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Language: en
everyone thanks for tuning in to this
episode of hell theory sponsored by our
amazing friends at Skillshare enjoy and
be legendary in today's episode of hell
theory with Kevin fitmin cookery we
discuss how he used cooking to combat
depression important takeaways from
trying different diets the best
strategies for meal prep and how he
helped his family change their entire
lives through diet everybody welcome to
hell theory today's guest is Kevin curry
he is an author a chef a harvard grad
and one of the biggest influencers
around with his fit men cook apps books
and social media Empire he took himself
from struggling with depression and
being overweight to completely turning
his life around and helping countless
others do the same
and in that journey he's partnered with
or been publicly supported by some of
the biggest names on the planet
including Oprah Winfrey and Michelle
Obama but before we get to that part of
your journey which is crazy I want to
start back at the financial collapse in
2008 poof I think it's a pretty
extraordinary beginning to this
incredible story yeah yes I just
graduated from from grad school and I
had this job offer and then everything
happened and then like overnight just
everything went to pieces like
everything and I stayed up in Boston for
a few more months and then had to move
back home I was already pretty depressed
a lot of that started up in Boston but I
took that back home with me to Texas and
had to move back in with my parents and
one of the most humbling things was I
had to get it on on welfare so I went in
there and got my food stamps I didn't
feel good about like where it was I
didn't feel good about Kevin but I knew
at that point that I had to make a
change at the same time so what really
started out is just like this really big
like unfortunate circumstance it
actually was a large part of my journey
because I learned how to make better
choices on very little
and that's part of like the genesis of
the fit men cook journey and that I
didn't want to pay another trainer all
this money to lose weight because I'd
already done that and then gain the
weight right back and I was in Texas so
I ate soul food and I eat Mexican food
all the time and I was like I need to
find out how to actually have some
healthy food that actually tastes good
so I went in ver to this Half Price
bookstore and but every single book they
had their about nutrition and just began
to read it and just begin to go into the
kitchen and cook now the crazy thing
about fitmin cook is all right like
right now it's this big global community
of people we're all sharing we're all
happy and yeah life is great
didn't start out that way it was largely
kind of like a side hustle i wanted to
basically crowdsource my diet because my
my thought was if I could share out
every single meal that I was eating
people could share back with me and give
me free advice it's a way to you know
game the system lose some weight all
that and what I learned when as the more
I'm more that I shared my journey is
that there are people out there just
like me who were disenchanted with these
really bland diets and wanted to change
they didn't know how to do that and so
they were looking at me and my journey
through food in order to kind of unpack
what's not really like a mystery but
it's actually the the greatest known
fact about fact about healthy living and
that's it all starts in the kitchen it
all starts with your diet I I was
spending about 3 hours a day in the gym
literally an hour in the morning and two
hours in the evening time trying to lose
weight and I look the exact same but
when I got the food piece right the
weight just began to fall off of me one
thing I've heard you talk about that I
think is really powerful and there's why
I wanted to start with the the collapse
is you've said even before you can get
to the food part it starts with the mind
yeah and people have got to want it I
think it's fascinating that you've got
somebody who's clearly intelligent who's
very hardworking but also has struggled
for quite some time with depression and
so you're struggling with depression you
go from I'm a Harvard grad to I'm on
food
stamps and like how did you make sense
of that what were you telling what was
the story you were telling yourself
about yourself at that time and then how
do you begin to climb out at that time I
was desperate for a change I was
grasping at straws I didn't have
anything so I had to be created that's
the first thing also everything that
else that I had tried had failed and are
you talking physically attractive
physically because again I was working
out three hours a day and not seeing
change like in my body for a full year
so I was frustrated on top of that I was
also depressed so so like you're not
making gains in the gym you're not
looking you're not looking the way that
you want to look in the mirror and also
like you're not feeling the best like
mentally then all those things kind of
just coming together I didn't at that
point you know in full disclosure I I
did try to in my life at that point
because my my better judgment was not
there and I didn't see a way out and it
wasn't until I began to talk through
some of my issues and and unpack those
things where I could actually find out
that you know what there there is hope
for me and the cool thing about healthy
eating is that it wasn't just about
eating better foods it was the pleasure
that I got from making something like I
feel good that I actually put this meal
together I remember like my first meal
was really crappy it was like chicken
breast with some mrs. dass seasoning
some brown rice and some canned green
beans but the pleasure that I got the
fact that I did that like I did this
crappy meal and it's still edible that
made me feel good so I so I derived a
lot of mental benefit just from doing
that so I tell people you know it's not
just about the food that makes you feel
good but it's about the process as well
like cooking itself cooking is
therapeutic too and when I hit my own
rock bottom that's when I knew that I
had to
hedid and and make that change I can
always tell the people who are ready for
a change and the people who aren't you
know the people who are ready for a
change
they are so open and so willing to make
a change that they will try things that
normally they wouldn't case in point
this is last year I convinced my dad to
go vegan to address a lot of his health
issues he had a lot of you know
inflammation and I knew that a lot of
the meat products were causing that but
he was so tired of being tired now he
was so tired of feeling the way that he
was he was so tired of failing at his
diet he was so tired of the weight gain
he was so tired of the pain that's
something that you know that he would
not normally do he said okay I'll try it
yeah that that to me is is the most
interesting thing about any journey of
health or weight loss it's seeing where
somebody starts seeing that final
commitment to wanting to rebuild
themselves being open minded being
willing to do things that are hard and
one of the questions that I get asked
the most is how do I help my family make
a change and I've got to imagine that
you've been asked that a lot and I know
that you went through it with your own
family I think the punch line of what
finally worked for your family is is so
cool walk people through that story how
long you were trying to help them how it
got a little combative and then what was
the ultimate resolution yes so when I
hit my stride in about 2012 2013 I
wanted to help everybody and I was
telling my parents you got to start
eating this and stop doing that so
they're like yeah come and help us
that's not easy my parents are black and
from the cell so we love our food we
love our flavor and we also love our
southern habits so that was Harlan in
itself and we just began to clash all
the time behind the scenes like big time
clash they'd say that they want my help
and I go over there and open up the
pantry and there's like cheez-its and
sugary peanut butter and
and cupcake snacks I'm like I thought we
just talked about this like we just
talked about this and then all of a
sudden that would devolve into this big
argument right so I step back I said you
know what screw it I step back because
it was causing a lot of friction within
our within our own relationship and so I
realized at that point that the change
that they want it may not come through
me and which was really hard because
I've always felt conflicted about being
able to help everybody else out and
getting their stories about their
parents and eating healthy and then
changing their lives and Here I am I
can't even get my own family to go and
do it but here's what I was doing
without knowing it when I took a step
back it was it was good because it
allowed them to watch a lot more and
they beginning to follow me in social
and they would read these stories of
people eating healthier and changing
their lives so that actually helped out
the second thing my parents love to do
is to go out as a family and go and do
brunch or something I didn't want to go
to Chili's or some other god-awful place
that just warm through the food in the
back so I'm thinking well let's go to
this true food kitchen let's go to the
Mediterranean restaurant let's go over
here and I and now it was just a selfish
thing for me because I don't want to eat
the food but what I was doing was I was
opening up their eyes to other foods
into other cuisines to to fresh foods
something that they didn't you know I
really have or like value as much what
our parents it's really hard it's really
hard you have to understand that there
is this is a lifetime of different
choices and behavior so it's not going
to be changed overnight and when you're
talking about parents to you've got to
like remember there is a lot of pride
that people derive from being able to
take care of their family so what I said
to them was hey these cheeses aren't
good you got to stop making all these
fried foods all this fried chicken
you got to stop what they heard was what
you gave me growing up was not good
enough just gave me the chills
so that's completely it was a culture
clash so we're fighting not knowing that
we want the same thing but they're
insulted because I'm saying that what
you gave me growing up wasn't good
enough how do you get past that it you
you go around it
you don't critique the food so I stopped
critiquing and I showed them in like a
different way I showed them the other
foods it's the way that you talk about
it you know and it's it's less about not
making it seems as if that food is just
not good for you know for you which it's
not but just saying hey I know that
you're you know that you have this
weight-loss goal or you have this health
goal I think if we do it this way it
would help you out more one of the
things I loved about the video that you
did with your parents and they both by
the way had extraordinary weight loss
congratulations status to them and to
you for helping them do that and your
dad kept saying like if you're trying to
help somebody stop criticizing their
foods now I'm criticizing their food
Here I am captain mindset struggling
with the same thing with my mom and it's
like for her I know she hears a similar
level of criticism especially when we
talk about food and I'm trying to you
know help her and my thing is like how
you end up helping them to want it I
thought was pretty interesting that I
think a similar thing as driving because
my mom now is really striving for a real
change and I think it came from
something similar sort of maybe your dad
I don't know your mom's story as well
but just coming from a place of being in
such physical pain yeah that is like
alright you have to do something like
something has to change absolutely you
know and and unfortunately that's going
to be the majority of people we wait
into the houses you know is like on fire
until we call the fire department
one thing too that I tell my parents you
know we're getting started was it's time
for us to make new memories with food
because food brings us together it's a
beautiful thing
so we had the memory of sweet potato pie
you know we had the memory of the you
know the Sunday pot roast those things
can still happen but let's make a new
memory with food and feel better about
the food that we're putting into our
bodies and and at their age I told him
listen there is not going to
another pie that's comes below your side
you have tasted everything it's not
gonna get better
and what you are associating though
often times with that food is the
experience being with family because a
pie by yourself tastes different than
the same pie with people so why don't we
really make new memories with healthier
food just just being together will make
that salad much better I guarantee it's
your experience it's a really powerful
point when did the struggle with
depression start I have struggled with
depression my entire life really even
when you were a United yeah my parents I
I grew up in a really really just
household and this is not to criticize
or but it's just yeah it is what it is
we were taught well just go up there and
pray it away and just interesting
sidebar I did this DNA test last year
and it was just for like diet and stuff
but they also do like mental stuff and
all that it's just spit and they and
they come back and they show you what
you're in the red for and I was in the
red for like three things one of them
was anxiety and depression and when I
read that I got really emotional
like really I called my dad and I said I
knew I knew that I wasn't crazy I knew
that something was wrong and I say that
because I wonder what my life would look
like I'm proud of my life today but I
wonder what my life would look like had
I been able to get treatment and get
help in those coping mechanisms earlier
on I don't I don't lament the fact that
I grew up the way that I did but I just
wonder and I tell parents now to do
tests like that because it is important
sometimes we we lack the the verbal
skills to be able to like articulate to
you how we're feeling or why something
is feeling you know a certain way or why
we're off but sometimes the tests can
say it better and what happened was when
I went off to college I was able to
really sore and I was really active and
involved do that and it wasn't until I
got to grad school
and it was really significant because
the grad school was like a perfect storm
for everything one I'm in Boston it gets
dark at 4 o'clock I didn't know that and
I didn't know that that would trigger a
lot of my depression too then because
it's so cold and people like to go out
and drink I just started to drink a
whole lot coupled with that I was in a
relationship bad bad breakup I'm kind of
embarrassing for me in a small community
so that was that then you know like you
later in the job thing and losing your
job and having to go back home I'm going
back home at Ground Zero literally I
mean ground zero without anything in me
so it was so it was very very hard now
I'm guessing a little bit but based on
your actions this must be true you have
some belief that you can learn things
you can get better I know that with
nutrition you started reading you go to
the Half Price
yeah bookstore you buy all this stuff
have you eaten to combat the depression
because that's one thing a lot of the
people that watch impact Theory health
theory struggle with anxiety and
depression I'm sure that's because I
struggled with anxiety so you sort of
collect that what are some diet tips
that people can use like if they're in
that space that they're struggling with
that whether it's chronic or situational
what can they do
dietarily to begin to alleviate that
yeah and that's gonna vary from person
to person for me I can tell you that
having a lot of healthy fats for me
helps out a whole bunch and break down
what healthy fats are yeah so I would so
the type of thing that I'm talking about
would be like salmon I you know they
make a three fatty acids walnuts
avocados I don't follow like a you know
like a depression diet so what I have
found though that works for me is
actually meal prepping and it's not
about it's less about the actual foods
and much more about the process and I
know it sounds kind of strange but I
really do
think that there is a synergy or
something that happens when you get into
the kitchen and you make something for
yourself whenever you do something for
you
and I say that because I was at that
point where I had to give myself three
things to do each day just Kevin if you
either get these three you know these
just just two of them done great job so
one of those things could be cooking for
myself making myself breakfast and this
is just a climb back out of the
depression yes so doing things so
cooking actually in prepping like your
meals can actually help you out because
you derive some type of serotonin like
kick from that because you're like okay
I did something for me and you're doing
like self-care as well that's really
interesting I've never heard anybody
talk about that with cooking so I know
right now somebody's sceptical they've
cooked for themselves before they think
you're full of [ __ ] this doesn't make
any sense to them but I actually think
you're right what is it what can you
liken it to is it like working out is it
a similar kind of thing
absolutely it's all self-care it's about
doing something for you in order you
know like to make you feel better so
it's like working out once you go ahead
and do it maybe like you're you know
like you're kind of loathing it but once
you see that finished product you're
like oh that was actually pretty dope I
did that so for me I started out just
just making my lunch and I apprentice
it's like you're you're doing it you're
doing a good job because I could see I'm
like saving money I have my like routine
so I'm not being thrown off by something
which I love to be spontaneous but when
you're kind of low on serotonin you
don't you know that's that's nothing
less than thing that you want you don't
want light to kind of happen to you so
as much as possible meal prep helped me
to keep that normalcy to keep something
that was just like even kill what do you
think so
going into the cooking if I had somebody
now that you sort of puts on my radar if
I had somebody there struggling with
depression or just like not feeling
great about themselves and I was gonna
prescribe to them hey start cooking
start doing something for yourself what
do you think is the importance of the
frame going into that like don't think
about this as a chore
yeah think of this as an opportunity to
think about this as your like one-on-one
like yoga time seriously when I first
started out I would put on some like
workout music in the kitchen and turn
the kitchen into like a gym and I'd be
like this pumping and do myself and that
would make this a fun thing and it was
just my time for other people you may
want to put on some light Chi like yoga
music but this is your one-on-one time
so think of it like that so I've been
doing a cold shower challenge so uh yeah
dude when I say I'm phobic of the cold
like truly it's really almost bordering
on phobia so there's something about the
cold that triggers my anxiety it feels
like it gives me the same ungrounded
feeling is the best way to explain it I
feel jittery and like I'm not grounded I
don't know a better way to say it and
being cold gives me that same feeling so
I didn't want to do it had wim HOF on
the show and he was like dude you have
to do it it's the thing that's gonna tie
you into your central nervous system
you're gonna be able to like activate
your immune system so I was like hype on
that right and I hate being sick so I'm
like I really got to try this [ __ ]
thing so I started taking cold showers
and in the first probably 10 days I was
like I got this [ __ ]
and then like it started to plateau a
little bit yeah like and I started to be
like [ __ ] I don't want to do this like
I'm really dreading getting in the cold
water and then I was like hold on a
second I need to get my I need to
remember why I'm doing this there you go
I need to get my mind right I need to
make this a thing
I put on some [ __ ] music and I got in
there and I was like I'm gonna dance in
this [ __ ] cold shower I'm gonna own
this cold shower and it changed
everything like that yeah I like the way
you said that you have to remind
yourself of why you're doing something I
liken it to you know when you had that
that like bad breakup and you're
thinking about it like oh I wonder what
she's doing there oh yeah mr. time
together yet to be the weight this
didn't work out for this reason you have
to remind yourself that way you won't go
back to those poor choices again the
same thing what you're doing you're not
gonna like what you're doing every
single time you do it I don't care what
you do you're not gonna like it every
single time it's you will have that time
where you're gonna plateau a little bit
and that's when you have to again go
back to hey this is helping me because
XYZ
flips a switch again so you can begin to
be in that moment so it's so important
that you said that what do you think
about embodying things like really
finding away do you it like if you're
not feeling it that day whatever or even
before you film a video I wonder if you
do this do you start like moving
differently in a way just to sort of get
your body feeling it yeah you got to get
pumped up so one thing I try to do is
like put on music whenever I do anything
to I'll just take a moment and kind of
visualize how I want the end product to
look like everyone has their pregame if
you watch any athlete everybody does
this they put on their headphones
they're visualizing they're doing this
some people are doing stretching and
yoga whatever but everybody has their
thing that they have to do in order to
get ready and I know it's something as
simple as cooking but if you approach
that's why I turned my kitchen into that
gym I wanted to bring that atmosphere
and that like intensity and that focus
into what I was doing in the kitchen
because I found out that it was so
important for me to feel better about me
to lose weight to get closer to those
fitness goals and it was gonna start in
the kitchen so I'm gonna bring all that
intensity all that focus right here
right now so everybody does that so
cooking should be no different we just
don't do it that way one thing that I
love about your approach your
methodology your your messaging is that
you want people to one experiment to you
know a wide variety of things three
really enjoy the things you're eating
for not like completely just cut you
know entire groups of foods out so give
some people some do's and don'ts as
somebody who I would say has a really
sort of thrilling breadth of things you
found a way to incorporate in a healthy
way give people those like that short
list of do this don't do that
so do this would be start small don't
try to boil the ocean at once meaning
don't try to overhaul your diet
overnight just I love having the role of
one pick one thing about your diet that
you want to change so if you drink too
many sodas let's say that you want to go
down to maybe
each week that's your thing that you're
gonna work on for your diet if you if
you're spending too much money and
you're trying to save money you wanna
eat you know eat better then prep one
meal you know for yourself do that just
that one thing and do that very well and
what you'll see is that when you commit
to that one thing and you could do it
then you're energized to do something
else and so little by little by little
you're going to transform your diet the
second thing that I would say don't do
is don't eat for fuel and not for taste
a lot of people get into this mentality
like I don't want the carrot food tastes
like I was gonna eat this yeah that
works in the first you know 10 15 days
but just like you said you're gonna
reach that point with that cold shower
it's just kind of like oh and when you
set your kind of set yourself up for
failure and food should be and can be
enjoyed so you want to make sure that
you're doing something that you actually
enjoy and eating should be one of those
things I think that everybody should
enjoy another one I would say is not
taking a break so take a break from
every now and then and eat something
different so for me for instance I would
prep my lunch every single day and then
on Fridays I would reserved that time to
go out with coworkers but even then I
would eat something that was calorie
conscious but at what it did was it gave
me a break from cooking but it also gave
my taste buds a break and I could taste
something different it was still
healthier you know or like calorie
conscious but it was something different
and eating out sometimes even if you
have a like Treat meal it's a good thing
because the treatments can give you
ideas for ways that you could infuse
other flavors and other textures into
your diet so don't discount those things
as well and if you plan have a treat me
on that a treat day those things are
good and they aren't considered a cheat
because they are part of your balanced
meal I mean the part of your balanced
plan and are there any foods
specifically that you tell people to
avoid the processed foods you
you honestly don't know what Sciences
they're actually using in order to
flavor it also I think they could be
really really like addicting and we can
get kind of hooked on that and I think
that that's a combination of science and
also convenience and what I found like
over the long haul is that you don't
know how to cook for yourself you don't
know the right portions you don't know
the right foods and so when you will
have to come to a point like everybody
has to go through this you have to learn
certain things and one of those things
you have to learn how to feed yourself
especially if you have goals in mind one
of those goals rather I would also even
say you know it could be like a lot of
bars as well a lot of people prioritize
those over real food we I think that
we've done a little bit of a disservice
in the health and wellness community by
telling people how much they should have
of certain things and so we've been
taught just a protein this you've gotta
have 300 grams of protein a day or else
your mother's eating mother and that's
like your muscles gonna you know wither
away
that's not true you know and so I think
that often times showing people that you
can get protein even from plants is
something so one thing I always
prioritize is just to eat real food that
whenever possible those bars are good
those are supplements to your diet but
not to replace a healthy balanced diet
and and so I think that's just the over
like reliance on those instead of
getting into the kitchen who's in it you
know and making yourself something yeah
Qwest we used to like if you called
customer support and say and look we
made bars but if you said look I really
want to get in shape I want to be
healthy what should I eat our answer was
chicken breast and broccoli not because
we were incentivized to say it obviously
we weren't but because we wanted people
to know bars have their place it's
convenient it's tasty but eat whole food
whenever humanly possible correct um is
always just really good advice
now one thing with diets that you've
talked about and I think that's pretty
interesting and I've seen you do the
challenge is I saw your keto challenge
you've got your parents with a vegan
diet but you're not eating vegan yeah
talk to me about individuality and
nutrition talk about how people can
explore for themselves like what is that
process
yeah I think it's a great thing you know
I did the keto diet about a year and a
half ago and I did it just to try it out
to see to become like a more competent
in that had great success I don't think
it's for me like for the long haul
I've said so in that video it just
didn't work for me and my lifestyle but
what I think what people should be doing
whenever they try out these different
diets is it's not just about trying it
out to see if you're gonna like to lose
the weight or not but it's trying it out
to see how you can take certain tenets
of the certain diets of your different
diets back to your normal diet so for me
one thing I'd have always struggle with
is just sweets but what I learned from
the keto diet which is really
interesting is that I didn't crave those
I was like this is really weird because
I'm not even carbs
it's the fats so one thing that I have
done and my normal diet is I as i
prioritize fats a lot more same thing
whenever I did vegan diet I was thinking
like you know these plants are really
darn good and I feel better I'm able to
move around you know my skin's kind of
pop and I feel like and a lot of people
will hear that and say well why not just
go vegan
well first off I miss chicken I miss
bacon I miss a whole lot of other things
but I don't think it's necessary so what
I learned from from doing that was I
need to become a lot more plant dominant
in my diet how could I make plants the
star of my dish and then complement it
with some protein if I wanted to that
was my big takeaway so I've become a lot
more plant dominant I call it within my
own diet because I could still take a
burger but it's a big style top of the
burger and do you have advice for people
on how to experiment like do you use any
tracking devices or a journal or I mean
your app is obviously extraordinary for
meal prep and stuff do you have games
that you recommend yeah well for for
anything I always tell people to journal
so I always tell people just to write
down how they're working out how they're
feeling and what they're eating so
whenever I'm doing something I'll always
just write write down like this new
thing
and it came from this experience I had
back in 2013 when I had fallen out of
love with fitness and my buddy comes to
me and he's bragging he's like yeah I
got these ABS and I care I got this PR
I'm the pinch press I'm doing all this
and I said well great
we'll enjoy it because it won't last
long and I was like that was so cynical
and I had to explain him I was like yeah
I'm just not feeling it right now but it
came from a place though of realizing
that how you how you feel right now may
not be how you feel tomorrow or in one
year and everyone kind of finds that we
all like arrived at that place we don't
know what happened what we're sitting
around thinking like I don't want to do
this anymore and what and what do we do
when that happens you start grasping for
straws just trying a little bit of
everything let me just try this I'm
gonna try this if we have our journals
we can go back to read what we were
doing to find that place of inspiration
that's what I call breadcrumbs go
following those bread comes back to that
place where you first fell in love with
the process I think one thing that's
important that I've heard you talk about
is how we define success
um I know in your mom's weight-loss
journey she hit a point where she had
plateaued wasn't losing the weight but
she wasn't noticing some really big wins
talk to people about how they should
think about especially in a weight loss
journey how they should think about
success yeah it's gonna vary from person
to person but I think for me from weight
loss perspective you should definitely
throw out the scale I know you probably
heard that before but it's really
important it's kind of like not watching
numbers in social media doing the same
thing both things can kind of make you
kind of manic and you start to think
about them way too much and put so much
emphasis on this number that we discount
the other things that are happening you
may discount the fact that your
followers are actually engaging with you
a lot more and they have great stories
but you're missing all that because you
I lost the follower today who cares
someone who said that you chase it
laughs in the comment section and you're
worried that somebody unfollowed you
same thing like with diet who cares the
fact that you know the weight is the
same you just put on that shirt and it
fits completely different now you are
wearing those jeans differently I mean
your face is clearing up so we discount
things that actually should matter so
it's really important to get perspective
within your health and wellness journey
first off define what that is but don't
look don't be so quick to look at some
of the qualitative measures of success
it's because it's so much more than that
the cool thing that I've seen about
healthy living and healthy eating is the
synergistic effect of how you can do
other things or how you're empowered to
do other stuff right so it's like that
person who because they've been eating
healthier now they feel that they can go
and start up their own company and it's
weird because those two are not related
but they really are because it's the
same core competencies yeah it's really
interesting especially that one in terms
of its impact on your clarity so I play
video games which I've talked endlessly
about my podcast and my wife and I were
playing this weekend and I'm wearing a
continuous glucose monitor right now
which is absolutely fascinating I mean
okay beyond fascinating so I like to see
I I think you're right qualitative is
far more important than quantitative and
what you had said about your mom
like she the scale was holding the same
but she was like oh but one cool thing I
was able to bend down this morning
without any pain for the first time and
you know 20 years or whatever and you
were like how about we focus on that
yeah I think is really extraordinary so
I'm wearing this continuous glucose
monitor and we're trying all this
different stuff what spikes me what does
it part of the fun for me of like
healthy living and healthy eating and
all that is is that individual
variability of seeing like what works
what doesn't and I can see I can lower
my blood sugar but I there's still some
weird effect on my cognition so I'm like
oh this [ __ ] adds up like you really
have to see like what freaks you out may
not freak the next person out but really
beginning to get systematic writing it
down in the journal and then one thing
that I'd love to hear you talk about is
go
setting yeah by going into a goals talk
to people about that I think this is
pretty interesting yeah goal sitting it
is really important it helps to focus
your efforts
whenever you it's it it goes back to
that point of you have until I remind
yourself of why you're doing something
set goals that you can actually measure
a lot of people are gonna set a goal
like alright I'm gonna eat better this
year that's not a real that's not a good
goal it's not a good one because that's
a that's an aspiration so I you know for
me I started out my first goal was to do
this mini triathlon sprint to get my
weight down and get my physical
capabilities up enough for that and did
you say I will do a mini triathlon
sprint by this day by this day I
actually found the race and signed up
for it to do so that was my first thing
that I wanted to go ahead and do and it
helped to remind me of what I was doing
and then those times where I felt
tempted to cheat that goal reminded me
that I need to stay on track so it's
really important that you not only said
something that you can measure but if
there's a way to to remind yourself of
your goals it's it's much more important
I do that in a couple ways I'll put it
up around the house but one thing that
I've gotten into and this came from
about with depression that's helped out
so much is to affirm myself daily so
there are a couple of things that I read
out loud that I posted up in my closet
about what I want my life to look like
and feel like what I want my business to
look like and feel like how I want to
treat other people and I say those
things to myself in the morning time and
it was really awkward at first because
I'm like why am I talking to myself in
this mirror I'm looking like super weird
right but the more I said the stuff the
more it became real for me and that even
some points it would become like were
they like emotional because often times
we don't talk to ourselves and it's like
someone giving us a hug and we're like
thank you need to hug today didn't even
realize that right that's the way that
we are when we don't talk to ourselves
and so for the first time I was talking
to myself and saying Kevin you have have
what it takes and I'm hearing myself say
that about me
and looking myself in the eye so there
was a lot of power in that so that doing
that stuff also aligns with my goals
because I will stay out I will be doing
this I'm gonna do this and I'm declaring
it out loud so that way it becomes real
so it's those things that maybe you may
not feel comfortable sharing out loud
but you know but you need to go ahead
and say whenever I had that like bad
breakup and stuff I was really I really
want a family and I really still want
that and I've become so obsessed with
that it made me like unhappy so I
stopped thinking about it and putting it
back and one thing in my therapist was
talking about with me is that you know
she kind of helped me to go and see that
that's still something that you that you
can't have because I convinced myself
today you know that I couldn't never me
the first time I got into the mirror and
I said you will you are loved Kevin and
you will find love and you will have an
amazing family and just that like it
took me up to say so and that told me
what that was doing it was chiseling
away at the wall that I've put up around
my heart to now let people in like I had
to remind myself that you need to be
open so again it's it's much deeper than
just having the avocado every day it's
the mental health too because when all
else fails you you gotta be mentally
tough for this have you ever heard of
the book or the movie
Like Water for Chocolate I have I've
never seen it though
Oh Kevin talking to you there's so much
soulfulness to you and like I keep so
thinking of this is like an interview
and I need to add value and make sure
that I set you up to give people the
information that like you're just so
prepared to give and I'm seeing this
whole well of like other stuff deeper
stuff about how like the the preparation
to make your food as like self-care and
the process of building yourself up is
so interesting and so powerful and Like
Water for Chocolate is all about this
woman who
basically emotes into her food and the
food becomes therapy and she's able to
pass it on to other people and knowing
that you come from a Southern tradition
and that it's like bonding there's so
much more to what you do with food like
it's not surprising at least after this
conversation how you've ended up where
you've ended up while you're following
is so big and why you continue to do
this and thrive I think that there's
it's rich you're like actually making me
rethink about my own relationship too
especially the the process of food
creation I've never wanted to use that
word before but that's good I feel that
right now
that's really [ __ ] interesting do you
have that kind of relationship like are
there times you're like this mood makes
me want to make this food not even so
much eat this food but like make this
type of food either with this type of
preparation or smells or whatever I get
inspired in different ways yeah there's
not necessarily like a like a smell or
something that happens or like a mood I
just want to get into the kitchen and
start cooking some things and I just
start going and going and going you know
one thing that this artist said she says
you never turn off that that voice in
your head that says be creative or
something so basically you know she was
saying that even if the you know it
strikes at like 2:00 a.m. get up and do
it so I have the habit - of getting up
at 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. if I feel
something and going and making a recipe
just because I just want to be in that
moment because I just feel so connected
to it we kind of tapped into your
creativity and for for me it's cooking
for you it could be something else
but but whatever drives you whatever it
keeps you up at night
don't don't turn that off don't turn
that off talk to me about what's the
role of sugar how do you think people
should think about it how much in your
diet you talked a lot about flipping
foods yeah I'm curious how much of like
and I assume by flipping me take some of
these delicious but not good for me and
make it still delicious and good for me
how much of that is the removal of sugar
yeah you know and I think that when
people talk about that I think they're
talking about
process that refined sugar in products I
think that's the part that we need to be
most aware of because sugar in itself is
not a bad thing sugars and almost
everything we eat like naturally but
it's the way that that sugar has been
brought to market that is really
problematic healthy food is a big
business and back in the day they found
out in the early 2000s that companies
found out that whoa this whole like TV
dinner era is may be over and because of
people like Oprah going on TV and
talking about things like people are
like yo I have got to eat healthier so
what happened was you had this massive
proliferation of all these different
healthy food products you gotta have
zero fat this and low fat that and what
people were doing is that science we're
you know we were able to use science to
kind of tweak us tweak our diets in
order to meet this calorie goal but at
the same time we were putting in things
like sugar in order to replace flavor so
I so it's it's I'm not talking about the
sugar that you would get from eating
fruits and vegetables we're talking
about the sugar or even maybe even honey
and like agave I'm talking about the
hidden sugars that are in food that you
know that can be pretty another
problematic that makes sense do you
think there's any such thing as a
universal diet yes and no so yes in the
sense that there are diets that I think
there is a diet that I think could work
for everybody
oh that's right I genuinely think so
break it down um when I actually spent
some time in Tel Aviv on this food tour
and it was right after I did keto and
what was amazing about this is that I
felt incredible when I was there seeing
a lot of foods and then it dawned on me
after day ten or so that I had only
eaten meat about twice you know the
entire trip and I was eating tons of
variety of different foods and flavors
and textures mostly plants so I was
doing the Mediterranean diet and the
reason why I like it
is it's a it's it's it's way more
balanced I think it's the way that a
diet should actually look look like I
think there is a place for everything
even animals and animal meat in there
but we but at the star of all the meals
are just plants like we are enjoying
nature and the fullness of it in a way
that we haven't before and I say this
Universal too because the Mediterranean
diet is based off of a lifestyle of
people in that region who have you know
the similar approach to eating even
alcohol so I think that it can be
sustainable I think that we're just
taking like a way of life and saying hey
this is a healthy way to go ahead and
live so yes it can't apply to everybody
now no in the sense that since all of
our bodies are unique there can't be
universal diet
some people don't process carbs very
well they don't process sugars very well
some people can't process fats and so
what we work for you it's not gonna work
for somebody else technically that makes
all the sense in the world so given that
there are some people right now
listening I promise who are like yeah no
I'm not doing something where it's plant
dominant business horrifying what recipe
from your book would you recommend for
that person to try knowing that they're
gonna like this like I always tell
people everybody likes sushi
some people just haven't found the title
sushi that they like so everybody likes
plants but some people haven't had what
recipe from your book you know what I
would say to try the abundance bowl with
sweet potatoes and chickpeas it's a
really hearty take on a salad
it's got braised kale it's got roasted
sweet potatoes some fiery chickpeas and
then a really cool green sauce and I
think what I like about this is like
it's a whole lot of texture it's a whole
lot of color and tons of flavor and the
one thing and it's so Hardy that when
you eat it you you don't really realize
that meat it's not in it because there's
so many different elements and like
involved and I think even if you wanted
to
and chicken like you could to that
recipe but it's not needed so that's
what I want to go ahead and prove to
people too that sometimes yeah like you
go ahead if you want to add in the steak
to that thing go ahead and do it that
this is your diet it's not needed though
I think meat meat can provide a lot of
benefits and and I think that our bodies
are actually you know are
physiologically made to eat meat but I
do not think we have enough balance
that's been the primary thing and that's
due to the business of Health the way
that we've been talking about it for so
long
I mean before I ask my last question all
these guys where they can find you
online yeah you can find me at fit men
cook anywhere on Instagram on Facebook
YouTube and also fit men cook calm nice
thank you my last question okay what's
the one change that people could make to
their diet that would have the biggest
impact on their health or it doesn't
have to be diets the one change that
they could make do the one change that
they could make oh okay here's a really
easy thing that everyone can do drink
more water or non sugary liquids I think
that was whenever I'm feeling not so
fresh and kind of bloated I'm not having
a really good movement and stuff it's I
can always almost always assure you that
I have not had enough water and every
single time it has helped me out with my
weight loss journey it's it's readily
available you can get it but in terms of
just making me feel fresh and lubricated
joints I think that is one of the best
things and that's the one thing that we
can all do just drink more water
nice and simple thank you so much you so
much for being on the show because
you're ordinary you two guys trust me
when I say you're going to benefit
tremendously if you start just eating
some of this man's food it's incredible
it's delicious and you will begin to
reap the dramatic health benefits of
removing a lot of the processed food out
of your life eating whole food whenever
you can he's walk people through how to
do it on a budget he's walk people
through have
something that they love and just can't
imagine giving up like his famous banana
split and all of this stuff how to do in
a healthy way there are so many
extraordinary recipes on his YouTube
channel on his Instagram and in this
book you can't go wrong with any of them
he's got an extraordinary app that will
let you meal prep so whatever it is that
you want I think that he's got an
extraordinary beat on it and hopefully
you picked up in this interview there's
just something about the way that he
approaches it that brings a whole new
level of meaning to soul food so check
it out dive into this world you will be
richly rewarded all right if you haven't
already be sure to subscribe and until
next time my friends be legendary
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