without longer eating their food. It was consistent. Right?”

Coach Justin: “And so and at that time you weighed like around 240 or so and they put you on a 1400 calorie a day diet. And how much were you working out?”

Rick: “So at that point, like I think I, I wasn’t working out yet. I think I started maybe about couple of months into it. I started working out an orange theory at the time. but at that point they were like, hey, you know, we’ll adjust if we feel like it’s something if it’s not working. But they weren’t they didn’t really care about how much was working now, to be honest with you.”

Coach Justin: “Got it. Okay, wow, that’s crazy. Right? Like I’m just listening to the listeners out here, right? Like somebody that weighs 240 like whether they’re working out or not at 1400 calories Like, I mean anybody can lose weight if you just starve them to death.”

Rick: “You know, like, you know, and I think for me that’s lately been one of my biggest complaints that I have is like, you know, I’ve gotten to a point now where I get very frustrated and angry when I hear all these, you know, so I hear as a sports radio all the time and talk about the state of the art and soda weight loss and like a buddy of mine is on it now and like it’s frustrating because same ship, they’re all very similar where, you know, they have these prepackaged meals that you eat and locality. One of my friends she started losing weight never got the company she’s with, But he’s on like an 800 calorie diet and I was like, dude, this is not sustainable as I get the idea of like he wanted to kick started, but like as soon as you get off this stuff, you’re gonna go back to where you were at, unless you learn healthy habits it’s very frustrating, you know, obviously you’re in the industry, so, you know, exactly more than I do you’re living it. but for me, it’s like, it’s very frustrating to hear and see this stuff, but when you’re desperate, you know, you will do anything, right?”

Coach Justin: “Yeah I mean, you know, I’ve been in the field now for almost 10 years and I’ve just seen history repeat itself. It’s like, it just keeps happening year after year after year, there’s the next greatest thing and, you know, it’s, it is frustrating, I think at the end of the day, what people ultimately come to is they come to a point where they’re sick and tired of trying all the quick fixes and, and they ultimately get to that point where it’s like, all right, like I have to change my habits, I have to change my lifestyle if I want to be able to make this like sustainable, if not, I’m just going to be on this, yo yo, you know, ride of of starting and stopping of losing weight and gaining it all back for the rest of my life and psychologically that is just like the most taxing thing in the world So for you, when you did jenny craig, you had never tried. Have you, have you ever, have you ever tried to diet, up to that point, or was that the first time you tried dieting?”

Rick: “You know, I may have here and there you know, you have friends and family that always, there’s always someone in your family or in your circle there’s always trying some new diet, you know, so for me it’s like, you know, I may have tried it, but I realized that hey man, it wasn’t and focus, like I said, you know, for me, the tagline of fat and happy versus guinea Hungary was something that I was very attached to. So for me it was like, man, sure I’ll do this diet with you in all reality, like it was too much work and I really didn’t care, you know, it’s a, I didn’t have the mindset, that one is, no one tells you your fat to your face, you know, they do, you’re not gonna believe it because it’s in your mind that you’re happy, right? So even though deep down inside I couldn’t wear the clothes I wanted to wear, didn’t you know, I was comfortable when I was going out, but yet I didn’t care, right? So something for me is like you know, until you have the right mindset, it doesn’t matter dude, right?”

Coach Justin: “Yeah, I couldn’t, I couldn’t agree more. I say it all the time, I’m like you have to be ready to change, right? I mean like I see it all the time, people will feel out of coaching application and it’s like, you know, how committed are you to, you know, transforming your life and and making these changes and people sometimes will put like a five or seven and it’s like, no, no, no, like come back when you’re 10 out of 10 because you’re not just gonna be able to like half past this, you know, the necessary for me is that, you know.”

Rick: “I think in reality like it didn’t hit me until towards the end working with you guys was like, like I think it finally hit me, it’s like, you know, like an epiphany or awakening or some sort of like, you know what, I finally realized this This is not for me to lose weight now. I think when I reached out, it was like for me, I turned 40 in June for me it was like, all right, I need to get sort of level, I need to get this weight and that’s my main focus, you know? Yes, I want to do this for a lifetime and you’re gonna help me learn how to cook and all this fun stuff. But like I need to hit this weight and when I finally hit that weight close to it as a man crap, I’m doing all this work, but on reality, like this is not for tomorrow or day after tomorrow, this is for the rest of my life. I want to be healthy. and I think it took me 45 years to finally hit that mindset where you talk about all the time The 80 20 rule where hey, 80% of the time you get great 20% of time, if you’re craving something, eat it before I would punish myself for it. And now I’m like, okay, I can eat a burger or I can eat wings and the next meeting back on it and I’m not beating myself up where I gotta go, run 10 miles and or throw up whatever I had to do to get back to it with that. So it takes a long time. I think for me, to me several years to get to that mindset where, you know, you don’t, you can do it once you’re ready for it.”

Coach Justin: “Yeah, I love that man. And, and thanks for the transparency there? Because you know, I think a lot of the times people can listen to a podcast like this and they can beat their self up even more. You know, they’re like God, why can’t I figure it out? You know, what’s, what’s wrong with me? You know, why can I not stay consistent And ultimately, you know, I think that’s why I’m so big and establishing, like not just the goal, right A lot of people have a goal, a lot of times, it’s like a superficial goal when they come to us and wanting to lose weight, but why do you want to lose the weight right? Because like if you don’t establish your, why if you’re, if you’re why isn’t strong enough, then every single excuse that comes up along the way is going to derail you. You know, it’s gonna create self sabotage and we see it all the time, right? It’s like we have one of those mills, right? And the people that have a good mindset, a good relationship with food they just get right back on it. But the ones that don’t they beat themselves up one meal turns 2-3-4 to a day to a week to a month to a year, right?”

Rick: “Well, it’s hard because it’s, that’s typical, I think for me it’s typical circle, right? Every time I start a diet and suddenly I had a bad day, bad, too bad Three. But like for me it’s like, you know, even with you when you guys asked me like, hey, what do I want to do? And Alan’s like, hey, what are your goals? Like, you know like, it’s almost like, I don’t know what I really want. I know I have a basic idea, but I have no I don’t know the real with the real deep down why am I doing it? You know, like it’s usually superficial reasoning, right? Like you said, people putting fives and sevens, it’s like, you know, like, you know, you kind of want to do it, but you don’t really know besides hey, I want to fit in his clothes or I have a family reunion or birthday party, whatever it is, those aren’t real reasons right there. Nice for short goals I think for me, I think I talked to you last in the beginning was like, you know, like what happens after you achieve your goal or you post something about that, you know, like you hit these goals, but what’s after that goal? So it’s kind of having a long term goal, but no reality for me as I realize now that hey it’s a lifetime goal. I want to be healthy for myself and for my Children and be here 65 and not worry about having to be on medication and you know, and creating a better, healthy lifestyle for myself and for others around me. Mm that’s powerful. I love that man.”

Coach Justin: “Yeah I mean, you know, after having our first child six months ago, I mean, that’s now become my new why, you know, it’s like, I want, you know, we hear it all the time with kids. It’s like kids don’t listen to what we say, They watch what we do and you know, I think for parents out there, I mean that’s a big kind of motivator for me is to empower parents to be that example and to, you know, live a healthy lifestyle and it doesn’t have to be something that’s crazy restrictive or anything like that. ou know, it’s about finding balance and and ultimately being happy with the decisions that you’re making, you know, the habits that you’re incorporating in your life because that’s the example for your Children You know.”

Rick: “I agree, I struggle with that now, right Because I mean, like wife’s wife is not on my level of trying to lose weight and be healthy and I think she’s, she’s seeing it over the last 34 months working with you guys before. It was the fact that, hey, I’m doing stuff and, and so like she’s seeing it and the kids are seeing it, but yet you got me over here trying to eat vegetables and chicken and all this fun stuff and then like my daughter will eat something so she won’t eat vegetables. So I was like, okay, how do I get to do that? No reality. I can’t force them to eat it if they see me eating and then mom’s not eating it well then why should I eat it? You know, you’ll see that as they get older, right? I mean, so it’s like, it’s a struggle where do that say, not as I do kind of stuff, right? So, well, yeah, I mean, and like with that example, it’s like, you know, if if this is what we cooked tonight, right? Like this is what the family is eating, right? Like, you know, if you want to eat like you eat this food. And so it’s like if if mom and dad are doing it, hopefully the kids will follow. If not, I mean, I totally understand there’s there’s definitely gonna be kids that aren’t gonna want vegetables and fruits and all that. but at least older then you can talk about it. Yeah.”

Coach Justin: “Well, no, I the the only reason I feel like I can talk about it is because I grew up the oldest of four and I was an only child until I was eight years old. And so I was basically the dad of those three boys and girls growing up, like all through childhood. And so I saw that, you know, I didn’t know anything about nutrition back there and, but I, you know, I saw it kind of play out and I know for us and my family, the thing that really, you know, was the toughest was like, we won didn’t come from, you know, a household of, you know, high income or anything like that. So we were eating Mcdonald’s and Taco Bell, like all the time KFC., and then when we did cook at home, it was frozen dinners. It was, you know, just really poor quality food for the most part, but at the same time, you know my parents were doing the best that they could at that time, you know, and so I love them to death, you know like I, I fell into nutrition somehow later in life but ultimately, I think, you know, everybody has their own childhood and their own experiences and at some point in your life, you just have to take ownership of the decisions and you know, that ultimately is what leads to the lifestyle you want to live. Oh yeah, 100% So what we’re like, obviously when you started working with us, what would you say the biggest differences were when you first started doing the jenny craig program versus when you first started working with Ellen doing one on one coaching.”

Rick: “One thing for me is like, you know, I’d come from a point where I was on jenny craig a little bit and I got off it because I felt confident that I can do this on my own. If I’m eating frozen meals, I can just go buy this from Kroger., so in all reality, I became a, I told everybody became an aficionado of frozen meals at Kroger. I mean, I could tell you you know, all this stuff, all the calorie wise and all that fun stuff and buy stuff that, since you would give me the same calorie content I was getting from jenny craig, but so there’s so much more better tasting food out there at the point., and then getting to your point and getting back to finally reaching you and Ellen was like, okay, I’m tired, I know that if I want to do this for a lifetime, I’m not willing to just eat frozen meals forever., you know, cause I want to eat something that tastes better and for me is that you know, I didn’t cook, you know, and that’s one thing that was, so when I, when I first talk to you as a man, like, okay, look, my biggest struggle is the one I live in a household where we don’t cook a lot And then to culture wise, my mom cook every day in our house and my dad not cook and sew for me, remember right before I signed up with you, I told my mom that will learn how to cook and if you could have been there you’d have seen it. It was like one of those, it was like a, you know, they had like a shocking soundtrack in the back. Like did he just say he wanted to cook right? Like what do you mean you want to cook? Like your wife should be cooking and what do you mean? Look I’m at a point now after seeing what Justin is doing and what they can offer. Like I know that the only way I’m going to maintain and be healthy is learning how to cook for myself. And you know, again, it comes back to mind set that I knew that I think I talked to you maybe a couple weeks before I finally signed up maybe a month after. So I talked to the first conversation we had., but I knew the fact that if I wanted to really was serious about losing weight and also learning how to be healthy for the rest forever, that I need to learn how to cook. And somehow between your conversation With me, they realized, Okay, that is 100% what I need And you told me that to them and everything that I told you, you were like Rick, I can do all this. But you know, when someone tells you, you can do all that stuff, you’re like, sure you can, you know, it’s the whole idea is that are you, are you vulnerable enough or do you want it enough to let someone show you and help you, right? It’s like going to the mall and someone offers you help to find something and even though, you know what you’re there for, but you’re hesitant to ask because you, for some reason it’s automatic response. I know I’ll find it, but in all reality, if you just ask for help, you’ll get what you want man.”

Coach Justin: “That’s so true. Like, well, and you know, I think it’s a big piece that like, I want to commend you on because it is hard, you know, like I’m, I’m a coach and I’ve been a coach now for 10 years and so like it’s like, I’ve, I’ve seen the value in coaching now for a really, really long time, you know, I have my own nutrition coach, I have worked with a business coach my whole first year, starting my business and so I’m a big believer in everybody, you know, utilizing a coach and coaches need coaches, but it’s, it is a scary thing for people that have never worked with a coach before. You know, like it’s, you really do have to be vulnerable and, and it’s sometimes like I think with social media it’s a little bit easier these days because I think what typically happens is people will follow you on social media for 3-6 months and kind of marinate on you, right? And so by the time they reach out, they do feel like they know you. But before social media, you know, it was, it was definitely even even harder to, to be able to reach out. So, yeah I mean I just commend you on, you know, taking that step and you know, reaching out for help because that’s that’s sometimes the hardest thing to do in the first place, you know?”
Rick: “No man, and I appreciate you saying that I don’t reality like that’s something that if you went out there, I wouldn’t know where I’d be at right now, you know, for me, it was like when I found I think I made a post on facebook, I think I should nick, you know, commented right away with your name that, hey, this is the guy that can probably help you and I think a few of the people who have commented you know, my wife is in the medical field and so like she worked with dietitians stuff like that and I’ve asked her, hey, give me someone that I talked to at least show me what I can do. but you’re the first one that really meant that I was doing what I needed, right So, but I think in all reality and I’m pretty sure you already know that, which is crazy. I keep saying this stuff, but like once you have the realization that you do need help, then it’s easier, right? So but it’s hard, it’s a self realization, like for me like not only is it their food and losing weight, but now I’m okay learning my personality and learning what I’m good at trying to become better in general, right It’s like a whole process. It’s not just eating, it’s a full on healthy living right mind and body.”

Coach Justin: “Absolutely 100%. Yeah. I mean I always kind of joke, you know I’m like, people come to us for nutrition coaching but really what they leave with is like the mindset that’s developed along the way. you know, it’s like of course we want to help you with your nutrition and fitness goals, you know, whether it’s aesthetics, performance or health or whatever, but ultimately we do want to get into kind of the personal development aspects of things in a sense. It’s almost like life coaching in a sense as well because you know, it’s like there’s you can’t just like single these areas of your life out, right? I mean it’s it’s a juggling act and there’s so many different areas that you have to manage at one time. So you know this whole idea of like balance I think of it as like you’re basically juggling, you have five balls that you’re juggling and four of them are these rubber balls and one of them is a glass ball and so you know, the rubber balls can be you know, work or your goal or whatever it may be, but that glass ball, for me at least is the family piece. And so it’s like I know that if I’m juggling, you know, going through this this game of life and and and juggling all these different things, like if I drop, you know, my career my work or something like that, it’ll bounce back up I’ll be able to recover. But if I let that glass ball drop and it shatters, you know, that’s that’s your family and so you can kind of start to have this hierarchy of life and your goals. But yeah man, I think that it’s that’s super powerful for sure.”
Rick: “Yeah, it’s a it’s definitely something I think that frustrates me and you’re obviously doing the right thing, but I look at it like what percentage people are willing to take do the hard work and and do it right, right? So like for example, my wife she’s a nurse practitioner at her clinic is getting more into the med spa stuff. Yeah, they’re learning about all this new stuff where it’s all this hormone hormone replacement and testosterone stuff and like it’s it’s it’s it’s interesting to hear, but you posted today about the testosterone stuff is like, you know like I have a friend use it, he’s on it right now and he’s lost in a way. The guy went from like, you know, not really being fat, but like the guy is like built like a rock now, right? And I was like, what are you doing? He’s like, oh man, testosterone is where it’s at and all this stuff and ship. You know, like I thought about it more reality to my wife and she was like, no don’t do it because you’re on it for the rest of your life, right? There is that’s the key piece that people don’t realize.”

Coach Justin: “I can’t tell you. I mean even in the reason why I posted that and obviously it’s been there’s been a lot of people have commented on it, but I can’t tell you literally in the last week I’ve had three guys that I’ve gotten in discovery calls with that are in their thirties that their doctor wants to put them on T. R. T. And they’re sitting here living a lifestyle that is not even close to trying to improve these levels. And so you know, it’s like look like if you’re somebody out there that is, you know, you’re not prioritizing your sleep, you’re getting four or five hours of sleep a night, you’re drinking alcohol all the time or eating like crap, you’re never working out like and you have low testosterone, like the first step is not getting on T. R. T. The first step is fixing your freaking crappy, help your crappy lifestyle habits, right?
Rick: “And that’s the problem, right? Because like you’re one of, I don’t know how many, I don’t know any of the coaches out there that are online or essentially where I can, you know, there aren’t displayed me in front of my face where low tea and soda weight loss is on the radio, you know, 100 times a day. So then I guess, you know, a part of a group on facebook these guys called the things called like fit dad base camp where he’s, you know, he’s not, he’s online coach essentially, but he pitches all the time by people doing stuff. I mean the problem is that there’s enough money in it, what you’re doing, you’re really helping people, you know, and trying to make a living on it you know, and so it’s like, but yet testosterone clinic and make what you make in a year making a day, right So there’s there’s no money in it and it’s frustrating because like and me not being in the industry, I get frustrated cause now I finally hit that level of understanding about the holy ship, like this stuff isn’t none of this stuff is really gonna help set you up for success They’re just literally building it where you come back in a month or two months or in a week, you’re gonna have to come back to me. It’s building dependency where hey man, Michael, I wanna talk to you, but hey, I think I’m in a good spot now. I get that mindset. You weren’t like, dude, let’s do one more month and see what happens you have, you know, do this exactly what I want, right So for me it’s like, alright, cool, he gets it. He’s trying to help me and not just trying to make some money off me, right? It’s like a lot of people don’t realize that. And I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t know you do it man. I can’t tell you how much I really appreciate you and Ellen to give me to this mindset, I don’t think I could do without you guys but it’s tough. I don’t know, I mean the percent of people that want to do something and are willing to take it. I only imagine you probably know the data on that more than I do, but like people aren’t willing to do it and it’s not hard. That’s the crazy part about me learning to cook. Yeah, it’s been difficult and it’s very daunting. I think, I think I called Ellen the first time I cut a damn avocado and I was like so happy that hey, holy crap, I got an avocado by myself You know, it’s lame to think about it, but it was such a big step for me to do that and you know, see your chicken and make a recipe. It took me almost a few weeks after Ellen told me to do something that I finally was like, all right, I’m gonna do this today and I did it and it’s like, you know, it’s, it’s scary because you never, I’ve never done it before. But once you get into it, you realize that damn, it’s not that hard. You make a menu and you just do it. And the beauty is that instagram facebook youtube. I mean there’s so many recipes out there that are really freaking simple, but yet until you want to do it, you’re not gonna do it. You know, I need, I wish there were 1000 Justin’s living here in Dallas. They can go out there and stand for every one of those stupid clinics and tell people, hey man, you don’t need, you don’t need this, you can go to Kroger right now and I’m gonna show you how you can do this man. I love that man. You know, it’s so funny. Like I, you’re, you’re completely right. You know, these these clinics, the pharmaceutical industry industry the medical industry, like they’re always gonna have more money than the smaller dogs and so you know, I I think that hearing your mindset, it’s no different than when we got up on that follow up call you know after working with Ellen and and you know.”

Coach Justin: “I told you right there, I was like typically I don’t ever feel comfortable graduating people, you know, after three or four months of working with us, you know, typically it’s like a six month, nine month year long thing and but with you, I could see it in them, I could hear it in the mindset, you know, like I I’ve worked with thousands of people now over the last 10 years and it’s like I can, I can smell that so easily.
I mean it’s like you and in your career, you know, you’re an expert at it, so it’s like I can read people and when I heard you and and just listen to you, I was like dude, he’s he’s ready, like it’s not gonna be easy going on your own, like it’s not easy for me either right? Like this is a lifelong journey, but mentally you know, from a mindset standpoint, like you’re you’re equipped like you’re ready to go take on the, you know the world on your own, essentially, right?”

Rick: “So reality if it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t have that mindset I think for me it’s like when I was ready for it within two, once, once I learned the mindset and kind of realized that hey, setting me up to do that is something that I think, you know, for me, like I said before like I said earlier, like it wouldn’t happen if you and Ellen weren’t there to help me, right? But I think once I got there and I got lucky or blessed enough to, to hit that, you know, that, that, that, that snapped my mind, you know, and my body is a holy sh it like, okay, now it makes sense. You know, now I understand about the, hey, this is not for this, this year for this month is like you’re helping me for the rest of my life, right? And I’m pretty sure you said that, hey, you know, you’ve dealt with thousands of people and maybe it may take some people one month, it may take people years to get to that point. I think for me, I didn’t get it from when I first started, you know, with jenny till now, you know, up until you know last month, a month before, somehow in between it finally hit me, right? So, but it wouldn’t happen if I didn’t meet you guys.”

Coach Justin: “I love that man and I, you know, I think that, you know, I think that’s definitely a huge point to touch on, you know, it wasn’t like that was your first rodeo you had started your journey a long time and so it did take you time to, to get through that, you know I think back to the frozen meals you were referencing earlier and when I first got into the field, so this was, This was when I was 1918 or 19 years old, I was doing personal training and I was going to school I just started my first semester going to school to get my nutrition degree and you know what I was doing all the time I was eating. I would literally go by like the frozen lean cuisines and that’s like what I ate all the time. I thought that I was being healthy So you know, it’s like flashback to 10 years ago. It’s like, it’s it’s it’s like when I was in high school I was, I got a football scholarship and I needed to put on some weight. So I went and ate five chicken burritos from Taco Bell every single day thinking that that was the way that you went and put on weight. You know, that’s really how it is. That’s what I mean. There’s not a coach in every corner telling me that I should be doing that right. So it’s one of those things, it’s like, you don’t know until you know right And like when you can like these days with social media I mean I used to, I used to work at like Walgreens in high school making like two or $300 a paycheck or something and I would go spend my whole paycheck at the the local supplement shop. I spent like 203 $100 a month at the supplement shop. These guys were having me by a pro hormone When I was like 1718 years old Like it’s just insane you know?”

Rick: “But those were the days of the body building magazines and all that you know? And man how time has changed And I said earlier right before I got a call with you, she asked me this morning about my workout and I posted it. I didn’t I wasn’t very happy with it you know and I was like so you’re taking you’re taking a pre workout stuff I’m like no I was like you know from learn from Justin and Ellen was but I don’t need this stuff if I eat the right stuff then I’m doing okay you know? And she’s like well usually and everybody was asking what supplements you’re taking and all this stuff and then like I’m eating all the right stuff so I don’t need it you want I’m not sure if I’m 100% correct but I know about the hate, I feel strong enough now where I’m not worried about low energy and you get right down to sleep and eat the right amount of macronutrients where I’m not afraid of or he’s feeling like hey I needed more. You know the problem is that no. Mhm. Yeah and that’s the crazy thing right?”

Coach Justin: “I mean so many people are coming to me you know and and coming with questions of like hey what supplements should I take and then we dig into like you know the lifestyle habits and like they’re they’re not prioritizing their sleep, you know they’re not prioritizing their nutrition their workouts or any of these things and it’s like it’s like supplements cost money, getting your steps in in the day or working out or getting an adequate amount of sleep or staying hydrated all those things are free. But yeah we want to we want the quick fix you know we want the magic supplement. So I mean I I think that again it’s like you don’t know what, you don’t know I mean I used to take you know I used to take all these supplements and went on and I thought that they were helping me and you know we have tons of research out there now showing that the majority of supplements the results that people are seeing from them are just from the placebo effect you know and so it’s it’s at the end of the day it’s like I would I always tell people I’m like look supplements have a time and a place but I would definitely recommend you spending that money on buying good quality food rather than prioritizing the supplements and eating out all the time or you know, shopping and buying the cheapest quality food.”

Rick: “man, I can only imagine how hard it is to do what you do because remember even now I’m just thinking back when I first talked to you first, even before I even signed up and looking at some of the posts that you made, I think I’ve ever seen one infographic about like eating out, doing random supplements all that ship, how much money it adds up to first what you guys asked for, You know, and it’s like, I think it’s still hard to spend the money. Like I don’t know if I want to spend the money and it’s hard for you to make me understand, right? As as a new person trying to get coached, you know, it’s a hurdle that until you’re ready for it, you’re never gonna do it right? And so it’s a, it’s crazy to sit on the side and be on the podcast with you and like sitting here trying to talk to you and say, hey man like yeah, I did it and I still got a long way to go, but I’m also not worried about how long it’s gonna take me because I’m enjoying the process of it but yet when I first came to type with you was like man, I don’t know if I can afford the money and do I really want to spend the money when I’m already spending the money on other ships.”

Coach Justin: “100% man, it’s you know, it’s it’s it’s definitely an investment, right? Like it’s not a $99 meal plan. You know, it’s it’s an investment but it’s an investment that if you truly think about it, you know, especially for those people that have worked with, you know, several other coaches that didn’t work or did programs or or tried diets and they add up all that money that they spent this far and if they could have got that money back and invested it into the one time that they are going to go through something like I coach university here, right? Like I think it’s it’s worth it. And and another thing that we do all the time too is it’s like people, you know the like yes money is sometimes truly like the issue for some people, but a lot of the times it’s just it’s not a priority to them. You know, we look into Starbucks spending and like people spend $5 on Star Starbucks every single day and that could be that missing money that they were looking for or they’re eating out, you know, for almost every single meal of the week and once we start cooking or teach them how to cook the majority of their meals now they’re saving so much money on eating out. So it’s just like, you know where when it’s a priority, like you you find a way, right 100%, 100% agree. So for people that are listening right now, you know, there’s a lot of people that are on the fence and, and look, there’s nothing wrong with that. You know, just like we’ve talked about like it’s the scariest thing in the world is to ask for help So you know, for, for people that were, you know that are maybe on the fence now, can you reflect back to kind of your thoughts a little bit? Cause we, we did talk, you know, and then, and then you ended up signing up like a month later, right? So in that month period of time like, and even off our first call, what were the thoughts that were going through your head? Obviously you mentioned the financial piece. But, just kind of talked through that conversation a little bit cause I think that will resonate with people that are on the fence now.”

Rick: “Well, I think, you know, one was obviously financial hit on. The other part was me realizing that And when I talked to you, it was almost like, okay tell me what you, what are you looking at? What are your motivations and what do you what do you think you need to do? And it was like the conversation was pretty much, hey rick everything you just said, I can do. So when someone tells you they can do everything that you asked for? There’s always hesitation, right It’s like, hey, break, we tell me a wish that you want and I’ll grant it, right? So I was like, okay, Justin’s a genie. He’s gonna make it happen, right? And so it’s like, okay, forget the money aspect like, okay, this is really gonna happen, right? Because I don’t really work with you and you know, obviously had a few few family members that referred to you, but they never really worked with you., so I was like, alright, well okay, maybe this guy is just saying that to get my money right? So that was the initial reaction like okay, cool. Just another another jenny craig essentially that’s gonna help me for a little bit. So I think for me it was, I think it was like, all right, cool. Is this really gonna help? Is this really something that’s gonna help me Long term and maybe me not being open 100% of what my real not knowing anything for me is like, I had a very short term goal in mind and I realized, hey, I know that I want to lose weight forever which I came to you, but also still didn’t realize that hey, you’re gonna help me set me up for success for the rest of my life., and then the guy gets the time between our conversation. This kind of looking at your stuff and kind of just going back and forth and realizing can I spend the money on it? And then to like this is really gonna help me And then coming back to why I really called you, I think in all reality like talk to my mom and telling her I wanted to cook and her reaction like this is ridiculous. I can’t believe you want to cook. You know, obviously the big cultural thing in general, but and then realizing that depending on my wife or depending on others wasn’t gonna give me to my goal was I had to just take the jump for myself. I did it for myself as I’m tired of depending on someone else doing what I want. I know that and it wasn’t about the weight, you know, like I was, I wasn’t, you know, to the point where I was getting unhappy. I know I don’t want to go back to it, but I was relying a lot on this working out and eating random that semi healthy crap throughout the time. Well when I realized that, hey, I gotta quit worrying about it, could depend on everybody else and just do what makes sense for me and just do it what I want and what I need. And that’s when I finally told my wife that then came home and I didn’t tell me, I told her I signed up with you to maybe a couple days afterwards and I told her that way as well as you know, I signed up with Justin and I’m already already signed up with them three days ago, I’m doing this and she’s like, she, her first reaction was like, okay, well what do you what do you mean? I’m like, well, you know what, I can’t wait on you and I can’t, I can’t blame others for what my problems are, what I want to do So I’m gonna do it. And so it’s a leap of faith and I think once people realize that, hey, why are you doing it? And when you’re tired of other bullshit and went through, want to want to take care of yourself and be healthy and be happy, then it won’t be, there should be a second guess. Once you realize that you really want it, you have to win it period.”

Coach Justin: “Love it man, I love it. So that right there, so it’s kind of the pre frame for and hopefully resonates with a lot of you that are listening to this right now, knowing what happened through the, through the transformation here through the process, thinking back to the beginning and what those goals were and what you wanted out of it. What did you end up getting out of it in terms of not only with you and your health and your mindset and all of those things, but also showing up in your career showing up with your family. Like how has all that improved as well man.”

Rick: “I think it’s been a big a big step for me personally kind of looking in, you know, I think for me it’s like, you know, there’s always a few people around you that are trying to take care of themselves and learning and they’re still, everybody’s on their own little journey, social media helps a lot What kind of people being more open and once they’re willing to open up, did you see real people real person And for me it’s like I learned to open up and be be vulnerable, obviously being a business owner, being an entrepreneur and having, you know, several business and having, you know, 25 employees is like, it’s like you have to be the boss the whole time and kind of put on the front and being a father of two and being you know, head of the household and having a family depending on you, you’re usually not willing or just are not accepted to be vulnerable, right? And be open to hate, I need help too, or hey, I am struggling or it’s not just a weight, but I’m mentally not happy because I’m not eating properly or overweight or not wearing what I want to wear. But I think for me it was like learning about that, hey, it’s okay to be vulnerable and it’s okay to ask for help because you’d be surprised how people are willing to help you when you raise your hand, but it’s always been taught that you don’t raise your hand and you kind of just figured out on your own right. But the beauty of it now is that there are people like you out there, it’s like hey, I, I’m willing to help and I want to help, but until you raise your hand, you’re not gonna get it So I think for me it was like learning to ask for help and then suddenly now has pushed me into learning more about myself personally, like, you know, personality and how do I become a better person because I’ve become a better person that can help others, I can help my family, I can help my employees, I can grow, you know professionally as well as mentally and now I feel like this helped me a lot kind of push me into level now where I’m becoming a better person and learning more about myself than I probably would never have. I mean I would never want to ever thought about what you looking at what I want and who am I before I got to you. So it’s a, it’s definitely more than it’s losing weight for sure.

Coach Justin: “Yeah, I love that man, that’s this right here. I mean hearing a story like this, this is literally like this is my oxygen, this is what inspires me, you know, and has been inspiring me now for 10 years to continue doing, you know what I’m what I’m doing and what what I coach was, you know, kind of built to do. So dude rick, I’m just super proud of you man. Like if I could, if we’re standing right next to each other right now, I’ll give you a big old hug and just say super super proud of you man. Like there’s just seeing people graduate the program and seeing people be in this mindset and then, you know, me checking in on you, you know, years from now and you still crushing it. Like that’s just, I think it’s one of the most inspirational things that that I come across, you know in my life and so super proud of you man.”

Rick: “Thank you thank you man, it’s correct to you and Ellen, you know I mean, Ellen was is a rock star and that it was is a rock star. but I think for me it’s like, you know, taking the time what you guys do and, and, and helping is something that is invaluable. you think you’re telling me I’m a rock star is great, you know and I, I really appreciate it. And then for me it’s like, you know, I’m so motivated to help people and you know, and spread the word and say, hey, not only can I help, but then when you really want some serious help, you need to go to someone like Justin, right So for me, he’s like, alright, people see me all the time, I post, you see my post all the time and for me, it’s like, if I can help one person get up in the morning, go work out or eat something healthy. It’s like, alright, when you’re really ready for it then I can tell you where to go, you know, because I’m not gonna waste time with people who really don’t want it. People ask, people ask you all the time like hey, I want to lose weight and it’s okay, how bad do you really want to do it? But it’s something that I can’t thank you enough in our reality to give me this level. For sure.”

Coach Justin: “Absolutely man. It’s been it’s been it’s been a pleasure man. It’s been so cool seeing you know what you and Ellen were able to do together and you know, I think you just being able to now, it’s a gift, it’s a gift that now you get to pay forward and you know, obviously be that example for your family but also friends and coworkers and everybody else that you know that that ask you’re just leading from the front now and you’re, you’re being that example. So you know, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s never easy, right This is a falling in love with the process and and understanding that it is a lifelong journey is, is definitely the crucial piece of it all. So, dude, just super proud of you man, so, so thankful that you took the time today to do this podcast with me, You know I know that like at least one person will be affected by it, right? And, and at least one person will be will resonate with this and at least one person will you know, hopefully we’ll hear this and just have something click and and start.”

Rick: “You know, that’s what you gotta do, we gotta start, we gotta get out our own out of our own heads, we gotta quit telling ourselves these Bs stories and we just have to start, I mean if anybody’s listening to this podcast right now, I mean like if you’re on the fence, like just do it, don’t think about it. I mean like the more you think about it, the more you’re wasting time from being happy, just sucking do it and you’ll, you’ll, you’ll reach out to me and and you’ll know right away, you know, for sure that hey, this is exactly if I, if I reach out, Justin that means I need it period. If someone reach out to you that they don’t do it now, they’re wasting time period.”

Coach Justin: “I love it. I love it. Well rick dude, it’s been a pleasure my man, thank you so much for coming on the show today and we will talk soon, my man.

Rick: “Yes, for sure.”