The Balance Blueprint: Health, Life, and Legacy with Jared Tavasolian

Welcome back to the Infinite Gold Podcast. Growth and greatness, life, legacy, and laughs with the Goldners. Today we have Jared Tavassolian. I got that right, right?

I nailed it.

Let's go! I'm super excited to have him here today. As you guys know, fitness, nutrition, vitality, health, the works is very prominent in, uh, what we're going to be discussing throughout the weeks. Our lives— diabetes is rampant in my family. Lost my grandfather to it, lost both of his legs prior to that. My father's had 2 heart attacks now because of it.

Oh my gosh.

And then Bree's father is diabetic. It's also in her family, so We really—

There's also 2.

Oh, there you go. See, it's pretty rampant. And so we really want to get as much information out to people to reduce those chances of people getting it and/or falling from it. So we brought Jared on. He's the owner of Heal Strong. He's got over 20+ years in the fitness nutrition space. He's kind of changed his look on fitness nutrition as the time has gone on and he's really broadened his horizons, brought in new tools, tricks that he brings to his clients every single day. He's got a degree in kinesiology, uh, he's got a Harvard School of Medicine in nutrition. He's the second certified instructor from Wim Hof, so he does a lot of breath work, um, which we all know is super helpful for us that we don't nearly do enough.

We need to do more of it.

Yes, 100%. I even told them before we got on that I bought that course and I got about halfway through it.

I didn't even know you had that course. Yeah, that's how much I know you've done with it.

I've got a lot of courses that I probably haven't finished and I should. There's another one on sleep we were talking about about that, I've got a sleep course too. About halfway through that, uh, I should probably sleep on it. Maybe, maybe not. But he works with a high— a lot of high-end clients, um, and his specialty is pain and injuries for people who have been going through pain and had injuries maybe when they were a kid or when they did sports and they just never recover from it. That's where he comes into play, and he can really help find out what's wrong with you more on maybe a metabolic level, more on the nervous system level, and what have you. But Again, that was long-winded, but Jared, thanks again for coming on here.

I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. I love, I love doing podcasts. It's really, for me, it's, it's an, it's easier to have these conversations and connect than sometimes on social media when I'm trying to just sit in front of a camera and talk to nobody. It's so hard and I don't like it.

We were just talking about that.

Yes.

How this is so much easier getting to just have a good, solid, deep conversation with people about what we're doing. And there's, it's like, uh, they get a better understanding versus like it feeling forced when you're sitting behind a camera to record a video just so you can share some content.

Make sure you, make sure you get that hook in there and then you gotta get the middle and then you gotta get that call to action and all of this. I'm like, oh man.

Oh, it's all the details and all the like logistics of it. And we're like, well, this works and this doesn't. So that's why we enjoy doing this and we're happy to have you that feels the same. And so now, you know, we can relate on that.

Yeah. I appreciate that. Yeah. It's much easier. I, I love this, uh, this dynamic for sure.

Awesome. Well, let's start with Heal Strong. What is it? How'd you come up with that name? I love it, but let's, let's see what we got here.

Well, I've been— so I've been doing training and nutrition and all that stuff for like 20-plus years. And like you said, you know, my, my view of the industry and helping people has changed because when you start in your 20s, you're relating to things and people differently. And I started to really recognize that just because you're fit doesn't mean you're healthy. And I started to see people who go to the gym and who lift weights and who are lean and who look good, they don't always feel good. And so as I started to shift from training to doing this nutrition and bodywork stuff, this idea of healing came out. And so Heal Strong just felt— my friend Matt came up with it one day when we were talking and it's just stuck and I've been just using it ever since.

Love that. No, that's cool. So like you're saying, as you got older, you kind of started to relate to I guess aches and pains that people were starting to go through and in their health.

Yeah, because you see people and, and especially today when we have social media, it's like you don't really know how a person feels. You know, I can sell you a look, I can look good in front of the camera for 10 seconds. Yeah. And so one of the things that I learned from a mentor of mine is this very specific bodywork practice. So it's, uh, you come in clothes on and I push all over your body and he believed that you should never be in pain. And you should never be sore, depending on, unless you've been in a traumatic accident, right? Like if I've been hit by a car or someone hit me with a bat, I'm gonna have trauma. But a lot of people wake up with pain and injuries and they came from nowhere. They don't know how they got them. And he would say that that's how your body communicates that what you're doing is out of balance to how you should be living. So pain is really the way our body communicates to us. The problem is, is that most people see their pain, you know, think about it, you get a headache, ah, forget it, I'm just gonna take an Advil. But really we should look at like, is it cuz I didn't sleep? Is it cuz, oh, I'm not drinking caffeine where normally I'm having 3 cups a day? Is it my blood sugar is low? Like your body's talking to you.

Yeah.

But people, so your car is saying check engine. Yep. And instead of actually checking, you put a masking tape cuz you're like, I don't wanna deal with this. And that's what, yeah, that's what people do all day long. And you know, we can take it from an example of like in the, in the physical body, someone comes to me. And they're— or I see them at the gym and they're like, oh yeah, they're in their 40s or 50s now, and they're like, oh, I'm gonna go get hip surgery or knee surgery. And you're like, like, cool, you're so young. Well, for sure, yeah. But like, like, what are you gonna do after? Like, oh, I just can't wait to get the hip surgery so I can go back to doing what I was doing. And it's like, don't you see that what you were doing caused the hip pain? Yep. So, so people do this, they have their pain, they have their thing, They take something, they take a pill, they do something and they go back to living the same way that they were living. Nothing changes, you know, temporary, like a bandaid on there. Yeah, exactly.

Like a bandaid, the bandaid effect.

That's it.

It takes it to another level where when people say, listen to your body, like you really gotta listen to your body cuz it's giving you those signals like, hey, maybe there's something wrong. What am I doing that's affecting A, B, C, and D?

Uh, 100% always. That's, that is, that lands.

Yeah. So without, saying the company names, I'm guessing you're not a fan of those shots that everybody's taking right now to lose the weight because, because I can, because I can take it, right? But if I'm still eating the same way, I'm still working out the same way, or let's say I went my, you know, 30 days of working out well and eating well, we're just going to go back to the same way prior, right?

Yeah. And I think that's the difference between what other people do and what I do. And. I think that that's the issue with all of these things. So you're talking about the Ozempic shot or tirzepatide, or you're talking about the juice cleanses, or even like you just said, you did a 5-day water fast. There's nothing wrong with it in it by itself, but what people will do is they'll feel shitty, they'll do this thing, and they'll go back to the life that created the shitty feeling. So it's a cycle, and they never learned how to connect to themselves to understand what they need. So they never really learn a skill. So like, yeah, you go get the shot. But you didn't learn how to connect deeper to yourself to understand what you need. And that's what we're trying to teach all of our kids, right? Like, yeah, you know, use your, use your words, communicate. How do you feel? Have awareness. But there's a lot of us adults who, who miss that lesson in class, you know?

What was it? Do as I say, not as I do type of thing.

And, and I, and that's how, that's how I got to this place because I was in a place where I was training hard. If you looked at me, I looked really fit. But inside I felt like crap and, and I didn't realize the connection of the nervous system. I didn't realize that my environment has a big thing to do with how I feel. So I just was like, oh, I'm gonna go to the gym. I'm gonna take the protein powders. I'm gonna do the thing, creatine and that. And then, and yeah. And then I still feel the same way.

All the things.

Yeah.

That's awesome. Well, you mentioned both two different things that we definitely wanna touch on the nervous system and your environment, but let's start with your environment and your headspace and we've been obviously growing the last year or so, and we've really tapped into this whole mindset side of things where, you know, there's discipline and then there's motivation. Like, are you disciplined to do something or are you motivated to do something? Well, we're not always motivated, so you've got to be disciplined. So how do you tap into that environment and that headspace for your clients to get them to that next level? Because as you know, especially when we're all in pain, we're not motivated to do anything, like, at all. So how do you tap into that and how do you work through your clients on that?

That's a good question. I would say it's also kind of a loaded question because it depends on the person in front of me. You know, everyone's motivated by different things, but I would say that, that the thing I notice more and more with people is that they're too overextended. We have too many things going on. There's too much opportunities. There's too much yes to everything. An analogy I'll use with clients a lot is when you go to a buffet, I have an empty plate and I go up there and I start putting the mashed potatoes on and the steak on and— Oh, let's go. Yeah. Let's go. No, right? I get all the things. Guilty. By the time I get halfway through, my plate is full, but there's all this great food. So I just keep putting food on top of food, right?

Yep.

And that's kind of a symbolism of how we do our lives. We're taking care of the kids, we're going to work, we're trying to be the best friends. We're so overextended that we don't have the resources to do the things. And like, you know, Bri, we were talking about moms. Moms are— the worst because they take care of everybody else. They take care of everybody else and they, they sacrifice themselves. But if you've been on any plane, you know that one of the emergency exit conversations is you gotta put your mask on before you put your kids on.

Yep.

So when I'm working with moms, it's a lot about contracting and like bringing in your energy so that you can focus and be very specific on the things that you really want. Because people are like, I always say, okay, What are your, your main 3 buckets? As a mom, for you, it might be yourself, your kids, and your husband, or your work, or your, yourself, your kids. So now whatever your 3 things are, you go into the world and there's all these opportunities coming at you. Oh, homegirl wants to go out on a Thursday night and have like wine. Oh, I wanna sign up for PTA. I don't know. And you have to ask yourself, does it serve one of my 3 buckets? And if it's not, you have to be good at saying no because you, you have these 3 things that are important to you, but you keep saying yes. To things that don't fill those buckets. So you don't have enough time. So, so these are kind of things that we work on with clients.

Oh, that's so good. Like to hear it from your perspective, like from a man giving the perspective and seeing, you know, cuz the clients that you deal with, that gave me something more to think about. Oh, that's really, that's really good. That it's giving me something to think about. So that's for sure gonna give our listeners something to think about, all the moms out there that are listening. That's really good. I did. I, I didn't ever think about it that way. And your 3 buckets of care, these contributing to these buckets, because we're so used to spreading ourselves thin.

And this is when it comes back to, you know, for a lot of people, they don't have the discipline because it's why when you go to the grocery store, they put all those cool little candies right up at the front. Because by the time you've gone through a grocery store and you've made, and you've made all your choices about food and what you're going to get and what you're not, by the time you get to the checkout, Your brain is done. You have decision fatigue. That shiny thing looks good. You just grab it, grab it. So I think people's discipline also is affected by all the things that you do. And how many times do you get to dinnertime and you're like, ugh, let's just have pizza. Like, who cares?

It happens.

It's, yeah, I think it was like last week. I feel like we, no, two weeks ago.

I forget.

Yeah.

Yeah. A few weeks ago we, we got done with handling a bunch of work and we were playing with the kids and then we're just like, shit, it's already this time. Okay. I don't feel like cooking. There's nothing in the freezer. Let's just order out.

And what we've been great about it, so that's one thing that we've definitely transitioned because we used to do it more times than we can count. Now we've done it a little bit less. One of the things that we've invested in was is we bought half a cow last year. We've— same, we've mentioned it. And you just bought it with the same exact company. Have you eaten it yet?

Oh, it's amazing.

Amazing. Yeah, we're actually going to bring Nikki on. Oh cool, on the podcast. Like, she's awesome, so we'll talk all about it, but Like, we can't eat meat that's like from the grocery store anymore.

I won't. I'll be a meat snob now.

Yeah. But like, if you order it the way we ordered it, just like you did, it comes out to being cheaper than the grocery store.

Definitely.

And then now we could just walk right to our garage, grab it out, defrost it, and it's ready to go. So it reduced a lot of those eating out and a lot of those other stuff that we were doing prior.

Yeah, it makes sense for sure.

So since we kind of tapped into that whole nutrition side of things, can you talk about, um, Like metabolism, obviously we all have this idea and notion of what metabolism is and how it, you know, that's where we get our energy and, oh, you have a high metabolism, so that's just why you're skinny. But can you explain how you can actually change and/or adapt your metabolism and your eating to you personally or your client?

And improve it?

Yeah.

Yeah. So metabolism is basically the ability to convert food into energy and that's I would say we wanna keep this as very base possibly.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I think that's all really people need to know is like metabolism is converting food to energy and everybody's gonna be a little bit different. And previously it was thought that your, your genetics created your metabolism, but we know a lot now that it's not so much the genetics, but you learn behaviors that happen from parents or whatever that you were in that, that created that. I also believe that mindset, the mind is a huge part of metabolism. So like Huberman has, oh, he's a sci— I don't know if you know Andrew Huberman.

Yeah. Yeah. We followed him on the podcast. Listened to a couple of them. He's got some long podcasts, but no, man. But they are so good. Yeah. The science that he brings in.

Yeah.

And, and so one of them he was talking about, which is really cool, is that he, he said, I'm a science guy. I need to see the data. I need to see the stats. But he's like, there's an interesting, he was talking to, I think Chris Wilcox or something. He was saying that there was a study they did where they had two groups and they accounted for every other No other factor except they gave one group this milkshake and they told them the milkshake was a healthy minerals, aminos, vitamins, and the same milkshake they gave to another group and they told them it was like, I don't know, In-N-Out chocolate milkshake.

Okay.

Both groups, both groups ate the milkshake. The group that thought that it was healthy lost a certain amount of body fat, got all their health markers were, went down. Wow. Our mindset has a huge, a huge part of playing in, in what we do. And so, so that's, I think for metabolism, it comes to stress, it comes to minerals. And, and we know like stress, we hear that word, you know, it's like the boogeyman word. You know, it's there, you can't really, it's like wifi, like it's, you can't really get it. But the, the impact that wifi has, I'm sorry, that, that stress has on a person.

I mean, wifi does too.

Wi-Fi does too, 5G.

I mean, that's, that'll be a whole nother topic. We can Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, all of that.

But, but stress is like, it's, it has a huge impact and people don't really recognize how bad it is if we can't manage it. Some stress is good. Like, you know, we need a little bit of stress to like build some strength and be resilient. But stress, the definition of stress is the demands being placed on the body or the human or the organism is greater than what the organism can handle. And this over time, and we can get into the physiology of it if you want, but over time, this really breaks somebody down and it, it, it can have them do weird things. Like you don't wake up, when you wake up, you're not hungry. Then later in the day, you need to, you need to balance that out. So you create carbs and sugars and fats because it's calming to the nervous system. So metabolism is basically the ability to convert food into energy. And now we have ways that we can do that. So like Anthony, we did the metabolic test.

Yep. Yep.

And that, that's a way where I, I bring somebody in, I put 'em on a face mask and a heart rate monitor. And based on their questions that they answer, their goals, who they are, and the information that the machine gets, we can now more strategically give someone their macros, tell them exactly how many proteins, carbs, and fats to eat. So I've had celebrities who are getting ready for roles. I've had athletes coming in, getting ready for stuff. And so now you can program, you can know exactly what your macros are for eating., and you can know if I do the VO2 max, the treadmill test or the bike test, you can also now have a prescription on how you should train to be more efficient. And what's cool about that is if you listen to Peter Attia, who's another longevity doctor on the podcast, he, he's an amazing guy. He wrote a book called Outlive.

Yeah. Okay.

Yes. And, uh, it was great cuz he's been going around basically validating the metabolic testing I'm doing, saying that there's these 3 pillars. You have strength. You have zone 2 and you have interval training. And the more balance you have between these 3 spaces is going to be the greatest indication of longevity. Yeah. So I think we're in an interesting time where we can be efficient. I, I would rather be in the gym for 2 hours a week than 6 and get the same results. Yes.

Yes. Oh my gosh. Well, dude, I, I remember the days when I, cuz I used to work for Gold's Gym at one point and I ran front desk. I was like the most motivated, I guess if you will, to be in the gym because I worked there and I was so excited to either work out before my shift or work out after. And I would would be in there for 2 to 3 hours. But nowadays I'm like, I don't have that much time to— I'm like, I'm lucky if I can get my 35 minutes in. I'm like, hey, make the most of your time. I'm just like, okay, if I've only got 10 minutes, and I'm like, go, go, go. Um, but that, like, that spending that much time in the gym is absolutely ridiculous. Like, what the fuck are you doing that entire time? Like, no, like, that's crazy.

They're on their phone taking selfies.

Yeah.

Oh yeah, scrolling selfies, chit-chatting with everybody because they're not like— their head's not in the game. But so You're not really even working out that hard and you're not working out for that entire time.

Yeah.

Or people, or people use it as a way to deal with their anxiety because it's a safe, it's an escape. It's an escape. And that's what I see more often is like, we don't feel safe or we're worried and we manage it working out, managing it is the same way as going to have a drink, you know?

Yeah.

A better way though.

It's a better way, but it's still bad because now like you, you, you just mentioned it, you're putting stressors on your body. So now if you're putting 2 hours of stressors on your body and then you're not recovering, or you're recovering with, with horrible nutrition, well, in essence, I think that's probably worse for you than had you not done that. Yeah.

And I, and I think, so this is part of like what I teach and why it's so important to not just, you know, because if I go online right now and I'm like, okay, I want to lose weight, get stronger, whatever, I'm going to download somebody's plan who's going to give me a template and it's going to say, eat X, do Y. And you're gonna get healthy. But in that process, I'm not learning anything about myself.

Nope.

So, but now what if I learn to understand when I'm feeling stressed, to understand the signs that my body is telling me, right? Like now I'm creating a connection to myself because if I wake up on a Wednesday, I'm dog ass tired, I haven't slept, I go to do my first whatever set of pushups or sled drive and I can feel, oh, it's like way harder than normal. I need to stop. Yeah. Or I need to do less or lighten the load. And this is, this is smart training. You know, in the past, in the past, a good training session was I sweat hard, I kicked my ass, I'm so sore.

And I can't move the next day.

And I can't, and I can't move.

So what would you recommend to the stay-at-home mom or the working mom who, like you said, has got so many different things they're trying to accomplish all at the same time? And then their one thing that they always say Nope, it's not, it's not doable. I can't make it happen. But you literally just said that you could work out for 2 hours a week if it's done smart, and that'll work. So how do you give us like a quick rundown of how you would help out somebody that is maybe asking for that or needs that?

Well, they should all come and do my metabolic test.

Number one. I like it. Yes. Hey, by the way, his website will be in the description. So definitely take a look at it and check it out. I did it. It was amazing. And I'm gonna be probably doing a second one here soon.

Max, I appreciate it. No, I think for me, the, the, the biggest thing is shifting the mindset of the mom. So gen— generally a mom will get up, take care of everyone first. She won't eat breakfast. She'll grab her coffee. She's out the door. She's— wow. There's a stare right there going down.

I'm getting better at it.

You are 100%. But we literally just had this conversation cuz Um, you're probably gonna touch on it. Moms, they do a lot. They're amazing. They're super women. They, you guys go in waves. There's sometimes when like you guys are killing it and then you're not. And we have to have those calibration talks where like, hey babe, let's, let's get back to where you were. And then you'll probably touch on a little bit more as to the benefits of doing that. Yeah.

And, and I think it's about, it's about changing the mindset. There needs to be a shift. I don't need an hour to do a workout. Mm-hmm. Like realistically, I need 15 to 20 minutes, maybe. And depending on how old my kids are, I could probably do it with them. But this idea of like, I need to put my Lululemons on, I need to go to the gym, it needs to look like this, I need to be there for an hour. This I think is crazy. So, so to me it's a shift and it's, it's a shift also in taking care of themselves because the typical, like I was, I was saying is like a mom gets up, she doesn't eat, she drinks coffee to get herself jacked so that she can handle all the morning stuff. She goes, she goes, maybe around 11 she'll get a green juice, a pastry, or a bar because that's easy. She'll keep going. She'll try to grab a salad for lunch, you know, and then it's picking up the kid. It's like, it doesn't stop. And so I think that we are just bigger versions of our childhood selves. Like, I think when I look at my son who's 8, I see myself. I'm just a, a bigger version of him. And kids need to have consistency in their life in order to feel safe. They need to have consistency in order to be able to rest and to play. When a, when a kid is stressed, he won't play, he won't dance, and he won't sing.

Or she.

Yeah. So a lot of my clients who come to me, when they tell me their day, I'm like, what did, what did you do today? The perfect example of mom, she's like, oh, well, I wake up, I drink a black coffee, I intermittent fast until 1, I grab a quick bar, then I go to the gym. And then I look at her and I say, okay, your daughter is 5. If your daughter did that, she would be a fucking monster. Like, she would literally be insane.

And hashtag toddlers.

And then, and then you wonder, you want— and then the mom is like on anxiety meds, depression meds, and it's like, no wonder you're doing these things to your body. And I'm not saying that no one should be on any kind of medications or anything like that. There's a time and a place. But I'm just saying we have to look at how our food, our behavior, and our environment, the way we're living, reacting to our day is causing us to feel before we jump on a med.

Um, I believe, again, not to try to get down that rabbit hole, but a lot of people are utilizing that side of things to mask what they've been doing to their bodies for the last 15, 20, 30 years, however long it's been. And another good book that I was reading, I'm not sure if you have, it's called Good Energy.

Oh no, I don't know that one.

I'll send that over to you and then we'll throw it in the description as well. Um, I forget who wrote it, but everything that you've been saying is what they talk about in it, is your metabolic— what you're eating, what you're putting in your body can have adverse effects if it's horrible, or it can actually give you and give your mitochondria that energy that it needs to help recover and help do certain things. And now you're not going to be as stressed, not as depressed, and all of these facets of life that we deal with on a daily basis.

Yeah, I think that's 100% truth. So to me, for the moms, waking up and treating yourself like one of your kids— wake up, have breakfast. You know, I, I know that mornings are busy because I know that when I have to like take care of my son, I feel that. But maybe I can wake up 5 minutes early and set an intention for my day. You know, maybe I can get outside and get some early morning sunlight on my eyes. Doesn't have to be like 20 minutes. You know, the influencers who are promoting that you gotta get up, you gotta cold plunge, sauna, journal, read a book, have a gratitude list. It's like either they don't have kids or they're so— or, or, and I think it's like, to be so temperamental that I need all this stuff just to be okay in my day is crazy.

No.

Yeah.

Well, and I think people, uh, I think for a lot of moms that are just like, well, I gotta stick to this routine. Well, I think part of being a mom is yes, you, yes, routine's great and all, but you have to have that flexibility in case if some of those things that you do on a, you know, regular basis to be well or to feel well, like if you can't get all of those things done, you have to know that it's okay. And. You're not, you may not get all those things done. So don't set the bar so dang high that you can't achieve that every day. Cause then when you don't, they have the all or nothing mentality. Like, oh, I couldn't get A, B, C, and D done. And I still, but I only got 2 of these things done and they said, well, I didn't get it done at all. You know? And then they're just like, forget about it. And then they have a piss poor attitude the rest of the day. Oh, honestly. Cause they let it get, cause they let it get to them. I've been guilty of that. There's been times where like I. Set myself up to get these things done before the kids wake up and maybe I only get 2 of the 5 done and I'm like pissed at myself and then, you know, but now like I realize, okay, you know what? I still got these 2 things done. We'll do better next time. It's like, don't beat yourself up.

Yeah, it's a great attitude.

So question for you since you kind of touched on it a little bit and you've kind of moved from the way you used to train more into this like more, not necessarily holistic route, but in more of a body wellness route is what are some like misconceptions that you have of the fitness and nutrition world that is plastered all over there? We kind of touched on a few things like those cleanses and those, those green juices. But what, what are like, maybe let's say the 3 biggest misconceptions that a lot of people think that they have to do or need to do that you're like, no, that's not true.

That's a good, that's a good question. I would say in the, in the fitness industry, I think it's that you have to kill yourself to get results. Yeah. So, uh, I've been doing this for a long time. So for me in particular, like right now is a per— is like a very hard season where I'm like my business, my kid, I'm trying to do some other things, uh, on the side. So my time to train and to work isn't very great. You know, maybe I have 20, 25 minutes in a day. Yeah. But I can still maintain my physique. I can still look good when I take my shirt off and I don't, kill it. I also think that from what I, what I see is it's on the fitness side, it's a marathon. So I want to be doing what I'm doing until I'm 80. And my friend Chris, he's a, he's a life coach, and I, I was at a training with him one time where he was speaking to this group, and he said we need to, instead of looking, we look to our past and we see like most people will be like, oh man, I wish I could have done this when I was 12 or 15, you know. He said no, that's the wrong question. The right question is look at your 80-year-old self and ask that person what he needs from you today. You know?

That's good. Sorry guys. No worries. It's all good. That's what edits for.

Okay. So can you guys see me okay? Cause sometimes my screen's a little—

Yeah. So what, what it's doing is it's probably, um, going off of ours, so it's, it's uploading, so it'll be fine at the end. It gets blurry, but we'll be, we'll be— Okay, cool.

All right.

So I don't know where we were. Misconceptions. And you're talking about, uh, your 80-year-old self.

Yeah. Yeah. So, okay. So my, um, My friend Chris, he was saying to this group, he said, ask your, your 80-year-old self what he needs from you today. And when I look at people today who are training, they're beating themselves up in the gym. They're, they're training till they're hurt. They're hurt and they're still training. And we think that we just live in this bubble of what's happening now, but that's going to affect you later on. And I don't think we, we see that way. But what I do see is I see people in their 70s and 80s when they start to lose basic functions that they need. Your world— like, okay, for me, I'm active. I climb, I surf, I box, I do jiu-jitsu, I golf. So like, my experience of the world is based on the things I like to do, my activity. Something gets taken away, let's say I hurt my arm, I can't do these things, my world becomes smaller. So, so we're training for this strength, this ego. Like, you know, everyone's like, oh, I got to go to the gym for guys, like, and I got to be like buff. For what? Like, after I have enough strength to look good naked, to be able to do basic tasks. Like, can I climb? Yeah. Can I run? Yeah. Can I push myself off the floor to surf? Yeah. Do I need more strength?

No, not necessarily. Can I save my, my kid from this house on fire? Cool. All right. I, I love that idea because, I mean, I feel like a lot of men are this way, and I was 100%, is I'm always go, go, go, and what's the next biggest, craziest thing I could do? Like, I'm doing the police unity tour and we're gonna ride 50 miles, and then we're gonna ride 100 100, 100, it's like, yeah, it's, it's great and all, but like, if that's something that you consistently do and then you're trying to do a new thing the next 3 months later and then something 3 months after that, like, I hate bashing certain groups of people, but for some reason I always do it with CrossFit. But my issue with it is not the workouts and it's not the people, it's the way they look. And the reason it— and what I'm getting at by the way they look is not physically, it's they have their elbows wrapped, they have their knees wrapped, they have their wrists wrapped, they have like the KT tape, like like it almost looks like they're a mummy and it's like just for them to go do their competition or their workouts, like what you just said, what does their body look like underneath all of that? For sure.

I feel like injury prone. So there, I feel like I've, I've only ever heard of people talk about CrossFit in a way like, okay, yeah, it's a cool thing to do, but look at the way you're beating your body up. Like, is it doing you any justice? Is it, you know, helping you create longevity or is it cutting that longevity back?

And I think what it is, is I think it's— you mentioned it earlier, it's the mental side of it. Like, you can do CrossFit where it's beneficial to you. The problem is the mental side of it. Everybody is like, I got to be number 1 on the board, I've got to do this, I have these metrics that I have to hit because if I don't hit it, then I suck. It's like, no, you can do it to your best ability and stop right there. Like, stop trying to be the next biggest and best person.

Yeah, I think, I think it's— well, I think it's— and for, for women too, there's this, uh You know, depending on who you roll with, there's this, I'm gonna train hard, I'm gonna eat less, I'm going to suffer to hit whatever that thing is. So for me, the fitness thing is really about longevity more than needing to— strength is great. I need strength. But like you said, like for important things after that, you know, and I, and I always say this is another one and then I'll get to a quick nutrition one. But yeah, back in the day, I remember Michael Jordan was my favorite player. I love watching him play. When he first came in the league, he's a high flyer. He's dunking on people. He's going to the hole. As he gets older, he starts to realize that like that part of his game is really strong and he has that whenever he wants, but he's not a great 3-point shooter. He's not a great mid-range. So he keeps, he keeps his high-flying stuff in the bank, maintenance. And then he goes to work on all these other aspects. He works on his mid-range, his fadeaway, his 3-pointer. By the end of his career, he's the best player to ever play. And so I think like, I'll see guys who come into the gym and they're strong as hell. If I got that strength, okay, put it in maintenance, go work on something else to become— Yes.

You know, so, so good. Yeah.

So I think that this is an important part because a lot of first responders and a lot of fire guys, like, you guys are always hurt. You're always— and so it's, it's sad for you and it's sad for the people who, who care for you and the people who you care for. Mm-hmm. And then for nutrition, I think the biggest misconception is like this whole idea of demonizing foods. Like, I'm not a big proponent of seed oils, but it's not gonna kill me if I have some here and there. I'm not, not paleo, I'm not carnivore. People want to say like, this is right and this is wrong, and it's different for everybody. So I try to work with people to kind of work past that because the mind can keep you stuck more than, you know, like perfect example, I'm working with a client. And she's like, I say to her, because she, her nervous system is really out of whack and she's undereating tremendously. I'm like, hey, at night before bed, have a little ice cream. She's like, she's like, ice cream? I would never eat ice cream. How could you tell me to eat ice cream? Like, you're supposed to be my health coach. Like, what are you telling me? I said, okay. I said, do you eat, do you eat milk or do you drink milk? She's like, yeah. I said, do you eat eggs? She said, yeah. I was like, do you occasionally have sugar? She said, yeah. I was like, girl, mix that up together. You got ice cream, just put it in the freezer. Like, what do we— her mind, her mind was fixated on I don't wanna eat ice cream that she couldn't see that like— so trying to work through this thing about like, "Oh, I gotta be Paleo. Oh, I have to have the perfect meal plan." Yeah. There is no perfect meal plan.

No. Since you mentioned it on the food side of things and we— we've talked about it and you learned a lot about it is the meat side of things. Why is there such this stigma of red meat and then actually how beneficial is it for women and their hormones and the cycles and what have you when you're eating the red meat?

Yeah. Well, I think that started, if I'm correct, that started in like the 1950s or something. There was a big lobby for this thing about going against saturated fat. And I think there's even like New York Times or Time Magazine had an article or something like that where they talked about this, that there was a lot of researchers that were paid off to say that fat from meat makes you sick when actually it was like sugar or there was some other reason for it. Mm-hmm. So it's been around for a long time. And there's also this huge green movement right now, which is like everyone needs to be green. We need to be recycled. We need to take care of the planet. And so that green movement, I think, is pushing more of trying to get people away from eating meat, which I think is wild. And I don't, don't follow that. Yeah. For women, I noticed that I would say 99% of the women that come to see me under eat and under eat protein.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. And protein, when you break it down to its smallest form, is amino acids. And those amino acids are the building blocks. So I always tell my clients the same thing. It's like, You know, every day you're, you're putting your body through this, whether you're physically active or not. You're waking up, you're taking care of your kids, you're moving around the house, you're expending energy. Mm-hmm. And so you need to heal and repair, and we get that through protein. So if you're not eating enough, it would be like me giving you a couple 2x4s, a hammer, and a nail and saying, build me a house.

And you're like, that's so good.

You're lacking some of the tools. Yeah.

I don't have the material. What are you talking about? And that's your body, your body over time, when it doesn't have the tools, it will start to sacrifice itself to heal and repair. A lot of people are spending money, but they're not putting it back into their bank account. At some point you're on borrowed credit. That's usually when people get sick.

That's good.

Yeah. I could do this all day, guys.

Let's go. Oh, I know. We, we mentioned this before that we're, we're definitely gonna have to do a couple of these. Because there's some other tangents I would've loved to dive into, but you know, I think we'll start losing people or we'll end up having like a Jocko or Huberman and it's an, you know, 2-hour long podcast, which again, there's nothing wrong with it, but we'll have to do a couple more. But as we come to a close here today, it's a question we ask all of our interviewees and our guests, and you've got so much knowledge and like I'll be coming back to you to get my updated stuff. Bree's probably going to come to you. We recommend anybody and everybody that's in the Westlake Thousand Oaks area to definitely reach out to Jared. And/or I know Jared does things via online. He's got PDFs, he's got tools to help you. So please check him out. On that note, Jared, 3 golden nuggets. What are the 3 golden nuggets in your sphere of what we call the pillar of vitality? What are the 3 golden nuggets people should know and abide by? To live this longer life.

Man, I wish you would've told me that before so I could be prepared.

I know I should. So there's a reason we don't ask people and we don't tell people, cuz we want them to be on the spot. We wanna know what is those first 3 things that come to mind.

What's your dominant thought right now?

Yeah. The first, the first one is slow down.

That, that, that hits me. That hits me hard cuz I don't even, I couldn't even tell you what that means.

Slow down. I think that's good.

Yeah.

But for me as well, sometimes too, it's like trying to get all the things done and do all the things. Life is like passing before us. So slow, slowing down. I think the second thing that, that comes up to me is the most important thing is connecting to self. Cuz we're constantly like, sometimes I even saw, I don't know if you guys see Theo Von, but he had this quote on where he was like, he was kind of getting personal and he was like, you know, I don't even know if my to-do lists are for me or for somebody else. Like, I don't know why. Oh, it's like, how do I know what I need? And when I ask a lot of adults, like, how are you doing? Do you know what you need? They don't know.

That is a hard question. That's a great question. That's a phenomenal question to ask. Yeah.

So slowing down, connecting to self, and the third one probably is it's not that serious. I think people take life, life way too serious, whether it is Republican, Democrat, vegan, not this, that it's like, Everyone's like upset about shit.

That is so good. Loosen up a little.

Yeah, it's not that serious.

It's okay.

Serious. I like that. Those are my phenomenal—

yeah, I love it. Wow, thank you so much for the knowledge that you've shared with us today. I think a lot of people are going to have some aha moments in their health, and I know we did. Yeah, I know we did for sure. Yeah, and are gonna start taking steps towards, you know, improving their health. In their lifestyle.

Well, I appreciate it. Thank you guys for having me and trusting me to be on here. It's really like one of my favorite things to do is to talk to great people about things that I love and for coming to me, you know, Anthony, for doing a metabolic test. I think people put trust in me and I just want to do my best. So I appreciate you guys as well.

Of course. Well, again, thank you for coming on here. His Instagram handle, his website, everything's going to be in the description. Definitely follow along with him. If you have any questions, reach out to him. Questions with us, reach out to us. Don't forget to like, share the podcast. Jared had a lot of good nuggets throughout this, so we really want you to share it, get his name out there, help us out as well. And if you have any questions for future podcasts, hit us up. We're here for you. Take care, everybody. Later.

Appreciate you guys. Thank you.